A short piece. This is the second draft, it's not quite finished and there will definitely be more about Path.
Enjoy!
Path
The
white corridors of Tranquility City are filled with happy faces,
mothers carrying babies and gossiping, people of all ages crowded
around tables in the food court talking loudly and drinking oil or
other necessary fluids. Sophie wanders, looking out of windows at the
dusty barren lunar landscape, she takes a deep fresh breath at the
entrance to one of the many park areas in the complex where trees
grow almost to the protective dome and grass is greener than any seen
on Earth - knowing that it is genetically altered to produce
chlorophyll at a higher rate and thereby pump out subtly more oxygen
doesn't, for Sophie, detract from the vividly pleasant colourful
effect. In a field she spots a father teaching a young girl how to
play football and a couple to her right picnicking beside the lake
discuss a new paper on the effects of solar flare radiation. It is
all so perfectly normal that it takes Sophie some time to notice how
every person she sees is made of a soft silver metal with faintly
glowing patches at knees, elbows, shoulders and sharp blue eyes, the
chest panels which protect their central processors are proudly
highlighted in ceramic white, they are all robots.
Closing
her eyes tightly (though it blocks out nothing) Sophie thinks, No
humans, only P.A.T.H. robots living as people.
I
am asleep and this is nothing more than a dream.
As the words run through her mind she lifts out of her body to float
above the city, thereby proving it to be true. Viewing the entirely
of her life's work from above almost overpowers her, she takes a
moment to watch individuals as they move and everything from the dull
corridors to the eclectically bright houses, laboratories and
communal places and open herself to the possibility that even if this
is a dream it shows her world in an amazing light. Another heartbeat
passes and a robot joins her at the top of the dome, loose and
unformed he smiles, "Are they not beautiful Dr Peters?"
Waking
up to the abrasive intercom blaring is not exactly ideal. Sophie
grumbles as she answers and her assistant's voice comes through, "Dr
Peters, we're ready to begin powering up P.A.T.H. 1 when you arrive."
Thanking him she ends the call and begins her morning routine.
The
main laboratory is empty when Sophie strides in. Taken somewhat aback
she peeks through the glass brick walls to her left and right hoping
there will be someone in one of the side workstations, finding them
empty she continues through the main room into her own lab feeling a
little like the last person to the party.
As
she cracks the door open and steps through a call goes out from
somewhere near her desk at the far end of the room, though it's so
filled with people that she almost can't make her assistant out. "Dr
Peters! We invited everyone who was involved in the project for the
start up, I hope you don't mind."
"Of
course, Brian." She laughs and addresses the room. "You've
all worked so hard on this, you deserve to see what the man we've
made is like."
The
crowd parts to give her the first glimpse of P.A.T.H. 1 seated in her
own desk chair at the centre of the room. He looks nothing less than
resplendent,
silver and white somehow duller than the robots of her dream but no
less exciting for all that. He
could be sleeping,
she thinks, and
in a moment those black eyes will light up when he wakes. The
robot is already hooked into power supplies and measuring equipment,
she takes a few moments to check the monitors and concludes that
everything has been done for her, all that's left is to flip the
metaphorical switch. "Well, shall we do this?" Her
co-workers almost cheer in response. She types the final line of code
to initialise P.A.T.H.
1's systems and
gently, with breath held, presses enter.
Instantly
her robot's shoulders, elbows and knees begin to glow, there is a
faint whirr like first time a newly built computer is switched on,
but his eyes remain black. Sophie lets out the breath in a rush, a
hundred thoughts haring through her mind. An efficient scan through
the monitors shows nothing out of the ordinary.
"Brian,
is the magnetic lock sealed?" She asks.
At
his affirmative she types the code to unlock it and snatches up a
tool from the work surface beside Path, using it to adeptly slip the
ceramic panel from his chest plate. Inside the circuitry is all in
order and she is beginning to consider taking off the face panel to
see if the 'eye' LEDs are connected properly when they spark and
light on their own.
"Good
morning, Dr Peters." P.A.T.H. 1 murmurs softly.
A
real cheer runs through the room this time, as well as many pats on
the back and much shaking of hands. Sophie beams at the robot. "Good
morning Path. Do you know where you are?"
"Yes
Dr Peters, I am in laboratory 26 of the international lunar city
Tranquility. It is 9:14 am Tranquility Standard Time and 4:14 pm
Greenwich Mean Time. All systems are functioning normally. Would you
like to begin preliminary testing?"
