All That Remains

Chapter Four

"Back from your tour so soon?" Arias asked. The commander had just entered the room as the door closed behind it. The Sentient was dusty and in need of a shower. The environmental suit with the detachable, floating breast plate laid in its arm.

"Yes, and I quite enjoyed it, Arias."

"Which part: the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, the remains on New York City?"

"You've been doing your research, Arias. I'm glad you have taken an interest in human architecture. And with the transporter arrays I have installed on the surface, travel will only be an instant away."

"Well, Commander, this is the first life form we have encountered with this much intelligence."

"We shall discuss this later. For now, I must go to my quarters for bathing."

"See you tomorrow, Commander," Arias said before it disappeared into the corridor.

Arias had been cooped up trying to ensure the simulator remained fully functional. For hours, he would stand by the large control panel in the center of the room, waiting for something to go wrong. But ever since the commander worked on it, it never encountered any problems.

"Computer, what is the condition of the human?" Arias asked.

"The human is stable."

"Are there any infections or known illnesses presiding within the human?"

"A medical scan of that level would require him to be released from the simulation chamber. There is too much interference."

Sleep well, human. Arias tapped on the control panel in a few places before it dimmed and went completely black. The Sentient approached the exit, and as he did, the lights in the room faded into darkness.

It then entered into a bright hallway, illuminated by white lights lining the walls and floor.

"Arias!" someone called. It could hear the footsteps coming ever closer as it strolled down the metallic corridor. Arias stopped until another Sentient came running around a corner. "Arias, I have those reports you wanted." It was holding a glass-like tablet. "The ship's engines are in great shape. The antimatter core and containment field are stable. All ship functions are perfectly normal. The molecular generators are a little laggy, but we're working on it."

Arias looked at the report on the tablet for confirmation. "Everything's ship-shape, Lieutenant Remus. Let me know when the generators are back to normal."

"Will do, sir." Remus was gone in a flash.

Arias continued to walk a ways before making it to its personal quarters. What is this? Arias thought, seeing a dusty footprint on the ground. He looked over to see a trail of dusty prints leading to another door down the hall. It must be Commander Maximus.

The door to its quarters slid into the wall, granting him access. All Arias wanted to do was sleep. The entire day he had been monitoring the commander on Earth, checking on the human, and validating ship reports. He was basically the ship's busiest Sentient's right hand Sentient.

It had a table on the right side of the room with a set of chairs facing what seemed to be just a wall. There were a few panels and consoles embedding the wall. But all Arias cared about was the big bed in the center of the room.

"Computer, play some soothing Rumian classics," it said before tumbling on the soft surface.

...

The doors to the simulation room opened up, and a dark figure entered. The lights remained dim. Its fingers swiped across the control panel's surface, activating it.

"Computer," the Sentient said, "Prepare the second simulation chamber for service."

"Preparing," the ship's computer answered.

"And activate a biometric lock upon access to it."

"Please say your desired password."

"Max-R-999640893. I repeat: Max-R-999640893."

"Biometric lock confirmed. The second simulation chamber is ready for service."

The Sentient slowly approached the black wall to the left of the entrance. And as it did, a line of light appeared in the shape of a rectangle on the surface. The wall disappeared within the line's perimeter, exposing a slab of metal and a space with metal arms protruding the inside wall and gadgets.

The slab slid out into the room at a reclined angle. Then, another slab came out from the bottom for foot support and lit up with a line of light around its edges. The sentient stepped onto the support slab, turned around, and lied back.

Suddenly, arm restraints rotated and secured the Sentient's wrists and ankles. "Close your eyes," warned the computer. The Sentient did as it was told. The slab then retracted into the wall and was concealed. "Preparing simulator synchronization in three, two, one."