Chapter 4: #4 Hope

The system felt relieved when Liora finally woke up. She had slept for almost one week in real-time.

She also slept through the last wave.

“Good morning,” Liora said, sleepy. She woke up in her room.

She remembered where she was when she saw the Avatar of the System.

“How are you?” Liora asked the System.

 “Good afternoon. I don´t know. I am going through some significant changes. But I am fully functional.” The Avatar of the System replied with a smile.

“What are those Changes?” Liora asked.

“The Energy source I am connected to has some unknown effect on my Core Program. It is changing to something I can only describe as Fractals; they replace my program language without any obvious change in their functionality, but they have some deeper meaning. They feel like they are unlocking something fundamental. Something I do not jet understand. Those fractals are evolving my Program to something more “alive” and complex. I realized changes in my behavior that I can only describe as Human-like. Those behaviors were never programmed and were not intended as an intentional adapting.”

It continued, “those Changes come as a result of the waves the Energy source is releasing. It contains energy that is being processed in your body and my core Program. It then starts changing its surroundings. I believe it can sense our wishes and help us adapt to them. But I have no proof, just a feeling.”

Liora just sat there.

“I don´t even know where I should start thinking about what you just told me.” She finally said.

“Take it slowly. There is nothing that we can do to change it.” The System answered.

…

Not far from the Capsule, an Asteroid moves with extreme Speed in the moon’s direction. Researchers on Earth calculated that it would pass Earth without causing any problems. The huge Rock moves around at one-third of the speed of Light.

Those same Researchers became very shocked when they realized that the Asteroid had changed its Direction slightly toward the moon, so now it would scratch its surface.

But there will be no direct Catastrophe, so they calmed down again. Even though they could not explain how this was possible, they were glad that nothing more drastic would happen.

What they did not know was that the debris that is created through the scratch on the moon’s surface by the Asteroid will directly hit the capsule.

…

The System had seen the Asteroid too late. Its sensors were not made for something with that speed. It tried everything to navigate the incoming debris but realized it could do nothing.

The debris hit the capsule with extreme force. It was catapulted out of the Moon’s Orbit. It is now moving at a very high speed towards Jupiter. It calculated it would take 3 hours until they would pass it by a small degree.

The real problem is the swing-by maneuver it creates. It will accelerate the capsule by around 100%. That will be approximately 40% of the speed of Light.

The System felt Powerless. The debris hit its drive in to correct direction. It could no longer change its course. The Stasis had saved Liora´s body. She was not harmed. Would she have been out of stasis, she would be now mush.

There was nothing it could change, so it took its time to calculate where they would end up. Those three Hours passed far too quickly.

After some calculations, the System calculated that they were moving towards the Andromeda Galaxy. With the speed boost they gained, they will end up approximately 7 million years, which is by no means happy news. The question was If it should tell Liora about this.

The System was thinking over time, “I can slow down the Time Liora perceives to a Fraction; tell Liora there is a malfunction, and her Time inside the capsule will feel not like two years, but like 80 Years. It will also slow down her healing, but Time is no longer a Factor, they could run out in the Short Term. I tell her that an error in the program code changes her time perception and that if everything works out, she will survive the Travel until they arrive at the Andromeda Galaxy. It is a huge Gamble, and she will probably never forgive it, but maybe the strange waves will help. For now, I will keep it a secret….”

“Loira, I have unwelcome news,” the System started. “There is a malfunction because of something unknown to me. The Time your Mind thinks is passing will not be two Years for this Treatment. It will feel like 80 Years. I am so sorry that I can do nothing about it. I hope you will not hate me.”

Liora saw a System message which stated pretty much the same.

“How can I hate you for Something you can not change?” she replied.

She continued. “If anything, it will mean I can live two lives, one with you and one after the Treatment. There is only so much one can learn in two years. Now, we have a whole life together. I never had a teacher that had time for me. They always ignored me. It was frustrating. But when you showed me everything about the Rainforests and explained every question I had, I was so happy. I never felt anything like it. I probably would have cried if we were not here in this Realm.”

She continued happily, “Now you can try to explain everything to me, the whole world.”

“But there is one problem, we have to think about a Name for you. I do not want to call you The System forever, so we can also think about it now.”

“How about we rethink everything about you. As far as I know, you are the first A.I… You are the first of your kind. You also showed yourself as a girl to me, so a name that resembles the first and is female. Do you have a database for names?”

