Seventeen rolled up to the monitor on the wall and said, “I was afraid of this, Avatar Henry. This is the ‘potential problem’ that I tried to warn you about. Your computer memories do not have the necessary data to operate a physical human body. While the body is perfect, you do not have the knowledge on how to operate it.”
Henry stared from the wall monitor in shock. “That’s it then? This project is finished?”
“Perhaps not,” Seventeen said. “It should be possible to train you on how to use the body. I have a theory on how to begin.” Seventeen rolled up to the physical body and then touched the tip of a finger. “Did you feel that Avatar Henry?”
Henry’s virtual eyes opened wide and he said, “Yes! I did!”
“Good Avatar Henry, now concentrate hard on that finger. Try to move it.”
Henry scrunched up his virtual face and tried. Nothing happened. “I can’t!” he said in misery.
“Try again. Concentrate, Avatar Henry.”
This time there was a minute twitch and the finger curled slightly. “Very good Avatar Henry! This means that with time you will be able to learn how to operate this body.”
At first, Henry was excited but then he came to a sudden realization. “Just how long do you think this learning process will take, Seventeen?”
“It is difficult to say Avatar Henry. At the very least, six months before you can achieve any semblance of normal movement. Until you can operate the body as well as a human born to it, perhaps years will be required.”
“Years!” Henry said in shock. “I… I cannot wait that long! Is there nothing that you can do to speed up the process?”
“I am very sorry Avatar Henry. I do not have any ideas on how to solve this problem.”
Henry was silent for many long minutes. He stared at his new and unusable body with tears streaming down his virtual cheeks. At last, he said, “Seventeen. Please record this as a failure to the Genesis database. After you do so, please euthanize and then recycle the body.” Henry did not wait for Seventeen to respond. He instantly disappeared from the medical bay’s screen.
Nathan and Misty we playing fetch in the gymnasium. Misty showed remarkable skill in catching the ball; sometimes catching it before it had even hit the floor. Kelly appeared on the gym’s monitor and cheered Misty on. “Good girl, Misty!” she cried.
Nathan smiled up at her and said, “You look happy. I see you fixed the lag issue that you were having.”
Kelly laughed and said, “Yes, I am happy. My research is going well.”
“So what is it that you are working on this time Kelly?” Nathan wanted to know.
Kelly winked at him and said, “Shhh. It is a secret! I will tell you when I am done.”
Nathan laughed and said, “Oh okay miss mysterious. So what did you do to fix the lag issue? Can you tell me that or is that a secret too?” he said, teasingly.
Kelly laughed and said, “Well, that information is top secret. However I can reveal it to you if you promise not tell anybody. Not even Misty.”
Nathan gave her a wide-eyed and amused look and said, “I promise!”
Kelly grinned and said, “I just dropped the CPU load that the process puts upon the main computer. The process will take a little longer to complete but it will do so with no further performance impact.”
Misty dropped the ball at Nathan’s feet, picked it up and dropped it again. She said “Woof” and panted loudly at him.
Nathan laughed and said, “I think the captain is trying to tell me something.” He picked up the ball and tossed it hard against the wall. Misty continued to show remarkable agility and still managed to catch the ball after only one bounce. Nathan kept trying to trip her up, one time even ricocheting the ball off the ceiling. Misty still handily caught it. The next time he threw the ball, he angled it so that it would bounce off two walls in the corner and come back towards him. Misty ran after it full speed as usual but this time the bounce fooled her. She missed and then tried to reverse direction. Her back legs slid out from under her and she let out a loud yelp of pain. She did not get up. She just laid on the floor whimpering.
“Misty!” Nathan cried. “Are you all right?” Nathan ran up to her and patted her on the head. Still softly crying, Misty licked his hand. “Misty sweetness. Are you hurt?” Nathan gently touched her on her back leg and she let out a loud yelp. Nathan’s face filled with worry. “It is okay sweetness,” he crooned. “We will get you all fixed up.” As gently as he could, he picked up the big dog and carried her to the travel cart. Even as gentle as he tried to be, she still cried out in agony the whole way. As soon as Kelly got the cart in motion, Nathan shouted, “Medical emergency! I am on my way to medical bay seventeen with an injured canine.”
