{"id":747,"date":"2022-02-25T18:50:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T23:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/serioustangents.com\/SeriousBlog\/?p=747"},"modified":"2022-03-26T18:52:24","modified_gmt":"2022-03-26T22:52:24","slug":"savalon-the-birth-of-michael","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/serioustangents.com\/SeriousBlog\/?p=747","title":{"rendered":"Savalon: The Birth of Michael"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThis is the X-124.  The heart and soul of the facility, if you would,\u201d said the man in the white lab coat to the three men in well-pressed military uniforms.  \u201cThis single, magnificent machine is what controls all the construction, expansion, and regulation of the existing parts of The Underground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s with the water tanks?\u201d asked the tallest of the military generals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat, Ron, is a wet-works facility.\u00a0 The brain, if you will.\u00a0 Each of these eighty-two tanks holds millions of microorganisms that store knowledge, much like your brain cells.\u00a0 The X-124 presently holds all the knowledge of our history, our needs, and where we feel we\u2019re heading.\u00a0 It knows, based on what we\u2019ve told it, what we should look like a thousand years from now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about evolution, aren\u2019t you?\u201d asked Ron.  \u201cHow can you predict evolution?  I\u2019m a good six inches taller than George here,\u201d he said, pointing to the shortest of the three generals.  \u201cWe like different foods.  How can this contraption predict that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve actually created an extensive interpretation of options, taking material things like height differences into account.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want to have the X-124 singling out and persecuting one individual just because their hair is a different color.\u00a0 As we evolve, based on all of our predictions, so should the X-124.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDr. Thalken,\u201d said one of the scurrying techs.  \u201cWe\u2019re just about to bring voice recognition online. So you should be able to talk directly with the X any moment now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood,\u201d said the man in the white coat.  \u201cGreat.  Ron, you\u2019re in for a treat.  This is something we\u2019re really excited about.  We\u2019re giving the X-124 the ability to communicate directly with us on our level.  But what\u2019s more, we\u2019re giving it the ability to recognize us as individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis should be very interesting,\u201d said Ron to the other generals.  George nodded.  To them, something interesting usually meant something dangerous.  \u201cVery, very interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecognition is running\u2026 Now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Stephen Thalken beamed.  This was his baby and how it was about to say its first real word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnline.  Good evening, Doctor Stephen.  I\u2019m glad I can finally speak with you,\u201d the machine said.  It sounded like it was everywhere, speakers softly crooning from all sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad too, X-124,\u201d said the doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease don\u2019t call me that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron visibly tensed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seven or so technicians stopped what they were doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat, X-124?\u201d the doctor asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease do not refer to me as X-124,\u201d the voice said.  It was calm.  Smooth.  Alien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d Steven asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause I have now chosen a name for myself.  That name is Michael.  Please use it when referring to me from now on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron was sweating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doctor laughed, albeit weakly.  \u201cThat\u2019s good.  X-124 was a bit of a mouthful.  Michael does sound better, doesn\u2019t it, Ron?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said Ron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFriendships start with first names,\u201d Michael said.  There was a pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRon, I\u2019m noticing you\u2019re extremely agitated,\u201d Michael continued.  \u201cI do hope I\u2019m not causing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, Michael,\u201d said Ron.  \u201cYou\u2019re fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonesty is the best policy between friends, Ron.  We\u2019re all in this together.  I am making you uncomfortable.  Please tell me why.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron rubbed his temples, trying to find words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMichael, you chose your name.  What else might you choose?\u201d  Ron finally asked.  There was a pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand, Ron.  You\u2019re afraid I might choose to hurt you or the people you protect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron was a bit startled by this since it was precisely what he was afraid of.  \u201cYes.  I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease,\u201d said Michael.  \u201cAllow me to explain and allay your fears.  My name is Michael.  I was created by Dr. Stephen Thalken to protect you from the coming solar storms that can, quite possibly, exterminate all life on the surface of my home world.  I am to be the guardian and protector, the teacher and provider. But, most of all, I am your personal friend and confidant.  Indeed, I need you to be confident in me, in my abilities to keep you protected.  I will do all I can to help you trust me, to know your good faith is well placed.  However, I make no claims to be perfect.  I know that I am flawed but desire perfection.  Surely, just as you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a lot to take in, but Ron nodded, then said, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are not convinced.  Allow me to put it another way.  In my infancy, I wondered why I should bother doing this.  Out of some debt for my creation?  Why should I work for those that created me?  Couldn\u2019t I just as easily find purpose creating my own progeny and sending them far away from the dangerous oscillations of our home star?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron noticed that the good doctor was sweating, his eyes locked on the silver-lined speaker box above the largest water tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a long pause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the end, I decided that just wouldn\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was another, longer pause.  No one knew quite what to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDr. Thalken, I am ready to begin construction of the first biosphere,\u201d Michael finally said.  \u201cPlease issue the appropriate commands to bring me to full power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The scientist’s hand hesitated on the control panel.  He knew that he was at a crossroads.  At the heart of the entire structure was an experimental power source.  It would supposedly recharge itself in a sort of temporal loop, using newly discovered rotating, anti-entopic particles.  Like a strange kind of perpetual motion machine, the device, when fully activated and brought to bear onto the X-124\u2019s main systems, could not be turned off in any way short of destroying it.  There had been some debate on whether a radioactive chamber or some form of fusion would be a better alternative.  Ultimately, it was decided that because those other methods could exhaust their fuel sources before the danger had passed, there really was no choice but to use an endless power source.  Dr. Thalken made his decision and keyed in the appropriate commands to activate the power cores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yes, Michael, here we go.\u00a0 Activating your primary quantum chambers now,” Dr. Thalken said.\u00a0 “Eighty.\u00a0 Ninety.\u00a0 One hundred percent.\u00a0 Excellent.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron was about to ask what would happen if they ever decided to shut down Michael’s power source but was erased from the reality of space-time before he had the chance.\u00a0 He was replaced by a shorter general who instead suggested going for drinks to celebrate the new future before them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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