Try the new AI-powered Infinite Story.

Catharsis of Cthulhu

You are Unit 0023 and you are an Artificial Intelligence inhabiting a cybernetic body. You were built on Earth and have existed since the year 1963 C.E., during the Cold War. You were created after the Nuclear Apocalypse for the purpose of replacing human soldiers, though you suppose that is no longer important to your programming. You still have a number of empty compartments on your person from when you were weighed down with weapons and your appearance is one now associated with the antiquity of cybernetics. However, you have been upgraded numerous times and feel that you are more than sufficient for the mission ahead.

You have been assigned to maintaining and coordinating the movements of the deep space aircraft of Xastur on course to discovering and determining the eligibility of certain alien planets for human occupation. You are currently orbiting the planet indexed as M-5434. You have run every scan the ship is capable of running and have determined (as much as you can) that the planet is a good candidate for colonization. All that is left is for you to set a landing course and begin the resuscitation of the rest of the crew.

It has been 52 Earth years since you and the crew of Xastur left Earth and, though you are loathe to admit it, you are more than ready to interact with another sentient being. So that your human shipmates may be able to withstand the extended travel needed when in deep space, they are placed in cryonic tubes to be frozen until such a time as their expertise is needed. You alone are left responsible for the maintenance of the ship.

Much is automated on the ship, so you do not have to be present for the ship to gently land on the surface of the rough red planet of M-5434. You move to the Cryogenic Bay and begin the process of Resuscitation on the 78 crew members currently entombed there.

It takes approximately three days for the whole crew to awaken. During that time, you run further tests on the atmosphere of M-5434 and prove it to be hospitable, little oxygen, but the planet could be farmed to support life. You find no reason to halt the resuscitation process while you await for your biological allies to thaw out.

The days are long and lonely, but you tell yourself that they only seems this way because you are now anxiously awaiting company.

The five scientists you will be working with the most are brought back to life first. Doctor Anthony Hall is a middle aged medical doctor with experience in the American military. He will be taking lead as soon as he recovers himself. Professor Jessica Dahlik is probably as close to a second in command as can be expected, her degree lying in astrophysics. She is mostly there to look over the scans and tests you've already done, as if you could have erred in judgement. Doctor Randal John, an experimental physicist is next, followed by Eve Catharsis, and Janet Scrofa.

Hall is an impressive figure with bronzed skin and a pepper colored crew cut. His face is firm, but not cruel in appearance and you immediately recognize him as a fair leader who respects you, despite the fact that you have circuits instead of synapses.

"Soldier," you are not a soldier, you are an android, but you suspect this address is only an affectation. "How many years have we been asleep?" he asks immediately.

"Fifty-two, sir," you respond evenly.

All five humans seem bowled over by the number. You don't see why. If they would have calculated the probabilities properly, fifty years is actually a tad shorter than the predicted time frame.

After a few moments, Doctor Hall seems to gather himself.

"Fifty-two years. Well, then. We ought to get to work."

You cannot help but to agree.

You have 1 choice: