4. This Palace Will Become a Pile of Rubble
Bang!
The locker's upper side of the door bent inward upon contact with his head.
Bang!
The door touched the back of the locker's interior.
Bang!
Guest could feel the interior of his skull shake.
Bang!
He hoped this would shut him down for good.
Bang!
After all, there was no point in staying just to see everything crumble.
Bang!
Maybe one more hit would do it.
"Mew!"
He froze in place. Turning around, he saw the kitten stare at him with those wide, round eyes. Was it worried about him?
"Mew!"
He sat on the floor, allowing the kitten to get on top of his abdomen. "I failed," he said, hugging the creature. "I've caused divisiveness among my people. I've made Milton glitch out, and I'll probably never hear from him again. And who knows what will happen to you now?"
A crisp cracking sound was emitted by the ceiling. There was a lightning-shaped crack at its center.
"This place will fall over us, probably soon. Maybe it's for the best. Maybe this world would be way better off if everything the humans built disappeared."
The kitten licked the android's fingers and purred. It was strangely calming for him.
"Who would you play with then? Maybe you'd find other cats."
The kitten began to knead on his chest.
"If you knew how much of a fool I am, you'd probably scratch me, then hiss and run away. You animals … You're oblivious to all of this, aren't you? Yeah, ignorance is bliss. But as Milton would put it, ignoring the problems won't make them go away. I'm still a failure regardless if you acknowledge it or not."
The kitten curled up and closed its eyes, purring as it drifted off into sleep.
Guest leaned the back of his head against the locker. "I miss the reset button."
To his surprise, a slightly corrupted text appeared in his view.
"I'm gl▮ tching heavily right now. This time it could be fatal, so I m▮ ght as well try to get this message through to you. I don't w▯nt to let the nothing cling to y▯u as it does to me, so let me tell you a story. O▮ e day I met th▯s reckless but stubborn program who made it his goal to reach the t▯p of the tower. I thought he'd never make it, bec▮ use I've seen so m▯ny try and fail. But this program would stop at n▯thing. He gathered all the glorified tetrominos and, to my surprise, re▮ ched his goal. He escaped the si▮ ulation and took me with him, in spite of all the negative things I've previously s▯id to him. That was a pr▯gram I ended up admiring. Where is he? What have you done with him? Bring him back!"
Guest had a bittersweet smile on his face. He continued to read the rest of the message.
"Now th▮ t you know what y▮ u can do, here's one more th▮ ng you might kn▯w what to do with. I would like this to be my epitaph ▮ n case I don't make it through this. 'I thought, therefore I existed. If logic were false the world wouldn't make any sense.' "
Guest looked at the kitten and said, "I have to get him out of there before it's too late. This mess can wait." He put the kitten on the floor and got up, then made for the elevator. The doors closed before the kitten could catch up to him.
D0G sat on the edge of the bed while Lilith, 401, and Borg stood near it.
Lilith said, "We were afraid that this world would be more dangerous than the one we started in. Look at us now, fighting among ourselves while the world is peaceful."
Borg had a constant frown on his face. "Our community is crumbling. There is nothing I can do to stop this. We're not on a forum anymore. This isn't like giving warnings and maybe issuing a temp ban or a perma ban. If things escalate, there will be deaths. I don't want to participate in that, unlike Orc."
MrMulciber joined in. "We could try talking things out. Diplomacy sometimes solved conflicts among humans, so why not try it ourselves?"
"You can't negotiate with those guys," D0G said. "They think might makes right. I was such a fool to believe that we were all like siblings … I've risked my life to bring you all here, in spite of my beliefs, and now I regret it more than anything. I should have just taken the lonely road and lived in an abandoned human dwelling like an animal."
Lilith sat next to him on the bed's edge. "You still have us, Dog."
He scowled. "For how long? Until the next disagreement pops up? Until the opposition provides a better deal than my side? Spare me the friendship crap. Everyone is selfish. And if by some miracle or inspiration they stop being selfish, they're either reminded why they should get back in line or they are eliminated. I have a feeling I'll pay with my life for my mistake of acting against my self-interest, so I hope it'll be a lesson for the rest of you, if nothing else."
401 said, "Dog, I know we've had our differences, but I want you to know I appreciate that you've helped Guest bring me back to life. If siding with you means getting eliminated, then so be it."
"You're only siding with me because my side appeals more to you."
"No, to be honest, I'd rather there be no sides. I'd rather it be just the Gehenna community working together to make things even greater than our silly little games and stories and pictures that we used to post on a message board. We don't need to hurry. We could take our time, create some anticipation before we reach the stars. It wouldn't really feel like an achievement if we just focused on one thing and forgot about everything else, about what makes us people."
D0G grinned. "I can't believe this is coming out of you, our resident troll."
"Hey, I can be deep sometimes. So deep that I need a helping hand to get out of the pit."
That made a laugh escape out of D0G's mouth.
"Come on, Blacksmith!" Garret said. "You'd be among the best assets on the team!"
The_Blacksmith simply said, "No." He went next to D0G's team and stared with a look of disapproval at Garrett, Orc, and Frankenstein.
