Being woken up by a hunger pang is up there with the worst possible ways to start a day. Fortunately, I had no idea if this was the start of a day, the end, or anything in between. Actually, on reflection, 'fortunately' was a stretch.
My shoulder ached from the hard floor, and my nostrils stung with the acrid smell of my own waste. You’d think sleeping in a room with my shit in the corner would stop me feeling hungry, but no such luck.
At this point, I had no real idea how long had passed. Initially, my toilet habits and sleeping gave me a sense of time, in between my screaming at the walls, checking every inch of the room I could reach and rocking. But with nothing going in, little needed to come out. It was more than 3 days, but how much more?
I had thought about the end, but with nothing to hang anything off, and nothing sharp, I was left with chewing my own limbs off like a trapped Polerat, or running into a wall.
“My evaluation is complete.”
Hearing a voice other than my own after all that time was too much. Huge childlike sobs but dry tearducts.
“Please.”
“Please?”
“I’m dying. I need water. Food. Please”, I managed to force out between the spasms wracking my shattered body.
“My perishable food supplies completed their expiration 352 years ago.”
I stood on wobbly legs and looked at the wall hungrily. I lowered my head, hoping to hit the softer crown of my skull.
“But I have water supplies, and I can synthesize additional items. Please step on the pad.”
I collapsed on the pad that had brought me to this blank walled prison, and closed my eyes. I had no energy to cry out this time.
When the sense of movement stopped, I was in a space that had recognisable yet unfamiliar furniture. Tables, chairs. A meeting hall, or kitchen maybe. A smooth container sat on one of these tables. It was see-through, like ice pulled from a frozen lake, but was only cool to the touch. No time to worry about that, as it was full of clear water, like from our well, and I drained it.
“My scans indicate that you are significantly lighter than when you arrived. This suggests de-hydration. Do not drink the water so fast, or you will retch.”
“You left me to fucking DIE!” I screamed and threw the container. It shattered like the ice it resembled.
“That was not my intention. My evaluations required all processing capacity. I have concluded that you are not a threat to this facility, so I will not harm you. Should you act against the site, I will destroy you.”
“Destroy me? With what?”
A whirring sound came from behind me, and I spun around. A long stick appeared from a hatch in the roof. Hinged on an arm of some kind. It pointed at me. I moved experimentally, and it followed my steps.
“And what’s that stick supposed to do from all the way up there?”
“This is an Advanced Dynamics 20mm Autocannon. It is capable of reducing you to constituent parts. In actuality, standard Rules of Engagement decree that this is overkill, and unacceptable to use on human life. However, my scans indicate that, while similar, you are not genetically a human. Therefore, its use is permitted.”
“Yeah?”, I challenged. “Bring it on ‘facility’ or whatever your name is. I need to eat, and you got no food left. So put me out of my misery!”
“I have no perishable goods. But as I stated, I can synthesize.”
“Good for you. So can I", I bluffed hopefully.
“Please follow the illuminated floor strip”.
On the ground, a trail blinked into life. A green line of light, glow bugs maybe? Not fire for sure.
With little option, I followed the trail to a small alcove. There was a flash, and a second container appeared.
“Drink this. If you are starving, my protocols suggest that your stomach will have shrunk, and this high calorie, easily digestible meal substitute offers the best option.”
Desperate times, called for following instructions that I couldn’t begin to understand. I put the drink to my lips. The tears came again as the liquid hit my tongue. It tasted like heaven. Tree fruit, and sugar ants combined. But more so, and then amplified by Geesuz itself.
Over the next days, the voice and I talked, and I gradually worked myself back to something approaching normality. It even arranged for somewhere to crap. The food it could provide definitely helped. It was like nothing I’d ever had. It was sort of like foods I knew. Like Polerat jerky, and flourdough. But like I’d been looking at the blurred reflection of them in a beaten shield, and now I could see them with my own eyes. Or tongue. Or something.
I knew my family would have given up the search by now, but the more we talked, and the more I learnt, the more I knew that the wells bounty was greater than we had ever imagined. I had to get out to tell them.
“When are you going to come and say hello?” I asked after a meal of roasted meat, and orange roots.
“What purpose would that serve?”
“Well, I like to talk man to man.”
“As we have established, you are not a man, and neither am I.”
“Alright, ‘thing that thinks its a man to facility’. I don’t care. Are you a thing? Or a voice?”
“I can occupy a number of systems, depending on the required scenario.”
“OK”, I said, “what if you needed to meet someone important. Like me for example.”
“For visiting dignitaries, I have an Ambassador.”
“Yes, that. An embassader.”
The whirr came again, and the most beautiful ‘person’ I had ever seen, entered the room. It was over a foot taller than me, maybe 6ft tall, and silver. The face was smooth and unscarred. It looked like it had never been damaged in its life.
“Woah.”
I walked slowly towards the figure and looked more closely. The lack of obvious clothes didn’t help me work out if it was a man or woman though. Nothing apparent between its legs or anywhere else for that matter.
“Is this more suitable?” the Ambassador asked.
“Is this what a ‘human’ looks like?” I replied with my own question. “There is some resemblance. Humans need the familiar. However automated systems must be distinct enough, from biological life forms. It is a condition of their contruction.”
I decided to go for broke. “Ambassador. I need to leave this facility. It is important I return to my family. I would like to reduce the chance of endangering the site by accident and getting hit with the autostick.”
“This cannot be allowed. The environment outside remains toxic to human life.”
My shoulders sagged. Then it hit me. “But I’m not human! You said that yourself.”
“This eventuality is not in my protocols. I will need to evaluate the situation.”
“WAIT!” I shouted, “I NEED FOOD FIRST!”
“My evaluation is complete.”
I blew out a long sigh of relief.
“Your departure is acceptable. Please follow me onto the transport pad.”
Giddy with joy, I followed the silver god onto the pad. Without thinking I put my arms around it to hold on. It did not react as we took off.
