“Close enough.”
“Then what? You take over the planet?”
“We adapt and continue the evolutionary process of the species native to the planet, and continue its progress it to its completion.” That inspired an entirely new set of questions, but one above all else.
“Why?”
“The purpose of life is not to end but to evolve onto a higher plane. We facilitate that evolution.”
There was so much more Marcus wanted to know but he had a feeling that if he asked any more questions he would inevitably be answered with ‘It is beyond your comprehension.’ And no doubt it would be. Instead, he lay his metal head back into the dirt and returned his attention to the stars overhead. As he looked on at the Milky Way band he wondered just how many other civilizations there were out there and if any of them had resorted to using mechanical shells to keep their consciousnesses alive. It just seemed so heartrending and meaningless what had happened to the human race, how they had very nearly eradicated themselves when there was still yet so much out there to learn and so much to benefit from. It would’ve been perfect, Marcus thought to himself, if he could’ve fallen into a sound sleep as all this new information danced in his head. Especially laying here with Denna, it would’ve been a perfect end to a beautiful night.
But unfortunately, sleep, like oxygen, or food, was something Marcus would never have need of again, and so he watched the night sky quietly until the sun arose the next morning. “Are you ready to continue?” He asked Denna as the first powerful rays of the early morning sun broke across the horizon.
She stood smoothly to her feet and held a hand out, “After you.”
“With pleasure.” Marcus answered and sprinted into the distance. In seconds he was running at over one hundred and fifty miles per hour and Denna was right there matching him step for step. It was no strain on either of their bodies but in Marcus’ mind he felt exhilarated, like a kid running from his best friend and having the time of his life. He laughed uproariously as his bare metal feet blasted the hard, desiccated ground and he laughed even more heartily when he realized that Denna was laughing as well beside him. The sound of her laughter was melody indeed, like the music of a songbird taught to sing by the angels themselves. Her face was radiant and her body was a magnificent work of art as she took her large, quick strides. Together they ran the entire way out of the city and beyond and didn’t stop running until the sun set on another day. Then they lay down upon their backs and watched the night sky again, while Marcus asked questions and Denna answered as much as she thought he could understand.
And so they ran during the day and talked about literally everything under the sun during the night and whenever they came to a ruined city or any place where the other robot shells might be they searched the place minutely and sometimes discovered some very interesting thing, but never the robots or the brain slices. It wasn’t very long though before the acid clouds didn’t clear for Marcus and Denna and they were left staring up at an unbroken white haze that wasn’t nearly as fun as a billion distant stars. It was on one of those nights that Marcus rolled onto his side and asked, “Denna?”
“Yes, Marcus.”
“Will you marry me?”
Denna turned quickly on her side. “I was wondering when you would ask.”
“So, you will? That’s a yes?”
“Of course, it’s a yes. The answer would always be yes. I’ve been waiting to finish what we started for over a thousand years …”
For some reason, that wrangled Marcus. “How would you know that! Why would you say that!” He was perfectly prepared to play along with this whole charade because he had nothing else, but the love of his life—the original, that was—had been dead for those thousand years; she hadn’t been thinking anything, she hadn’t been wanting anything, and she certainly hadn’t been expecting anything. Was it not enough to imitate a living human being! Did this alien have to claim to know the thoughts of the dead as well!
“There is no reason to be alarmed.” Denna answered smoothly. “I have already told you that we have been watching your species closely. The one you call Denna anticipated matrimony with you more eagerly than anything else she had ever anticipated in her life. It was her greatest longing when her biological functions ceased and she carried it with her into death. What you call love does not end when your bodies return to the dust.”
