Post-Human 05 - Inhuman

by David Simpson

  “It does matter,” the A.I. replied to James, though his eyes remained fixed on Old-timer. “It matters to Craig. Craig, I’ve been inside your mind, even recorded a map of your neural patterns. I know you can’t let others risk their lives on your behalf. It will torment you if you do.”

  “That...it was a long time ago. I’m not the same person.”

  “He doesn’t want to go,” James said firmly to the A.I.

  “Your core remains the same, Craig. You are a hero. It is fundamental to your own understanding of who Craig Emilson is. If I allowed you to follow through with this decision, I’d be doing you a disservice. It would cause a psychical existential crisis for you. You’d question if you were truly the selfless hero you’ve always proven yourself to be, or if you’d become a coward.”

  “Stop it!” James raised his voice commandingly to the A.I.

  The A.I. ignored him. “It would be devastating,” he concluded.

  James physically inserted himself between the ghostly image of the A.I. and Old-timer, forcing the A.I.’s eyes to meet his. “If he doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t have to! We’ve made choices, both of us, to take on responsibilities that no one else could. Old-timer hasn’t made the same choice. He’s already done more than enough—”

  “Stop, James,” Old-timer said quietly, putting his hand gently on James’s chrome-colored shoulder and pushing him slowly to the side. “The A.I.’s right. I was lying to myself. There’s no way in hell I could let Rich and Djanet go in my place, especially when I have the means to protect myself.” He unfurled one of his tendrils to emphasize his point. “I made the decision to let that Purist soldier die. I took the responsibility then. I have to go.”

  James was quiet for a moment before asking, “Are you sure?”

  Old-timer nodded. “I’ve got to learn to stop trying to argue with you guys.”

  “You’ve made a wise choice,” the A.I. observed, a hint of pride in his tone. The ever-patient teacher had guided another of his pupils successfully.

  “Daniella’s going to have me in the doghouse when she finds out.”

  “If everything is copacetic in Universe 332, then you should be able to cross over and come back before she even notices you’re missing,” James offered.

  Old-timer shook his head. “No matter what happens, I’m going to have to tell her.” He waved the suggestion of not telling his wife away. “Nah, I’m in it deep, but I still have to go.”

  “If you notice something is amiss,” James advised, “come back right away. By my calculations, their universe should be about thirty-five years behind our own in technological development. If it doesn’t appear that way to you, simply get out of there and report. That’s it. The A.I. and I will devise a plan for how to handle it from there.”

  “And, if all goes as planned,” the A.I. added, “Trans-human will be functioning and ready to protect us from any conceivable threat.”

  “My suggestion is that you rendezvous with Rich and Djanet and perform the crossing in space rather than on Earth,” James continued outlining the impromptu plan. “Their ship is equipped with a replicator advanced enough that I’ll be able to upload the existing specs of the Planck platform to it. Rich and Djanet are en route to Earth after delivering a message for me to the android collective in person. You should contact them and get them to change course. I’ll upload the coordinates to your mind’s eye.”

  “Why do the crossing in space?” Old-timer asked. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to do it at the mainframe, where you and the A.I. can be easily accessed?”

  “I’m trying to be extra careful,” James explained. “If 1 really is concerned with Planck energy disruption, it would be better if her attention were directed away from areas that are populated. Her attempt to destroy the Earth just hours ago demonstrated a desperation on her part that we have to take into account. We still don’t understand her motives, so we have to do everything we can to minimize the danger to humanity.”

  “Phrases like ‘minimize the danger to humanity’ don’t exactly fill me with confidence that this is a low-danger, intel-gathering mission,” Old-timer noted.

  “It should only be a reconnaissance mission,” the A.I, offered, “but you need to go into this with your eyes wide open. We don’t want to lie to you. While it’s unlikely that the crossing would garner 1’s attention, it can’t be ruled out.”

  “Are you sure you still want to go?” James asked.

