The Beyond Page #6

BUT SHE WAS MORE CONCERNED ABOU HER EMOTIONAL CAPABILITIES.

AND I REASSURED HER,

UM, YOU KNOW,

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTAN ASPECT TO US;

PRESERVING HER:

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

AND, IN A MORAL COMPASS,

YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHA MAKES YOU HUMAN.

AND IT'S A HUMAN THA WE WANT TO SEND UP THERE.

[JESSICA] WELL, IT'S, UM,

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE

WHAT THEY CAN DO.

UM, IT'S VERY OVERWHELMING.

UM, BUT ALICE WAS WONDERFUL.

SHE TOLD ME EXACTLY WHAT IS

ENTAILED WITH THE PROCEDURE.

UM, I KNOW A BIT MORE

ABOUT IT NOW.

UM...

IT'S... IT'S INCREDIBLE.

I'M READY.

UM, I ABSOLUTELY

HAVE TO DO THIS.

AND, UH, YEAH.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

THE HARDEST PAR OF THIS DECISION

TO GO AHEAD WITH THE PROCEDURE

HAS BEEN CALLING UP

MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY

TO JUST HEAR THEIR VOICE

ONE LAST TIME.

THESE PHONE CALLS

REALLY MADE ME REALIZE

THE SACRIFICES I'M MAKING.

EVEN IF I DO SURVIVE IT,

I AM WELL AWARE THA THIS IS A ONE-WAY MISSION

AND THERE IS NO POINT OF RETURN

TO MY ORIGINAL LIFE.

[MUSIC ENDS]

[HELICOPTER BLADES SPINNING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[SIRENS, CLAMORING]

[BEEP]

[BEEPING, DIGITAL TRILLING]

[MECHANICAL WHIRRING]

[ALICE]

THE FUSION HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL.

WE HAVE OUR FIRST HUMAN 2.0.

WE ARE LITERALLY GOD RIGHT NOW.

[MECHANICAL WHIRRING]

[GILLIAN]

WHEN I WATCHED HER EYES OPEN,

AND WHEN I SAW HER

TAKE HER FIRST BREATH,

IT, UH... IT WAS LIKE

SHE WAS REBORN.

BUT IT'S LIKE YOU'RE WATCHING

CONSCIOUSNESS COME ALIVE

RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.

AND THIS UNPRECEDENTED MIX OF,

OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS

AND TECHNOLOGY.

[DISTORTED DIGITAL VOICE,

WHIRRING]

[ALICE] OKAY, GUYS, CAN

YOU CHECK ON THIS?

OKAY, JESSICA,

JUST CALM DOWN, IT'S OKAY.

THE SPEECH SYNTHESIZER, IT NEEDS

THE RECONFIGURATION, OKAY?

BUT JUST CALM DOWN,

THIS ISN'T PERMANENT.

WE CAN FIX THIS, OKAY?

BUT TRY, TRY AND RELAX YOURSELF.

UH, SO WE'RE HAVING SOME ISSUES

WITH THE SPEECH SYNTHESIZER.

BASICALLY, THE ELECTRODE

THAT'S IMPLANTED IN THE BRAIN,

WHICH IS COMMUNICATING TELEMETRICALLY

WITH THE NEURAL DECODER,

THIS IS WHERE, I THINK,

WE'RE HAVING SOME ISSUES.

WE NEED TO DO SOME

RECONFIGURATION HERE.

[CUTTING IN AND OUT]

STRANGE HEARING MY VOICE.

I DON'T FEEL LIKE MYSELF.

BUT I'M JUST IN A NEW BODY.

MY... I CAN FEEL PRESSURE WHEN

I TOUCH MY FINGERTIPS TOGETHER.

BUT I DON'T HAVE

ANY SENSE OF PAIN.

WHEN I LOOK IN THE MIRROR,

I SEE MY OLD FACE,

ONLY INSIDE A NEW BODY.

SOMETIMES, WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES,

I TOTALLY FORGET THAT I AM

IN A SYNTHETIC BODY.

EVERYTHING WHICH MAKES ME

WHO I AM,

IT'S IN MY CONSCIOUSNESS.

I'M TOLD THAT I WILL HAVE TO GO

THROUGH EXTENSIVE REHABILITATION

TO GET MY BRAIN USED TO

THE SYNTHETIC BODY.

[CHIME]

AFTER THE FIRST TIME,

WHEN WE LOST CARL,

I SOMETIMES DOUBTED

THAT WE'D BE HERE TODAY.

SEEING HER NOW,

ALIVE...

[CHUCKLES]

IT CHANGES EVERYTHING.

THAT'S, UM, THAT'S SO PROFOUND.

[CHUCKLES]

SORRY, I FIND IT REALLY,

UM... STAGGERING.

AND I SUPPOSE MIXED IN

WITH THAT IS, UH...

THE FACT THAT SHE IS A WOMAN,

A HUMAN BEING LIKE YOU AND ME.

UM...

AND SHE MUST BE WONDERING HOW

IT'S ALL GONNA WORK OUT AS WELL.

BUT I THINK:

SHE'S GONNA BE JUST FINE.

I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THIS IS

THE BEGINNING OF THE FUTURE

OF ASTRONAUTS TO COME.

[WARBLING]

[DISTORTED VOICE]

I WON'T DENY THE FAC THAT OUR HUMAN 2.0 SOLIDER MAY

POSSESS CERTAIN HARDWARE ATTRIBUTES

WITHIN ITS SYNTHETIC BODY,

WHICH WILL DIFFER FROM

THE SYNTHETIC ASTRONAUT.

YES, HE IS CARRYING SMALL ARMS,

WHICH IS PART OF THE HUMAN 2.0

SOLDIER BODY DESIGN.

YOU DON'T SEND A SOLDIER

ON A MISSION WITHOUT A WEAPON

AND CONSIDERING THAT WE DO NO KNOW WHAT IS BEHIND THE VOID,

IT IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS

TO BE UNPREPARED.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[NO AUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

[MAN ON COMM] HUMAN 2.0 HAS JUS DOCKED ON AND LOOKING GOOD.

PREPARE FOR LAUNCH COUNTDOWN.

FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE.

WE HAVE IGNITION, ENGINES START.

- LIFT OFF.

- [RUMBLING]

POWER IS NOMINAL.

ENGINES AT 101% AND NOMINAL.

ALTITUDE IS 2,000 FEE AND CLIMBING.

AVIONICS POWER IS AT NOMINAL.

ALTITUDE IS AT 10,000 FEE AND CLIMBING.

ENGINES REMAIN NOMINAL.

PREPARING FOR MAIN ENGINE

CUT OFF.

TWO MINUTES TO EPOS.

SEQUENCE 30 SECONDS

SPEED,

7,200 MILES PER HOUR.

STAND BY FOR STAGE ONE

AND EPOS SEPARATION.

ESS IS DISABLED AND WE HAVE

STAGE ONE SEPARATION.

PAYLOAD SEPARATION

IN THREE, TWO, ONE.

EJECT.

ALIGNMENT AND TRAJECTORY

IS LOOKING GOOD.

WE STILL HAVE GOOD, STRONG

TELEMETRY IN THE RCC.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[BEEPING]

STANDING BY:

FOR HUMAN 2.0 CONNECTION

IN THREE, TWO, ONE.

JESSICA, WE SEE

WHAT YOU SEE, OVER.

PLEASE COMMENCE:

ON OBSERVATION REPORT.

[JESSICA OVER COMM] PRESSURE

STABLE INSIDE THE CRAFT.

IT'S ALL LOOKING GOOD.

[MAN]

JESSICA, YOU ARE A GO.

ENGAGING ONBOARD

TRAJECTORY SYSTEM.

