Best Intentions

Nearly five years later:

Mark dreamed of pain. At least he thought it was a dream as he began the long, slow climb towards consciousness. Squinting into the bright light above him while a throbbing pulsed rhythmically in his temples, he attempted to raise a hand to shield his eyes. What the heck, he thought as his muscles refused to answer their commands; in fact he discovered that he couldn’t move his body at all below the neck. Raising his head in spite of the discomfort it caused he could see that he was lying naked on a flat surface and was shocked at the state he was in. From what he could see of his body, it was covered with dark bruises, lacerations, and what appeared to be a large amount of dried blood. His right arm was bent at a severe and unnatural angle as well. Mark closed his eyes again.

“Just a dream, this is just a dream,” he tried telling himself before opening his eyes once again to risk another look. Panicking when he saw the same thing, he began to scream. Unable to do anything else, Mark jerked his head from side to side, oblivious to the pain.

“Please remain still,” said a calm voice that seemed to come from just beside him.

Mark continued to scream as the pain in his head escalated from his thrashing, the voice ignored.

“Please remain still,” the voice repeated at a higher volume. “You will further damage yourself.”

His head throbbing, Mark’s outburst stopped. The pain had built to a point he could no longer ignore.

“Can you comprehend this communication; the dominant language of the landmass from which you were recovered is being utilized.”

“What, what’s happening to me,” Mark asked, close to hysterics. “Why am I in this place, why can’t I move?”

“You are damaged,” said the voice, “Repairs are in progress, but you must remain still.”

“Repairs, what do you mean by repairs? Look at me.” He risked raising his head once again. “Look at me.” Mark’s voice trailed off, as he fell back into unconsciousness.

Some hours later, Mark returned to consciousness once again and opened his eyes. The illumination had been dimmed and he found his mobility had been restored. His hands gripping the sides of the table, he raised his head and forced himself to look down once again. Explosively releasing the ragged breath that he wasn’t even aware he had been holding, his head fell back in relief, his eyes closed again.

What a crazy dream, he thought running his hands up and down his completely unmarked torso, just a dream. Then he took note of his surroundings and realized that it couldn’t have all been a dream as he was in a completely unfamiliar setting. Mark lay upon a soft padded table, which, when he sat up, he could see was identical to a dozen others. They were all empty and covered with some clear plastic wrapping. The bland room’s matte white walls, floor, and ceiling blended seamlessly. Bright but indirect lighting cast no shadows and he couldn’t grasp the true size of the chamber. The only splash of color was the shiny black panel on the wall at the foot of his table. Overall the impression he got was of some sort of advanced though unused hospital setup.

Mark swung his legs over the side of the table, but remained sitting.

“Hey, is anyone there?” he asked, figuring that someone must be watching.

“Affirmative, monitoring systems are active. Repairs have been completed. Your physiology now falls within the normal parameters of your species.”

“Someone said something about repairs before, but that was just a dream. Is this some kind of hospital?”

“Hospital, accessing data: facility for repairs to humans,” the voice said. “Affirmative, this is an automated medical facility. You have been undergoing emergency repair procedures.”

“Repairs for what?” he asked. “Look, I need to see whomever is in charge of this place. I need to leave. I’m late for work… at least I think I am anyway.” He seemed to remember leaving his house this morning but after that his memory got fuzzy.

“No other life forms are present onboard this vessel,” the mysterious voice said.

“What? Who are you and where am I?”

“I am an artificial intelligence controlling the functions of the vessel you are currently onboard.”

“What do you mean vessel?” Mark asked, trying to sound more confident than he felt. “Am I on a ship? Look, it’s obvious that I’m not hurt so tell me what is going on here, is this some kind of joke?” Looking around he added, “I hope that you’re not recording me sitting here naked.”

“You are in the medical bay onboard a space vessel currently holding position on the far side of Earth’s moon. One of my survey craft observed the event during which you were damaged. You were retrieved, and repair procedures initiated, in order for your life-functions to continue.”

