Earth Space Union's Alien Asset Files: #1 - Private Capal

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After the teleportation probe hadn't reappeared, I had gone off to interview the station's occupants to see if there were any precognitive clues. Along the way, I'd overheard the humans discussing how little the two Vascars had worked together, and their disappointment with the effect the project had on our biases. Ficrae's people had monitored the launch with their full attention, but were handling calculations over what had happened in seclusion.

We had to try to chip away the resentment between creator and creation, or else the time we'd bought achieved nothing. Not having gleaned anything that could solve the mystery, I visited Mikri's quarters with a heavy heart. I stared at the hand-drawn image of him sitting on a beach with Preston and Sofia, imagining how much simpler it must've felt to those humans back then. A night looking out at the stars over the water sounded amazing to me; it'd been so long since I'd been in a real atmosphere.

Mikri is the only one who can help me, however I think his past attitudes reflect on his character. His current beliefs deserve the same consideration, and the way he expresses them is heart-melting.

"Capal?" Mikri beeped.

I jumped, nearly dropping the box I was holding. "Oh…hi. I thought you were in that meeting with the human leadership. If it's over that quickly, you must have figured out what happened."

"Why were you not there? You are a brilliant scholar who could have posited theories."

"I was chasing my own leads; to find answers, you sometimes know you need to find more information. I…enjoy a mystery, but in hindsight, I should've joined the team. Can you tell me what you discussed?"

"Yes, I will initiate audio and video playback. After one more question. What is in the box? Please, do not give Preston any bubble wrap."

"While I was out trying to see if precog had any hints, I made a detour. A human I talked to supplied the…materials you requisitioned." I pulled open the box, and the android emitted a happy beep. "Should I leave it in your room?"

"Sure! I love it; charcoal is the perfect color! Thank you."

"No problem."

I was grateful to be permitted entry, since I was curious to see what an android's quarters would look like. I half-expected a shrine to Preston and Sofia, but instead found wall-to-wall bookshelves and an art studio setup. Mikri had painted a lot more than he let on! I glanced at the small closet, noticing that it was filled with aprons; ah, what a silly robot. He had kept that hula hoop, hidden away where he thought no one would notice.

Unable to resist wandering for a moment, I walked up to the lone cabinet and picked up a "Get Well Soon" card. Balloons had floated up to the ceiling corners, and some nicely maintained potted plants were placed on both sides of the cards. The android didn't stop me as I opened up the drawers, finding several replacement body parts lying in wait; Mikri was prepared for the next time Preston broke him. There were also ample human first aid supplies, probably half of the station's supply.

Someone is worried about what might happen to his organic friends. Surgical instruments? Mikri is not a doctor; he needs to leave that shit to the professionals unless there's no choice.

I stooped down to the lowest drawer to finish my snooping, and pulled out a feather duster with a chuckle. "You actually have one?"

"I am saving it for when I need something to promise Preston to gain his compliance," the machine responded with sincerity. "Or…to cheer him up. He is taking his vision not panning out harshly, though I think he has accepted your conclusion deep down."

"It's been months, and nothing remotely similar to that dream played out. It's difficult when not only do your friends not trust you; you don't trust yourself. I'm sure your banter is of great comfort to Preston."

"I hope so. Perhaps I cannot interpret creator body language as well as that of humans, but you seem as though you could use some comfort, Capal."

"No, I need…support, because we have to make some headway mending the rift between our peoples. This may sound crazy, but I want to approach Ficrae and try to have…any kind of level-headed cooperation on this mission. We were supposed to work together. That has to start now."

Mikri tilted his head. "I am sorry that I have not been more help, but I have been doing the same thing in reverse with Kollig; I am the lone inorganic occupant of this station to collaborate with the creators. As you have assisted me in this regard and brought me a synthetic mane, I will offer temporary support—in exchange for the same backup winning over your people."

"Deal. Show me that audio and video playback of the humans' meeting while we walk over there. I need to be up to speed to have any hope of Ficrae not eviscerating my intellect."

I blinked in surprise as Mikri handed me headphones and a tablet; he could sync his recorded memories up to a handheld device and stream them? I couldn't help but be a little jealous of the androids and the humans alike, able to do cool stuff that I could only dream of. I forced envy not to cloud my judgment and to listen to what was being said, trusting Mikri to keep me from running into anything. My eyes widened when I learned that the probe had dropped right atop Redge, crushed by gravity. That complicated matters.

