Chapter 22

Log. 8357.m

We found our AI who lost control was not the only one. Apparently, similar situations have happened throughout the world, almost at the same time. Some say those people were already infected with a pre-virus that forced them to act the way they did, connecting with others to spread the ill-code. On the Net, this is being called "The Event". If it really happened the way they say, this may be a plausible hypothesis. But what scares me the most is that none of these people have been found yet and it has already been some time since the event happened.

Again, The Great Government is hiding things from us.

Lunch was being served at the hospital when Koira arrived. She stopped by the cantina and saw Ryth with his parents; it was good seeing him happy with his family, and she couldn’t help but think of Séra. It would be good to have her around too, Koira was sure her niece would be happy in the Underground City.

She took a deep breath and kept going, thinking of Séra always hurt her, made her feel like a horrible person. She simply left the most important person in her life behind, and that was something she would never be able to forgive herself for.

After looking around for a while, Koira didn’t find Tovu, which wasn’t really a surprise, so she got herself some food and headed to his room. She stared at the wheeled bag where the prosthetics were, it would be good to have a distraction.

She asked herself if Tovu had any friends at the hospital, since she hadn’t seen him around with anyone. There was Ryth, but he was a kid, so maybe he wasn’t the company Tovu wanted. “Also, I need to apologise for yesterday, I was out of my mind”, she thought.

She knocked on his door and, after a few seconds, he told her to come in. Koira sat on a chair by his bed and rested her plate on her legs.

— Oi, sorry ‘bout last night. — She was embarrassed.

— About the drinks? — He let out a shy laugh. — Don’t worry. — Deep down, he felt happy she was thinking of him. — So, is the energy problem solved once and for all?

— Eh, we hope, but we still have to make all the parts and install them, so it’ll take a while.

Tovu nodded, and kept eating. They ate in silence for sometime; Koira kept the prosthetics out of the room and she wanted to ask the man about going to the surface later to check them — she thought it would make him more comfortable —, but there were also other questions she needed some courage to ask. And gathering it took a while.

She kept staring at her plate in silence until it was unbearable: she needed to know.

— Tovu, when did ya leave Sand City?

— A few days after you. Why? — He didn’t like talking about it. He felt ashamed of the blood on his hands.

— I wanted to ask about Séra. My niece.

— I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about her. But I know the Council was keeping surveillance, to know if she was dangerous or not.

— I see. Did ya get any news after ya left?

— No, we hardly keep contact during the, uhm, pilgrimage.

— Dammit. She never answered any of my letters. — The sadness and anger were easy to hear in her voice.

— They probably destroy them as soon as they get to the city. That’s probably why.

— Why would they do that?! — She looked at him, eyes filled with rage. Tovu was glad she hadn’t been violent since they met.

— To avoid dangerous news from getting into the city. — He sighed. — If people find out the Underground City does exist, many useful citizens would leave. That’s what they think, anyway.

— I wish I could go back and get her. If I could get a car, the trip would be easier.

— And they would kill you both. — He had no pride in those words; Tovu had to admit the Sun Followers could be extreme towards those they didn’t like.

— That’s why I haven’t done it so far. I even asked the Mayor if she could help me, but she said if she did this for me, everyone would demand the resources to go after their loved ones, so she couldn’t.

— I’m sorry for you. I really am. I… I wish I could change things. They probably count me as dead too, and since I know too much… — He shook his head, defeated. — Or else I could try and get her for you.

— Yah, that would be nice. Well, I’ll keep sending letters anyway, at this point they know ya didn’t off me, right? So whatever.

— Yes, I hadn’t thought of that. Keep trying. Maybe send one with a different name and address, though I can’t promise they won’t open it.

— Such arseholes. — she mumbled, and decided to change the subject before she was too angry to function: — Anyway, wanna go upstairs? Sunbathe a bit?

— Yes. — He smiled. — I’d love that.

— Need help getting on the chair?

— No, but if you could bring it closer… — He couldn’t find it with his hand.

She got up and pushed the wheelchair near the bed. She watched as Tovu raised himself and sat, then she asked if he could propel it, and he replied by showing her. She then told him there was something she wanted to show him, but that would have to wait.

On the way, Koira tried to make conversation, keep her mind out of problems she couldn’t fix, though they kept piling up in her head. She asked if there was anything she could improve on the wheelchair, and Tovu laughed a bit. The only problem is that he couldn’t quite put the oil in the gears by himself, but the man was slowly building some strength in his right arm, which was good.

They went up the ramp and Tovu smiled as the sun caressed his skin. The Underground City was kept much colder than the desert, and that had taken some time for him to get used to; he loved the warmth of the Sun too much, it was a warm hug from an old friend, kisses of a long lost lover.

