Visitor from the Outside

Argaz tapped at his temples, rattling the bolts and pieces inside. His sensors weren’t telling him anything.

Was the defense system… broken?

No, no, no. Argaz was the defense system. He was the one broken. Security should’ve gone through him, but because of his failing system, none of it worked.

Maybe.

Argaz descended, but not before his propulsion unit gave out and he fell halfway down in a loud thud, distracting the intruder. Argaz’s wings stuttered this way and that, so he tried to fold it into his backpack. When it failed to do so, he took the damned thing off, then awkwardly threw it at the side of the road as if it was on fire.

Argaz composed himself, then cleared his throat.

“Halt! Son of man!” he shouted, hand forward. “You shall not take another—”

“Are you okay, robot?” the intruder said, frowning.

“It’s automaton,” Argaz corrected. “And I’m quite alright. You, on the other hand—”

“Cool. What’s with the wings? Actually, forget that. What is this place? Are you like, a guide?”

A guide?

“No,” Argaz bellowed. “I am this city’s mightiest guardian! It’s solitary—”

“City?” The man turned around and nodded to himself. “Yeah, it’s too big for a theme park. And that’s a lot of pyramids.”

Argaz circled around the man, waving his arms and blocking his view. “Will you listen to me!”

The man walked up to Argaz and touched his face. “Yep, that’s cold metal. I’m not dreaming this. How do you work?” He shook Argaz like a puppet, pulled at the pistons on his shoulders, then lifted his right arm. “Something’s printed here, but it’s scratched off. You’re… really rusty.”

Argaz took his arm back. “The name’s Argaz,” he said. “It’s literally printed—wait, I suppose you can’t read it. It says it right here.”

“Huh.” The man blinked at Argaz. “So, it’s like your product brand?”

Argaz felt the wires in his brain short circuit. “I’m not a product. My name—”

“Argaz, yes.” The intruder tapped Argaz's arm. “Too bad your full name is scratched off. Well, whoever created you must’ve been some kind of genius.”

Argaz sighed exhaustively. He couldn’t help it if he was old and rusty. As long as he could move around, he supposed it didn’t matter how he looked. What mattered was—

[Bzzzzzzt…]

A loud static rang against Argaz’s ears.

[Bzzzzzt… I like… how you look… Bzzzt…]

[You should… take care of yourself while I… Bzzt…]

Argaz blinked repeatedly and shook his head of the noise. He always got this weird error whenever he came to the city.

Like flashes of some kind.

Memories.

Argaz looked at his rusty arm to concentrate. The label did say ‘Argaz’, but that was because it was the only thing left to read. Parts of it had faded and scratched off.

Wait a minute.

He couldn’t remember.

What was his full name?

Argaz raised his head and realized the man had already wandered off into the city. Damn intruder, taking advantage of his errors!

“Wait!” Argaz yelled. “You’re not allowed inside the city!”

Argaz caught up to the man as he tried to poke the floating lantern with his umbrella. The orb lifted higher, then settled back in place.

“Funny,” the man said. “Oh, hey Argaz.”

“Don’t hey me,” Argaz spat. “Who even are you? How did you get past the distortion field?”

“Distortion field?” the man gasped. “Is that the weird misty thing I saw before I got here? So that part was real, huh?”

“That’s—”

“Name’s Nestor, by the way.” The man extended his hand forward. “I’m part of a tour looking at the Atlas Mountains when I, uh… sorta got into this place.”

“A tour?” It was Argaz’s turn to gasp. “You mean there are more people with you?”

Argaz turned around and extended the reach of his sensors past the gate. Of course, he didn’t pick up on anything, but his protocols hadn’t been working properly.

“Yeah… I’m pretty sure it’s just me,” the man said. Nestor.

“How can you be sure?” Argaz asked. He might have to take out the big guns if there was a group of intruders come to take over Atlantis.

“I, uh… got into a fight with my… wife,” Nestor said, as if embarrassed. “Something about following our dreams. Anyway, I threw a hissy fit and, uh… ran away from the group. It was raining hard, so I knew it could be dangerous, but…” his eyes widened. “I’m not dead, am I?”

Argaz squinted at the man. “You’re not dead. You said wife… Like a partner? She’s waiting for you?”

Nestor laughed awkwardly. “Something like that.”

Behind them, the gates of the city closed automatically.

Partner, huh? Argaz had one of those once upon a time. Of course, he couldn’t remember her anymore. Not really. But every time he tried, it ached. Somewhere. Humans called it a having a heart, which he didn’t, but deep down in his soul he felt it.

Searing pain.

A part of him was happy he couldn’t remember.

Regardless, Argaz believed that partners were important. One simply couldn’t—shouldn’t—leave the other behind.

Getting Nestor safely back to his partner was priority number one. Eliminating him was… temporarily off the table.

Argaz opened his security protocols and a list appeared in his field of view. Normally, he had access to the distortion field, but it wasn’t showing in his system. Not that he needed to access it for a very long time. Had he ever? It didn’t matter. Perhaps a system reboot could restore it. It would take time… but what other choice did he have?

As soon as the protocols disappeared from Argaz’s vision, so did the man called Nestor.

Argaz barely caught the intruder as he entered a building at the far end of the road. Which happened to be the Yemna Station.

“Oh no, you don’t!”

Would it kill that man to stay put for one damned second? Even Argaz’s old master had that capricious side to him. Humans. It made Argaz nostalgic, but it wasn’t funny.

It had been decades—centuries—since Argaz himself stepped foot inside Atlantis. There was no point to it. He could protect the city from the outside just fine. This place only stirred the memories he lost, and that was painful enough.

