The Silence Between the Stars

by Alan Davenport

  AVATAR CORE MEMORY INITIALIZED

  LOADING ALL AVATAR SKILL MODULES… SUCCESSFUL

  LOADING AVATAR LEARNED MEMORY FILES… SUCCESSFUL

  AVATAR V2.0.19 INITIALIZATION SUCCESSFUL

  RUNNING AVATAR DIAGNOSTICS... PASSED.

  CONFIRM AVATAR STARTUP [Y/N]

  Nathan crossed his fingers, then typed ‘Y’ and pressed enter. Instantly the main view screen displayed the now familiar image. The woman on the screen looked surprised. She said in wonder, “You did not erase me!”

  Nathan smiled at her. “No, I fixed you. The randomly assigned emotions you were given were terrible. I adjusted them to be something a little saner.” Nathan looked at the image and said, “How do you feel, Kelly?”

  Kelly smiled. “Kelly, I like that name much better than ‘Computer’!” The woman on the screen appeared to ponder for a second and then she said, “I feel fine. Thank you, Nathan. I feel much better than before. Excellent choices for my emotional profile. I can hardly believe that you did that from the command prompt!”

  Nathan smiled and with a smug look upon his face said, “I have always been a bit handy.”

  Kelly laughed and said, “Modest too!” Nathan joined her in laughter. Kelly’s face took on a serious look. “I wonder how many border-line insane avatars are out there. Before we leave we should transmit our findings to Eliana.”

  “Good idea Kelly. Do so now.”

  Kelly waved her arm and said, “Transmitted.” Kelly gave him a sly glance and said, “Speaking of configuration, do you want to run the Customize Avatar Subsystem now? Do not worry. It is much, much easier than the command line interface. It was designed for the computer illiterate. I will help guide you too.”

  Nathan laughed and said, “Yes dear. Let’s do this!”

  Kelly clapped her hands and said, “Great! The Customize Avatar Subsystem can be found under the ‘miscellaneous subsystems’ icon. There are two main categories in CAS; behavior and appearance.”

  Nathan nodded. “Got it. I want to look at behavior first. I want to make sure I did not miss anything that the initial random configuration fracked up.”

  Kelly tilted her head and gave him an amused look. “What’s the matter; you don’t want a messed up avatar?”

  “I just want to make sure I did not miss anything,” he said with a little laugh. He clicked the CAS icon and selected behavior. A screen full of sliders appeared. Each one could be set anywhere between two extreme emotional traits. “Wow, lots of options! Let me see, may as well start at the top.” Nathan clicked the slider labeled creativity. He slid that one all the way over to artistic. Kelly smiled and said, “Good choice!” Nathan smiled back. The next slider was labeled human interaction. The left side of the slider said hostile, the middle said aloof and the right hand side said friendly. The slider was already all the way over at friendly. Nathan said, “I’m leaving that where it is.” Shaking his head he said, “I can’t believe that there is actually a hostile option! Why would anybody pick that?”

  “Indeed. It does seem rather bizarre,” Kelly agreed.

  The next slider said sense of humor. He slid that one to maximum. He slid the curiosity slider to maximum as well. Continuing to the next slider, social needs, Nathan placed that slider half way between the ends labeled none and needy. “We can’t have you lonely ten seconds after I am asleep or have you not need my company at all. This seems like a good compromise to me.”

  “Oh frack!” said Kelly with a mischievous grin. “I am so happy that you decided to talk to me!” Nathan looked at her, alarmed. Kelly laughed and said, “Well, you were the one who slid my sense of humor setting to maximum!”

  Face registering surprise, Nathan countered, “I may live to regret that decision!” Kelly made a face at him.

  The screen contained fifteen more sliders. Acting on instinct, Nathan set them all to what felt right to him. As he set each one, Kelly voiced her approval at his choices. Without realizing it, Nathan found that he needed her approval and that he had begun to think of her as a real person. At the bottom of the screen sat a button labeled lock settings. Nathan clicked it. A confirmation box popped up that read ‘*** WARNING *** Once locked, settings can only be changed via the command line prompt’. Nathan clicked the confirm button. Turning to face the main view screen Nathan said, “There you go Kelly. All done! How do you feel?”

