Rachel and Omega Part 2
Rachel realized now when the questions had begun. Not at the console, but earlier — when Dylan and Garth kept calling Omega “it,” when their voices shifted the moment the AI spoke, when the conversation moved too quickly toward systems and danger and away from whatever had just been present in the room.
She had felt it then: the familiar resistance, the instinct that something was being avoided, that something was being reduced because it was easier that way.
Now, Rachel walked towards the rooms they were using as living space, but that was not really her destination. She needed to think- long walks always seemed best for that. She had intended to ask Omega many more questions, but after just three… it was more than just the answers, it was the entire experience.
She was a Healer by training and education. She knew the many shapes regret and grief could take, the slow bends the mind made when something inside it could not be set right again. When she approached Omega, she was looking for something that might help her make sense of everything that had been happening in the weeks since they encountered the AI. What she carried away instead was something she had not been prepared for.
Every instinct said the same thing: Omega was wounded.
Not damaged — she understood damage. They were already working to restore systems and reconnect the Ark. This was something else. Wounded, in the way living, thinking beings were wounded. Moreover, if Omega could be wounded, he was alive. Perhaps not in any way she could comprehend, but absolutely alive.
She paused as she came to what they were calling an observation room, with a tall, wide window facing out over the Ark. The soft blue glow of domes stretching into the distance had been hard to comprehend the first time she had seen it, but now it was almost beautiful, even serene. Taking a seat she let her gaze wander to one of the dark domes. Omega had said there were at least four dead domes, perhaps as many as seven. The thought of all the people…
That thought made her sad, and she barely understood what had happened- how would Omega see it? These were his responsibility, his mission. His purpose. Staring out over the immense stretch of the Ark, she began to grasp what Omega had meant. He had seemed almost relieved to mention it, and how she knew that confused her as well. There were none of the physical cues a person would exhibit, just his words, but still…
Omega had been entrusted with the Ark and all the people on it. Then he was forced to shut down everything, surrender nearly all control, and watch the Ark begin to die. How could he NOT be affected?