The War of the Artilect: Chapter 10

When the Sentinel returned to Xanthe with Adrian Garza he did not immediately return to Vault 37. Instead he transported them both to the building that housed the planet’s only remaining Wall generators. At the moment the room was empty.

“Where are the robots?” the Sentinel asked. “I thought there would be someone here.”

Adrian shook his head. “I imagine they are elsewhere, working on repairing some other critical piece of machinery. They will only come to this room if something is broken. Since we are no longer sustaining the Wall this machinery is unused and, therefore, ignored.”

The Sentinel nodded. “If all goes well you should not need the Wall in the future. Once the swarms are gone it will no longer serve a purpose.”

“The Wall has been up for a long time,” Adrian replied. “It is hard to imagine that its days may be coming to an end. But, if I may ask, why are we here?”

“I need to give you a way to contact us,” the Sentinel explained. “This will take just a moment.”

The Sentinel looked around the room and saw a bank of dead computers in the far wall. With a wave of his hand the burnt-out units disappeared and were replaced by a small console. After it was in place he took Adrian over to it and showed him how it worked.

“This will connect you directly to me, no matter where I am,” the Sentinel explained. “I will then forward your message on to the appropriate parties, or come back to Xanthe, if necessary.”

“It seems simple enough,” Adrian agreed. “Do you want me to contact you after I’ve talked with our leader?”

“We would appreciate it,” the Sentinel replied. “Any information they might have on the swarms would be greatly valued.”

“Then I will speak to them,” Adrian replied.

“Thank you,” the Sentinel replied. “Can you get back to the Vault from here, or would you like for me to transport you directly there?”

Adrian hesitated. The thought of seeing the outside world filled him with a sense of unease. Here, in this room, there were no windows, but if he walked back to the Vault he would have to go through the physical world. The very thought of being outside frightened him. On Tonina he had not thought much about it, for it was an unknown place that may as well have been another synthetic world, but here on his home world…

“If you could transport me there I would appreciate it,” Adrian said at last. “I am not as young as I used to be, and I am not even sure I could find my way back.”

“I understand,” the Sentinel replied. A moment later the room around them disappeared and Adrian found himself standing back in the pod chamber of Vault 37.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” the Sentinel asked.

“No, thank you,” Adrian replied. “I will be in touch with you as soon as I can.”

The Sentinel nodded, and then vanished, leaving Adrian alone.

Adrian stood there for a few moments, lost in thought. Am I really afraid to go outside? That is silly – I grew up outside, in the physical world. Why does it frighten me now? Have I decayed so much that the very thought of the physical world terrifies me? Or am I afraid of what my world has become since I last saw it?

That thought made him pause. What is my world like now? I know what it used to look like. In fact, I even have a copy of it in my own synthetic world, just the way it was before we abandoned it. But what is it like now? What has become of it after all this time?

Part of Adrian wanted to go back to the safety and familiarity of his pod, but he was surprised to find that he was unwilling to go. It had been so long since he had felt this way. In the synthetic worlds there was no genuine fear, for there was no real danger. There was also no real sense of mystery, for the world itself was arbitrary – you could make it whatever you wanted it to be. In an instant, with a single thought, you could discover whatever you wanted to know. But this was different. Adrian was faced with a genuine question, and he could not simply wave his hand and get the answer. If he wanted to know what had become of his home world he would have to go and see for himself.

Adrian finally made his way out of the immense chamber and over to the vault door. Once there he nervously pressed a button that caused the vault’s door to open. After the door slid to one side he saw that beyond it was a small chamber, and at the end of the chamber was an elevator. That must be how you get back to the surface, Adrian thought. It has been such a long time since I’ve been here. Has it really been five thousand years since I’ve stepped through those elevator doors?

The ancient man walked through the vault entrance and shuffled over to the elevator. As soon as he pushed the button to call it the elevator doors opened. Taking a deep breath, Adrian stepped inside and pressed the button that would take him back to the surface. As the elevator doors closed he saw that the vault door was closing as well.

It took a few moments for the elevator to reach the surface, which gave Adrian some time to think. Is this really the first time I have left the Vault? Surely it is not, and yet I cannot remember ever having done this before. In fact, I can just barely remember entering the Vault in the first place. How many of my memories of the past are real, and how many are simply dreams from my synthetic world? Do I still remember anything about my childhood, or has it all been lost to time?

A moment later the elevator stopped. Adrian’s heart jumped as he realized that he was about to see something that few of his race had ever seen. He was about to see his world as it existed now – not as a digital recreation, but the physical world itself.

The elevator doors opened. His eyes widened when he saw the ruined lobby. Adrian stepped out of the elevator and carefully made his way around the debris that was strewn all over the floor. Chunks of concrete, broken glass, and rocks littered the ground. Both of the front doors were broken, with only a few shards of rusted metal still hanging from their hinges. The large plate-glass windows were long gone. Now only holes remained – a reminder of what used to be.

Adrian tried to remember what this place used to be like, but his memory failed him. I know I’ve been here, he thought. I must have walked through this very room to get down to the Vault below, but I don’t remember it now. This place isn’t in my synthetic recreation. Why can’t I remember it?

He finally shook his head and stepped through the broken doorway. Outside he saw nothing but destruction as far as the eye could see. The street that ran in front of the building was gutted, and time had almost erased it from existence. There were skyscrapers in the distance but they were little more than ruined skeletons.

There were no signs of life anywhere. Adrian saw no weeds, no trees, and no grass. He half-expected to see vines crawling up the buildings, but there were no plants of any kind. A thick layer of dust coated everything. Overhead was a pale sky, but there were no clouds. A tired sun burned on the horizon, creating dim shadows that stretched across the parched ground.

This is not the way it used to be, Adrian thought sadly. This is not my home! I know what Star City is really like. It’s a glorious city – the crown jewel of the galaxy! No finer city was ever built. But this – this is a corpse, long forgotten and left to rot in the sun.

As he stood on the cracked street and looked around he began to realize that the city was utterly empty. There were no people moving about, nor were there vehicles. Everything was still and quiet. There was no wind, nor trace of a breeze. In his synthetic world there were always signs of life, but here there were none. This planet was deserted. In all of his years in the pod he had never experienced anything like this.

He suddenly had the feeling that he was entirely alone – the last survivor of his race. Panic struck him and he fought to keep it in check. This is silly, he thought. I’m not the only person here! Why, just under the surface there are thousands of people. I am not alone.

But you’re the only one that is actually alive, a voice whispered. The others are trapped in dreams, lost in what is not real. This city is real, Adrian. You and your people abandoned it and time brought it to ruin, but it can still be saved if you act now. However, if you continue to do nothing then it will be lost and this planet will become the tombstone of your race.

Adrian stood there for a long time, staring at the motionless city. As the magnitude of the city’s destruction sunk in he finally made a decision. No, he thought. I will not accept this. That ruin is not my home. We abandoned the physical world long ago, seeking a better life on a higher plane, and we have found it. In fact, this is exactly why we abandoned the purely physical in the first place: it is full of decay, death, and despair. The Preacher was wrong. The synthetic worlds are our salvation, not our destruction. If we leave our pods we will die, for here we are nothing but ancient men. Our only hope is to stay in the worlds that we have created, and not be distracted by the siren call of that which is merely physical.

“The Elder must know,” Adrian whispered. “He is our leader; he will know what to do. I will let him know what has transpired. The Council will know what to do.”

With that, the ancient man shuffled back into the building and took the elevator down to the Vault below.