The Unknown Frightens

“About Rei? From what he’s reported, he went through moments of depression and euphoria during that period. He went three weeks without contacting you, but it was two weeks without any news about us,” Alba answered my question while helping me with physical therapy on my legs.

“Luna said that he started crying as soon as she managed to talk to him about you. It seems like he blames himself for everything that happened to you,” she continued.

But Rei isn’t to blame. In fact, he saved me and prevented what was bound to happen.

Last week, while helping me, Alba also explained what had happened when they saw the Eterno on the back of my neck.

According to her, since I was human, the current laws didn’t apply to me. So, without our knowledge, they convened an extraordinary supreme court with representatives from the five regions to decide my fate, essentially who would be responsible for me and their respective reasons.

Whatever was decided by the five representatives would be treated as new law. At that point, even the organization could no longer help me.

But the presence of the Eterno completely changed my fate.

All the laws that applied to them now applied to me as well. And there was one in particular that protected me: the law of consent, which stated that nothing regarding life and individuality could be done without the individual’s authorization. If I didn’t want to be taken, they couldn’t take me by force, as that would be considered a threat to my life, and life was the most valuable thing in 6025.

So now, my fate was solely and exclusively my decision. Since I had chosen to stay in Kera before I passed out, Chefe became my legal representative while I remained unconscious.

They knew that even with the presence of the Eterno, I was atypical and still human. So it seemed that Chefe was still handling the more serious issues concerning me.

And now, it seemed everyone knew about me. Alba said I had been reported in all five territories… I don’t know if they see me as salvation, or if I’m a threat. After all, the unknown is always frightening. 

“Rei explained a bit about how he started controlling you and how the app works. It seems that during the fight, the Live app stopped working, wouldn’t open at all, even after restarting the phone, and suddenly this Versus appeared as a new app, and without thinking, he clicked on it,” Alba continued.

I furrowed my brow the moment she mentioned the name of the app... I feel like I’ve seen or heard that name before, but where...?

Ah! It was one of the apps that came pre-installed on my phone, but as far as I remember, I didn’t have access to it.

“Wait... Versus? I think I’ve seen that app on my phone too. As far as I remember, it was just a regular mobile game, but everything was locked. So... this app wasn’t installed on Rei’s phone before?” I asked.

“From what Rei says, before the fight there was only one app installed on the phone. Now, with this one, there are two.”

“Did you manage to access this Versus from my phone too?” I asked her.

“I didn’t even know you had that app installed... we couldn’t access your phone. We tried unlocking it with your finger, face, eye, but it stayed locked,” she answered.

I guess I’m not a very detail-oriented person. It’s impossible... I don’t remember any lock screen on the phone. I usually just touched my finger to the screen and swiped up to turn it on, and pressed the side to turn it off.

Maybe they made it differently? Maybe so no one from this year could access it without my permission? I don’t know... but if that was the intention, it was very well thought out. I can imagine those people from Nowy wanting my phone when they find out about it.

“My phone doesn’t have a lock screen. It must have some different mechanism to unlock it,” I replied, still unsure myself.

“It seems so. But for your safety, maybe it’s better if we don’t figure it out… you know… you’re highly coveted by a lot of people outside,” she said with a worried look, placing her right hand on my back to steady me as I walked along the support bar on the wall.

“Really? And do you think that’s good or bad?” I asked.

“Your face is plastered everywhere. From what I’ve seen, most people see it as a good sign, almost like hope that one day we’ll be more… human,” she said.

I looked at her, her brow furrowed; she didn’t even seem to believe what she was saying. I don’t think becoming more human is even possible at this point.

I felt both a little worried and a little excited by the idea.

“I never imagined I’d be world-famous one day, especially like this.”

“It’s not that great… I mean… speaking from personal experience,” she replied, guiding my left arm around her waist and resting her right hand on mine as she helped me to the table. It wasn’t really necessary; I felt completely recovered and strong enough to walk on my own, but I let her help anyway.

“Wow, so you’re known outside of here too? Worldwide?” I asked, curious.

“People recognize you wherever you are, and nowadays there’s no physical camera. Our eyes record everything, so... it’s kind of scary being watched.” She avoided answering directly, but I deduced that yes. It seemed like she didn’t like talking about herself; I felt she cut off the topic with that sentence, and I preferred not to ask any further.

“I’ll get your food,” she said.

“Okay.”

It seems like Luna isn’t here today, and Rei is sleeping back in 2025.

To be honest, I was anxious to get out of here. I couldn’t stand looking at this sloped ceiling anymore; it felt like I was inside a pyramid... a more technological one, of course.

Alba came back with a box and placed it on the table.

“Today’s menu is... sorry, I forgot the name.”

I heard a burst of static from the ceiling speaker; someone was about to speak to me from across the room.

“Nigiri, salmon temaki with cream cheese, and sunomono, Alba.”

The irritated voice belonged to my new chef, Horto.

Apparently, he had worked as a chef at a famous restaurant in Brazil, and now, as a member of TopDog, he’s one of the people responsible for the food grown in the garden and the artificial lake hidden from the authorities. “That’s it,” Alba adds.

“Thanks, Horto. I have no doubt that this meal will be delicious too,” I said.

I was deeply grateful; it had been a long time since I had eaten anything of quality here.

Fortunately, I no longer needed to hide; everyone knew about my condition as human. So Nowy contacted Chefe, and they’re sending some food that they believe is unique to them.

“Raw foods are easier to make, but let me know if you don’t like it, and I’ll take it off the menu,” Horto says.

He had a warm voice; it sounded as if he were smiling. The mirrored glass prevented me from seeing the outside, so I created an image of him based on his voice.

I opened the box, and there it was, everything he had described. I tried a bit of each, and as expected, it was wonderful.

“Can you add this to the menu? It’s perfect. How do you always manage to cook so perfectly? Thanks again,” I said as I ate.

The speaker crackled again, and he replied, “No need to thank me, it’s my pleasure. I only came because Luna wasn’t around, but now I need to get back; I have a lot to do in the kitchen thanks to you. See you next time, Inertia. Bye.”

I couldn’t tell if “a lot to do” was meant as a complaint or not, because, as I said, he seemed to be smiling.

“Is having a lot to do a good thing?” I asked, looking at Alba.

“Memories of our lives as humans bring us good feelings, so it must be a good thing,” she replied with a smile.

“Alba, you’ve been doing so much for me too. Don’t you ever feel tired?”

“Oh, is that what you were worried about with him? Don’t worry, we androids don’t get tired. I once worked for an entire week without shutting down.”

“How?”

“Your body, biologically speaking, needs that time during sleep to regulate itself. For us, all we have left is consciousness. There’s not much to do. We choose to ‘turn off’ our consciousness to make the Eterno last longer.”

“I didn’t know that. That makes sense,” I said.

The speaker crackled again, but this time it was Luna.

“Innie, I have good news. Tomorrow we’ll test your new protective suit, and if everything goes well, you’ll be able to leave the following afternoon. You’ve been making great progress, and your body is responding well, so the plan is to move you to your new residence afterward.”

“Really? Finally!” I jumped up from the chair, overjoyed at the news.

End of Report 21