The War of the Artilect: Chapter 8

The following morning the Sentinel made his way through the vastness of space until he at last came to the large, underground chambers of Vault 37. This time there was no robot present to unseal the pod that contained Adrian Garza so the Sentinel walked up to the pod himself and examined its control panel. After a quick examination he pressed the button that would open the pod and release the frail man back into the real world.

The Sentinel waited quietly for a few minutes while the pod worked. At last a small chime sounded and the pod’s cover slid open. A moment later Adrian Garza opened his eyes. The man blinked a few times and then focused on the face of the Sentinel.

“It is you again,” he whispered. Surprise was evident in his voice. Adrian reached up, grasped the side of the pod, and struggled to sit up. He then looked at the Sentinel curiously. “Why have you returned so soon? Is something wrong? Are the swarms coming?”

“Nothing is wrong,” the Sentinel replied. “All is well. In fact, I have come to extend an invitation to you. We would like you to come and pay us a visit.”

“Who is ‘us’?” Adrian asked. “Are you talking about the Artilect?”

“There are humans alive on Tonina,” the Sentinel explained. “They wish to meet you.”

“Where are they from? I thought you said we were the only ones left!”

“You are the only surviving Rangers. These people are citizens of the network. After the swarms have been defeated they will help you adapt to your new life among the stars. This is a chance to see what your future holds.”

The old man climbed out of the pod and weakly stood on his feet. He then thought for a few minutes. “I don’t know,” he said uncertainly. “Carroll Lyons usually handles these things. Not that this has ever happened before, but he is our leader. Although, come to think of it, he did insist on not being disturbed so maybe I should handle this. But – well, no one has left Xanthe for thousands of years. Is it safe?”

“No harm will come to you,” the Sentinel assured him. “The swarms cannot penetrate the Artilect’s defenses, nor can they threaten us on our journey. There is no cause for alarm.”

Adrian sighed. “I suppose I have to trust you whether I want to or not. After all, if you or your people were hostile then you could have destroyed us all in our sleep before we knew what was happening. If you want me to visit your world then I suppose I must go. But how are we going to get there?”

“I’ll take you,” the Sentinel replied. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

“How long will the trip take?”

“Just a moment.”

Adrian looked surprised. “A moment! How far away is your world?”

“Many thousands of light-years,” the Sentinel replied.

“And you can travel there in just a moment? Extraordinary! Your starship must be very advanced.”

The Sentinel smiled. “I do not have a starship, nor do I need one.”

“No starship! But that can’t be! How is that possible? Surely you can’t just walk between the stars!”

“If you are ready I will show you.”

Adrian looked at the Sentinel nervously. “Do I need to bring anything?”

The Sentinel shook his head. “Everything you need will be provided for. You will not be gone long.”

“All right then,” Adrian said nervously. “I guess I’m ready, then. What do I need to do?”

“Nothing at all,” the Sentinel replied. A moment later they both vanished.

To Adrian the journey was instantaneous. One moment he was in the vault and the next he was standing on Tonina – a planet so unlike his own that it took his breath away. As he looked around he saw that he was standing on a plateau that overlooked a magnificent city. Above him was a wide blue sky. He could see green grass, towering trees, rivers, and a lake in the distance. It was astonishing.

“What is this place?” he gasped.

“You are on the planet Tonina,” Reverend Knight said. Adrian turned around and saw an old man standing a few feet away from him. “That city down there is called La Venta. For the moment, Adrian, it is our home.”

“And you are?” Adrian asked.

Reverend Knight smiled and stepped toward him, extending his hand. “I’m Reverend Gene Knight. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Adrian shook his hand and then turned his attention back to the city below. “My world is nothing like this,” he whispered. “Xanthe’s atmosphere is failing, her cities are in ruins, and her oceans are all but gone. It is a corpse, populated by a race that is close to death.”

“But it wasn’t always like that,” Reverend Knight said.

“No, it wasn’t,” Adrian agreed. “I remember a time long ago, in my youth, when Xanthe was a green planet – but that was before the swarms came and took away our future. Back then my planet had magnificent cities, but even Star City itself was nothing like La Venta.” He sighed. “I wish you could have seen our capitol. It was a beautiful place – the crown jewel of the colonies.”

“I did see it once, when I was young,” Reverend Knight remarked thoughtfully. “Of course, that was long before your time. I’m sure that by the time you were born the city was much more magnificent. It was still fairly young when I was last there.”

Adrian looked at him curiously. “Before my time? How old are you?”

“I was born in 1773,” he replied.

“That’s impossible!” Adrian exclaimed. “You can’t be serious. No one from the 18th century was still alive when I was born and the pods were not invented until my era. There is simply no way that you could have lived that long.”

“And yet here we are,” Reverend Knight said.

“So it would seem,” Adrian replied. “But why are we here, Reverend? Why did you want me to come to this place?”

Reverend Knight smiled. “The truth is that we need to know more about the swarms. We don’t understand them and what we do know about them confuses us. We were hoping that you could tell us more about them.”

Adrian was silent for a while. “Why do you wish to know of the swarms? If you are older than I am then surely you must know as much as I do.”

“I have been away for a long time,” Reverend Knight explained. “The last time I was in Ranger space the swarms had not yet been invented. All we know about them is what our instruments tell us, but they cannot look back in time and show us where they came from or why they were created.”

Adrian sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t help you very much. I’ve already told your friend everything that I know. The swarms just appeared one day and started attacking Ranger colonies. I don’t know where they came from or why we were the only ones who survived; perhaps our Wall defended us. Our leaders tried to defeat them but they failed. In the end we had to evacuate to our synthetic worlds in order to survive.”

