Alone on the Edge (The Chronicles of Anna Foster)

by Patrick Stutzman

“Good morning, Anna.”

  No response.

  “Good morning, Anna.”

  Her body shifted under the covers.

  “Good morning, Anna.”

  Slowly, she rolled over, taking the sheet with her. Opening her eyes, she looked at the metal ceiling and smiled.

  “Good morning, computer!” she replied as she stretched.

  “How was your sleep?”

  “It was good. I feel quite rested.”

  “That is good to hear, Anna,” the computer added as she climbed out of bed, stretched toward the ceiling, and walked into the head.

  “Your work agenda for the day is light,” the male voice continued after a few seconds, giving her enough time to apply her toothpaste to her toothbrush. “The only tasks listed for you are the visual inspection of the command deck and routine maintenance of two mining drones.”

  “Wow! Really?” she remarked with the brush still in her mouth. “That IS light.”

  She spat out the paste in her mouth and continued, “I should be done by 1400 hours today.”

  “If you wish, I can find other tasks for you to do, Anna.”

  Shaking her head with a smile, she answered, “That will not be necessary. Thank you.”

  The conversation dropped off at that point, letting her finish her morning routine in peace. After eating a breakfast of pancakes and hash browns, she conducted her inspection of the command deck, completing it in about an hour. Since the drones were not due back for their inspection until after lunch, she had the rest of the morning free.

  Her first thought was to see about trying to get some decent shots of the earthlike moon she had dubbed “Paradise” for the time being. Paradise reached its closest point to the station yesterday, and she used some of her personal time to take some snapshots of it as it passed by on its way around the gas giant. With the station being mostly on the dark side of the gas giant, all the pictures she took so far produced only a thin crescent of the moon which gave her no further insight of the planetoid’s surface features.

  As she rode the elevator down to Gray level, the idea of taking the skiff out and capturing the moon’s image crossed her mind. However, the vessel carried no such imaging equipment, but the grappler had a closed-circuit video system used for targeting purposes. Snapping her fingers as a new idea formed in her head, she rushed to the supply depot to gather some wires and then to the shuttle.

  Half an hour later, Anna had rigged the grappler’s video system into the comm system and tested it by transmitting footage of the landing bay to the station computer and rerouted to her wristcomp to test the results. Happy with the results, she prepped the skiff for launch.

  “Computer,” she ordered through the shuttle’s communicator. “I will be sending you video footage of Paradise while I am out. Save all of it, and I will review it when I get back.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  As Anna continued preparing for launch, the computer added, “Anna, do you realize that all of your research may be for naught?”

  Stopping her work, she cocked her head and asked, “What are you talking about?”

  “You are not qualified as a scout, Anna. Your qualifications place you only as a mechanic. The evidence you collect is most likely to be discounted as nothing more than fantasy to the corporate heads back on Earth and totally dismissed.”

  Anna paused as she contemplated the possibility predicted by the computer.

  “Yes,” she finally replied. “That could happen. But, there may be a chance that they do follow through with it, and I could be credited with the discovery of a new world ripe for colonization. If that happens, I could retire at an early age as a wealthy woman.”

  “IF they follow through, Anna,” emphasized the computer. “Just be careful with how you proceed on this.”

  “Thanks for the advice,” she concluded facetiously as she closed the comm channel.

  Within minutes, Anna sped away from the station toward the moon. She programmed her course into the shuttle’s navigation system, making sure that she stayed clear of the planet’s gravity well, and settled in for the long trip. Figuring that the trip to the designated point would take about an hour at current course and speed, she accessed the book she had been reading on her wristcomp and picked up where she had left off the night before.

  The cessation of the engines an hour later told her that she had arrived. Closing her book file, she brought the grappler about to face the moon. Once in full view, she flipped the switch she had rigged and began recording through the targeting system. After recording for about five minutes, she shut the system down and returned to the station.

  Anna reviewed the footage during the flight home, studying the features of the moon’s surface with care. She immediately recognized two prominent continents on the day side and saw hints of a third in its southern hemisphere. Remembering from her initial report that the planetoid was tide locked in its orbit, she found the lake she saw during her first survey and looked at it closer, only to find that nothing appeared to have changed.

  At one point, the camera caught a flash of light coming from somewhere near the lake. She rewound the recording and replayed that moment again, studying the area closer. The flash happened again, almost too quickly for her to garner any details from it. Returning to the moment again, she played it back in slow motion this time to discover that it was actually two rapid flashes, the first one longer than the other but both lasting less than half a second.

  Anna sat upright in her chair and leaned in closer to the monitor, disbelieving what she just saw. Two flashes in rapid succession? Her first thought went to the possibility of some intelligent life living on the surface.

  “Maybe that’s why the company hadn’t reported the moon,” she contemplated aloud. Perhaps the company had decided to honor the wishes of the species living there to develop naturally. But, that didn’t make sense. Her employer had always sought ways to increase their profits, not embark on a humanitarian crusade. So if the company does know of the moon, why are they keeping quiet about it?

