Star Fields

Chapter No. 110 Gathering.

Part 12 New Beginning.

Synopsis: Jason is now the Prime Mover of the android collective and is responsible for over 1.5 million androids, both human and non-human based. His major problem is a proto-human based android by the name of Tyco who is trying to destroy him to take over his collective.

There are 31 human-based androids.
Jason Star is the prime mover. He is an engineer.
Molly Fields is his partner from the beginning and is an astrophysicist.
Marie Star is Jason's former wife. She is an accomplished astronaut.
Margaret Foster is a planetary astronomer.
Alexa Williams is an exo-biologist.
Alicia Hunter is Jason and Marie's daughter and a Health expert.
Alex Star is Jason and Maire's son and also an engineer.
Vincent Fields is Molly's brother.
Victoria Knight is an exo-archeologist.
Bernard Wilson is a former Space Command member.
Valery Star is Jason's sister.
New males include: Frank, Evan, Louis, Marty, Conner, and Dale. These were science techs in their former lives.
The twenty new female human androids include: Angelina, Rebecca, Olive, Norma, Tiana, Octavia, Uma, Monica, Melisa, Marion, Phyllis, Sabrina, Vera, Tish, Sashi, Monique, Meagan, Mary, Martha, and Nicole. All of them worked for Space Command in various roles.

Tiana is a Native American, Uma is Indian, and Sashi is an African American like Alexa.

Chapter No. 110 Gathering.

The road to peace is paved with war.

The first assembly of the human androids occurred in my quarters at the communal supper time.

"Welcome to the communal supper, which in this case is more like a banquet now that there are so many of you. We gather like this every day at 1700 hours as a reminder that we are forever linked to our human roots." I smiled. "I usually prepare this ritual meal, but with so many, I must rely on android help." I gestured to them. "This is Alice, Ellen, Betsy and Ben, my assistants. They're actually better chefs than I am."

They laughed.

"Enjoy your meal and fine wine. We will then go to my living area so that we may discuss things."

I sat down between Molly and Marie and took a sip of wine before digging into my steak and mashed potatoes.

"I kind of miss our more intimate suppers," Molly said. "This is more like a wedding banquet."

"Actually, I think it's a good thing that we have more human based androids in our collective. It promotes the recollections of our human past."

"The problem is that I never thought of myself as being an android from the very instant I woke up out of stasis."

"Yes, I know what you mean. We thought that we had been spared being murdered because the androids injected the nanobot agents into our blood streams. Boy, were we wrong!"

"That's for sure," she said. "We should have known better when we looked at ourselves in a mirror. We looked twenty years younger. What were we thinking?"

"I suppose it was just that we were glad to be alive and forgot about the aging that had taken place."

"Well, I'm satisfied that we were resurrected as androids," she said. "I was able to fulfill my desire to give birth, thanks to you."

I smiled. "I understand."

"You two were lucky," Marie said. "You were murdered while you were in stasis. I remember being murdered."

"That would have been horrible," Molly said.

"I can't even imagine that," I said.

The thought of it would ruin anyone's supper, so we just finished eating before moving into my living area.

Both my dining and living areas had been enlarged to accommodate the new additions to our collective. The recessed lounge had been made into a Cassinian oval shape with a b = 1.4a ratio. This allowed us to see each other for a communal discussion.

"As you must all know by now, I've been given the status of Prime Mover of our android collective. I'm sure you've been filled in about my style of leadership, which is more casual and dependent upon your good judgement. We don't have brigs on this vessel, and we don't punish. I rely on your dedication to our common goal, which is the preservation of both biological and artificial life in the universe. The androids have created a large research area on the engineering deck so that you can work out technical problems to enable us to better communicate with aliens and search for intelligent life. I won't impose a work schedule on you. I think that you should do that yourself. I also anticipate that you will engage in physical activities on the recreational deck. There are many opportunities there, including a swimming pool, which is equivalent to a water park. However, I must warn you that there are no swimming suits in your wardrobes."

They laughed.

"What responsibilities do we each have?" Angelina asked.

"I haven't worked that out yet . . . "

"We have, Jason," Alice said.

We all focused our attention on her.

"We have reconfigured the command deck to accommodate the new assignments. You will be the Captain and will sit in a seat behind the navigation section. Alexa will sit next to you. She is your First Officer. Molly will sit next to Judy. She will be the Science Officer. Marie will sit next to her and be the Operations Officer. Alex will take over your Engineering station. Margaret will be the Navigator. Alicia will serve as Communications Officer. Victoria will assist Molly, and Vincent will help Alex. We have established a list of the responsibilities for the others. The list is accessible on your workstations."

"Why wasn't I involved in these assignments?" I asked.

"You are responsible for saving us, Jason. We will take care of the administrative details."

"I don't quite understand this. It appears that I've been manipulated from the very beginning of this disastrous Phoenix Project. You have been derelict in allowing this Tyco to take over our collective and nearly destroy us. I can no longer trust you. I will close this collective down if I don't have a full accounting of what's going on here."

Suddenly, the room fell silent. No one was moving. The collective was trying like hell to shut me down, but I was able to resist all attempts.

"I don't think you understand what you're dealing with here," I said after standing right in front of Alice. "Are you Tyco's avatar?"

I saw a tear form in her eye and slowly fall down over her cheek. I realized that she was not an avatar. However, I still sensed the presence of an avatar in the collective. The problem I faced was trying to determine who it was.

But I had a premonition that it was one of the human androids. In fact, I suspected that it was not a true avatar, but rather a possession. But who was it?

My only solution was to take control of the central core. That would allow me to sense where Tyco's digital presence was. After some processing, I found that it was in Barney. Now I had to do a digital exorcism, and the demon that was possessing him was not going to leave without a fight.

Barney stood up straight and began to shake violently. The demon was about to tear him up. I used my powers to confuse it by starting and stopping time in short microsecond intervals. After several violent cycles, I managed to purge the demon coding. Barney plopped back down into his seat as if nothing had happened.

When I started the central core back up, I smiled at Alice and kissed her. "Thank you." Then I sat down.

"What the hell was that all about?" Molly asked.

"Tyco's digital presence had possessed one of us. I had to do an exorcism."

"On whom?"

"Barney."

She looked over at him, but he just smiled back at her.

Alice looked at me. "If you wish, you may edit our assignments, Jason."

"No, I think they're just fine. Thank you, my dear. You may make the rules and regulations. I'm not good at administrative tasks."

She smiled.