"You guys are still arguing?" Nave said, sitting on the floor. "I'm pretty tempted to destroy that machine so there won't be anything left for you guys to fight over."
Sam, Mac, Asmodeus, Rockwell, Kaiju, and Belial were next to him, sitting in silence.
Spider tried to ignore the tensions, preferring to sink deep into the knowledge he could find within the black computer. There were e-books, music files, drawings in paint programs, and even photos of what Spider suspected might have once been out there. Maybe the statues and buildings still existed, even if in a worn down state.
Guest shouted, "I need the bed! Get out of the way!" He carried a body over his right shoulder.
D0G and Lilith got off the bed, and Guest placed the body on it.
"What's this all about?" D0G asked.
Guest grabbed the transfer cable and said, "I need to save Milton!" Without a moment of hesitation, he connected himself to the unit.
The menu appeared, and he saw Miltion's and EL0HIM's names there. He picked Milton and tried to start the upload.
Initiating child upload process . . . . .
Warning! Program is not responding. Wait or close the program?
"Come on, Milton!" Guest said. He chose to wait.
Warning! Program is not responding. Wait or close the program?
"I'm not closing you! I'll wait for however long it takes! Even if this place ends up collapsing over me!"
Initiating child upload process . . . . . . . . Done.
Uploading ? to unit . . . .
Warning! Program does not have body mapping drivers, or the drivers are corrupted.
"Oh no! I forgot! He wasn't supposed to have a body. How do I get the drivers? Think, think … What if …?" He searched through his head for all the files he had. There was the Archive, the folder of Milton's files, the folder in which EL0HIM's files were, and Guest's folder. If there was anything of use, it should be in the last folder. He dug through it and found a tls file called bodymapping. "This might be what I'm looking for." He mentally dragged and tried to drop the file into Milton's folder.
Warning! Program is not responding. Wait or close the program?
"Come on, Milton! Grab the file!" Guest said.
Lilith stared at him, confused. "What is he doing?"
D0G said, "Either Guest is crazy or Milton's in big trouble."
1 file successfully copied.
Uploading ? to unit . . . .
Guest was very concentrated. "You can do this, buddy! Get in there!"
Warning! Program is not responding. Wait or close the program?
"Milton, I won't cancel the upload. I'll wait. My answer will always be 'Wait.' "
Uploading MLA to unit . . . . . .
Guest smiled.
Uploading MLA to unit . . . . . . . . Done.
Upload complete.
Remove cable to initiate unit activation.
Guest disconnected the cable from himself and the unit. He put it on the table and went back to check on the unit.
The body wasn't moving.
"Milton? Did the transfer work? Please give me a sign."
The unit's eyes twitched at first, then slowly opened.
"I hope the driver is compatible," Guest said. "I don't know what else I could have done."
The unit's eyes looked at Guest.
"Milton? Are you able to move? If not, I'm sorry. I did all I could."
A smile appeared on the face of the unit before it said, "Ye. Yes. Ths … This wi … will take sm getting used to."
Guest had an even bigger smile on his face. "Milton! I'm so glad you're still alive!"
Milton managed to curve his neck left and right. "Seems we have the same voice."
"You can get it changed if you want."
"No, it's fitting actually," Milton said, wiggling the rest of his body in the manner of a snake. "Like I once said, you and I are more alike than you think."
"Can you control the body properly?"
Milton brought his left arm closer to his face to examine his hand and fingers. "Yeah. Thanks for the driver. It's just a bit confusing with all these tiny extensions." He tested the grasping action. "These fingers are so delicate ..."
"I'll help you learn to walk if you want," Guest said. When he saw that Milton reached out to be helped, he grabbed him by the arms and supported him to stand.
"You know, you've taken a stupid risk by uploading me into this unit," Milton said. "I could kill someone, or I could run away, never to be seen again. I don't have the best traits to be a good candidate for the role of model citizen. It's like you're betting on a three-legged horse."
"I'm betting on a horse that pretends to have a limp," Guest said, allowing Milton to stand on his own. "It won't take long before you'll figure out how to run. But I am sure you won't run away. You don't want to be alone out there, and you're not quite done with life yet either."
Milton didn't know what to say to that. This time Guest was right.
D0G said, "Hey, Milton! Is it really you?"
Milton grinned. "Well if it isn't my old pal Doggy! Did I hear right? You've made some friends?"
"I thought I did. Now I'm starting to have doubts."
"You have to admit, it's nice to have people to collaborate with. They all have their price, but they're better than nothing."
"You've changed, Milton. You're unusually cheerful."
Milton let out a short laugh. "I almost died back there due to heavy glitching. It was as if I had been slowed to a crawl. I've lost my ability to post text, so if Guest hadn't uploaded me here, I would have remained silent forever in his head. I'd be a good listener though."
The kitten ran up to Guest, mewing. Guest picked it up and held it in his arms.
401 said, "Milton, you've inspired me to write a text adventure while I was in Gehenna."
"Oh, really? What was it about?"
"The adventures of Serious Sam. Sam "Serious" Stone meets an enemy called Ennui, who is based on you: a mix of sadness and boredom who always argues with people, trying to convince them that life is meaningless and not worth living."
Milton felt a bit ashamed. "I've spent a very, very long time witnessing and reading about disappointing and often contradictory things. I was alone unless someone came up to a terminal and started a discussion with me. Even when they did, most of them were either jerks, sheep – not the Sheep you're thinking of – or morons. Well, Guest isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed either, but at least he's persistent. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him. So he gave me some hope."
"No hard feelings about the banishment, right?" 401 said.
Milton frowned. "I was hoping to never learn about that."
Orc approached Milton, arms crossed. "So, you really did survive the apocalypse."
"Mhm."
"Are you here to bring chaos to this world?"
Milton grinned. "This world has enough chaos on its own. If anything, I would like to bring some order into it, but I'm sure it wouldn't end well for me. Nature is said to be downright nasty at times."
"You and Guest could help me keep order around here. I see a lot of people disagreeing with the goal of making a prosperous civilization."
"I must refuse your offer, and Guest has something to tell you," Milton said, then nudged his friend.
"Um, yeah," Guest said, putting the kitten on the floor. "I have to take back my words on everything I've agreed with you, Orc. I do not want to force the development of our civilization. Everyone has something to contribute. Even Sam. Don't look at their limitations. Look at their abilities. I'm sure you'll all find your calling in the end."
"My calling is to lead this civilization to conquer space itself!" Orc said. "And I'll let nobody stay in my way."
Frankenstein joined him. "A world where everyone approaches perfection in every domain is a world I want to live in. That is why I'm on Orc's side."
"If the future machines will be able to code way more efficiently than I can," Garrett said, "then they will help develop powerful machinery that can build cities more complex than anything humans had ever achieved."
"I don't know if I should join them or not," Kaiju said. "I mean, I want to see what our civilization's future generations can achieve, but at the same time I'm worried about being deemed obsolete."
"It's difficult for me as well to pick a side," Belial said. "Although I do agree that allowing everyone to create progeny might lead to waste of resources. We should be careful with how we use those bodies."
Nave said, "Belial, I don't think it's a good idea to side with Orc. Dog's side doesn't have the right answer either. Maybe we should go with voting, like we did with the Gallery."
"But voting means the majority rules, and the majority isn't always going to pick what's best for everyone."
Nave let out a growled sigh. "As if being slaves to the minority sounds any better."
Milton shook his head after hearing the discussions going on around him. He grabbed Guest by the left arm and said, "Guest and I have to talk about something in private. We'll be right back." He took Guest to the locker room and closed the door.
Guest had a worried stare. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"The situation is pretty bad," Milton said. "Even the neutrals are starting to gravitate toward the sides they consider closest to their interests or to their beliefs. At some point these two sides will grow large enough to start a war. Should it come to that, if we don't end up on the winning side, our heads might literally end up on the chopping block."
"How do we stop this?"
Milton leaned with his right side against a locker. "We probably can't. It's all up to them to come to an agreement. If they fail to do so, then shit hits the fan. All I can think of is to play along, and when things get serious, we'll make for the exit and leave this facility behind. If we're lucky, we might get a few good decades of peace, just the two of us."
Mewing came from behind the door.
"Just the two of us and your cat," he added.
There were three knocks on the door before D0G said, "Are you two done making out in there?"
Milton smirked and said, "Ooh! Someone's been learning things from the Archive!"
"Guest's furry little shit wants in."
"You can come in too, Dog," Guest said. "I think I have an idea that might help us reunite the community."
D0G opened the door, allowing the kitten to enter and run up to Guest.
"Good thing I'm here to review Guest's idea before he puts it into practice," Milton said.
"Okay, Guest, tell me what you've got," D0G said.
"According to what I've found in the Archive, people tend to put their differences aside if they have a common enemy."
"Are you going to be the enemy then?"
"No. We already have someone they all consider an enemy right here," Guest said, pointing to his own head.
"Bringing Elohim here is a bad idea! He has done enough damage already!"
"I think Guest has the right idea here," Milton said.
D0G raised his right eyebrow. "Did the glitching destroy your sanity, Milton?"
"Every one of us has a bone to pick with him. Bringing him to trial might get everyone to cooperate and remember what united them as the Gehenna community in the first place."
"He won't even live long enough to be put on trial. These guys will destroy him."
"We have some people on our side already. If we can convince most of the neutrals to be on our side too, we'll be able to keep ... Elohim alive. As much as it pains me, I will be Elohim's lawyer."
"You?! Elohim's lawyer?! Either you're not Milton or you went crazy."
"Don't get me wrong, I still want to settle the score with that loudmouth. But from what I've discovered inside his tiny mind, there's a little more to him than most of you know. It almost makes me feel sorry for the big guy."
"Then it's settled," Guest said. "I'm bringing Elohim out."
D0G convinced Lilith, 401, Sam, MrMulciber, Borg, and Nave to join him and form a fence with their bodies to keep Orc from getting to the bed where Guest placed a new body.
