Cold. My eyes open with difficulty. I see the blue-green interior light of the Transport Container slowly changing to warmer hues as the Stasis Matrix cycles from transport to activation mode. My Personal Heads Up Display comes on-line and my current statistics cycle through boot up and systems maintenance. It is not necessary for I am already awake and aware of how cold my body is. All this activity means my journey has ended and my life will soon begin.
By the time initial boot up and activation routines have completed, the container is filled with a yellow-orange glow. I am warm enough to move but I do not. I notice the container is form-fitted to my body and is so comfortable I have to concentrate to discern whether it is a part of me or not. Abruptly, the black and red logo of HEPHESTUS CORP. fills my PHUD followed by a music stinger. A visual feed showing diverse manufacturing of Interstellar Transports, Orbital and Deep Space Stations, Planetary Colonial Habitats, Heavy Weapons and Manufactured Beings all pass before my eyes with stirring music as cheerful faces of Humans and Androids apparently thrilled to be a part of the process parade by.
It is then the feed changes from promotional to briefing mode. More logos appear this time showing the red and yellow logo for the PROMETHEUS GROUP followed by the white lightning bolt on a black starfield logo for ZEUS INTERSTELLAR INDUSTRIES. There is a self-congratulatory feel to the introduction as the audio-visual feed showed how the three separate companies pooled their vast resources within the known galaxy and created numerous new and integral innovations used by Human, Alien and Manufactured beings making existence among the stars possible.
All that segue’s into my functional briefing. A three-dimensional display envelops my PHUD making it appear I am no longer inside the container. Instead, I am seated in an ancient corporate theater. A fit human wearing a black woolen turtleneck sweater and faded denim pants steps out onto the stage followed by enthusiastic applause from the crowd of beings seated in the large hall. The older dark skinned man wearing ancient wire rimmed glasses looked distinguished despite his informal attire.
His name was Jobs Gates the CI. Gates was the Corporation owner. He was also the one hundred and first name bearer of the Gates family Progenitor who ended a millenia old rivalry by consolidating several warring corporations to form ZEUS INTERSTELLAR INDUSTRIES. ‘ZEUS’ as it is often called formed ten thousand years after mankind left hallowed Earth for life among the stars in crude Ion-Drive Spacecraft. A mere three hundred years after the ‘Out of Earth’ exodus, Humanity discovered a practical method to perform Particle Wave Transmission. With the discovery, interstellar distances were rendered insignificant. Over the last sixty-five thousand years, mankind spread across the galaxy and ZEUS was always present.
After fifteen minutes of additional self-congratulatory speeches, Gates came to the point. Through the joint efforts of ZEUS and its subsidiary companies, PROMETHEUS GROUP and HEPHESTUS CORP something similar but quite new had been developed. Onstage next to Gates a life-sized hard light wireframe model formed. He went on to discuss how Manufactured beings had been around for tens of thousands of years and in many places of the inhabited galaxy they were an integral bridge between Humanity and the Mechanical.
As the Company Owner continued, my attention was drawn to the wireframe model. With each slow revolution, the model’s details were filled in as they were emphasized by Gates. This manufactured being was like no other before. Unlike mechanized, biomechanical or biological units, a fusion of all had been attained. When the final details of the head were rendered, a nude female stood beside the esteemed Gates. She looked to be nothing more than a Grade 1 Modified Human. Physically fit and in possession of characteristics Humans, compatible Alien and some Manufactured Beings would find attractive the model seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary.
With a wave of his hand here and there her skin, eye and hair color changed to show the various looks she could possess. He then placed his hands on the hard light display and the model’s physicality changed as well. She was made to look taller or shorter, have larger or smaller breasts or hips and fuller or thinner lips to demonstrate the maximum capacity for customization. At this point the audience was applauding fiercely with enthusiasm. I held mine for I wanted to know more. I got my answer.
Gates now with a rapt seriousness went on to explain that this new model was nearly indistinguishable from a Human. The practical applications were boundless. Unlike ‘her’ traditional Android ancestors, after forty thousand years of development their ‘personalities’ could not evolve beyond their programming. Now with all the best aspects of the differing technologies brought together, this one would.
Thoroughly pleased, Gates introduced the new prototype Personal Android series Zero Romeo Alpha. He then made an announcement which caused the audience go wild. Apparently, one lucky person would receive the prototype Manufactured Being for field testing. Someone in the audience or watching out there in the galaxy would in six Earth Standard months receive a ‘companion’ to do with as they wished for one Earth Standard year. The storm of applause died as the theater setting faded to nothing.
****
My PHUD reactivated. I was bathed in the red light of the completed stasis field. A visual feed initiated and the face of a human technician appeared beneath the HEPHESTUS CORP logo. He was a mature Grade 1 Modified Human Male about one hundred thirty-five to forty Earth Standard years of age. He wore a pair of ancient style glasses which couldn’t have been to correct his vision. More than likely he did not have an internal PHUD and therefore used an old-fashioned substitute. He looked a bit scruffy and his Personal Body Membrane looked in need of recalibration as it seemed to not fit well.
Looking over his glasses the technician said, “Hmm. Active already? Well all your readings look optimal. Give me a vocal recognition check.” The Technician’s Designation Graphic appeared at the bottom of the viz frame. His designation was Hung Jenson Tech Inspector Level 1-5. I complied with his request by reading back the information visible on his graphic aloud. The sound of my voice inside the container seemed strange yet familiar. It was an odd sensation.
The Tech inspector continued on through a series of checks which seemed redundant because the container’s Artificial Intelligence relayed all relevant information to the HEPHESTUS Technical Center AI. Though redundant, having a human ‘put eyes’ on a status check was all part of company standard operating procedures. “Well, you’re all done and check out at one hundred percent.”
With a split of the viz feed, a new info feed opened on my PHUD. “So, this is your assigned companion Zero-zero-one.” The Inspector’s reference to me as ‘Zero-zero-one’ caused a flicker of annoyance. I watched as the new viz feed showed the face of a Grade 1 Modified Human. He was dark-skinned and looked to be nearing middle age at about two hundred Earth Standard Years. He was not unattractive, but seemed unhappy. His profile information scrolled up and at the top was the EPIMETHEUS SUPPLY Co-operative logo.
My intended companion’s designation was Gerber Gital. He was a Modified Human Grade 1 with adaptations for life in space and planetside habitation up to two ‘g’s’ Earth Standard Gravity. His primary dwelling was aboard the EPIMETHEUS Centaur-class Interstellar Transport DROMEDARY. He was recently promoted from Executive Officer to acting Captain until a suitable replacement could be selected. Despite having basic upgrades in intelligence, strength and physical durability, Gital had no exceptional abilities or aptitudes. Considered ‘average’, Gital has not been selected for procreation and therefore qualified for ‘artificial companionship’.
I requested to view my intended companion’s Psychological Summary and then the info feed scrolled in a new window. According to the summary, Captain Gital had no inclination to pair with manufactured beings. He expressed bitterness for not having been selected for procreation or permanent bonding by any gestated human or compatible alien female. The Captain was also on record as not being inclined to take up with human or alien males as intimates. Upon reading the summary, I queried the Inspector.
“If Acting Captain Gital is opposed to intimate contact with Manufactured Beings, why have I been assigned to him?” The Inspector’s black left eyebrow raised and he replied, “You being capable of asking the question is why Zero-zero-one. You are nearly indistinguishable from a human female. If you can establish a bond with Captain Gital, your field test evaluation will have been successfully completed. You have 365 Earth Standard Days in which to do so. Good luck.”
© 2012 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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