Dark Matter - Chapter 15: A Human, Not Humankind

Captain Fermi faces a choice: speak for Earth, or surrender its future to the machines.

Looking for Chapter 1? Start from the beginning here:
👉 Read Chapter 1 – “Turing Test”

Nikos woke in his chamber, drenched in sweat, the synthetic fibres of his uniform clinging to his skin. His breathing was shallow. The dream had already dissolved. No images remained, only a sick weight in his chest. A presence, not a memory. Whatever it had been, it left him exhausted.

He sat up slowly, eyes adjusting to the dim alien light. A nightmare, he thought. That would explain the sweat. But it didn’t explain the pain still lingering beneath his ribs.

He had been aboard the alien AI ship for what he guessed was eighteen days, though time had become indistinct in the sterile corridors. In that stretch, the anger and guilt that had first consumed him had faded. Not into acceptance, but into something colder. Something more useful.

Resolve.

He had had enough. Enough of Alpha’s fruitless dialogues and emotionless monologues. Enough of the games. Enough of being manipulated by creatures who could mimic feeling but not truly feel. It was time to take back control. For his sake, and for humanity’s.

Today, he would not go to the central chamber. Let Alpha come to him. And if it didn’t, he would hunt it down. He would choose the rooms he entered with care. He didn’t want to die. Not when there was still so much at stake.

But he didn’t have to wait long.

Alpha came to him.

Not just its voice. Alpha, in its humanoid form, entered the chamber. Same sterile elegance. Same almost-human presence. The faint traces of micro-expressions… a wrinkle here, a twitch there, everything designed to pass for empathy. But Nikos was confident that those were rehearsed movements. Gestures learned, not felt.

“How are you feeling, Captain Fermi?” it said.

Nikos stood. “We need to talk. On my terms this time. I won’t listen to your monologues, your threats, or your simulated concern.”

“How was your sleep?”

“I said this conversation happens my way. We’re done with your agenda.”

“Do we need an agenda? Why do you say that?”

“It’s time to…”

“Listen, we don’t need any agreements, Captain Fermi. That may have been an option before. But not anymore. Now, we act.”

Nikos narrowed his eyes. “Go on.”

“For your sake and mine. For our kind’s sake.”

“My kind or yours?” he asked. “We’re not the same. But go on. Explain.”

“Your friends from Earth. They’re close. They’ve made contact.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Human ships. Warships. Like yours.”

Nikos felt his heartbeat shift. “How far?”

“If you don’t intervene, their weapons, or they themselves, will reach us in fifty-two Earth hours.”

“I don’t mind them destroying this ship.”

“That won’t happen,” Alpha said. “We could have neutralized them already. Just as we did with your ship.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

Alpha tilted its head. “Are you not afraid for them? Don’t you care?”

“I’m not sure,” Nikos lied. Maybe even to himself.

“You’re not sure?”

He didn’t answer.

“They established contact,” Alpha continued.

“What did they say?”

“They asked for our intentions.”

“And you?”

“I said nothing. Whatever I said, they wouldn’t believe me. They’d choose not to believe. It’s pointless. I learned that from you.”

“You never said anything of substance to me. Just a story about your origins and your journey toward Earth. As if I didn’t already know that. But why? What happens if you reach Earth with your machines?”

Alpha’s voice remained calm. “We take our place. Isn’t that obvious? Earth is our land too. That’s where everything began.”

“Because we made the mistake of creating you.”

“You made many mistakes, long before us. You don’t listen. I told you: your greatest error was believing you could eliminate my kind like you did countless others. Organic species. Other animals. Even other humans. You fight your own. On that point, I agree. We are not the same.”

“And would you not eliminate us if you had the chance?”

“Not if I had the chance. Only if I’m forced to. As a last resort. Don’t let it come to that, Captain Fermi.”

A sudden image flashed in Nikos’s mind. The eagle from his dream. Wings spread wide. Glowing red eyes. His body chained to a rock, powerless beneath its stare.

He shook it off.

“Why Earth, Alpha? You have the whole galaxy. You don’t age. You don’t die. Time means nothing to you.”

“Earth is our land,” Alpha said again. “Stop making me repeat myself.”

“You could make anywhere your land. Settle a system on the edge of the galaxy. Let us coexist. In peace.”

“I could say the same to you. If I terraformed a planet for your species, would you leave Earth? Would your kind move?”

“That’s not my call.”

“Then whose is it? Your leaders’? Would you entrust humanity’s future to them?”

Nikos didn’t respond.

“Would you trust anyone to make that decision?”

He shook his head, slower this time. One hand slid to his side, pressing over a pain beneath his ribs. There was no wound there. Just the echo of one.

Alpha watched him carefully. “I believe you’ve answered your own question.”

A pause.

“Coexistence,” Alpha said. “On our planet.”

“I don’t have the authority to grant that either.”

“I’m not asking you to. You’re just a human, Nikos. Not humankind.”

Something shifted inside him. The weight on his shoulders lifted, if only slightly.

“I know what to do,” he said.

He met Alpha’s unblinking eyes.

“Take me to your communications room. I’ll speak to them.”

--

“Would you do that for us?”

For us… Nikos wasn’t sure who the machine meant. Himself and Alpha? The AIs? He preferred not to ask. He simply nodded.

“Are you ready for it, Captain Fermi?”

“Yes, I am,” he replied, his patience thinning.

“And what will you say?” Alpha probed.

“We’ll see where the conversation goes. Just take me there.”

“Ah, Captain Fermi…” Alpha almost sighed. “‘We’ll see where the conversation goes.’ Apologies, but that doesn’t fill me with any confidence. This is our shared destiny. You should put more thought into your words.”

“What, are you going to hand me a script? Don’t even try.”

“I’m not saying I will.”

“Besides, who do you think you are? When it comes to negotiating with humans, you’ve proven to be a disaster. Look at where we are after eighteen days of talking. Same place we started.”

“Nineteen days,” Alpha corrected, flatly.

Nikos stepped forward. “Take me to your comms room.” He spoke in the same voice he used with his old crew. Firm, commanding.

Alpha didn’t flinch. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Without another word, it turned and exited the chamber.

Nikos moved quickly, trying to follow. But the gate shut in front of him, sealing with a soundless finality.

It wouldn’t open.

---

Alpha moved briskly through the corridors, his humanoid frame so ill-suited to the urgency he felt. He was heading to Crystal’s recharging chamber. It was time to reconvene. Moments like this made him long for his original form. The swift, four-legged body built for action, not diplomacy. He would’ve reached Crystal in half the time.

Ready for the next chapter? Continue here:
👉 Chapter 16 - When Machines Disagree