Ilsa - humanity's last hope
Published in "Olam Maghar" Issue No. 1
by Vernor Wing
Her name was Ilsa.
Of all the creatures that have ever been created on Earth - she was the longest
the most life. The last creature to exist! A stubborn turtle may live
three hundred years. Certain trees in evergreen forests may live six years
thousands of years. But Ilse's projected lifespan was more than a century
Hundreds of years.
Although her brain was made of metal and germanium, saturated with arsenic, and core
There was a tiny cloud of hydrogen plasma, - Ilsa was a creature at the beginning of her life
From the creations of Kadoriharetz. She could feel, ask questions, and as she found out
During the dark centuries before her end - she could also forget.
Ilse's earliest memory was a tiny sliver of awareness, less
Fifteen seconds later, someone, maybe even distracted, woke her up
to recognition as she sat at the top of her launch vehicle.
It was night time. The launch was very close. The giant rocket stood
In the dark, shining in its silver and white colors, in the light of the spotlights that flooded you
The area is brightly lit.
Ilsa's sharp eye scanned the horizon in a quick movement - the glow
The dazzle didn't bother her. In the north she examined a row of thirty-
Dispatch. Some of them had missiles on them, others were abandoned and obsolete. Everyone
They were dark - except for Ilse herself. Three thousand meters away
In the west, she saw more lights. Flashes of gunfire from automatic weapons were seen
From time to time.
in the east; Sea foam glow off the coast of Merritt Island. The memory fragment has ended.
At the time of the launch Ilsa was not conscious. But this image will remain forever
as the clearest memory, the most incomprehensible; in her mind
When she woke up: she was in low orbit around the Earth. her only eye
was mounted behind a powerful telescope; And she could have a seizure
The birds in flocks that flew two hundred kilometers below it. or discern
In distant and dense stars, which appeared to humans as one big star.
Ilsa stayed on this track for a year. A year of exams and tests.
A small manned space station followed her, broadcasting an endless string of
Instructions, exercises, tests. Ilse was required to make observations, to calculate
Trajectory calculations, to avoid bumping into other interstellar objects
Based on certain basic data transferred to her from the space station accompanying her.
Initiated faults were presented to her, the rules of the game would change along the way
The calculations - and she had to deal with problems of every possible kind
was imaginable to the human mind. The solution to every problem had to be found
Under time pressure, pressure that could be very critical - under real conditions!
One of the first things she learned was that she had, in addition to personal memory
Hers is also a programmed memory. A directory of data, facts, ways of doing things
possibility. The information contained in the programmed memory was comprehensive and accurate
Her problem was, as she soon learned, choosing between the given and the
the appropriate program from memory, and adapt them to the exercises that have been placed
In her face, she could change the prepared plans accordingly
needs, and according to the data given to her, she slowly learned to overcome
the obstacles, to choose the right solution for each problem, and finally there was
Better than the scientists who built it planned. She could find, within
Seconds, a solution to every problem presented to her, even when she was restricted and forced
use only a tiny part of her mind.
At this point Ilsa was left to her own devices. She still didn't know her purpose
the real one.
Even so, she had a deep curiosity. She wanted to see, learn some
More about the world from which Bonya came out. She spent most of her time observing
Down, to the earth. tried to understand what was happening in the white spots,
The blue and distorted ones reflected in the telescopic eye. She was able to follow
easily after the supply missiles launched at her from the launch bases at I-Merritt
and in Iconor. During the period more were launched and joined its route around the country
From a hundred such accompanying missiles. The white, thick cylinders were installed around her
Together, on top of a huge cobweb-like frame.
Now her ten-meter body was hidden behind an intricate system of
rolls and beams of notebooks, which stretched two hundred meters behind her. the memory
Her programmer told her that the final weight of her body would be 22,563,901
tone. Simple tests she conducted proved to her that this number is indeed accurate
- and that its construction was completed. In a short time, a device was installed in her brain, the link to
the drive rollers. She felt as if she had been given a new body. she could feel
See, and use each of the hundred fuel tanks and fifteen reactors
The atomic fusion that made up the entire system. Now she realized that she
able to practically carry out everything she thought about during her studies,
When there was only brain - no power.
