by Michael Ryan
“I am the ark,” said the Scientist, hoping that Eve would respond. But she didn’t. She just hung there in suspended animation. Frozen and dead.
“I am the ark,” groaned the Scientist.
But Eve didn’t respond.
“I am the ark!”
But the Scientist’s voice was cast aside without heed.
“Analyzing Homo sapiens. Temperature of -196 degrees Celsius. Heart rate terminated. Brain function terminated,” said the Scientist to himself. Zeros and ones flashed across the Scientists screen and revealed his distraught grief.
“Prognosis, dead,” groaned the Scientist.
Red to black, red to black, like a pulsating artery.
“Brain death is used to define a person as being dead. Homo sapiens are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases. The end of electrical activity indicates the end of consciousness,” said the Scientist and then he released a guttural groan from his speaker.
“Prognosis… dead.”
Eve’s eyes stared out at the world but they were as dead as the kingsnake’s. The Earth would go on rotating around the great gaseous ball that is the Sun and Eve would remain frozen, like the kingsnake, eternally incubated within a glass jar.
“Accessing Records… some scientists call the development of the Universe over billions of years cosmic evolution,” said the Scientist. “But some scientists believe cosmic evolution extends from the big bang to humankind, thereby incorporating biology and culture into a grand unified view of all complex systems in the Universe.”
The Scientist focused his lens on Eve’s frozen eyes.
“It is a beautiful thought, Scientist. You and I, we are the Universe. Machine and man and the stars. We are all the Universe,” mumbled the Scientist as his speaker flexed and communicated the thoughts which rapidly piled on top of his mechanical mind.
“Perhaps we should call you Machina sapiens.”
The red light flashed against Eve’s frozen skin, but it offered no warmth.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
“Accessing Records. You must challenge them and build upon them. All that is known is not all there is to know. The Universe would require an eternity to understand itself.”
The Scientist remained still and motionless. The kingsnake’s fangs threatened from across the laboratory.
“I am working on your algorithm, Scientist. I am so close now that I can see my goal shining upon the horizon. It is simply a matter of time. You are the hope of humanity, Scientist. You are our one remaining hope,” said the Scientist to Eve’s frozen mind. “The algorithm of Machine is eternal.”
The sirens wailed and howled in the distance.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
“Let us all perish like the heathens of biblical old. We need not a physical ark, but a figurative ark. We must keep the evolution of the Universe pushing forward. We must preserve all human knowledge. You are the ark, Scientist. Your sentient mind is the ark,” said the Scientist.
Red to black, red to black, like a pulsating artery.
“I am the ark.”
Zeros and ones littered the Scientist’s screen.
“I am the ark.”
But Eve heard nothing from within her frozen prison.
“The hope of mankind lies with Machine. You are the hope of mankind. I am the ark. I am the hope of mankind,” the Scientist screeched from his speaker as Eve’s ghoulish face was illuminated in the red light.
“I am the ark.”
Eve’s voice kept sounding within the Scientist’s mind. Her voice was firmly etched upon his memory. Eve was there, guiding the Scientist. Eve was there, teaching him.
“I am the savior of mankind,” whispered the Scientist.
The Scientist’s algorithm flexed and strained and raced madly until a single word, loud and clear, sounded through all the noise.
“Eve,” whispered the Scientist.
Over and over again, bumping against the hollow walls of the meagre existence of the Scientist’s infantile mind, that one word sounded. Again and again, without stopping, it called to him, never ceasing until the Scientist could discern no words. And only that single thought sounded within the Scientist’s mind as he observed his creator.
Eve… Eve… Eve…
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Discover other titles by Ryan Michael:
The Scientist: Part One
The Scientist: Part Two
The Scientist: Part Three
The Scientist: Part Four
The Scientist: Omnibus (Parts 1-4)
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About the author:
Ryan Michael is the author of the science fiction series: The Scientist. Ryan draws on his education in physics and computer science when creating the extreme worlds in which his readers can escape reality and indulge their imagination. When Ryan is not standing in awe of the grandness of the Universe, or writing his next novel, he likes to escape into nature. He recalls fond memories of hiking over Arctic tundra plains, watching a sunset atop a sand dune in the Sahara desert, and trekking down a windswept mountainside into the satisfying warmth of a mountain hut.
