“As six billion humans managed to undergo the BAT procedure, something which bothers everyone nowadays is: who will take care of us once we’re all gone? Most governments assure people that the powerful AI with which the current robots are equipped, should be more than enough to ensure that once inside the virtual world, we can remain safe. But many people have started to show worry as the harsh weather enveloping the world keeps destroying important facilities around the world. If you haven’t undergone the procedure yet, some say we can still-”
“Oh, it stopped working. Mom! Can we get a new TV?” the cry of a hungry little boy, as his mother is trembling in the dark.
“I told you to stop calling me that,” the mom slaps the boy for his disobedience, “I got stuck with you, so you better stop pestering me if you want to live.”.
“Then can I get one?” the boy brushed the slap, something usual for him. “If it doesn’t bother you,” he was trying to find a resolution for the both of them, despite being only six years old.
“Fine, but don’t cry for help if some dog eats you, just die without making a noise. That way I might live to see myself in that virtual world,” her cold voice resonated inside the colder concrete room. They were living inside one of the many abandoned buildings. The one they were currently in, was scheduled to be demolished in a month by construction robots. The mom who, like him, was born during a time where people no longer cared for each other, couldn’t find in her heart any compassion for the boy. She was supposed to undergo the procedure, but after being raped on a multitude of occasions, she was left pregnant with the boy. And due to some human rights still hanging loosely in spite of everything, she couldn’t do the procedure unless she aborted the baby. But the medical supplies dwindled all across the world as humans either retreated in the wilds, or hid themselves in various places. And while robots still produced medicine, it was hard to get to without risking being raped and killed. The only reason her son was still alive was because he had priority for the procedure, and she thought she may get ahead by using him, but didn’t mind if he died.
“Okay, want anything else mom?” the boy got another slap from his mother, this time with the backhand right across his left eye. The boy didn’t even cry in pain, but took the hit in silence. He didn’t learn the word ‘mom’ from his actual mother, but from the TV he liked to watch so much. There were lots of programs made by AI, so he never ran out of entertainment while his mom was busy either being scared or finding some scraps or food. Of which he would only eat the last remains, so he would have to more often than not find some for himself.
“This, get me this,” his mom was showing the kid a pill that had a kind of drug inside of it. While not potent, she knew how to make the most out of it. “Water and food too, but don’t bother if you’re going to eat any of it, it will only make me more angry,” his mom commanded, her skinny body and trembling hands telling of the little care she had for herself, much less for her child.
“Okay, food, water, and the blue things,” the kid counted on his hands the things he must bring along. “Will the TV be heavy I wonder,” his mom couldn’t care about his talk, all she wanted was to live a couple months more, so her son could get into the BAT procedure, and for her to take his place.
The kid made his way down some broken stairs out of the room they were. The building was half destroyed, so cold got inside easily, so his clothes that he grew out of, were providing little protection against it. In order to get around without freezing to death, as it was the afternoon of a cold autumn, the kid moved between buildings. There was the chance he could come across a forgotten fire or maybe even some clothing to dress himself, while not exposing his frail body to the many killers and animals waiting for someone to step into the open streets. Around the city he was in, there were also people hunting specifically kids, as they knew about the priority they had and could use them to get ahead.
Kids had priority because of their organs. While most adults during that time were sick in some way and had bad organs, kids had time in their favour, their organs still good and fresh. As for the use of their organs, there were still people wanting to live in the real world, and some that wanted to do much experimentation on the human body. Since these facilities had the largest amounts of them, they were the main suppliers for those which wanted to replace old organs or wanted to do different kinds of experimentation. However, since more than half of humanity has converted, the demand got lower and lower, to the point where only the best organs were accepted, while those with damaged organs or failing ones, had to wait a long while before those that were healthier.
The boy without name, started to wander about the buildings. His memory was very good, so he knew about every place he visited, to avoid and yet to visit. In some places he was able to find clothing, which he wore to protect himself better, then in some others bits of food. Either animal food, or some traps laid for other humans. The traps were rudimentary and the kid watched his mom avoid many of them, her time spent in that broken state being the result of many failed attempts.
As night approached, the kid realised that he couldn’t search for his TV and return back to his mother. He thought to return at once, so as to not make his mother mad, but then started to crave his TV much more than reuniting with his mother. He was split between finding what he wanted most, or returning to his broken mother. Before he could decide, inside the building he was, he heard from the other side of the street some noise. Looking through a broken window, he could see a group of humans. There were some kids chained in shackles and walking behind four men and two women. The boy never saw groups of humans, at best two or three walking together. But this one was larger than he could assign fingers to.
“Move your asses, otherwise you’re dying here,” a man at the front threatened, pulling at the chain connecting all of them. “Where is Erret? He said he would be around here by now.”.
