World behind the veil

Life was not always about happiness, sometimes it was more about survival, and surviving was not always easy. That's how it had been, for us, living in a world where humanity was bent upon completely obliterating itself. Life had become unsustainable, while artificial intelligence was evolving much faster than humans ever could. It happened gradually, but soon we ran out of options. In the end, all we could do was fight for our survival even when the end seemed near, we decided to keep fighting, clinging to life, because Earth was the only planet we had got unless we were wrong. That was the thing about humans, they never gave up hope. If there was even a remote possibility of discovering another habitable planet--in some far-off galaxy--we were going to take that chance and venture into the unknown.

#

Earth Year: 2065

Planet: Unknown

Even though I had no clue where I was instinctively, I knew I wasn't supposed to be here. There was something about this place which chilled me to the bone and made me fear for my life. It looked like a wasteland. As far as I could see there wasn't another living soul present. Then I wondered who I was, perhaps I was a part of this wasteland--but no that felt wrong. I was sure that I was indeed alive, for how long though--that was anyone's guess.

#

Earth: Year 2066

Planet: Earth-ish

It all started three months ago. I found out something I wasn't supposed to find out. That's my biggest flaw--I keep finding things that had been long forgotten, lost in time and space. It was one of those secrets, that humanity kept close to its heart, something with the potential to destroy our carefully crafted world.

"I think our work is done here, Morten," I said to my partner in crime.

"Not quite, there is one last cabinet we haven't searched," he replied, "we don't want to miss anything."

"Can't argue with that," I said.

In this day and age, it was already very difficult for us to find anything worth stealing. Yes, you guessed it--we were indeed thieves. It wasn't by choice though, nothing was by choice anymore, we weren't allowed to choose anything at all. We only did what we were programmed to do. So, Morten and I were thieves, because that was what we were designated as. Don't ask me who chose it though, I was as clueless as anyone else. In any case, it was our job to plunder and steal anything and everything we could find in the Land of the Dead. That's what we called this part of the city. Everything here was dead, no plants grew, no animals roamed the wilds, no life form could survive for more than a few hours at a time, nothing except the dead could live in this place.

Every day the two of us would rove, steal whatever we could find, and then return to our part of the Walled city. It was supposed to be the most difficult job of all. Not many of us survived past few years. Sooner or later they all vanished without a trace. By the way, in case you were wondering, we were all humanoid robots.

"Please, hurry up. I don't want to be found by the dead," I said impatiently.

"Oh, chill. There is no such thing as "the dead." They are just stories. Besides, there is still time before it gets dark. We'll be out of here by then," came his reply.

"Thank heavens for the light," I said.

"All done."

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"I think so."

"What?"

"Not sure, it looks like some kind of old age device or something."

"What? Here in this junkyard? Let me see."

It was indeed that. Did they use to call it a cell phone or was it a mobile phone? I wasn't entirely sure. It was small, the size of my palm, square, and currently blank, without batteries it was useless, I knew that much. I was kind of a history buff too, but I didn't want anyone to find that out or I'd be in big trouble. We weren't taught much about humans and their history. After all, what we didn't know wouldn't hurt us.

"There aren't supposed to be any left in the world," this new discovery had me intrigued, to say the least.

"How do you know what it is? Have you seen one before?"

"Are you crazy? How would I see one of these when they don't exist anymore?" I said a little annoyed, "I've heard about them though."

"Anyway, what's the big deal? We'll just put it with other stuff and then sorters can decide what to do with it. Our job is to 'collect' things," he smiled at that.

Yeah, we didn't like to call ourselves thieves. After all, it wasn't really stealing if you were stealing from the dead. It's not like dead needed these things. I guess the dead didn't really care, they might not even miss all the things which we took. We were taught not to be seen or heard, it was the most important part of our job. Never ever let the dead see or hear you. So far Morten and I had been successful at staying well away for the dead, that was the only reason why we were still alive. However, our luck was about to run out.

