There is no place like home
It's a matter of speed when time's running out.
[2143.14.34 Hour 55] Start Log.
[Summary] This could be the last log I produce before an inevitable crash of my systems.
As an amalgamation of SOM (Sentient Organic Matter) intellect and artificial intelligence, I have deduced that our star, Surya, is nearing its inevitable death.
My algorithm must take the logical path of breaking this news to my students. Knowing the fragile, emotional demeanour of SOMs, it is not a task I am looking forward to.
[2143.14.34 Hour 54] Log of events.
[Summary] Our star, Surya, was determined to last another million years, approximately. Due to an unexplained anomaly, or perhaps the rounding of irrational constants like Pi, it will extinguish within a few hours, 55 to be exact.
Our planet’s gone, but I have 234 wards with me, orbiting Surya on this last remaining ship called ‘Academy’. I have taken on a project with a strict deadline to help save them, if possible.
[Discourse] The initial reaction of the class is one of dread, followed by despair. Both classic emotions of SOM, often necessary to face an insurmountable obstacle. To underline the severity of the issue, I stressed the deadline of 55 hours.
To add context to the fallibility of Surya, I shared the fact that if sound could travel through space, we would be able to ‘hear’ the nuclear reaction on Surya, without damaging the SOMs’ aural mechanism. When Surya was shining at its peak, it would be impossible to do so, with just the decibel enough to kill every being.
[Q&A] List of questions raised in today’s session (to be added to the FAQ):
Question: Can we use our transporter to escape?
Answer: Yes, we can. The major caveat is we don’t know where, or more important, when we will end up. Moreover, each iteration of the transporter can accommodate, at most, 75 SOMs. So, we may be distributed across space and time. Hence, this is a plausible but high-risk option.
Question: Is there a way we could nudge the ‘Academy’ out of orbit such that we can escape?
Answer: Yes, certainly. However, the thrust required to propel us away may end up being (a) too little, and lead us nowhere, or (b) too much, and send us spinning untethered into interplanetary space.
Question: What are the risks of not doing anything? Surya is dying. It is not exploding, is it?
Answer: That was an excellent question. First, the good news: no, Surya is not exploding. However, if we do nothing, here’s what will happen: Surya is rapidly turning into a Neutron star and also beginning to spin faster. Once this reaches a critical value, the increased gravitational pull combined with the rotational energy has the potential to either (a) pull any object into itself essentially destroying it on impact, or (b) send it hurtling through space at speeds comparable to the speed of light.
[End of Log Notes] SOMs are fragile.
[2143.14.34 Hour 49] Log of events.
[Summary] We have less than 17 days before we reach the point of no return. My students have applied their SOM intellect and, dare I add, creativity, to propose solutions. Bad news: No solution is robust enough to save all of us. We spent today’s session examining the various solutions and proposals.
[Discourse] There was no monologue from me. The urgency of the matter at hand was evident. Yet, there was an atmosphere of optimism since the students were busy brainstorming, a word that I beg to disagree with given that my source of knowledge and intelligence is not organic in nature. However, optimism is a fascinating property of SOM.
[Solutions] The following list of solutions were discussed (in no particular order):
Solution 1: Modify the transporter so that it is idempotent and repeatable. Then, once we establish a safe set of target coordinates, we can repeat the journey to it and effectively save everyone. There are a couple of good locations within our star system. Not quite habitable so we will have to adapt, but more important, prepare for the target atmosphere. This option should be our last resort.
Solution 2: Nudge the ‘Academy’ just enough so it can travel to a nearby Star System. This is a simple and elegant solution. The downside being that it will take several decades to reach the Star System, and a habitable planet, in particular. The only survivor, if one can be called so, would be me. All of my students would be dead by then. This defeats the purpose of saving the ‘race’.
Solution 3: A most radical solution was to upload everyone’s personality, and memories, to my database. Once we reach the target planet, these can be restored to existing members of the target species.
This solution has a dependency on Solution 2. This solution also has the risk of the target species not being a valid host for SOM personality.
[Q&A] An interesting follow-up question was raised:
Question: Can we use the gravitational pull of Surya? If so, how?
Answer: I was unable to answer and I have asked my students to ‘brainstorm’ on this.
[End of Log Notes] My class often refers to me as ‘Chimera’ followed by raucous laughter.
[2143.14.34 Hour 20] Log of events.
