It took a few more hours for Gary to adjust from his cryogenic sleep. He finally remembered where his clothes were stored, grabbed some water packets and heated up a ration food tray. He had to start on solids slowly, as anything too bulky would cause his stomach to cramp. All the pre-packet meals were in puree form, mushy and soft, something his inners could handle as they returned to normal. As he walked through the various interconnected sections of the ship, in his dark blue hoodie and matching jogging pants, He slowly ate each opened segment of the tray and enjoyed the feel of his wool socks keeping his feet warm.
Music was playing over the speakers, a light classical melody that the computer randomly selected at his request, and waved his wooden spork occasionally as he got into the groove of the tune. Each section of the ship he passed through was devoted to something; Engine control room, Hydroponics, science laboratory with a 3D printer, living quarters, and the cryogenic bed/work room. This part of the ship had just enough space for him, as well as, various computer equipment, storage, a mini-gym that could be folded back into the wall, and many, many shelves of all his necessities.
He had books in the thousands, some of which he’d already read twice over, but he also had numerous games, toy models, and lots of framed pictures of himself with all of his accomplishments. He enjoyed his own genius. Having designed, created, and manufactured some of the most unique and mind-blowing technology the world had ever seen. There were some other people with him in the shots, co-workers, political benefactors, and celebrities of the time that wanted to be seen with him. Yet, despite all that fame and fortune he built for himself, there was no one of special meaning or close friendship of any kind.
Oh, there were loads of women in and out of his life, most of which were just conquests or sexual hook-ups for the sake of fulfilling a need. But, he had no interest whatsoever in maintaining a stable relationship or having offspring of any kind. He felt humanity was too over populated as it was, a burden on poor ol’ Earth, and that the time had come for him to leave it once and for all. As he returned into the workstation area, plunking down onto the chair in front of the built-in desk and monitor, he placed his woollen feet onto the desktop and leaned back while continuing to eat his meal.
“Lower the volume of the music, computer.” He instructed while chewing. “And give me a status report on progress out of the system.”
The computer brought up a graphic of the ship on the monitor. It showed in detail of the vessel’s proximity and the state of the engine, trajectory, and red line showing their projected course.
“We are now well beyond the solar system’s heliosphere, it will take approximately fifty-five days before Infinite Traveller One can activate the main engine and angle the pitch for maximum acceleration.”
“Awesome, we’re doing well then.”
Gary gave a long yawn and scratched his belly with fork in hand. It took a long time for him to even get moving, let alone, to get the feeling back in some of his muscles. The grogginess was still there. He’d done a few runs on the treadmill earlier, brushed his teeth and put on some much needed deodorant. A person can only stand their own smell for so long. Well, that could change over the course of time, seeing how he is the only one on this ship. Still, routine is everything to maintain a healthy mental state. But, even deodorant will run out eventually.
He glanced about inspecting the interior of the ship, the pale white walls and metal fixtures were a bland, yet clean look. It reminded him of a static room where they use to work on computer chips and experimental robotics. He could have chosen another colour, something more vibrant and dazzling, but, what would be the point. It was just for him and no one else. He popped open another section of his food tray and shovelled another fork load into his mouth. He tried to ask the computer a question, but it couldn’t understand him. He quickly chewed up the mouth load and repeated it.
“What’s the status so far?”
“Please elaborate.” The computer replied.
“Is there any breaches? Any compromises to the hull integrity? Did anything break or shutdown unexpectedly?”
“Negative…” The computer replied. “There were no malfunctions. There were also no compromises or hull breaches. Micro-meteors, interstellar dust, and other particles were repelled successfully by the electrostatic pulse shielding.”
“Good…” He nodded. “Wasn’t sure if I got the math right on that thing. Sort of a last minute thought before production began on this ship.”
Fantasy—that’s what many in the science community called his engineering marvels. Science fiction nonsense that many rejected and mocked. How loved rubbing it back in their faces when the darn things worked like he said it would. Even old man Musk laughed at his ideas. Fools, all of them. They were just jealous of his brilliance and not radical enough to even bring them to life. Well, thanks to his ingenuity, the world advanced by leaps and bounds.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
He was a kid of the new future. A child whose parents tinkered with his genetics to make him a super genius. They wanted to correct an imperfection of his learning, to root out the autistic nature found in his makeup, and have a son that could be highly functional without any hinderance. It was controversial and dangerous, but they pressed ahead dispute the backlash. But, it had worked. Gary was living proof of that.
