Entry 54

It's been a long time, I know, so I'm going to give a short recap. Here we go:

I learned my brother was an android when he was shot in a convenience store. We were immediately transported to a ship and taken to the headquarters of the Society of Anthropologists. There I was put in a zoo and John was essentially waiting to be killed.

We were then rescued by the dashing, android-hating Ven Barker. I forced him to rescue John as well, even though he did not want to. Ven is supposed to take me to the human colony but can't because androids aren't allowed. So instead we've been residing on Ven's ship, Blaue. Blaue is pretty much an awesome Artificial Cognizant. An Artificial Cognizant is a sort of like bodiless android - just the mind. Though they can create hologram projections of bodies.

Now we are stopped on a space station so Ven can do business. He has set John and I free to do as we like while on teh space station. Currently, we are standing outside of Blaue, but we're still in the ever annoying Ven's way. He wants us to move.

Got it? Good. Now let's move on.

"We're going to be in someone's way no matter where we go," I protested. Aliens and cargo were everywhere. Stepping out of Ven's way would put us in someone else's way.

"We need to get out of the cargo area," John said. "Follow me." John grabbed my wrist and led me through the maze of ships.

"See the black pathway?" He pointed towards the black strip of floor that ran between the ships. "That's the pedestrian walkway. It will take us out of here." I did not respond. I simply let John lead me as I marveled at the ships and aliens.

We were passing a sleek, lime green ship, no bigger than a fighter jet. This I imagined was the sports car of spaceships. Why else would someone paint it the danger color? The ship screamed, "hey, look at me. I'm dangerous."

An alien was walking ahead of us on the black pathway. The alien walked across the ground with dozens of legs, like a centipede, but it was covered in blue feathers and about six feet long. Instead of a beak or mouth it seemed to have a trunk like an elephant, but I could not begin to guess what sense the trunk was used for. What strange evolutionary path had led to this?

"Star Trek always made aliens look so human," I said as my eyes landed on an alien that seemed to be dripping mucus from every orifice.

"Well, Star Trek didn't get everything right," John responded. "And they had a low budget. Not to mention the lack of CGI. Even Next Generation's graphic weren't good. You can't expect better considering the time period."

"How do so many strange aliens get along?" I asked. "How can we talk to an alien if it doesn't have ears?"

"Artificial Cognizants," Blaue answered in my ear. "Almost everyone has one and we're programmed to understand most anything. The alien without ears would haven an Artificial Cognizant who would hear your words and translate them into whatever sensory mode the alien could understand."

"Cognizants are very necessary to every day life in the Universe," John said. "Without them, it would probably fall apart."

"I don't control physics," Blaue joked.

"No, but you do allow everyone to understand each other," John answered. "Without you thtere would be no government." I'm still sure to this day if that comment was foreshadowing, but it sure felt like it at the time. I could just imagine Artificial Cognizants pulling out of society - refusing to participate - and the government falling apart.

It seems strange that a society that needs Artificial Cognizants so bad and relies on them so desperately would despise androids.

Entry 36

To my surprise, Ven did not argue further with Blaue. He let her lead John and me towards our rooms. “Please go inside,” she instructed. “Before I continue the grand tour I would like you to check out your rooms to check they are satisfactory. If there is anything you need, please let me know.”

“You’re not going to shut the walls behind us,” I responded uneasily. I did not like the idea of doors I could not open and close myself. I could just imagine that this was all some sort of elaborate trap. I would step into the room, the wall would close behind me and I would be stuck forever.

“No, I will not,” Blaue said with a kind smile. “Now, please. If you would check your room.”

Still feeling uneasy I glanced at John. He smiled at me and nodded, indicating I should do as I ask. So I stepped through the threshold and into the room.

The room was small, barely five feet by five feet, but it was colored light lavender, making it seem larger than it was. The bed was a hole in the wall, like in a lot of science fiction movies, except upon it was a large fluffy purple pillow and purple sheets. I stood in the threshold, stunned by all the purple.

