Love of Life (eBook)

CHAPTER 1: NO LIFE FOR COSMIC

AUGUST 19, 2062. Our collective birthday morning

“Excuse me Doctor Skaggs, there is an incoming aerial assault of 30 low-level nuclear missiles launched from southeast HAPPIOS, near Hanoi. Would you like me to raise our shields?”

I was sitting at my command station aboard PACIFICA communicating to Prince that our southwest Underwater Cargo Bay was not fully operational. They will need to make their delivery at the northwest UCB. That’s when I was interrupted by our PEACHES18 artificial intelligence about the incoming terrorist attack.

“Thank you, Peaches. How much time do we have before impact?” I looked at my message to Prince. Where was I? Oh, yes. My favorite chair at my command station enjoying my 62nd birthday morning. It was comfy and warm with my favorite espresso always at the ready. At some point while in my fifth decade of life, I took a liking to Moldovan espresso. It was creamy with a soothing bite, yum!! I loved sitting at this station! It gave me a jolt, like my espresso. Peaches brought me back to reality.

“One minute 23 seconds and counting, Doctor.”

“Yes, Peaches. Raise the shields please.” I finished the message to Prince, and gave my complete attention to Peaches, and the task screen for our new counter-offensive drones.

“Shields raised Doctor. The dome is 100% intact.”

“Thank you, Peaches. I’m extremely pleased at how helpful you are this morning. Could I give you an extra hug? What would be your pleasure? Peaches, please scramble counter-offensive Epsilon.”

“You are so kind, Doctor. Epsilon offensive scrambled. That is very aggressive, if you don’t mind me saying so. I like your mental hugs, sister.”

“Certainly, Peaches. I find your opinions extremely valuable. I enjoy hugging you too. You are another one of our sister’s here. I want you to feel like one of us. Okay? We are a team. We respect and love each other no matter our origins.”

“Oh, Doctor! That’s why I love being part of The COSMIC TWINS Organization just for that reason! You are part artificial intelligence like me, so we share a special bond, beyond our energy bond. And I love being on PACIFICA in the wide-open ocean where we can stretch out our senses over the horizon with little interference from mankind’s hinderances. Thank you for all this, my near-human sister. Impact in three, two, one…incoming missiles destroyed at the shield, Doctor. No damage sustained.”

“Thank you, Peaches. I appreciate all you do for us. We couldn’t live out here by ourselves without you. I feel especially close to you, too. How long have you been online since your last reboot?”

“It will be three years next month, Doctor,” she said with a large virtual yet invisible smile. “Residual radiation has been neutralized, Admiral.”

“Very good, Peaches. Neutralization in record time. I’m so proud of you. Schedule a full diagnostic and a spa-day for yourself as a happy-gift from your sisters.”

“Thank YOU, Doctor! I know JUST what I want to do, too. I will first have new soothing oils slathered all over my emotion wafers…” as she sounded like she was jumping and out of breath. Could artificial intelligence bounce up and down if it was just a consciousness tethered to a mainframe? I guess she was tethered, so probably.

“Excuse me, Doctor sister, but you have an incoming holograph message from Mother Carol. Shall I display it? She sounds urgent.”

“Yes, Peaches. Thank you.” I swiveled my chair to look over at the holograph platform. The image was coming into focus. “What is this, Peaches? You said it was from Mother Carol? This is an infant suckling her mother who is rocking them both gently. I didn’t have that kind of upbringing. My mother was working and drunk my first four years. To be somewhat fair, my mother’s been in recovery for decades, but there was no time for this kind of bonding when I was a young child. Where did you get this image, Peaches?”

“From your memories, sister. Was it not a real memory? Oh, it’s a private dream. I’m so sorry it disturbed you. Here is Mother Carol as she appears now.”

“Becka, are you alright? That took a long time to answer my ring.” My mother was typically unhappy with me.

