The Spire

by Peter F Smith

  Maria looked back at Tobor with a mild level of disgust both at its ability to not take a deep breath in the middle of a monologue, and its constant inclination to state the obvious. Her parents had made perfectly sure that she was as well-educated as possible, so it was absurd to think that she wasn't aware of her father's intent behind forcing her to socialize with the other teens. Her annoyance intensified as she noticed that once again they were nearing one another as her caretaker slowly and almost imperceptibly continued to angle into her space.

  "I already know all that Tobor, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." With that statement she found herself once again running upon the smooth and perfectly engineered cobble stone pathway that represented just one fraction of the hundreds of kilometers of walkways surrounding the Spire. It was a sturdy make and its natural stone appearance with perfectly trimmed grass between each piece of masonry pieces only complimented the surroundings. It wasn't unusual to find soft LED lanterns, benches, water fountains, and even the occasional ramada along the trail. What wasn't normal was the large transport aircraft that was sitting in a clearing on the opposite side of the path.

  She came to a stop on the path with Tobor matching her actions. A smirk crossed her face and she turned on him, "How exactly did we end up here, Tobor? In front of a conveniently present aircraft?"

  Tobor's head cocked to the side as if it were studying her. She marveled at how such an action seemed to be universal amongst animals, man, and machine. "From time to time I have found it necessary to influence your behavior through subtle conversation and physical choices," it replied.

  Her blood pressure began to increase and not because of her work out and not at the fact that her robotic keeper had practiced behavior modification on her but at herself for not realizing such things were taking place. "You've been manipulating me you sneaky little—"

  She was cut off by a shrill primordial scream emanating from deep within the forest from the direction they had just exited. Now Tobor stood fully erect, and she noticed the synthetic muscles under its outer plating beginning to writhe with tension. Its "face" and body were now completely facing the wilderness.

  The scream pierced her calm to the core. She had never heard anything like it before. Torn between fear and raw curiosity of the unknown, she stepped closer to her protector only to have its arm extend faster than she could perceive and its hand plant itself squarely on her chest with the exact amount of force necessary to stop her forward movement but not cause her harm. "What's going on Toby?" she asked.

  "A feral has breached the outermost defense perimeter and is approaching our location. Please stay behind me Ms. Patterson," it stated placing its entire body between her and the forest.

  Maria felt her pulse quicken for a different reason this time. Never in her life had she seen a feral in person. All she knew about them came from stories her father told to keep her from wandering too far into the forest and footage from family drones that encountered them when seeing to tasks outside the Spire. Ferals were men and women that had contracted but not succumbed to the plague that had wiped out much of mankind. The disease overstimulated glands in the brain to secrete large amounts of hormones such as serotonin and melatonin. Those who succumbed to the disease died peacefully in their sleep. For others, different aspects of their brain chemistry was altered in unexpected ways, serotonin dropped and testosterone peaked. Those who endured the worst of the plague were hyper- aggressive beyond the point of reason and able to perform only the most basic of functions to survive. So now they roamed the wilderness living off what animals and edible plants they could find as they eked out a pointless existence.

  She was left with only the view she could get around Toby’s shoulders as she stood on her toes. She berated herself for removing her contacts. She quickly retrieved them from their case and reapplied them, using the optics option to zoom in on the creature... or person. She wasn't sure how to think about them. She could just start to make out a form leaping and bounding through the deeper parts of the forest, through areas with greater canopy coverage which were shrouded in darkness.

  Tobor's right arm rose and oriented toward the figure and a small protrusion quickly emerged from the forearm. It was getting close now, and Maria could make out details such as the gender. That was an easy one to deduce since the tattered remains of the woman's clothing did little to protect her from the elements or from view. Her hair was matted and snarled and in certain areas missing where scar tissue covered her scalp. Her gait was off balance and chaotic in appearance. Maria couldn't tell if that was because of her debilitative mental state or the fact that her foot had clearly broken at one point and then never healed properly. And then Maria saw her eyes; she had always had an intense interest in people’s eyes. She needed to know everything she could about the people she encountered, and the eyes were the easiest way to read a person. There was nothing in those except for what she would later come to realize was pure hate and anger. She was a tormented soul ruled by a mind that had been corrupted by plague and subsequent hard life.

  A life that ended before Maria’s eyes. One moment the former woman was racing toward them, and the next a small device popped up out of the ground and exploded in front of her. Maria watched, stunned by the intense violence as what had once been a person was hurled in a totally opposite direction. Its body shredded by a tightly focused cone of steel darts traveling beyond the speed of sound. Maria stood there dumbfounded as the feral’s body slammed into the ground, a cloud of smoke and a red mist hanging in the air over the spot that she had formerly occupied.

  "Tobor... did you just kill her?" she managed to finally ask.

  Tobor shook its head as the arm lowered, and the device upon it disappeared back into its casing. "No Miss Patterson, one of the ground’s anti-personnel mines finally activated."

  She nodded mentally filing away the fact that her father had placed land mines around the Spire. She knew they couldn’t be a threat to her; otherwise, he never would have placed them near the park paths. He knew his daughter liked to explore and wouldn't risk harm coming to her. In fact, that was likely one of the reasons the explosives were there in the first place. She also surmised from Toby's statement that something had gone wrong with their activation.

