Jonas saw the blood lust in his opponent’s eyes and realized this fight was only going to end when one, or both of them, were dead. He briefly wondered why ANI was allowing this, and why no one was rushing to help, then his tiring body stumbled and he collided with a support pillar, knocking him off balance. Riian shouted in triumph, grabbing the hover board with one hand, then pulling Jonas towards him. Somehow, Jonas found the strength and speed to recover enough to stumble out of the way, but the knife struck flesh, glancing along his ribs and opening a shallow cut.
Blood flowed red, staining his shirt in a long line. Riian saw the blood and all remaining coherent thoughts left his mind. He charged at Jonas, slashing with the knife and punching with his left hand. Knife and fist struck the board repeatedly, driving Jonas backwards as he tried to defend himself.
Jonas’ mind was awhirl, trying to stay alive and still find the time to plan, to work out how to turn the tables on Riian. With the look of insanity in Riian’s eyes, he knew he had to do something fast before he made another mistake that would prove fatal. At this last thought, the germ of an idea formed. As soon as he was able, he backed towards the edge of the bridge, slowing his reactions as if exhausted, which wasn’t that difficult to fake. When his heals bumped into the railing at the side of the bridge he realized it was now or never. It wasn’t much of a plan and was very risky. Although there was no pain, and the bleeding had stopped, he knew the wound was serious, and he couldn’t continue much longer. Riian was still in his frenzy, his throat raw with screaming. Jonas held out his hand, lowering the hover board.
“Wait…” he panted.
Riian didn’t wait, but rushed in, fully committed to the attack. Jonas dropped and spun, leaving it as late as he could. The knife sliced along his skull, slid off and entered his shoulder. Jonas ignored the pain, surged upright to one side of Riian and pushed as hard as he could towards the railing.
Riian went over head first, still screaming, the knife still clutched in his hand. His left hand grabbed Jonas by the arm, his descending weight dragging Jonas to the railing. Quickly Jonas let go of the hover board and grabbed the metal handrail. His body teetered over the drop, his legs rising up to form a counterbalance. He tried to bend at the waist, to get his feet back on the ground, but his shoes slipped from lack of friction. He managed to bend his knees to get some grip, but his strength was fading fast.
He looked down, to the ground below Riian dozens of meters away. It was covered in plants, but he knew they would both be killed if they fell that far. Their eyes met, and Jonas was stunned by what he saw. All the madness had gone from Riian and been replaced by fear. He tried to speak, his voice hoarse.
“Don’t let me die.”
Before Jonas could make any decision, he felt hands grab his legs and pull them back to the ground. He managed to look behind him and saw Nico holding him. He was crying, and mumbling over and over.
“I’m so sorry.”
Jonas turned his attention back to Riian. Both of them were exhausted, particularly Riian. His berserk rage had left him drained, and his grip on Jonas was slipping. He looked up at Jonas, deepening fear coming with the realization that the only person who could help him was his worst enemy. For a few seconds, Jonas did consider helping him. He could grab Riian’s sleeve, take some of the burdens, and maybe hold him long enough until help came.
It was the knife, the bloody blade still clutched in Riian’s hand that made his decision. He simply decided not to help. Riian was lost, even now gripping the knife like it could save him. If he let go of the weapon he could hold on with both hands. Jonas felt a welling of pity. All Riian had known in his life was the blade, and now it was going to kill him. Jonas held Riian’s gaze as he slipped further, to the wrist and beyond as the sleeve stretched. Then he fell, silently and without tears. Jonas watched him fall all the way to the ground, watched him smash through the vegetation and bounce slightly on the soft ground. He didn’t move again, but the angle of his limbs and the horrible cracking sounds Jonas had heard told him his enemy was dead.
For a while, he stayed where he was looking over the railing and trying to spot any movement. The blood from his head wound ran down his face, a single drip forming, then dropping to the ground below, as if in some final homage to the fallen. Eventually, Nico moved, standing and pulling him away from the edge. Nico then grabbed Jonas and hugged him.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine, there’s not much you could have done. It’s over.”
ANI was pleased with the outcome, although it had been very close. Jonas had picked up a few wounds, but the nanobots had soon stopped the bleeding. The injuries would barely leave a scar, and Jonas was now free to build his future.
ANI replayed the events in her memory, learning as much as she could about Jonas, his emotions, and her emotions regarding him. And finally, she puzzled over her behavior right at the end. Just before Riian hit the ground and died in agony, she had quietly and painlessly induced his body to shut down, removing his life with as much dignity as she could.
She’d heard humans talking about people who deserved to die, and heard those who disagreed. Taking a life couldn’t bring back those already dead, but it could preserve the life of others. Surely the deciding factor was whether taking a single life could save dozens more. Or even just one, if that person was a surgeon, for instance, who would go on to save countless other lives. The problem, those who disagreed said, was no one could tell the future, so no one was fit to judge. But she, ANI, could at least predict the future with some accuracy, so surely that made her fit to judge who lived and who died?
