Chapter 9: Memories Beyond the Wiring

Location: Salzburg, Austria. Date: 24-Jan-2122

“Welcome to your new home ALTO 76”, a man’s voice said from behind him.

A tall black man in a blue suit holding a clipboard gave a few knocks on the door in front of him.

“Mr. Reiss, are you in there?” the man calls out.

A few moments later, a couple of footsteps could be heard stumbling over to the door before it opened up and a middle aged man with his brown hair beginning to gray, wearing a brown coat and a gray beret appeared before them.

“Mr. Reiss, this is your assigned ALTO, courtesy from NASA as a thanks for your services as an astronaut over the years,” the man with the clipboard said.

“Ah yes!” Mr. Reiss said, staring at the two of them before looking up at Alto, “thank you Dr. Omari. This certainly is a fine robot isn’t it? It’s a shame we won’t be seeing much of its intended use in action.”

“It’s a big shame indeed,” Dr. Omari agreed, “oh, and no need for the formalities, we’ve been coworkers for years! You’re just as distinguished as I am.”

“Ha! Says the one calling me Mr. Reiss!” he said with a smile, “but… I suppose this would be the last time we’ll be seeing each other for a while wouldn't it, Isaiah? With the whole program disbanding and everything…”

“Unfortunately that seems to be the case,” Isaiah sighed with a sad tone, “but it’s been a pleasure working with you over the years Alaric.”

He extended his hand for a handshake and two of them each shook it firmly.

“Well, I have to get going now,” Isaiah said, “time schedules and everything. You know how it is.”

“Haha! Indeed I do,” Alaric nodded his head in agreement before his face grew solemn, “Goodbye, old friend.”

“Goodbye.”

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Location: Salzburg, Austria. Date: 03-Feb-2122

“Hmm this isn’t half bad,” Alaric said, taking a bite out of the boiled egg, “a little bit undercooked, but I don’t mind them that way.”

“I’m sorry for not boiling the egg completely,” Alto apologized.

“No, no! Like I said, it’s fine! I know you’re not built for cooking,” Alaric reassured him, “if anything I’m the one who’s sorry for making you do all this. I should’ve learned how to cook years ago, but I spent all my time training to be an astronaut… and uh, you know how that went.”

Alto tilts his head with curiosity.

“You are 52, Mr. Reiss. If I may ask, how did you survive that long without knowing how to cook?” Alto inquired.

“Ah well, I mostly ate food served from the cafeteria at the station… bought some food here and there or picked up whatever was at the grocery store and uh… my wife… Amelie… she used to make me some food every so often…” his voice trailed off.

“Your wife?” Alto asked, “I didn’t know you had a wife.”

“Ahaha…” Alaric let out a sad laugh, “that’s because I ran away from her to here in Salzburg. She’s with the rest of my family back in Germany…”

“Why did you run away?” Alto continued to ask.

Alaric’s eyes narrowed at him.

“Heh, you’re one nosy robot aren’t you?” he joked, “I assume you don’t come with any empathy drives built in?”

When Alto didn’t respond, Alaric’s smile quickly faded as he stared off into a corner of the kitchen and let out a sigh.

“Well, I suppose I do owe you an answer,” he finally said, “you ALTOs were made to be curious and observant after all… or so I was told anyway… moon explorers and whatnot… but anyway, even I’m not so sure myself why I ran away from her. Maybe it was because I feel guilty. Guilty for being okay with all of this. Amelie and I both loved space a lot; in fact, it was how we met for the first time. I remember how we used to bicker with each other all day back in college about different theories and ideas about space and what could or couldn’t exist there.”

Alaric’s eyes became soft and hazy as he recalled the memories he shared with his wife.

“Amelie was an engineer,” he continued, “one of the best I’ve known. We both took an aerospace engineering course, hoping to become astronauts together, but unfortunately her poor eyesight held her back. She never let that stop her though, and she continued to work hard, becoming one of the lead engineers of the rocket that launched me to the moon… It’s because I know she loves space so much that I know she’ll want to talk to me about how I feel about the whole thing ending, but I just can’t tell her the truth.”

“Which is…?” Alto asked.

