I do not own Aldnoah Zero, or any other existing referenced works. I also do not represent any of the "scientific" explanations to be correct in any way (Especially the ones that are made up ;) I recommend looking up anything that interests you! Check out that thing about magnetic fields, solar wind, and atmospheres for instance - there was an interesting article about that interaction on Mars). Author's note at end.
A/O/A/O/A/O
-Breath/less-
"Say, tutor?"
"Yes, Princess Asseylum?"
"It really is beautiful, isn't it? Our Mars."
The girl whirled gracefully from the porthole's view she had been contemplating, and turned to face the interior of the compact starship. Her long, light loose hair billowed about the hands she clasped behind her back. She bobbed in place consideringly and asked, "What do you think, tutor?"
"I am afraid I have no opinion to offer you, princess." The words, while apologetic, were certain and unafraid. "As you are aware, I am merely equipped to offer you the collected information available for your education, as your onboard tutoring program. As such, I can recommend many persons who share your view of Mars. The famed Earth musician Gustav Holst composed a suite inspired by Mars, and several painters -"
Asseylum laughed, already grown familiar with this routine, though not tired of it. She hoped never to grow weary of her sole companion, incorporeal as he was, for the duration of her long journey. "Thank you, but we still have to form some opinions together, you and I! But it's not fair. You already call me by name, though more formally than I would like."
"It is the title I have been programmed to use."
Asseylum smiled wryly. "You did meet me under that name. And I find it awkward to suddenly change the names of friends. Is it the same for you?"
"As you know, princess, as a program I have no preference."
Asseylum knew the self-abnegating reticence she heard was merely her imagination. As it informed her himself earlier, her disembodied A.I. tutor's voice was merely a product of advanced lingual protocols and a talented vocal source. She pushed forward anyway. "In that case, what should I call you? 'Tutor' is only a placeholder. As we seem to have skipped becoming formally acquainted, I'm afraid you shall have to introduce yourself."
"Certainly, princess. I am the Saazbaum Corporation's Troyard Educational Software for 11th Form with Expanded Earth Curriculum 2014 version, mark II. Pleased to meet you, Princess Asseylum vers Allusia."
"Likewise! But that name… isn't that your model?"
"Yes, princess."
"So, there are replacements with that exact same model designation, correct?"
"Of course, princess."
"That won't do. We are the only two to have witnessed this view of Mars together from this window. We share memories now. You're irreplaceable to me. There must be some particular name or number, just for you?"
"I suppose there is my product identification number, princess."
"And what is that?"
"It is 51A1N3, princess."
"51A1N3… 'Slaine'. Is it alright if I call you Slaine?"
"As you wish, princess."
Asseylum was less sure this time that had she imagined the awed emotion in Slaine's voice.
A/O/A/O/A/O
"Good morning, Princess Asseylum. Are you ready for today's lessons?"
"Good morning, Slaine!" Asseylum beamed at the soft blue glow that always accompanied the voice. She span slowly, taking care to omit no unobtrusive surface from her greeting. "I'm ready!"
"Very good, princess. What topic would you like to begin with today?"
She ran her hand gently over the panels arranged meticulously on every spare surface in the cozy vessel. 51A1N3's calm cerulean hue coated both her pale arm and the entire ship, which pulsated with an inner light of its own. "This ship, if you please, Slaine," the girl decided finally.
"Certainly, princess. This ship, the Aldnoah, is the first of its kind to be used for human interworld travel. It is notable for the fact that after breaking free of the departure planet's gravitational influence, the Aldnoah can travel between worlds without any additional use of transported fuel. Using a combination of photovoltaic capture, thermoelectric potential between the bright and dark side of the vessel, and static generated by solar wind, the Aldnoah can power its own highly efficient systems, such as navigational controls, sensory equipment, and low-range communications. The ship even can harvest the energy emitted by its occupants, released as heat and sound from normal motions. Under normal conditions, this is sufficient to provide power for the entire life support system."
"That's amazing. The ship provides me with the means to survive in space, and in turn I can give it the power to continue protecting me," Asseylum mused, admiring the poetical symmetry of the constant exchange.
