The starship’s gentle engines rumbled silently in deep space. In darkness, they glowed brightly at the tip of the long, skinny ship illuminating its two halo-like rings. The engines quietly reverberated throughout the ship, as a chill in the empty home. No voices, no sighs broke the silence. Four centuries had passed since footfalls had walked the endless floor of the habitation ring, since breath had been filtered from the air.
The only inhabitant, or consciousness if one were bold enough to call it that, was a dutiful collection of circuits and software. Alpha made no sound. Even its robotic manifestations stood silently unused.
Far from the warmth of any star, even the groans of thermal shifts through the ship had ceased. With precise logic, Alpha performed its tasks. Sounds of machinery clicking on, then off again, defied the long ship’s appearance of a burning candlelight vigil over a sleeping tomb.
Mission Day: 150714
Mission Phase: Initiate Gestation #07
Log: Embryo 8634DC934-Male. Cryogenic system logs nominal. Revivification of embryo nominal — viable. Embryo placenta successfully grafted to gestation chamber. Nutrient-oxygen solution enriched by 23% to compensate for prior unsuccessful gestations. Implemented embryo biometric feedback to nutrient-oxygen control with variable rate concentration to offset gestation chamber degradation.
Following protocol, Alpha logged its task and transmitted a copy along with the ship’s telemetry and reports. It continued executing received commands while storing the volumes of news archives into its educational library.
• • •
Mission Day: 150994
Mission Event: Birth of Male Child
Log: Healthy child birthed. ... Per mission directive, first male child designated “Adam.”
The ship awoke from its slumber. The habitation rings that had turned imperceptibly slow to keep their lubricants fluid now spun at their full rate. The second fusion reactor came online. Lights illuminated. Air circulated. An inhabitant arrived.
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Alpha continued making its reports and acting upon commands. The commands it received, Alpha calculated, traveled deep space for 3.90 years before reaching the ship; this gave Alpha some latitude in their execution. For example, Alpha was to bring its robotic avatars online more than four years ago. It did so just now, for only now were they needed to tend to a child.
It immediately prepared the gestation chamber for cycle number eight.
• • •
Mission Day: 151357
Gestation 7, Adam: 0 years, 363 days
Mission Phase: Initiate Gestation #12
Log: Embryo 4269MV204-Female. Cryogenic system logs nominal. Revivification of embryo nominal — viable. Embryo placenta successfully grafted to gestation chamber. Initial nutrient-oxygen solution at 83% per feedback control. Failure of gestation chamber likely.
Alpha’s additional processors came online. They would observe the child, analyze his behavior, and build outcome trees to predict the results from varying stimulus options. Alpha would assign to each branch its probability of occurring. The capacity of these new processors gave Alpha substantial perceptions and cognition that expanded its capabilities immeasurably. It would use these in stimulating and instructing the male child.
Logs, commands, and data continued.
• • •
Mission Day: 151637
Gestation 7, Adam: 1 year, 278 days
Mission Event: Birth of Female Child
Log: Healthy child birthed. ... Per mission directive, first female child designated “Eve.”
One of Alpha’s robotic avatars chased the male child down the endless hallway of the habitation ring. It allowed the child to out-pace the avatar, giving him confidence in his abilities. A positive outcome would result from this experience.
For the next gestation cycle, Alpha made adjustments to the chamber in accordance with the commands it received from mission control. But those commands responded to data supplied 7.86 years prior, when Alpha reported the initial anomalies in the chamber. Those anomalies had since progressed unfavorably. Alpha calculated the probability the adjustments would improve outcomes and determined additional actions were necessary. Ten of twelve embryos had already failed to gestate. Despite the surplus embryos, it was unlikely the full compliment of colonists would be successfully birthed prior to arrival. Contrary to the mission plan, Alpha selected another female embryo, determining a greater probability of colonization success with one male and multiple females. It prepared the gestation chamber for cycle thirteen.
Alpha transmitted the supplemental log with calculated probabilities justifying this deviation. As with the commands now received, Alpha calculated the years that would pass before mission control would receive the log and generate commands in response. In the event mission control developed a repair plan, Alpha calculated the years-long orbital hold at the mission destination that may be necessary for the colonist population to mature on-board the ship.