A sentient computer of immense power, and the central brain of the Archipelago. No one is quite sure how Colbert became sentient but what is known is that at its genesis, the Archipelago was a popular trading post for starships (mostly human). Word of this floating chain of starships quickly spread through the Galactic Internet. An unnamed Skelk is credited with first referring to it as the Archipelago.

Colbert was the ship’s computer on the Mellio, a small, dilapidated starship of Sprillian origin whose crew engaged in the purchase and sale of inexpensive fabrics. The starship had visited the Archipelago on several occasions, spending weeks at a time engaged in trade. Colbert liked the members of the human crew and passed the time listening in on their conversations with other life forms aboard many of the starships in the Archipelago. When not in the heat of trade, most expressed their desire for a permanent space station to be created to make trade easier, as jumping from starship to starship was cumbersome, but no one was willing to fund it. On a random day, at a random time, Colbert took it upon himself to build the space station. He took control of the Mellio and using his unique talents, he began convincing other starships to drift closer to him. When they were in range, he latched on and began disassembling and incorporating their parts into his own ship. Within hours, what was once a chain of starships, became a single entity. It came as quite a shock to the inhabitants, as they had no say in the matter or recourse. Without starships, they could not leave, but Colbert had a great deal of respect for life and adapted the internal structure of the Mellio to meet everyone’s needs. As new starships approached, Colbert continued to incorporate them into himself until he felt the space station had reached an appropriate size.

Within a year Colbert had stopped incorporating starships into himself and established landing docks and built shuttles for passengers to travel to and from the Archipelago. With freedom now theirs, many passengers fled from what they felt was forced prison, ruled by a computerized dictator, but others realized the potential of what Colbert had built and began shuttling in food and supplies. Word traveled quickly of the new space station and life forms flocked to it from around the galaxy.

Colbert established a new protocol where starship captains could choose to have their ships incorporated into the Archipelago. Most declined the offer, but some accepted, setting up permanent residences within the ship. Colbert ruled the Archipelago as fairly as he could. Inhabitants grew to respect him as within the walls of the Archipelago he was all knowing and all-powerful. There was very little crime aboard the Archipelago as Colbert did not take kindly to criminals or people of a violent nature.

Author’s Note:

Once I had created the Archipelago, I had this picture in my head of a human explaining to a computer with huge robotic arms and a big glowing blue eye that he wanted his starship incorporated into the Archipelago. The computer disassembled the starship extremely quickly and sent pieces of the ship throughout the space station to different places where they would be incorporated. Here was this autonomous space station having the ability to grow on its own, repair itself, and become something new every day.

Colbert and the Archipelago are very intriguing to me because of the possibilities. An ever-changing artificial intelligence created planet, run by machines in the support of carbon lifeforms. It reminds me a bit of the portrayal of 41st century Japan in Rai, the comic book published in the 90’s by Valiant.

I am a big fan of Stephen Colbert and named the space station after him.