The Very Pulse of the Machine

**The Very Pulse of the Machine (⚙️👩‍🚀📙)** is the third episode of Season 3, and the overall twenty-ninth episode of LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS.

3 Symbols:

1. Gear
2. Skull within a spacesuit helmet, its left eye highlighted
3. Book

## Synopsis

When an experimental expedition to a Jovian moon fails, the lone survivor is forced to embark on a risky but mind-expanding odyssey.

## Plot

On their way across the surface of Jupiter's moon Io, astronauts Martha Kivelson and Juliet Burton are caught in a sulfur eruption that wrecks their vehicle. When the dust settles, Kivelson discovers that Burton is dead with a massive injury to her right eye. She packs solid sulfur into Burton's helmet to preserve her body and uses her oxygen supply to top up her own. Kivelson then drags the body on a makeshift sledge, heading for their lander to establish communications with the orbital station. She only has twelve hours before the next window to make contact.

To alleviate pain from injuries she sustained in the crash, Kivelson administers morphine sulphate to herself despite her suit's warnings. Further on, she hears Burton speaking to her but dismisses it as a hallucination. Burton's voice quotes poetry to her as she sees undulating rock formations across the landscape of Io, at one point seeing a gigantic replica of her dead colleague's body standing up and striding across the terrain.

In an effort to speed up her progress, Kivelson gives herself a shot of amphetamines. The voice continues to speak to her, describing the material composition of Io and how its poles are magnetically connected to Jupiter's. When asked what Io sounds like, Kivelson replies "a machine", and sees the true form of the Jovian moon after using her helmet to see into the electromagnetic spectrum. Shimmering lines of blue and purple reminiscent of auroras on Earth appear on the ground, and snaking currents of ions undulate through the air.

The ion currents flow into Burton's eye injury, and Kivelson realizes the machine is accessing Burton's semi-intact brain. Kivelson finally collapses from exhaustion, whereupon Io takes control of Burton's corpse, making it carry Kivelson onward in its arms. She awakes some time later atop a rocky ledge overlooking a massive pool of molten sulfur with less than two minutes of oxygen left. Io tells her that Burton's body was thrown into the sulfur, and encourages her to jump as well. Her body will be destroyed, but her mind might be preserved and merge with the Jovian moon.

When asked about its purpose, Io replies that it is to know Kivelson. She throws herself into the molten sulfur, becoming one with Io and sending waves of energy rippling across its surface. Some time later, what remains of Kivelson establishes contact with the orbital station.

## Original Story

**"The Very Pulse of the Machine"** is a science fiction short story by Michael Swanwick, It was published in 1998. It won 1999 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. It was also nominated for the 1999 Locus award and Asimov's Reader Poll.

## Cast

* Mackenzie Davis at the Internet Movie Database voices Martha Kivelson
* David Shatraw at the Internet Movie Database voices Heads Up Display
* Holly Jade at the Internet Movie Database voices Juliet Burton

## Trivia

* There are certain differences between the original short story and the animation:
	+ Kivelson's name is spelt "Kivelsen" in the short story.
	+ More detail is given to how Io electromagnetically accesses Burton's brain: sulfur's triboelectric property means it picks up a charge when rubbed. Kivelson unknowingly generates this charge by dragging Burton on her makeshift sled across the sulfurous surface of Io.
	+ Kivelson's hallucinations are attributed in part to perceiving herself as inferior to Burton while she was still alive.
	+ Io implies that its creator is a mobile, intelligent race similar to humanity. When asked about its purpose in the short story, Io says to Kivelson: "To know you. To love you. And to serve you", which alludes to the Christian bible's description of humanity's relationship with the Christian God.
	+ The black lake of molten sulfur is named "Lake Styx".
	+ Kivelson's journey is less tense in the short story, as she has hours of oxygen left by the time she comes within three miles of her lander. Additionally, Io has some degree of control over its composition and physical processes, building a sulfur bridge across Lake Styx to help Kivelson. However, when she asks it to bring the lander closer to her, Io destroys the spacecraft in the process, dooming her.
	+ The plot point of Io controlling Burton's corpse and carrying Kivelson onward is absent from the short story.
	+ Before she throws herself into Lake Styx, Kivelson uses one of Io's ion flux tubes to broadcast her findings to every electronic device in the Solar System in case her mind does not survive.
	+ Unlike in the animation, Kivelson's fate after throwing herself into Lake Styx is ambiguous in the short story.

## References

1. ↑ [1] The Very Pulse of the Machine- Wikipedia