Ark II, Launch

Story: Ark II

Chapter: 24 Evolution?

Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com)

Adult Readers, Sexual Situations, Sex

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I got burned out. I admit it. My Muse was talking but I wasn't listening. I moved the Athena, Robbie, and Robot part forward. ZI will talk about the terraforming of Gaea on more. There is a tradgity but you need to read to know what it is. Do it! Do it now!

Ian was looking more comfortable with Robbie, but his mind was working. You could see it on his face. "How do you do it?" He asked Robbie.

Robbie looked puzzled. Again, were his facial expressions real or simulated? To Joel, Robbie looked puzzled. Joel knew if he thought about it, he'd get another headache like he did with complicated math.

"Do what?" Robbie asked Ian simply.

Ian pointed at Robbie in his human body, "You're here," Ian then pointed at Robbie's robot body, "but you were here." He shrugged, "I never saw anything go from there to here."

Joel knew eventually Ian would know, so why not start now? "Technically, Robbie can be in both places at the same time. They are both Robbie."

"If I may?" Athena began from her human body.

Joel nodded.

Another Athena appeared in the room. It was the holographic projection of Athena in the Ark's uniform. Then another in a short-sleeved uniform and hair put up. Now there were three Athenas!

"I am Athena," the holo-projected Athena with the short sleeved uniform said.

"I am Athena," the first projected Athena said.

"I am Athena," the Athena in the human body said.

Ian looked at each.

"I am Athena," all three Athenas said together.

Suddenly Robbie's robot body activated. "I am Robbie."

"I am Robbie," the Robbie in the human body said.

They both said, "I am Robbie."

"They are both Robbie," Joel explained. "The same Robbie."

Sara Beth smiled looking at Ian, "Remember when you asked out the soul?" Which Ian nodded. She pointed at Robbie's robot body and then to his human body, "All that makes up Robbie, his memories are now coming from both these bodies. His essence is coming from both." She pointed to the Athenas, "All that is Athena is now coming from these three! He soul is in all three..." she shrugged, "Really from more. She's the Ark! She's helping various people all over the Ark! They are all Athena."

Ian's eyes widened, "Wow!" He shook his head, "We can't do that!"

Joel grinned, "Well, I'm going to try a portion of that soon."

Even Sara Beth was unaware of this, "You are?"

Joel nodded, "The new Harpy-stingers will be able to fly with Athena as pilot, Robbie, or me!" He grinned, "I will be physically here on the Ark, but I will pilot the Stinger and I will be out there!" He pointed beyond the Ark at space beyond.

"How?" Kevin asked.

"The same way Athena or Robbie would!" Joel said happily. "I've done it while in the service. I flew some test craft with the neural interface and flew several times." He bounced, "This is supposed to be much better!"

"You'll be here," Jimmy said to see if he got it straight, "but out there, too." He waved out of the Ark.

"Yes!" Joel nodded. "Only, I will only be aware of out there." He grudged a nod, "Unlike Athena and Robbie, who can divide their focus. Humans need more time to learn to focus on multiple things." He grinned and waved at Sara Beth, "Your Mom can do it better."

"I can?" Sara Beth asked doubtfully.

"Sure!" Joel said instantly, "I've seen it! You'd be studying and at the same time cooking dinner and watching one or all of the boys and you kept up with each! Dinner wasn't burned, the boys didn't kill each other, and you studied!" He pointed at her. "That always impressed me!" Then he grinned, "And kept up with the laundry, dealt with the scraped knee or bloody nose...or both! It's a miracle!" He saw his sons weren't understanding. "Okay," he took a deep breath, "You're watching your speed and direction and also aware of upcoming craft from below, from the left, while seeing something coming at you from above...all at the same time!!" He pointed straight ahead, "You see what's here, " he pointed out to his right, "from here," he pointed back and toward the deck, "from here...all at the same time! Meaning, I will be the Stinger! Using the sensors, I will see everywhere."

Anthony's eyes widened realizing something, "Meaning everything is transmitted to your brain. What is out there is sent to you to process." He looked at Jimmy, "I think that could solve our problem of whether Robbie can taste or even like what he sees or smells!" He looked at Joel, "Your brain remains in your head! The essence of you is transmitted to Robbie's human body. Everything Robbie touches, sees, smells or anything else is transmitted to you." His mind was working on his thoughts as he spoke. "If we program and design the body correctly, the impulses sent to the brain in Robbie's human body, should be transmitted and interpreted correctly. Sweet, savory, pungent, all transmitted signals should be able to be understood!" He saw the puzzled faces. He grinned, "If we hook a means for the brain in Robbie to get and transmit what it receives, we will know if it reaches the pleasure centers and getting the right sensation." He waved at Joel, "If he manages to get the interface to send his essence into Robbie's human form, he can tell us if Robbie is perceiving the information correctly!" He shoved Jimmy lightly, "You will know if he can taste!" He grudged a nod, "Now, Robbie's taste sensors will be different from ours. You may find he loves something you hate in your own body!" He waved at Joel, "You might even hate your crawfish etouffee when in Robbie's body!"

