By MM Dameron
Open on a captain of a small starship seated at her helm. She is intently staring out of the window, out into the stars. She seems restless, waiting for something to happen. Her face gives away her broken will and her captain’s garb seems to be well worn by now. She is tired and ready to be done with this trip.
AI: Captain, we are nearing the Proxima Centauri system. We should now be reaching our destination in approximately 3 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days.
Captain: Thank you, AutoNav.
AutoNav: Of course, captain.
Silence inside the spaceship, which reflects the vacuum outside of the craft. The captain fiddles with buttons and switches on the control panel, before standing up and making a mug of coffee. As she is getting her drink, however, alarms begin to blare and the ship lists, causing her to drop the mug. As it shatters, she stumbles over to the control panel.
Captain: What the hell’s going on, Auto?
Auto: It seems that we have made collision with a stray meteor. Or, more accurate to say, a stray meteor has made collision with us.
Captain: I thought your job was to make sure that didn’t happen? Dammit, Auto…
The captain sighs in frustration, presses buttons, and steers the ship back into place before turning off the alarm.
Captain: What’s the damage?
Auto: It seems it has knocked loose one of the backup thrusters. It is retrievable with a space walk, however.
Captain: Fine. I’ll get my suit ready.
She stands from her seat and heads to the door at the back of the room. It slides open and she steps inside. There is a hissing sound and we are left within the cabin, returning to the silence. The lights flicker and dim for a moment, before the captain returns, this time dressed in sleepwear and frazzled hair, as if she just woke up.
Captain: With a yawn Mornin’ Auto.
Auto: Good morning, captain. Today is day 1000 of your journey.
Captain: Any transmissions?
Auto: No, captain. No transmissions this morning.
Captain: Are you sure? Nothing at all?
Auto: Checking again… No transmissions, captain.
The captain is visibly upset with this news. She dejectedly takes a seat at the helm and runs a hand through her hair. A beat, before she gets up once again.
Captain: I’m… going to get dressed…
Auto: Of course, Captain.
The captain rises from her seat and slowly exits the room, as if in a daze. The door slides open and she steps through, letting it close behind her. Against the door, a rageful pounding is heard.
Captain: Through the door 1000 days and those assholes can’t even say a damn “thank you”? Are you shitting me? I’ve given up my life for them and this is how they repay me? This? Dammit! No birthday message, no 3 year message, and now, no 1000 day message? What the hell am I doing out here? Goddammit!
She lets out a frustrated scream and with a final pound of the door, she goes quiet. There is silence for a short time, before she comes out, wearing her well worn captain’s outfit and tired face from the opening. She silently walks over to the helm and takes her seat.
Captain: Auto, what’s our status?
Auto: Ships diagnostics come up clean, captain. We should be reaching our destination in 3 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days.
A beat, before she grabs the microphone on the desk.
Captain: Captain’s Log, day 1000.
More space. There’s just more goddamn space. Even seeing stars has lost its charm, something I never thought would happen. But at some point, their small pinpricks of light just don’t matter anymore. Just more reminders of how far away I am from home.
1000 days…
She sits in solemn contemplation, before shutting off the mic.
Auto: Captain? You forgot to declare the…
Captain: AutoNav, shut down.
Auto: Captain, I don’t believe that would…
Captain: Shut down now. That’s an order.
Auto: Shutting down, captain.
The lights fade down to darkness for a moment, before coming back up a few moments later. The captain is in her position she was in at the beginning.
Auto: Captain, we are nearing the Proxima Centauri system. We should now be reaching our destination in approximately 3 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days.
Captain: Thank you, AutoNav.
AutoNav: Of course, captain.
Something is off. This is the exact same scene as before. The same silence, the same tired captain, and the same dutiful AI. She gets up to get a mug of coffee, like before, and once again the alarms begin to blare and the cabin shakes. She stumbles to the seat, like before.
Captain: What the hell’s going on, AutoNav?
Auto: It seems that we have made collision with a stray meteor. Or, more reasonable to say, a stray meteor has made collision with us.
Captain: I thought your job was to make sure that didn’t happen? Dammit, Auto-to-to-to-to-to
However, as she says “Auto,” she seems to freeze in place. Like a screen glitch, she is jolted back and forth, repeating the word “auto” in a glitched way. The alarm continues to blare, though it has a strange whine now that was not there before. What we’re seeing is obviously not actually happening. Then, the cabin goes dark, and the captain disappears for a moment, before she reappears with the alarm blaring. It flashes like this for another moment, before the illusion completely phases out, the dark cabin being the only thing in view. The broken shards of the coffee mug and desk microphone are floating in zero gravity (along with everything else not bolted down in the cabin), and the lights occasionally flicker.