The big moment finally arrived. Route instructions came via the Meiser contact, from
The manned satellite. The necessary calculations took only a few seconds.
The answer he came to was correct &#;8211 but it was the beginning of a path
long There was not the slightest hint in her of what was in store for Ilse, after all
to begin her journey, she will sail lightly, two hundred miles high,
Her eye is focused on the north of the American continent, waiting for the activation order,
which was supposed to come from the manned satellite, But she didn't count on
the humans, and followed the clock herself. She has long since decided to take the
The activation itself - in case of any malfunction with the humans
who operate it remotely.
Two hundred meters behind her, deep in the maze of tanks and miners, Ilsa felt
Magnetic fields come into play, hydrogen plasma is created, reaction
A nuke wakes up, another signal from the space station, and your heat drives a current around
to ten miners. Ilsa and her giant body set off on their way,
Acceleration picked up quickly. The vidicon cameras showed her the shrinking land
Behind her. The burning lasted for half an hour, Ilsa controlled every step of the
her departure from the earth. The controllability of the human space station has gone
and died, until she was left completely alone.
Ilsa and the accelerator, alone in space. moving away from the Earth at a speed of
More than twenty kilometers per second. Ilse's fall towards the sun
began For eleven weeks the fall continued. She didn't have much
to do. keep an eye on the miners. Keep the sun visor in its correct position in relation
to the sun, depending on its progress. report to Earth. However, in comparison
For her subsequent life - it was a period of crazy activity.
An eleven-week fall, towards a mass as big as the sun - can
Cause only one thing - enormous speed accumulation! in more than two hundred hours
and fifty kilometers per second. If she had flown from the earth to the moon quickly
This one would make the journey in half an hour.
Forty-five minutes before passing near the Sun - before the perihelion point,
The closest point to the sun - Ilsa disconnected the first stage and
The sun shield along with it. Now she was left with the second stage, which was isolated in a bed
thick shield She felt the pressure inside the fuel tanks begin to rise. her eye
It was directed in the opposite direction from the sun. But the vidicon cameras gave
She had an awe-inspiring image of the giant fireball she was now approaching
At tremendous speed.
Seventeen minutes before Perihelion. Ilse created a strange connection with Haaretz.
Now her body was exposed to the sunlight. The booster's fuel tanks were standing
on the verge of exploding. Ilse had trouble keeping her body temperature,
prevent herself from irreparable damage. Fifteen minutes to the perihelion.
The command from Earth has arrived - to start the ignition. Ilse compared the
The supervisor with her data - the command was too early. Thirteen
seconds too early. Consultation with Haaretz will take at least sixteen minutes.
She must decide within four seconds. Each of his previous masterpieces
of man would act according to the human command, and bring it to an end
the catastrophic of his mission. But not Ilsa. Independence was a trait
deeply embedded in it. She canceled the man's order, postponed the ignition until
For the right moment - according to her own calculations. The northern hemisphere of the sun has passed
under her Close as Lycaday as Ilan, she lands on him a kindling. The acceleration of
Ilse was boosted by one. In the fraction of a second in which your home was close
To Perihelion - a place where it was supposed to crash into the hot surface of the Sun -
Received the momentum from its atomic accelerator, from the elliptical orbit it passed
to a different, hyperbolic course, and after thirty minutes it began to move away from the sun
In its new course, moving away every second by three hundred and twenty kilometers.
The booster's empty fuel tanks were now behind her, between her and the sun,
and overshadow her hot body. Little by little she felt the temperature dropping, coming back
Normal learning. Minutes after ignition, the control casually acknowledged
by mistake Casually not because the Earthlings did not repent of their mistake.
Or they didn't thank Ilsa in their hearts for fixing her. In fact, a considerable number
of people lost, because of this mistake, everything they had left to lose.
Risking the last hope of the human race is no small thing.
