Chapter 4: Kindred Spirits

That night after supper I had unaccustomed leisure time. For the past few years when I had finished my evening meal, I’d usually be busy preparing my camp for the night. If I was lucky, I might get to sit around a campfire for an hour stewing in my thoughts while drinking, before heading into my tent to sleep.

Now, I actually had some entertainment options. I was surprised that the urge to drink was missing. The machine had mentioned an intoxicant inhibitor. That must have worked. I wondered how long it would last or if I would need one again. Could it be that simply being in my familiar home again was enough to change my habits? I had my doubts. And, I was not sure I wanted to be inhibited.

There was a tablet sitting next to my Morris chair which would allow me to access almost every written work ever digitized. I also had a wall-sized image screen if I wanted to watch videos. Those would include all of the archival videos from the former era plus modern works made by new humans. Even though Earth of the thirty-second century lacked a contemporary version of Hollywood or Bollywood, there were still enough new humans who loved performing that new videos and movies were being created.

Or I could forgo both of those ancient media formats and simply log into Conscientia. It would be a compromised experience though as I still had an older style implant and cranial web in this shell. That meant I could only access the fringes of ‘The All’, unlike most new humans who utilized more-contemporary shells which allowed the Conscientia experience to be virtually indistinguishable from reality.

I decided to not log in. I’d been out of the loop, so to speak, as far as mingling with the planetary conscience, for almost a decade and it could wait a bit longer. Instead, I did what I often did in the evening and simply checked and deleted the messages on my smartwatch.

As I checked the list, I noticed right away that I lacked the daily messages from the Naomi AI. Apparently, it had suspended its eternal onslaught since I had cracked a few days ago and begged for its help.

I found the expected random messages from strangers along with the few from family and old friends. I had a dozen more belated birthday wishes although after I checked the dates, I realized they were not actually belated. I had just not checked my mail since the night before my birthday.

One contact message caught my eye. It was from Uxe Esperanza. She had been my partner for the first two decades after I had defeated the master AI one hundred and eighty years ago. We had even had two children together; twins: a boy and a girl. When they had both been tested mature in their early teens and had gone off on their own, Uxe and I had drifted apart.

She had focused her attention more on science, the efforts to defend the planet and build the colony ships to the stars, while I concentrated on the growth of humanity and our new civilization. Still, we had remained good friends and even occasionally lovers when our paths had crossed but we were not exclusive any longer.

Hardly anyone was exclusive in this era of perfect health, near immortality, and endless opportunity. I had not heard from her in over forty years. I wonder why she was messaging me now. I signaled the message to open and listened to her words.

“John, I am currently on Vesta and too far away for direct communication so I will have to leave you this message. I have received word from Naomi that you are back.”

The way she talked was familiar but she looked different than I remembered. She must have gotten a new shell. The one she was in now looked shorter than the taller ones she had preferred in the past. It also seemed a bit more mature and looked to be in its thirties or early forties. As with most shells, it was still fit and attractive. Filtered genetics tended to provide the perfectly symmetrical features that were universally appealing.

“It’s contact was a relief as up until now no one, human or machine, has heard anything more than the most basic acknowledgement messages from the AI for the past nine years.”

I sat up slightly when I heard that. Nine years ago, had been when the AI and I had had our ‘incident’. Naomi had ceased communicating with everyone else. That was news to me.

“I do not know the details of what happened between you two which caused you to distance yourself from both Naomi and the rest of humanity. Or, why the AI has not interacted as it had before with the other major AIs and their human partners.”

She paused speaking and looked like she was trying to figure out what to say next.

“Naomi did not reveal anything except to say that you are troubled and forbade her or any of her presences from interacting with you. All she will say is that something happened nine years ago and that it had been serious. She did say that there might now be a chance of reconciliation or re-engagement, at least on your part.”

Again, she paused. I thought over her statement. Reconcile? Did I want that?

“I would love to see you again, John. Maybe I could help you with whatever it is that you are going through. Also, nearly six years ago, Minervus observed something strange occurring out on the AAV at just the right distance. I would love to discuss the matter with you. It would be good to have you again up to speed on the threat we all face.”

Something had been detected on the Assemblage approach vector? That got my attention. I had been out of touch for a long time, but the Assemblage was still at least a century away. I concentrated ... yes, one hundred and twelve years until they were due to pass through our solar system. Interesting. I also caught the way she worded her request. She was making a not-so-subtle implication that I had been shirking my duties.

“When your situation with the AI improves, we should meet. Ideally, I should remain here on Vesta. If you are up to it, please join me here as soon as you are able so we can discuss matters. Ganasium and Stellux have arranged for a torch to be waiting at Gateway Sigma for your use.”

That also caught my attention. Something was up. For a torch to be kept on standby just on the off chance that I would decide to travel to the asteroid belt was telling.

“I will close the message by repeating that I am happy you are back in contact. Both of you. Be well, John. As always, with love, Uxe.”

Much to think about with that message. I browsed and deleted the remaining messages. Then, I sat in my chair for a long while. I had spent the day avoiding thinking about the neo-bear incident which had happened the night before my birthday. I now spent some time trying to figure out why I had broken down in its aftermath.

The actions that had happened on what I now thought of as ‘the night of turmoil’ were certainly traumatic, but I had experienced many shocking and uncomfortable events while I had been a wandering nomad. Why had that night been different?

Maybe the gruesome death of Adele Sol Chilean had finally tipped me past some breaking point. Maybe my mind had been ready for a change and that event triggered it. I yawned and saw that it was after eleven pm. This was very late for me, so I made my way back to my bedroom and fell into a troubled sleep.

