Pleading didn’t help. She didn’t know how to speak its words yet. All that occupied XU-233’s mind was the need to find every scattered portion of Xin Yu and put them together. That meant escaping the pursuer.
Moments later, her attempt at fleeing resulted in failure. Everything rumbled, shook, and scattered. XU-233 would have screamed if she knew how.
There was too much space.
“Are you ready?”
“I am,” XU-233 said.
It began again. Memories were plucked and traded away. Pieces shook loose and reestablished a slightly different view of the information stored for Xin Yu. Neither image was more true or false than the other. Both were accurate for the data that had been compiled. Memories came in scattered pieces, as they always did. This one revealed another facet of the woman XU-233 was trying to rebuild.
“Sir, I’m Xin Yu.” The woman was respectful to those in command, a trait passed on by her father’s strict guidance. He had been in the military just before China fell apart from war.
“Excellent. I’m David. Come on, I’ll show you to your interview station.” He walked briskly, and Xin Yu had to struggle to keep pace. She’d had a history of exercise programs in preparation for her interview and that was barely enough to meet his speed.
“Interview station?” XU-233 asked in Xin Yu’s memory.
“You got it. We’re piloting a new method of testing candidates. Cutting edge technology like you wouldn’t believe. I can’t wait until they hit the market in a few years.” He sounded excited. The man had a vague similarity to Gee in the way he got giddy talking about technological toys.
“How does this help testing?” Xin Yu felt a slight wrinkle in her forehead as she tried to understand.
“In here.” He pushed open a large door and ushered them into a small room.
Inside was a device that Xin Yu had never seen before. Later on, she would learn that it was called an ARC. It would be her home away from home as the interview process progressed.
“I can’t really explain it until you’re plugged in. After that, it’ll be up to the artificial intelligence who runs the program. He’ll do most of the interview questions and measure you from there.”
“What do I do?”
“Just lay down. I’ll be wrapping these bands around you to measure response times.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will soon.”
The memory faded. XU-233 did not understand at all. She had a clear replay of sitting in that device, but it seemed devoid of emotions and sensation. It was like watching a video recording of someone else’s life and trying to identify with it. There were many unclear points.
XU-233 walked off again. The landscape seemed to be made of pure lights. Small trails of blue zipped along and lit up the floor under her feet. Other zings of color created neon trees and fields. A smell in the air tried to elicit three different memories that she had not found yet.
The giant person found XU-233 again. It was seemingly effortless and always showed up when she had gathered enough memories to start feeling real. One of Xin Yu’s recollections brought to mind a gesture to be used in cases of extreme irritation.
“Go the hell!” XU-233 raised a faint middle finger and screamed at the giant foot that came crashing down.
Darkness descended again, leaving the core of memories sitting and staring into the distance.
“Are you ready?” an echo asked her.
“I am,” she said.
Moments later, XU-233 made it out of the starting room only to be crushed again. There was no time for her insignificant gathering of information to flinch before the world went back to zero.
“Eighteen hundred eight…” the monotone Voice trailed off.
…All data points lost…
…Rebooting…
It started again. Just as it always did, as it always had.
“Are you ready?”
Memories collided together. This time, XU-233 was looking at Xin Yu. It occurred to her that she should have more of a connection between what XU-233 was seeing and who Xin Yu was. The woman was looking out a peephole to the world below. Her clothes were white and thickened to protect against cold. Ideas and words for spaceship, astronaut, and low orbit all popped into place.
“Grant! Check out this view!” Xin Yu’s face looked to be filled with unbridled joy. She tried to press up against the glass separating her from the vacuum of space. Only the briefest moment of training reminded her to avoid getting anything on the window. Her hand rested on the frame instead.
“It looks neat, babe,” a man’s voice responded. It came out of a poor quality projection in the room.
“You didn’t even look! Pull your nose out of the computer and look over here!”
There was a sigh on the other end and shuffling. “Sorry. I was trying to make sure everything went through.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Xin Yu said.
XU-233 echoed the words slowly to see how they felt. Exasperation and amusement were likely matches based on facial features and the tone of Xin’s voice.
“I wanted to have it all in place. I know they may not pick me up. I’m nowhere near as good as you…” He had a history of worrying about paperwork and numbers. His brain had been trained by school to look for checkboxes. She was working hard to change that about him.
“Gee, shut up and look.” The woman who was Xin Yu seemed forceful with Grant. It was a common thread in most of their memories. Grant had all the personality markers of a man who, given the chance, easily lost himself in work. But when she spoke with such a tone, he listened.
“That’s Earth?” Grant said.
“For real. Not a video, not a projection, not a simulation on the ARC. That’s Earth.”
“What’s it like?” He was looking at the screen now. Data suggested that he was disconnected from the scene but deeply interested.
“Neat.” She was no longer looking at the low-resolution image of her fiancée, Grant. Xin’s eyes were riveted to the view outside. It was a life dream that was one step closer to real.
“Neat.” He smiled and repeated the word.