But, very simply - Ilsa's creators did not believe that she was capable
Appreciate an apology or appreciation on their part. They continued to refer to her as a god
A machine and nothing else.
Now Ilsa was moving away from the pull of the sun. eleven weeks
made its way from the earth to the sun. But in less than two weeks it arrived
Back to the same distance, on the other side of the sun. Her speed was still
More than a hundred kilometers per second - a speed left over from the push of gravity
of the sun If they hadn't used the Sun's gravity well exercise, they would have
They need to attach a five-hundred times bigger accelerator to it. Or the time of the journey was
Three times longer. It was the most that humans could do for her -
considering the time they have left.
* * *
Thus began the hundred-hundred-year journey, Ilse said goodbye to the emptied accelerator and continued
Alone, thick disk, twelve
Width, five meters thick, large telescope protruding from one end, four
Light years below her she saw her destination. Alpha Centauri. to the human eye
Naked, the target looks like one big star. But Ilsa's eye
She could distinguish the two stars that made it up, one less luminous and red
more than anything else. She carefully gauged her situation in relation to them and arrived
To the conclusion that the direction in which it is progressing is so good - until the correction
The first in its orbit should be done only in a thousand years. for months
Many people kept the Earth-Earth connection with Ilsa. They would put it in her face
problems, and are interested in her well-being.
Their broadcasts were touching - because even Lou would tell
For them, because she was not well, there was nothing they could do for her.''
The only thing that grew out of this relationship was her answers to their questions, in all
As for the space around her, she would give them answers about my routes
Stars and other problems that have plagued the human race for years.
In less than two years, Ilsa was farther from the Sun than any planet
known. The sun became another star among the thousands of stars behind it. and when
A transmission would be transmitted to Earth - eight hours would pass until
that reached its destination,
A strange event happened, for three weeks, the sun began to shine brightly
Ten times bigger than before, the change was not big - it was a lot
Less than what astronomers would call a nova, but the coincidence bothered you
Ilse, in her own way, lasted a long time, the day the sun reached its strongest glow
Most, was today
The last time she had contact with Earth, this contact was not renewed again, now
Ilse changed her state to fit the empty centuries
who stood before her. Her mind split into three minds
independent The split was planned by Bonya, and was carried out in its entirety. now was
Each brain is capable of completing the entire task on its own. However, before
Every important decision, the agreement of at least two minds was needed. in the situation
From this split, Ilsa lost a little of the clarity of thought she had during her sending
desecrate. but
Almost nothing happened on the interstellar journey. The only danger was
The degeneration of the brain - and to overcome it, the three brains were strong
Each other. Apart from the exercises that were put to each other, there were the brains
Check the various systems with insatiable thoroughness.
The only thing they would not check regularly - is the programmed memory.
Ilse's planners thought that such tests were more dangerous to memory
felt than the passing years. It was a mistake despite canceling her personality,
And despite the maintenance tasks assigned to her, Ilsa devoted a considerable amount
A time to reflect on the universe that extends from all sides. She discovered systems
The binary stars, watched the tiny lights bounce back and forth
throughout the passing centuries. For her, the universe became an animal creature
own Each star had an independent course, and Ilse would have premeditated the
his details and checks throughout her journey if she did not make a mistake in her calculations. She was never wrong.
Every now and then she would turn and look at Sol. in the sun. Even your brother made hundreds
For years she was able to distinguish between Jupiter and Saturn. They were looks of sympathy, of
longing. Finally it was time to fix the track. For a hundred years it was sharpened
her measurements and observations and reached the highest level of navigation
She could reach her. The necessary repair was minimal - but necessary.
Without it she would have missed the Centauri system, she activated the rocket
the tiny which was intended for this purpose, exactly at the appointed second, to her surprise shaved
Because the power she can get from this operation; Less than thirty percent of the power
The planned!
She had to make three ignitions to make the correction in her course, for
The next fifty years she studied the problem. She checked hundreds of connections
twice. And even activated the rocket several times per microsecond.
