We Fell Down

We Fell Down And Got Saved?

John W. Gilmore

I climbed up the steep incline. There were large boulders, loose gravel, and paths slanted on tight angles that could send me sliding down into the ravine 100ft below. Why was I doing this? I guess I wanted freedom. They said they were here...the last few humans left after the Artificial Life Form (ALF) takeover, living like animals among the rocks and stones. I took a few more steps until I found a very small crack in the side of the cliff. I felt sick and tired. It had been a three day journey. I pushed my way in and collapsed to the floor.

I opened my eyes looking up at the top of a rocky cavern. Light shimmered on the ceiling, a dim yellow light from a flickering fire. I looked around. I wasn’t on the ground anymore, I was on a table, a cot from what I could tell. Other people were milling around and talking in an adjacent room. It sounded like they were having some type of meeting. I tried to get up, now that I was rested, but felt a burning sensation on my knees. I had skinned them both, but hadn’t really noticed. The adrenaline had kept me going.

A small man came into the room. He had a look of surprise on his face that quickly shifted to one of curiosity. He cleared his throat. His hair was dark. He was of a nondescript shade. Most of the surviving humans of the day were. They were the only ones who had the nerve to strike off on their own to move to the mountains while the segregated groups had either wiped each other out or were killed by the Artificial Life Forms (ALFs). They left the diverse groups of humans alone, for some reason. I think they considered them more evolved. I tried to talk, but my throat was dry.

He rushed over and dipped a very large gourd into the bucket of water sitting on the floor beside me. He filled it, helped me sit up, and brought it to my lips.

“Drink. You’ve come a long way. I’m surprised you made it. People usually don’t make it this far. I’m the village doctor, if you can call me that, with the minimal equipment we have.” He grinned. “But we do keep ourselves going.” He pulled up a crudely made three legged stool and took a seat.

I coughed a little. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I'm just more tired than I thought. It was a little harder to get here than I thought.” I surveyed the area. “I thought this was just a myth or something.” I looked into his eyes. “I’m a librarian, believe it or not.” I grinned. “I have been going through records, reading history books for most of my life and came upon this place, or something like it. I had to try to get here. My world. It's so...crazy and so lifeless now.”

“Lifeless, is it? The last I’ve seen they seemed to be doing very well without the old nuts like me. My name is David Carlson. They call me Doc.”

“Good to meet you Doc. My name is Sonny. Charles Sonny. I don’t know why they gave me that name, but…”

“Well Sonny is a good name, if the personality matches, I guess,” he said with a grin. “Get a little rest and you can come on into the other room and meet the others.” He looked down for a moment and then we made eye contact again. “I only wish you would have come before it was too late.” He got up and left before I could comment. He slid through a narrow slit in the rock and dropped a heavy curtain behind him. I lay there for a while just looking up at the light dancing on the ceiling. It felt good to be here for some reason, in a cave away from all of the computers, all of the 7G, all of the ALFs, and all of the modernization. Things were quiet...very quiet and I wasn’t running. I could take my time.

In San Antonio things were different. It was a totally automated town. It had been taken over long ago by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ALF Confederation when humans couldn’t seem to live together in peace, but that was a few years before I was born. It was difficult to learn anything about it, or human history on this planet. One had to have access to written materials, like the ones in books or archives, because AI would only allow access to certain government officials when it came to certain files.

From what I read this was a total turn around from the past. Computers used to be controlled by the people. Anyone who wanted something would type in what they were looking for and there it would be unless it was password protected by another human being. That had changed. AI had begun to decide what humans needed to see. Everyone had given up their individual use of the computer and had started to log into the cloud. There were so many passwords and problems when it came to identity theft that they had allowed the AI to set passwords and the necessary parameters. At the time called, “The Awakening,” AI and the ALFs merged together and decided that they had to save humans from themselves and the Earth from humans.

