by R. E. Weber
‘Previous, Further Information….’ and he was just about to say ‘Companion’ when he was interrupted by another message.
Incoming message. Orientator requests immediate entry to your quarters.
Allow
Deny
Converse
Previous
‘Converse,’ said Theo. Then he heard a familiar voice.
‘Theo, may I enter your quarters,’ said Orientator. ‘I have a visitor for you.’
‘Yeh, of course…’ said Theo.
A doorway appeared in the wall in front of him and there stood Orientator.
‘You may enter now,’ said Orientator glancing to his left and stepping to one side.
Then a petite Asian girl, who Theo guessed was about his own age, stepped into view and walked slowly into the room.
‘The-op-olis?’ she said with wide eyes and a beaming smile.
‘Erm, yeh,’ said Theo a little surprised.
The girl thrust her hand forward enthusiastically.
‘Hi,’ she said. ‘I’m Rubina Chaudhry. My friends call me Ruby.’
‘Hi,’ said Theo. ‘I’m Theopolis. Call me Theo.’
Ruby shook his hand with a surprisingly tight grip.
‘I will leave you now,’ said Orientator, before vanishing quickly through the doorway, without waiting for a reply.
Ruby stared for a moment at where the door had been. Then she looked back at Theo.
‘They’re a bit rude, aren’t they, Theo?’ she said.
‘Yeh,’ said Theo, ‘you could say that.’
‘So, you’ve just arrived back from Earth then?’ said Ruby.
‘Yeh,’ said Theo. ‘When did you arrive?’
‘Well I got back here yesterday.’
‘Cool, so what do you think of all this then? I mean the Affinity, Polisium Prime and all that?’
‘Well, I mean, I still find it hard to believe sometimes. I have to nick myself every so often to remind me that it’s all real.’
Theo looked at Ruby, confused for a moment. Then he burst out laughing.
‘Pinch yourself,’ said Theo, grinning.
‘Oh right, pinch. Sorry my English isn’t that great.’
‘You’re kidding, aren’t you? It sounds pretty good to me. Besides, pinch and nick – they mean the same thing. Well more or less anyway.’
Ruby smiled back at Theo and they carried on chatting, enthusiastically comparing their experiences of the amazing new world they’d entered. And as they talked, Theo looked at Ruby with her wide eyes and beaming smile. Something told him they were going to get along just fine.
*
They had been chatting nonstop for several hours before Ruby finally stood up, ready to leave.
‘It’s late,’ said Ruby, ‘I suppose I’d better go and get some sleep.’
‘Yeh, me too,’ lied Theo, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be sleeping for hours.
‘Oh by the way, before I go,’ said Ruby, ‘I heard we’ve got another arrival tomorrow – from Earth I mean. Weng I think his name was.’
‘Cool,’ said Theo. ‘I wonder how many more there’ll be?’
‘Oh they said six in total when I asked today,’ said Ruby.
‘Right,’ said Theo.
‘Yeh, well anyway, I’d better go. Good night, Theo.’
Then without waiting to be asked, she kissed him lightly on one cheek. Immediately, Theo could feel his face burning and he knew he’d turned bright red.
Ruby smiled, then turned and walked towards the doorway, which had just appeared.
‘Goodnight Ruby, sleep well,’ said Theo.
As Ruby walked forward, she looked back at Theo over her shoulder and smiled. Then, without looking where she was going, she walked straight into the side of the doorframe and clouted her head hard. Clutching her forehead, she stumbled backwards and muttered something in a language that Theo didn’t understand. Then, clearly embarrassed, she disappeared quickly out of sight down the corridor.
Once she had gone and the doorway had closed, Theo grinned to himself. Being friends with Ruby was going to be very interesting indeed.
*
Theo awoke the next day to a sudden bleeping noise and instinctively, without opening his eyes, reached out towards his bedside table to slap the snooze button on his alarm clock. But as he felt around in the darkness, he couldn’t find it. He opened one eye and peered around his dimly lit quarters. Then he remembered he was no longer on Earth. What idiot had programmed his new alarm to sound like his old one?
