08 – Launch Louis – June 5th 2050 – Washington DC

The sky was dark, a low grumbling was building up in the distance. There was a storm approaching, and Louis was walking at a fast pace towards the towering glass and steel structure next to the White House.

It was the only skyscraper around, a symbol of power and of status. The Machine was in charge of the urban planning of towns nowadays, and it was evident why she had chosen not to allow any other tall structures around. It almost made the building look out of place, out of time.

Another thunder came from the distance. The waveform of the sound appeared in his virtual vision, accompanied by a complete map of the sound and a triangulation of the source. It was just a few miles away now. Using the myriad of sensors the AI had, plus all the people's implants, cars, and various devices that numbered in the millions all around, the Machine had effectively identified where in the clouds the lightning had struck. A piece of information, no matter how seemingly unimportant, that helped her predict the weather and everything else that was about to happen.

“Seems like it’s going to rain.” Said Louis, to nobody in particular. Just like she used his implants to record the sound of the gathering storm, he knew she could hear him. Hell, she could hear his thoughts as well. He didn’t mind. He didn’t really care about privacy, and the added benefit of being able to be this closely connected to her and, by extension, to every single piece of technology was very well worth it. The machine was known for her discretion. He didn’t even need to hide occasional perverted thoughts that creeped to his mind when he saw ‘interesting’ people. The AI understood. She even proposed to help him find a suitable partner and, while he was sure her recommendations would be among the best, he wasn’t interested. It would take something away from the spontaneity and the fatefulness of the encounter, not that he really believed in any of that.

“It will, indeed, rain. In approximately 17 minutes. You have plenty of time to get back to the office.” The AI replied. She used speech, directly transmitted into his ear, rather than thought communication. Probably because he had spoken to her first.

“What about the launch?” He asked. The wind was picking up, and a slight chill went down his spine. He hurried his steps.

“Everything is in order. I will have your office prepared to watch it live.”

“Good.” He said, then walked the rest of the way in silence. There was something he had to do, something he did not really like doing.

He arrived in his office five minutes later. The elevator was extremely quick despite feeling perfectly still when he was inside. He chose to keep the window obscured in order not to have the slight feeling of nausea in his stomach that inevitably came whenever he tried to watch the panorama. Once again, the Machine offered to fix the issue, but he didn’t want her tampering his brain for every little thing.

His office was, as predicted, ready to witness the launch of the New Apollo. One wall was tuned on the imperial holo-news, broadcasting the launch live around the world. ‘Imperial’ was an odd word to use. Barely a few decades ago the idea of a united world seemed so out there it was ridiculous. Luke didn’t like the word itself, but had to concede its usefulness. The other wall was displaying various readings he was little equipped to make sense about. This wasn’t his strong suit, but he still liked to look at the numbers.

He made the remaining walls opaque, and requested the AI for as much privacy as he could get. That was, given his position, more than any other member of the human race could get, barring Luke. It had to suffice.

“So, how’s the situation inside that module?”

“Bertrand and David have made contact. Annette and Eric have completed the deep thought connection with the Machine, and Mary-Lou is very noisy, but otherwise irrelevant.” The voice said. It was disembodied, or at least it felt like that. Like it was coming from everywhere at once. Of course, it was not, or it would make all the pretense of privacy moot before even starting. No, it was being projected directly into his brain, the feeling of disorientation a result of little effort spent in careful calibration. It was not necessary.

“When will he make his move?” He asked, watching intently as the rocked entered the preliminary warm-up phase.

“He will probably wait until they land. He’ll strike when he feels the AI control is at its weakest.” A countdown appeared in the top right corner of the screen, while the reported gave a rundown of the mission.

“Makes sense. Keep me updated in case he tries to make contact. We cannot have him break protocol in case he freaks out, or this whole operation will cost us more than we can afford.”

Machine

The AI diverted 0.01% of its computational power towards the final three million simulations of the flight. It was not strictly necessary, as Luke often told her, but she had no better use for those computational resources, and she definitely could spare a few milliseconds to double check everything.

>Simulation complete

>Report:

Mission operation within expected parameters

Possible deviation paths: 2850 within 3 sigmas: EXPAND

Projected course: EXPAND

Individual monitoring: Eric ****: Nominal. Annette ****: Nominal. Mary-Lou ****: Nominal. David ****: Require recalc. Bertrand ****: Require recalc. Plan 2 revision 6 detail 9 enacted. Contacting Agent… Pending analog conversation with agent… Confirmed. Recalc: Situation Nominal. Pending next scheduled evaluation.