“Something about food trucks towards the centre,” a woman responded, “we should’ve gone with him, there’s shit all here.”. The kid was watching the humans before him arguing, and he thought upon the programs he watched on his TV. There were those ‘bad guys’ he could remember, being dressed just like them and mistreating other people.
Once they finished arguing, they started to walk once again, going to the left. The kid saw at the end of the chain that one of the children had died, and was being dragged along by the others. The other children couldn’t speak, otherwise their tongue would be cut off. The kid burned that scene inside his mind, thinking that staying with his mom at least didn’t mean being shackled or dead.
After he found himself a good place to sleep, inside a rotten closet, he entered a half sleep, half awake state, similar to that of cats. It was a habit he had to develop, otherwise he risked finding himself beaten by his drugged mother, which became handy in the cruel environment he lived in as well. During that night, the boy thought he might be dreaming for the first time, as he could hear voices all around him. They weren’t screaming or aggressive, but soft and soothing. There were some hands embracing him as well, reminding him of a time when he was a baby, and his mother cared to hold him for how fragile he was, only later giving up on that softness as her mind became more twisted.
But then, the kid realised what was happening, there was no dream, there were people looking at him, touching his face with the warmth of their hands and lighting the room around them with glowing sticks. “Ahh!” he managed, the people all around backing away. There were seven of them, guns at their backs and wearing clothes meant for stealth. On their left shoulder, there was a red cross. The kid remembered from the programs he watched that those were people who saved others. Usually using needles to make them feel better.
“Look at him, all alone out here,” a woman with blue eyes and dark skin said, “he’s so young, he couldn’t have survived all alone, could he?”.
“Let’s ask him,” a tall, muscular man approached the boy, his eyes a kind light brown. “Hey there, my name is Sulete, my friends call me Sul. What’s your name?”. The kid was fascinated by the man, he only saw someone like him on his TV, in either cartoons or saving people from burning buildings.
“Name?” the kid had to wonder what that meant. The people around him looked a bit amazed and sad seeing that the kid probably didn’t know what a name even is.
“You know, how your mom calls you,” the woman explained to him, which seemed to make him recall something making a knowing face, “yeah, you know. So what is ist?”.
“My mom calls me die all the time, so I think that’s it, right?” the kid seemed happy to know he had a name too, although the people around him only seemed upset by it, their face twisting in anger. The kid stretched his neck out, expecting one of them to slap him, and he wanted out of habit to just have it done with.
“Why are you stretching,” as the woman asked, Sulete placed his hand on her shoulder, as he had suffered the same mistreatment. He shook his head, the woman clasping at her clothes realising what the kid, almost a baby in their eyes, had to endure.
The kid then got distracted by a glowing light inside a man’s pocket. “Tv!” he exclaimed enthusiastically, seeing the light he was searching for. “Can I have it?” the kid felt safe asking from them, as none of them hurt him, and the man gave him his phone after answering it. The kid was fascinated by the new piece of technology, swiping across it and getting accustomed to it.
“Hey kid, wanna eat something?” Sulete asked, stretching out a bar of protein to him, made recently in one of the many BAT facilities. The kid looked cautious at them, associating food with traps. Seeing his cautiousness, Sulete backed away after putting the bar down. The kid did his usual checks around it, pressing lightly with his foot, swinging his small hand above, then taking it really fast away and putting the phone in its place. “I think we got our answer,” Sulete said looking at the woman, confirming that the kid has survived pretty much on his own. Without thinking it any further, Sulete hunched over to take the boy up, which the kid thought that maybe this time he would get hit.
Instead of pain though, he found the warm embrace of another human. Sulete picked up the phone and protein bar which he dropped, placing them on his belly as he held the kid almost like a baby, his small body underdeveloped for his age. The kid wondered if he was being captured by those bad people. Seeing as he wasn’t put in any shackles though, gave him the comfort he needed so much.
“Prepare the cars, we’re leaving at once,” the woman commanded, as the man saw the image of his mistreated young self into the boy, then that of his happily transitioned child inside the virtual world. “Towards the facility then?”.
“Obviously,” Sulete wiped a tear from his eye, “we’re going to give this child, these children, all we couldn’t have and that they deserve.”. Sulete looked at the kid, falling asleep in his arms as he found for the first time in his life safety in his sleep. “Let’s give you a home, Eleat,” the man gave the kid his son’s name, heading down to their cars where many other children were waiting to be taken to the BAT facility.
Eleat’s mom died soon after Eleat left, not wanting to leave the concrete room afraid of being tormented by other people outside that place. A month later the building was demolished as scheduled, the corpse of Eleat’s mother buried without anyone knowing.
