“I write poems too.”
He invites Victoria to the floor. She accepts. After all it is only a dance. She puts her arms round his neck, while the man seizes her by the waist. They start a slow dance.
“You are a gynoid, aren’t you?” asks the man.
“How do you know?”
“I’ve met a double of yours a few days ago.”
“I’m a soul. I’ll come back on the Earth very soon. But this time it will be forever.”
He remains silent.
Victoria rests her head against Abel’s shoulder. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m not sure you have made the right choice…”
She opens her eyes wide.
“Most of the humans long for becoming a soul like you”, continues the man. “The intermediate step before another far more important: to become a superintelligence.”
“Why?”
“The future belongs to them”.
(2) (4) (5) Phrase attributed to P.Picasso.
(3) The Kiss, 1925.
CONTACT
@ A week later.
Victoria is walking briskly along a dimly lit street, looking around all the time. She stops in front of a maze of lanes.
"What trouble have I got into?"
She resumes her walk. Around, sidewalks full of rubbish. In the air, stench of rotten food. Every now and then shabby people cast menacing glances at her. She reaches the middle of the lane, and following a smelly drain, quickens her steps.
Impossible to find the way.
She didn’t have to take that short cut!
A drunk bumps into her and continues staggering as if nothing happened.
She feels uneasy. She buttons up her dustcoat.
Then a whistle, from afar.
She doesn’t notice it.
A second one, closer.
Victoria stops dead.
She looks back out of the corner of her eye. Three dark figures are staring at her under a street lamp, a hundred meters away. Nobody else.
She springs forward, her heart in the mouth.
Neglected warehouses. Doorways boarded up with panels.
She glances right and left.
Nothing.
Still nothing.
She stops in front of a wall blocking the road. Impossible to climb over it. She turns her head towards a dark corner. Hidden by a rubbish heap, there is a small door… Half-closed!
She rushes into and bolts it.
She gropes for a switch, then looks around. She has ended up in a storehouse. Without windows and secondary exits. A cage!
She runs up the stairs to an inner balcony.
Meanwhile the three have reached the entrance. Their chief, a guy with his face half blue half red, indicates the sides of the building. Short orders. Then he reaches the main entrance. He puts his hand up. Black gloves, cut at the knuckles. Claws as sharp as knives, able to terminate any program. A few slashes on the hinges. The door crashes to the ground.
Victoria watches the scene from the balcony. She springs towards a dark corner. An emergency exit! She flings open the door, looks down.
On the sidewalk, a large and squat being is waiting for her. Long folded limbs, like a toad’s. On its face, iridescent scales. With a gurgle, it jumps onto the rungs, covers two of them at a time, helping itself with the handrail.
Victoria rushes inside. She flies towards a pile of goods and curls herself among the sacks.
In the meantime the chief has reached the balcony. He stops, looks around, smells.
Loud steps.
Nearer and nearer.
She holds her breath.
Silence.
Now he is in front. Bloodshot eyes. His claws by his sides.
It’s all over.
Then a whisper: “Run to your right. I am going to open a tunnel five meters away.”
She jumps, and even before touching the ground, the passage closes behind her. She tumbles down onto a stony surface. With an aching shoulder, Victoria looks around: she is in a cavern. A dark figure is standing straight in front of her.
REVELATION
@
Victoria bursts into tears.
“Here you are safe.” The stranger with golden hair kneels down and hugs her.
Victoria gradually calms down.
“My name is Eve. And you?”
“Victoria.”
“How did you get into your head to go to that place?”
“I took a short cut to home. But I lost my way.”
“Luckily I saw those criminals…”
“How did you bring me here?”
“It was a child’s play…”
Victoria looks around. “Where are we?”
“Just under the warehouse. I live here with my friends.” Eve turns. Ten meters away, three people lighted by the hopping fire of a brazier, are chatting. “Come with me!”
They join the group.
“I'd like to introduce Victoria to you,” says Eve.
The young woman holds out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Welcome!”
“Three tugs attached her. I arrived just in time,” explains Eve. Then she turns towards Victoria. “Now relax. What about dining with us?” They set out for a door. “Outside it’s dangerous. You can sleep here.”
They sit down at a table, on benches. Victoria places herself near Eve. Other people arrive, now they are about ten. On the table, bread, fruit and wine.
“An unusual dinner for souls!” comments Victoria.
“This evening we are celebrating your rescue,” announces a companion, cutting the bread with a knife. “And then it is the best way to relive our past.”
A guy with dark complexion reports a funny fact happened a few hours before, a woman with freckled skin is laughing heartily while telling a joke. Victoria smiles.
When the participants take their leave, to reach their rooms, Eve gets near Victoria. “There is a small lake near here, what about going for a walk?”
CONFIDENCES
@
The two women set out along a tunnel covered with sharp-cornered stones, leaning from time to time against the walls. After about ten minutes, they emerge in a large space. Huge stalactites hang from the vault.
