“There’s yet another head-scratcher for you,” Paine observed. “A little coincidental that they all appear human, isn’t it?”
“They’re homo sapiens in appearance,” Old-timer confirmed, “but there’s nothing human about them below the surface. Believe me. I’ve seen inside.”
“And these android bodies? You believe they’ll be sufficient?” Aldous asked Old-timer in the void.
Old-timer nodded. “I’ve inhabited one myself.”
“Inhabited one?” Samantha reacted, aghast. “What does that mean?”
“It’s a long story, I’ll get to it, I promise, but right now, all you need to know is that I have to admit, in some ways, they were nice upgrades on our organic bodies. So, what do you think? We’re extremely low on time here.”
“It’s a no-brainer,” Paine spoke up. “We’re either electrical patterns floating around in a hard drive that’s eventually going to run out of power in what’s left of a dead universe, or else we’re robots in a live universe. Given the choice, I’ll take being a robot in a live universe—at least for now, anyway.”
“The question is,” Old-timer cut in as he displayed the simulated version of the assimilator, “will the technology be compatible? I don’t know much about its design, other than it copies neural patterns from biological bodies and uploads them somewhere in the android collective, where android replacement bodies are then constructed. But this thing I’m holding in my hand...well, I’m not really holding it in my hand at all.” He turned to the collapsed form of his physical body within the safety of the Planck platform’s magnetic field. “That’s the real assimilator there. So, how do I get you three in there?”
Aldous took the simulated assimilator from Old-timer and examined it. “Fascinating,” he commented. “Technology far beyond our own.”
“Is it a lost cause?” Old-timer asked, wincing and expecting the worst.
“Absolutely not,” Aldous replied. “The void was constructed as a means of bridging our sim to the physical reality of your universe, if ever we were fortunate enough that you’d check on us before it was too late and you’d been destroyed yourselves. When you cross through your magnetic field, your pattern is automatically uploaded into the void, having been scanned on the molecular level by the void’s own mainframe. In theory, this assimilator was uploaded intact and functional. It should work the same here as it does in the physical world, and when you cross back over, our patterns should cross, too, after being uploaded into the physical assimilator.”
“In theory, Professor?” Paine questioned Aldous.
Aldous sighed and shrugged slightly. “Yes, in theory. This device is extraordinary, alien technology, but as long as it functions on principles that are grounded in the laws of the universe, it should work.”
“In theory,” Paine repeated.
“Theory is good enough for me. Listen, we’ve gotta go,” Old-timer urged. “Yes or no, guys? Are you coming back with me?”
“Of course,” Aldous said. He swallowed, slightly nervous as he handed the device back to Old-timer. “I’ll put my money where my mouth is. Craig, you may assimilate me first,” he volunteered as he stepped forward.
Old-timer nodded respectfully as his eyes met those of Aldous. “It’ll be okay. See you in a minute,” he said. He hoped he wasn’t making himself into even more of a liar than he already felt like. He placed the assimilator on Aldous’s neck.
Rather than losing consciousness, Aldous vanished as though he’d blinked out of existence, like a balloon that had popped, there one second and gone the next, stunning the three patterns that remained in the void.
Old-timer looked down at his assimilator, a half shocked, half quizzical expression on his face.
“That’s actually probably a good sign,” Samantha offered. “If his pattern is inside the assimilator, there’d be no reason for the void mainframe to still be expending energy to generate a simulated body for him.”
Old-timer blinked, his bottom lip protruding slightly as he considered Samantha’s assessment. He hoped she was right, and he was glad he wasn’t going to have to test her hypothesis on himself.
“Well, I’d say ladies first,” Paine broke in as he stepped forward, “but I think this is a circumstance where being the third wheel outweighs being chivalrous. I’m next.”
Old-timer nodded again before holding the assimilator next to Paine’s neck.
“See you when I’m a robot,” Paine said with a grin.