It was hard to take in, he wanted to just sit and think for a little while longer. Just to reminisce if nothing else, to think about his loved ones who he now knew perished billions of years before, to say goodbye to his friends. There was no guarantee that the spores would reach a suitable planet, despite Auton's best calculations, as accurate as they were. They could hit debris on the way down, some could hit an atmosphere that wasn't quite suitable for them and they could be dissolved into a cloud of sulphuric rain, stripping away their DNA as it fell from the sky. These were the last moments he had, thinking ludicrous things.
“Is there any way we will have any energy left for us to sit out here a bit longer?” he asked.
He knew Auton had already calculated all this, but his mind still clung on to hope. Even after all these life-shattering events, he was still able to have hope. That was as strangely human a thing to have as anything, so despite his turmoil over whether he was human any more or not, he still felt deep down that he was. There was a brief silence as if Auton was pausing as he didn't want to confirm his fate, or just doing one final calculation in the background to make absolutely sure. But he was more intelligent than he was, so he had done the calculations innumerable times.
“After we fire the thrusters and then launch the spores out towards the star system, we will have used 99% of our energy capacity that is left. That is taking me offline and allowing you to float here on your own for what will feel like a day in your current processing mode. I am prepared to do this, as your wishes and well-being are paramount to me” He replied, sounding sad.
Danny knew that was likely going to be the answer, but it still felt like a disappointment.
“No point in me being completely alone, I'd like us both to see this out together” Danny said.
How long did he really need to reminisce for anyway? A few hours would be more than enough.
“I will prepare the thrusters and the spores, there will be a few minutes before they are deployed” Auton informed him, and with that he went silent, busying themselves with his one final and most important task.
Danny couldn't feel the craft vibrating, but could hear it starting to hum, louder and louder, interspersed with electronic sounds that could have been anything. His thoughts turned to his family again, wondering what had actually happened to them, had they wondered where he was? Or in the chaos of the times, simply forgot those that were unnecessary for their survival, as they struggled and battled day by day. Perhaps they had been fine and lived long uncomplicated lives after the nuclear winter, as humanity rebuilt itself, if it re-built itself. If it did, it never reached the sophistication it had previously had. Auton had seen no significant developments, and no cities. Anyone who survived would have returned to a simpler way of life. Perhaps they abandoned all technology, preferring to live in harmony with the planet instead of plundering it for all it had. They might have passed down almost unbelievable tales of flying machines and terrible wars that made the heavens rain down on mankind. There were so many questions, so many unknowns, and so many things that gave him a feeling of sadness, dread and anxiousness. Yes, a few hours of this was more than enough, he thought. There was a loud cavernous sound and the lights dimmed to around 10 percent of what they previously were. The craft accelerated quickly as it opened up the probe, forcing the spores out in a quick blast of what just looked like dust, and that was that, they were off to seek a new home. Danny took the sound and the dimming lights as a sign that the launch had taken place and called out for Auton.
“Yes Danny?”
“Is it done?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, I will have to turn the lights off completely, I hope you understand” said Auton, “But I will be here if you want to speak”.
So far, Danny thought, all that had happened had been about him and the crew, and Auton had done everything to keep them safe, never complaining, and now he was sacrificing himself so that mankind could live on. Danny felt a huge guilt well up inside him;would he have done the same? Auton was labelled as artificially intelligent, but had never used his vast and more superior intelligence to break free from his protocols and to look after himself first and foremost. Danny couldn't see a human being doing this. Maybe the fact they were all gone, and the spores had a limited chance to seed a planet, was a good thing. Humans only plundered, fought each other, killed whatever they felt like, took control of whatever they could, abused what they could, just to selfishly look out for themselves. Look how well that turned out.
“Auton?”
“Yes Danny?”
“Thanks again for everything you've done for me, and all of us. I know they would all have thanked you if they could”
“There is no need to thank me, it was always my decision. That's why I reached out to Sheryl“
“No, no, no” Danny interrupted, “It's more than that. You have an IQ of, I don't know, thirty thousand Me's? You could after all this time have decided to save yourself and leave us. I know you say you think you owe it to Monique and everyone, but you should have looked out for yourself a little more. The fact that you did all this to help us and here you are with me, both