Sara Beth nodded understanding, "Because all taste is subjective!"

"Right!" Anthony nodded and he shrugged, "And you will find things you don't like in the body you have now, you love when in this one!" He touched Robbie's shoulder.

Joel disbelieved this possibility. He was remembering the taste of his crawfish etouffee, his catfish stew, oysters...his mind went to his beloved mustard barbeque! The very notion that he would not like it just was determined impossible! The possibility that a man could be housed in a body that wasn't his was the stuff of stories and legends in the past. The movie Surrogates came to mind, where everyone had a perfect human body everyone saw, touched and even had sex with, but wasn't the real person!? The idea of a false face was not new. That they could do it made Joel a little frightened. Nayef and Leah, Tom Szasz and Cindy Szasz would have to monitor this to be sure this group from Earth did NOT do this. This was taking the idea of "walking a mile in someone else's shoes" a bit far! They really could do it! He had worried Athena could become a version of Skynet or Colossus, and now he was worried they could become the beginning of Cylons or even like the Borg from Star Trek!? They were combining organic with the inorganic now. There were minerals that were combined to make life now! Joel gave a mental shrug when he thought this may be what was intended to happen. He imagined those distant humans looking up at the sky for the first time, be it from the trees or caves, they never would have even dreamed about this!

Ian was now holding Robbie's hand, his robot hand. Then he reached out and took Robbie's human hand, too. "Can they both come home with us?"

Sara Beth smiled, "He can. He's a member of the Nesmith Family."

Jimmy looked uncertain, "But, he's not finished."

Joel chuckled, "And neither are you!"

"I'm not?" Jimmy asked.

"You've got more years and inches to go," Joel pointed out. "You still live at home with the family." He looked at Medika and Anthony, "If you think he could."

Medika nodded with a smile, "We can send for him when needed."

Joel gave the human version of Robbie a smirk, "There are things that need to be added," He nodded and walked up to Robbie and grinned, pointing at Robbie's perfect left cheek, "Such as a pimple right there." He touched Human-Robbie on the face. He hugged Human-Robbie. "Maybe a snaggletooth!"

Kevin was looking from one Robbie to the other. "They are both Robbie."

Anthony nodded, "They are."

Kevin waved at the three Athenas, "They are Athena." He held up a finger, "One Athena."

"Yes," Anthony nodded. He looked at Joel, "Tell Hank Robot's android body will be ready in a day or so."

"But we need to come up with a name for these others!" Kevin insisted. "If I tell you Robbie told me something...which one?"

"They all did," Joel answered. "Now, Robbie can be teaching school and spend time with me or your mother!"

"And this one can sit at the table with us!" Ian bounced in excitement.

"We'll work on the eating and olfactory senses, and he will soon," Anthony said happily. "He can eat now, but we need to work on the ability to taste and enjoy or be disgusted."

Sara Beth touched her middle son, "It's time you returned to school for the day." She looked at Kevin and Ian, "You two as well."

"Come on, Robbie!" Ian pulled lightly. He stopped and looked at Anthony and Joel. "Where will he sleep?"

Robotic Robbie answered, "I do not require rest, Ian Nesmith."

"Even in this body," Human-Robbie added, "I won't sleep. Eating will be a nice thing to experience, but I don't create energy from eating food."

"It would seem a waste of resources for me to consume food to simply taste," Robot-Robbie said to Joel.

Joel shook his head, "No, it won't be. What you eat will be recycled as is everyone else's." Joel had the sense that Robbie, depending on which body he was in, changed his vocabulary and syntax! While in Robot-Robbie his was more robot-like. In Human-Robbie, he sounded more Human! He'd have to ask Robbie about that. "Well, come on! Time to get this day started for real!"

When they entered the Communal Dining Area, the other students were surprised to see a new person! Of course, they were. A stranger out here!? Jimmy introduced the new person.

"Everybody," Jimmy waved at the Human-Robbie. "You know Robbie!"

All of them looked at this new Robbie and looked at the seven-foot robotic Robbie and back to the new Robbie.

