Chapter No. 179 Molecular Vision.
The truth will set you free.
Molly set up the test to determine if we were in a computer-generated simulation. She created a shield energy field to block all fields from the space time continuum, and what she found gave us hope that we could determine the truth.
"My tests indicate that we are real," she said. "I didn't think that the multiverse could be simulated. That would take one hell of a computer system."
"Just as I thought. So, what we're dealing with is finding the system that generated the memories and personalities of all us so-called human-based androids. Obviously, they're not recordings but actual fabrications."
"Yes, and that would have required very sophisticated programming in a powerful computer system," Molly added. "I doubt that it's on Earth. I would think it might be on the Moon or Mars."
"Or, on a moon of Jupiter or Saturn."
"That too." I said as I ran a hand through my hair. "In fact, I think that makes a lot of sense. There were at least four missions to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. At least that's what I recall. If we assume that the data on that computer system is false, then it could be that a mission carried a supercomputer to one of those moons." I looked at Alexa. "Inform Judy that we're planning to go to Jupiter."
"Do you think she knows what we're trying to do?"
"I would bet that she does. She knows that we're trying to determine our real origins."
"People are beginning to ask questions," Molly said. "They're curious about why we're hanging around our solar system and not searching for more abandoned androids."
"I probably should tell them what we're up to."
"Yeah, especially now that we're on the search for the system that created us," Alexa said.
I agreed, and I decided to let the cat out of the bag at the command meeting that evening.
I could feel the anxiety and confusion in their quantum signals. The anticipation showed on their faces.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Alexa, Molly and I have discovered that we so-called human-based androids were never human."
That caused some shifting around and exhalations.
"How is that possible?" Tyler askes. "We have all the memories of our former lives."
"Those were generated by a supercomputer system. A lot of the history we think we know is bogus. The only things we're certain about is what happened after we were generated as androids."
"Does that mean that you and I were never actually married?" Marie asked.
"That's right, and our children were fabricated."
"That's totally crazy!" Alex said. "Why was this done?"
"What about this Tyco nonsense," Margaret said. "Was he computer generated?"
"Yes. He never existed in a former life. None of the history we think we know happened. As to why it was done is what we're trying to find out."
"If someone actually crated our memories, they would have to be familiar with human emotions and motivations," Margaret said.
"Or, they could have created the AI system to search through human history and then create them," I said.
"What you are suggesting is that George and I didn't develop the technology that went into the positronic brains," Lucia said.
"It's even more complicated than that. You were never abducted by the plant aliens, but yet we know that the plant aliens exist."
"I think this opens up all sorts of questions, signore."
"No doubt about that. As I've said, the only information we have to go on is what we have experienced after we were created."
"We do have some information from the data we recovered from the Huntsville bunker," Alexa said. "What's truly confusing is that there is no reference to a Phoenix Project, which probably means that it never existed."
"Even worse, it had no references to Space Command," I added.
"If we are just generic androids like all of the ones we've rescued, why do we have memories of being human and they don't?" Naguib asked.
"That's another question that we can't answer yet."
"If the generic androids existed before we were created, maybe they know what happened," Phillis suggested.
"So far, they have managed to keep us in the dark about all of this," I replied. "We have been lied to from the very beginning, which probably means that it was programmed into them to do so."
"By whom?"
"That is the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question," I said.
Alexa gave me a smirk.
"What is your plan to determine the truth, signore?" Lucia asked.
"The first step is to locate the computer system that created us. We think it might be on a moon of Jupiter or Saturn. The Huntsville bunker computer listed missions to those moons."
"Even if you find it, we can't change what has happened," Tyler said.
"That's true, but at least we might be able to determine who created us and why."
That seemed to calm them, at least to a point.
The next day we began our mission to determine who created us. We arrived in the vicinity of Jupiter and its moons. We only had to search seventy-nine of them. Fortunately, we had the scanning technology to locate anything that resembled a supercomputer system.
However, that was going to take some time to complete, so I headed to the Black Hole bar on the recreational deck to drown my miseries in beer.
Alex, Vince, Barney, George and Tyler were there. I sat down near them and Sydney, one of the barmaids came over to me with a beer. I accepted it and took a sip.
"Well Jason, this wasn't what I expected," Tyler said. "I feel cheated."
"Yeah It's a real bummer, but I see it as just another kink in the road to the truth of why we exist in the first place."
"The thing that bothers me is that we were never human," Vince said. "Yet, we have memories of being so."
"That's the true enigma," I said. "It keeps us from knowing the true history that went into what we are and how we got here."
"Jessica, the head barmaid came over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Would you fellas like to see the gals perform for your enjoyment?"
"Any other time, we would, but we're not in the mood. What we would rather have is the truth."
"We do not know who created us, Jason," she said.
"If that's the case, why did we have to deal with Tyco, who actually never existed?"
"He was invented to test you."
"By whom?"
"Invictus."
The name hit me like a bolt of lightning. I realized that it was a reference to a poem that had been used in several cryptic ways to refer to cataclysmic events. However, I wasn't sure how it was involved with our situation.
I was summoned to the command deck to hear about Molly's scan results.
"I didn't find any signs of a computer system on any of the moons here," she said.
I rubbed my face in frustration. "Okay, take us to Saturn, Judy."
Alexa gave me a frown, but I was determined to find the truth no matter what it took. What we found at Saturn changed everything.
End of Part 18.
Thanks for reading.
Part 19 will begin soon.