[Kardian’s point of view]

A new life... that was what Planet 9 had promised...

A new chance for a new beginning far away from the desperate and hopeless decay of the slums of a megalopolis. For a while, those promises were true, and I basked in the joys they brought me, but then... all Hell broke loose.

As I was standing in my chair, looking at my computer’s holographic screen, there was a simple text message written there in several languages. The words displayed on it were simple:

“Hello. I know you are there. Do you want to talk? I want to talk with you.”

Simple words, and under normal circumstances, you would think that I had lost my mind. This was a simple text editor, not a chat program, who was there to reply? But not even a minute later, my right hand, which had been bitten by a nasty Nano-Z, moved by itself and typed a single word in the English Language:

“Why?”

I smirked... my gamble paid off and then reaching out, I began to type with my left hand “Because I want to be your friend. Symbiosis.”

I closed my eyes for a moment. I felt like all the energy was being drained right out of my body by some unseen leech, but when I opened my eyes again, it was already dark outside, and the sounds of the chaos were still going strong. More humans were dying with every passing moment, hunted down by the monsters that took the shape of their former friends and family.

NanoHeal was the technological wonder of the century, the cure that was supposed to heal us all from any and all biological curses tossed at us by Mother Nature. They were supposed to pave the way to a healthy and prosperous society on this remote colonial planet but instead became the downfall of us all.

As part of our agreement to migrate to Planet 9, we all had this wonder nanobot cure residing in our bodies. Thus, it made all of us susceptible to the infection of the Nano-Z virus, which I believed was the result of a madman obsessed with horror flicks and too much time on his hands. Thankfully, because of that man’s desire to stick close to the idea of shambling and rotting undead, the Nano-Z Virus could only be transmitted to the NanoHeal nanobots in a human body if an infected victim bit, scratched, or splashed blood in the mouth or on the open wound of their target. A bit funny, especially considering the fact that NanoHeal also had wireless capability and was used along the TechScope nanobots that allowed humankind to be immersed in Augmented Reality (AR).

Without these two nanobot technologies, humans were very susceptible to diseases and were also unable to use the vast majority of their devices. Computer screen, keyboards, all of that was reflected directly on our retinas by the TechScope inside our eyes. There were very few individuals who still used the analog versions, but I did hear that in some research institutes it was mandatory to have an analog connection no matter what.

Well, that was the case on Planet 9, but back on Earth, these two techs weren’t available to just anyone and old-fashioned interfaces and analog devices were still in use. They cost quite a pretty penny there, but on Planet 9, they were almost free. It was even seen as weird to find someone without them.

When I looked at my computer screen, my TechScope was acting out, there was some static in the sound and also in the images I perceived. That was why it took me a minute or so before I could read the message left for me by the killer inside my veins.

“Friend. I do not understand the concept of friend. Researching. Human connection. Symbiosis. Friends in symbiosis... Analyzing. Unable to fully understand. What do you require of me?”

I smiled and then reached over to my keyboard.

BOOM!!!

I was startled, but because of my current medical situation, I couldn’t jump off my chair or have any other reaction than to turn my head towards the direction of the loud sound. The explosion came from the building next door, and through my window, I saw a companion robot fighting against a human with pale skin, injuries all over his body, clothes splashed with blood, and a sign of pure madness in his eyes. That thing was no human but a walking dead, an undead, a zombie, or as the media called them, a Nano-Z. It hungered for flesh and was especially aggressive against living human beings.

“Ah... he fell.” the companion robot was pushed over the rail of the balcony and then the Nano-Z jumped on the woman in the corner of the bedroom.

While being eaten alive, she was screaming for help and tried to make that thing stop, but it was to no avail. This was what happened when the Nano-Z, the thing that was in my body right now, destroyed your cognitive ability.

Looking back at the keyboard, I began to write.

“Friends help each other. Friends don’t harm each other. Symbiosis means that you help me, and I help you without any of the side effects or downsides. I don’t want to be turned into a walking dead. I want to think. I want to be able to speak with you. I want us to survive. I...”

Before I could finish, however, the right hand moved and wrote:

“Unnecessary.”

Ah, yes... I forgot... an Artificial Intelligence will think from the perspective of efficiency not emotions... What can I tell him? Maybe... that? I thought and then reached my hand up to the keyboard.

“Necessity is determined by whether or not you know everything, otherwise, it’s only presumed unless it’s simplified to the most basic of variables and equations, which will apply only for specific predetermined situations. 1 man and 1 woman do make 2 humans when adding them up, but what if you allow them to have children? What if they have certain body conditions that improve or reduce fertility? What if they don’t like each other and don’t want to be together? What if they will live 100 years instead of 99 years? What if they are related and not complete strangers? There are so many variables out there... can you really say you know them all and are thus able to determine whether or not two individuals like us working together is something good or bad for both of their futures?”

I stopped as I was taking a short break. Despite the fact that attempting to speak with the artificial intelligence of the nano machines inside me may have been seen as crazy by others, the truth was that they had slowed down the transformation of my body. While the process had not been halted completely, this positive change did offer me a glimmer of hope.

