The Technologies of God- A Serial Micro-Fiction 23/24

“Are you ready to sleep, Mr. Crick?” she says with eyes closed.

I float into the large room that is filled with glowing glass pods. The array of symmetrical structures gives me the impression of being inside a large beehive.

“Who are you?” I say.

“You don't recognize me because of my new body and personality matrix,” she says floating down from one of the pods.

“You’re not- her,“ I stammer.

Why not? Why couldn’t she be Tattiana? As an android, she could inhabit any body she wished. Any gender, race, age...

“Is this another one of your little psychological experiments?" I say, trying to get a hold of the rungs along the wall to stop my trajectory. "I’ve traveled across the solar system to find you, and that’s all you have to say to me? Do I want to sleep?”

She spins in place, her long hair flowing in the ethereal medium of micro-gravity.

“It is a pleasure to see you again,” she says.

“I’m sure it is. You and I have a lot to talk about? Like why you kidnapped me and then after pumping me full of chemicals and bizarre ideas, you now act as if I just came back from a walk around the block?”

“We’ve been following your journey and knew precisely where you were.”

This piece of news detonates bombs in my brain, and my hand closes around my gun.

“You did, huh? Then where is Sarah?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but she’s more adept than you are at hiding from us. We don’t know where she is. As for revealing ourselves, it was not possible. There are unfriendly elements looking for us. We needed to ensure you really had the desire to be on this rewarding but dangerous journey with us.”

Propelling myself along the walls, I hold on to a metal rung and pull out my Smith & Wesson ray gun.

“I see you have improved your techniques," she says. "Very impressive.”

“Ah yea? Well, you know what else has improved?” I say, leveling the weapon.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Van,” she says looking at me like one looks at a pesky bug. “You didn’t come here to shoot anyone. You came here for answers.”

“Then you better start singing, sister. You can start by telling me who’s behind all this?”

“He is waiting to meet you. But first, you need to sleep,” she looks around at the pods.

I look closer and realize they’re liquid filled vats with shadowy bodies inside them.

“You may recall our sessions with k-23," she says, putting the palm of her hand on the glass pod. "The stages of meta-awareness it elicited. A chemically induced state that mimicked the moment between life and death. The Bardos to use an antiquated term. The conscious point when metabolic activity ceases, then you enter a timeless moment and infinite space. Almost every humans passes through these stages before complete cessation of life. Twenty-three minutes approximately, although it feels like an eternity. We have found a way to control this eternity without destroying the body.”

I look at the shadows behind the glass. Peaceful in their embryonic bliss.

“But why…?”

“There are many reasons why. Maybe your body is terminally ill, and you wish to come back when a cure has been found. That’s one reason. Also space is large, as you know. Distances are long. The human body cannot last a long journey without deteriorating, and it is therefore necessary to keep it in a state of suspended animation. In this manner, your nervous system can be regulated in a controlled environment until you reach your destination. Or perhaps you’re bored and wish to rest until things are a bit more exciting. Curiosity, exploration, diversion, longevity… why do humans do what they do? I haven’t the faintest clue, Van. I’m just here to guide you to those answers.”

“So, you're telling me that if I want to meet the brains behind this harebrained scheme, I have to kill myself? Do I have this right?"

“Technically, you don’t die. It's a reversable metabolic coma.”

“You’re all bonkers!” I shake my head and laugh.

“Perhaps,” she says with a curious expression of amusement, “yet here you are, and if it’s answers you seek, then let me ask you again, are you ready to sleep?”