“That smells very good,” Kyla said.
“I’m making my mother’s recipe.”
She walked closer to the kitchen.
“Pasta al pomodoro?”
Julian smiled.
“Yes. I’m using the fresh basil Layna gave us.”
A pot of sauce simmered on the heating surface. Kyla leaned over it and breathed in.
“Can I try it?”
“It’s almost ready.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Julian handed her the spoon.
“Well?” he asked.
She considered it for a moment.
“It’s good.”
“Only good? That’s it?”
She tried again.
“Very, very good.”
Julian took the spoon away from her.
“Okay, that’s enough.”
Kyla laughed and moved toward the table.
“I thought Alex was with you,” Julian said.
“No. He’s with my dad. He should be here any minute.”
“What are they doing?”
“He has a school assignment about Computer. He wanted to talk to Dad about it.”
Julian looked offended.
“I could have helped him with that.”
Kyla smiled.
“You know teenagers. Parents don’t know anything.”
“True. I can’t believe he’ll be fourteen in two weeks.”
The cabin door opened.
Alex walked in carrying a small backpack.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” Kyla said.
Julian pointed toward the sink.
“Wash your hands. Dinner is almost ready.”
“I was going to.”
“Good.”
“How was Grandpa?” Kyla asked.
“Good.”
“And your assignment?”
“Good.”
Julian brought the pot to the table.
“You spent the afternoon with your grandfather, and that’s all we get?”
Alex pulled out a chair.
“He helped me with questions about Computer.”
Julian began serving the pasta.
“I could have helped you with that.”
Alex looked at him.
Kyla tried not to smile.
They ate quietly for a few moments.
Alex twirled pasta around his fork.
“This is good.”
“It’s your grandma’s recipe,” Julian said.
Alex took another bite.
“Grandpa Emil told me today that Computer is really multiple systems.”
Julian nodded.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Alex looked up.
“Then why do we call it Computer? Did we run out of names?”
“Very funny, smart guy. It’s the system people interact with. There are many different systems underneath it.”
“Like Navigation?”
“Navigation, environmental controls, communications, scheduling, cabin systems, public services. A lot of things.”
Alex looked toward Kyla.
“So we use Computer when we send someone a message, but a different system actually controls the temperature?”
“Not exactly,” Julian said. “Computer passes the request to the appropriate system.”
Alex nodded slowly.
“Okay, but if Computer connects to all those systems, why do we need Logminter too? Shouldn’t Computer be able to handle the logs?”
Julian took a sip before answering.
“Computer performs operations. Logminter was built to preserve memory.”
Alex frowned.
“That sounds too simple.”
“You’re right. It is a simple explanation,” Julian said. “But it’s a good place to start.”
Kyla smiled.
“Your father likes explaining things his way.”
“I know,” Alex said.
He looked back at Julian.
“What does Logminter do that Computer can’t?”
Julian thought for a moment.
“Computer uses information to perform a function. Logminter was built to preserve information. To preserve memory.”
Alex thought about that.
“So Computer knows how to run Helios, and Logminter knows what happened on Helios.”
Julian nodded.
“That’s a pretty good way to put it.”
Alex took another bite.
“Grandpa Emil told me about SD-3.”
Julian looked up.
“What about it?”
Alex set down his fork.
“He said they installed a restricted Logminter instance in some of the drones.”
Julian nodded.
“They did.”
“And SD-3 stopped following commands during a repair mission.”
Kyla looked at Julian.
Julian was quiet for a moment.
“That’s one way to describe what happened.”
“Is it wrong?”
Julian did not answer immediately.
“The investigation never established that Logminter took control of the drone or deliberately disobeyed a command.”
Alex looked at him.
“But we never figured out why it did what it did.”
“No.”
“Even after all these years?”
Julian shook his head.
“The unit was lost. There were things we couldn’t recover.”
Alex nodded slowly.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Kyla said, “Are you going to use this in your project?”
“I think so.”
“What is the assignment exactly?” Julian asked.
“Instructor Mendez said we have to explain how Helios’s systems changed over time.”
“And you chose Computer?”
Alex nodded.
“Why?”
“Because everyone uses it, but nobody really thinks about what it is.”
Julian smiled.
“That’s true. We take technology for granted. We don’t think about the decisions made by the people who built what we inherited.”
Kyla looked at Alex.
“For your next assignment, you’ll probably be using your own Whisperzend.”