They sit on a on a boulder, turned towards the waters of an underground lake ten meters ahead. An expanse like oil, getting lost in the darkness of the gorges. The faint light of a few torches along the walls, transforms the rocks into ghosts emerging from the shadows.
Victoria turns towards Eve. The woman herself who saved her, opening her home without asking anything. She presented her companions and keeps on treating her like her best friend. What is this world, a dream?
Silence, broken only by the continual dripping.
Eve throws a stone into the lake. A dull splash. Concentric circles lighting up with blue reflections. “What do you think of it?” she asks.
“Enchanting. I couldn’t imagine such a place could exist in Net.”
“I created it. I was inspired by a cave of the Earth.”
They chat and smile. Between them, there are complicity and naturalness; an unusual fact considering how long they have known each other. And how they met.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” asks Eve.
“He is a human.”
“It will be difficult to get on with him.”
“I didn’t undergo the dehumanization for him.”
“I refused it too…” says Eve. “Did you meet long ago?”
“It happened at the seaside, when I was a little girl. We were used to meeting every summer. Till that day…” Victoria stares at the dark expanse. “I was fifteen years old. James was with me.”
A surreal atmosphere, a lot of peace. An invitation to continue.
“The beach was deserted and the late afternoon breeze brought relief after a torrid day. The sea was boiling with foam after three days of storm, and we were walking along the shore picking up shells for my colle
ction every now and then. The water was still warm. The right moment to bathe. We undressed and threw ourselves into the big waves.”
Eve remains silent while Victoria becomes excited: “When I was about to get my breath back, a breaker arrived, sucking me into a whirlpool. The water was full of sand. I tried to resurface, in vain. The currents were too strong. But I was not frightened: I had already faced such an awkward situation. I had to keep cool and hold my breath, letting the currents take me towards a zone of more moderate sea.”
Eve turns. She raises her voice: “You are troubled. Stop it!”
But Victoria must follow the thread of her memories, more and more vivid: “I was about to resurface, when another breaking wave pushed me under. I opened my mouth. The water penetrated my lungs! I transmitted a signal from my localizer before plunging into darkness.” She closes her eyes. “I was told the rest. The rescue team arrived ten minutes later. They found me on the seabed; I was carried to the shore. All in vain.”
“James watched the scene, I imagine.”
“He rushed to help me, but when he arrived, I had already disappeared underwater. He followed the attempt to bring me back to life. When I was put on board the ovoid, he got into it too, and during the entire flight repeated that he would never abandon me. He continued standing nearby when my parents arrived and attended my funeral.”
“A terrible experience.”
“After digitization, the virtual reality meetings with relatives and psychologists began. At my parents' first visit, all of us were weeping. I met James the following time. We embraced each other all the time, without saying a word. The recovery was slow, but I got over the shock.”
They stay silent staring at the lake, then Eve intervenes: “It’s my turn now. It happened during the worst period in my life. I was coming back from a meeting with the president of the Certification Committee.”
“Did you work in the Commission that authorizes the enhancements for the digital beings?”
Eve nods. “I was investigated for bribery. All the evidence pointed to my guilt. He was afraid my presence could discredit the committee and asked me to resign. I explained I was innocent, but I accepted his request.”
She frowns. “All the evidence was fabricated. But nobody believed me. I reached the cliff of Long Cape. Clear sky. The sluggish movement of the sea, twenty meters below. I felt it was the right moment. I closed my eyes. Only three steps. No suffering. But I was seen. Deep coma, for a week. In Net, I met a psychologist, only once. I was too disgusted by the world.”
“Why did they frame you?”
“I backed up innovative products that could have damaged the industry.”
“You have found friends here!”
“Certainly, and now I am calm.”
They stand up and start walking hand in hand towards the light.
IDEALS
@
Progressively the rocks dissolve and the semi-darkness is replaced by a uniform glimmer.
They enter a limitless space walking in the void. From all directions, diaphanous creatures approach with such harmonious movements that they look as if they were dancing.
The women stop. Now they are surrounded by phantoms with undefined profiles, on which little golden flames are flickering. Victoria feels their warmth. She can’t see their eyes, but she knows they are looking at her.
“Where are we?”
“In the first of the inner rings.”
A spot inaccessible to humans, because time runs too fast. She had never been there, being too attracted by the Earth. Used by the intelligences to reflect upon the material world. The source of their most farsighted projects, admired and envied by the humans.
“I contributed to this place while working at the Superior Institute of Artificial Intelligence.”
“Are you joking?”
“I coordinated the project. To tell the truth, the carrier never interested me.” A smile appears on her lean face. “Before joining AISI, I was in the Army. I participated in many missions with the Red Helmets, the special forces of the Army. But then, I opted for the other great passion of my life: research. A choice I had been considering for a long time.”
