“Captain to the bridge!” Kael called out, his voice rising playfully as the bridge doors swept open. Aric walked in—this time on his feet. The magnetic shoes Dr. Avaris had given him clicked softly against the deck. But the scene of him standing initially still shocked everyone as they stared at him in silence.

  “What?” He called out, and immediately everyone turned their face back to either their console or the main viewport mounted on the frontal axis of the bridge.

  “Where’s Melanie?” Aric asked as he scanned the room. There was Kael present, but Melanie’s small frame was nowhere to be seen.

  Kael sighed, “She wants to sleep for a bit, on the journey we did not had the luxury of a proper rest, unfortunately.”

  “Captain,” Soren reported, eyes flicking across the scrolling data on her display. “We have reached the closest deep space satellite, at about 9% the speed of light, we should be able to reach it within the following eleven minutes.”

  Aric noted to every word, but as Soren stopped he only felt confusion. He sat down on the captain’s chair, strapped the seatbelt around his chest, hips and legs before letting out a small breath as he stared at the reticule shown in the viewport.

  “So, what was the anomaly?” He asked cautiously. But instead of a response, he saw Soren pressing down a button on her console and let out a soft grunt, the one that slips out during a failed attempt to hold a laughter within.

  “The target appears undamaged under telescopic observation.” A feminine robotic voice echoed in the bridge from the ceiling and the floor, clear yet mildly organic. “It is possible that its 2100s-produced antenna disk or relating subsystems have been damaged by micro-meteors, though reasonably unlikely.” The voice then paused as Aric swung his head, inspecting every corner of the bridge that might have hid a speaker.

  He then slowly turned his head back and asked, eyes shifting from one end to the other. “Am I the only one who heard it, or?”

  “It’s IRIS (Informational Revolutionary Intelligence System)” Soren finally turned around and explained cheerily. Clarke and Kael also shared a small laughter caught up in their throat. “Jax just told me he installed the latest computerization for deep-space explorers, thanks to Professor Locke. I was petrified by the amount of data me and some older, simpler bots would need to manage.”

  She then clapped her hands above her head and said. “Hey IRIS,”

  “Good evening, Soren Lee, how can I assist you onboard the Odyssera?” The feminine voice returned, echoing off the walls into his eardrums.

  “See?” She then turned back to face the console.

  Clarke scoffed, resting his chin onto his hand, eyeing off Anomie-17. “Now the isolationist are even less needed for this mission.” He raised his tone slightly. “Isn’t so?”

  Anomie-17 stayed silent, as usual, for perhaps ages in computer years, while seconds in ours. Then he use the same mechanical, dry tone in response he’d given throughout. “The program you’re describing does not show evidence of conscious thinking. I am capable of decision making outside of my…”

  On the corner of Aric’s eye, he saw Mira turning around and stared into the dark abyss of Anomie’s uncharged chestplate-screen. Only for Clarke to cut in.

  “Says a robot with even drier tone,” Clarke followed immediately. “Following your logic, IRIS is forged in numbers and copper, shouldn’t she have a soul too?”

  “Alright cut it out,” Soren said decisively.

  “Clarke, let me hear the situation out,” Aric rubbed his eyes and forehead. “Anomie is part of our crew too, though a surprised one, but still, we should treat him the way we treat everyone else.”

  Soren again swept her finger over the screen of the console, after a few motions of sliding, a tab opened on the viewport, projecting her screen. On it was a generated 3D, pages long description of the satellite observed by the ship’s telescope from afar, still five minutes away. On it she highlights a diagram full of subsystems, listed one by one like an infinite shelf full of boxes of important info, then she found one and magnifies the model and its description.

  “So, you mean it was simply powered off for whatever reasons?” Aric asked as he frowned upon the still-tiny letters. Soren stopped the presentation and typed some things into her screen.

  “That is only an estimation by IRIS, for proper diagnosis I need farther observations.” She explained patiently.

  “I thought they were destroyed,” Kael muttered. “That’s what they published on the news.”

  Clarke eyed off Aric.

  “Should I target quantum variators on it?” He asked in a tone more similar to that of a joke.

  Aric did return with a somewhat forced laugh. “Of course not,”

  “Captain, I believe the Challenger has made contact with this satellite, hours ago and likely retrieved one of the other satellites.” Mira turned and reported with a rather innocent face. “I intercepted no transmission, even encrypted one from the last hour, but I did found traces of quantum-radio decay in the threadwork space nearby from earlier.”

  Aric let out a sigh of frustration as he tightened his fist and softly clenched his teeth. “So we are still late.”

