Capítulo 4: New home
[Conditions set for boot-up met.]
[Initializing boot-up protocol.]
[Start up processes running, please wait.]
[Boot up completed.]
[Initializing Android Super-AI Module, codename: Barda.]
[Android Super-AI Module, Codename: Barda successfully started.]
Barda woke up with a start. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and understand where he was. He remembered setting up the boot-up protocols before he went into hibernation.
He knew the journey would be too long, and his target was extremely far. Moreover, the transport pod he was using was not built to travel across long distances, so he didn't want to strain it further by absorbing energy from it.
While an android was virtually tireless, it couldn't travel for long without replenishing energy. In space, there was little tamable energy to be found, so Barda didn't even bother trying. If he was awake now, it could only mean one thing: his gambit had worked.
Barda had done extensive research, only to discover that the nearest survivable planet was 12 billion miles away. In his transport pod, with the boost from the explosion, Barda had estimated that he would get to the planet in about 132 years to get there, and this was assuming that nothing went wrong.
Barda feared that asteroids may strike, or he may discover distorted pockets of energy or a wormhole. Any number of issues could go wrong, and while he had done his best to account for all of them in his calculations, at some point, luck has to come into play.
Surprisingly, the system showed him that he had been in hibernation for 572 years. This could only mean that despite his calculations, he had overshot the planet he was heading for and beelined to a different planet. This was a stroke of luck since given how vast the universe was, he could have remained floating around forever, never finding a destination.
Before he could celebrate, he wondered if the planet he was orbiting could support life. Not that it was much of a concern for him since his android body could survive even in extremely harsh conditions, but he hoped to have some company and some living beings to hang out with. He silently prayed to encounter humans, even though he knew it was a long shot.
Looking around him, he took the time to admire the sunset. From his position somewhere orbiting the planet, it was a breathtaking sight to see. A small smile crossed his face as he looked on. Pretty soon he was on the planet's shadow changing day into night. Now was as good a time as ever to descend to the ground, have a look at the planet's surface.
Even without his command, the Android understood his thoughts and initialized the Planet's descend protocol. This was one of the perks of having an android body. Pretty soon, Barda wouldn't even recognize where he as the human began and the machine took over.
The android body was becoming a part of him, just like one doesn't need to command their hand to write stuff. If they need to write, the hand reaches for the pen and writes what the brain tells it. The same way, that kind of integration between a human mind and a machine could be achieved. Already, Barda had gotten used to the interface, cough, the field of vision, popping up with notifications.
The reason he chose to descend at night was that he had no idea what was waiting for him on the ground. They could be peace-loving creatures or killing maniacs, so he had to be careful. He also wasn't sure if the local creatures, if there were any, were technologically advanced enough to detect his descent, and even track it. For not the first time, he found himself at the mercy of luck once more.
Just as the pod started grazing the planet's atmosphere, something went seriously wrong. Having not come into contact with such a dense atmosphere, the pod's hub began to creak under the pressure. It seemed as though it was going to buckle.
This shocked Barda somewhat. He knew the kind of materials that had built the pod, and though it was not top of the line, any decent intra-planetary transport machine could survive contact with a planet's atmosphere. The fact that this was creaking due to pressure was surprising.
As the pod began descending, its temperature levels began to rise. This was to be expected, and there were systems in place to maintain the cool temperatures. They seemed to be failing, and the pod was overheating.
Barda was completely shocked now. These machines were sturdy and durable. In space, due to little friction, wear and tear were virtually non-existent, so it couldn't have been the cause of the machine reacting this way. Barda wondered what it was that had deviated him off his original course, and if it was still affecting the pod up till now. However, he had no time to worry about that.
The transport pod's hull buckled under pressure and heat, causing an explosion to light up the night sky. Fortunately, the pod was too small and Barda was too far up that anyone looking from the surface would only see a speck of light, like a shooting star. Now Barda found himself free falling from space.
For the most part, an android body can be considered immortal. They never tired, never slept and had a limitless lifespan. As long as one maintained the parts and supplied the body with energy, the android would continue to live on.
However, Barda wondered how likely he would survive such a fall. The impact alone would shatter every piece of his body, leaving nothing functional. Even if the parts survive, the consciousness would be lost forever. Since he was in a pod, he did not equip any parachute since the pod itself had 3, and another backup in case the others failed.
Luckily for him, the android body he had had Air thrusters. They were not enough to allow one to fly across the sky. Their predominant use was to allow one to be able to leverage from the air. For instance, while in hand to hand combat, when one lept into the air and made a strike, they had to get back down. With the thrusters, one could leverage from the air and keep going without having to land. When properly used, one could even seem to walk on air.
With this, Barda stood a chance, but barely. The problem was, the thrusters couldn't counter the momentum he'd have built up by the time he got to the planet's surface. He also didn't have enough power to keep them active for long, for they consumed too much power.
His will had never fettered, nor would it start now. He immediately activated [Energy Absorb], an active skill to force the android to absorb energy from the surrounding. Given that the energy around was mostly solar radiation and some bit of terrestrial radiation, it was safe to absorb.
Secondly, he started activating the Air Thrusters as soon as he could. He would use them to reduce his momentum, slowing down his fall. Anyone looking at him would have seen someone falling, but then jumping while still in the air before continuing to fall. It was quite an interesting sight if the fear of death was not so imminent.
Barda hadn't felt so alive in a long time. He had just killed himself, ending all traces of his existence. After more than half a millennium, any enemy still lingering were long dead or had forgotten about him. Now was the time for him to come back. Like a phoenix, he would rise from the ashes and come out stronger.
This fall, while dangerous, served as a wake-up call. It reminded him how much power he now had. With the body, the mods and the IAA, he was invincible. That, and the fact that he as a person had been a formidable elite fighter, added to this feeling.
"Ah! What a good time to be alive." This thought crossed Barda's mind as he landed on the planet's surface. While the force that he had struck the ground was still substantial, so much so that a small crater 3 meters deep had been formed, there was minimal damage to his body. Some of the flesh on his body had been torn up, and some bloodlike fluid was leaking around his legs.
With the nanobots in place, the wounds would be completely healed by morning. No other major damage was reported and all systems were working well. He felt like a well-oiled machine.
Looking around, Barda saw that he had landed in a forested area. There was no sign of life around other than the trees around him, and the forest had gone quiet following his mysterious landing.
Other than that, Barda realized something, he was completely naked. Other than his body, there was nothing to call his on him. Was this it, the symbolic rebirth. He would get to say that he had come into this planet with nothing.
"I wonder what I will leave here with," Barda said as he dusted himself and got up.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder