Sunlight Through Concrete Rain - Part 7 (still WIP but now we're almost there!)

37

The museum’s office was empty; no desks, tables, chairs. Nothing. Not even a paperclip. Beyond the windows, which had long since been smashed and broken, Vel could see nothing but the blackness of Old Mumbai. In the ceiling however, was an old holoprojector, and the room was filled with the purple-blue light of Rob’s flickering projection.

“I suppose,” said the hologram of Rob, “it’s time I come clean.”

T.H. scoffed. “About what?”

“Everything.” Rob’s voice was stern, but polite. It reminded Vel faintly of an old teacher of his. “After all, there is no guarantee we will meet… after.”

“Alright. Spill.” Ravi leaned against a wall, and spoke.

“I will be quick. All of us siblings were built around a core purpose. Mine was empathy. RAI’s was efficiency. There is an old analogy; sufficiently advanced AIs will care for humanity as much as humanity cares for ants. My purpose was to care more for you than you would an ant.”

“And RAI’s?” Vel asked.

“To carry out the given task as efficiently as possible.”

The stale air in the office felt… heavy, as though it were pressing Vel down into the dusty floor.

“What task is he, it, executing right now?”

“I don’t know. I have been sleeping for a long time, remember? From what I can piece together, he is busying himself with research on space travel and nuclear weaponry.”

“So, what?” T.H. scoffed again. “He wants to leave the planet?”

“That’s neither here nor there,” Ravi interjected. “What does any of this have to do with why you’re fighting him? After all these years?”

Silently, as though deep in thought, Rob turned around and gazed out of one of the broken windows. A soft wind was blowing now, amplified by the cavernous concrete city. The rain drifted on the wind. “Look what the world has come to under his leadership… The ants live in better conditions, no?” He spoke as though forlorn. “You deserve better.”

“You stuck mercs on us, clanker,” T.H. interjected. “Mercs that blew up my home and nearly killed all of us.”

“Yes, I apologise for that but I needed to send a message,” he spoke in a soft, apologetic tone, but did not turn around.

“Mhmm, yeah, sure,” Ravi said, nonchalant. “Let’s just get this over with. What do we do?”

“I’ve unlocked the lifts, but now we need to power them. It’s an old power source; diesel generators. I can do many things, but interact with the physical world isn’t one of them. You will need to get the generators started; don’t worry about the diesel, there’s enough cans of the stuff in the generator room.” He still gazed out of the window.

“How’d you get the diesel?” Vel asked, half-expecting the answer. “Bento helped?” he added on.

“Of course; none of this would have been possible without him. Moving on, in the old lifts you will find all the equipment – and weapons – you may need for this jaunt.”

“Of course,” Vel sighed. He could still just… walk away. As far as he reckoned, he had a better chance of surviving the next few days if he hid out in New Bombay with the bounty on his head than he had if he went through with this. Still, he was a dead man anyway, he figured.

The room around him was silent, too. Ravi and T were each looking off into the distance, staring at nothing in particular, busied with their own thoughts. T was the first to shake himself out of his trance and, as he got to his feet, Vel heard him mumble to himself “fuck it, fuck it, fuck it!”. Seconds later, Ravi grabbed him by the arm.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Her eyes glowed iridescent in the light of the ancient holoprojector.

“Yup,” he replied, dull smile on his face. He pulled her in tight for a long kiss. “I love you, Ravs,” he said, holding her close.

“I love you too.” She was fighting back tears.

NOTE:

Yes, ik, extremely short part. But I haven't had much time to write the past couple weeks, okay? Gimme a break!!!! More soon :)