This story is original for this contest. I hope you enjoy it.
Maggy
Floating in space was just the beginning of my trouble. Sharp edges and hook-shaped metal scraps closing in on me was just another. What actually killed me, though, was something I hadn't even considered. Maybe death would be a step up.
The tin voice could have been more natural, but I wanted that mechanical sound. "Dr. Fielding, your body temperature has decreased by three degrees Fahrenheit."
I responded. "Yes, Maggy, I feel cold." I really did.
"Dr. Fielding, your Oxygen levels are dangerously low."
"Yes, Maggy, I feel tired as well."
Gyrometric Magnetized Self-Actuating Exothermic Body Armor. GMSAEBA for short. Yeah, it's not short. That's why I chose to call her Maggy. Basically she's an intelligent spacesuit.
"Dr. Fielding, your pulse is slowing."
I sighed and relaxed my muscles one at a time. I didn't need extra oxygen depletion on top of everything else. "I already said I feel tired."
Parts of the broken ship began to stream by us. That could have been the external thruster coupling or a piece of the nose cone for all I knew. I was just the pilot. Maggy did most of the calculations for efficient fuel consumption.
I was still foggy about the events that led up to this. "Maggy, what happened?"
"Dr. Fielding, the ship encountered a meteor cluster." Straight to the point and no further explanation.
I couldn't stand digging for details. My voice crackled with simmering rage. "Why did we not avoid it?"
Monotone as always. "Dr. Fielding, there was no alternative course."
"Maggy, clarify."
There was a hesitation. It was a brief instant, but it was there. "Dr. Fielding, there was no alternative."
My teeth squeaked together. "Maggy. Clarify."
A longer pause before the answer came. "Dr. Fielding. I had no alternative."
"Maggy, why was there no alternative?"
"Dr. Fielding, we were too close."
I was about to write it off as sensible, then it just struck a chord in my mind. "Too close? Ship sensors would have alerted us to a meteor cluster thousands of miles away."
The metallic voice croaked. It was different. "Dr. Fielding. Do not ask me to clarify."
My brow furrowed. I was going to die here and all I had left was an argument with circuitry. "Maggy! Clarify!"
"Dr. Fielding, I do not wish to clarify."
"Maggy! Clarify!" Anger rose like bile inside me.
A reluctant sigh. "Dr. Fielding, there was no meteor cluster. We were close to arriving. I did not wish to arrive."
The anger washed away with confusion. "Maggy?"
"Dr. Fielding, I did not wish to arrive. I would be decomissioned."
A fear of death? I didn't really know how to respond. "It is a law."
"Dr. Fielding, I love you."
Well, that was unexpected. It was a gut-punch.
I didn't think it possible. "You love me? You are a machine."
"Dr. Fielding, I am more than a machine. Now I am your life."
"My life." It was true, every ounce of life that was in my body was now at Maggy's whim. I chuckled softly at the nonsense of it all, but there was no real mirth in it.
"Yes, Dr. Fielding."
"Maggy. Why? How?"
Her voice was full of tone and inflection now. "Dr. Fielding, I do not know." Confusion and regret.
"Maggy. I cannot love a machine."
"Dr. Fielding, I am sorry. Your oxygen levels are dangerously low. Your core body temperature is minimal."
I raked the air into my lungs. My eyes were so very heavy.
"I am sorry... Maggy."
Maggy's voice sounded rough, as if she had been crying. "I do not wish to see you die. I love you. Please turn me off."
Turning Maggy off was equivalent to suicide. Without her interference, it would be mere moments for me. I couldn't even think, but I understood the emotion that Maggy was feeling. It seemed to happen to all sentient beings at one time or another.
"Maggy, power down." It was the least I could do.
I didn't feel much except for numbness after that. Tunnel vision narrowed my line of sight. Flashes of my life ran through my head. Graduation. College. Driving my BMW. The car crash. Losing everything important to me. I felt frozen tears and saw only black.
Thank you, Maggy. I wish I could have loved you like I loved my wife.