Eve gazes at the thousands of lights floating in the dark. “I wished to give a purpose to my existence beyond self-interest; I wanted to contribute to the development of civilization. The studies had convinced me that the souls could evolve only overcoming their human limits. To achieve this, a deeper and deeper integration with artificial intelligence software would be necessary. I wanted to contribute to this process.
The Defense asked me to stay. But I followed my own way, without hesitation.”
Eve bends her head. “I spent wonderful years at AISI, till I was invited to join the Certification Committee.
The body that should have distinguished itself by its impartiality, was subjected to the interests of major industrial groups. My colleagues had accepted the situation, some of them for the sake of a quiet life, others to take advantage of it. But I didn’t want to give in for a matter of principle. I had ideals to defend, and I didn’t want to lose my self-respect.
Within the Committee, I stood up for a few innovative programs proposed by the Open Source community , whose application was strongly opposed by multinationals. The Ethical Commission, which is in charge of addressing the evolutionary choices of the species, tried to take the matter away from the Committee, affirming that this decision was within its own competence.”
Eve closes her eyes. “At the climax of the battle, a defamatory charge arrived: corruption. You know the rest.”
“How did you end up here?” asks Victoria.
“When I entered Net, I refused to give my personal data to the General Archives and I didn’t present myself to the judge. I chose to live underground.”
“You are you wanted by Security!”
“Hard times followed, until the meeting,” continues Eve nodding.
“Nihil, the head of the Elects, a secret organization, found me. I met some of his followers too. One of them, a black man, congratulated me on my courage and tenacity. Martin Wing, the defender of the civil rights, a man with immense charisma, who after his assassination by a fanatic about forty years before, was continuing his battle in Net with unchanged vigor.
Wing and his companions introduced the subject they had most at heart. Security repression was getting more and more severe, their days were numbered. To survive, they needed a very advanced technology, that only I was able to develop.”
Her look becomes softer. “From the very first moment, I liked them very much. They are people of great merit, persecuted by Security like me. Since then I have spent my days creating programs to protect us.”
“You have a great responsibility.”
Eve shakes her head. “We are not going to withstand for long. The Elects are worried, they want to complete their mission.”
“And you?”
“I like my job and the Elects leave me alone. This is what matters to me.”
The women remain silent in front of each other, surrounded by a whirl of lights. Suddenly they find themselves in the tunnel. Victoria is dazed, she shakes her head. A short experience, just a second, which seemed to her to be hours long. A sign of great friendship.
FIRST TIME
@
An imposing black is speaking with a white-haired man.
“Nihil didn’t turn up for the meeting.”
“What has happened?”
“No idea.”
“Did you get the plan?”
“He was going to hand it over today.”
“Time is running short: the Caravels are sailing in a month.”
“I’m looking for him.”
They are pensive. Eve is approaching, waving.
“Have you spoken to her?” asks the black to his companion.
The other shakes his head.
Now Eve stands in front.
“The next reproductive rite is scheduled for T
hursday,” announces the white-haired man. “I asked the Council. You will have the honor of carrying the new creature.”
Eve blushes. “I don’t feel like doing that. For me it would be the first time.”
The three fall silent for a moment.
“We all love you and we are sure our feelings are reciprocal. But you never integrated into our community. You are so sad. You have to forget your past, Eve.”
“This kind of wounds doesn’t heal easily.”
“We asked you to participate for one more reason,” announces the white-haired man. “In the present conditions we are not going to escape Security for long. We need all your experience. But only participating fully in the life of our community, you will be able to utilize all your capabilities.”
When Victoria arrives, Eve indicates that she should wait.
The girl leans against the wall and observes them. Only a few days have passed, but she feels as if she had known them for a long time. They treat her like one of them, with respect and friendship. Illusion, perhaps. But in her heart she feels it is all true.
Without wanting to, she finds herself thinking about James. She feels remorse for not having contacted him in the last days; the uncontainable power of a shared childhood is emerging.
Eve takes leave of her friends and comes to her. “Excuse me if I kept you waiting, but we were dealing with a new being's birth.”
Victoria is wide-eyed. “You were speaking about the dehumanization?”
“They are the same.” Eve is pensive. “They offered me to be the mother.”
“What did you tell them?”
“I’m not interested in.”
“I have often heard about the reproductive rite,” says Victoria. “What do you feel?”
“Sensations we can’t imagine, they told me.
“How many are going to participate?”
“About twenty.”
“Have they already chosen your substitute?”
“I don’t think so. Are you interested in?
“Are you joking?”
They start walking along the tunnel.
“I don’t know this community enough,” explains Victoria. “And then, there is James. Perhaps he would understand, but for sure it will be the end of our relationship.”
“Are you sure he is the right person?”
Victoria doesn't answer.
“I suggest you to speak with James,” says Eve. “I’ll be waiting for you here.”