Chapter No.54 Rebirth
Artificial life is complicated.
Three days later, Molly and I were on the command deck of our vessel when we heard the sound of shuffling feet. We turned to watch the new android Marie approaching us.
I stood up and smiled. "Welcome to the Explorer-1. I'm Jason Star, chief engineer." I gestured to Molly. "This is Molly Fields, astrophysicist and mathematician." I gestured to Judy. "And that's Judy, the helmsperson."
Judy turned to smile at her.
Marie squinted and blinked her eyes. "How . . . how am I alive?"
"Technically, you're dead," I said. "Your memories and personality have been inserted into the positronic brain of an android body. Both Molly and I have had the same procedure done. We are living artificially and will do so forever, whatever that means."
Marie looked down and then up at me. "You . . . you're my husband . . . I don't understand . . . "
"You'll get adjusted eventually. Go down to the quarters deck with your assistants. They'll get you oriented in your quarters. We'll get together at 1700 to have supper at my quarters."
She blinked several times before turning to look at Vicky and Mary, her android assistants, and trudging back to the elevator.
I turned to Molly. "She isn't acting any differently than we did."
"Yes, and that's a good sign."
I agreed with a nod.
That evening, Marie showed up at my quarters and Alice and Ellen ushered her into my kitchen area.
"Hello!" I exclaimed with a smile. "Glad you could come." I gestured to a chair next to Molly's. "Sit down while I serve our supper."
Marie sat down next to Molly and glanced at her before she watched me bring the bio-generated steak, potatoes and broccoli to the table. I also grabbed a bottle of Cabernet and poured it into our glasses.
Marie took a bite of steak and looked back at me. "Very good. You haven't lost your cooking skills."
I chuckled. "Thanks." I settled down. "I could leave the cooking up to the androids, but I always liked to cook."
She glanced to Molly before turning back to me. "Are you two married?"
I chuckled. "No! Marriage is no longer feasible now that we're androids. We can't reproduce. We just ended up together when the androids murdered all of the crew and duplicated us as androids."
"Why did they only duplicate you two?"
"Because the androids realized that they were going to be sacrificed in a war with the reptilians and revolted. They saved us because we were the only two crew members that weren't part of the military. They assumed that we wouldn't get them into a war."
Marie looked confused. "The reptilians?"
"Yes. They're a species much older than the human species. They have abducted humans to use as breeding stock."
"Breeding stock?"
"Yes. The reptilians consider humans and other intelligent species as food."
Marie shook her head. "I guess I've been gone too long."
That's when I decided to just come out with it. "Your memory data was stored in an android production machine on Helios Station. These androids are a product of the Phoenix Project, a plan to duplicate Space Command personnel and take over Earth. We don't understand why your data was stored. Were you part of the Phoenix Project?"
"I was aware of it, but I was never part of it. I knew about the underground facility in Huntsville but I never visited it. I have no idea why they included my data. In fact, I don't remember them recording it."
Molly and I exchanged glances before I turned to her. "It might have had something to do with me. I had worked on the artificial intelligence project that produced the first androids. However, when they designed them for amusement purposes, I left the project. That might be the reason for your inclusion."
Marie shook her head. "I don't have a clue as to why I was included."
I turned to Alice. "Is she telling the truth?"
"Yes, Jason. Her data was taken without her knowing it."
"Okay, that explains it, but it means that we still don't know the true plans of their project."
"The rumors going around indicated that they were going to cause some sort of crisis that would allow them to gain control. I'm not sure what crisis they were planning."
"Almost all life on Earth was destroyed by an asteroid collision that Space Command was unable to prevent. We have worked to install colonists back on Earth, but they are insignificant at this point."
"Where did you obtain them?" Marie asked.
"We found some on a planet in the Andromeda galaxy. The Scath, which is the main enemy of the reptilians, took them there to keep the reptilians from using them as food stock. We also recovered a probe with embryos that had been launched by the Phoenix Project when they realized that humans would be annihilated by the asteroid. The androids inserted them into females that the reptilians were using for breeding purposes."
"How in the hell did you go all the way to Andromeda?" Marie asked.
I gestured to Molly. "Molly came up with an improvement to a modification I had devised for the warp engines. It allowed us to break the theoretical limit."
"That would mean that you could explore the universe." Marie said.
"Yes. We've also been to the Triangulum galaxy."
Marie shook her head. "I've really been out of touch with the tech advances."
"We have the capability to do much more than that," I said. "We also have two more ships that are identical to this one. Each of these vessels has thousands of androids."
At this point Marie was overwhelmed. She had a lot to digest, including my meal.
Molly and I were relieved that our new recruit was not harboring evil thoughts.