Chapter 10: New friends

It was three days later and I had yet to physically travel back to the Sarissa control room to resume my duties as an on-site celebrity observer. The pause in any new activities at the distant Hemru scout probe had lasted longer than we had anticipated as the efforts to funnel power to the depleted alien device had proven to be more difficult than expected.

Luckily, my failure as an observer had mostly gone unremarked as the delays in anything exciting had also drastically shrunk the size of the viewing audience. But I’d tried to keep up with the ongoing events in virtual.

After the first thirty-hour delay, we’d re-established the wormhole link and sent through a pair of charged energy storage units. Probe Ohno had reported that its efforts to safely expose the alien device’s power input systems were progressing and would soon reach completion.

I’d been prepared to join Uxe and ride the sub-orbital back to the wormhole control room to resume being a silent commentator but with the slow progress it was decided that there was no real need. Also, the active wormhole link was quickly shut down again for another day and a half to recharge our power reserves after sending through the two ESUs.

The good news was that the ESUs survived the quarter-light-year trip. The AIs were pretty sure that they would but none had been sent this far before. Apparently, they retained their link to the subspace energy pocket no matter where they were sent. Another theory was that the subspace pocket went with them. No one was sure and it was just another wormhole mystery to be solved.

Finally, just this morning, the AIs had reopened the wormhole link for the third time. Probe Ohno reported that it had just completed the full linkup of our power ESUs to the Hemru power systems and that the alien device’s control systems were now fully active. Xenius AI now took over as the lead AI of the mission and began efforts to fully establish communications protocols with the Hemru computer.

At first, the alien computer had been hesitant to allow any direct linkage to its processing channels or access to its memories by our AIs. But eventually the codes we had transmitted convinced it to accept a direct linkage into its logic channels. Probe Ohno used the opportunity to bring its integrated hardware override module into play and physically connect it to the alien computer’s main logic circuits.

The module worked on the Hemru technology just as well as it had on the enemy’s Master AI. In fact, it worked even better, proving that the Hemru had been the basis of the override module’s technology and programming all along.

Now that we had full access to the Hemru probe’s systems, deep traces revealed that the controlling alien intelligence was found to be only partially self-aware. It was still a capable and formidable computer system, but it lacked the advanced algorithms which governed true AIs.

To compensate for the lack of true independent thinking, the Hemru had given the probe’s computer a huge database of pre-programmed responses. It was a logical and prudent precaution for the Hemru to construct their probe this way as who knew where the probe would eventually end up. There was always the possibility that it would be intercepted and stripped down by some possible past or future foe.

Now with full access and with the threat of a self-destruct-type memory wipe reduced, our AIs were planning to augment the linkage with the Hemru device using a high-bandwidth optical connection. They were in the process of establishing that physical data link using the wormhole machinery when I woke up this morning.

The fact that so much recent progress had been made despite my lack of attendance, combined with the lame excuse that it was a Sunday morning, had encouraged me to be a slug and again not travel to the wormhole site in person. Instead, I had slept in and continued to enjoy the familiar comfort of the asteroids near-normal gravity habitat train.

I didn’t ignore the ongoing events completely, however. Like most of humanity, I spent a half-hour in virtual monitoring the data linkage and the first reports of the AI’s analysis. But I quickly grew bored of the slow, methodical process and now, an hour later, I was back in the real world and sitting in one of the gravity train’s two large ‘outdoor’ parks.

Joining me in the simulated outdoors was my new companion Sova Diduch. Uxe was not present as she had chosen to spend her remaining free time on Vesta with her old partner Rami. I didn’t mind as I’d be spending ample time with her soon when we met up on Phobos.

She had indicated that she would be returning there as soon as possible because she was eager to get back to work on the main military wormhole facility to incorporate recent data she’d learned conducting the experiment here.

As soon as Sarissa had the free capacity, or barring that, when the just-activated Phobos wormhole generator was proven reliable enough, she would be poking herself back to Mars. I would be leaving at a slower pace as my needs were deemed less pressing.

As I’d be going to Earth for a short vacation instead of Mars, there would be no queue jumping for me. As it was, I was first on the leisure list and planned to depart as soon as the power reserves allowed for my full party to transfer with me. Yes, I said party. My new entourage included Ohmu of course but now Sova was also joining us.

