A way is found that will help Human Lass survive without food, only water. They contacted B'Nar as she had, once again, collapsed. This time, she'd ended up in a coma due to nutrient deficiencies. A new body to be made, completely artificial, an android, not needing food, though she could eat and drink if she so chose, it'd do nothing for her, just be burned up as extra fuel, or she could just recharge via solar or any other method she chose. But would this help her, or would it make her a fanatic now trying to convince others from her former homeworld to ditch human bodies and all become androids, too?
@internutter/challenge-03170-h261-nothing-was-hurt -- FightingFit
Lass opened their eyes, sure that they would be viewing paradise. Instead, they were viewing a laboratory. There was a sheet covering most of them and a moment of alarm in the fact that they could only see it, not feel it.
"Oh, good morrow." The speaker was a robot. A very advanced one. Hardly looked artificial at all. "We didn't think you'd be aware for this part of the process, given the condition of your poor old meat suit."
Only one peoples spoke that way about organic bodies. "You're B'Nari. Am I in B'Nar?"
"No, you're still captive of Phloria. I'm what you might call a special envoy. Waiting for my chance to act as part of your therapy. Uh... Turns out the Phlorans are not in favour of penitents dying to get out of their sentences. You're stuck here for the full term."
"I'm a robot, now?"
"A ghost in the machine, for sure. And we're still uploading all of your awareness. Interesting. May we keep all the readings for this? We've never had somebody wake up during transfer before."
"Will no living beings come to harm as a result?" Lass asked. Their name was Lass. Yes. They had been... held somewhere. They'd been very wicked... but the details remained foggy.
"No, don't do that. You're going to strain your neural linkages. Just let it come to you. And also no, no living creatures will come to harm. Unless you count your old body. That's going to die."
"I was going to go to Eden! I was going to play with all the lost animals in the Elysian Fields." They remembered that. The dying. Their mortal frame growing weaker and sicker as the days passed. The feverish euphoria that the tree people said was a symptom of dying by malnutrition.
...the tree people...
"I was in Eden. I remember. But. I was eating people. I was eating pets. I was evil, and I wanted to stop. Why wouldn't they let me stop?"
"As I understand it, you have to first admit that you were wrong. The Phlorans have found you guilty not only of assault and attempted murder, but also of criminal self-neglect. Self-murder is a crime here, as is any other crime against the living self."
Lass blurted, "But I don't matter..." That was something they truly believed. "All that matters is that I prevent the needless deaths of all those innocent animals out there."
But Phloria had been different. The animals were plants. The plants ate meat, but not meat like they knew it. That had been disturbing to learn, too. The shambling things that the Phlorans farmed could not be called animals by even the most charitable soul.
Lass had insisted that eating only vegetables was clean. Until they learned that the vegetables she was eating came from the people and pets around her.
That was a nightmare. It had to be a nightmare. Not a memory.
"I'm dreaming," they said. "I'm on my way to Eden. I am coming to the Elysian Fields. I will play with all the cute fuzzy creatures that sacrificed their lives needlessly for dirty meat-eaters..."
The attending robot sighed and said, "We could put you into a dream like that, but it's only more upsetting when you wake up again. We'd prefer not to. Your experience is being recorded for later analysis by your attending technicians. Do you understand what I am telling you?"
They could feel the sheet. They could move their arms and look at their hands. Metal, not plastic. Not any form of silicon or latex. Pure, clean, metal. "I have a new body. A clean body. Am I free of sin, now? What do I use for fuel?"
"Nothing more harmful than electrons. You have a biodigester that can take in anything you want to consume and convert it to fuel. Very little in the way of waste. Though I don't think waste was one of your issues. You can take in solar power if you like, too. We're very good at alternate energies."
A beatific smile slowly spread across Lass' new face. "I have a pure body with no more need to harm anyone or anything. I should tell all my people about this."
Unseen by Lass, behind an observation window, one of the supervising Phlorans slowly dragged a hand down their face.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / abidal]
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