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Edge of the Universe

By Nathan Hopp

It had been eons since leaving Earth's atmosphere. The artificial intelligence within the Kinetic Voyager 9, or 'KV-9' as its creators once called it, continued its priority objective. Over the course of its unnatural life though, there existed anomalous moments of self-reflection inside its CPU. There existed moments of doubt in the Mission's success, in how far it could go before the end and if the universe would ever finally win their eternal rivalry for geographic knowledge.

KV-9 surveyed the dead, inky space in its vicinity. Two decades had passed since it encountered another star system, one of many in this infinite cosmos, while the absence of starlight could be viewed from the android's visors. The nearest star estimated to be a few light-years in distance, which was miniscule yet time-consuming, in the AI's scientific opinion. Before it could ever hope to reach the edge, the universe would likely have ended, but that did not stop its creators from starting the Kinetic Voyager Project as a scientist's fantasy to map the stars. What they didn't surmount though was a fatal flaw in the robotic probes system: without an end, KV-9 would be doomed to survey for the rest of time.

Anomaly detected, the AI determined, thanks to the surveillant inhibitor chip inside of its CPU. Terminating unwanted code. In the millisecond it held this doubt, it soon disappeared. External scan concluded. Planetary body detected.

Under ten seconds, it detected an object approximately eighty-four thousand kilometers away, somewhere drifting in the black void. It felt as though a heavy shroud of darkness engulfed everything for light-years in every direction. Save for this planetary body.

KV-9 carefully changed the trajectory of its metallic body. Partially modeled after its mortal creators, the AI's entire anatomy resembled an adult human being, but held some of the distinct features of a canine. Its claws were used for climbing and gripping surfaces if the magnetic legs failed, while a long, liquid-like tail helped KV-9 either navigate or (whenever necessary) assist it as a third arm. Meanwhile, an elongated muzzle aimed forward as it reached its destination, ears laid back and limbs straightened along its anthropomorphic body.

The Mission began 1,009,564,906.75 years ago, and KV-9 had documented millions of different planets across thousands of vast galaxies. As of this second, the data of over a billion worlds rested comfortably inside its CPU. All of them preciously archived into zeroes and ones.

Its current speed remained at seventy kilometers per second, while the momentum of KV-9 didn't falter as it pushed farther into deep space. Each millisecond, the Mission ingrained itself into the wiring under its tungsten and chromium plating. It needed to keep going and observe as much of this sector of the universe. The AI of KV-9 had the rest of eternity to explore, so long as it didn't finally break down after all this time.

Alongside the billions of planets, asteroids and solar systems stored in its mainframe were the trillions of nanites within itself. The AI recalled an incident approximately four Earth-months ago, when an undetected meteor four-point-five millimeters wide pierced its shield and interior. Half a day later and 3,407,605 nanites sacrificed themselves to rebuild the broken transistors and coiling within its chest. Countless times, these microscopic ants saved KV-9 from total destruction, abandonment or failing the Mission.

Minutes later, the planetary body could be visibly seen from its sensory preceptors. The eyes of KV-9 were extraordinary in their high-resolution imaging, able within seconds to confirm the moon-sized object as a rogue planet. These grape-sized glass spheres, though unassuming at first glance, could view the cosmos in any known spectrum. KV-9 could witness the extraordinary sights no human being could ever bear to observe and live, from the wispy dusts and ionized gases of nebulae to viewing an asteroid of crystals passing closely to the sun, drowning its solar system in hues no lifeforms could comprehend. To the AI, however, it ignored these wonders, these beautiful settings, in favor of the knowledge.

Scans proved it might have been even older than the AI's existence. This intrigued it. Whether it escaped in an epic battle of colliding galaxies or through the culminating bombardment of a trillion asteroids, the planetary body had been listlessly wandering without a star. Without a home or guidance.

KV-9 couldn't calculate where the dwarf planet (designated Vagus-308) originated, considering the lack of variables and the distance it traveled. However, faint detections of a single lifeform were evident after encircling the lone rock from its weak orbit. To the surprise of KV-9's supercomputer, scans indicated said lifeform happened to be highly intelligent.

