out to everyone on the space station. It was a public file."
"You guys have weird priorities."
"Well that's not my fault so take it up with the dead people, okay?"
Dale laughed. "So you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I don't want to be here any longer."
Dale shrugged again and they left through the elevator.
"Would you say you have any parents?" Dale asked once they'd stepped off the car and started down the path.
"Well, I have a culmination of DNA sequencing borrowed from several different sources, but I guess if you're asking about parents as in 'who birthed and raised you' I would say it was the computer. He's given me everything I need to know."
"So it just occurred to me, how did the overseers get into creating other overseers? That sort of stuff was banned back home when the people began fighting over the morality of it."
"It started in the darker corners of research. No one really knew what was going on until the scientists approached the consumers with their solution to the imperfections, learning curves, and incompatibility that arises in the more natural born individuals. If you ask me, I'd say a lot of people chose to accept their research and their 'gifts' because it would allow for a much easier, more efficient way of populating the growing expanse of overseer Space. Wouldn't you choose this way if it meant you'd be given a perfect child every time? I guess not even that, but a fully functioning, fully moral adult? That would be perfection wouldn't it?"
"That would definitely explain why your society ended up where it did."
"We don't think about the negative effects of the research and we choose not to pry in to the why's or how's of the process, but it's benefited us in an incredible amount of ways." Seven stopped and Dale bumped in to her.
"What?" Dale asked.
"We're here. Come on." She grabbed his hand again and started jogging down the exit ramp to the ship.
The greeter bot was still lying inert where Dale had punched it before.
"I don't think it's blocking the door." Dale said, inching behind Seven as they went around it.
"No, I think you're right."
When they were both inside, Seven hit the door console and the door closed. They both sighed.
"You know, I'm starting to take a shining to this ship. It feels kind of safe after walking around in that huge ring they call a space station."
"I totally agree with you. We should get out of here."
Seven sat down at the table next to the commander’s chair and started working on the surface.
"Seven, I'm going to set our destination for Earth. I think we can make a good statement about life existing on other planets with this kind of technology."
"Your people haven't discovered other intelligent life yet?"
"Well, kind of I guess. We've found evidence of planets that can be populated but we haven't made contact or found evidence of intelligent life. All pictures we get back from our telescopes are thousands upon thousands of years old."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Discovering another strain of humans in the universe is one of the great joys of being a part of the overseers. We have the opportunity to share what we know with those who know nothing." Seven paused. "I know this isn't entirely relevant, but the overseers who threw the coup were natural born. They were tired of our constant perfections until they decided we weren't true people. They thought they were the only ones who deserved to control the course of our great society."
"You got all that from the message?"
"It was a private discourse between the messenger and the receiver. It contained everything they knew about the government's change of hands."
"I can only imagine what it would be like to be overthrown by your creators. I guess they aren't really creators as much as manipulators but still. I think that kind of action isn't appropriate. Did they say how many were killed in the process?"
"Killed? Many were detained, but none were killed. There is no allowance of death for us. We are protected from any such action by our own creations."
"Your own creations?"
"Yes, we created security systems to ensure our specie's peace. Our species meaning all life within society, whether they be natural or unnatural. The very thought of one of us killing another is insane. If that were possible, the results could end catastrophically. Such is the way of the unnatural born."
"Well, I'm glad you aren't crazy." He got up, put his arms around her and kissed her softly. "I think I'm falling for you Seven. I think you might really be the one for me."
"You doubted, didn't you?" She smiled and put her arms around his neck, pulling him in for another kiss. "I knew there was something you were hiding. I think you're wonderful too, Dale. And I think we should make a go of spending the rest of our lives together." She pulled at the zipper keeping Dale's suit around his body. "I think we should make a go of it right now in fact."
"Seven, I think it isn't the right time to become this thing you want me to be. We have customs in my world. Customs of marriage where we promise to live with one another for the rest of our lives. Even sometimes for all of eternity and beyond if that is what we desire. But, for me, I cannot accept this thing you are offering until we are married. We will marry, Seven, there is no doubt of that. But until then, we must stay diligent and strong. I would not wish for anything else."
Seven seemed confused by this, but her expression softened after some thought. "Dale, I understand. I will wait until we are married. If that is what you want then I want that too. I'm sorry." She let her head fall, looking ashamed.
"Seven it's not your fault. You didn't know." Dale lifted her chin with a finger, and kissed her again gently. "We'll make it work. You don't have to worry or be afraid that it won't."
"I understand." Seven didn't stop frowning, but she seemed to understand why he was asking this and she accepted that. She turned back to the console and pressed her fingers on to the surface. "Dale, it's time to break away from the station."
Dale sighed and went back to the command chair. "Let’s get out of here. I'm tired of that big thing floating above my head."
There was a crunch as the metal holding clamps released the ship from the space station. Dale sighed to himself and sat back in his chair. He really wasn't interested in watching this round of movement, but the scene above him stole his attention anyway. It was almost as if the entire world was falling out of the sky, the dome displaying their own personal movie in a sweeping, cinematic scene. Dale's eyes were glued to the microscopic trees and plants that had taken root in the station's inhabitant's neighborhoods and fields.
"Seven, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" Dale asked.
Seven laughed. "What's with the sudden change of heart? You were complaining about the view like two seconds ago."
"It's not that I didn't like the view, it's just that this whole abandoned space station thing is kind of freaking me out."
"It's not abandoned." Seven countered.
"What do you mean it's not abandoned? There's literally no one left to run the place."
"What do you think the greeter bots are doing all day, huh? Running rampant through the streets?"
"No, well yeah. Kind of. They don't really count."
"What do you mean they don't count? They're creations, just like me. Does that mean I'm not a person too?"
"No, Seven, you're the furthest thing from not counting as a person, but think about it. If they don't exist in the same capacity as us, then are they really people?"
"Yeah, they are. How would you feel if a robot told you that you didn't count as a person because you were born organically? Wouldn't you feel upset at all?"
"Not really, because I'm honestly not a robot and robots don't really have the authority to say whether or not I count as a person. At least, that's how I see it."
"Tell me Dale, how far has your society come with its technology in artificial intelligence?"
"Well, we're pretty far along I'd say."
"And what have they started doing now that they've been in research for so long?"
"I..." Dale thought for a moment. "They've started acting like people."
"And how does that make you feel about them?"
"It makes me think they should be treated like people."
"Exactly. Now imagine you've developed a technology that allows you to create a human being at any time and at any age, wouldn't the technology involved in the creation of artificial intelligence be the organic equivalent? And if so, then it would be impossible to understand the brain without first understanding what makes us human, which can be achieved through a thorough comprehension of cause to effect, habit, knowledge, and predetermined variables that define particular personality traits. This is obviously not a complete list, but I think it makes my point."
"Sure, okay. I get it: Robots here are like people and I shouldn't judge them because of the skin they wear."
"Yes. Actually, if you want to get technical, most robots are more human than people are, which is weird considering we've made them after our own image and such."
"Huh. Yeah, I guess so."
The space station had disappeared from above them. Now, only the depths of space sat between Dale and his home planet. Seven was busy at the console, sliding her fingers back and forth, watching some imaginary thing floating in the air in front of her. Dale watched for a while, entranced by the beauty of her movements. She carried herself in a way that spoke of absolute attention, completely absorbed in the task at hand. Dale left the command chair. He walked up to Seven and put his arms around