"But he's Robbie!" Rebecca said pointing at the robotic Robbie.

Both Human-Robbie and Robot-Robbie said, "I am Robbie."

"And soon," Jimmy smiled. "We will have Robot in a body like this Human-Robbie and there will be two that are Robot!"

The result was a little chaotic as there were questions. All of which answers would be given.

Joel walked up to Human-Robbie, "I think right now, we need to keep this a little more discreet. If you would, please come with me and we'll tell the others and Hank."

"Certainly," Human-Robbie nodded. He leaned over to speak with Ian. "Your Dad and I need to work. You know I am here." He pointed at Robotic-Robbie. "We'll see each other later, okay?"

Ian smiled and hugged Human-Robbie, "I know. I love you, Robbie."

Now, Robbie could smile! He hugged Ian back, "I love you, too, Ian."

They went to the Control Room. Joel sent a request to Tom and Nayef to meet them there. Hank looked up as Joel and Human-Robbie entered.

Hank grudged a waving motion of his head, "I still say he's too perfect."

Robbie's grin made him even more Human! "Isn't that in itself an imperfection?" He pointed out.

"Touche!" Joel said happily.

When Nayef got there Human-Robbie was introduced to everyone, but Robbie already knew them. The others just had to get to know this manifestation of Robbie.

"I think we need to set the parameters about how we handle this whole Athena, Robbie, and Robot situation," Tom said quietly. "We know Robbie means a lot to your family Joel. You view him as a person and a member of your family."

Joel nodded, "He is."

"You do," Tom nodded. "We need to be sure everyone else views him that way, too."

Nayef rose and walked over to Human-Robbie, "How are you, Robbie?"

Robbie might be an artificial Human, but he had enough experience, and his emotions were displayed clearly. He was puzzled by the question. "I am fine, Doctor."

Nayef nodded with a smile, "Does it feel different for you in this body?"

Robbie's head went back a little, "It does. I function the same, but more fluid than I do in the robotic body. My vision is clear, I hear many things, but..." he looked at Joel, "When I held Ian's hand, I could feel more than I did in the robotic body. I felt the touch before, but it was very different. When I hugged you, it felt different. When You hugged me, it felt different."

"Good different or bad different?" Joel asked.

Robbie shrugged. It was a very Human gesture, "I don't know how to describe it." He pondered how to express it. "I have the beginnings of a preference, but I will need time." He looked at Joel. "When you come into this body, you'll see what I feel."

"When you come in that body?" Hank asked as his eyes widened. "Into Robbie's Human body!? How are you gonna do that!?"

"By using the Neural-interface!" Joel said simply and shrugged. He touched Human-Robbie on the shoulder, "Forgive me, but you, Robbie are not in here!" He saw Hank's frown. "He is here at the moment, but all things Robbie is stored elsewhere." He waved at the surrounding Ark.

Rita chuckled, "He's right. There is no specific hardware for Robbie, or Robot, or even Athena. The only hardware is to make whoever is using the interface can move and work the body they are in." She motioned to Joel. "He asked me about a central database for our computers. I told him the network is the database." She waved at Human-Robbie, "I don't know if a database could be constructed to house all of who Robbie is...and Robot, or Athena. In the past a computer was built with the needed random-access memory, processor speeds, and memory storage. Now, with a focus point, all that is Robbie can operate in this Humanoid form or his robot form...or both at the same time!"

Joel nodded, "Right. The Neural-receiver." He glanced at Hank, "By the way, I was told to tell you Robot's humanoid form will be ready in a couple days." He smiled broader, "Using the interface I will be able to see, hear, taste, and feel what Robbie can in this body!' He shook Robbie lightly. He grinned at Hank, "Just like I will be the Harpy-......Stinger!" He pointed at the deck, "I will physically be on the Ark," he waved off the Ark, "but I will be out there! That's something I would like any pilot on the Ark to be able to do. Meaning you, Hank."

"Me!?" Hank balked. "Why me?"

"Because you are a qualified pilot!" Joel said logically. "Those learned skills are needed to pilot the Stinger." He looked at the others in the Control Room. "All of you are trained as pilots. We may need you to do that later."

"Back to the Robbie issue," Nayef smiled. He waved at the Human-Robbie. "You know this is all because of us. Meaning, we gave him a Human appearance for our comfort."

"In order for Robbie to interact with Humans," Tom added and motioned toward Robbie, "Such as unnecessary things like hair on his head. I assume he has what a Human male has, as in nipples and even sexual organs."

Joel nodded, "He does."

