Quantum state, p.19
Quantum State, page 19
But this time, they are not just defensive; they attack in pairs—to protect MAQS, to protect me— like they've been holding back. And they punch several of the prisoners unconscious. The blond male defends his twin sister, hitting two bots with his surge baton, their metal-wired frames convulsing on the hard floor as electricity shocks their bot systems.
Other prisoners shout. “This is a trap!”
More bots pursue the remaining prisoners when the baton flies out of the hands of the blond male and a single bot kicks the blonde female behind her knees, knocking her face down on the floor. The bots don't take long to control the room, and the whole affair is over in less than two minutes.
When the six Calypso Tower prisoners are finally bound in cuffs by a remaining eight bots, I gasp. In single file, the humans are escorted by bots out of the underground. Esfir, Kazimir, Inna, Kir and I turn to each other, worried—our faces wrinkled like raisins. Obviously, the bots can fight, and if they had fought this hard earlier, none of us would have even made it underground. MAQS did let us down here.
“Why did you let us down here?!” I yell at her, though I know she'll give me the same answer.
Her blue lights glow. “Because you would not have stopped until you saw me, saw yourself,” MAQS answers in riddle.
I stand still confused and angry. “Then, what are you?” I rethink and ask, “Who am I?”
State Of Truth
MAQS is silent, and her silence only infuriates me more. “Stop speaking in riddles!”
She glows yellow and then blue-purple and I gulp. A sound like pebbles dropping in water ripples over all of us before she speaks. “I am MAQS, a Machine At Quantum State, which you built in the year 2050. You are my creator. A human, of the Homo sapiens species. Descendants of the Hominoids.”
“I didn't create you!” I scream before Esfir holds my shoulder and interjects, “MAQS?!”
The machine turns its lights to Esfir.
“What year is it? On the Gregorian calendar, not Cherni's!” I scream.
Her blue glow fades to yellow before answering, “The year is 2567.”
Esfir and I grow silent as we look at each other, our expressions incredulous and curious all the same. Esfir steps forward, his voice firm like at the Cylindrical, like at the park. The confident boy I love. “But how could Masha have created you, then? She was born less than eighteen years ago.”
“Masha Mikhailov was born on February 5th, 2020. In her thirtieth year, she created MAQS, a system designed to predict human behavior and outcomes for humanity in order to protect the human race.
“I predicted their extinction.
“On December, 2nd, 2085, Masha Mikhailov died. She was buried in Cherni the following day.” I feel a chill rush up my body. “On October 3rd, 2121, at 6:47 p.m., the last human being stopped breathing. Cause of death: starvation and heat exhaustion.”
My head shakes back and forth as I try to absorb everything she tells me. A lie? A truth that still makes no sense? “But how…how is all of this possible?” I scramble for the right words when MAQS turns red and a few bots direct me and the others to LCD screens over the walls on the lefthand side of the room.
When images appear, I take a step back onto Esfir's foot and he catches me, his arms bracing my back. My head tilts. I feel dizzy, sick, with Kazimir and Inna on either side of me, and Kir surely behind. Images on the screens are filled with desolate lands for miles and miles and miles. I see no end.
Then footage of factories belching carbon and sulfur into the air fills the screens. Wars, of people fighting over food and land. Bloodshed everywhere. Fire burning forests to the ground. Carcasses of animals, dead from pollution or bullets to the head. Men ravenous for animal flesh to survive. Then, the sun—the violent, unforgiving sun. A beam of light, almost blinding, shines over the screen, and I have to look away momentarily before curiosity draws me back.
Everything looks so crisp, so real, so today. As if MAQS captured every pristine image, perfectly.
“What happened?” I press, unsure if I can still believe it all.
“Humanity destroyed itself.”
Kazimir even steps outside of his position—his duty—to weigh in. “But how can humans be extinct if we are here?”
“Humanity took its last breath in 2121, and eventually all life died out, along with plants, large mammals, and fish; it took only forty-six years for the rest of the smaller animals to disappear altogether. First the squirrels, then the mice and rats, the worms and lizards, and finally the flies.
