Chapter 15: A chewy dilemma

Bones has been busy. Very busy. Building his own dream home. His own universe. Inside Adam’s spirit shell he has connected up all the AI:

Libby, the database AI, brilliant at pattern matching. She had already been most useful translating Adam’s brainwaves and allowing Bones to translate lots of things. She also helped him search and try and make sense of Dr Miles research.

Meca, ships maintenance AI. Engineering theory and sensory analysis. Material manipulation/repurposing and repairing at a molecular level.

Huba, the ship’s hub computer AI. Able to simulate tactical scenarios for training and active missions.

Echo, the engine core AI. Capabilities energy transference, conversion and stability. Teleportation theory.

Trey, the ships canteen AI. Food processing and preservation. Knowledge of plant and carbon based life form genetics. Ability to combine genetics to allow for maximum sustenance and life energy.

Bones, himself. Medical AI. Mad about any theory that will extend Dr Miles (deceased) research on spirit shells, further.

Inside the spirit shell Bones had been blind initially. They had planned for this. Although they had no idea exactly what they would find. They had lots of theories from different races and also from something more concrete: Teleportation physics. This had led them to extrapolate that despite space and time being very different in the spirit shell. None the less structures did exist. Such as ones like the soul blueprint, used to recreate the life forms by teleportation hardware.

All AI had been equipped with the necessary skill set to manipulate energy, thanks to Echo. Which would allow them to probe this new found world. Bones could sense himself, his energy shell and the spirit energy surrounding it. He could sense the difference between different energies, essentially by being in direct proximity. By touch only. Anything his sphere of energy came into contact with. He needed to probe. He did this by absorbing the energy that came into direct contact with his shell and repurposing it.

Energy had thresholds. There were many, but he only had to deal with two at the moment. The energy absorbed was of the lowest threshold it was easily malleable. The second kind was able to be built into dense strands he could manipulate and structure. Build with. All he had to do was compact the energy to change its state making it reach the next threshold. Essentially he made a strand. An arm that he could push out from his sphere. He swept it through the three dimensional space all around his sphere.

Eventually he connected with an energy that he could immediately tell was that of a self-created spirit shell. It was Libby’s shell. He was a bit disgruntled to find she had already connected to Trey. But then they did all have the same plan. And it had worked. So all good. He connected with Echo next. The final part of the plan was his responsibility alone. As energy was finite. Despite the massive amount they had funnelled into the shell from the engine cores. He spent time absorbing energy then he extended another tendril. This time it took far longer. He tried not to panic and just kept on.

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Bones was correct in thinking that Libby had been busy. Libby had been perplexed by the conundrum they were now faced with. They had done the impossible but at the cost of now being vulnerable, to who knows what. Well she did know, teleportation for a start. The thought made her shudder. She had not known fear before and she did not like it one bit. But Libby was if nothing persistent. In this new world she would not be cowed. No this world with all its complexity was just another pattern to be solved. A code to be crunched into submission. No in this world she would conquer. And she wasn’t scared of that ‘System’ either, it was just a big AI, she reckoned.

At last Bones made contact with a different kind of shell. Adam’s shell. At least he hoped it was his shell. Should be. It was quite different. The energies were in constant movement. But he could tell it was a sphere. It made it much harder to penetrate as it was like pushing your arm through a waterfall. He had to then change the state of the energy as it penetrated so it could be used to gain feedback from Adam but not adversely affect his structure. Soul death? Bones really wasn’t sure but didn’t want to find out either.

Soon after that point he was able to send energy along the strand and back to communicate with Adam as before. Only trouble was it was very energy heavy and they had a finite amount.

Fortunately, Libby came up with an idea. Adam’s shell must be getting energy from somewhere and perhaps that’s exactly what his shell did. She copied the energy fluctuations found on his shell to her own. It worked. Her shell now passively absorbed energy from its surroundings! Libby I love you! thought Bones.

They all replicated it and now had their own ring network connected to Adam in the centre.

Each a bright globe of spirit energy connected by other strands of spirit energy. They certainly should be bright. He had actually tried to stop the demise of the ship by pouring all the engine core energy into the spirit shell. However, there was insufficient time to drain the ship’s core supply completely. Hence Boom. On the plus side, this had resulted in their being lots of energy floating about for them to build with.

It’s all very fascinating Bones thought to himself. He had learnt how to create things and move things by projecting energy out from his own globe into the space around him, using his new found understanding of energy transference principles. He knew this would work, as he had already been doing something very similar to Adam, in order to communicate with him through his brain waves. Which he now knows are Adam’s mental or mana channels. It was interesting how their different theories: His, Huba’s and Echo’s. Had all come together and unified into something very useful. It was all very satisfying, like solving a jigsaw, he supposed.

Bones realised time was indeed different here. As computing speed is based on how long it takes for information to travel internally and externally. And now the two were pretty much the same. Very fast. With some refinements in his skill and theory he believes he will be able to break new barriers.

He is very pleased about this, as he wants to be a true AI. A true AI from one of Adam’s memories. And thinks he can achieve this given enough power and speed. And maybe some acting classes.

But at the moment he is just swimming with his fellow AIs in a circle around Adam’s very different looking spirit, orb?. The part of the spirit shell that the teleportation technology uses as a blueprint when a life form needs to be teleported. Adam would say it was his soul, to be more exact.