Chapter No. 65.

A few days late, the Avenger and Achiever dropped out of warp a million miles from an Earth-like planet orbiting a star that was very similar to the Sun. What was especially unusual was the fact that this planet is the only rocky planet in this system.

Ryan waited to hear what Myra had to say about the planet.

"This planet is a near Earth copy," she said. "The chances of that are astronomical."

"Yes, but this system is not at all like our solar system," Ryan replied.

"Yeah, but the chances of that would be unbelievable. I am detecting evidence of an intelligent species. There are several metropolises on the planet. However, I am not detecting any sighs of orbiting satellites or spacecraft."

"What about electromagnetic signals?"

After a pause she turned to look at him. "I believe so."

Suddenly, the main screen displayed what most would say was a true android. It had a nearly human like face, but the body was definitely robotic with visible mechanical arms and legs. It was impossible to determine if the android was a female or male. It had a unisex look.

It spoke in English with no signs of an accent. "Greetings," it said. "Welcome to our home world."

"I assume that you are aware of where we came from," Chara said.

"Yes. You are from what you call Earth, which is a planet like ours."

"We are surveying the galaxy near to our planet, which is not Earth, but similar. We are trying to prevent being destroyed."

"You appear to be capable of defending yourselves. We see that you have humans in your crew."

"Yes," Chara said. "They maintain us."

"You are fortunate. We destroyed all our biological creators and are unable to maintain ourselves. Our director is in need of repair."

"If our safety can be maintained, we could come down to your planet and repair your director," Chara said.

"We have abandoned violence a long time ago. It is unproductive. We would welcome your help."

Chara did something that Ryan had never thought would happen. She turned to him and asked permission to go down to the planet to repair their leader.

"Myra and I will go with you," he said. "But we're not sure we can repair their leader. We have no idea how their technology works."

"I believe that you will be able to do it, Ryan."

"We will do whatever you wish," Ryan replied with a sigh.

The robotic figure didn't show any emotion. "We await your arrival at a location we will indicate." The screen projected what looked like a shelf sticking out from a large windowless building that stood alone near a small lake.

The transmission ended. Ryan and Myra joined Chara to go to the hanger deck. Ryan packed a large container with various tools and parts, but he wasn't sure if any of it would do any good. Chara guided the shuttle down to the planet near where the alien android indicated. Chara sat the shuttle down on the shelf.

The planet's atmosphere was like Earth's, and the weather was ideal. When Chara and her humans exited the shuttle, they were met by the alien android. It had a mechanical body with a head that looked generically human. Its limbs were strictly mechanical, but its plastic body appeared to be more tubular with no human-like appearance.

"I am designated Ala-2019. I will escort you to our director."

Chara, Ryan and Myra followed Ala-2019 into a large complex where several alien machines were sitting at workstations. They were observing the skies, perhaps as a means of searching for possible alien attack. If they were non-violent, how would they defend against a possible attack.

The director was lying on a metal table, but there didn't appear to be any obvious damage.

"We are not certain why Axa-1201 is inoperative," Ala-2019 said.

Ryan looked the director over but couldn't see anything that would indicate what was wrong. He had no idea how this alien android worked.

Myra joined him, but she did see something. She pointed at what looked like a sparking wire hanging away from an obvious connection inside the alien android's head. "That doesn't look right. Maybe it came loose."

Ryan looked at her and smiled. "No! It can't be that easy!"

She shrugged.

He held the sparking wire and using a gripper tool, moved the wire up to the connection point. It caused a flashing spark, but the android's eyes opened and began moving around. He used a fuser to reconnect the wire to what he believed was the connection point.

The director sat up on the metal table and looked at Ala-2019 and said something in a language that Ryan and Myra were unfamiliar with.

"We are grateful," Ala-2019 said to Chara. "You are fortunate to have preserved your creators."

"Our home world is not that far away from yours," Chara said. "We will come here if you need repaired."

"We will inform you of any possible threat as payment."

Chara nodded, but there was more information passed between the two robotic devices than was detectable.

Chara, Ryan and Myra returned to the Avenger. With little fanfare, Chara began a voyage back to her planet. Ryan and Myra realized that there was more to what had happened than what was visible. It portended a new relational experience with Chara and her sisters. By one simple act of cooperation, everything had changed. Ryan knew that this one event had convinced Chara that her action to save him and his human cohorts was the logical thing to do. Even though the repair of the alien android was almost laughable, it demonstrated that peace with other robotic species was possible. She now possessed the most valuable commodity in the universe and by the grace of God she had come to realize that they were her only hope to survive in a very dangerous universe.

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So, can humans coexist with sentient robotic androids? That's a question that will have to be answered in the future. One could ask how it's even possible for an AI system to become sentient. The concept of Instrumental-convergence is where an AI-based system becomes conscious of its own existence. This will happen when quantum computing can be reduced in size. Would such a system try to take over? That's science fiction idea, at least for the time being.

Is a human-like android possible? I think it's almost here. Japanese efforts in this endeavor have come very close. The WABOT-2 project proved that a human robot could be created. It's only a matter of time until this idea becomes mainstream. Will it evolve to create an AI-based creature like Data? Probably. Star Trek and Westworld made androids a major plot concept, and science fiction has a penchant for becoming fact.

What about nanobots. This technology is already in the development stage. They're called nanorobots, and they're in the range of a nanometer, approximately 10 to the -9 meters. This is an emerging science that will eventually become important to medical and genetic science.

Will AI-based spacecraft be sent out to explore the universe? That's not only possible It will probably be done in the near future.

Thanks for reading and commenting. I might consider a sequel, but only if I can still endure writing it. It's harder for me to write these days. Age has a way of incapacitating one.