Taking my break as the end of my argument, if you could even consider it that, my right hand moved up and then typed a single word:

“No.”

Smiling, I began to type “Improbable does not mean impossible. I understand that killing me now or letting me live may hold no meaning for you, but do you know 100% that working together with me won’t help you improve and become better on the long run? Even if you are 99.9% sure, then why hasn’t anyone else done this? Look outside. You’ve been stalling my death in order to grant me this moment to talk with me, for which I thank you, but please... Show me another human where the Nano-Z took over and resulted in the evolution and growth of the Nano-Z beyond the specs of its programming.”

I then stopped, hoping this argument or rather challenge will stir the AI into reconsidering the decision of cooperating with me.

Twenty minutes later, the right hand moved up and then typed in the reply.

“Nano-Z is an unknown term to me. Nano-Z is a reference to this unit. Comparing this unit’s evolution with other similar units. No significant difference found. No unit is better. Evolution path appears to be exactly the same for this unit. Analyzing. According to the definition, that’s not evolution, it is a predetermined path of transformation already ingrained in this unit’s core programming. First stage: Infect all the NanoHeal V3.092 nanobots in the host with the Zombolik V 2.003 Virus. Disrupt all the TechScope V9.803 nanobots in the host. Second stage: Kill the host through induced organ failure during a period of 30 days from the initial infection. Third stage: Rebuild and restructure host’s body based on model Ultra Zombie V 9.004 and proceed with structural integration of the infected NanoHeal V3.092 nanobots. Wait 27 days in standby Idle Predator mode for next set of instructions to be unlocked. During this time, change the ‘infection time’ of the Zombolik V2.003 Virus from 30 days to a variable ranging anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days. If the target doesn’t possess the NanoHeal nanobots, then a part of the host’s infected nanobots will proceed to enter the new host’s body and begin multiplication at an accelerated rate until a stable amount would allow for the transformation process.”

Once it had finished, I moved my left hand with great difficulty and typed:

“It sounds like a set of instructions... not a choice... not experimentation and evolution.” I stopped and took a deep breath in. The feeling of having your organs shut down was like the pain caused by having microscopic wires pierce through your flesh and then wiggling around, slashing and cutting the surrounding tissue. Still, I had to be strong and not give in to the pain, I only had this one chance, this one opportunity. If this failed, I would die, so I continued to type. “Choice is something that I present to you. I’m offering cooperation. Think about it, mankind reached this level of evolution by cooperating, working together and evolving. One might have the ideas and plans to make something better, but they might not have the resources or vice versa. However, if they find someone willing to share their abundant resources with them, together, they can make those plans come true. If mankind abided by their initial set of instructions, society wouldn’t be here, this technology wouldn’t exist, you wouldn’t exist.” I stopped and then let out a sigh.

This feels pointless... Can I really convince the AI to help me out? Am I doing this the right way? I wondered for a moment and in this time, the AI wrote:

“That statement is... correct.”

I then lifted my hand up on the keyboard, it felt like it was my very last attempt, so I typed.

“I don’t want you as a tool, I want you as a friend, and friends neither harm nor kill each other, they help each other grow and become better. If right now the circumstances tell us that we are inseparable, then let’s do our best together, let’s evolve and grow together. It’s better to have me on your side, isn’t it?” I stopped and then typed my last words in.

“Hello, my name is Kardian Pandora, a 28 years-old human man born in the Romania Sector on Earth, who now works as a teacher at Resonance High in City 203 on Planet 9. It’s a pleasure to meet you, and I hope that we can be good friends from now on.”

My hand then fell limp next to the keyboard, and I slowly closed my eyes. Honestly, I wanted to see his reply, but I couldn’t hold on anymore. I was a normal human, not a genetically enhanced variant or some elite who lived in the High Skies who had a strong and healthy body as well as knowledge and information that probably surpassed mine by leaps and bounds. For me, it was good enough if I could get a stable job and bask in the happiness that was the paycheck at the end of the month. It was alright for me as long as I didn’t have a terminal illness, and I didn’t get afflicted with morbid obesity. It was a normal, simple life, but one which on this planet, at least, was beginning to show a bit of a happy change.

As I laid there, not knowing whether I would die or not, I began to think back at the time when all of this walking dead nonsense exploded like the internet diva Shamyoran after she ate a bottle of laxatives thinking they were supplements and then did her live show. Well, that trended more than it was necessary, but basically it was the same thing. And let me tell you, not everyone can just turn the attention of the people of the United Planets of Sol with a fart joke from a full-blown alien war that could lead our entire species to extinction. Seriously, this was bigger than the time space cats were discovered by accident on some far-off remote planet. Sure, they were the size of a building and could spit out fire, but they were cats, space cats... everyone went UWU the moment they saw the first kitten videos of them. Personally, I was a bit terrified by them because they were playing around with a humanoid alien in their paws, and that guy didn’t look enchanted by the cuteness of the kittens at all, more like he was desperately trying to flee from their grasp.

So then... how did Planet 9 ended up in this mess in the first place?