
Genres: Artificial Intelligence, Space
Escape Pod 835: Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma (Part 1 of 4)
Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma (Part 1 of 4)
By R.S.A. Garcia
Brother-Adita paused at the top of the ridge and rotated one eye to take in the shells climbing the path behind them. They gestured beyond them with a limb, a habit picked up from their young, excitable sibling.
“Quarter-march, west-north-west,” came their voice through the Kinnec.
“Acknowledged,” the other two shells replied.
Metal clacked against stone as the scouting party made their way over the rocky terrain until a half-crumbled hillside came into view above them. Freshly fallen boulders lay cracked and scattered on the flats below a large irregular hole. The hole was dark, the opening blackened and fused from heat.
A recon drone unwrapped itself from the diplomat’s shell.
“Unnecessary,” Brother-Adita said. “Shell destroyed. Only core remains.”