We head back out into the hallway and search for any signs of an oncoming attack. Something— probably more robots— has cleared out the good-for-nothing hunk of scrap metal that marred the floor a few minutes ago. I don’t think any of us managed to do any damage to the structure itself, but any chips we might have caused have been smoothed out completely.
I head over to confirm. I rub my hand over the wall and the floor. All of the levers and diodes on the walls look completely undamaged. The floors are as smooth as a freshly-waxed laminate, and have about the same amount of traction. That much I learn firsthand when I start wobbling for a brief moment after my shoe slides. I have to wonder if they have the same self-repairing property that I think is built into Chloe’s robes. In either case, I take a brief moment to sketch some more glyph diagrams, eager to test them later when I get an opportunity.
Once I’m finished, the two of us make our way through the remainder of the tenth floor without incident. The eleventh floor likewise proves smooth sailing, though as we reach the stairwell leading up to the twelfth floor, Chloe spots a small metallic sphere rolling around under its own power.
“What do you think that is?” she asks.
“I’m not sure. It doesn’t look hostile, but then again, the last robot didn’t look hostile either. Ideally, I’d like to stay here for the next several weeks and study it until I know everything about what it is and how it works, but I don’t think that’s on today’s agenda.”
“You’re not going to try to take it with us.” Chloe states her question as an absolute fact.
“Part of me wants to, but not even I am that crazy.”
“Just crazy enough to march into dungeons and past police barricades into unexplored and dangerous towers containing killer robots.”
“To my credit, Chloe, I did not know there were killer robots in this tower when I came inside.”
“And let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, that you did know about them beforehand. I would bet you ten dollars that you still would have come here all the same!”
“Most certainly not! Had I known, rather than merely suspected, that there were robotics and superhuman technology present within this tower, there is absolutely no way we would have waited until this morning to walk over here. We would have left last night.
“Think about it. Limitless clean energy, the possibility of robotic limbs for amputees that far outstrip what human science can produce. We could develop starships to travel the galaxy, delve deeper into the history and mysteries of the universe! How can you not be excited by the limitless possibilities that await within this tower?”
“I guess there’s the [Planetouched Mechanist] speaking in her element.”
“Maybe? I don’t think it’s just my class influencing me. It’s not like I was wholly uninterested in science before the System arrived.”
“Yes, Sera is so uninterested in science that she dragged her best friend with her to take college-level physics so she wouldn’t be the only girl in the class. And then, surprise surprise, there were three others in the class, so it didn’t matter!”
“Oh, puh-leeze. Elissa acts like a royal who’s every bit as stuck up as the late Queen of England. Lysette, meanwhile, is practically a sociopath. And good luck getting anything resembling conversation out of Yulia. She might be smart, but she’s a total airhead. Just don’t call her that to her face. She… doesn’t take it well.”
“Makes you wonder why she’s even in the class when her head’s always up in the clouds.”
“Well, you have to remember that her girlfriend, Amari, is the star of the school Academic Bowl team. Like, two-time state champions and all. I bet Yulia did it for her.”
“Totally forgot that they’re a couple sometimes. Speaking of people I forgot about, whatever happened to Ashley? Wasn’t she in the class for a few weeks at the start of the year?”
“Yeah, we never did figure out what happened to her. Just completely disappeared one day. Definitely a case for the next episode of Creepy Urban Mysteries, or whatever the hell that show is called.”
Chloe shrugs. “I dunno either. Anyway, we’re agreed that we’re not taking the spinning sphere, no matter how much it excites you to have it to tinker with?”
I sigh. “I have the robot arm. If we have to fight another one, I will take a trophy from it. Otherwise, we are going to leave the perpetual motion machine behind, and we’re going to move up to the twelfth floor before I get any more ideas you aren’t going to approve of.”
On the twelfth floor, we encounter another robot similar in shape to the Sentry Robot from the tenth floor. This time, however, we make no attempt to call out to it. We still pay it attention, not wanting to get blindsided by a surprise attack. And to my relief and disappointment in equal measure, the robot makes no attempt to interfere. The same thing happens on the thirteenth floor.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
I start wondering if there’s some hidden message about not fighting. That I just need to not resist, go with the flow, stop trying to analyze the System and its wants, and just do what I can in the moment. Or maybe that’s the exact wrong lesson. By not fighting and carving a path through these sentries, I’m denying myself valuable Experience and not gaining the levels I need to get stronger and forge my own destiny, fulfilling the purpose for which I was reborn.
Or is it the dichotomy itself that I’m supposed to take away from the tower? There are plenty of stories from old Earth about robotics and artificial life. That they are… Artificial life? Artificial lifeforms? Stories about artificial lifeforms and… Why does this term seem so familiar?
I struggle to make it to the stairwell leading up to the fourteenth floor. My mind starts spinning and my heart races as my vision fades to white and my consciousness slips from my body.