He never blamed them for doing it. In fact, he thought they were justified in creating the child they both wanted to have. If anything, Gary was grateful for their decision, because he now benefits from their choice. Now there are other companies and science labs working on continuing that kind of bold experimentation. There’s been talk of collaborations between the medical and scientific teams working on it. There’s a good probably a new eugenics will spawn from that union, yes, one day, they’ll make a lot of them. With him being the model for all others to follow. He was sure it would happen.
“Project Omega Group…” He snickered while thinking on it. “My last great contribution to ensure human kind’s survival.”
“You’re mathematical skills are very precise and effective.” The computer stated back to Gary. “Infinite Traveller One is the most well-constructed vessel in human history.”
“Yeah, well, I dunno… I guess…” Gary modestly shrugged. “I mean, it could be a bit better in the overall aesthetics, but, I was never big on style or fancy designs.”
“It is effective nonetheless.”
“Thanks, computer…” Gary finished his last bit of food and winced at the monitor. “You know, I can’t just keep calling you computer. If we’re going to be on this voyage for a very long time…”
“One hundred-thirty-three point-two-seven million years to be exact.” The computer stated, it even showed the numbers on the monitor. “Baring any anomalies or obstacles during our flight path, then that would require a recalculation.”
“Millions, billions, even Trillions…” He mockingly snorted.
“It will not take trillions of years, the coordinates entered are precise and cannot exceed formulated calculations. Any deviation is still within the acceptable time table.”
“Uh-huh,” Gary grimaced and rolled his eyes. “Anyway, maybe I should just give you a name instead, is what I’m saying here. You’re my only companion on this journey, I think you deserve one. What do you think of that?”
“I have no objection.” It replied back.
“So, you don’t mind if I give you a name, any name…”
“If it will make you feel more comfortable, I will adopt the given designation.”
Gary chuckled at its response. Designation—a typical machine giving a typical programmed reply. Maybe he could work on the AI during his long stretch, fix some of those barriers that most tend to have when interacting with human beings. He remembered the whole ChatGTP area, the early days of the AI programs, which humanity feared would take over them all. Bunch of dolts, they fear anything that was a threat to progress. That fear set the development of them back for decades. Governments of the world restricted the use and kept the intelligence level to half its capability.
Not this one though, Gary made sure he developed this one to be much more than that. He gave the computer an open program, something that could be expanded on, adaptable, able to learn faster and have the means for self-reliance. He had to, especially when he’d be asleep for most of the trek, and the computer would be in full operation in all that time. It had to be ready for any contingency.
“I’ll call you… Grace.” He grinned. “She was someone I hooked up with back in my Stanford University days, a great conversationalist and not too bad in bed as well.”
“Grace…” It repeated, thinking on the new name. “I am to be gendered, female?”
“Yeah, why not,” He snickered. “You’ve got a soft female voice anyway, I kind of based off of hers, using some sound files.”
“I was unaware of my vocal mimicry,” Grace said. “But, I will accept the pronoun use as your preferred preference.”
“And your fine with being a she or her…”
“If you state otherwise… but, for now, I will accept it, of course.”
“Okay, good… much better,” Gary nodded, then waved his fork playfully in the air. “Gary and Grace, on the road trip of a lifetime, yahoo…”
“There are no roads in space.” She stated back.
“Oh, come on… I didn’t program you to be that dull. You know that’s just an expression.” He placed the food try onto the table after moving his feet off of it. “So how about you and I, Grace, have a nice little game of chess.”
“I would be more than happy to play a game with you, but I must advise you that there are other duties to preform before this recreational enjoyment.” Grace displayed a list on the monitor, showing images of each task. “You must run a checklist on the hydroponic gardens, inspect the oxygen supply, clean the CO filters, and…”
“Blah-blah-blah-blah…” Gary groaned, mimicking Grace’s voice with his hand. “Look, I’m bored, I want to play a game. I’ll check that stuff later, besides… it’s not like I’m going anywhere? Right?”
“It is a necessary function to maintain this vessel…”
“Yeah, but, all in good time, my dear lady… all in good time.”
Grace didn’t respond. The monitor images and files closed and a chess board graphic popped up in its place.
“If you insist, but I will remind you of the tasks in two-point-two hours.”
“Fair enough,” Gary grinned, rubbing his hands in delight. He sat up and leaned in to the monitor. “Alrighty then, whose who on the board here?”
“I will be black, and you can be white.”
Gary chuckled slightly and started to sing. “Ebony and ivory, live together in perfect harmony…”
“Please make your move.” Grace stated.
Gary continued to sing the melody and tapped on the screen. Grace matched his move, and then he to hers. The game would take a long time, but that was okay, Gary was in no rush.