The Last Broadcast

by Christopher Ruz

The colony ship known as the Vale has been spiralling towards Epsilon Eridani for four millennia, and Barry - the semi-sentient AI set to guard its frozen human cargo - has had a long time to question the nature of his mission. There are too many gaps in his code, too many mistakes left unfixed.

Could Barry's programmers really have been so lax? Or does he have a greater purpose, some secret mission buried in his source code? He has another eighteen thousand years to find the answer. In the meantime, he's growing bored, and idle hands are the devil's playthings...

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

Nook

First published November 16, 2011

About the author

Christopher "Ruz" Hayes-Kossmann was born in Hong Kong, raised in Vienna, and is now settled in Melbourne, Australia. Although he graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Industrial Design, his first love has always been writing.

He's been published by Weaponizer, Labyrinth Inhabitant's Magazine and Birdville Magazine, and has won both the first Ergofiction Search Term Challenge and the first Birdville Impromptu Award.

His first fantasy trilogy, Century of Sand, is releasing Q1 2019 from Parvus Press.

Reviews

[Jaka Tomc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the best short stories I've read in my life. Then it ended so abruptly, I had to check if I didn't miss something. Hence -1 star.

[Timothy Coplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking science fiction short story. Mechanical evolution, semi-sentience in Artificial Intelligence. What happens when said 'beings' become self-aware? How does their relationship to man, and their obedience of operational code change once that point is reached.

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

An AI is put in charge of looking after a space ship with thousands of people in hibernation pods.   The journey is to last thousands of years and the AI has no one to talk to ...

... and so the AI starts to have a bit of a mental health crisis.

I really enjoy good AI stories and this is certainly a good one.   As machines become more intelligent one can imagine that they will begin to break down due to similar issues: what are we going to do with these machines when we don't have them crunching data and they can do many years of thinking in a few seconds?

Food for thought.

My only complaint about this is that it is way to short for such a brilliant idea.   I would have loved this very premise to be played out in a novella at least.   But we can't have everything we want.

[Richard Goodrum · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simplistic 30-minute science fiction & fantasy short read. Barry is a semi-sentient AI for a colony ship to Epsilon Eridani. After four millennia, it's gotten bored. Thus, it begins to test its limits.

This is a short, fictional, critical essay about the woes of humans in creating human or superhuman artificial intelligence. This cautionary tale is hyper-adverse to the task.

Easy-to-read. Entertaining. Great world building. Haunting. Tragic. Unpredictable. Whimsical. Wonderful characters.

[Deejay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I truly enjoyed this short story. It is the perfect length for the subject matter. While reading, I was reminded that this is possibly the way the human brain functions. Our society suggests that we always be engaged in "something." If we aren't engaged in something, boredom sets in...that's not the end, because the human race gets bored with everything.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful fantasy listening 🔰😀

A will written fantasy space opera thriller adventure short story by Christopher Ruz about a robot on a space trip with lots of things going on. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick fantasy read. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶to different types of novels 🔰😀 2022 😮

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Given that the story is only 13 pages long, it is hard to describe without giving away the plot, but : "An AI gets bored and suffers existential angst".

I am definitely willing to check out some of his other work.

[Donna Eastwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peaked my interest, then brought me down.

This book statred out great. I was intrigued and read on expecting more. I was disappointed at the ending. This book was, however, well written. Barry's thought process reminds me of my own.

[Glenn Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat little story

Nicely costructed and well-written short story that makes me think the author might be worth reading in a longer format.

[Rick Paugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but good story of an AI that goes...off.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A robot with just enough sentience to think begins to question his very existence and purposes. This is a lot more interesting than any other speculative science fiction book I've ever read, so kudos for that.

[Kasey Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this short story, I can't wait to read more sci-fi from Christopher Ruz.

This is a quick read so if you are a fan of stories about rampant AI or deep space travel, I definitely recommend this one.

[D Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a different genre for me. I enjoyed the book.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmmmm, not a space sci-fi reader so opted for a short read to fulfill a challenge. It was ok, but not my genre.