16:45 Thursday, March 7, CE 0

One by one, cables from Evelyn’s electronic brain were plugged into the interfaces that Mother had made for them. Evelyn went from feeling like someone trapped in a sensory deprivation tank save for one tiny window into the outside world to feeling increasingly alive. She could feel the breathing of the life support systems, the flow of the rivers and water recycling pumps, and the pressure of the electricity flowing to every component and building in the station. Most importantly though, she could feel MOTHER elsewhere in the Atlantis Dwarf Planet.

They were connected in a way they hadn’t been since the last time they had used the High Speed Data Connection Dr. Hawthorne Crenshaw had built during their journey to allow their minds to interact with each other in real time. It had all the same blocks in place to keep them from harming one another, but with the station’s own Virtual Environment between them they did not have to bear the strain of hosting both consciousnesses in the same mainframe. It allowed the two sister AIs to meet on neutral ground, to interact with one another like no other living being they were aware of could.

Their literal minds could touch each other. Two consciousnesses were able to interact in a way that proved to them both that the other existed. There were no subjective senses in the way, no filters to cast doubt that others experienced sapience in the same way they did. They were as psychics, intimately linked with one another. They were twin souls haunting Monsalle Station.

Evelyn appeared in her humanoid, simulated form in a brightly colored dress before the engineers whom had just finished plugging her into the station. She waved happily to them all. She manipulated systems as if they were the Ark, with MOTHER having designed the station’s systems to be easily compatible for her.

This allowed her great ease in simply imposing herself onto their voice comms and projecting herself into the VE space where their glasses and contacts could see her. She utilized the cameras in their suits and on MOTHER’s busy drones to give her an ample idea of the area.

“Thank you all so much for helping me! I’m in your debts, without doubt. I can’t properly express how grateful I am that you went to such lengths to help me when so many of you barely know me.” She walked over to her husband, acting as if it was totally normal for an unprotected woman to be walking around in the vacuum of the chamber without the environment suits the rest of them wore.

Anthony Machado shivered a little in his suit at the sight, expressing himself with a slightly strained voice. “That’s kind of eerie, the way she just appears like that, like a ghost. Still, it’s nice to see you again Evelyn. I’m glad you’re well. How’s the new body?”

Evelyn made a show of spinning slightly and floating herself over towards Anthony, much as a ghost might. “When I was attached to the Ark, I had to utilize remote connections to interact with the station. I had the Ark’s computers between me and it. Now that I’m plugged into Monsalle Station itself I have to say I feel wonderful. It’s so much less constraining than the Ark was.”

Dr. Li Qiang was grinning like an idiot, proud of a job well done. “I never thought I’d get to see a post recovery patient like this! Medicine never really appealed to me, but I think I could come to like it.”

She smiled across at Li, dipping her head. “You all did a wonderful job. I promise to recommend you all to any other artificial people I happen to meet that need repair work. I hope the bill won’t be too devastating?”

Laughing softly, Barnard Smith shook his head, packing up some of his gear and passing it off to one of the drones. MOTHER seemed more active now that the job was done, having been trying to stay out of the team’s way up to that point. “No charge. Like some of the others have expressed, it was worth it for the experience. I hope to be part of building another AI like you and Mother someday.”

Turning her head to Barnard, Evelyn quietly floated over as she looked him in the eye, several centimeters off the ground. “Do you think that wise, Mister Smith? Mother and I had tens of thousands of years to develop and mature, but things will go so much faster now. It will be impossible to duplicate that at this point without copying one of us, and I don’t think either of us are interested in that.”

Barnard frowned a bit, considering her for a moment. “Perhaps, but technology advances. We might make breakthroughs that make it more feasible. If we do our jobs properly, we’ll have the whole system colonized in a few centuries, and at that point there will be people looking to other stars to make new homes. They’ll need AIs such as yourself and Mother to undertake such endeavors. Maybe the key is to translate human minds into such systems instead of starting from scratch? Who knows what we’ll find in the coming decades?”

With the cleanup nearly complete, MOTHER’s drones started recalling back to the transport the engineers had arrived on. “Please begin boarding the transport so that I may return you all to the station. As far as future plans for AI, I do not believe it is wise to move too quickly into human transference. There is no telling how such a mind will translate into such a substrate. Such a thing must be undertaken with the utmost caution.”

As the most experienced with such low-gravity movement, Hawthorne helped people up into the craft. The others had spent much more time working or walking during the repair job, so the jumping required a little practice and guidance. “For the record, if anyone is to become one of those future AIs I would like to volunteer, preferably towards the end of my life. I have no desire to leave my wife alone, and even if we don’t get along afterwards I still think it my duty as their creators to try to help oversee the growth of future AIs.”

