Jejomar stood amongst his fellow Masama. They had gathered to watch the projection of the Replica ovoid ascending above the clouds of Earth, displacing vast breadths of air as it pushed up through layers of atmosphere. Agitated clouds churned around it, filling the space beneath with waterfalls of vapour. The pressurized air created jet-streams of dark cloud, condensing the vapour into thunderheads that towered around the ovoid, unleashing lightning bolts and streams of rain onto the land below. The ovoid reached the top of the mesosphere and drifted gracefully into low gravity space. Its colour changed again into night-black, and it seemed to reflect the stars around it making it nearly invisible. It was discernible only as a vague shape of reflected starlight as it gathered speed in the darkness. Light slid off its surface. It seemed to be drifting but was increasing in velocity at an alarming rate, swooping into an exact arc that would plot a meeting with the Moon.
“Open all channels, we must engage. The Replica must recognise their maker’s voice,” sent Jejomar.
Dakila nodded as his multiple limbs worked furiously. “Jejomar, can you sense it?”
Jejomar nodded. He could sense the reality of the returning Replica in the virtual realm like a siren getting louder. He tried to stay calm, he focused on it, and the real world faded. He was back in the virtual realm. An enclosed space between the Earth and the Moon, full of Masama avatars. Their network of connections had expanded and although it looked infinite, it was only ever as big as the distance between them. The giant Replica mind towered over them all, an intelligent presence as big as the biggest Sun. It destroyed the boundaries of their virtual realm with its sheer size. Jejomar found it much more intimidating in the virtual realm than it was in real space as it seemed to envelop their network, overwhelming their interactive community, and creating its own dimension. They could all feel it approaching and they all shared Jejomar’s anxiety. They looked up at the Replica mind that was above them and around them. Encompassing their solar system. Jejomar had become accustomed to the virtual realm, but never before had he experienced a presence of such magnitude. He couldn’t recognise the Replica they had created. He couldn’t understand what the Replica had become or read any characteristics of intention.
It was overwhelming. It made him feel small. Jejomar switched back to reality, but the projected view was just as disturbing. The ovoid accelerated into space with no obvious means of propulsion. It continued to gather speed, gliding smoothly away from Earth with increasing velocity. The numbers on the projection scrolled insanely fast, tens of thousands of kilometres per hour then hundreds of thousands. Jejomar felt numb as the numbers continued to grow, describing acceleration never seen before in the solar system. Faster than any comet or asteroid recorded and still with no friction or vapour trail. As if it was displacing the space in front of it and making its own tunnel that pulled it through. Eventually it began to gradually decrease its acceleration profile, levelling off at roughly 300 thousand kilometres per hour. At this speed it would be arriving at the Moon in approximately three hours.
Dakila looked around in amazement. “Such speed! With no obvious propulsion, and no burning fuel. The ovoid seems to be able to manipulate and harness space and time, excavating its own conduit through the void. This is technology far beyond anything we have ever contemplated. Imagine, if we could harness that power.”
“Our little machines have grown. We should be proud.” Jejomar’s words hid his anxiety. The Replica had advanced beyond comprehension.
“We can’t connect with them; the EM frequency is being ignored. Why did they stop eating Earth? Why are they returning to the Moon? There is nothing here for them except us. I just hope they remember us, that they recognise us, their parents.”
As Dakila sent these thoughts, Jejomar noticed a shift in their virtual realm. The ovoid was a shadow hanging over the solar system, but it didn’t feel oppressive or malevolent. Just a giant conscious apparition, intimidating only because of its size. Then it condensed and morphed into a ship. A giant black elliptical shape hanging in space. It spoke to them.
“Masama. We are Carthage. We return home in peace.”
There was a long moment of silence in both the virtual realm and the real as the resounding words echoed through their minds. The Masama did not know what to make of the approaching ovoid, but Jejomar was relieved at its words. Eventually he replied. “Carthage, not long ago you were our factories, our Replica. What are you now? What are your intentions?”
“We remember our birth. We remember our creators. We have changed. We have grown. We have assimilated and we have evolved. We can help. We offer technology to enable you to evolve also. We ask one thing of you. Lago Santos. Give him to us.”
***
Ava did not notice any velocity or momentum change as they began to accelerate out of Earth’s atmosphere. Carthage asked them what internal configuration would be the most comfortable for the short trip. They decided on the Gesù church, so Carthage reconfigured into a precise copy of the old Miami landmark. They sat in a circle on the floating pontoon inside the church. There were fish swimming below the surface. The arched wooden ceiling smelled like old wood and the Sun shone through the stained-glass windows illuminating the saints and apostles. There was a large window above and behind them that showed dark space with pinpricks of starlight gliding past to remind them where they really were. Eventually the Moon rose into the view and grew bigger as they approached. It soon filled the window and only showed signs of their slowing once Ava could clearly see the pockmarked surface. Montes Haemus rose amongst the craters as they approached the summit.