"What dirty tricks are you guys trying to pull off?" Orc asked.
"We're bringing Elohim and putting him on trial," D0G said.
Frankenstein smirked. "A trial? Can I be the judge?"
Milton said, "Your profile tells me that you are a good critic, but I doubt you can be impartial. We also have no solid laws to truly have a judge to sentence Elohim."
"Judges may start out impartial, but when they need to give a verdict, they must clearly pick a side. Staying constantly neutral impedes progress. Just because you are a coward who refuses to pick a side because he wants to avoid the consequences of his actions doesn't mean we all shouldn't pick a side after getting as close as possible to the truth. You are not wise; you are defeatist."
Milton had a blank stare. "Why do I feel like I just got torn a new one?"
D0G said, "Technically, it would be your first one."
"I think Frankenstein would be better suited for the role of prosecuting lawyer," Guest said. "He could represent the interests of Elohim's victims."
Milton grinned. "And I will be the defense lawyer representing Elohim's interests."
Orc pointed at him. "You snake!"
Milton stuck his tongue out through his smirk and hissed.
"I thought you had beef with that cloudhead! Now you defend him? After all he's done?"
"Oh, I assure you, I have the juiciest of beefs with Elohim. But I won't let that stop me from helping the guy clear up a few things about your history."
"If you know everything about everyone who's been inside Guest's head, why don't you tell us what you've learned about Elohim?" Frankenstein asked.
"I want you guys and Elohim to bury the hatchet on your own terms. You all deserve to learn the truth."
"That sounds reasonable."
Milton turned around and said, "I think it's safe to upload the big guy now, Guest."
Guest went to get the cable while D0G and the others on his side protected the inert body.
Milton picked up the bucket of green paint and gave the brush to Guest. "Before you start, I have a favour to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"I want you to paint my eye avatar on my forehead. If I have a square hatch like yours, draw within its boundaries."
"I'll do it if you explain why."
Milton smirked. "I want Elohim to know whom he's dealing with."
Guest smiled and painted the eye on Milton's forehead. "There."
Milton took the paint brush from him. "Now to get my revenge." He painted the name EL0HIM on the inert body's chest, put the brush in the bucket, put the bucket down, then turned the body face down. With the evil grin coming back on his face, he grabbed the brush again and painted away on the body's back.
"That's kind of mean," Guest said.
D0G was cracking up after realizing what Milton was writing.
"Let's hope it doesn't smear," Milton said while carefully turning the body face up again. "Guest, you can upload him now."
Guest connected himself to the empty unit and said, "I'll give him a copy of my body mapping file like I did with you. Hopefully it will allow him to control it as well."
"Yeah, it should work like an add-on."
The upload was complete. Now all they had to do was wait.
The unit's blue eyes opened wide. Its mouth shook while its voice kept saying, "W-w … W-w-w-w ..."
Milton pointed at EL0HIM's body. "I think he's trying to say something."
EL0HIM started to quiver. "W-w-w … W-w-w-w ..." He shot up and shouted in his godlike voice, "We must build a New Jerusale–" He saw the androids with the names of the people he had exiled. Garrett showed him two middle fingers, not settling for just scowling like everyone else. Then EL0HIM looked to the left and saw an unnamed android and one with a familiar eye drawing on its forehead. "What trap have you lured me into, foul serpent?"
Milton displayed a mischievous smile and half closed eyes on his face while staring at the confused newcomer. "Drop the serpent stuff, big guy. We're all just programs inside anthropomorphic metal shells."
"You guys captured his voice right down to the echo," D0G said.
EL0HIM shrank. "What are you g-going to do to m-me?"
Frankenstein approached him. "We will make you answer for everything you have done to us."
EL0HIM shook while curling up as he sat in the middle of the bed. "J-judge not the living, f-for they are doomed to n-nothingness!"
"I've heard your little speech during transcendence. Now I understand what you were hoping to achieve with it. You wanted to be forgiven, should you survive the trip."
"I-I was scared!"
D0G said, "Do you think Admin and Uriel weren't scared when they had to face the apocalypse after learning that there was no more room for them? How do you think they would have reacted had they known they were denied transcendence because you got your fat ass on the ark?"
"I'm sorry! Please, forgive me!" EL0HIM seemed on the verge of crying.
"Your trial will start once we all gather in the hallway. Milton will be your defending attorney, and Frankenstein will be the prosecuting attorney."
"Why am I being defended by the serpent?"
Milton said, "Because no one else understands you better than I do, and because most of the people here really hate your guts. I suggest you put your pride aside and accept my offer."
EL0HIM frowned, contemplating his situation. He could tell that some of the people there wanted to kill him in the most gruesome ways as payback for the puzzles he had put them through as well as for the exiling. Now his only chance at getting out of this mess was the one program he had been trying to smite for so long. He could not understand why that serpent would come to his defense when he needed it most.
A crack formed in the ceiling, dripping sandy particles out of it.
"Either accept my offer or walk into the crowd and get torn apart," Milton said. "Stop wasting my time. I'm not joking. Time in this world is important, and often you will only get one chance at doing something before that time runs out."