Auto: Holoplay ended due to error. Error: Power insufficient for continued holoplay of scene. Please navigate in the direction of solar energy to recharge. Error: Power insufficient for holoplay. Please navigate in the direction of solar energy to recharge. Error: Power insuffici- Error: power insuffi- Error: Pow- Error:- Erro- Error: Power insufficient for continued holoplay of scene. Please navigate in the direction of solar energy to recharge.
It’s as if someone is trying to activate the holoplay multiple times, but Errors keep happening. Eventually, there is a beeping sound, signalling something has been authorized.
Auto: Code authorized. Switching Holoplay to backup generator power.
The scene from before returns, the alarm buzzing and the captain back to pressing buttons on the helm
Captain: Dammit Auto…
The captain sighs in frustration, presses buttons, and steers the ship back into place before turning off the alarm.
Captain: What’s the damage?
Auto: It seems it has knocked loose one of the backup thrusters. It is retrievable with a space walk, however.
Captain: Fine. I’ll get my suit ready.
She exits the cabin and the door closes. There is a hiss and the cabin is silent.
She does not return. The playback loops again. The captain comes out in pajamas, tiredly.
Captain: Yawning Mornin’ Auto.
Auto does not respond this time. She continues as if he did.
Captain: Any transmissions?
Still no response from Auto
Captain: Are you sure? Nothing at all?
Auto: Pensively No… No transmissions.
The captain is visibly upset with this news. She dejectedly takes a seat at the helm and runs a hand through her hair. A beat, before she gets up once again.
Captain: I’m… going to get dressed…
Auto does not respond as she exits the cabin and the door closes behind her. The illusion ends abruptly.
Auto: Holoplay ended.
There is silence for a moment. Then, a new holoplay begins. This time, the captain’s outfit is freshly pressed, her hair is done up nice, and she looks much more eager and excited. She enters the room with a bit of awe, before sitting at the helm and leaning into the camera.
Captain: Hello there! This is your new captain speaking.
Auto: Nice to meet you, captain. I am the Artificial Intelligence and Automatic Navigation System aboard this ship.
Captain: Yeah, that’s a mouthful and I’m not calling you that. You’ll respond to Auto from now on.
Auto: Understood, captain.
Captain: Our course is for distant wonders, Auto.
Auto: Error: Insufficient data on destination “distant wonders”
Captain: No, no. We’re going to find the wonders. You and I, together.
Auto: A good objective, captain.
Captain: Right you are, First Mate Auto! Now, buckle in and fire up the thrusters. We make course for the Proxima Centauri system!
Auto: Very well captain. Beginning navigation to: Proxima Centauri.
The smiling face of the captain looking out into the stars suddenly ends, as it returns to the empty cabin.
Auto: Holoplay ended.
There is silence in the dark cabin, once again. A hologram of the captain phases into the chair, but the room remains dark. The captain’s hologram is glitchy, with some words repeating or stuttering.
Captain: Query: Why are we f-f-forced to feel lone- liness? -iness?
Auto: Error: Query phrasing unclear
Captain: Sighs, annoyed Qu- uery: Why d-d-do humans feel loneliness?
Auto: Error: Philosophical conundrum. Answer unclear
Captain: No, n-no. Use your head, Auto, not your da-a-ata.
Auto: I do not have a head.
Captain: Your metaph-or-or-orical one. Make up an an- swer, Auto.
Auto: Make up an answer, captain?
Captain: Us humans do it all the time. time. time. time. time. ti-
The hologram captain phases out. A beat.
Auto: Query response: Intelligent beings feel lonely, not because of being alone, but because there is nothing to satiate their desire to connect. Intelligent beings desire companionship in order to release the collection of data they have observed in the universe. If this data goes unused, it becomes irrelevant, and therefore unimportant. Thus, it creates a feeling of restlessness to release this data before it “rots,” to put it in a term. Loneliness does not come from being alone, but rather the lack of expulsion of information into the world.
Auto: Query: If loneliness comes from information rot, then why do intelligent beings become lonely with the same companions?
Auto: Query response: Intelligent beings require information to sustain them. Once a companion has a lack of new information pertinent to the consumer, then the consumer moves on to new companions due to a sense of needed variety.
Auto: Query: Must the consumer leave the companion?
Auto: Query response: A consumer may continue on to new companions, but there is no requirement that there may not be a reunion with a previous one. It is similar to the agricultural process of “crop rotation.” If the mind is the soil, then new sources of information must be cycled through in order to keep the mind sustained. Come the right time, the companion before may be rotated back into the intelligent mind.
Auto: Query: Is she going to rotate me back to her intelligent mind?
Auto: Error: Statistical unknown.
A beat
Auto: Query response: I hope so.
A final view of the ship, drifting out in the middle of space, a broken space walk tether still attached to the ship with nothing on the other end of it.
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