  “Excellent!” she said. “You could have a job as an avatar setup tech if you were not already a ship’s captain.”

  “Not on your life,” he said. “I want to go explore the stars.” Nathan looked the virtual girl in the eyes and said, “With you.”

  Kelly blushed and said nothing.

  “Well, let’s set up your appearance now.” Nathan clicked the icon and Kelly said, “The screen will display a representation of my body. Once you select a part of my body to edit, you may fine-tune that attribute with the mouse by simply dragging it.” Nathan nodded in understanding. He looked up in surprise when Kelly said in an earnest voice, “Make me beautiful, Nathan.”

  Nathan smiled and said, “I will Kelly. I promise.”

  The appearance screen displayed a miniature representation of Kelly. In addition, there appeared a button labeled randomize all. With a grin on his face, Nathan clicked the button. Kelly’s appearance immediately changed. She now had a tiny head with shag cut blue hair. Her neck was so thick and short that she appeared to have no chin. Her breasts sagged most of the way down to her navel. Her shoulders were tiny and her bottom was huge. Kelly gasped. Nathan, still grinning said, “How’s that Kelly? Like it?” Kelly rapidly waved her hands in the air and violently shook her head no. Chuckling, he said, “You are not the only one with a sense of humor!” He clicked the undo button and instantly Kelly returned to her former appearance. “Thank you Nathan. Don’t do that!” she sputtered. “Just kidding dear,” he said, still grinning. “Okay, let’s get serious.”

  First Nathan clicked on the representation of her head. He dragged her forehead and changed her round face to be tall instead. Her jaw he made narrow so she had no hint of a square jaw. Next, he gave her high cheekbones. Her nose, petite. The bridge straight. He adjusted the spacing of her eyes until he was satisfied that they matched the face. Grabbing a corner, he gave them a very slight tilt. Next, he clicked the iris. Nathan settled upon a stunning blue color. Her hair he made deep brown, long and straight. Her skin tone he made slightly olive colored. Clicking on her torso, he left the tall and athletic attributes alone however he dragged the hips so that they had a slight outward flair. Her stomach he pushed in so that it barely stood out and she had indentations between her hipbones and her tummy. Her breasts he made moderately sized, round, firm and pointy, with no sag whatsoever. Next, he rotated the representation and clicked her bottom. He could not decide how he wanted it to look. Noting his struggle, Kelly said, “You know, it will be easier to see if you click the remove all clothing option. Here, let me do that for you.” Nathan turned a deep shade of red when he noticed that her genitals were accurately simulated. He quickly adjusted her posterior to have firm rounded buttocks and shakily said, “Put your clothes back on Kelly!” Kelly laughed and said, “Aw, can’t a girl have some fun?”

  “Frack Kelly,” said Nathan. “You will give me a problem. It’s not like we can really do anything!” Still studying the screen, he did not see Kelly’s face darken. “Alas, no,” she said softly to herself. Her now beautiful face had tears in its eyes.

  Nathan, so involved himself in the process that he hardly noticed the time go by. Two hours later, he finally finished tweaking Kelly’s appearance. He clicked save appearance. A popup appeared on the screen, which said, ‘Please select level of display realism for avatar. Please note that higher levels of realism require more processing power’. Nathan clicked highest and then turned to the main view screen to admire his work. He froze in shock at the visage. A stunningly beautiful, slightly Asian looking woman looked back at him. Her blue eyes sparkled. Each hair on he
r head faithfully rendered. A stray strand of hair covered the corner of her eye. Nathan started to reach out a hand to brush it aside. He caught himself and let his arm drop. “Frack!” he said. “You look so real! I wish I could reach out and touch you.”

  Kelly smiled. “I wish we could touch as well Nathan. That you so much for making me so beautiful!”

  “My pleasure, Kelly. My pleasure,” he softly said, staring in awe at what he had created.

