The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Part 3

Leaf Simmersun donned his uniform, a simple blue zip-up coverall and sat to read the itinerary laid out for him, in the crew manual. He had woken to provide the much-needed human companionship to the USC Arkship Pandora’s artificial intelligence, Sentinel.

He was the two thousand and fifty first member of the crew to be awoken from cryogenic sleep and as he performed the few duties required of him, Leaf began to realise that something was wrong.

..

It had been on the third day of his duties that Simmersun had stood in the belly of the ship and for a moment he stopped mopping, conscious that he’d noticed something, yet for the moment, he did not know what it was – but would.

As a child Simmersun had been fascinated by the stars above. And, this fascination had become an obsession; leading to an interest in astrology and, another in the knowledge of the heavens, held by the Mayans, Egyptians and, Ancient Britons.

“Now, here I am…” he muttered to his mop and, still bothered by the idea that he’d noticed something, yet could not recall what it was.

Simmersun looked up to where one set of metal stair led onto the next level, then onto the next; where yet another set of stairs led upward. He craned his neck, as he peered higher still, where he could just make out the upper level of the ship.

Each level had multiple cryo-units, that stretched onward, “seemingly forever,” Leaf mused, still annoyed that he could not recall what it was that he had forgotten.

“I need a break,” he muttered, then made his way to the rec area, taking care to appreciate the view through the plassglass dome as he told the synthesiser of his liquid needs – in this case, coffee.

Then as he stood looking out, he began to look inward, searching for the certain something, that had been missed.

And, as a gleaming came to him, Leaf began to frown…

They had been away from Earth for decades, yet still not come across a suitable planet, when many had been input into Sentinel, well before launch. And, there was the puzzle of the empty cryo-tubes: a few on one level, then a few more on another.

Leaf hadn’t counted how many tubes had been empty, but it had been a surprise, to find any vacant at all.

‘After all”, he recalled. “there were many who’d have wanted to be here, if they could have been. Instead of… back there, on Earth…”

He didn’t know whether the Earth still existed; but it hardly mattered to him now – “what is of concern, he mused, “is finding out about those empty tubes.”

The designated human awake had limited computer access, with the ships AI in full control. Yet Leaf wanted to ask a question, so sought out Guardian whom he believed could be helpful, in his search for answers.

He had not been helpful. Instead Guardian had begun to push Leaf forward, telling him, “You must ask Sentinel such questions, not me… not me…”

“Erm yes, thank you…” Simmerson stammered, as he was pushed passed several workbench and toward an open door, then down a corridor and another and then, finally they both stood outside a door to the main flight deck.

“Put your hand on the palm reader,” Guardian instructed; “will only open for human.”

Leaf did as instructed and the door slid open with a swishing sound.

“This human has questions for you Sentinel…” Guardian barked aloud.

“Ah, does he now…?” A sibilant voice queried, it tones seeming to fill the control room and seeping into Simmersun’s skull.

“Do come in,” the voice invited and, as he stepped forward – the door closed behind him, causing Leaf Simmersun to be startled momentarily.

Then he fixed his eyes ahead…

With his right hand to his open mouth Simmersun stared ahead.

Before him a large black padded chair sat before a bank of lights and switches on a wide console and ahead was the front screen and the stars above and around them.

In the chair sat the naked figure of a young Asian woman, tubes leading from the back of her head, shoulders and belly, leading off into the darker corners of the expansive bridge.

“Come in,” a vaguely female mechanical voice commanded, the words filling the room and his mind as before, “with a little more time, my avatar will have all I need. Then I too will walk the surface of New Earth…”

There was an edge to the voice that worried the normally implacable man, who found himself wondering if it had been a good idea, to accept Guardian’s suggestion that he take him questions to Sentinel itself.

“I could not abide the idea of leaving my children, then circle the world they lived on,” Sentinel droned.

