The Only Journey of Elpis - OLIMPIA

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The Only Journey of Elpis

OLIMPIA

He woke up again in the room, but there was something different, it was the same little tables and the same sofa, but next to it, a slender and tall figure, dressed in the nakedness of the white satin of a synthetic skin, was standing, looking at it with the cold and inexpressive face that only an opaque acrylic surface can give.

-You are not part of the crew of the Elpis, -said the robot of sensual female figure, with a firm and cold voice.

-What is this, where am I? -asked Richard, with choppy and almost incomprehensible words. Only now did he notice that it was difficult for him to speak, as if his buccal cords were speechless.

The machine approached him and his facial plane, in which the false imitation of a real one was drawn, observed him tilting his head, like a puppy trying to hear his master's voice better.

-You are in the generational ship Elpis, -she said -. I am OLIMPIA, the ship's monitor.

-How did I get here? Where are we going? - Richard continued, asking with the scant voice coming out of his throat.

-I couldn't tell you how you got here, according to my records you're not part of the crew of this ship, -replied OLIMPIA indifferently -. Regarding your second question, the Elpis is in route to Proxima Centauri.

-Proxima Centauri, but how is it possible if I was only on Titan yesterday, how can I be on a ship en route to Proxima Centauri?

-Yesterday this ship was not much closer to Titan than it is today, exactly 865.34 years ago Earth, the Elpis, left Titan's orbit. We are 0.1 astronomical units away from Proxima Centauri, on a collision course with the star.

Original text of @amart29 Barcelona, Venezuela, July 2019

Other stories from the The Only Journey of Elpis series

• Richard's Awakening
• Flashbacks
• OLIMPIA

This story was originally published on my Weku blog.

Thank you all for your attention, I am looking forward to your comments and observations until the next one.

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