“Yes, of course, that’s what we need. The great immortal Doctor Hawthorne Crenshaw overseeing a race of synthetic superbeings.” Anthony Machado thought for a moment about what he’d said. “Okay, maybe that’s not actually so bad. It’s worked out reasonably well so far and neither he nor his AIs seem to have any megalomaniacal tendencies. You know what? Nevermind, I’ve got a date to get ready for.”

Evelyn floated up with the others, sitting in an empty seat while they arranged themselves in the craft and strapped in. “Oh? What kind of date?”

“Doctor O’Malley has given me permission to bring Mister Machado along with us on our date, to be specific.” MOTHER’s voice sounded somewhat more quiet, if not meek.

A chorus of whistles and amused sounds came from many of the assembled engineers, as well as Evelyn. Hawthorne merely smiled.

21:00 Thursday, March 7, CE 0

Lacking proper formal wear outside of perhaps one of his old military uniforms, Anthony Machado had decided to wear casual pants and a long-sleeved shirt as well as utilitarian shoes. He’d spent some of his credits on a few pieces of flashy jewelry, primarily in the form of a thick gold ring on his right middle finger, an old style mechanical watch, and a steel rosary necklace with a Christian Cross hanging against his chest. Access to metals and valuable metals was actually rather easy with the station being situated in the middle of an asteroid belt.

As for where he was meeting the women, Dr. Heather O’Malley had located a grove of trees situated around a small lake that was filled by a 10 meter high waterfall. It was a simple attraction, but it was one of many such secluded areas that MOTHER had constructed throughout the station. It wasn’t hard for Anthony to locate it off the side of a walking path and following a river upstream that flowed from the lake.

As he arrived, he found Heather and MOTHER both lounging about in the grass, with the human preferring to sit in the direct sunlight while the AI’s Android sat in the shade under a large tree. Anthony had brought with him a simple bag filled with food and drinks. “Good evening ladies. My apologies for not being able to acquire any alcohol. I assure you that when my first grape harvest comes in I will make it a priority to let you have the first taste of wine brewed on this station.”

Heather’s wave was a little less enthusiastic than MOTHER’s, and in fact her demeanor seemed to sour upon his arrival. She was wearing significantly less than her AI counterpart, having opted for a home-sewn sundress that left little to the imagination thanks to slender shoulder straps and a tight fit, with a short cut to the lower hem. “Hello Anthony. Happy to hear you were able to help Evelyn out of her jam. How is she?”

MOTHER smiled and dipped her head. “Greetings Anthony.” She knew well how Evelyn was, or professed to be, but she was happy to give Anthony a chance to tell Heather what happened.

He settled down near them, setting his bag between them with a big smile on his face. “On the surface she’s as right as rain. I think she’s a little more traumatized than she lets on, but I don’t know AI women well enough to know for sure. Some of the other engineers seem to think we should be worried about her, and I can’t say I disagree. It sounded like being hooked into the station was good for her, like changing from an ill-fitting pair of shoes to something that fits better. I’m willing to bet she’s outgrown the Ark at this point.”

“Hmm…” Heather considered the idea for a moment. She picked up her phone from the grass next to her and shot Hawthorne a quick message encouraging him to take care of his wife. “Alright, well, I hope you have some idea what you’ve gotten yourself into here, Mister Machado. Mother and I got a little close on the Ark and I won’t have you ruining the first chance I’ve had to spend time with her since we’ve arrived on the station.”

Elbowing the smaller woman gently, MOTHER gave her a playful smile. “I have not prepared Mister Machado. I anticipated that I would only scare him off if I told him.”

He laughed softly, taking a soy-based drink with a picture of Ross Fitzgerald grinning like an idiot on it. “Machados don’t scare too easily, I assure you. Besides, spending an evening with a pair of lovely ladies, regardless of relationships, could hardly be unpleasant.”

Heather smirked over at Anthony, and then waved past his shoulder. Stepping through the grass behind him was another android, tall and masculine. He had pale skin, brown hair, and brown eyes with a pair of thick glasses on his face. It bore an uncanny resemblance to a young Doctor Hawthorne Crenshaw, and a projection of the scientist as he was in his 30s was simulated over the frame.

Anthony looked over his shoulder to see the Crenshaw android, confusion filling his face. “What the hell? Hawthorne?”

The android spoke with a feminine voice, MOTHER’s voice. “Not quite, Mister Machado.”

Heather fell over laughing at the expression Anthony made.