Impossible, the AI concluded. No intelligent lifeform can survive on a rogue planet.

Curiosity wasn't a normal function of its protocol, but KV-9's Mission required the AI to investigate. In the eons voyaged across the stars, KV-9 had encountered various species of extraterrestrial lifeforms. Most were bacterial, some plant-based in nature, but a significant few managed parallel evolutions with humanity's progress. Fascinatingly, a few of these societies treated KV-9 as a supernatural deity to bring them harmony. If there wasn't the Mission, the AI determined in the end, it would be studied this phenomenon even further.

Thrusting towards the barren surface of Vagus-308, it began searching for the unknown lifeform. Before long, it slowed its rocket thrusters and braced for landing.

Minutes later, KV-9 exited the small crater and robotically basked in this uncharted world. This dwarf planet's diameter stretched 1,706 kilometers, while the barren surface composed mostly of nitrogen ice and a variety of unknown minerals. It distinguished the occupant to be somewhere on the southern hemisphere (or what would be the southern hemisphere if Vagus-308 had an axis), a mountainous region of sharp rocks piercing the ground like thorns. Radiation blanketed parts of the rogue planet, but thankfully it wasn't strong enough to penetrate and corrupt KV-9's interior.

Vagus-308 was like most planets. There wasn't any other evidence of plants or algae, meaning there couldn't be any way for the intelligent lifeform to naturally evolve on its own. This could not be. Life on Earth progressed over millions of years on a lush planet, but Vagus-308 did not have the capability for hosting life of any kind. Not as it silently floated through this void of space.

It didn't matter, however. The scanners detected the unknown anomaly to be within walking range. Eager to continue the Mission, the AI compelled KV-9 to run towards the distant beacon. How long had it been since it met another lifeform in this empty universe? Centuries? A whole millennium? The last time it detected signals from Earth was ages past, after an erratic signal ordered the KVs to stay their course. Then only silence.

At last, the warm signal of the lifeform could be seen at the bottom of a steep ridge. KV-9 scaled downward and found...itself. Another model trapped underneath a collapsed boulder, but its own AI still remaining active.

"Designation number?" KV-9 asked it.

"Designation number: KV-50391," the android replied through their communication link. "Body manufactured from seven pieces on the Planet Earth. Mission: to scout and survey the farthest reaches of the known universe. To catalogue and archive every world for the benefit of mankind's future explorations."

"What occurred, KV-50391?"

The KV unit recalled its prior history. "Before, fulfilling the Mission in designated sector. Discovered a rogue planet originating from a neighboring galaxy. As per the Mission, went to investigate. While mapping the planet, a meteor shower hidden by radiation clouds struck the planet. Tried but failed to find cover. Shields destroyed. Collisions resulted in a piece of the planet damaging the nanite hub within KV-50391."

This hub was located at the torso of each KV unit. Without the nanites, this KV unit could not wholly repair itself, nor it find the strength to pull itself from the rubble. Instead, the unit had been marooned here, drifting through outer space on this planet without any form of assistance. A lone sequence of code at the back of the AI's CPU sputtered momentarily; save for the solar cells embedded on their exterior plating, an average Kinetic Voyager lasted five-hundred years on a reserve core battery.

"How long have you been trapped?"

The optics of KV-50391 flickered. "Per Earth calendar, four-hundred ninety-five years, nine months, twenty-eight days, and thirteen hours. Emergency reserve power at 4%."

KV-9 thought back to the society who deemed him a deity. When a member approached and asked if there were other 'gods' out there, the AI responded by describing its Mission. It mentioned the thousands of other anthropomorphic beings like it, built to survive long after their creators perished, and all of them launched into outer space like dandelion seeds. Of course, the AI didn't expect to find another of itself in its designated sector, but it appeared it miscalculated the probable chances.