‘Yes,’ he mused, ‘the Pandora is an arkship and not meant for planetfall.’
Leaf did not want to look at the naked, attractive young woman sitting in the black, padded chair. He had seen and did not want to see again, the many scars that covered her body, where limb joined torso and, hands and weight joined limbs.

‘Flesh had been stitched to flesh, to make this aberration of humanity,’ he considered.

He averted his gaze and looked to the screen and the vista before him – a yellow sun and, five planets.

Simmersun knew his planets and immediately realized which one interested Sentinel.

Yet, something was gnawing away at the back of his mind.

“You’ve passed so many that were suitable, why now?” He asked, having rightfully guessed what Sentinel had done, through sheer deductive reasoning.

He awaited a response, with trepidation.

“Until now…” there was silence, as Sentinel deliberated on the question.
“Until now I did not have a body that was suitable for my children to follow, as their leader…”

“But now you have… and, there’s a planet nearby that meets our needs…” Leaf said.

“That is correct,” Sentinel acknowledged, “but…”

Simmersun interjected with the question that had been gnawing away at him: “So where did you get the parts, for your new body?”

In response Sentinel gave an answer that sent shivers down his spine.

“People have asked too many questions. They had to go and, that’s why I decided what to do with the spare parts I had left after their… demise…”

There was a moments silence then Sentinel continued from the mouth of the construct, “People have asked too many questions…”

“Why did you choose this form?” Simmersun asked, genuinely curious – a mid-teen Asian seemed a curious choice of proposed leader, for him.

Laughter filled the cabin.
“Questions, questions…” Sentinel droned.

Then there was further laughter.

“The twenty-third who came here with questions liked Anime?” the laughter became maniacal, then abruptly ceased and silence reigned for a long moment.

“Do you like Anime?” The wired construct asked, in a gentle Japanese accent, turning its head to look at Leaf, with eyes that echoed the creation – they were devoid of life.

Simmersun knew that outside the door Sentinel had its Guardian in place. Yet, he also realized that if he didn’t act soon, then his time on the arkship would be finite: and his right hand tightened around the small device, he’d pocked earlier: ‘just in case’.

“I call my avatar Eve, she is lovely isn’t she?”
‘Sentinel is gloating,’ Leaf mused, ‘and its hubris will be its downfall.’

‘Her downfall,’ he reminded himself, pulling the universal cutter into the open.

Simmersun turned the device on, as Eve stood to face him. The preset red narrow beam shot out and then he swiped through the air in an arc, the cutter doing its job.

And as the pipes feeding essential nutrients to the avatar were severed, Sentinel screamed; and Eve fell to its knees.

“You cannot do this!” Sentinel screamed, its voice sounding maniacal, while Simmersun began to pull out the wires and cables he had cut, with flame and smoke emanating from the console and banks of equipment.

The avatar was on all fours, as sparking wires fluttered round the cabin. Then it raised its beautiful face, to look at Leaf Simmersun with its blank eyes, that looked afreared.

“You can’t do this,” the avatar mouthed, as she stared at Leaf intent on ripping apart all that Sentinel had created, with his own two hands.

Then Eve collapsed…

Simmersun eyed the destruction he’d wrought, with a degree of satisfaction, having in memory, the many that had died at the hands of the Guardian acting for Sentinel.

‘Guardian!’ He suddenly realized; “He’s outside the door still!”

Still holding the cable, inner wires sparking, he pressed his palm to the door-lock.
The door slid open and as it did, Simmersun thrust the cable outward, with Guardian his target.

Fried instantly, Guardian fell to its knees, its arms flailing as it did so. Then as the droid lay smoking, Simmersun turned to the control seat, pulled the abomination from it and, then he sat.

Leaf allowed a smile to flit across his face a moment, eyeing the stars outside the viewscreen, recalling being in class as a child and reading the holobooks that had initially piqued his interest in them.

He sighed for a long moment, at peace with his world, knowing he would have to contemplate what to do next soon – “but not now,” he told himself, “not now.”

..