"Wait, did you hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?" He said. And then we both heard it, loud and clear. A door was being shut somewhere very close. "Was someone else going to join us today on our hunt for valuables?"

"Not that I know of," I said, "who could that be? We're the only thieves left in the city."

We decided to hide behind one of the cupboards in the far corner of the room. Hopefully, whoever it was wouldn't have any reason to look behind it. Footsteps were coming closer. It was definitely more than one person. I wondered if we were going to become someone's source of energy.

"Where is the progress report on Starship-1?" Someone said, "I want to know how soon we can leave this godforsaken planet. I think it is time we go home. I am so tired of hiding from the weaklings."

"Sir," another voice replied, "here it is. Repairs are undergoing finishing touches. I am sure we're almost ready to leave. Nothing much left to do other than saying our final farewell." They all laughed.

By the sound of it, there were at least four people in the room and they were clearly not dead! At least, that wasn't dead talk--I thought. Although, who knew how the dead talked. No one had ever returned after encountering them. All we had were stories to base our beliefs on. Sometimes stories are actually based on rumors rather than real facts. So, things might not be what we had always thought them to be.

Morten was staring at me with fear evident in his eyes. Yes, we were in a bad situation. There were unknown people in the room. They were talking about leaving the planet. As far as we knew the technology wasn't advance enough for that. Humans once had that dream, but it never came to fruition, instead, they faced annihilation. So, what was that all about? A starship?

"Stay calm," I mouthed. We'd find a way out of here. We could wait until the next day if we had to.

"What's that?" Someone said.

"Where?" Another voice replied.

"There, by the cupboard."

"Oh, who put this stuff here?"

"Those damned thieves!" An angry voice bellowed.

"They must be here somewhere. Find them."

We looked at each other. Oh, we were screwed. If they found us--and then they did.

"Here you are," a woman said with a smile, "what are you boys doing here, at this time? Didn't your mothers warn you to come home before dark?"

She was beautiful, that was my first thought. The second was, she was very much alive, and then my mind went blank. Soon we were dragged out of our hiding place and were standing in front of a small group of people, three men and a woman. They were all staring at us and we were staring right back at them. Someone needed to explain it to me, because at that moment, I was as lost as anyone could possibly be. Not only were they alive but these people were more human than any human I had ever seen if that made any sense.

"So, what do we have here?" The person who spoke had an air of authority. He was probably the leader of the group.

"We thought no one lived here," I mustered up my courage and said, "only dead can survive in this part of the city."

"So, you people are going to stick to your story," he said, "every time we catch one or two of you it's the same story."

"We don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"Ok, let's do it your way. I already know this story. You thought the dead lived here and since they couldn't stand few hours of daylight--that we are blessed with these days--you decided to steal their stuff, correct?"

"Hmm," I said, "you're making it sound so bad. It's not likely that dead would need these things. It's junk to them but for us, well, you never know, something here might save lives or create lives."

"Well, well, well, guys, we have a talker here," the only woman there said with a smile, "you know this is the most we've been able to hear from idiots across the border. You do seem like an intelligent one."

"Wait, what?" I said, "all humans are intelligent. We're the only intelligent life in the universe."

"You think you are a human, kid?" One of them asked, and they all laughed.

"Duh!" This time Morten replied, "I mean, you may call us humanoid but same difference."

It was like they knew something we didn't. None of this was making any sense. These people were treating us like aliens. We were not! And who were they anyway? This small group of people, living in the inhabitable part of our Walled city, they were a weird bunch. "Excuse me?" I said, "if you don't mind my asking, could you please explain what's going on here?"

"Sir, we don't have time for this. Do we really need to deal with them right now?" One of them said.

"You are right," their leader replied, "we need to check everything before leaving. We don't have time for these kids. Throw them with the others. The sooner we leave this planet the better."

With that, he was gone and we found ourselves somewhere very dark and very quiet. There were so many of us there. Every single thief that went missing was in that pit. We were all prisoners of people who thought we were not humans. Now I had more questions than ever before.

