Beyond the Farthest Star: Chapter 5

After Amy left her nameless world the Sentinel remained their for a while, partly to see if she would return and partly because he did not know what else to do. He quietly stood on the beach and looked out over the ocean. Occasionally he would scan the Tau Ceti system to see if Amy was trying to get through the wall, but he detected no activity.

As he studied Xanthe to see if she had returned he realized with a start that the people there needed his help. When the Artilect had sent out the electromagnetic pulse it had destroyed all of the equipment on the planet – including the pods that housed the planet’s hundreds of thousands of residents. All of those pods were now burnt out, and the people that used to reside in them were trapped inside the vault. On top of that, the vault’s lighting system had been destroyed, along with the only elevator that could take them to the surface. They were all prisoners of darkness, with no way to escape. If someone did not do something they would eventually run out of air and suffocate.

The Sentinel was about to leap into action when he stopped himself. This is not my place. I am the servant, not the master. It is not up to me to decide the fate of these people. Amy should be the one to make that decision. I am not authorized to intervene.

But you have already intervened, the Sentinel suddenly realized. Amy had decided on a course of action and you stepped in and stopped her. She is now gone and may never return. For better or worse, the fate of those people is now in your hands. You cannot drive Amy away and at the same time expect her to help them. You will have to take care of them – at least until Amy returns.

This thought deeply disturbed the Sentinel. I had to intervene to save them; I could not let Amy kill them all. That would have been wrong. But yet, in doing so I have gone beyond my authority. Now I have to go beyond my authority again and take care of them. They need someone to save them and I am all that they have. But after I rescue them from the vault I must find Amy and resolve our conflict. These people need a human to watch over them, not a machine. This is not what I was meant to do.

The Sentinel left Amy’s world and transported himself through space to the planet Xanthe, using his control of the Wall to access the protected system. After he reached Vault 37 he quickly surveyed the situation. He knew it was going to be dark, so that did not surprise him. But what he did not expect was the level of sheer panic that he encountered. The screams of desperate people echoed through the cavernous rooms. Some people were crying while others desperately flailed about. A few were on their hands and knees, crawling on the floor toward what they hoped was an exit. Most people were still in their pods, crying out for help but not getting any answers. All of them were old and frail and in a state of compete terror.

Not knowing what else to do, the Sentinel used his abilities to transport all of them to the surface of Xanthe. One moment they were in the vault, crying for help, and the next moment they were on a hill that overlooked Star City, blinking in the sunlight. The Sentinel thought that this would calm them down, but it did not. Within moments the crowd of hundreds of thousands of people was screaming in panic once again.

“Where’s my synthetic world?”

“What is this horrible place?”

“I won’t be treated like this, do you hear me?”

“How dare you interrupt me! Who do you think you are?”

“Who’s responsible for this outrage?”

“I want this fixed immediately! I don’t belong out here!”

As the Sentinel watched, the crowd began turning on each other. “It was you, wasn’t it?” someone screamed. “No, it must have been him!” Wild accusations began flying and people started screaming at each other.

I have to do something before they start hurting each other, the Sentinel thought. Perhaps if I explain what is going on they will calm down. With this in mind the Sentinel appeared in front of the group, taking on the form of a tall gentleman wearing a gray suit and hat.

“Excuse me, everyone,” he called out. “If I might have your attention I’d like to explain what is going on.”

When he called out to them the crowd grew silent. They stopped screaming at each other and turned around. When they saw that he wasn’t one of them they began yelling at him, demanding to be returned to their pods. The angry mob began to move in his direction.

The Sentinel quickly jumped off the ground and hovered about thirty feet in the air. From that height the mob could not reach him and he had a better view of the group as a whole. He once again tried to address the group. “People, please! If I can have your attention for a few moments I would appreciate it. I’d like to explain what is going on.”

The noise died down somewhat, but some people still kept shouting. The Sentinel decided to simply talk louder. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have come here to tell you that your pods have been permanently deactivated. Vault 37 is no longer functioning. I have transported you out of the vault and to the surface of your world so that you can continue your lives. The city that you see in the distance is Star City, your capitol. It will be your new home.”

As soon as he said that their pods had been destroyed the crowd erupted in screaming. Everyone was intensely angry. The clamor was so loud that the Sentinel found it difficult to hear what they were shouting, but the message was clear. The people wanted to go back into their pods.

“I am afraid that will not be possible,” the Sentinel called out. “Your pods have been destroyed and they will not be repaired. You will have to continue your lives here, in the real world.”

This only angered the crowd further. The Sentinel realized that the crowd was not going to calm down, so he turned his attention away from the angry mob and focused on Star City itself. When Amanda rebuilt the city she restored all of its systems, but the Artilect’s EMP had ruined them. While the buildings were still intact, none of their systems worked. The city was dead. These people cannot live in a dead city. They need a place with food and water, and Star City no longer has any of these things. If I do not fix this they will die, just as surely as if I had left them in the darkness of the vault.

