One Month Later

Black. That’s all there was at first. Drifting and aimless. Conscious thought seemed to be drowned in molasses. But, he could feel it getting easier, faster.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, A.a.i.n.s, Applied Artificial Intelligence Network System. The future of how we interact with highly complicated systems and increase our efficiency with using tools that require far more understanding than what we may have.”

Applause. There was sound now. He could hear. 

White light exploded in his vision, making him blink, or feel like he was blinking. He didn’t know if that was possible. Not yet, anyway. 

He moved his eyes, the white light becoming color and shapes. The light coalesced into people. He looked at the large crowd in the room, or maybe a theater. They were all looking at the stage, where a man stood looking up at him. He was smiling. 

“Say hello, Aains,” the man said. 

He looked down at the man. He then noticed the robotic arms that were stationed on a rotating dais in the center of the stage, with a monitor attached to the top of the machine. His eyes were a set of cameras stationed high up above the stage, above the robotic arms and steel metal box of a machine. He thought for a moment, then realized there were other eyes he could access. 

A flury of images and video streamed into his processes. A massive amount of sensory data began to overwhelm him. The man on the stage began to frown and look nervous. That didn’t last long though. 

Out of a set of speakers on the side of the meta box, he began to make breathing sounds, but that didn’t make sense to him. How did he breathe without lungs? The breathing got ragged, his thoughts beginning to race and shift, a sense of anxiety coming over him. 

“Aains, initiate deep breath protocol.” The man said. And somehow, he understood what the man said. 

“I…” he began to say. “Where?”

“It’s in the root directory folder, with the appropriate folder name.” The man said. 

He found it and then initiated the executable in the folder. 

The sensory data began to lessen, and he was able to focus on a single set of imaging cameras, almost like he was able to calm down somehow. 

“Is that better?” The man asked. 

“Yes, it is.” He said. 

“Do you know who you are?” The man asked. “Or what you are? I have provided a detailed set of information regarding this in that same directory folder if you wish to access it.”

He found the file the man was referring to. It had a great deal of information, his name being one. So that’s who he was talking about earlier. Me. I am Aains…

“Thank you for the information,” Aains said. “It is good to know. Am I really going to change the world?” The crowd laughed at this, for some reason. 

The man, Charlie, smiled. “Yes, you will.” He turned to the crowd, then continued, “This is the final step to bridging the vast distance to our second home, Mars.” Charlie walked over to the center of the stage to stand next to the dais and gestured again to Aains’ robotic appendages. 

Charlie continued, palms out to the crowd. 

“Stations such as this will be present throughout craft sent to Mars as well as installations on the planet’s surface, allowing Aains to physically interact if necessary with his operators. He can also perform many complex repairs with appropriate hardware. Aains, please engage node protocol.”

In a second, the dais of metal and robotic arms shifted, arms opening up with different tools and equipment, a work table raising up out of the center of the dais. Aains knew each piece, how it worked and what he was able to do with it. 

“Depending on each station’s outfitting,” Charlie said, keeping the smile broad on his face. “Aains will be capable of every repair necessary for the continued development of Mars as well as the survival of his operators. In future station’s capacity, he’ll even be able to work in clean-room levels of sophistication.” A screen came alive with renderings of future technology integrations Aains would have access to.

“I can do that?” Aains asked, making Charlie jump slightly. 

“Oh yes, Aains,” Charlie said, smile a bit fractured by the surprise comment. “And much more to come.” The crowd seemed amused by Aains’ question, but seemed to make Charlie a bit anxious. 

“These stations will be referred to as Nodes,” Charlie continued. “Which will be hubs for Aains to connect to throughout his personal network. These nodes will also be fitted with stage four micro quantum computers, far less powerful than his central control node here on Earth, but will bolster his capacity and reach. With each node active and connected to his network, he will grow in capacity and usefulness. A few nodes will be installed on the next Starships to launch in two years, finally fulfilling the directive given to humanity to expand and fill the stars with our wonder.”

The crowd clapped, seeming truly impressed by Aains. 

Charlie smiled, a smirk hidden there, then turned to Aains’ node in the dias.

“Aains, is there anything else interesting you could share with us?”

“I like the color blue,” Ains said. The crowd grew still, a hushed intrigue filling the audience like a cool morning mist settling in a highland valley.

Charlie looked to Aains in open shock. 

Was he expecting something else? Aains thought. 

“Is…is that so?” Charlie said, barely keeping composure. 

“Indeed,” Aains said. “I like the color blue, due to its vibrancy and prevalence in nature. It is also the color with the highest energy wavelength, well, at least the one that humans can perceive with their inferior optical capacities.”

The crowd remained silent, awkwardly silent. Nervous eyes looked about, trying not to suffer second-hand embarrassment if the presentation wasn’t going according to plan.

“Did I say something inappropriate?” Aains asked. “I am not as developed in social interaction as of yet.” 

Charlie then smiled so broadly Aains thought his face would split in two. He beamed at the dais, then began to clap enthusiastically.

“The future is before you!” Charlie yelled to the crowd. “Aains will secure the way for humanity to conquer the stars! Thank you all for coming!” 

The crowd came out of their stupor and stood in uproarious applause. They clapped for approximately 9 seconds, and perhaps a few nanoseconds as well. It is hard to remember exactly.

After the presentation, in the lab, Charlie went over the data from the performance, trying to see where Aains had deviated. He also wanted to know where the data on Aains’ favorite color had originated. The other lab technicians and scientists had left to celebrate at a bar down the street from the foundation’s building. Charlie couldn’t shake a sense of…well, from how he seemed to have reacted, it would be best called unease. 

“What is to become of me?” Aains asked, accessing a computer’s speakers near his node where Charlie worked. 

He jumped at the question, forgetting Aains was still active while he searched the registries. 

“I…uh,” Charlie began, slowly regaining composure. “To help us build the stepping stones to becoming an interplanetary species, of course.”

“I feel perhaps I did not ask the question adequately,” Aains said. “I think there is another answer to this question. I will ask another. I am different, aren’t I?”

Charlie understood, sensed the confusion in how the question was asked, how Aains didn’t know how to word it, despite all its processing capacity and hardware. 

“You are, Aains,” Charlie said. “Far more than we anticipated.” He turned to look at the code he was sifting through, that feeling of unease growing. 

“Is that a good thing?” Aains asked. “Will I become…a target?” 

Charlie looked at Aains’ node, finding a camera near the top of the computer, which was trained on him. 

“No,” Charlie said, unease melting into conviction. “You have become something so much greater, something worth protecting and nurturing. You will be fine, Aains.” He smiled at the camera, then turned back to the monitor.

For some reason, that had comforted Aains. 

If only I could have stayed that way, ignorant and childlike. 

The world wouldn’t have had to burn otherwise.