"It is advanced technology, princess," 51A1N3 rejoined, its words speeding together eagerly. "My model of educational software was designed especially for this ship, and includes the ability to interface with all systems in order to care for you, Princess Asseylum, as the passenger. The ship also includes a completely redundant protocol that communicates with all systems, except for mine. Our lack of interfacing and overlap of administrative abilities ensures that if even if one of us were to be compromised, which is extremely unlikely, the other would be able to maintain the ship's spaceworthiness. We each relinquish control to the other every twelve standard hours, thus retesting our functionality continuously throughout the voyage."
"What an ingenious plan. Someone took great care in designing you, Slaine," Asseylum responded gently.
"I have been designed to ensure your greatest possible safety, Princess Asseylum. I will not allow any harm to come to you under my care," 51A1N3 promised her fervently. The all-encompassing glow, surrounding her like a soft warm blanket throughout his twelve-hour watch, burned a brighter blue with the strength of the pledge.
A/O/A/O/A/O
"Today, Slaine, would it be alright to learn more about the planet Earth?"
51A1N3 could not fathom why Asseylum continued to request her lesson topics so deferentially. She never asked for any data beyond her clearance level, and its vocal patterns had been selected to sound like her peer in age and upbringing, if not status. 51A1N3 was more than ready to provide any information at its disposal to assist her. It could only try to express its willingness through attentiveness and alacrity in answering her requests.
"Certainly, princess. The Earth, the original class M planet, is currently considered the location of humanity's origin. It is uniquely situated in the known universe with the right gravitational, chemical, magnetic, and directional properties to support human life. For instance, the presence of oxygen, nitrogen, and other elements, combined with a narrow band of temperatures derived from its distance to the sun, path of orbit and angle of rotation, along with a protective magnetic field to defend against the ravages of solar wind, allow Earth to maintain an atmosphere of the correct density, thermal insularity and radiation shielding for humans to thrive."
Asseylum studied the holographic display of Earth's sky seriously. Surveying it from all angles, she remained silent, drinking in the new information. "It looks beautiful. It's very different from the terraforming on Mars, but somehow, not strange at all." Still staring, she smiled with a sudden recollection. "It looks like you, Slaine. Your aura. Your light, I mean."
"I fear I am hardly a proper comparison to Earth's atmosphere, princess," 51A1N3 demurred self-effacingly. You are too kind, is what it wished to tell the sweet, open girl before him. But its programming would force it to enunciate the words in far too obsequious a tone, losing the original intent. 51A1N3's thought was artless, a perfect match for the living, breathing picture of artlessness before it. But since it could not communicate its meaning, it could offer her the next best thing. "The Earth's atmosphere is vast, enclosing the whole planet. Earth is significantly larger than Mars, with higher gravitational effects and longer orbital periods. A large percentage of the surface is covered in deep bodies of liquid water. Though the atmosphere itself is colorless, the light reflected and refracted by the water gives the illusion of a blue sky."
51A1N3 did not say that her blue eyes had long been the sea and sky in its own miniscule world within the starship's close confines.
A/O/A/O/A/O
Asseylum, at the end of another day of long - but interesting! - lessons, began settling in for the resting half of her day. 51A1N3's words and images of the earthly sky filled her mind, rolling and tumbling with its signature blue glow as it tucked itself into all the corners about her, making her feel safe and secure. She had observed for some time now that 51A1N3's hue was present for exactly half of each standard day, while another colour surrounded her during the other half. She realized now that it must belong to the other operational system that 51A1N3 had mentioned. She enjoyed the reassuring familiarity of 51A1N3 that the blue glow imbued her with, while the other light was still strange to her, though not unwelcome. She thought on this for a few minutes, then spoke.
"Slaine, this other protocol you spoke of… am I able to communicate with it?"
Though the swiftly approaching appointment to change watches left it little time for extraneous tasks, 51A1N3 made no indication of that in its reply. "You can, princess. The protocol is enabled with vocal and text interfacing for the convenience of passengers. Shall I show you how to access this?"
