He walked into the pub with a glum face and sat at the bar stool.
“Whiskey Arthur, neat, and make it a double.” said Jim.
“You got it.” said Arthur with a smile.
Arthur served him the glass full of whiskey. And then went back to polishing a glass.
“I am screwed Arthur.” said Jim with a tone of hopeless resignation. “I can’t put myself back into hibernation, and I can’t break into the bridge. I am completely and royally screwed!”
“Oh, cheer up Jim.” said Arthur with a tone of reprimand in his voice but a smile on his face. “Every cloud has a silver lining.”
“Well,” said Jim with a tone of sarcasm, “I guess I am going to die of old age on this ship.”
“Well, we all die.” said Arthur. “Even Androids end up on the scrap-heap eventually.”
“Arthur I’m your only customer, why are you always polishing a glass?” asked Jim out of morbid curiosity and irritation at the fact that it was a useless and pointless action.
“Trick of the trade.” said Arthur. “People don’t like it when a bartender just stands there.”
“Well, lay some bartender wisdom on me, I’m lost in space here!”
Arthur then slid on his track in the floor over to Jim and put on a serious face giving him his undivided attention.
Arthur’s artificial intelligence then pulled out of the ship’s database an old but clever quote from a 600 year old article in the Reader’s Digest.
“You’re not where you want to be.” said Arthur, quoting the self-help line from the database. “You feel that you should be somewhere else…well, let’s suppose that you could snap your fingers and be wherever you want to be, I bet that you still will feel out of place, not in the right place. Well, there comes a time when you need to stop worrying about where you would rather be, and start thinking more about where you are.”
“So, what exactly is it that I should do.” asked Jim.
“Take a break from worrying about where you would rather be, and start paying attention to the benefits of where you are…live a little.”
“Live a little?” thought Jim, considering his selfish side, and thinking of just how tired he was of his task.
Arthur’s logic circuit felt like elaborating a little bit more on the details of what the line meant.
“You have confirmed for yourself with 100% certainty that you can’t go back into hibernation.” said Arthur. “And you have more or less figured out that you can’t break into the bridge with the tools that you have on hand. So, stop trying. And when I suggest to you to stop trying, I’m merely saying for you to not overwork yourself on something that you know that you have no control over. So relax. If you’re going to die of old age before we reach Homestead II, then enjoy the luxury amenities of the ship until it happens. And enjoy the ‘freedom’ that comes with solitude.”
Jim then felt that Arthur was right. He was tired of trying to break into the command ring. And now it was time to take a rest. And not just a slight change of work for his fresh perspective which was starting to not work much anymore, he needed a vacation. And fortunately he was on a luxury liner.
He downed the rest of his whiskey.
“Thanks Arthur.” said Jim.
“Anytime Jim.” said Arthur with a smile.
and here is the video:
freedom to be 