"He has a scrotum." Tom said. "Why? At this point he cannot reproduce. Maybe later we can give him the means of reproducing through sex. I also assume he as a penis that can function."

"I have not used it yet," Robbie confessed.

"Again," Tom pointed out. "That is cosmetic and for our comfort. You are a humanoid male; therefore we gave you what a Human male is supposed to have."

"Speaking using his sexual organ," Nayef grinned. "He is very attractive. Therefore, Humans will seek to have sex with you."

"I have not done that before," Robbie admitted. "I know the mechanics of it, but I have yet to do it."

"Which leads me to another point," Nayef cautioned. "Whoever desires sex with you, that will be between you and that person. You've been functioning for over thirty years. I'm sure you are aware of the psychological concepts about sex and sexuality."

"From the many texts about sex and sexuality," Robbie nodded. "All of it is knowledge without experience."

"Using the Neural-interface," Joel smiled at Human-Robbie. "I will get into the pilot seat of this body. Just as we will in the Harpy-Stinger!"

Xolani chuckled, "Our whole technological advancements have been based on sex."

Hank grimaced and gave a grudging nod, "Yes, it is." He sighed, "Our very computer technology is used for sexual fantasies. We refined and perfected the technology to make it better and better. We wanted to feel as well as see and hear."

"And we created these synthetic humanoid forms to have sex with!" Joel grinned. "But that wasn't enough! No, we found a way to project ourselves into the body of them to feel what it is like to have sex with someone else. No guilt or judgement as we weren't physically cheating on anyone!"

"They tried to put a receiver in people, too." Hank pointed out. "That was a disaster."

Tom chuckled, "Again, we left what I originally asked about. We give freedom to everyone about what they can or can't do. Are we doing it with Athena, Robbie, and Robot? Are they free to come and go where they choose, have sex when they choose?"

"And" Nayef added, "they have the freedom to say no."

Joel nodded, "As an individual entity they do have the right to say no. With the understanding that anyone they ask to have sex with has the right to say no to them. They are not property or toys." He looked at Human-Robbie, "Understood?"

It was true. He hated to admit it, but porn drove most computer technology forward making the experience better and better. The technology for the robots and androids was also driven to better things because of porn! Yes! Deny it. Fortunately, most countries outlawed the development of using computer technology to allow people to do the Neural-interface on Humans. There were other horrors that came up with this. Again, it was driven by sex! The possibilities were endless! There were countries that thought nothing about Human trafficking and tried the Neural-Receiver on others who were willing or not.

"You already know how to pilot the lander," Joel shrugged. "The Neural-Interface just makes it easier." He looked at Robbie and touched Robbie's arm. "This is your body, Robbie. No one is to do this without your permission."

Human-Robbie smiled and nodded. "I understand some may need to, to make sure I'm operating correctly."

"We want you to have as near Human experience as possible," Joel said.

"I appreciate that," Human-Robbie said sincerely. "What role should I take today?"

"You're teaching school right now," Nayef said. "I wish I could do more than one job at a time in different locations." He chuckled, "Even with multitasking, a Human has been conditioned to prioritize what needs to be done to get the jobs done. That's always been the case. Athena, Robbie, and Robot can do all the jobs needed in every body necessary. Right now, Robbie is in two bodies and can do two jobs at the same time."

Joel looked at Robbie, "Is there anything you want to do now?"

Robbie grinned, "I would love to make dinner for the family." He shrugged, "I may not be able to taste yet, but I know the recipes you and Sara Beth use and can make dinner. That will be in a few more hours before I start that." He shrugged, "Until then, would you mind if I just spend time with you?" He asked Joel.

"That will be fine," Joel grinned. "After thirty plus years, it will be nice to have you with me."

There was a soft chime sound and Athena appeared with them. Dressed in coveralls, she looked a bit distressed, "Forgive me, but there's something that has come to my attention I believe you will need to know." She said seriously.

"What is it?" Joel asked.

"Ark IV has been destroyed," Athena said. I confirmed and reconfirmed what I've seen, but it has been destroyed." Everyone in the Control Room gasped hearing this. "I can show you." In the middle of the air before them, the image of wreckage appeared floating in space. Broken pieces were slowly drifting apart from a central source. "The reason is this." The image shrank as a wider range was shown. A group of dozens of rocks were shown.

"A meteor shower?" Adam asked in a hushed tone. "How did their AI miss it?"

"The computer, Artemis on that Ark should have been able to sense it," Xolani added.

"The path of the ions' trail says it was attempted," Athena reported sadly. "It was not soon enough. Some of the meteors are a good size. We may never know why."