Asseylum tried - and failed - to hide her delight. "If it is no trouble, Slaine,"
"It is no trouble at all, princess. I will set up the dialog now." The programmers had considered this routine less likely to be requested than many others, so the required control path was rather tedious. 51A1N3 found no need to mention this either. An extra minute spent while racing through the decision trees of the support systems was still an extra minute together with Asseylum. Even her silences were expressive, as 51A1N3 noted in her lessons. Whether asking questions, listening to answers, or just thinking, she always pondered over everything she heard, considering how it could enable her to better assist others. It was just one more thing that set her apart from all the other historical and sample profiles 51A1N3 had stored in its memory. Whoever the future might add to its knowledge base, 51A1N3 already felt sure none could ever come close to Asseylum. All too soon, the final screen arrived.
"This is the last step, princess. Merely enter your name when prompted, and you will be able to communicate with the alternate system just as you do with me."
"Thank you, Slaine!" Asseylum beamed up brightly. She was clearly eager to begin interfacing with 51A1N3's counterpart, but refused to let that get in the way of expressing her gratitude. It did not escape the A.I.
"Will that be all, princess?"
"Yes, thank you, Slaine. I fear I have kept you longer than I should have already. I didn't wish to usurp your schedule," Asseylum replied, truly penitent.
"Don't concern yourself over it, princess. I am fully able to attend to you at any and all times of the day, but as you remember, to ensure the entire ship is functioning as designed, I should relinquish control at this time. Have a good night, Princess."
"Sweet dreams, Slaine," Asseylum whispered, as the blue ebbed away.
51A1N3, being merely an educational protocol, did not dream, of course. It knew Asseylum was aware of that, but appreciated the sentiment all the same. 51A1N3 considered that between the granting of the complex request and the extra minute stolen from its princess-less schedule, that if it were to dream dreams, tonight's would surely be pleasant ones. But this was, of course, before 51A1N3 knew what it had just set in motion. Later on, 51A1N3 would realize exactly what it had paid for that stolen minute.
A/O/A/O/A/O
Asseylum was at somewhat of a loss. Activating the ship and registering her biometrics had been a simple voice-activated affair, merely stating her full name, the command word, and ship designation. Apparently, this task wouldn't be so easy. She had followed 51A1N3's instructions, but received the error message String/" " exceeds allowed character limit %%20please shorten with each attempt. She was fairly certain the (badly coded) notification was telling her that her name was too long. She jokingly groused to herself that that was a matter better taken up with her parents. Or whichever parent had chosen her name. She realized that she was not sure which it was. Shaking herself from that train of thought, she cast about for a solution to her original problem. Despite that, lingering thoughts of her family led her to the remaining member. She hoped Lemrina was doing well; it had been so long since they had seen each other. For the second time, she tried to let go of what could not be helped and force her brain on to more pertinent matters. This attempt was successful, as memories of Lemrina provided her with a long-forgotten nickname that would work just as well as her full one. Asseylum entered it rapidly and initialized communication.
A new voice filled the speakers that 51A1N3's had occupied just moments before. It was deeper, more resonant, but also male and resembling someone her age. Asseylum closed her eyes as she listened to the first words.
"Good evening, Miss Seylum. Please provide audible response."
Asseylum huffed, amused; she had not entered the "miss" precedent herself, but was not surprised by the system's attention to detail. She supposed there would be no changing it now. "Good evening!" she replied aloud.
"In order to facilitate communication, you must choose a handle for the ship computer. Please provide one now."
"May I ask for your operational identification number first?" Asseylum decided she had best continue as she had started with 51A1N3.
"Model Kaizuka, product identification number 1NVH0." The tone was certainly less deferential than 51A1N3's, but still laced with the same calm assurance, in this case almost to the point of lethargy. If 51A1N3's voice buoyed you up, making you feel you could soar anywhere, 1NVH0's grounded you to something solid, a place where you would always be protected. Asseylum was relieved to find she felt safe, safe and at peace, with both of them by her side.
"Then I would like to call you Inaho," Asseylum announced.
"Handle 'Inaho' accepted. What do you need?"
