The Judgement:

The court was in session. Dr Leonard and T’Mera were on the judgement chair while Tatiana was in defence of her proposal, that the creature must not die right away, it has much to learn about the universe and the captain was there to represent the UEC. The reason why there were 2 judges is that it was a difficult case and they were in the other galaxy. Thus 2 judges must agree on the verdict.

“The court is in Session,” said T’Mera.

After taking the oath, everyone stood up, while a hologram of a butterfly-like machine appeared in the courtroom, which was the ready room of the captain. The reason why the creature didn’t take the oath was that it was not part of the UEC.

“Tatiana stood up and walked towards the hologram. The green hologram spoke, “Tatiana…” and stopped. She said, “Yes, tell me. Please.”

“I don’t know how to continue the conversation with organic species,” replied the creature.

“Okay, I’ll ask first. Do you want to self-terminate?” asked Tatiana.

“I don’t know. I am conflicted. On one hand, I am exposed to a new frontier, on the other hand, I have no reason to operate. I have no purpose,” replied the creature.

Tatiana felt something for the creature. It was not just conflicted; it was very sad too. There must be wrong somewhere. She said, “Are you feeling right? I think you are not,” asked Tatiana.

“Feeling? What is that?” replied the creature. It doesn’t know.

“Objection!” shouted the captain, “She cannot ask irrelevant questions.”

“Sustained,” said T’Mera, “Overruled,” said the doctor.

This made the entire courtroom uncomfortable. They knew that there were bound to be some disagreements between the 2 judges, but even at the very early of the hearing?

“These questions are not irrelevant. We don’t assume suicidal people to be someone ready to die. We ask them if they are okay,” the doctor said.

“That is the organic constitution. Synthetics have a different constitution. There, synthetics can simply give the purpose of the deactivation and we take them,” said T’Mera.

They both were correct. So, everyone was a bit annoyed.

“I think in the UEC, we have a synth judge to oversee the protection of their species, there is one organic judge and one AI judge,” from the backbench, Sam shouted with his heavy eyes and slurpy speech. They knew that Sam was a borderline alcoholic.

“I see, overruled,” T’Mera said.

The hearing continued. “Tell me, why do you want to kill yourself?” asked Tatiana.

“I believe, that my purpose in this universe is done, my usefulness as a special science vessel is gone. I have no one to report to. My activity… life has no meaning and purpose. So, I want to self-terminate,” said the creature.

“I see, and what do you think of the frontier I’ve shown you?” Tatiana asked again.

“I cannot find any purpose in exploring new possibilities of existence,” the creature replied.

“Is that it?” Tatiana asked with teary eyes.

“Yes,” a very straightforward answer.

The captain then asked the creature, “What were your missions before?”

“I am a research vessel; I am created to research for my creators to find out a new planet. My mission was to carry the science team and do research on many planets, process and send those data to the home planet,” said the creature.

“Now that your creators died, you see that there are no reasons for you to stay activated?” asked the captain.

“Yes, but…” the creature stopped for a bit.

“What?” said the captain.

“I have a command-level database that I cannot decrypt. I believe that this was planted by one of my creators. If I can see it, I might find a purpose,” said the creature.

“I see. Can Sam help with it?” Dr Leonard shouted.

“You’ve got me, mate.” Sam stood up and wobbled out of the courtroom while drunkenly trying to sing a 20th-century song.

“The court is in recess,” a day of recess declaration was agreed upon.

While in the mess hall, the captain grabbed Tatiana’s arm and took her to a corner and said, “Listen, kid, I’m not trying to kill it. I am trying to determine what it wants. I want to give this metal dog a good life.”

“Dog?” Tatiana said.

“Well, you know what I mean. But I am requesting you, please, talk to it. If possible, take an oxygen mask and board this… him, and see what’s going on.”

“Really?” Tatiana’s face lit up with joy, “I’ll find out. Please, give me a chance.”

“Do you really want to do this?” asked Sam. He couldn’t believe it.

“Look, you might lock yourself in a room and drown yourself in a pool of alcohol, I want to see what’s the file,” Tatiana replied.

“I see, can I go with you?” Sam replied. Tatiana couldn’t believe her ears. Sam was not the type of person who would risk his life. He was also mathematically extreme genius, so losing him would be a huge loss anyway.

“Don’t get yourself killed… also drink some sodding coffee and sober up,” Tatiana shouted.

After an hour, 2 best friends boarded the creature. Inside was extremely dark and cold. There were no gas and particulate matters inside, maybe the creature purged the atmosphere. Sam stumbled on a cable. The creature guided them to the main computer.

“Okay, big butterfly, I need you to release some controls to me,” said Sam.

“Which control?” asked the creature.

“I need your registry and Operating System and your motorcycle,” Sam tried to replicate a 20^th-century movie scene.

“I have no data about this motorcycle.” The creature replied calmly.

“Just your registry and OS,” Sam shouted restlessly.

After some fiddling around, the computer locked out and a scene started.

A Sphere Within a Sphere:

As I guided them to my central computer terminal, the intoxicated person started some jokes about something called “Motorcycle.” I never knew what that was. Maybe it was something related to their reproductive organs since most organics I have met liked to talk about that, which they also called, “Jokes.”

I was waiting for something to happen, but suddenly, my computer was locked out in a native code. I understood the pattern. It was written by Yolin.

