Chapter 1A: Seed Ship
A bald youth sat upon a metal bench in the corridor of a vessel. His face androgynous due to his youth and his lack of hair, but his eyes gave away his gender. With a yearning in his eyes and a conflicting nihilistic frown plastered on his face, he sighed deeply. In front of him was a large window into the vastness of space. Glimmering lights and flickering spots dotted the eternal darkness that seemed to last for eternity.
After a good fifteen minutes, he finally stood up strenuously. Each step of his seemed like it took a lot of effort. He walked toward his next destination: the classroom.
With a quick scan of his ID card attached to his uniform, the metallic door slides open. In the dimly lit room were several tables with a visor placed on top of each. He looked around and saw several of his classmates already put on their visors. After he limped over to his assigned seat, he lifted the visor. A thin wire linked the machine firmly to the table. It looked feeble but was very durable. The boy sat down and placed the visor over his eyes. The scene of augmented reality classroom appeared in front of him. A Teacher hologram was in front with a timer above her head. It was ticking down to the beginning of class.
Once the clock hit zero, the Teacher came to life. She was the most basic AI program with only question and response features that went along with her teaching program. Having been the boy’s teacher for most of the adolescence, he was already used to her features.
“Welcome students, today we will continue our history lesson on the ARK program.” It said with a kind melodic voice.
The lesson continued with the scene around them changing into one of dust and desolation.
“Our home planet Earth had been reduced to an uninhabitable dust ball due to humanity’s hubris,” The teacher spoke calmly, “Due to the urgency of the situation and in the face of extinction, humanity put aside their differences and decided to leave.”
Scenes changed and a large vessel being built in lower orbit was depicted. Several autonomous robots were welding pieces into place.
“The brightest minds of humanity combined with the resources provided by the world government created the vessel array known as the ARK program. With the mothership Gaia and her seven seed ships, humanity blasted off into the final frontier, hoping to find a new place to call home.”
The scene changed again into one of the ships Gaia with seven smaller vessels orbiting it as it traveled through space.
“ARK program, a powerful system that ensures the survival of humanity. To help with your journey, the scientists developed the Mother AI system. It manages all functions on the vessels as well as keep records and education. It is the guardian angel of humanity.”
The boy scoffed a little as the AI boasted on about its creator. Yes, the AI was created by the central AI on the ARK, the Mother. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. Why did the scientists give the AIs personality?
The lecture continued as the Teacher explained the ARK program in detail. Our lad’s mind zoned out after a while since it was all things he learned before.
Suddenly, he got a private message from a classmate. It appeared as an envelope hovering in the corner of his eye. He opened it, and a giant creature suddenly popped out and scared him. Nearly fell out of his seat too. With his heart still pounding, he suddenly had the urge to punch someone. Quickly tossing the message into the trash, his frown deepened. It was just the usual bullying, nothing he couldn’t ignore, but he couldn’t help but be reminded of his current grim situation.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
The Mother AI was created to help humanity survive its long journey to their new home. It also was tasked with the job of improving humanity’s chances of survival. This means dedicating resources to individuals who show promise and will benefit humanity as a whole. Your usefulness places you in a rank aboard the ARK. Those who are born on the ARKs all start out on a seed ship. Once they reach B rank or above, they get transferred to the mothership Gaia to be cryogenically preserved for the whole journey. There they will stay forever young until humanity finally reaches their new home. From an outside view, the mothership Gaia looked to be a giant icebox graveyard, but to the struggling people aboard the seed ships, it was the promise of survival. Die a dull and slow death on the seed ship, or join the rest of humanity in pioneering a new planet, the choice is obvious.
The boy showed promise with his intellect and logic reasoning. Right now, he was C rank. Given time, he will finally cross the threshold and join the others on Gaia. But sadly, fate was a cruel mistress. Due to exposure to radiation, cancer had spread all over his body. It was with great effort he was even walking by himself. If it weren't for the advanced science of the ship and the knowledge of health care from the Mother, he wouldn’t have lasted this long. His parents have long abandoned him. This was a dog eat dog world, either you are useful, or you are a waste of resources. Before he got sick, his parents doted on him. With a good child, the parents also benefit greatly. They can ride the coattails of their kids all the way to Gaia.
Soon the class ended. The boy took his visor off and left quickly before the other kids could stop him and play their usual tricks. Suddenly, a voice rung in his ear.
“Remember to do your homework, A7619B.” The Teacher softly reminded.
He only paused for a second, nodded and left out the door immediately. That’s right; he had no name. No one on the seed ships does. All they had was a label, an identification number. That’s all the AI needed. For recording purposes, it was better for the scraps to be only assigned a code.
A7619B showed up at his dorm. All it contained was an indent in the wall where his bed laid and a small metal desk protruding from the opposite side. He checked in his box for his daily supplements and medication. Two pearly white pills and a bar of nutritional supplement the size of his hands were placed gently in there.
Frowning at the pills and the bar, the boy grabbed the cup by his bed and pour himself some water from the faucet that suddenly appeared out of the wall.
Looking at the two pills in his hands, he wanted to end it all. Was it even worth it anymore? His chances of surviving were slim to none. Even then, his body needed to be able to be cryogenically preserved. Sighing, he swallowed the two pills and took a swig of water to wash it down. He then began working on his nutrition bar. It was the same tasteless piece of crap that he hated since birth. Not that he knew any other taste due to having eaten nothing other than pills and nutrition bars since weaning. It provided all the nutrients and carbs to survive, but it was a tasteless mess.
The boy climbed onto his bed with the bar in his hand. He looked up at the ceiling lights and pondered. What could he do now to survive? Fifteen years old now...If he survives to his birthday, it would be his adult ceremony. The Mother AI usually tests any seeds during their adult ceremony. If they show promise, their ranks can rise. It was also the last chance most people get to raise a grade easily. Otherwise, they have to have a Eureka moment and come up with something that would aid humanity in the new world. Not everyone was an Einstein or a Tesla; it was rare enough to find someone who was that innovative.
Looking at his body’s current situation and his chances of succeeding during the ceremony, the boy wanted to cry. He knew he did not have long left in the world. His chances are nearly zero; his hope was almost all but gone. No family to support him, no friends to weep for him. What was there left to do? He could end it all. Just another nameless code, becoming compost for the ARK system’s plant preservatory.
His nihilistic views on the world were well placed. The Earth was gone, all one can see was metal and space now. At best, the visors provide a view of the things of the past. In such a cold, lonely place, depression sets in quick.
A7619B’s sadness suddenly turned to rage. Why him? Why did he get sick? What did he do wrong for such a travesty to happen?
He threw what remained of the nutrition bar at the wall. It stuck for a second before slowly sliding down onto the ground. A small cleaning robot zoomed out from a hole that opened up in the wall and hoovered up the crumbs before vanishing back into its domain. Deep down he knew his mood swings were caused by his medication. It was a side effect he expected yet couldn’t control.
The boy cried. Life was unfair.