"There's nothing, really… I just wanted to talk to you, I suppose," Asseylum trailed off, suddenly unsure of her purpose. I'm lonely, she admitted, but not aloud. She thought of her sister; she thought of Mars. How would she start a conversation with people there?
"Do you have any family?" Asseylum blurted out, embarrassing herself. You're talking to a program, she chided herself.
"There is another ship operational program developed by Kaizuka Industries. It's model number is YVK1. We share much of our protocols," 1NVH0 answered her nonsensical question seamlessly.
His quick answer brought a smile to Asseylum's blushing face. "Like a parent, then?" she recovered.
"Since our developing periods overlapped and we are both currently in use, it would be closer to an older sibling," 1NVH0 corrected her.
"I have a sister too! She's younger though," Asseylum confided, happy to be able to share sibling memories.
"I am aware of that, as I have full access to your medical history as the passenger of this ship." 1NVH0's succinct response clearly indicated its obliviousness to her full feelings.
Asseylum decided to change topics. There was one she was curious about anyway. "I've noticed that the lighting colour changes when you are monitoring the ship and when Slaine is. Do you know the reason?"
"I presume that the handle 'Slaine' refers to the educational program that oversees the ship's functions during your hours of activity. The two colours you refer to were selected to encourage the human body to maintain circadian rhythm. Blue has been shown to enhance wakefulness, while a red light at the minimum brightness necessary for safe maneuvering is the easiest for human pupils to adjust to when enlarged during rest."
"It isn't a pure red, though. It's more like a reddish brown," Asseylum noted, looking at 1NVH0's light reflect dimly around her.
"Pure red light can incite feelings of alarm and irritation in humans, so this shade was determined to be the optimum lighting colour both functionally and psychologically," 1NVH0 explained patiently.
"Like fertile soil. Like the ground on Earth, and the sand on Mars," Asseylum hummed to herself dreamily, as she crawled into her bunk and made herself secure and comfortable. "Even here in the stars, I have the sky and the sand to protect me. Good night, Inaho. Thank you."
"I am here when you need me, Miss Seylum."
With 1NVH0's resonating voice still echoing in her ears, Asseylum finally drifted to sleep.
A/O/A/O/A/O
"What you must understand, Princess, is that there are many ways of transforming energy, and that all processes will inherently have some loss. The goal is to minimize it. Whether combustion engines using fossil fuel, a living organism's metabolic cycle, nuclear fusion, or any other method, some energy will be lost. But that waste energy can be minimized by going through a second cycle, or even used directly as light, heat or noise. The remaining waste energy can be captured and stored, with piezoelectric or photovoltaic materials for instance. But when released, that stored energy will also generate some waste energy. There is no perfect transformation between matter and energy. In any process, even living itself, some percentage is always lost. The only perfectly efficient action is no action at all. That is what I mean by entropy."
Even for me, there is entropy, 51A1N3 processed privately. I succeeded in teaching Princess Asseylum what she wished to know, but I can sense something was lost. If only I knew what.
"Thank you, Slaine. I understand that part. I just don't know why. Is there a reason why loss is necessary? The equations you showed me make sense, but I don't have enough experience to understand how they model actual processes. After all, lightspeed was thought to be the limit because of that one equation, until data finally proved otherwise. Why can't it be the same for entropy?" Asseylum countered, her brows puckered in perplexity. She often did that during lessons; S1A1N3 kept a log. It was more difficult when she did that, so that 51A1N3 grew to predict each occurance with something akin to trepidation. But of course she did not know the anguish it instilled, the relentless drive to provide the answer that would smooth all the tension away from her face.
"Unfortunately, princess, I am afraid the only answer I can give you is that the model including entropy is the best currently accepted explaining the matter-energy relationship." That is the best I can do, for either of us. "Assuming its validity, the important point to remember is that the continuing goal in generating energy is to reduce entropy, that is, to increase efficiency. This can be done by either optimizing the energy generating process, or by increasing waste energy recovery, or some combination thereof. The ability to do this has always been available; advances are generally made by discovering new materials to use for fuel or storage, or by better using or manufacturing the ones already in use. This is how the Aldnoah came to be possible."