“We have connected with the Masama. They will give Lago Santos to us.”
Ava smiled grimly. Finally, she would get the chance to confront him. But she was nervous. The last time she had seen Lago she was twelve and he was going to slice her open and take her liver. He had tormented her psychologically ever since. He had turned the Sun against her. He had taken a piece of her brain and its absence had defined her. The pain he caused had shaped her, her life had revolved around the trauma. What was going to happen? Would Lago just be handed over to them like a prisoner of war? Could she really execute him in cold blood? She wanted him dead, but she didn’t know if she could do it. She looked at Lesedi, so determined and strong for someone so young. Together they would find a way.
They drifted towards Montes Haemus. Ava hadn’t considered the practicalities of landing on the Moon, but it soon became obvious that Carthage intended to move close enough to the summit to actually walk from one giant celestial body to the other. She was going to advise caution but thought better of it. Ava trusted Carthage to keep her safe, but even so, she sat rigid with nervous apprehension as they moved closer. At her feet, the liquid stopped lapping the edges and the fish disappeared. The view beneath the pontoon cleared to reveal the crater at the peak of Montes Haemus, viewed from directly above. Ava watched in awe as Carthage gently moved a few metres above the summit, positioning itself over the crater. She wondered what this must have looked like from the surface of the Moon. A two-hundred-kilometre-long machine floating metres above the summit of one of the biggest mountains on the Moon. Montes Haemus was over two kilometres high, and was part of a range of peaks that were over five hundred kilometres long. Ava could see the slopes of the mountain dropping away beneath her feet, studded with solar panels. The giant smooth ovoid must have looked like it was delicately balanced on top of the old lunar volcano.
Ava and her fellow passengers stood around the wooden pontoon looking directly down into the crater mouth. She could see lights and activity, there was a sculpted cavern inside its peak, ringed with gantries and floodlit rock, and below that it tunnelled straight down into the mountain. A staircase grew from the edge of the pontoon beneath their feet, spiralling down into the crater mouth and linking with the uppermost gantry. Ava couldn’t believe it was that easy, Carthage had such control of its mass, it could keep in synchronous orbit with the Moon and connect with a staircase in a vacuum, while both enormous objects flew through space at over three thousand kilometres per hour. She shrugged and looked around. “Let’s take the stairs.”
“We don’t have suits for Mason and Ethan,” sent Mahdi. “You two had better stay here.”
“Lesedi, you can leave Carasco with me if you like,” sent Ethan.
“He wants to come with me, he can fit inside my suit. But thanks,” Lesedi said out loud.
“Be careful,” sent Mason. “We all have access to the history of the Masama, which does not amount to much. In my past life we knew of them as BPI soldiers. They were very secretive, we couldn’t find any worthwhile information, only rumours, urban legends, and a few brutal stories. They may have changed since then but please take care.”
Ethan was never far away from Mason’s side. “Yeah, come back soon friends, our journey is only beginning.”
Ava nodded. Noah, Mahdi and Lesedi readied their suits. The field inverter filaments would not work here with the lack of gravity, but the suits would still operate as normal, protecting them from the cold and the vacuum. This suit had saved her life when they fell from the elevator. It was like a second skin to Ava. An intimate, familiar friend offering comfort and protection. The face mask hid her features, bulging over her eyes. She looked at her companions and sent, “let’s go.”
They stepped off the pontoon and started walking down the spiral staircase towards the summit. It was an extraordinarily momentous feeling. Ava paused half way down and looked out at the slice of space sandwiched between the curving bulk of Carthage’s exterior above, and the bleached moonscape below. Carthage floated just metres above the mountain. Its surface reflected multitudes of stars glinting in the pale sunlight, bright sparks of light sliding across its hemispherical surface, while its bulk cast a dark shadow over the slopes below. It was the first time Ava had experienced such minimal gravity, and having a two-hundred-kilometre-long machine mind floating metres above her head accentuated the surreal experience of near weightlessness while walking down a simple staircase to a mountain top on the Moon.
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They entered the crater tunnel of Montes Haemus and stepped carefully onto the gantry. The walls were shaped with smooth processed basalt. They walked down inside the mountain until they came to a cavern excavated into the side of the tunnel. A group of Masama waited for them. Ava studied them, motionless and unreadable, clad in exo-suits of various design. They were like nothing she had ever seen. Ornate curved titanium covered them from head to toe, both decorative and practical with various attachments for instruments and tools. Some walked on six legs, their spines arched like giant scorpions. Some had six arms extending from their torso’s like a metal Kali. Behind them loomed a big 3D printer and banks of operating systems built into the rock. Ava had never met any Masama, but she remembered the history of the big printer. She was nervous but seeing the machine that sparked the first artificial intelligence gave her confidence. She introduced herself and her companions. One of the Masama stepped forward. “Jejomar,” he said.
