Pilgrimage of Hope

Level 337… Level 338… Level 339

It’s Ironic how humans used to aim for the stars. We learned to fly, tried to build the highest buildings, climbed the tallest mountains, and even ventured into space. We used to be on top of the world, and yet now we can’t even reach the surface.

Level 384… Level 385… Level 386

Life on Earth has been inverted. The true surface of earth had been turned into a dangerous wasteland, and the ideal human conditions had begun to move deeper and deeper underground. The deeper one is within a pit, the better off their life would be. What was considered a lavish penthouse has now become the deepest basement. This ‘human surface’ will continue to sink lower and lower until there is nowhere left to go.

Level 412… Level 413… Level 414

As a civilization it seems we have failed. Reverted back to even below where we initially started. It’s as if the world had become a burial ground, a graveyard of pits burying the last remnants of human society before they decay into nothingness. It seems we were always destined to return to that which birthed us, like everything else throughout history, we will too return to the Earth.

Level 456… Level 457… Level 458

Yet maybe from within the womb which gave us life, we would find a new light, a ray of hope, a place where humanity could be reborn again.

Level 498… Level 499… Level 500

We had reached our final destination. The metal doors of the elevator slid open and we stepped out onto the concrete floor that lined the bottom of the abyss. The only building present on this level was the massive circular structure in the center. The central pillar extruded from the middle of the building reaching all the way to the surface which was now completely invisible to the naked eye. The grounds surrounding the government complex were completely barren except painted arrows directing where to go and occasional defense turrets which dotted the surrounding landscape.

I worked for the government but most of my jobs took place outside of central command. This was the first time I had seen the building in person, and It was the lowest I had ever traveled in the pit.

“Come on,” Joe interrupted. “The entrance is just over this way.”

We followed the bright yellow arrows leading us along our destined path. At the end we reached a large metal gate which separated us from the complex. Joe put his eye up to a retina scanner near the corner and the gate slowly began to open. As it was opening, I heard a voice call out to me.

“Hi my name is Ally I’m Martin’s assistant, you are Steven Cross correct.”

“That’s correct,” I held out my hand to shake hers “It’s nice to mee-”

“I’m sorry but we don’t have time for formalities,” Ally responded. “We need to start negotiations soon as possible. Martin has already prepared a briefing with him and the Research and Development team. So if you would please follow me I will take you there.”

She motioned me to come with her and so we started walking towards the conference room.

“Good luck in there!” Joe called out from behind.

I waved back to him before we entered the building. After walking through what seemed like a labyrinth of twisting hallways, we finally arrived at the office.

“They are currently waiting for you in here” She said pointing to the door.

I walked inside to see a chaotic jumble of people arguing. All manner of papers were strewn across the meeting table, whiteboards were filled with what now looked like unintelligible nonsense, and people were yelling back and forth to seemingly no avail. After taking a look around, I saw Martin sitting at the other end of the table, head collapsed in his arms. He was pushing into his early 50s but already had a full head of gray hair, probably due to the constant barrage of impossible tasks like this thrown at him. To him this was probably just another normal day at work. I slowly pushed my way through the jungle of people towards Martin and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at me and it was as if his soul had been resurrected from the dead.

“Oh thank God you're here Steven I was about to have another heart attack.”

“Another?” I questioned

“Oh it’s fine there’s nothing to worry about.”

He stood up out of his chair and yelled out to the room.

“Listen Up! The man I told you all about has arrived.”

Nobody listened. They still continued to argue as usual. Martin looked up at me and I could tell he was just about ready to snap. He cupped his hands around his mouth.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!!”

The room grew completely silent.

“Thank you. Lets try and keep this meeting orderly from now on, understand?”

There was a simultaneous nod across the room as they all came to a seat around the table.

“Now, I would like to introduce the man I was talking about earlier. This will be our arbitrator Steven Cross.”

As if the conversation just moments ago had never happened, chaos once again ensued. Even though they knew the situation would only worsen with time, they continued to spout useless dribble at each other.

“A robot can’t be negotiated with.”

“This is absurd!”

“Just scrap the damn thing at this point.”

“This project is already over!”

Watching the chaos unfold I began to understand the state that the governing body was in. Their failure had destroyed any passion left within their souls leaving only an empty shell of resentment behind. Visionaries who once looked to the future could now not let go of the past. This world was ripping humanity's last hope right out of its fingertips

“QUIET!” Martin boomed.

