Tales of bots: The Crysta princess

Tales of Bots

The Crystal Princess

Miguel Ángel Puerta

The Crystal Princess

The princess strolled through the hanging gardens of her palace, reading the logs that arrived from distant galaxies, bringing news of worlds recently conquered by the regents her father sent to extend his dominions beyond their own galaxy.

The astro-archaeologists searching for a certain lost device, by chance, came across a sonorous constellation. The sound frequency was different from the frequency used by artificial entities to communicate; the sound levels were musical waves. The worlds had different frequencies, which were measured by the astro-archaeologists, who were marvelled by the discovery.

The princess stopped amidst an artificial rose bush, pondering this news, and continued reading it on her digital log, unsettled by this discovery that had astro-scientists in awe.

She ascended to tower 3 of the palace where her chambers were, and from there contemplated the gleaming city of Aluvia, capital of the matrix empire ruled by her father, the iron emperor Hyperion. In the electric sky, she watched the ships crossing her horizon, coming from various artificial worlds to the stellar ports of the capital, bringing visitors from all over the imperial galaxy's orb. In the metallic tower, she read about the sound emission in an old digital songbook.

The news that impressed her the most was the discovery of a new constellation that did not appear on the celestial charts mapped by the court astronomers. They were worlds that did not match those everyone knew from the universe and its vast mechanical forms.

She dreamed of traveling there not to conquer it, but to learn and listen to its celestial music. In her vast world, music was not a priority; that jarring sonority was a nuisance for the diverse artificial races inhabiting her worlds, but she wanted to hear the music of the stars, and apparently, the worlds of that constellation were inhabited by poets and musicians who composed great odes to creation.

Many said that the creators of these hybrid worlds and other artificial galaxies came from this world that seems to have been the cradle of the natural human, a mythical extinct creature said to be the architect of all the races that now move through the galaxy and its worlds.

The princess wanted to go see that sonorous constellation and its radiant worlds for herself. She loved music and didn't know why; perhaps her disappeared mother had something to do with it, but she was determined to find out.

Her father wished to marry her to a being, son of a quantum beast, to gain access through this alliance to a vast number of new worlds rich in the material that kept his world functioning. Those worlds were far from her planet and the capital enclave of Hyperion, emperor of a vast empire and of worlds where his ships of fire arrived to plant the flag and shields of his empire.

She packed the little she could carry and only said goodbye to her nanny, who had raised her. Her father was visiting some rebellious provinces.

“Android Nanny, taking advantage of my father's absence, I want to go to the AI stellar port to see the galactic freighter depart that is going to investigate this new constellation.”

“The iron emperor Hyperion left orders for you not to leave the palace. The electric Duke, to whom your father offered your hand, is coming to visit you today.”

“Nanny, you know my bird heart rejects the Duke.”

“If you marry that monster, you will lose your bird heart that the court astronomers gave you to save your life,” her android nanny told her before giving her the secret book.

“My heart is cold, sick, and empty,” she told her nanny as she prepared to leave her palace.

“You were given a fantasy heart, an inheritance from your mother at birth. Someone tried to kill you, and to save you, the court astronomer didn't give you a mechanical heart, but one that could hear music, with your mother's support and your father's disapproval. He said that when you were old enough, that bird heart that allows you to hear all the melodies of the universe would be ripped out and replaced with an artificial heart.”

Her android nanny's confession left Crystal perplexed. That was why she could read the digital logs of the empire's pilots and the ancient electronic books they brought her as gifts from the first human navigators and their legacy, and although no one believed it, she could distinguish the sounds of the occasional bird secretly nesting in artificial trees.

The brigadier regent of the empire's fleet of ships knew about the plans of the bot girl and supported them. He cared for the girl he had known since childhood, for whom he was almost a second father. He made sure that one of his best galactic ships, piloted by a captain from his navy who had to deliver a consignment near that constellation recently discovered by his cartographers, would take the princess to see the wonders and bring her back before the emperor found out about this mischief of the princess, heir to his vast empire.

Perhaps, Crystal thought, in one of the worlds of that sonorous constellation, she might find true love. According to reports, the inhabitants loved each other through songs; everyone had songbooks and players of all kinds of music.

