Ava and Aphrodite: The First Human in 8000 Years (Featured)

Chapter 11: Lost in Space

There weren't any screens or any windows, no sound or change in pressure, it all happened in an instant and Ava had difficulty telling whether the pod was moving at all.

"Ava, we need to direct the ship to Mars," said Sylvie, "you know how to right?"

"I thought this would be the same as the ships we use, or at least similar to the warships the Evos use." Ava replied,

"This ship is different?"

"No engines, no proper lift off, we just kinda zipped into space. Didn't Schweitzer say we'd be moving at light speed? He couldn't have been speaking literally when he said that."

"Evo robots and Serv robots are different," said Go-bot, hoping his insight would prove useful. He had a point at least.

"Yeah, for some reason I never really considered that they might have tech I wasn't aware of." Ava crossed his arms and tried to frown, except Go-bots face wasn't able to do that so... "Thinking about it, there's really no reason for their tech to be the same as ours. And on the Europa colony I visited, it was all completely alien. Hell, we already know their operating systems are different from ours."

"So their form of space travel is different too," muttered Sylvie, "-is this as big of a problem as I think it is?"

"N-no, don't worry, I'll figure out how to drive this thing anyway-"

"Don't bother," it was Schweitzer's voice playing through the intercom, "the ship is following an energy trail going straight to the colony where Aphrodite is meant to go. Not where you were trying to take her."

"Schweitzer?" Ava felt a chill down his non-existent spine,

"These types of ships follow direct routes, on rails. In this case it is following a predetermined digital path going to a beacon that has already been set."

"Schweitzer, how are you even talking to us!?" Ava replied,

"I think it's a recording Ava, I mean, he's out of signal range." Sylvie added,

"Go-bot, or whoever you are, I'm aware you're not working for Locke. I, of course, pretended to be fooled by your façade so that it'd be easier to smuggle Aphrodite out. In reality Locke and I have been having a lot of trouble getting her released because-"

"The locks," Ava said.

"The locks that you hacked," Schweitzer confirmed. "I knew you were a hacker the moment I saw you. How else would you have gotten in?"

"Shit."

"I didn't make this recording to gloat though Go-bot. In the end we both have the same goal, I think. We both want Aphrodite alive, I know that for sure, I could tell from your behaviour that there'd be no way you'd be able to kill her. But I can't let you take her to your people, she needs to go to a sanctuary where she can be safe. She needs a place where she can live her life in peace, and... I don't know, maybe her race will flourish in the sanctuary."

"Flourish? But don't biological organisms need-"

"Anyway, sorry, I've rambled a little. Say hello to Locke when you see him, he's very nice and easy to get along with." The recording stopped,

"He knew all along!?" Sylvie exclaimed, her voice was loud enough to somehow hurt Ava's ear, even though she was technically not speaking in his ear. "That slimy son of a-"

"No, when you think about it there was all sorts of shit he could've done to make things harder for us. In the end all he really cares about it keeping this human alive. And I think that sound recording was less to gloat, and more to just clear things up for us." Ava tried to rationalise things, but he was fuming too.

"Well now what!? Didn't he say this thing moves on rails? There's no internal navigation system."

"Well I can hack it and maybe change where it thinks the beacon is I suppose. Fool it into thinking the beacon is on Mars. But it'd mean pulling it off of the track it's on. Ah shit wait, there's no way I'd be able to isolate Mars from this far away."

"Ava," Sylvie's voice tightened, she tried to keep a cool head, "can you feel it? We really are moving at near light speed. And in about thirty minutes we'll be outside of transmission range, meaning we won't be able to get back digitally."

"In that case we'll just stay in Go-bot until we get to this mysterious planet. That's an option right?" Ava was starting to worry,

"No," Go-bot jumped in, "you can't. It's not safe for you Mr Ava and Ms Sylvie. You will fuse with my mind and lose identity if you stay in me too long."

"Three months approx. Yeah, that's a big gamble to take, if we don't find somewhere to disengage within three months the-" Ava started,

"Mr Ava, I am going to override control now. Both you and Ms Sylvie will be sent back to your original bodies. I will fly with the human on my own."

"Override?" Ava tried to move, he couldn't, he couldn't move at all. He started to lose his senses, he was falling into third level AI-control, the same as Sylvie, being reduced to just a voice in Go-bot's head.

"What the hell Go-bot!?" Ava exclaimed,

"What's going on? Go-bot, are you crazy!?" Sylvie added,

"The Major said my number one priority was to ensure your survival Mr Ava and Ms Sylvie. If you stay in my body for too long you will suffer a dissociative disorder that will merge with my AI."

"But... There's still the original versions of us. We won't die."

"Yeah, we're just copies Go-bot." Sylvie added

"You original versions won't be able to find me if I don't send you back Ms Sylvie. You will wake up with memory loss. I need to rescue the you inside me now."

Ava thought for a moment. Didn't Go-bot realise he was rescuing copies? No, to be honest, even though Ava was a copy that was going to be transferred back to his original body, he was still scared to die. There was still the original version of him back on Mars in deep sleep, but this Ava right now, the copy, he really was afraid of losing himself. From Go-bot's perspective, and really, from Ava himself's, he was the original Ava no matter which way he looked at it.

"Go-bot, you're way smarter than I am, you know that?" Ava smiled,

"Thank you Mr Ava!" Go-bot's voice squeaked enthusiastically in a way Ava thought not possible for an Evo.

"Hey, we'll look for you the moment we get back to our bodies. Ok?"

"Go-bot, you're really willing to do this for us? We're just copies. We're AIs." It seemed like Sylvie placed less value on herself as a copy, it almost felt like she didn't really understand the sincerity of Go-bot's deed at the moment.

"It's the same thing to me Ms Sylvie." And indeed, that sincerity was established via his child-like voice, "intelligence is intelligence. Life needs to be preserved."

Those were his last words. Ava and Sylvie could feel their consciousnesses tighten until they had turned into nothing but a single dot, suddenly all of their thought processes because vague concepts and their minds became huddled together like they were forced to synchronise. With that, they shot across the solar system, leaving Go-bot and the most powerful being in existence to simply float away into the mysterious abyss.

Writer's note: Hi all, I hope you liked this chapter! If you reached this point, don't forget to press the star at the bottom, and maybe even some feedback or suggestions in the comments sections will be great!