Chapter 2

Log. 26801.h

There is no more time. I must go to the underground city. I need to find a solution for this! Today one of us fell for the virus. It's closer and smarter, we underestimated it. I had to make the Programmer stay. He's the best of us at fighting the virus and making people’s back-ups. They don't want me to go, but they also agree that if anyone has a chance to be accepted in the city it’s me.

Ganen and Séra sat in front of the datapad, staring at the words on the screen. They read it over and over, and tried to grasp all the little details they could. The narrator said robots, which implied not everyone was one, but both past and present agreed they didn’t seem trustworthy.

— Maybe they’re talking about the… — Ganen tried to remember the name she heard once and failed; she furrowed her brows, angry at herself. — Ah, you know, the thing that connected everybody to one another in the past, made all peoples one people.

— I’ve no idea, love. But why was it dangerous connecting physically? I mean, even the Machine we have here has its own connecting entrance melted, if that’s what we think it is.

— Well, then I'm glad we’re not able to fix it.

Then both of them slowly focused on the cable connecting the tiny memory block to Ganen’s datapad, and shivers ran down their spines. A little nervous, the woman got pen and paper, wrote down the text as fast as she could, then disconnected everything.

— Just in case. — Ganen breathed out.

— I must admit I do feel safer now. — Séra got the memory block and put it back with the others. — Do you know what a computer is? A tool, maybe? Apparently it’s worth more than a house, eh?

— By logic, it’s a thing that computes, so maybe a very technological calculator? Maybe they could connect to it mentally!

— And they would never have to do maths again? — She scoffed. — I wouldn’t trade my house for that, and I’m doing maths all the time.

— Not all people are as smart as you, Séra. — Ganen poked her with the pencil.

— But it’s just logic! 1 + 1 is 2, so pi is 3.14159265359…

— Shut up! — She tried to smile, but deep down she was jealous. Ganen wished she could trust her brain like that. In an attempt to hide her frustration, she tried to change the subject: — I want to read all of those memory blocks. But I don’t feel very safe doing it here. If one of them wrecks my datapad, I want to be around someone who can fix it.

— That makes sense. — Séra noticed her frustration, but didn’t quite know what to do about it, so she got up and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. — Ya okay, love?

— Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, I don’t have all the tools I need and have no idea where to find them. — She got a random memory block. — All their openings are different, I don’t have the cables for all that, and we definitely won’t find them here. Maybe I could find some of them at home, but… I don’t wanna go back now, not when there’s so much more to see.

— So maybe we should leave the city. — Séra looked at all that tech. — We won’t find anything useful around here, and if people hear we have this kind of stuff within city walls, we’ll be in so much trouble.

— So, hypothetically, where would we go? — Ganen decided to buy into it.

Séra had her eyes fixed on the Machine; she knew one more person who would love taking it apart and studying every little piece of it. The same person who taught her technology wasn’t evil, it was bright and beautiful. Her inventions were the cure for young Séra’s constant nightmares, the little dreams she could watch move around her walls as she laid awake. Koira, her aunt.

— I have the coordinates to the Underground City. — She looked at the nothing for a second, then turned back to Ganen. — My aunt gave them to me before she was shunned.

— Wait. But, the Underground City, does it really exist? — In all her wildest dreams Ganen couldn’t have imagined that.

— According to my aunt, it does. She showed me the letter they sent her, she was invited there. — Séra got up, and started writing a lot of numbers under the Log from the memory block. — She made me memorise it before she left.

— I can’t believe it. — Ganen got the paper and tried to imagine where in a map those numbers would fit.

— It’s waaaay south, weeks of travel, I think, but I’m sure you can find your cables there. — She suddenly looked away and her cheeks turned red. — And I’ve been waiting for the perfect excuse to go there, so maybe we could go together.

Ganen held those twitchy fingers, and made them hug her. Séra was still looking away, embarrassed for her life, and she thought her heart would stop when she felt warm hands on her face.

— And you think I’d dare leave you behind? — Ganen kissed her and felt Séra melting in that hug. — Do you think we can make it? The trip, I mean.

— Yah. — Her confidence in that instant knew no equal. — It’s far, but if I get a car and we stock resources… We don’t need much petrol, I can put solar panels on the car. We can do it.

— So let’s do it. — Ganen held her face with a grand smile. — I can work too, I could maybe help in the garage. You’d come with me?

— Yah, you ain’t escaping from me this easily.