The imperial starship, christened, Dawn Star, was ready to embark on a long exploration journey to worlds in distant galaxies. The emperor ordered his flag to be placed on those worlds and to conquer them for the galactic empire.

Besides world-conquering bots, the ship transported eminent explorers and astro-scientists who, with the help of the empire's cartographers, would bring back specimen samples and map the darkest part of the universe, which was the frontier with the visible universe.

“The appearance of this radiant constellation in the infinite void left most of the intergalactic races inhabiting the mechanical worlds of an artificial intelligence galaxy astonished. Apparently, this sonorous constellation was part of the ancient galaxy where organic races, alien races lived, and where the human was the most renowned,” said the palace regent.

The princess traveled in secret, keeping her name hidden. She wanted to explore other worlds and find the source of wisdom, in case she ever had to rule her father's vast empire.

Secretly, the space commodore agreed to take a few intrepid adventurers seeking fame and glory for their exo-colonies, which were far from the center of the empire and its super-Earths where the emperor had his amaranth palace.

Humabot departed from Ambrosia, one of the worlds of this sonorous constellation, with his music player to make known to the inhabitants of the artificial worlds the existence of the musical sonority in which his world was enveloped.

After many comings and goings, he finally managed to leave his planet. He spotted the great imperial celestial ship and approached. He was in his ethereal little boat; everything moved through emotions and musical rhythms.

Humabot, a super bot of mixed intelligence, wanted to know more about the dimensions of the universe. Music flowed in his heart, and his programming had merged with the DNA of the tenth generation of humans, stellar wanderers.

“What do you seek?” asked the commodore.

“I seek to share my music. In the worlds of my constellation, we are all musicians and poets.”

“We cannot hear music; we lack the senses.”

Humabot's appearance was particular. He belonged to the last generation of humans who fused with artificial intelligence. His body was sent to be forged by his father in the workshops of Juno. His mother, a distinguished geneticist, took care of the biological part of her son, and his father the exterior part, creating a skin from a compound capable of withstanding the harshness of outer space and competing with other artificial intelligence creatures.

The princess begged the commodore to let the strange being board. The commodore, who knew the secret of her heart, allowed Humabot to come aboard and accompany them. When the commodore invited him aboard, he told his story through songs. He gave each one an auditory interface and turned on his lyrictron; everyone understood his story.

Everyone was on the deck contemplating the creature. The scientists were amazed by the resemblance to their race, though they discovered other human traits in the creature who came in that sonorous ship with sails propelled by stellar wind and that moved through the sound of its music.

The human's language was very easy to learn, and with the help of headbands, headphones, and other visual gadgets that the human made available to the expedition's engineers, they copied the devices so they could hear everything Humabot told them about his worlds, thus enabling fluent conversation.

When Humabot could rest a bit from the avalanche of questions and the meticulous study the scientists made of his figure and language, he went to his assigned cabin to rest. His golet—as they called his emotional ship—was placed in the hold along with other scientific instruments. When he went to write the code for his lock, he noticed someone watching him.

The timid princess greeted him and entered his room. Humabot smiled and entered his room too, but something beyond music and words pierced through them.

The great starship had to change course due to a star bursting, which made them cross a dangerous zone. These asteroids were known to be home to hunters of artificial technology and artifacts to power their habitats.

Humabot taught them to use the frequencies of amplified instruments to divert the programming of these pirates, who were defeated by the musical magic he possessed. The pirates considered this ship to possess terrible unknown weapons and fled.

The princess and Humabot got along well; both had a similar heart.

“You can hear everything I say and sing without needing these transmitters. I noticed when I tried to communicate with the commodore, and you translated my words.”

“For as long as I can remember, I have had that gift of hearing music, something other artificial consciousness creatures cannot do. I could hear the song of birds even though the scientists of our empire say they don't exist, that they are pure fantasy.”

“Birds are immortal, and yes, they exist. They were scattered throughout the galaxy by the first humans who conquered the worlds of this galaxy. Humans and artificial intelligences worked together to conquer this galaxy, but there was a war that caused my constellation and my worlds to be hidden from other creatures, both artificial and alien, when they placed a matrix upon us to enslave us. We were liberated by the galactic knights; they helped us enhance our music to unlock the algorithms of these matrices, and then I wanted to sail to see what these worlds were like before.”