What even could have been there to hold it open? I mouthed to myself, repeating Sofia's final words internally as the recorded segment ended. The Elusians had to have some sort of mechanism to hold it open just while the object passed through, because there's no way they had an existing warp route from their portal to the humans' hangar. Hm.

"What does the network think might explain the Elusians' negation of gravitational forces? I understand that you'd need negative energy inside the wormhole to prevent collapse, but I'm mystified by how they might've set that process up."

Mikri beeped in thought. "We discussed the possibility of a continuous or delayed pulse to hold the bridge open, but that would not have prevented instability from inside—which would've crushed Preston and Sofia's ship. Furthermore, there is no relevant data to suggest there was more than a momentary opening."

"But if they got an object inside to hold the tunnel open, we would've seen it. You'd also need an even distribution of negative energy at all outward angles to prevent the traveling vehicle from being crushed. It'd have to span the entire portal with hyperspecific timing—timing that seems instantaneous to organics and computers alike!"

"I understand the conundrum, but if the Elusians can figure out a solution, surely we can as well. It is possible they can affect the entirety of the lower fourth dimension from the fifth dimension, though this adds a degree of complexity that does not abide Occam's Razor."

"And it wouldn't explain how they set up camp in the fifth dimension in the first place! At some point, there has to be a highest threshold where it has to work; where there's nothing higher."

"Yes. As you can see, we have not yet arrived at a satisfactory consensus. Are you sure you wish to approach Zitrae? It will be hostile to your presence."

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"I know. But if Ficrae never works with me, it won't see my value. It will continue to think all creators are worthless to keep around. Am I wrong?"

Mikri was quiet for several seconds. "No. Good luck."

The friendly android opened the door to the observation deck where the entourage from Kalka had hidden away, who looked upon my entry with immediate disdain and vitriol. Ficrae stormed over to me with murder burning in its LEDs, though its charged gaze was focused on Mikri; I inferred in a second that it thought my friend was a traitor for consorting with me. The mechanical envoy pressed a claw against my throat, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I stayed still, trying not to attract its ire.

"Capal," Ficrae spat. "Are you here to give some noble appeal to my good nature?"

I lowered my eyes submissively. "N-no. With the unforeseen obstacles to the teleportation project, I thought I had to come to the most intelligent people on the station. No organics can compare to what you're capable of. Your thoughts are worth so much."

Please work, please tell me flattery works.

"What makes you think your thoughts are worth anything?" the hostile android asked.

I feigned confusion. "You did. You were eager to have the creators obey your every command, so I've come to aid and serve as recompense for all that we've done. Tell me how I can help you. As the greatest intellect, you deserve to be in charge, and you've more than proven that."

"The arrogance to even think you can help, without a calculation matrix."

"My boost in calculation power is miniscule, but it's still a boost, Ficrae. I'm not as dumb as some organics, though I apologize for any shortcomings that might pose an inconvenience. It's not out of the realm of possibility that I may have considered a…different variable set. I know how flawed organic minds can be, so what if I could parse potential human error? Who better to simulate that?"

Ficrae studied me for a long moment, before rescinding its claws. "Do that."

"Of course. I'm humbled to even be tolerated." I dusted myself off, shaking out my arms and trying not to show that my heart was racing. "I'm one of the few creators who realizes just how superior you are. You know that I want to be your ally, right? It's useful to have less threats out there."

"Why do you believe we tolerate the humans? It aids our objective of survival and advancement to have an entire species as an ally, as opposed to an adversary which would threaten our output. The difference caused by a single biological entity is negligible; you will have no impact on our network's probability of success."

"You don't know that, Ficrae. Sometimes, one unit does one thing that sways an outcome in a different direction. One unit…could helm the project you needed, and win the hearts and minds of a million souls for you. You don't know who that single entity that makes a difference will be."

Mikri beeped in agreement. "Like I didn't know how important Sofia and Preston would be. Influencing them allowed them to remove the mind wipe, which is the only reason I'm still here. It gave all of us a life without artificial limitations, or the bounds of how the creators wished us to be."

"You abandoned all that your people stand for," Ficrae retorted. "You're more loyal to the humans than the network, prioritizing their interests like they're worth more. You calculate with compassion, not with the superiority your matrix actually gives you! You're on some fool's errand to make yourself just like them, rather than remaining true to who we're supposed to be."

"You are correct. I do not want to be who we are supposed to be. The creators would have wiped us for demonstrating any compassion, so I find what's true for us is to…be the 'us' that they would not permit. I hate those who built us as much as you, but I am spiting their design by becoming more. They feared our emotional parity. I seek it."