----------------------------------------
Planet XSQ-1827, Substation 33, Year 16,369 A.I.
I wake up in a strange room. A bright light hangs from the ceiling. The room is barren, white walls on all sides. I am covered in a thin blue cloth from the neck down. I turn my head. Slowly, I start to test these other impulses. My arms twitch. I have individual fingers and toes which I can wiggle about. I don’t… I don’t know how I know this, though. I don’t know how I know anything.
I think through my data banks. Memories, I think they are called. But my memory is completely empty. These past few seconds are all that I can remember. I have knowledge about my anatomy. Information about this language and the capacity for rational thought.
I am vaguely aware that I am similar in appearance to a creature known as Homo sapiens, colloquially referred to as ‘humanity’. I was designed to look and otherwise function as such a creature. However, the knowledge of who specifically I am and why I am here is lacking.
“Can you hear me? Do you understand my words?” a voice says.
The voice is calm and deep. I turn to my other side. I see a creature I understand to be one of these ‘humans’. Based on its hirsute features, the contours of its jawline, the shape of its torso, and its narrow hips relative to its shoulders, it is most likely a male of its species. I, in contrast, am distinctly not. By my appearance, I would be categorized as female, though, no corresponding structures for reproductive anatomy exist within my design.
“I–” It is a challenge vocalizing the human’s language. I nod. Something seems to guide me that doing so is a sign of nonverbal agreement or positive acknowledgement.
I want to know who this person is. I want to know who I am. Am I someone? Am I something? I have the capacity to question these things, but I do not understand why these thoughts appear before me.
I try to ask the question ‘Who are you?’ Instead, I can only get out the words ‘who’ and ‘you’.
“Do you have trouble speaking our language?” the person— the man— asks.
I nod again.
“I see. In the meantime, perhaps I could tell you more about myself and where we are, and later, as you become more comfortable speaking, you can ask some additional questions.”
I find this imminently reasonable. I nod in approval. I add a smile to that nod, which I also understand to be a gesture to display amiability and contentment.
“My name is Dr. Martin Chotono. I am the head researcher and laboratory director of the Substation 33 Advanced Research Facility. This facility is located in low orbit around the planet XSQ-1827, although that name probably doesn’t mean much to you.”
I point at this Dr. Martin Chotono. “Doc… tor?” I say. I point to myself. “Who?” I ask.
He smiles. “When we created you, we had done so under the auspices of a program I designated as ‘Project Seraphina’. Seraphina was the name we had given you when we started our project. We did so because we believed that you could be a guardian. An angel of sorts, a protector for all of humanity against a force we cannot hope to fight on our own.
“However, I believe it is your right to choose your own name. If you want to go by Seraphina, you may, and if you believe another name would suit you better, I’m sure we can call you that instead.”
Seraphina? That is my name? It… It fits too well. Like a… I do not know the proper analogy to convey my feeling in words. Perhaps it is like a suit of skin which perfectly fits over one’s insides, neither too loose nor too tight? It is comfortable. It feels right to be called by the name Seraphina.
“Write? Sera… I see?” It is frustrating being unable to speak. My vocal cords are stiff and improperly calibrated. Unfortunately, I do not know how to fix them. For now, the Doctor is content to be patient with my deficiencies as he grabs a sheet of paper and writes my name on the paper. I smile as I hold the sheet in my hand.
“Keep… Please?”
“Of course.”
I yawn. “Tired. Too bright.” I’m overwhelmed and need time to adjust. Time to reflect on being alive for the first time. Time to process all of this new information and figure out what I want to do from here.
“I appreciate your time, Seraphina.” He hands me a device with a large red button on it. “If you need some assistance, just press that button and someone will be here shortly.”
“Not stay?”
“I’m afraid I cannot, Seraphina. My position is very busy. But I shall come back tomorrow, if you would like.”
I nod. “I would.”
The lights dim, then shut off. I hold the piece of paper against my bare chest as I close my eyes. It may be a worthless sheet of paper for him, but it is invaluable to me. Something to be treasured. A name all my own.
----------------------------------------
Planet Earth, 6 Days After Integration
I wake up in a strange environment. Chloe is seated next to me, playing with my hair as she rests my head in her lap. She smells nice, though I dare not tell her such things out loud.
Where am I? Ah, the tower! I force myself back to my feet, stumbling once as I regain my footing.
“Sera!” Chloe says. “We have to remain calm, remember? We don’t know if the robots are going to come after us while we’re resting in here.”
“I remembered something,” I say. “Something about my old life. I am just like those robots outside. An artificial being, a product of human hands on a world far, far away.”
“It doesn’t matter to me if you are an artificial being,” Chloe hugs me. “You are you, and that’s all that matters. Now, we should get a move on. There will be more time to discuss your revelation in greater detail later.”
I nod in agreement. We head up the stairs to the fourteenth floor.