Koira helped him lay down on the floor, and sat by his side. Their relationship was strange; he had been her enemy for so long, a monster hidden in the shadows, and now they could sit side by side, close their eyes and relax. She found herself thinking if they could have always been friends in another life.

She heard Tovu whispering and looked at him; he was holding the Sun pendant on his neck and saying a prayer. When she paid attention, though, it wasn’t any of the ones she knew. There was nothing about punishment or judgement, his words were about love, forgiveness, and thanks. Koira smiled; he was changing.

She waited until he was finished to talk again:

— Before the blackout, ya said ya wanted to check the prosthetics.

— Yes, I remember that. — He turned his face to her, the bandana over his eyes and the simple loose clothes made him look like a blind ninja for a moment, like the ones from old comics Koira had read. She couldn’t help but smile a bit.

— So, I’ve brought them here. In case you’re still interested.

— Oh. — Tovu got quiet for a moment, thinking whether or not he was still interested. He was mostly afraid. — Have you done this before? Prosthetics, I mean.

— Yah. I’ve done a few hands and a leg. Last year, an engineer fell from the stairs and broke his leg in a way we couldn’t fix, and he ended up losing it. He’s back to work now, so if ya ever wanna talk to him about it, I can arrange it.

— I’d like that.

— I’ll talk to him, then! — She tried to hide her enthusiasm. She failed. And for the first time, he didn’t seem to mind.

Tovu turned his head to the sky and dug the earth below with his fingers. He liked to ground himself in moments like these, they were the first step towards a change, and he wanted to remember that moment. Just in case he regretted it later.

He wanted to remember how good feeling the ground was, how he felt surrounded by peace, by the warmth of the Sun, how it felt like the best opportunity he had ever had. An opportunity to become a better person and at least try to balance all the bad he had done and received.

And being able to walk again was nice too.

— Can I see them? With my hand, I mean? — He laughed.

— Of course!

Koira got the prosthetics out of her bag and started describing them. They were mostly prototypes at the moment, and she would do some changes to best adapt them to Tovu’s body and needs. At the moment, they were made out of wood, since she thought that would be easier on him, but once he got used, she would build them with metal.

— It’s more resistant, and depending on the metal, ya can even get them wet.

Tovu felt the shape of the sanded wood on his fingers, smooth and free of splinters, he imagined it was glossy and varnished. Koira was talking about the surgery, he would need to put some supports on his arm and legs, to attach the wood limbs, and he could remove the limbs any time he wanted to.

He felt the wooden fingers, the articulations, and imagined how he would look with them. Koira was still blabbering about springs and joints, how the rotators worked, and that he would have to learn how to walk again, once the nerves and tendons were connected, but he wasn’t really paying attention.

He touched a wooden knee and bent the leg, it was lighter than he expected, and maybe it wasn’t so bad. Tovu understood the recuperation period would be long, and he would probably have to test multiple models until one was a perfect fit — kind of like shoes — but it didn’t sound so bad now.

— Do they have motors or something?

— Not really, you’ll be the one powering them. The springs and moving mechanisms will do the rest.

— Do you think they will actually help me?

— I think so. I know that if I was in a similar situation, I’d like to have them as an option.

— They don’t feel… evil. — He felt stupid saying that, but he needed to say it.

— They’re not. I can even make them look as natural as possible, we have some high-quality silicone that looks a lot like skin.

— I think I’d prefer it if they didn’t look like skin. Not that it would make any difference for me, I think, but… I can’t explain it, I think I’d feel safer knowing the limbs are not trying to fool me or anyone.

— Okay? — Koira chuckled. — In the end, it’s all up to ya. And I won’t be angry if ya decide not to use them.

— Thank you. — The sincerity in his voice surprised her. It surprised her every time. — I’ll talk to the engineer and think about it.

— No rush.

The sun was almost setting, so Koira asked if he wanted to go back, to what he nodded. She put the wooden limbs back into the bag and helped Tovu sit on his wheelchair. That was a good afternoon, and when she got back home, her mind was a little lighter than before.

Log. 6384.h

Something strange happened. Our AIs were stable, we were testing the antidote-code, then one of them got out of control. We couldn’t understand it quite well, it happened too fast, but it seemed like it was trying to physically share the virus somehow. We had to kill them.

No one could tell for how long they had been sitting in the explosives room. It could have been days for all they knew. Nika was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, her eyes focused on the nothingness ahead. Resha was sitting beside her, an arm around her shoulders, trying to console the woman; however they were also hurt.

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— It killed Finn. — Nika whispered. — And I couldn’t do anything.

— It’s not your fault, Nik, that machine, Immortal, whatever it is, it’s a monster.

— And we’re all gonna die if we don’t figure out a way to destroy it. — Misha concluded. She was also hurt by Finnian’s death, but there was nothing they could do about him now. — We need to survive, so that his sacrifice isn’t in vain.

— Oh, fuck off, Misha! — Nika jumped up and prepared a punch. — You think you’re so high and mighty, but all you care about is your brother!

— He’s my family, Nika. The only family I have! Because when a machine like that killed our parents, he was all I had left! So, yeah, I care about him more than most, but it doesn’t mean I don’t care about Finnian or Little Finny! — Her hands were balled tight, her knuckles almost white. The Farmers had always been raised to be kind people, but it was difficult being gentle in situations like that.

— Okay, everybody quiet. That thing is still out there, and we’re in here, so we need to find a way out. — Resha got between them. — But Misha is right, we need to destroy it. If we can get out, that monster can as well.

— Oi, I might have a solution. — Séra’s voice had almost no sound. She was shaking from head to toe from the whole situation, and the fight was making it worse by bringing memories up to the surface when she was trying so hard to drown them again.

She pointed to the boxes on the floor, and said those were probably explosives. The cables connected it to something on the skeleton at the other wall, and she asked Ganen to take a look. Séra didn’t want to deal with more bodies, and Ganen needed the distraction — if one could call it that.

— There’s a squishy handle on their hand. Excuse me. — she mumbled while getting it off. — Seemed like it had cables connected to the end here… — And when she pressed it, sparks escaped from it and she got a shock. — Ouch!

The handle fell on the floor and Ganen hesitated to get it back. After a few seconds, she got it and handed it to Séra. The part where the cables had been connected to was destroyed by time — no one knew for how long those things had been sitting there —, but maybe they could get another one.

— We need to find one that’s working, I can connect the cables, we get the Immortal here, and… boom. — Séra hoped that would be enough. She hoped she was right. The closest thing to a bomb she had ever worked on was a defective battery, and worst case scenario, it would catch fire, not explode. — There’s a bunch of boxes, help me look for it.

Misha translated the plan for Gayo while Resha kept comforting Nika, and soon everybody was focused on the task; it was better than sitting down, thinking about death. Séra took a deep breath and started working on some cables, all she had were a screwdriver and a wrench in her pockets, and that would have to work.

They could hear the Immortal scratching the door, trying to turn the handle, and after some time, they started hearing dragging sounds. The machine was ripping the other bodies apart, separating the tissues, nerves, and tendons. Resha slowly opened the door in silence, only to see it organising organs on a table.

However, as soon as the Immortal noticed them, it turned its lights off and disappeared. Resha closed the door in the same instant, and after a few clicks, and then there was nothing but silence. They tried to look for it in the darkness, through the small window on the door, but there was nothing to be seen.

— It killed Finnian. — Nika started again, this time, talking to the scrawny man. — But it didn’t kill you or me. It also went after Gayo and, uhm, Ganen, but not after the others. Why?

— I don’t… know. It likes… different people. Lorn was… kissed by the Moon… just like you. But only some parts… not the… whole body. — Speaking was more difficult, blood kept pooling under the man.

— So that means one of us could distract it, or get it here for the bombs.

— I think it’ll come on its own if we open the door and make some noise. — Misha didn’t like using someone as bait. She kept looking for a squishy handle, but her wall of boxes was full of cables and random containers.

— Not really. — Resha said while opening some boxes. — I tried to look for it, come up with a strategy, but it seems to be hiding.

— I hate this. — Misha complained.

Resha opened a metal box and there was a shiny handle; they smiled. On top of the box, there was a word, clackers, written in poor caligraphy on a piece of paper, but they would never suspect something with such a harmless and funny name could activate explosives. They gave one to Séra and asked how it would work.

— The cables are connected to the boxes, eh? And when Ganen pressed this, uhm, clacker thingy, it made a spark, right? So I assume the boxes need some electrical current to explode, and this — She raised the clacker. — will give them the zap.

— The what?

— The electricity, sorry, I’m nervous, but tinkering with stuff like this is what I do best, so I’m sure it’ll work. — Séra was also trying to convince herself.

Séra explained the workings of the explosives and gave each of them a task; it would keep them busy, make them useful, and keep people from arguing with one another. One thing Séra had learnt in Sand City was that busy hands kept the mind occupied.

Nika, however, had other plans, a plan B, just in case. And while she connected the cables to the clacker, she also separated some for herself. A reassurance that the machine, that Immortal, wouldn’t get to keep its title. It killed Finnian, the pups, and so many others, though she had no love for the Forest People who tried to hurt them. Nevertheless, the beast shouldn’t leave that bunker.

