Science of a Different Nature
While we waited for Eli to finish with Israel, I sat on the fence watching Blizz play with the village's livestock. Ephraim was showing her that depending on the way the bones grew from their backs, you could ride them like a horse with a horned saddle. I began to feel bored and wandered around looking for something to do.
Off in a corner of the enclosure sat a grouping of large daisy-like flowers with heads twice the size of a sunflower. They were all facing the same direction gathering sun. Did daisies have vines like that? They were as thick as my wrists, and shot off in several different directions. The flowers and vines looked more organized than they should have for simple decorations.
"Careful, don't touch that!" He began. But it was too late.
My insides began to feel icy-hot. I looked down at my feet, but they weren't there. Instead, a brilliant stream of lights trailed from me into the head of the flower where they used to be. I started to panic and tried to move away, but I no longer felt attached to my body. It no longer felt like me. Instead, it was just the thing that had carried my consciousness up to this point, and now I was watching it be deconstructed. As the flower consumed it over then next few seconds, the flower's glow intensified. Then, I saw the particles of light flowing from the fower's head down through its vines off into the distance. Finally, my consiousness was absorbed and followed after, pieces of me shot across the vine to some unknown destination, like packets of data across an ethernet cable. I flew, flew, winding left and right behind the glowing stream.
Eventually, I saw my body reform about a few hundred meters ahead, atop a hill. The next thing I registered was grass against my face. Did I fall over? I flipped over and sat up, inspecting my legs again to make sure that they weren't backwards. I looked at my hands and felt my chest. Then I looked up. Over a kilometer away, Blizz was still chasing the marrowsheep back by the stable, and Ephraim was running my direction. A few minutes later, he caught up to me.
"Hah! That was fantastic!" Ephraim exclaimed.
"What the heck was that?"
"You got caught up in the fling flower network!"
"Fling flower what?"
"The fling flower network. Or to get more technical, motus transversomething diri-whatsit. We use it to move livestock around the village quickly." Ephraim spun around and looked back to where we came from. "This one took you from the barns all the way out to the start of the pasture. Psh, I'm glad it works as well as it did! I was worried you'd come out the other end looking like a bag of flesh and limbs...well more like a bag of flesh and limbs, anyway."
"Why would you just leave something like that for anyone to fall into?!"
"Well it's like I said, Jerrod, they're just used for livestock. They weren't designed to work on people--erm, not metal people anyway. But you're made of meaty bits, so I guess to the flowers, you're no different from a marrowsheep. You sure you and Israel weren't engineered?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
I said that, but in reality, I sat on that hillside out in the fields and continued wondering about that question for a while, as well as a laundry list of others. As I watched Blizz play with those sheep--the sheep hand-built to grow bone--I wondered about how this place could be possible. A planet, largely empty, save for a few thousand robots living out an agrarian lifestyle? Clearly somebody built them all. But then, who? And how could these robots in turn have learned to make things like these "fling flowers" entirely on their own?
They talked about it in scientific terms--advanced bioengineering and selective breeding--but it felt so much more like magic. Especially given the way the villagers talked about who built them. Some mysterious hermit creator living atop a distant mountain, slaving away for centuries to build each new robot? That's hard to believe. But maybe it was a group of engineers, or an abandoned factory hidden away, still churning out models? Or perhaps these robots were once someone's cargo that got dumped or lost?
Something about that didn't seem right though. These robots felt human. They planned, felt, learned, and believed things for themselves. That should be impossible.
I looked back down at the stables. But blizz is like that, I thought. But no, Blizz was different. Across the history of artificial intelligence research, people had tried and failed repeatedly to make something like Blizz. And Blizz was, quite frankly, an accident. Nothing quite like her had ever been made before, and I'd never be able to make something like her again.
Ephraim stared at me while I processed all this. "...Sooo, are you coming back down, or what?"
"Yeah. You go ahead, just give me another minute."
He shrugged, then turned to walk back down the hill towards the cluster of barns and animals.
