The small, white coloured kitchen was lit by several dim lights which bathed Motoko and the small girl which sat before her in a cosy light. Motoko looked at the waffle dumped unceremoniously onto the plate by the beaming girl. The dull copper eyes looked back expectantly. It just all seemed to strange as Motoko nervously lifted the food from the plate and took a hesitant bite.
It tasted real….not that Motoko would really realise what was real or not, the old thoughts were gone, replaced by a warm fuzziness like a sleeper waking from a deep sleep. The memories were all still there, of her life. The house, the daughter, the baby upstairs asleep in the cot. The cat they had until it was hit by a car several years earlier, the steady job her husband held down at the Narumoto power plant and….the green eyed man from her dreams.
"Do you like it?"
Motoko nodded, mouth full as the little girl, dressed in a soft pink dress several bunnies jumping across its folds, dropped from the high stool beside the kitchen work surface and ran across to an open cupboard. Outside, the garden, lilies and iris flowers stirring in the breeze, was lit by the bright sunlight as the day wore on.
It was; the paper resting against Motoko's now empty plate had it printed upon its white surface in large block capitals. She leant forward, touching the seat where Mira had originally been sitting. It was warm, still warm; Motoko did not know why she found that strange….
She too dropped from the chair, Mira busying herself at the sink, pushing pots and pans aside, on tip toes to place her drinking cup on the drainer, trying to reach for the bottle of juice. Motoko took the bottle, guiding the smaller girl to the lower wash basin beside the wall, helping her to fill the glass. She then reached up, placing the bottle back onto the white shelves as Mira scuttled away to whatever plaything she had to amuse herself. Outside the day seemed to brighten under a peerless blue sky as Motoko reached up, taking several dead lilies from a glass vase on the white clad window sill.
A single blue flower, a tiny crystalline speck of blue dropping down onto the white tiled floor. And then it was gone, however much Motoko searched the space where the flower had landed, nothing remained, the floor, expressionless and remarkably clean. It was gone from her memory, the single fleeting moment when her heart lulled in beat and a slight cold burst of memory flood back.
The front door, through the wood floor, white walled rooms clattered shut as a call from the hallway. A man, Motoko recognised his voice and felt an almost longing as the dark hair, brown suited man stepped into the kitchen. He wore glasses, tall with a slight, quiet demeanour, his long face well pronounced and long hair just covering the lobes of his ears.
Motoko felt cautious, hands resting on the kitchen top as he smiled warmly, ruffling Mira's hair as she passed again, a blood stained and grimy doll in her arms. Motoko blinked, shook her head to clear her vision. The doll was spotless, clean and well made, its red patchwork dress folded across Mira's arms as she passed from the room.
"Motoko? Are you Ok?"
She looked up into her hus….at least she assumed….yes it was, there was ring on his finger, 42 years of age, chartered surveyor for the Eastern Gem Energy Company, no weapons presen….
Motoko caught the draining board with one hand, the wedding ring clanking off the metal….How did she do that?
"Motoko!!" he was there, touching her arm, trying to steady her "…are you alright, do you want to sit down? Have a glass of Water maybe?"
"No….no…." Motoko smiled up into his face "…I'm fine. Aren't you supposed to be taking me out for lunch?"
Motoko was happy, content and staring into the face of….crrrrrkk…..error…..Around the table, several bowls of sushi were visible, the clean white curves of the bowl. There were several other families within the restaurant, all deep in conversation, their children watching with bored, expectant looks on their faces. Motoko felt a slight pressure on her hand and turned to see a large hand resting on her delicate fingers.
"Why don't we go on a trip this weekend, all of us to the beach house for a relaxing weekend?"
"That'd….that would be nice"
Mira looked up from her squid, the baby boy besides her gurgling happily as the waitress, blank faced and dark haired, dropped a large bowl of salad onto the table beside the bowls of fish and squid. Outside the window the sky was still a peerless blue, people passing occasionally, their faces blank and un-expectant, staring into the restaurant front as if admiring their reflection in the clean, clean glass. Across the walls several pieces of black fabric flickered, Motoko watching them as they shifted in some unknown breeze. A cog symbol became visible on the black folds of cloth, split in two and illuminated by a strike of lightning.
And then it was gone, a white fold blowing out as the waitress struggled to close the window. The baby vomited a white fluid onto the white bib stuck around his neck, her husband rising to pick the baby from the high chair. A haunted looking girl with purple hair, soft summer skirt flowing around her form walked by, leaving after images in Motoko's eyes as the still gurgling baby soiled its nappy.