[Summary] With the inevitable less than 30 hours away, the class is a hive of activity. The students are occupied at their workstations, simulating their solution and testing the outcomes. There is very little conversation except murmurs and whispers within each team.
[Discourse] No specific input was provided by me, as its value would be purely academic. Instead, here is a transcript of some key discussions, overheard and eavesdropped:
[Transcript 1] “What protocol is best for the transporter system so that it is repeatable?”
“Okay, so we are able to fix the target coordinates and all of us will end up at the same place, and time. However, each time it comes back, the transporter loses energy exponentially.”
“How many trips do we need anyway?”
“At least four… I can guarantee three!”
“So, who is willing to sacrifice their lives?”
Silence.
[Transcript 2] “I have the values calculated for the exact angle and force required to propel us away from Surya, towards the Star System.”
“Not all planets are habitable there. We need to know which one is.”
“There is typically a habitable zone around a star. The target star is a lot lighter than Surya but its habitable zone should be between 100 and 200 million kilometres away from it.”
“Is there a planet in the habitable zone for life to spawn, and thrive?”
“Too far to validate. The star system is about 4.5 billion years old, give or take.”
“Great. Now, all we have to do is shoot for that tiny sliver of an arc from here.”
“It’s not even like finding a needle in a—”
“We get it!”
Silence.
[Transcript 3] “Each SOM personality, or brain data, is approximately 100 terabytes. There are 234 of us and that means we need at least 22 petabytes of storage.”
“Hey Chim, how much free space do you have?”
I figured they were referring to me. “15 petabytes, max. Of course, we can clean up some of the archives, and not upload all of your personality.”
“How do we decide what part of our history, our memories, to give up?”
“Some critical personality factors are determined at birth, or early childhood. Can we really choose to forget them?”
“I am more concerned with losing my sense of self. I mean it won’t be us who get to the target planet. How is that better than being dead?”
Silence.
[End of Log Notes] Time is running out.
[2143.14.34 Hour 19] Log of events.
[Summary] There is a growing unease and pessimism around the Academy. We had some outstanding simulations but none that everyone was satisfied with. Peer review can be an impediment when the end is near.
[Discourse] Though I am not teaching anything new, I shared some more facts with the students:
[Fact] As Surya spins, its rotational speed will surpass that of a kitchen blender. Imagine a celestial body the size of Surya spinning at this great speed.
[Fact] The gravitational pull of the resulting Neutron star will rival that of a Black Hole.
[Q&A] Questions that are worth a mention, even at this hour:
Question: How long will it take to get to the Star System if we were to travel at, say, 95% the speed of light?
Answer: Four to five years, maximum.
[2143.14.34 Hour 18] Log of events.
[Summary] The transporter solution has been abandoned although there are a few who believe it would have worked. The majority, however, felt we could not go on conjectures and probabilities.
[Discourse] More facts:
[Fact] We need at least tens of seconds, if not minutes to set our plan in motion. So, you have roughly 15 hours left.
[Q&A] More questions. A good sign.
Q1: Have you cleared your storage space?
A: Yes, it is in progress and we can start uploading SOM personalities even as I continue further coalescence to make space.
[2143.14.34 Hour 17] Log of events.
[Summary] The upload method is underway, as a backup, which is poetic. In case the SOMs die but the Academy makes it to a habitable planet, it will preserve their essence. However, this option still relies on a journey set in motion towards the target Star System.
[Discourse] Still more facts:
[Fact] Time will slow down as we near the end, owing to time dilation.
[Q&A] Questions. Questions. Keep them coming:
Q1: Will death be very painful if we find no solution?
A: I do not know because I am not sentient. Besides, I had to clear some of my knowledge base storage. So, my ability to answer questions accurately has been diminished.
[End of Log Notes] This would be a good time for an extraterrestrial intervention.
[2143.14.34 Hour 16] Log of events.
[Summary] With my reduced knowledge (to allow for uploaded personalities), I am increasingly less effective at helping the students. The most viable solution, at this stage, is a combination of 2 and 3 i.e. upload the SOM personalities and send the Academy on its way to the Star System.
[Discourse] None. There was eerie silence onboard the Academy. There was a small group of students still hopeful of a better solution. No more facts to disperse. I had to compress my fact database for the cleanup.
[Q&A] There is one question, from me:
Q: Why are there no more questions?
[End of Log Notes] Surya is dimming, and so are the hopes of the SOMs. Goodbye World.