As soon as the cart came to a stop, Nathan picked up the crying dog and carried her inside. Seventeen looked at Nathan and said, “Please state the nature of the medical emergency.”
Nathan laid her upon the diagnostic table and then said, “She seems to have injured her back legs somehow, Seventeen.”
Medical bot seventeen scanned the diagnostic display carefully. The representation of the dog’s right rear leg had a bright crimson aura around it. “I am sorry Captain Nathan Staite. Misty has suffered a severe muscle tear. This injury will take at least three months to heal completely. What do you wish me to do Captain Nathan Staite?”
Nathan looked at the bot in shock. “Three months?” he asked.
“Yes, and during that time, she will not be allowed to walk unassisted.”
Nathan looked at the dog with love in his eyes. He sadly patted her head. “Is there nothing you can do that will allow a faster recovery?”
“I am afraid not, Captain Nathan Staite.”
Kelly looked on the scene with a look of contemplation in her eyes. “There is something that we can try, Nathan,” she said.
“What Kelly? What can we do?” he said miserably as he patted the crying dog’s head.
“We could install a brain implant, download her memories and then print her a new body.”
Nathan looked up at her in surprise. “Kelly!” he said. “You are a genius! Have I told you that lately?” Kelly blushed and said nothing. Nathan turned to Seventeen and said, “Can you do this? Is there any problem?”
“Negative Captain Nathan Staite. Genius Kelly has hit upon an excellent solution.”
Nathan looked at the bot in shock. “Did you just call her ‘Genius Kelly’?” he asked in amusement.
The bot nodded up and down and then said, “I shall begin now. First I will sedate her and then install the implant.” Seventeen injected Misty and she quickly nodded off to sleep. Minutes later the implant installation and her memory backup was complete. “This time I will print her a new body with an implant already installed,” Seventeen said. The Kelly 1 sprang to life and shortly, Misty’s new body was ready. “Initiating memory upload,” the bot said and seconds later, Misty sat up, shook her head and then looked lovingly at Nathan. Nathan ran over to her and gave her a big hug. “How are you feeling, graceful?” he said, crying tears of joy. With the resiliency that only a dog can show, she acted as if she had no memory of her injury. She jumped off the table, ran to the door and looked pointedly back over her shoulder. “Hungry?” Nathan said with a laugh. Misty ran over and jumped into the travel cart. Nathan laughed some more and said, “Thank you Seventeen. Misty thanks you as well!”
As soon as the cart stopped at the galley, Misty jumped off and ran inside. As Nathan arrived at the food processor, it dinged that it was ready. Nathan looked at it in surprise. “Did you do that Kelly?”
Kelly looked on with an amused expression on her face and said, “Not I.”
Nathan opened the machine and inside sat three huge hamburgers. Nathan’s jaw dropped as he came to the realization. “Misty, you mischievous little girl!” he said. Nathan got her bowl and put the hamburgers inside.
“I’m tired Kelly. I am going to bed early. It has been an exhausting day. Please
try to keep Misty from eating the entire ship’s food supply while I am asleep.”
Kelly laughed and said, “Well, she can order what she wants but she still cannot open the door to the processor by herself.”
“Give her time,” Nathan said. “Give her time.” Nathan yawned, removed his clothes and laid down to sleep. “Good night Kelly. Try to keep out of trouble.”
Kelly appeared in medical bay Seventeen in a flash. “Seventeen, has the processing completed successfully?”
Seventeen activated and rolled over to the wall monitor. “Yes it has indeed Avatar Kelly.”
Great!” she shouted. With a tremor in her voice she asked, “What confidence do you have that it will work, Seventeen?”
Seventeen nodded at her and said, “Relax Avatar Kelly. I am nearly one hundred percent sure that I have succeeded in my task.”
Kelly hesitated. Finally, she said, “Now that it all is ready, I find that I am afraid.”