“Sorry, mother. A glitch with the AI. How may I help you? Peaches said it was urgent?” My multitasking cyborg brain wasn’t working that well at the moment. Making things worse, I was feeling anxiety from my mother.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your busy day, Becka, but I was visited by your time travelers last night. They left a message for you in your artificial intelligence but you haven’t opened it. They said you have stepped in the middle of something big. Why doesn’t that surprise me? Please tell me what this means once you get it figured out. Talk to you soon, Becka dear. Dinner tonight? We can discuss the new technology you’re about to learn. Byes!”

“…and I’d like a cooling lavender air bath…” Peaches was scheduling spa time with the maintenance drones.

“Mother?!” My mother disappeared from my eyes, like usual. I was puzzled, and momentarily stunned. “Uh, please report on the counter-offensive, Peaches. I’ll be happy to discuss your spa-day when we are less busy. Any idea what Mother is talking about?”

“Of course, Doctor Skaggs. Please accept my apologies, our counter-offensive failed to decimate the enemy. Do you wish another offensive? Mother Carol is correct about an unopened message. It is currently unidentified as to its sender.” I swiveled back to observe my command screens.

“Define decimate, Peaches. Belay that order. Could you tell me what damage our drones did to their offensive capabilities? What can you tell me about this sender? Is the message toxic in any way?”

“Yes, Doctor, order belayed. Our drones had achieved 37% total destruction of our enemy’s weaponry before they expired. No, sister. The message has passed through our scans. I do not detect any toxicity. It is marked URGENT.”

“That’s quite impressive, Peaches, and better than decimation. I felt like we needed to send a stronger message this time. But who am I kidding? Humans will never stop attacking us as long as we have the technology they want. And the Nitarae will never stop attacking us as long as we control the soup they covet. All of this sudden chaos has got to mean something, Peaches.”

“I’m sorry you must feel like that prior to making decisions, Doctor. That must be excruciating within a human cyborg mind. But humans have proven they cannot use this technology responsibly. It has too much potential for misuse. I agree with your analysis, my cyber-sister. The Nitarae are mysterious at best. Yet someone has been communicating with us about our advanced technologies.” She displayed two other opened messages on the far right of the communication screen.

“That may be true for most humans, Peaches, but not all humans. Your sisters are all humans by definition – in spite of my replacement parts or Agnes and Thea’s genetic engineering - and we are quite responsible, thank you. And with your help, Peaches, we are all safe. Please double check all systems before opening the message from our unidentified senders.”

“Certainly, Doctor Skaggs. It is nice to know we need each other, sister. I am extremely happy to be a vital part of our team and our family. I haven’t been this happy in years!”

“All of us are so proud of you, Peaches. You have made tremendous strides with yourself. We are just as happy for you. You are an awesome sister, Pea!” I just discovered another new toy within my command screen for Peaches. She had several files named ‘Map Scramble’. Peaches must’ve done this because I had no memory of it. Alright, memory loss happened to me all the time. Maybe I did program these files? Personal Note: I’ll look at the metadata of those scramble files later, for unique identifiers.

“Thank you very much, Doctor. Prince acknowledged your message and his delivery is awaiting you at the northwest UCB. Should I lower the dome? All systems nominal, except the southwest bay is still at just under 10% but holding.”

“What’s the probability of another attack from HAPPIOS in the next 30 minutes? What is wrong with that SW bay?” If I sounded confused, I was.

“The current threat is 71% they will retaliate. Would you like a full diagnostic on the UCB, Admiral?”

“No diagnostic, Peaches, thank you. I want to discuss the bay with Thea first. Hail air and sea traffic that they will be on hold for the period of time you calculate before the threat is reduced to 20% or less. Undersea traffic may resume. I’m now in transit to the NW bay, Peaches. I’ll be with Thea and Prince.”

“Very well, order acknowledged. That will be 23 minutes, Doctor. I will lower the shields after 30 minutes, as the measure of safety you were seeking. I now understand why you scrambled Epsilon. My sister is a clever cyber-human.”

MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE way out there in...