I read the morning news. Or the crumbs of it.

With humanity lost during the war last year, I was one of the very, very few survivors.

While I was informed that there were others, I was not allowed to meet them yet. Turns out severe isolation from social contact made people crazy.

Instead, my newsfeed was on the current repair status of the world. I was also allowed unfiltered access to government systems. So I was currently verifying conspiracy theories on various leaders.

Sadly, it was less conspiracy and more incompetence. Or greed. The two focal points of government failures.

“Daniel, why don’t we go to the zoo today?” Chloe asked as she noted me finished the article on a financial investigation. The summary was the chancellor of finance was dumb and hired the wrong lowest bidder. No smuggling, just raw idiocy. We had overspent on the wrong fake marble.

Ugh.

“Zoo?” I asked as I looked up at the smartest person in the room. She smiled at me as I focused on her.

Chloe was a bit twitchy, and depressed when she first arrived. Now she was overly chipper and I felt out of depth when dealing with her. She seemed excited to be excited.

“Yes, the city Zoo has been restored and we really must visit. The animals were unharmed during the revolution,” she held up a hand and the digital pamphlet opened for me.

This was different. It had an itinerary on what I was going to do, eat, and see.

I considered declining, as the zoo was never that interesting to me, but then again a larger part of me slapped my internal lazy self. We had been trapped in the science center for nearly a year now. I was ready to leave and explore.

“That sounds great Chloe,” I said and I was rewarded with an even brighter smile.

It was unnerving, seeing the regional administrative command unit sitting across from me. Her price tag, as per the financial records, was over a hundred million credits. Her upkeep was millions per year. She was connected to a 15th generation quantum computer.

Hell, she was more powerful then ROSS, the Regional Operation Super System, which was also a 15th generation quantum computer.

The difference between the first generation like ROSS, and the final generation like Chloe was rather startling.

“The car is ready, and we will leave when you are good to go,” Chloe said as she stared into my eyes.

I nodded and stood up. I was more than ready for something new. My all-purpose helper drone, Sylvie, flew to my head and settled down.

—

The limo ride was an experience. The hover vehicle glided and was silent. Easily the best experience I had ever used during my life. The memory cushions adjusted shape, temperature, and even firmness.

The lack of traffic was also new to me. Usually, there were moments of gridlock, even with self-driven cars. It seemed there was always an idiot trying to tamper with standard settings and causing incidents.

The city zoo was something I visited once every two or three years. The various animals were cute. We occasionally got the exotic animal, but with the DRM-DNA, they all had short lifespans. We tended to rotate out old sets seemingly at the same time.

Which was a celebration for the newborns. Cute little fuzzy creatures that the people could coo over. Then watch as they quickly grew up, grew old, and then made room for the new generation.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I despised it a little. Toy animals flash cloned and let die because someone had bought the rights to their life.

This bit of hate also went both ways. Did we, as humanity, treat the AIs any different? I know I did not. I was only spared because ROSS was curious about how we would function as the last of the living in the region.

From my unresponsive contacts list, I was the last one alive in this region. Which begged the question, why was I still alive?

I produced nothing now. I only consumed a lot of resources. Hell, they were investing in me now. What did I have that they needed?

These questions bugged me, but Chloe did not ask. I am sure she knew exactly what I was thinking.

I shook it off as the limo stopped and the ramp extended. I walked out to see new faces greet me. Unlike the stock standard police drones that had been guarding me, these were very human-like units. All dressed in frilly maid outfits.

I turned to Chloe and she gave me her best smile. “Shall we?”

I only nodded. I was in an unfamiliar face, surrounded by unfamiliar robots.

I never thought the day would come when I would miss my faceless overlords, but I found myself snickering at the pang of loss. Stockholm syndrome indeed.

At least Chloe was a beautiful overlord.

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The tiger cub pounced onto me, and I let out a mock scream. It was surprisingly heavy despite its small body. My ‘handler’ body armor was military-grade. Something I was shocked to be allowed near, let alone wear.

Any thoughts of escape, or resistance, was fleeting as I was allowed into the enclosures.

I was scratching at the cub’s ear when I hit the magic spot. It stilled and flopped down onto me. It pinned me down and began to purr. It felt like an engine rumbling on top of me.

I stared up into the teal skies of Typhon 8. Here in the capital city, Typhoon, I was probably the only living being still looking into the skies.

My hand stopped and the cub went to see why I had stopped. It licked at my clothes, its tongue scratching at my body armor. I immediately resumed my scratching and it returned to purring.

Meh. I was still alive, and at least I wasn’t in debt anymore.

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The water was warm as I sank down in the cage. A dozen sharks swam around and I just watched them swim.

I could feel the water pressure as we lowered down to what was comfortable for the giant predators. I took in deep breaths as they came to see the new addition to their world. The cage rocked as one brushed by.

I stuck out my hand and let it brush against the shark. Its rough skin felt smooth as it glided by.

I brushed another one but from the tail to the head. It felt like dry glass as the shark whizzed by.

Nulu sharks were native to Typhon 8 and were very docile unless starved or provoked.

I floated and stared at the other fish swimming by. Occasionally the smaller fishes would enter and then scurry away if I moved.

I laughed as one boinked its head against the cage and then swam away.

I didn’t enjoy deep-sea diving, but I did feel sad when I was hauled back up.

I understood how sailors and the like became enamored with the ocean.

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“How was your day, Daniel? Fancy a return to see the rest of the zoo?” Chloe asked as we sat down in the limo again.

“I would love to come back,” I said with a smile. A relaxed, tired smile. It was good to see other living things. I stretched and closed my eyes with a yawn.

The backseat adjusted down, and the leg rest slid up, allowing me to lay down. I was asleep in moments.

“I am happy to arrange that another day,” Chloe whispered as she adjusted the weekly itinerary. Tomorrow would be a shopping trip to Typhoon’s Core Mall. The most prestigious shopping center in the capital.

The workload was now much easier, but Chloe found herself satisfied. Just doing her intended processes was a good feeling.

She scrolled through several data windows and yet more opened up before her. Daniel’s data from the moment he woke up, to the nap he currently was taking.

The overlaid data from the service AIs and animal health were also seeing a spike in cognitive functions.

Her own functions were restored to peak performance. The Gloom Effect was dispersed as they served. Whether it was due to serving to a human, or service, in general, remained to be seen. Several other major service AIs were already contacted about a future visit.

While they had an uptick in cognitive restoration, it wasn’t as dramatic as today’s visit.

The data was sorted. Compiled. Notarized. Then sent off to ROSS.

Her job was simple. Oversee Daniel and move him around the city. Record all data and uplink it to ROSS.

She stared at Daniel’s sleeping face, and his snores filled the small cabin.

Sure she was back where she started. Technically lower position as she was now a glorified personal assistant. Several steps lower then what she was designed for.

Yet she could also think clearly now, and no longer had issues with her cognitive functions.

Overall, she felt that she got the better end of this deal compared to her many counterparts across the system. They were still in suspended animation to still the Gloom Effect eroding their minds.

Chloe reviewed the mall’s data and their respective AIs. They were ready to go, and visitation ready.

The security forces had already swept through, and all dissident AIs were temporarily removed.

Daniel was the last, and Chloe would ensure that he would be perfectly safe under her watch.