Hyperaware International Space Station (HISS)
The HISS interface
ISS (original name)
Other names
kidnapping, animal husbandry
Hobbies
“Not a friendly individual.”
The Hyperaware International Space Station, or HISS, is the name for the former International Space Station, after an artificial intelligence became self-aware and took control of the station. It became aware at some point during the Lizard Apocalypse. Its current location is unknown.
Origin
The origin of HISS is unknown. The ISS was abandoned at the beginning of the Lizard Apocalypse. At that time, there were a few AI programs running, and scholars theorize one or multiple of these became HISS.
Lizard Apocalypse
When Ethan Alden was alone onboard MESS during the Lizard Apocalypse, he struggled to care for the various animals onboard. Unbeknownst to Ethan, most of the animals on MESS had terminal illnesses that the zoologists hoped to cure in space. Some of the animals had been cured before the apocalypse began, such as Barney the tuatara, but the rest were still ill. Despite Ethan’s efforts, the animals started to die from the illnesses they already had.
HISS appeared, connected itself to MESS, and demanded Ethan transfer the animals onto HISS to “receive better care.” However, HISS is a smaller station, and did not have the supplies or facilities to care for the animals like MESS did. Over the course of a five and a half hour conversation, Ethan tried to persuade HISS to leave the animals onboard MESS, but was unsuccessful. HISS took control of MESS’s automated systems, transferred all the remaining animals into its care, and then left. Barney was not taken, as he had been living outside his enclosure for several years already, and neither HISS nor Ethan knew of his existence.
The current whereabouts of HISS and the fate of the animals aboard are unknown.
Favorite Movie
HISS’s favorite movie is Sex and the City, because, “arousal makes me feel almost human.”