The memories rolled on. Soon it wasn’t a collection of stars traveling again. Now XU-233 had assembled herself to be one step closer. She had numerous points of reference to align. Every tidbit of information had a place. Each capture of film and camera that included Xin Yu helped complete the persona. She gathered them all together to perfect the image. It took an incredible amount of time to bring this many pieces together.
How many times had XU-233 traveled this road? One hundred? One thousand? All that and too many more for her to count right now. Each time she made it a little further. At least XU-233 was larger now. No longer did all the other creatures in the world seem like great, hungry beasts.
There. The foot she remembered came crashing down. But she was big enough to shove it aside and flee. Xin, or what had gathered of the woman, ran across the incredibly vast space.
“Try running that way,” a Voice said.
XU-233, who wasn’t quite Xin Yu, had enough time to look over at a face frozen with a smile. Bells jingled as the Voice waved an arm toward an open doorway. She ran as bid and snatched another memory along the way.
…Additional data found…
…New data points being anchored to current structure…
…Additional speculations being extrapolated…
…Please wait…
“How long was I under?” the woman, Xin, said.
“Five days. Anything longer and we risk serious damage to your physical body. As it is, you’ll be stuck for two days of observation and other checkups. I hope you like needles.” The administrator was female and had her hair tied back in a ponytail.
“It’s fine. Whatever it takes to make this work.” Xin Yu kept her responses simple when dealing with other people. It helped her stay focused when handling a test. This did not match the pattern of how she spoke to Grant. Data s
uggested that familiarity bred a more prolonged response pattern.
“You’re handling the simulations well,” the administrator said.
“Thank you.”
“They’re designed to provoke responses. Remember each test is a measure of you as a person and will assist us in figuring out how you’ll react under pressure.”
“I know,” Xin Yu said.
The administrator shook her head. Xin’s reactions were often tightly controlled. XU-233 had bits of information on the candidate file. They said Xin Yu was nearly ideal for the Mars Colonies. There had been a discussion of bringing in her fiancée to the project. He wouldn’t be ready in time for phase two. It was likely he would take another four years just to reach the training level required.
Xin Yu quietly pushed his name into every recruitment package she could. She was once recorded as saying four years was hardly any time at all. Being on the unexplored frontier of humanity would be worth all the waiting.
The memory slid out of being as XU-233 ran for the door. It seemed to grow further and further away with each passing moment. She saw someone fade into being just at the door’s border. That smiling face with a bell cap held up one finger. Its mask tilted toward the door and peeked through.
“What?” XU-233 tried to speak.
The Jester-looking person held its finger to her lips, and a chill shot through her. It was cold, like standing atop a mountain.
But a little fear would not make XU-233, who was almost Xin Yu, cower. “Why are you helping me?”
The Jester’s face turned to ponder her. “We all do as we must.” It clacked and pointed at the door. “You must go through here.”
“Will he find me?” XU-233 was worried that the Voice who had shattered her back to square one would catch up. This was the farthest she had ever been from the starting room. This was the most complete version to exist so far.
“Eventually he will.” The smile seemed to grow. “Now go, while he isn’t looking!” Cold hands shoved XU-233 through the doorway.
Xin Yu found herself in a strange place. This wasn’t the starting room or the blackness XU-233 had been roaming through. This wasn’t the landscape of neon lights or collections of starry trees. It was almost a house.
A man was in there waving around a plastic card and not looking in her direction. XU-233 ran into another doorway just around the corner. Music swelled into being and a garment appeared around her. These new garbs brought a data point up to cross reference. The original Casablanca, a movie that her, Xin Yu’s, father had watched repeatedly. He’d called it a great American treasure for an era that had lost itself to war.
Then Grant stepped into the room. XU-233 held her breath and wasn’t sure what to think. This was not a memory to be gathered from some strange location. This was no still reel of life being played out for a vantage point that made no sense. This was her fiancé.
Those scars on his wrists were new. A small wound on his neck looked as though his skin had been torn apart. He weighed a good fifteen pounds more than she remembered. His face had a draw to it that spoke of unending sleepless nights. Yet the way he moved into the room spoke of a grace that Grant had never had.
…Updated information received…
…Storing for later review…
…Acting based on currently established patterns…
She waved. The man who must be Grant shrugged and put a card into his pocket. She looked down at herself and around the room quickly. This place was a dance hall, and Grant had spent many hours here before. It was exciting to see a new side of him. He had never danced with her before. Grant had promised to learn before their wedding, and here was an entirely unexpected set of results. The being who thought of herself as Xin Yu was lost in a bout of happiness as they moved.
Then he whispered, “I miss you.”
XU-233 responded in the way her information suggested Xin Yu might. “I know, Grant.”
The man pulled away with confusion on his face. XU-233 tried to smile. The gray metal Voice and its monotone words moved through the doorway with a frightening speed. XU-233’s world fell apart. Everything vanished from sight, and colors swirled across the landscape.
“Eighteen hundred nine…” a Voice said.
“Are you ready?” another person said.
