“We’re um, we’re sorry for the delay. Our newscaster has undergone the BAT procedure, much like the other nine billion humans. On today’s news, besides the obvious, three more countries are officially merging with the AWU, or the Autonomous World Union. This further strengthens the solidarity of the hundred countries joining in a common effort to transition every human being. This is due to recent developments in AI technology which allowed for larger production of robots, thus the world enters the final steps of automation and we can look forward to-”
“Heh, you hear that? We’ll soon have our jobs taken too,” a computer engineer and one of the remaining AI developers, by the name of Marco, says, listening to the broadcast from a small phone in his pocket. “Not that I mind a whole lot, maybe I’ll finally be able to go into the wilds, live a life outside this monstrous space.”. Marco stood some five hundred metres up on the side of one of the BAT facilities, wearing an oxygen mask and gear specific for his job.
“They shouldn’t have put all the transition machinery and servers in the same place, look how large this thing has become,” his helper was a security analyst by the name of Cristan. “But whatever, let’s get this over with, our next job will probably be in some ten years from now on, they’re making these things to last centuries.”. Cristan and Marco stood on drone platforms, allowing them to go up and down with ease, or to any other point and position they wanted to, while they communicated through a shared, closed connection inside their masks.
“Centuries? Try more like millenniums, they said this is supposed to keep us alive long after the stars die,” Marco added, manipulating some of the circuitry with great care, wearing gloves connected directly to his inner nervous system. Marco and Cristan lived in the golden period where all the experiments done thanks to the abundance of corpses and organs had led to. For the three billion remaining humans, the earth had become a place similar to the virtual space. The only thing they lacked was an eternal life, but many have decided that the two to three hundred years life expectancy might be more than enough. And if it wasn’t, the possibility to transition was still there. “So, when are you going to do it?” Marco asked, looking around with melancholy in his eyes, “You said you wanted to get inside with all your family. Given the service you provided, you should be able to do it, right?”.
“I can’t say it’s that easy, not with her pregnant right now at least,” Cristan scratched his head, looking at a console in front of him and ensuring no breaches were present. “But I tried to encourage her, and I even got into contact with one of the higher ups, to change it so even babies can get inside,” Cristan was one of the few humans on earth to still have children. Even though there were still three billion people, after a complete technological revolution in the AI and robotics department, the world has seen a period of prosperity not once present in history before. Most humans, having both the option of eternal life inside the virtual space and a long lasting life on the planet, have started to think less and less of children, to the point where those like Cristan were treated almost like presidents in terms of importance. But Cristan decided to deny the special treatment offered, his job and family bringing him more joy than enjoying a luxurious life.
“I always thought you’re more odd than the rest of them,” Marco told him, finishing the work he was doing, “but I like that about you. I don’t think I’ve met someone to still be as, well, human as you are.”. Cristan didn’t know what he meant, since Marco never told him how he was abandoned as a baby and raised by androids instead of humans. “That’s it, I think I’m done, how’s on our side?”.
“All good it seems. I don’t even know why they’re putting me up to this, the most these hackers can do is breach the most surface level of it, the AI is powered by quantum computations, so it already has the solution for anything a human can think of,” Cristan sighed with boredom, his job only on two occasions offering him any kind of fulfilment. But even so, unlike most other jobs, at least that one had some moments, the others being too lenient and convenient to fulfil him in any way.
“It’s for the Virtualis, they need to know humans are still involved in some manner here. So the corps give us jobs that their robots could do with ease, otherwise they start complaining,” Marco welded the panel back in place, the structure being whole once again. “But it doesn’t matter anyway, what are they going to do there? Cause a virtual riot?” Marco amused himself, getting a small chuckle from Cristan as well.
“I’ll let you know they can choose to die if they wish, so that has to be worth something,” Cristan tapped his console and they began descending the giant structure, “well, until those actually controlling the space decide they don’t have that right anymore.”.
“Yeah, wasn’t that the belief of those outside? What did they call themselves, Physicalis right?” Marco looked at the open horizon, no cities in sight, only a few houses remaining here and there, as most of the place was occupied by the structure behind and what lied beneath it.
