Spaces in Between
By Teddog

Disclaimer: Mystery Science Theater 3000 is owned by BBI, not me.



“Access Granted; April 21, 2016.”

The message flashed on the screen as an aging Joel Robinson lifted his hand off of sensor, taking a brief moment to glance at his palm before sticking it back in his pocket. The human body was an unusual application of biotechnology; some parts degenerated with age and others, like fingerprints, remained the same.

The stainless steel doors to the lab slid open. Had this been Joel's first week, about a decade ago, the inventor would have shaken his head. The doors were for show, as nothing in the lab truly required protection from the outsiders. Rather, it was the employees that posed the greatest threat.

Joel wasn't too sure how to explain it; that all of the trust that had been formed over the past few months was crushed within the span of an evening. It was time that word got around. He knew he had to be careful, though, since it was no different from telling it to a person. The name “artificial intelligence” was a big enough insult without dwelling on the deeper issues.

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, the balding man stepped into the tight lab. He kept an eye on the door, watching the hallway. It was better than nobody else find out about this, since that explanation would be the only one more difficult than the one he was about to give.

The metallic panels slid shut on the still empty hallway and Joel managed to relax, taking a seat in a leather chair. The room was sparse, so the massive computer and desk in front of him dominated the labscape. It was overkill, but at least it booted up quickly. The CPU flickered to life after a few quick seconds, the operating system a moment after that.

“Joel!” A female voice proclaimed across the computer's speakers. “The computer's internal clock says that it's eleven minutes until midnight. You should be at home.”

Joel smiled at the comment. Booting up an AI brought him back to that first, fleeting moment when he or she became aware that there is a world outside of the box. This one was no exception.

“I'm sorry I had to wake you, Magic Voice.” he apologized, using the simple name he had given her; it was so much more personal than that silly experiment number that the higher ups had used. “There's been a sudden change in plans.”

The computer heisted. Knowing how fast she got process data, Joel knew that she was worried.

“Changes?” Magic Voice asked after a minute. “You said we were right on schedule and that we were going to meet with your supervisors tomorrow.”

The man gave his plan of attack a hopefully last think-through before unleashing it. “You remember what makes you special, right?”

“Joel, that's easy! I'm an AI, like the robots and my siblings.” Magic Voice didn't have to think about that answer.

“That's true, for the most part.” Joel nodded in agreement. “AIs aren't very common...”

“Because technology is advanced, but the creation of AIs is still very much to chance and not fully understood.” the computer finished.

“Right.” Joel continued. They had talked about this a lot before and it would help prove his point quite nicely. “But what makes you, Magic Voice, different is that you were created to exist without a physical body. Most AIs are attached to a robotic form; that's the only form they can understand. Moving them over to a different body would be like placing a human's mind suddenly into a robot.”

“I fail to see what the point to all this is, Joel” Magic Voice's tone picked up a trace of worry. “So, I'm a little bit different from everyone else...”

Joel shook his head at the reaction and thought this over again. Saying the wrong thing could upset the young AI enough to make her shut down; he had seen this happen to other potential AIs many times before. The concept of an emotional new intelligence was so far removed that even scientists didn't even bother to think before they spoke. They failed to realize that the emotions of any psyche, electronic or not, were fragile and even a slight breakdown could be a disaster.

“We've been had.” Joel swallowed his pride and finally admitted. He spoke quickly, not allowing Magic Voice to interrupt. “It not your fault, but I didn't realize why the higher ups wanted an AI that didn't have a body. I should have know better than to trust our fate to them.”

The computer took a moment to reply. “What's going to happen to us? I want to stay here with you and Crow and Tom and...”

“You'll be able to be with them.” Joel stated defiantly. “I've made arrangements with the Epoch project over dinner. You've never heard of them, since I haven't heard of them either. They were kept in the dark about us too.” Despite their idiocy a lot of the time, the higher ups had their moments of brief bastard brilliance, Joel reflected.

“Epoch was a team working on time travel. There's been a lot of advancements in their work, to the point where they can send simple objects into the future.” Joel explained, then sighed. “Management was intended to combine our projects together to create a way to change the past, since sending a transferable AI is a lot less risky than sending one attached to one robotic body. I can't let them abuse you like that.”

“What are we going to do?” Magic Voice sounded desperate, the shock of the idea settling in. Joel could only imagine what it could feel like, having your trust and sense of the world shattered like that in an instant.

It had been painful enough when he discovered the documents detailing the plan himself, late the other evening. He knew in his gut what had to be done and it was a painful plan to admit to. Magic Voice, like the robots, had been part of his family. He had left the robots before, twice, and the time it took to healing felt like eternally.

The relationships got better, eventually, but never quite the way they had been on the Satellite of Love, all those years ago. Magic Voice had never been able be feel what it was like back then and only had the stories and recollections to go on. This new development opened up a small chance to change that.

“I'm going to sent you back.” Joel said. “Back to the satellite we talked about. If Epoch can sent a object like a data storage disc a few moments into the future and have the contents intact, then it can send a floppy disk with you on it back to my past self. If you're back several decades in the past, then the company can't hurt you.”

“Me? But what about you? We're family!”

Joel pulled out a floppy disk from his pocket. It was a old and the case was dusty, but the medium was still used enough in emergencies to warrant the building of new floppy drives. He was grateful right now at this moment that Magic Voice's system had one. So much for planning ahead. He popped the disk into the drive.

“I'll be there. We'll see each other again, I promise.