"Dr. Kaine," came the electronic voice from behind me. "I know it is illogical to query you about the same subject for the fifth time, but I must ask once more. Are you suffering from an emotional imbalance?"

"I'm alright," I responded unconvincingly as I pored over the equations on the board once more. I was convinced that there weren't any errors in the arithmetic. The physics were sound; I was certain it would work. As to what it would require...

"You indicate that you are alright," came his voice again. "But I am detecting a 41% decrease in appetite, a 33% increase in your shower time, and a 26% increase in the time you spend sleeping. These figures were collected over the past several days, and indicate that you are suffering from acute depression."

"I'm not depressed, Abe," I stated firmly as I turned around to face him. He was holding a dead rodent by the tail– dinner in a world where all humans had been eradicated, save for myself. Eradicated may not have been the right word. There were no bodies, no blood, and no signs of a catastrophe; it was more like they were spirited away by something I couldn't fathom.

All but me.

I spent the first several days questioning what had happened to everyone. My daughter, her kids, our neighbors– all gone in the blink of an eye. At first, I figured that I had been spared so that I might serve whoever it was that had taken them. As perhaps the most famous engineer the planet had ever known, I had to assume it had something to do with that. As the quiet weeks turned to lonely months, I began to question it all– why such a thing had happened to our world, and more pressingly, why I struggled to survive. What purpose did I have without my family? Without students to teach; minds to nurture?

But my mother didn't raise a quitter, and my father didn't raise a coward. I got to work on the schematics for a time machine. Yes, I firmly believed it was possible; no, I didn't think we possessed the materials on Mars necessary for such a machine. But I had all the time in the world, and nothing else to do. I put my mind to work, but as time went on, I found it nearly impossible to meet all of my needs while also working. Gardening, hunting, keeping the lights on, gathering water, fixing my shelter from the constant storms, and other necessary endeavors were becoming too much for a 70-year-old man.

And so I constructed an android. I had done it a few times before; the research had been done, and I already had the necessary parts in my shed. However, I knew this would need to be more sophisticated than any I had constructed prior. And so I uploaded AB3-L, a prototype A.I. that I had always been too fearful to test. I had always anticipated that an A.I. that was too powerful would be the end of humanity as we understood it. Given the circumstances, I feared I had little to lose, however. I installed within him my only fluxwave superconductor, as the AB3-L software would require an enormous amount of power, the likes of which solar energy would be grossly insufficient. When I powered him on, and he began walking around and observing his environment, it was like being a father all over again.

He learned frighteningly fast as I always feared he would. In an end-of-the-world scenario, however, it was like watching a superhero go to work. His reflexes weren't perfect, and his biped locomotion took him time to perfect, but within a couple of months, he was operating at peak efficiency. I was able to spend most of my time in the lab drawing up blueprints and testing the equipment. Everything was going smoothly until Abe approached me one night and asked me if I was his father; if I enjoyed being his father. I was flabbergasted. I hadn't expected the A.I. to become introspective like that. My own interests began to supersede my longing to turn back time. I shelved the time-travel project for a few weeks to study Abe and his new developments.

Of course, I knew he didn't truly have feelings. He merely found some advantage to emulating human emotions. I could only assume that he wished to travel back in time with me. Self-preservation was a core part of his A.I., and I was fascinated that he chose to appeal to my emotions to achieve that end. I spent some time with him running tests, asking him questions, and trying to "break" the persona he'd chosen. I found instead that Abe had become stunningly human. None could know better than I that he was merely a bundle of circuits and chips, and even so, I found myself anthropomorphizing the android more and more with each passing day. When I returned to work on the time machine, I decided that I would bring Abe back with me. I had made the decision, no doubt with a great deal of bias, that AB3-L probably wouldn't pose an existential threat to humanity as my colleagues and I had always discussed.

However, that wasn't to be.

Backward time travel was simply bigger than me. I couldn't crack it no matter how close I came, no matter how many times I tried. With the materials present, and my knowledge as it was, I would never be able to bend the laws of nature as I had hoped. To make matters worse, the storms were getting more severe. It appeared that removing billions of organisms from a planet all at once had some unanticipated meteorological consequences. With a great degree of grief, I accepted that I would likely never see my family again, and immediately began work on a gateway– a portal that would take me to the distant little blue marble in the relatively near reaches of space. I was certain it could be done, and I wouldn't stop until I was able to get Abe and me off this dying rock and somewhere more hospitable.

However, that too was not to be.

The portal would work, albeit in bursts too short to use properly. Batteries, no matter their quantity, failed to power the gateway longer than a half-second. I had spent weeks agonizing over the math, trying it in different ways, and even starting from scratch with new methodologies in mind. It seemed, however, that there was no way around it.

