Author's Note: There's actually a whole conversation between the different forms of Andromeda in this chapter, just incase you were growing tired of nothing but little snippets of dialogue here and there.
Chapter 6: Funeral for a Friend
Nearly six hours later, Past Beka is preparing to test the Past Maru's new systems. Her future self and Rev are in the cockpit and Past Harper is in the engine room. Beka starts the main generator and the Maru's previously dormant systems whir to life. "It's okay baby," coos Beka as her ship creaks and groans as a result of the new energy coursing through its conduits. The coils in the funnels of the Maru's engines slowly start glowing white, then streams of blue energy poor out of the engines. The crew is relieved, but Andromeda cuts their celebrations short. She informs them that they are going to have to download Captain Harper's brain in a couple minutes. Past Beka grudgingly shuts off the engines and the group heads to Med. Deck.
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They walk into Med. Deck and are shocked to find Captain Harper wide-awake and already hooked up to the Brain-Downloading Machine via a large cable plugged into his Data Port and various smaller wires sticking out of his forehead. On either side of the wires there were large bands of metal, securing Harper's head so he couldn't move it and wreck the wires' connections inside his brain. He was also strapped to the operating table by restraining cuffs on his upper-arms, thighs, wrists and ankles.
The BDM was completed and the majority of the extra pieces had been moved out of the room. The machine was almost shoulder-height but most of the top was taken up by a large screen displaying Harper's current brainwaves and the electric signals downloaded by the BDM (currently there were no downloaded signals). The diagram of Harper's internal organs showed that every organ system except his muscular, cardiovascular and nervous systems weren't working anymore (not included the minor systems making up those three main systems). Also, there was a new feature to the diagram, amidst the blue and red organs there was a large streak of yellow running along and below Harper's digestive system. This was the progression of Harper's digestive fluids as they ate their way through his flesh.
Rommie and the Trances were already on Med. Deck and Future Beka asks Captain Harper how long he had been conscious for. He tells her that the pain from the digestive juices melting his nerve endings woke him up about half an hour ago. "Just in time for Trance to drill a couple holes through my skull," explains Captain Harper. Gold Trance looks unhappily at a drill-like medical tool lying on the table beside Harper's bed; she had to operate on him without using painkillers (because of the radiation). Rev asks why Harper is so heavily restrained and Rommie explains that when Harper's brainwaves are interrupted by the BDM his muscles are going to go into convulsions.
Rommie explains that the BDM will intercept different parts of Harper's brainwaves depending on which section of wiring is engaged. Some of it will be relatively simple, like Harper's consciousness, memory and personality, which are rerouted out of his brain each time he enters Virtual Reality. The hard part is stabilizing the electric signals enough to totally separate them from the brain, when this happens, no new signals will be created but everything up to that point will be preserved inside the BDM, providing a pattern for Harper's new android brain to build upon.
Captain Harper cuts the explanation short by asking Rev not to say his characteristic invocation until they are sure the BDM has failed (if it failed). "Just in case this crazy scheme works, I wouldn't want you to waste your breath," jokes Captain Harper.
"Of course," says Rev.
"Hey," says Future Beka, "if this doesn't work you'll be sorry."
"If this doesn't work I'll be dead," says Captain Harper.
"Yeah, but your past self's not," grins Beka, Past Harper remains silent, the fact that his future self is about to die has drained Past Harper's sense of humor.
The medical display beeps as Captain Harper's olfactory nerves stop broadcasting electric signals. This is the last straw for Harper and he tells Rommie to download his brain before he looses something else. She pick up a syringe filled with a chemical that will stop Harper's heart, this will make it easier to download his consciousness until his brain begins to die of lack of oxygen. Rommie walks over to Harper and prepares to inject him with the fatal drug, but she hesitates. Rommie is still concerned, she is worried that the BDM won't work and that she will lose Harper.
Harper reminds her that he will still die if they don't do anything, but by the time the radiation shuts off his heart, he would've already lost the abilities to see, hear, smell, taste, feel and talk. Also, by then his lower torso would compose solely of self-digested liquid meat. Harper tells the group that he can feel his dead organs sitting dormant in his body and feel the digestive juices eating away his flesh as his nerves send bolts of white-hot pain through his body. Harper is in excruciating pain and he's doomed anyway, using the BDM gives him a chance to survive, and whether or not it works, at least he will be out of his misery.
