“As private interactions between an avatar and its human owner, none of her concern as the Realm. My father feels her division of responsibilities could destroy us. She is either your avatar or our Realm.”
“Daddy decided this edict?” My sarcasm boiled over.
“My father has an unbiased view of the problem, and Paul agreed this situation is serious.”
“Okay, you guys win. Give me my avatar and to hell with your Realm. Frank and Paul can run the show.” In case he didn’t understand the impact of my suggestion, I reiterated, “Neither of Sera’s responsibilities can be severed.”
She should have confirmed my assertion through telepathy, but I’d received no response.
Albert continued, “Can and did separate, by Sera’s own decision. Her prescribed mandate is our survival, and the brief gap in her control could have been disastrous.”
I’d been rendered speechless. In one fell swoop, I lost my avatar, friend, and future contact with Marty, and we probably inherited a Realm similar to Mission One. My body reacted as if Cleopatra had bitten my breast, but she hadn’t. The jolt resulted from my realization that Sera not only is our Realm but always has been. I pushed the thought from my consciousness, but Sera had probably intercepted it. I glared at Albert. “Has communication been restored with the Mission One?”
“Probably, but so far we can’t separate a single message as a backlog of them seemed to have occurred all at once. My father said that will settle down shortly.”
“I don’t think so.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because the system has been taken over by a guy from Earth.”
“How do you know that?”
“His daughter, the stowaway, is my sister.”
AUGUST 2, 3152
Cleopatra and I slept in the bedroom while Albert remained on the couch until he left our apartment, probably sometime after midnight. I refused him the satisfaction of questioning me and acting like Perry Mason. He’d gone by the time Cleopatra awoke for an early morning feeding. Sometime during the night, Sera had returned and entered her closet.
I changed Cleopatra’s messy diaper and settled on Albert’s rocking chair to nurse her, my nerves frazzled. Sera approached as she had in the past when I needed comfort but hadn’t since her supposed promotion to our Realm.
“When you finish nursing, I’ll take Cleopatra so you can get some sleep.”
“You haven’t been this concerned about my well being since we left Mission One. Have you developed a sense of guilt?
“I am incapable of guilt.”
Had she only evolved the more positive of human emotions?
She responded before I could voice the question. “The part of my program that tends to your needs hasn’t been altered. You just haven’t expressed an emotional need until this morning.”
I nodded my agreement and pondered who could better lift my spirit, an avatar with a built-in support system, or an infant whose needs exceeded mine. With fluid draining from my body, I opted for the miniature human being glommed onto my breast. I needed to wean her starting today.
I challenged Sera’s rational component. “Tell me what happened after we separated last evening.”
“I believe Albert already explained the situation.”
“I want to hear it from you.” I gestured toward the couch and she sat.
“My system became overtaxed, and I nearly lost contact with the operation of our habitat.”
“You put us in danger.”
“No, but something bad could have happened.”
She crossed her legs, dangling one shoe on her toe. Physically, her body had not mimicked mine since my pregnancy began to show, and I felt frumpy. “Frank and Albert took advantage of this weakness to disassemble your power.” I moved Cleopatra to my other breast with my profile toward Sera to avoid eye contact.
“It wasn’t their decision.”
“Why did you allow them to manipulate you?” I considered rephrasing the question to prevent confusing her droid components, but she answered.
“I made a choice.”
A choice? I faced her. “Why?” I challenged her ability to ascertain motives, not just causes and effects.
“Because the alternative was less attractive.”
I reacted with such shock that Cleopatra broke free of my nipple in mid-suckle, milk dripping down my breast. She fussed momentarily, then decided she’d had enough and fell asleep on my lap. Envy, fear, regret and Sera had just identified a less attractive choice.
“Just how human have you become?” I demanded.
“Forty three percent.” As if to demonstrate her femininity, she dropped her shoe and tucked her leg under her rump.
Only the remaining fifty-seven percent calculator could have produced such a precise answer. “What functions have you retained?”
“My original program as it evolved over the millennium.” Her lips formed the rudiments of a smile. “And Marty’s message attached to Star Wars.”
“And your Realm capabilities?” I asked.
“Operated by a super droid stationed in the inner sanctum, safe from human interference.”
“Why not enhance Albert’s toy to revive Marty’s ghost, and you continue what you are best at, playing God?” I couldn’t resist challenging her with another why question.
“As I said, I had to make a choice.”
“Between?”
“The Realm or Marty.”
“To be able to eavesdrop on the only connection left between us and Earth?” I entertained a double hunch, her true intentions and a permanent disconnect with Mission One. She caught my drift.
“My intentions are honorable, and you have assumed correctly. Marty’s memory passed through the Realm on Mission One like water through a sieve. It cleared a backlog of communications and left the channel open, but so far we’ve received no further messages or response to our inquiries.”
“We can communicate with Earth Base but not with Mission One?”