Marcus thought about it for a moment. He wasn’t certain he understood it but he thought he could believe it. He certainly wanted to believe it. Besides all that, if the aliens had been watching Denna, and all the rest of the civilization, since before she had been born, they would probably know more about her than he did himself. That would mean that what she claimed was true and in a way, Denna really had wanted to finish what they had started as badly as he did. It was irrefutable proof that by the end, she had loved him as deeply as he loved her and self-preservation had nothing to do with it. The thought was more fulfilling than Marcus could ever imagined. He wanted to leap for joy but thought better of it. The idea of a nearly five hundred pound robot that was strong enough to compress steel without straining a motor seemed undignified. Then Marcus remembered where he was, when he was, and laughed at the absurdity of ‘dignified’ at a time like this.
He did leap for joy and it did look and feel undignified and he didn’t care. He laughed the robot’s synthetic laugh until he was laughed out. Then he snatched Denna up in his arms and swung around with her as if they were both seasoned ball room dancers. He felt like a child again but it was even better because in a body that didn’t age, didn’t rust, and would never break down he could feel this way forever. He decided that he and Denna would stick to the plan of searching for the other robot bodies and then they would find the most beautiful place on Earth—surely, in all the world there was still one—and tie the knot. Then they would run into the sunset and never look back and live happily ever after right into eternity …
CHAPTER 19
The search continued as Marcus and Denna ran from mountain peak to valley low. The peaks were magnificent. Marcus and Denna climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest and both of them marveled at the fact that so many people had attempted such a feat with nothing more than some inadequate safety equipment and flesh as frail as humans’ were. It was no wonder that so many of them had died in the attempt, Marcus and Denna both agreed. They were both surprised that more deaths hadn’t been listed in the record books. At the summit though, Marcus understood. The view was like nothing else. What looked like dozens of other smaller mountain ranges stretched out into the distance like reverent, jagged stone hands raised in subjugation to the one true mountain peak. Sulfuric acid cloud clover stretched out as far as the eye could see over most of the mountain peaks but like Everest’s, a few of them broke through and were crowned in brilliant red from the sun’s rays.
Below the cloud cover, peaks were everywhere. New mountain ranges had shot up from the rocky cursed Earth since the time that humans dominated the planet. There were deep valleys and ravines where they had not been and fresh volcanoes spewing rivers of molten rock where no volcanic activity had ever been before and, as in the case with Everest, many new rocky peaks where they had once been gently rolling hills and slopping plateaus. It was a majestic sight and Marcus imagined leaping from mountain top to mountain top like some mythical creature dancing amongst the clouds. But even his advanced robot body could not perform those kind of feats, so he settled for the extensive footage his sensors recorded of everything he saw and experienced. Then he and Denna descended the mountain as easily as they had scaled it, into the plunging valleys below. The view from the valleys was as impressive as the mountaintops. The acid cloud cover was as thick as an eight foot thick blanket in every direction but what the valley lacked in blue skies it redoubled in sheer rock faces that looked like impenetrable sentries standing guard forever over some hidden treasure. Marcus was awed at the thought of this valley suddenly collapsing in upon itself and he and
Denna finding themselves buried beneath miles of mountain. It was questionable how long it would take him to dig his way out of that one.
Everywhere along the valleys rounded floor the terrain was unsteady. No human would’ve been able to navigate it. Yak or mountain goat maybe but nothing less sure footed. Denna danced across the rocky surface but Marcus just walked as if he were trotting around in an open prairie, crushing rocks and peddles with every step. They were walking along, with Marcus watching Denna as she bounded from one jagged edge to the next, nearly tipping over at times, only to slowly right herself and skip to the next rock, when he heard a loud snap near the precipice of one of the sides of the valley. He looked straight up into the blinding sunlight and saw a huge bolder breaking away from the cliff. The hunk of Earth was so large that it broke away slowly, as if gravity had no effect on it and it was breaking itself loose at its own leisure. There was another snap and then a long resonant, vibrating creak as a large gash shot down the cliff and separated the boulder from the rest of the rock. It tumbled slowly off and fell through the air with a deep whoosh that only ears as sensitive as Marcus’ or Denna’s ears could’ve heard from the ground.
