Chapter 67
Chapter 67
"Hmm… so your plan is to use a positron bomb in order to destroy the asteroid?"
"Right, although smaller asteroids can be taken care of by our high powered laser turrets, they can't take on the larger ones . "
"I see, then I'm guessing you want me to create some more positrons right?"
I was discussing with Zaira how we would deal with the incoming asteroids from the Kuiper Belt . For the smaller ones the lasers would suffice, but we would use my positrons to break down the big asteroids into smaller pieces before it entered the Earth's atmosphere .
Although it was a simple enough approach, it was something which humanity wasn't capable of doing in the past because their nuclear weapons weren't powerful enough to crack the big asteroids .
It was now my role to take care of them .
Six months after the launch of the Terraformer, sunlight was beginning to trickle through the thick dust clouds . There were now a total of 100 operational Terraformers .
They would have to return to Gamma to recharge their power source once a week, before then setting off again . One could process up to 1000 tons per week with its large 60 meter wingspan that could suck up all the dust within a 600 square meter . In just these last six months there had been a significant change in the concentration of dust in the Earth’s atmosphere .
"Is that actually a sunrise?"
"Johra is witnessing a rare phenomenon, the first sunrise in 140,000 years . "
The rays which could filter through were fr the most part reflecitng of several Tephra particles, which painted the sky in different colors .
One year after that, the skies were clearing up and with the increase of solar rays, the temperature had risen . Depending on the time of day, it could get as hot as 60~70 degrees Celcius, before falling down to minus 50~60 degrees at night .
"I don't think life can thrive in these conditions . "
"Yes Johra, the current changes in temperature are due to the absence of a large body of water, which would help create a more mild climate . "
"I understand, but it is currently impossible for me to single handedly create enough water to fill entire oceans . "
"I'm aware of that, I have previously examined the limitations of your miraculous ability and came to the same conclusion . "
"So?"
"The plan is to capture a rogue comet . "
"A comet?"
"Right, a comet made entirely of ice, if we can break it up and control it to enter Earth's atmosphere at a moderate speed, then it could solve our water problems . "
"Then how should we proceed . "
"You can leave the details to me, I just need your go ahead to proceed . "
"Oh do you require my approval?"
"Well…naturally, does that surprise you?"
"OK, I also want to see an Earth filled with water . What is the current situation with the egg?"
"It's lifeforce is stable and it appears ready to come out, but there are still no signs of hatching . "
"Ok, make sure to contact me immediately if there are any changes . "
"Sure, will do . "
It would be very helpful if Nordrida retained her memory .
'Is Noradriana in that egg?'
'Right'
'Hmm… instead of being resurrected she was turned into an egg . Your ability is quite unusual . '
'It changed because I set it as an Identity . '
'Modified Identity? The one you gain when you kill a traveller from another world? What's even the use for it in such a case?
'Finding a way to return to that world is my top priority right now . There are too many things and people which I've left behind . '
'Yes, yes, if Noradriana still had her memory, she would indeed be useful . '
'Do you have a hidden agenda again Gnoss?'
'Well, would you even believe me if I told you I didn't?'
'True'
'Then why do you bother asking?'
'I want to know if you'd lie to me . '
'Well… I might have some hidden plan, but I can still promise to be helpful . '
After 6 months of preparation, the spaceship I would be using to venture out and capture a comet with was began being assembled in an outer space shipyard .
"Why is it that you are making such a large ship?"
"Although the task of altering its trajectory slightly so it collides with Earth is simple enough, it is afterall a huge mass traveling at incredibly fast speeds, so I am trying to prepare it for any emergencies . "
"It's like those futuristic spaceships, it's so large I can even see it from down here . "
"It is being modelled after humanity's cultural records . "
"Ah, did you get the idea from a Sci-Fi movie?"
"Yes"
"Isn't this a bit over the top though?"
As it was being assembled in outer space, I could slowly see it taking shape . It began looking just like the Enterprise from Star Trek, the only difference being that it was even larger in size . (Dreadnought class ships were about two kilometers long in the movie, but this looked like it was twice its size at 4 kilometers . I later learned that it's actual length would be about 5 kilometers!) Shit how of my positron are they using to fuel this ship!