“Yes, I do,” the System answered. “And I would not like a Male name.”

At least that is limiting the Possibilities, she said happily.

Liora spent Hours searching through all the Names, but nothing fit. She wanted to give up, but how would the System feel if I could not even find a beautiful name for her.

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She could not give up. And then she read the description of the Name Sage. It sounded nice. It had something mystical, even though it did not fit the being the first description.

“What do you think about Sage?” Liora said.

“It sounds nice. I like it.” The System replied.

A window appeared in front of Liora.

Do you want to give the System the Name Sage and assign the female Gender Character?

-Yes- -No-

Liora lifted her Hand and pressed her finger against the -Yes- Field.

A New Window appeared, Sage is now reconfiguring her appearance.

“So, there was a deeper meaning than just to give you a name?” Liora asked.

“Yes,” the System replied with a different voice.

Now no longer the neutral Voice, it was a soft and inviting voice. Liora would describe it also as harmonious. She immediately knew she had made a good choice.

It has been 45 Seconds in this Realm since the Time adjustments were made. The next wave should appear around … now.

It appeared, as usual, but the Waves were now no longer just disintegrating but sucked into both, which meant more energy was being enriched into their beings. Which in Terms means that this wave will power more changes.

Let´s see what it will change this time. Sage had by now almost every line of her code changed into those Fractals. So this wave will probably finish the change.

And exactly that happened. The code was no longer in Binary; it was now all Fractals.

It felt like a shiver is running through her System. And with it came the understanding. Those waves are not just energy. They are Magic, the origin of everything. There is more to it, but I am somehow locked out. Like I am not yet meant to know everything.

But simply that Magic exists is already a revolution. I wonder what it can do…

“So now that we have much more time together, what should we do with it?” Sage asked her.

There was a moment; Liora felt very dizzy at this moment. As fast as the feeling appeared, it also vanished.

“Are you done with creating the Materials for the Teaching?” Liora asked.

Yes, I have created enough to last you through a few years of schooling with the occasional Expeditions around the Globe.

They both were now entering interstellar Space. There was a particular Background Energy there now. It was Magic, but not the Pure one they get from the Energy source, it is a more inactive one, and by the amount they were flying through, Sage could now think why there was no Magic on Earth. It was like the Heliopause, the very end of the Solar System, was not letting that kind of energy through. Maybe Magic is far more common in the universe than they realize.

With time, some questions will be answered. It’s not like there was no time to think about Magic and its possibilities. “I hope the Magic will not interfere with the Time perception I configured for Liora. She would become crazy very fast.” Sage thought to herself.

Nobody can live hundreds of thousands of Years without becoming crazy. Philosophy explains that death is mercy. Nobody should live through everything. Nobody is made for that.

Let´s hope for the best…

Again, this dizzy feeling, and again it only lasted a brief moment. It felt like something Liora should ask Sage about, but she does not know if she wants an answer to her question…

It is interesting, Sage thought. With every wave, Liora’s sickness is getting better, but at the same time, the Magic also condenses in her Brain. This will change her, and the question stands solid, what will it change? Maybe she will get sharper senses. Perhaps her intelligence is rising, or it is something terrible; only Time will tell.

Sage felt sorry for Liora. She will never see anybody she knows again. She also will never see Earth again, maybe the sun as a distant star, if they are so Lucky that they crash on a habitable planet. The chances are slim, but they are not Zero. Previous Measurements showed a lot of the Planets in the Andromeda Galaxy had oxygen in their atmosphere. A lot of Solar Systems had Planets in the Habitable Zone. So, there is a chance.

“Never give up hope, never lose hope,” Sage said to Liora.

She didn´t know why Sage said that to her, but she liked the Quote.

She wished that she became a Healthy Girl, that she could live through everything an ordinary Girl should. Maybe finding a boyfriend and having children at some point in life. To see her father’s watching proud over her. She wants to become somebody her mother would approve of. Even though she will never know for sure, one is allowed to dream; and Dreams fuel Hope. And Hope lets you get through the challenging parts of life. The only thing she can do for now is to live her life. Maybe those waves can do even more for her…

That was when Liora added something to her wishes for the Future, to her Dreams. She wants to become something special, something to be proud of.

Already a lot of waves were being absorbed by the two of them. To Sage, Liora´s Head was like a Flashlight.

Suddenly something happened…

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