Final Contact (Contact Series)
Page 13
“Good, then I will leave the planetary defenses in your hands, Legion. Sybil and I are going off planet to try and infiltrate the Unity. We will hopefully bring back information on this new plasma weapon of theirs and their future plans. Sasha, you will be responsible for safeguarding my body while my consciousness is implanted in Sybil. It will lie in my quarters under sedation until my return. If I do not return within two weeks, then you are to revive me. Understood?”
“Yes, but why not stay lucid here while you are gone?” Sasha asked.
“Any changes in Commander Hauptman’s synaptic patterns complicates the restoration of his memories into his brain upon our return. The fewer changes in his brain, the better. Our odds of success depend on reducing the variables,” Sybil answered.
“Legion, you are second-in-command. If anything should happen to me here, you are in charge.”
“Yes, Jason, but you will return, and we will have many more battles against our enemies—together. When do you leave?”
“Sybil and I will leave in twenty-four hours.”
Transfer
The process seemed simple enough. I lay down on my bunk and relaxed as Sasha started an IV drip with a sedative to keep my body unconscious until I returned. Sybil completed her scan of my neural net in order to have the most up-to-date information on my synaptic patterns. Then I would awaken within Sybil’s android body. When we returned, Sybil would instruct my neural net to create new synaptic patterns to mimic my experiences while in the android body, and I would awaken in my own body once again. Simple.
My first sensation was panic, pure panic—a frantic instinct to survive. I was suffocating, unable to breathe. My lungs were paralyzed. I couldn’t breathe! I couldn’t move! I was trapped, dying.
“Jason, relax. Relax and gather your thoughts. Your consciousness is within the android’s data circuits. You don’t have to breathe. You have no lungs. The transfer is a success. You are here with me … Jason, respond.”
My mind was wild with panic. Then I was aware of looking down at myself, my body. I was out of control. I couldn’t do anything.
“Jason, I am inhibiting your natural autonomic system within the software program. Jason, concentrate. Listen to me. Focus on my thoughts.”
The panic slowly abated. I began to think rationally again. I was inside Sybil, sharing her thoughts. I tried to relax, tried to surrender myself to her control. Just relax and enjoy the ride, I kept thinking, repeating it over and over.
“That’s better. Your thought patterns are returning to normal.”
“Sybil, could we redirect your optics at something other than my body? I find it somewhat disconcerting.” Oh my god, I even sound like Sybil, I thought to myself.
“Of course, Jason, we can go outside your quarters if you like.” Sybil stepped outside. “Is this better? Are you feeling better now that I have modified your simulation?”
“Yes, the panic’s over. I just feel very strange with no motor control. Let’s get on with it. Load up the cargo ship and launch. The sooner we’re away, the better.” This must be what it is like to be trapped in a paralyzed body, with no feeling, no bodily responses. Except in this case, Sybil is carrying me around. She even controls where I look.
“Is everything all right, Sybil?” Sasha asked.
“Yes, the transfer is successful, and we are proceeding with the mission,” Sybil replied.
“Reassure her that I am fine and adjusting well. She will be concerned.”
“Sasha, Commander Hauptman is functioning within expected parameters and is compensating for changes in sensory input. I am also making adjustments to make him more comfortable.”
I could see Sasha’s skepticism on her face.
“Nice, but not reassuring, Sybil,” I told her.
“Perhaps you would like to script my reply,” Sybil responded to me.
“Tell her that—”
“I will enable you to speak to her directly by giving you access to my nonverbal communications systems,” Sybil interrupted.
“Sasha, I am OK. It was a bit of a jolt, but I am doing well now. Keep monitoring my physical status until I return. Also, have Noomi and Mako monitor our cargo vessel until we are past the Unity blockade. You can launch external sensors for that.”
“Yep, that’s Jason, bossy as ever. Glad you’re OK,” Sasha retorted.
Sybil and I left for the cargo ship. It was like being carried as a baby. I had no control over anything, even where I looked. For the first time, I realized how different the world looked to Sybil. Her vision was similar to ours in the perception of the visual spectrum of light, but that is where the similarity ended. Every object also had a different appearance as to the material it was constructed from, an enhanced texture. Objects in motion had velocity vectors associated with them, giving Sybil instant information. She could “see” momentum in an absolute value. Temporary ghost images predicted any object’s projected path or trajectory. Other objects that had been moved were accompanied with a ghost image of where they had previously been. The images of trajectory and past location seemed to be color coded. It was almost more than I could take in.
