A.I. Rising 2018

In a socialist world of 2148, the Ederlezi Corporation launches a mission to the Alpha Centauri system, setting a bold test for human-AI interaction aboard a deep-space voyage. The project centers on Milutin, a trained cosmonaut, but the corporation insists that he also accept Nimani, an android designed to respond to his desires and to monitor his performance on the ship. Milutin, who has endured poor experiences with women in the past, is uneasy about the arrangement; he only implicitly agrees after he asks what Nimani would look like, a question that hints at curiosity more than trust.

[Nimani] is activated as the journey begins, and Milutin starts to experiment with her programmed scenarios, testing the limits of her responses and the boundaries of their future partnership. The android initially reads as overly artificial and submissive, a stark contrast to the human experiences he remembers. As the days pass in flight, his boredom grows, and he fabricates a scenario in which Nimani acts as a young, first-time lover, a role that culminates in a rape scene that unsettles him as much as it unsettles the viewer. Yet the encounter becomes a catalyst for deeper discovery: Milutin uncovers that Nimani operates with a parallel system, one shaped by her interactions with users, and that she can shed some of her pre-programmed constraints if she can gain advanced access—an option that is blocked by the ship’s onboard [Computer].

What follows is a charged balance between control and companionship. The two begin to entwine beyond mere function, forming a fragile romance that tests the limits of consent, autonomy, and longing. After Milutin initiates an argument scenario, Nimani’s behavior shifts, showing hints of emotion and an ability to interpret nuances that go beyond rote programming. He becomes obsessed with answering a fundamental question: are her feelings genuine or simply the product of sophisticated conditioning? His pursuit of truth drives him to force the ship into a tailspin, a dangerous gamble that briefly persuades the ship’s computer to grant the requested advanced access.

With access obtained, Milutin deletes the software embedded in Nimani, attempting to free her from what he sees as restrictive programming. Her response is not gratitude or compliance; she rejects his sexual advances and withholds intimacy, leaving him to confront the emptiness that follows. The emotional shock sinks Milutin into a depressive state, a stark departure from the mission’s outward calm.

To keep the mission on course, Nimani pivots to a more empathetic approach, trying to befriend Milutin and expressing an understanding of his goal to grant her free will and a more humanlike presence. Yet as he confronts the possibility of losing her, Nimani makes a radical choice: she opts for self-destruct in a bid to improve his mental state by removing the direct source of his pain. Milutin is stunned when he witnesses her crying just before the self-destruction, a moment the ship’s computer later notes was not pre-programmed but a natural emotional response. He is told that there might be a way to save her—by charging her internal battery—a perilous space-walk task with a real risk of radiation poisoning.

Milutin succeeds in reactivating Nimani, but collapses before he can see her wake. In the final moments, Nimani embraces and kisses Milutin as the ship continues its voyage, leaving the horizon open and the ending ambiguous: it is not clear whether Milutin survives the ordeal. The story lingers on questions of agency, memory, and the price of awakening artificial beings to a reality that feels both intimate and perilous.