NETWORK MAN

By Christopher Ashline

           In the year 2372, the people of Earth set forth on an ambitious undertaking that brought forth the next age of man. Deep space probes had detected planets outside of the solar system that had a high potential of supporting human life. The countries of the planet came together and space mission Odyssey was established with the purpose of colonizing another planet, the planet was given the name New Eden. Since humanity hadn’t managed to develop a system of faster than light travel, this was set up to be a multi-generational voyage where the quest would be completed by the ancestors of those who began it. Because of this, there was established a strict code of conservation of resources and controlled procreation. 

One of the technological advancements that made this kind of a mission possible was the innovation of nanotechnology. Microscopic robots that would be used to create and repair objects using the current materials and maintain a degree of order in the workings of the ship. By this recycling method, it reduced the amount of extra materials that would be needed to be transported on the ship. These nanobots were controlled by a central system that programmed and maintained their functioning. This was called NETWORK, Nano-Engineered Technical Work Ordered RobotiKs.  Any part that needed fixing, the nanobots would just take the broken pieces and reassemble them and the molecular level, creating a virtually brand-new part from the old. Most people saw this as one of the great inventions of man.

Four years into the mission, all things were going as planned. The open agricultural space was growing enough food to sustain the people, the hydro-filtration and reclamation system supplied enough water, and the nanobots kept all systems operating at peak performance. Darrien Parker was the technician that had been assigned to operate and maintain the NETWORK system. Crew members would bring him either broken pieces to be fixed or specifications for any new objects that needed to be manufactured, and he would implement the patterns for the nanobots to create to build the final product. The job was fairly routine with the daily tasks until one day when circumstances took a turn and the mission objectives changed for all on board and for the future generations.

On this day, one technician sent a part to the NETWORK lab that ruptured and needed repairing. As usual, Darrien took the piece and placed it in the NETWORK chamber that contained the nanobots as they performed their task. What he had failed to detect though was a small crack in the containment chamber. As the nanobots carried out the job, the energy required began to increase and by the time Darrien noticed the level change, it was too late. The chamber had ruptured and the nanobots had escaped and infiltrated Darrien’s body. 

The purpose of the nanobots was to create order using the materials given. However, nanobots had never been used on living tissue. When the NETWORK system encountered this, it was something that was beyond its normal working parameters. It began to adapt the programming to take these new variables into account. The result was the creation of something new. The nanobots needed to create order. Darrien could not only feel the nanobots in him, but could sense them, communicate with them. The NETWORK was talking with him. He could connect with it, but the responses that he got back were telling him that his body, his humanity was chaos and needed to be fixed. Unable to fight back, Darrien’s body was being taken over and bit by bit until there was nothing left of his original self. His body had not only remained intact, but had been altered with physical improvements. Though, there was nothing left of his mind, his soul. The NETWORK had fully taken control. 

NETWORK was able to access some of Darrien’s memories and also access the ship’s systems. From its interpretation, it determined that the mission was flawed. It was by definition chaotic. It lacked order. For people to embark on a mission that they knew full well that they would not see complete was illogical. NETWORK needed to repair the mission. The final resolution, the crew needed to be brought out of its state of chaos and into order. 

With Darrien’s body, NETWORK began its own mission of infiltrating crew members and linking them into NETWORK as well. At first it was easy. No one knew about the accident that had happened, so when they encountered Darrien’s body, they were unaware of the system that had over taken him. One by one, NETWORK began taking over the bodies of the rest of the crew. After a while, the crew saw what was happening and started to fight back against the NETWORK. Eventually though, their actions were ineffective and eventually the bodies of the entire crew had been incorporated into NETWORK. What had started as a computer system designed to fix broken parts had become the controlling entity of a new stage of humanity.

NETWORK did continue with the mission to New Eden. It did alter the parameters of the mission though. What had started as a multi-generational voyage, would now be completed with its original crew members. NETWORK was able to regenerate the physical bodies of the individuals that it had taken over. These newly enhanced bodies could now endure with less food and water and other necessities than before, allowing NWTWORK to make modifications to the ship. Modifications that, along with its own technical knowledge, increased the speed at which the ship could travel and reach its destination sooner.

When Odyssey finally reached New Eden, NETWORK saw this as an opportunity to advance civilization by eliminating the inherent chaos within humanity. Odyssey was just the beginning. More ships would be traveling to New Eden. When they arrive, NETWORK would be able to create a new order by phasing out weaknesses from the people like greed, sloth and envy and grow into a new lifeform. It saw this as the dawning of the next level of evolution. While NETWORK had taken over people’s minds, their physical bodies were still intact. Using Darrien’s body, NETWORK took it upon itself to procreate with one of the females from the ship. With this child born, it had the full knowledge of the NETWORK and nanobots fully integrated within itself to grow beyond human evolution and lead a new age of humanity on this new planet full of a new breed of order. He is the NANO-PHOPHET.