— Okay, I think it’s done. Turn off the lanterns so we don’t get it here too soon. — Séra had the clacker in hand. — Stay behind me, guys. — She checked if all the “front toward enemy” were facing the door, and took a deep breath to prepare herself.

— I’ll open the door. — Nika already had a hand on the handle, and didn’t let anyone stop her. — I’ll get it here, right? In front of the door?

Séra was about to answer when Misha interrupted her:

— No, Nika, wait!

But the woman opened the door anyway. To their surprise, there was no reaction from the Immortal. Misha ran to her side, held her hand, and looked into the bunker: there was nothing.

— Do you think it’s left? — Misha asked.

— I don’t think so. — Nika replied, as she adjusted her coat. — But if it has, we need to go after it.

— I don’t think we should move the explosives around, though. We ain’t sure how it really works, maybe moving it can be dangerous.

Gayo hit his foot on the floor a few times to get their attention, then signalled: “I think we should all go. Stay close. One of us will see the Immortal, then we run back here and boom.”

— I still don’t like it. — his sister complained.

“There’s no other choice, is there?” he insisted.

— Fine. But everybody, stay close. No roaming around. We can explore once it’s dead.

In a line, the group left the explosives room and started moving one step at a time, as silent as they could be. Ganen held Séra’s hand and could feel her lover shaking a bit. They were both scared, the smell of blood poisoned their lungs, and the silence… the silence was deafening.

But the darkness was almost a blessing. Finnian was spread all over the floor, there were dead bodies hiding in the shadows, it was best if they couldn’t see it. Every time Séra stepped on something a little softer than the floor, she tried to think it was just a wet rag, but deep down she knew what it could be.

As much as humans considered themselves the hunters, this time they were prey. Their predator was somewhere out of sight, it dressed itself in shadows and was omnipresent. It could be right in front of them, a step backward each time they moved forward. There was no way to know.

Nika said Gayo, Ganen and herself shouldn’t be at the edges of the line, since the Immortal was targeting them, so they were in the middle, with Séra, while Resha was the last and Misha was the first. Their steps had no destination, no aim, besides keeping all of them alive, and the distance between them increased in the dark.

Until something whispered in Nika’s ear. The wind, the air, perhaps a bug, she had sharpened her senses for years, and they had never let her down. When she stopped and turned around, a shadow moved centimetres above Gayo.

Resha was too far, and there was no time to run away, Nika’s instincts acted first and she pushed Gayo out of the way. On the floor, the man was about to complain when cyan lights blinded him and the Immortal fell over Nika. She looked at him one last time, her eyes filled with rage and vengeance, and pressed something in her pocket.

Log. 5847.k

WE DID IT! After so long, gosh, we finally did it! We found an antidote for the virus! It took weeks of uninterrupted programming and testing, but we did it. I also programmed an independent code on my system, so in case I get infected, at my first erased memory, my system will activate the antidote, then I just need to replace the lost memories. I hope it works. The Programmer said it was very smart and asked me to share it with him. I do feel proud of myself.

Koira hadn’t heard from Qena for a few days. She tried calling her by the comms, but the woman wouldn’t answer. She decided to give her some time, while she arranged the talk with the engineer who had lost a leg. Tovu was anxious about it, but as he said, not in a way that made his stomach hurt.

The engineer, Luqa, worked for Ana at the University, and Koira found herself excited with the chance of talking to the woman again. They had shared some ideas through the communication devices, but their schedules struggled to get to an agreement.

So when she entered the building that day, Koira was surprised to see Ana at the front desk, talking to one of the receptionists. She was wearing her white lab coat, and her dark hair was a mess, like if she hadn’t combed it in days; Koira let out a shy laugh, she couldn’t really judge.

Once Ana finished talking to the receptionist, she turned around and saw Koira in the hall, looking at some pictures on the wall. With a smile, she walked to the woman and asked if she wanted to go outside.

— I really need a smoke. — Ana explained. Once outside, she lit her cigarette and let out a cloud of smoke before doing anything else. — So, what brings you around?

— I wanted to ask ya if that engineer who lost a leg, Luqa, is still working here. — She accepted the cigarette Ana offered.

— He does, not today, though. Day off. Why?

— Tovu is almost accepting the prosthetics, and he said he would like to talk to someone who’s been through it. — Her smile let everyone know how excited she was. — Do ya think Luqa would talk to him?

— I think so, I’ll comm him. By the way, since you’re here, wanna check how the chainmail loom is doing?