She was never able to understand how the years robbed her of her strength. but she
managed to calculate that when she reaches the Centauri - she will have half of the power
The planned! Despite this, she knew - she would be able to make the necessary observations
on the two stars of the system.
But before she finished testing the propulsion system, Ilsa discovered a problem
Another, the most serious problem she faced or will ever face;:
She forgot her mission,
Over the centuries, the magnetic pattern that formed the
Her programmed memory. The programs she used the least were gone
primacy. When Ilsa tried to retrieve these programs from the memory bank,
In her attempt to solve the problem of her rocket - she discovered that she was unable
to reach the program that defined its mission. Ilse guessed that after you use
In the plans that instructed her how to land on an alien planet - she had to do it
Something in addition. But the plan for this extra something - was beyond capacity
Its achievement!
Ilsa was patient. As long as she was on a flight path, she was not bothered
by her final mission. The task so far in the future. But she did
Everything she can to preserve the plans that remain in her memory. she found out
Because every seventy years she has to transfer the programs from the programmed memory
to her personal memory, and bring them back. Thus their deletion was avoided. in order
To avoid mistakes, she assigned each of her three brains to perform the actions
At the same time, and would compare the plans from time to time. More than that, Ilsa
began to examine her body, to find clues that would help her discover the
Her purpose, in part of her body she found an unidentified substance, she was supposed to
Keep this material at a temperature of several degrees above absolute zero. Besides
The thermometers, and metal arms with no visible use - she had none
connection to this part of her body. She tried to analyze the contents of this wing - but
Without success. The only result she reached was that this part contains water
frozen; and among them a number of foreign entities. What are these bodies - she could not
know. The programs in her memory did not allow her to analyze the essence of the bodies
These strangers.
Ilse continued to hover, time to pass until the next critical point
Meslava, longer than most of human history on earth,
* * *
As the centuries passed, she began to notice the two stars that were the destination of her journey. She
It was still distant from them, thirty-five times the distance from the Earth
from the sun Even to the sharp eye, the bright star between the two Abel is visible
– Like a long fuzzy lump, spherical in shape, the patient Ilsa began
Review the pair of stars. and their surroundings, thoroughly and strictly
its characteristics. She watched Abel for five years. Five more years she watched
In the star next to him - Baker. Fifteen times this cycle is repeated.
At the end of the period, it discovered at least one planet in orbit around Baker.
And one more star: in orbit around Abel. She knew that it might not
These are nothing but huge blocks of gas - but she was sure that she would find more bodies
On the route around Abel and Baker. She has nine hundred years left to reach
to the Alpha-Centauri system.
Ilse discovered another star orbiting Abel. A star further away from Abel distance
Similar to Earth's distance from its sun, Sol. fifteen more years
They passed, and she discovered a star orbiting Baker. Ilsa thought she could
Explore these two stars, despite the unforeseen problems
that woke up during the long journey. Her navigational ability was still excellent,
and allow her to thoroughly examine the two new celestial bodies she discovered.
The next course correction was made three hundred and fifty years before arrival
Estimated for the Centauri system. The amendment postponed the arrival date by four
months. In this way, you will pass near the star you wanted to check, when
Enter the Centauri system. In case you don't land on it - a force will act on it
Abel's pull and Yahdoff pushed her into orbit around Baker. The plan was
Perfect. Ilsa Barkitat's remaining power, her drive was extremely limited
Now, if you do not succeed in the first attempt to carry out the plan - you will not succeed
Never performed it, there was not enough power to repeat the scan in the system
Centauri more than once,
* * *
Ilse continued to trace the stars approaching her, she discovered more
Four stars around Abel, and three around Baker but only the two
The first ones, discovered years ago, met the requirements - they were found
at the right distance from their sun.