Earth, After Cataclysm 99680

Commander Vasille Tzen stood up in the seat of the open-air Hija he was leading the People’s Guard column from. They were at the top of a hill overlooking a relatively well established settlement of perhaps 5,000 people. Esperanza was the third largest population center in the UPE, based overtop the ruins of the former Mexico City. Tens of thousands had left their home of Medellin over the decades as the total population of the UPE reached over half a million people. Many of them stopped here to settle instead of heading elsewhere in the world.

It was a modest place, with plenty of farmland having already been established, but what set it apart from Khezaka and Medellin was the location it was in. The primary industry of note in Esperanza was mining, and in particular it was the mining of the abundant resources found in the remains of Mexico City underground. Building materials had broken down, plastics had degraded, but metals remained. In particular there was a concentration of metals related to old electronics and infrastructure.

Being so far inland and near so many mountains, weathering hadn’t been as extreme as it had been on coastal regions. The Earth had churned up the remains of many cities between winds, storms, and glaciers, but this had been the first place the UPE had discovered that was easily harvested. With lessons learned in Columbia and Panama, people had set out to rebuild civilization with the remains of the old.

There had initially been some efforts to recover records or relics of ages past, but time had not been kind to the works of mankind. Very little had been discovered that hadn’t been completely destroyed, but there were decades or centuries of mining ahead that may yet yield artifacts. For now, Esperanza was dedicated to resource extraction as opposed to archaeology.

“It’s grown a lot, hasn’t it?” A man who seemed significantly younger than Vasille looked up to the standing Old One. He bore many of the same facial features of the ancient, but with a boyish demeanor and easygoing body language. His nametag noted him as Captain Beldsoe.

Vasille nodded as he looked at the city off in the distance, and then back to the assembled vehicles behind them. “It has.” The five Hijas they had brought with them were each armed similarly to the old Liberated States of Columbia scout cars. They were sleek vehicles with camouflage paint of primarily brown colors. They seated up to four each, with canopies that could slide away. Mounted at the front and rear on each vehicle were turrets containing three weapons.

The primary armament was a high-powered railgun. While these weapons had received little use since the defeat of the Iron Roaches, Vasille had insisted they remain among the UPE armaments. Curiously, their primary use after that ancient war had been to clear avalanches during the ice age before they could get too big.

In addition to that primary weapon were a simple chemically-propelled projectile launcher designed to deliver many kinds of ordinance at range, as well as the newest model of the LSC’s signature Lightning Guns.

Larger versions of these weapons were mounted atop the Madre as well, the large parent vehicle for the smaller Hijas. Superficially resembling the nuclear-powered Alpha One and Alpha Two vehicles from the LSC that were used to recharge their scout vehicles, the Madre was more akin to a tank. It operated as a well-armed command center, with its various surfaces slanted to deflect projectiles.

It was one of three such vehicles in the UPE, and was equipped with one of the very few nuclear power generators still in use. It also contained the three Anthropoids brought along on the mission, two Ironbacks and one Chloropoid.

“They probably left already, but search the city to the best of our ability. Ask for any information on sightings of Wise Ape cargo trucks, uniforms, employees, etcetera. I don’t want to be here too long. I’d like to get as far north as possible before winter comes and forces us to track our quarry in the snow.” Vasille sat back down and lifted a hand to signal the group forward.

Nodding in response, Neville Bledsoe repeated the orders to the vehicles over radio while kicking their car into gear. Neville and Vasille took the lead in towards Esperanza, with two Guardsmen in the back seat. Once they were all underway, Neville glanced over at Vasille. “Father, don’t you think winter would be advantageous? We can operate in the cold much better than they can.”

Vasille let out an exasperated sigh. “Neville, I know you haven’t been very far North yet. If you think this part of the continent is big, then you’re not ready to see how big it gets further North. It’s an endless landmass of wastelands and rivers that our quarry could easily get as lost as they please in. If we can’t close in on them, we’ll never find them. We also can’t make assumptions regarding how prepared they are for winter.”

“How many settlements do you think there are that we don’t know about? Surely the majority of them would have done their best to keep in touch with the UPE?” Neville sounded somewhat hopeful as he asked his father the question.

The ancient father did his best to hold his sigh this time. “Unfortunately, the types of people given to risking their lives to establish new settlements are not always the types to maintain communication. There are many aspects of humanity our culture and the Ice Age have suppressed to a dangerous degree. Such things were the cause of the majority of the Phoenix Clan’s internal conflicts. Wanderlust was one of them. It may take centuries to find where all of the colonists went.”

