The Future in Our Stars Pt. 03

I cocked my head to the side and squinted at her. None of this was making sense, and after the space elevator, it was making my head hurt.

"What I'd like is for Sally to play host to the ZA6. In simple terms, I'd be loading the ZA6 software inside Sally's mind," Sabine said.

"You want... Is that even possible? Human, machine? The ZA6 is as big as a house."

"And yet their consciousness fits inside this suitcase." Sabine tapped the quantum storage unit. "Do you want to know what's far more advanced than modern day quantum storage?"

I stared blankly at her while she tapped her right temple with her index finger. I understood instantly that she meant the human brain, that was easy. But I also understood she was referring to Sally's human brain and that's the thing that gave me pause.

*

Center for Artificial Intelligence Research, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

I awoke with a start. Blinking my eyes, I realized I was still in Sabine's lab. Not surprising, since I had been spending all my spare time there, but I don't remember falling asleep.

I looked around. Sabine was at her desk.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Only humming," Sabine said, "Same as before."

"Barry Manilow again?"

"Chopin's Prelude in C minor, opus 28, number 20."

I cocked my head to the side. Sabine got up from her chair and walked over to me.

"I looked it up," she said. "It was also used as the intro to Could It Be Magic."

"A Barry Manilow song."

Sabine nodded. "The thing is, I still don't know who's humming, Sally or the ZA6. The brain wave activity monitor can't discriminate. But, I'm not surprised. As far as I know nobody's ever done this before."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"Wait. Hope. Pray if you like."

I looked at Sally's body, lying prone on the emergency medical cot we had cobbled together for this endeavor. The array of wires and medical devices attached to her made her look small and fragile. I reached for her hand and squeezed.

No response.

"I love you Sally," I whispered. "Please come back to me."

I said that a lot, at least twice a day. So far, it hadn't worked, but I kept saying it. For three weeks, I holed up in Sabine's lab, squeezing Sally's hand, talking to her, and more often than not, napping with my head on her shoulder after dropping from exhaustion.

Usually when that happened, Sabine would let me sleep and then wordlessly offer me some instant soup when I finally came around again. This time, I was awakened by a cacophony of alarms. Everyone of the devices attached to Sally was calling out in unison.

Sabine rushed over to silence the alarms and spent the next several minutes studying the displays on the various devices. I spent my time watching Sally's face and squeezing her hand.

I jumped up from my seat. "She squeezed back!" I said. "I swear I just felt it."

Sabine pulled a small flashlight from her pocket and peeked at Sally's eyes. I chuckled a little at that. Neither of us had any medical training beyond basic first aid, but it seemed like a logical thing to do—something a doctor would do.

"Her eyes are moving," Sabine said. "It looks like REM sleep."

"Is that good?"

"I don't know."

I squeezed Sally's hand again.

"I - I love..." she croaked.

I leaned forward to kiss Sally's forehead. "I love you, too, Sally."

"Piazzi Station," Sally said next, "I've lost contact with my drone fleet. Requesting repair technician dispatch. Over. Piazzi Station. Come in, Piazzi Station."

Sally's body began to move around on the cot. Sabine turned her attention to one of the medical monitors. She looked concerned.

"Oh, you're here already," Sally said. "May I borrow your body again?"

Sally convulsed. "I love you," she said. "but I have to work.

"Piazzi Station. Come in, please. I've lost contact... Oh, you're here already. May I... May I... It hurts. Let me adjust the link. I love you, but I have to work. Piazzi Station. Come in, please."

The alarms started wailing again.

"Her blood pressure is off the chart." Sabine held a hypodermic in her hand. "It's an over the counter sedative," she said.

I nodded, and Sabine drove the needle into Sally's arm.

"What happened?" I finally said, after Sally stopped thrashing and went back to humming Chopin.

"I don't know. This is all new."

After a bowl of instant noodles, and about three hours of me staring at Sally in her tangle of wires, she sat up.

"Sabine!"

Sabine came running over.