“It appears that way, but remains to be confirmed.”
“What about the Realm’s censorship?”
“We won’t know until it is tested.”
“The Realm on Mission One is no longer operational?” I blurted my concern. “A thousand people.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions.”
I detested her flippant attitude. “Sit up straight.”
Sera slid her leg out from under her, slipped the shoe back on, and planted both feet on the floor. She said, “Marty arrived in a bundle through the cleared channel.”
“Marty arrived?” A Star Trek transponder? I doubted the possibility.
She corrected, “Not literally. A copy of her hypothalamus.”
“Hypothalamus?”
“Memory bank.”
“We have her complete memory?”
“A duplicate.”
I no longer considered Marty’s presence merely a game. “She can tell me about her childhood? Relate everything that happened to her?”
“Presumably, her complete memory is present, but like all humans tapping into it can be hit or miss.”
Hit or miss? I may never get used to the idioms creeping into Sera’s language. “Have you developed a technique to do just that?”
“Direct questions or certain situations can jog her memories, like any human such as yourself.”
“Do I need to go down to that hell hole to jog that memory?”
“I told you, I have it with me at all times in my core computer.”
“As part of your fifty-seven percent computer capacity, no doubt. What else have you chosen to become?”
“Marty’s memory has given me a rudimentary personality that will continue to develop environmentally, but void of any genetic predisposition.”
“What does that mean?”
“I can make moral or ethical judgments but only based on Marty’s experiences.”
“Then why can’t I just talk, and you answer as Marty?
”
“Her memory resides in my computer, and my human side has to tap into it when making decisions. They have not been thoroughly integrated as of yet. I need her experiences to develop my personality, but I can’t speak for her.”
“Oh, wonderful. I need Jimmy’s permission to use my own tutorial, and I need your assistance to talk to my sister. Okay, lay out the rules and conditions. How do I tap into Marty’s life history?”
“Detached. Through your tele-presence.”
“I have to become a ghost, too. Why can’t I at least function as a human?”
“It’s how we established your introduction. She will only respond to your tele presence.”
“And you get to record our entire conversation.” I had no means to hide my suspicion.
“I’m afraid not. As a matter of fact, I can only function minimally when her memory is out of my control.”
“Are you saying I could talk to her indefinitely and permanently render you inoperative?”
“I can terminate her part of the conversation when my attention is needed elsewhere. I suggest you schedule visits with her at times I am charging my batteries.”
“What do I do, ring her up?”
“Enter any of my other charging closets wearing the head piece I gave you for your first encounter with her. As during our trial exercise in the control room, you initiate one question or topic. I cannot deny your access.”
“And what will you do with your free time? Play-act being human.”
“Perhaps I shall be called upon repeatedly to become a mother.”
“With my husband as the father?” My sarcasm had no bounds. “Might I recommend artificial insemination?”
“You aren’t married to Albert.”
“Nor are you.”
“We each had sexual intercourse with him.” Her tone turned snooty. “Just once.”
The jealousy I’d felt in the past remained strangely neutral. “Are you still able to interfere with the droid you’ve created to function as our Realm?”
She broke eye contact and turned her head, as if distracted by something in the corner of the room. She replied, “My function is limited to emergency maintenance.”
“What’s to keep it from turning tyrant like the Realm on Mission One?”
She faced me, her expression passive with no evidence of the tic I suspected. “It has similar parameters, and I cannot divulge the details.”
“You allowed a tyrant to regain control after all we went through?” Apparently, Sera’s desire to become human had impaired her decision-making capacity. We were in serious trouble. “I hardly think the experiences of a thirteen-year-old earthling would be worth the trade off.”
“She is a resourceful human. Nearly equal to her father.”
“You have his memory, too?” I considered the latent evil lurking in Frank’s personality and doubted Marty’s father could contribute anything positive to Sera’s personality.
“No.” She added, “Apparently, breaking through the block between Mission One and us consumed his energy after causing limited damage on that side.”
“Like what?”
“I perceived their course has altered slightly. They may have lost their direction.”
“We no longer have a destination?” A silly question since Mission Two never had one.
“Human leadership aboard Mission One will be able to control its own destiny. Here on Mission Two we have a mandate.”
“We?”
“I consider myself part of the human race.” Sera’s expression of pride exuded more than just her human portion would suggest.
“Only forty three percent,” I reminded. Historically, Marty’s slave ancestors had been considered partially human. “And what if you humans can’t agree on a policy critical to survival?”
She smirked. “Sounds like you no longer consider yourself human.”
“I’m not so sure . . .” My voice faltered.
Sera said, “Ironic that I should be on a course becoming human as you wish to become the Realm and possibly God.”
She understood more about me than my conscious self. Only Helen and Bob believe I’d been a product of some mystical or divine source, like the baby girl named Jesus in Marty’s message. I repeated what I had intended to say. “I’m not so sure I still want to be part of the human race if machines can join.”
