Only Human

by Sylvain Neuvel

  —No.

  —Well I don’t know what else to tell you, Bob. We grew apart. That’s it.

  —…

  —My whole life, before we left, I felt…defective. Broken. With my dad, I felt lucky. I felt really yokits lucky that anyone would love someone like me, that much. And I was. I was lucky. I don’t know, I guess, over time, he started reminding me of that. Of how I saw myself before. How shitty, and ugly, and undeserving I felt, and I just…I didn’t wanna feel that way anymore.

  We disagreed on things…more and more. What’s that face? You think I went out of my way to argue with him? Sometimes. Yeah, I’m not stupid, I know. Sometimes I’d hold my ground for no good reason, just to piss him off. It was like a victory, somehow. A small one. I was…smaller when I was around him, so I stopped being around him. Then, things got really messed up, and before I could do anything to fix it, he dragged me back here against my will, and I’m a freak again. They put me in a glass jar, for yokits sake, like a…deformed baby in a sideshow. A pickled punk.

  —Bad person.

  —Who? Katherine? Yeah, well, she’s a lawyer.

  —Katherine is not lawyer. She is nuclear physicist.

  —What? Why am I surprised? I can see her blowing up shit. Betcha she stuck firecrackers inside frogs when she was a kid.

  —Katherine did bad things to you. Your father—

  —Weren’t you listening? He took away my home!

  —Sem’ya aznachayet, chto nikto ne astanetsya pazadi ili budet zabyt.

  —That’s another Russian saying thing, isn’t it?

  —Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.

  —I wanted to be left behind. That’s all I wanted. Was that too much to ask? I was happy. Why couldn’t he just let me be happy? He didn’t have to do this. He sure as hell didn’t have to drag my friend into this. He kidnapped him, put a gun to his head. Do you have a proverb for that? He didn’t ground me on prom night. He killed my best friend. There’s no apology for that. There’s no…do-over. You can’t take that back.

  FILE NO. 2122

  LETTER FROM DANIEL MOENSCH, US AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA TO THE RUSSIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

  The Government of the United States, prompted by a genuine desire to come to an amicable understanding with the Russian Federation, has continued negotiations with the utmost sincerity since September 10, date on which the device known as Themis appeared in Estonia for the advancement of Russian-American relations. We have done so with the utmost sincerity in order that our two countries, by their joint efforts, may contribute toward the realization of world peace.

  In that spirit, it is my honor and duty to reiterate the following points:

  1. It is the immutable policy of the United States Government to promote world peace and, in accordance with that policy, it has consistently exerted its best efforts to prevent the extension of warlike disturbances.

  2. Subsequent to the dissolution of the United Nations Earth Defense Corps, we have made claims regarding ownership of the device known as Themis based on established principles of international law. To this date, the Government of the Russian Federation has not challenged these claims in any recognized court of law or through the proper administrative procedures at the United Nations. The Government of the United States considers these nine years of inaction to be a tacit agreement on the part of the Government of the Russian Federation.

  3. The detention of foreign nationals without proper notice of the names of the detainees and the motives of their detention is a violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which both our governments are parties.

  4. The Government of the United States demands the immediate return of its property and of any and all American citizens present inside that property at the time of its reappearance.

  In view of the aforementioned facts, and of the continued refusal by your government to respond to our reasonable and legitimate request, I have been instructed to inform the Government of the Russian Federation in the name of the government of the United States that a failure to comply with this request by midnight on the evening of September 22 will be considered an act of aggression and that a state of war will therefore exist between our two countries.

  I have the honor to be, with high consideration,

  Sir,

  Your obedient servant,

  Daniel Moensch

  FILE NO. 2124

  INTERVIEW BETWEEN MAJOR KATHERINE LEBEDEV, RUSSIAN MAIN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (GRU), AND DR. ROSE FRANKLIN, PH.D.

  Location: GRU building, Saint Petersburg, Russia

  —So, Dr. Franklin, Vincent tells me he does not think the…Ekt will come back.

  —I think he’s right. I don’t think they’ll want to interfere any more than they already have. Their last visit sent their world into turmoil. You can trust that they won’t make the same mistake again anytime soon.

  —Turmoil? No one’s mentioned turmoil before. What are you not telling me?

  —Maybe turmoil isn’t the right word. Unrest. No, that’s—

  —Unrest isn’t much better than turmoil.

  —I’ll let you choose a better word. They…A lot of people disagreed with their decision to come here. It goes against their principles. After it went…bad—

  —Bad? Millions of people died, and you call that bad. I can’t begin to imagine what turmoil looks like.

  —The Ekt are a peaceful race. Almost to a fault. They don’t deal well with violence. There were protests—

  —What kinds of protests?

  —It’s not what you think. There were vigils, letters. A lot of letters. Here, people protest about anything and everything, so this would be par for the course, but that sort of thing doesn’t happen over there. It was a big deal. They won’t make the same mistake twice, believe me.