“Oh, come on,” Mark said shaking his head. “I love sci-fi at least as much as the next person, but everything you just told me is just ridiculous. You expect me to believe I’m onboard a spaceship - in space? I admit this room looks high-tech, but not that high tech. There’s also gravity, and that means I’m on Earth somewhere. Why don’t you just tell me the truth?”

Mark’s stomach started churning and he felt light-headed. He floated up off the table and started flailing his arms and legs, which just magnified his dilemma as he drifted away from the table, starting to spin.

“What’s going on?” he yelled. “Stop that, I believe you, I believe you I guess. Please, I need gravity!”

Relieved, he found himself settling slowly down onto the floor. Mark just sat there for a minute before standing up and leaned against the table for support, as his knees felt weak. He stood and panted for a minute, his mind racing.

“Please remain calm. No harm will come to you aboard this vessel.”

“This ship isn’t from Earth, is it?” he asked redundantly.

“Negative.”

Mark took a deep breath. “You said I was in some kind of an accident but I feel fine. Can you tell me what exactly happened to me?”

“Affirmative, I have a recording of the incident. Please approach the computer interface panel.”

Mark walked over to the panel, which brightened with a three-dimensional video projection.

“Is that New York?” He thought until the distinctive spires of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings passed beneath the camera and confirmed his guess. The view continued moving towards downtown before stopping. The downward view was magnified, focusing on a figure crossing a particular street. As the view was from almost directly above, he couldn’t see who it was at first. As he watched, a white truck came tearing around the corner. It struck the figure, sending the person hurtling into the side of a parked car with enough force to dent the door and shatter the side window. The lack of sound lent a surreal quality to the scene.

Oh.

The image was magnified further and he could see who the victim was. Mark started shaking and almost screamed when it became apparent the computer was telling him the truth. It was his face he was looking at, the same one he saw in the mirror every day. As the voice had said, he was the unlucky person, lying in a spreading pool of blood, not moving, looking quite dead.

My.

He watched as the body, bathed in a beam of light rose off the ground. The magnification stepped down as the limp form closed on the camera, following it until it passed the lens, presumably entering the survey ship. The video froze at that point.

God!

Mark backed away from the screen until his ass bumped into the end of the table. He just stood staring as the screen. His memory though still fuzzy started to recall vague details of the accident. He began to shake.

“Are you well?” the computer asked. “My sensors detect a drop in the pressure of your circulatory fluid.”

“No, I’m not okay. I just saw myself hit by a truck so the answer is no. That,” Mark asked, pointing with a shaking finger at the frozen image on the display screen, “what I just saw is true isn’t it, that’s what happened to me?”

“Affirmative, what you have observed is the incident as it occurred. However, all the traumatic damage that your body suffered has been fully repaired.”

“What kind of injuries did I have?” he asked, looking at his torso, arms and twisting to try and look at his back. “I don’t have any scars that I can see.”

The display changed to what looked like a list but the slowly scrolling text was composed of completely alien symbols, which morphed into English text. Mark’s jaw dropped as he read the extent of damage his body had suffered. He could not believe what he read.

“How long have I been here being ’repaired’?”

“Twenty-four point three days.”

“Is that true?” Mark asked shaking his head. “How could you possibly fix all that damage without even leaving any scarring in just twenty-four days? Injuries like that would have put me in a hospital for months, if I even survived to reach one.”

“The time frame you have stated is incorrect. The actual repair procedures required a total of seventy-two hours. A complete mapping of the human genetic structure had to be completed and your physiology analyzed before repair procedures could be attempted. Procedures needed to be halted several times while required adjustments were made. The disabling of Medibots by your body’s immune system response also needed to be compensated for. Human physiology is now part of my medical database and future repairs can be accomplished in far less time.”

“Medibots? What exactly are those?” Mark asked the computer, grasping at anything to distract himself from the disturbing video he had just seen.

“Medibots are Nano scale machines. The word is a term used as an abbreviation of the phrase ‘medical robots’. They are programmed to enter and repair a patient’s individual cells.”

“Wait a minute, you put some kind of robots inside me?”

“Affirmative, repair procedures required the actions of seven point five million units.”

