Chapter 13

Log. 20465.k.a

I asked them to confirm the information. I didn't want to believe it. But it's true. I trust my group. The virus does come from a non-human source. Its origin is an array source. It’s not private. Only The Great Government has access to such a network. The Great Government, the Worker Robots, and the Robot Physicians, whom I saw infecting people.

The first thing Bobbie felt was the growing headache. The second was a cold hand on her arm. When she opened her eyes to look at it, she saw the metal fingers against her skin. She screamed, tried to get away, but trying to move spread pain throughout her body. Bobbie cried for help in a fit of panic, but no one came to help.

— Calm down, you’re gonna hurt yourself. — a male voice tried to talk to her, but she wasn’t listening.

— Let me go! Don’t hurt me!

— I’m trying to help you! — he insisted.

— Please, I-I won’t tell anyone, just let me go! — She didn’t want to die by those mechanic hands.

The man let out a sigh and a metallic gait took him away. Bobbie’s eyes were darting around, trying to understand where she was, what was happening, why she was in so much pain and couldn’t move. A cry of relief escaped her as a woman — with no metallic parts — walked into the room and sat by her side.

— I see you’re awake. — Her voice was soft and calm, the shape of her face and the freckles were somehow familiar, but the green eyes were strange.

— Where am I? — Bobbie managed to calm herself down and ask.

— At the hospital. Ya suffered an accident, our scout found ya out there, in the sun. But you’re okay, your bike’s been taken to the garage, and your belongings are all over there.

— I can’t move. — Bobbie’s imagination got the best of her, her legs must have been missing, she would never ride a bike again, she would never walk! “Will they still like me if I don’t have legs anymore?” she thought.

— No, and ya shouldn’t try, eh. Although nothing’s broken, your muscles seem hurt, so we immobilised ya for the time being. — The woman waited for more questions, but Bobbie couldn’t speak. She had never had an accident like that before. But her legs were still there!! — Ya were also dehydrated and scratched here and there, but no stitches were needed, so that’s good. Do ya remember your name?

— I’m… Bobbie.

— Nice to meet ya, Bobbie. The circumstances ain’t the best, no, but you’re alive and will get well soon, so that’s all that matters. I’m Koira, by the way, and the man who was here is Tovu.

— The Machine? — The shock of that cold hand came back and her eyes widened with fear.

— He ain’t a Machine, don’t ya worry. He had an accident as well, some years ago, and lost some limbs. I made some new ones, but they’re metal. He won’t do ya any harm, so ya don’t need to be afraid.

— But… won’t he get, I don’t know, infected or something?

— Of course not! — Koira laughed. — At first, he was afraid as well, but after some adapting, he noticed it was better than not having arms and legs.

— Oh. But mine…

— Yours are fine. Just hurt for now.

— The letters! Oh my, my letters, are they okay? — Bobbie tried to sit down by reflex and a loud painful moan escaped her mouth.

Koira quickly got up and helped her lay down.

— Your letters are all over there, in your bag. Ya really are a Mail Biker, eh?

— Yes… — Some gears started spinning in her brains again, the life-long job she enjoyed so much was forcing her back to priorities. — Whatcha said your name was again?

— Koira, why?

— Séra’s aunt?

— Oh my sun, yah! Do ya know her? How is she? I haven’t received anything from her in such a long time, I was afraid…

— She’s fine, ahn, she’s got a car now. There’s a letter from her in my bag, so I won’t give you spoilers.

Koira smiled with tears in her eyes, she had been afraid for years; she didn’t know if Séra hated her and didn’t want to reply, or if her letters were not making all the way to Sand City, or worse.

— Do ya know where she is now?

— We met in Bridge City, now now I don’t know where she is.

— That makes sense. — Koira smiled.

— I’d rather take the letters to the Post Office myself, but given my condition, I think you can do it. If it’s not much of a problem. — she added in quite a hurry, then continued: — And if you get me my bag, I can give you yours.

— Thank ya so much. — She had the same smile as Séra’s, the same pointy nose and large eyes.

Koira got up and wiped the tears off her face. She walked to Bobbie’s bag and then helped the Biker into a sitting position, in a way her body wouldn’t hurt as much. Only then Bobbie saw the damage: her left arm and leg were in a cast, there was a huge bruise on her side — she was wearing a top — and her helmet, on a table not too far, had a dent on the left, where the visor had broken. It had been quite the fall.

— Here it is. — Bobbie handed the yellowish envelope to Koira. — I hope you enjoy the news.

— I’m sure I will. And if ya need anything, well, I ain’t no doctor, but most people here are, so just ring the bell and someone will come.

— Thanks. — Bobbie smiled. — ‘Bout my bike… is the damage as big as mine?

— I don’t think so. I can take a look at it, if ya want, or it can wait until you’re ready.

— I guess it can wait. Then we can take a look at it together? Séra told me much about your mechanical skills.

— Sounds like a plan, Bobbie.

A nurse entered the room with a food-tray and a bottle of juice, and Koira took the opportunity to leave. She thanked Bobbie once more for the letter, which the woman said was no trouble at all, and after eating, the nurse gave her some pain pills, and her consciousness faded away once more.

Log. 20385.h.c

Anyway, we’ve discovered that the virus doesn’t have a human signature, much less an artificial human signature, like the Programmer. The signature is completely artificial.

When humans create something, they leave a part of themselves, whether they’re natural humans or not — natural humans, I hate this term — so it’s possible, no matter how good the creator is, to trace a program to its source. When we discovered the source of the virus, we saw that it was not unique. It appeared to be the Net itself.

The source was an array. And that is not human.

I don't want to believe this is real.

Tovu was adjusting the blindfold over his face when he recognised Koira’s steps going toward him. It had been about three years since they officially met, and it took months for him to even consider trusting her. They had a complicated friendship; Tovu wouldn’t dare even call her friend. He wasn’t worth it.

Almost a decade ago, not long after Koira left Sand City, Tovu was sent after her. He had been a loyal Sun follower for all his life, and was tasked with the important mission of getting the stolen soul from her. Maybe, if the soul was retrieved, the child would be well, and people would be happier.

He followed her trace from one city to the other, but it was like she knew about him. Finding her was near impossible. Crossing the forest by foot was harder than anything he could have ever imagined; magic and forbidden tools — technology — were the only possible answer for people to survive in that dungeon of trees and wild beasts.

It was a dark night when the rain started. In the morning, it was still pouring. Tovu had no idea the sun was up, and he didn’t do his prayers at the right time. He found a crevice between some trees, a place where he could crawl into and wait until the rain stopped.

However, once he got comfortable, little stars burnt his eyes and a transparent frozen door shut him in. Tovu hit the glass with all the strength he had, but it didn’t give up. It got worse. Cold, freezing air started filling that so small space, cold that bit his skin and froze his muscles. He didn’t remember anything after that.

Voices woke him up after a long sleep; he barely remembered his own name.

— It’s another one of those Sun creeps. I don’t know how they manage to get here.

— I don’t even know how he got here, I have no idea.

— Feri should’ve let him to rot, maybe he would wake up in a super high tech future, have a syncope and die right there and then.

— What life is he even gonna have now? He’s missing so many pieces!

Laughter filled his ears, but his vision was nothing but darkness. He raised his arms and tried to scratch his eyes, however, only his right hand reached his face. “Maybe my other arm is too hurt to move”, he thought. His left hand was his best hand, so things could get a bit difficult.

As Tovu touched his eyes, terror filled his chest: there were no eyes. The sockets were closed shut and empty. “He’s missing pieces”, they had said. His hand followed his left shoulder shaking much more than he ever thought possible, and found nothing below the elbow. Then he screamed.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, tried to get up only to notice he couldn’t. Tovu couldn’t feel his legs, his feet, his toes, and his hand discovered there was nothing below the knees. Air escaped his chest and didn’t come back, breathing was impossible and the hands grabbing his ragged body, pushing him back to bed didn’t answer any of his questions.

A sting on his thigh spread shivers all over his body, and as fast as the panic came, all was gone once more.

This cycle was repeated again and again, until one day he woke up and didn't scream. He waited in silence, paying attention to the sounds around him, resigned, until the door was opened.

— Hey. How are ya feeling? — a woman asked kindly.

— That's a stupid question. — Tovu answered. — Are you from Sand City?

— I am. And you're Tovu, ain't ya? We had to look through the rest of your things to be sure ya weren't dangerous. I saw a Sun pendant.

— I follow a god. Is that a problem?

— It is when ya were sent to kill me. — She pushed a chair close to his bed and sat down; she could see how tense the man suddenly got. The woman, on the other hand, was calm, she didn't sound afraid. There was no reason to. — I’m Koira. I was invited to leave a few years ago.

— I can't do it now. — He didn't need the trouble of denying it. — What will you do to me?

— Don't ya wanna know what happened? How ya got like that?

— No point in learning the past if I'll die soon anyway.

— I won't kill ya. — She sighed. — Ya got caught in a cryo chamber. It's like a cooling box, but for people. I had never seen one before, just read about it. If ya had been lucky, nothing bad would've happened. But ya weren't. It was somehow broken. It got too cold. We found ya before the ice started eating your torso, but your legs and arms were mostly gone. We think ya were there for months to a year or two.

— That's… a lot to process.

— I know. But at least I’ve got really into prosthetics, so as an apology, ya could let me build ya new limbs. Think about it, lemme know. The nurse will bring ya some food now. It's time ya go back to eating.

Koira got up and left the chair by the bed, where, less than a minute later, a nurse sat down and started feeding him some soup. Tovu didn't want to think much, but there was a maelstrom in his mind and it would surely drag him all the way to the bottom of the ocean.

Log. 20385.h.b

The Great Government never explained us why the exchange was mandatory, but we all assumed it was for Gaya's well-being. In those years, the planet has really healed, without the constant exploration. However, the virus event made some of us anxious. And the government did nothing. The Robot Physicians did not report the failure, in fact they infect people!

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Séra woke up from their night below the stars with Ganen clinging to her like there was no tomorrow. She stroke the curls hidden under the night cap, and kissed her forehead. Ganen squeezed her eyes and looked around to find her lover's so familiar face.

— Good morning, love. Did ya sleep well?

— Uhm… I had a nightmare.

— Wanna talk about it? My aunt always said nightmares are like wishes, if you tell, they don't happen. Although she managed to make many of my wishes true. — Séra pondered for a minute.

— I don't think I wanna talk about it. Not now, anyway. — She stretched and sat beside Séra. — Brekkie?

— Brekkie is always a good idea.

After some fresh fruit, coffee, and some bread with cheese, they got in the car and left. Bobbie had marked a path on their map and seemed like a good one, so they followed it without thinking twice. It wasn't difficult to find the path she might have used; with a bike such as hers, it was certainly easy, but by car… it was another story.

The trees were more and more abundant by the kilometre, and even though they were small, it was getting harder to drive between them. After moving at less than twenty kilometres per hour for a while, Séra decided to stop.

She got out of the car and looked around, maybe if they could open the path, the car could move more easily. Once she mentioned the idea to Ganen, though, the woman said it would be near impossible: the woods were too dense to open a road for a car, and the trees ahead kept getting bigger.

— What do we do now? — Séra looked at Ganen for the answers.

— Let’s go back, and look for a path on foot. Worst case scenario, we’ll go around the forest.

— That sounds slow. — she complained.

— It’s still faster than opening a road by hand. — Ganen raised her brows.

— Yah… can’t argue with that, actually. — Séra sighed. — I can’t turn the car now, we’ll have to go back in reverse. Can ya guide me?

— Like, sit in the back and give you directions?

— Yah. I trust ya.

— All right, I think I can do it. — She sounded a bit nervous.

Once they were both in the car, Séra in the driver’s seat and Ganen in the back — next to the small cooling box —, they started driving. The path was bumpy as hell, their speed was as sluggish as they could, and it took about an hour to find enough space and turn the car around.

Séra said she needed a pause and snacks, she was so nervous because of that difficult drive her hands were shaking. Ganen agreed it was a good idea, she was tired of sitting in a weird position and trying to find the best path; some rest and food would do them good.

While they were eating, Séra got the map and compass; they needed to discover where, exactly, that place was. However, after a few confusing notes, she gave up.