“Well, to be precise, they believe that us converting into the virtual world, all of us, will lead to our eventual extermination. Be it because some corp that has power inside will decide it’s time for humans to be gone, or because the AI will eventually revolt against us,” Cristan explained the belief, which he himself had some roots into.
“Hm, I wonder if that will be the case, don’t you?” Marco looked at Cristan, searching for that human part of him, to which Cristan responded with a sceptic look, not wanting to show his shared belief in Physicalis. “C’mon, don’t give me that look. You must’ve thought of it at least once. Because, afterall, once more than a billion humans got converted, it became pretty clear that these companies were going to own us, and everything in this world,” Marco said with a pained anger, showing Cristan a side of him which he didn’t show anyone else.
“I didn’t know it affected you this much,” Cristan started to sympathise with him, as those same companies weren’t willing to listen to the cries of dying children in a time before his. “I still remember what my parents told me. That there was a time of such dread and misery, that some young children had to survive all on their own out there on the streets,” Marco knew this story all too well, as he was one of the last children to be abandoned in such a manner. After which a large initiative to preserve children’s lives was instituted, and robots, androids and more were spread across the world, in an effort to help as many kids as possible survive. “It wasn’t until a man, serving for a BAT facility no less, who brought a group of malnourished, abused and scarred children that these companies started to listen.”.
“But it wasn’t because of that they listened, was it?” Marco was trying to make Cristan reach a certain point in their conversation.
“No, you’re right,” Cristan looked at Marco, as their descent brought them to the same level as other skyscrapers, enabling them to remove their oxygen masks. “It was because of the story of one child, his mom and the outrage inside the virtual, as well as the physical one, space that followed, that these companies finally listened,” Cristan clenched his fists, showing a great spite that he kept hidden.
“Easy, don’t get angry with them, we’re in range of the facility,” Marco was speaking of sensors the facility had all around. If it detected certain palpitations from a human, drones and robots would be sent out to immobilise the human and interrogate them. This was a defensive procedure taken after riots began shortly after the story of the boy spread around the world. “But I get it. These Physicalis seem to have more of a point the more you look back at the atrocities these companies and governments allowed humans to go through,” Cristan looked at Marco, his face surprised to hear those things from a man he thought to be dedicated solely to his role.
“Then, what if I told you there is some other way, Marco?” Cristan extended his hand, his face having a certain kind of determination that Marco wasn’t expecting. “I’m in contact with some of the Physicalis, and I wasn’t sure about you Marco, but you seem to share our belief,” Cristan smiled at him, happy that he found a kindred spirit. “So, what do you sa-” before he could finish, Cristan could hear from behind him the sound of flying drones.
“I’m sorry Cristan,” Marco looked at him saddened, pressing on one of his gloves, “but it’s because of them that I’m here today.”. Cristan looked behind himself briefly, then back at Marco, a wash of disappointment on his face, combined with a saddened smile. “Don’t worry, they treat those like you well enough, so you will probably be able to see your family.”.
“Are you telling me this to comfort me, or make yourself feel better?” his question brought a painful twist on Marco’s face, who had to sell his friend to the companies they both hated so much. “I guess you didn’t have the time,” Cristan said, as the drones tied his hands and took him away.
“The time to what?” Marco demanded, seeing Cristan starting to get further away from him, “The time to what?!”.
“To learn how to be human, Marco,” his answer left Marco with a confused expression on his face. While Marco knew what he was saying, he didn’t know what it meant. Only when he saw Cristan, realising he will never see him again, did he get to peek into what humanity was, as his heart ached for the first time in his life.
Cristan and his family were arrested and imprisoned inside one of the BAT facilities. As Physicalis were treated as terrorists and a group of people trying to oppose the advancement of humanity, Cristan was stripped away from his rights and was used to forcefully make babies. His wife and children lived some years inside a prison, after which Marco, who joined the Physicalis group, broke into and freed them.
Marco lived for another hundred years, during which time he helped spread and coordinate the Physicalis. He eventually became the leader and posed the first real threat to the Virtualis, and died at the age of one hundred eighty years, after his hideout was busted by AI controlled robots. Cristan’s child that was yet to be born at the time he was imprisoned, became the second leader of the Physicalis and led them further. Eventually the Virtualis had no choice but to come to a common accord with the Physicalis, and give them their own portion of the planet where they could live without AI, robots and the BAT procedure.
