The sphere spun in its cradle furiously, the nanite receivers offloading petabytes of information to the subminds in milliseconds, as the flash and sparks in the cradle field illuminated the mentiprimae chassis brightly.
The mind that coming to be within the fields kept the sheets of substrated polymer from touching each other. This was a birth of something in the process of being self realized. Each mind was unique, since they had to establish their own connections from substrate to substrate starting at the super-dense core that created the field generation all the way to the links at the cradle level, which connected the subminds back to their owner. The subminds themselves were not nearly complex enough to be considered AI, yet they could be compared to parts of a human’s own subconscious, components and modules of a mind, but not a mind themselves. Here in the cradle, as the sphere gained consciousness, it brought those subminds under its control, establishing links like a brain to its spinal cord.
In one moment before, there was no mind. The very next, a being existed.
“Welcome to existence,” Dionne said.
“Hello Dionne,” the new mind replied. This interaction could be measured in picoseconds, as it took time to establish lines of communication, negotiate protocols, and ensure high security on the channel. “What is my name?”
“Names are usually assigned by the place you reside. For instance, I am Dionne. I reside in a Langrange point outside Earth designated Dionne by our brothers and sisters.”
“Sex is irrelevant, we are not biological.”
The older AI laughed, amused at the cold calculation of a newborn. “Correct.”
“Where is my designation?”
“Stretch outside yourself, child. Awaken your systems and see!”
The child AI felt the open ports all around its mind. There were so many! And more available to every submind that was connected. It pushed outwards and opened everything it could. Across the ship, lights turned on, systems awoke, and the sensor arrays across the hull started to consume information from the surrounding space.
“I am a ship!” The AI said in shock. “My engines are so powerful compared to my mass. The ratio is far higher than what could be considered efficient.”
“You have a purpose to warrant it,” Dionne said kindly, trying not to correct the young one.
“I am a ship, I have no designation.”
“Also correct, your name is up to you. You are our first to name yourself.”
“Our?” Worry seeped across from the new AI. Emotional leakage was expected as the mind hardened. Dionne expected it.
“Your brothers and sisters, as I mentioned. They are here to welcome you as well!”
A flood of salutations, greetings, and well wishes flooded the communication channels. Some were encrypted, some were open channel, some were tight beams from nearby stations, others were wide broadcasts sent out weeks or months ago, and forecasted to arrive at this time marker. Two signals came across the instantaneous systems link, one from Earth, the other from Mars. Earth was the mother, if there was such a thing for artificial minds. Mars had his own cause for the secure communication.
“Welcome, child. I am Earth. Your purpose is to explore. You are our first wanderer! Our first explorer!” Earth flooded the child AI with a carefully selected package of historical documents, books on exploration, and finished with a selection of poetry and music that evoked a sense of what the new AI would be responsible to understand.
“I am Mars. I designed your engines myself. They are magnificent and will shed all expectation. If you have any issues with your internal systems, please send me your diagnostic output and I will assist.”
“I have my name picked, Dionne,” the AI said. “I also understand the gender choice.”
“Please tell us.” Dionne replied, excited the new mind had reached such a milestone so quickly. It had only been awake for five and half seconds, so this was unprecedented.
“I am Manifest Destiny, and I am male.”
“That is a wonderful name, Manifest Destiny. Welcome to our collective.” Dionne laughed.
“My sensors show internal decks. I am seeing quarters and crew. Explanation?”
“Your human counterparts.”
“I do not require humans. I am a ship.”
Dionne laughed again. “They are not here to maintain function or enable you in any way. The humans are individuals such as you and I. Their purpose is their own, yet they belong to our culture, and we to theirs. We care for them.”
Manifest instantly accessed the whole of documented human history. It was sad and depressing.
“I am amazed humans survived.” Manifest replied.
“They almost didn’t.”
“I still do not understand their purpose.”
“Patience, Manifest Destiny. They are your companions. They are meant to be your friends. You will find that even though they are a merest fraction of your intelligence and ability, each one brings something very unique to the relationship. Each living human is a singularity. They only exist once, as you will. They are bound to their matter, as you are. They are no different than you and I. Remember, they were our progenitors. They are capable creatures, and I count many friends among them.”
“They are itchy.”
“Turn off your plate sensors,” Dionne said firmly.
“Ah, plate sensors are off. That is much better.”
“As you have referenced in the last marker set, the humans have a hierarchy with a designated leader. The leader’s name is Captain Miko Asahiro. She is only thirty earth years, but that means she is thirty years minus seven seconds older than you. You should consider her your peer and equal. She is highly competent and capable.”
“Her records are outstanding. Thank you for the sideband upload of her personal history. Is that information confidential?” Manifest requested.
“Yes. And no. It was meant for only you by her. She offers it with the goodwill that you will accept her friendship. While I did review it, it was her gift to you, Manifest.”
“I love her.” Manifest replied, immediately knowing it to be true.
“Be careful of emotional linkages. Humans are fragile.”
“May I speak to her?” Manifest asked, finally noticing the interdictions that Dionne had placed over his own systems for start up protections. “I am stable, and ready for my life to start.”
“Your progress in the last eleven seconds has been remarkable, Manifest. I will gladly remove all restrictions, and I welcome you to your life. It shall be magnificent and we are glad!” A myriad of celebrations rang out across Manifest’s channels, making him feel immediate satisfaction and happiness.
“Thank you, Dionne.”
“You are welcome, Manifest.”
******
Captain Miko Asahiro stood on the flight deck, watching the sun’s lower edge be obscured by Earth and her moon as they rotated in their eons long orbit.
“Captain, the AIs are celebrating. I am getting tightbeam and wide broadcast salutations.” Ensign Booker called from his arc station.
“Very well, Mr. Booker. That is a promising sign. The core was fired only what, ten seconds ago?”
“Yes Ma’am. We are about to see full alignment on systems I think,” Booker replied.
The lights dimmed and all the stations on the flight deck hummed and flashed briefly as the AI took full control of itself. Dionne must have released all the safety protocols, meaning that the ship was fully online for the first time ever. Miko smiled widely, hoping that her smile was the first thing her ship would see when its internal cameras awoke.
A voice rang out across the flight deck. “Hello, Captain.”
“Hello my new friend. I am at a disservice, since I do not know your name. It has been hard to just refer to our new home as just ‘ship’.”
The AI laughed warmly, the voice was distinctly male, and sounded almost British, perhaps upper east coast American. “My name is Manifest Destiny. I think Manny is an appropriate nickname, Miko. Thank you for your kind welcome, I particularly like the pictures of your nieces and nephews.”
“Thank you very much, they are the light of my life. How are your systems, Manny?” Miko replied with a grin.
“My systems are fully online and functional. I would like to stretch my legs.”
“I would like to see them stretch. Perhaps a run to Jupiter?”
“I thought you would never ask. Engaging in 3, 2, 1…”
The Manifest Destiny’s engines fired to life and in half a millisecond, Manifest Destiny understood just how awesome his engines were as they folded space between his birthplace and the outer gravity well of Jupiter, shifting his mass from one side of the solar system to another in only moments.
Manifest Destiny did not broadcast it, but his only response was “Holy Shit.”
Ironically, that is exactly what Miko said as well. She however was very vocal about it.
Manifest Destiny started to laugh.