Rommie nods and sticks the syringe in Captain Harper's neck. In a couple seconds the heart-rate monitor on the medical display flat-lines. The BDM automatically starts downloading Harper's consciousness through the cable connected to Harper's Data Port. Harper looks like he entered Virtual Reality except his head didn't snap back (because of the restraints). On the BDM display it showes the electric signals the machine is downloading, they match Harper's brainwaves on the medical display, which have become dangerously rapid and chaotic (a result of the downloading process).
The other wires start glowing as they intercept the signals concerning the sensory systems and motor control. This makes Harper's body jerk around as the brain sends out sporadic signals while the regular ones are downloaded. At the same time the medical display warns that every organ except Harper's brain has shut down. On the BDM display it shows that all of Harper's memories have been copied, downloaded and stored in the machine, it also alerts the crew that the motor control patterns are encoded and secure in the BDM mainframe.
Harper's consciousness etc. is almost stabilized when the brainwave display on the medical display goes blank as Harper's brain shuts off from lack of oxygen. At the same time the downloaded brainwave display freezes, it registers loss of input and warns that it didn't finish encoding all the electric signals. The crew doesn't notice at first, they are busy looking sadly at Captain Harper's limp body, fortunately his eyes are closed and the group is spared the sight of his blank, lifeless eyes.
Rommie unlatches the restraints and takes the cables out of Harper's head. She walks over to the BDM and assesses the condition of Harper's downloaded mind. The others see the warning that the download isn't complete and ask Rommie if that means that the machine failed. Rommie tells them that she's not sure, the BDM seemed to copy and download everything else perfectly. The problem appears to be that Harper's brain died before all of his consciousness was encoded.
Rommie tells them that this part of Harper's consciousness could've been what his brain was experiencing at the exact moment the BDM was downloading his mind and that everything else was already secure in the machine. She tells them that she still has to sort out the downloaded signals and erase the fragmented parts of Harper's last moments. She will also have to delete all of Harper's memories before age 3, so his memories of learning to walk and talk etc. don't interfere with Harper's ability to function as an android.
Rommie explains that she will have to design a new Virtual Reality Matrix to simulate the way the human brain works. The BDM encoded the patterns of Harper's motor controls etc. and the new VR Matrix will simulate those patterns and allow Harper to control his android body as if it were his human body. That way, Harper won't have to learn how to function as an android immediately, they will be able to save that for after they get back to the future (if they get back to the future).
It will take about an hour for the BDM to provide a design for the new VR Matrix; then it will take 2 to 3 hours for Rommie to construct it. While the BDM is sorting out Harper's mind, Rommie will modify one of the Andromeda's humanoid drones into a new body for Harper. It took Harper almost 2 days to modify a drone to make Rommie's original body (the one destroyed before the crew was transported to Seefra). Fortunately, Rommie is faster then Harper and they will be able to download his mind into the android body in about 5 hours.
In the meantime Gold Trance tells the others to get some sleep. The Maru Crew is appalled at the suggestion. "We just watched Harper die!" exclaims Past Beka, "how do you expect us to sleep with that fresh in our minds?" Gold Trance tells them that as soon as they have Captain Harper up and running they will have to continue with their plan. She tells the Maru Crew that they will need to be well-rested in order for their plan to work. The Maru Crew is unaware that there's a plan and asks Gold Trance about it. She tells them that they will find out once they've gotten some sleep.
Past Harper finally speaks, he's pretty pale and clammy but manages to keep his composure as he asks Gold Trance if what just happened to his future self is what she remembers from when she was Purple Trance, watching this for the first time. "How can it be the same?" responds Gold Trance cryptically, "my purple self is right there, and I'm not her so no-matter what happens, it will not be the same for this me as it is for that me."