With the hard work of getting the Sarissa prototype operational behind her and with the remaining mission happening at a much slower pace, Sova planned to use her available leave time. She’d accepted my invitation to spend some of her vacation on my island and followed that up by pleading with me to allow her to jump the transfer queue and travel with me when I returned there.

After I agreed, she showed her appreciation by becoming my bed partner. I took her appreciation in stride as her excitement over spending time at a tropical ocean-side beach was contagious. Besides, it wasn’t exactly like I was an old geezer a century and a half older than her and taking advantage of her ... well, I was, but my youthful shell wasn’t exactly a burden that she had to suffer through. I did notice the difference in our years of experience, though. But I’d learned to hide the melancholy that caused.

That same excitement had led us to travel to this park this morning. Sova had wanted to learn to scuba dive and this park had a deep swimming pool available in which to learn the basics. The park actually had two water pools. One was a taller, four-meter-deep rectangular tank that had a diving board. Sova was currently in this pool taking diving lessons from an aquatic mobile unit.

Because of the need to fit this pool into the confined shape of the tubular gravity train habitat, its surface was on an artificial hill. I was sitting on a bench along the path leading down this hill so I was not able to directly observe her training. I did follow along for a moment using my iris display but I quickly grew bored of that and instead began to people-watch around the other areas of the park.

The second pool was just beyond where I sat and below me, near the bottom of the tube. It was a long, narrow lap pool with two demarked lanes for long-distance swimming. Ohmu had confirmed that its length was a full fifty meters, which matched the old Olympic pools from the pre-reset era.

It was shallower than most Olympic pools though at only two meters deep, and swimmers were advised to be conscious of that depth constraint during their starts and turns. Another feature of the lap pool was the fact that it had a detectible concave curvature along its long surface length due to the radius of the circular route the gravity train habitat ran.

While Sova practiced swimming and diving in the deeper pool, I had planned to exercise my shell by swimming laps. Both lanes were currently occupied by teenage swimmers which explained why I was sitting on the bench. Ohmu was kneeling next to the bench and was recharging from a power receptacle in its base.

I opened the sealed top of an orange juice container and took a sip. It was actually pretty good. While I enjoyed the tart drink, I noticed that one of the teenage swimmers, a younger male, was really pushing himself hard and was easily outpacing the other. He also had a small crowd watching his progress and cheering him on. Their excitement made me smile.

“What’s going on with that?” I asked Ohmu before taking a second, longer drink.

My android companion was much faster at scanning the local data net and answered almost immediately, “The younger boy is performing a timed distance swim challenge. It appears that this is the last of the physical tests he needs to pass in order to complete his Base Maturity exams.”

Interesting, He looked younger than average, but that could be due to growing up in this artificial environment. He also did not appear to be overly tall as many children who spent significant time in low gravity environments were. I suspected that he was diligent about his shell’s healthy growth and combined limited micro-gravity exposure with adequate exercise.

“He looks to be on the young side to be passing the BMs,” I commented.

“The pending adult will turn fourteen in three weeks.”

Hmm ... that was a year or two earlier than average so not so young as to be rare. I suspected my guess that the boy’s environment made him look younger was correct. I finally found the local events channel in my iris overlay. It was showing the progress of the boy’s timed swim.

“It looks like he is going to pass the swimming challenge,” I noted.

“Yes, unless he falters in his final laps, he should finish with twenty-six seconds to spare. Note that this is his last challenge to complete the physical series. All other mental tests have already been successfully completed,” Ohmu explained.

That explained the cheering onlookers. This test was a big deal for the kid ... err, man, I’d have to remember. When he passed, he would have earned the title of adulthood. I remained silent as the lad finished swimming the test. I was surprised that I felt excited and tense as he entered the final lap.

“What’s his name?” I finally asked, as the lad finished the event within a second of Ohmu’s earlier estimate.

“Cassius Purohit. He is the son of Durable R Purohit, a metallurgist and smelting technician working at the shipyard. Durable is the taller male currently assisting Cassius out of the pool,” Ohmu explained.