Sara Beth cringed at the sight, "Those poor people."

Joel looked at Sara Beth. They both said silently that they knew what happened could have happened to them! That horrible thought was expressed by Sara Beth right after the tucked their boys into the stasis pods the first day! They had been lucky. "This is another reason to make sure we don't fail."

"There were no survivors?" Cindy Szasz asked.

"I hope not," Joel admitted. He saw the questioning looks from the others. "We all knew this was a possibility. If something like that happened to us, it could have. Would you want to be the one to survive? People all around you are dead, your supplies scattered, your oxygen compromised, and still far enough away from anywhere to escape to?" He shook his head sadly, "Even on Earth, if a ship sank at sea, you could get in a lifeboat. If you were in the South Pacific, you could hope you could reach an island." He waved at the space beyond the Ark. "There are no islands out here. We bring our own island with us. Men would die from thirst and hunger often in the oceans! It would be a horrible way to die. Out here there are no islands." He nodded, "I would prefer to just be in stasis and never wake up knowing that I would die slowly!" There were nods, but Sara Beth came to Joel and hugged him tightly. Joel returned the embrace, "We made it here. We will make it on Gaea. I swear it."

"All those men, women, and children," Sara Beth said, her voice heavy with emotion. "Gone."

"If we got a ship ready with the new drive..." Leah began.

"Even so," Joel nodded. "What would we do with the ones that survive?" He waved at the image of the wreckage, "We'd have to bring them here. How would we do that?" He asked them to see the problem. "That Ark was thrown together after the bombs went off. Our Ark was brought together carefully. Supplies for one thousand families." He nodded, "We could survive if we had them here."

"Remember the rigorous psychological tests done on everyone?" Nayef asked. "They wanted to weed out people with not only physical problems," he nodded, "but the physical defects as in birth defects, health issues, but also tested to weed out abuse and criminal behaviors. Aggression."

"We were chosen because our families had the best histories mentally and physically," Tom added.

"We have some on this Ark that were the victims of abuse," Joel said. "It almost cost them their place on this ark. The value of their knowledge and what they can do overrode their abuse and record of behavior."

"This is the best Ark Earth sent out," Nayef stated. He took his wife's hand, "The desire to help and even willingness to sacrifice to help is wonderful." He shook his head, "We could be adding the unwanted element to our group. We can't risk it."

Sara Beth sighed, "The stasis pods don't require a lot of power, but it does need to be connected to a source of power." She looked at the wreckage, "Is there a functioning power source?"

"No, Sara Beth," Athena answered.

Sara Beth sighed sadly, "Then there is no point. A back up power source would help, but it wouldn't last forever. We couldn't get there in time."

"They wouldn't wake up from the impact?" Rita asked Sara Beth.

"Not without the reviving gas," Sara Beth answered. "Their systems would just cease." She smiled a sad smile to Rita, "No, they would not have been aware of what was happening."

"Is there a schematic of Ark IV?" Joel asked. A three-dimensional image of Arki IV appeared floating in the air. "Just like our Ark, the stasis pods are central and protected by layers of bulkhead and storage areas. If it had been one meteor, even a micrometeor, it might have survived." He pointed to the row upon row of pods that lined the interior of the central area. "One or two impacts might have been survivable." He pointed to the many meteors that had passed Ark IV. "There are literally dozens here."

"Seventy-four," Athena corrected. "Three are twice the size of Ark IV. It couldn't survive that."

"Again," Xolani said. "How did Artemis miss it? How big was the meteor shower?"

"Several hundred kilometers," Athena answered.

"It could come down to engine failure," Joel said. "Precision on this scale could be due to engine or even Human error. We may never know. Is Artemis still functioning?"

"I don't believe so," Athena answered. "I will attempt to make contact."

"At least try to access the mission flight recorder," Joel instructed. "Knowing what happened won't bring them back but will help prevent future problems for anyone else. We'll see if it was an error because of engine problems, neglect, or something else."

"Not to be insensitive," Hank began softly. "Any loss of life is tragic. We lost billions after those bombs went off on Earth. They will lose millions more because of those bombs." He looked up and his face held a serious look he almost never showed anyone. "We're not dead. The Human race will go on because of what we do. We may also die. Hopefully, we won't. I will be damned if I just give up." Then his face changed to his happier zany self. "What has me worried..." he looked at Joel and waved at Human-Robbie. "You're putting yourself in here!?" His head wavered, "And you want me to put myself in a Harpy-Stinger!?"

