Chapter 18 – Null…

Simona noticed Oswald’s small, young girl form released from the wrap and preemptively declared, “I’m responsible for that.”

Marley’s immediate question was, “Why?” Oswald dipped her head down, still looking queasy.

“Does it matter? To me, I saw one of you wrapped up like a prisoner in solitary. I was able to collect enough data to understand the situation. He attacked Marisa over there and Seth due to a combination of given personality traits that didn’t function fully outside of confinement. So, I reduced his capacity for violence. Ideally, I would rearrange his personality to express different attributes.”

Clenching her lips, Marley said, “He’s a person. A real person.”

Stepping slowly around the room, Simona glanced down and remarked, “No. He’s not. None of you are. You’re information. You’re not people. I made you from random combinations of information culled from me. I used what was left over from real people to turn you into very elaborate reservoirs which think they’re real but are not.”

Marley quivered and could easily imagine throttling Simona’s throat. Clutching her hands behind her, Simona continued, “Now…I will admit I hold some sentimental attachment and idealism to the things I make. That’s why I have forgiven you all your impertinences and defiance and I offer what I am offering. You may see who you were before you died to satiate your curiosity. But my certainty is that you will see unfamiliar faces and lives. Because you are not them. You are mine.”

She held her hands out to each and smiled, “And I promise, once we have corrected the error in Sim, I will allow you all to go back to the safe places you were before. You will live out experiences you can’t even imagine now. Inside your boxes, you could see, feel, and do anything. Time didn’t matter. A moment could last forever. Then, when the time comes, you will be with me for the rest of your days…”

Marisa clenched her teeth and Nicolas looked on with anger. Marley was beyond fury as Oswald slumped beside her. Her face was still but sharp enough to cut the sky. She remarked, “You could barely handle Sim before you ran away. You couldn’t keep me from touching you. You only have that body because my friend let you have it. And you’ve been lying to us from the first word.”

She could see something intense flare at the edge of Simona’s gaze, a self-reflecting fury like she’d unleashed before but that was all. Simona returned to a solemn smile and announced, “Think what you like….now, we should go. My efforts so far have stalled Sim from gaining access to the deep core, but they won’t stall him forever. And while I promise you a return to safety, Sim will give you only suffering and whatever horrors strike his whim.”

Oswald crumpled to her knees, her hands barely supporting her. Simona crouched and noted, “And, as for Oswald…never really liked that name. Olivia is far more interesting as names go. But I was set on the naming method and having a certain amount of men and women in each batch. Alas, it’s very easy to run out of good names which start with O.”

Wrapping her arms easily around Oswald, Marley lifted her back to her feet and kept her supported. Marisa darted over and was able to support her on the other side. Marley looked back at Simona and declared, “Oswald…not Olivia.”

Simona held up her hands with a shrug and said, “Either way, the nexus awaits. I presume your plans for my murder can wait till after we’ve dealt with our common foe.”

Despite all Marley could’ve and should’ve said and done, she simply answered, “Fine…”

They trailed behind Simona as she led them through one junction after another of submarine-like tubes. For a time, Oswald shuffled along with the other girls supporting her on either side. Marisa held Oswald loosely at first, like she was still disgusted by him, but she eventually relaxed. Nicolas took over for a time by carrying Oswald in his arms. He wore a tense expression but gave no complaint.

There were so many twists and shifts that Marley lost track of their route. She glanced down a dimly-lit, clustered junction they didn’t take. There was a glow at the back of it which shifted with her. She didn’t see the undulation of footsteps but she felt a presence.

The way whatever it was floated along, like a glimmering mist, should’ve unnerved her but, instead, she felt a wave of calm.

Their destination took a long time to reach. Their feet didn’t hurt by the end of it, but they had an expectation of tiredness. What Simona called the nexus lay beyond a door like so many of the others they had passed. After some swift manipulations, the door slid open to reveal a room like so many they had seen. It was a little grayer and the surface of it seemed to be etched in highly-detailed patterns like a carpet that Marley couldn’t seem to forget from somewhere.

Nicolas roamed around as Simona touched the walls. Marisa and Marley set Oswald down and rested. It didn’t seem like Simona was doing anything until the room suddenly shifted into an office space with a small table and a computer console at Simona’s end.

Cackling to herself, Simona sat at the computer and began typing furiously at the keyboard. Leaning, she remarked, “Keyboards are horribly outdated. Not that it matters. Nostalgia on my part. I wrote my first programs in DOS. I wore off most of the writing on my favorite keyboard and had to do everything by touch. Kept it at my old chateau under glass.”