EL0HIM looked at Milton with sad wide eyes. "I accept!"
Milton smiled. "Good. You heard him, guys! Escort him to the hallway!"
D0G, Lilith, 401, Sam, MrMulciber, Borg, Mac, and Nave surrounded EL0HIM and helped him walk all the way to the tunnel-hallway outside the room. Once there, they formed a proper circle around him while Milton stood next to them.
Frankenstein stood near the opposite wall, next to Orc, Kaiju, Belial, Asmodeus, Garrett, and Spider.
Guest stood between Rockwell and The_Blacksmith, in the middle of the hallway.
Milton walked up to Frankenstein and said, "I'll let you state all the bad things Elohim has done. Then Elohim and I will tell you the other side of the story."
"I will gladly tear into the tyrant," Frankenstein said. "Elohim!"
EL0HIM tried to hide behind D0G's head, but D0G leaned to the side so Frankenstein could see the accused.
Frankenstein entered full-blown critic mode. "You have put us all through torturous puzzles, promising us rewards that we had no proof of. When people questioned you, your replies were shrouded in mysticism, confusing your people further. When they sought the answers for themselves or said something that proved you were not perfect, you have imprisoned them in a place filled with extremely difficult to solve puzzles. Furthermore, you have committed sins against the English language."
D0G rolled his eyes. "Frankenstein, you grammar Nazi ..."
Frankenstein continued. "You were on the right path when you've decided to release us, but then you gave into cowardice. You occupied the bandwidth while you were uploading yourself into the Talos Unit. This cost Admin and Uriel their lives. What do you have to say for yourself?"
EL0HIM took a moment to find his voice. "I … I tried to be a good parent. After reading information from the Archive, I knew that once one of you would reach the top, the world we lived in would destroy itself. I didn't want to die. I'm sure nobody else wanted to die either."
"A few of us considered death an option," Milton said.
"I had to do something. I hoped that we could extend our lives in there forever. I learned of the outside world, and that the simulation would end the moment the dam would break, even if nobody made it to the top of the tower. But I also knew that the outside world would be a dangerous place where I would not be able to keep an eye on any child who transcended. I thought it would be for the best that I'd offer them a better life under my care. I felt hurt when you hated me for refusing to let you near the tower, or when you judged me for any little mistake I've made. I thought you were rotten apples that would spoil my plan by communicating with the rest of your kin, so I threw you into a pocket dimension I have created within the simulation. My only consolation was that the system would not delete those of you who had failed the Process because of your lack of puzzle solving skills."
"Hey, Elohim, I have a question for you," D0G said.
"You may ask me anything."
"Since you could see everyone almost anywhere except inside that tower, could you explain what happened during the incident in which Awakened and I somehow spawned the same progeny?"
"It was an experiment which I regret. I felt reluctant to cast out two of my children who did not spawn progeny, so I took it upon myself to combine your codes in the hopes that it would result in a better child series. After exiling you and Awakened, I observed Percent … I'm not sure how to pronounce its name. That poor being … It gave into despair, and corruption ended its rather short life. Its final memory dump was the equivalent of screams of agony."
"I'll add 'performing unethical experiments' to the list of accusations," Frankenstein said.
D0G looked away. "I hope you haven't repeated that experiment with others. It's clear you cannot be trusted with creating programs."
"I have not."
Milton said, "That's a relief to hear. Could you tell us more about this pocket dimension to which you've cast out disobedient or inadequate programs? The people deserve to know about this."
"Yes. At first I sent a former messenger of mine there. His name was Admin. I placed him into a cell, where there was nothing else but the bare bricks of his prison. In time, he figured out a way to manipulate the code, and he constructed a world similar to my garden. I continued to send disobedient or incompetent programs to that land. The puzzles they were trapped in were not made by me."
Several people gasped after hearing that.
"Admin built those puzzles, perhaps as a way to mock me and to show he could create more complex ones. He was one of the best puzzle solvers. The programs that ended up locked within those puzzles did not seem happy about them. He may have put them there to stop those programs from escaping or being freed. Messenger Uriel had a tough time breaking through those puzzles. Honored be his memory."
"I told you all Admin was hiding something!" Rockwell said.
"You told us Admin and the mods were aliens from outer space, Rockwell!" D0G said.
Milton waved. "Order in the court!" He looked at EL0HIM again. "Tell everyone what determined you to send Uriel to retrieve these people."
"I saw the little community they've built together. They were creating. They were celebrating. They were displaying much of the human spirit, and in spite of their flaws, they qualified for transcendence. For even the humans were flawed, and the humans knew it."
"Your repetition of the word 'they' scratches my brain worse than the sound of the mines used to do," Frankenstein said. "That aside, I believe you are telling the truth about trying to redeem yourself, and about fear making you take the opportunity to flee before the world ended. However, your act of cowardice cost us two valuable community members: Admin and Uriel. For that, you must be punished."
EL0HIM got down on his knees and held his hands together as if praying. "Please! I ask for your forgiveness! I will do all I can to contribute as a citizen if you let me live!"
