Chapter 2C: Magnum Opus
The small robot quickly roamed through the vast hallways and empty meeting centers. Due to how late at night it is, things were quiet and desolate. Even the people who occasionally passed by didn’t pay attention to the small robot sprinting along.
Very quickly, the robot reached the med bay. To get in, his robot needed authorization. Thus he could only wait outside until someone leaves or enters to follow behind.
The girl got out of bed. With weak knees, she tried to take a step but fell.
“Too weak,” She said while rubbed her legs, “Muscle atrophy is annoying.”
She could stand with some effort, but walking will have to wait. She slowly rose back up and sat down on her bed. Looking at the mirror on the wall she admired her fair complexion. A head of jet black hair that revealed a single slimmer of brown in the light. Her eyes round and soft, giving one the feeling of innocence and helplessness. Her brown hazel eyes were like a cup of coffee with cream, mellow and relaxing. Her face overall looked average, but one couldn’t help but get lost in the innocence. After a while, the girl sighed.
“I certainly cute, aren’t I?” She said nearly in an egotistical fashion.
A certain sense of pride washed over her. It only made her a bit fearful.
“I’m not normally like this,” She said silently to herself, “Is the original body’s owner starting to affect my thoughts?”
Trying not to think too much of it, the girl sighed.
“It would seem I am still myself; it’s just my nature is slowly conforming to that of the original body’s habits.”
With a helpless sigh, she got back in bed. But then, a small robot entered her room. She immediately recognized it as one of the robots that lurk around the old man’s lab. A monitor popped out above the robot’s head, and the old man appeared on the screen.
“Old man!” She yelled softly.
“Hahaha, it would seem my experiment was successful!” After hearing the girl’s reaction, the old man knew his magnum opus had succeeded.
“Where are you right now?” The girl asked.
“In jail, don’t worry about me,” The old man replied. With the tricks he had up his sleeves, he could get away with almost any crime. But he didn’t want to drag her into this any further. He had to vanish from her life.
“J-jail?” The girl trembled, “B-but why?”
“Where do you think that body came from? Certainly not the morgue. Even I cannot revive the dead,” The old man sighed, “No matter, just knowing that I have succeeded in enough for me.”
The girl suddenly felt a wave of guilt hit her. If it weren't for her selfish desires, the old man wouldn’t have to sacrifice himself.
“I-I…”
“Don’t worry about it. Remember the laws of the universe; nothing can be created, only changed. To allow you to live, someone must die,” G4240B said with a firm resolve, “I have lived long enough, there’s already no chance for me to go to Gaia. Instead, I will place all my hopes on you, my boy…I mean girl.”
The girl frowned deeply. No matter what the old man said, the guilt just won’t leave.
“Listen here, go to my lab and collect the storage buses. They will help you during your coming of age ceremony. Either way, after my death, the information would go to waste anyway.”
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“I-I can’t let you just die.”
The old man quickly came up with an excuse, “There’s no hope. What I have done over the years have angered several people. They will not let me get past this trial alive.”
“Then let me testify.”
“No, I will not bind you into this mess.”
“B-but.”
“No buts, this is the end, let me enjoy my success and end with a bang,” The old man smiled.
The girl was silent. She knew just how stubborn the old man is. The last remaining thing she could do was to do what he wanted her to do.
G4240B suddenly thought of something. He might as well get the girl to safer grounds.
“Girl, continue my legacy. Go to Gaia.”
With that last line, the robot ran out of energy and collapsed onto the ground.
The girl remained still for a long time, deep in thought.
Finally, she sighed.
“There is nothing I can do.”
She was powerless. Just a single ant in a colony of mindless ants. She holds no power over anything. She barely holds any control over herself right now.
“Are we so useless?” She couldn’t help but wonder.
With the small robot’s jamming stopped and its energy depleted, the AI returned.
“How are you C5731A? Did anything happen?” It has spotted the small robot on the floor in a heap.
“Nothing, I was just working on something I remembered,” She replied quickly while she started disassembling the small robot. She needed to destroy the evidence. She knew the old man didn’t want her to be caught in this mess.
“So diligent when you have just woken up!” The AI sounded happy, “We look forward to your coming of age demonstration in four months.”
“Four months…”
It would seem the girl was younger than the boy was a couple of months.
“At least I have more time now.”
She needed to gain ranks to get to Gaia. The only thing that could surprise the judges will be in the old man’s lab.
“He passed the storage bus to me, in hopes I use it to go to Gaia,” The girl thought, “Then I shall use it to the best of my abilities.”
With enthusiasm and diligence in her eyes, she went back to bed. Nothing she could do now, her muscles were still too weak even to walk. Her physical therapy will begin soon.
______
A month later, the trial for the old man officially started.
Looking wholly disheveled and tired, the old man stood at the podium.
On the side stalls, sat several middle-aged men with disdain in their looks.
“Well, well, well, looks like your actions have finally caught up with you Gadget.” One of them said with arrogance and mockery in his tone.
The old man looked at the arrogant person with a laugh.
“At least I have a name of my own, Y8922E,” The old man said.
The arrogant man frowned.
“So what? How useful will a name be when you are dead?” He replied.
“I will be recorded in history as a name, you are nothing but a series of numbers and letters, lost forever in the mire of other numbers and letters,” The old man said.
The arrogant man then shuts up.
“Silence in the court!” The AI judge smashed the gavel several times, “How does the jury find the defendant?”
The men all smiled cruelly before one stood up with a parchment.
“Guilty, your honor.”
“Then the defendant shall be sentenced to death via disintegration.” The Judge said with a particular sadistic glee in its tone.
The old man wasn’t surprised. He knew this was coming as soon as he got caught.
“Teacher really made things difficult for me,” He sighed under his breath.
In a room above the courtroom, looking through a one-way window, was an innocent looking girl. She wanted to break down the glass and object. She wanted to kill everyone here just to save the old man. But she was powerless. Nothing she could have done to prevent this.
The old man looked up at the mirror and saw his reflection. But he knew she was watching. He put up a brave smile and mouthed three words.
“Go to Gaia.”
That was the last time the girl saw the old man. He was taken away by the security droids to the death chambers.
______
No one has ever written what it felt like to be disintegrated. No one has ever lived to tell the tale. The old man stood on the platform and stared at the brilliant mass of nuclear energy.
This was the core of the seed ship. The entire ship was powered by one single reactor core. The scientists who created it were geniuses beyond geniuses. It was a scientific wonder worthy of the gods themselves.
G4240B admired the creation. To the scientists who created it, perhaps it was their magnum opus. Suddenly, he had a thought of ending his bitter struggle. His teacher, his master, and his fellow students all turned on him. There was nothing left other than the child he raised. But all children must grow up.
The old man smiled one last time as he realized that perhaps his time really was up. With the platform underneath him vanished back into the wall. Under his last breath, he said one last thing.
“Gaia.”
He fell into the brilliant ball of energy and was completely obliterated.
His mass will be recycled into the reactor, forever powering the seed ship on its never-ending journey to find a new home. After all, matter cannot be destroyed or created; it could only be altered.