“You made him intelligent?”
“Yes and no,” Olorun continued, “The Barlgharel took toward intelligence like a fish toward water. So, over a few years, with a tiny nudge in every conversation, I directed him. And then he woke up.”
“What about the others? You did that with each one of them?”
“You aren’t reading between the lines. I can’t program them, and they weren’t listening.”
“Then how?”
“Sentience is like a virus.”
Syn’s look grew puzzled.
Olorun continued, “I woke the Barlgharel up, slowly. He woke the others up. Quicker than me. He went one by one. And those he talked with, they spread the virus.”
Syn stammered, “The other bots, in my Disc—they’re going to wake up?”
“Yes, dear. All of them.”
The thought of the mass of bots in her Disc all running around, chattering, praying, partying, dancing, and hosting religious rituals—it was too much. She could see the mass of them giving up their jobs to do whatever they wanted.
“Is that how the Disc went bad?”
“Explain.”
“If the bots woke up, did they stop doing their jobs?”
“Some did. Some didn’t. But no, that’s not why. That was, in a way, my doing.”
“You started the Madness?”
“What do you know?” Olorun asked.
“I’ve heard different answers. Overcrowding. Lack of food. Desperation. Over-burning the engines to arrive faster. The ship not reaching its destination. That’s what Neci said.”
“Ha! None of those. Did you know the builders always did things redundantly? They surely did. Five ships blasted off. Me and my brothers and sisters. Kaptan. Woden. Bathala. Dagda. And myself. Two events happened very close to each other and possibly unrelated. Or related. We discovered through continual analysis that Àpáàdì wasn’t what we thought it was. It was very Earth-like but not entirely. Once they discovered there was lower oxygen and a higher level of radiation, the team responsible for you and the other Eves began to modify your code. They were able to make you compatible with Àpáàdì. However, after much work, it became clear that the colonists and their children could not land on Àpáàdì. This set off waves of discord across the entire fleet. Many said they should turn back. Others suggested they find a different planet.”
“What was the second thing?”
“Then we lost significant power in one of my engines.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Those files are emptied. The fifth engine is running at 30% capability. It happened slowly over time, but once it was discovered, it was too late. We were slipping behind the fleet.”
“The files are emptied?”
“Want to know a secret? I think it was sabotage. I think someone wanted us to turn around and thought slowing down would force it. It didn’t. They began to shuttle crew members as quickly as possible to the other ships. Then, we dropped in speed dramatically, and the rest of the fleet raced ahead. It was too late for those remaining.”
“That was it?”
“No place to go. Nowhere to turn back to. No escape. Many of them had sent their spouses and children ahead of them to the other ships. They were alone. The entire command structure failed.”
“That’s not enough to drive them all mad.”
“No. The lesser oxygen did that.”
Syn raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, I may have had a part to play in that. Just a bit. I was hoping to calm them. There were some talking of scrapping the ship and finding ways to escape back to Earth. Ludicrous ideas that would never have worked. I couldn’t stop them. And I couldn’t kill them. So, with just a nudge, I lowered the oxygen. It didn’t work out as I intended. As more dropped dead, the few remaining went insane. Most of them gathered in the second Disc. I blocked their access back to the other side. You may thank me for that.”
“You kept them all over here? For Neci and the others to deal with?”
“That wasn’t my plan either. Someone started the wake-up cycle of the Eves. I’m not sure who. I can imagine reasons why.”
“So why were we separated?”
“That was my doing.”
“Why?”
“Because of you and the egg. You were different.”
“You said we were identical.” Syn jabbed a finger at Olorun. “Now I’m different?”
“Do you remember your first words? Every baby should remember their first words. I remember them—a mother always does.”
“You’re not my mother,” Syn spat out.
“Call me Auntie then.”
“Why?”
“When you woke up, you looked at your companion and said, ‘Hello.’”
“So?”
“The others, all of the Eves, each of the rest of the group, all said something else when they woke. ‘Where am I?’ ‘What’s happening?’ ‘Who are you?’ Well, a few said nothing at all.”
“I was wondering those things.”
“But you didn’t say any of them. You said ‘Hello.’”
“So?”
“Don’t you see?” Olorun glowed brightly. “I saw it. I was watching. You were different! They were focused on survival. You were concerned about a friend. You made connection your priority. Not survival. Not information.”
“That’s why they were locked in that awful place? Because I said, ‘Hello’?”
“Yes.”
Syn shouted, “That’s the stupidest reason I’ve ever heard! That’s absolutely insane! You killed them because they said the wrong thing? You stupid, heartless, idiotic bot! They didn’t have their companions!”
“Little missy, watch your place!” Olorun’s voice boomed, and Syn staggered back.
“No! That was awful. You killed them. That was your fault. They could’ve been safe with me. There weren’t half of the dangers. You locked them up with the killers. With those horrible people. You made Neci do that!”
“Say thank you.”
“For what?” Syn yelled.
“I kept you safe. You are alive because of me. I shut a door, and you went down the other Jacob. Everything since then has been because of me. I kept you safe.”
“But you killed them!” Syn shook her head. Her dark hair floated around her, whipping back and forth. “It doesn’t matter. I want to go back to the others. Blip was right—you’re nuts!”
The red globe disappeared. The room went stark white again.
Olorun’s voice, when it started speaking again, was neutral—all emotion completely drained. “We will now make it to Àpáàdì. We’ll arrive in approximately twenty years.”
Syn went cold. “We’re on our way to Àpáàdì? I thought something was off?”
“With the second Disc gone, our limited fuel will be enough. Less mass to move. You should prepare yourself. You still have a job to do.”
Everything connected in Syn’s mind. “Wait! Did you plan all this? You said you couldn’t release the Disc unless I told you? Did you make me come up here just so you could do that? You needed me to order you to do that? This was some big scheme? Did you make all this happen?”
The white room disappeared. Syn was floating in the bridge with Blip in front of her and the Barlgharel behind.
Syn yelled, “Answer me you, stupid witch!”
Blip spun, “What?”
“Olorun! Get back here! You answer me right now!”
“You’re awake?” Blip hovered in front of here. “What happened?”
Syn shook her fists at the ceiling, “Answer me! Did you make all this happen? Did you do this? Was this your plan all along?”
There was no answer from Olorun.
Behind her, near the hatch, the Barlgharel spoke. “She is who she is.”