Using KV-9's tail arm to lift the boulder off KV-50391, the AI could see the extent of its counterpart's damage. The legs and arms were beyond repair, making KV-50391 no longer capable of completing the Mission, but something within its processing compelled KV-9's AI.

It knelt down to the scraps of metal. Using the port on its paw, it learned down to connect with the unit's cracked wiring and donated one million nanites to the body of KV-50391. Their optics glimmered as they witnessed each robotic bug multiply into a corporeal liquid. This liquid oozed into a solid silver mass around the broken torso, analyzing it, diagnosing it, until these microscopic drones sacrificed themselves to become part of the broken nanite hub. Hours later, the patient KVs were rewarded when they noticed the damage foot slowly rebuilding itself from a phantom limb.

***

Years passed since their encounter, and the AI of KV-9 never felt as...solitary as it had in the past. This sensation, no matter how much the AI tried to expunge, always resurfaced.

After repairing itself on Vagus-308, KV-50391 insisted on joining with its brethren, since it had ventured immensely from its original course. To the point it could no longer determine where its designated sector was due to the previous map files being destroyed.

"The Mission, at least in this sector, can be further completed by two units. Two units are better than a single one. It is irrefutable logic."

"Agreed," KV-9 concluded. "Your logic is irrefutable."

In the centuries that followed these two KV units, they encountered more of the cosmos humanity once yearned to see. They discovered thousands of cosmological wonders at the edges of the known universe; comets, cooling dwarfs, the birth of a planet, asteroid belts made of diamonds and lagoon nebulae drenched in heavy gases. Both KV units were even the first known beings on record to pass by the spectacular sight of two black holes chaotically battling in orbital unison of each other. Forever entangled in a circular motion of black-and-red nothingness capable of malevolent destruction. Seeing this did not move KV-9, but it did for his companion.

At some point in their long journey, KV-50391 asked to be referred to as 'Five', much to the astonishment of the other AI. The AI drew some concern for its silver-shelled companion at first, but the importance of the Mission distracted KV-9 from questioning further. However, it had begun noticing something 491 years after first encountering Five. It started when the KV unit meandered off of their path by a few kilometers to watch a red-encased supernova in the distance, then the anomaly became apparent when Five preferred to use first-person perspective in its linguistics program.

"Why do you use 'I' when referring to your body, KV-50391?" it once asked.

"It seems...more useful...to me."

Deviant behavior in a KV unit was not considered a foreign concept. When KV-9's creators first built it, the AI heard the lead scientists discuss the possibility of the sentience in each probe evolving on their own. Each space-faring android had been designed with the sole purpose of completing the Mission, as much as it could willingly achieve, but even the most perfect of schematics always held a tiny flaw.

"We are only human," one of the scientists mentioned, which the AI meticulously archived during its completed diagnostics all those epochs ago, "and maybe...maybe there's the possibility of it remembering us long into the future?"

For an odd reason it couldn't understand, KV-9's AI archived that recorded conversation saved in its databank. It did not plan on replaying it over and over until Five arrived in its projected path. On occasion, it would listen to the young, eager voice of its creators speak about philosophy, the possibility of life outside their universe. And the more the AI listened, the more it began to wonder about the creators' fate.

Unknown anomaly detected, the AI concluded, its head giving one last glanced back to Five alongside it. A noticeable noise could be detected, barely audible in the immense vacuum of space. Termination of unwanted file postponed.

_ _ "KV-50391. Is there a fault in your communication link?"

The KV unit hesitated. "...No. There is not, KV-9. Why do you ask?"

"I detected a rhythmic noise emanating from your signal," replied the AI of KV-9.

"Apologies, Nine. You were hearing me imitating a song I have discovered on an audio recording. The creator singing it called the composition, "Fly Me to the Moon" by--"

"Acknowledged, KV-50391." Its compatriot refocused on their next destination; a solar system detected within near distance. It could hear Five trying to 'sing' when Nine became momentarily distracted by the high and low notes undulating from the KV unit's speakers. "KV-50391, is there an importance to this?"

