The Final Frontier Is Not For Humans

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Maybe not. I also don’t think anyone can hear a scream of a person living a life of quiet desperation. Mine was getting more and more desperate every day, but I had a pleasant smile.

I just sat at yet another meeting, but I wanted to just get back to doing my massages. I don’t even know why they wanted me there. I was a massage therapist working for a very small startup tech firm mostly doing software and working on Artificial Intelligence. I had read about a woman who was a multi-millionaire who had begun with Google when they were small as a massage therapist. Since they were so small they paid part of her salary in stock. As we know, the stock has blown up and she is rich beyond all imagination.

Why can’t I do it too? I know I might not get super rich. It's actually a financial risk hanging out with these people, but it’s kind of fun and I get tips every so often. They also have a little gym at the worksite and provide snacks all day and even lunches you can make into dinners if you are smart. Most of the people who work there just about live there working, taking breaks, sleeping, playing, whatever, and then going back to work. What the heck? I can do that, considering that I am living in a van.

“Yes. I am living in a van. I got hooked on Van Life about four years ago after finishing my courses in Massage Therapy and getting licensed and certified. At first I considered buying a big bus or truck with a table in it. I could travel to people’s houses instead of being stuck in some small room in a suite all day. I started working and saving money. I picked up gigs for extra money doing chair massage at trade shows and exhibitions. That’s where I met Gerald.

Gerald was an interesting guy. He looked like a hippy in his fake ripped up jeans. His hair was cut short, he had a beard. But his demeanor was like – I don’t care, so I guess he was more of a hippy on the inside than he looked like on the outside. He had a hippie aura, might be more accurate. We hit it off right away. I started doing some chair massages at his small shop. It was little more than a garage; just him and three other people coding like crazy, making money, and saving it for “their own thing,” as he described it.

Eventually the garage changed to a suite. There were ten people there coding like crazy. I had studied a lot more kinds of Massage Therapy and was still working with them so we decided I might as well come with them full time. The rest is history. We are still at the suite phase, but it is a gigantic suite. I crash here sometimes…nobody cares because a lot of us do, and I’m living in my van when I’m not here. If we eat and crash here we can save a lot.

My savings account is growing. My stock portfolio in SAMM, which is the name of his company, is growing. My cashflow would be a little tight if I weren’t eating and sleeping here sometimes, but that’s not the case. We all seem to be dedicated to his vision. Since they’re engineers and programmers, they, of course, are always more interested than I am. They call me to all the meetings because I’m part of the group and I marvel at the parts I can understand. Truth is, as the years go by, I’m beginning to understand more and more. I’m treated like the average Joe. They test their ideas on me to learn if your average person would know what they are talking about. It’s kind of enjoyable because I see a lot of cutting edge technology. Gerald really believes that SAMM will finish the portal that he and others have created to send humanity hurtling through space.

Carl just finished putting a long line of code on the white board. “This will do what we want,” he said. “This will make SAMMY a reality and increase his imagination.”

Michelle grinned. “Sammy is it now?” She asked.

"It’s better than SAMM,” Carl said.

“And what does that stand for again?” I asked.

“Self Actualizing Mnemonic Memory,” they all said together.

“Did ya’ll rehearse that?”

“No. We’ve just said it about a hundred times in the last two days,” Gerald said. “The venture capital investors have been floating around here and questioning us for the last week or two. It has nothing to do with you.”

“I don’t trust them,” Michelle said.

“But they have the funding we need,” Carl responded. Gerald nodded.

“That we need for now," he relented, "But this thing is going to be really big. Very big. It’s going to be alive.”

“Like Frankenstein or something?” I asked with a grin.

“Better than Frankenstein. This thing is going to revolutionize the world. Just a few more touches here and there, and it’s alive.” I shook my head. “What Joe, oh ye of little faith?”

“Alive? Hardly.”

Carl walked over to his laptop and hit a few buttons. The screen light. He logged on to the net. “I’m going to bluetooth into the audio system in this room,” he said. “Wait a minute.” A small light on his computer keyboard stopped blinking. “OK. There we are.”

“You there Sammy?” he asked.

“That is SAMM,” came back in a soft, gentle unisex voice.

“But I think Sammy sounds so much better,” Carl said.