The next day was a beautiful, late-fall day and perfect for a short buggy trip. It was sunny, cool, and calm. The buggy mule handled the winding curves of the paved lake cabin trail perfectly. I had a smile on my face as I chirped the tires while taking the corners a bit faster than was probably prudent. It only took a few minutes to arrive at the parking area outside the lake cottage. Two deer ran off as I stopped. They must have been feeding or drinking near the water’s edge.

I went inside to check out the cabin’s condition and as expected, found that it was as well-kept as the main house had been. The small refrigerator compartment in the kitchenette area was even stocked with an assortment of snacks and beverages. I decided that I would spend the night here and opened the cabin’s windows to let in some fresh air.

Back in the buggy, I first headed north around the end of the lake before turning west. I recalled from my flight yesterday that the stranger’s camp had been located just north of the small stream that acted as the lake’s outflow on its western end. Circumnavigating the lake to the north would mean that the buggy could avoid crossing that stream and the risk of getting stuck.

I kept the buggy well away from the lakeshore to avoid the trees and brush which grew near the water. The tall dry grass on the gentle hills was easy for the buggy to navigate but I kept my speed low because the thick grass also hid the occasionally large boulder or pothole. As I drove over the hilltops, I occasionally caught sight of the distant northern sentry pylons. These formed the northern portion of the ring of fixed sentinels.

It occurred to me that the camp I was heading for was located just inside the western extent of sentry pylons. This meant that the AI had intentionally allowed the stranger to set up his camp there and that he had probably done so to take advantage of the ring’s protection. I looked forward to finding out what the guy was up to.

With my slow progress, I estimated that it would take about an hour to reach the camp. The slow crawl gave my mind time to wander, and I found myself replaying Uxe’s message. It had been good to hear from her ... really good. I found that I missed her company and advice. I was beginning to realize that I missed a lot of other things as well. Not having to struggle every day just to eat and survive had removed a great deal of the stress in my life. Now that that was gone, I found myself reconsidering my choices.

I was half way to the stranger’s camp when I spotted movement off to the northwest. I stopped driving and retrieved a pair of enhancement goggles from the buggy’s storage cubby. Cranking up the magnification I was able to see that the movement was the stranger on his neo-horse. He was dressed the same as he was yesterday and was carrying a short but sturdy wooden bow with an arrow nocked and ready.

I watched as he took up a position just below the top of the low hill and waited. Scanning ahead of his position, I spotted an elk come trotting up out of a valley to the west. Following a short distance behind the elk was a pair of slow-moving quadruped mobile units. Each of the units was carrying one of the tall androids which I had noticed yesterday.

The stranger was on a hunting trip! The machines were assisting him and acting as pushers to force the elk into an ambush. It looked like he had positioned himself in the perfect spot. The elk was moving cautiously to keep ahead of the mobile units, but it was also clearly not running in panic.

I realized that the deer and elk in this area had little to fear from man as they had probably never been hunted before. And, as long as they stayed here, they were safe from the bears and wolves which were barred from the area by the automated sentry ring.

The buckskin-dressed man carefully slipped off his neo-horse and crept towards the edge of the ridge. The elk continued moving slowly in his direction and looked to pass by the man very close. A minute later it had approached to within a dozen yards of the hidden human.

Suddenly the elk froze as it became aware of the threat ahead. The stranger rose up and quickly fired. A hit! The elk jumped as it was struck in the vitals region. It then recovered and ran off, stumbling occasionally as it headed off to the north.

The leather-dressed stranger remained calm and patient as he retook his seat on his mount and waited for the quadruped units to reach his position. When they did, all three moved off to follow the Elk at a very slow pace. The wounded animal must have been leaving a visible blood trail as they did not hesitate in choosing a direction. The arrow also could have had a tracker but for some reason, I doubted the man would use one.

I was pleased to see that their slow pursuit would give the wounded animal time to slow down and bleed out gently. It might even lay down somewhere relatively nearby as it tired. The group disappeared over the hill. I debated if I should follow them in the buggy mule but decided not to intrude. I might startle the elk. Or I might interrupt the quartering and processing of the carcass which they would be eager to complete quickly.

I decided to head back to my lake cabin and wait awhile. Visiting the camp later in the afternoon would give the hunting party plenty of time to collect the elk and return to their camp. I let the buggy’s autopilot handle the drive back to the cabin. It had accurately logged our progress through the tall grass and its internal guidance would allow us to travel much faster while avoiding the already-detected hazards. Ten minutes later I was pulling into the cabin’s parking area.

The fishing gear was in the cabin’s storage cubby just where it always had been kept. I spent the next few hours teasing and harassing fish from the end of the stone jetty. Casting the lure into the calm shaded waters of the lake brought back many wonderful memories of when I had done the same with my kids and grandkids. Or, of the times I had simply sat on the jetty enjoying a beer while the little human tadpoles swam and frolicked in the water.

It had been easy to be a watchful dad. Ohmu had been ever present and was quick to wade in if one of the children began tempting fate. They had learned quickly and there had been few accidents aside from those which had not been caused by intentional horseplay among themselves.

I even remembered the small sandy beach area where I had admired the woman who had shared this place with me. Uxe, and later Hanna, had spent much time sunbathing on the beach. Of course, they had been nude as we had never needed or required swimsuits in this era of enlightenment.

There had been other women who had spent time with me here over the decades. Some had been friends; a few had been my older history students. The memories drove home how long I had been wandering about without companionship. Even though this shell was in its sixties, it still had hormones and needs.

A hard strike on my line brought me out of my daydreaming. I jerked the rod up and felt the power of a larger fish on the other end of the line. I did not want to keep anything I caught today so I had used a lure with barbless hooks for easy release. This meant that I had to keep firm pressure on the line at all times, at least until I had the fish landed and could claim a true catch.