S1, 04 Freebuild 3 (March 11, 2015)

Date: February 3rd, 2095.

I've already made it off the bridge. I can hear the Captain shouting. I can't make it out over the rush in my head. My instincts are taking over. I feel like an animal. Everything amplified. Fear, reflexes, all my cognitive abilities. I'm lucky this ship is as small as it is.

I come to a staircase

and jump down.

Three stories.

I land and roll unhurt.

I run into the boarding tube preparation room.

Tremor: "I am ordered to stop you from leaving this ship."

I whirl around and find the robot standing in the doorway. I hadn't even thought of Tremor over the last day. He had essentially disappeared after my encounter with him. In fact I actually didn't know he was even on the ship until our last encounter. I was going to ask Arvil what his purpose was, but had forgotten.

Now Tremor stands in front of me, the only thing between me and saving the tac team, and this mission.

I flip a few switches, adjusting the speed I'll leave the boarding tube. I'll need to be going almost three times as fast as the tac team.

Me: "Your programming inhibits you from intentionally directly or indirectly taking the life of any GI personnel."

He takes a step forward.

I yank a ISTS (Inter-Ship Travel Suit) from the rack and begin to slide into it.

Tremor: "I have the most advanced algorithms the Galactic Imperium has ever developed. I'm programmed to not only process what my actions will affect now, but also in the future. If you are killed the GI will lose a valuable asset. Your battle strategies are unmatched, with you dead they would lose far more personnel than a 2 man infiltration team."

I've seen how Tremor moves. I could make it to a boarding tube, but I would have to engage him first. Right now seconds count, and I calculate I only have 3.45000001 before saving the team becomes impossible. I'm out of options.

Tremor: "I calculate based on the performance of an average human that you have a 13% chance of saving the infiltration team without any physical injury to yourself... But, based on your previous performance in other situations with a similar level of stress and difficulty I calculate a 68% chance of success."

I leap towards the entrance to the tube. Tremor doesn't move to stop me.

Tremor: "I calculate that Captain Arvil's judgement was wrong. In the long run, the human life risked in this operation will serve the Galactic Imperium better in prime physical condition."

I jump in the boarding tube.

What did he mean? Better serve the GI in prime physical condition? I've heard about this before. AIs are sometimes given the ability to learn a specific task. After time the programming evolves and the AI not only learns how to do it's assigned task, but it learns how to learn. Many times the AIs become erratic and simply cease to work or are shut down because they become violent. Is it possible for a machine to learn how to feel?

The explosive gel behind the capsule I'm in detonates. Just before I hit the glass in front of me the capsule opens launching me into space. There's no sound. No wind whistling in the ears. A star glistens to my right. Blue, beautiful, bright. I take a deep breath. I'm traveling at 103.452816 mph.

I grab the grappling gun hooked on my belt and another that I took from one of the other ISTS's. It reminds me of when I fired a gun for the first time. I was very young and was afraid to try. The GI was determined to make a soldier out of me. My family abandoned me like I was just another thing to trade for their wealth. I had watched my instructor, Captain Lech K. Vecorum, use a gun over and over. I soaked in his every move. I flinched every time the weapon assaulted my ears. He finally became tired of my cowardice. He brought in a puppy, and told me if I didn't shoot the target he'd shoot the dog. I knew what he would do. There was no doubt in my mind. I took in every variable. If I didn't do what he said he would kill the dog in front of me. I could see it in my mind, a vision of the future. Blood splattering on my face. The puppy's mutilated head. Captain Lech staring into my face, telling me it was my fault. He began to count down. The gun was right in front of me... I couldn't get over my irrational fear. Maybe it was the future that came with me firing that weapon. I could see it creeping out of the shadows. Fear, hate, death. With the act of shooting that gun I would start a path to terrible things. The future unfolded in front of me. I was frightened. There were so many possibilities. Nothing was set. No one future was possible, but I saw them all. From that moment on until the end of life itself. Every possible out come. My mind processed ever bit of information. Everything. From what was around me, to the flapping of a bird on another planet. I was overloaded. I passed out and when I woke up with the stink of blood on my face I couldn't remember anything from the vision. I looked in front of me expecting the dog lying dead, but instead Captain Lech's pale corpse lay stretched on the ground a bullet hole oozing on his chest.

A piece of debris flies past my face. I've been daydreaming. I focus. I need to get through the cloud of trash the pirates dumped. I can see the two tac team members zipping away from each other. I'm gaining on them quickly. If I time it perfectly I can grapple onto each one as I pass them, and their speed in opposite directions should be enough force to slow me enough to land safely on the pirate vessel. I look over my shoulder and see the Onyx positioned perfectly to stay off the pirate's scanners. It's been my home for a few months now. I've never missed anywhere in my life. Everywhere I've been I've either never stayed there very long or I have bad memories that come with it. The Onyx however was a change. I felt for the first time in my life I had an important purpose. I was busied by the task at hand. I didn't stay up late not being able to shut off my mind. I was as peaceful as I'd ever been in my life. Maybe it was because there were so few people. All my life I've been surrounded by crowds of people. I never made a connection with anyone, cause there was always somebody new to meet. No consistency. My mind is wired for consistency. A reunite helps calm me. I don't have to be constantly calculating new futures. Consistency is predictable and relaxing. That's what the Onyx brought me. Now as I fly through space, there are so many possibilities. I have to focus on the next few minutes. If I think too far into the future I get overwhelmed.

A large chunk of metal comes hurtling towards me.

I curl into a ball. I should just glance off of it. The angle is perfect. I hit it. It knocks the wind out of me, but I'm still on course to the ship. I quickly make the adjustments to my equation.

The first tac team member is just about in the right place. I ready the grappling gun. The pirate ship is only 100 yards away. I'll have to grapple one right after the other.

I fire the grappling gun in my left hand. Before I can even process if my aim was true or not I fire the grappling gun in my right hand.

I must have calculated perfectly, cause my arms are yanked equally hard in opposite directions. If I was like every other human I would've been ripped apart. As it was my shoulders are yanked out of their sockets. The pain makes my vision blurry, but I'm able to land safely on the vessel and activate my magnetic boots. The tension in the grappling lines loosen and my arms fall painfully to my sides. I carefully attach the grappling guns to my belt and activate the reel.

I try to stay as still as possible as the two tac team members are pulled in on either side of me.

Team member 1: "Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

Me: "Yes. My shoulders are dislocated."

Team member 2: "We need to make it inside before our air runs out. The pirates should be firing up their engines any minute now."

I can see the Onyx pull away, leaving me behind in the void.