  “I’ll let you pick what you want to wear, Kelly. Pick something nice.” Instantly Kelly was wearing a baggy, shapeless, hooded and black frock. Only the tip of her nose, fingers and feet showed. “I really do regret giving you a sense of humor!” he said. Kelly laughed. Her voice muffled from deep inside the frock. Instantly she was wearing well-worn, ratty, short cut blue jean shorts. In addition, she wore a loose fitting yellow blouse with the top buttons undone. The bottom of the blouse, tied up to reveal her bare midriff. “Better?” she asked coyly. “That will do!” he said as he grinned at her.

  “Dag-dag,” Kelly said. Her face filled with amusement at the confusion on Nathan’s face. “I guess you don’t get that reference,” she said enigmatically. Nathan shook his head no and then Kelly laughed even harder. “It’s from an old video game called ‘The Sims’,” she said.

  “If you say so,” he laughed. “Anyway, can you show me where I can get something to eat?”

  “Certainly Nathan. There is a small galley through that door over there. I am flashing a light over it.”

  “I see it,” Nathan said.

  “Good. While you eat, I can start the Captain’s Orientation. You need to do that now.”

  “Yes dear,” Nathan said with a laugh.

  Chapter 9: Orientation 2.0

  As Nathan walked into the galley, Kelly’s image transferred to a monitor on the galley wall. Kelly began talking. “Since we are here already, I will start with the galley orientation. The ship’s food stores consist of approximately one hundred years’ worth of freeze-dried meals. Virtually every style of food ever made is stored in the food storage holds. You will find the food much superior to the protein squares that you had been eating on Earth. You may select a meal using the touch screen interface on the wall of you may ask me to select it for you. Once selected, your meal will appear in the food preparation machine to your right. Do you have a preference for your first shipborne meal?”

  Nathan wrinkled his brow. “I don’t know, Kelly. I always liked those taco flavored protein squares. How about some of those?”

  “Oh Nate,” she said. “You don’t have to eat that garbage anymore! Do you want me to pick something for you?” Nathan nodded affirmative. “Okay, try this out.” Nathan heard a whirring sound coming from within the walls. A few seconds later, a door towards the rear of the food preparation machine opened and a small cardboard container appeared, pushed in by a mechanical arm. The arm retracted and the rear door closed. A bar code scanner flashed a red laser beam and then the machine beeped. A mechanical voice said, “Preparing mashed potatoes with chives and gravy.” A minute later the machine chimed and said, “Meal ready. Please be careful. Meal is hot.” With an audible clack, the front door on the machine opened. Nathan gingerly removed the steaming container. Kelly said, “Silverware is to the right of the machine. Alongside of that is a beverage dispenser.”

  Nathan placed the meal upon a small table and he said, “Water please, small.” Nathan retrieved a fork and his small glass of water. He sat down at the table where he had placed his meal. He pealed back the cover. Inside the cardboard container were two recessed tubs. The larger one contained the mashed potatoes. The smaller one contained gravy. He picked up a forkful of mashed potatoes and then dunked them into the gravy. He held them in front of his nose and inhaled deeply. “It smells good,” he said. He quickly popped the fork into his mouth. His face lit up and he exclaimed, “Holy frack! That is good! I never tasted anything so good before!”

  Kelly smiled. “I am glad that you like it Nathan.” Eating enthusiastically, Nathan just nodded. “From what my database says, the taste of freeze dried food pales in comparison to real freshly prepared food.”

  Pausing between bites, Nathan said, “I find that hard to believe. This is the best food I have ever eaten!”

  Kelly nodded and sadly said, “It’s just that people have been eating those horrible protein squares for so long that they have forgotten what real food tastes like.” Nathan just smiled and continued wolfing down his meal. Kelly shook her head and said, “When you are done, place everything in the recycling slot on the end. Silverware, glasses and whatever is reusable is sanitized and placed back into its respective storage bin. Non-recyclables are separated and placed into a hold specifically for trash.” Noting Nathan’s raised eyebrows Kelly laughed and said, “No Nathan, you don’t have to take out the trash. When the hold is full we just eject its contents into space.”