"I'll clean it up…you enjoy your drink."
Motoko nodded, still trying to spot the girl as the baby was carried away into the toilets, the large metal double doors closing behind him. Motoko looked out into the street, the shops opposite were all open, groups of people emerging and disappearing into the interior then emerging moments later with bags of whatever the shop sold.
ODIN Watches
Motoko gripped the table cloth holding her head as Mira, now perturbed with a video game cast her 'mother' a warning look. The words…..seemed so….vivid.
"Mummy, are you ok?"
"I….." outside a puddle, strange, still blue sky, shattered as a single Audi R8 passed through it and stopped, the droplets holding in mid air. Time stood still literally, Mira seeming to fizz around the edges, the waitresses, clutching bottles in lacquered nailed hands, all the same, the blank face patrons pausing mid sip or bite.
A mobile rang….
The small slim phone lay on the table beside Motoko's index finger. As she stared at its metal, reflective steel surface, she couldn't quite remember it been there at all…And yet it was….the single blue screen on its surface illuminating each silvery ring.
She rose from her table, pacing across the room to one of the other families. They didn't move. Motoko, out of curiosity knelt down beside the old man, the father, his jowls hanging mid chew, the fat upper lip covered with the smallest of moustaches, his squid halfway to his mouth. Motoko could see the droplets of oil dropping from the squid's dead flesh, frozen in air. With one trembling finger, she pressed her finger into the side of his face. The face remained still, moving on the large bull neck the man sported, the indent of her finger remaining as she released the finger…In the ringing silence, the phone still rang.
Motoko looked at Mira, her crimson eyes rising from the game pad in her hands, alighting on Motoko's face.
"Don't answer." She said simply as Motoko allowed the metal pad to rest in her out stretched palm. The phone clicked open, the brightly coloured screen covered with pictures of Lotus blossom and Thai dragons twirling in the sky. Motoko looked deep into the screen, reading the dark letters in the single blue glowing box beneath.
WITHELD
She took one look at Mira, still frozen in her chair, but her face as ever not moving from Motoko's face.
"Please don't throw all this away"
Motoko answered the phone, the metal earpiece up against her ear.
"Listen very carefully, do you believe this world is real, this life, this travesty is real. Or are you part of a dream….I offer you a choice"
"Who is this…?" Motoko rose from her seat, looking around in panic, the simple cream frock she wore causing her to stumble as suddenly she became unused to its tight folds.
"This thing you believe is just memories implanted in your head by ODIN the god within the machine, your ghost….soul is been harvested by the machines to sustain another to gain self awareness. Your life, your husband, your family doesn't exist….your daughter is just another A.I developed to keep an eye on you. The construct mustn't find you at all."
"How did you get this number?"
"Have you ever asked your…..no, you've only been gone one day…." The deep male voice paused, as if in thought "…..there have been points within this….perfect….day when you've seen things which just don't compute as they should, flashes of things which you know were part of your life at some point"
"What do you want from me!!?" Motoko gripped the tablecloth, glancing across at Mira. There was a brief shimmer in the air, becoming thick like liquid, vast metal tentacles plugged into the back of her head, along her arms, her spine, the restaurant disappearing, becoming replaced with glass and green liquid, a face peered through the glass at her, green eyed and tousle haired.
The Green Eyed Man.
"No….nononononononononono….."
Motoko slumped back into her chair, the families resuming their meals, a storm gathering outside as the rain began to blanket the windows. Him….it across the table looked up from his meal, the baby gurgling and Mira, her blue dress creased and food stained as yet another drop of soup fell into her lap, stirring the squid tentacles in her soup.
Motoko tutted, taking a napkin and brushing aside the loose food, there was something there….but no it was just a perfect meal in a perfect, normal, mundane….boring day…no, that wasn't right.
"Are you done?" Motoko looked up as the Waitress spoke, hands resting on her upper legs as she bent over to come level with Motoko's head. As in the dark air outside, the moist air wet the pane of glass. Motoko paused as a thundering crash ripped through the quiet air. A vast tank screamed by, cars blowing out as it shattered the ground beneath its ball shaped feet, 4 legs working furiously to dislodge the purple haired woman on its back as she tried to open the main hatch.
In an eye blink the scene of carnage was gone, fizzling away into nothingness, Motoko rising from her chair. There were helicopters outside, black ones, their tails turning to empty out their bullet belts at several blue, 4 legged tanks who were sprinting across the building tops.
The people inside the restaurant all looked up back smiling as the world came apart around her. Motoko grabbed Mira from the table and ran, the world becoming a vivid colour of fire and light as the helicopters kept up with the blue tanks. She burst from the glass doors onto the street outside. A brown hair girl, hair in a pony tail sprinted past, a shoulder bag around her waist and a drunken tramp dropped into the gutter by the roadside and disappeared from view, his beard sinking into the water logged drain. Motoko gripped her daughter's hand and stared up at the dark sky and the unbroken, the helicopters were gone, the tanks with them.
Motoko, the dress becoming water logged and soggy looked down into Mira's eyes and struggled to come to terms.
"It's a glitc……crrrrk What's Wrong Mummy?" Mira shifted as if in shock, trying to say something and been stopped mid way through, like a CD sticking in the drive. Motoko let her hand fall, backing away from the small girl. A large body slammed into her's, pitching her forward, rough hands grabbed her and Motoko found herself staring into a pair of prosthetic eyes, their owner wet and angry glaring back….
"Motoko!! Wake up….don't forget about us and what has to be done, don't abandon me again….."
And he was gone; the street descending into blackness as the image failed and Motoko fell back into her warm bed.
12/06/2010
The small, white coloured kitchen was lit by several dim lights which bathed Motoko and the small girl which sat before her in a cosy light. Motoko looked at the waffle dumped unceremoniously onto the plate by the beaming girl. The dull copper eyes looked back expectantly. This had happened before, she could feel the memory of it been slowly erased as the Motoko in her head twisted away, trying to pull away.
Mira was up as Motoko pushed the plate away, eyes becoming dewy as she seemed to hold back tears. She was struggled, the edges of her shape becoming unapparent and fuzzy.
"Don't you like it Mummy, I spent ages making it….don't you love me?"
"No…." 'wait' the Motoko of her head said, the cold, brooding presence 'you don't know her, she isn't your daughter, she is just a build up of codes and numbers, a figment if your imagination….you personality made real.' "….yes"
"What….?" The figment said as Motoko dropped from her chair. "….what?" Motoko didn't stop as she quickly scooted the paper from the table and made for the door. A blast tore the dress from her back and scattered her across the floor as Mira rose from her seat, the air crackling around her, the tang of ozone permeating the air around her. The skin on her back was burnt, the simple dress taking the worst of the electrical current.
"I asked you to stop…." Mira slammed her foot into Motoko's unresisting back as she stepped lightly onto the floor, slamming Motoko's face into the white tiles. "….why do you resist your new life when everything you could possibly want is here."
"Because this isn't my life, it is just a figment of my imagination…." Motoko said thorough blood soaked lips "….what are you….the memories make now sense, I can't feel a connection"
"Lets have a cup of coffee and then I'll make sure you'll forget the whole incident. All I offer is a choice, a chance in fact for a better life."
"This isn't better…." Motoko felt her spine creak as Mira applied more pressure to her back "…this is a prison"
"How do you know? Can you remember anything outside this life?"
Motoko tried to think, the last memories, the dreams, the people.
"You can't can you…you're just a shell that desires to be filled by something more then this travesty you call a life. You can't remember anything."
Motoko rested her head in her hands as Mira stalked around her still form. There among the empty mind she could see something, rising from the mist. A single skylark broke through, its song sweet and filled the green hills of Motoko's mind with sound and beauty.
"I…I can…"
"What?" Mira turned as her elder rose from the floor.
"I can remember something and you've…."
Mira took a warning step forward, dropping low like a panther about to strike "….what do you say?"
"…..you've been a very naughty girl"
The fist caught Mira across the face, the streams of numbers tearing into nothingness as Motoko's fist connected. Mira slammed hard into the kitchen top, sliding down the cupboard door and slumping in a tiny huddle at the cupboard base. Motoko looked down at the sad pile as she pulled the shreds of her dress around her body.
In the silence, the crickets chirruped outside the double glazed windows, the antique clock ticked in the softly furnished living room, the singing of skylarks filling Motoko's head as she turned, taking the mobile phone from the kitchen surface.
She answered it in the first ring, pressing the ear piece to her and ear and spoke….
"And what do you want me to do?"
I refered to most of the previous chapters as parts of Motoko's memories, Brownies points for those who can name the sepearate chapters....