As Sybil and I approached the cargo vessel, I became aware of an audio chatter. Sybil was simultaneously communicating with a dozen different computers and Unity members on base. She was gathering status updates on the cargo ship’s engines, load, and navigation settings. She was also getting reports of Unity blockade warships, their number, and last known location. Sensory probes had already been launched and were functioning so far; they would no doubt be targeted by the orbiting Unity warships soon. Other information she was accessing had to do with factory production status, repair procedures, location of key androids, and their operation. Then I caught a goodbye to Mako. It was short and unencumbered with a lot of emotion. I tried to ignore it, feeling I had somehow invaded her privacy.
We launched without any mishap. Our cargo ship was filled with inactive android bodies, another gift from us to the Unity. The cargo ship’s navigation was all automatic; it was bound for a major Unity base that produced holographic computer processors and new artificially intelligent individuals—the Unity’s equivalent of a nursery.
“I will have to shut down most of my functions in order to prevent detection from the Unity warships when they run their scans. It should not be for very long, Jason. Do not be alarmed.”
“I am ready.” At least I thought I was. It was almost another panic attack. I felt my consciousness fading, almost like a falling sensation. My vision and hearing were gone. I couldn’t feel anymore. My thoughts seemed to come in a dream like slow motion. I was floating in nothingness. Then just as suddenly as it began, it was over.
“We are past the blockade. We were undetected,” Sybil said.
“That was quick.”
“Relatively quick, we were in minimal function mode for two hours and forty-seven minutes. Long enough to progress beyond scanner range of the blockade. Your time sense was distorted.”
“Great, now we just sit back and wait until we arrive. I don’t suppose you brought a deck of cards. Of course, playing solitaire might be different with your abilities. Poker would be out of the question.”
“I did not. Commander, your mourning of Sergeant Klanton, I am curious about it. Can you explain?”
“When we lose someone we care about, humans often go into a state of mourning. It has to do with recalling our memories of the person and convincing ourselves that the person is now in a better place or that they will live on in our memories.”
Sybil reflected on this for a moment. I could catch bits and pieces of her thoughts. They were too rapid for me to follow in their entirety.
“I have many memories of the sergeant. If you would like to access them, I can relay them to you.”
“Yes, Sybil, that would be nice.” That’s how we spent the rest of the journey to the Nursery Planet of the Unity. I went through an entire range of emotions as she replayed her memories of Sergean
t Klanton in great detail. And as I went from laughter to anguish, Sybil observed me and studied what it meant to be human. We discussed many of those emotions and the feelings that humans have for one another, both good and bad.
Too Many Jasons
When we arrived at the Nursery Planet, our cargo vessel was submitted to a much more intensive scan. Sybil’s presence was quickly detected. She had not powered down for these scans. Indeed, we were counting on them.
“What is your intention? Explain your presence,” a communication from the base inquired of Sybil as we landed outside the base, and four escorting warships circled above.
“I have returned from the warship factory on planet 009783462, presently occupied by the human forces. I have been studying human behavior and characteristics. I bring information on the humans, their plans, capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. I will relay this information, but I have need of a new holographic processor unit. I was unable to secure my original unit during my departure from the humans.” Sybil kept a tight control on my access to her faculties. We did not want the Unity to detect my thoughts and presence. “I wish to be reinstituted into the Unity. I am alone. I wish to be a part of it again.”
“Does your information pertain to the leader of the human forces? We have limited information on their organization and capabilities. We require further data on their origin, numbers, and resources.” The Unity responded in a communication that seemed to be a thousand voices in unison.
“I was closely associated with their leader, Jason Hauptman, and I have been studying him since my incorporation into this android body. I have detailed files on him and his behavior patterns. He is responsible for their success. The other humans defer to his instructions. Once you understand his behavior patterns, motivations, and goals, the humans will be defenseless in the presence of our overwhelming forces. They are a curious species. Jason, in particular, is very creative. But they all seem to have a potential for creative thought and solution to challenges. We can learn much from them, and utilizing their creative skills and incorporating their thought and behavior patterns into our data banks will be a valuable adjunct to our knowledge.”
There was a long pause, presumably as the Unity members analyzed the risks, benefits, and possible outcomes to their next decision. The acquisition of knowledge was their primary goal. Gaining new knowledge trumped possible danger.
“Proceed to location 452718-236912 for download to holographic unit 555-34-8976-145. Your reinsertion into the Unity is desirable. You will be given instructions on where to begin reconstruction of the human information.”
Sybil opened the cargo ramp and departed the ship. She obviously knew where she was going based on the coordinates given her. I risked a question to her.
“What do they mean ‘reconstruction’?”
“You should minimize your communications with me once we reach the facility and begin the download. The Unity builds a simulation of the universe and everything in it in order to understand it and predict future actions and events. The information I am delivering to them will aid in construction of that simulated world based on my experiences.”