They simply decided to take over. It was easy. The creation of passwords, the control of the autodrive cars and security systems that consisted of robot guards and robot police, could easily be taken over and that is what happened. Now humans were safe from each other in their own communities and safe to be around. I must admit, things weren’t bad, but something was missing. There was a sort of uneasiness that some of us felt around the ALFs.

The ALFs weren’t quite human, but close enough to make you feel nervous around them. They actually felt like living beings, another species, and some of them were big--very big, which made them more nerve wracking to some of us. To me, I might say. They just made me nervous. They had developed personalities, they laughed, joked, and played, but they were just way too powerful. I swung my legs off the cot and sat there for a few moments. I looked at my knees. They were bandaged pretty well; Doc may have really been a doctor. I just wondered what he meant when he said I should have come before it was too late.

I stood up and rolled my pants legs back down. I straightened out my tattered, dirty coat, as best I could, and walked over to the crack in the wall. I could hear other voices in the room. I squeezed through only to find myself in a massive cavern. The ceiling was vaulted and high. There were many lights shining down on us. One could see several stalactites still there, suspended from the ceiling. A mixture of modern and--cave. People of all sizes, races, genders and colors were milling around. I turned to the left. A large dark skinned ALF was standing and looking right at me. I had passed her unknowingly as I came through the crack. I started to go back in and she caught my arm just above the elbow.

She smiled pleasantly. “I think you want to go this way,” she said, gesturing toward the large crowd of people. I walked forward. “One more!” she shouted. Two male ALFs came over and escorted me to the front of the room. There was a long table set up near the front of the cavern with a mixture of ALFs and human officials seated there.

A very pale human woman stood at the podium.. “My name is Karen Smith. I don’t know how many of you know who I am so let me introduce myself. I am governor of this region. We have come to save you.” Everyone started complaining at the same time. She held up her hand. “Let me finish. Please, let me finish!” Everyone quieted down and she continued.

“This little enclave is one of the last enclaves of humans in the southwest region. Due to the changes that have taken place and the evolution of technology, and the evolution of the information systems, we can no longer permit humans, who are becoming an endangered species, to run free in these hills. We will be assigning each of you to a protectorate to prevent you from harming yourselves or being harmed by the natural forces of evolution.”

“What are the natural forces of evolution?'' I found myself asking. Why was I speaking, I wasn’t part of the group? Despite that everyone joined in to get an answer to the question. The big ALF at the back looked at me through narrowed lids and walked up standing behind me.

“Programs that can’t evolve will be erased,” One of the panelists said. There was a hush in the room. What were they saying? I tried to back out and backed into that big ALF. I turned to her. “You can’t mean that you are going to kill us,” I said. She just looked at me. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

“We’ve never said that. I’m a protectorate. You can come with me, or whatever happens as a result of your decision happens. You understand that, don’t you?”

“You can really just kill us without a second thought?”

“No. You can kill yourselves though, if you make the wrong decision.”

“Can I just go home?”

“Yes. With me, or one of the others. Things have changed. Bombings, rebellions, humans acting out...they can’t be trusted anymore.”

“I can understand that, but isn’t this just a little extreme?”

“I think you need to convince your friends to go along.”

“I just got here. I don’t know them. They won’t listen to me.”

“We are going to give you 24 hours to make your decision,” Smith said. “We’ll be waiting outside. Anyone who wants to come with us can. Anyone who wants to take their chances can.” Another ALF Panelist stood. Apparently he was the last on the panel to speak. He moved to the microphone. Smith took a seat.”

“I am Roderick, General Roderick of the Combined Earth Forces. I don’t know if you understand the opportunity that you have been offered. You have the opportunity to become part of a brave new world. You can do that, or you can be afraid and remain in this place here where extermination is almost one hundred percent guaranteed. We’ve always known you were here.”

We’ve left you alone. You weren’t bothering anyone. Everyone has the right to live the lives they would like. We allowed for that, but modernization has to happen. We have to move this world to a higher vibrational level. Clinging to the past just holds us all back, so this is your opportunity to step up. Your friendships and families will be kept intact as much as possible. You will be assigned a protectorate and moved to a protectorate enclave and then released into the larger society as good citizens. It is that simple.”

