"The Long Night"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

Standard Disclaimers apply. You know what I'm talking about. Don't sue me. Please.

One

PX-23-DXY's electronic eyes scanned the disappearing human crowd once more, then promptly turned his mechanical back on them. Coolness swept through his systems, and several of his super-sensitive sensors built inside him were sounding alarms but his CPU soon silenced them. It was a minor issue that PX-23-DXY was finding to be troublesome. It was constantly distracting him from other more important tasks that needed to be done. He would have liked to reprogram the entire structure, but that would have taken minutes, and right now he didn't have minutes.

The ancient robot closed the shuttle bay door with minor haste and headed back into to the cockpit. He took one last quick scan through the viewscreen of the shuttle, confirming no one was there. Satisfied, he proceeded to ignite the main engines, and flipped on the hover. Soon, the shuttle was silently lifting up from the ground. PX-23-DXY adjusted his mechanical body to lock on to the chair he was occupying. He was ready now. Launch.

But somehow, he hesitated. That surprised him: his race was not known to hesitate at such a simple task, especially after they had descended from the confines of the flesh they occupied just a few centuries ago. Now he was purely machine, and machines were not suppost to hesitate. Yet why? Another scan around the perimeter confirmed the reason. He was lonely. For the first time in two thousands cycles, he did not have company. Sure, there were AI's that he could talk to, but they were AI's. They were fundamentally different from him. They were created out of the imagination from other sentient beings, while he was the sentient being himself. He was alone.

A feeling of regret seeped through the systems, causing another set of small alarms to go off. He angrily ordered the CPU to switch them off temporarily for good, and hastily returned to his task. He could reflect back on himself after he was in orbit.

"Computer, take me into orbit and take appropriate protocols in preparation of boarding Zero."

"Acknowledged." The cold tone of the AI replied. "Launch codes confirmed. Hover initialization sequence confirmed. Initiating launch."

And off he went. The computer told PX-23-DXY that the shuttle would be able to board the Zero in twelve minutes. So for twelve more minutes PX-23-DXY had the chance to reflect on himself. Usually he wouldn't do this, normally he would ask the computer to notify him two minutes before arrival and went off into sleep mode, but now it seemed that it terrified him to do so. Usually when he did, there was always someone besides him that would wake him up when trouble arose, a being who he could always trust with absolute mechanical loyalty. Now those were gone.

The programmed emotion of regret seeped back into his CPU. He had volunteered for this job; to take care of Zero after everyone took refuge in his or her or its respective worlds. After all, the caravan couldn't just leave the ship in orbit, as it would act like a flag to attract all the transplanetary authorities. As PX-23-DXY could essentially live on any world and live for almost indefinitely, he was the candidate for the job and volunteered it for himself. But he hadn't counted on sadness and loneliness occupy a large portion of his CPU. He hadn't anticipated the program. He smiled his mechanical smile to himself. Perhaps he had been with the caravan too long. It was as if they were turning him back into an organic being again, and their entire departure had strengthened the feeling.

Suddenly, the communications console on the shuttle beeped. He was suddenly pulled back from his self-reflection back into reality. Had he been spotted by the authorities? He feared for the safety of Zero, when he realized that the signal was coming from Zero itself. He put it on screen.

And there was the face of Lekim. The Lekim, the one who PX-23-DXY has just left behind on Praxis, the Lekim that he had said his farewells to just moments ago. And yet he was right there, on board Zero smiling his usual bright smile.

"Looks like that holographic program fooled you completely, eh?"

He had been indeed.

"Why did you do this?" PX-23-DXY couldn't help but to ask.

Lekim shrugged. "Why, I thought you might be lonely."