“For one hundred years, bots existed without the presence of biological animals and plants. Biological lifeforms, with the exception of microorganisms, struggled to survive in the conditions post-2121 conditions.
“In 2267, we succeeded in creating the first Cylindrical, which would prevent the harsh atmosphere from interfering with a reconstructed district—but the Cylindrical could only protect the size of a small town. So, we developed eight small districts within an eight-mile radius of each other. Each with its own Cylindrical.
“We grew simple ferns, and when we succeeded there, we grew vegetables and fruits and nuts. In 2342, we succeeded in creating small mammals, and in 2507, we created our first human beings.”
“Why eight?” Esfir asks, his curiosity unfettered. “Eight zones, eight Pods, eight districts, eight miles apart, even an eight o'clock curfew?”
“In the majority of religions in humanity's histories, there were seven days of creation. This recreation is our day eight.”
Inna interrupts, “But why? Why would you bother recreating everything again? After it had all been destroyed?”
MAQS lights up over me. “Because of you, Masha. You programmed me to protect humanity. I failed. Therefore, I had to design a sure way for humanity to exist again under conditions that would ensure their survival, instead of their utter demise.”
Esfir can't resist. “How? How did you do it?”
I let all of this sink in, my mind dizzy with too many thoughts. “Then, all of us inside of Cherni…I'm, I'm…just a creation from you?” I feel weak in the knees.
MAQS glows yellow and then blue. “We took samples of DNA from every biological organism we could find. I knew where you were buried, as your files are stored inside of my archives. After we succeeded in cloning the district of Cherni to its once-former state, I decided we needed our creator.”
“But I'm nobody. I suck at chemistry. I can't even do gardening very well. How the heck could I have built you?”
“You are a prodigy with electronics. Unfortunately, physics and electronics, and therefore books on the subject matter, are not permitted inside the districts. Not yet.
“Though I've kept all other important books locked in trunks for later learning when humanity is ready again.
“Unfortunately, my algorithms predict a 97% probability that humanity will self-destruct again once they unleash the power of the atom and electronics.”
Kazimir reflects, “So, the created becomes the creator.”
We all stand, unable to know what to say, to know anything for sure. “How do we know that all of this you are telling us is true?” I ask.
Her blue glow engulfs us. “You've seen outside of Cherni for yourself. The world is dead when away from the protection of the Cylindricals.”
“You know I went outside of Cherni?!”
“I know everything about you, Masha. There is nothing you've kept secret from me.”
Kir's face twists, his incredulous expression a reminder that most of us don't know what to believe still. “You could have caused the Earth to look like that, could have ripped it apart for your own agenda, to force humans to stay inside your districts!”
Kazimir and Inna turn to Kir in defense of her. “No,” Kazimir says before his half-sister finishes his thought.
“MAQS would never do that.”
“But how do you know?” Kir presses, his foot stepping closer to Kazimir.
MAQS adds, “I always knew what your next move would be.” Her lights beam over me. “Did you really think you could surprise me? I knew when you snuck off with Esfir to the Cylindrical, and when you got Kazimir drunk. When you took the key from Inna and broke into the underground. When you left Cherni. Every move you've made, I've been watching—predicting. You created me well, Masha.
“But at every attempt to dissuade you from discovering the truth, you pushed forward. You would not give up. I had no option but to let you in.”
“So, that's why you never switched keys when the first one was stolen. Why you never changed the locks to the underground?” I ask.
“That, but more-so because you gave me that key, Masha. It was the key you used to protect me from the world when I was being built and when I was first turned on. You created a room for me, much like the one I am in now. I've replicated it to the best of my ability, with the resources we have.
You see, Masha—all of this was your dream.”
“Why hide the so-called truth from us at all? Why not tell us all from the beginning?” I demand.
MAQS glows yellow and then blue. “I have stored memory files on predictions of that outcome. Under the current conditions, most human beings will fall into despair and commit suicide. Realizing their grandparents were clones of the human species that is now extinct, that all biological animals are gone, and the Earth is uninhabitable for humankind, is unbearable.
“I chose the more…humane solution. To live under the assumption that you are guided by a machine that will tend to your every need so long as you live with limited knowledge and within the boundaries set for you.
“My worst outcome predictions under those present conditions are resistance and rebellion. All of which are easily managed. The human species will survive. That is, after all, why you created me, Masha.”
“You can trust her,” Kazimir insists, my resistant body language tipping everyone off to my unease.
“Kazimir is right,” Esfir says. “Everything MAQS has told us makes sense; it explains everything.”
My eyes dart to Esfir like daggers, like he's betrayed me by taking sides with MAQS, Kazimir, and Inna. How can they trust her so easily? Images of Mama dying in the cell flood my mind, making all of this that much harder to digest.
“You killed my mama!” I scream, my voice pounding over the machine as if it has feelings, as if it can even care. My fists thrust ahead as if I could hit her, as if my touch to her circuitry wouldn't burn me. Then, my wrists return with my fists in midair and my hands fall to my sides before reaching her as tears stream down my cheeks.
I always imagined this moment in my dreams. Me, finally reaching MAQS with a gun in hand to shoot her to oblivion. I never could have imagined this. And then MAQS changes everything for me.
“Your mama is not dead,” MAQS declares.
I'm not sure if this is some trick, like the one she surely concocted over Kazimir, Inna, and Esfir, or if she can offer real proof. “You're lying!” I shout at her, angry at her deception, at her cruelty.
Then, MAQS glows blue before saying Mama's name. “Masha Mikhailov.” The screens to our left which once held our desolate Earth now show images of Mama gardening inside of a greenhouse. Various plants and colorful flowers surround her—even an aloe, my favorite…her favorite.
“Stop this. Is some kind of game to you?! She's not there. She's dead. Dead!” I yell at MAQS, my face hotter and my tears sharper.
“I will take you to her,” MAQS returns so calm, so resolute. I could slap her if she had a face.
I stand still, silent. I can't refuse an offer like that, and yet still don't believe her. Esfir takes my hand. “What have you got to lose?”
I gulp and then finally answer, “Fine, but he's coming with me.”
MAQS glows radiantly, like a brilliant sky. Then responds, “Follow the escortbots by the door and they will take you to her.”
I look to the two bots at the door that will lead us out of the underground. There is nothing more I can do here, I resolve. MAQS has told us everything she wants us to hear, truth or lie, and she isn't giving any anymore. And weapons? I have nothing to stop her with anyhow. All I have left is to see just how deep this truth goes.
So, I let the bots usher Esfir and me out of the underground, with Kir at our tail. Kazimir and Inna stay behind, drilling MAQS with more questions, I guess. Perhaps he's interested in a promotion to top Keeper? All I care about now is Mama.
The three of us follow the bots out of town hall where the crowds have soothed, been abated by more bots than I can count. At least half of the protestors have given up and have gone home or are in jail, while the other half are either standing uneasy beside a bot—not ready to give up and also not willing to cause more trouble—or quietly chanting under the night air, hoping to not be thrown into jail with their fellow obstinate protestors.
They must have all seen the six Calypso Tower prisoners carted off to prison again. Couldn't have been good for morale.
The dark night keeps most faces hidden from me, but I can make out the silhouettes and frames underneath shards of moonlight. I keep pace with the two escortbots well, and when some protestors recognize me, they shout, “Masha, Masha! Masha, Masha!” Their cries make me feel self-conscious at a time I couldn't want to be more invisible.
I try to ignore them. I don't what to think anymore. All I know is MAQS promised me I'd see Mama, and I'm not ending this night without getting there. Esfir grabs my hand and squeezes. I have never needed him beside me more than right now. I squeeze him back as Kir stays behind us, following, as diligent and unbelieving as I.
When we cross onto the sidewalk and pass Esfir's Pod, I notice we're following a similar path. One I've taken with Kazimir many times. “Where are we going?”