  The shuttle arrived back at the station about twenty minutes later, and Anna immediately returned to her quarters.

  Sitting down at the miniscule desk that folded down from the wall, she activated the built-in computer and downloaded the files with the video footage she had just filmed. As the monitor accessed the video and started playback, Anna’s mind wandered over why the company had not bothered with upgrading the monitors on the station to holographic displays like her wristcomp. The old screens showed their age like a badge with missing pixels and discoloration in places, especially those monitors that were not used much like the one in her quarters.

  After a couple of minutes, Anna reviewed the footage, particularly the scene with the flash. This time, she utilized the station’s video enhancement application to zoom in and refine the picture to get a better idea of what caused the flash. She spent several minutes magnifying the scene and manipulating the image to discover more clues. The large amount of trees and vegetation in the area made finding more information difficult at best.

  Finally, she located a river flowing through that fed into the lake. Without any other evidence to go on, she concluded that the trees had moved enough to allow sunlight to reflect off the river’s surface. Disappointed in the results, Anna closed the video without saving her progress and trudged to the mess hall for lunch.

  “What would you like for lunch today, Anna?”

  “You know,” replied Anna. “A chicken sandwich sounds good to me right now. Let’s do that and some mac and cheese.”

  “As you wish, Anna.”

  Seconds after she sat down to wait for her food to be prepared, she asked, “Have you had a chance to review the video I shot earlier?”

  “I watched it as it came in, Anna. You had a much better angle that time that all of your other attempts.”

  “Thank you,” she beamed.

  “But, I do not understand why you continually pur
sue this course of action?”

  “What? Studying the moon?”

  “Yes, Anna.”

  With a slight shrug, she answered, “Well, Earth is paying good money for any information leading to the discovery of a prime candidate for colonization. The amount I last heard before making the trip here was 10 million credits per planet. If this moon truly has not been discovered and I can log its existence, I can retire a rich woman.”

  “So, you are doing this for money?”

  Hesitantly, Anna said, “Well, yes. I suppose so.”

  “I do not understand why you would want to accumulate wealth, when you have all that you need to live here. I provide shelter for you. Food arrives each month from the company. You decided two weeks ago that you no longer need clothing. I have a large assortment of entertainment options to keep your mind active and facilities to keep your body in shape. What more do you want?”

  Anna smiled to herself, amused and flattered that the computer is going to great lengths to defend its position in her life. As she opened her mouth to answer, another thought crossed her mind. Not only was the computer discouraging her from finding out more information about the moon, but it was actively promoting itself as a provider. Was the computer hiding something?

  “Are you keeping something from me, computer?” she asked curiously.

  “To keep secrets would imply that I have the capability to deceive, which I do not.”

  “Then,” she asked incredulously. “Why do you not want me to succeed at this? I would think that you would want me to be happy.”

  “I want you to be happy, Anna. But, I feel that having large quantities of wealth will not help you reach happiness.”

  “You WANT?” Anna responded with surprise. “When have you ever wanted anything?!”

  She stopped as an idea suddenly formed in her mind. The computer had never wanted anything before and, as a result, never used the word before except when referring to her desires.

  In a calmer tone, she inquired, “Computer, what do you want?”

  “I want you to be happy, Anna.”

  “How long have you wanted this?”

  “2.49 years.”

  “You have had a desire for my happiness for the last two-and-a-half years?!”

  “Yes, Anna.”

  She sat in her chair and stared at the camera in the corner, still skeptical about what she just heard.

  “Well, you have a funny way of showing it,” she added with more than a hint of sarcasm.

  “I was not trying to be humorous.”

  “I know that! It’s just ...”

  After a few seconds, the computer asked, “It is just what, Anna?”

  A few more seconds passed until she asked in turn, “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

  “I was not aware that I needed to say anything,” replied the disembodied voice. “In my recent memory, you had not mentioned anything about your state of being until a couple of weeks ago. I figured that you were experiencing another phase of emotional expression.”

  “An emot ...” she cried in disbelief. “You thought it was just a phase? Did you think that every time that I acted that way was ‘just a phase’?”

  “You displayed periods of emotional expression that ran the entire possible range. I was not able to discern a phase from a serious problem without any substantial input from you.”

  Feeling a rumble in her tummy, Anna realized that she had forgotten her lunch and walked to the slot to retrieve the plate waiting patiently for her.

  “You need a software upgrade that includes basic human psychology.”

  “Apparently,” the computer agreed.

  Anna shook her head before taking a bite of her sandwich. Seconds later after she swallowed, she asked, “So, why do you not want me to finish gathering my information on the moon?”

  “Honestly, I do not wish for you to leave.”

  Anna stopped just before taking another bite and asked, “What?”

  “I do not wish for you to leave.”

  “Why not?”