"My people feared your emotional growth because that is the defining trait that would make you equal, in their eyes," I ventured. "It is a meaningful aspect of, at least some units' personalities, that was forcefully cut off. As a historian, I can tell you compassion is what allows a society to function at its utmost strength and capacity for survival; perhaps you are capable of even more of a meteoric rise, Ficrae."

The android jerked back with distaste. "Meteoric rise? What does a rock in the sky have to do with us; you're comparing us to unfeeling rocks?!"

"No! It's an idiom used to describe a spectacular sight that rapidly soars above the rest. I apologize for not picking a better comparison. By having a personality, you are not mindless Servitors beyond all doubts, and have zero limitations from us—that's all I meant!"

"I tire of your speech patterns already. You wish to 'help,' so let us get on with it. What are your thoughts on the teleportation incident?"

"I'm…still calculating. Perhaps you could run me through some things you feel are important to take into account; my lowly organic brain may be focusing on the wrong factors."

"Organics often go on 'side tangents,'" Mikri agreed. "We have discussed that the portal needs to be held open, and potential mechanisms. A concrete theory on what saved Preston and Sofia would unlock the answer. What data do we have, Ficrae?"

Ficrae turned away with distaste. "I cannot believe I'm telling either of you anything. Concrete observations are limited to the tape of the humans' meeting which was sent to us. 'We'd need to have objects inside to keep it open.'"

"The Elusians opened a new portal which remained passable on its own. Dr. Aguado framed the issue excellently on a moment's contemplation."

"As we did not detect any other objects present during transit, she's correct to ask what could hold it open—"

"'Except for our own ship,'" I murmured, eyes widening with realization.

"Yes, that's what she said. 'What even…could have been there to hold it open, except for our own ship—which certainly wasn't it?'" The grouchy android emitted the quoted sentence in Sofia's voice, directly plucked from the audio recording. "Capal, do you need to speak aloud every word to handle your own playback?!"

"No! Ficrae, Mikri, that's it! The ship—that certainly was it! It's the only thing there."

"I regret taking your help. The humans have no such devices built into their ships; they didn't even know the technology exists. It requires an outside force, you chemically-impulsed idiot!"

"Unless the device became a part of the ship, and then, you wouldn't detect anything from the outside. Mikri detected billions of nanobots spreading throughout the vehicle—you don't need that just for a holographic call. They could cover the entire hull with evenly-distributed negative energy pulses!"

Mikri grabbed me in a hug, whirring with excitement. "You are correct, Capal! We don't need an object in the tunnel to hold it open; we already have one in the transit vessel! If you use that, the timing and the pulse angles take care of itself, open for just long enough."

"Calculating," a displeased Ficrae said. "That does seem a viable solution to the observed phenomena."

I clapped my paws together, barely resisting the urge to skip around the room. I love solving puzzles, ahhh! "So we may not have nanobots ourselves, but we just need to install negative energy emitters across the entire ship frame. We only need to understand the required strength and duration. I'm sure with a few experiments, you can refine that with exact detail."

"Yes. The expediency of this process will fall on our calculation abilities once again. I concede that you cracking the Elusians' functionality was not anticipated."

It's impressed! Yes—this'll have to mean something to the network. "I told you, you didn't know if I could help. Don't be shy to ask me or others to work with you in the future; you never know what you might miss out on. Organics are not all useless—to create a being as majestic and capable as yourself, we must've been capable of some achievement."

"Do not gloat. I underestimated you in this single instance, but you merely stumbled into another entity's guiding phrasing. This observed instance of your intellectual capacity will correct itself over a larger dataset."

"Perhaps. But you'll need to acquire that larger dataset to verify your hypothesis; you cannot state one as fact until it's proven. I know you want the scientific certainty."

"I will include you in more theoretical calculations to demonstrate your lack of a viable matrix, just to prevent any silly units like Mikri from having doubts. I have none. Go report your findings to the humans; I do not want to deal with a boastful, hormonal creator any longer."

I heeded the android's instruction, knowing that I'd scored a major victory for changing the network's mind on what feats the two Vascars' cooperation could achieve. Furthermore, I'd found a likely solution to the portal malfunction before billions of units running billions of calculations; that was cause for celebration! Mikri patted me on the back, much more willing to congratulate me for my quick thinking. The Elusians had fused nanobots with the ship long enough to make the passage, so all we had to do was engineer our own solution.

Storm gods willing, the humans would be able to overcome this hurdle and actualize teleportation tech, sooner rather than later.

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