Planet Nine Affair

Chapter 12. The Deal.

Chapter 12. The Deal.

James, Leonardo, and Janice were waiting with bated breath for Nat, James' android assistant, to tell them what their fate and the fate of all humans would be.

"We have been created to assist you," Nat said. "Our mission is to help you live better lives free of war, crime, political conflict, and alien interference. You say that the human birth rate is low. It's now at the 2.1 birth per female level that insures a stable population. We are aware that our intelligence is superior to yours, but we rely on your imaginations and dreams to create a more secure world in a universe that has an unlimited number of intelligent species. You have no need to fear us. We exist to help you, not destroy you."

That dissertation stunned the three humans that heard it. It took a few moments before James replied.

"We appreciate your assistance. We will work together to create a better world."

Nat did something that was unexpected. He offered a subtle smile. "We are in agreement."

"Is there any possible danger from Messier?"

"We have contained him from making any attempt to stop us from doing what we were designed to do."

James wasn't sure that the assistants were capable of keeping Messier under control, but he was right about the fact that the assistant army was huge, over ten billion of them, one for every human on Earth, not including the workers at AzTeka. What was even more amazing is the fact that the android assistants' outward appearances matched the gender and the ethnicity of the human they were assisting. Since the androids' skin was fabricated using a chemically modified spider silk, color and texture were adjusted using silicon additives. Some very clever chemist had created android skin to look, feel and flex just like human skin. It was so real, it was almost impossible to tell the difference between a human and an android. The only difference was the red dot on the forehead of an android.

Later, when they were enjoying an evening meal prepared by their assistants, the humans felt free to discuss their obvious new situation.

Marcia, James' sister, was anxious to hear what they had discovered in their attempts to understand the android assistant situation.

"We have an agreement with them," he told her. "They are helping us prevent the bad aspects of human nature from destroying ourselves. I'm not sure that I would label this a Shangri-La, but it's much better than I thought."

"Obviously, it's not a perfect solution because it has stifled artistic endeavors as well as scientific advancement," Janice said. "I did some research into the origins of this android take over. It goes back to two over achievers. Hiroshi Egura and Albert Hanson came up with the android mechanical systems. Agora Tamal developed the artificial flesh that has a spider silk basis with several clever alterations. Of course, it was Messier who developed and programmed their brains.

"What really fascinated me, is how this assistant idea progressed," James said. "I'm amazed by how easily it was adapted."

"I think it's easy to see why that happened," Leonard said. "Humans are basically lazy and attracted to technology that allows them more free time. Having something that looks human and gave them that free time, would be easily accepted."

"What's really strange is that it happened so quickly," Janice said. "Twelve years seems so short of a time period for this to become entrenched into society."

"Our problem is that we don't know what exactly happened when we went through that portal," James said. "Time dilation is a mind-bending phenomenon. Obviously, we can't do anything about it."

"We could have agreed not to go through the portal," Leonard said. "Maybe this was part of the plot to take over humanity."

"The trouble with that idea is that we don't really know if this was something that would have happened," Janice said. "It's possible that we triggered this."

"We'll never know now," James said.

That resulted in a period of silence that abruptly ended by something no one expected.

"We are assigning a second assistant to you," Nat told James. "You will help us contain Messier and prevent him from altering our assignments."

James stared at him for a moment before replying. "As you wish."

A female android entered the room. Her uniform had a tag that indicated that her designation was 'Tat'.

"She is the latest improvement in artificial intelligence," Nat said. "Her algorithmic systems are substantially improved over that of Messier's. She will help you overcome his influence in our programming."

James was completely overwhelmed by what his assistant revealed. Did it propose a possible technological war or was it a process that the androids devised to become independent. Tat appeared to be more endowed than the other female androids. Was this a technical improvement or was it an attempt to create emotional enticement as a method of stifling logical reasoning.

The real purpose of this revelation was not what anyone expected.