That God-forsaken light... Every single time they wake me up they shine that stupid light in my eyes.
"RD-17, new assignment, wake up"
I open my eyes, or at least I try to.
I'm in the hibernation tube, it looks almost like an MRI from the inside, I can feel all of my artificial muscles being charged one by one. It's like a electrical pulse going slowly through my body, it's strangely nice.
"Please turn off the light", My voice is cold and mechanical.
They obeyed and the light was turned off. I pressed the button that just above my head and it's light turned on. The flat surface I was lying on slid out of the tube and I saw the man who called me from outside. I look at the tube I came out of, the outside is more cubed, it is also stacked underneath more of these tubes. They all have labels on, RD-1, RD-2 and so on. RD stands for research drone.
"Welcome back", he said whilst scanning me. "Can you tell me your name and the time you were commissioned"
"My name is RD-17, I was commissioned on the 17th Guel 8004"
The man nodded, he also noted something down. I think this man is here to check everything is functioning within me, almost a doctor for conscious drones, but he is probably more practiced in engineering and robotics than medicine and anatomy, but you never know...
He asked me to follow him, and I did. But part of me for some reason didn't want to.
He guided me through corridors and doors, walking past rooms with closed doors, but some were open. I sometimes glanced towards the rooms, seeing all these different people laughing, having meetings, working.
It made me feel uneasy, but I didn't know why.
We came to the room the man was leading me to. The room was brightly lit, with white painted walls and a long table right in the middle, it was impressive how "in the middle" this table was. It felt like someone had made the table just for this room. But knowing the people that run this ship, it wouldn't surprise me. 15 people sat around this long table. They weren't talking, they were barely moving. To anybody who didn't know what these people were like, it would scare them.
"Hello RD-17, we have a new assignment for you" said a woman sitting on the right side of the table. She looked stern, but oddly friendly.
"I gathered"
The woman smiled at me, I smiled back. I don't really know why people do this.
A man at the top of the table pressed a button, a hologram appeared in front of me with the planet and species information.Number of species- unknown
Planet type- terrestrial
Atmosphere- yes
Drinkable water- yes
Vegetation- yes
Hours in a day- 24
Days in a month- variable
Days in a year- 365 or 366
Months in a year- 12
Advanced species (biologically)- yes, unknown amount
Advanced species (culturally or intellectually)- yes, species known as humans"There is much, much more information available but this is all you will need" said the man at the top of the table. "We want you to investigate this planet, and the majority of the different species. Especially the humans, they seem to have a form of intelligence. Although we have detected damage to vegetation, the atmosphere and the water, so whatever intelligence they have, it is basic".
"What is this planet called?" I ask no one in particular.
"The humans call it Earth".
YOU ARE READING
To Be Human
Science FictionI am a research drone designed to research undiscovered planets and life forms. As you are a human, you can probably guess what my next assignment is.