People are delicate things. Unlike marrowsheep, people’s bones don’t grow back when sheered. Unlike kilnmouths, they’re not bred to withstand or generate intense heat. Their teeth aren’t hardened like the sawtooth, and they can’t digest anything they're given like the amorphous glowflies used to light the village. People are nothing like the creatures Eli was used to repairing. Despite this, Eli did what he could, as rapidly as he could. He staunched the bleeding and drained excess fluid from the body. He sawed off and replaced bone. He weaved together muscle and cartilage to form new appendages and grafted on synthetic skin to close Israel’s wounds. He pressed and cracked the discs in Israel’s spine back into place. He reinflated his crushed lungs and set his rib cage back in its proper place. He stitched Eli back together. Long after the sun had set, now in the early hours of the morning, the body was in good condition again.
Eli stood back from his work as we re-entered the room. There was a large, boxy-looking creature with two long translucent trunks attached to Israel at the neck and side. It stood on four flat-footed legs like an elephant, and had a see-through organ on its stomach filled with bright red blood. “Alright, he should be about finished. I’m going to restart him.” I lifted my head up. "Restart him?" "Yes, it should only take a moment," he reassured. Eli walked over to the creature attached to ephraim and nudged it awake. The creature opened its eyes sluggishly, gave a long yawn, then started breathing in and out deeply with its stomach. Blood began to circulate out of the pouch on its front, through one of its trunks and back into Israel. He didn't stir. Eli took his goggles off and began to look concerned. Ephraim unfolded his arms. “What’s wrong?” “I’m not sure.” Eli said. He walked over and put his fingers on Israel’s wrist. Then his neck. I started to feel cold, like the blood was draining from my face. My stomach sank. “There’s still no pulse yet,” He said. "No pulse yet? Did...you remove all of his blood?" I asked. “Well of course I did. You’re not supposed to do repairs like this while the cardiovascular system is running.” My eyes widened. “What?” Eli asked defensively. I stared at Eli, incredulous. “How long has he been like this?” “I turned him off and drained him before we got started.” “You what?!” Eli stepped back and started to look worried. Ephraim put his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, hey, relax. We can get him turned back on. Right, Eli?” "Yeah—no problem. I've never seen a creature I couldn't repair." “For crying out loud, we’re not machines!” I shoved his hand away. Could he really be serious right now? Could he seriously think this is how things worked? Eli hesitated. “He’ll—he'll be fine.” Then he took a firmer stance. “I’ve done this hundreds of times. I can take care of this.” “By doing what, burying his corpse?” "Hey, come on, it’s late. You’ve been through a lot.” Ephraim said calmly. Then he turned to Eli, “Do you need any help? I can—” “I said I can take care of this.” Eli glared at me. “Alone.” He backed off. “Okay, okay. That’s fine." "What do you mean that's fine?" I yelled. "He's dead! There's nothing fine about this!" Ephraim motioned for me and Blizz to head towards the stairs. “Come on. I’ll take you back to my place. I think we all need the rest.” "Why would I come with you? Are you going to experiment on me like he did to Eli?" "It's not like you've got many options, pal. You're stuck here, aren't you? Do you want to go sleep on that thing you crash landed on? We're just trying to help here." I looked to Ephraim, then to Eli, who was staring right back at me and shaking. Finally I remembered Blizz was still in the room. She looked looked afraid, and all sense of anger was immediately replaced with shame. "I—I'm sorry. I need some time." Ephraim's gesture softened. "It's okay. Seriously, it'll be fine. I'll watch Blizz. You go take some time to yourself." I walked out of the room and back downstairs. Behind me I heard the door slam and the sound of metal fists banging against wood in frustration.
How should I get back down?