Eighteen months before contact, Ilsa now noticed the moons around
Abel 2 could now accurately determine the properties of the planet
This one, at this distance she could also analyze its atmosphere, two
The candidates she chose were rich in oxygen, Baker 2 was somewhat deficient
in water vapor. Abel 2, on the other hand, had a bluish-green color,
And its atmosphere contained a large amount of hydrocarbon compounds. two
These qualities were important - at least according to the flawed memory that remained in her,
The hundreds dwindled to years, months, and days, Ilse was within ten
Only a million kilometers from its first target, Abel 2 behind it also glowed
Beykach .2 is waiting for his turn. But Ilsa's attention was focused on Abel
2, Now she has chosen a landing site that seems suitable to her. and directed herself at him.
If a landing is necessary - she must be ready for it. Sixteen hours
Before contact, Ilsa conducted a final examination of her subconscious. You cancel
All the faulty circuits. and unites her mind into one unit; exploiting you
All that remains is usable. throughout the centuries; A third of the equipment was out of use
installed in it. Ilse was no longer what she used to be. Her mind is no more
It was as bright as when it was built. However, with the union of her minds, she was
Much smarter than during the journey, when hey are split into three. She
She needed this increased ability, because in the hours and minutes she had left she would have
She has to make more decisions than ever!
One hour before contact, the target glows in front of her, a growing blue-white crescent
In front of her eyes, the landing site was near the horizon of the star, but the important mission
In these moments it was not the landing - but the biochemical tests, that's what
Instructed by the remaining plans, intact in her memory, she scanned the crescent
The Zohar, looking for green spots on his land. Then she started editing
The complicated tests, designed to locate amino acids of the soil of the star.
Every fifth second, spend one second checking the density of the atmosphere
and her surgery. The problems seemed even more complicated than the problems they posed
An artist in her face, thousands of years ago.
Five minutes to contact, the distance - less the next she has to decide whether to make a landing
Or not, the ten-thousand-year mission was facing its critical moment,
Ilse knew - once she landed - there would be no continuation of the mission, the landing
It would be her last action, without the giant booster that gave her the boost
The first of the solar system, it is nothing but a brain, behind which is a mass of water
Frozen, if you decide to pass Abel 2, she will have to take advantage of Rob
The strength left in her to reach Baker 2. Thirteen months later
Get close to Baker, and she may have enough power to reach Baker 2
himself. But, if you prove that Baker 2 is not a good host - there will be no way
return. She will have to land on his land - or continue the route
Interstellar-infinite, Ilsa considered the problem for three seconds.
By all the standards she could remember. Baker 2 looks too yellow and dry
every. Ilse turned ninety degrees and released the little rocket by herself,
which caused so many problems, at the same time also sent the telescope into space
The great one who served her faithfully for so many years. She floated - a body
uniform, whole. a white disk pointed at its sides; Shanis Asar from Mech Kotra,
Fifteen tons of material.
She turned back again: looking in the direction from which she came, now she could not see
As before - without the telescope, her single eye was almost useless,
But she could make out the sun from which it came. She wondered once more about
The essence of the material that disappeared from her magnetic memory.
* * *
For five seconds, Ilse closed her eyes and waited, the touch began with incredible acceleration
Almost noticeable, but. Within seconds, a force stronger than his own was applied to Ilza
Ever known, the enormous acceleration did not affect her ability to think,
There were no moving parts or empty spaces in her body, except for the nuclear reactor,
Of course, the main problem was to keep the direction - because if she
Mishna; even a little; the angle of penetration, it may burn, it doesn't
Knew this, but she repeated the landing techniques used by the human before
many ages,
But Ilsa had to disperse a large amount of kinetic energy in space
Eight hundred times more than an "Apollo" type spaceship should have done in a century
the twentieth for example. Her maneuver was eight hundred times more dangerous than a space shuttle
"Apollo" to Earth. But: Ilsa's planners had no choice.
They couldn't equip her with braking missiles strong enough for that purpose,
The only way that stood before the planners and before Ilsa, now -
The landing was to be carried out in a huge arc: to be slowed down by the atmosphere
The new star, and its gravity.