“That I don’t feel bad about it,” Alaric answered, “I mean… we’re both old now. We’re in our fifties, and we were bound to retire soon. We’ve accomplished many things together; graduating at the top of class, launching rockets to the moon, extracting materials from Mars, and much more. We’ve done a lot — we’ve done it all, and I just can’t find myself asking for more. It may sound selfish, and I know my wife will hate me for it, but I just can’t help but think, ‘Man I’m glad that the program ended when we were already done with our careers’...”

He looks over to Alto and Alto stares back at him with his empty blue eyes.

“Answer me truthfully Alto. What do you think about me feeling this way as someone who never got to fulfill their purpose in time?” he asked.

“That’s… very selfish,” Alto firmly answered after a bit of hesitation.

“Ha!” Alaric laughed, “I’m glad to hear that from someone I guess… I just don’t know how I’d feel about that if Amelie told me the same thing…”

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Location: Salzburg, Austria. Date: 05-May-2130

Alaric slowly walks over to a patch of purple hyacinths growing from a specialized pot, gently watering it as he shakily, but firmly held onto a watering can with his old hands.

Nearby, Alto inspects a patch of peonies, checking on their conditions.

“Y’know, I think the new movement of adding plants like this to apartment buildings is a great idea,” Alaric said as looked over to Alto.

Alto looked up at him, but didn’t respond.

“What’s wrong Alto?” he asked, placing his watering can on a nearby bench.

“It’s just that… after almost 8 years, you still haven’t returned to see your wife,” Alto replied.

“Ah… that,” he said, “well she hasn’t come to visit me either. I’m sure she’s probably figured out where I live by now, especially with how technology is developing nowadays.”

Alto tilts his head.

“That’s a selfish way of thinking,” Alto reprimanded him.

“Haha… I’m used to you calling me that by now…” Alaric joked, his voice trailing off near the end as he stared at the patch of flowers he just watered.

For a while neither of them said a single word.

“You know, you’ve been staring at those flowers for quite some time,” Alto finally spoke, “in the language of flowers, purple hyacinths symbolize deep regret, sorrow, and even a strong desire for forgiveness. Do you perhaps harbor some of those feelings?”

“Perhaps…” Alaric mumbled, “maybe there’s more things I regret than just not deciding to see my family sooner.”

“Like?” Alto asked.

“Like not doing more to keep the space program alive,” he admitted, “I’ve been thinking about that day 8 years ago when I told you you weren’t made for cooking; you were made to go to the moon. Then I wondered, ‘How many other children will this be the case for? How many other children out there were born to go to space but are forced to do some lame job on Earth?’ That thought alone makes me sad.”

“Well… it’s not too late to make a change,” Alto said, “you’re only 60 after all. Multiple former astronauts are still protesting across the world, especially the ones in French Guiana. I’m sure you’ll still get some support.”

“Ha! Only 60 huh?” Alaric laughed, “but I suppose you’re right. Maybe it isn’t too late to make a change… I’ll see what I can do. Maybe then I can go see Amelie again, and take a well deserved berating from her.”

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Location: Salzburg, Austria. Date: 18-Oct-2145

“Looks like this is it Alto,” an old lady says as she walks with Alto over to a pile of trash, her fragile gray hair was tied into a bun and her steps were raggedy as she leaned onto a cane, “it’s about time we fulfilled that old man’s wish.”

Alto walked over to the pile of broken computers and twisted wires and sat down.

“Those New Genesis hags won’t think look this deep into the landfills anyway,” she says, “you’ll be safe here until someone finds you again.”

“Thank you Amelie,” Alto says. 

“Oh don’t mention it,” she replied, “it was all Alaric’s idea anyway. That crazy fool had always been coming up with crazy ideas like this since the day I met him. I should be thanking you for making him come to his senses. I don’t know how long he would’ve holed himself away if you hadn’t spoken with him.” 

A cold autumn air blew past them as she gave Alto a gentle smile. 

“I hope you can continue to talk some more sense into people in the future,” Amelie said, “you’ve been a wonderful companion on this short journey we’ve had together... Goodbye, Alto.” 

Alto felt something inside of his system click, before he started getting sleepier. 

“Now powering off…" 

"Entering deep hibernation m-mode…"

"Good-bye… Ame..lie…”