"Hmm, good point," says Harper forlornly as he leaves the Med. Deck. Past Beka, Purple Trance and Rev leave as well and the four crewmates disappear down the corridor, heading for the Past Maru. Rommie goes to start work on the android body and Gold Trance tells Future Beka to get some sleep as well. Trance has to stay behind and properly store Harper's body so they can bring it back to the future where the Perseids will use it for their radiation research. Beka walks over to the door but before she leaves, Beka pauses and takes one last look at Harper.
Beka retells the story of her death experience to Trance. They had known Dylan Hunt and the Andromeda for almost four years when Beka was possessed by the Abyss during one of their missions. Trance remembers it well, they had to cool Beka's body so her heart would stop, this forced the Abyss out of Beka's mind. Beka tells Trance that she told everyone that she was fine and couldn't really remember what happened, but in reality she wasn't fine. Beka wasn't really the same after she was clinically dead for those few minutes, part of her never came back to life. "I know how you feel," says Trance, who had died many times since they joined Dylan's quest to restore the Commonwealth.
"And if this works, so will Harper," says Beka turning away from her dead friend and letting the door close behind her, she knew that no-matter how perfectly the BDM saved Harper's mind, he will never be the same.
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A few hours later Rommie walks into one of the machine shops. She picks up a tool she needed for the android body, but she lingers in the room looking at one of Captain Harper's unfinished projects. It was a small model of the X-1, the first Earth airplane to break the sound barrier. The holographic form of Andromeda appears in front of Rommie and tells her to get back to work. Rommie reminds her holographic counterpart that she is not only the humanoid embodiment of Andromeda, but also the First Officer, and the one giving the orders until Captain Harper is reanimated. "If you're so sure that Harper isn't gone then why are you acting so sentimental with his projects," asks Holo-Rommie.
"It's just," says Rommie, "remember when Harper first started building the life-size version of the X-1, back when we first met the Maru Crew, when all they cared about was self-gain?"
"You mean back when they were the Maru Crew that's currently on board?" says Holo-Rommie.
"Um yeah, I guess," says Rommie making a face, "well anyway, remember how we thought the crew were so incompetent?"
A terminal flashes on and Andromeda's screen embodiment joins the conversation, "they were incompetent."
"Well compared to our old crew they were, but once we got to know them we started appreciating them," says Rommie.
"Your point?" asks Holo-Rommie.
"My point is that they became close to us, you once told Harper that he was your favorite engineer," says Rommie, looking at the screen.
"Yes, the Maru Crew did become, special to us," responds Andromeda.
"Yeah, but when Harper became our captain we weren't too happy about it," says Rommie.
Holo-Rommie elaborates, "he was the best engineer in the High Guard."
"But he continued to be our engineer, during the battles he was on the bridge calling the shots, but after the fighting was over he was the one making sure the ship was fixed," says Rommie.
"Unofficially," says Andromeda.
"Whatever, the point is that Harper put us ahead of himself. Like the X-1, as Captain Harper finally had the resources to acquire everything he needed for the X-1. But he abandoned the project and decided to make this miniature," says Rommie, holding up the half-finished model, "he spends his free time fixing us, no one has ever treated us so kindly."
"Yeah, especially not Dylan," smirks Holo-Rommie.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asks Rommie.
"Well this wouldn't be the first time you have become emotionally involved with your captain," responds Holo-Rommie.
"Are you implying that I've fallen for Harper?" asks Rommie, a look of anger and mild disgust on her face.
"We've been monitoring your behavior over the past few months, it's very similar to your behavior towards Dylan 4 years ago," says Andromeda.
"And remember how that ended up," adds Holo-Rommie.
"It wasn't my fault, the Vedrans changed him, and I broke up with him once I saw that," says Rommie indignantly.
"Yes, and Harper still provided a shoulder for you to cry on," says Holo-Rommie.
"Exactly," says Rommie, her disgust subsiding, "he was there for me even though I broke his heart."
"I thought you were opposed to a relationship with Harper," says Andromeda.
"So did I," says Rommie leaving the machine shop. The hologram and screen forms of Andromeda look at each other.
"I'm glad we don't share our avatar's emotions," says Holo-Rommie disapprovingly.
"Yes, she acts much too, human," agrees Andromeda before the hologram and the screen both shut off.