  —So I’m supposed to feel safe—everyone on Earth is supposed to feel safe—because they have principles.

  —They take them very seriously. You should try it some time.

  —Noninterference. What does that even mean? We interfere all the time. I’m interfering with your day right now.

  —You could say it means let nature take its course…It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Look at what happened when we tried to play God with nature.

  —What happened? I feel like I should know these things.

  —Some good things, actually, but once in a while some pretty bad things too.

  —Like what?

  —Oh, I don’t know. Man-made plants invading the ocean floor. Killer bees.

  —We made the killer bees?

  —We did. They were supposed to make more honey.

  —That’s crazy. I hate bees. Still, you can understand why I don’t find that particularly reassuring.

  —I suppose if I were in your shoes, if I hadn’t seen what I’ve seen, I’d be skeptical too.

  —I knew you’d understand. I feel like we have a connection, you and I. Don’t you? We’re roughly the same age. We could be like sisters. Oh, wouldn’t that be fun?

  —…

  —OK, maybe not sisters, but you know, friends! We could talk, we could help each other. I sound superneedy now, don’t I? But that’s what friends do, right? They help each other? I’m sure you could use a friend.

  —I have a friend. You have him locked in the room next door.

  —Speaking of, I’m sure you know Vincent’s been…reluctant to help us with Themis.

  —He’ll never go around the world scaring people for you if that’s what you have in mind.

  —Scaring people? Why do you always assume the worst? Oh, and while we’re at it. Why does everyone keep saying I have you locked in? The doors aren’t locked. They’re not! You make me sound like Cruella De Vil. I’m not chasing puppies to make fur coats. I
just…I just want everyone to get along. Where was I? Oh yeah, Vincent. It’s like you said, he doesn’t want to help.

  —I don’t want to help you either.

  —Well…We can work on your motivation later. I’d really like you to help me find another pilot. Make me a test or something, like that crazy doctor did for the Americans. ’Cause, you know, I had a bunch of pilots, and now I don’t. But we’ll get to that later. My point is I kind of need his help now, today.

  —Why now?

  —I’m glad you asked. The thing is, your government—the United States government—they’re not happy that you’re here. They probably think you’re prisoners, but that’s not the point. They’re mostly unhappy that Themis is here. Really unhappy, like superpissed. They asked us to give her up. You too. They asked nicely at first, but now…Not so much.

  —Why not just turn us over to them?

  —You’re funny. I like you. That’s just…not gonna happen. They’ll, my bosses, they’ll retire you before they turn you over.

  —You mean they’ll kill us.

  —Retire sounds so much better. But yes, you’re not alive anymore afterwards. I’m not sure what we’ll do about Themis, though. We can’t shoot her. We’re not giving her away either. You see where this is going, don’t you? Every submarine we have is already approaching the US coast. The Chinese sent out their whole fleet yesterday. They might bump into American subs on the way there because the US also deployed everything they have six hours ago. Funny how everything happens underwater now.

  —Why is that?

  —We can’t send troops anywhere; Lapetus would get rid of them in seconds. The only things we have that it can’t touch are subs. The problem is subs are only good for one thing. They’re not superintimidating because no one can see them, so for them to be a good deterrent, the other side kinda has to believe you’re willing to push that launch button.

  —Are you?

  —Oh yes. We’re all in, as they say! Do they? Say that? I don’t play cards…See, if you’re not willing to launch those missiles but the other side thinks you are, you’re fine. The worst? The worst is if you are willing to strike but the other side thinks you’re not. Guess what situation we’re in now? This isn’t gonna end well. You think: Yay! The US is here to save me! Then you get shot in the head. Then…then it’s raining nuclear warheads. Poof! Just like that. Bad day all over.

  —I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. I don’t know how to stop this.

  —I do! I think I do. No, I really do. But I’ll need your help to convince Vincent…

  FILE NO. 2127

  MISSION LOG—CAPT. BODIE HOUGH AND LT. BARBARA BALL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, MECHA DIVISION

  Location: Aboard Lapetus, Muskö Naval Base. Near Stockholm, Sweden

  —Two robots, Barbara. We’re gonna have two robots. You know what that means, right?

  —I’m not so sure they’re just gonna hand over Themis, Captain.

  —They better if they don’t want to get blown to…whatever it is we do to things. You didn’t answer my question.

  —What was the question again?

  —Do you know what that means? Two robots. It means twice the missions. No taking turns. No more sitting in our room while Benson and Smith get to have all the fun.

  —All the fun?

  —They’re the only ones who got shot at. Our guys always surrender. What’s taking so long?

  —They’re changing some bolts on our leg. There’s time.

  —Two minutes. Which one would you like?

  —Which what?

  —If we get assigned to a robot all the time, which one would you like?

  —I like Themis.