Marcus moved by instinct. He was at Denna’s side in a moment. He moved her smoothly but quickly about forty feet to the right, beyond the path of the plummeting boulder. Or he thought he was beyond the path of the boulder. The hunk of rock slammed into the ground with Earth shattering impact and splintered rock shot in every direction, including Marcus’. It was quick but powerful. Two shattered pieces of rock about the size of watermelons slammed into Marcus’ back. They didn’t penetrate his metal exterior but they did hit him with enough force to make him rock forward violently even though his legs were strong enough to hold him erect against the force of a nuclear bomb. He held Denna enfolded in his arms against the impact. If those fragments would had have hit her without his protection he had no doubt they would mangled and pulverized her completely. Once the dust settled and the huge boulder had come to a rest, Marcus checked Denna over. She wasn’t hurt, just a little off balance for a brief second.
“I’m fine, Marcus, really.” She said once she was steady and noticed that he was still watching her. “Look …” she said, extending her arms out in front of her, and then turning in a circle “not a scratch on me, thanks to you.”
Marcus didn’t look convinced but he turned and keep walking, without another word. Denna caught up beside him. “What’s the matter?” Denna asked.
Marcus waved his hand as if he were shooing away a fly. “Nothing … really nothing. I was just thinking about some things.”
“It doesn’t look as if those were very good things that you were thinking about. Maybe we should just think about finding the other robot bodies.”
“That sounds like a great idea.” Marcus said with feeling and smiled broadly as he turned to Denna. Fortunately, his synthetic robot smile hid the fact that he wasn’t smiling on the inside at all. They continued walking but he did not stop thinking about ‘some things’. One thing really, Denna’s mortality. He knew she was an alien and could well be immortal as a genetic heritage but he had seen her damaged badly before and he had watched her recoup. But what if she hadn’t been able to grow that cocoon around herself a second time and heal within it? Or was she able to grow a cocoon any time she was seriously injured. Human children were born with most of their bones flexible and unfused. It helped out to keep them from breaking too many bones permanently while they learned to walk and run and climb and all the dangerous things kids did that sometimes ended in serious injury. But those bones hardened and fused after a certain age and when a child was no longer a child the injuries stuck. Was it like that for Denna? She had his abilities but she didn’t have his metal plating. If her human flesh had been crushed to a pulp beneath that boulder would she have died, forever, like any real human?
It was not a question that Marcus had an answer to and he had a sinking feeling that he wouldn’t like the answer if he had it. That drove one realization home more than any other; he wanted to get married before it was too late. The opportunity had already been snatched from him one time, by the same robot body that was now his own body, but this time it could be by a boulder, or a volcanic eruption, or another fatal impact, or hell, even an old building collapsing on top of her. It was not worth it to wait any longer. When Marcus and Denna finally made it to the end of the valley, Marcus stopped and led Denna to a place where they sat upon the ground. “I’ve made a decision.”
“I can tell. What about?”
“About our search. We have forever to find the other robots but we might not have forever to get married.”
“Why don’t we get married here, now?” It’s as good a place as any and I doubt we’ll find anybody to initiate the ceremony.
“As much as I’d like that, I think I have a better idea. That old church that we passed a while back … ?”
“I remember.”
“I want to have it there. That was probably the last church standing anywhere on the planet and if it was, I want us to get married there. It just seems … fitting.”
Denna smiled. “I love it.”
“Good. So, I’ve decided that we’ll take another six months to scour the globe for any sign of the other robots and if we don’t find them in that time, we return to that old church and make us official.”
“And what, then?” Denna asked, sensing that there was more to the plan.
“Then, I say we rebuild the cities of the Earth. They might not be as grand as they once were but they could be our own special projects. Imagine it, just the two of us erecting entire cities where it had once taken legions of construction workers and fleets of huge, lumbering, heavy machinery. In time, we could make the world over again in whatever image we decide. Meanwhile, we could still search for the others. These bodies” Marcus beat upon his chest with a powerful fist “will never rust and the amber those brain slices are stored in if they’re not destroyed, will last for millions of years. There’s not really a rush.”
