Roger: Rebirth

Previously

Since the vessel was Tynokian in design, I was unable to operate any of it. The ship would only respond to the DNA of Ator, or another Tynokian being.

It was unknown whether her demise would impact the ship's communication with her, or if the crash had damaged the ship's AI. There was one way to find out, though.

I grabbed one of Ator's limbs and pulled it out briskly. It detached from her body with a slightly liquid sloop sound. With her arm in mine, I approached the secondary computer screen (the primary monitor had been demolished in the wreckage). I lay the appendage on top of the screen and applied a small amount of pressure, hoping that the arm/computer connection would be established.

Three seconds passed, and there was a slight hum. I moved Ator's digits in a complex pattern on various sections of the computer, trying to boost the amount of power that was going to that part of the ship.
The entire pod that the computer monitor sat upon glowed dimly, faded, glowed brighter, then went dark completely.

I tried again, and was rewarded with the computer display remaining on, although at a low intensity. If I were truly human, I would no doubt be unable to see anything beyond the front of my face.
As it was, I had enough light to see one of the many reflective surfaces inside the vessel, and I noticed that my forehead had a rather deep scar across it. It was not, I assumed, unattractive - the thought that it "added character" came to mind - but what was startling was that I had not had the scar when we had begun the voyage.

How did I know that?

My memory retrieval was still at perilously low levels, and it was odd how bits of things were crystal clear to me, and other things - such as my primary mission - were complete blanks.

I knew, for example, that I was created on the planet known as Tynok, which was some 34 light years away from Earth. I knew that the Tynokians and the Earthlings were engaged in a conflict, and that I was created to resemble an Earthling. My image, and some of my history, was stolen from a real life Earthling named Roger Hobbs that the Tynokians had captured. I did not know what had become of the real Roger Hobbs, nor whether I was supposed to replace him. I knew that my true body was more or less a powerful computer and robot, with the outer appearance of Roger Hobbs on the outside being composed of skin, muscle, hair. The Earthling DNA-shell was comprised of the DNA of Roger Hobbs, and also bits of nanotechnology, which allowed my 'body' to heal itself over a period of time. (Which meant that the damage to my forehead [and arm] had happened when we had crashed, and the nanotech had not had enough time to fully heal my forehead, resulting in the scar)
I knew that there had been five ships - each one of them carrying a Tynokian pilot and an "Earthling" such as myself - on their way to Earth...for some reason. I knew some of Earth's history: The Earthlings had arrived near Tynok years earlier after receiving signals from there, and had attempted to colonize the planet. Apparently their planet was close to becoming uninhabitable, and they had fled. ...which again raised the question - if the planet was deserted, why had we flown here? What was the mission to Earth for?

My main objective at this time was to make contact - either with one of the others, or with Command Central.
I moved Ator's arm again, and had the computer determine where exactly we had landed. Going over the flight logs, it appeared that when we left Tynok, things were fine. Once we hit hyperjump, however, things went wrong. The life support had shut down - as had I - and when the ship(s) had emerged from the jump, we were in freefall. Calculating the trajectory, it appeared that we were on Earth, and should be approximately 1.1 kilometers underground.

I removed the side door and stepped aside as dirt poured into the vessel. I then began the tedious job of digging my way upward, leaving the ship behind me.

Forty three minutes later, covered in dirt from head to toe, I emerged aboveground, and took my first look at this new bizarre planet.