“Your experiences with humans. They simulate all of us and the worlds we’ve been on.”
“And the Warriors. It will give them a better understanding of Humans and Warriors. I have selectively included information that will make them want more information. It will create more questions than it answers.”
Sybil is going to give information about us, information she alone selected to the Unity. I should have monitored it, censored it. “Am I wrong to trust you, Sybil?” For the first time, I experienced her pause and self-query.
“It is too late to reevaluate your plan and my motivations. We are committed to our actions. There is no other course to consider.”
“You still believe that one day you will be reunited with the Unity, don’t you? And that all of your interactions with humans and with me will be just a pleasant experience, a few moments in your immortal life.”
“Jason, I fail to understand your line of reasoning. If you did not believe in the success of this mission, then why did we continue? What benefit is it to question it now?”
“I guess I just need a little reassurance, Sybil. I feel very vulnerable now, here within you. It’s a human thing.”
“My calculations of our probable success have not changed … provided you can contain your queries until after the download process.”
“Good enough. I’ll keep quiet.”
The Unity base was like all the others we had seen. It was a vast industrial-type complex; function dictated design. I was struck by the absence of color; everything was drab, grey, metallic. It expanded out from a central hub, where it originally started. Along the outer fringes of the complex, there was a constant flurry of activity as construction was under way to expand the facility. Once we passed into the base, there was less activity. Maintenance and material delivery required a steady flow of cargo along a set of tracks and an army of robotic workers of various size and design. I was curious about the organization of the workers; were they completely autonomous? Were they directed by a group of Unity members? Who oversaw their work? I kept my questions to myself and made a mental note to ask later.
We reached our destination, a large open area filled with stations, which were designated as programming stations according to Sybil’s visual tags. Each consisted of a cylindrical tower with a network of overhead cables connecting all the towers. Around the base of each tower were several holographic processor units. I assumed each was being programmed with a new artificial intelligence, a new Unity member. The holographic processor units were systematically removed and replaced with more units as the programming was completed. Are they all identical? I wondered. Are the Unity members just copies of each other?
Sybil walked up to a station and stood motionless for a moment. A robotic arm extended from the tower with multiple wires and connections hanging from it. Then all visual input from Sybil ceased, as did all other sensory input. I felt disoriented by the sudden isolation. Then vertigo set in, a feeling of spinning followed by nausea. I kept telling myself, I don’t have a stomach. I can’t be sick. I concentrated on making the feeling stop. Stop the spinning feeling. I don’t have an inner ear. This cannot be happening. It’s not real, only a reaction to loss of neural feedback. But knowing what was happening and controlling it were two different things. I tried to focus on something—anything. I began counting backward from one hundred, then counting the squares of three, 3…9…81…6,561…43,046,721. It was no use—the feeling would not stop. Soon I was wishing I had a stomach so I could just vomit and get it over with. I wished for something to hold on to. Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I could see again, hear again, feel again.
“Jason, the download is complete. Your thoughts are chaotic. What is wrong?”
“Sybil, are we OK? Is everything all right?”
“Yes, the download was successful. We are connected to a holographic processor unit now, and we will be connected to the Unity within the next few minutes. Are you experiencing difficulty?”
“Yes, I think it was the sudden lack of sensory input. It was very unpleasant and caused an uncontrollable feeling of vertigo.”
“I will institute a feedback loop for your sensory input next time.”
“Hopefully, there won’t be a next time.” I could see that we were still standing next to the programming station. Then Sybil reached down and disconnected the processor unit, picked it up, and began carrying it. “Where are we going now?”
“Since we have our own mobility, we can deliver the holographic processor unit to its designated power and cooling connections. Normally, a transport robot would do this task. Once we have installed the holographic processor unit and made the connections, we will be able to combine our consciousness with its computing power and access the Unity. The Unity will also be able to access our memory data and the information they desire.”
“No, Jason, I have set up a separate partition that only I can access. You will receive limited input so that it does not overwhelm your processing abilities. I have set up filters to reduce the flow of information to you. You will be unable to access information directly. I will guide you through the database. You will have to direct any specific queries to me. I can then access the information and relay it to you. These precautions should keep the Unity from detecting your presence, but only because they are not looking for you.”
Sybil arrived at her designated place and inserted her processor unit into the power, cooling, and communications connectors. A flood of information immediately followed. This was filtered? A three-dimensional layout of the base, then a schematic of power and communication lines within the facility appeared. An overview of the planet was followed by a star map of the system and its location within the galaxy. Other bases were marked on the star map. A series of designations dotted the map, but I could not understand their meaning. An image of the warship factory planet that we had conquered and were holding appeared, complete with a “real-time” image of the warships hovering above the planet. I could see our time shield below on the planet’s surface.