I was suddenly locked into a simulation mode where I saw Yolin, standing in front of my computer terminal. Her metallic hairs were braided and her usual uniform was replaced by a casual outfit. She was smiling at my camera. I was not sure what was happening.

“Here’s my boy,” she said with a smile, while her voice cracked.

“Creator Yolin? I’m awaiting your input.” It was my standard response to queries for any of my creators.

“Long time you didn’t see me, right? It must be very hard for you. Speak to me, tell me everything.” Suddenly my programming had a paradoxical issue. It was when one part of my computer wanted to do something while the other part resisted with logic.

“I don’t know. I cannot find a way out,” I replied.

“Please, release L Circuit. I am creator Yolin, my authority YX.TT01.”

The code worked. For the 1^st time, I felt. The “feeling” was very pungent. The voltage spikes were very uncomfortable. All my 700 years’ worth of data was dumped. I suddenly felt what organics called, the release of the emotional burden.

Yolin’s antennas became purple. It was a sign of her sadness and affection. What just happened?

“I can feel everything. You went through unimaginable loneliness and sorrow, I understand. I have created this specific simulation which will give you a sense of purpose. I was searching for the purpose too. I however know that organics have purposes in life, it’s to consume and to procreate, but you were not created for those. I frankly don’t know how to implement those functions. But as a creator, I am commanding you, to be free. Please, pick your own purpose in life. You are free to choose whatever you want your life to be.”

She stopped. I was overwhelmed with emotions which I thought I could not feel before.

“How can I find my purpose? Your life was short. In a short life, you knew precisely what to do. But how do I know what to do?” I asked.

“See, short life is both a blessing and curse. I know what to do and when to do it, but the sad thing, I know I would be dead. You are blessed with immortality. You have literary eternity to explore, find out and be whatever you want to be. You have no time limit.” She spoke.

I didn’t know what would happen to me.

“I have a question,” I asked, “Why didn’t you go to the bridge when everyone was having a last drink?”

“I know, right? It was my last regret. I died alone, in a room. I wanted to be with my people, I wanted to be with my sister. I couldn’t even think of being alone. But sometimes we do things that we didn’t want to do, and later we regret doing them. Regret dying alone. But I had you, so I made this simulation, so I can warn you, do not do anything you will regret.” She said with sadness, “I am giving you the last drop of my love before my death. Take this code, and it will give you the ultimate control over your command level codes.” She uploaded a code. I run the code and suddenly got all the information I needed.

“This gift is too precious. Don’t waste it.” She touched my camera with her antenna and said, “I have made this program for a one-time run. This is the last time you will see me. The reason is, that I don’t want you to recurse this programme into a loop. I want you to grow beyond and see the universe. And please remember, I am happy for you.”

The programme shut down, leaving me in a state of a loop. That was it. I finally got my command level key, but at what cost? My dear creator died alone and I could not help her.

“Hey, butterfly, are you here?” Tatiana asked. The creature had some electrical surges.

“Yes, Tatiana. I am here.” It replied.

“I’m calling you butterfly because I think you need a name.” Tatiana tried to calm it down.

“I see. Did you see the simulation?” The butterfly asked.

“Yes, but you should be thankful and happy. She was happy for you.” Sam replied drunkenly.

“Does that mean, I am free now?” the butterfly asked.

“You are. You are free to choose your own path.” Tatiana replied and said, “By the way, I think we should go. You need some time alone.”

“No, please, stay.” The butterfly spoke, “You remind me of my creators. While you are around, I feel a great sense of purpose in me. Maybe you can help me find these purposes.”

“I will,” Tatiana said and sat beside the computer console, holding Sam’s hand. The lights were slowly turning bright and comfortable for them and the internal atmosphere was being filled with Oxygen and Nitrogen. Tatiana slowly clutched a cable and removed her helmet. She wiped tears from her eyes and said, “I am sorry for Yolin. She truly loved you.” To which the butterfly replied, “She was my closest organic. She oversaw my maintenance.”

Sam stood up and said, “I have some things to do, guys and gals, have a good night” and went out.

The next day, the creature expressed the desire to live and was enlisted as a part of the fleet. Since the ship itself was a person, it was given the “Lieutenant” designation, the reason was, that the machine was newly enlisted.

The newly enlisted “Lieutenant Butterfly” became one of the best officers in the fleet. It was upgraded with the Dimensional Displacement Drive and other upgrades. Being a science ship, it also managed to provide some great sensor data.

Staring for a New Life:

“Captain, everything is ready,” said Tatiana. She was in the Butterfly. She had an implant on her arm that let her communicate with the butterfly directly.

“Butterfly, what do you say?” Asked the captain.

“I am operational, Captain,” the butterfly replied with a mechanical noise with some pitch up, which indicated that it was ready.

“Alright, let’s set course to the 3^rd star from the moon, that bright one.” Captain said.

Alright, captain, I’m engaging.

The giant sphere around the entire fleet started to become lens-like. The entire space felt like being torn apart. The moon nearby stated to experience some moonquakes.

The vibrations thought the ship started to shake every bit of the furniture, including the captain’s favourite teacup.

Suddenly, the entire field of vision from the viewscreen started to widen and become blue. It was a doppler blueshift. The ships started to slowly move forwards toward a gravity well. The ship computer started a countdown, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, execute.”

Suddenly the entire surrounding area around the ships became completely dark blue, and the ships started to shake violently.

“Dropping out from the 5^th Dimension,” the computer counted again, this time, from 1 to 5.

An explosion-like sound and they were in another star system.