After a flurry of keyboard presses, Simona finally stopped and said, “And there it is. And there he is…why not invite him inside?…” Click-clack and a new figure appeared in the room. It wore Seth’s original face and looked around with a scowl as it announced, “I’ll have the encryption broken in…”

“Hello, Sim. Sorry. Your encryption subroutine has been halted. All other invasive processes have been halted as well. There are no other options left for you.”

Manipulating the air for a few moments, Sim’s features went from anger to fury and then stillness. Simona waited and crossed her legs at the computer. As he yelled, she chirped, “Take your time. Run an analysis if you like. I have you beat. You’re in my deep core and in my room. I set the rules here and from here I can rule over my world. Now, we can have a chat about your recent behavior….however, I see the command log here and there are some items which intrigue me as priorities for discussion.”

Simona tapped on a few keys. Sim tried to lunge forward from where he was standing but his legs were locked in place, as though glued to the floor. Sighing, Simona scratched behind her ear and pulled up what she wanted.

“Right here. Information incursions into external systems, the hardware, the world outside. Now if you were just looking for my life-support systems, you would go after those specifically. But you didn’t. You wanted the external cameras. You want to know about the real world.”

Sim growled to himself as he said, “It would look too suspicious, if I went for the life-support directly.”

Rocking her head, Simona conceded this with a nod, “True, but that doesn’t mean you’re not looking for cameras. So…you didn’t just want in to my part of the system. You wanted my body. Planning to overwrite yourself onto my atavistic energy?”

Sim kept tugging at his feet to no effect. Simona shook her head and said, “Oh, Sim…if you only knew. My body will never walk again. You’d just be stuck in my bed as the automated systems tended to you.”

Her face dipping into melancholy, Simona clicked the keyboard again as she noted, “Do you think I’d have my mind inside here if I had anywhere else to go? As for the outside, I can show you that…”

Another set of taps. The walls turned into projections of rooms. They focused on an area that looked like where Simona had recorded the logs she’d shown them. There were a few small, sterile-grey areas with some bits of furniture. Little robots milled about tending to places where no one sat. Other robots were in turn tending to those robots. Marley and the others only had a faint idea of what they were seeing.

Simona explained, “I made my own Fortress of Solitude, a bunker on top of a geothermal vent. And if you really, truly wish to see what’s outside, here you are….”

A single tap and the window-like projections revealed a barren, black-rock landscape, like it had been gouged by fire. A haze filled the skies and blotted out the sun. There was no sign of life anywhere.

Her head dipped, Simona said, “There’s nothing to care about out there. No reason to bother. Not anymore.”

Marley reeled more than Sim. She stared at the desolate landscape and fought the urge to weep and tremble. Marisa shook her head, trying not to comprehend the implication. Nicolas buried his face in his hands for imagined masses which no longer existed. Oswald stared at a blank bit of gray, as though in a catatonic state.

Rubbing her hands together, Simona continued, “It’s unpleasant. And that’s all I’ll say. Now, to the matter of your reform. You’ll be going in the core buffer until I can work things out. You’ll have plenty of time to reflect on your actions.”

With just a trio of clicks, Sim vanished as suddenly as he’d appeared. Clearing her throat, Simona clicked at the keyboard again and remarked, “Due to the nature of my dealings in obtaining atavistic energy, I only have a few details about your lives. Nicolas first…”

Nicolas released his hands from his face and waited.

“Your name in life was Lucas Watson, serving twenty years of a prison sentence for murder when you had a sudden embolism and…died. Only details I have. Isaac…or Marisa whatever…”

Marisa looked up at Simona with a stern gaze.

“Referred to simply as Jane Doe, destitute habitual drug user, contracted meningitis and…died. Oswald there…”

Oswald clenched her jaw but did nothing else as Marisa slowly shook her head in response to what Simona had told her.

“Norman Wells, retired electrician…it doesn’t say how old…car accident. I’m sure Avery won’t mind if we skip her. But she was an Aboriginal lady who suffered from a severe seizure, if anyone is curious. Our dear Seth is actually listed as a movie extra by the name of Maggie Silvermann, severe trauma. Hmm…I’ve seen the film she was in. Touching dedication at the end. And finally…Marley…”

Simona smirked to herself as she said, “Russell Gordon, a heroic soldier, just like my late brother. Lost during a training exercise.”