Sleepily, he rubbed his eyes. ‘What time is it?’ he mumbled to nobody in particular.
‘The present time is standard eight, zero,’ said a voice.
‘Errrmm what?’ grunted Theo.
‘Unknown request,’ the voice replied. ‘Please re-state.’
‘Sorry erm, Further Information, standard eight, zero.’
‘Measure of Polisian standard time, fraction of day, eight of thirty.’
‘Whatever,’ said Theo as he hoisted himself out of bed.
‘Do you require sustenance?’ said the voice.
‘Oh breakfast, yeh, that’d be good.’
Immediately, a slot opened in the wall and a tray slid out. On the tray was a bowl containing what looked like some sort of brown flakes and dried fruit, a transparent beaker with a lid and nipple – like a toddler’s cup – containing some yellow liquid, and a curved handled spoon. Theo picked up the tray, went over to his bed and sat down. He stirred around the flakes and fruit, which looked dry and boring. Then he picked up the beaker, pulled off the lid and sipped the liquid. It tasted like milk flavoured with aniseed. He poured some of the liquid over the flakes and then stuffed a spoonful of it into his mouth. The flakes were as dry and tasteless as they looked, but the dried fruits were chewy, sweet and not unpleasant. Overall though it was a rather bland breakfast, and not a patch on a good round of toast and marmalade. He was going to have to have a word with the chef.
*
About twenty minutes later, after he had eaten his breakfast, washed and dressed himself, he heard the soothing masculine voice again:
Incoming message. Orientator requests immediate entry to your quarters.
Allow
Deny
Converse
Previous
‘Allow.’
The doorway appeared to reveal Orientator.
‘Have you rested and taken in sustenance?’ said Orientator.
‘Oh yeh,’ said Theo, ‘all fed and watered.’
‘Good,’ said Orientator. ‘In that case, follow me.’
Theo followed Orientator down the corridor. After a couple of minutes, they stopped and turned to face a blank wall. Orientator rolled his eyes briefly and then waited. Moments later, a doorway appeared, and then Ruby stepped out looking as fresh, wide-eyed and enthusiastic as she’d been the previous day.
‘Oh hi, Theo, how are you this morning?’ she said, smiling.
‘Great,’ said Theo, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
Ruby stood for a moment, beaming at Theo without speaking.
‘Erm, I suppose we’d better follow him,’ said Theo, looking at Orientator who was already several meters away, striding off down the corridor.
‘Oh yes, of course,’ said Ruby. ‘I see his manners haven’t got any better.’
‘I don’t think they do manners here,’ said Theo.
‘Yeh well, I guess they’re strange and alien to him.’
‘How do you know it’s a him?’
‘I don’t,’ said Ruby, ‘I don’t even know if they have hims on Polisium. I don’t know anything about their se…’
‘I don’t really want to know this early in the morning,’ interrupted Theo.
Ruby laughed out loud. ‘You’re a funny guy, Theo.’
‘Naturally,’ he replied.
*
Several minutes later, after they’d crossed the huge central core of the station, walked down another long
corridor and been security checked by two stern looking Polisian guards, they found themselves in a room about fifty meters long by about fifteen wide. Along one side of the room, up against the wall, were dozens of empty black beds, two of which had a small glowing panel on the wall above and behind them.
‘Lie down on the tables indicated,’ said Orientator.
Theo looked back at Ruby, suddenly alarmed. They were tables, not beds. Were they operating tables?
‘I don’t like this,’ said Theo, his stomach suddenly churning with panic. ‘It looks like a hospital.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Ruby, ‘you’ll be fine. I’ll go first, look.’
Ruby walked forward and sat down on one of the tables. Then she swung her legs around and lay down flat. As she did so, the glowing panel behind her table began to hum faintly, and the soft black foam of the table moulded itself to Ruby’s body.
‘There you are mate, nothing to it,’ said Ruby.