  “I've never seen a feral get this close to the grounds before. What was wrong with the defenses?"

  Tobor, who was slowly scanning the forest, responded quickly and to the point, "Unknown systems failure in this region's Defense grid. Forced reboot was required when it was clear the perimeter had been breached."

  A low moan caught both their attentions and Maria began to walk toward the severely wounded but not dead feral. At least she tried to until her companions arm snapped out and blocked her path. "Such action would be inadvisable Miss Patterson."

  She shot an annoyed glare at him. "What could happen? I doubt she is in any condition to harm me and it’s not like I can catch any of her diseases. Dad saw to that."

  "It is an unacceptable risk," the resolve in Tobor’s voice was as firm as the arm that bared her path.

  "Two things," she said holding two fingers in front of his face. "Secondly, if I'm to take my place alongside my parents, I need to have real life experiences and exposure to the variety of threats that exist in this world so I can better plan for them." She curled her index finger into the palm of her hand and waged the remaining middle digit in front of his opaque face plate. "And firstly, if you don't let me go, once we get home I’ll download your personality into the Spire’s waste processing facility and before my father can fish you out of there, you'll have learned more about my family than you ever wanted to know."

  Tobor held its arm for just a moment processing what she just said, and then began to stride toward the feral. A smirk appeared on her face and she raced to catch up. They reached the woman at the same time and the amused look faded as did any satisfaction she felt at besting her long term caregiver. The feral just lay there; her battered body ba
rely clinging to life. The only indication that she still was alive coming from the raspy sounds that escaped her throat accompanied by the formation of red foam at the corners of her mouth and over a particularly nasty gash to her neck. Every time she exhaled the bubbles grew. Maria had never been so close to someone this near death and she had never personally experienced carnage of this type before. The ripped flesh, the nearly severed limbs and the smell of this creature overcame her and she found herself retching onto the forest floor. Within a moment the nausea was replaced by guilt... an emotion born of the fact that this former person had been harmed by a device placed there to protect Maria and, unable to control herself, she had just desecrated this woman's final resting place.

  "You need not feel embarrassed Miss Patterson. There is no shame in not being acclimated to violence," Tobor told her as she wiped her mouth with the bottom part of her shirt.

  "I'm ashamed for many reasons right now,” she murmured back. Her eyes drifted to the feral at their feet still clinging to life even though such an outcome was nearly impossible. She had no doubt in her mind that even the medical facilities of the Spire could do nothing for her.

  "We can’t leave her like this Tobor," Maria said as she kneeled next to the dying creature.

  Her escort took a step closer. Now that she was within easy striking distance of the feral woman, the robot needed to be sure it could react in time to prevent any harm to Maria. “My medical diagnostic system indicates she has less than a one percent chance of surviving within the time frame necessary to place her into a medical facility capable of treating the detectable injuries."

  "I know that she’s too far gone to save. Is there anything we can do to ease her pain?”

  The robot nodded and extended it’s arm, but before the weapon was deployed, it looked at Maria and said, "Please turn away."

  "Toby, I'm old enough to see this." She stared back at Tobor, but after a moment it became clear its decision had not changed. She decided to re-use her old tactic. "If I'm going to lead my family one day, I’ll need to be able to make the big calls and not flinch when they happen. This world is harsh, and I need to get comfortable with the concept of death."

  "There will be many opportunities to see death in the future. You do not need to be in a hurry to witness it first hand, and I have no desire to be the source of your exposure. Do as I ask or I will not comply."

  She took a moment, nodded her head, and turned. Toby had always been unique. Where all the other bots she had interacted with had no personality, it did. The others operated on basic instructions and never questioned or commented on them. Toby though had never been so boring. She couldn't remember a time when it hadn't questioned a decision of hers or forced her to evaluate her own. Tobor genuinely seemed to care for her. It was truly unique and while Toby constantly got on her nerves, she appreciated it for what she had decided long ago was not just programming.

  The low sizzle and smell of cooked flesh tipped her off to the task's completion. She turned and saw Toby standing over the now still body. The feral’s chest no longer rose and her body no longer moved. She was completely still exhibiting no visible sign of how Tobor had killed her. "How did you do it Toby?" Maria asked.

  "A single low powered pulse at the base of the skull and into the brain stem. Organ failure was immediate.”

  "Did she suffer?"

  "Death was instantaneous.”

  Maria nodded and turned to walk toward the transport. Tobor quickly falling into step behind her. "If we move quickly we will be able to arrive slightly before your father wished us to be present.”

  As she walked, she looked over at him and said, "Oh, we aren’t leaving yet.”

  "Then why are we approaching the transport?" Tobor asked.

  "Because we’re going to get shovels and bury her.”

  Tobor stopped. "Ms. Patterson, I have thus far humored your various attempts to delay our arrival; however, I must insist that we make our way to the Spire immediately.”