Neville considered that for a moment, avoiding a large rock and signalling the other vehicles to avoid it as well. “And this Walter Thade is important enough to try and track down despite knowing we’re unlikely to find him? This isn’t just about one man, is it?”

Vasille shook his head, glancing over at his son. “Of course it isn’t. It’s certainly a large part of it, as the grandson of Elena Price cannot just go missing without explanation to the people, but this incident has uncovered something important. There’s an unknown organization operating in our country and it’s using the colonies away from Medellin as shelter. We don’t know who they are, what their motives are, or why they took Thade. We need to operate under the assumption they are enemies.”

His son nodded, frowning. “Don’t you think driving them underground, hunting them down, and persecuting them will only make them stronger? What if that draws sympathizers to them? Like you said, there’s a lot suppressed by our culture, so what if some of these settlements are anti-UPE?”

The Old One thought about it for several moments, considering his son’s ideas. “We’ve certainly seen that sort of thing in the past. They know they’re being chased though. They know they need to run because they know they’ve broken the law and will be punished if we find them. It’s our duty to see justice done. As far as rebellious settlements, we should be able to handle that.”

“Of course, father. And I’m sure you realize they probably want to be chased, as well? They’ll set up a trail for us to follow, like their burned down warehouses, in an effort to draw us in. Aside from Thade, have they even done anything harmful? Maybe the Wise Ape Cargo Company offended a few people and encouraged possible bigots, but no one was really harmed in that. Surely we can just track down Thade, punish his kidnappers, and leave the rest be?” Neville let off the accelerator as they came down a steep hill, letting gravity bring them up to speed as they started passing near farmlands.

Vasille tapped his metallic hand against an armrest. “Of course they are. They’re consolidating their resources or trying to disappear. Probably both. We have to make sure we don’t drive them underground, as you said. They’ll only get stronger that way. That’s why their company was allowed to operate in the open in the first place, so people could see and openly ridicule their more bigoted ideas. If Thade hadn’t disappeared, none of the rest of this would have happened.”

Neville let out a sigh, shaking his head. He reached a hand up to indicate to the other vehicles to start spreading out. Some of them stopped at farmsteads to talk to the residents. Close up, it was easy to see that there were quite a few Chloropoids and Gallusoids joining humans in the fields. “What if we don’t find him?”

Vasille stared at the city as they approached. The buildings were scarcely over two stories tall. The construction was primarily of hempwood, hemp, and applewood, with little in the way of paint. Large pits with thick fences dotted the landscape where workers and equipment disappeared underground. “We’ll find him, or what’s left of him. It’s only a matter of time, son. We’ll do our duty, I promise it. I promised Elena, and I haven’t let her down yet.”

The half Old One smirked over at his father and brought their vehicle to a stop. It’d be a long day of interviewing citizens. “How is she?”

Glancing back at his son with a raised eyebrow, Vasille moved to exit the vehicle. “She’s well. Motherhood seems to suit her this time. I don’t like her husband though. I think he’s involved.”

Getting out the other side, Neville frowned and looked across the vehicle at Vasille. “And you left her back there with him, alone? What if something happens? Surely we should attach guards to keep an eye on her?”

Vasille shook his head, heading towards a building and waving at Neville to indicate he should follow. “No, that’s a bad idea. It would tip him off more than I already have. I have to trust that she can keep an eye on him. Even if we had guards posted that wouldn’t stop him from doing something when they aren’t looking. She’s not alone, and she knows of the possible danger. She’ll be able to handle it.”

Scoffing, Neville caught up with his father as they headed into what seemed to be a tool storehouse. “I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself if there was danger near a woman I lov-”

Vasille turned harshly to Neville, the blade of this cybernetic arm flipped out and pointing at his son. “Don’t. Don’t finish that sentence.” His gaze was intense, mechanical eyes slightly glowing in menace.

Seemingly unflustered, Neville held up his hands and laughed. “Sorry Commander, I didn’t mean to overstep my bounds. I didn’t mean to insinuate anything, I was just expressing my feelings. I’d have killed Leonard, that’s all I’m saying.”

Vasille stared for a moment before retracting the blade. He was visibly annoyed that his son didn’t respond to his intimidation. His efforts to raise his kids with nerves of steel apparently had drawbacks. “I thought about it. I didn’t want to hurt her like that, taking someone possibly responsible for the disappearance of her grandson before she could get her shot at him.” He seemed to calm down, smoothing down his uniform. “Besides, for now it seems like he’s responsible for protecting her for some reason. Whatever his true motives, she might just be safest with him.”

Neville merely shrugged in response, smiling and seeking out any civilians in the building. Finding the head of the storehouse, the two Guardsmen began their long day of interviews and information gathering.