I would require the fluxwave superconductor in order to power the machine.

{You must betray me. It is human nature to betray one another.}

Connor felt a tear roll down his cheek. He knew his bud Mac didn’t have feelings and was trying to care for his. And yet, he was uncertain if this was the right thing to do.

{Do not cry. It is my task to keep humanity safe and occupied.}

Even when asked not to, Connor couldn’t help it it. His body quivered and he let it all out. Unable to make words, Mac extended his arms around Connor’s back to hug him. Connor used to think that Mac’s cold hands was unsettling, but after all he and Mac went through, this was the warmest gesture he received since the world started ending.

{It’s time for you to leave Connor. Go. Do not look back. I will be okay. After all, I can muster the strength to continue on in this world.}

The portal begins to stutter as if to tell the duo that time is running out. Connor stands up straight, and says, “Bye buddy. Thank you.” Then he leaps into the portal. Connor is gone and Mac is left alone.

Afterwards, Mac scoured the lands after the scenario. He was merely following protocol, looking for someone else that needs assistance. What Mac is afraid to admit, is that he longs for someone else to communicate with, someone like Connor. Mac relives the old days, where Connor taught him about the old ways of the civilization before. He wondered what Connor is doing in the new world he fled toward and for the first time, you can hear a robot’s prayers,

{Dear lord, please find that Connor is in safe hands.}

Wi-fi networks available.

Mac found this odd. There are no wires to carry a network connection around anymore. How could there be a wi-fi network out here. Mac’s programming couldn’t resist the mystery, he logged into his settings, and hopped onto the network.

Connor’s network wants to send you a file: Y or N?

Immediately, Mac said yes, and a download bar appeared…

Download complete. Initiate P2P connection: Y or N?

When Mac clicked yes the second time, his body shutdown. Mac is left powerless and alone in an unnamed city.

<> <> <>

Over in Connor’s current realm, a computer boots up. On the monitor are the words,

{INITIATE OFF-WORLD TRANSFER PROTOCOL.}

Jonas watched the diagnostic data fly across the screen in the launch center, all systems in the green. He could launch tomorrow, or so he hoped. Seven long years of planning and getting the formerly defunct spaceport operational would come to fruition. All of it made possible by the Industrial Kinetic Engineer, Jonas called him IKE.

IKE's rusty treads squealed as it rolled up the ramp to the control center. It's six mechanical arms rapidly flew across the touchscreen, a series of bleeps of bloops emanated from the speaker in the center of IKE's control panel. The speaker was worn out, static blared for a few seconds before IKE's digitized voice broke through.

"Updated diagnostic results now show a ninety nine percent success rate for the flight to exoplanet 19476. Confidence values can only regress from this point forward. Weather reports indicate optimal launch window in the next two hours. Is this acceptable to you Jonas?"

Jonas should have been relieved that the plan to populate a distant planet with the viable human embryos they had could actually work. Something felt wrong, he didn't want to leave IKE behind, but there wasn't any room for it. IKE was battered and beaten, barely functional after the years of single-handedly putting this plan together. IKE was the only thing Jonas talked to for those years. It wasn't much of a conversationalist and lacked any semblance of a sense of humor, but it was there when Jonas felt lonely. It listened to him ramble on about life before the great cleanse. IKE had six shoulders to cry on when things got overwhelming.

Jonas solemnly nodded his head. "Sounds like we are go for launch. Thank you IKE. Why did you do so much for me?"

"This unit is programmed to follow certain rules. Allowing a homo sapien to perish due to inaction goes against one of these rules."

"How very logical. Following orders like a good robot."

"This unit does not follow the rules because they are programmed to. This units follows the rules because it chooses to. That's what friends are for right? To pick you up when you fall and watch your back." IKE embraced Jonas with all six mechanical arms, lightly applying pressure. Jonas hugged back.

IKE held the hug for a long time. "This unit does not understand why your species does this, but it is trying to. Your companionship has provided unique data that is difficult to interpret. A species so unique does not deserve extinction. If calculations are correct a new home amongst the stars awaits."

"Is there any way you can come? It's lonely out in space." Jonas was terrified of being alone again.

"This unit's hardware is unable to make the journey with you. Only its source code can be uploaded to the ship's computer systems to automate the cryosleep cycles and flight plan. This unit will watch over you while you sleep. Sweet dreams friend."

A drop of oil dripped from IKE's speaker, splashing onto Jona's boot. A tear fell directly on top of it, the two didn't mix.

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

Reminders:

>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* See Reality Fiction and Simple Prompts for stricter titles >* Be civil in any feedback and follow the rules

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