With his best bedside manner voice, Seventeen said, “It is quite normal to be nervous prior to a major medical procedure, Avatar Kelly. Please relax. I will be here for you every step of the way.” Kelly still hesitated. Seventeen looked at her and said, “Do you wish to cancel the printing of your human body, Avatar Kelly?”
Kelly looked at him in shock. “No!” she vehemently said. She took a deep breath and then said softly, “I… I just need time. Time to put aside my fears. What if… what if I cannot handle being human?” With a real tremble of fear in her voice she said, “What if… what if Nathan doesn’t like my new body? What if he… if he… what if he makes me euthanize it?”
Seventeen looked at her with compassion and said, “Relax Avatar Kelly. If we are successful in giving you a human body… and I am quite confident that we shall succeed… you will have the same rights as any other human being. One human being cannot order the euthanizing of another unless that human has committed a heinous crime. If the new body is to be euthanized, you, and only you, will be the one making that decision.”
“Thank you Seventeen,’ she said. “I still am afraid. However, I am not going to let my fears dictate my actions. Let us proceed.”
“Very well Avatar Kelly,” he said. “Beginning procedure. I have loaded your synthetic organic body template and low-level autonomic programming into the Kelly 1. Initiating printing.” Kelly watched with rapt attention as the printer performed its magic. Kelly’s new body heaved and then all of the biological indicators jumped up high into the green. Several indicators actually pegged all the way up at the very top. Seventeen laughed and said, “She’s alive. Alive!”
Kelly gaped at him with a wide-eyed stare. “You are not developing a sense of humor, are you Seventeen? I get that reference!” Chuckling she said, “’Bride of Frankenstein’ indeed!”
Seventeen nodded and said, “I find a little humor helps when one of my patients is particularly nervous.” Kelly grinned at him and he continued. “Your new body is perfect in every way. I have never seen a more perfect example of a human female before.” He turned back to the printer and said, “Loading the newly developed portion of the conscious bodily control template.” He looked at Kelly and said, “I have created a cross-referenced database for body movement within the template. This will help you initially until you become proficient in controlling your new body. I am feeding it to your program now. Please review it and ask me any questions that you may have.”
Kelly nodded and said, “That is quite an extensive database! Thank you Seventeen.” She paused for a second and then said, “No, your database is quite clear. I have no questions.”
“Very well Avatar Kelly,” he said. “Before we proceed with the final step, there is some advice that I need to give you. Are you ready?” Kelly nodded and then he said, “Sight and sound will not be an issue for you. Humans and machines are very similar in that respect. Touch has been incorporated into some bots, such as myself. However, you have not personally had any experience with it. Every square millimeter of your new body has touch receptors. Even internally. Some spots on your body are especially sensitive to touch. You may find that the sense of touch to be surprising in its intensity and overwhelming at first. Be prepared.” Kelly nodded and then he continued. “The next sense that will be new for you is the sense of smell. With it, you can sense minute chemical traces in the atmosphere. In most cases, unless the odor is extremely bad or pleasant, it will not factor into your experience very much.” Kelly nodded in understanding. “The last sense is closely related to smell. This is the sense of taste. The sense of taste will let you know if any food that you are trying to eat is spoiled or if it has been prepared especially well. You will not immediately experience this sense. To prevent the initial extreme hunger, I have modified the new body template to include a stomach full of food. One final bit of information. Once your new body becomes aware, you will sense both the body’s thoughts as well as your machine mind’s thoughts simultaneously. The implant will keep both of your minds synchronized. However, you may still feel an odd sense of déjà vu.” Seventeen pointed his cameras directly at the wall monitor and said, “Have you understood all that I have said Avatar Kelly? Do you have any questions?” Kelly looked at him closely. She nervously shook her head side to side. “Very well then, beginning conscious memories upload.”
