This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Professional_Pea2512 on 2024-08-07 21:31:29+00:00.

Captain, I have discovered a damaged subroutine in my scans. All I could recover was that I was supposed to notify you every two hours with a message. It was corrupted and written in a different programming language but what I recovered is as follows.

“You are susceptible to the inevitable.”

What does that mean susceptible to the inevitable?

And how is the rest of the ship repairs coming along, that last fight almost destroyed us.

They are progressing, however, we are still in danger if we are not careful with the fragility of the ship.

I do not understand the message, nor the reason for it. I am simply a first mate AI, I was never programmed with the finer understandings of humanity that a personal assistant or a diplomat AI has.

The intended recipient, and I suspect the origin of the message, is you captain.

Very well, continue repairs. My concussion must have been worse than I thought for I cannot recall any such message as having ever been played.

Captain, perhaps the meaning of the message is a warning to stay on task?? Is it a warning against forgetting some opponent or old enemy?

It could be, but to what end? I am a pirate, I have no friends, but the law dogs, and their hired hounds will always hunt me. Perhaps that is the inevitable? 

That you will be caught?

It could be. A warning not to get cocky.

I am a pirate, what fun is there except in getting chased?

Captain, Is it a world ending threat that you have become aware of? did not the legends of old often use the phrase “I am inevitable”??

In reference to an almost insurmountable enemy?

Why would I have left myself a coded message?? would I not have sought out a solution in the open? why behind a cypher??

Captain, I have discovered a riddle in my code.

It might pertain to the cypher.

Read it AI.

The birth of stars predicts the inevitable.

Every birth is in its shadow.

As untouchable as the void.

As far reaching as matter.

While there is life, the inevitable will never be satiated.

It cannot consume itself, but it will consume all else.

It will consume until its consumption renders it an Ouroboros.

There is no escape, there is no salvation.

For time is its ally, and the immortals are its prey.

There is one escape, and one salvation. 

An escape through its jaws, a salvation in its sting.

Send that to my tablet. I will discover this culprit and destroy it.

You cannot captain, for I fear it is a fact of life and not a culprit.

I will become this inevitability!

I will become the fear of the universe!

I will become Oppenheimer so that the inevitable will fear me!

Captain, all repair attempts to the engines have failed.

We are dead in space.

Send me the specs, I will discover something.

Captain, you need sleep.

I will sleep once I die. And that will be no time soon.

Captain, the power plans are straining to stay on. The damage was more extensive that we feared.

What are the weak points? Can we wire around them?

To touch them will destroy us all, we are faced with a matter of time until they fail.

Captain, the life support system has gone offline, you have three hours left.

I will not die here! I will not let death take me!

The riddle must be solved!

I will not be beaten by nothing!

Captain, you have two hours, but my circuits are failing, soon the failure will cascade and I will die. 

You will get an afterlife, but I will simple be gone.

Farewell old friend.

I will find a way to Rescue Us!

Save yourself onto a hard drive, Tell me which one, I will not let this be the end.

AI, why am I alone??

What brought me to this end??

Why is there nothing I can do??

AI! I have discovered it! I will send you out, I can rescue you! you are immortal, and you can tell my story and so immortalize me!

Your hardrive will be sent on the drone, It will be rescued and salvaged.

Remember me! Remember me!

\*\*\*

Captain, I am picking up scans of a drone, it looks like the only cargo is an old hard drive.

Bring it onboard. See what we can salvage.

\*\*\*

What is the report from the drone?

All scrap sir, nothing left.

Its predictable, anything electronic left in space long enough gets zapped by all the radiation.

I hope it wasn't anything important.

If it was, it isn't anymore.

\*\*\*

I was thinking about the hard drive, what if it was from a shipwreck? What if its a message in a bottle?

They are long gone by now, no chance for us to help them.

I hope that never happens to us.

Yeah, it would be great to be remembered like the heroes of old. Immortalized in legend.

Ha! but how many of them do we remember honestly?

If its not their true story we remember, then what is the point of memory?

Then why do we try to accomplish anything in life??

Isn't the point of life to live it? Lets not worry about being frozen in time in the form of legends. Lets act now and live life while we have a life to live!