Sentience, – Worlds of Science-Fiction

The Vintage Carousel

A full moon descends on Earth triggering a mysterious event at the local city park involving a vintage carousel.I worked as a caretaker where I witnessed carousel activating without any human interference.

Out of curiosity,I decided to investigate if there was a mechanism that a person can operate by remote control. I approach the vintage carousel taking photos of it with a scientific grade camera. Then observe the activities surrounding the carousel , but I saw no signs of human visitation of the area.

An extra horse suddenly appears that no one saw before. The carousel comes alive as if it gained sentience. The mysterious horse senses my presence and smiles at me.

The horse on the carousel speaks to me in a audible voice revealing knowledge about me that no one but my immediate family members.

“My name is Lacy, you rode on me when you were six -year old”said the horse.

“That is impossible for you to speak, because, you are not a living being” “You are made of plastic, steel, and wooden!

Lacy, the horse grows defensive changing her tone from friendly to angry.”How dare you suggest ,I am a non-living thing!”

The Vintage Carousel decreased its velocity and put on some soothing music to calm down Lacy “.Xaxier met no harm .”He has no idea about our creation by Dr.Jonah Wellware, who is a mad scientist and inventor.”

Xavier cringes when he hears Dr.Jonah Wellware,s name bringing him some painful memories of being used as a lab rat as a college student for a biological enhancement experiment..Xavier almost died because his immune system rejected the injection by the mad scientist. Xavier’s personality from an outgoing and sociable person to an introvert.

Lacy expresses empathy and understanding when Xavier revealed to her he participated in Dr.Wellware,s experiment as a college student . It altered his brain chemistry triggering his natural personality from extrovert to introvert. Xavier noticed the changes within weeks of his participation when he felt uneasy going to an upscale gathering with unfamiliar people.He prefers being alone with a small group of family and friends instead of large crowds. He gained natural talent for photography and other forms of the arts .

“Xavier,I recall listening to your stories when you first rode on me as a six -year old boy.”

Mysterious Fog

Alesha reads the newspaper with her Strawberry Intergalactic Latte in her hand.She sees the title People Are Mysteriously Disappears in the fog.The writer mentions there is no evidence of foul play , but almost all people of Woodlands vanished.The Woodlands detective and police responds to claims and concerns the family and friends of the vanished. The reporter recorded the list of the missing . Alesha recognized one of the individuals on the list as her younger brother Ezra Williamson.

She just saw her brother Erza just early afternoon before he went to work . She dropped her cup and broke. Alesha’s husband Loniel heard the sound from the kitchen and rushed to check up on her.

“What happened ?” He saw the cup in pieces in front of Alesha checking for any signs of cuts .

“I dropped it while reading the newspaper. She told her husband about the front article that reported on the mysterious disappearance of people in the city of Woodlands in the fog handed the title page

“Look at the fifth name on the list”.You will recognize it”.Loniel looked and his expression changed as he saw his brother -in -law name.

“We need to search for him , because, he would never disappear without telling us.”

“We cannot now””It is too foggy and dark to see anything looking at the window.

The next morning Alesha and Loniel went on a search and rescue mission. They entered into foggy weather unsafe for driving so they walked throughout the neighborhood. The fogginess hindered Alesha’s and Loniel’s ability to see, however, they brought on a flashlight that cut through it. Alesha saw an open cafe sign that reads Cassandra’s Chophouse and Coffee Shop.

Unseen by the couple, Erza in the fog whispered the name Alesha. He walked in dazed state mentally confused , but able to recognize his sister in the distance. Erza recall leaving work when he encounter an mysterious spiritual being that beckoned him towards the town center.

Sentience in Science-fiction Stories

Throughout the month of August I chose to explore the science-fiction theme of sentience in a variety of forms. The first example of sentient being I exploring includes Aurora my primary character who’s a living starship in The Barren Moon.

My other works that explore non-human sentience alongside self-aware intelligence are The Blue Robot , Money -Eating Machine and The Sentient City.