by William Wood
“Maybe she needs her battery replaced,” Calvin suggested.
“I tried that. It didn’t help,” Astra explained. Calvin walked to the robot and put his hand on her cold metal forehead.
“Poor little robot,” he said sadly. But that was the good thing about robots, wasn’t it? They could be repaired; parts could be replaced.
“I’ve been meaning to do this anyway,” Astra said. “You see, it was clear to me that something happened to her on Axia. There must be a reason why she can’t speak properly.”
“You said she was a nanny class robot,” Calvin said. “I assumed she was programmed that way.”
“Oh, no,” Astra said. “On a lot of planets, robots like these were assigned to infants, and stayed with their children for their first ten years of life. They helped teach their children how to read and write.”
“That’s kind of creepy.”
“Not in some societies,” Astra said. “But trust me; there is something wrong with this one. If I can find the memory unit, I might be able to figure out what happened; something to explain it all.”
The machine emitted a soft beep. “The scan is finished.” Astra said, moving to a computer terminal.
“Oh, wow,” Astra breathed. “There’s a lot of damage here. The software is badly corrupted.” The image of a schematic appeared on a monitor, with circuits and computer components. Several of the mechanisms looked burned and cracked.
“Oh good, I found the main memory. Let me see if I can find something playable.”
A monitor turned on, but there was nothing but white and gray shadows; no sound. After a second, the monitor showed a little girl, five years old, Calvin thought, maybe six. She had long blond hair, bright blue eyes and dimples in her cheeks and chin when she smiled, which she did often.
“This is a view from Scribbles,” Astra said.
“I didn’t know she had cameras in her eyes,” Calvin said.
The little girl had a serious look on her face, and her hands were adjusting something above Scribbles head. Then she moved back, revealing a pink hat resting on top of her head. The little girl had a huge smile on her face and she and Scribbles admired themselves in a mirror, both wearing pink hats with flowers on the top.
The scene changed to a sunny day, in a green garden. The little girl was running away, weaving in between trees and jumping over rocks. She held a pink stuffed bunny in her right hand and was laughing uncontrollably.
There were several bursts of static, and then there was another scene, this one in a bedroom. Two armed soldiers stood by a door. The little girl was pressed into a corner, scrunched on the floor, holding tightly onto Scribbles. The little girl looked terrified; tears were streaming from her eyes. The view rotated to the door. The soldiers looked scared too. Suddenly the door was smashed in and two large Dark Terrors forced their way in. Even on the screen they inflicted feelings that were nothing short of horror, bringing back all kinds of bad memories from Calvin’s own nightmares. The soldiers fired, but their weapons had no effect.
It was hard to watch what happened next, and in the end, the Dark Terrors left no one alive. Scribbles was thrown against a back wall and collapsed on the floor, lying on her back. A Dark Terror loomed over Scribbles and put its foot over her chest and stomped. The screen went dark.
“Oh my gosh!” Astra cried.
Calvin felt sick. “You were right,” he said angrily. “The monsters killed the little girl.”
“Yes,” Astra said, wiping tears from her eyes. “Nanny Robots are programmed to be sensitive and gentle. Scribbles must have gone into panic mode, and tried to shut down to prevent damage to her processors. I’ve never seen a robot traumatized like this before. She must have really loved that little girl.”
“That’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen,” Calvin said. “It all makes sense now. When we found her, she thought you were the little girl. That’s why she was so happy to see you.”
“Yeah,” Astra said sadly.
“Just tell me one thing; when we fire the super-weapon, it’ll destroy all the Dark Terrors, right? I only ask this because they’re flesh and blood just like us. Are you sure it will kill them?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Astra said calmly. “They’re only part flesh and blood, remember? The weapon won’t affect that aspect of them, but they have technological components built into their arms, legs, and internal organs that make them stronger, smarter and more aggressive. Those things will be destroyed and without them, they’ll die. Well, they might live for a little while, but they won’t be able to move. They’ll die slowly where they drop. I suppose that’s a bit ruthless, but considering what they are, maybe it’s not so bad. I think I’ll be able to sleep at night.”
“Good,” Calvin said, fairly sure he’d be able to sleep too. They were mindless monsters. Calvin doubted they would suffer, and if they did, who would care.
Astra turned off the scanner and stepped away from Scribbles. They looked at each other for several seconds without speaking. Astra’s eyes were red. Finally, Calvin spoke.
“Are you gonna repair her?” Calvin asked.
“I started to, but I’m almost afraid to go any further. I might be able to repair the speech center, but the problem is her computer core. I’m afraid if I mess with that, she won’t be our Scribbles anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
“If I repair her computer core, she might regain all her memories, including watching her little girl die. There’s no reason to put her through that again. Besides, she’s with us now, and she seems happy.”
“You’re right,” Calvin said, although he wished he hadn’t seen the video.
“Anyway, at this point it might not matter.”
“What do you mean?” Calvin asked, confused and concerned with the way she said that. It sounded final, like she was giving up.
“There’s more internal damage than I was prepared to deal with. I can’t reinitialize her power system; I can’t reinitialize anything.”