One year into its construction I was asked by Zaira to pick a name for the ship, and chose Valen on a whim . It was the nickname Valenor went by when she was fighting as a gladiator back in Necropolis, and it brought back some nice memories .
"Ok Johra, Valen will be ready for departure as of tomorrow . "
"Is there enough space on board?"
"Of course, you will have a crew of 2000 crew members on board . Will you be ready to leave?"
"Sure"
"Great, I'll prepare a rocket to transport you there . "
"That won't be necessary . "
"How will you get there, and will you need a spacesuit?"
"I'll just fly there and will not be needing the suit . "
I could easily fly to such altitudes and with my skeleton body, I didn't need to breathe oxygen .
Pot!
I jumped up and flew towards the orbiting shipyard which was about 38,000 kilometers . It was 20 times further than I had ever flown, but I was confident in my abilities .
The terraformer had done wonders in reducing the amount of dust in the skies, but it still wasn't sufficient to allow the moisture in the air to condense into clouds . Once I was past all that airborne dust, there was no longer anything obstructing my view .
"It's a clear sky up here . "
With my bird's eye view I looked down and saw that except for the couple dozen domes we had created, the whole planet was just a desert filled with red sand .
After flying even higher I had finally left the atmosphere and was surrounded by darkness .
"Space is truly vast and empty . "
'I also want to see your view of space, it's really too bad that I can't . I'm really envious of your ability to fly unhindered in space . '
'Well I feel there is nothing special up here except for a lot of empty space . Oh… that's really big . '
The completed form of Valen had just come into view . It was magnificent and imposing with its huge 5 km diameter and the head of Bridge disc was 4 . 2 kilometers .
"Just why did they make it so big, are they preparing for war in space?"
I mumbled to myself as I approached the ships hangar . As I neared, the hatch opened to let me in .
Tak!
When I stepped into Valen, I felt that they had pumped oxygen into the air vents of the ship
"I don't need the oxygen . " "Oh, Really? My sister mentioned that but I couldn't believe it . "
"Who are you?"
"My name is Lena, Zaira's sister, and will be the main A . I . in charge of operations in Valen . Gnoss made me in order to give Zaira some competition and allow us to further develop, I'm like her shadow . "
'Gnoss… Lena's personality is a bit unusual, did you make her like this?'
'No, it was decided completely at random . In fact I never designed a specific gender, but somehow we only got women A . I . , how boring . '
'Well I think it's better than always hearing a man's voice . '
"You can find the bridge by simply following the lights on the floor . "
"Bridge…seems like they really copied everything from the movie . "
"My sister's a Sci-Fi fan, while I prefer fantasy movies…hehehe, I really want to study you Johra!"
"Enough of that, I hate it when others talk about experimenting on me . "
"Okay boss, you're the one with administrative access here right? Not sure how you pulled that off but I guess I'll have to put off trying to study you… . "
Spot!
"Captain on the bridge!"
"Yes sir!"
As the doors to the bridge opened, I couldn't help but gape in amazement at how perfectly they had reproduced the area compared to the movie . Androids which looked exactly like the actors from the movie were standing up and saluting me .
"Hey Lena, can't you navigate the ship yourself …?
Yes I can, but my sister insisted I take them with me just in case . I don't think these robots would even be capable of taking control of the ship if ever I were to be injured . "
I sat down on the captain's seat while thinking about Lena's words . "
"Ah, a nice spot with a great view . "
As I sat so did the androids which quickly resumed their tasks .
"Johra when would you like to go? These pesky androids have already commenced the engine startup sequence . "
"Ok, let's go . "
Uwoo-woo —!
"Lena? Is being powered by my positron?"
"Countdown, 3…2…1 Blast off!"
"Lena?"
"Yes right . ah, my sister always insists I use this countdown recording . "
'Sigh*… she's unusual . '
"How long until we reach the target?"