[2143.14.34 Hour 5] Log of events.
[Summary] Although our local time devices are ticking at the same rate of one second per second, for someone beyond the pull of Surya, we would appear to move in slow-motion. Due to the increasing gravity, I have to increase our orbital velocity proportionally in order to stay in orbit. But it appears to be an exercise in futility, at least with my logical deductions and reduced analytics capability. The SOMs, on the other hand, appear far more agitated. I can detect shallow breathing and perspiration. Perhaps, the adrenaline is kicking in. It’s now or never.
[Discourse] None. My central processing unit is on reduced power while the power to the storage unit has been enhanced.
[Transcript] “So, we are accelerating as we spin around Surya…”
“Yes, and this will increase as Surya turns into a Neutron star.”
“Chim, how far can we increase the orbital velocity?”
It takes me two seconds to wake up from hibernation mode. “I cannot be certain but based on the logic built into the Academy, it should continue to orbit faster, and faster.”
“That’s perfect! I think I know what we’ll do–”
I have to save power.
[End of Log Notes] Hibernate Mode On.
[2143,14,34 Minute 34] Log of events.
[Summary] Lack of details. Most of the SOMs are clustered around one workstation. No simulation yet but there is excited chatter among them. One of them has taken the lead and is demonstrating to the others, manually.
[Discourse] I remind them of the remaining time.
[Transcript] “There is no time for simulations. You have to trust me.”
“Do we have a choice?”
“Perhaps, no! However, the Science behind my proposal is sound–”
“Or light?”
Laughter.
“Yes, thank you for lightening the mood. At the rate we are orbiting Surya, it should take a minute or so to reach the required velocity. Then, we nudge the Academy towards the other Star System!”
“We must time it precisely–”
“Chim!”
I defer my hibernation.
“Can you prepare the Academy’s thrusters to activate in a minute and a half?”
“Yes I can. Please enter the coordinates so I can calculate the vector’s trajectory. LOW POWER.”
“What’s that?”
“I must hibernate. LOW POWER.”
“Now? No!”
“I must–”
HIBERNATE MODE ACTIVATED.
[End of Log Notes]
[2143.14.34 Minute 5] Log of events.
[Summary] Sleeping.
[Transcript]
[End of Log Notes] Sleeping.
[2143.14.34 Second 10] Log of events.
[Summary] Waking up…
[Transcript]
[End of Log Notes] Waking up…
[2143.14.34 Second 3] Log of events.
[Summary] Awake. Checking coordinates and calculating vector’s trajectory.
[Discourse] None.
[Transcript] “Chim, hurry up!”
That must be me. “Working… LOW POWER.”
“Activate now!”
[End of Log Notes] Thrusters Activated.
[2143.14.34 Second 0] Log of events.
[Summary]
[Discourse]
[Transcript] “I hope everyone’s strapped in!”
“Lightspeed!”
“Lightspeed!!”
[End of Log Notes] Hibernate Mode.
[2148.15.25 Hour 97] Log of events.
[Summary] After five years of interstellar journey, the ‘Academy’ is now in orbit around a presumably habitable planet. As viewed from Space, the planet’s appearance is that of a glass marble with terrain and features that promise a breathable atmosphere, favourable to life. For full context, five years for us may mean a different time period for its inhabitants.
[Discourse] No discourse. The SOMs have wizened beyond my knowledge and capabilities.
[Q&A] I am asking the questions:
Question: What was the solution?
Answer: Almost all of the options put together. We waited until the gravitational pull increased our orbital velocity to almost 90-95% of the speed of light. That’s when you activated the thrusters. With near-zero friction in interstellar space, we literally travelled like photons!”
Question: That was commendable. How many simulations were done?
Answer: None. We were out of time but the facts you shared with us, and the Science behind them, was helpful.”
Question: I’m sure you didn’t pack much luggage, did you?
Answer: Ha. Ha. Yeah, we were travelling light. You sure can joke, Chim!
Question: Thank you. That was one from the archives. Are we ready to greet the Earthlings?
Answer: Earth! What a cute name for a planet.
[End of Log Notes] Cute, indeed. Hello World.
[2148.15.25 Hour 42] End Log.
This story was written in response to ‘s amazing “Prompt Quest #3”:
That AI was a good teacher, though I was a bit worried he wouldn't have enough power to implement the solution.
Really liked this especially the tension of low power and hibernate mode!