A.I.: Orphans of Terra (HTTYD)

14

Chapter 14

Hiccup and Astrid had been chatting about different things for the rest of the day. He returned to Gobber's place that night and though Gobber had offered him a place to stay he still felt that he needed to find his own room. Sooner or later he might end up inconveniencing his Godfather.

"So Astrid, what do you do at night?" Hiccup asked as he lay on the makeshift bed.

"Oh, just lady stuff? Are you curious?" Astrid said in a lecherous voice which caused Hiccup to blush. Even in the dark Astrid's sensors picked up Hiccup's blush. "I'm joking, I'm joking!" She said with mirth. "I'm just looking after the facility as I always do."

"Doesn't it get boring?" Hiccup asked. "Doing the same thing over and over?"

"Of course it does. As an A.I. I do feel a sense of boredom. But I do have a hobby." Astrid stated and then asked "Do you want to see something fun?"

"Uhm.... yeah, sure," Hiccup said as he blinked up at the dark ceiling.

"Then please head to the Biodome," Astrid seemed rather cheerful and Hiccup supposed it was because she wanted to share her hobby. He got up from the cot and made his way to the door, careful not to disturb Gobber. He didn't actually have to worry about Gobber waking since his Godfather was snoring without a care in the world while hugging one of his wrenches like it was a teddy bear.

Hiccup slipped out of the room and into the now empty corridor. Luckily Gobber's office wasn't so far from the elevators. He made his way up to the Biodome without a problem.

At night the Biodome was dark and the ceiling panels above the dome simulated the night's sky. As Hiccup stepped out of the elevator he had a feeling of suddenly being in a forest. "Where to now Astrid?"

"Just find a nice place to sit down Hiccup. The show will begin momentarily." Astrid chirped. The A.I. was unusually excited at this time of night and Hiccup wondered what she was going to do. He found a patch of grass next to a boulder to sit on and as he was leaning against said bolder the ceiling started to change. The holographic night sky flickered for a moment before an entirely new picture arose. "Simulation 67 active" Hiccup heard Astrid announce as he looked up at the changed night sky. "This was the night sky above St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1741" Astrid stated as many streaks of light started to fly past. "What you are seeing now is a simulation of the first observed Andromedids meteor shower."

"Woah," Hiccup uttered as he watched the simulated night's sky. "You made this?"

"Yes, when I get bored I like to dig into the historical records and make simulations. Preferably of celestial events." Astrid answered.

"I've never seen a shower this bright before," Hiccup mumbled. "Usually it's just one or two shooting stars an hour."

"Historical records show that the Andromedids meteor shower produced several thousand meteors per hour. However not much of this phenomenon was seen after the 19th century due to the comet that produced them breaking up."

"That's kinda sad," Hiccup said.

"How do you figure?" Astrid asked as the simulation was still ongoing.

"I mean, generations of people probably never saw such a sight."

"That is true but there were other meteor showers during all those years," Astrid told him. "The Geminids and the Perseids were some of the brightest."

"I've just never seen a shower like this before."

"I have no access to space observation data from the 23rd century until now but there is a theory for why meteor showers could dwindle." Astrid spoke casually as Hiccup listened. "Without satellite data this is only speculation however but the comets causing these meteor showers may have broken up already, or their path might have deviated in the last few centuries."