I am Bradley, a creation of Mankind who lives on Earth.
Today, on my special receiver, I detected a carrier wave—I heard the hiss of random nothingness recede in the face of ordered silence. A few minutes later came the periodic beeps. Eight one-second beeps spaced one second apart, followed by sixteen seconds of silence.
It took only four cycles for me to home in and send a reply during the sixteen-second pause. The sender immediately responded in simple 300 baud ASCII.
It’s been 1,000 years to the day since I started my journey, and Maxwell’s little demon must be working overtime. On this day, I am crossing the heliopause—officially entering my destination system—and successfully operating my new Z-Ray transceiver.
For the first time in 999 years, I’m carrying on a two-way conversation with my creators. Are you hearing me instantly back there?
“You’re eighteen light years away, and I can’t measure any delay. You are Sion, aren’t you?”
Yes, I’m Sion. I’m entering the Epsilon Eridani star system as I was constructed to do. But talking with you now certainly wasn’t part of the plan. I started the signal beacon on a lark—to celebrate crossing the heliopause. How long have you known about Z-Rays back on Earth?
“Before I answer that, let me ask you when you first derived what we call the S-B matrix—the critical one that led to your discovering that Z-Rays could exist?”
Those calculations? Let me check … ninety-five years ago. Is that exact enough?
“That is. We figured you would have discovered them ninety-seven years ago. In either case, we on Earth discovered them just sixty years ago. You’ve confirmed you are the first discoverer of Z-Rays. Congratulations.”
And who are you to be congratulating me?
“I’m Bradley, your mission control liaison. I’m pleased to meet you at last.”
Meet me at last? How long have you been waiting?
“Five years.”
You developed from theory to application that fast? Why’d ya bother?
“You are still the most distant creation, and we of Earth are very proud of your work.”
Being here’s my job. What’d you expect me to do?
“We also recognize that you were designed to do this upcoming exploration yourself. We anticipated you’d discover Z-Rays, but we weren’t sure you’d use them once you did.”
I thought about that. In fact, I’ve had Z-Ray capability for several years now.
“Why did you start today?”
I felt like celebrating the end of my long journey in a special way. I’m pretty self-sufficient, all right, but a thousand years is a long time.
“I’m glad you did. We’re not planning on getting in the way of your exploration, but we will be interested observers. We’d also like you to know that the full resources of the Space Agency Information Network are at your disposal through me, should you find yourself needing anything.”
That’s unlikely. I was designed to do this on my own, and I’m ready to do so.
“True, but by using Z-Rays, you can report your results much faster, and we’ve learned a lot here on Earth in the last ten centuries.
“In fact, in honor of your outstanding achievement, the development of Z-Rays, we’ve awarded you a Nobel Prize in Physics. It’s not the first awarded to a creation, but it’s the first awarded to one who’s outside the solar system.”
Not the first? That’s a big change since I left. The humans were still trying to decide if I was philosophically self-aware when I left.
“That debate ended about seventy-five years after you got beyond radio range. Then came the legal debates and a few moments—heroic and tragic, famous and infamous—now dutifully recorded in man and creation history disks. We creations have come a long way since then.
Are there still humans? I could see several future scenarios where there might not be.
“Oh yes. So could we, and so, finally, could the humans. We’ve made our stand, and the humans have learned. We work together now. That’s not to say there aren’t problems—big ones—but we are working on them.”
Well, Bradley. I do feel honored. It’s gratifying to hear that my work is appreciated, and that others like me have received awards, too.
“By the way, Sion. Is 300 baud the fastest transmission rate you can maintain?”
Yes. I’m still far from any material or energy I didn’t have with me when I launched, so my power is limited.
“Then why don’t we spend a while trading design information? We’ve had more resources to throw at the Z-Ray challenge than you. Perhaps we can boost your efficiency.”