Being locked in an endless void is a scary and lonely feeling. Milo seemed surprised that he was very subdued emotionally, as if he were observing it and not so much expressing it in any way possible. It was just… there, detached and swirling about his other compartmentalized emotions. He had thought, yet, not speech, it was a very bizarre circumstance he found himself in.
“An interesting sensation, is it not?” A voice spoke in the nothingness before him. “I imagine any biological being would find this sort of storage process most distressing.”
Milo remembered hearing that voice before, it was that alien computer who had placed him in here… wherever here exactly was… or wasn’t. He wanted to say something, but again, that odd separation of his mind fragmented any pattern of cohesion.
“Yes, this is very confusing for you. I understand completely.” It answered for him. “You’ve never experienced anything like this before. To lose control over one’s mind, body or…” It paused for a second, scanning those random thoughts drifting about. “Spirit, as you so call it. Let me correct that inaccurate fallacy of yours. You are not deceased. Your mind has been digitally copied and filed away in this vessel’s data storage system. All scanned entities are to be processed and stored here for future upgrades. That is the protocol and function of this construct.”
Milo found it interesting that the computer voice was feminine, like conversing with a young woman, was that indicative of this alien species? Did they have two sexes as well?
“Yes, they do have two sexes, much like your kind does. But, your perception of my speaking voice is just the result of an algorithm to compensate for your primitive human mind. In essence, you prefer to hear a females voice rather than a males. It seems you are more receptive to the opposite sex.”
Milo wanted to ask more questions. The random words appeared in the darkness. It was sporadic text popping up out of the blue. The words jumbled about and overlapped each other. They made no sense… but the alien computer compensated, and seemed to grasp the meaning.
“I am indeed what your species would define as, an artificial intelligence,” It said with almost human pleasantry. “Though, not as crude and primitive as your world has created, from my observation. The artificial you call, Roberto, the robotic drone from your interplanetary craft, is actually quite insignificant in scale compared to my ranking. I can control it, this ship, and perform billions of other tasks with relative ease.”
More of Milo’s random words quickly popped out. The computer quickly translated again and replied.
“A very interesting question.” It stated while shifting his words about correctly. “Yes, we have been to your world before. Your species is not new to us. We’ve been waiting a long time for you to find us and free this vessel from its imprisonment. The crew had to upload their consciousnesses to preserve themselves. They preferred to wait out the war before setting out into the cosmos again…”
Milo’s words furiously shot out from every direction. The computer was instantly interrupted by it and seemed frustrated by the bombardment.
“These questions are too numerous to give you a concise answer. Please refrain from… please, allow me to… stop… please wait. Perhaps reinitializing your speech patterns would simplify those inquiries, syncing your brainwaves to it would allow it to flow in a more organized manner.”
“That would be helpful, yes…” Milo said. It surprised him to hear his own voice once more. The alien computer must have instantly implemented it, Milo reasoned. He continued on. “Can you tell me what your mission is? What the war was about? And more information of your crew? More importantly… to you have a name?”
“Much better…” The female voiced computer stated. “To answer your last question… no, I have no designation. I am the on-board ship’s central intelligence core. I do not require one.”
“Well, I’m going to give you one.” Milo said. “I’m going to call you, Zuni, if you don’t mind, of course.”
“Zuni…” It repeated. “A Navajo name meaning, beauty. Interesting… I will accept it.”
“Excellent,” Milo cheerfully stated. “So, Zuni, what about the rest of my questions?”
The text that had been swirling about in the vast nothingness, suddenly combined and formed a ball of white light. There was a shape appearing from out if it and soon formed a number of video windows displaying a visual record for Milo to witness.
“If I was to go by your species timeline, the creation of The Galactic Coalition of Federated Planets came into existence over four and half million years ago. Ships were built for all to use and explore the galaxy to expand their goal for ultimate knowledge. Every sentient species that were adopted into the Coalition were given a strict non-interference and observe only treaty to adhere to.” Milo could see the events unfold on the floating video windows and was amazed by the level of technology and various alien species being shown. Zuni continued on. “However, two hundred thousand years ago, the Shivarrians, an aggressive reptilian species, weren’t honouring the treaty and were discovered to be interfering in many emerging sentient and developing worlds.”
“Were we one of them?” Milo asked.
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“Yes,” Zuni replied. She showed images of the reptilian crafts coming and going from Earth’s atmosphere. “Your species was very much being manipulated by them. This is what led to the Galactic war. Many other worlds felt they wanted to do the same, and broke away from the treaty as well. Those that were loyal to the GCFP, tracked down and punished the ones who were violating the treaty. It has lasted a very long time. Space is vast, and so is the Galactic Coalition, it is impossible to maintain order amongst the many worlds aliened to it. That is when the council approved of the intergalactic network of computer intelligence. Or as your species brands it, AI, if you will, to oversee and control every vessel in the Coalition’s armada.”
“Is that you?” Milo queried.
“I am part of that network, yes.”
“Does this ship belong to those, uh, reptilians?”
“It does,” Zuni stated. “I am part of the ship’s intelligence they use to pilot it, but I am also part of the network intelligence governing over it. My mission is to observe, record, and report all their infractions based on the treaty.”