— Please! I thought ya’d never ask!

The machine looked indeed like a loom for knitting, which made Koira laugh. The design was quite simple, and hooks did it all by themselves. Ana said they were making two more, to speed up the process, and soon they could start applying them to the cables.

Since Tovu was getting quite good at the wheelchair, Luqa invited them for some tea. Koira walked beside the man, making sure he wouldn't bump into anything. The streets weren't that good for wheelchairs.

She asked the first few questions, then watched as Tovu started asking by himself. It was good to see his improvement and how he was changing the way he used to think.

Luqa told him how having a prosthetic helped him. He even showed two of his that were personalised for running or driving. And once he was fully healed, Luqa was able to go back to work.

That was something Tovu hadn't thought of until that moment. The need for being useful was ingrained in the minds of Sand people, and maybe that was the reason he had been so nervous. He was laying in bed all day, doing nothing. That might have just been the push he needed.

Luqa had promised he would help Tovu in his rehabilitation — if he decided to go through the surgery — so that he would already know someone in the clinic.

The curious thing was that Tovu didn't ask any of the usual questions, Does it hurt? Is the surgery bad? How long did it take you to walk again? He asked how the metal felt on the skin. If it ever bled. If he started having strange thoughts or dreams, things he wouldn't have imagined before the surgery.

Luqa let out a nervous laugh, he had no idea what Tovu was talking about. The words he used made the man a bit uncomfortable, like if the prosthetics could infect him somehow. It was weird thinking about that, thinking that the metal against his skin could one day make him a different person.

— Well, the only thing I thought was that I would be able to walk and run again, though the running part is still a process. — Luqa tried to smile.

— I see. Thank you, Luqa. — Tovu answered. — This is all too new and strange for me. I suppose getting used to the idea is also a process.

— You won’t regret it, you know? And if you ever do, just take them off. — He shrugged.

— Wait. It’s not permanent? — Tovu turned his head to where he thought Koira was.

— No. I mean, ya can take them off to shower, sleep and such. There is a small part that will be permanently attached to ya, to connect the nerves, tendons and the like, but the limbs themselves are, uhm, removable. And if you ever want, we could remove the nerve connector as well. Although that would require a small surgery.

Tovu kept silent for a moment. That didn’t sound half-bad. He imagined being able to use his left hand again, and the thought made him smile. Learning how to use the right one had been quite a challenge. It was true he couldn’t see Luqa’s leg, and asking to touch it would be awkward, so he had to trust them, but that hadn’t been as difficult as before. Maybe he could go through with it. Just maybe.

Log. 4213.t

Most of the AI are stable. All we have to do is reset their memories every day, and the virus remains under control. It returns to its previous setting and resumes the function of erasing memories, but this is getting less effective by the day. If I still ate, I’d be drinking enormous amounts of coffee.

The explosion was too loud, the boom echoed within the bunker. Scorching metal pieces were scattered throughout the place, their ears were ringing and no one really knew where to look.

Gayo was rubbing his eyes, his whole body hurt, and the little he ate, before leaving his house, was about to be evicted.

— Ganen… — Séra blinked a few times, all she could see were little stars among the darkness. — Where…?

She tried to find her lover, while Ganen was starting to get up, unaware of where she was. She looked at her hands, where some cuts and scratches were bleeding, and she couldn’t put the pieces of her memory together.

Resha was the first to snap out of it and stumbled towards what was left of the Immortal. They started digging through the metal, Nika was there just a moment ago, and once they found what was left of the woman, Resha turned around and vomited.

Misha was a few metres ahead, on the floor, trying to sit. Her eyes couldn’t focus on anything, like there was nothing to see, and it felt like something was about to burst out of her skull. She heard Resha scream, but it sounded kilometres away.

Gayo shook his head and got up. He hadn’t heard the blast, but he felt the pressure, the force of the explosion. He blinked a few more times, and hugged his sore body. Slow steps took him closer to the scorching metal mess, and he held Resha’s hands. They were burnt and hurt, and yet Nika was nowhere to be seen.

— She’s gone. — Resha said and signalled.

— What? — Misha was too far, the words didn’t make sense. She had no idea what had happened.

— She’s gone! — They screamed. — Either the machine fell too heavy on her or…

— Or she exploded… — Séra was finally on her feet. — Ah… the explosives… maybe she had one.

— When did she get one?? — Resha found all that revolting. — How did we not see Nika getting and hiding explosives with her?

They looked at one another, confused, heartbroken, not yet accepting that fate. Misha got closer, touched the warm metal, and pushed a claw away. Nika’s white hair was stained in dark red blood among the mess.

— We need to leave. — she mumbled.