  “You already know his answer,” the A.I. pointed out to James.

  “I know,” James answered, “but he should still be given the courtesy.”

  “Courtesy?” Old-timer reacted. “Courtesy, or the illusion of free will? The two of you seem to know everything I’m going to do before I do it.”

  “We only know probabilities,” James explained to Old-timer. “The A.I. and I have calculated that there’s an extremely high probability that even if we insisted that you not go, you’d insist on going. It’s difficult for people to act against their true nature, but it’s not impossible. You do have free will, as do we all.”

  Old-timer stroked his chin for a moment as he considered his options. Is it possible that I truly do have it within me to abandon my friends and refuse the mission? He searched for it, for the reason that would make him turn his back on a responsibility that he knew he’d incurred the moment he let the Purist die three-quarters of a century ago in a universe that wasn’t even his. He thought about his promise to Daniella. Is that enough? He shook his head.

  “If there is any chance that my actions have had consequences this dire, then I’m responsible for the fate of everyone in our universe—and everyone in Universe 332 as well. I couldn’t live with that if it were true. You’re both right. I’ll go.”

  The A.I. nodded to Old-timer before turning to James. “James, I suggest that you—”

  “I’m way ahead of you,” James interrupted him. “I’ll meet Thel with the Purists, as planned, and let her know we’re bumping up our schedule for Trans-human. We’ll embark as soon as we get to Earth.”

  “And I guess I better be on my way,” Old-timer offered, “but before I go, I just want to point out that I won the bet,” he said, pointing to his chest with his thumb. “I’m in no way less impressed with your mental abilities. In fact, learning a bit about how they worked might have actually increased my respect for them.”

  “Interesting,” James grinned. “So, if I’m understanding you correctly, you’re telling me that you’re even more impressed with my enhanced mental capabilities, so therefore you’ve won our bet?”

  “That’s right,” Old-timer confirmed.

  “So you just outsmarted me, correct?”

  Old-timer was silent for a moment, the implication instantly stumping him. “Wait a second...”

  “Maybe it’s just me,” James continued, still smiling, “but it seems as though, if you’ve outsmarted me, that would diminish your estimation of my mental capabilities considerably.”

  “Uh…for the love of…” Old-timer shook his head as his shoulders slumped. “You’re kidding me.”

  James gave a short laugh. “Either I succeeded in making you less impressed, or I didn’t, thereby making you less impressed.”

  “Defeated by a paradox,” Old-timer conceded.

  “Buddy, I had that paradox in my back pocket from the outset. There was no way you could win.”

  “Okay,” Old-timer nodded with a smile. “Okay. This time, I learned my lesson.” He tapped his temple with his index finger, as though he were etching the lesson into his skull. “Stop arguing with James and the A.I. Right.” He waved as he turned to fly away before adding, “I’ll set a rendezvous course for Rich and Djanet. Make sure you get those coordinates to us fast.”

  “Sent,” the A.I. said.

  The coordinates popped up in Old-timer’s mind’s eye. “Heh. Different temporal perception indeed. I am looking forward to when I get my intelligence upgrade—it’d be nice to have a conversation wit
h you guys that didn’t go as slow as molasses for y’all. I’ll make contact again before we cross over.”

  And with that, Old-timer flew away, disappearing so quickly that he would’ve appeared to have vanished to a normal human, but James saw every movement, every expression of uncertainty flickering across his eyes, and every bit of the willpower and bravery exhibited by the hero he’d known for nearly twenty years.

  “And I’ll pick up Thel,” James said to the A.I.

  The A.I.’s visage disappeared as James blasted off toward the Venusian atmosphere.

  In the mainframe, the duo continued to converse in their shared operator’s position. “The sim is running smoothly,” the A.I. related. “If all goes as planned, we’ll be able to intervene with the final phase within the hour.”

  “Perfect,” James replied.