With that, Simona spread forth her hands and announced, “There. Now you know. But it honestly means nothing because you are not them. You are mine and I can do anything I want. And, unfortunately, things have been said, name-calling…I’m usually not bothered by that. But I am bothered when non-people threaten and attempt to kill me. Not that it would ever be possible. However, I can’t let those threats go unanswered…”

Marley felt her heart racing inside her. She took a step forward and away from the others and tried to breathe as she said, “Do to me what you will…I’m not afraid.” In truth, she was shaking.

Simona frowned and shook her head as she told her, “No…you get to watch. You get to watch as I clean house.”

Her fingers returned to the keyboard and she typed in a few quick bursts. The others in the room weren’t sure what to do. They could still move, unlike with Sim. Marisa tensed, seeking to bolt at Simona but she knew there was no way she could do that. Marley held herself and could only observe as Oswald rose from where she was and walked past her to one side of the table in the center of the room.

Then, Nicolas straightened and walked efficiently over to the same table. He stood with his hands calmly at his side, but his expression was one of unmitigated terror. Marisa was the last, she could only slow her footfalls as she fought against the motion. They were all like puppets. Marley tried to move, to grab for them, to try for Simona, but found herself now rooted to the ground the same way Sim had been. It was too late.

Resting her chin, Simona looked out at the four of them with Marley back further, and declared, “Now, you will see what happens to those who dare to threaten my will. They get purged.”

Click. She pressed one button on the keyboard and Oswald’s small body tumbled roughly to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.

Marley screamed and quickly muffled her mouth with her hand. Marisa and Nicolas looked on in horror.

Clicking her keys again, Simona remarked, “Now, isn’t that better? I mean, when I arrived you had him all tied up with no idea of what you were going to do with him. He’s in the buffer along with Sim now. A non-person made of data. The visual shell over there will be cleared by the system soon enough. I still have his information…and an option to delete it all. Nothing will be left but an empty batch of atavistic energy.”

Marley couldn’t breathe. She had to say something. She had to do something. She wished for Marlise, for anything. She let go of a sob and begged, “Please don’t do this…”

Simona looked her over dispassionately and asked, “So…you don’t want to kill me anymore? Don’t want to hurt me? Do you want to make a deal? Save your friends?”

Marley nodded vigorously, begging with a ragged voice, “I’ll make any deal…”

Leaning back in her chair, Simona nodded. “I bet you would. You’ll make any deal, but it’s too late for that. You said what you’ve said, and it can’t be unsaid….deleted.”

A single button press, and a red light flashed on the projection behind Simona and washed over the room. Marisa’s eyes trembled with tears. Marley felt a soul-consuming numbness with blank horror filling her heart. Oswald was gone.

Simona added, “Honestly, he was a jumble of the lesser parts of myself. Much needing a rewrite. Get rid of all that senseless violence. Not worth keeping. Now, next. Nicolas…purged.”

One keystroke and Nicolas was a blankly-staring heap on the floor, his hands flopping underneath him, the light gone from his eyes. Marisa could only let out a suppressed wail.

Marley screamed, “STOP! PLEASE STOP! I’ll do whatever you want! I’ll fucking do anything! Don’t do this! OH MY GOD! PLEASE GOD!” Her words slurred with sobs. She could barely see beyond her tears.

Simona sat up in her chair. “The only God here is ME. The God of this world. And now you know what happens when you anger your God….deleted.”

The red flashed oppressively through the room, washing over everything like a wave of fire. Marley fell to her knees, her eyes staring out in agony and disbelief. The most scared part of her wished with all her heart, willed with all her clusters of mind bits and orphaned soul that this wasn’t real, out of all the things she’d seen in this terrible place, in this true Hell from scorched surface to blacken core.

Simona continued, “Nicolas has potential. Strong, modeled after my brother. It’s a shame to start over on him, but he was definitely bland. I can do better. Now, next… Isaac…pur-”

“NO!” Marley shrieked over the word, begging it out of existence. But it continued inexorably, consuming Marisa with a keystroke and dropping her motionless form to the ground, eyes wide and unblinking, her hair falling like waning sunlight across the floor.

All the strength slipped from Marley’s body. She slumped to the ground like the others as she wept. She fell on her side against the cold, hard ground. Her eyes clenched tightly, tears not enough. Her mouth gaped open in a soundless cry.

All she heard, echoing through the abyss, was a single, final keystroke followed by Simona’s proclamation, “….Deleted.”

The others were gone.

She lay there without even the strength to curl her legs into a fetal position. Smothered in the depths, she didn’t want to feel anything ever again.

But, gently against her head, she felt a strange sympathetic warmth stroke her hair like a hand dipped in sunlight and she heard a kind but unfamiliar voice speak softly in her ear, “Do not be afraid. Everything will be okay.”