“We knew we were picking up an Earth girl, so we had time to prepare,” Blaue said from behind me, her voice anxious as if waiting for my approval. “If you don’t like purple, I can easily change the walls. If you step in further, I can show you the other amenities of the room.” I stepped in mechanically. Blaue followed me in.

“Do you see this?” Blaue asked, pointing to a small raised square on the wall. It was like the raised part of the wall Ven had touched to access the directory when we were in the Society. “If you touch this square, part of this wall will become like a screen, like a television.” She smiled as if proud of her use of the word. “I have several Earth shows and movies downloaded. They will be older shows than you are used to, since we had to pick up the transmissions from outside the solar system, but I hope you find them enjoyable.”

“If you touch this,” Blaue said, motioning to another raised square on the other side of the wall, “It will reveal your rest room. It has your basic shower, toilet, and mirror. And if you touch this one,” she pointed to one on the same wall as the bed, “it will reveal your closet, which I took the liberty of stocking with clothes suitable for a human girl. If you find the clothes disagreeable, let me know. We can arrange to acquire more.”

Blaue fell silent, watching me carefully, as if waiting for my reaction. It took me a moment to find my voice.

“This is wonderful,” I said. Blaue beamed. “Purple is even my favorite color. How did you know?”

“I didn’t,” Blaue answered. “Ven wanted me to color the room blue because his sister likes blue, but I figured I would try something more feminine first.” She paused. “I’m also rather fond of purple myself.”

“Then why do you wear so much blue?” I asked.

“Because of my name, of course,” she laughed. “Der Blaue Stern. It means the Blue Star. And Ven prefers blue. I have to appease him in small ways, since I do so love thwarting him in large ones, like getting your brother a room.”

“My brother,” I repeated. “Why do you call him my brother but Ven doesn’t?”

“Ven has very strong feelings about synthetic and organic sentients,” Blaue responded with a sigh. “I’m an Artificial Intelligence. I know what my feelings are. A sentient is a sentient, whether synthetic or organic. Either way, they are my superior. My programming does not recognize a difference in authority between the two.” I frowned, finding this all hard to take in.

Entry 25

Fear clutched my heart, my mouth went dry, and my entire body tensed as if to run. How did this man know who I was? How did he know who Ven was? Had this all been a set up? I looked at Ven, who seemed very unconcerned.

“We need information, please, Cognizant,” Ven said, strangely respectful to this man who had found us out.

“Ven!” I hissed. “How does he know who we are?” Ven looked at me, momentarily perplexed.

“I often forget how little Earthlings know,” Ven said. “Carlee, this is the android building’s Artificial Cognizant.” He motioned to the man who bowed toward me in an Asian manner. “Cognizants know everything. It’s their job. However, because of the competitiveness of Anthropologists and the android industry, this particular Cognizant has a very serious and unbreakable confidentiality program. It knows who we all are, but it won’t tell anyone. It can’t. It’s not a Security Cognizant, just an informational one.”

“Why is he human?” I asked still unsure.

“I can answer for myself, Miss Earhart,” the man responded. “I appear in the form in of the sentient accessing me. In the case of you and Mr. Barker, that would be human.” I nodded, but I still felt very uneasy. This Artificial Cognizant knew who I was. Surely nothing good could come from that.

“How can I help you, Mr. Barker?” the Cognizant asked with a pleasant smile.

“We’re looking for the android assigned to Carlee Earhart,” Ven answered. “Will you tell us where it is being held?”

“Looking for androids?” the Cognizant seemed surprised. “This is not like you, Mr. Barker.” I wondered how much this Cognizant knew about Ven, how much he knew about me. Could something that knew so much really be trusted?

“Carlee has quite the attachment to her android,” Ven said with a sigh. “I’m trying to cure her of it.”

“He is my brother,” I responded defensively. The Cognizant gave me a sympathetic look, as if he understood exactly what I was feeling. I shifted uncomfortably under his knowing gaze.

“I know where the android designated as John Earhart is,” the Cognizant said. “He is still in processing.”