“You know Instructor Mendez. Alex will get a couple of assignments before his birthday,” Julian said.
Alex smiled.
“I know.”
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###
The Mirador was full by the time we arrived.
I wanted to reserve the formal dining section for the celebration, but Alex wanted the terrace.
We reserved an area close to the projection panels. Ross 128 was visible on one of them, brighter than I remember it being when Alex was born.
Mom and Dad came early.
Julian’s parents arrived a few minutes later with his sister.
Alex calls her Kiki.
They enjoy playing board games together. Kiki is his nemesis when they play Three Landers.
Layna came with Alyka. Taro stopped by after the afternoon gathering at the Chapel.
A few of Alex’s friends were there too, including Tom, the boy who will share his new cabin.
I kept looking at the two of them and thinking about Layna and me when we first moved into ours.
It feels so recent, but so many things have happened since then.
The food was simple. Flatbread, herb-roasted vegetables, egg salad, and some pastries from the Mirador kitchen.
Layna brought Alex’s favorite cake, a moist golden loaf with a sweet lemon glaze.
After dinner, Kiki asked Alex and Tom to move some chairs so they could make room for a game.
Alyka looked at the board.
“How do we play?”
“We’ll play in two teams,” Alex said. “One person controls the Rockets and the other controls the Rocks.”
“So it’s Rocks against Rockets?”
“Sort of. Both teams have both. You’re attacking with the Rockets and defending with the Rocks.”
Alyka studied the board.
“How do you win?”
“You have to land three Rockets on the other side.”
Alyka reached for one of the pieces.
“And the Rocks?”
“They try to stop them by destroying the Rockets. If they destroy enough Rockets that the other team can’t land three anymore, they win.”
Alyka looked toward Kiki.
“That sounds complicated.”
Kiki smiled.
“That’s why he likes it.”
Alex rolled his eyes.
After a couple of games, we cut the cake.
Then came the part Alex had been waiting for. The Whisperzend.
Forge Arc had refurbished it and prepared it for him earlier this week.
When we handed it to him, he tried to act like it was not a big deal.
It was.
I remember receiving mine.
Back then, we got them at twelve.
I counted the days.
I remember putting it on for the first time and realizing I could whisper someone. I could talk to Logminter while walking. I could record something the moment I thought about it.
I remember the day the Council voted to change the age to fourteen because we were running out of them.
At the time, fourteen was just a number in a Council proposal.
Today it was my son.
For a few seconds after Alex put on the Whisperzend, he did not say anything.
Then the status light came on.
Alyka immediately asked him who he was going to whisper first.
He said no one.
Then, less than a minute later, I saw the light pulse.
I do not know who he contacted.
I suppose that is part of this too.
He has his own Whisperzend now.
His own messages.
His own conversations.
His own cabin.
And his own log entries.
Until today, almost everything about Alex exists somewhere inside my diary.
The day he was born.
The first time I held him.
The presentation ceremony.
His first day of school.
The questions he asked.
The things he said that made Julian and me laugh.
The things that scared me.
The things I probably remembered incorrectly and then recorded anyway.
I have written about him for fourteen years.
Tonight, Alex can record his own version.
I wonder what he will write about today.
Maybe the food.
Maybe his friends.
Maybe his version of today will be completely different from mine.
I think that is the part I am having trouble with.
For most of his life, I have been preserving my memories of him. Now he can decide what deserves to be remembered about his own life.
He can talk to Logminter without me.
He can save thoughts I will never hear.
I know that is how it is supposed to work.
I know children grow up.
I know they become people separate from us.
But still, it feels strange.
After the celebration, we walked with Alex to his new cabin.
Tom had already moved some of his things in.
Alex stood inside the doorway with his Whisperzend resting silent behind his neck.
I hugged him.
Probably for too long.
“Mom.”
“I know.”
I let him go.
Julian and I walked back to our cabin together.
The corridor seemed longer than it had earlier.
Our cabin was quiet.
Too quiet.
“Logminter, save this to my diary,” Kyla said.
LOG ENTRY
Action type: Log archival.
Integrity check: Validated. Data saved by authorized user.
Authorized user: Anwar Cloutier Soria, Kyla. Created at: 2802.052.2348.
Thanks for reading Kyla’s Diary, a novel from the Theogenic Universe. New chapters will be published weekly. Subscribe to continue the journey aboard Helios.