  *****

  On the surface of Venus, Thel watched as an orange streak of light suddenly became a yellow ball that for a little more than a second rivaled the sun in its luminescence, causing the sky to become blue and the ocean to sparkle. The large crowd of thousands of Purists watched the display and erupted into gasps and shrieks before the light faded and the glow diminished, James having leveled off his speed to avoid causing a shockwave that could’ve injured the onlookers below.

  His body continued to glow bright enough that he appeared like a slow-moving, shooting star, twinkling as it neared, until eventually he descended on an almost vertical trajectory, splashing down into the ocean just a few hundred meters from shore. The splashdown sent water dozens of meters into the air, followed by a line of steam from the surface that traced James’s path as he made his way underwater toward the beach. Like a vein of underwater lava, James’s body made short work of the water, and when he finally breached the water’s surface, his chrome-colored body continued to glow, though slightly diminished by the cooling effect of the water, the white steam painted orange as it swirled angrily and spectacularly around him.

  The crowd erupted into applause.

  James waved at them and smiled as he walked through the surf toward Thel, who stood on the edge of the sand, close enough to the water that the warm waves lapped up against her toes.

  “I’d hug you, but I think I’d end up with third degree burns!” she yelled out to him over the sound of the applause and the surf.

  “I can fix that,” James replied as his chrome-colored body faded away, morphing into his human form. He was wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts and held his arms out to embrace Thel.

  She kissed him, then pulled back and looked at Europa, glowing beautiful and full in the sky. “You can fix anything apparently.”

  “I try,” he replied.

  “Old-timer’s not with you?” Thel suddenly asked, her eyes quizzically narrowed.

  “No, he’s pretty busy at the moment,” James replied.

  “That’s a shame,” Thel replied. She tilted her head slightly for James to look over her right shoulder, where Alejandra was standing on the beach, her eyes still on the sky, her expression one of disappointment. “Alejandra was asking for him.”

  “Hmm,” James reacted. “Old-timer’s gotta lot going on right now without getting into all of that.”

  Thel’s expression suddenly became one of concern. “Why’s he so busy? What’s going on?”

  “I’ll tell you about it on the way to Earth.”

  “We’re not staying for the celebration? You know, it’s not every day that a planet gets a moon.”

  James sighed. “I wish we could, but we need you in the sim. We’re bumping up our timeline.”

  Thel nodded. “Okay. I’m ready for my close-up.”

  “Good,” James replied as he kissed her quickly before taking her hand and walking with her toward their Venusian home, just behind the tree line. “Let’s get your flight suit.”

  “Should I be worried?” she asked him.

  He shook his head and shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. That’s the problem.”

  She swallowed as she considered his answer. “James, if you don’t know, then we all have reason to worry.”

  He squeezed her hand. “We’ll be okay. We just have to do what we always do. The best we can.”

  10

  “I thought you said we were getting out of the saving-the-universe business,” Djanet reminded Rich as they neared the coordinates the A.I. had sent them.

  “I know,” Rich said as he got up from his seat and started to make his way back to the ship’s replicator. “You oughtta know by now that I’m full of it. Besides,” he said with a shrug, “it’s Old-timer, and there are no androids to deal with this time.”

  “There is a parallel universe,” Djanet countered as she got up and followed him. “That seems like it might be a teeny bit dangerous,” she observed in an intentionally understated tone.

  “Touché,” Rich replied, “but you’ve gotta admit, when you got up this morning, you had no idea you’d be crossing into a parallel universe. That’s pretty exciting.”

  “This morning, I didn’t even know that sort of technology was possible,” Djanet replied before a sideways smile swept across her lips. “It is pretty exciting. By the way, I’m shutting the gravity off now.”

  “Ready.”

  Rich nodded before the force that held their boots to the titanium floor suddenly let go. The two post-humans weren’t helpless, however, for their powers of flight allowed them to behave much the way they would as if they were flying on Earth. The Planck platform, however, behaved very differently than it would on Earth, since it was an extremely heavy piece of machinery. It floated up from the replicator from which it had been constructed, allowing Rich and Djanet to guide it with their hands toward the bridge.