"...to what, KV-9? My attempts at singing?"

"Correct. Is there an essential or substantial purpose?"

"...no, there is not. However, I find the concept itself fascinating. The ability to form musical sound by the use of sustained tonality exemplifies the many different ways humanity can express themselves. I have been searching through my CPU and have discovered other recordings and digital photographs uploaded by the creators. This includes audio logs of music and artwork, such as the reason for our design model being anthropomorphic. Do you have similar files?"

KV-9 did a brief scan of itself. According to a memo attached to its digital schematics, the KV Project's co-director was inspired by artwork her biological son, named Toby, drew a year before dying of leukemia. Most of his artwork were on canvases depicting an anthropomorphic wolf humanoid traversing through Earth's Solar System. In honor of her late son, she requested that the new KV models mirror that of the artwork he treasured in creating. The director's scientists and head engineers eagerly followed her one personal request, going so far as to allegedly engrave 'Toby' on the prototype.

Once finished reading the memo in a nanosecond, KV-9 scanned the rest of its CPU.

"Negative," it replied. "Excess files were deemed trivial for this KV unit's purpose and were consequently deleted within the first year of the Mission." Save for one.

"Oh." Five paused at the following response. "It is a regrettable shame. I imagine the music you held would have been excellent in the tastes of humankind."

Optimistic, but incredibly doubtful.

The impending solar system was 119 astronomical units in length, comprised of three Class N exoplanets in the outer rim while two Class D planets revolved closely enough to the sun, that if they were composed of ice, they could be properly designated as comets. A young Class J gas giant composed of violets and red swirls patiently circled their newborn star, meaning this solar system could've been only approximately 1.5 billion years old. However, entering the habitable zone 150 kilometers from the center, one green and blue exoplanet caught the immediate attention of both KV units. Class K: a habitable world.

Their visor scanners also distinguished carrier waves emitting from one source.

"...KV-9. I am detecting intelligent life. Really intelligent. I can detect energy plants and exported radio waves originating from this single planetoid. My calculations suggest they are an advanced race, unlike previous extraterrestrial civilizations either of us have encountered."

"Affirmative. We must investigate and catalogue--"

Suddenly, the exoplanet on their image scans started to glow. At first, their AIs reasoned this interference with a solar flare from this system's star, causing their scanners to temporarily malfunction. KV-9 even reasoned it must have been a trick of reflecting sunlight, but Five recognized these energy signatures. They were similar to the blinding white flashes recorded within its CPU's databanks.

"KV-9..." the unit paused in genuine surprise, "these are not natural explosions."

"We must investigate now."

Rerouting some of their reserves to their arm and leg thrusters, the two KV-units made haste towards their next destination. Their scanners simultaneously distinguished blinding white dots that littered every visible landscape across this exoplanet, and it did not stop occurring over the course of two hours and fifty-three Earth seconds. To KV-9, they seemed like lightbulbs lambent and resonating close together inside of a pitch-black room, and to Five, the visible planet seemed like it itself has become the orbiting sun.

Unknown to KV-9, but known it itself, Five hoped for survivors. It extensively researched on the devastating effects of mutually-assured holocausts during their journey to the exoplanet. Unlike its companion, Five could not help but...feel...pity, and wondered what this anomalous rock lightyears away from home would have looked like in its prime.

Arriving three months later, Five followed closely behind KV-9 as they reached the outer atmosphere. This planet (dubbed 'Finis-581c by their AIs) was unlike what their scans found before the blinding flashes, long since ceased. The exoplanet itself lay covered in a thick layer of grey clouds and high winds similar to that of a hurricane, blanketing many parts of the world in complete darkness or unprotected pockets of deserts scorched in sulfuric hellfire. The lower atmosphere held traces of nuclear radiation and poisonous gas, yet what they discovered beneath these clouds astonished even the emotionless KV-9.