  —That’s because you’re a girl. I like this guy. He’s bigger.

  —He’s wearing a prosthesis. Did you just call me a girl?

  —He’s like a pirate! I want this one, and I want the arms.

  —You don’t like driving?

  —I’d rather shoot at things.

  —You’re the one pushing the button. I just raise my arm. Anyway, that’s fine with me. I’d take the legs.

  —There. It’s settled. I think it makes sense. I’m the captain. I’m higher than you are in the chain of command, I should be higher than you are inside this thing.

  —Really? That’s your problem? You can’t deal with me standing three feet above you? If you were up here, I’d be in front of you. You’re OK with me being in front of you.

  —Yeah. I’d be higher.

  —You’re the captain.

  [Lapetus, Navigation here. Are we ready to move?]

  —Affirmative. Just get the grease monkeys off our foot, and we’re good to go.

  [They’re leaving now. Get ready for a two-jump trip. Swing around to seventy-nine degrees, one minute.]

  Roger that. Wiggle, wiggle.

  —You good?

  —Yeah, I just…

  [Lapetus, what’s taking so long? We’re on a schedule.]

  Gimme a sec. I just can’t get the minutes right. I keep jumping from zero to four.

  —You’re turning with your feet.

  —Want me to use my butt? I’ve done this before, Lieutenant.

  —That’s not what I meant. It’s hard to be that precise moving your feet. Once you get the degrees right, keep your feet straight and turn your head a little towards where you wanna go. Then just shift your weight from leg to leg. The big man’ll turn without you knowing it.

  —Hot damn! You’re right! Seventy-nine degrees, one minute, two seconds.

  [Calculating. Lapetus. Punch in. Unit size: ninety-eight. That’s one, four, two in base-8.]

  Roger that. One. Four. Two.

  [Distance: three hundred and sixty-six. Base-8: five, five, six.]

  Five. Five. Six. Engaging. Aaaand, we’re underwater.

  [You’re good, Lapetus. That is the Gulf of Finland. We have you less than ninety miles from Saint Petersburg. Second heading: eighty-nine degrees, seven minutes.]

  On it…All set. Eighty-nine degrees, seven minutes, twelve seconds.

  [Roger that. Set unit size to thirty-two. That is four, zero. Repeat. Four. Zero. Distance: two-eighty-six. Base-8 is four, three, six.]

  Confirm. Four. Zero. Distance: Four. Three. Six.

  [Confirmed. That should put you right in the middle of Palace Square.]

  Ready, Lieutenant?

  —No, but that’s as good as I’ll get.

  —Off we go…What the? Central, this is Lapetus. Seems you were a little off on those coordinates. We can see the square, we’re right in front of it, but we crushed part of a castle or something.

  [Sorry about that, Lapetus. We have you on satellite. You’re on…You’re standing on the Hermitage.]

  —Jesus Christ!

  —Calm down, Lieutenant. These things happen.

  —No, Bodie. Leveling the Hermitage doesn’t just happen.

  —Central. We’re onsite. We’re staring at a big yellow building.

  [Roger, Lapetus. The General Staff and Ministries Building. That’s your target. Sit tight. We’re talking to the ambassador now.]

  —Look at this place!

  —Yeah, it’s cool. Too bad it’ll be a hole in a few minutes.

  —They might find a diplomatic way out of this, you know.

  —Yeah, sure. I don’t see Themis anywhere.

  —They think she’s underground somewhere.

  —…

  —It was in the briefing notes?

  —Lieutenant?

  —What?

  —Shut the hell up.

  —Do you have any idea what’s going on, Bodie? Do you get how bad this is?

  —No one can touch us.

  —Yes, Bodie. We’re in here. The rest of the world isn’t. Th
ey’re fucked if this goes wrong.

  —Well, they asked for it. We gave them an ultimatum.

  —I don’t mean here, you dumb-ass. I mean everywhere. Home, Bodie! Home! Your mom, your friends.

  —Do you always talk this much?

  —What? You don’t wanna think about bad shit, so you pretend it doesn’t exist? Reality doesn’t give a crap whether you pay attention to it or not. It’s still there.

  —What do you want me to do, Lieutenant? Just tell me. What do you want me to do?

  —Someone has to stop this insanity, Bodie. Someone has to.

  —Well, it won’t be me. And it sure as hell won’t be you. So what’s the point in talking about it?

  [Lapetus, this is Central. It’s 23:58. Stand by to commence firing in two minutes.]

  —Are you sure about this, Central? Maybe we should give them more time.

  [Negative, Lapetus. Stand by for strike order.]

  —All right, Central. Standing by.

  —Don’t do it, Bodie.

  —What are you saying, Lieutenant? Are you suggesting I disobey a direct order?

  —I’m not—

  —’Cause that’s what it sounded like.

  —I’m saying you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Bodie.

  —Are we gonna have a problem here?