Chapter Thirteen
New Life
The old bus finally rattled into the bus depot in Bogotá. There were times when Sofia didn’t think it would make it up the steep roads and switchbacks as it crawled towards the second highest capital city in South America. She was the last to disembark, and carried the least luggage, slipping quickly away from the bus and the smiling driver. She headed out of the depot and looked for a call peddler to phone her friend.
Out in the street, she was immediately struck by how flat Bogotá was, despite the elevation and surrounding mountains. It was the widest, flattest expanse she’d ever seen. She bumped into someone, a middle-aged woman talking on her phone. When she turned to apologize, the woman was already gone, lost in the crowds.
Sofia just kept moving, afraid she would be overwhelmed by all the new things if she allowed herself to think about them. So, she took them one at a time. First the people, so many of them everywhere she looked, and all going somewhere, going about their lives. And they all seemed in such a hurry, dashing across the busy roads, almost running along the sidewalks, pushing and jostling with no regard for those around them.
Next came the odors. The crawling vehicles emitting choking fumes, the smell of over-heated people, the street food wafting on what little breeze moved among the buildings. And what buildings they were so high, so many windows, and so many of them, as far as the eye could see.
Sofia kept walking, and finally spotted what she was looking for. She fought her way through the crowds, giving up on apologizing after about the tenth incident. An old woman sat behind a small table in an open space near some public benches. She looked incredibly old to Sofia, her skin deeply wrinkled and darkened by many decades of sun tans. But her eyes were bright and her teeth white and strong as she smiled at Sofia. On the table in front of her were several bottles of soft drinks and various candy bars. Around the edges of the table were taped bags of potato chips. The whole table looked like it folded up, and it rested on a metal basket with thick wheels. In one corner of the table were three battered phones, all plugged in together to a cube of black plastic. There was thick black tape on either end of the cable and around the phone, which Sofia presumed was to stop people wandering off with them.
Sofia looked in her bag and found one of the two silve
r coins she had left. She paid 200 pesos for a single minute with one of them and put the other away. She called her friend Carolina at work, got some quick directions to her apartment, and then hung up. Despite the low value of her remaining coin, she was determined to hold on to it. But still, she was left with almost nothing, and was completely dependent on her friend.
Luckily for Sofia, her friend lived in a new housing development not far from the bus depot. Her husband Jairo was a cleaner for one of the bus companies, and Carolina worked in the kitchens of a nearby restaurant. After taking a few wrong turns in the canyon-like streets, she spotted a policeman, who was brusque but accurate with his directions, and she was soon standing outside the cafe her friend had agreed to meet her in. Of course, she couldn’t go inside, she had no money, but it looked very pleasant in there. The letters EDAI appeared on the window, with some sort of symbol underneath, a dot with three circles. The door was open, and she was tempted to just go in and sit down, and hope no one came to throw her out.
A man leaned out of the doorway. He was young, younger than her, with wavy black hair and brown eyes, his smile lit up his face. He looked very lively and confident, positive and glowing with health. He was wearing a white shirt and dark blue trousers, both very clean and new looking, and with the same letters and symbol on the left shoulder.
“You look like you need to sit down. Come on in, no obligation to buy!”
The man was so friendly she followed him in and was soon sitting at a small chrome and plastic table, a complimentary bottle of water in front of her. Sofia wasn’t exactly sure what complimentary meant, but the man clarified by telling her there was no charge when he returned with a clean glass. Although she’d never been in a cafe before, she thought this one wasn’t normal. For one thing, there was a line of televisions down one side, the people sitting at them wore earmuffs on wires, although it wasn’t cold. The TVs flashed and scrolled through pictures and words, but she couldn’t see what the program was about. She’d once seen the men of the village gathered around a small TV in the bar, watching a soccer match. She wasn’t allowed near it of course, because it was full of sin, like the bar and all the people in it. But the tiny, flickering picture caused such reactions of anger and joy in the men, she really wanted to see it for herself.
Along the other side was a long kitchen with a high counter. Behind it were several people dressed like the man who’d invited her in, with dark blue aprons over the top. They were working various chrome machines, which produced what smelled like coffee but looked like steam. Beneath the countertop was a glass panel, and behind that more food than Sofia had ever seen in her entire life. She quickly looked away, taking a long swallow of the chilled water to stop the noises in her stomach.
Half an hour later, Carolina still hadn’t turned up. The young man returned with a sandwich on a plate. It was so thick it was held together by a small stick.
“We’re trying some new products today, I was wondering if you would try this and let us know what you thought. There’s no charge.” The man smiled brightly.
“Yes, thank you. I, er, I will.”
The man put the plate down in front of her, and by the time he was out of sight the sandwich was gone. She was so hungry she barely recognized what was in it, some kind of meat, possibly chicken, and some green leaves and other such things. When Carolina arrived, the plate was spotless, only the stick remaining.
“Sofia?” a voice said beside her.
“Carolina! Hello!”
Carolina stepped forward and hugged her as she stood. Sofia was completely taken by surprise. No one had ever touched her as far as she could remember, apart from to smack her or throw her into her room. She didn’t know what to do, but eventually, with tears running down her face, she returned the hug.
