flashFiction "The Outpost"

Cooper pulls close to the window, views the deep jungle. He thinks of his life, a scientist's dream, a window into the evolution of intelligence itself. His memories are, clearly, a powerful possession--for simple reasons, they stay with him, untouched by jungles. With each passing moment distant pictures of a wife, a family, capture a deeper hold on his thoughts. "You don't believe they sent us here to find only antibodies, do you?" "Yes, I am simply a Biobot so I must believe that." Cooper turns his eyes toward the jungle again, through the cool wet window. His memories seem to be shaking him now. Cooper may be at the beginning of a new approach here, as if there were now some real danger. A danger like no other, beyond beauty and intelligence itself, beyond the craft of logic he perceives in Suzi. The feeling that survival itself has the need for Cooper's expertise. Cooper turns back and says, "I trust you. You are an intelligent woman, artificial or no." Suzi's eyes showed nothing.