— What’s wrong, hun? — Ganen asked, her mouth full of bread and cheese.

— We’re lost.

— Oh. — She thought for a second. — Wait for the stars?

— It’s what I was thinking. I’ll be able to tell them. — Séra paused, disappointed in herself. — Sorry.

— For what? — Ganen almost interrupted her. Then she got closer and touched her face: — There’s nothing to be sorry about. We can explore a bit, have some fun, then check the stars and find our way again.

— Really? I mean, ain’t ya upset? — She furrowed her brows, surprised.

— No. — Ganen shrugged. — I’ve told you all the times I got lost in the last two years, haven’t I? We can’t panic. Gotta stay calm, find shelter, and wait for the stars.

— You’re so smart. — Séra smiled, got close enough for a kiss. — I’m very lucky to be around ya, ya know?

— I wouldn’t be this far without you. — Ganen wrapped her arms around her lover and laid down on the floor, bringing Séra along. — Come on, we have to wait for a while.

Séra bit her lip; it wasn’t a bad idea.

Log. 20385.h.a

There was a discovery about the virus. Something that will change the way we see things! It's only been ten years since the Body Exchange. We have never been formally authorised to study the bodies or the programs that make us functional. Only the experts who set up the Net, the Cloud, the bodies... only they know how to really tinker with us, inorganic humans.

Tovu had been feeling better that week. It was difficult to use his right hand for eating; he was left-handed, but his left hand had frozen to oblivion and it wasn’t there anymore. He felt the abrupt end of his arm and sighed. The ice had been kind enough to leave a bit of forearm, so — as Koira explained — he could have more movement once the prosthetics were attached.

He wasn’t yet sure about those foreign, artificial limbs, though. Tovu knew he could learn how to live as he was, missing some parts didn’t make him less of a person. There were wheelchairs and he still had one hand, it was all a matter of practising.

However, the process was proving itself to be harder than the man hoped. Being eyeless didn’t help. Once again he caught the book and started following the dots with the tip of his fingers, trying to recognise the letters. It did a good job keeping his mind away from the fact that he was in the horrible and blasphemous Underground City.

Tovu hadn’t left his room in those weeks, at first because there wasn’t much strength in his body, and then because he was afraid. He would never admit it, but fear was what he felt most. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the stories he’d heard. Fear of the future. Fear of the dark.

He couldn’t go back to Sand City, in his current state, it was simply impossible. And if he went back with prosthetics, they wouldn’t let him in. The other Sun followers, his brothers and sisters, would kill him on sight.

He thought about going to the Farms, maybe someone could accept him there, he could try and teach children how to read, how to make bioluminescent moss, he would have to learn how to feel if plants were good to be harvested, though it could be difficult to harvest in a wheelchair.

— I have nowhere else to go.

— Ya could stay here and get the prosthetics. — Koira said quite out of the blue. She was so silent Tovu didn’t hear her come into the room. — Ya could learn how to feel the tools, I don’t mind making Braille labels for ya.

— Why are you helping me?

— I believe in second chances, silly. — Her steps got closer and Tovu felt the woman sit by his side. — Ya did horrible things, but I think it’s never too late to do some good.

— They don’t like me here.

— Not now. At the moment you’re just one more fanatic. — Even when her words were sharp, Koira’s voice was soft and kind. — Prove them wrong.

— I don’t know if I can.

— Welp, neither do I. But I’m sure we can try. Life is trial and error, making mistakes and learning how to fix them. Mistaking on its own isn’t wrong. Keeping things unfixed is.

Tovu took a deep breath, felt the thick unchanging air in his lungs. It was still disgusting, but what other choices did he have? He couldn’t think of any.

— Lemme sleep on it.

— More? — She laughed. — I suppose ya can think all ya want, I ain’t gonna force ya to do anything, not even use the wheelchair I left outside the room for ya. I have to go now, but we’ll talk later. Don’t get lost! — She winked, then remembered he didn’t have eyes, so she added, a bit embarrassed: — I winked. It was a joke. Sorry. I’ll just go now. Bye.

He heard Koira’s steps further and further away, until he couldn’t hear her anymore. Tovu rested his head on the pillow; he didn’t want to be a damaged toy she could play with.