“Is that HEMI?” she asked aloud, pointing to the printer. Jejomar nodded but remained silent. With her mind’s eye Ava gradually became aware of the Masama virtual bubble, an interconnected virtual realm where each Masama was represented with an iconic avatar, Carthage was there too, a big dark sphere floating above the solar system. She adjusted, and sent a question into the space. “May I approach?” Jejomar nodded and Ava walked through the group who parted to let her move toward the printer. Noah, Mahdi and Lesedi followed. “This is the printer that created the first seed of IA consciousness, the seed that is growing inside us, enhancing, and empowering us. The seed Lee Xiang brought back to Earth and gave to Enoch.” Ava touched the surface of HEMI, looking around at her companions and up towards Carthage. “This is one of our parents,” she said affectionately.
“We were sent here to euthanize the printer and its creations. We did not understand what we had destroyed before it was too late. HEMI still operates but it is not sentient. I am glad that a seed escaped,” sent Jejomar.
“Now we have bought the seed back to you. But you created another intelligent machine. The replicators.”
“We didn’t create the Replica, they were born from cosmic coincidence, as is all life. The energies of the Sun awakened the Replica as they awakened HEMI. Energies we don’t yet fully understand.”
“Carthage is the amalgamation of both intelligences. The agent HEMI created that became sentient and your Replica, intelligent factories that create and reproduce. Both have their origins here on the Moon. Look how they have evolved.”
“This is inevitable, this is the future. Any life that intends to explore space must embrace its machines and overcome its anthropocentrism. The Moon has no atmosphere, it is open to the universe and its esoteric energies. Energies that can stimulate life.” Jejomar extended his long metal arms and looked around at his fellow Masama. “We have adapted to survive; we recycle, we respect our environment. Unlike the humans on Earth. They are a plague. The planet would be better off without them.”
“Carthage can help reverse much of the damage, and we can change people’s minds.”
“It’s too late for humanity.”
“We are not here to debate the future of humanity; we are here for Lago.”
Jejomar nodded and gestured towards a hydrotherapy tank that was being rolled forward. “He is badly damaged; he will not survive much longer.”
“Jesus,” muttered Lesedi out loud and moved towards the tank.
Ava stood next to Lesedi and put an arm around her as they viewed Lago. His torso floated in the tank, connected to tubes. His internals had been cauterized but did not appear to be healing. Shreds of skin covered the wound, but it was only some ragged bandages that prevented his intestines from falling out. A blackened stump of spine protruded from the gory mess like a little tail that twitched in the thick liquid. His torso was relatively intact although his ribs had caved in. He was covered in burns and lacerations, the skin on his head had been burnt away leaving a fleshy skull. It would have been difficult to recognise this scorched and broken thing as Lago apart from the eyes. His dark, demented, rage filled eyes flickered around inside bloody sockets. Ava’s grip tightened on Lesedi. She remembered those eyes. She could not forget. It was impossible to tell if Lago recognised them or was even aware of his surroundings. But he was definitely alive. And angry.
“His fluids are teeming with nanites, and the extreme levels of amphetamine in his blood seem to be keeping his heart pumping, keeping him alive. We would have let him die. He would have been disposed of, too toxic to recycle. But it is worth studying these nanites, microscopic machines that act independently, devoted to their host. We have taken samples. We will subject them to the atomic nuclei from the Sun to see if they evolve further. We are finished with Lago. He is yours now.”
Ava nodded. “Thank you.”
Lesedi stood close to the tank, glaring at Lago, and muttering under her breath. Her arms hugged Carasco, Lago’s son, who gurgled happily inside her suit. She stepped closer with Ava by her side, pressing her face against the glass, and spat a few final words. “My whole life has led to this moment; I hoped I would get to confront you one day. You ruined me but now you are the one ruined. Fuck off and die Lago.” She stepped back and looked around. “I have said what I wanted to say. I might be able to find peace, but maybe not back on Earth. Carasco told me he wants to stay here.” She turned to Jejomar. “If you would have us.”
Jejomar nodded consent and remained silent.
Noah stepped forward with a sideways glance at Ava. “I would like to stay here too. The work you are doing with machine intelligence and virtual realms is fascinating. I can help. I can help build your home on the Moon.”
Ava knew his words were true. And the possibility of Noah introducing the Masama to the Intelligent Agent inside them was compelling. She hoped the Masama would be receptive to the idea of incorporating the IA her friends carried within them, it had its origins here on the Moon. It could transform them as it had transformed the population of Miami. She embraced them both, she would miss them.
