The Commander by CJ Williams Page B

cliff.
    “George!” Luke cried, aghast. “Oh my God! What the hell did you just do? That was Sadie , for crying out loud. She’s my favorite!”
    “Calm yourself, Commander. She was just a machine. She wasn’t alive.”
    “But…But… I can’t believe you did that! I liked Sadie . Annie loved her.”
    “I am aware of that, Commander. Please direct your attention to the replication bay.”
    The replicator was already shimmering. As Luke watched, a shuttle appeared. It looked just like Sadie and Duffy . The shimmering stopped and the shuttle hovered over to where Sadie had rested a moment ago.
    “You still want to go Earthside, boss?” Sadie asked. Even the inflection of her voice was the same.
    “ Sadie , is that you?” Luke asked incredulously.
    “Hello, boss. Still me. Don’t pay any attention to that prick in the ceiling. He doesn’t understand.”
    Luke needed proof. “ Sadie , what did you say to me during my very first flight here?”
    “You mean about you trying to fly too fast or that you didn’t understand light speed?”
    It was Sadie . It really was. And she was a computer.
    “I got it, George,” Luke said. “But don’t do that again.”
    “As you wish, Commander. Have a nice trip.”

Day 89—Population 93
    Luke walked into the engineer’s workroom in a cheerful mood. Desks were scattered about in workgroups so teams of engineers could work in pairs or small groups of three or four. Luke could hear George’s voice mixed in with the animated conversations of each group. The center of the room contained a large white design table. A holographic cube floated above the surface.
    On the other side of the work area, one of Morrow’s talented engineers, Luke knew him as Riley Stevens, was apparently having a serious discussion with an engineering diagram that was displayed on the wall. The diagram changed slightly from time to time. George’s voice floated faintly from that conversation as well.
    Moonbase residents, Luke included, were accustomed to having George involved in every aspect of their lives. Whether in their residence, out with friends, or in their workplace, George was omnipresent. Luke had worried that George would be perceived as an Orwellian big brother figure, but that wasn’t the case.
    Instead, George replaced the smartphones that everyone left behind. He took care of their contact lists, their calendars, and passed on messages from friends and family. More than once Luke overheard George remind someone that so and so was waiting, or wanted them to stop on the way home and pick up some Chinese take-out. The more that people lived with George, the more they came to depend on him.
    Luke felt the same way. But for him, the connection was even closer. Because of his implant, George was right there in his thoughts. It was like having the AI’s archive as part of Luke’s own memory. If he wanted to know something, he merely formed the question in his mind and the answer appeared.
    Interestingly to Luke, George was never intrusive; he never made a suggestion unless pressed. It was one of the facts that finally convinced Luke that George was, in fact, not sentient; not alive. He must have come as close as possible without crossing over that undefinable line. Luke now accepted that George was a tool, an incredible piece of software that made life better.
    This was especially true for the engineers in this room who struggled with the application of new concepts. A young man stepped forward with an eager expression. “Can I help you, sir? I mean, Commander?”
    “Just looking for Morrow,” Luke replied. “What’s that?” He nodded at the hologram hovering over the central design table. It was a large cube, pockmarked by hatches and windows of all description. It sported antennas and a variety of appendages around the exterior. Luke thought it had a slightly menacing look.
    “That’s a mockup of the Mars colony ship,” the engineer replied.
    “Whoa!” Luke exclaimed.