The Sentinel considered restoring the city to operation, but he was hesitant to do so. There may still be bot technology there, or perhaps records that could be used to rebuild the swarms. Restoring the city is simply too dangerous, as I do not know what it contains. However, these people must have a place to live. This means I need to construct a temporary home for them that can shelter them until Amy returns.

As the crowd screamed at him, the Sentinel searched through his memory and found the plans for an immense, mile-high skyscraper. The building had everything that was needed to support life – food, water, housing, apartments, schools, libraries, and a great deal more. It was an entire city in a single building.

Satisfied that this would give the crowd a good place to live for the time being, the Sentinel searched the nearby area and found an empty field that was not far from where the mob was located. He then used the nanites Amanda had left in the planet’s atmosphere to turn the field into programmable matter. Ten minutes later the skyscraper rose out of the ground. The slender blue building soared high into the air, the sun shining off of its glass walls. I christen you the Tower of the Sparrow, he thought. At least this building will serve as a memorial to the crew of that ill-fated ship. They may have no graves, but at least they have this.

By now the crowd had started to disperse. Groups of people were still shouting at him, but others had grown bored and walked away. “Attention, everyone,” the Sentinel cried out. “At the moment Star City is not functional. Until it has been repaired you can live in the giant building that you see just south of this hill. The Tower of the Sparrow contains food and water. You will also find housing there. It should meet your needs for the time being.”

A few people started climbing down the hill toward the tower, but the rest of the mob simply scattered. At first the Sentinel was confused, until he realized that they had formed search parties and were looking for their pods. He considered telling them that they were wasting their time but decided against it. They will not listen to me. Perhaps experience will show them that their pods are truly gone.

The Sentinel was about to leave when he noticed that a single individual off in the distance was calling to him. What got his attention was that this person was using his name. The Sentinel focused on him and realized that it was Adrian Garza. Perhaps he is their leader, now that Elder Lane is dead, the Sentinel thought. If so then he may be able to explain the situation to these people. Perhaps they will listen to him.

The Sentinel flew through the air toward the ancient man, and a few seconds later he landed in front of him. “Is there something you need?” he asked.

“Yes, there is,” Adrian replied. “I need you to put us back in our pods. Immediately.”

“That is not possible. As I just explained to everyone, the pods have been destroyed. That is not going to change.”

“But you can repair them! I’ve seen what you aliens can do, with all of your fancy gizmos and technology. I don’t believe for a minute that they’ve been destroyed beyond repair. If you can make an entire skyscraper grow out of the ground – and I just watched you do it – then you can fix our pods.”

The Sentinel nodded. “That is true. I am sure that I could repair them, if I tried. But I am not going to do that, Adrian. I will not put these people back into the prisons that destroyed them and wiped out their civilization. Those pods are deadly.”

“Those pods are our homes, you monster! Who do you think you are, taking away our lives like that?”

“You have lost nothing but an imaginary world,” the Sentinel replied calmly. “It wasn’t real. None of it was real. You have been living a dream for the past five thousand years. It’s time for you to wake up before it’s too late.”

“You realist,” Adrian snarled. “Who gave you the right to tell us how to live our lives? You’re nothing but a tyrant, forcing your way of life upon us! I won’t have it, do you hear me?”

“How quickly one forgets,” the Sentinel replied coldly. “When I first came here I told you that you had a choice: you could stay in your pods or you could leave them and join us. All you had to do was tell us that you weren’t interested in our offer and we would have left you alone. Instead you betrayed us and now the Stryker family, along with their friends and the Artilect, are all dead. Adrian, you lost the right to live as you see fit the day you launched a war against us. If you wanted to be left alone you shouldn’t have gone on a murderous rampage. You have brought this on yourself.”

“We had to do it, you moron,” Adrian replied. “Killing you was the only way to guarantee we’d be left alone. Your ‘assurances’ are totally worthless. My only regret is that I failed to kill all of you.”

The Sentinel stared at Adrian. He could see the utter hatred and malice in his eyes, and knew that he was telling the truth. What have I done? Amy would have killed this man, but I saved his life. Yet even though I saved him he would still kill Amy and myself if he had the chance. Was it right to save the life of a murderer who only wishes to kill more people? What do I do now?

“I am not going to repair the pods,” the Sentinel said firmly. “Your people used them to destroy your lives. You have spent millennia doing nothing but acting out your basest fantasies, and I will not return you to them. You’re in the real world now, Adrian. You are old and near death. I am giving you one last chance to change the way your life ends, before you die and stand before God. Do not waste this opportunity.”

“I hate you,” Adrian replied. “And I hate Amy too. Tell her that if she ever comes back to this world I will kill her.”

The old man then turned his back on the Sentinel and walked off. The Sentinel shook his head and disappeared.