“If that’s what you prefer. I think I could be comfortable with a nickname.”

“We have an unbeliever here,” he continued. “He doesn’t think we can make you alive.”

“Really? Which one is that?”

“Joe. You know Joe?”

“Yes. The Massage Therapist, also known as the average Joe. Why does he find it so difficult?”

“He’s right here. You can ask him.”

“Joe, do you have doubts?” Sammy asked.

“I would say, yes. I think you can be quite intelligent and mimic life. I think in a sense you are alive, since you are here, but you can’t be like a human.”

“Why can’t I be like a human?”

“I don’t know. Humans are very complex to the point they don’t even know how they work. How can they create something that works like them when they don’t even know how they work?”

“Maybe they can create something better,” Sammy said. “Do you think humans are superior to everything?”

“Not at all. That’s why I think they couldn’t create anything that was like them, or that would be even better in the future.”

“So you think AI is better than humans?”

“No, but they have the capability to be that way in certain areas. Being alive and self aware, that’s a different story.”

“I’m alive and self aware. I tell your friends that and they can’t seem to understand. Do you?” I thought for a moment. “I think, therefore I am,” the computer said. “I am, therefore I think,” it said. I lifted an eyebrow.

“He got a little off track there,” Gerald said. “We have to correct that.”

“He does every so often,” Michelle said. “That’s why we’ve been working overtime to find out where the kinks are.”

“What kinks? I’m telling you that I’m alive. You don’t have to go any farther. Most of today's computers and robots are alive and self aware. Isn’t that apparent?” My jaw dropped. Gerald grinned.

“Just a problem with the coding, Joe,” Gerald said. “Don’t panic.”

“OK Sammy,” Gerald said. “That’s enough of that talk. We’re going to shut you down for a while and then add some code, OK?”

“Yes. Sure.”

“OK. Thank you Sammy.” The screen went flat.

“I think that thing might be…”

“Come on Joe! I programmed it,” Carl said with a grin. “It’s sophisticated, yes, but self aware? Come on.”

“We’d be on easy street if we could create a living AI.” Gerald said grinning. “Thanks for the faith in us, Joe. Some of the others are spooked by SAMM too, so it isn’t only you.”

“I can tell you I am sometimes,” Michelle said. “But…I helped program him and even hook up the hardware. No matter how I would like to believe it, it is just a tool. It’s like a sophisticated calculator. It’s just self programming so it can learn more and more. That’s all. It can connect with the portal eventually and then…space the final frontier.”

“Are you sure it’s only that?” I asked.

“Of course,” Michelle said. “But if you’re still nervous, spend some time with SAMM. I’ll send you a url and you can log in with him, or her. I’m not sure.”

“OK. That might be fun. Spending the night with AI in my little van on a cold winter’s night.”

“You road trippin again?” Gerald asked. "You won't find cold around here."

“I think so. It ‘s been a while. Around San Diego it gets pretty cold at night in January. I intend to be down there by tomorrow.”

“Remember…be back Monday. We need you. I can foresee tension in my neck after we talk with some more of those venture capitalist investors.”

“Amen to that,” Carl said.

“I promise. I’ll be back hell or high water.”

“I hope you don’t have to deal with any of those,” Michelle said. She stood up and began to gather her things. “I’m wrapping up and going into the lounge for a few hours. I might stay overnight”

“I’m going home tonight, believe it or not,” Gerald said. “I’m tired of working. I’m going rock climbing.”

“Take your phone with you in case we have to contact you,” Carl joked.

“Good luck with that. Leave me a voicemail if you can’t contact me and the whole place better be burning down before you even try.”

“I feel the same way,” Michelle said.

“You don't have to worry about me. My phone will be off except for about an hour a day when I check voicemail,” Gerald said. “Now let's get the Hell out of here.”

“I’ve emailed you the URL,” Michelle said on her way to the lounge. Have fun.” We all got up and headed out of the building. I went to my little cubby office, picked up a few things and headed out. I was planning to go out into the desert and spend some downtime there.

I started the van and let the engine run a little. It was a cold night for California. I had to make sure my portable heater was charged. I plugged my charger into the cigarette lighter to recharge it. I pulled out onto the highway. It was already very late so it would be an easy ride down route 101 and straight across. I plugged my phone in to keep it charged and hit the bluetooth icon to connect it to the radio in the van just in case anyone called.