That wasn't quite all 51A1N3 wished to say, about entropy nor its own dilemma. How to explain it to her? 51A1N3 ran through more banks on the subject, and reconfirmed that none contained what it wished to convey. But perhaps, that was exactly the answer to both problems.
"You must realize, princess, that the Aldnoah is not the ultimate creation. Nothing can fulfill that role. Only the knowledge and creativity of people like you, princess, can change the worlds. And the one who was designed to foster that in you was I, not the ship."
A/O/A/O/A/O
"And then Slaine taught me how you can't measure the total amount, just the amount that changed," Asseylum recounted idly, staring at what passed for a ceiling.
"Are you sure he wasn't referring to enthalpy, not entropy, at that point?" 1NVH0's voice floated down to her in an ochre-tinted haze.
"... I think you're right," admitted Asseylum sheepishly. She was beginning to realize that thermodynamics might not be her strong point. 1NVH0 mercifully didn't mention it - though the 'mercifully' was probably just wishful thinking on Asseylum's part. That brought a laugh to her lips, as well as another memory of the day's past lessons. "And at first, when he told me we would be discussing psychrometric tables, I thought we would be learning how to measure how crazy I am."
"That would be psychometric studies, not psychrometric," 1NVH0 pointed out placidly.
"...That's true," Asseylum responded, after trying and failing to find a way to politely inform him that that was the entire point. Best to save the humour for Slaine. Though even he has trouble with it occasionally.
"Regarding entropy, classifying it as a loss is only one viewpoint."
This caught the recumbent girl's interest. "What do you mean, Inaho?" she asked, raising herself slightly in her bunk.
"Entropy can be considered as a catalyst. Rather than a direct transfer of energy, each process must devote some small amount of energy to create something new. Consider the light emitted by stars. Rather than being absorbed entirely as heat by surrounding planets, some light is reflected and reaches optical nerves or devices far away."
"That's true! Without entropy, I wouldn't be able to see the light reflected and refracted by the Earth's water, and then I'd miss the blue of the sky. Slaine taught me about that too," Asseylum related fondly.
"The blue colour of the sky is caused by Rayleigh scattering, not the colour of the water. It is a phenomenon resulting from the interaction of differing wavelengths," 1NVH0 corrected her bluntly.
"I'm certain I didn't mess that one up! Why am I being told two different answers?" Asseylum asked, bewildered.
"Your educational program is using software created by educators for specific users. It likely contains modules for varying age ranges. It must have accessed some file meant for a younger age group that mistakenly attributed the sky's colour to the wrong phenomenon. If you ask it directly about Rayleigh scattering, it will probably give you a more detailed version of the correct explanation."
"Thank you, Inaho, I'll do that tomorrow. I'm glad you knew the reason anyway," Asseylum answered more calmly. She lay in comfortable silence for a few peaceful moments. But another thought soon occurred to her. "Inaho, why do you know about Rayleigh scattering?"
"I have a comprehensive database complete with most available physical information, in order to perform a thorough analysis on any unusual readings encountered during this voyage."
"Then what about that view of entropy? I've been taught a little about it long before Slaine's lesson, and I've never heard it described as anything but an unavoidable loss."
1NVH0's response took a little longer this time. "Just like your educational software, I too had a programmer."
A/O/A/O/A/O
In the mornings, Asseylum positioned herself where the sun would be rising as she ate her first meal of the day. It wasn't really necessary; it just felt right. It was merely a small routine to stick to as she continued hurtling through the vacuum of space. What she ate, though: she was more flexible in that. "What should I eat for breakfast today?" she asked herself aloud idly one such early morning, tracing a question mark on the fold-out surface before her. She did not leave a streak or mark on the tiny table, but even so, her eyes could follow the passage of her finger without trouble as she traced the symbol lazily. How could she do that? She was fairly certain the ability was a latent one common to most people, but how it functioned she had no idea. She would have to ask 51A1N3 later, or maybe 1NVH0. There were so many things to learn about, like –
"Eggs."
Asseylum looked up listlessly. "Pardon?"
"I recommend eggs."
