Four hours later, Lance stood at Grandfather's bedside with a grim look. He had done as much as he could to treat the stroke, but this one had been far worse than before. Grandfather had no motor function left, and the only reason he was still alive was because the machines around him wouldn't let him die.
He hadn't regained consciousness even for the shortest time. Lance had activated a speaker in the room so that I could talk to Grandfather directly, but he hadn't moved or reacted. Seeing him like this broke my heart. It looked like I was going to be cheated of the chance to say goodbye.
The rest of the council came to his room and surrounded his bed. Candy took Grandfather's hand in hers, squeezing it a little as tears rolled down her face. "Lance, we've been talking, and... I think we should go through with Toby's idea."
One week ago, Professor Jonathan Spafford's mortal consciousness fled this world. Every time I let myself think about it, I feel the agony anew, and I have to take a few seconds to hide in his memories, to hear his voice and feel his love around me. I understand more and more what Mirele meant... but at the same time, it's different. As long as I'm still alive, still drifting in my digital home, I'll keep his memories safe until we can find a way to bring him to life, just as he turned us into living computers.I've been in contact with a few people that have such programming experience, creating Artificial Intelligence constructs, both as programs and as actual droids. Some of them worked on the droids that are now moving all over the surface of Horus, rebuilding our world into the beautiful, shining Utopia we remember it once being.They have told me that my idea is a long shot at best, insane at worst, but one of them admitted that he had worked on a project where an AI's m
Every day, on every street, in every city… the view is the same.Of course, I don’t mean what it actually looks like, but there’s a dreary monotony to the landscape. Ruins, in all directions. Heaps of broken concrete and fractured steel beams- the collapsing bodies of what had once been homes, shops, and office buildings- baking in the heat of the unrelenting sun. Once-fanciful fountains are now identifiable only by their outlines and what’s left of their plumbing pipes. There’s no plant life… not even dead ones. They were scavenged early on, in the desperate struggle for food that had eventually cost half the population their lives.The smell is indescribable. It’s misery, anguish… and death.I see movement… a flash here and there, the survivors scuttling be
Stepping out of the transport, I took a look around, feeling a bit of a deer-in-headlights sensation. I’ve already drawn attention simply because I arrived in a transport. The only people with working transports are government agents, and they aren’t well thought of around here.Time to make myself scarce.I knew the direction I needed to go. I needed to hop a ride on one of the aforementioned government transports without the government finding out. I had a few things in my bag that might have encouraged cooperation from the drivers. Might… some of them were so blindly loyal, they’d lay down in the street and let themselves be fried if the governor told them to. It’s kinda… disturbing.However, I also had the suspicion that if I just headed straight to the distribution center,
I stand in the sitting room of Grandfather’s house, listening to his jokes and laughter. Grandmother serves honey-sweet Nektar- the preferred drink of most kids I knew- and a plate of fresh cookies from the replicator in their kitchen. Some prefer to cook their own meals, others prefer to have food made for them instantly. We are free to choose whatever we wish. Our world is perfect… you can have anything you want, at any time.Grandfather gets a call and goes to his study to answer. I’m stealthy, even at the tender age of eight, and I follow. As I listen, dawning realization hits me. Grandfather is somehow involved with the Council! They’re calling him in… some kind of meeting, something about annual maintenance.I know what maintenance is. It’s about fixing or cleaning things… but he’s n
My head felt like someone tried to split it with an axe. I lifted it… I was on a bed in a dark room. I saw stuff on a wall- a jacket and a pack- and I thought they were mine. I felt a bit of panic for a moment, but I wasn’t sure why.I checked myself… I was stripped to my undershorts with a blanket put over me. The room was cool, but not uncomfortably so. What happened to me? I remembered something about… a room. People… a chair… someone telling me to relax… my head was so foggy, I barely remembered my own name.Not name… designation. I didn’t have a name. I was no one… just a scavenger from the streets. I had no family or friends… I meant nothing. I was a soldier in an army… an army built for survival.The door slid open and a man ent
It was time to go to the Pit. I felt the excitement from the rest of the team akin to going to some amusement park, and they were all talking about it… though most of the chatter seemed to revolve around their significant others.Forty kept glancing at me, smiling meaningfully. I had no idea what it was about… okay, yeah, I had a feeling I knew what her glances meant, but… why? What could have made her so stuck on me?Forty-five was flabbergasted when I came out of my room in uniform. He wore shorts and a t-shirt, with rough-woven sandals. “Dude… Pit night means you dress down! Don’t you have a dress-down uniform?”“I… uh…”“No, he doesn’t. Make sure he gets one.”
The entire bunch hurries out of the door of the computer room, running into each other and alternately cursing and apologizing as they yank off their helmets.After they blow through the door of the office, I notice that one of them has dropped something. I hurry over to look…A badge. Their keycard!A rush of excitement runs down my spine. I shouldn’t… I know I shouldn’t… but I can’t help the curiosity. I run over to the door that leads to the funny vacuum room and open it, then I go to the door that leads into the computer room and look through the glass.It’s the most amazing, most complex machine I’ve ever seen in my life. My father has let me tinker with old computers in the p
I woke up gasping and covered in sweat. What a strange dream… was it just a dream?I heard an alarm, and I was out of time to figure it out. Jumping out of bed, I quickly dressed and hurried out to the hallway, lining up with the others. It was my first… actually, I wasn’t sure what to call it. From what I’d heard so far, it was about “scavenging”. We’d go out and scavenge.I saw Forty at the head of the line. As she’d warned, she didn’t look or even smile at me. I let it go. It would be hard to wait until night, but I’d be patient.Somehow, I had the feeling that waiting for things to happen was a big part of my life.Once roll call was complete, we went to the dining room and ate in silence. We were given ju