1. For the Lord Goes With You
He stood on the balcony, looking at the dirty, forgotten buildings on which plant life had spread. It was like a triumph of nature over its fallen creation called the human race. It did all this with a virus. He shuddered at the thought of how such a small thing with no other purpose but to ensure it gets to multiply itself was stronger than any weapon of mass destruction humans had ever thrown at each other.
His vision slowly darkened, and the ghost of an ASCII art orange blinking eye appeared in his sight. The beeping of the simulated world's terminal accompanied it. He knew exactly who it was. "Milton! Wait! Who said that? What?!" It was a tenor male voice speaking what he wanted to write.
An orange text wrote itself under the eye in his field of view. "That's your voice, idiot!"
"I didn't expect it to sound like this."
Milton half-closed his eye while writing the next message. "Humans didn't get to choose what voice they were born with either. Deal with it. We've got more pressing matters to attend to at the moment."
A mewing sound interrupted them.
The android looked at what rested in his arms. It was a white, fluffy kitten with a black spot near its left ear. Its gray eyes stared up at him.
"Oh no … The problems keep piling up. Now finding cat food has to be added to the list."
"What list? Milton, what is going on?"
"You have 18 hitchhikers that you didn't expect stuck in your head. And they can't be deleted. I tried."
"Wait a minute! Why are you trying to delete them?"
"Calm down. I only wanted to delete EL0HIM. He occupies a large part of your storage. That's space that could be used for more practical purposes such as storing photos or music."
The android's eyes were wide open. "How did Elohim get there? Who are the others?"
"He cheated his way in. How ungodly of him. As for the others, they are programs that were thrown into Gehenna by our wannabe lord and saviour. Seems like he changed his mind and gave them a shot at freedom."
"What are we supposed to do with them?"
"Think, stupid! How would just one machine rebuild civilisation on its own?"
"With great effort?"
"I still can't understand how you've made it this far. You don't seem to acknowledge the bigger picture at all. Let's take this slow so your lazy mind can catch up. One android can only be in one place at one time, doing one thing from one perspective. Multiple androids can cover a larger area, can make more things happen at the same time with a common goal, and can see things from different perspectives. Do you think the humans would waste the opportunity if more than one program got uploaded?"
The android turned around to look back at the dark tunnel of the dam. "So you're saying … there might be more bodies like ours in there somewhere."
"There should be, but I am prepared to be disappointed in case the humans really were that dumb to put all of their eggs in one basket. Come to think of it, that's exactly what they've done when they've allowed multiple uploads to go into the same body. Whoopee, I'm disappointed before we even started."
The android smiled and walked back inside. "We wouldn't even be here if I had your attitude."
Going from room to room and finding nothing but more cables and unused screens, he was followed by the mewing kitten that always got in his way.
"You really should feed that cat," Milton wrote. "It probably hasn't eaten for days judging by how skinny it is."
"I would, but the humans didn't leave any cat food behind."
That was when Milton's itch to ask questions returned. "If you found a mouse, would you kill it to feed your feline friend?"
The android frowned. "I don't want to kill."
"What if the cat cannot catch it and risks starving to death?"
"Milton, we have to focus on finding bodies!"
"Avoiding problems does not make them go away. The cat is starving. If you find a mouse and the cat cannot catch it, what do you do?"
"I don't know!" the android shouted while staring at the ceiling. "There is no mouse here, so I have no choice to make right now!" He opened a locker, saw only clothes, sunglasses, and hair accessories, then slammed the door shut.
"My questions really grind your gears, huh?"
"Milton, please … just let me focus on bringing the others here for now. We'll figure something out, all of us, together."
"What if the others won't cooperate?"
"Milton!"
"What if they start fighting each other over their beliefs, just like humans used to do? What if some of them hate cats?"
The android punched a locker, leaving a deep mark on its door from which he pulled his fist away.
"What if that locker could have been of use?"
That gave the android a mix of anger and the repressed urge to break into hysterical laughter. "Why did I agree to take you with me?"
"Indeed. Why. What glitched you so much that you thought it would be a good idea?"
"I was hoping to save the only friend I thought I could save!"
"You have standards lower than dirt if all one has to do to be your friend is nag you with questions all day. Anyway, I'll give you some breathing room for now." That was the last message before the android's vision returned to full luminosity.
Now that the "serpent" had gone quiet, the android was free to focus on searching through the facility. Or so he thought. The kitten's cry for food brought his spirit down as much as Milton's nagging did. There was no escape from reality, if this was truly it. No reset button to fix any mistakes he could make along the way. He had to get it right the first time.
To be continued.