  Djanet watched as Rich’s eyes suddenly widened, his pupils dilating as his attention focused on an object behind her. She turned her head to see Old-timer floating outside the ship, the sunrays illuminating his body as he peered through the front view screen. “I’m still not used to seeing him with no magnetic field,” she observed.

  “Yeah,” Rich replied, “but it’s so, so cool. I want my upgrade.”

  She turned to him and smiled. “Me too.”

  “You folks ready?” Old-timer asked through their mind’s eyes.

  “Yep,” Rich answered. “Stand by. We’re comin’ out to play.”

  “Depressurizing,” Djanet informed him.

  They ignited their life-saving magnetic cocoons.

  As it had in the android ship, the bridge lowered, and Old-timer watched as a nightmarish object from his distant past rematerialized before his eyes: the Planck platform, floating free in the seeming infinity of space, guided by Rich and Djanet and coming in his direction.

  “We brought your doohickey,” Rich noted.

  “Thank you,” Old-timer replied, grinding his teeth slightly as he looked at the disk. “I really appreciate your help, but I can handle this on my own from here on out.”

  “Yeah, the A.I. said you’d say that,” Djanet replied.

  “It doesn’t make it any less true,” Old-timer answered. “Listen, we’re terraformers. That’s it. You didn’t sign up for this kind of mission.”

  “Neither did you,” Rich countered.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Hoss.” Old-timer sighed regretfully. “Did you ever read that old poem by Coleridge, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’?”

  Rich and Djanet exchanged confused glances before turning back to Old-timer.

  “I told you, Old-timer, school was too long ago for me to—”

  “I killed an albatross,” Old-timer said. “This is my fate. It’s my responsibility. I have to go.”

  “The ancient mariner was abandoned by his crew,” Djanet pointed out, “but we’re your friends. We’d never abandon you.”

  “I don’t know why we’re making morbid literary allusions all of the sudden,” Rich interjected, “but I agree with Djanet’s second and third statements. Old-timer, I’m not gonna lie. We wan
t to see an end to all of this insanity as much as anyone, but no matter what happens, we stick together. It’s a strategy that’s gotten us this far, right?”

  “Plus, we all got into terraforming because we dreamt of setting foot on distant worlds,” Djanet furthered. She smiled broadly. “Exploration is in our blood. There’s no way we could pass up an opportunity to cross into a new universe.”

  Old-timer’s eyes left those of his companions and fell on the silver disk that gleamed almost white in the brilliant sunshine. He remained silent for a moment before patching into communication with James: “James, I’ve rendezvoused with Rich and Djanet. The Planck platform is in position. We’re ready to cross over on your signal.”

  11

  “Sounds good,” James replied, speaking from the back seat of the professor’s/Trans-human candidate’s simulated car outside of Waves coffee shop in the sim. “Make sure you’re only immersed in Universe 332 for fifteen minutes at the most, whether you see something suspicious or not. The A.I. and I will come in after you if you don’t return by then. Is that affirmative?”

  “Affirmative,” Old-timer’s crackling voice and distorted image returned in James’s mind’s eye. “We’re getting a lot of interference here.”

  “That’s by design,” James explained. “There’s a coronal mass ejection from the sun, sending a high level of electromagnetic radiation in your direction. It won’t hurt your enhanced body or Rich and Djanet through their own protective fields, but it might give you some cover if android forces are monitoring for disturbances in Planck energy.”

  “What if our communications go down?” Djanet cut in.

  “Don’t worry about that,” James said. “It might be a bit crackly, but the CME is minor enough that you’ll be able to report back to us without any issues.”

  “So...is it time to synchronize our watches?” Rich asked glibly.

  “Essentially, yes,” the A.I. injected. “Universe 332’s time should be moving slightly slower than our own, but a fifteen-minute time scale is too short to detect any relevant change.”