“What about infection? You filled my body with alien machines and I’ve been breathing the air on this ship for weeks.”

“Medibots are stored in vacuum containment and are organism-free. Your body was contained within a sterile field during the entirety of the medical procedures. A compound designed to boost immune system efficiency has also been administered to you. It will prevent any potential infection. Current monitored readings on your physical state as compared to the accessed human medical databases now match the ideal within a typical margin of error.”

Mark calmed his racing mind. He was obviously in no immediate danger and realized that he felt fine, great in fact.

“Thank you.” as inadequate as that sounded, was all he could think to say.

“You are welcome.”

“Computer, you sure don’t speak like a machine. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you are another person.”

“This unit is an advanced experimental model artificial intelligence.”

Wow, Mark thought, true artificial intelligence. A mundane thought crept into his head as he remembered that he was naked. The temperature had been so comfortable on his bare skin it had slipped his mind. “Uh computer, I’d like my clothes please.”

“Your clothing was badly damaged in the incident. The vessel’s inorganic fabricators have produced new coverings for you,” The computer replied as a small door opened in the wall beside the dark panel. A tray slid out piled with silvery cloth. Mark picked up a pair of light pants. Catching his reflection in the dark surface, he stared at himself for a moment.

Still me, he thought. Five-ten and two hundred pounds, well maybe a bit less now he guessed. Being ‘repaired’ for nearly a month is obviously good for the waistline.

The pants and matching tunic fit well and a pair of sandal-like footwear completed his ensemble. The material looked and felt like silk pajamas.

“So what happens now, computer?” Mark asked, accepting the situation for what it was. Something many people, including him he admitted to himself, would have given their right arm for. “Do you take me back to Earth?”

“Is that what you wish?”

Mark was silent. Did he want to go back to Earth, just forget about all of this and get on with his life? The truth was, he didn’t know. How many people would love to be where he was, to know that extraterrestrial life truly existed? As he stood there thinking, his stomach growled loud enough to be heard.

“What does that noise signify?”

“That’s just what a human stomach sounds like when it’s hungry, which isn’t surprising, since I haven’t eaten in over twenty days. Humans need to eat and drink a few times a day. Do you have any food on the ship that would be safe for me to eat?”

“Affirmative, please take the transport pod to the command center. I will have suitable nourishment sent there for you.” A door at the end of the room slid open.

“Sure, that sounds great, thank you again.”

Mark started to get excited. The command center must be something like the ship’s bridge. The decision to return to Earth could wait. He was here already, and since he was well again what harm was there in learning more.

He stepped out and walked down a short hallway lined with doors on either side. As he approached the corridor’s end, a set of double doors front of him opened. Inside was a small nearly featureless chamber.

“What is this, some kind of elevator?” Mark asked, reluctant to step into such a small and enclosed space.

“Elevator: Accessing language files. Assessment essentially correct. This is a transport pod designed for inter-ship travel. It will convey you to the vessel’s command deck.”

“Ok,” Mark said and stepped in. The doors silently closed behind him.

“Please touch the wall plate to indicate you are ready to proceed.”

Mark turned and touched his palm to a blue square low on the wall. He barely felt anything, as the pod started moving. Flashing vertical light bars on the wall indicated the pods motion was horizontal. Elevator indeed, he thought as just a few bars flashed by before they shifted to horizontal indicating an ascent. He counted as they flashed.

“Twenty,” he said aloud as the car stopped. “Is that twenty floors computer?”

“Affirmative, you have traveled twenty levels up from the medical bay.”

Mark was directed down another corridor towards a large open portal. A small boxy device carrying a piece of machinery in flexible tentacle-like arms crossed the corridor in front of him making him jump back.

“What was that?” He asked as he watched it vanish around a corner. It floated just off the deck without any wheels or other visible means of support, moving in complete silence.

“Do not be alarmed, that is a maintenance drone. Drones ordinarily travel through the vessel’s service tunnels, however damage to the tunnel system requires movement through the personnel corridors at this time.”

Mark stared after the drone as it disappeared around a corner before entering the command center. He stepped inside and his jaw dropped.