The light scans my palm and hoops of light form around my arms. The Aquabot
lights up “Left hemisphere activated. Good morning Jet” a female voice with a
French accent welcomes me, probably Colin’s idea of on-board entertainment.
Today’s mission statement appears in front of me. My eye catches the number of
days to completion: 01, Depth: 190m below sea level, Location: Desol Sea.
“Good morning mademoiselle” Colin smiles as he steps in and activates the right
hemisphere.
“Right hemisphere activated. Good morning Captain Rovell. Hemisphere
synchronization in process” the bot starts up.
“Where did you download the accent?” I ask while running through protocol.
“From the virtual reality simulator after I spent a week with a French model in the
Bahamas” Colin laughs.
“The Bahamas?” I frown.
“The Bahamas were a range of tropical islands in the old world. You should get
out more. Try going on a vacsi when we get back to the surface” he says as he
gets comfortable.
“What the fuck is a vacsi?” I ask.
“A vacation simulation! There is an entire range of vacation destinations from the
old world and a new selection of models to take along too” he brags.
“To do what exactly, fuck a hologram?” I smirk.
“To lighten the fuck up! It’s about time you use virtual reality for more than just
fighting. I can see you rolling around your apartment wrestling holograms
already” he mocks.
“Yeah, like I can imagine your naked ass penetrating light?” I laugh.
“You really need to get into the New Age Jet. It’s unlike you to be so submissive. If
you had asked me, I’d thought that you’re doing your father a favor staying out of
trouble all these years?”
“That’s why I didn’t ask you” I say sarcastically.
“Hemisphere synchronization complete, ready to get jiggy with it” the female
voice interrupts right on time.
“Get jiggy with it?” I laugh “Your fucking around with the operating system is
going to get us fired on the last day.”
“Oh yeah, it’s the last day then we’re out of here!” Colin cheers. I spot him
grinning slyly. I know that face. It means drinking, fucking and snorting. A few
months in the dark lifeless abyss turns us into rock stars when we surface. We’re
down here for two months with one-month vacation in between, so we try to
make up for the fun we missed when we surface. Luckily Light City provides
enough stimulation to keep anyone going for days on end, so things tend to get
messy when they let us loose. Colin slides an attachment over to my hemisphere.
Five female robots with matching outfits dance past me. I can tell they are bots
because they all look identical. Perfectly symmetrical. One of them moves
towards me shaking her breasts in my face. She reaches out to stroke my cheek
“Hello Prince, join us for a night and you’ll wake up a king.” I move my face away
to avoid her ‘touch’ and swipe the attachment back to Colin’s hemisphere.
“Ah, come on! An entire evening of celebrity treatment with professional party
guests to make us feel like the hero’s we are?” he insists and opens the ad again
and clears his throat like he is preparing to make an announcement; “Ladies and
gentlemen for one night, and one night only I bring you the Creators of the
Desolink and the Uniters of Light City, Jet and Colin!” I can’t help but laugh,
“You’re a fucking joke. My father must’ve accidently implanted a sense of humor
along with your bionic heart.”
He ignores my remark and reads the ad out loud “A special offer for UNlimited
pleasure. Choose the King Package today and you can bring a friend for free.
That’s it, I’m convinced” he skips to the booking section.
“You don’t take much convincing” I turn and watch him upload both our profiles.
“You aren’t fucking serious Colin? How do you even have access to my profile?” I
lean over to try and stop him.
“I’ve been around” Colin laughs as he scans his Palmer to pay. “Transaction
completed, your booking has been secured.” The group of robots cheers with a
glass of champagne in hand and wink at Colin. The one with the boobs blows me a
kiss. It floats towards me and pops in front of my face. “Classy” I mumble. Colin
laughs. He always gets me into shit like this when we return to the surface.
“You are becoming more like those robots the more parts you get” I scowl.
“And you are getting more cut off from reality with every rotation. How about you
just enjoy the ride? Besides, we should celebrate the completion of the Desolink.
We deserve some recognition for almost a decade in the Underworld, and I’m
pretty sure Aquanauts aren’t planning a medal ceremony.” He’s right. No medals
for city service especially if you’re paid as much as we are.
“And it’s about time you get back in the game. You can only stay angry for so long.