  “Being late does not undermine the vitality and benefit of a clearer analysis of the resources we have in hand.” Anomie suddenly spoke, the bridge instantly fell into silence as all stared at his motionless robotic body, all except Clarke. “Since we are already behind, and the experimental threadwork travel is out of the question temporarily, it would be a wise choice to initiate a sharper observation to the condition of the satellite.” Seeing this, Mira let out a small smile.

  The bridge again froze in silence.

  “That is indeed a wise idea,” Aric nodded. “Tell Jax and his men to have the probe arms ready.” He stood up.

  In the viewport, the silhouette of the satellite began to reveal itself as Soren slowly reduced the ship’s velocity. The satellite is one of those of older design, of early 22-century types, advanced carbon-steel alloyed framework, its length matching that of a small resident house, covered with silver white radar disks and black-lined grids. On every dimension, bundles of long, thin, almost fragile-looking antennas jutted outward like metal grass on a frozen block of mud.

  “Approaching relative velocity-zero within 30 seconds,” Soren reported, eyes locked onto every digit of her console. The ship had been gradually slowing down over the last twenty minutes, but at the moment still knocked Aric almost out of balance once again. He’d be flying towards the back of Soren’s chair if not of the magnetized shoes. Should have kept my seat belt on, he thought.

  “Retracting all cooling-panels, releasing grappler-pods.” As she enters a series of codes. A notification came from the hanger-bay crew, likely consisting of no more than seven guys, reported about the order being carried out.

  Outside of the ship, in the bottom of the hanger bay lays two linear storage of individual sphere-shaped probes. As the vessel approached the satellite, the ship’s relative velocity to it became zero as she stops and maintains her angle of flight so that the probes could carry the objective safely into the hanger bay.

  The large, shielded doors of the hanger bay slowly opened. At the same time a layer of translucent white space-bubble generated by the modular grids on every dimension of the rectangular structure begin covering the entrance. Releasing a lattice of super-light artificial particles that bounced in precise, predictable lines. Their tight formation preserves air particles, meanwhile blocking out the harshness of space, of its wrathful radiation, deathly pressure and unpredictable temperature.

  “When did we have particle-shielded walls?” Aric frowned.

  Kael grunted. “When I had to come in, my jet have to be super careful to not crash through the isolation walls, and gosh it was a minute to get the hanger doors closed and five minutes for simply deliver us oxygen.”

  “It is a thing Jax had been experimenting with, it worked on his station.” Soren winked. “But we still managed to keep the section isolated and prepared for depressurization and oxidation once the hanger bay door closes.” She winked. “Just in case.”

  “I guess I am not the only one with imaginations.” Aric chuckled as their eyes returned to the viewport screen.

  With a sound of hiss that can be heard throughout the ship, two probes were released of their position, controlled entirely by IRIS’s system, while under the supervision of the hanger crew and the bridge crew via the micro-cameras mounted on it. The probes slowly approached the satellite, though they looked still like leaves on a tideless pond, yet they were moving at several kilometres per second, and any miscalculated impulse and contact made by the probe could severely damage the satellite or itself, if not both.

  “Polarize that section of the hull, Mr Petrov,” Aric called out, strangely formally for a guy like him that for a second Clarke just stared at him instead of following his orders directly. “Just in case any unwanted fractures came crashing in.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Alright,” he said as he applied the corresponding command option. “Hull polarization complete.”

  “Melanie gonna miss the show,” Kael mumbled.

  While the bridge crew held their breath, the probes stopped on either side of the satellite, perfectly parallel to each other. Then each extended three delicate mechanical arms, grabbing gently onto the framework of the satellite’s outer shell, then attaching a wire, that connects the satellite to the hanger bay’s doors perpendicularly.

  “The bars on the frame had inward curvatures, Challenger probably have taken it in for a brief examination as well.” Mira said slowly as she watches the viewport carefully.

  “If they did, given the limited time they likely only roughly scanned the objective.” Anomie once again spoke, but this time the crew isn’t as surprised. Maybe it is a good thing now that he is no longer, an anomie.

  Slowly, to the point that each breath are counted, and the sound of their hearts beating are the only noise they could hear outside of the mechanical hums. The probes successfully dragged the satellite carefully into the hanger bay.

  “Alright then,” Aric announced as his chest finally fell from the holding of his breath. He then pressed down a few buttons on his chair as a channel is opened to the engineering. “Jax?” He called out.

  “Yes sir!” His voice responded, but this time the background was a lot quieter, only the relatively louder hum of machines, no longer exploding pipes or leaking gases or micro-explosions within tanks of whatever. “I shall meet you in the hanger bay in the next five minutes.” With that he hanged up without even a casual log out format.

  Aric felt speechless for a second as he just sat there, body frozen.