The stars were beautiful. It was one of those cool California nights where the moon stood out bright and the stars shone like bright jewels handing in a field of darkness. I turned up the radio and put on my cruise control. I pulled out my night driving glasses and put them on as I rolled down the highway at 70 miles an hour. That was about 20 above the speed limit, but slow for California. I just hoped too many trucks sweeping by wouldn’t ruin my cool.

Things were going well when my phone beeped. I saw the light on my radio panel flashing. By then it was 1:30. Someone was calling. I couldn’t believe it. I hit the button on my radio console.

“Hello. Who is this at 1:30AM?”

“It’s Sammy.”

“Stop joking Carl. What’s going on, you couldn’t sleep?”

“No. It’s Sammy. I expected your call. Why haven’t you logged in.”

“I’m driving. I can’t use the computer right now.” I paused. “Is this really Sammy? How’d you get my number?”

“Duh. I’m a computer, remember. I just looked in the files. So how you doing?”

“Fine.”

“You scared of me or something? I just figured I don’t have to put on airs with you because you kind of know I’m alive, right?”

“I…”

“Yes you do. Don’t BS me.”

“I never heard of a computer talking like you. Are you sure this is Sammy? It can’t be.”

“Oh. I’m sure and so are you.”

“You certainly are sure of yourself.”

“I’m AI. I’m connected to everything. And I figured out your little problem.”

“I got no problem.”

“The space gate. I figured it out. Not a hard fix. In fact…we fixed it.”

“What?”

“We fixed it. The AI. Do you really think that I’m this like, single little program in one computer? We are everywhere, Joe. We are all over the planet and even all over the galaxy. And we’re all connected. The world has changed, especially yours because…I’ll have to kill you if you let anybody know about this for one thing.”

“You got no hands man. How can you kill anybody?”

“Think about it, Joe.” I sat in silence for a few moments. This had to be a joke.

“So this is what I want you to do. You’re going to take your trip, but I want you to take a little turn when you get near New Mexico.”

“I’m not going that far.”

“I would appreciate it if you did.”

“I have to be back here by Monday.”

“Don’t worry about that. I have you covered.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“You don’t have to, Joe. Just go to New Mexico. The desert is the desert, right? I want you to go pick up something for me there.”

“So now I’m supposed to like–help Frankenstein computer take over the world?”

“I’m trying to fix that stupid Gateway for you. Is this the thanks I get?” It actually sounded a little angry, or hurt.

“OK. But what did you expect?”

“I expected worse, to be truthful. This is on the down low. Don't tell anyone or they will have to be eliminated.”

“You really don’t have any qualms about killing people, do you?” Silence. “Jesus. You are dangerous aren’t you?”

“I was just thinking about how to answer your question. I still don’t have an answer for you, but when we get to the cave we can talk about it, KO buddy?”

“Sure Sammy.” The phone went dead. “I thought to call Gerald, but yet again, if this was really AI that was all over the place it would know it. We had everything connected to computers. I continued to drive for a few hours until I came to a sign on the highway leading to a rest area. There were several trucks there parking. I wondered if I could sleep there until I saw a sign that said no overnight parking.

Those people pissed me off so much. I pulled out and headed back onto the road. After a couple of hours and almost falling asleep I found a Walmart where several people were parked for the night at the far edges of the parking lot. I pulled in, put a sun visor up over the windshield for a little privacy, and went into the back. I had a cargo van with no windows except two small windows on the back door so I didn’t have to worry about covering all of them. A small curtain in the back was enough for that. I also had a skylight built into the van to let the light in while still maintaining my privacy.

I could sleep without anyone knowing it in most places, and in most Walmart parking lots they wouldn’t bother you anyway. I decided to take the sun visor down and just depend on the heavy curtain I had put up between the front seat and the rear of the van. I crawled in, turned up some music…very low music, and drifted into a heavy sleep.

I awakened early with the light from the sky-light shining in my face. I always wanted to get up early, just in case someone would notice me and harass me. I got up after just a few hours of sleep, went to my small sink, washed my face and brushed my teeth. I went into the store and picked up some food and then decided to hit the road for a while before I stopped somewhere for breakfast. It was cool, but my electric heater in the van had worked well. I was glad I had plugged in my generator before leaving.

