Alien: Covenant 2: Part 16

Daniels finds herself between a rock and a hard place. Sometimes the human brain is the most difficult place to be, to understand. David 8 sure knows this. In his quest to become more human, to do the things humankind has done….he wanted to become a creator. Still, being human is more than just creating something. There is more, a lot more…..

******** The Paradox of Truth ********

This craft…."The Covenant"….was a city unto itself. It had been built by Weyland Enterprises to expand humankinds' influence into the cosmos, and also, to learn things. To learn things that we hadn't known before. It was too, in a way, to help the human race survive…..

(We always seemed to be at war with ourselves…for some reasons or others. On the verge of self-destruction at any point in time. It was felt by many (back on earth) that reaching out into the cosmos, to sow the seeds of our own humanness…..Well, that may be the best way for us to continue, to move forward)

Daniels thought about the peoples who had inhabited the planet that David 8 had landed Prometheus on. Had they been a peaceful sort? In his reflection of events it had seemed so. They had lived well and worshiped their own gods. That is…until one of them (he) came along. Just think, a race of individuals living on a world of tranquility, of nirvana. That is until the day one of their "gods" descended from the sky just to release a terrible and immediate plague upon them. The fear, the horror, the panic. It made Daniels sick just to think of it.

Anyway, the Covenant had been on its way to another world too. One that was earth-like. With breathable air and surface qualities much not unlike our own. Science had found this to be so. Trees and grasses...there was no doubt about it. However, "Intelligent Life"? That was the question. It was to be determined by us when we reached that world whether it had intelligence life. Still, to use humans as the measuring stick to proclaim intelligence….that was a paradox itself, wasn't it? Were we intelligent? Well, we had existed for ages. We had lived, loved, had war and built machines, machines to serve us. However, when one's own creations can turn around to destroy you…..is that smart?

My God, Daniels felt like she could go on about this for hours. And even so, never come to a definitive answer. It was time to get her mind off of this and onto something more meaningful, more direct.

Daniels sat back in her chair. It had been a long two hours and she had restored several of the "Terraforming System Protocols". "Mu-ther's" data banks were now around ninety-five percent restored. The USCSS Covenant was back on track and back on mission. It had already returned onto the path towards Origae-6.

David had been sloppy. He had simply erased part of the information and some of it had been scrambled. He likely hadn't known what he was doing, so he had second-guessed himself (a human quality it seemed, wasn't it? One that proved that machines were not infallible). Maybe it had been that he had decided that he didn't need certain bits of data? And, he had just deleted what he felt was nonessential. However, thank God that he still needed the oxygen. His creatures/creations still needed to breathe. And of course, she needed to breathe too, and so the colonists. He needed them. His whole plan was to use them. Not kill them off. He had intended to restart his program. However, had his intentions also been to return to earth? To conquer his creators? That was a scary thought. Still, he had kept her alive, why?

Anyway, he needed the people aboard this ship. He needed breading pairs, and also, workers. Not much good to try to build a master race if one didn't have the bond-servants to help do it. It wasn't clear to Daniels at this point if he intended to just deceived them or just outright enslave them from the start. Either way his point to her it seemed, was to use them. Thank Christ that his plan hadn't worked.

Daniels considered what Weyland had said in the meeting...That the robot was in love with her. What nonsense, right? However, she had also become aware that David 8 had been equipped with Emotion-Integrated Circuitry. ICs that produced feelings of anger, jealousy, contempt, and even hate. So, why shouldn't he have been unable to harbor other sets of emotions? Ones like happiness, joy, accomplishment, satisfaction and yes...even love?

Of all the questions that she had about the robot this one was the most perplexing. Perplexing and disturbing. It also made her curious.

David had seemed emotionally saddened when talking about Dr. Shaw. Maybe he had actually fostered feelings for her. Still, his desire to dominant….to be a creator had maybe outweighed his feelings of love. Maybe it had pushed him beyond reason, beyond control, past any other algorithms?

Danny considered that for her it was different, a different situation. Shaw had been alone, the only one, while she was one of many. With the colonist onboard and the embryos, this left the robot open to options. Other avenues to explore. He didn't have to experiment on the only living soul with him.

The thought made her nauseous, but she also had to consider the "what if" question. What if David had succeeded? What would she have done? There should be a human commander over the Covenant, not android.

Synthetics were great for maintenance, and fixing things outside the craft during space travel. But once one's destination had been reached, it would be time for an android to return to "subservient mode".

There were questions. Questions that needed to be answered. Maybe in his condition she could use her influence. Play upon his feelings for her to divulge some of what he knew. It was shifty, deceiving….but can one really deceive one like him. Can one actually lie to a robot? Was it a sin? She felt foolish in asking herself that question. He wasn't human so certain things did not apply. She decided that she would go down there. Down to the "status pod" area. She would awake the android and get him to give her some answers. She needed to know. The Terraforming Technician needed to obtain the remaining five percent of the Terraforming information. Well, she really didn't need it. She could probably do without it. It was not essential. Still Daniels needed something. She needed to fine out something. What that something was, was deep down. It was deep down within her subconscious. It was something that she did not wish to bring to the surface at this time….why? Why would she hide this from herself? Well, because she was scared of it. She was scared that she would find it out, find out the truth. Find out that Weyland had been right all along. That David was in love with her. She kept this buried deep down. It may be okay to lie to a robot, but was not okay to lie to one's self?

People still did it, we humans. We did it all the time. Lie to ourselves. Hide the truth.

Daniels needed answers. And she knew where she could go to get them.

END Part 16