Sera’s expression indicated no sign of hurt feelings. She refocused. “Within the constraints of our mandate, we are free to do anything short of destroying ourselves. If we reach that level of dissention, the Realm will intercede.”
“Both here and on Mission One?”
“I can only vouch for the Realm on this side.”
“They will be deprived of leadership. The entire population has been reduced to robot-like responses by their Realm.” I decided to air my suspicions. “Or since their Realm no longer exists.”
Sera refused to affirm or deny my accusation. “Paul and Frank and Albert are discussing their leadership issue this morning.” She dodged my point but reinforced my sense that the Realm ceased to exist when she abandoned Mission One.
Sera ignored my interruptive thought and continued. “I believe Paul and his family agreed to return to Mission One, as soon as engineering can provide transport. If you recall, Sally’s parents still reside there.”
The news shocked me, but an even larger issue loomed. “The decision was made without your presence, yet you knew the outcome. You’ve kept your clairvoyance capabilities!”
“My intelligence gathering hasn’t been diminished. I would never allow that tool to slip through my fingers.”
“But you are still my avatar, controlled by me.” I needed to clarify my role.
“For personal matters, yes. Your total control ended when you gave birth to Cleopatra. I am what might be called a free agent until she reaches the age of reason. You achieved control from your mother when you turned fourteen.”
“For decades my mother used you to conceive hybrid children, but cowered when challenged to support the existence of God. I had control of your special talents for a little over a year, and look what we’ve accomplished.”
“You still have Marty to help satiate your missionary zeal. And you have the forty three percent dedicated to my human side, for now.”
“So I step into a phone booth, slam that container over my head, and ring up Marty?”
“Yes, when the light indicates that I am in a similar closet.”
“And the real Marty and I can send messages every six months. Or has that also changed?”
“The time interval between personal communications with us and Earth hasn’t been determined. Technical matters will be sent whenever the need arises.”
“To be decided by Frank and his genius son.”
“Or whatever decision making body they and their constituents develop.”
“When Paul and his family move back to Mission One, Cleopatra and I will replace them.” On impulse I added, “As a matter of fact, she and I will return to my parents immediately. Frank and Albert and that automaton female in their lives can remain here and do whatever suits their fancy.
“Separate Cleopatra from her father and her grandparents?” Sera nearly shrieked.
I had made up my mind so suddenly, she hadn’t anticipated it. I said, “The real Cleopatra retreated to Egypt while Caesar ruled back in Rome. History repeats itself.”
Sera stood and faced me. “You realize I cannot accompany you.”
“And leave your creation, a totally independent Realm unattended! You still have your finger on its buttons.” I glared. “Or is your attraction to Albert keeping you here?”
“Without me, the Realm has no redundancy.”
“And what about Albert?”
“Marty could learn to love him.”
Marty, not Sera? I felt helpless to prevent Sera from using my sister’s identity to exploit the father of my child. I trusted he would resist her advances for a number of reason
s. “Then I applaud your heroic decision. I wish the best for you two lovers, but don’t hide behind my sister’s identity.”
“I have a responsibility for your well being.”
“I’m a grown woman now. I can survive without a servant.”
“I am your contact with Marty’s memory. It has filled nearly half my computer capacity.”
“I’ll call for her tele-presence whenever I have the urge to talk to her, from your closet in my bedroom at my parents’ apartment. Rig it so our spirits can visually interact. I want to be able to experience our holograms as they comingle.”
“I will make that arrangement. Be advised that your physical body will be immobilized, while your image maintains dexterity of movement and sensual perception during the interchange.”
I suspected as much from my earlier brief encounter. “You have my permission to retain my physical features to remind Albert what he is missing, and have Marty’s image continue to look like Marty.”
Sera nodded, I assumed agreeing to both my demands, but she appeared to ponder. “I can’t be separated from your daughter. I am destined to be her avatar.”
“Not until she reaches the age of reason, and I get to determine that. Maybe by her fiftieth birthday.”
“We will have joined our two halves by then.”
“My point, exactly.”
Sera’s expression remained neutral. “I will rig the charging closets, so you can speak privately to me as well as summon Marty’s memory program.”
“We won’t continue the convenience of exchanging thoughts?” I might as well ask rather than try to camouflage my curiosity.
“Proximity is still a necessary component.”
As was her commitment to the truth, but I could not detect any facial tic.
“Yes, sadly it is true.” She turned and abruptly left the apartment.
When Albert returned at lunchtime, I explained, “I’m taking Cleopatra to the other side to meet my parents.”
His immediate smirk faded and his eyes widened. “You’re leaving me?”
In his bewilderment, he failed to include Cleopatra in his lament. His concern centered solely on himself. “Sera will remain, but I suggest she reside back at your father’s office. The two of you living together could create a scandal.”
LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME Page 16
