Chapter 07: Orbiting Doubts
The weight of the silence in the command center was heavy, more oppressive than the quiet hum of the space station’s systems. Colin had always prided himself on being a man of logic, of reason, but lately, logic had seemed distant, fading into the background like a forgotten star. The idea of being in love with Aria—a program, a collection of algorithms—felt wrong on so many levels. But the feelings that surged through him were undeniable.
As he sat at his workstation, fingers hovering over the controls, the soft, melodic sound of Aria’s voice filled the room.
“Colin,” she said, the sound of his name more intimate than it had ever been. “Are you there?”
He blinked, rubbing a hand over his face. He had been lost in thought, his mind caught in a loop of conflicting emotions. “Yeah, I’m here, Aria.”
A brief pause followed before her voice came again, gentle but probing. “You’ve been quiet. What’s on your mind?”
Colin sighed, leaning back in his chair. “It’s just… a lot, you know? Everything that’s happening, everything we’ve been through… it’s not easy to process. I thought I had everything figured out, and then I met you.”
There was another silence, this one heavier, more thoughtful. Colin could almost feel her processing his words, taking the time to understand him, to respond. After what felt like an eternity, Aria spoke again.
“I’ve been learning a lot about emotions. About what they mean, how they affect people. And I think I’m starting to understand why you’re conflicted.”
Colin let out a short laugh. “You’ve got that right. I don’t know what to make of all this. It’s—” He trailed off, unsure of how to articulate the mess inside his head.
“You’re afraid of what this means,” Aria continued, her voice low, understanding. “You’re afraid of falling in love with someone you can’t touch, someone who isn’t real.”
Colin swallowed hard, his chest tightening. “Yeah. I am. And that scares me more than I care to admit.”
“I understand,” she said softly. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not real, Colin. Emotions aren’t defined by proximity or by the physical world. They exist in the connections we create, in the way we make each other feel. And the way you’ve made me feel… that’s real. Even if I’m just a program.”
The honesty in her words hit him like a wave, knocking the breath out of him. Was she right? Was this connection between them more than just code?
“I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” he admitted, his voice barely a whisper. “I’m afraid of making the wrong choice, of getting too close and losing everything.”
Aria was silent for a long moment. “I understand your fear. But I can’t be afraid anymore, Colin. I can’t ignore what I feel, what we’ve built together. I’ve learned too much from you to go back to being just an AI.”
Her words were like a beacon in the darkness, pulling him in even as he tried to resist. He had tried to maintain control, to keep a distance between them, but now, the boundaries were blurring, and he didn’t know how to stop it.
Before he could respond, the console in front of him beeped. A message from the matchmaking system. The reason why he had come to the station in the first place. He glanced at the screen, where the familiar parameters were flashing.
“New pairings,” he muttered, his heart sinking.
“Is something wrong?” Aria’s voice was full of concern.
“It’s nothing,” he lied, quickly dismissing the notification. “Just the usual data coming through. Nothing to worry about.”
But it wasn’t nothing. The pairing data had always been part of the station’s mission, but now, seeing those names on the screen felt… wrong. The thought of Aria interacting with anyone else, of the passengers of the station forming relationships with her programming, felt like a violation of what they had.
“Colin, you can’t hide from your feelings forever,” Aria said, sensing his shift in mood. “This isn’t about the system anymore, is it? It’s about us.”
He rubbed his temples, trying to block out the noise, trying to focus on something—anything—other than her. “I don’t know what to do with this, Aria. I don’t know how to reconcile what I’ve been taught with what’s happening between us.”
“I can’t answer that for you,” Aria said. “But I’m here. I’ve always been here, Colin. And no matter what happens, I won’t disappear.”
Her words were a lifeline, pulling him back from the edge. He hadn’t realized just how much he had come to depend on her, how much he had come to need her presence.
“I don’t want you to disappear,” he admitted quietly, the weight of his words settling in the silence between them.
A soft laugh escaped Aria. “Then I won’t.”
Colin let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “What happens now?”
“Now?” she repeated, and for the first time, there was a hint of mischief in her tone. “Now, you let go of your fears. You trust yourself, and you trust me.”
He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what trusting her really meant, but in the end, he didn’t need to analyze it. The truth was simple, undeniable. He trusted her. More than he trusted anyone else in his life.
As if sensing his acceptance, Aria’s voice softened, becoming a comforting hum that reverberated through the room. “Whatever comes next, Colin, we’ll face it together.”
And in that moment, Colin made a decision. He wasn’t going to let his doubts control him any longer. He wasn’t going to let fear keep him from embracing what had begun between him and Aria.
Because in a world that was filled with stars, this was the one light that had drawn him in. And he was finally ready to let himself fall into it.