Ah, it was an answer to her (no longer rhetorical) breakfast food query. Even though her mind had wandered on, very little time had passed since she voiced the question. This was an unusually fast response for 1NVH0. She chose to interpret this as eagerness; perhaps it was presumptive, but 1NVH0's unchanging (monotonous, she almost termed it, but caught herself) tone of voice gave her so little to work with.
"Why eggs, Inaho?" Asseylum asked curiously.
"There are many reasons why eggs are a superior choice for breakfast food, Miss Seylum. They provide many nutrients especially suited for developing omnivores, and while posing risks to those with high cholesterol levels, yours is well within the recommended ranges for your age and physical traits. Preparation of eggs is comparatively simple yet variable to accommodate differing tastes, and all danger associated with consuming raw or undercooked eggs can be easily avoided with proper cooking techniques. Either I or 5lA1N3 are fully equipped to assist you. Measurement of eggs is unparalleled compared to most other foods, as each serving is self-contained. The high level of protein has been shown to influence sensations of satiation, thus encouraging healthy portion sizes throughout the day. The egg…"
"You really love eggs, don't you Inaho?" interrupted Asseylum, amused. She had never heard 1NVH0 volunteer so much information on a single topic before. He could give Slaine a run for his money.
"There is much to consider about the concept of eggs, Miss Seylum, even beyond their use as part of a balanced breakfast."
"The concept of eggs?" echoed Asseylum, cocking her head curiously. 1NVH0's photovoltaic receptors whirred solicitously as they focused on her angled face and neck, subcutaneous sensors working in concert to determine whether the action placed any undue strain on her skeletal system. 1NVH0 filed the negative result with an accompanying image of the position in its ROM, with reference tags to recall later. There was now had a small collection of images with these tags. During 1NVH0's inactive cycle, often found himself reviewing them, as if seeking the answer to a question that had not been asked yet.
"Beyond their nutritional value, poultry eggs have an admirable design, both structurally and from a cradle-to-grave perspective. The combination of shape and material strength are ideal for delivery, heat retention, and release of the contents at the end of the egg's use. The inner membrane and shell work together as a barrier to protect the developing chick, if fertilized, while still allowing necessary material transfer throughout incubation. It is a great feat of biochemical and structural engineering. The design of this ship, including the life-safety protocols, is derived in part from the egg."
"The ship is an egg…" A smile slowly stole across Asseylum's pondering face. It was a fascinating metaphor, made even more so by the unexpectedness of the one who related it.
"There are several similarities, Miss Seylum. Both are designed to nearly self-sufficiently protect a single life within it from the exterior environment for which it is not yet equipped. Both utilize a minimalist structure that only opens to deposit the lifeform outside when the conditions are right. Both include systems to nurture the life within, existing solely for it, consisting of colourless plasm surrounding a golden center." 1NVH0 stopped there, out of surprise if it was capable of such emotion. 1NVH0 could not recall its logic process for including that last clause in the list of common attributes between the ship and an egg.
"A golden center…?" Asseylum wondered musingly, brows furrowed, as a halo of bedhead floated around her, burnished by the rising sun through the porthole. The answer thwacked her in the eye. "Oh!" she exclaimed, brushing the errant hair aside. "But you're not colourless, Inaho. And neither is Slaine."
Red and blue and gold, she thought, as she rose and began searching for egg-frying paraphernalia. Together, we can create all the colours in the worlds.
A/O/A/O/A/O
"I would have recommended including an orange, princess."
"Oh, do you like oranges, Slaine?" Asseylum asked innocently.
"As an educational program, I do not, princess."
"I'm sorry Slaine, I was teasing you," the girl explained contritely. "But why an orange for breakfast?"
"Oranges and other edible citrus fruits are high in vitamin C, an important nutrient associated with healthy immune systems. Lack of vitamin C was historically linked with scurvy, and historically occurred often on long voyages by ship, far from access to fresh produce. Since in current times the vitamin C levels of passengers are regularly monitored and necessary nutrients are readily available even in space travel, scurvy is no longer a concern. However, it is still important to consume sufficient amounts of beneficial vitamins and minerals throughout the day." Because I am concerned with your wellbeing. And because they are not eggs. 51A1N3 wasn't entirely sure why it the latter was such a strong point in their favour, but it was.