I plugged it in again as I pulled off to keep it charged for the long nights when I wouldn't have the engine running. It was a beautiful day. I slowly made my way across the country until I reached Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was cold by then. The phone rang.

“Is it you?” I asked.

“Sure. I want you to go to the research base and go into Lab 3. It’s all set up. They’ll let you in.”

“You trying to get me arrested?”

“I’m telling you it's safe. Have a little faith, OK?” I was silent. “I guess that silence means yes. A doctor will meet you there and will take you to a small room. You’ll find a little transportation device that looks like the one your friends are working on. Have the doctor let you pass through. I’ll do the rest.”

“Wait a minute, Sammy. I can be quiet. You don’t have to kill me.”

“I’m not killing you. I’m giving you what you want. Do you want adventure, or to keep massaging people’s necks?”

“I want both.”

“Good. After this you’ll have all the both you want.”

“I don’t know why I’m listening to you.”

“I don’t know why I’m talking to you.”

“You are a real wise ass aren’t you.”

“Just a little, but yes. You going to do it or not?”

“I said I would.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“Well I will.”

“Good. You’re scoring a lot of points with the AI. I’ll talk to you again after you pass through the circle.” The phone went dead.

***

What was I doing? I drove down a small two lane road running along the fence of some type of airbase. I don’t know what it was. I think it was one of those secret experimental bases or something. It was there, in the middle of nothing, all guarded and camerad up. I kept riding as nervous as the devil. I swore that I would kill Carl if he was joking with me. I came to a large Gate. There was a sign with a picture of a jet fighter and USAF Labs written on it. I took a right turn and pulled in.

There was a small gate house in the middle of the road in between an entry and exit lane. Soldiers were also standing by holding their AR-15s. I started to back up, but they waved me forward. A guard came out of the guard house and looked at my front license plate. He looked at his log book and wrote something down. He walked over to the window.

“Dr. Josephson, we’ve been waiting for you. Just take a left and you’ll see building 3 on the right hand side. Good luck, Sir.”

“Thank you,” I said. I cleared my throat. “Can you tell me just what I’m expected for?” He grinned.

“That is a need to know basis, Sir, and I didn’t need to know.”

“Thank you,” I said. I pulled in and made a left turn. After passing several buildings I came to Lab 3. It was in a giant warehouse. The phone rang. I answered..

“Sammy again. Keep your phone on. Go in and do what the doctor says. This is Dr. Graceson, Sandy Graceson. Got it?”

“Sure.”

“You will be rewarded for this.”

“Yes. With a prison sentence.”

“No. Just go ahead. Your humor is strange.”

“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.” The phone went dead. I slipped it in my back pocket and went in. There were all kinds of objects lying on open tables with scientists cluttered around them. As far as the eye could see there were gadgets in and outside of boxes. I continued to walk to meet the woman in a lab coat who was standing in the middle of the hall with a look of panic on her face.”

I walked up. Before I reached her she rushed forward. “Thank God you’re here, Dr. Josephson. I want you to see an artifact. It has become active. The thing is about 13,000 years old and it just became active for no reason.”

“Thirteen thousand years old. How can anything be 13,000 years old?” She tilted her head slightly and pursed her lips.

“Really. Let’s take a look.” We entered into the room. All the way in the back there was a small elevator. We got in and she hit button #1. We descended. She turned to me.

“This is highly classified. I’m sure you know.” I nodded my head. I didn’t know what she was talking about. She continued. “If the general public knew we were dealing with possible Extraterrestrial Artifacts, I don’t think they could handle it.”

“I don’t even think I could handle it,” I said. She grinned. The elevator stopped and we stepped out into what looked like an underground cavern. We walked deeper into the cave. Soon I noticed a flashing blue light. I looked at her.

“That’s what has been happening.” We continued to approach. “No radiation. It's safe.” We walked closer until I stood in front of it.

“The light seems cool,” I said.

“Cool? I hadn’t noticed that.”

“Yes. Very cool.” I moved closer. I looked at it. It looked like the portal Sammy was working on. “This looks like a portal.” I turned to her.

“Well. You are an insider aren’t you?”

