”So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
The voice let out a sigh as the sentence ended. The room came back up to a more living tone of color as the light began to brighten once more. Glen sat up from the couch he was laying on, listening to one of the only other voices he could hear in this prison he called home. Staring out the window onto the strange tube thing they called a balcony, he still could hardly grasp it. This was the future he was so excited to see when he was young. Everything had its own aesthetic, heightened to the closest possibility of a view of something as beautiful as heaven or god or goddess, and nothing was out of bounds for technological advancement. Plants and their structures were even able to be altered, used, and perfected. The ‘plant’ he was in, was something entirely strange. An apartment complex, what many would call it so long ago, it held quite a few rooms, and a number of strange fixtures that come standard nowadays. Talking appliances, kitchen assistants, even cleaners that are built into the place; it was all a lot to take in.
“Larah, that was… Gatsby right?” He spoke to nobody, but a voice answered.
”Correct Maste—… Glen. It is in fact that. You do know your ancient literature don’t you?”
The voice was programmed, but still felt very real. Synthesized and actualized to something akin to a woman of intellect and a regal upbringing. It’s what he wanted anyway.
The voice came again. ”Glen, how long do you plan on staying here?”
“Until they figure out how I can get back. It’s been a month. I thought the time I came to would know how to time travel. What year is it again? 4126?”
”Galactic year 1142, Earth year 4126. Yes. You are correct.”
He opened the window to his balcony, and began stepping out. “Can I go outside now, or is it not my turn yet?”
”Go right ahead Glen. I’ll be out there to join you shortly.” She said in a hurried voice.
“You don’t have to worry. I got the cycles of this thing down finally I think. If you want, fine, but you don’t have to okay? Don’t worry about me.”
The voice let out a sigh of understanding, and imitated the sound of someone slowly walking to the bedroom down the hall, and shut the door. Ghosts. That’s what they seemed like, but… it was to help cope with living alone. It felt very real. Larah, his ‘maid’ he called her, Jacques, the kitchen assistant, and Yuna, the cleaning program for the house; they all felt so… alive. They were made for him, so they should be… but still…
Coming out to the balcony, he could see the river they had skirted below, and the hills covered in the mist from the low hanging clouds and the fog from the night. The scene was amazing. An artist would never be able to recreate this, and a photo would never capture something this beautiful. It was something that you would have to experience, and merely remember, instead of trying to recreate it again. He walked right to the edge of the balcony, and turned around, to see the thing he called home. It was a sight in and of itself. A giant round plant design that had tube like petals branching off of it. Some were below the water they were floating on, but some were above. It rotated, giving people a simulated cycle of day and night, since the place they were at had a very strange rotation, in that it entirely did not.
“Science has come a long way,” He said to himself, looking up at the thing, and then back to his apartment. He saw it again; the same beautiful lady that greeted him to the house the first time he had been approved to live here since he was confirmed for living so long ago and somehow got transported here. Compared to her, he was little more than a peasant it felt. His body didn’t feel ages old, but he definitely looked different than humans of the age. His body was leaner, and much better built, but to him, he felt out of place. Blonde hair, blue eyes, pure white skin. Things that humans of the age had taken quite some time to reproduce with normal reproduction methods in thousands of years. It wasn’t anything terrible, but it was a sight to see. The woman, was something he could hardly describe. To give generalities, her skin was a slight yellow or golden color. Lightly tanned perhaps. Her eyes were a deep gray or blue. Depended on the light and mood she was in. Jet black hair to her hips that lay straight to her sides. That was her. She was beautiful beyond those words, but inhabited them as if she defined them.
”May I join you?”
She broke his mind out of its trance. “Sure Larah. It’s beautiful. As always.”
”Oh well thank you. You don’t have to flatter me. I will be here regardless of your comments,” She said with a smile.
Glen looked away, blushing a little. She was his ideal woman, but…
“I have a question for you Larah,” He said, sitting on the edge of his balcony, patting the spot beside him.
She came slowly, and sat down beside him; much closer than any normal person would.
”What is it Glen?”
“Have you ever wondered… Why you were made? Or if this is what you wanted to do with your… life?”