Ilsa had to use every millimeter of her mind, to insert herself
to the correct height and angle. Her speed dropped at a tremendous rate. every second
lost five kilometers per second of its speed. That was the maximum in him
could remain conscious. Centimeters near her body, the glow of the air
At a temperature of fifty thousand degrees. The ball of fire that surrounded her illuminated the
The ocean below in daylight. The acceleration increased. Ilse felt one
' From the branches of her mind we will go into shock. But she knew - if her calculations
That's right, she has less than five seconds left.
It reached a distance of sixty kilometers above the ground: and went back in the direction
Space, now its speed was only seven kilometers per second. on track
Long arc: Ilse returned to Abel's atmosphere. 2 Ilse opened
You see when you reach a height of twenty-thousand meters. She scanned the world below
this. And she grazed because her navigation was perfect. The green spot was just right
In the right place. It could have been a moment of historic victory only
She would remember what she had to do after landing. At ten thousand meters;
Ilsa released her sophisticated plastic parachute
The rigid. spread out behind her: and her fall became levitation. Slow, Ilsa sniffed
Because it is above a large prairie. Dotted here and there in groves.
It was near sunset; And long shadows stretched on the ground. Thousands
meters. She has eight kilometers of gradual ascent and descent left for all
being you In front of her she saw a small forest: next to it a narrow stream crosses the wilderness. Rest
A nudge of lost memory told her that this was an appropriate point. she pulled
in the parachute cables. and began to descend. The landing was made slowly. on grass
damp. deep. green. The huge parachute covered her charred body: and she was seen
Like a huge rock covered with little vegetation.
the journey which passed a hundred centuries and four light-years has ended.
* * *
Ilsa sat in the twilight and listened the voice was an unfamiliar dimension
For her.
Tiny creatures dig their holes; The stream that flows next to her. a dull hum
in the distance Darkness fell. And a light mist rose from the valley. Ilse knew the end was coming
to her travels. She will never move again. Whatever happens, she will stay put
Forever, that was the plan, surely, she knew enough about the mechanism of the mind
hers, and she knew that a large part of it was destroyed in the landing, she would no longer exist
from a hundred or two hundred years. Whatever happens will happen.
What did bother Ilsa was the knowledge that her mission was not completed. the part
Most important
Her remains unfulfilled. If you do not complete the task; The huge bet will become
of humanity
For the greatest loss in the universe. That possibility was the only thing that scared you
Ilsa She
built like this.
She repeated again all the memories that survived after hundreds and thousands of years.
After the sigh she explored her body again in a profound, almost destructive way.
In a test way that he didn't dare to take, when it was millions of miles away
kilometers from its goal. Nothing new, finally the water tank arrived
the frozen ones She will not be able to maintain her constant temperature anymore
from three years Her situation was difficult. She remembered the delicate metal arms
And the useless ones in the ice bin. She had only one choice.
The temperature inside her began to rise, the ice near her little furnace; melt
First, somewhere within the frozen mass one of the metal arms began to loosen
From a pause, the spring arm began to straighten, and an electrical circuit closed and entered
For action, Ilse discovered that her builders had thought of one more precaution,
Said to ensure the completion of the mission, at the base of the ice block was a memory
Also, now Ilse had access to him as well, her planners knew that even
If they think about all the dangers that may arise - honest ones will always emerge
Others, they were not thought of. That's why we installed the extra memory in Ilza.
The memory that will remain disconnected and frozen until the last moment. The uniqueness of memory
It being optical and not magnetic. The years could not harm him.
Ilse knew all this; The moment the electric circuit is formed. Now she also knew what
she must do She began to heat a cylindrical container. which contained ambiotic solution
frozen the temperature to which the solution should reach; Knew, it's 37 degrees
Celsius.
From a storage place near the container: transferred a single microorganism into it.
Within minutes, blood began to flow.
* * *
It was early morning, cold and damp dominated the darkness, Ilse
She tried to explore her new memory more and more but found nothing
In addition, her instructions were given according to a time key, so that she would not be early to do things,
Before the deadline, Ilse went over what she knew, analyzed the data &#;8211
and came to the conclusion - the following instruction will be accepted by her
in nine months.
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~306117768~~~71&SiteName=hayadan