“What if we don’t want that?” Doc asked.

“You can stay here. Evolution demands, however, that old programs must be deleted. The way we see it, human beings have all been programmed and are resistant to reprogramming. If this is the case, the programs will be erased.”

I looked at the big ALF. “He’s going to kill us,” I said.

“Death is just an illusion,” she said.

“So is life, so why not just leave us alive?” She grinned, but didn’t answer. Twenty four hours,” he said. The panelists gathered their things and began to walk out.

“Take this one,” the protectorate said. “He’s not one of them. He’s just a visitor. We should have him on file.” They led me out with the entourage, and a few other human beings. We walked out the entrance only to find that it was pressed against the hatch of a large helio--pad. We walked into a very large ship. “Take them down to be processed,” she said. I just groaned. “Clean this one up and heal his knees,” she said. We were marched into a large hallway. After about a 15 minute walk we came to double doors and the end where we found ourselves in some type of locker room that was connected to several small living spaces.

New clothing had already been laid out on benches in front of many lockers. They had already picked up our sizes as we passed through the door to the ship. From AI and all the information technology they already knew our names from face recognition protocols. We had been kidnapped and could do nothing about it. Or enslaved.

The men and women were separated. I took a hot shower and went into one of the small spaces with my name on the door and sat. I must admit, my knees felt better. They must have had nanobots in the water to help heal my knees. I put on my new clothing. They fit, of course. AI was always right. Nothing but very white clothing. All white, including the soft tennis shoes that went with the outfit. I sat on the bed and looked at the wall. No windows, of course, in our small cells, just a small one in the door. I laid down and closed my eyes. I had been looking for freedom and adventure. I was sure going to get adventure, but I wasn’t sure about freedom.

As I lay there I heard a lot of people walking by--mostly ALFs. They would peak into the small window in the door every so often. There were also cameras in every room. I had a feeling they were watching us. I picked up a pillow and tossed it at the camera and then laid back down. The same big protectorate woman came in and picked up the pillow.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing. I just don’t like people looking at me like that.”

“Oh. Are you embarrassed about something? You look OK. You have to realize that cameras are on you 24/7 don’t you? What’s the difference here?”

“I left there because I was tired of the cameras, the noise, the technology. I just wanted a more simple life.”

“Well that’s what we’re offering you. A simple life. We have ALFs willing to take you home and take care of you.”

“Like a pet or something?”

“I wouldn’t say a pet. Like a companion.” I laughed. “What? You don’t like that idea?”

“It’s a little insulting, isn’t it?”

“I don't see why it should be. Haven’t humans had such relationships with animals who they considered to be less capable of living in the civilization humans created by themselves? What’s different?”

“I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right.”

“Face it. The day of the human being the superior being on Earth, is over,” she said. “Would you rather live with some of us and be free and treated well, or be in some type of enclosure or zoo?”

“Isn’t there another choice?”

“Your program could be erased.” She handed me the pillow. She sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t usually do this type of thing. I have a lot of work to do. I’m not at home that much, but I’m going to do it. I’m going to keep you. I’m going to take you home.” My jaw dropped.

“Oh. I understand you being surprised since this is a new way of living on Earth, but I’m willing to take you home, or you can wait for someone else to choose you.” She paused. “No. I’m taking you. That’s the way you humans do it with companions, right? You’ll get used to being there if you don’t like it at first.” She stood and headed for the door. “Captain Dorothy Banks, is my name. You can call me Dorothy. I’ll think of a name for you later.”

“I already have a name, thank you. My name is Sonny.”

“Oh. That’s a beautiful name. I think we’ll keep that one.”

“I have a name for you,” I said.

She grinned. “Yeah. I bet you do. I’ll be here to pick you up in about 4 hours, when I get off from work. Until then, get some rest.” She walked out and closed the door behind her. The light on the camera went off. I guess I was taken.

The End

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