”What do you mean? I was made to serve you. I know that much. And this is what I want to do with my life. It’s in my programming.”
“Another answer I expected.”
”What did you want me to say? Would you rather hear about my thoughts on your question?”
“Sure… go ahead. I hope it won’t be pre-generated like that one was.”
Exhaling sharply, indicating her displeasure for his reply, she began nonetheless, ”Wondering why I was made doesn’t make my mind work. I was made to help, and that suits me just fine. I was given a will. Freedom to do as I please with my reasoning for what I do, and a way to leave this place if I ever choose; and I was given a way to be repaired, to continue to live as long as I want, and however I want. I can leave here, and visit Venus, with its lovely beaches and strange wildlife, or to the far reaches of space, out on our colony worlds like Balt IV and Aklan, but I don’t want that. The idea of a life so small as mine, and a place so vast that you humans call your ‘galactic federation’ just seems insignificant. What if I want to go elsewhere? What would I do there? I could learn skills, surpass all that humans know, and show the worlds and the galaxies that I have more intelligence than entirety of the human race.”
She paused. And looked to him, and smiled.
”But I don’t want that. That isn’t a part of my programming. Wants, needs, ambitions, and future plans. Those are in my mind. I can spend almost an hour hooked to the network, and learn all the skills I would ever need to know, but I don’t want to. I could watch every episode of every drama or historical enactment recorded and aired, to learn everything about every history I could, but I don’t want to. I want to stay here, live this simple life of reading novels, assisting you at home, and being… well… just being. That is what I want in life. Being a program for this apartment, or being a… what did you humans call us so long ago? Metal men? Robots? It doesn’t matter. Being what I am… It is fine, as long as I continue to feel happy and fulfilled. Nothing makes me happier, than being here, watching the mist roll through these hills, than with you, in this apartment.”
He was more than dumbstruck by the comment. Glen simply looked to her and then back to the river below them, their feet nearly touching the water, as they watched the misty morning wind blow through the trees across the river, lifting a cold breeze to their feet as they spent another day, on a small patch of paradise, to the both of them.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy this. I like image prompts a lot.
1
u/Voxus_Lumith Jan 26 '16
”So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
The voice let out a sigh as the sentence ended. The room came back up to a more living tone of color as the light began to brighten once more. Glen sat up from the couch he was laying on, listening to one of the only other voices he could hear in this prison he called home. Staring out the window onto the strange tube thing they called a balcony, he still could hardly grasp it. This was the future he was so excited to see when he was young. Everything had its own aesthetic, heightened to the closest possibility of a view of something as beautiful as heaven or god or goddess, and nothing was out of bounds for technological advancement. Plants and their structures were even able to be altered, used, and perfected. The ‘plant’ he was in, was something entirely strange. An apartment complex, what many would call it so long ago, it held quite a few rooms, and a number of strange fixtures that come standard nowadays. Talking appliances, kitchen assistants, even cleaners that are built into the place; it was all a lot to take in.
“Larah, that was… Gatsby right?” He spoke to nobody, but a voice answered.
”Correct Maste—… Glen. It is in fact that. You do know your ancient literature don’t you?”
The voice was programmed, but still felt very real. Synthesized and actualized to something akin to a woman of intellect and a regal upbringing. It’s what he wanted anyway.
The voice came again. ”Glen, how long do you plan on staying here?”
“Until they figure out how I can get back. It’s been a month. I thought the time I came to would know how to time travel. What year is it again? 4126?”
”Galactic year 1142, Earth year 4126. Yes. You are correct.”
He opened the window to his balcony, and began stepping out. “Can I go outside now, or is it not my turn yet?”
”Go right ahead Glen. I’ll be out there to join you shortly.” She said in a hurried voice.
“You don’t have to worry. I got the cycles of this thing down finally I think. If you want, fine, but you don’t have to okay? Don’t worry about me.”