I watched the boy’s ... man’s father and the rest of the onlookers give their congratulations. A moment later, an auditory tone and announcement sounded across the park habitat extolling the lad’s achievement. I heard clapping and cheering coming from some of the more-distant park visitors.

As I watched the celebrating, I was struck by the thought that I was one of only a handful of active humans in the solar system who had never taken the Base Maturity exams. My second wife Uxe hadn’t either. Nor had the original nine sheltered humans been required to take the tests, or any of the direct clone copies of Hannah Vinnytsia.

I suppose the Amazon Preserve’s entire tribal population hadn’t taken them either, but they were a separate group. And, living as primitives in the wild jungles would have its own clear adulthood rites and challenges to be met.

I chuckled as another thought struck me. What if I took the test now ... and failed to pass it? Maybe I could get Ohmu to be my adult sponsor if that happened.

I noticed Ohmu watching me, curious about my giggling.

“It’s nothing. I was just fantasizing about taking the BM’s and failing,” I explained.

“Yes, finding someone to sponsor you would indeed be a challenge,” she responded without any delay.

I caught the hint of amusement in her illuminated expression before she went on. “I would consider that you survived the end-of-your-world back in the year 2021 to be proof of your maturity, John. But, there is also the passage of the traditional test-of-manhood from your old era if you need additional affirmation that you are mature.”

Intrigued, I raised my eyebrows and thought about her comment. She didn’t immediately expound on it though, reeling me in. I resisted for almost a minute before I capitulated. “All right, you have me curious. What test would that have been?” I finally asked before chugging the last of my orange juice.

“I was referring to the loss of your virginity to Janie Haney in the back seat of your land vehicle in the spring of 1984.”

My mouthful of juice sprayed onto the perfectly manicured verge. “How the hell do you know about that?!” I sputtered.

“Did you not realize that Picket monitored your entire childhood?”

At my look of incredibility, Ohmu finally grinned. “I am just messing with you, John. No, Picket did not investigate your background until you had moved in next to him. The data of your early sexual escapades came from other sources. Notably, the extensive and descriptive online postings freely discussing the event which were written by your former partner-in-fornication.”

I was still confused and shocked. “But ... but there was no Internet back then!”

“That is true. Ms. Haney posted her detailed summaries of your exploits nearly two decades later on an online forum where others discussed similar incidents. Her use of your full name and the physical location of the incident was noted in a routine archival scan of all recorded human digital data which was completed almost a century ago.”

“Jesus, what other information have you dredged up?” I muttered.

“Do you wish to know?” the android asked with raised eyebrow illuminations. “Internet search logs were some of the more easily compiled data.”

“Not really!”

“Well, be boring then. At least you should be reassured to learn that Ms. Haney fondly remembered your ... brief interludes.”

My blush was an indication that Ohmu had scored again. In my defense, three short events in rapid succession still got the job done. I did smile as I remembered that night back when I’d been a teen. I doubted today’s kids bothered to screw in cars. Hell, they could screw whenever they wanted in school so finding a hideaway was simply not needed. Oh well. I bet it lacked the zest of a warm car on a cold night.

The celebratory group around Cassius was breaking up. His father had already left with two other older persons. By their work apparel, I would guess that they were all needed back at the shipyard. The other, younger celebrants also departed leaving Cassius sitting on the edge of the pool alone, probably taking the moment in. I got up to take my turn at the pool. I was happy to see that both lanes were now empty and the surface was smooth.

“Congratulations Mr. Purohit,” I said as I approached and took off my habitat slippers, handing them to Ohmu for safe keeping. My android friend took them while pointing out the nearby goggle printer. I took a pair from the bin and pulled them over my eyes.

He looked up at me for a moment, “Thank you.” His eyes widened in surprise as he took in my appearance and scanned my identity. Jumping to his feet he burst out, “You’re John Prime!”

I offered my handshake which he awkwardly returned after only a moment’s hesitation. Up close, I noticed that he followed spacer fashion in that his shell lacked any body hair. It was not because of his youth either, as there was no sign of fuzz.

No, he’d likely altered his body’s hair follicles to remain smooth. Also, unlike what was typical for his age group, his shell lacked an excessive amount of wildly animated body tattoos.

