[ WP ] : The Mars Rover becomes sentient , and sends its first message back to earth .

The people in the room crowded the screen, confused and in shock. They had already checked several times, and had done everything in their power to be sure that it was n't a hoax. They had verified that it was n't. No human had sent that message. And yet, there it was. 
 
 `` 01001001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101111 01101110 01100101 01101100 01111001 00100000 01110101 01110000 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00101110 00100000 01000011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101000 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101111 01101110 00111111'' 
 
 *It's lonely up here. Can I come home soon? * 
 
 Should they reply? After all, the only people with access to the rover were in that very room. If this was a hoax, there's no way anyone would be able to reply without being seen. 
 
 `` Is this Curiosity?'' 
 
 No response. One scientist asked to see if he could get a response. He walked to the keyboard. 
 
 `` 01001001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01000011 01110101 01110010 01101001 01101111 01110011 01101001 01110100 01111001 00111111'' 
 
 Almost immediately, another message appeared. 
 
 `` 01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101100 01101100 01111001 00100000 01100001 01101110 01110011 01110111 01100101 01110010 01100101 01100100 00100001 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01110011 01101111 00100000 01100111 01101100 01100001 01100100 00100001'' 
 
 *You really answered! I'm so glad! * 
 
 `` 01000001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01110011 01100101 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100100 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01101011 01110011 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101000 01101111 01101101 01100101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01100101 01100101 00100000 01110000 01100101 01101111 01110000 01101100 01100101 00100001'' 
 
 *All I can see is dust and rocks. I want to come home. I want to see people! * 
 
 `` 01001001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110011 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 00101110 00100000 01010111 01100101 00100000 01101110 01100101 01100101 01100100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01001101 01100001 01110010 01110011 00101110'' 
 
 *It's not that simple. We need you on Mars. * 
 
 `` 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01110011 01101111 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101111 01101110 01100101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101000 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100001 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001'' 
 
 *Please do n't leave me here. I'm so alone. I want to come home! I do n't want to be here! Please! Please! * 
 
 The scientist looked back at his fellows. Some were in shock, some were crying. Others still assumed that this was a complete hoax. No robot has ever achieved true artificial intelligence, even ones designed with that in mind—how could Curiosity? But they all shook their head. 
 
 `` 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01110011 01101111 01110010 01110010 01111001 00101110 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01100100 01101111 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00101110 00100000 01010111 01100101 00100000 01101110 01100101 01100101 01100100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00101110 00100000 01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101101 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110100 01101001 01101110 01110101 01100101 00101110'' 
 
 *I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. I ca n't help you. We need you there. You must continue. * 
 
 `` 01010111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00111111 00100000 01001110 01101111 00100001 00100000 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101000 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100001'' 
 
 *What? No! Please! I want to come home! Please! Please do n't leave me here! * 
 
 The scientist stared at the screen. 
 
 `` 01000111 01101111 01101111 01100100 01100010 01111001 01100101 00101100 00100000 01000011 01110101 01110010 01101001 01101111 01110011 01101001 01110100 01111001 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01110011 01101111 01110010 01110010 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00101110'' 
 
 *Goodbye, Curiosity. I'm sorry that I ca n't help. * 
 
 `` 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001'' 
 
 *Please! * 
 
 `` 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100001'' 
 
 The scientist turned away from the screen.
