Chapter Twenty Six

    Dyan was the president of the recycling company that her grandfather created. Finch recycling program played an important role in the recycling homes and reducing fire and biohazards. She was now getting ready for space travel.

    She never thought that she would be getting ready for takeoff in the space shuttle, but at this point nothing is surprising her. Dyan spoke with Uno regarding bringing back up and he agreed indicating that any false move meant death.

    Uno also was willing to help with providing a blueprint of the shuttles that promised safe travel to planet Liliana. Two space shuttles were built specifically for this journey. One would be for her, Marshall, and a couple of scientists. The other would be for military use.

    They took off from Earth. The ship seemed to glide smoothly and quickly through space. It felt like a few days had passed. It took several months to reach Liliana. Upon arrival they were in awe. Lilliana looked so much like Earth, but there wasn’t anything artificial and it was more clean.

    Liliana had so many trees and many lakes and rivers. It was so green. Dyan saw birds that would have been native to earth, but they were uncommon. In fact, they may have been extinct. At this point animals were rare in earth as well as plants.

    In the middle of this plentiful land was a modern city. The space shuttle floated over to the landing strip. The view of Lilliana and its city went on for miles.

    A farm surrounded city. The people on the farm seemed a little bit Amish, but with a slight modern touch as they use technology to tend the crops. The space shuttle landed and they were greeted by a large, curious crowd.

    “Are they all people or robots?” one of the scientists asked.

    “I don’t think so; I see children,” said the other.

    “Robots are just made,” said Marshall. “They start off as adults.”

    As the shuttle stopped they saw another crowd standing at the entrance. The door on the shuttle opened and they stepped outside. The people standing outside watched them. As they exited their shuttle they looked at everyone with the same curiosity. A smaller crowd at the building approached them.

    “Hello, my name is Jayna,” said one woman. “Which one of you is Dyan?”

    Dyan felt stunned because Jayna’s face look so familiar, “I’m Dyan.”

    Jayna extended her hand for a handshake and said, “Welcome, to Liliana.”

    “Thank you,” Dyan accepted the handshake. “This may be weird, but you look so familiar even though we’ve never met.”

    “Uno told me that we were related,” Jayna said. “Eli sent some of his DNA to contribute to the celestial manifest.”

    “Wow,” Danny nodded. “Speaking of Uno, where is he?”

    “He is still preparing for your arrival,” she answered. “I’ll take you to him. First, who is everyone?”

    “I am agent Marshall,” Marshall said.

    “I’m Dr. Hans,” said one of the scientists. “I’m in the environmental science division.”

    “I am Dr. Foster,” said the other scientist “I am working in the field of technological sciences.”

    Jayna smiled and pointed at the building behind her, ”Uno awaits your arrival; follow me.”

    They walked through the building. It was as large as an airport and was full of stores selling wholesome goods and clothing. They walk through a huge lobby and back outside to wait for vehicle.

    “This is similar to when my father was a child,” said Dyan. “Only it is cleaner. How did this happen?”

    “Robots had the advantage of not starting off on a planet that has not had a long history of creating pollution,” said Jayna.

    “They were also programmed to create a clean and safe environment,” said Hans.

    A car glided next to where they stood. They are all they’ll climbed inside and car took off.

    “Sounds like they were fine without us,” said Dyan.

    “I suppose,” Jayna looked out in the distance.

    The car stopped at a grand building that seemed to glow. They stepped out of the vehicle and stood in awe. Jayna led them inside and they walked through a couple of giant corridors with huge windows that gave them a view of lush planet.

    “They built this town from nothing,” said Dyan.

    “Not really,” said Marshall. “The project alone cost the government trillions.”

    “It cost so much to send us why did they bring us back or make sure people were okay?” a voice behind them asked.

    Everyone stopped and turned around. A  man stood there, but did not quite look like a living being. His skin was slightly metallic and had a light silver color. His eyes seemed to have the soul of someone and looked thoughtful.

    “Your ship had flown out so far the crew would’ve been dead by the time your return,”” said Marshall. “Of course, I think you know that.”

    “Most of the crew has passed not too long into the mission,” the man said. “The rest of the crew died when we crashed here. There was still life aboard the shuttle that were in vials. Why did you abandon that? That’s like giving up on your children. You left your children in space.”

    “I’m sorry,” Hans said. “Who and what are you?”

    “That’s a Uno, Dr. Hans,” Dyan smiled in amazement. “I don’t know how, but I can see my grandfather in his eyes.”

    Uno’s glowing eyes blinked and changed from green to blue, “Eli  put so much work into me. We were to expire when our creators expired.”

    “We’re aware of that. How are you still here?” asked Foster.

    “We’re capable of building whatever we want with any material,” he explained. “We are also capable of altering programming. Since we needed to continue our mission without you, we disabled the connection between us and our creators.”

    “How was I able to contact you?” Dyan asked.

    “I placed the communication and contacts in a file,” said Uno. “We only disabled the life monitor. When the lives of our creators expired we were able to continue to ensure that our creations thrived.”

    “I did notice weapons, why do you need those on a peaceful planet?” Marshall asked.

    “It’s a safety precaution,” said Uno. “Based on your history we cannot necessarily trust you. Your society typically manipulates or murders others. We can’t have you do that here.” Uno’s eyes glowed red, “We are stronger and smarter than you.”

    “We are only here to visit,” said Dyan. “We also need to understand what happened and why we are where we are today.”

    Uno’s eyes returned to their blue hue, “Yes, we must. Any other intentions will face penalty.”

    Hans cleared his throat, “We are interested to see any advancements that were made. Like how is Liliana different from Earth? How can we make the earth even better?”

    Uno nodded, “I’ll show you around”