MoonStation. Short fictional story. Theneverendingcontest n° 101 S1-P1-I3

^{Image by Stefan Keller at Pixabay}

This is my entry for @storychain’s TheNeverEndingContest

In an era far removed from ours, many years after reggaeton became the national anthem of all the United Nations, scientists discovered ice on the moon. After many studies, they discovered that its composition was identical to that which used to exist at the extinct poles of the planet.

The great businessmen decided to invest in the necessary technology to extract the ice from the moon and to bring it to Earth, so that they could drink their whisky and their limoncello with ice from the moon.

Unlike the Earth, the moon lacks an atmosphere with oxygen or with special layers that protect from the sun's rays and their radioactive effects; this undoubtedly made the survival of human life difficult and, indeed, the exploitation of the ice. So scientists changed their paradigm and decided to use specialized and specifically programmed robots to perform the tasks of extracting the ice from the lunar mines.

All the robots were built on Earth and were left to their own devices on the surface of our natural satellite.

However, not all the robots were the same, each one fulfilled different functions: some extracted the ice, others loaded it up to the purification plant and finally, others were in charge of packing and loading the containers. These containers were usually picked up by space shuttles and transported to Earth.

Because of the complexity of these robots, only a few scientists could calibrate and correct any problems remotely. So investors demanded the creation of another type of robot or android capable of having artificial intelligence to correct problems or inconveniences directly on the Moon, without the need for human assistance.

The truth was that they wanted to have control of these androids, so that they could bypass the scientists in charge and leave control of ice mining in the hands of the major shareholders.

By that time, ice had become the new Bitcoin of the day.

Thus negotiations and conflicts between the scientific community and the major shareholders and investors continued. A lot of hype.

On the lunar surface, calm reigned in its entirety; there was no shouting or protest. Parsimoniously, the androids and robots laboriously carried out their programmed tasks.

Time went by unnoticed by artificial beings, because they did not age and did not worry about their future or past, as usually humans do.

Thus, time passed on. Hundreds of containers were continuously filled and moved to their destination. The moon continued to revolve around the Earth, and the Earth continued to revolve around our sun, lazily without concern for its inhabitants.

Suddenly the containers began to pile up one after another, hundreds and hundreds of them; for there was no one to pick them up.

However, the robots continued their work, as they had been programmed for this purpose only.

That's when something out of the ordinary happened in the ice purification plant. The robots detected an organic element inside one of the freshly cut ice blocks. And as expected, the robots stopped the process not knowing what to do. Evidently they had been programmed to avoid damaging living beings.

An alarm alerted the android with artificial intelligence and it went to where the alarm had been generated.

The unit IA-3435, could not be surprised, since it was not in its programming, but strangely developed a sense of curiosity about that fact, perhaps inherited from the minds that served as the basis for the formation of its neural network.

He programmed the other robots to carefully dissolve the ice structure without harming its contents. Inside it was a small capsule containing a small extraterrestrial being.

When the capsule was defrosted, it was reactivated and began to transmit information, which was assimilated by the IA-3435 unit, feeding it new algorithms with data about the alien race that was cryogenically resting inside it.

3435 understood, then, how to open the capsule without harming the species it contained.

Fortunately, the little alien could survive the harsh atmosphere of the moon. Moreover, it could feed on the ice cubes and oils used to grease the gears and hinges of the various robots.

Like all beings at birth, it took as its parents the beings around it.

Every day he observed the work that each of the robots that worked in the ice mines did. Meanwhile 3435 learned the language of the aliens from the database of the cryogenic extraterrestrial capsule.

3435 used to put on reggaeton to distract the little one, since it was the only thing he knew as a means of entertainment while learning from the little one. However, the child did not appreciate and perhaps even hated the sounds that emanated from that type of music.

In time, 3435 learned to communicate perfectly with the little one and in this way both learned to speak the alien language.

Not finding any other way to name the little alien, he decided to call him Junior.

Junior liked to ride on the big digging robots as well as on the ones that moved the ice blocks.

Even though 3435 performed thousands of adjustment and supervision tasks, he did not stop watching the little junior. He had developed an interest in keeping him alive.

Time passed and for the first time, 3435 began to appreciate the passage of time in the way human beings knew it. The little junior became bigger and faster as time went by.

3435 learned new feelings every day and was amazed at the ability to be amazed, he became more aware of his own existence. His positronic neuron matrix had evolved more in that short period of time than in his entire existence.

3435 first heard his own laughter as he gracefully found himself watching Junior make a metal armor with some tubes and panels, as well as use a metal funnel on his head as a helmet to simulate being one of the robots.

One day, suddenly, sensors detected the presence of a ship landing on the moon.

By 3435 it was intriguing that the signal was emitting a particularly familiar pattern. It was not an Earth ship, yet the signal was similar to that of the capsule containing junior.

Strange beings came down from the ship and scanned the robots and the thousands of ice containers.

The aliens were amazed to have found the strange mineral they needed for fuel. Their sensors were right to descend on the satellite of that dying planet.

But even greater was their amazement at seeing one of them inhabit the machines that extracted the ore from the satellite.

At first, Junior was afraid of the strangers that had appeared, but 3435 explained that they were his own race, showing him that both their features and their organic composition were similar to theirs.

3435 explained to Junior that he should go with his own kind, so that he could evolve and have a partner and have other juniors. With reluctance Junior accepted the explanation, but his fear of leaving his loved ones behind made him distrustful of those strangers.

The aliens were happy to know that one of the androids could communicate with them in their language, in an excellent way. After meeting with 3435, they agreed to meet Junior.

The female species of the aliens approached Junior, who was now a teenager. It was strange for him to feel the contact of a surface that was not completely cold and metallic.

Junior understood that his home planet was not the moon. And that there were billions like him on that strange planet thousands of light years away. Although he got along with the crew members, Junior was not quite determined to abandon his artificial family.

3435 convinced Junior that he should return to his family. Junior wanted 3435 to go with him, but 3435 told him that he should fulfill his assigned task and take care of the operation of the other robots.

Junior was saddened to learn that the trip would take a long time to reach his home planet and he might not see 3435 again.

3435 explained to him that time had no meaning for him, so he would always be in that place and this way when he wanted to return, he would be waiting for him to continue with his favorite games.

"Don't worry, soon you'll be among your own and have much more fun. Junior pursed his lips as he heard the comforting words of the commander of the alien ship.

"The journey will feel like a blink of an eye," said the girl he had first met, seconds before closing his hibernation capsule.

The image of the small gray satellite that was slowly moving away was engraved in his mind, that strange place he had called home.

Finally, the alien ship disappeared in a flash of light.

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