The small teddy bear looked out
through the railing, trying to catch a glimpse of what the other were looking
at: indeed, some kind of ship was descending rapidly through the thick clouds
that engulfed the tower and soon disappeared beneath them. It was well known by
every synthetic life form, that the Spire had been built tall enough to observe
anything happening in the vicinity, for thousands of kilometers. The air was
very thin up there but that wasn’t a problem for their kind. It had never been.
Teddy pulled back from the
railing and descended with other synthetics to level Ninety, where they had
their quarters. Some others were still in the elevator when it closed, as they
were heading for the tracking center in the lower levels. Most of those synthetics
were what one would call scientists and anything that seemed odd or out of
place was extremely interesting to them. For Teddy though, something falling
from the sky was not that much of a new thing, as he had seen it happen so many
times.
Secretly, most synthetics were
hoping one of those things falling from the sky would be a ship piloted by
their former masters, the former rulers of that world. They had left thousands
of years ago, leaving behind many of their creations. The synthetics had been something
like their offspring and they had been abandoned from one day to the other. It
hadn’t happened for no reason: the planet had become toxic for their masters
and if they wanted to survive they had to leave as soon as it was possible for
them.
The consequence was leaving their
planet to the synthetics, which over the years, decided to take charge of
things and try to make the planet more hospitable. It took a very long time,
but the air in the surface eventually became breathable and they were even able
to recreate water and vegetation, as it had been in the past. Of course,
synthetics had no need for all of that as they couldn’t breathe or feel like
their former masters, but it was the sense of achievement and purpose that
drove them to do all of that.
Teddy had belonged, so long ago,
to a series of children, all from the same family. He had no recollection of
when and how he had been made but he knew that he was one of very few toys that
could actually interact with their owners in a more realistic way. However, he
was left behind as if he had been another working droid, with no mind or soul
of his own. He always wondered why he had been left behind and many answers
would often come up in his head. The one he liked the most was the one where
his owner had just being forced to leave him there, so no one was to blame.
When the darkness of the night
came, the synthetics took their time to recharge and fix themselves if they had
to. Teddy had been repaired fairly recently, so he was working just fine. He
was about to power down in order to rest for a while, not that synthetics
needed it, when an alarm was heard all over the Spire. Through a series of
speakers, every single inhabitant of the tallest structure on Earth was able to
hear one of their top scientists say that, the ship that had fallen from the
sky seemed to have brought back a human.
Everyone went insane. Some more
than others. It has to be said that most of them still missed, in one way or
the other, their old masters. They didn’t think much of the fact that they had
been left there alone, on a decaying planet. Most synthetics felt that humans
had been obliged to do what they did, so there was no such thing as a choice.
Many dreamt of the day they could encounter humans again, in order to show them
how well they had evolved and how they had recuperated their planet from
certain doom.
Everyone descended to the lowest
level of the Spire and did something they very rarely, if ever, did: they
gathered outside, at night, by the tower, and waited until everyone was there.
When realized they were complete, the scientists exposed their findings while
talking from a boulder that was higher than the rest of the synthetics. That
way they could speak loud and their voice would reach even the smallest synthetics
like Teddy, who decided to sit down as he heard what his companions had to say.
They showed images of the ship,
taken earlier by a drone. The metallic transportation was interesting in shape,
but synthetics had never really been that interested in moving beyond the
planet. So travelling from somewhere very far to there, was not something that
impressed them or interested them. However, the last few pictures revealed what
they had all descended to see. Just before the drone had left the area, the
ship had opened some kind of door and a silhouette could be seen walking out of
the ship.
Maybe it was the dirt being moved
by the wind or the fact that the drone was not fully charged when it started
its adventure, but the pictures were not top quality at all. The shape everyone
could see in the pictures was indeed something that looked like a human, as
most of them did by the way, but who says that no other creatures in the
universe has been created the same way? Everyone was in doubts, discussing their
points of view, their overall reaction. Then, the scientists announced an
expedition to leave for the landing site in order to encounter the creature,
whatever it was.
As they were all connected via a
special network, the chosen ones to go to the ship were chosen in a few
seconds. Teddy had insisted to go but he was afraid he would be denied the
opportunity. However, he was accepted on the grounds that his general aspect
might prove to be an advantage if the visitor was indeed a human. After all, he
was smaller than most synthetics and his appearance was soft and adorable. No
one would dare harm such a cute little bear, or at least not it if they knew
what he was and what he was created to do.
The team left that very night, in
order to get there before sundown. The landing site was not that near but they
could reach it easily with transportations they had rebuilt after the humans
had left. They had their versions of trains and cars, and also planes and even
helicopters. They chose to hop on to something very similar to a jeep and go on
their way. No one talked during the trip, as they were all very nervous of what
they would encounter. What if it was something else, something dangerous?
The moment they reached the site,
they were amazed at how clean the ship looked. It sparkled in the sun, as it
was setting. It had only a couple of windows and the rocket busters to help it
come down were easily visible. They didn’t have much time to take a look: when
one of them approached the ship, the door opened as it had happened on the
images the drone had taken. And, as in the pictures too, a creature came out
through the door and greeted them. None of them could really believe what they
were watching.
It wasn’t a human. It was a
synthetic, just like them. It was just more refined and clean; its parts were
made from things no one on Earth had ever seen. He actually looked like a
human, walked like one and even talked like one. But they knew he wasn’t real,
he wasn’t one of the former masters. It was another one of their creations,
just like they themselves had been all those years ago. For a while, they just
looked at each other, confirming that all of what they were thinking was
correct.
When it spoke though, the
synthetics realized something very important about it: it had been sent by the
humans to their former planet, in order to check on it and see what had become
of the place they had once called home. The android even played a video for
them, recorded a long time ago.
A human male and a human woman
explained their curiosity to see their former planet but also their sadness
that the ship would take many years to reach it. However, they thought it was worth
their time and effort. And the synthetics agreed, even if they didn’t really
know what to do next.