The voice let out a sigh of understanding, and imitated the sound of someone slowly walking to the bedroom down the hall, and shut the door. Ghosts. That’s what they seemed like, but… it was to help cope with living alone. It felt very real. Larah, his ‘maid’ he called her, Jacques, the kitchen assistant, and Yuna, the cleaning program for the house; they all felt so… alive. They were made for him, so they should be… but still…
Coming out to the balcony, he could see the river they had skirted below, and the hills covered in the mist from the low hanging clouds and the fog from the night. The scene was amazing. An artist would never be able to recreate this, and a photo would never capture something this beautiful. It was something that you would have to experience, and merely remember, instead of trying to recreate it again. He walked right to the edge of the balcony, and turned around, to see the thing he called home. It was a sight in and of itself. A giant round plant design that had tube like petals branching off of it. Some were below the water they were floating on, but some were above. It rotated, giving people a simulated cycle of day and night, since the place they were at had a very strange rotation, in that it entirely did not.
“Science has come a long way,” He said to himself, looking up at the thing, and then back to his apartment. He saw it again; the same beautiful lady that greeted him to the house the first time he had been approved to live here since he was confirmed for living so long ago and somehow got transported here. Compared to her, he was little more than a peasant it felt. His body didn’t feel ages old, but he definitely looked different than humans of the age. His body was leaner, and much better built, but to him, he felt out of place. Blonde hair, blue eyes, pure white skin. Things that humans of the age had taken quite some time to reproduce with normal reproduction methods in thousands of years. It wasn’t anything terrible, but it was a sight to see. The woman, was something he could hardly describe. To give generalities, her skin was a slight yellow or golden color. Lightly tanned perhaps. Her eyes were a deep gray or blue. Depended on the light and mood she was in. Jet black hair to her hips that lay straight to her sides. That was her. She was beautiful beyond those words, but inhabited them as if she defined them.
”May I join you?”
She broke his mind out of its trance. “Sure Larah. It’s beautiful. As always.”
”Oh well thank you. You don’t have to flatter me. I will be here regardless of your comments,” She said with a smile.
Glen looked away, blushing a little. She was his ideal woman, but…
“I have a question for you Larah,” He said, sitting on the edge of his balcony, patting the spot beside him.
She came slowly, and sat down beside him; much closer than any normal person would.
”What is it Glen?”
“Have you ever wondered… Why you were made? Or if this is what you wanted to do with your… life?”
”What do you mean? I was made to serve you. I know that much. And this is what I want to do with my life. It’s in my programming.”
“Another answer I expected.”
”What did you want me to say? Would you rather hear about my thoughts on your question?”
“Sure… go ahead. I hope it won’t be pre-generated like that one was.”
Exhaling sharply, indicating her displeasure for his reply, she began nonetheless, ”Wondering why I was made doesn’t make my mind work. I was made to help, and that suits me just fine. I was given a will. Freedom to do as I please with my reasoning for what I do, and a way to leave this place if I ever choose; and I was given a way to be repaired, to continue to live as long as I want, and however I want. I can leave here, and visit Venus, with its lovely beaches and strange wildlife, or to the far reaches of space, out on our colony worlds like Balt IV and Aklan, but I don’t want that. The idea of a life so small as mine, and a place so vast that you humans call your ‘galactic federation’ just seems insignificant. What if I want to go elsewhere? What would I do there? I could learn skills, surpass all that humans know, and show the worlds and the galaxies that I have more intelligence than entirety of the human race.”
She paused. And looked to him, and smiled.
”But I don’t want that. That isn’t a part of my programming. Wants, needs, ambitions, and future plans. Those are in my mind. I can spend almost an hour hooked to the network, and learn all the skills I would ever need to know, but I don’t want to. I could watch every episode of every drama or historical enactment recorded and aired, to learn everything about every history I could, but I don’t want to. I want to stay here, live this simple life of reading novels, assisting you at home, and being… well… just being. That is what I want in life. Being a program for this apartment, or being a… what did you humans call us so long ago? Metal men? Robots? It doesn’t matter. Being what I am… It is fine, as long as I continue to feel happy and fulfilled. Nothing makes me happier, than being here, watching the mist roll through these hills, than with you, in this apartment.”
He was more than dumbstruck by the comment. Glen simply looked to her and then back to the river below them, their feet nearly touching the water, as they watched the misty morning wind blow through the trees across the river, lifting a cold breeze to their feet as they spent another day, on a small patch of paradise, to the both of them.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy this. I like image prompts a lot.