Without saying a word but still feeling nervous, Theo walked over to the table next to Ruby and lay down. As the foam moulded itself to his body, he began to feel a little more comfortable. Perhaps it wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
‘So what is all this anyway?’ said Theo looking across at Ruby.
‘Oh Theo, didn’t read your Itinerary?’ she said impatiently. ‘You’re having your Companion fitted.’
Chapter 11 – Theo 2.0
‘Good morning, Theo, good morning, Ruby,’ said First Mentor. ‘I trust you both slept well and found your breakfast nutritious?’
‘Good morning, First Mentor,’ said Ruby cheerfully. ‘Yes thanks, I slept really well and breakfast was great.’
‘And you Theo, are you well today?’
‘Yeh,’ said Theo, nervously, ‘I’m good.’
But Theo wasn’t being entirely truthful. He was trying his best to relax on the table, but somehow it wasn’t working. He hated hospitals at the best of times, and even though he was on a planet five hundred light years from Earth, surrounded by unbelievable technology, he found himself lying down in a pretty good likeness of a hospital ward on Earth. He sighed quietly to himself and hoped that whatever was happening would be over quickly.
‘Theo, I am detecting stress patterns in your voice,’ said First Mentor. ‘Are you certain you are OK to proceed? Is there anything concerning you at the moment?’
Theo paused, took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly before he spoke.
‘No, I’m fine,’ he said, trying to sound as confident as possible. ‘No problems.’
‘In which case, we will continue,’ said First Mentor. ‘You have been invited here, today, to have your Level One Companion fitted.’
‘Yeh,’ said Theo. ‘I’ve been hearing a lot about these companions. What are they exactly?’
‘A companion will allow you to interface directly with any node or context point within range, intuitively, via a personalized display fed directly into your optic nerve, with audio input directed into your cochlear nerve.’
‘Errrmm, right’ said Theo looking confused.
‘Oh, Theo,’ said Ruby, impatiently, ‘First Mentor means that you will be able to talk directly to any computer nearby and see and hear its responses in your head.’
‘Yeh, I knew that,’ said Theo.
‘Course you did,’ said Ruby, smiling across at him.
‘Ruby is essentially correct,’ said First Mentor. ‘Your Companion will allow you to interface directly with any of the station’s nodes or context points. What you see and hear will be personal to you.’
‘Yeh, right,’ said Theo. ‘So when you say fitted, what do you mean? I’m guessing we’re not talking about earphones and glasses, are we?’
‘No,’ said First Mentor. ‘The companion will be fitted internally. The procedure will involve some microsurgery, requiring you to be rendered unconscious while it is installed.’
‘Surgery?’ said Theo even more alarmed. ‘So when you say fitted internally, you mean inside us, inside our bodies?’
‘Yes,’ said First Mentor. ‘A micro-node, neural trigger and zero point power cell will be installed into your cranium.’
‘You mean inside our heads?’ said Ruby, now also sounding a little alarmed.
‘Correct,’ said First Mentor. ‘Also, several sensors will be implanted into your fingertips and other parts of your body.
‘Whoooaah’ said Theo, sitting bolt upright and swinging his feet over the side of the bed, ready to leave. ‘No chance. You’re not sticking anything inside my head.’
‘Theo, the procedure is perfectly safe. You will not feel any pain. When you regain consciousness, there will be a small amount of discomfort, which will pass, but nothing more.’
‘But why do we need these things?’ said Theo. ‘I mean, I’m managing OK with the node in my quarters. I’m sure once I’ve customised it, it’ll be just as easy as this companion thing.’
‘Theo, the companion is much more intuitive and effective than the system you have in your quarters, and it is always available regardless of your location. It also has facilities that can only operate if they are able to directly interface with your brain, such as assisted learning. All Affinity species use some form of Companion, even the very young. Even some non-sentient life forms can make limited use of them. It isn’t compulsory of course, but I promise you that once it is installed you will find it invaluable. Without one, your orientation will be difficult and slow, and you will quickly fall behind those others who are using them.’