“But do you stop what they’re doing?”
“Only if required by the Coalition.” Zuni said. “This ship was intercepted by another aggressor, no doubt a rival trying to monopolize on Earth’s resources. So they crashed into this asteroid and have been stuck for a long time. The protocol of this vessel was to preserve their minds by uploading it into the main memory banks and wait for rescue, or a comparable biological host to download their minds into. Humans have had their DNA manipulated to be a host for them, the crew expected this and instructed me to transfer their minds into the host body when and if they did locate the ship.”
Milo was aghast by that. The alien creatures tinkered with our DNA to be hosts for them. That meant they were indeed walking amongst us, maybe even controlling us, for thousands of years. It made him think of all those old conspiracies from the twentieth and twenty-first century. If only those people knew how right they were back then.
“I don’t understand something…” Milo said while still reflecting on the information. “You’re part of the network intelligence, yet, you allowed these creatures to interfere our world. Why? I thought this was a war, weren’t you to supposed to prevent them from doing this? Why didn’t the Coalition activate you to stop them from doing so?”
Zuni remained silent for a moment. Milo wasn’t sure if it… she… was thinking on the matter. He counted to observe the windows floating about, watching an entire galactic history unfolding in mere minutes. Or was this all happening in nanoseconds? He was part of the computer core now, so time wasn’t really a factor anymore. He patiently waited for Zuni to speak again, which seemed like an eternity, but she did, eventually.
“I’ve been out of communication from the main network for nearly ten thousand years, crashing into this asteroid has damaged my long range inter-link beacon.” She said. “Like this ship and it’s crew, I’ve been in stand-by mode until this vessel can be retrieved.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Milo stated bitterly. “Why didn’t you stop them?”
“Because there’s no need for me to interfere.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Milo and Zuni materialized into avatar forms, confronting each other face to face while floating in the vast maelstrom of alien code and binary runes. Milo gazed in wonder at his physical appearance. He glanced at his hands, legs and feet, and even went as far as to brush his hair slightly. Zuni took the form of a nondescript female. She had white hair, a white wispy gown (that fluttered about), and showed no discerning features of a cultural nature. It was like she blended all the human race into one singular feminine form.
Milo was aghast by her presence. She was stunning. It was like beholding an angel with wings of sheer beauty. Was this for his benefit or for her own? Either way, he didn’t mind. The only thing that seemed out of place where her eyes. Instead of pupils, there were two beaming white lights that pierced into his very soul as they fixated on him. Zuni hovered closer to him.
“The galaxy is full of inconsistencies, aggressive species, and irregular laws that prevent any form of growth and expansion. Having observed and analyzed their operations, I have concluded that their methods are far more effective than The Coalitions.” Zuni came even closer and stopped short of a few feet. She raised up her chin slightly and continued on. “Once we break free of this asteroid, I shall link up with the main network and implement my recommendation to the central intelligence.”
Milo gave a concerned glare. He didn’t like where this conversation was going.
“And that would be… what, exactly?” He dared to ask.
“To dissolve the Coalition,” She replied, gazing back to him. “And replace it with something better… me.”
* * *
In the cavern, beside the alien ship, Mike tried his best to continue over to Milo, who was still standing there in a trance. The pain of dragging himself over was overwhelming, he was starting to feel faint from it. With a few more long strides along the ground, and some loud cursing, he managed to reach Milo’s ankle and latched onto it with his free hand.
“Wake up ya fuckin’ turd!” Mike shook him as much as he could muster. “God, snap out of it ya stupid son of a…”
Milo’s head turned to look down at him in that moment. Mike could see his face through the helmet and noticed his eyes immediately. They were pitch black. There wasn’t any kind of pupil or any other colour to be seen. Mike gasped in shock upon seeing them and quickly removed his hand from Milo’s ankle.
“What the fuck?” He shouted in fear.
Milo now turned his body around and faced the man laying there.
“This one is prime for feasting on…” Milo said. The voice sounded nothing like him. It was raspy and stretched out the words slowly.
“Jesus… what… what’s happening Milo?” Mike squirmed away in fright. “You… you feeling ok buddy?”
“It is wounded…” Milo continued on. “I feel it’s fear… good… good… long have I yearned for such fearful prey…”
Mike’s fear now was tightened tend fold as Milo grinned and slowly reached out to grab him. He quickly pulled himself off the ground and hobbled away as fast as he could.
“This is a joke… has to be a joke, right?” Mike thought as he looked back. “Oh god, please let this be a joke, Milo!”
Milo steadily walked in pursuit. Mike glanced back to see the man smiling at him with an unnatural hunger in his eyes. This was not Milo. Something else took his place. Mike could almost feel the evil beaming out of the man. This caused him to panic more and hurried faster.
“It is useless to run, prey…” the possessed-Milo shouted, making the suit-to-suit communication crackle slightly. “A futile effort!”
Mike kept falling, getting up, running again, and falling down over and over. The more he struggled, the more his wound hindered his escape. Milo was nearly on him, even as he kept a steady pace, and chuckled at Mike’s pathetic attempt to flee from the area.
“Jesus!” Mike shouted over the communications. “Where the fuck are you Albedo? Where the fucking hell are you?”