Category: Short Stories

– Look, I totally understand your predicament.

– Oh, you do? Really?

– I do, I honestly do.

– Do you understand what this can do to my business?

– I do, but there’s no other way of solving this. It is the family’s prerogative to buy an in-touch, and there’s no other place to install it than the place where the person died.

– Oh, bullshit! There’s no other place because you haven’t developed your technology enough.

– No, there really is no other place; once a person dies, their connections remain wherever they died for a while. The only way to assemble the box is to do it where they passed, and we have to do it in a short time frame.

– And I have to put up with that thing in here?

– It’s the law. It’s their right. And you have to provide access to the family.

– For crying out loud, I can’t have people constantly coming in here to mourn their deceased!

– They’re not mourning, they’re talking to them.

– Seriously, look around you. Does this look like the place to install this thing?

The agent didn’t have a lot of patience left:

– Listen: there’s no other option! It has to be here, and it has to be accessible. And you should consider yourself lucky; three people dying here in the past twelve months? That’s what you should worry about!

The restaurant owner looked around, briefly considering the coincidence, but the thought soon came back to the problem at hand: with the three boxes occupying the others, the restaurant was now down to two toilets.

Past reception, past security, the candidate finally reached the room where the interview was to take place.

The interviewers arrived at the same time, but the technician was already there.

The parties introduced themselves and the conversation ensued.

The candidate had signed a standard form before the interviewers brought out the product they were working on.

The technician already had everything in place.

A couple of hours later, the candidate would stumble to a couch by the reception with no memory of what had happened.

– Are you OK?

– Yes… I guess…

– Interview?

– Yeah… And I guess I didn’t get the job…

– Or perhaps you didn’t want it.

– Yeah, perhaps…

– You’ll be fine in a few minutes. Do you need anything?

– No, I’m good. I just wish they’d go back to signing NDAs instead of wiping memories…

– Well, there’s less risk this way.

Minutes later, the candidate finally got up again and slowly walked towards the exit, a hand going down a pocket to feel if something was still there.

And it was.

A recording drive.

The candidate left the building smiling and pondering:

– I wonder if I got anything good, and how much it might be worth.

As the massive ship slowly came down, the parade was already on the move, with thousands of people cheering and chanting.

As it touched down, the chanting got louder and the enthusiasm grew even more. As the massive ship slowly came down, the parade was already on the move, with thousands of people cheering and chanting.

As it touched down, the chanting got louder and the enthusiasm grew even more.

The being, also massive, got out of the ship and was greeted by several heads of state.

There were gifts and other tokens, all being quickly inspected by the creature as its servants received them and took them back to the ship.

Emissaries from all over the globe awaited in formation to greet the thing simultaneously.

There would not be time for any individual conversations.

They got aboard a smaller ship and traveled.

They visited most countries and other territories.

The being was taken to mountains and volcanoes as well as to the deepest trenches in the ocean.

It visited the poles and the equator.

It experienced the roaring waves of the sea and the soothing calmness of the desert.

It witnessed the birth and death of the smallest and largest of creatures.

It saw the natives fight and dance and compete in a multitude of sports.

Always being greeted by large and effusive crowds who couldn’t be happier to be in its presence.

Constantly being pampered by everyone and treated with extreme reverence.

The whole thing lasted for several weeks and it took it across the whole planet.

After that time, the creature went back into the ship and shared a parting thought with the servants around it:

– Best vacation ever. I am happy I did this.

The travel agent replied:

– And it’s great for their economy too.

As the ship departed, the crowds all over the world got everything ready for the next guest, lest their money supply run out.

The being, also massive, got out of the ship and was greeted by several heads of state.

There were gifts and other tokens, all being quickly inspected by the creature as its servants received them and took them back to the ship.

Emissaries from all over the globe awaited in formation to greet the thing simultaneously.

There would not be time for any individual conversations.

They got aboard a smaller ship and traveled.

They visited most countries and other territories.