“What?” Calvin asked. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
“She’s slowly dying. I’ve tried everything I could think of. All I seem to be doing is making it worse. It’s like there’s something inside her that’s already given up.” She turned off the scanner and stepped back. “I have a bad feeling we’re going to just have to let her go.” She said the last part with a great amount of sorrow. “I just need to leave her alone right now. I’ll have Dev take a look at her. Maybe he can figure it out. If he can’t, I’ll just replace the main processor and we’ll have a brand new nanny robot.”
Calvin shook his head. None of that made any sense to him. Scribbles was a robot, not a living person. Yes, they had made great strides in making their robots seem more human, but the perception of emotions was simply a complicated series of programming that reacted to situations. Calvin knew that, but wondered if it was possible that Astra had been surrounded by robots for so long that she thought of them as human now, not just metal and circuits? He decided not to say anything about it; instead he decided to change the subject.
“Have you seen anyone else this morning?”
“Dev is working in the lab next door,” Astra said. “I haven’t seen anyone else.”
“Thanks. I’ll go see what he’s up to,” Calvin said. “Ion said he was going to teach us how to use the new defense turrets.”
“Good idea. Considering where we’re going, I have a feeling we’re going to need those.” She was talking about the six new weapons turrets that had been installed on Azure Frost during its recent overhaul, as an extra layer of defense. They were very effective against small spaceships, like fighters or scouts.
“Let’s have dinner tonight. I’ll find you when I’m ready.”
“Sounds good,” Calvin said. He stepped back out into the corridor. It was a short walk to the lab next door. When he walked in, he found a smaller lab that looked more like a workshop. Dev was sitting at a workbench with his back to
the door. There was a bright light over the table, and piles of electronic devices, wires and circuit cards scattered around.
“Hi Dev,” Calvin said. Dev turned around. He was wearing a pair of computerized glasses. Calvin could barely see his eyes behind the thick, dark yellow lenses.
“Calvin,” Dev said, taking off his glasses. “How’s it going?”
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
“I’m working on a personal project,” Dev said. “You see, I’ve been thinking; we have portable shield generators that protect us and provide a limited amount of oxygen should we lose atmosphere suddenly. I like that; it’s important, but, what we really need are portable cloaking devices. If we could’ve been invisible, we wouldn’t have had any of the problems we had on our previous missions.”
“Interesting idea,” Calvin said skeptically. “Do you think you can make it work?”
“I think so.”
“It’s a brilliant idea,” Calvin said.
“Thanks. I came up with the idea back on my home world; it’s what got me into the science academy. I never had the resources to actually make one, until now. Here I have access to more technology than I ever did before. I think I can make it work.”
“All right, I’ll leave you to it then. See you later.” Calvin stepped back out into the corridor, glad that Astra and Dev had something to keep them occupied. Next he went to look for Wexton, Nils, Petori and Freks. He had an idea of where to look for Wexton. He went to the gym. Sure enough, that’s where he found everyone else, all dressed in workout clothes. Wexton was demonstrating hand-to-hand combat techniques. Calvin pressed himself against a wall, well out of the way, and watched.
Wexton stood on one side of the room, Freks on the other. Freks launched at Wexton low and fast, diving for his legs. Wexton simply stepped aside and pushed Freks down into the mat. Freks jumped up and bounced back to the wall.
“No!” Wexton shouted. “You’re not listening! You can’t rush me like that. See how easily I stopped you?”
Freks looked like a crazed animal. He was leaning forward with his hands out, and breathed rapidly. Suddenly he jumped forward and ran forward at full speed toward Wexton. Again, Wexton moved out of the way and knocked Freks to his knees.
“No!” Wexton shouted. “You’re not paying attention, why aren’t you getting this? You can’t blast into combat that way; so wild and out of control. That’s how people die. Slow down; think about what you’re doing. You have to use your mind as well as your body.”
“I don’t understand,” Freks snapped. “Why are we learning hand-tohand combat when we can use laser pistols?”
“Bad things happen in combat! You have to be ready for anything!” Wexton shouted back. “You can’t rely solely on your laser pistol, and not all of your enemies are going to be made out of metal. Even if you never have to fight with your hands, this training is good for you. It enhances all of your combat abilities by strengthening your body and mind. I’m trying to teach you to understand and see what’s happening around you in combat. Let’s do it again!”
Calvin shook his head and left the room, grateful that he wasn’t going through Wexton’s combat course. He definitely had his work cut out for him. While Calvin felt it was good having the extra people to help, he was certain that he wouldn’t want to fight alongside Freks; he was too unpredictable; too unstable.
Calvin had nothing else to do, so he went back to the only thing that had kept him occupied during the long stretches of inactivity; the space combat simulator. He trained in the simulator the rest of the day. He didn’t take a break until dinner, and he was famished. He was happy when Astra found him for dinner. They got their food and took it to the library. They shared a quiet meal at the table near the big window. After they ate, they sipped hot tea and looked out the window.
Calvin touched her hand and smiled. She smiled back; a smile that warmed his spirit and made him feel happy. When he looked in her eyes, he felt like there was hope and a future. He wanted Astra to know how he felt.