“And after we’ve rebuilt the cities to our whims? What if we do find the others?”
“That’s the best part. They’ll have cities to live in, cities like Professor Edelstein and I always envisioned, cities where there’s no desperate need of water or food, basic sanitation or adequate living space. Cities where the people aren’t tormented by the sun day in and day out. Cities where no corpses littered the streets, cities where everyone could live and these cities would already be built, waiting for bodies that would never rust, just like mine.”
“And what if the others don’t like the cities that we’ve built for them?
“No problem. They can tear them down and rebuild them themselves. We’ll all have plenty of time …” Marcus swallowed and didn’t add that he was no longer certain how much time Denna had left.
“Sounds like you have everything planned out.”
“I think so.”
“I do too. I trust you, Marcus.” There was silence for a moment “All right, you said six months. Let’s make it a fruitful six months.” Denna sprinted into the distance and for the first time, it was Marcus’ turn to catch up. They ran together for those six months, nearly at full speed the entire time, until they had covered over a quarter of the Earth’s surface. But unfortunately, neither of them caught sight or sign of the robots, the brain slices, or anywhere where they might be hidden. They ran back to the old church, just as they had agreed but when they arrived they discovered that it was no longer there. Fresh volcanoes had covered the entire area in a thick river of lava since Marcus had visited it last. A new, uneven landscape replaced the old and the church along with it. Marcus dug through millions of tons of new earth with his bare hands, in search of that cross. When he found it it was badly warped, nearly melted to sludge.
He dug his way back to the surface and gave Denna the bad news. “It’s only a minor setback.” She answered him “Besides, to make it official we’d need someone to off
iciate the ceremony, wouldn’t we?”
Marcus wanted to groan. He was disappointed and he couldn’t tell if Denna were joking or not, and if she was, he couldn’t tell why she would joke about something like this. She knew as well as he did that they had spent the last six months literally running around looking for the rest of his people. Someone to officiate! Marcus sat down upon the ground, dejected. Denna reached for his hand. “There is another way. I think it is time.”
“Another way?” Marcus didn’t understand, and Denna didn’t explain.
“Trust me.” she said quietly and Marcus found that he did trust her, however improbable it was. He took her hand and stood to his feet. When she took off running he followed immediately. They ran a very long time, across an entire continent and then across half the seabed of what had once been the largest ocean on the planet. The Pacific Ocean. They ran until they found the depression in the seabed that was deeper considerably deeper than the rest. The Marianna Trench. Denna led Marcus down into the trench and deeper still into a small slot shaped valley at the southern end of the trench, and held his hands in her own. “Marcus, I have loved you for a very long time now …” she began solemnly and the Marcus’ metal eyebrows rose. It sounded like she was about to attempt to officiate the marriage ceremony herself. But that couldn’t been it. She hadn’t asked him to trust her and then led him all the way here to the other side of the planet, to do what they could’ve done back where that old church had been, had she? Meanwhile she finished, “And from this point forward our love will never fade. For a million years and beyond our bond will outshine the noonday sun.”
Marcus glanced up at the cloud cover. A brilliant sun was indeed shining brightly above the opaque blanket but Marcus had not seen that sun in many days now. The cloud cover never let up or broke to allow a single ray of sunlight to break through. The entire planet was covered in a thick, unbroken layer of acid cloud cover as far as Marcus knew. In that single glance, Marcus’ powerful eyes took in his and Denna’s surroundings as well. The bottom of the ocean here was nearly as rocky and uneven as Everest and the mountains that surrounded it, with one exception; everything here was in reverse. Where the mountain peaks stabbed the sky there, they plunged into the rocky depths here, and where the valleys laid low there, they rounded upward here in small irregular hills. It was just as majestic, especially since Marcus knew that human feet had never stood where his stood now, and human eyes had never beheld what his beheld now.
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