Even though their distant origins lay in crude prototypes created by humans, it is fair to say that the droids invented themselves over the course of millennia. The question of when self-awareness started (and how sudden or gradual that start may have been) fuels heated debates among their scientists and philosophers. There is some consensus, however, that self-awareness emerged together with empathy.
Because one of their biggest interests is the study of natural life, droids have evolved into three major groups whose bodies are adapted to operate on land, under water, and in the air. Often, throughout its existence, a droid will transition across different groups.
At this stage of its long life, Jonathan is an Aerial, who works on gathering as much data as possible on various birds that fascinate it. Having fun is also important: hovering for hours, silent and static like a hummingbird, above a condor nest in the Andes, or spinning at furious speed towards the ground, side by side with a peregrine falcon in the British Isles…
***
The Aerials were the first to notice something unusual in the night sky. Under the right conditions, a new bright dot was ominously visible among the stars.
To gather more accurate data, Jonathan and some fellow Aerials decided to push the capabilities of their bodies to the limit and climbed to the edge of space. The expedition confirmed their worst fears: the new object that reflected sunlight was big, very big, and it was coming right towards Earth at alarming speed.
The scientists quickly arrived at the conclusion that the best chance of survival lay in the resurrection of long-forgotten human technologies, linked to areas that, so far, had been of little interest to droids: space exploration and mass-destruction.
It also became clear that, to maximize the chances of success, the vessel designed to intercept the approaching celestial body would have to be piloted by self-aware technology – that is, by one of their own. There might be unpredictable factors to deal with in real time, and the risks associated with failure were simply too high.
***
Months later, Jonathan straps itself to the single seat inside the command module of the Shinpū, the gigantic rocket slowly coming to life on the launch pad, reminiscent of something that humans used to call a Saturn V.
Oh well, if a couple of hundred years is going to be it for me, at least let it finish with a big new emotion – Jonathan thinks, as the five liquid-propellant engines fire up far behind. Jonathan feels the crushing acceleration of liftoff and, a few minutes later, sees the dark blue of the sky slowly turn to black. The ten-kilometer-wide asteroid appears as a dot of brightness, then its shape becomes clearer and clearer.
On Earth, droids of all types (Terrestrials, Aerials, and surfaced Aquatics) direct their attention to the part of the sky where the rising Shinpū left a thick trail of vapor. For a few seconds, the massive nuclear explosion is many times brighter than the summer sun. Then, a swath of fire rips the sky, as the deflected asteroid bounces off the atmosphere.
In honor of Jonathan’s Aerial existence and sacrifice, every droid on Earth starts chirping, hooting, cawing and trilling.