The Off Switch

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room.

Kedi occasionally stared half-heartedly out of it, but nothing ever changed: a flat, wide, green path spread out before her, hemmed on either side by squat, square buildings that she supposed resembled her own. People were rarely to be seen, which is to say that she had seen one, once, so she could no longer say never. If the staff of the compound needed to move around, they used the tunnels - apparently. Kedi never needed to move around.

More absorbing than looking outside were the screens in the centre of one wall. They randomly streamed the goings-on in one Living Pod each day. They were not actually interesting; they were just less dull than outside. The people often sat and stared at their own outside. Those with children played simple games or listened to stories from their ASSISTs. A few conducted elaborate rituals, sets of exercises morning and night, or cleaning their pods top to bottom.

Kyle sometimes watched the screens with idle eyes. If he spotted a problem, the subject would be helped, but this was rare. Usually, problems were solved in other ways. He did not tell her about them. She did not need to know.

In truth, it seemed Kedi did not need to know very much. Sometimes she wanted to, and he would smile, say something non-commital, and flick her off-switch when he got the chance. It often took her a day or two to recall her own questions after this; inappropriate power-downs were very bad for her system, and she felt achy and clunky for some time afterwards. She disliked him for this.

Once, he had dozed off in a post-coital haze, and she had searched him up and down for his off switch. She had failed to find it.

Kedi wished her own manufacturer had been so diligent in hiding hers, which was located at the nape of her neck. It was unclear why he should be a better system than her; she was certain he was not newer. This question never passed her lips. She knew somehow that it was too risky.

The door clicked open behind her. She stood and greeted Kyle with a kiss on each cheek and a slight smile. She said nothing; this was habit, not programming.

He walked in that stilted swaying way he sometimes had. This happened when he needed to recharge, Kedi thought.

"You should take a spare battery pack to work with you." she suggested.

"Eh?"

"You often return with a dangerously low battery. Your system is not designed to handle long periods of low power. You are damaging your core components."

He laughed out loud. "Kedi, Kedi, Kedi, kunt."

She disliked this. She also suspected that he knew it was unpleasant, but blamed his low battery.

"Why do they make you things so fucking stupid? So fucking logical and yet, so fucking. Dumb."

Kedi did not know what he was objecting to, so she waited for more information.

"It doesn't matter how advanced your system is, women are fucking dumb."

Kedi remained silent.

Kyle grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the bedroom.

"There's your charger, Kedi-kunt." He pointed at the built-in pad on the wall; it glowed blue. If any part of her touched it, her energy levels increased. It was easiest to go to sleep with a hand resting on it.

He was nearly choking on his own intelligence, gleeful. "Where's my charger, Kedi?"

It was true. He had no charger.

Kedi had always known that they had different systems, but it had never occured to her to wonder about how he maintained power. She would ponder how he worked tomorrow; it would use up some empty minutes. She probably did not need to know.

He lay down on the bed. Kedi removed her clothing and tilted her head at the angle that ran her VirtuPorn program. When she had learned to do this herself, Kyle had been impressed. Now, she could do nothing to please him.

The advantage of the VirtuPorn setting it that they blocked the circuits that led to Thoughts.

When the program turned itself off, he was asleep. He had pressed the back of her hand against the charging pad, or it had happened by chance, perhaps. Either way, Kedi found herself on one hundred percent.

She looked at Kyle with new eyes. The differences between them were not huge. Like her, he walked, talked, lay down at night and went through differing levels of energy. However, he did not have a charger or an off switch. What was he?

His chest rose and fell as he slept; his chest made a steady swoosh noise, like hers. She touched him; he was warm. So was she. His off switch was very well disguised, she decided. She would find it.

She pressed on his nose; nothing happened, but he made an awkward noise that indicated he was still on. It was similar to some of the non-communication noises that he made when awake. She tugged on his left earlobe, then squeezed it; this provoked no major reaction. Likewise, the same process with his right caused nothing. She felt around his chin, but it was solid and felt wholly organic.

Something hard stood out on his neck, halfway down. Kedi pushed on it. He gurgled. This was something.

She pressed harder; his eyes snapped open. "Kunt!" he spat.

Kedi panicked and pressed the switch harder. This was his problem; he was an old system and his switches were sticky. His arms whirled. Kedi pushed with all her might until she heard a click. He powered down abruptly.

Hah! Now he would see how it felt. She would leave him off for a long time.

She spun happily around the flat. She was often alone, but now she was free.

She wondered whether his work was something important; would they notice? Someone might come from outside.

Outside. She would go outside. She had never considered it before, but it now seemed obvious to her that she should, could and would. Who said she shouldn't? He was OFF. Hah!

She pulled the door out of the wall. This was ill-considered, she realised; she had never needed to know how to put it back. Never mind.

She stepped out. It was cold, and dark, but she turned on her torch and walked straight down the middle of the green path she had stared at from the window.

She would come back when she had seen Outside.

I hope you liked this story! If you did, you might like my other stories from the same place and time -

• The Solitaries
• Living Things
• The Flood