“But how is it possible that a creature like me can hear them?”

“It must be because you are not entirely artificial; you have some biological programming. You are a hybrid, like me, and we can understand both worlds, both the artificial and the human.”

Humabot's voice was deep with grave and low tones; sometimes he paused and changed his voice to a soprano, something that marvelled Crystal, who hoped to learn from this new being who seemed to have a fantasy heart like hers.

Without realizing it, both spent a long time talking, singing, and listening to melodies that Humabot had recorded from other worlds, until the batteries of their artificial parts sent an alert, and then they fell asleep while recharging.

Hyperion found out that his daughter had escaped. He sent his metallic guards to rescue her and bring her home for the wedding. Soon, the electric Duke would come to seal the agreements within the heart of the matrix that governed their galaxy.

The Kill bots were four, and they located the great galactic ship near the regions of the Zebra constellation and boarded it. They left their small autonomous ship and boarded the vessel.

The Commodore allowed them aboard upon seeing the insignias of the guard close to the circle of protectors of the emperor.

“What are you doing so far from our borders?” asked the lead Kill bot.

“I am taking the astro-engineers to investigate the recent phenomenon of a discovered constellation, by order of His Majesty.”

They searched the ship, asked for the plaque and identification codes of the travelers, and found three stowaways without documents in the holds. Upon interrogating them, they discovered they belonged to the resistance that intended to overthrow the emperor.

They did not find the princess but suspected the commodore had allowed her to escape and that she wouldn't be far. They took the prisoners to execute them along the way and let the starship continue its exploration and discovery voyage.

Humabot skillfully piloted his ship through the sidereal reefs, avoiding the routes where the emperor's ships with war instruments watched the borders to prevent the resistance from taking over some small worlds and turning them into free worlds against the empire.

They chose to sail the aerial routes of commercial and supply ships that carried goods and services to the worlds of the Copper constellation, which was the heart of the empire.

During the journey, Humabot sang many songs and made Crystal listen to many songs that spoke of the sonorous constellation, its worlds, and its people. He read old electronic books about the human aegis and how the galactic masters liberated these races.

After several days with their starry nights and the different-colored moons they marvelled at on their journey, both got to know each other until Crystal revealed her secret to him.

“I possess a fantasy heart. If I marry the Duke, governor of the belt of rocky worlds rich in argon, material my father needs to conquer the entire galaxy, I will lose my bird heart, and they will put a heart of steel in its place.”

“Then you could die,” said Humabot with a part of his human heart wrinkled.”

“Perhaps I won't die. The Duke possesses artificial intelligence creatures capable of performing the operation to change my heart for an artificial one. Then I would lose my bird memories; I wouldn't be able to hear the melodies of the cosmos, nor the sounds; I wouldn't be able to read old electronic books with the history of humans and galactic knights,” said the princess very sadly.

“Then I will prevent your father from sending you to that horrible being. I will become a stellar knight, I will belong to the alien league, and together we will face that evil Duke,” said Humabot very convinced.

The technological pirates sent by the Kill bots found them. They had orders to destroy Humabot and take the princess.

Crystal took control of the ship, deploying a range of emotions she learned to develop with her fragile heart, similar to a human's. She already had the skill to prevent the pirates from boarding while Humabot confronted the pirates, leaped through the air, and fought them body to body with his rapier, emerging victorious. When he returned after erasing all evidence, a grateful princess awaited him with a confused heart that made the stellar golet sway from side to side.

“What kind of emotion makes my heart move this ship's brain with such vigor?” asked Crystal, returning command.

“It is the most powerful emotion a human heart can express, and it is called love. And I believe the seed and flame of love burns in your heart. Humabot didn't dare say more because when he saw the sparkle in her eyes and the princess's gaze towards him, the emotional golet tried to capsize, and it took enormous willpower from both to calm their hearts and thus prevent the brain of the ship's emotional engine from foundering.”

Humabot took Princess Crystal to see his small world, from which he had one day departed with the dream of knowing the galaxy's frontiers. There, Crystal learned more about humans, the creators of the language that united machines and biological creatures in the same sound: the music of the stars, which made both artificial and non-artificial hearts vibrate.