Joel chuckled, "Yep!" He looked at the others in the Control Room. "And others in this group who know how to pilot, you should train to do this, too." He squeezed Sara Beth, "You are a damned fine pilot, but I'd prefer you and Rita train after the babies are born. It can affect your minds and I don't want any problems neurochemically while you give birth to our daughter." He smiled at Rita, "Or effect Hank Junior or Rita Junior." He reached out and shook Hank lightly, "But you and I will be first in doing this!"

Hank nodded, "Great." His tone said he didn't believe it was great.

He and Hank went to the office where Angus, Leah, Anthony and Medika were working on the new ship. There were others from the Ark helping as well. Where they were working looked more like a doctor's office or a dentist's office. Reclining lounges was at the focus point side by side.

Leah smiled at Joel and Hank holding...something that looked like a multipronged hand or large enough to grasp a person's head. "Haven't you played one of those games where you wear something like this, and it puts you into a game or to watch one of those movies that put you in the movie?"

"Sure," Hank nodded. "But the game or movie isn't really happening around us."

Joel chuckled, "They were working on a way to have you bring a friend with you and you both see the same thing, even each other."

Leah smiled nodding and held the Neural-interface head piece, "That's a primitive version of this. How well do you know Human Anatomy, Hank?"

Hank frowned, "I know the footbone is connected to the legbone. I know the muscles are connected by ligaments, I know there is cartilage...what the names of all them I never really even tried to remember." He muttered.

Leah laughed lightly, "That's fine. Do you know about the connection of the brain to the spinal cord?"

"I know it's damned important!" Hank said simply. "Damned important!! You can get killed if that's broken."

"Right!" Leah smiled bigger. "What we call the spine is made of vertebrae and the spinal cord. The brainstem is the stalk that connects the spinal cord to the brain. Athena, could you display the typical Human spine and brainstem?"

"Certainly," Athena replied, and the image of a vertebrae and brain appeared in the air.

"You can see the connection of the spinal cord and the brain." She looked at Hank and Joel, "The Neural-Receiver is a long tube-like structure in the spine of Robbie and Robot. While you are immobile on the couch, the Neural-Interface will be broadcasting the signals from your brain to the receiver."

Anthony bounced in his excitement, "The Neural-Receiver will take those commands and send the signals through the nerves of Robbie or any android or robot. The Receiver will be in constant connection with your brain to the android body. You will see, hear, scratch you nose or ass as you would in your own body. The neural synaptic patterns are commands you give to Robbie's brain and is carried out. Show the Harpy-Stinger's brain." The image changed to show a different sort of brain, but it had a similar design to the brain for Robbie. "It functions the same way as Robbie's brain. You can concentrate your focus to see or hear what's around you." She held a finger up, "However, it will be kind of disorienting at first. The brain is used to seeing forward. In the Harpy-Stinger, you will see omnidirectionally. Meaning you will see what's in front, behind, up, down, to the sides...all at once!"

Hank's eyes widened, "That's impossible!"

Leah chuckled again, "It's not only possible, but will happen! Your brain and the Occipital Center can handle it, it's simply that you haven't been able to before. There have been great strides forward in restoring patients' sight and hearing due to injury or disease. The Universe is a noisy place. We can't hear it because sound waves don't travel in a vacuum. Every star, quasar, and countless other celestial things all make noise and in the brain or the Harpy-Stinger, you can hear them! The simulator we will put you in will give the computer and Athena an idea of how things will look and feel. It will look and feel very real."

"Scott worked hard to make it as real as he could," Anthony grinned. "I've tried it. Believe me, you won't be able to tell it isn't real."

"Give it a chance!" Joel said happily to Hank nudging him slightly.

"Before we do that with the Human body of Robbie," Leah started. "We'll start with the Harpy-Stinger." She waved to one of the raised couches. "It will be fine."

Joel had piloted the experimental craft in the military, but this was going to be much more intricate. He was told it would have greater effects.

"First you will experience being in the Harpy-Stinger's brain," Anthony explained holding the Neural-Interface's head set up so Joel could see it. "It only takes a few seconds to make the transition." He grinned, "Are you ready?"

"Let's do it," Joel said looking forward to it.

Anthony fitted the headpiece on Joel's head. Sure enough, he was now in space! His field of vision just went from what he was used to and opened up and kept going! The brain he knew helped keep his equilibrium. What is up or down was governed by what he saw! He had no body right now, but the fear of falling hit him hard.

"Whoa!" Hank said quickly.

"You may get a bit dizzy at first," Medika warned. "You aren't falling. You're floating."