  Maria just ignored it and kept walking, her feet hammered on the metal ramp as she walked into the transport. The inside of the craft was perfectly climate controlled despite the open aft ramp. The lights brightened as she entered to match the midday sun outside. If the transport were to head toward a particular destination, it would slowly raise or lower the light level to correspond. It was a convenience-based program meant to help people avoid losing part of their ability to see when entering an area with drastically different light levels.

  While her contacts could easily polarize and help her if she were going from dark to light, they weren't so helpful in reverse. Therefore, the craft changing the lighting level on its own was most welcome and quickly helped her to find the utility chest located under the bench seating along the right side of the craft. She flipped the cushion up and then opened the case. Inside were various tools ranging from saws to hammers. Secured in several sheaths along the inside of the box were several compact shovels. She reached in and pulled both out placing them on the floor. She also removed a length of rope, an organic-based tarp that would dissolve over several years as it was exposed to moisture, and a pack to carry it all in. She filled the backpack, slung it over her should, and turned to leave only to very nearly walk straight into Tobor who stood silently behind her.

  Maria did her best to hide her surprise, but she must have let some through. As Tobor took a step back, she commented, "Damn it Toby, creepy much?"

  "I am sorry Miss Patterson; however, I will no longer permit any delay." It slipped past her and walked toward the cockpit. The ramp began to smoothly glide up, and the gentle thrum of the craft's fusion power plant pulsed through the metal floor plates and up through the soles of her running shoes. She looked from the now closed ramp toward Tobor her eyes drilling into its back.

  As the cockpit door glided into the wall to allow its entrance, she shouted at it, "Stop right there Tobor!"

  To her surprise Toby did. The drone placed its left hand on the top of the door frame and turned toward her. Its shoulders appeared to slump, and she could swear it was weary of this entire situation. She couldn't be sure if it was a genuine reaction or if it was merely replicating similar behavior of her father when she had driven him to his wits end.

  She walked up to it, and the robot shifted to face her. "Tobor, I know that you think I'm doing this just to be petulant but that isn't the case. So much of my life is regimented and laid out for me. Father has left almost nothing to chance. I don't make my own decisions and because of that I don't have my own life. That's why I come out here and run because I need to know that I can be free from time to time, to make my own choices, to experience life, and to be alive. I will go back to the Spire, but let me have some choice in the how and when I go. I need to bury that woman because it’s the right thing to do. If I were to die in a similar way, I would hope that someone would guarantee me the simple dignity of not letting me be scattered by carrion eaters, and also, this is the first real decision I’ve ever been able to make without father."

  She stared into its face plate wondering what its processors would decide. The stoic behavior gave her no clue if she was getting through to it.

  "If you care about me, you won’t take my freedom of choice from me, or I will never be able to forgive you."

  She looked into the glossy smooth material that composed its face not knowing what reaction to expect. The cabin suddenly flooded with outside light as the ramp descended. Its hand snaked behind her and deftly retrieved one of the shovels from her pack. "The hole should two meters deep to deter scavengers.”

  ___

  She couldn't believe how much her body ached. She sat on a pile of moist freshly disrupted soil. The cold dirt feeling good on her sore lower back. She brought the bottle of water in her left hand up to her mouth and took a deep drink; the chill of the water bringing relief to her thirst and the blisters covering her hand. Below her stood Tobor laboring away at a persistent tempo. The shovel it wielded bit into the so
il with ease, and it moved as if it were a part of the drone’s own body. She tried keeping up with it, she truly had, but it quickly became apparent to her that she was merely a hindrance and not an aid.

  She put the bottle to her forehead hoping the cold would help to cool her. She looked at Tobor continuing to toil on her project. Disgust began to course through her as she watched it complete the task she had set out to do. She looked over at the tarp-covered body and decided to make herself useful. She stood up from her mound of soil choking down the yelp she wanted to let out as a filament of pain streaked through her lower back. She quickly brushed it aside and walked over to the body. She removed the tarp and stretched it out on the ground next to the fallen woman.

  Maria looked down at her. The blood had begun to dry beneath her, and the flesh had lost its color. Laying gently between the woman’s exposed breasts was a golden locket, its surface speckled with blood, dark explosive residue and years of sweat and grime. Maria knelt down, a twig poking into her knee as her weight came down on it and forced it into the soft layer of detritus that covered the forest floor. Her fingers gingerly descended upon the locket brushing it ever so slightly as if she feared that even the slightest touch might destroy it or, worse, be offensive to its owner.

  She looked at the woman’s face. Her cold and lifeless green eyes staring into infinity. It shocked Maria how different she looked now, so at peace. Her curiosity overwhelmed her squeamishness, and she used her nails to pry the locket open revealing a small photo, well protected by the gold that enveloped it. She stared at the image. The woman was there. It was those eyes that gave her away. The years of plague, neglect, and wilderness living changed nearly everything but the eyes. To the woman’s side was another of similar age. Both of the ladies were sitting behind a young boy kissing him on the forehead as he smiled for the camera and held a puppy in his lap. The dog was too interested in a button on the boy's shirt to be bothered with such trivial things as family pictures. Maria's face stretched into a smile at the sight of this and the love they clearly had for each other. The smell of the corpse snapped her out of her fugue state and once again she saw the body.