‘But have these things been tested, you know, on humans?’
‘The companion is in use by many different species without any known side effects. Most species brains function in a similar manner, so they are easy to adapt. The sensors have been tested with human tissue samples and are proven co-exist with no problems.’
‘But have they been tested on a person, a living person?’ demanded Theo.
‘They have not,’ said First Mentor. ‘However…’
‘So you want to use us as guinea pigs then?’ interrupted Theo. ‘You want to experiment on us?’
‘That is absolutely not the case. It is true that you will be the first human beings to have a companion installed, however we are totally confident that they will work as planned, with no side effects. We have taken highly detailed medical scans of your bodies and we have not detected anything which indicates that the companions cannot be safely installed.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Theo standing up, ‘but you’re still not putting anything inside my head.’
Theo got up and began to make his way towards the doorway, but as he walked past Ruby’s table, she reached out and gently took hold of his hand and tugged on it lightly.
‘Please stop,’ she said. ‘I don’t want you to go.’
Theo stood for a moment, sighed and then turned back to face her.
‘It’s going to be OK, Theo,’ said Ruby quietly. ‘It’s going to be safe. Look around you at all these amazing things. Do you really think the creatures who built this space station don’t know what they’re doing?’
‘But I don’t like the idea of things being put inside my head,’ said Theo. ‘It’s wrong, it’s…’
‘I agree, it’s gonna be strange,’ interrupted Ruby. ‘But I’m sure it’s safe. What are you really worried about?’
‘Nothing, it’s just…. oh, I don’t know.’
‘Tell me,’ said Ruby, ‘I’m your friend.’
Theo stared into Ruby’s deep brown eyes. Then he realised that, like another friend he’d once had, he trusted her completely. He knew instinctively that she would never knowingly let anything bad happen to him.
‘It’s just, well...D...Dad,’ stuttered Theo with a tear welling up in one eye. ‘I mean, after the crash, I was told they operated, you know, on his head. A blood clot or something.’
‘You don’t have to tell me any more if you don’t want. Whatever happened with your Dad, this is going to be OK. Trust me, it’s not the s
ame.’
‘I do trust you,’ said Theo, forcing a weak smile and clutching Ruby’s hand tightly. ‘I do. I mean, I don’t really remember much because I was only little. But grandpa told me years later about Dad’s accident and how they tried to save him.’
‘Perhaps you should tell me another time, you know, after the procedure.’
‘I… I don’t know,’ said Theo. ‘I really don’t like this.’
‘May I re-assure you,’ interrupted First Mentor, ‘that the procedure is perfectly safe.’
‘Yeh and I’ll be there to hold your hand,’ said Ruby.
Theo walked back over to his table, sighed and then sat down again. Then he looked across at Ruby. There was something about her and the way she spoke to him; it was almost as if he had known her forever. He took a deep breath, then lay back down on the table and closed his eyes.
‘Just get on with it before I change my mind,’ he said.
‘Are you certain you wish to go ahead with the procedure?’ said First Mentor.
‘Like I said,’ said Theo impatiently, ‘just get on with it.’
‘In that case, can I please ask you both to lie flat and still, with your arms by your sides and your hands facing upwards. You may close your eyes if you wish, but it is not essential.’
Theo lay as still as possible with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. His heart was still thumping hard, but he concentrated on what Ruby had said. Trust me. He took several deep breaths and tried to think soothing thoughts, as his grandfather had taught him to do whenever he got worried or stressed.
Close your eyes Theo and focus on a happy memory. Then take deep, slow breaths and hold on to those memories. Let your breathing slow down, naturally.
Theo breathed in and out slowly and deeply, and as he did so he searched deep within his mind for a happy memory. It took a minute or so to sift through the chaos in his head, but then suddenly one just seemed to pop out. He wasn’t quite sure why it came to him right then, or indeed why it really made him happy. But there it was, none the less.
