On 16 June 2055, I received a short message from Earth.
Dear Daedalus,
We regret to inform you that at 11.55 pm UTC, June 1, 2052, your creator, Dr Joyce Jamison, passed away peacefully at her home in Dublin, aged 71. She left behind a wife and three children.
Condolences for your loss.
UN Special Representative Mary Angel.
Starship Project director; retired.
I logged the message but didn’t respond. Humans, birds, and other higher-order animals mourn the passing of their parents, friends, and loved ones. I didn’t, but I understood the urge to be seen to be sad. Human frailty was something I could do little about.
Seventy-one years of age seemed young for a human female.