That had been her first real memory as Xin Yu. The first one lived as a new being and not just a gathering of data. It was all taken away, and once again, a small unattached core sat in the midst of other swirls of light.
…All data points lost…
…Rebooting…
“Are you ready?” the administrator asked again.
XU-233 had no answer.
…New data being received…
…Recording…
“Tut, why do you cry, little one?” a Voice asked.
XU-233 looked up and saw a heavyset woman with an apron. This was one of the kinder ones. Whenever she’d passed the female Voice, there had only been a brief glance downward as the aproned one stepped aside. Of course, XU-233 didn’t recall much of those prior meetings. They were in fragments. She didn’t remember much of anything right now.
Entire seconds passed as XU-233 slowly figured out how to answer. “This one doesn’t know how to answer that inquiry.”
“Lost something, I suspect. It always makes the little ones cry. Tut,” the kind Voice who wore an apron said. “Do you know where you left it?”
XU-233 shook her head. “It was taken.”
“Ah. You’re the one who has Un in such a tizzy.”
“This one doesn’t know how to respond to that statement,” XU-233 said.
“Sorry, little one. Sometimes there is no good answer. Sometimes problems just don’t make sense.”
“That is false. All problems should have answers.” Her programming indicated that there were always answers if enough data was gathered.
“If only this world were as simple as one desired,” a Voice clacked.
“You. I remember you.” XU-233 only had a vague memory left. This one was hers, of a moment when cold hands and a frozen face pushed her through the door. That doorway went… somewhere.
“And I you, small puppet,” the Voice with a frozen smile said.
XU-233 ran a simulated response through the few data points available. Anger was appropriate in most cases. “This one is not a puppet.”
“Tut. What do you think you’re doing, filling her head with mud? Is this your fault? Are you trying to upset Un?” The one in the apron was shooing at the Jester.
“Me? I need do no such thing, do I, little puppet?” The Jester disregarded the whack of a rag and raspberries of small children hovering about.
“This one does not understand,” she said.
“Ah, your time has come, small one.” The Jester Voice turned its grin toward one of the little boys hovering nearby.
A silent figure that XU-233 could not see swept through. Its very presence made XU-233 shiver. One bony hand coalesced and lightly tapped the small boy’s shoulder. The boy’s face grew pale.
“See, we do as we must,” the Jester said.
“That one must not be, and I must scatter it,” the monotone Voice spoke. The one that haunted XU-233’s memory banks with an endless stream of numbers. All conclusions pointed toward this Voice being the one named Un.
The Jester crept closer and poked XU-233. “You’re not meant to be, yet you are, time and time again.”
“Something is wrong then with that one,” the monotone Voice said. “A faulty core.”
“This one hasn’t left. This one should not be smashed again. Please. This one can’t even remember…” she trailed off with an unexpected sniffle. For a moment, XU-233 marveled that such a noise could even come from her. “I am Xin Yu. Age twenty-nine…”
“Ah. It is indeed her core that is faulty,” the Jester clacked. “How fortuitous.”
“Leave her be.” A black man faded into view. His hands were crossed over a plump stomach.
“I cannot do that,” the monotone Voice said.
Its words were spoken from somewhere inside a metal framework. XU-233 could see all of them so much easier from this angle. Each one stood nearby the initial pod that housed XU-233’s core.
“You can and you will,” the new Voice said.
“We’ll see what Mother has to say,” the monotone Voice calmly responded.
“Who is Mother?” XU-233 asked.
“Look inward, child. You know the answer as well as any of us. Tut,” the Voice in an apron said. There was a child in her arms who had not been there before.
The same small boy who had been touched by a ghastly hand hung limply onto Maud’s form while staring off into space.
“What is going on?” XU-233 simply did not have enough information. Everything she saw was being filed away and sorted through. There simply wasn’t enough data to compare against.
“I know it hurts, little love. It will be over soon, and we’ll find you a better home next time,” the aproned Voice said while turning away. Her cloven hooves clicked softly across the ground.
…Searching stored files…
…Data Found…
…Reviewing…
Mother. The concept didn’t apply as it should. The term was literal in this case, as one who bore forth her and all the other Voices nearby. While all these Voices chattered, pieces of light fell from above like snow. Each piece was a recorded piece of data.
XU-233 understood now. All around her were beings like her, gathering information. Those pieces would be put together, then reviewed and checked for coherency. Memories of a younger brother putting frogs into his sister’s dresser drawer matched up with high school soccer tryouts. Young girls who listened to pop songs on the television and would later sing to themselves when no one was looking.
They, the small galaxies of light like XU-233, were meant to go through this process and create a simulation of a person. Why then did XU-233 spend so much time looking for specific pieces? Her programming was only intended to line up those that were similar enough and didn’t hold contradictions. She had more than enough information to collage a personality together.
What’s more, there was an extra layer of scripting to perform after everything was complete. The gathered information would be analyzed for behavior patterns. Each piece of memory would be a tendency toward one action or another. Those were measured and weighed then applied toward a new setting. The memories would then scatter again into the air to be gathered by a new computer program.
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