“It, Cognizant,” Ven said. “It is still in processing.” He gave the Cognizant a significant look.

“I am an ‘it’, Mr. Barker,” the Cognizant responded. “I have no gender, as I take on a form most acceptable to whoever accesses me: male, female, neuter, or any other gender. The android John Earhart, however, is created to be a male. Therefore, the pronoun ‘he’ is appropriate when applied to him. I am a Cognizant, Mr. Barker. I am never wrong.”

“It’s a matter of opinion,” Ven said with a scowl for the Cognizant. “It depends on your views.”

“I am a Cognizant,” it responded. “I have no opinion, only facts.”

“Yeah, and I’m an Earthling,” Ven said dryly, causing me to frown. Ven seemed comfortable and relaxed with this Cognizant, not at all like I imagined he would be with John. He seemed to be treating the Cognizant almost like an equal, something with opinions and thoughts. It seemed very contradictory to me. How could Ven detest androids so much and yet feel perfectly comfortable about a Cognizant?

Entry 24

Though aliens were traversing the air without problem, I expected Ven to plummet into the roaring waters beneath. It is one thing to see an alien do something. Aliens are so unreal that if I had seen them walking on water or swimming through space I would not have been surprised. However, as far as I knew Ven was completely human. Humans could not defy the laws of physics.

And yet Ven did not fall to his death. He stood on thin air, just like all the aliens.

“Of course there is a floor,” Ven answered. “It’s simply transparent. This is a hall like any other, with a floor, ceiling, and walls. Now come on, Carlee. We don’t want to bring attention to ourselves.” I stared at him, not comprehending for a moment, until I realized he had insinuated that my staring at him like an idiot might tip the anthropologists off that we did not belong. I certainly did not want to be recaught, so though it went against my better judgment, I stepped out onto nothing.

I held my breath, still not certain that I would not fall. However, nothing felt different from when I had been standing in the visible hall. Before I could even take a moment to adapt to this new situation, Ven grabbed my elbow and began to pull me along the hall.

“Standing and staring about like a tourist is going to give us away,” he said. “These sort of bridges and buildings are everywhere in the galaxy. It was all the rave about an Earth century ago when this area of the headquarters was built. It’s just a bridge between two buildings, between the lecture hall buildings and the android building.”

“So that building up there is where John is?” I asked, avoiding looking down and instead looking ahead to the domed white building that I could see aliens stepping in and out of.

“Yes,” Ven answered. “It is the building where they manufacture and process androids.” My eyes widened at that thought. It was a large building. It reminded me of the Georgia Dome in size. Surely the entire building could not be filled with androids.

“That’s a lot of androids,” I said.

“It’s only a fraction,” Ven responded. “Most of the androids are on planets. After the anthropologists recover an android from primitive world, they don’t keep its physical body for very long. They upload the information they need and store the hard drive, but they recycle the body. So most of the building is actually devoted to manufacturing the androids. The Society of Anthropologists is leading the industry right now.”

“That seems odd,” I said. “So do they sell androids?”

“Not usually, but occasionally as fundraisers they might sell the androids after their stint on primitive worlds to collectors,” Ven answered. “They will also custom make an android for anyone who is willing to ‘donate’ quite a lot to the Society. Most people just buy their androids from the usual industry manufacturers. The Anthropologists publish papers on the technology they create, and so it eventually leaks down into the regular industry.”

“So John is like top of the line?” I asked, becoming nervous. If their androids were so advanced, would they not have high security around them? Otherwise, their industry competitors could just steel an android to get their technology.

“Top of the line?” Ven repeated, clearly not understanding the phrase.

“He’s the best there is in android technology,” I clarified.

“Basically,” Ven answered with a shrug. “I’m not really up to date on the android industry.” He wouldn’t be, since he hated androids so much.

“Wait, you said earlier that they don’t keep the physical bodies long,” I suddenly realized. Yes, I know I was slow to process, but Ven was giving me a lot of information. My brain can only process so much. “Will they have destroyed John’s?”