"At our max speed of 5% the speed of light, we can arrive in about a month's time . "
"Why such a imprecise number? You are much more confusing compared to your sister . "
"Oh, well compared to my sister, my navigation and physics are better . "
"Yea… but the counting and meticulousness… . "
"Well, it’s just that Zaira is too excellent and makes me look bad . " I felt that I didn't have the best companion for my first adventure in space .
'Gnoss can you believe how strange Lena is?'
'It's normal Johra, after all she is based on humans whom were far from perfect and could have had pre-existing conditions .
'What kind of pre-existing conditions?'
'Well… let's just say she is a bit schizophrenic . '
'Just great, my first forage into space and I have a schizophrenic A . I piloting the ship . '
'Well, if you put it like that it sounds bad… I'm sure everything will be fine . '
'Shit! Space is no joke, even I might not survive if there's a cosmic accident right? Like black holes… . '
'Don't worry about that, there aren't any black holes in our solar system . Jupiter might be a bit scary with its tremendous gravity pull . It could pull the ship in and crush it until there is nothing remaining . '
'Did you really have to bring that up now?'
'Don't worry about such an unlikely scenario . '
My first trip in space was not a blissful as I had imagined .
"Lena how fast are we going right now?"
"Yes, we are moving at 200 kilometers per second"
"What! 200k per second…even I'm a bit scared . "
"Why is that? Our maximum speed can reach 1500 km per second . At those speed you will experience a distortion in time which was explained by Einstein's theory of relativity . "
'Gnoss, what is she talking about? She's scaring me . '
'Just that much scared you… Zaira is far scarier . If she finds your weakness she just teases you indefinitely . '
Although I never showed any weakness before Zaira, it would be a lie to say I wasn't completely freaking out during my first trip in space .
"Isn't this boring, it's always the same view . "
Even as an undead I was beginning to tire of the neverending emptiness and darkness, but of course the androids had no such thoughts .
Tak! Tak! Tak!
I was tapping my bony finger on the metallic captain's chair . It was a clear sign of my surrender to this great boredom .
"Lena do you have any archives room on board?"
"Are you bored? I'll show you my large collection of fantasy novels . "
And so I passed the remaining time until we arrived to our comet, reading and watching all the fantasy material produced after I had left Earth when I was but a child .
"Johra our E . T . A . is 2 hours from the target, please come to the bridge . "
"Okay, right after this . "
I was immersed in a very interesting fantasy, and didn't want to leave it because it was the best part . "
Tick!
The movie which I had been watching was suddenly turned off .
"What did you do Lena, put it back on!"
"Ok, I'll put it back if you let me study you . "
"Tch! Fine, you get one hour and you can’t do anything that could harm me . "
"Great!"
And so I was able to watch the end of the movie by selling my own body .
'Johra,You are terribly weak against women . '
'Shut it you, I just wanted to finish the movie . '
'You could have just overridden her with your administrative access . '
'Why didn't you tell me?'
'Sure, let's pretend like you didn't know . '
It was just like Gnoss had said, it was my way of repaying Lena for introducing me these great fantasy movies which helped pass the time .
"Is that the comet?"
"Yes, now we will attempt to alter its course by using the antimatter bombs you've provided . Then, right before it hits earth we will blow it up into smaller pieces so they they can for the most part disintegrate when they enter the atmosphere . The drones can deal with the few that do hit the ground . "
"Oh it sounds all too simple, so all I have to do it blow it up and let the atmosphere do the rest . "
"Yup, there aren't currently any living creatures, so as long as the collisions are far from Gamma, everything should be fine . "
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, I've run simulations countless times, so barring some exceptional circumstance, everything should be fine . " "But there is still a chance of something going wrong right? Even a one yocto percent chance event occured after all . "
"Yes, well in such a case, we will be counting on you Johra . "
I was getting an ominous feeling, my sole purpose on board was to deal with the unexpected .
"Take care Lena, there may be hidden forces working in the shadow which are behind the disasters on Earth . There is still a lot which we don't understand . "
"Okay, beginning countdown, 3…2…1 Fire!"
From the hangar, drones carrying the antimatter bombs launched . They were on a intercept course with the comet, like a moths leaping into a ball of flame .
"I hope it all goes well . "
I softly mumbled to myself .
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