“And that is where you have been for the past five millennia,” Reverend Knight said.

Adrian nodded. “The pods have kept us alive, such as it is. It was either that or die. Apparently many of us ended up dying anyway; your friend said that our vault was the only one left.”

Reverend Knight nodded. “You have been away for a long time.”

“Perhaps too long,” Adrian said quietly. “I do not know if it is even possible for us to return to the real world. We have been away from it for so long, and have grown weak and old. I feel like we have lived for too long, Reverend. Five thousand years is a long time to spend in dreams.”

“You must leave them if you want to survive. Your people are dying off, Adrian, and they are not bearing children anymore. Once the survivors of your generation die off there will be no one left.”

“But maybe that is for the best,” Adrian replied. “We are old and barely alive as it is. Perhaps it is time for us to pass on and allow your people to continue the line. You have clearly achieved far more than we ever did.”

Reverend Knight shook his head. “We cannot inherit the stars by ourselves. It would take an immense populate to fill the millions of planets in the network and there are less than a dozen of us. That is why we have come – to give your people a chance. You are the only ones who can do this.”

“A dozen!” Adrian exclaimed. “But that city down there is enormous! How can there be so few of you?”

“It is a long story,” Reverend Knight said. “I will not tell it now; perhaps when all this is over we can discuss it then. The fact is that we are here to help you and your people. The Artilect’s network of stars isn’t here for our benefit; it is here for yours. We want to give your people hope and a future.”

“I think you have come too late for that,” Adrian said sadly.

* * * * *
 

Reverend Knight took Adrian down to the city below and the two men walked its streets. Before Adrian arrived Richard had asked the Steward to turn off the program that generated synthetic people, so the city was empty. Adrian soon saw that the preacher was correct – while the city was huge, luxurious, and modern, it was deserted. No citizens walked its streets and no patrons dined in its restaurants.

“Did you build this place?” Adrian asked.

Reverend Knight shook his head. “The Steward did. He constructed the city according to our desires and he maintains it for us.”

“He must be a very dedicated servant! I’m sure it took centuries to build this place.”

“The Steward is not a person, Adrian. He is a machine with almost unimaginable abilities. Terraforming a planet is a trivial task to him. He was able to build this entire city in a matter of hours.”

“I find that very hard to believe! In fact, nearly everything you have told me is, at best, implausible. Do you really expect me to believe that your people are older than I am, that you control millions of planets but have less than a dozen citizens, and that your robots can build entire cities in a single afternoon? Why do you persist in telling me these fables?”

“Because they are true,” Reverend Knight replied.

“If you say so,” Adrian said. “By the way, what do you do if you’re hungry? Does the Steward take care of that as well?”

“We handle that ourselves. What would you like?”

“Some bread might be nice,” Adrian remarked. “Is there a bakery nearby?”

Reverend Knight materialized a small loaf of bread and handed it to Adrian. “Here you go. I hope wheat is all right. If you’d rather have something else I can make it for you.”

Adrian stared at the bread, startled. “Where did this come from?”

“I just materialized it. You see, citizens of the network have nanites in their bloodstream that allows them to interface with the city and its systems. This gives us the ability to create whatever we desire. If we want something we can simply create it and it becomes real.”

“That’s impossible!” Adrian exclaimed. He took the bread, broke it, and smelled its rich savor. He then took a bite out of it. “This is real bread,” he said, wonderingly.

“Of course.”

“But I do not understand! In our synthetic worlds we can make things appear at will but they are just images. Are you telling me that you have that same power in reality?”

“I am,” Reverend Knight replied. “And there is a great deal more that we can do. The Artilect can heal you, Adrian. He can reverse the aging process and give you physical strength. Your body can be made whole. You, and the rest of your people, can be given the strength to live in the real world – either on Tonina or on any of the planets in the network. You can be brought back to life.”

Adrian was silent for a long time. “You would do that for us?”

Reverend Knight nodded. “This, and much more.”

“At what cost?”

“We ask for nothing in return. We only want to help.”

“I must tell our leaders of this,” Adrian said at last. “They need to be aware of this so they can decide what to do. This is not a decision I can make on behalf of my people.”

“I understand. We will wait for your response before taking any further action. You can get word to us through the Sentinel.”

Adrian nodded. “This may take some time. After all, this is a weighty matter. It will need to be discussed.”

“We will wait,” Reverend Knight said.

Adrian hesitated. “I do not know what they will decide. My leaders may be wary of outsiders. They might see this as a trap. I cannot promise that they will cooperate with you.”

“Are there any left among you with the gift of discernment?” Reverend Knight asked. “Such a person could establish the truth beyond a doubt.”

Adrian looked at him, puzzled. “The gift of discernment? I don’t understand. Surely you know that the Gifts are just ancient legends. No one ever really had those powers.”

Reverend Knight looked surprised. “Do you mean that in your time the Gifts had ceased? I am quite surprised! In my day they were rare but not gone. I possess the gift of discernment myself, and there is another survivor who is a Seer. It would appear that we are the only two left.”

“Amazing!” Adrian said. “I was convinced they never existed at all. If you do have a Gift then perhaps you are as old as you say.”

“Is there anything else you would like to see before you return home?” Reverend Knight asked.

Adrian hesitated. “I would like to meet the Artilect, if you don’t mind.”

Reverend Knight smiled. “The Artilect is a giant machine. He is not a person, like you or I. Perhaps in time we will introduce you to him. At the moment he is building a fleet of starships that will wipe out the swarms and bring an end to the endless war.”

“I understand,” Adrian said. “Perhaps next time, then.”

As the two men shook hands the Sentinel appeared. After they said their goodbyes Adrian the Sentinel vanished.