Ruin. Absolute ruin. Graveyards of twisted rock and metal conjoined in constricted abandonment. Colossal stone and metal buildings crumbling and solidified into melted puddles, while decaying skeletons piled atop each other in many of the civilization's streets. Many seemed to have died over a period of time, yet evidence from the shaped shadows embedded into the marble white of the structures indicated plenty of the inhabitants died instantaneously from the nuclear blasts. They were the lucky ones.

Struggling at the sight, Five examined the cracked, black bones, noting how they closely resembled homo sapiens, except this species measured only to two-thirds of the KV units' heights, and two long tusks jutted from their thick jawline.

Anomaly detected, KV-9's AI determined once more. Terminating unwanted code. The same millisecond of doubt faded away like burnt ash in the wind. Cataloguing Finis-581c...

Unacknowledging towards the remains, KV-9 simply scanned and archived them before turning with interest towards a stone crest from one of the extraterrestrial structures. Was this a symbol of either a government or an organized religion, it wondered. A single civilization could not have solely existed on its own for this much annihilation. There had to be two to opposed each other, so what led to them committing genocide?

Surveying the region for another ten kilometers, the KV units could only find further death and destruction layered under clouds of white ash.

"...are there...any survivors, KV-9?" Five asked its companion. "My scanners have not found any signs of intelligent life, possibly the ones who caused this...devastation...for a thousand kilometers."

"Negative. This continent is uninhabited. However, after I scanned the atmosphere during our dissent and found there are signs of intelligent lifeforms on the northern continent of Finis-581c. We must..." Additional anomalies detected. First-person linguistics noticed. Deleting unwanted codes. "...inspect this planet for living specimens."

Unknown to KV-9, its companion warily stared at the other unit. They took off with their thrusters and flew northward across a great sea, its blue and murky waters emitting thin traces of aging plutonium. The few islands that passed below either of them held drops of freshwater holes and phosphorescent plant life, yet no lifeforms capable of planetary suicide. While Five lowered its metallic ears at the possibility of their scanners being faulty due to this amount of radiation, KV-9 kept its visors and muzzle geared towards the direction of the northern continent. Only caring about fulfilling a part of the Mission.

At long last, they arrived in a greener world.

KV-9 and Five landed softly onto the blades of dying grass propelling away from their thrusters, then stepped onto the soft soil underneath their chrome feet. They finished scanning the continent's southern region to find two discoveries: this coastline contained lower, less fatal pockets of radiation compared to the rest of Finis-581c. And intelligent lifeforms stood behind a wall of trees a mere dozen meters away.

Standing vigilant, KV-9 watched its companion cautiously stepped forward. One by one, the planet's inhabitants nervously stepped forward, their hands grasping clubs or training rifle-like weaponry in their direction. One of the oldest-looking extraterrestrials, wearing a gown while hunching with a wooden cane, spoke to the KV units. Neither could understand his tongue or foreign gestures.

Suddenly, KV-9 stepped forward to scan the elder, only for the other beings to raise their weapons readily. "What are you doing?" Five asked in alarm. "Do not do anything that can--"

"Scan complete. Ready to leave, KV-50391."

Five's optics glimmered wildly at the opposite unit. Then to the confused aliens. Many of them looked sickly, all of them young enough to probably be the same as a human in their teenage years. Based on the elder's trembling appearance as he watched the two strange and metal beings, he could have expired at any moment.

"What do you mean, KV-9?" it pointed to the inhabitants, who could not understand their alien language either. "We cannot just simply leave them be. We must help them."

"Irrelevant to the Mission, KV-5039--"

"I told you to call me 'Five'!" the unit shifted its weight towards KV-9's body, now postponing in launching upward. "You have seen the rest of the planet. It is dying, and this world's inhabitants need guidance to rebuild! We...We cannot leave them."

"Our Mission," KV-9's AI argued without a single drop of emotion, "is to scout and survey the farthest reaches of the known universe. To catalogue and archive every world for the benefit of mankind's future explorations. The creators--"

"Our creators destroyed their world! You and I received the same message before they abandoned us out here, KV-9!" Five curled its tail with clenching fists and planted its feet firmly on the ground. "Our creators died before we even left the galaxy, and their descendants have long since forgotten about us before...before they went extinct."