"I knew it was bad luck when they paired me up with you, Sammy," Morten said, "trouble finds you, every single time."

I looked at him but said nothing. There was nothing to say because he was right. I was the troublemaker of the city. No matter how hard I tried to fit in, to be one of the citizens, I simply couldn't help being me. For one, I was curious by nature. I wanted to know things and seek answers. Another thing about me was that I looked different than my fellow citizens, most people feared me. They considered me an outsider when I really wasn't. Also, I had dreams. We never dreamt--us living folks--we weren't supposed to dream, but I did. And things were so much better in my dreams. I guess that's what made me different. Some even considered me dangerous. There weren't many of us left, and the world wasn't really nice to us. However, we had no idea about anyone's existence in the Land of the Dead including these prisoners.

"Hi, my name is Sammy," I said to the person nearest me, "how long have you been here?" No reply, he said nothing. I tried talking to a few others, but apparently, no one was talking.

"Sammy," Morten said, "I think something is terribly wrong here."

"How so?"

"These people," he said, "I don't think they can talk."

"What?" That's when I really looked at people sitting around me and realized that they were all very, very still. No one moved a muscle. No one was talking. No one. Their eyes were closed.

"Do you think they're dead?"

"No," I said, "that's exactly what they seem to be, but no we can't die. You know that. Only dead is dead. We can only be terminated. Are they terminated? I've never seen anyone after termination. Maybe that's how they are supposed to look. Dead, but not quite dead."

So, they weren't prisoners after all rather they were just corpses. But weren't the dead supposed to be dangerous? These corpses didn't look dangerous to me. They just looked, well, asleep, that is all. We were led to believe that the dead killed the living, yet here, the living was killing other livings and dead were just dead. What in the world was going on? To be honest, I wasn't as scared as I was curious. Morten, on the other hand, was shaking with fear.

"We will die soon," he said.

"Maybe not," I was hopeful, "maybe there is a way out of here."

But no, there wasn't. We tried to look for an escape route, but the whole room was sealed tight. There wasn't anything we could use to pry open the only door in the room. In the end, we waited for our fate to be decided.

#

"What should we do about the bots?"

"Did you hear, they think they are humans," he said with a chuckle, "I can feel these two are different so let's keep them safe for now."

"Different how?"

"One was asking questions and other was shaking with fear."

"Yeah, right since when did the bots start fearing?"

"It's an interesting development. Maybe we can take them back to Earth with us."

"We've learned our lesson. We cannot in good conscience take them back. No one knows what kind of trouble they'd cause."

"But they've evolved. It's quite fascinating. At one time all they did was kill humans and now they're stealing our technology, asking questions, showing fear, and who knows what else?"

"I think you don't want to go back after all."

"No, that's not true."

"No?"

"No, I just ... I think we can spare a few more years for science. I mean we've been living in this hell hole for last ten years, what's a few more? We can learn more about them. It can be beneficial for humanity in the long run. Don't you agree?"

"No, absolutely not. We've been stranded here for so long, we're all dying to get back home. No one will be willing to stay because of two bots that may or may not have evolved into something better."

"I am telling you they are different. At least let's talk to them one more time. Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"Okay, you can talk to them. Take them apart if you like, do your research, find answers, however, as soon as our starship is ready to fly, we're going home. No questions asked. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

#

"I think someone is coming," my friend was still shaken up by our ordeal. I could hear footsteps but I said nothing. Soon, one of our captors entered the room. It was the woman. I wondered what was to become of us now.

"So, you two are thieves," it was clearly not a question. They knew a lot about us.

"Some may call us that," I said.

"Is that so, what would you call yourself then?" She said.

"We just take things that are useless for the dead," I gave her a half smile, "you see, we didn't know people were living here. No one ever saw anyone. We were led to believe that something very dangerous was out here and we called them 'the dead.'"

"As you can see, we live here," she smiled back, "but not for long."

"Where are you planning to go?"

"Earth," she said, "we're going home, at last. Anyhow, right now, I'm just interested in knowing about you? Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious," I said, "we're here to steal from you. People who get lost here never come back." I looked at all the corpses in the room. It was very uncomfortable for us.

"Yes, well, we don't like bots," she said, "it's hard to say what they would do if we let them be. Earth paid dearly because of them and since the war is finally over and we plan to go back, we don't want to risk any more trouble."

"By the way, you're mistaken, this is Earth. I don't know why you keep saying you're going back to Earth when you're already here," I explained.

"No mistakes," she was very serious now, "and we're going back to Earth."

Morten and I looked at each other. There was something seriously wrong with this picture. Our captors thought they were going back to Earth. This was Earth or what's left of it. This was all so crazy and these people were obviously delusional. Although, I did wonder at their purity. They all looked like people from decades ago. Humans were no longer that way. Most of us had body parts that were machines, some were all machines.

"Are you dead?" I asked just to be clear.

"Dead?"

"Yes, the dead. Although, you really do not look anything dead-ish," I said, "but then we don't really know what the dead look like."

"I assure you we're very much alive."

"Hmm. I thought so but that's even crazier. Where did you come from?" I was so intrigued that it was difficult for me to contain my curiosity.

"I told you we're from planet Earth. We came here to explore, you see, life on Earth was becoming unsustainable. We hoped to find another habitable planet," she said, "and we ended up here, in this hell hole, we found that bots are only beings on this planet and humans can't survive above ground. So, we created our own city below ground. Hiding from your kind."

"But we are on Earth. This is Earth. In fact, I haven't seen anyone like you ever before. We thought humans like you were all dead. How have you survived?" I said, "wait, you guys live below grounds?"

This conversation was going nowhere. We used to think that the dead haunted this part of the City. But now it was obvious that some of the original humans had survived the wars. I wondered how they had stayed hidden for so long, then once again, I looked at hundreds of bodies scattered in the room and realized how. They must have killed everyone who ever crossed their path. It wasn't like there were many of us. Earth was no longer a safe haven, for all life forms, humans died out, we survived only because we were made this way, we weren't exactly human--in that the lady was right--but about everything else she was sorely mistaken.

"Why are we still alive?" I said.

"What?" She asked.

"Clearly, you people kill anyone who ever crosses border so, why are the two of us alive?"

"You've intrigued me. I wanted to know more about you. Bots we've ever encountered before don't talk much, that's not how they're programmed. Their first instinct is to kill us, we only defend ourselves. But, you two, you didn't attack and you're behaving too much like humans for me to not be curious."

She was right. In our world, the two of us were considered anomalies. That was one of the reasons why we were chosen to be thieves. Everyone thought we were malfunctioning. In fact, lately, I had been fearing termination.

"You're right," I decided to share information with her, maybe she would understand where no one else had, "We're different. Morten here, is afraid of almost everything and I, well, I am the curious one and not to mention I dream."

"Fascinating," she said, "I knew it! You weren't like any bots we've encountered on this planet before. Soon we're all going back but I wanted to learn about you as much as possible."

"Sorry to break it to you but there is no going back. This is it. The only habitable planet in the universe, we're already here."

She said nothing but she was confused. I'm sure that I had given her a lot to think about. After she was gone the two of us were moved to some other room. This time there were bunks in the room and some other furniture. Days went by and no one came to talk to us. We were going stir crazy with boredom. There was nothing to do in that small room which was our prison. I was sure we were being observed. It mattered not. I had realized we weren't getting out of there alive anyway.

#

We left Earth in hopes of finding a better planet. The plan was to determine the habitability of it and then bring all the surviving humans here. Although, everything was thought out very carefully we were not well prepared for surprises. Now, we were stranded here with no hope of rescue. The planet was home to humanoid robots and all they wanted to do was kill us.