Log. 26749.f.b

From what I’ve seen, after the fall of Comet Treiny, many things have changed. Most of the inorganic humans have turned themselves off and are waiting for the situation to improve in a safe place. Machines cannot charge the batteries and are shutting down. It’s... horrible, but perhaps it will give us a chance to fight the virus and save those who haven’t been infected yet. I wonder if we’ll ever find the memories of those who are gone.

Together, Ganen and Séra started planning their trip. According to the map and their calculations, it would take up to 4 weeks from the desert. There were some cities along the way, but they thought it was best to gather as much food, water and petrol they could instead of relying on strangers.

It wasn’t uncommon for a group to get a car in order to explore the tunnels, and deep down their intentions weren’t that different; both wanted to learn things, so Séra hoped it wouldn’t be difficult to get a car without a date to return it. She was the engineer, afterall, she shouldn't be denied a car.

Although the city resources were divided amongst the citizens, each family could trade or sell their extras, and for being an outsider, Ganen had to pay for food and housing, so Séra decided to use that opportunity, and suggest a way for saving money: moving in with her.

As she explained, her parents were old when she was born, and she lived most of her life with her aunt. Once she went to the Underground City, the house was rather empty, there was enough space for all three of them — Machine included. Ganen adored the idea and agreed without a second thought, she was glad Séra offered.

The people didn’t care much for the women’s relationship, it wasn’t their business, but Treiny saw the whole ordeal as a personal offence. He had talked to Séra when Ganen first arrived, told her how he wanted to get to know the outsider, and she took the woman for herself anyway. And it wasn’t difficult to discover they were planning on leaving.

— So, dear Ganen, I heard about the house change. — he mentioned, as he got the bottle of dark agave syrup she was about to get at the fair.

— It doesn’t really concern you. — She was surprised how difficult it was to avoid him; she got another bottle and put it in her canvas bag.

— Well, I suppose it does, because you haven’t contacted me about any more tunnel trips.

— I’ve got other priorities at the moment. — She got a second bottle to join the first.

— You shouldn’t drink so much syrup, it’ll make all your teeth rot. — Treiny sounded worried for a second.

— I’m just buying in advance. Besides, sugar is good for energy. — She raised her eyebrows in a challenge and put a third bottle in her bag, and turned to the old lady who made the syrups. — I’m sure my family will love the drinks, Mrs. Alzbek.

— Are you leaving? — He followed her when she left.

— Eventually.

Séra, a few steps ahead, heard Ganen’s voice and didn’t notice the golden boy behind her.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

— Oi, love, do you think this much turnip’ll be enough for both of us? I got some extra, so we can make some kind of pickle, I thought, because it lasts longer. Do ya like it?

— Yes, I-I think that’s quite enough. — She looked surprised at the full bag. — I didn’t know my house money could buy so many things. But what do people do with the money afterwards? The city gives you everything.

— You can exchange it either for food or tools, like cars, or a service, like mine, for example, for something non-essential. It’s useful and it’s something to do with eventual foreign currency. — She paused for a moment, looked at the copper and nickel coins, money from a long lost past. — Do ya think we should save some of these?

— We won’t need much money if we get enough resources, worst case scenario, we work a little bit.

Treiny watched them leave, but it wasn’t impossible to understand what was going on, all he needed to do was pay attention in their chat. And he knew how Sand City felt about sharing their finest.

At the end of that week, he separated some of his family’s extras — a litre of petrol that had been laying for a while would make a certain present, two jars of pickled spiky pears, a solar lantern he hadn’t used in ages, and a kilogram of dried crickets —, all well known to be travel items, and left at their door with a friendly note, I hope all goes well in your journey, no signature.

There was no need to name who was travelling, Séra was the only person living in that house, and the doubt it created was enough. At first the women were confused, but thought the act was simply kind.

What they didn’t foresee were the consequences. They didn’t see the curious glances and didn’t hear the gossip. At first, Ganen noticed the prices seemed a bit higher than usual, but it wasn’t days until people refused to sell her their extras.

— I don’t understand. — She sipped her glass of ayran; the yoghourt drink had a tangy and salty taste, it was rather different from what she used to have in her home city. — Have I done something to upset people?

— I don’t know, love, I’ve been working more than usual. — Séra was laying on her sofa. — It almost looks like people are breaking their things on purpose. Let’s try the next fair, I’ll go with ya. — With a loud groan, she put herself back up. — Get your laundry, I have to fix one of the washing stations, we can wash our clothes once I finish. Maybe we can get some more goat milk for yoghourt, whatcha say, love?

— Sounds like a good plan. — Ganen smiled.

They wanted to leave as soon as possible, but it took time to store food and water, and it was difficult without everyone’s cooperation.

Ganen finished her drink and helped Séra gather their laundry, and her tools to fix the washing station. Maybe, if people saw everything was normal, they would stop shunning them. Which wasn’t really the feeling both women encountered arriving at the end of the aqueduct.

The washing station was some metres below it, the strength of the water going down would hit large, thick ceramic plates, which were placed within the water corridors. They had fissures in order to make the water go around its area and leave once it completed a full circle.

These plates were not indestructible, and wood would be a better choice, but that was hard to find in a desert. It was a miracle they could grow bushes in the underground to have some vegetables; so ceramic had to do. They would still break from time to time.

— I ain’t normally called for these, I’m more specialised, I’ve earned that much, but I still have to go if no one else is free. — Séra complained. All she could do about it was substitute the plate and see if the problem was a crack or if the whole thing had broken.

And by the looks of it, the plate was smashed with considerable force. It even seemed like if someone had held it up their head and bashed it on the ground. Séra looked at the line, there were five people waiting to use that station and more coming. She cursed under her breath; she’d have to come up with something.

— Ganen, love, could ya open my bag and see if there’s some metal mesh in there? I found some a while ago.

— Yeah. — She said after looking for a while. — There isn’t much.

— Hopefully it will be enough.

The holes in the ceramic plate made the water spin because of its shape. If she could reproduce the effect with metal mesh, it would be revolutionary and the plates wouldn’t break as much. At first, the mesh was too soft to hold shape, so Séra went back home and got some strong wires she had left from a previous repair.

Once the mesh had a structure to hold on to, the challenge was getting the angle for the water to spin. It proved itself to be a tricky part, but once she made some layers of mesh, it seemed sturdy enough.

The sun was burning her skin and her eyes hurt with all the light, but she had just made a new thing, which could be perfected over time. She was extra careful to not let any loose ends which could rip someone else’s clothes, then placed the metal mesh plate on the water and waited.

To her surprise, the plate itself started spinning, so she asked the people if she could test it with her clothes, to see if it would still work. And, after a while, it did. She smiled, proud of herself, and decided to improve that design later on.

— Oh, Miss Séra, I don’t know what we’d do without you in town, dear. — one of the women in line said. — You ain’t leaving, are you, my dear?

— Ah, yeah, I’m… I’m planning a family visit. — She wasn’t comfortable with that conversation.

— I hope it doesn’t take long. — A man holding a laundry basket in one hand and a child in the other approached them. — Goris, from the jam stand, told me you’re going away with… — He paused, glanced at Ganen. — Is it true?

— Look, things will be alright, I know I can be useful here and there, but there are many other engineers in town, you don’t need to worry about anything. — She tried to take a step away, but the woman grabbed her arm.

— I don’t know, you’re so useful here, it’d be a shame if you had to leave.

— We would all be lost without you here, Miss Séra.

— You won’t, don’t worry. — She tried to smile, the situation was getting worse by the second, and the people in line started crowding around her. — Let go of my arm, please. I have to put my clothes to dry.

— I’m sure the outsider can do it for you, we need you here.

— First, she has a name and she’s my friend. Second, let go of my arm. — She pulled it with more strength and the woman finally gave up. — I know my work is important, but I’m not the only one, and I have my own life. — Stressed, she touched Ganen’s back. — Let’s go home.

She almost ran away from that situation, people had never treated her like that. This time she noticed all the glares at them, it was just like when her aunt was shunned all over again. She closed the door of her house and tried to breathe, everything was spinning.

— Séra, hey, sit down, I’ll get you some water. — Ganen held her shaky hands and took her to the sofa. — Long, deep breaths, okay? I’ll be right back.

Séra nodded, and hid her hands between her legs. She was but a teen when her aunt was invited to leave Sand City, and she worked very hard to make people trust her again. Seeing all those evil eyes in her direction stirred feelings she had buried too deep.

— Here, hun. — Ganen sat by her side and offered her a glass of water. — Do you wanna talk about it?

— Not really. Who told these people we’re leaving? We don’t even have a date yet! — She was angry at all that harassment. — They ain’t selling us their extras, things are being broken, now people are telling me I can’t leave! Fuck them.

— Maybe it’s just their way of saying you’ll be missed, hun. Their waying of saying you’re important for…

— No. Their way, our way would be lifting the people, supporting them. Not harassing them. — She let out a long, tired sigh, and stared at the glass of water between her hands. — Let’s put this back, love. We don’t know when they’ll stop giving us water.

She got up and walked back to the kitchen, opened a large clay pitcher and put the untouched water back in. Ganen followed her and held her hand; she was also anxious because of all that situation.

— I’m not dragging you out against your will, right? I’m remembering wrong, aren’t I?

— No, love, you’re remembering it quite right. — Séra pulled Ganen to her chest and hugged her tightly. — I was the one inviting you. And now more than ever I want to leave. We should set a date and leave with what we got. We’ll figure out the rest later.

— Worst case scenario, I know how to set traps. — Ganen said, her face squished against the engineer; which made the woman laugh.

— I’ll get a car and we’ll go.

— Vanish from here.

— Off to the Underground. — Séra kissed her forehead with a smile, then Ganen kissed her smile.

— Let’s do it.

— Tomorrow is Assembly-day, I’ll talk to the Administrators, get the car, and you pack our bags.

— I like this plan. — Ganen was happy to finally be able to use her foldable datapad freely, listen to her music device whenever she felt like it, she wanted to feel the wind of the road on her face, and have no worries for a while.

With that in mind, they started packing and looking for better ways to hide their Machine — the zealots would burn them alive if they knew of a robot in the city.

Séra packed her clothes really fast, she didn’t have many and most of them were made with thin, breathable fabric; at nights, when the temperature dropped, she would rather wrap a blanket around herself than wear a pullover.

Ganen, on the other hand, seemed to have way too many clothes for someone who was on the road for about two years. There were cold and warm clothes, three pairs of walking boots — although she said she’d leave the oldest one behind —, her datapad, and a smaller canvas bag Séra didn’t really see her using in her house.

— What’s in there? — she asked. — Love letters from your other lovers?

— What? No. — Ganen thought the idea was quite funny. — Ahn, these are some pictures and mind puzzles.

— Can I see them?

Ganen pondered for a second, then emptied its contents on the bed. There were many puzzle books, some complete, some erased, some yet to be answered. She pushed those aside and got a small wooden box full of pictures.

— These are my friends back home. — She showed Séra one of them, where four teens were hugging each other with big, happy smiles on their faces. Ganen got another picture, with three older women. — And these are my favourite aunt, my mum, and grandma.

— Wow! You look just like them! — Séra examined it closer; the picture was small with a white frame. — Is this some sort of envelope?

— What is an envelope?

— You know, the folded paper you…

— I know what an envelope is! — She poked Séra. — On the picture, I mean.

— Ah! This white part around it. I’ve seen pictures before, but they didn’t have this envelope thingy.

— Oh! No, no. That is part of the picture. Hang on. — Ganen stood up and rummaged through the bag she would keep her datapad, then she returned with a blocky square thing, with tiny lenses and a round part in the front. She removed the round part to reveal another lens. She looked around, checking if the windows were closed, then pointed it at Séra: — Give me a smile.

Séra had no idea of what would happen, so her smile was rather awkward. A flash of light blinded her for a second, she scratched her eyes and felt the bed bounce a bit when Ganen sat by her side again. The blocky machine spat a blank piece of paper that slowly took colour. And then Séra saw herself on the paper, her awkward smile preserved forever.

— Okay, this is both awesome and creepy.

— It’s a photographic camera. It makes pictures, so you can remember moments forever. Those papers are hard to come by, so I keep them for special moments.

— So… am I special? — It was a genuine question. Her eyes were locked on the small, lifeless copy of herself.

— Of course you are. I wanted to take more pics, but people got afraid, said it would trap their souls and shit like this.

— It won't, right? — She had a vague memory of her parents saying something like this as well.

— Of course not! It’s just a, uhm, a kind of chemical drawing. — Then she hugged Séra with one arm, pointed the camera at them, and clicked the button. The flash was a bit too strong, but soon they had a picture in hand. — Lemme get a pen, we can write our names and the date, where we took it, so we never forget.

— So that’s why all the others have writings!

Ganen mumbled something positive, then offered Séra a pen, an incentive to write their names. Séra’s handwriting wasn’t the most beautiful, but it was easy to understand.

— Now you are unforgettable. — Ganen was giddy as she looked at the picture. Then Séra touched her face, changed her focus.

— You’re unforgettable too, love. — They shared a kiss, and went back to organising their bags. There was still a lot of tech tools and a Machine to pack.