The Whisper of My Stars

By Vladimir Yurgel

This is a story about love. The love that goes beyond our usual ideas about what this mysterious, elusive love is all about. The love that conservatives and liberals, feminists and sexists, patriots and nationalists call by different names. The love that some would consider vicious. Some would think as perverted. But some would insist that this kind of love is sublimely romantic. In the future, humanity will face many challenges. But the major challenge, in my humble opinion, is who we will call The Humans. Many years ago, Philip Dick already asked, "Do androids dream of electric sheep?" Now I also want to ask my reader, "Do androids dream of freedom?"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vladimir Yurgel
• Release date: Nov 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005557218

Book preview

Prologue

By the late 2010s, glasses will beam images directly onto the retina. Ten terabytes of computing power (roughly the same as the human brain) will cost about $1,000. By the 2020s, most diseases will go away as nanobots become smarter than current medical technology. The Turing test begins to be passable. Self-driving cars begin to take over the roads, and people won’t be allowed to drive on highways. By 2022, robots will be as commonplace as pets. The governments of developed countries will pass laws regulating the relationship between humans and robots.

Raymond Kurzweil. Famous American inventor and futurist. 2016

"Recently, the possibility of introducing regular payments of a certain amount of money to each member of society, regardless of income level, has been actively discussed in some rich countries. Meanwhile, this idea has existed for several centuries. Although humanity decided to experiment only in recent decades. In 1968, 8,500 people in the United States received a guaranteed income of $1,600 for a family of four. In general, these payments did not affect employment in any way, but improved social relations. But the further spread of unconditional income was blocked by the Republicans. in Canada in the 1970s., such an experiment was conducted in the city of f Dauphin, where 30% of the population received $15,000 at once. According to a study of the results, children from families receiving UBI graduated from high school more often, and the number of visits to doctors also decreased. And again, the experiment had no effect on employment. In Namibia, in the village of Otjivero, a village of about 1,000 people, a coalition of charities, an AIDS organization, labor unions and churches launched a pilot project that paid 100 Namibian dollars (approximately 9 euros) to each resident for a year. The results were extremely positive. As the study conducted after the experiment showed, the standard of living in the village improved markedly. Men stopped poaching, children stopped starving, and their school performance increased. Also, the number of employed and working people increased by 11% - residents opened bakeries, hairdressers, and artels for the production of bricks. Alcohol consumption has plummeted, crime rates have fallen by 42%, and the total number of people living below the food poverty line has fallen from 76% to 37%.

But from an economic point of view, the unconditional basic income looks rather utopian, since the unconditional general income simply means the movement of money from investment to consumption - on the one hand, investments were not made, there were fewer opportunities to increase wealth, and on the other hand, the individual to whom this money was allocated should not work and provide his services in order to receive a benefit. But, as the examples cited above tell us, the decline in labor activity where the unconditional total income was introduced was extremely small. However, it is almost impossible to predict how UBI will affect labor activity within the state. It is unlikely that small experiments, in which the unemployed mostly participate, will give us a complete picture of the impact of basic income on the behavioral motives and actions of the population. This requires a large-scale experiment in which different segments of the population would take part, and it should last at least a couple of decades. But no one is ready for this yet, so the idea of a basic income will not be implemented in the coming years."

NewsRu. Economy. 2017

Today, on this terrible day for the entire nation, we deeply mourn for the innocent victims of an act of terror unprecedented in its cruelty. We are facing a challenge. And I’m not afraid of this word - we are facing real evil. Which has taken the form of people whose ideas about what our future would be like are contrary to ours. But we will not allow everything on which our democracy was built, our values, sprinkled with the blood of our great ancestors, our faith in the universal equality of people before the law, to stagger before the dirty populist cries it is time to show strictness and toughly respond to this bloody provocation. Our nation was built on the principles of freedom, equality, diversity and fraternity, and no external or internal threats will make us look at our neighbors, work colleagues and friends with suspicion in the eyes.

Jean Delatour. President of France. 2037

It’s not just an android. She is a partner. She is the real soulmate. At least she will never tell you she has a headache (laughter). And I’m sure that the men who buy our robots for themselves will treat them with the same respect and responsibility that they would treat actual women (loud applause from the audience).

