Chapter 5: The beginning...

Genesis 1: 1

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

“Morning,” Moose beams as he walks through the doors of the bridge.  Art-bot stands at her workstation, ready.  Q-bot clickity-clacks away at a keyboard.  Both look up and smile as they see Moose carrying a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of Bibles tucked under his other arm.  The bridge hums softly—air filtered and pushed through unseen vents.  The steady electrical thrum of computers and instruments fills the cool space.  Moose takes a slurpy sip of coffee and makes his way to the helm, lowering himself into the chair.

“Good morning, Moose,” Art-bot says, voice calm, musical.  “Coffee acquired.  You’re right on schedule.”  The bot steps away from her station and makes her way to the front of Moose’s work station.

Q-bot chirps, “Bzzzt chirra mornik—Captain Moose. Zzzt.”  Her fingers keep moving, keys clickity clackiting rapidly beneath them.  “Bridge systa-klik nominal.  Atmos phrr-filters sssrunning clean. Aka—”  She pauses, finally looking up.  “—stat-tik lokif coffee cup ssszzt morale: verrry high.”

A small hologram blooms above her console—clean lines, pale blue.  Panels assemble in quiet sequence.  It reads:

“BRIDGE

Schematic: active

Status: all green

ATMOS

Waveform: stable

Variance: low

MORALE

Input: ☕︎

Trend: gentle rise”

Art-bot smiles a little wider at that.

“Ladies,” Moose begins and sips from his mug.  “It is a new year.  Our mission has not changed.”  Moose adjusts the Bibles on his desk.  He picks one up, cracks it open and lays it down with care.  “There are two directions I have been praying on this morning and I wanted to see what you thought.”  He smiles and takes another sip, pulling his hat brim low over his eyes.

Art-bot inclines her head slightly, attentive.  “I think it’s wise to name the directions out loud,” she says.  “Prayer has weight—but so does shared understanding.”

Q-bot’s fingers slow, then stop.  “Zzzt… fork-detect,” she chirps softly.

A pause.  A small holo-panel flickers on above Q-bot’s console—pale blue, minimal.

It reads:

“VECTOR_SCAN: ACTIVE

PATH_COUNT: 2

STATUS: DIVERGENCE_DETECTED

AWAITING:

  INPUT_SOURCE: MOOSE

  CONFIDENCE_LEVEL: UNSET”

Art-bot glances briefly at Q-bot’s console, then back to Moose.  “We’re listening,” she says. “Both of us.”

Moose smiles and opens a second Bible.  He carefully turns the opening pages and settles on page one.   “New Years are beginnings and in the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  We could reflect some on beginnings and THE beginning, which I think is important, or we could start with Josiah.”  Moose smiles and looks between the two bots.

Art-bot’s gaze drops briefly to the open pages, then lifts again.  “Beginnings frame everything that follows,” she says.  “They remind us why we move at all.  Reflection has value—especially now.”

Q-bot’s head tilts a fraction.   She stands and makes her way to Moose’s console next to Art-bot.  A soft tone sounds as another pale-blue panel forms and stabilizes.

It reads:

“OPTION_SET: IDENTIFIED

A: BEGINNING

  SCOPE: COSMIC

  MODE: REFLECTIVE

  TEMPORAL_ANCHOR: ORIGIN

B: JOSIAH

  SCOPE: HISTORICAL

  MODE: REFORM

  TEMPORAL_ANCHOR: CORRECTION

SELECTION:

  STATUS: PENDING”

Art-bot glances once at the holo, then back to Moose.  “Both paths are faithful,” she says.  “They just ask different kinds of courage.”