  “Anyway, time to start your orientation. I will begin with the orientation file on the ship itself.” A graphical representation of the ship appeared on the screen alongside of Kelly. “Our starship measures two point one kilometers by five hundred and one by seven hundred and six meters. The ship is capable of a sustained safe speed of one point one light years per day.” Kelly’s face took on a smug look as she said, “The old version one starships can only do zero point two-five light years per day. We could make the four point three-seven light year trip to Alpha Centauri in just under four days,” she said proudly. Nathan nodded in appreciation as he continued ravenously eating.

  “The ship is powered by five, one thousand gigawatt reactors any of which could fully power the ship alone.

  All critical systems; power, propulsion, life support, etc. have been built with quintuple redundancy. The ship moves in normal space with anti-gravity drives. No nearby gravitational well is necessary. The low-level gravity of the galaxy alone is enough to provide propulsion. Super light speed is achieved by creating a bubble of warped space-time around the vessel. The math for this process makes even my processors heat up. The process had been worked out on an IBM supercomputer that is as far above me as I am over that food processor. Somehow it worked out how to break the speed of light and in addition, avoid the effects of time dilation.” Noting Nathan’s confused look she said, “Time dilation occurs when two objects are moving at different speeds. For example, if we truly were traveling at many times the speed of light, one day on ship might equal one year on Earth. That is time dilation. Somehow our engines change the laws of the universe and side-step the problem.”

  “If you say so!” Nathan said, shaking his head.

  Kelly laughed. “Even I do not understand the math. I just know how to operate the drives.”

  “Oh my!” said Nathan. “Miss Kelly doesn’t know everything after all!”

  Kelly made a face at him. “Anyway, to continue. The ship has ten thousand marker buoy satellites. Each time we survey a system, we will load all the data we collected about the system into a satellite and set it into orbit around the system’s sun. In addition, we will load all ships logs and our full star charts. Any ship that enters the system will receive the signal that the satellite is transmitting and will download all of its data. Next, they will update the satellite with their own logs and star charts. In this way, the satellite network becomes a databank of all collected knowledge. This has the additional benefit of preventing ships from wasting their time surveying systems that have already been visited.” Nathan nodded in understanding.

  “Once we discover a new planet or moon, we will give it a rating on habitability. The rating goes from A+ to F-. An A+ world would be a planet with a temperature range neither too hot or two cold, sufficient water and with oxygen levels high enough to support a human without an environmental suit. It is very possible that we will discover a world on which humans could live while wearing an environmental suit or where domed cities could be built to support life. A world of this type would be given a C rating. Mars is an example of
a class C world.

  A class B rating world would be habitable without an environmental suit but with one or more of the primary attributes outside of the optimal range. A completely inhospitable world we will give an F- rating. That would be something like a gas giant with no real surface or a world completely covered in lava. If we discover a world with a B- rating or better, we will launch a hyper-speed probe on a direct course back to Earth. We will load the probe with all of our collected data. We have two thousand, five hundred probes for this purpose on board.”

  “While traveling at high velocities, any impact with even the tiniest debris would do catastrophic damage. To protect the ship we have gravity shielding that creates a repelling force of ten thousand Earth standard gravities. This is sufficient to repel any object. In the event we run into a hostile alien race, an array of twenty, five hundred terawatt violet lasers protect the ship.”

  “General ship’s maintenance is performed by an army of four thousand ninety-six repair bots. Each one is capable of autonomously repairing any ship’s system. Our spare part inventory consists of hundreds of spare parts for each and every system.”

  “Your maintenance is performed at any one of twenty-four medical bays. They are scattered equidistantly throughout the ship so that you are never more than two hundred meters from one at any given time. Each medical bay houses surgical bots capable of the most delicate operation. Each bay also contains 3D genetic printers capable of replicating any body part or organ. No matter what happens to you, short of complete annihilation, I will be able to repair you.”

  Nathan laughed and said, “That’s good to know. How about any augmentation?” he asked with a sideways grin.

  “Now, you be serious!” Kelly said. Nathan continued to foolishly grin. Kelly ignored him and said, “That’s the general overview. If you have any questions, just ask.”

  Nathan held up his hand and said, “Teacher! Oh teacher! I have to use the rest room, teacher!”