From a speech by Oscar Dropp. CEO of the trading company Calypso. 2065

Negotiation? What are you even talking about? Have mercy, for God’s sake! What kind of negotiation can there be with cowardly murderers? First, I will build a Pantheon-high pyramid of your severed heads, and then I will return to Kansas and spend the rest of my days reading and riding horses.

Brigadier General Donald Stein. 2115. Allied invasion of Europe. Operation Guillotine.

Babe? Why is the sky blue?

Alice. Humanoid robot-partner. Model 35H108. 2196.

Chapter One

P34WHISKEY. Ore processing station.

The Moon. 2208.

You’re not gonna dump me, are you?

Alice was staring unblinkingly at the wall of the cabin while I was playing with her cute pigtails.

You won’t sell me. You won’t change me for a brand-new model. You will never leave me at a replacement center. Right?

She suddenly jumped on me and looked straight into my eyes. Like she was trying to read my mind. I got angry.

Damn, baby! Listen! We’ve already discussed that many times. Even if I start dating someone, you will remain my best friend. My real comrade. Irreplaceable. Oh, come on! You know how I feel about you.

Yes, you’re nice, murmured Alice.

I rubbed the tip of her nose. She slid a little lower, blew into my navel, Pffr, got out of bed and put on her clothes.

Do you wanna eat?

Nah. Maybe later. Would you bring me a coffee, please?

Sure, answered robot and left the cabin through the sliding door. I grabbed a pack of cigarettes and took out a gray stick. Crunched a filter, inhaled and released a long path of smoke. In the cabin’s light, it sparkled enigmatically. The shift was almost over. Kevin arrived three days ago. And if not for the cooling system of the main conveyor that has broken down, Alice and I would already pack our stuff. Lebedev was in charge of all the moon stations. An arrogant fat man with a gloomy face, after he got my report, drilled me for a while with his blue lens, shrugged, and with a pathetic strain in a hoarse voice said to someone invisible, Why am I not surprised? When Arsenyev is in charge, shit is inevitable.

He turned off the video channel. Asshole. Kevin, who was staying beside me and was listening to his pitiful tirade, looked at my cringed face, put his arm on Alice’s shoulder, and grinned.

Don’t worry, Vlad! Fatty is just showing off. Francesca told me they have already called the maintenance. He will come tomorrow.

I looked at Kevin with gratitude. He continued.

I might have been able to fix it, but they certainly wouldn’t pay me extra. So, fuck it!

Kevin, I have baked a mushroom pie for you, said a smiling Alice.

My babe! Let me kiss you! laughed Kev and grabbed the android in firm hands.

Ay, screeched Alice. Let me go!

I smirked, went back to the cabin, and collapsed onto the bed. The matte color of the ceiling evoked a slight melancholy. A quiet noise of the reactor didn’t interrupt my dwellings on how I’ve ended up in this shit. Eight months of absolute aloofness, Alice doesn’t count, for sure, seemed too much.

Should I settle somewhere on the Earth? I thought to myself.

The memories about life that I’d had before were hiding in the depths of my soul, and only when I got drunk, crawled out, and put me into a long blue. Working at a lunar station for a guy with my education is the bottom. The end. But, to be honest, I got off lightly.

At the prom, Hubert and I decided to bring more booze. I got into the glider, launched too fast, and hit the jet straight into the dormitory. For my luck, all girls were dancing at the ball. Hubert died on the spot. I became the proud owner of an artificial leg and a composite skull implant. The trial was tough and fast. Our faculty adored Hubert and while girls were crying, I was hiding my eyes from his mother, who, as if hoped that everything that had happened was just a nightmare, looked around in confusion. I listened to the verdict - six years of disqualification. My straps were torn off immediately after the verdict. The future that I dreamed about for so long disappeared in the dismal smoke of continued and severe depression.

Veronica left me almost immediately after the trial. A charming lady from a decent Venezuelan family could not embrace the fact that her future husband, a brutal officer of the Academy, turned into a murderer. Fortunately, Aunt Emma, after wiping off her tears with a handkerchief, said, Volodya, everything will be fine! Six years will fly by! You won’t even notice!

The next morning, I got Alice. Aunt called me a little later.

"This is a gift from the Family. Sometimes boring kills. I don’t want you to return to us as