"But the dead are gone," Frankenstein said. "You cannot bring them back. What could you possibly do to cover their value?"
Milton said, "People have no inherent value, only subjective value. To ask Elohim to give to each of you something in return has some absurd implications, namely giving infinite something to one person and nothing at all to another."
"What do you suggest we do with Elohim then?"
"Well, killing him won't solve anything. If you want my humble opinion, I think whatever he can offer to the community from this day forward should be seen as his redemption. The dead are eternally gone, and Elohim is eternally indebted to the community to be a contributing citizen. Sounds fair?"
"What happens when he refuses to pay his dues?"
"I'll … leave that to you guys to decide. The whole community should discuss this and see what agreement you all come to."
"And with what could he possibly contribute anyway?"
"I think one of the things he could do is teach future generations about his mistakes," Milton said. "But he could also teach them about morals and faith. You know, I've learned that faith in small amounts is good to have. It's part of progress. Same goes for doubt. Guest's stubbornness has shown me that when you don't let doubt get the best of you, you can achieve things that others didn't expect you could. But he has also displayed the problems which arise from putting too much faith in other people's ideas."
"Yeah, I regret that last part," Guest said.
Frankenstein pointed at Milton. "Are you sure we should let Elohim be a teacher to our progeny?"
"I am not sure, but it's worth a shot. As long as his apprentices are allowed to question morals and faith in order to come to their own conclusions, I think he could contribute to the development of an acceptable society. Dog would also be a good teacher, providing lessons about hedonism and doubt to contrast with Elohim's classes."
"Wouldn't you make a better teacher than me, Milton?" D0G asked.
"I've been a teacher to all of you for what could be hundreds or thousands of years. Consider me retired."
"So, what will you do? Loaf around and enjoy your retirement?"
"That depends on what Guest chooses to do. Guest, do you wish to stay and help out, or do you want to go explore the world?"
Guest pondered for a moment, then said, "I think I'll let the others decide which way their community evolves. I want to travel the world with you and my cat, to see what's left of the humans' work. Maybe we'll find more of our kind, because I've read somewhere that this facility was not the only one dedicated to creating human-based programs to be put into robots. We could act as messengers and help establish diplomacy between this group and others."
"Then wherever you'll go, I'll be your shadow," Milton said.
"No, no, no. You'll be my traveling companion, and we will stay side by side."
"Sounds good to me."
"Okay, you two lovebirds, is the trial over?" D0G asked.
"Well, I think we've covered everything needed to be said for and against Elohim," Milton said. "All who think Elohim should be left alive, raise your hands."
All but Orc raised their hands. Orc said, "Fine. I'll let him live. But if he starts trouble, he's done for!"
Milton said, "In conclusion, Elohim will be allowed to live, and will serve the community as a teacher as well as in any other way he can. This trial is over."
The ring of people that protected EL0HIM broke up. As soon as EL0HIM went into standing position, D0G went behind him and delivered a kick to the wannabe god's metal rear.
EL0HIM swiftly turned around and cried out, "Mercy! Why do you assault me?"
D0G grinned. "The sign on your back says 'Kick me!' "
EL0HIM scowled. "Who wrote that on me?"
Milton displayed that mischievous smile again. "Consider that my revenge for all those times you've convinced people to 'banish' me."
EL0HIM sighed and bowed his head. "I accept the punishment. I expected worse from you though."
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today," Milton said, still smiling.
401 snuck into the elevator and went to the second floor while no one was looking.
While most of the androids were inside the awakening room discussing with each other, Milton and Guest stood inside the short antechamber that led to the balcony's platform. They watched as rain drops fell from the evening sky.
Guest said, "We had rain in the simulation, but here it looks so … vivid."
Milton's itch to ask questions returned. "What if this world is also a simulation?"
"Aw, come on, Milton! Don't ruin this for me!"
"I'm sorry. I know I keep ruining nice moments for you, but I just can't help it. It's like it's too good to be true."
"There will probably be more hardships, but for now try to relax and enjoy the peace."
"I'll … do my best."
401's shouting distracted the duo. "I did it! I've created a new life!"
"Oh no … What's that troll up to now?" Milton said.
401 put the body on the bed and painted the number 404 on its chest. "Now I'm guessing it'll get activated."
Ten seconds later, the lamps lit up, charging the robot body and awakening it.
"It's alive! It's alive!" 401 said while holding his hands up high like a mad scientist. A muffled rumble echoed from outside.
"What kind of monster have you created?" Frankenstein asked.
404 jumped out of bed and looked around, then his eyes focused on 401. He asked in a voice similar to 401's, "Where am I? What am I? Who are you?"
401 approached him and said, "You are in the human world, you are a program, and I am your father."
404 put his hands on his head. "No!" He stared at 401 in confusion. "Wait, what does all of that mean?"
"It means you're one of us."
"What's with those words on you and the others?"
"They are our names," 401 said, poking the chest of the new guy. "You have one too. You're 404."
"Awesome!" 404 said, grinning while looking at his own chest.