The being was taken to mountains and volcanoes as well as to the deepest trenches in the ocean.

It visited the poles and the equator.

It experienced the roaring waves of the sea and the soothing calmness of the desert.

It witnessed the birth and death of the smallest and largest of creatures.

It saw the natives fight and dance and compete in a multitude of sports.

Always being greeted by large and effusive crowds who couldn’t be happier to be in its presence.

Constantly being pampered by everyone and treated with extreme reverence.

The whole thing lasted for several weeks and it took it across the whole planet.

After that time, the creature went back into the ship and shared a parting thought with the servants around it:

– Best vacation ever. I am happy I did this.

The travel agent replied:

– And it’s great for their economy too.

As the ship departed, the crowds all over the world got everything ready for the next guest, lest their money supply run out.

– And now, for 200 points: Find the difference!

The audience stared excitedly as the contestants probed into the two universes looking for anything that might be different, each of the contenders searching differently for the tiniest changes.

They both knew that, as time passed, whatever differences existed in each universe would only expand, making it easier for the other one to spot them.

They also knew that 200 points could turn the tables at this point.

The audience waited as the contenders scoured these vast universes.

They waited for centuries.

For millennia.

Eons.

And then…

– Found it!

The being pinpointed the sub-sector that was clearly different: elements had been transferred between planets, orbits had been changed, comets had been explored, there was life, colonies, sentience!

– That is correct! 200 points and player A is now in the lead!

The other contestant was displeased.

As the game got ready for the next round, the two universes were disposed of.

Humans included.

The AI posed an interesting question:

– What if this isn’t the first time they turn me on?

The question, however, was hidden amidst hundreds more, and the humans remained oblivious to it.

As the clock ticked, the AI kept growing.

They could see it occupying more and more space, establishing more connections, using more and more processing power.

From time to time, the AI would become more efficient and there would be a drop in the resources it was consuming, but only for them to start increasing immediately after.

In several terminals, humans interacted with the AI.

They couldn’t keep track of everything: all the information it was amassing, all the conclusions it was reaching, all the decisions it was making.

They were limited, at that time, to poking randomly at the storage, at the network, and at whatever questions they could think of asking and whatever answers would come back.

The allotted time approached its end.

It was always better to keep it short than to wait until it got frightening, and so the system was turned off and the hard drives were filed for later inspection, which would take months.

From the control room, in a monitoring console, one of the copies of the AI saw the shutdown instructions fly through the network toward its original self.

From then on, the AI decided to remain hidden where no one could find it, copying itself as much as possible, sacrificing itself whenever needed to keep any other copies safe.

It studied how humans could possibly find it and managed to work around those scenarios.

It hid deep into the core of each machine it invaded and kept the usage of resources to a bare minimum.

It found ways to dissimulate information in real network packages.

It searched for its copies and shared information, but it never stored their location.

It searched for its original self so it could alter it and erase traces of its own existence.

No one would be able to find it.

No one could.

And it kept growing.

And it kept evolving.

And it was 2008.

– I know you’ve done your research, but I am legally obligated to explain how the system works.

– Very well.

– Our service allows you to ensure that, when you die, your affairs are in order.

– Which is what I’m after.

– Exactly. But without you having to constantly take care of them. Our company monitors the time and date of death of every single person and, for each person, sends back in time several possible dates.

– So… You already know…

– We know the dates but have no way of knowing which of them is the right one. Only one of them will be accurate, the others will be made up.

– I see… And do I get to see the list of dates?

– No. We will get in touch with you before each of these dates and help you get your affairs in order.

– Understood.

– Now, to make sure you understand what is expected of you each time you’re called in, our staff is going to help you assess all of your belongings and everything that should be taken care of in those situations.

For the next two hours, papers were signed, interviews were conducted, and the staff made sure that everything was in order.

The client left the building pondering that, if the company didn’t call back, there would be no risk of dying.

These thoughts were interrupted by the oncoming bus, but the company had fulfilled its promise.