[JESSICA]

WE'RE GETTING CLOSER.

WE'RE APPROACHING THE VOID.

I CAN ALMOST SEE IT.

IT'S ALMOST WITHIN RANGE.

[STATIC]

THERE IT IS, THERE'S THE VOID.

WOW. IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

[MAN]

BE ADVISED,

WE ARE NO LONGER RECEIVING

CRAFT TELEPATRY.

[JESSICA] AS WE GET CLOSER, I

CAN FEEL EVERYTHING AROUND ME.

IT'S STARTING TO MOVE TOO.

OH, THE PRESSURE'S SO STRONG.

PRESSURE READINGS ARE FLUCTUATING.

IT'S BECOMING IRREGULAR.

THERE'S A STRANGE LIGHT COMING

IN FROM ALL AROUND, UP AHEAD.

OH, WOW, THIS IS INCREDIBLE.

ESPECIALLY SINCE THE VOID IS

STARTING TO DISTORT EVERYTHING.

HERE WE GO!

[RUMBLING]

[MAN]

WE ARE LOSING YOUR TRANSMISSION.

[TRANSMISSION DISTORTED]

[SUSTAINED BEEP]

[MAN]

IF YOU CAN STILL HEAR US,

GOOD LUCK AND GODSPEED, JESSICA.

[GILLIAN]

WELL, WE DON'T KNOW, UH,

EXACTLY WHEN WE CAN EXPEC OUR ASTRONAUTS TO RETURN.

UM, WE CAN ONLY

SPECULATE AND HOPE,

AND I HOPE THAT THEY WILL BE

BACK, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE YEAR,

BUT IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IT COULD

TAKE SEVERAL YEARS,

SEVERAL DECADES EVEN.

AND THERE IS ALSO THE REMOTE

POSSIBILITY THAT WE...

MAY NEVER HEAR FROM THEM.

UH, WE'RE PREPARED FOR

EVERY EVENTUALITY.

WE'RE TRACKING THEM RIGHT NOW.

AND, UM, WELL, AS YOU CAN SEE,

WE'RE ALL WORKING FLAT OUT,

KEEPING TABS ON WHAT'S GOING ON.

AND EVERYBODY IS LISTENING,

EVERY SINGLE SECOND.

[WARBLING, LOW TONE]

[CHIME]

THERE'S BEEN AN ACCIDENT.

AND...

I'M AFRAID THAT JESSICA

HAS BEEN INVOLVED.

THERE WAS, UM, AN EXPLOSION...

ON THE ROCKET AND...

I'M REALLY SORRY TO SAY, BUT...

WE'VE LOST HER.

EVERYTHING THAT'S DANGEROUS,

MUST BE...

AND WHY WAS SHE ON IT?

IT'S HER JOB.

- [SNIFFLES] -COULDN'T THEY HAVE

PUT SOMEONE ELSE ON THE ROCKET?

NO, DARLING.

NO.

YEAH, THAT WAS TOUGH,

MY GOODNESS.

UH...

[CLICKS TONGUE]

OH, IT'S ALL VERY COMPLICATED

I'VE NEVER LIED TO MY DAUGHTER

ABOUT ANYTHING BEFORE.

AND, UM, OF COURSE, THE LAST TIME

I HAD TO TELL HER SOMEBODY DIED,

IT WAS MY HUSBAND.

UM, AND IT'S NOT PLEASANT TO

HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN.

I KNEW THAT, UM...

WELL, IF SHE COULD KNOW

THE TRUTH AND IF SHE KNEW WHY

SHE WOULD FORGIVE ME.

THAT'S HARD.

[MUSIC PLAYING, WARBLING]

[WARBLING GETTING LOUDER]

[ALARM SOUNDING]

THIS MORNING, ONE OF OUR DEFENSE

BALLISTIC MISSILE RADAR SYSTEMS

PICKED UP A...

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