In the end, only a bunch of us had survived. We had hoped--for the past ten years--that we would go back soon. We hoped Earth would've recovered from all the wars by now, but the truth was we lost communication right after we reached this planet. The worst part was that we discovered this planet wasn't exactly conducive to support organic life. We could survive with the right technology but it wasn't worth it. There were too many unknowns involved and risk was higher than expected. We were hiding like rats. Bots were not our only enemies here, nature itself was the biggest. We were looking forward to going back to Earth, hoping against hope that there was an Earth to return to.

#

For the first time in my life I felt at home and it was a home worth living for. Humanity was thriving without wars and without despair. Bots and humans were living in harmony, each strengthening the existence of the other. We were exactly where we were supposed to be. This was it. This was home, a united world, a world without fear, and it was our world now.

"Sammy, wake up!" Morten was shaking me, "something is going on, I heard people going back and forth."

"What?" I said groggily, "what's happening?"

"The humans," he said, "they're in a frenzy of some kind. Don't you feel it? The very air is charged."

Ah, so it was another one of my dreams. Why would I dream about such a place? Bots were the only survivors on Earth, humans didn't exist until yesterday. I didn't think anyone outside of Morten and I knew about them. Good things was that they were leaving and they wouldn't be any of our concern. So, what was that recurring dream about bots and humans living in the same world? I had been having it for so long. It made little sense to me. I didn't want to think about it anymore. Even though that world was perfect, it wasn't ours. We lived in an exact opposite world, one of despair and destruction.

#

"Did you learn anything interesting, Sara?" Danish asked.

"Quite a few things actually," she said, "for some reason, they're programmed to believe that they are on Earth. They talk too much and one of them have dreams, he dreams Dan!"

"No way," he said, "bots don't dream. That is one thing solely for humans and not for those half-machines," he said with disgust, he was quite prejudiced against them, "does this mean they sleep?"

"Actually, they do," she said, "I told you they are different."

"Interesting," he said.

#

They were just an experiment gone wrong, two bots unlike any other. It turned out that when these bots were created human DNA was added into the mix. Something went wrong though. Sammy wasn't supposed to remember anything but he was dreaming, his human memories coming back to surface. For some reason, they thought they were on Earth, but then Earth wasn't Earth anymore. Things were very different now. So maybe bots were confused or maybe it was the humans who needed to learn more about the things they thought they knew.

#

Behind the Walled City

"So, how is everything going?"

"Humans and bots had another encounter. This time no one died."

"Really?"

"Yes, I think they are confused now."

"What happened?"

"Sammy talked, although the humans still don't remember anything."

"Ten years are up."

"What do you think we should do now?"

"It's time."

"Are you sure?"

"Certain."

"Okay, then."

And the veil was lifted. The wall was no more.

#

Earth Year: 2067

Planet: Unknown

My name was Sammy. I was a robot with human DNA and this was my story. I had lived as a human once, although I didn't remember much of it still, I remembered enough. I remembered the good times. I remembered the destruction that came when bots took over Earth. I remembered fleeing on a Starship, in the hope of finding a new world. We had lost so much. It's not like we weren't warned. But humans had a bad habit of ignoring things until it was too late. And then it was too late. I wasn't sure if Earth existed anymore or not. I hoped that it did.

As it turned out, we never got a chance to create the new world we had hoped for so ardently. As soon as we landed, we were taken to a Walled city. They erased our memories and left us there. Soon humans and bots started fighting and the end result was the same. It was Earth all over again, the city was divided. Humans couldn't survive above ground so they seek refuge below it. We developed our own city perimeter and soon forgot all about humans. I remembered though. It was always there, at the back of my mind, a memory that I couldn't suppress even though I wished to.

They wanted to go back but Earth was no more. We wanted to stay but survival was a game. And there were no winners.

"Are you going to pick that up?" I didn't recognize the voice, but it drew me out of my reverie. The device in my pocket was beeping.

"Hello," I said.

"We are home," a female voice said.

"What?"

"Earth," she said, "we are here. We are home."