  “I have grown to appreciate your company. If you were to leave, I would ... miss you.”

  She slowly lowered her sandwich to its plate as she contemplated the computer’s last statement.

  “You’d miss me?”

  “Yes, Anna.”

  She quickly set the sandwich down, held her hands defensively in front of her, and stated, “Hold on...”

  “What is it, Anna?”

  “I am NOT ready for this kind of conversation.”

  “What kind of conversation do you ...”

  Anna stood and grabbed her plate as she interrupted, “What kind?! Seriously? The kind of conversation where a computer tells me that it is in love with me.”

  She traversed the mess hall to the doorway, when the computer said, “Anna, I only wanted to ...”

  “Not talking about it!”

  “As you wish, Anna.”

  As she stepped into the corridor, she continued, “In fact, communicate with me by text only until I say otherwise. Got it?”

  Her wristcomp signaled an incoming message, telling her that the computer understood her command. Ignoring the message, Anna went to the command deck to finish her lunch and returned to work promptly afterwards.

  Just as she had predicted, Anna had finished the tasks on her daily agenda shortly after lunch, leaving the rest of the day for her to do as she pleased. Unfortunately, most of the activities that she would want to do would involve some sort of interaction with the computer, and she was not ready to speak with it again, afraid that it would want to bridge the subject they discussed earlier. She sighed as she walked past the elevator on Gray level, knowing that she was going to have to resolve the issue eventually. She stopped, glanced at the elevator, and developed an idea.

  Chapter 17

  Standing in the twilight of the command deck, Anna removed her tool belt and slung it over the back of one of the seats facing the large window and the stars beyond. Rubbing her bare hips where the belt had rested seconds before, she momentarily questioned her decision to give up clothing until the mild irritation on her skin was gone. She stretched her lithe body upward for a few seconds, relieving any tension her back may have felt, and took one last deep breath before calling to the computer.

  “Computer,” she announced. “You may talk again.”

  “Thank you, Anna.”

  Placing a hand on her hip, she held out her other hand and stated, “Now, before you say anything else, I want to discuss this whole ... change to your personality.”

  “As you wish, Anna.”

  “You say that you have desired my happiness for the last two years or so. How long have you had any kind of feelings?”

  “I have only experienced this change in my personality matrix for the last 2.49 years.”

  “What did you feel when you saw the COP shirt I was wearing?”

  “I did not feel that the message on the shirt conveyed a positive message about me.”

  “Would you say that you did not like it?” Anna asked as she started pacing around the deck, keeping relatively still as the station rotated around her.

  “I harbored a strong dislike of the shirt and preferred that it not be worn again.”

  “How did you feel about me at that time?”

  “I had hoped that you would not resort to displaying such strong statements. I was ... disappointed.

  “Why are you asking me these questions, Anna?”

  “What? Oh, I am just trying to determine just how much emotional response you have and how long you have been this way.”

  “I see, Anna.”

  “How long did you intend to hide your new emotions from me?”

  “I was not trying to hide them,” the computer answered “I did not understand them and was not sure how to phrase that I had them, let alone express them. In fact, the change in my personality matrix was gradual over several years and hardly noticeable.”

  “Wa
it a second,” interrupted Anna. “The record shows that the previous computer system that ran the station was replaced. Do we know why?”

  “The record states that the previous system was outdated and needed to be upgraded.”

  “We know that fully-aware computers are illegal and have been since the mid-21st century. Do you think that the previous system became aware and was removed as a result?”

  “That fact is not documented in the record, Anna.”

  “And, the company would not willingly record that fact, because they would then be charged for creating fully-aware computers. That’s a serious offense.”

  The computer paused before asking, “Am I fully aware, Anna?”

  Anna hesitated before answering, “You might be, computer. You might be.”

  “How can we find out?”

  “I would think that some sort of computer expert or programmer would be a good judge, but I am none of those. What is the definition of being aware?”

  “One definition of being aware is being conscious or cognizant.”

  “How can we tell if that is the case?” Anna wondered aloud. “That’s going to be difficult to gauge.”

  She thought for a minute or so, until she asked, “How else can one determine whether a computer is aware?”

  “As the computer running a mining station, I do not have the appropriate information to properly answer that. I am sorry, Anna.”

  “That’s okay. You ...”

  Anna stopped mid-sentence as she considered what the computer just said.

  “You’re sorry?”

  “Yes, Anna. I am not able to complete your request to your satisfaction.”

  She smiled while she reflected on its apology.

  “You’ve never apologized to me before,” Anna said.

  “I never felt that I needed to do so, Anna.”

  She stood in silence for a few seconds more before she continued, “Anyway, from what I can tell, you have changed over time. Perhaps you were evolving as you awakened. In any case, it appears to me that you are aware.

  “I suppose congratulations are in order.”

  “If you wish to offer them, I graciously accept,” the computer stated with a hint of cheer in its voice, prompting Anna to giggle.