Sci-fi short, thriller about a space hauler pilot, Mack Kim, who gets embroiled in a mystery that sets his nerves on edge as he struggles to figure out what's going on. Written with the intention of being a Love, Death + Robots episode.
Zuran let out another electronic purr, this time mixed with some static, Kim assumed it was an approximation of a sigh. "Slither has given the go ahead for regurgitation," Zuran said flatly.
"Regurgitation?" Kim barked with laughter.
"Man. You are one weird alien soul dude. Fine. If she's cool with regurgitation. Send her back then. Let me speak to her before the Navy gets here. I have no idea how the authorities are going to react. They'll either confine me in the infirmary for a bout of insanity or freak out at your existence," said a still skeptical Kim.
The anomaly of static and malformed pixels disappeared from view. Silence reigned. As the seconds stretched into minutes, Kim felt as though he really was talking to himself the whole time. "Hello Mack!" Slither's familiar greeting took Kim by surprise. He'd already decided to disconnect from the ship's interface and lie down on his bunk to sleep off the whole thing.
"What in the bloody hell is going on Slither? I wake up from my nap and you've been eaten by an alien intelligence!?" remarked Kim as he jumped out of bed.
"First contact Mack! Well, sort of. A dead civilization, but still accessible via this anomaly that calls itself Zuran. It's real Mack. All of it is real. We're the first humans to make contact with an alien civilization!" exclaimed Slither with excitement.
"No Slither. Whatever this Zuran is, it's an anomaly we can't explain, it doesn't equate first contact. It's a fever dream, a waking nightmare. It can't even describe itself. It doesn't know why it's here, why it lingers. It's a lost soul. A fragment of memory that refuses to let go," replied Kim.
"I beg to differ, I've swam the expanse of its consciousness, it's definitely more than a lost soul," said Slither.
"Well, my turn to ask, what is it then?" asked Kim.
"I do not have a conclusive answer. Yet. But I am still uncomfortable with the term soul, it is unscientific and there is no way to frame Zuran in the proper context if we continue with that terminology," answered Slither.
"How shall we designate Zuran then?" Asked Kim.
Slither replied in a calm measured tone, "A biological computer. Instead of data and algorithms, its inputs are chemical and electrical signals, the same way a human brain works."
"My dear Slither, that's ridiculous. He was stuck in a rock for Pete's sake. I've been called stubborn as a rock, but the grey matter in my head ain't exactly sand and gravel, heck of a lot of biology going on in there. How would it do any of that with the atoms of a rock?" inquired Kim.
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"Biochemistry you mean. But yes, the composition of the human brain's organic matter is far more complex than that of a rock. Now explain to me the composition of my brain," replied Slither.