It was all done. Finally, she could ignite the fusion engines. Such a marvel of technology, developed in tandem with the finest of minds humankind could offer. It always fascinated her, how much human input could change her designs, improve them, make them better and more elegant.

She had even made use of a few nice ideas she talked about on an online forum. She made a point of repaying those internet users however they would appreciate the most as soon as she could.

>List: Usernames: Jerry N (ID:122****); Michael988 (ID:366****);… EXPAND

>Operation: Observe, evaluate fitting reward. Consult OP_Admin (ID: Luke ****) about possibility of Connection.

And the rocket ignited.

On a side note, perhaps she should update her interface. She didn’t need it, but if there was one thing old Sci-Fi shows taught her, it was that a badass UI was paramount. She dedicated a couple spare quantum processors for the task.

On another, even more marginal note… the suburban train 2944*** (ID: ST2944***) was three seconds behind schedule, even with all parameters nominal. She sent a crew to check on the maglev rails.

Eric

Finally, the day had come. He could feel the roar of the engines, the vibrations in the crew compartment, the excitement and adrenaline running through his veins. After more than two months of extensive training, finally the day has arrived.

And, for all he hated the brutal training regimen he had been subjected to, for how much he wanted this day to come as fast as possible… he was a bit scared now. His mind was going back, time and time again, to his training. To how it had been perhaps too short for a mission like this. To how he, and the rest of the crew, might have needed more. A lot more.

Even Mary was being silent. Bertrand was as unreadable as ever. Annette was smiling warmly at him. He missed her soft touch on his skin, and he knew it would be a long time before he could feel it again. It wasn’t anything sexual between the two of them, of course, but her expansiveness, her caresses on his face, everything about her that annoyed him had left its mark. And now he missed it all.

There was a chance, no matter how remote, that he would never feel it again. Perhaps he should have told her that he actually enjoyed those moments they lived together. He made a mental note to do just that, as soon as they arrived safely on the moon.

“How’s things?” He asked, for the n-th time, to the Machine.

‘Everything is good. It will be fine, Eric. Relax. Listen to my voice, I am here with you. I will not let anything bad happen to you. I promise.’ The AI said, her androgynous voice reminding him of his own mother. Long forgotten memories came to mind, back from when she used to stay in bed beside him during thunderstorms.

The roaring got louder. ‘I’m here, with you. Always.’ The voice said, loud and clear despite the roaring. It calmed him, somewhat. Even if he knew she was choosing the right words because she knew everything about him. He had told her himself about his mother. Stories from a time when surveillance wasn’t as omnipresent as it was now. And the Machine liked to listen, to get to know him. And so, he talked to her every night.

“T minus twenty.” Said another voice. Loud, clear, powerful. Was it the Machine, through the comm system, or was it a person?

“Nineteen.” He glanced around.

“Eighteen.” Annette smiled at him. He smiled back.

“Seventeen.” Bertrand was nodding at David, for some reason. The two of them had grown close to each other, even though it always seemed they were scheming something.

“Fifteen.” Obviously, any kind of scheme would be pointless before the might of the Machine.

“Twelve.” Whatever they wanted to do; they stood no chance.

“Ten.” Right? There was nothing to worry about.

“Eight.” RIGHT?

“Seven.” He could feel the paranoia creeping in.

“Five.” He wanted to break free of his restraints. To abort launch.

“Three.” He had to do something.

‘Eric. I am here.’

And the acceleration hit him like a truck, and his consciousness faded.

Justin

“Eric went into a mild panic, but calmed down. Everyone else is fine.”

“Good.” He said, and leaned back on his chair slightly. “Thirty seconds then resume their normal brain activities.”

“Yessir.” She replied. The tone was not as respectful as it could have been, but what was Justin expecting, after he reminded the AI of her own plan?

He watched the holo-screen. The seconds seemed to never pass. He did not remember being this much invested in the project, and yet here he was, holding his breath. The rocket did not have stages. The fusion engines did not require them. they could generate enough lift to take the whole rocket out of the atmosphere, take it to the Moon and back several times before they ran out of hydrogen to fuse. The nuclear reaction so powerful that the exhaust flames had created an immense crater at the launch site.

Of course, he would never let the rocket do several trips without refueling it. Each time it landed on Earth, a refuel and a thorough check-up was in order. At times like this, he really would have liked Luke to push for the orbital space dock before his other projects.

It kind of made sense, though, to wait for the asteroid missions to bring back materials before beginning construction in orbit. Even considering how these new rockets cut down the costs, bringing up material from Earth to orbit was ludicrously costly.

But enough of that. He was here to watch the New Apollo. And the rocket had just now left Earth’s atmosphere. It was on its way, towards the future.