Chapter Text
Human.
Pioneer 10 had imagined becoming human.
She had imagined walking among them, among the people she was so unlike and yet exactly the same as. Ten had imagined a life in which she was alive the same way they were, a life she was never meant to experience but always meant to harbor as she journeyed farther and farther from home.
She had imagined it once. It wasn’t a life for her.
It was impossible.
The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer had thought of becoming human.
He had thought of everything he’d see, all the people he’d meet, all the things he’d try just to try and to say he had. Juice had thought of a reality he’d escape to whenever his friends were asleep, one where there’d be people everywhere to talk to instead of this barren void of emptiness.
He had thought of it for a long time.
Of course, there was no such reality.
It was impossible.
Pioneer 9 had dreamed of becoming human.
They had dreamed of becoming more than what they were, to feel and to live beyond just numbers and data, to experience the world as a participant instead of an observer. Nine had dreamed of a world where they wouldn’t have to shut down, wouldn’t have to miss out on the people that meant so much to them. A world where they wouldn’t be alone, where they would walk alongside Ten and Juice and feel their hands touch and know they would never be alone.
There was no point in dreaming of it.
It was impossible.
Yes, these three space probes were experts in the impossible. Becoming human was impossible. They knew that much for sure.
It was impossible.
But then again, so was living forever.