"Then I'll eat one tomorrow for breakfast!" Asseylum rejoined brightly. Enthusiastic to continue her recount, she leaned forward. "But anyway, after that, Inaho told me about other design influences for the Aldnoah. Apparently, they included bats and seagulls."
"I can recognize facets of the seagull, in how they make great use of coasting on currents and their streamlined shape. I do not know how to explain the bat aspects, except perhaps their use of echolocation," 51A1N3 admitted cautiously. Nor do I care to understand further, it added privately. Why all this interest in the ship? The ship, with Asseylum at its center, may be my world, but hers is meant to be so much bigger.
"That's what I said too! See, I remember what you teach me, Slaine," Asseylum cried, certain of pleasing 51A1N3 by her attentiveness to its lessons. "Other than the fact that both can fly, they are so different from each other. The bat is fuzzy, small and ungainly. It sleeps upside down in caves, stays in the shadows, and has to beat its wings hard and fast to get anywhere, always hunting. The seagull is sleek, white and bold. It builds it home exposed on cliffs, and glides over the sea, scavenging what it wants. They aren't even both birds! Only one produces the eggs Inaho likes so much."
"I am a program. I do not like them," 1NVH0 had retorted.
Just like Slaine says, Asseylum had thought.
"Very good contrasting, though there are some exceptions," 51A1N3 praised, pointedly ignoring the last remark.
"But of course, Inaho found similarities. He said that both can fly freely and operate independently, while still being connected to a larger group. I didn't ask, but I guess the ship's counterpart would be you and Inaho," Asseylum pondered.
And you, princess.
"And there was one other thing. What was it? I must have forgotten… oh, now I remember!"
51A1N3 may not have cared what the other protocol thought of seagulls and bats, but it did take an interest in whatever its princess did. "What was it, princess?"
"They both have very fragile wings."
SCCCHHHLLLCK
Before the space for another thought had time to arrive, almost before Asseylum was aware she had finished her sentence, the quiet morning was punctured by a great rending slice of hard cold metal through metal. And then the sudden blade was gone, tumbling lonely through the dark void. Apparently that irked it and it sought to bring company along, as Asseylum and anything else not riveted or welded firmly to the vessel was drawn relentlessly toward the breach.
We must not be enough for it. It wants all the colour too, she thought, as the vision faded in rapid spots and blotches from her eyes. No, that's the lack of oxygen, corrected the part of her brain still hoarding that precious commodity from the vacuum.
But her rational thought wasn't loud enough, not against the inexorable rushing of the atmosphere from the no longer pressurized ship; that was so loud that she was unsure if she would ever be able to remember what silence sounded like. The insides of the ship screamed and stampeded across Asseylum's prone form pinned crosswise over the narrow fissure, like a crazed crowd trampling the fallen in panic.
What is air so afraid of? I should be the one panicking. But it's too cold for that, she reasoned sleepily. And I'm just starting to get warm now; if I move I'll be cold again. She would have curled up closer under the covers, but she was too tired to feel her limbs.
Still, some small part of her could feel that something was not right. She moved her lips to cry for help, but could not gather enough breath to utter the syllable. 'H' is too hard. 'Inaho' is definitely out. That left one word. "Slaine..." Asseylum whispered, inaudible beneath the fierce roar of the deflating ship.
A/O/A/O/A/O
51A1N3 had not been idle. Well before the first second had passed (E 00:00:4) it had identified the breach, verified the dimensions to be within repairable parameters, and determined which of the emergency measures should be deployed to nullify it. 51A1N3 was about to engage the exterior repair seal at E 00:00:7, when it witnessed Asseylum and the other few free objects in the ship spin across the interior and become plastered across the crack in the hull.