The room grew silent for a second time.

“Time is running out and you still continue to argue! ... I’ll ask this once, and only once. If you do not believe that this project is salvageable, leave this meeting now. You don’t have a place here anymore.”

Slowly, one by one, people got up and began to leave. It felt as if humanity's beacon of hope grew ever dimmer as each person left the room. When it was all said and done, only 5 people remained, the last 5 people still clinging onto the dim sliver of hope left remaining.

“And they call themselves scientists. Pathetic,” I heard Martin whisper under his breath.

“So, continuing where I left off, this will be our arbitrator Steven Cross. Steven, would like to say something to the panel before we begin.”

I looked around at the 5 people still here. Their dejected faces showed how desperate they were. I was the last fragile string keeping them from falling into an abyss of defeat. I had to keep them here no matter what.

“I just wanted to say that I know the situation seems hopeless, and I know that it may be impossible. But that isn’t going to stop me from trying. Who would I be if I were to give up because the challenge was too tall? Who would you be if you had fallen into complacency along with the rest of humanity? We are here because our perseverance has carried us this far, and I believe we shouldn’t let that go to waste.”

They wouldn’t show it on their faces, but I’m sure that my words had impacted them, even just a little.

“Thank you Steven,” Martin Concluded. “Now may the Director of R&D please begin briefing us on the situation and terms.”

A woman at the other end of the table stood up and began preparing her presentation. She had a large bandage stretched across the left side of her face attempting to cover a large patch of bruises and cuts stretching from her forehead to her chin.

“Alright,” she began. “I’m sure you’re all familiar with the basics so I am going to skip to the current situation in order to save time. Our current goal through this operation is to convince Adam to hand over critical data which we hope could lead to the rebuilding of human society. We are leaving this job in the hands of negotiator Steven Cross. As of right now Adam has become completely unresponsive to any questions asked to him so it is hard to receive any additional information on how to proceed. What we do know is that Adam believes humans are not worthy of being saved and that he believes salvation is impossible because it will inevitably be destroyed in the future. We also know that he wants his life guaranteed, and will resort to violence if he believes his consciousness is being threatened. In addition, we are aware that as time passes Adam grows exponentially smarter as machine learning analyzes the archives provided to him. We cannot disable this function because Adam has locked us out of the main systems within the R&D network. Steven, based on this information do you believe that your attempts could be successful?”

It was there. I could see the flaw in Adam’s argument so clearly. I thought the fact his argument was based purely on factual information would be my downfall, but it was actually what I could use to disprove it.

I stood up in front of the board and confidently declared, “I think I’ve found a solution.”

A smile ran across Martin's face “That’s great! I believe we should begin negotiations immediately before Adam has the chance to gain more information. Do we all agree?”

Everybody nodded their heads in agreement.

“Well in that case this briefing is hereby concluded, everyone may return to their appointed workspace. Oh, and Steven, you can follow me to where we are keeping Adam.”

We walked out the room along with everyone else and began heading towards the laboratory.

“Since I never got to ask you, how’ve you been holding up Steven?” Martin began

“Same as always I suppose.”

The director looked at me and let out a heavy sigh.

“Aren’t we all. Nothing's changed on my end either. Always just a constant struggle to pull people together.”

After a while of walking, we finally reached the chamber where Adam was being kept. Martin pushed in a keycard and the reinforced steel door slowly slid open. I began to walk in but Martin stopped me.

“It’s a shame the world has to be this way. Everything is stuck in place. We can’t reverse the climate, we can’t get food, our water is running out, and wars between neighbors have been deadlocked for decades.”

I looked at him confused, “Why are you bringing this up now?”

“I just want you to know that this is our last chance. The future is being put in your hands.”

He looked me in the eyes as I entered the chamber

“We can’t dream in this world. I’d like you to change that for me.”

I looked at him one last time. Martin tried to hide it but I could still see it in him. The passionate raging fire within him that had always been ready to burst. He was so desperate to let it out of its shell, but this world wouldn’t let him. I wanted to change that for him, and this was my chance.

“I’ll try my best, old man.” I yelled out

He let out a small chuckle.

“You better not disappoint me,” he said as the door came to a close.