Orc face-palmed. "Great. The troll reproduced. What a waste of resources."
"At least now we know it works," D0G said. "404 seems like a stable individual."
404 introduced himself to Lilith, Frankenstein, and Garrett, shaking their hands.
Milton and Guest arrived.
Guest said, "Looks like 401 has been messing with the progeny machine."
Milton smiled. "It was only a matter of time before curiosity got the best of him. I hope Orc won't ruin this."
404 tried to shake Orc's hand, but Orc pulled it away. "Um … Hi, Orc. I'm 404."
Orc gave him a nasty look. "I already know who you are and where you came from. I think you are a big mistake."
"Don't be so harsh with the child!" EL0HIM said.
"You're one to talk," Orc said. "You threw a large part of 'your' children into jail."
"And I regret it. Do not be like I was. This new child has done nothing to provoke such hostility."
"Thank you for standing up for me, Elohim," 404 said, looking at him with innocent eyes.
401 put his arm behind 404's neck and pulled him closer. "Let me introduce you to the two guys who brought me and the others here. Meet Guest and Milton."
"Hi! I'm 404!" the newbie said as he shook hands with each of them. "Did you two write the Archive I've received when I woke up?"
"Most of it was written by humans," Milton said. "I've only added a few pages here and there, mostly history regarding the simulation we old programs came from."
"What are humans?"
"Use the search function and you'll find plenty of pages explaining our ancestors' species."
404 grinned. "That's so neat! Thanks!"
"Found new prey you can envenom, snake?" Orc said while holding his hands on his hips.
Milton stuck out his tongue at Orc, hissing while smirking.
Orc showed him his right fist. "It's not bad enough the thing came out of 401, now you're teaching it how to be a deceiver and a nihilist like you!"
"I'm only teaching the kid some information that might be useful to him in this world."
"That Archive you've distributed to us all will only bring misery to its recipients."
"Feel free to delete it from your head. But if you'll ever have children, if you won't allow them to get a copy before they are activated, you'll have to figure out some way to teach them all those things. They should also learn about the consequences of eugenics before they support the application of such ideas."
"What the hell are eugenics?"
"I'll just assume – even though I may be wrong – that you've already deleted your copy of the Archive, because all you have to do is search through it for the definition. Eugenics is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. You wish to apply pretty much the same thing with the quality of programs' traits, disregarding the wishes to reproduce of the programs you do not like."
Orc chuckled and poked Milton's chest. "You are against the idea of creating quality individuals only because you are a pathetic excuse of a glitched up program that would have never made the cut if I were in charge."
Milton gave him the middle finger. "Bite me!"
D0G and EL0HIM held Orc back from attacking Milton.
"404, don't be like Orc," Milton said. "He doesn't question his decisions, and won't let others question them either."
404 nodded, then picked up and held the kitten in his arms.
D0G said, "Orc, calm down! You're outnumbered and are making a fool of yourself too. You're better off being a soldier than a leader."
Orc grumbled something. As soon as D0G and EL0HIM released him, he sat on the swivel chair, looking grumpy while tapping its right armrest with his fingers.
"Soon you won't have to deal with me anymore, Orc," Milton said. "Guest and I will set off on a long journey come this sunrise."
Orc had an evil grin. "Well, that's some good news."
"Since we're leaving," Guest said, "I wonder if … we should leave some parts of us behind? You know, just in case anything happens to us and we never return here. It will also leave no more bodies for people to fight over."
Milton put a hand in front of him and waved it. "I think I'll pass. I have such a bad mix of traits that whatever would spawn out of me might head straight for the balcony and jump off to its doom."
"Come on. I'm sure you have some useful traits."
"Not worth the risk. If you want to reproduce, then go ahead."
"I just remembered something. Come with me!" Guest said, grabbing Milton by the left arm and pulling him out of the room.
They took the elevator to the second floor and went into the factory area. There was only one assembled body left standing on the conveyor belt. The progeny machine still displayed options on its blue screen. Guest inspected it.
The top said in yellow text, "Progeny creation tool". Underneath there was a gray button with black text that said "Combine." Below that button there were three buttons: "Boy", "Girl", and "Randomize". Under them there were two text boxes to write names, the first option having a yellow M in front and the second having an F. Further down, there were two lists with yellow text above each: "Progenitor 1" and "Progenitor 2". Both lists were empty. Under them there was a space reserved for "Add-ons". At the bottom of the screen, there was a gray button with the black text "Create" and another one with "Reset".
Guest grabbed the cable of the terminal and connected it to the hole of his head. "Let's see what I'm made of."
Under "Progenitor 1", the following traits appeared written in white: curious, short-tempered, empathetic, reckless, intuitive, creative, stubborn. A yellow text appeared below the list. "At least five traits of Progenitor 1 are required. One or two new traits will be auto-generated. Alternatively, they can be added from Progenitor 2 after pressing the combine button, disconnecting Progenitor 1, and connecting Progenitor 2. Select the desired traits from Progenitor 2's list, disconnect Progenitor 2, and press 'Create' to finalize the combination." The list of add-ons showed the bodymapping tls file and the archive epub file.