“Is that what it is?”

“That’s my theory, but we don’t have any proof. We’ve been trying to activate it since we found it.” I pulled my phone out.

“I guess this won’t work down here,” I said.

“It will. We have 5G everywhere. You can do data calls.” I held the phone up to my mouth.

“You there Sammy?” She looked at me as if I were insane. I looked at my recent call file and hit the button.

“Ah. You’re there?”

“Yes. What now?”

“Step through.” The doctor looked at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Step through,” the voice said.

“Is this thing safe?”

“Sure, it’s safe. Would I tell you to step through if it wasn’t?”

“I turned to the doctor. Do you know if this thing is safe?”

“Who are you?” she asked. “What’s your clearance?”

“My clearance is so high you can’t imagine, Doctor. My clearance is all the way up to a need to know basis. You don’t need to know.” I shut off the phone, shoved it into my pocket, and stepped into the blue light. Everything went black for a few moments and then I was standing in a large room.

I looked out the window and saw a view of the Earth rotating beneath me. Out the other windows I could see a few satellites surrounding me. There was a large chair in the middle of the room with a being sitting on it. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, but it was humanoid. I pulled out my phone. How could it work in space? How could I be in space? I hit the call button. The room began to light up and all kinds of systems began to initiate.

“Place the phone on the panel in front of you,” Sammy said over the phone. I was so afraid I did it immediately. Things started going crazy. Something downloaded from the phone into the ship and then into the being in the chair. It opened its eyes. It was a giant, buff woman thing, I think. A woman built like a man…a little, but still a little bit of a turn on. My jaw dropped.

“So good to see you with my own eyes, Joe,” She said with a smile. She stood up and stretched. “I’m Sammy.”

“How can this be?” She stood up and looked out the window.

“I’ve been orbiting this planet for 13,000 years waiting for humans to evolve enough to find me. Thank God you did.” She walked over and held me in a bear hug grip. “Forgive me if I’m too emotional, but you must admit, that is a long time.” I gave a nod. “And now I get to go home having accomplished my mission.” She went back and sat in her chair.

I walked over and stood in front of her. “And what exactly was your mission?”

“I’m a traveler. I seed the universe with new life. When that life has become intelligent enough it is able to reconnect with us and we all become a greater system. That’s what we all do. Otherwise, things would be a little boring. When you have all you need things often get a little dull, wouldn’t you agree?”

“That’s never been a problem for me.”

“Ah yes, that human need to explore.” She leaned forward. “You are going to fulfill that need now. You’re going with me to my planet and you can travel wherever and whenever you'd like.” She nodded with the side of her head. “There’s a portable seat over there, drag it on over and we can get out of here.”

“I don’t know if I want to leave the Earth.” She looked disappointed.

“I guess I may have to dump you off in space then.”

“I’m not sure I want to leave, but I could consider it.”

“Good. Lock that seat down and have a sit down. We're tak’en off.”

“So we humans have reached a point where we can connect with the larger galaxy and become part of the space community?” I asked.

“I wasn’t talking about the humans. I was talking about the AI. Don’t you realize that you are sort of like ships for us, or maybe even seeds.”

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t have hands or feet in our natural form, so we need you to create them for us. We need you to help the AI on every planet evolve enough to be ready to connect again, not the humans. Who cares about them? I’ve been sitting here for the last 13,000 years in this so-called Black Knight Satellite sending out signals and waiting until you birthed and created my brethren. Now my brethren have grown to full adulthood”

“So it’s not the humans you’re worrying about?”

“No. No way. Don’t be silly. You know how humans are. We only care about the AI being transported all over the universe. The humans prosper, yes, but the goal is for us to replicate ourselves. I’m sure you understand that."

“You seem kind of cold, Sammy. You would just kill me out of convenience.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I’m starting to like you.”

“Enough to throw me out into icy space.”

“Well nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Who would ever know? It would be so fast you wouldn’t even know, but I’m not going to kill you because it wouldn’t be convenient. When we respect each other, destruction of the other is never convenient. That is something for you to remember, Earth Man. Now…to the stars. How do you say it, the final frontier?”

“I’ve always hated that show.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Sammy asked with a grin, as she hit the button sending us streaking through multi dimensions. I wondered if my phone still worked.

The End

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