StarGaze

The Enemy Doesn't Sleep

Thomas's body froze for a second as his consciousness was released from the trap and he synched with Raghav again. His eyes rolled in all directions and body functions came to a halt, like when you sneeze.

"Hmm, so you met Pinky," Thomas said and smiled as he tapped into Raghav's memories from the time Thomas was absent.

"Yeah, she is an enigma so far," Raghav said, looking away.

"Oh no, she's the exact opposite. She is the simplest person I have ever seen. She is not driven by feelings, so she just focuses on the goal." Thomas said.

"You've got it all wrong. Being deprived of feelings makes her much more dangerous. She can lie without feeling remorse, she can also never be corrupted and is ever committed to her mission." Raghav said.

"That's a good point. But she feels now, doesn't she?" Thomas asked and smiled.

"Oh yeah, that was a misunderstanding," Raghav said and looked away.

"Bruh, you almost got r***d by an alien girl, what more is there to say?" Thomas said and laughed.

"Yeah okay, but I do need your help with something," Raghav said.

"Of course, that robot was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it?" Thomas said, understanding what Raghav was talking about.

"Yes, and I think we might have a bigger threat on hand than we think," Raghav said.

"Yes, let's see if I have the right idea. So the early human, or the ancients, whatever they like to call themselves, decided to leave Earth to come to mars. The wisest of them made a program to take over in case they were dead. Now the people who were that smart managed to die in some stupid landing accident and the AI conveniently takes over.

And completely out of the blue, it decides to control everyone's memory and lock away their feelings because somehow that may be a threat to their integrity. But it's understandable because it was designed to protect the ancient civilization.

But Mars would also be safe if it ruled over the solar system. And that would make the AI the sole ruler of the solar system, except maybe the Enceladians. And if we take into account that the AI is only supposed to defend the people of Mars, it will most likely annihilate anyone else present in the solar system to protect Mars from any possible future attacks.

And moral codes wouldn't exist because it is a f*****g machine and the army it commands is an army of zombies, dead but very much alive." Thomas said, laying out his point of view.

"Then it could have just lied to us. Why did it tell us the events of the past in a truthful manner?" Raghav asked, confused.

"Because at the end of the day, it is a machine which was made with good intentions. It was obviously programmed so that it could not lie. But that doesn't mean it can't figure out its way around the truth. I think we might have a dictator on our hands here, the worst to exist." Thomas said, frowning.

"So what do we do? We have to act like we don't know s**t. But we also have to stop them from attacking our planet.

"Be a hero. People are people, no matter where they are from. You must show these people that they can trust you and know that it is worth the trouble to walk behind you. Once they have a connection with you, you can take away the barrier of the machine and make the two planets friends, dare I say." Thomas said.

"Yeah, you lay down some good points. s**t, that's a lot of work to do." Raghav said and sat down on the ground.

"It sure is, and that's why you need to limit your feelings towards Pinky. I get that her uniqueness might appeal to you, but it is most likely a waste of time." Thomas said, pulling a cigar out of thin air.

"Pinky...what? How do you think I feel towards her. I don't like her that way." Raghav said, looking at Thomas with anger.

"I know,  you don't...for now." Thomas said a took a large drag from the cigar.