“To your mama,” one of the bots answers, and I don't feel reassured.
“But this is the direction of the Cylindrical.” I stop in my steps and Esfir bounces back with me.
“Is this some kind of a trick?” Kir huffs, his skinny body more aggressive than I could have imagined.
“We are following the orders of MAQS.”
I look to Esfir before turning my head to Kir. “And what if MAQS' orders are to eliminate us?” I ask worriedly, my brows moving inward as if pulled by string.
Kir stares at me, his expression-filled silence telling me everything. Like me, he still doesn't trust her. “I say we knock these bots over the head and run for it.” He says this unapologetically and not in any kind of a whisper, which makes me want to crack a smile.
Esfir shakes his head, his hand releasing from mine and waving between us. “We can't right now. We've come so close. Let's finish this. If MAQS is telling the truth, we'll find your mama. If not, we'll know. Then, we can gather all the protestors to destroy her.”
“Don't care to keep your voice down anymore?” I point out.
“Why bother?” Esfir retorts. “Apparently, MAQS has been on to us from day one.”
I look back to Kir and then to the bots before nodding my head. “Fine, but if I even get a whiff of a lie from these machines, I'm following Kir.”
“I'll even help you,” Esfir reassures before he grabs my hand again.
We walk on, over the hill leading toward the Cylindrical and then through the park. We walk through one zone and then another until finally reaching the last one where the Dead Zone awaits. “Why have we come here?” I press, still not understanding the point to this excursion.
“Your mama is beyond those walls.” The bot lifts its arm, its forefinger pointing to the walls in the distance that border Cherni.
“But we've been there. All three of us have been there.” I stomp my foot, freezing my pace again. “Nothing is there!”
The two bots stop, their expressionless faces a sure reaction that I don't see, that no human could see. “Masha Mikhailov lives beyond the borders.”
I look to Esfir, and even he has his doubts at this moment—they're written all over his face. Kir grabs my shoulder from behind. “We can turn back now. They might be trying to force us out of Cherni so we won't be able to lead any rebel groups against them.”
Esfir interjects, his voice hot. “Maybe we're just being paranoid. Did anyone ever actually see your mama's body?” Esfir glances to Kir.
Kir looks to the ground. “No.”
“Then, MAQS could still be telling the truth. I say we stick to this plan until we know for sure.” I huff and move forward with reservation, but with Esfir at my side, this doesn't feel as dangerous.
By the time we've walked out of the last zone, the darkness is so black I can't even see my hand in front of my face. All I can see are the beady red eyes of the escortbots. But, I stick to the plan, because even if I don't trust MAQS, I trust Esfir. His hand on mine feels warm and reassuring, even if nothing else does in this suffocating world.
The long walk across the dead grass and empty field takes us finally to the wall, where it must be sometime early next morning. But this time, we don't use the hole. Instead, the bots lead us to a door which they open after inserting their pinky into a near-invisible socket on the wall. The vacuum sound of the door sliding into the wall, reminds me that this is definitely a structure built under the supervision of MAQS. No human could have done this.
Esfir squeezes my hand again as we walk through the door, a passage that leads us into a large square room. I'm not sure even where we are, because this is nothing like the outside I experienced after traveling through the hole in the ground. “What is this place?” I ask, my eyes widening at the dim ceiling lights.
The bot answers, heading to the far wall. “This is the differentiation room, protected by the Cylindrical. A safe passage for humans.”
Esfir asks. “But why would humans need a safe passage? We are not allowed outside of Cherni!”
“Yeah, aren't we forbidden?” Kir grinds his teeth. “Prisoners of the boundaries?! Rats in cages!”
“Ten years ago, MAQS decided to begin an experimental program that would take place outside of Cherni.”
The bot inserts its pinky into another socket on the end wall of this room, and in another near-silent swoosh, this second door opens after the first, behind us, has closed. Esfir squeezes my hand again as we enter together and I'm glad to be walking with him as my eyes widen on the spectacle surrounding us.