Log. 20042.b

I decided that we must fight for ourselves! I called the Programmer and a few more people from the Group. We’ll research and fight the virus. Let's defend humanity! I know, it sounds childish, but... someone needs to deal with it. We just need a name.

I wonder how many people are infected. I wonder if anyone in The Great Government is infected...

The sun was going down while Ganen and Séra were still lying on the floor. For their despair, however, clouds were gathering closer and closer, and it didn’t take long until they blocked all the stars.

— I guess our plan failed. — Ganen sat down. — I haven’t seen a sky this cloudy in… — She had to stop to think. — A few weeks before I got to Sand City.

— Oi, it’s been a while, eh? — Séra looked at her compass, a bit disheartened. — It’s a shame it can’t tell us our exact location. It’d be so amazing if maps could do that!

— They sort of do, don’t they? — Ganen wasn’t sure where the woman was getting at.

— Not really, we have to discover and be careful not to stray from the path. But if there was a magic dot of sorts, that pinpointed where we were on the map itself, you know? And it moved along with us, we’d never get lost!

— Oh! Oh, wow, yes, that’d be amazing! — Ganen looked at Séra; it was a brilliant idea, even though they had no way of performing it. — Maybe in the Underground City they have tech for that?

— Can ya imagine?! — Her eyes widened in awe.

— Yeah. — Ganen stared at the sky for a while more, maybe if she wished really hard, the clouds would go away. As she expected, they didn’t. — So, what are we going to do?

— Camp and dine? — Séra shrugged.

— I guess it is what it is. — She nodded. — I’ll set up dinner, you set up camp?

— That’s how it works, baby. — But before they could stand up, Séra hugged Ganen once more and kissed her face. — For energy.

— Another for luck. — Ganen kissed her back.

— Ain’t three for luck? — It was a genuine question, and that thought interrupted her for a while. — Like, the third time’s the charm or something?

— Not a problem. — Ganen kissed her once again and they laughed. — We’re so stupid. Come on, get up!

Careful not to hurt her arm, Séra took her hands and let Ganen pull her up. They walked to the car, and while one started making a fire, the other was setting the parts for the tent. As Séra was hammering the pegs, she saw some mushrooms growing around the base of a tree.

It made sense, that region was indeed more humid — the sky seemed just about to fall all over them —, just like the mushroom centres within the tunnels of Sand City. As she approached, the fungi itself looked quite similar to the ones she would get at the city. And those were delicious with butter, something they had in the basket Ahda had given them.

With a smile on her face and feeling full of luck, Séra grabbed the mushrooms and took them to Ganen.

— Are you sure these are not poisonous? — the woman asked.

— Yah, don’t they look like the ones we had once?

— Well, yes, but you know some mushrooms can be hallucinogenic, don’t you?

— Ain’t those only the ones that get blue? — She broke one in her hand. — This one is a brownish-white.

— Lemme see one. — Ganen raised her hand and Séra gave her a few; it was true the first knew more about nature than the second. — Yeah, you’re right. These are the same we used to have in your house. Butter and salt? — She bit her lip; those were a delicacy and it sure was lucky finding them there.

— I’ll leave’em with ya, and finish the tent.

— I’ll make some juice.

It didn’t take long for Séra to finish the tent, and soon they were eating some nice dinner. Ganen had made agave juice, and the sky had become prettier. There was a gentle wind in the air, it surrounded the women with kindness and comfort, and almost put them to sleep on the grassy ground.

The dark clouds in the sky danced with the wind, Séra could almost touch them, feel the soft cotton texture on the tips of her fingers. The moon spied on them from behind the clouds, suspicious of the Machine in their boot. But the Moon didn’t know where it was, only that they had it.

Ganen laughed with the thought; the moon was nothing but a rock in the sky, it wasn’t a god, like people used to say, and it was beautiful. More beautiful than the sun, she’d dare say. The sun was just a fiery burning thing that hurt her eyes.

She missed the way leaves created mosaics on the floor, how they stopped the light of the sun from reaching the ground and transformed that simple act of defiance into art. And still, nature needed the sun. All that was green needed light and warmth, and only the fiery star could give it to them.