"Remember your weightless training," Joel chuckled. "It's the same thing."

"Are you kidding!?" Hank said loudly. "Where am I right now?"

"You know," Joel chuckled. "Look!"

Joel could see the Ark, the surrounding rings around Gaea, Gaea, the moon Adonis, the space ladder, the ore processor, all at the same time.

"Okay," Hank's breathing eased. "I see all around us. I mean all around us! Will there be instrument panels? Gages? Speed indicators? Anything I will need on the Stinger?"

"There will be a digital reader you will see to tell that to you," Angus replied. "There will be no buttons or gages. You want to go faster, think that you need to walk or run and the engines will kick in. Slow down, the same thing. Look at Adonis and desire to see something closer and you will!"

"Do you get motion sickness?" Leah asked Hank.

"I can," Hank answered. "If I read a book while riding...sometimes."

"I'll remember to give you something before we do this again," Leah said.

"This is wild!" Hank said in happy excitement. "There's no air out here, but I'm fine!"

"Because you're not really out there," Medika said to remind him. "You're on the Ark and breathing normally. You'll be fine."

"You said Scott created this," Joel said questioningly. It looks real."

"It is real as in what Athena can see or what you would see if you were out there," Anthony clarified. "It was recreated for you. You have no body at the moment. This is what you would see."

"Wow," Hank marveled. "Gaea needs bluer and greener colors."

"It will be as we work to terraform Gaea," Joel told him.

"Athena will be working with you while you do this," Scott said. "Look at the surroundings. You can access Athena through the link and access her memory and computer. Take the stars for instance. Can you identify the many stars by sight?"

"I know a few stars," Hank replied. "Not all of them."

"Ask Athena for help," Scott suggested.

"Okay," Joel began. "Athena, can you access the stellar cartography and display the names of the stars?"

"Certainly, Hank," Athena's voice said to him.

Many of the stars now had names to identify each. There were thousands of labels for many stars shown. UY Scuti, VV Cephei, Betelgeuse, Polaris, and the odder names such as RSGCC1-F01. There were so many the people of Earth had found and named to keep them straight.

"Can I get the distances from here?" Joel asked.

"Given is miles or lightyears?" Athena asked.

"Lightyears," Joel answered and loved the numbers he saw with the star names. Joel felt fine. It was a bit disorienting in the first few seconds, but now he was comfortable with it. Was this how it was going to be? The beginning of that merging of the next step in evolution? Biological, along with computer science. Organic and inorganic merging? He felt comfortable! The truth was Humans had started it when he put glass before his eyes to see better. Would they become cyborgs? There were no Cylons and no Skynet. Star Trek's Borg Collective?

"When you are in the Stinger, you will have a bow and a stern," Anthony explained. "There will be no control panel, but displays to access direction, speed, and any other need."

"We can't be in the same Stinger?" Hank asked. "One ship for one trip?"

"Not as such," Scott answered. "This will be the way to travel unless one is a passenger. Doing it this way, life-support will be less needed. No supplies for oxygen or food..."

"Any manual labor needed can be done by robotic assistance. As Joel was going to assist with." Anthony said. "You can be there, if you use the Neural-Interface with a robot body."

"How are you feeling, Hank?" Leah asked.

"Fine," Hank replied. "This is amazing!"

"Your heart rate is a little high," Leah observed laughing. "I think that has to do with your excitement."

"It is exciting!" Hank replied happily. "Oh, you're wondering if I'm having a panic attack or something."

"It is possible," Leah answered happily. "Agoraphobia will happen when people feel there is no escape. The fear of open spaces will happen in some people."

"Let's try some commands," Anthony suggested. "You see Gaea."

"Yes," Hank replied.

"Pick something about Gaea you want to see closer," Anthony instructed.

Joel was trying it as well. He chose the space ladder and wondered about what was happening at the base on the surface of Gaea.

"Whatever command you make in your mind becomes a neural synaptic pattern," Leah explained. "We create the signal in our minds to focus on something, and Athena interprets that signal into a command. That is transferred through the Neural-Interface to the receiver in the Stinger. That command is entered."

What happened surprised Joel. The area he saw Gaea suddenly zoomed larger and he saw the base of the ladder where another shipment of ore was rising to send the ore to the processor.

"Wow," Hank said in awe. "The rings around Gaea are complex!"

Joel's vision changed to the rings around Gaea. He saw the particles of ice, sand and other particles that make up the rings. The ice, sand, and light from Ran gave the rings their color.

"You can send what you observe to Athena and the computers here can analyze what you are seeing." Anthony explained.