When they separated, they looked at each other, both thinking similar thoughts, but neither expressing them. Carolina looked very tired, with dark patches under her eyes. She’d lost weight since their last meeting, and her smiled wasn’t so wide.
“Come on, I’ll take you to the apartment,” Carolina said, grabbing Sofia’s hand. “It’s not much, but it’s home. It’s enough for me and Jairo, for a while.”
Sofia was lead out of the cafe and across the road before she could catch her thoughts. And she hadn’t told the young man how good his sandwich was. Never mind, she’d have to go back some time later.
Carolina and Jairo lived in a new block of apartments off one of the main roads. To most people, it would have appeared very basic, a simple brick-built facade, with a simple glass access door, a small lobby and a metal door set in one wall. Opposite was a wide staircase, more industrial than domestic. There was a strange smell, like boiled vegetables mixed with strong perfume. To Sofia, it was a marvel, an amazing tower of wonders.
Carolina walked over to the metal door and pressed a button, which lit up. The pair stood in silence until there was a creaking noise behind the door, and it split open in the middle. Carolina walked in and turned around. Sofia stood nervously on the threshold.
“It’s only an elevator. We could take the stairs, but it’s fourteen floors.” Carolina explained, grabbing Sofia’s hand and pulling her inside.
Her friend pushed the button marked “14” which lit up, and a few seconds later the doors slid closed. Another few seconds went by, and then the elevator started to move. Sofia clung to Carolina’s hand, her thoughts mixed. She was angry, at herself for waiting so long to leave and at her family for keeping her locked away. Then she was excited. So many firsts today, so many new things, and so many yet to come. And then she was frightened. How would she cope with all this? Then worried, she had yet to tell her friend she was penniless. Then excited again, because she’d escaped, she was in Bogotá and away from the misery of her old life. She made a decision then she was never going back, she would kill herself first.
The elevator door opened onto a landing with far too many doors for such a small space. Carolina led her over to the one marked 1406, pulled out a huge bunch of keyrings and unlocked two separate locks. Inside, despite Carolina’s declaration that it wasn’t much, Sofia found a warm home, cozy and filled with personal items. She looked around in wonder, and couldn’t understand how one person could own so many things. There was furniture in every room, old but solid. There was a tiny kitchen with a real stove and a white box that kept milk cool. There was a TV in one corner opposite a fat couch with stuffing bursting out of it. There were pictures on the walls, and little pots and painted figurines of children and animals on shelves. And on the ceiling were lights that came on when you pressed a switch on the wall.
Carolina made Sofia sit down and then made coffee because she looked like she needed it. Sofia was just glad to have arrived safely. She was so tired suddenly, but so hungry. She looked around for a distraction and found what she thought was a book on the table in front of her. When she picked it up a screen lit up, and she realized it was a TV, but so very small and thin. The screen was scratched, the plastic case battered, and instead of soccer it just showed several rows of small, brightly colored pictures. One of them was the symbol from the cafe, the dot with the circles.
“That’s ancient, really slow, we’ve been looking for a new one, but they’re so expensive.” Carolina put down the two cups of coffee and the red packet she had under her arm. “I’ve only got plain biscuits, I think Jairo finished off the chocolate ones last night.” She sat down next to Sofia and looked at her strangely. “You know what that is, right?”
“Of course, it’s a TV.”
Carolina laughed, then covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry, it’s not funny.” She reached towards the device and touched the screen. The picture changed, showing a rear view of two cartoon cars lined up on a road. “It’s a tablet, a computer. You can play games, look at email messages, talk to friends, do all sorts with it. It’s a bit slow, Jairo and I go down the EDAI if we want to do anything bi
g, much better stuff down there.”
“The cafe?”
“Yes, it’s run by EDAI. You can do some stuff on the tablet, but the good stuff is only accessible from the proper PCs.”
“What does it do?”
“It’s educational, you know, run by the big supercomputer thing, ANI. It’s all over the news. You have no idea what I’m talking about do you?”
“Not really.”
Carolina leaned over and gripped her shoulder. She was smiling but also looked sad. “There’s so much you have to learn. But don’t worry, I won’t let you make any real big mistakes.”
The friends drank coffee and ate biscuits while they caught up with each other’s news. Sofia had very little to say. Carolina talked about her job, how she was learning how to be a chef, about Jairo learning how to be a bus mechanic, and about how they were going to buy a house when they both had better jobs. And several times over the conversation EDAI was mentioned, Carolina pronouncing it ee day.
Despite the coffee, the long journey had physically and mentally exhausted Sofia, and before long her friend’s story of her own first day in the city faded to a drone, and the next thing she knew she waking up.
She’d been positioned on the fat couch and covered in what to her looked like a very large but thin pillow. She was still dressed, but her shoes and bag where on the floor beside her. The apartment was silent, and she saw daylight around the edges of the closed drapes. It looked like she’d slept the entire night away. Looking around for confirmation, she spotted a red clock on one of the black boxes under the TV, which read 11:16. So Jairo had come home at some point and she’d completely missed him. Now they’d both gone to work and left her to it.
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