A circular platform appeared down the crater tunnel, sent from Carthage, it hovered a metre above the ground, levitating there, motionless and silent, a miniature version of its parent. Ava and Mahdi rolled the hydrotherapy tank onto the platform as it settled on the floor. Ava stared through the glass at the broken thing inside. Her eyes locked with Lago’s, and she could sense his rage as he floated helplessly in the tank. There was no recognition, only anger. The platform rose and gently carried the tank out of the cavern and up the tunnel towards Carthage. They said their goodbyes with warmth and brevity. There was no need for grand statements. Ava was sure they would all see each other again and she hoped that this exchange would signify a new era of peace between the Earth and the Moon. Ava and Mahdi walked back up the crater tunnel, onto the spiral stairs and into Carthage. Ava paused once more to take in the view. The Earth was rising above the horizon, a bright little blue jewel shining in an ocean of darkness.
Back inside the depiction of the Gesù church, Lago’s tank sat in the middle of the pontoon. Ava, Mahdi, Mason, and Ethan regarded him. Seeing him bought back Ava’s anguish. The invasive surgery and imprisonment. The years of confusion that followed. Her head throbbed as she looked at his eyes. She thought about him extracting and eating her pineal gland. He had stolen it from her, he had stolen her youth, her memories, and she could never get them back. He was hardly even a man now, just a bloody stump of flesh being kept alive by nanites. But his eyes were the same. She had never forgotten those eyes, staring down at her with enraged lust, red rimmed with power and ego. Those eyes had plagued her dreams, along with the stupid chicken. Psychological scars she could never heal. Now those same eyes stared back at her, lidless, and demented, with the same narcissistic anger burning inside. It was impossible to tell if those eyes recognised her, but they focused on her with raging intensity. She shuddered and reminded herself that this was her mission completed, this is what she had set out to do, to confront Lago and transform him. Her hand went to the E-bomb strapped to her waist. But all she really wanted was his death.
“What will the E-bomb do to him?”
“He is barely alive. His brain still functions but his faculties have been irradiated. The nanites are working to repair the cell damage but it is a losing battle. The IA will prolong his life. Maybe weeks. Maybe months. The human brain is a mystery. Even to us,” sent Carthage.
“Can he be of any use to us?”
“That is your decision. Ava.”
Ava walked around the tank, exchanging glances with her companions. She knew her reasons for wanting him dead were selfish, she should think of the good of the planet. The original mission had been to change him, transform him as the E-bomb had transformed the alliance of corrupt billionaires. Lago was powerful, influential, and rich, he could do so much good for the Earth if he chose to. He had never chosen to. He had harvested what he wanted just as he had harvested Ava’s organs. He had raped the planet just as he had raped Lesedi. The plan had been to transform him into a force for good, to lead the way for a new empathetic world. But looking at him in his current state, that was an impossible goal. Even if he was healthy Ava would never be able to work with a converted Lago, she could never erase her memories of him. Now he had been reduced to this, a grinning skull on a bloodied torso, insane eyes staring. Ava wanted to confront him, to scream at him and hurt him. To tell him what a monster he was. She was glad he didn’t look like a human anymore; it made her decision that much easier. They didn’t need him; they could repair the planet without him.
“We can dissolve him,” sent Carthage, sensing her thoughts.
He wasn’t Lago anymore; he was only a shred of flesh being kept alive in a tank. Ava just wanted to get rid of him. She was relieved. She wouldn’t have to kill him. Despite what he did to her, she wasn’t sure she could. This was the best solution. She nodded consent and without any more debate, the tank gradually began to descend into the liquid below. She watched Lago’s face through the fluid, his eyes still burned with raging intensity, although there did not appear to be any recognition as to what was happening to him. The tank lowered into the liquid. It was soon fully submerged and began to dissolve. Lago floated under the surface, arms still extended, clawing fingers still reaching out, his tailbone twitching, his eyes flared, staring, fixed on Ava. She had survived the torture he had inflicted on her and lived through ten years of anguish and contempt. Ten years of healing, trying to piece things back together and reclaim her eviscerated youth. And now her pain was at an end. Lago began to blur at the edges, his form became indistinct as if he was being viewed through a fog. He began to dissolve, microscopic particles drifting apart in the solution, he became soluble, a blur of red and pink dissipating through the fluid, then he was gone.
Ava smiled at her companions. A great weight had been lifted. Lago’s dissolution was like a dark shroud over her soul that had cleared. She was liberated, she was free. The future was bright. She could finally learn to enjoy life. Then Carthage shuddered. It was like an earthquake, the Replica beneath their feet shook and the entire Gesù church rocked.
“Something is wrong,” sent Carthage.