“Sometimes I stop and wonder how I got here,” Calvin said. “I’m completely amazed at how lucky I am, considering how it all started. My first mission in space began with disaster. The Sorenia was captured and the crew left me behind. My best friend was killed by the Goremog. I thought my life was over, and then I met you. Now I’m on the most amazing adventure of my life. I’m so glad I met you.”
“Me too,” Astra said. “We’ve known for years that our only hope of surviving in this galaxy was to find the super-weapon. But the idea of having an Alerian and Arlandian open the vaults; something the scientist thought would be the most secure way of keeping the segments safe, turned out to be a curse. We went to Arlandia, and were horrified to find that the Goremog had destroyed it with radiation bombs. Out of desperation, we went to all of the Arlandian colonies, and found them in the same condition. So we sent ships out to the far corners of the galaxy, looking for a surviving Arlandia. We had lost hope. Then, against impossible odds we found you; I found you. Now I have hope again. I feel like my life started over. I’ve been running and hiding my whole life. Now we’re out here together, saving the universe. I have to remind myself we’re not invincible, because sometimes I feel like we are.”
Calvin wrestled with his thoughts. Was now the right time to tell Astra how he felt about her? He wanted to tell her that he loved being with her. That when he wasn’t with her, he felt lost and incomplete. He really wanted to say that he loved her, but didn’t want to sound crazy or desperate. He was deeply terrified that she didn’t feel the same way, and he was afraid of being rejected. Also because once he said it, he could never take it back.
Should he tell her? If he waited, how much time would he have before they found the last segment? What then? She would leave with her parents and he would go home. He would never see her again. He didn’t want her to leave. Calvin wanted to tell her about his dreams, but wasn’t sure how she would react. Every time he wanted to, he convinced himself it wasn’t the right time.
They sat on the couch, holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes, with the blue hyperspace cloud behind them in the window. He felt dizzy, and it felt as if time had stopped and she was waiting for him to say something. He wondered if there would ever be a better time. No, there wouldn’t be. Lost in her eyes, he said the only thing that made sense, the thing his heart and soul had been heading towards.
“Astra, the first time I saw you, I was attracted to you. You’re the most amazing and beautiful woman I’ve ever met. When I’m not with you, I feel that part of me is missing. I love being with you. Just being next to you makes me feel more alive than I ever have before. When I saw you get sucked out into space in front of me I really understood how much you meant to me. I thought my life was over.” He paused. Tears were falling gently down her cheeks. “I love you. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and I don’t want to lose you.”
“Oh Calvin,” Astra said, wiping her eyes. “I love you too. I was afraid you didn’t feel the same way.”
She leaned forward and they held each other. Calvin felt a rush of intense emotions and felt like he was flying.
“You won’t lose me,” Astra said, sitting back. “Why do you think you’ll lose me?”
“Because after we find the last segment, you’ll go with your family. I’ll return to New Arlandia.”
“I know,” Astra said. “I’ve been thinking about that too.”
“You have?” Calvin said.
“Of course,” Astra said. “I don’t know what my people will do when this is over. So many things could happen. Maybe after we destroy the Goremog, my people will choose to relocate next to New Arlandia. Besides, I can choose for myself, you know. It’s my choice, and I will choose to stay with you, no matter where my people resettle. I will go with you to New Arlandia.”
He felt like his heart could explode. She felt the same way! His heart pounded, but he suddenly felt more vulnerable. He would
die to protect her, if he had to. He wouldn’t have to think about it; he wouldn’t hesitate. They talked until late in the evening.
When he walked back to his room later that night, he was so happy he felt like he was floating down the corridor. Lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, a thought suddenly occurred to him; since the adventure began he never longed to go home, and he knew why. He was already there.
Things were quiet for the next week. Calvin and Astra worked on their own projects during the day, but had dinner together each night in the library. Calvin completed the advanced combat course in the simulator. Astra finished scanning the first segment.
“I figured out why it exploded when I plugged it into the main power grid,” Astra told him at dinner. “Four of seven power regulators and two valves were damaged. I was able to replace them, so it shouldn’t happen again. I’m ready to make a copy of it. You can send the results of the scan to your father whenever you want to. I hope it helps them.”
“Just the first segment?”
“Yes, so far,” Astra said. “Once I finish copying it, and make sure it’s fully functional, I’ll get started on the second.”
“It sounds like you have a lot of work to do,” Calvin said. “I have the simulator, hopefully that will keep me busy. I finished the advanced combat course.”
“Wow, that’s impressive,” Astra said. “Now you can fly some historic battles. I think they’re all in the computer.”
“Thanks, I’ll check it out.”
Before going to bed, Calvin checked in on Dev, who was usually in the workshop. But when he walked in the room, there was nobody there; the room was empty.
“Dev?” Calvin called. He entered the small room and looked behind a stack of boxes. Dev wasn’t there. Calvin was on his way out when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned around, but there was nobody there. “What in the world?” Calvin muttered to himself. Then the air directly in front of him shimmered and sparkled. Suddenly Dev appeared.
