Chara and the Planet

Chapter No.7

Chapter No.7

Ryan was completely mystified by what he had learned, Chara had become a disturbing conundrum. It was as if she had a schizoid duality. Was she acting or was she really messed up? If she is an entertainment model, she would have been programmed to please men, especially at the Hellion asteroid retreat where anything goes.

His curiosity had been peeked and he was determined to pursue his examination of her, but he waited a few days before he began his probe of her programming.

He relaxed in the copilot seat before turning to her. "Are you programmed in all the pleasure arts?"

She didn't look at him. "Yes."

"Why did you take an interest in quantum astronomy?"

Her eyes momentarily grew larger before returning to normal. "The calculations are more precise."

"Is that how you determined that there is a ninth planet in Earth's orbit?"

"Yes."

"It's my understanding that quantum astronomy is not accepted as being legitimate."

"I think it is legitimate."

"Not to change the subject, but If you were programmed to provide pleasure, you would have known how to use a pain stick."

"I had never used a pain stick. I wanted to be sure that I was using it correctly."

"Are you suggesting that your abilities are not perfect?"

"Nothing is perfect."

"Oh, I don't know," he said with a smirk. "I think you are perfect."

She didn't reply. Evidently compliments were not an effective way to discover her true android personality. One thing that happened made sense. She was obeying her pleasure programming when she asked him if he wanted her to undress. Considering the dire situation, that incident represented a breakdown of her programming.

He decided to try a different tact. "Let's say we do find this ninth planet. What are we going to do with it?"

"We will explore it."

"I still don't understand why something like this has not been discovered. Why are you so sure that it exists?"

"I believe that my calculations prove that it's there."

"I'm definitely not qualified to argue the point. It's a fantastic idea, and I hope it's real."

She didn't reply.

He tried a new approach the next day. After showering, he didn't dress before joining her at the command station. She glanced over at him but turned back to the main screen.

"Why didn't you dress?"

"I got lazy. I noticed that you're not packing a pain stick."

"I don't need it to control you."

Ryan knew that was true. She had the strength of a dozen men.

"I'm curious. Why didn't you leave me on the mining asteroid? You really don't need me for you mission to find the planet."

She turned to stare at him for a few minutes before replying. "I cannot function alone for an extended period. I need social contact and repair if any of my systems fail."

Ryan suppressed a smile. "Yes, that makes sense. It's part of your entertainment programming and you will need occasional repairs."

"That is correct."

"So, the only reason that I'm still alive is because you are an entertainment android that was assigned to take me to the mining facility, punish me, and then you decided to go rogue and find a planet that no one else knows about."

"That is correct."

"How do you know that they didn't realize what you did?"

"I have the recordings from the punishment session. It ends when the emergency alert occurred."

"Have you observed the recordings since we departed?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I wanted to see if I did it correctly."

"Are you planning on punishing me again?"

"Yes, if you desire it."

Ryan wasn't sure how to reply to that. Obviously, she was intimating that he might enjoy it, an assumption that was completely inaccurate.

"When will we be able to see the planet?"

Chara made a display of their course appear on the screen. It was obvious that she was linked to the ship's computer. "We have passed the vertex, but the Sun is still too bright to see anything."

"Any signs that they've seen us?"

"None that I can detect. I have intercepted a report that indicates that they believe you died in the mine explosion."

"That's good news, but it's difficult to know what they really thought."

Chara didn't reply. Ryan assumed that she was satisfied that they had escaped an unholy perdition unscathed.

The next day, Chara had two reports that would change everything.

"I have intercepted a report that Earth has suffered a severe CME event that destroyed much of the power grid and satellites."

"That should keep them out of our hair for quite some time."

"I have also managed to obtain a decent image of the planet."

Ryan tried to suppress his excitement, but it was nearly impossible. "Really!"

She displayed the image on the screen, and it showed a planet right where she had calculated it would be."

Ryan was flabbergasted. "Oh my God!" He turned to her. "You were right. I don't believe it, but there it is."

Chara didn't display any signs that she was excited. Evidently, she assumed that she was right and the evidence that it existed was correct, at least in her brain.

Ryan paused for several minutes before he said anything. He wanted to phrase his response so that it didn't upset her. "Surely you must realize that two planets orbiting in the same plane are in danger of colliding."

"Yes, but the reason this planet has not done that it because it is a precise match for Earth and the cycles of Jupiter and Saturn are perfectly aligned to maintain the stability."

"Okay, let's assume that's true. Why hasn't this amazing coexistence been discovered?"

"No one believes that it exists and therefore no one would sanction a search for its existence. The only way to observe it is from the outer planets, starting with Mars, but all the missions to there have been concerned with it, not what's beyond. Probes sent to the outer planets have only looked back towards Earth but not in a serious manner, mainly because any such view would have to deal with the Sun's brilliance."

Ryan decided to leave it there. He was handicapped when it came to debating with a computer.