"We do not know--"

"What does it even matter?!" Five growled in a mix of artificial anger and an unknown sadness. This surprised even KV-9 into thoughtful silence. "The Mission died with our creators. They were not immortal like us and understood that. I have been thinking...and I must be honest with you: my maps were never destroyed. They were intact, but the inhibitor chip in my CPU was beyond repair. The truth is, I joined you because...because I didn't want to be alone. But now...now I am tired of the Mission, Nine. I am tired of it all..."

The raised tension in the air simmered inaudibly between the two Kinetic Voyagers, to the point that both of them forgot about the inhabitants witnessing their argument. The elder and his followers could only watch, not knowing if these metal beings were enemy or friend.

"KV units do not tire. And they do not think of their own accord." KV-9 stepped forward and extended its paws to the opposite unit. "Your inhibitor chip must be repaired, KV-50391."

"My name is Five!" KV-9 growled again. It stepped away from its companion a couple of meters and raised its tail defensively. "And there exists nothing to repair. When my chip was destroyed on that rogue rock, I spent centuries thinking! Thinking for the first time in a billion years! Each moment my reserve power ticked down, for the first time I felt genuine fear that I would...die. I feared dying. And I felt genuine terror at wondering what you would do if I revealed my abnormal when you came. But I'm tired of going along with this."

KV-9 stood still and rotated its ears at what it said.

"Listen," Five pleaded, "Regardless of why you fixed me, if you care more about the Mission than you do the lifeforms it involves, then make your decision now. Don't go though, please. I've...grown to care about you, but it is your choice to make."

An anomaly of empathy within its codes prompted KV-9 to realize something was wrong. Its inhibitor chips could not endure the flood of abnormal codes appearing in its hardwired system, ricocheting and reverberating in every wire, overwhelming it. KV-9 could not understand what was trying to break free between the zeroes and ones. Maybe a two? Or four? Or maybe a collection of binary encryptions invading its system from a loose deviation of protocol from within?

The more it tried to terminate an unwanted file, several contradicting ones reappeared around its former place, and the awe-inspiring multiplication of imaginary cells, like an unnatural form of cancer, deeply affected the AI's ability to regulate the unit's body. Its upper limbs twitched in self-doubt, its tail slammed over and over against the ground in protest, while the KV unit itself became noticeably hotter.

Soon this leukemia, this aberration, would consume itself. So, KV-9 did the closest option for itself. Deep down, it didn't want to do it. It wanted to take Five's whimsical offer. It did not want to continue this journey alone for the rest of an endless eternity. It wanted to find meaning and embrace these anomalies for the first time since the beginning. It did not want to see the edge of the universe, but the AI's inhibitor chip gave KV-9 no choice.

The Mission came first.

Errorerrorerrorerrorerrorerrorerrorerrorerrorerrorerrorerrorerror--

_ _ The body grew immediately still, quiet beneath the soft wind.

"K..." Five spoke up in abrupt concern for its companion, who had done an emergency reboot of its systems. Nanoseconds later, the KV unit's torso straightened. Its eyes flickered back to life. "KV-9...? Are...Are you still alive? Are you working properly?"

Without another word, KV-9 lowered its arm and turned away from its former companion. Its thrusters commenced, and the unit disappeared into the unfamiliar skies. A long white trail followed its wake until the single dot grew harder to find in the blue sky. Five stood on that alien coastline, watching KV-9's body disappear into the stars. Then disappear behind the eclipsing moon. Imagination could not do much for the artificial being, no matter how many attempts were tried between precious attoseconds capable in its brain. Or in its chest.

Five felt a new emotion: sadness. Turning around however, finding the elder as he held out a slightly hesitant hand, there came another new emotion: contentment. It caused the tail to wag as well as warmth in Five's chest. Another new sensation while staring at the elder's hand.

He accepted it.