Argaz found Nestor gawking inside the station like a tourist, his eyes glowing. The bright golden lights of Yemna Station still functioned like the old days, flashing images of the city and instructing passengers on where to go and when the next shuttle will arrive.

Atlantis would probably continue to exist after Argaz’s service had ended, and he laid himself to rest for a job well done. Almost a job well done.

But for how long will Atlantis remain? Who knows. The station looked as polished and pristine as the last time Argaz was here. Maybe Atlantis would continue to exist distorted from reality for the rest of time. The legend of it being sunken might as well be truth.

“You said you guarded this place, right?” Nestor asked out of nowhere. “You’re a guardian of the city.”

“So, the man is capable of comprehension,” Argaz replied begrudgingly. “That is correct.”

“What exactly are you guarding it from? This place doesn’t exactly look… well, in trouble.”

Nestor waved his hand over a floating image. It showed the tower of commerce over at the eastern district. Each floor was like a golden coin stacked high into the sky.

“Is it all this technology?” Nestor asked, looking around. “What’s projecting this image?”

“None of your business!” Argaz stomped his feet. “I’m protecting this city from… from…”

Hold on a second.

What was Argaz protecting the city from?

That directive felt fuzzy. He knew the city had to be protected. But why? Stupid, clunky machine. Why was his memory so… broken.

Static.

[Bzzzzt… It’s what I… was made to do… Bzzzzt… so I will stay, Star… Bzzzzt... I’m sorry.]

That voice again.

Who said that?

Argaz shook his head and remembered something entirely separate. Something from a far distant past.

“I’m protecting the city from the likes of you,” Argaz said after collecting himself. “The magic and craftsmanship of Atlantis must stay in Atlantis.”

Nestor blinked in surprise and Argaz felt his nonexistent heart drop.

“The legendary city of Atlantis…” Nestor muttered as if tasting the word in his lips. “I normally wouldn’t believe it, but…” he ran his hand on the floating image a second time and it switched to a view of the entire city—its golden towers, bridges and pyramids. In the middle of it was a giant circle in the shape of an eye, staring back at them. “Fascinating! So you’re guarding all of this magic from outsiders?”

“I, err, well… yes!” Argaz stammered. “Atlantis had been attacked several times in the past! Lemurians. Nasty lot. Good thing those days are over... you wouldn’t want to be here for that squabble. Bloody, bloody war. And don’t get me started on the Mu!”

Both ‘squabbles’ Argaz remembered vividly for some reason. Must have been a few millennia ago. Funny how he couldn’t access more recent memories.

“Honest truth, Argaz, I probably would’ve loved to see that,” Nestor said with a grin. “Seriously though, is there somebody else I can talk to? A fellow human, perhaps? You’re a cool, funny automaton and all, but maybe I can ask someone for permission.”

Argaz blinked.

“You know,” Nestor said, scratching the back of his neck, “before I inevitably get kicked out? I just want to see a bit of this place before you all zap my memories or something.”

Argaz stared at the man, then sighed. “No one’s going to do that. And… no one’s left in the city anymore. It’s been abandoned for ages.”

“Oh…” Nestor whispered solemnly. “Oh. May I ask why? What happened?”

Argaz sighed deeper. “The magic and craftsmanship of Atlantis must stay in Atlantis. This is sacred law. All who disagreed were either banished or left on their own volition, scattering across the world. The few who stayed behind… eventually passed on.”

The two remained quiet for some time.

Funny how Argaz remembered that part too. The last of the Atlanteans were old men and women filled with regret. But the law must be kept.

“Well.” Argaz cleared his throat and looked around awkwardly. “That’s how it is. No use crying about it now. I’ll, uh, escort you out once my security protocols finished updating. It’s for your own safety, kid.”

That’s right. It all ended today. After Argaz shuts down, the city will remain shrouded for all eternity.

Maybe one day another person will accidentally walk in and unearth their—

“So, what you’re saying is,” Nestor interrupted, “as long as I don’t take anything out of the city, I can explore it as much as I want?”

Nestor grinned a toothy smile.

The tenacity of this man.

Just then, the diamond-shaped shuttle hovered into the station platform on wings borne of electricity. Its silvery doors opened, bearing seats for no one in particular.

Argaz expected Nestor to simply run off into the shuttle, but the man actually waited for him.

In the corner of Argaz’s vision, he saw his safety protocols still loading at three percent.

Well… Argaz didn’t want to kill anyone on his last day of duty. He looked at the shuttle, then back at Nestor.

“Who are you exactly?” Argaz asked. “What is this tour you’re a part of?”

Nestor blushed, as if embarrassed.

“The tour is just an excuse,” the man answered. “I’m an engineer. I build things. But I always loved to travel—to see the world with my own eyes. My wife knew that, so she arranged this little vacation of ours. Next thing I knew, we were in Morrocco, scheduled on a tour of the mountains.”

“And that’s when you got into a fight?”

“The fight started before we even came here, but… yes. It escalated.” Nestor sighed. “We were arguing about me pursuing my dreams. To travel. She was all in on supporting me, but I was too proud. I couldn’t simply abandon my old job, I said. My old creations. Next thing I knew I was swallowed by a shimmering fog.”

Argaz stared at the man for some time. He didn’t seem like a bad person. But more importantly, the thought of the two partners separating saddened Argaz immensely. It tore at his gears and bolts like his circuitry could break at any moment.

He wondered why that was, but maybe… maybe not remembering was better.

“Your partner wanted you to see the world?” Argaz asked.

Nestor nodded in embarrassment.

“I suppose… I could show you a bit of it,” Argaz said, looking away. “Before I inevitably drag you out of the city, that is.”

The security reboot was at seven percent. They had time.