"Thank
you Path, we would." Sophie responds with a viral smile.
Over
the course of the day Path is tested on everything from standing up
and walking through basic arithmetic to threading a needle and
advanced theoretical physics. He surpasses all their expectations and
by sunset every member of the Bio-Robotic Engineering staff are
congratulating themselves on a job superbly done (and checking their
inboxes for Nobel Prize nominations). A party is, of course, started
in the main lab though it quickly becomes populated with partners,
friends, scientists and engineers working on other projects and even
a few of the city's children who come mostly to see the living robot
(as they are kindly yet flatly refused to join in the increasingly
alcohol driven antics of the adults). To Sophie's surprise most
people seem content to simply enter the back lab to look at Path or,
in the case of the children, to be introduced to him and hear their
names coming back in his ever-calm tones, then leave to re-join the
party.
Sophie
herself can't keep away from him. She celebrated for a short time but
once Brian had gotten bored of showing Path off she felt it was best
to stay with him in case of accidents - it wouldn't do much good for
the officials to arrive tomorrow and find that the amazing robot they
had heard to much about had had champagne spilled into his internals
by a curious chemist or something and was no longer in working order.
"Dr
Peters?" Path asks clearly yet lightly, as though he is aware of
drawing her out of reverie.
"Hmm,
yes?"
He
hesitates a moment and in the pause she focuses her full attention on
him, noting for the first time that he looks more real than her dream
robots could ever have been.
"Why
do your co-workers seem so intent on poisoning themselves?"
The
question is posed with more curiosity than Sophie thought his voice
capable of. She steps up to the monitors Path is connected to
overnight for continued measurements, idling her eyes over them as
she considers her response. "You mean the alcohol I presume?"
"Yes,
Dr Peters. I have noticed a marked lessening of motor control and
what appears to be decreased cognitive processing in Dr Brian Gentry
over the last fifty minutes yet he continues to imbibe alcoholic
fluids."
"Hmm,
well," Sophie notes a slight increase in power consumption of
Path's brain over the last fifty minutes. "It's something that
people do to help control their moods. Alcohol affects human brain
chemistry by releasing endorphins (among other things) it is also a
relaxant and reduces inhibitions, which in turn allows you to
communicate with a little more ease and be less concerned about
things, as well as making you feel good - in some cases, such as this
evening, it reminds us that we have achieved something worth
celebrating, champagne is particularly good for that."
Path
nodded. "I understand the biological response to alcohol and the
studies into its psychological impact, however I do not understand
why people will continue to voluntarily drink when it is clearly,
despite short term pleasant side-effects, in the long run very
damaging."
"I
suppose, most commonly, we do it because none of us are very sure
that we have a long-run." The robot tilts his head a little to
the side, clearly signalling confusion. "To put it bluntly, my
dear, we're all afraid of dying so we choose to enjoy the time we
have even if that means potentially shortening it." At this
Path's brain activity increases sharply enough to draw Sophie's eyes
back to the monitor.
"Thank
you for clarifying, Dr Peters." He is silent for a time.
Sophie
watches him, his power consumption is still high and he seems to be
in deep thought. "Path, do you understand what I have just told
you?"
"I...
believe so." A hesitation, then his eyes brighten a degree,
something Sophie is beginning to suspect is his equivalent of a
smile. "The acknowledgement of death's inevitability, even in
light of myself, causes little pause since I cannot fear. However, it
highlights the subjectively greater inference of your words - I have
a lot to learn."
A
sudden idea strikes Sophie, she leaves Path's side and crosses the
room to her bookshelf where she pulls out a book of poetry. Path's
eyes follow her. Sophie scans though the book slowly, trying to find
just the right one. At last, she gives it to him open on a poem and
asks him, “Will you read it?”
She
had not meant that he should read it aloud but he does, his smooth
voice flowing beautifully over the text;
"That
time of year thou mayst in me behold
When
yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon
those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare
ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In
me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As
after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which
by and by black night doth take away,
Death's
second self, that seals up all in rest.
In
me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That
on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As
the death-bed, whereon it must expire,
Consumed
with that which it was nourish'd by.
This
thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To
love that well, which thou must leave ere long."
"Thank
you, Path." Sophie smiles. "And what do you think of it?"
"William
Shakespeare’s Sonnet number 73, it is one of his most famous – "
Waving
her hand Sophie stops him. "Path, I’m sorry, let me clarify. What
does the poem mean to you personally?"
His
eyes glow, "It is beautiful Dr Peters."
