Planet Nine Affair

Chapter 5. Homecoming

Chapter 5. Homecoming

When their ship obtained orbit around Earth, the human crew began the process of returning to Houston headquarters where they would be debriefed. That meant a shuttle trip to the surface. Tip took care of piloting the shuttle, but after the crew disembarked, he returned to the ship and remained on it as if it were his home.

Johnson Space Center looked much the same as the crew remembered. It consisted of a hundred buildings on 1620 acres of Houston, Texas. They were escorted to the Mission Control Center, and the first thing they encountered was that most of the staff consisted of androids, both male and female.

As expected, the crew had to undergo thorough physical exams, all done by android doctors. Once they were done with that, they met with George Stevens, the human head of NASA control. He had a male android as his assistant with the name 'Top' on his uniform. Stevens was a fifty four year old with short hair and a hint of a mustache.

"Glad to see that you survived the mission without any problems," George told them with no signs of emotion. "You will be taken to wherever you wish by your assigned assistants."

"Will we remain employed by NASA?" James asked him.

"Yes. You will be informed about any future mission. In the meantime, enjoy a needed vacation."

James realized that something had radically changed, but he elected to not push for any explanation of what had changed.

James, Leonard and Janice, along with their assigned android assistants, were escorted to a mobile personnel vehicle that resembled a bus. Each human had an android assistant consistent with their gender and ethnicity. His had the designation of Nat. Leonard's had the title of Tog, and Janice's was named Vis.

The android driver took them to James' sister's house on a trip that passed several mobile units moving along roads that looked more like they were made from metal instead of concrete.

The house resembled an apartment building with three stories. James noted that it had been upgraded with an attached one-story section.

The crew exited the mobile carrier with their assigned androids and walked up a sidewalk to the entrance where Marcia, James' sister, welcomed them, along with her android assistant that had the designation of Jaz. James and Marcia hugged, and he kissed her.

"I'm so happy to see you," Marcia told him, a tear running down her cheek. "I didn't know that you were still alive."

"I'm surprised that NASA didn't inform you about my status," he replied, shaking his head.

Her eyes looked down before she stared at him for a moment before replying. "We only know what they tell us." she replied, gesturing to Jaz, her android assistant.

"When did this android assistant concept occur?" James asked her.

"It started about ten years ago," She replied. "I'm not sure how it came about. Androids have been around for several years, but no one realized how extensively they had taken over."

"Are they ruling the country?"

"No, not in the usual sense. Politicians still make laws and control the governments, but they are regulated by their assistants."

"What about criminals and people with mental problems?"

"Crime has pretty much been eliminated. Mental health has been controlled."

"That sounds like utopia," James said.

She shrugged. "I suppose one could assume that, but it has resulted in a loss of artistic and scientific advancement."

James felt that it was not a good idea to discuss the situation, but he was determined to understand just how this android dominance movement happened and how it functioned.

In the meantime, he enjoyed sleeping in his own bed on a planet he was familiar with. He felt better now that he realized that his sister was still alive and didn't seem to be all that upset with the android situation.

He realized that there had to be someone or something that had created this takeover. It was not as he would have expected. The androids didn't appear to be a real threat, mostly because they acted as assistants, doing the cleaning and cooking as if they were butlers and personal caretakers. He needed more information to understand what appeared to be a very complex alteration of human society.

During breakfast, he began a casual questioning approach to understand what was happening. His sister, Leonard and Janice didn't seem to be as curious as he was. However, he still had to deal with his assistant and his sister's assistant.

"What have you been doing these days?" he casually asked his sister.

"I've been working as a teacher for Twelfth graders. All education is done remotely now, much of it by androids, I'm surprised that there are a few of us human teachers remaining."

"What about construction and maintenance jobs. Are they done by androids?"

"No. Androids function as assistants to humans. They act like helpers."

"How did they create enough assistants to assist every human?"

"I don't know. Evidently, they can make them continuously."

"They must have evolved a way to find all the materials they require. It would be a major operation to produce the technology needed for such a complicated process."

She shrugged.

James sensed a reluctance on her part to offer an explanation.

Leonard and Janice arrived along with their assistants, who helped James' and his sister's assistants to serve them breakfast cereal along with coffee. James didn't know what they thought about their assistants. He assumed that they were not as concerned about it.

He offered them a weak smile. "I trust that all of you had a good sleep."

"I enjoyed sleeping in a comfortable bed on an actual planet," Leonard said with a casual grin.

"I love being able to look out of a window and see trees and grass," Janice told him. "What about you?"

James smiled. "I enjoyed it. There's no place like home."

They smiled at his colloquial expression.

At his point, James realized that it wasn't going to be easy to discover how this major social tech alteration had occurred. He needed a better scheme to find the truth, one that wouldn't involve so many listening ears.