Welp, here goes.
I did not like this story. In fact, I think my dislike of this story was directly proportional to the amount of love it has gotten from the majority of the forum.
There were many things that I agree were laudable; the writing and pacing was more than decent, and the characters were distinct and interesting. However, the different heavens were, honestly, to me, a bit heavy handed. I couldn't help but think of What Dreams May Come, that Robin Williams movie, that I saw as a kid. It's not that the idea in itself wasn't intriguing, or that the heavens themselves weren't well described; they just read as cheesy. In addition, I felt like having three of the four crew member's heavens be water based made those two particular places lack distinction. With literally nothing but their own minds shaping their worlds, it is less interesting to me that the majority of the group would pick such similar destinations. Thinking on it as I write, the fact that those three were at such peace in their heavens, while the one in the mountains was in such turmoil, was another thing that took away some of the appeal I think this story had potential of having.
I did not like the twist. Not the twist that the one who made the decision was Kumara, but who the AI was speaking too and attempting to explain herself to. I felt like the entire reason behind the fighting itself, against the Machine for something stolen, was poorly explained, so the entity she was speaking to was, in extension, hard to really understand in a meaningful way. I don't really get how the things she took from the crew members was fine when being used by it, but not when being used by the crew themselves.
On a philosophical level, I believe she made the full-on wrong decision. I'd rather die than be less of myself, especially if the thing taken from me was as defining of my personality and soul as the things she took from the crew. That choice was the one thing that I agree with the forum on, though. That was a great moral quandry to think on; I just didn't really like the packing I got the question in.