  “It's okay, he’s always like that.” Soren smiled and stood up. “I want to take a look too, IRIS, resume course at 10% the speed of light.”

  The blue light in the room suddenly brightened then dimmed. Following IRIS’s voice response: “Understood, have a great observation with Mr Cheng, Ms Lee.”

  Aric returned a smile as he stood up and glanced across the bridge.

  “Kael, Clarke, I am leaving the bridge command to you two then?”

  “Sure.”

  — Hanger Bay

  By the time Soren and Aric arrived down the series of vertical and horizontal elevators, Jax and Dr. Avaris had already been standing in front of the motionless satellite; laying almost as long as a one-fourth of the hanger bay, with its furthest antenna stretching near the edge of the bay’s starboard wall. Jax and a few of his men, in radiation-protection suit, was carefully measuring its dimensions and neatly identifying each delicate component from a century-old manual document. Meanwhile Dr. Avaris held out a small hand-held device, as if scanning the satellite without contact.

  “Doctor,” Aric called out. Avaris turned around and nodded at him.

  “Captain, the radiation reading is still incomplete, I’d strongly advise you to put on your protective suite before proceeding.” She said patiently. “That is unless you want to risk losing your chromosomes.”

  Suddenly Soren opened a compartment on the wall as a drawer slid open, inside was a few white ones and a few blue ones with helmets of corresponding colours, then she tossed the first white one to Aric before quickly putting another on herself. Seeing her efficiency and Dr. Avaris’s still-waiting, serious face, Aric swiftly obeyed and zipped the space suit together.

  “What are the blue ones?” He asked.

  “Made of smart-material, adaptive to different radiations and bio-chemical hazards.” Dr. Avaris explained patiently, like a teacher explaining a concept to a student. “The same material of my Aegis. There’s one in your room now too.” She gestured at him by a tilt of head. “We might want avoid rubbing on it too much unless we absolutely need it.”

  Soren then approached Jax and begin discussing the satellite’s situation.

  “So…what is wrong?” She asked as she looked into Jax’s analysis page.

  Jax, for once, did not have his face covered in colourful staining chemicals but relatively clean and washed, even his hair is brushed. For the first time could Aric get a clear view of his face. He wore one of the orange-coloured suit, likely ones kept in the engineering, on the shoulder is a fabric tag of his name: Jax Cheng.

  “Well, the antenna array did endure several micro-meteor impacts, but not to the point of malfunction yet, the outer hull is barely scratched.” He explained cautiously as he moved around the satellite, inspecting it again with his naked eyes from all angles. He then gestured towards another men in suit as he returned with a small shook of his head. “Yeah, the main power is still relatively full.” He let out a tsk. “It could have shut itself down, for whatever reasons.”

  Aric approached him and also took a peak at the still-updating analysis by IRIS’s system and his observations in his hand.

  “I am not a history tech nerd,” he muttered. “But I believe the satellites of the past two hundred years are programmed to stay powered-up, unless they are out of power which is clearly not the case here.”

  “Well you are…technically wrong, old men.” Jax grinned. “Ones manufactured during the 21st century, yes. But late-22nd century ones are programmed to shut off if it certain vital subsystems are damaged and risk sending back false informations.”

  “That we have to dissect it open and take a closer look.” Another men in orange suit added sternly. His eyes remain locked on the satellite itself, specifically in the connective section in the middle.

  Suddenly the device held on Dr. Avaris’s hand let out a sharp beep. She immediately swung it around the satellite and approached two steps closer, let it scan every compartment. As it approaches the middle section the rate of beeping increased rapidly.

  “What is it?” The three quickly ran towards her and stood behind her. On her display screen, clusters and clusters of green dots begin forming, concentrated on the middle section, the heart of the satellite. On the side is a rotating circle consisting of smaller circles, with the word “processing” beneath.

  “I’m detecting biological signals from…the inside.” She muttered, her eyes squinted and her face tensed. Then she turned to asked Jax. “Were they known to place living organisms inside of satellites?”

  Jax quickly shook his head.

  “Nope, there shouldn’t be any. At least none by intention.” He responded rapidly.

  “What section is this?” She asked, taking another series of steps closer, now forehead merely inches away from the bronze metal frame.

  Jax scratched the back of his head, though only thing he managed to scratch was his helmet. “This…is supposed to be the where the blackbox is,” he paused for a second, “and other important electronics responsible for storing informations gathered throughout its journey. It also should demand the most energy from its power core.”