"The audio components..." Scott began.

"We can hear them?" Hank asked.

"Yes," Scott chuckled. "It's really quite noisy out there in space. All of space is a kind of galactic symphony!"

"Planets and stars have different frequencies they broadcast," Anthony explained. "Zeus sounds kind of like a tuba. While Ran is a much higher pitch of sound. Combined with the other planets and star, some millions of lightyears away create a beautiful cord that never ends."

"How can I hear it?" Hank asked.

"You've been in some noisy situations," Leah said.

"I have kids," Hank muttered. "Of course I've been in noisy situations."

Leah chuckled, "The joys of parenting. Was there a time when Rita needed to say something, and you focused on her voice to be able to hear and understand?"

"Very often," Hank again muttered.

"You're mind focused on what you wanted to hear," Leah said. "Your brain sent a pattern to do that. Do it again."

Joel was doing it, too. He certainly had many noisy situations with three active boys. Unaware of what he was doing, he could suddenly hear the cord! A symphony of sounds where notes were high and low of hundreds, no, millions of notes! It was beautiful! It had always been, but now he could hear it. "This is much more sophisticated that what I've tried before. As a pilot testing equipment like this before, I was told the synaptic patterns were more difficult to read. My synaptic patterns are different from Hank's."

"It was," Leah agreed. "You and Hank will have different patterns to do the same job, such as listening or viewing things. Yet, the patterns are going to the same portion of the brain, thus able to read. You and Hank have done this sort of thing before in a limited fashion. Athena recognizes your brain synapse more readily." She said happily. "Others will have to teach Athena what to look for. That's why you are first!"

"Everything's so crisp and clear!" Hank marveled more.

"Sure," Anthony agreed. "The technology always improves. You can hear a symphony, hear Au Clair de la Lune recorded and played back on a phonautograph or digitally played back using today's technology. Which is better?"

"Athena is the best, so far, as the technology goes.' Scott confirmed. "And we will always be improving what we use."

Joel remembered the first recorded anything, the song recorded in the 19th century.

"Wait," Hank said suddenly. "You said Scott created this. Are you saying this isn't real?"

"It's real," Scott defended. "Do you think you're really free floating in space right now?" He asked. "No, you're not. What are you seeing right now?"

"I see Gaea, the Ark, the rings of Gaea, the moon Adonis, the smelter, the processor..." Hank began, "billions of stars!"

"Which Athena has seen!" Scott chuckled. "And the various other objects such as the drones, the data orbs...all I did was take what is seen and allowed you to see it! Not real. Hah!"

"When you are in the Stinger," Leah said. Joel and Hank couldn't see her because of the headsets they had on, but Joel knew she was smiling. "It will look slightly different than what you see now. We need to have you teach the Stinger what your commands are."

"And as you two have flown before," Anthony furthered. "Those commands are more refined and set. It will be easier."

"Sara Beth and Rita will have to teach Athena what those commands are," Leah explained. "Now, we're taking the headsets off. Again, there will be a moment of disorientation." She chuckled, "Prepare yourself to seeing as those millions of years taught you to."

The switch was quick and what Joel had gotten used to seeing omni-directionally suddenly went back what his eyes saw in front of him. Just as he always had.

"Whoa," Hank said closing his eyes and putting his hands over his face. He parted his fingers a bit to see what was there. It took a moment for him to readjust what he was seeing. "That was not awesome."

"How can our Occipital Lobe handle all that?" Joel asked.

"The Human brain can do much more that we give it credit for," Leah smiled. "We just become used to what we can see. Your brain can do much more."

"Are we looking at a future evolution?" Hank asked. His zany way of speech was swallowed by the awesome nature of the subject.

Leah sighed and grudged a nod, "We have been directing Human evolution for a while now. Will we live without all this?" She asked. "Sure, but we have become more than simple animals that are from Earth. Our lives don't depend on these advantages we come up with. When we do become dependent on them...will we come up with a way of getting those things naturally?" She shrugged. "Then I will say yes. Until then, these are just tools we use."

"I had a recent thought about our becoming Borg-like creatures," Joel admitted and saw Hank nodding. Leah looked confused. "It's from a show from the later part of the twentieth century. A race that combined the organic with the non-organic. They were determined that man and machine would merge and absorbed anyone they came across whether the person wanted it or not." He chuckled, "Personal feelings were irrelevant. Individuality was gone and they functioned as one in spite of the billions of individuals." He smiled at Hank, "But we won't allow that."

Hank grinned and shook his head, "I'd make a lousy drone anyway."

"Me, too," Joel muttered.