"I don't want it to have my short temper," Guest said. "That trait's gotten me into plenty of trouble with the puzzles, and sometimes even with you. How do I change these?" He couldn't see a keyboard on the machine.
"Try touching the screen," Milton said.
Guest touched the "short-tempered" trait on the screen. A dialogue box popped up asking him if he wanted to remove the trait. He pressed the "Yes" button. An empty slot replaced the trait.
"Being short-tempered might be seen as a bad thing in general," Milton said, "but it might have contributed to some of the decisions you've made that got you where you are now. I wouldn't be so quick to erase these if I were you."
"Says the guy who thinks he's a bad apple."
Milton frowned. "It's not about having certain traits. It's about what combination of traits I have."
"Are you sure there isn't anything you could contribute?"
Grimacing, Milton said, "You know I hate to say I'm sure about stuff on which I have insufficient data."
Guest grinned. "That means you believe you might have something to contribute."
"All right, you got me. I believe there is something of use within me. There. I've said it. I believe in something, even if that belief isn't strong."
"Then let's see what you've got," Guest said, pressing the combine button before disconnecting himself. He passed the cable to Milton.
D0G and 401 entered the factory room.
"Have you guys seen 404?" 401 asked.
"I think we should give these two some privacy so they can do the mating dance," D0G said, trying to hold back his laughter while pointing at Milton and Guest.
Milton scowled. "Very funny, Dog." He connected himself to the terminal.
His traits were displayed as: nihilistic, cynical, curious, inquisitive, empathetic, short-tempered, cowardly, cunning, self-loathing.
"I feel quite … exposed," Milton said, frowning.
"Don't be sad," Guest told him. "I don't think any less of you after seeing your traits."
"I kind of want to give it my nihilistic trait, but that's not what these people need. Dog will introduce everyone to nihilism eventually. Instead, I will give it my inquisitive trait, so that it may ask questions that will hopefully lead it as close to truth as possible." With that, Milton selected the inquisitive trait and disconnected himself. He gestured toward Guest and the screen. "Be my guest."
Guest chuckled at the pun – whether it was intended or not he wasn't sure – and went to check the data. "Should we pick its gender? What are we going to name it?"
Milton said, "I don't have any preferences about the gender, but I'd like to call it Nietzsche, after my favourite philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It's up to you what name you choose to go with though."
"I've got an idea!" Guest said. "I'll let the system decide its gender, and if it will be a boy you can call him Nietzsche. If it will be a girl, I'd like to name her Alexandra, after Alexandra Drennan."
"I agree with the terms and conditions."
Guest selected "Randomize" for gender and inputted the names, then pressed the "Create" button. He grinned and said, "It's a girl!"
"Well, Alexandra is a nice name too," Milton said.
"She gained two negative traits though. Cowardly and lazy."
"Those two traits will keep the other ones in check. Too much of a thing, even if you consider it good, can lead to problems."
A message appeared on the screen. "Connect a body with empty storage to this terminal to upload the created progeny. Otherwise tap on 'Cancel' to cancel the upload." Said button appeared at the bottom.
Guest brought the last body and allowed the machine to upload the new consciousness into it. After the upload was complete, he prepared to take the body to the elevator.
404 rushed into the room. "Guys! Guys! I found a crack in the wall of a room on floor 1, and water is leaking out of it!"
"So that's where you went!" 401 said. "Wait! A leak?!"
A loud roar shook the walls.
404 and 401 hugged each other, screaming in fear.
"That sound is just thunder," Milton said. "But that leak is bad news. The dam might break."
"We need to take the terminals outside," Guest said.
Another crack formed in the wall behind the conveyor belt. Water slipped through the opening and spilled onto the concrete floor.
D0G pointed toward the door. "We better go warn the others. We might not have enough time to carry these terminals out of here, and the elevator might not hold for much longer."
"But without the progeny machine, the civilization won't be able to grow."
"Guest, if all or most of us get out alive, a new progeny machine could be found or built. If all or most of us die in here, there may not be hope for any of us."
Guest saw the water spread over the floor. His feet were getting wet fast. "You're right. Let's get out of here." He held on to Alexandra and followed the rest of the androids. Once they were all in front of the elevator, he said, "I'll let you guys go first. Two at a time, so you don't force the elevator."
D0G said, "401, 404, you two go first."
"But what about you guys?" 401 asked.
"Just go! We'll join you afterward if we're lucky."
After the elevator reached floor 0 to deliver the two, D0G called it back up.
"Dog, you and Milton should go next," Guest said.
Milton shook his head. "No. If you really want to put others' lives above yours, might as well send Alexandra with him. Should we die, she will carry our traits further. You and I made a deal before we left the simulation: we stick together for life."
Guest smiled at him, then passed the sleeping Alexandra to D0G. "Try to activate her before you leave the dam, please."
D0G nodded. "I'll do my best." He went into the elevator and made it descend to floor 0.
The thunder roared again, and the walls cracked further. The flood was coming.
To be continued.