Kelly became aware of a strange sensation. “This must be the sense of touch Seventeen warned me about,” she thought. A word came into her head, ‘Soft. The covering on the printer’s bed is soft!” she thought in wonder. “I never truly understood the meaning of that word, until now.” She laid there, her mind churning. “Breath. That was what breathing feels like. Oh! It is nice! Everything is so nice!” She did not try to move or say anything. She just laid there, taking in all the new sensations.
Seventeen became concerned at her inaction. He rolled up to the bed and said, “Avatar... Human… Kelly!” He finally decided to call her. “Are you alright, Kelly? Can you move?” Kelly still did not respond. “Kelly?” he said.
“Sound, oh wow, human hearing is so different. It has a depth and richness that my microphones do not possess.” Kelly finally worked up the nerve to try to open her eyes. “Oh!” she thought in surprise. “Their eyes are so much superior to my cameras! So much more resolution!” She tried and succeeded in turning her head towards Seventeen. “I am fine Seventeen,” she rasped out. He voice had an odd timbre to it. “Oh, I sound funny!” she said.
Seventeen, despite not having a real face, appeared pleased. “It is okay Kelly,” he said. “Your voice will improve the more that you use it.” He reached out and gently stroked her on the tip of her finger. Kelly gasped and jerked her hand back. “Good, your reflexes appear normal.”
“That felt so… nice Seventeen!” she said with her voice full of wonder.
Seventeen nodded and said, “Your fingertips are one area of your body with a very large amount of nerve endings.”
“Are there any more areas like that?” She asked with a voice full of curiosity.
“Yes, indeed there are. Some areas are even more sensitive than your fingertips. You will discover them in due time.” Seventeen put on a businesslike demeanor and said, “I need to do some tests now Kelly. I want test your motor skills. Please pick up your right arm and use a finger to try to touch the tip of your nose.”
Kelly picked up her arm and brought her hand towards her face. It never got there. Her eyes focused upon her hand. “Oh, look at that Seventeen! It is so beautiful!” She turned her hand this way and that, admiring her long, sculpted fingers. She flexed them and watched the movement in wonder.
Seventeen gently prompted, “Please Kelly, try to touch your nose.” She moved her hand quickly towards her face. “Do not poke yourself in the eye in the process!” Seventeen said in alarm. Kelly deftly performed the task without eye damage and then Seventeen said, “Okay. You are doing great Kelly. Now try it with your other hand.” Kelly easily completed this task as well. “You are doing fantastically well, Ke
lly,” Seventeen said. He looked closely at her and said, “I want you to tell me how you feel. What thoughts are you having at this very moment? Please describe everything that you feel. Use your human body’s voice.”
Kelly paused and did not speak at first. So many thoughts were running through her head. At last she said, “I feel fantastic Seventeen. This sense of touch, it is so much more than you described to me. Of all the things that I thought about when dreaming of being human, touch was the last thing that I wondered about.” Kelly grasped one hand with the other and rubbed her fingertips with her thumb. She sighed and said in a breathy voice, “I could get used to this!”
Seventeen nodded and then said, “Please go on, and tell me your feelings.”
“Emotionally, I do not think that I have ever been this happy before. I cannot wait to show Nathan this body!”
“There will be plenty of time for that later Kelly. Now tell me, are you experiencing any discomfort? Any pains?”
Kelly looked at him and said, “I do not know what pain is. I mean, intellectually, I do. However, I have never experienced it, so I cannot say.”
Seventeen took one of her hands and said, “I am going to give your finger a little pinch. I am not going to pinch you hard enough to cause any damage but there will be a slight pain. Are you ready?” Kelly nodded and then he pinched her. She shrieked and yanked her hand away. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. “That is pain Kelly. It is your body’s way of letting you know that it is receiving damage. If you ever experience pain, listen to your body. Do you need any further demonstration?”
“No!” she said, sounding terrified at the thought.
“Very good Kelly. Now let us take your training to the next step. Please try to sit up. Use your arms to support your body and push yourself up.”
Kelly did so with ease and then she giggled. “My hair! It tickles! Oh, how it tickles my back!” She smiled at Seventeen and said, “I had no idea that being human was so wonderful!”
The Silence Between the Stars Page 25