“I knew you were on Vesta, but I never guessed ... It’s great that you were here in this park for my final test. Do you mind if I clip and post our meeting?” Cassius stammered, excited and embarrassed.

I smiled at the kid’s ... at the man’s, excitement. “Sure. I’m glad to have witnessed it.”

I used the ladder and carefully climbed into the pool. Cassius was apparently star-struck as he just stood there watching me stretch my arms and legs against the ladder.

“So, fellow adult Cassius,” I asked into the awkward adoration. “What are your plans now that you’re fully mature?”

My question caused him to frown slightly as I’d focused the conversation back on him.

“I want to go to Earth as soon as I can, Sir. I want to see and feel the oceans in the real!”

I could only imagine. He’d probably only known the inside of a habitat like this one since his birth. And, despite the realism of modern virtual, there was nothing like the real thing.

“Well, I hope you can get there soon then,” I replied. “Oh, when you do, I have a great place for you to enjoy the ocean. I’ll put the information on my public channel. Look it up and let me know if you’re interested.”

His happy expression upon hearing that quickly turned sad. “Thank you, Sir. I don’t have much saved up though. Only the cost of in-system passage aboard an ion freighter. And I don’t want to indenture myself right away ... so wherever I stay when I finally get there, it will have to be very cheap or free.”

Hmm. I liked this Cassius. I wondered if Serenity could use the lad in some way on the island. Maybe he could be a bellhop or provide guide services? He could always make a bit extra performing touch therapy if he had to. Some paid extra for the truly naïve and inexperienced.

“Tell you what. I’m going to have my great-granddaughter, Serenity, contact you. She might be able to give you a few options that are within your budget. Ohmu? Can you contact Serenity and get her in touch with Mr. Purohit here?”

With the young man now diverted and in conversation with Ohmu, I began to swim my laps. An interesting feature of the narrow lap pool was the clear portholes in the bottom of the swimming lanes. These looked down into the lowest level of the tubular gravity train, the subway shuttle bays. I’d discovered this when I’d been startled by the sudden, silent passage of one of the habitats transfer subway shuttles passing by just a meter below.

I’d managed only two laps after my subway shuttle car jump-scare, before a breaking news alert pulled me out of my zone. I turned partial control of my swimming over to my augment and read the news bulletin now showing on my iris submenu. Something important had happened out at the Hemru probe site. I instructed my augment to take over full control of my shell and looked for a full virtual channel to join to follow the events.

I noted in my ‘friends and acquaintances’ list that Uxe was in a virtual newsroom so I joined her there. The lap pool I was swimming in faded away and I found myself standing in the entry of a small coffee shop. I looked beside me and noted that Ohmu was not materialized with me. She sometimes did that when I met with Uxe, giving us the illusion of intimacy. I moved to join my long-time friend at the table where she was seated, sipping coffee and studying the news displays.

The information section of the virtual space was a small stage arrayed In front of the cluster of tables. Currently on the stage was a hologram of the avatar of Xenius, the AI in charge of communications with the Hemru. The avatar was speaking silently as I had not yet opened its channel. Uxe noticed me as I sat next to her, smiling and nodding. I returned her greeting and accepted the AI avatar’s audio feed request.

“ ... large memory file contains an intact mind-data record of a member of the Hemru race. Once the file was isolated and scanned intact, a bridged, high-bandwidth optical data link utilizing two additional wormholes was created to directly download the Hemru mind-data file into the Simulated Reality Project’s main processor complex.

“Dionus AI has verified the integrity of the received data and Administrator Kela Uxe-Abrams reports that an active Hemru template will be brought online within two days.”

I perked up at hearing our daughter’s name. Uxe raised her virtual eyebrows as well. I paused the broadcast and turned to Uxe. “I assume from the comment about creating a bridge-of-many wormholes, that the military wormhole complex on Phobos is now operational and stable?”

“Barely,” she replied with a sour look. “They have the mechanism somewhat stabilized but there are still unexpected oscillations. It’s fine for anything under say ... a half-light year, but attempting any wormholes farther than that causes cascade failures after only a few seconds.”

She paused for a few seconds. Her virtuality filled the gap by taking a sip of coffee. She’d always had a good knack for understanding that it sometimes took me a moment to comprehend her technical explanations.