Use the Fling Flowers
Curiousity got the better of me. I walked back up to the fling flower and touched one of the petals. I felt that same icy-hot sensation in my gut, then detached from my body again. I tried to focus on the sensations. Maybe if I paid close enough attention to how it felt to travel this way, I could get some insight as to how it works, but no, nothing came to me this time. I shot past Ephraim as he walked down the hill, and ended up back within the fences where I started. Thankfully, this time, I remained standing by the time my consciousness re-attached to me.Just Walk
I decided to play it safe and walked back down to the village. The hillside was fairly steep, and to be honest, it's been a while since I've gotten this much outdoor exercise. Once I was back to the stable, I was winded and out of breath. Ephraim, meanwhile, was no worse for the wear. I'm not sure if that was just do to him being used to this kind of walking, or if it was because he didn't respirate the same way I did. Either way, I couldn't help but glare at him as he chased Blizz around the fences, every bit as full of energy as Blizz. Eventually, we called it a night. Ephraim took us to his home, and three of us went to bed while Eli worked into the night.People are delicate things. Unlike marrowsheep, people’s bones don’t grow back when sheered. Unlike kilnmouths, they’re not bred to withstand or generate intense heat. Their teeth aren’t hardened like the sawtooth, and they can’t digest anything they're given like the amorphous glowflies used to light the village. People are nothing like the creatures Eli was used to repairing. Despite this, Eli did what he could, as rapidly as he could. He staunched the bleeding and drained excess fluid from the body. He sawed off and replaced bone. He weaved together muscle and cartilage to form new appendages and grafted on synthetic skin to close Israel’s wounds. He pressed and cracked the discs in Israel’s spine back into place. He reinflated his crushed lungs and set his rib cage back in its proper place. He stitched Eli back together. Long after the sun had set, now in the early hours of the morning, the body was in good condition again.
Eli stood back from his work as we re-entered the room. There was a large, boxy-looking creature with two long translucent trunks attached to Israel at the neck and side. It stood on four flat-footed legs like an elephant, and had a see-through organ on its stomach filled with bright red blood. “Alright, he should be about finished. I’m going to restart him.” I lifted my head up. "Restart him?" "Yes, it should only take a moment," he reassured. Eli walked over to the creature attached to ephraim and nudged it awake. The creature opened its eyes sluggishly, gave a long yawn, then started breathing in and out deeply with its stomach. Blood began to circulate out of the pouch on its front, through one of its trunks and back into Israel. He didn't stir. Eli took his goggles off and began to look concerned. Ephraim unfolded his arms. “What’s wrong?” “I’m not sure.” Eli said. He walked over and put his fingers on Israel’s wrist. Then his neck. I started to feel cold, like the blood was draining from my face. My stomach sank. “There’s still no pulse yet,” He said. "No pulse yet? Did...you remove all of his blood?" I asked. “Well of course I did. You’re not supposed to do repairs like this while the cardiovascular system is running.” My eyes widened. “What?” Eli asked defensively. I stared at Eli, incredulous. “How long has he been like this?” “I turned him off and drained him before we got started.” “You what?!” Eli stepped back and started to look worried. Ephraim put his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, hey, relax. We can get him turned back on. Right, Eli?” "Yeah—no problem. I've never seen a creature I couldn't repair." “For crying out loud, we’re not machines!” I shoved his hand away. Could he really be serious right now? Could he seriously think this is how things worked? Eli hesitated. “He’ll—he'll be fine.” Then he took a firmer stance. “I’ve done this hundreds of times. I can take care of this.” “By doing what, burying his corpse?” "Hey, come on, it’s late. You’ve been through a lot.” Ephraim said calmly. Then he turned to Eli, “Do you need any help? I can—” “I said I can take care of this.” Eli glared at me. “Alone.” He backed off. “Okay, okay. That’s fine." "What do you mean that's fine?" I yelled. "He's dead! There's nothing fine about this!" Ephraim motioned for me and Blizz to head towards the stairs. “Come on. I’ll take you back to my place. I think we all need the rest.” "Why would I come with you? Are you going to experiment on me like he did to Eli?" "It's not like you've got many options, pal. You're stuck here, aren't you? Do you want to go sleep on that thing you crash landed on? We're just trying to help here." I looked to Ephraim, then to Eli, who was staring right back at me and shaking. Finally I remembered Blizz was still in the room. She looked looked afraid, and all sense of anger was immediately replaced with shame. "I—I'm sorry. I need some time." Ephraim's gesture softened. "It's okay. Seriously, it'll be fine. I'll watch Blizz. You go take some time to yourself." I walked out of the room and back downstairs. Behind me I heard the door slam and the sound of metal fists banging against wood in frustration.
Comments