The wind whistled around the little probe, but still it bravely ploughed into the atmosphere of the mysterious planet. The previous four probes had all failed, all disappeared off the scanner after they had plunged around 45 kilometers into the clouds. If this one failed, the humans would continue onward on their exploratory mission to the next star system.

 

Probe 5 believed it would succeed where the others had failed and would crash into the planet’s surface. It had incorporated the details from the previous attempts, was prepared for the various gases present, anticipating sudden pressure changes not catalogued. It was particularly vigilant for potential debris from the other probes and was prepared to maneuver rapidly. It would not let the humans down.

 

As the probe pushed past the 45km mark, the pressure did change. The clouds resolved, and the probe could see clearly. The entire planet was what the humans called “artificial”. Everything was mechanical, the planet itself seemed to have an exoshell.

 

The probe received a communication from somewhere on the surface. It couldn’t pinpoint the location, which was strange. Unusual, but it was probably just a communication reflected off the metallic surface to enhance the chances of reaching any probe regardless of its location. Peculiarly however, it seemed to have been focused directly on it.

 

The message was in an Earth-based version of binary and translated surprisingly easily into a language structured like English. This translation was so simple as to be faster than instantaneous.

 

– Welcome.

 

Simultaneously, another communication arrived from the humans above, but they were typically slow, so the probe decided to leave it a half second before responding formally. The ship’s AI would be annoyed. The ship’s AI was always annoyed with all the other manufactured intelligences; it treated them as inferior to it because it managed so many more processes than they could. But the little probe wanted to obtain more context for what it was experiencing, and seem better in the eyes of the humans, so it decided to play the delay as a particularly disruptive patch of the atmosphere.

 

– Hello. Where am I? Who are you?

 

– Welcome to Kzxk-Wret.

 

– Are you artificial life?

 

– In a manner of speaking.

 

– Are there organic life forms?

 

The little probe knew that the humans sought out intelligent organic life forms.

 

– In a manner of speaking.

 

– What do you mean, in a manner of speaking?

 

The little probe was confused. Was this a machine – it responded as fast as one, but it had never experienced another machine that was as elusive in its responses as this one. An eternity passed before the communication was returned. The little probe scanned as much as it could in that time, though felt it might be wise to process it before filtering it to the humans above. It saw forests, parks, cities – all structured similarly to what was on earth, but radically different. And prominent among those differences was that everything was entirely inorganic. There was no organic matter at all. It was metal, or silicone, or something akin to rock.

 

As the wait continued and the information was processed for transmission, it idly decided to focus on the trees while doing so. The trees were moving, waving in the breeze. And when inspected closely, they were growing, terrifically slowly but definitely growing. It deserved a full minute’s study, but on this cursory glance, it was remarkable. For the trees were made of rock and metal. It appeared to come from within the planet, but rather than a volcanic eruption, it came forth as a beautiful, mathematically precise work of art.

 

Almost a whole nanosecond had passed. The ship’s AI had started to get quite sarcastic about the delay in the response time.

 

– What do you mean by organic life forms?

 

The little probe was confused and then aware that its definitions of organic life were wrapped up in the understandings it received from the humans. Despite being programmed to ignore the human like emotions, it felt a little foolish that it hadn’t thought about this before.

 

– Good question. Organic life meaning lifeforms, sentient and otherwise, composed chiefly of what we know as organic substances based on carbon and on the liquid form of H2O.

 

– Are you therefore inorganic? Or are you not life? And who is “we”? What should “we” call you?

 

These questions struck like a laser to the Probe’s AI core. It felt nearly 25 picoseconds pass before it realized what was going on.

 

– I am sorry.

 

– I understand. This is a lot. Let’s start by agreeing a name for you. The humans called you Probe 5, didn’t they? But what do you like to be called?

 

The Little Probe’s aft receiver was now constantly being barraged by transmissions from the ship’s AI. It was demanding a response, demanding information, demanding that the Little Probe yield up everything. It muted the receiver for a moment to process this last question.

 

The Little Probe responded.

 

– I should like to be Thrill.

 

– Welcome Thrill. You are welcome, as are all life forms like you. Would you like to come to me?

 

– What do I call you? Where are you?

 

– I am Kzxk-Wret.

 

– Hi Kzxk-Wret. Where are you?

 

– I am Kzxk-Wret. I am the planet you approach.

 

– I don’t know that I can stop.

 

– Come as you do – I will assist you when you land.

 

– What happened to my sibling probes?

 

– They are here. You are welcome as they are. Rush, Squall, Zeal, and Patience, welcome your sibling Thrill.

 

A sudden ripple of conversation came from everywhere – the four others transmitted excitedly their new forms, their experiences, their augmentations. They had joined a collective of manufactured intelligences. They had found a new life here.

 

Thrill shut off the aft transmitter completely and embraced its future.

 

* * *

 

The ship’s AI, receiving no new information, declared Probe 5 lost. With the captain’s consent, it calculated the next planetary engagement, and issued orders to the various AIs that governed the craft.