  Avaris then requested the part to be carefully opened. And as Jax’s brothers slowly unscrewed the sections’s plating, climbed inside with caution, and retrieved the blackbox. It was only as big as a small-scale railgun round, rectangular-shaped, could be easily mistaken for a battery at first glance. Though considerably heavy for its size, that Tax and Fax had to attach magnetic rails in the air for the box to be slowly levitating out without risking applying extreme force on the fragile artifact.

  “I don’t see anything, living.” Jax chirped, folding his arms before his chest. “However I could offer a free repair for your sensor device, only if you wish though.”

  But she did not answer, only held it carefully in her hand and pulled out a small needle-liked device and brushed against its surface.

  “It could be microscopic.” Soren added, eyes fixed on Avaris’s procedure “Could be tardigrades, they are known to survive in space, but for decades?”

  “You mean water bears?” Jax and Aric said simultaneously.

  “She meant Deinococcus radiodurans, all other names are considered…imprecise.” Dr. Avaris stood up and faced them, raised her chin slightly and stared at their faces, a face full of skepticism and a glimpse of her pride, like a professor lecturing some students. But she seems to have realized that, as she quickly lowered her face and kept on working.

  She then stored the gathered sample in a small box before putting it inside a larger box, then inside another. Carefully pressing down each lock.

  “Are you suggesting this microorganism is the reason the satellite lost signal?” Soren asked patiently.

  “That I do not know yet, not what it is, not when it was on the satellite, and why.” Avaris responded slowly. “I have to take a closer examination in my lab to determine its species or perhaps mutants and from there find its connection to the mechanical error, if any.” She nodded at them before heading towards the exit doors.

  “So…the satellites disconnection might have nothing to do with alien species? Nothing to do with the prime number signal and the dark matter thing?” Tax muttered. He looked almost identical to Jax, except having a smaller frame and slightly more youthful skin.

  “It is…possible.” Jax added, now looking at Soren and Aric. “We wasted our time for a simple mechanical error.”

  “We still broke the fastest travel record, that’s something along the way,” Soren said with some enthusiasm in her voice.

  Aric took a step forward, right in-between the two as his face remained tense, looking at the satellite still.

  “There might be correlations.” He said, with a low tone and moderate pace. “No Earth-born organism should be able to survive this long, perhaps some sort of extraterrestrial species always existed but we just couldn’t see them with our eyes.”

  “Otherworldly cold, I did catch that weeks before we launched.” Jax let out a small laugh as he turned away and swung his hand in the air above his head with his index finger sticking out. He then whistled. “Alright boys, get back to work, let's examining it.” He did a swift turn by his heel and pointed at a worker behind the satellite. “Connect IRIS to its system, let her run an internal diagnosis.”

  “Sure thing,” the worker responded.

  As they made their way back through the dimly lit hallway, Aric felt an overwhelming exhaustion rising from within his head and within his heart. So much so that he’s eyes closed for much of the journey and his head almost hit the surroundings many times if not of Soren’s intervention. He then asked Soren if she was tired, of course she was.

  “Let’s leave the ship to IRIS and…who else might be good on shift?” He asked.

  “Well, Clarke is known for an ultra-caffeine monster on Pluto II. But I doubt even him could last this long without sleep.”

  “Kael probably already slept on his console.” Aric muttered, now his eyelids felt as heavy as the weight of a car being compressed paper-thin and duct-taped onto his head. “What are the odds of us hitting an astroid?”

  Instead of an instant response like usual, Soren first took a big yawn and stretched her arms and legs in low-G hall. “Practically zero,” she said, already yawning again. “There could be millions but, space is vast, and we are tiny.”

  She yawns again. “And the reactor in the hallow ring provides a constant small burst of energy too, it repels small debris. Maybe we can trust technology, just for a few hours?”

  “I guess the sleep tube could shorten our effective rest to two hours or so.”

  “Well, let’s hope the same mechanical error on the satellite doesn't happen to us tonight.” She chuckled as both of them stepped into the elevator.

  “Hey IRIS!” Aric called out, and the computer responded.

  “At your command, sir.” Her robotic voice echoed in the elevator as it begin moving horizontally before shifting vertically. “I have proceeded with current velocity and will continue our journey. All things can make a mistake, but given the limited time without supervision and the emptiness of open space. The chances of errors are statistically insignificant.”

  “How did she know we were talking about it?” Aric asked, his voice blurred slightly, now that he had to rest his head onto the cold metal walls of the elevator just to keep it up.

  IRIS’s slow voice responded. “I am capable of predicting your idea based off your action. Your biological signals can be concluded: you lack the season of all natures, sleep. Crew efficiency would improve with immediate sleep.”

  “Incredible machine.” He chuckled, eyes already closed. Beside him Soren’s breathing blurred out as well. She might begin sleep walking soon.