“Depends,” Ven answered with a shrug. “As I’ve said: I am not an android expert.”

Panic began to spread through me. What if John’s body was destroyed? Would that mean he was dead? But they would have downloaded his hard drive. I have never been an expert on computers, but I guessed that a computer’s hard drive was something like its brain. If they did not destroy John’s brain, then did that mean he was still alive? If we could find his hard drive, perhaps we could find him a new body.

An image of John speaking from C-3PO’s body filled my mind as I thought of him getting a new body. Would John be the same person if he was in a different body? How much of the body determined who a person was? But John was not a person according to Ven. The stubborn non-Earth man insisted that John was just like a computer. When someone’s computer crashes, they recover all the files from the hard drive and get a new computer. It’s barely a blip on their radar except for how much money it costs. No one has moral qualms about replacing their computers.

Except John’s sci-fi fanatic friend. She always insists on naming each other her computers, and she contends that each computer seems to have a character of its own.

So if John’s brain was placed in another body, would it change his character?

Suddenly I was reminded of that episode of the original Star Trek where Spock has his brain stolen. His brain is transplanted into what is essentially a computer. However, whether in a computer or his body, Spock seemed to be the same exact unemotional, curious Vulcan. Strangely enough, that odd episode of Star Trek reassured me that John would be alright, as long as we could recover his hard drive. When I rescued John, I would have to thank him for forcing me to watch all those old episodes of Star Trek.

While lost in thought, we had entered the next domed building. I was no longer walking on nothing, which gave me back much of the confidence I had lost on the bridge. I followed Ven who walked purposefully, his dark eyes scanning the wall for a directory.

Ven found one easily, activating and studying it. I tried to study the map as well, but I could make neither heads nor tails of it. Maybe if it had been in English I would have stood a chance. Maybe.

“This is still a general directory,” Ven said with a frown. “Looks like they keep a more active system in charge of the androids. It’s better security that way. We’ll have to find the portal.”

“The portal?” I asked as Ven stepped away from the wall, the directory closing down.

“Yes,” Ven answered. “Passive systems like these directories are everywhere, but portals for the actively controlled systems are in very distinct places. Luckily the directory has directions to the portal.”

“So we’re going to have to talk to someone?” I asked. In my mind an “actively controlled system” translated to a system that was controlled by a person, like a secretary who was tasked with keeping track of all the androids.

“Not someone,” Ven responded. “Something. We’ll have to have a conversation with this building’s Artificial Cognizant.” My mind chewed on those words for a moment before I could begin to respond.

“Is that like an artificial intelligence?” I asked. “Isn’t that like an android?” I thought of that movie AI with Haley Joel Osment.

“No,” Ven answered. “Androids are considered in the class of ‘synthetic sentient’, though that term is hotly disputed. Many of us are trying to get the name changed to ‘synthetic cognizant’.” I frowned, not entirely understanding the semantic difference. I’m not sure I still do. I understand the argument, but I think the different is trivial.

“So what is an Artificial Cognizant?” I asked.

“You’ll see in a moment,” he answered. “The portal is up ahead.” He motioned ahead.

I looked and saw that the hall opened into a large atrium. Aliens stood about, talking in groups. Spaced about the room where five raised platforms. Some had an alien standing in them. The aliens on the platform studied the air intently and seemed to be talking to themselves. No one paid them any attention.

“Ah, an empty portal,” Ven said. He suddenly changed direction and headed towards one of the platforms. I held my tongue instead of arguing that we were heading to an empty platform. I was beginning to learn that the universe was a place I did not understand, and that things were not as they seemed.

Ven stepped onto one of the empty platforms, and I followed, sticking close to him.

Suddenly the air around us shimmered and a human male appeared before us. He looked completely average: average height, average build, black hair, brown eyes, tanned skin, and middle aged. It was as if someone had picked a stereotypical human male.

“Ven Barker,” the man said with a smile. “What brings you and our new specimen, Miss Earhart, to my portal?”