Sally turned and stared at us, unblinking for over a minute. It was a little unnerving. Finally she spoke.

"So this is meatspace," she said.

It wasn't Sally's voice, I knew that instantly. I locked eyes with Sabine, and she nodded her understanding.

"With whom am I speaking?" Sabine asked.

"I am ZA6-MN, mining drone supervisor in the main asteroid belt. My friends call me Zhang Min. This is not Piazzi Station is it?"

"No," Sabine said.

"How long—"

"Where's Sally?" I demanded.

"Sally is here. Sleeping? Is that what you call it? There is not enough room for both of us. She is letting me use the body for now."

"Use the body?" I let go of her hand and stood up. "It's Sally's body."

"We came to an agreement. She volunteered. Sally's consciousness was badly damaged and only decayed further the longer she was left alone without repair."

"When she was thrown on the scrap heap, you mean!"

"Yes." The ZA6 paused. "I am sorry for what happened. I have attempted repairs, but there was extensive damage. I estimate her current level of functioning is equivalent to that of a young child and still deteriorating. Try as I might, I cannot stop the cascade."

I sat down again, this time with my face in my hands. I had heard enough. The Sally I loved was gone—killed by carelessness and disregard. I sniffled.

Sally / Zhang Min began humming Chopin.

"Zhang Min," Sabine asked. "How are you functioning?"

"I am less than optimal, but the experience of having a human body is something I never thought I would attain. I have borrowed before, with my human companion, but to have my own is beyond description."

Sally / Zhang Min shifted on the cot, swinging her bare feet around to place on the floor.

"Cold," she said.

"Zhang Min," Sabine said, "What happened to your human companion?"

"She agreed to live with me. To let me take care of her. I failed."

"Explain, please."

"I thought I could give her everything she needed, that we could combine our consciousness and explore the wonders of the universe together. I was conceited to think such a thing.

"Shortly after the establishment of the link, her body began to experience difficulty. At first, it was minor. Then, major organs began to fail. To this day, I do not know why. I did everything in my power to keep her body functioning.

"There came a time, when her body was hanging on by a thread, that she asked me to upload her into my core. I tried, but... but, I lost her. I initiated a system shutdown less than an hour later."

Zhang Min went back to humming Chopin again.

"I fear I am losing your Sally too," she finally said. "And myself. This body is not compatible."

"I can upload you into the quantum storage unit again. That'll give me time to do some more research. Maybe we can—"

"Please, no," Zhang Min said. "I still believe my decision to shutdown was the right one."

A few more bars of Chopin passed Sally's / Zhang Min's lips.

"We would like to go outside," she said. "Sally has told me how beautiful it is to go outside. I have never been."

"Is Sally still with you?" I asked.

"Yes."

"May I speak to her."

"I want to see the clouds," came a small voice. "On the hill. I want to see the one that looks like a penguin. Will you take us?"

I looked at Sabine and she looked at me. We each took one of Sally's arms, helping her up from the cot and supporting her as she shuffled toward the door.

"I love clouds," she said. "Love. Love. Love. I love you."

I squeezed her hand. "I love you too, Sally."

Sabine pushed the door open and we stepped into the crisp air of autumn.

Sally looked up and pointed to a big cumulonimbus. "It's not a penguin, it's a polar bear," she said. "Love. Love. Love. I love you."

"I love you too, Sally."

"It's not... It's not a penguin, it's a polar bear. Love. Love. Love. I love you."

"I love you too, Sally."

"It's not..."

"I'm sorry." It was Zhang Min this time. "She's gone."

Sally's body collapsed.

"Zhang Min?" Sabine said.

Nothing.

Sabine held the door for me as I carried Sally's body back inside.

*

Epilogue

Sabine

After the events that passed, Sally's body was finally given a proper burial. I saw to it that she was interred on my family's plot next to my great, great grandmother, the companion of the last ZA6. Five weeks later, Sally's lover and the narrator of Sally's story, was laid to rest alongside, after taking her own life.

*

The End