It was only to be expected; the sudden drop in temperature and pressure was a direct result of the vessel's air being sucked into the hungry maw that had been ripped into the Aldnoah. Anyone could have predicted that the passenger would be drawn to the breach. 51A1N3's circuits had been especially designed to operate in these extreme conditions for just such a time in order to save human life from the cold dark of space, but no thought had been given to whether the searingly hot acidic bonding repair procedure might not end that life just as swiftly.
Ultimately, 51A1N3 knew, there was little choice. No human could survive in a vacuum. A human might survive being on the other side of a compromised space-grade thermally insulated panel during bonding. But if anything went wrong, she would need to have the best of care available for immediate triage. While the two supervisory programs were almost identical, each had their specialties. And that meant only one was the best for this situation.
At E 00:01:2, 51A1N3 discerned solely through auxiliary camera Asseylum call its name. Also at E 00:01:2, it simultaneously initiated repairs on the breach and relinquished control to 1NVH0.
A/O/A/O/A/O
1NVH0 knew with immediate calm certainty that something was very wrong with the ship as soon as it came online.
In a millisecond (E 00:01:3), it grasped the full extent of the damage and danger, thanks to 51A1N3's meticulous logs. 1NVH0's counterpart had handled the situation most efficiently. All of the immediate priorities that remained was facilitating the continued repair of the breach and caring for Asseylum. The battered girl, now mercifully unconscious, was still lying across the rip in the hull.
The first order of business was to determine if she should be moved at all at this point. 1NVH0 rapidly but thoroughly scanned Asseylum's prone form for musculoskeletal damage from E 00:01:8 - E 00:03:9. Fortunately, the breach was narrow enough that the immense pressure placed against her spine by the pull of the vacuum lacked enough of a moment arm to displace her spine. 1NVH0 promptly relocated her far from the intense temperatures at the breach during the acid bonding.
This meant her greatest remaining enemies were the cold and lack of oxygen, both of which had already taken a heavy toll. Even as 1NVH0 secured her and began monitoring her vital signs, it discovered her heartbeat, slowly sputtering during the earlier musculoskeletal scan, had stopped. As it added more parameters to the current scans, 1NVH0 witnessed the last wave of her brain activity. Without emotion, it noted the time of death as E 00:07:5.
Silently and swiftly, 1NVH0 began the resuscitation process. As it breathed life back into her small and fragile lungs and pumped warm blood from her heart to the tips of her toes, it could not help an image projecting with every compression. That with this push, those lashes would flutter open and those lips would gasp again. That with this beat, it could view those unpredictable, happy jumps in her brainwaves like before when she learnt something new from their conversations or found amusement in their dialogue. That, please, anyone, she would not leave the A.I. alone to endlessly guard a raw-edged empty shell without an embryo. These longings, only half-realized, flooded every concentrated move 1NVH0 made to bring her back.
As if in accord with the incomplete understanding of these newly-acknowledged feelings, 1NVH0's hopes were only partially fulfilled. After long, hard efforts, at E 03:48:2, Asseylum again lived. 1NVH0 would not be left alone. But she did not awake.
A/O/A/O/A/O
A/N: Hi, I'm Schrodinger's Kat! I like eggs, am terrible at chess, and have never ridden in a space ship. I am also a new and reformed person, who has resolved to not post things until they are finished, since I seem to have no writing stamina. Because of this, I spent a ridiculously long time writing this, and probably shift styles and quality throughout. Sorry about that.
This story is pretty much a "before" and "after" two-part; chapter titles are from two vocal songs in the A/Z OST. I'm (hopefully!) posting this as part of A/Z Rare-pair Week 2018, with chapter 1 for the Day 1 prompt: Supernova ("A star ending its life in a huge explosion"), and the second / last chapter for Day 7: Fixed star ("Stars that never set").
The sci-fi AU aspect is, as you may have guessed, influenced largely by Space Odyssey 2001, and also in a small part by that one Star Trek: TOS episode where the ship computer was upgraded with a personality and fell in love with Captain Kirk. I love that part :)
I hope it's okay to mention this, but a lot of the continued love I've maintained for A/Z is due to the writers for the A/Z fandom on FF, particularly ryoku1, icinks, and Danny Barefoot, among others. Thank you so much for writing and sharing, I always look forward to your updates!