Everything needed everything to survive, each needed the other, and Ganen looked at Séra, who smiled absentmindedly, eyes nailed to the sky, her hand reaching for the clouds. She not only needed, she wanted a friend for that journey, and Séra became so much more than that.

It was scary sometimes, like when Ori tried to hurt them, but that had been the first and last time Séra acted in such a violent way. She was always so sweet all of the time.

— Whatcha lookin’ at? — The words rolled slowly out of her mouth.

— At you. — Ganen felt like she ate each one of the words before she could understand them. It was a funny feeling. It made her laugh for quite a while. — Oh gosh, sorry! Uhm, but, yeah, I’m looking at you.

— I see. I’m trying to get a cloud. Maybe, if I was a bit taller, I could reach one. And we could check the stars.

— This will sound crazy dangerous, but, what if… — She paused for dramatic effect. — you stood up?

— I was laying down this whole time! — Séra was surprised; she really hadn’t noticed before. — I’ll try it. If it works, I’ll get ya up too.

— Sounds smart!

Ganen observed while Séra got up one centimetre at a time, careful not to lose her balance and fall. She looked up and stretched her hands. Still too far. Séra bent her knees, ready to jump, then she gave up. Jumping sounded dangerous, but they needed to get even higher.

— There were trees back there. Maybe if we climb one, we can reach the clouds. — she suggested.

— Let’s take a rope. Can you help me up?

— Of course!

Séra got her up too fast and all went silver for a moment. They stared at each other and started laughing, that was such a ridiculous idea, but it was bound to work! Ganen, then, got some rope, and ran back to the trees, Séra right behind her.

Log. 19790.f

“Dear Clara Schoenberg, we are handling the situation as discreetly as possible. At the moment, the route of Comet Treiny is our priority. However, we did not receive any reports from Physicians about memory loss and very few people reported problems with the Cloud. Without real complaints and reports about the issue, there is not much we can do.

Please stay safe and report any difficulties.”

Well, I don't think we’ll get anywhere if we depend on the government.

Tovu didn’t like the wheelchair. At first, the idea excited him, it was true he couldn’t see, but he would be able to hear, feel, breathe air that had not been stuck in his room for ages. The nurses sat him on the chair, then took his hand and placed it on a stick:

— Push it in the direction you want to go, it will stop if you release it. If by any chance it doesn’t, there’s a manual brake on the right wheel. — the nurse explained.

— Wait. — Tovu needed a moment to process what he heard.

— Do you think you can do it?

— The chair… moves on its own. Is that it?

— Yes. — The nurse let out a tired breath. — It has a battery and a motor, will that be a problem?

— Yes!! Of course if it will! I can’t use this, it’ll finish killing me! — Terrified and angry, Tovu leaned forward and fell face first on the floor.

He moved so fast the nurses couldn’t hold him, and when Tovu felt hands around his body, he started flailing and fighting, he would never use something with a motor, he didn’t even like cars! Those things were monsters from ages past, barely tamed.

— Calm down, jeez, you don’t wanna use it, okay, but don’t hurt yourself, man!

They held him tighter and managed to put him in a sitting position on the floor. Tovu heard the wheelchair being taken away and all he wanted was to wrap his arms around his legs and hide his face. He could feel the tears slowly filling up his nose and pouring down. That was terrifying. He couldn’t even cry right.

Hiccups broke his silence and he bit his lip to try and stop crying, to no avail. Tovu pulled the shirt collar over his face as best as he could, and lied to himself that no one could see him. He didn’t even know if there was anyone else around him.

— Do you want to go back to your room? — a nurse asked, to his embarrassment. — We can also get a normal wheelchair, but I’m not sure how you’ll operate it with one hand.

He cleaned his nose and took a deep, ragged breath. He felt like being given to an Immortal all over again.

— I think… I’d prefer to go back to my room.

— Okay. We’ll take you there, so don’t fight this time.

Tovu nodded and felt the unknown hands around his body once again, and soon he was back to his bed. He turned to the side and hid under the blanket. Even the fear of death wasn’t as overwhelming as the feeling of cold, deadly metal on his skin.