I’m pretty sure your dad doesn’t give a shit anymore.”
“Yeah, he’s too busy ‘fixing the human flaws” I say sarcastically. My neck gets
tense.
“Your dad did a good job on me, so I’m not complaining. You should be more
grateful, I mean, without your dad I wouldn’t be here and let’s face it, you
wouldn’t have any friends” Colin laughs at his own joke. I want to kick him in his
recently rejuvenated face, but then I remember that he is fifty-three and to
respect the elderly.
“Yeah, old timer, tell me at what point do you swop your right to vote for a
mechanical part? Have they started writing the robot laws yet?” My neck tenses
up again. I move it side to side. Colin is still laughing but at this point I’m not sure
if it’s at me or still at his own joke. He eventually calms down and wipes the tears
from his face “Fuck, you can be so dramatic. You really need to have more sex.
Let’s finish this job so we can relieve some of the tension in your groin.”
“Check neutral buoyancy and disembark substation” Colin commands.
“Buoyancy checked. Commence disembark.” I respond. The docking clamps
disconnect, and the bot remains suspended in the water column.
“Buoyancy stable” I confirm while preparing the inspection scanner.
“Navigating to inspection point” Colin moves his palms forward to accelerate the
engines. The steering hologram lights up around his hands and the directional
arrows float in front of us like they are outside in the water column. Colin controls
steering and navigation from the right hemisphere. I operate the tools on the left.
Basically, he takes me to work. It took a few years for our movements to become
synchronized, but now it’s second-nature.
“I’m going to miss this place” I say as I look up and change the hemisphere’s
transparency so that the spherical roof becomes transparent. I scan the darkness
that surrounds us. There is nothing to see in the Desol Sea. The ocean became
desolate after The Urge swept the globe twenty-seven years ago. The pandemic
coincided with the melting of the ice-caps which shifted global temperatures and
caused devastating weather conditions. Survivors fled to the safe zones that are
now collectively known as Light City while the infected congregated in pockets of
habitable terrain. The old world was destroyed and after they managed to contain
the spread of The Urge, Light City suffered food shortages that lead to the use of
modified crops. The crops needed increasing amounts of fertilizers to grow and
now only grow under controlled conditions. All the agricultural runoff ended up in
the ocean and since the melted ice-caps stopped the oceanic engine, fertilizer
spills created rapid increases in algal blooms which in turn deplete oxygen levels
in the already stagnant waters around Light City transforming the ocean into a
dead zone. Obviously, after the devastation nobody gave too much thought to the
consequences of where what goes, as long as it grows. I wasn’t born yet and Colin
doesn’t talk about it, so I guess it must have been intense because he rarely takes
anything seriously.
“You don’t have a sentimental bone in your body” Colin interrupts my trail of
thought. “Aquabot secured to tunnel” the bot confirms. My attention goes back
to the job and the hemisphere automatically darkens to focus my attention on the
tunnel. I separate my fingers to open the clamp and move my arm to secure it in
position. The tunnel connects the two parts of Light City that is currently
separated by the Desol Sea. It will enable faster transportation and in and exports
that will accelerate growth and expansion of the New World. ‘We are the Light’,
the Light City motto and the driving force for the New Age floats past my screen,
to remind us of our purpose.
“Activate scanner and charge current” I command. “Requesting clearance to
shoot?”
“Request granted” the bot confirms and commences the countdown. “Zero” I
shoot. The electromagnetic current passes through the bridge and a three-
dimensional image of the bridge forms as the current runs the expanse and
disappears into the distance.
“Do you think they’re going to reassign us?” Colin asks.
“Nah, I think it’s about time you retired. You are well over your expiration date” I
joke.
“You cause so much shit they would send me on retirement to get rid of you” he
hits back. He’s right. I’ve never done well with authority. I’ve been locked up
twice. The second time they had to catch me. I don’t fit in up there. That’s why
I’m down here. So yeah, when I don’t put my energy to good use I break things.
Everybody copes in their own way.
“Connection completed” the bot announces. The 3D tunnel floats between us.
We stare at it, taking in the fact that the current just ran the expanse of a tunnel
we took a decade to build in a few seconds. Now it’s all over.
“I guess that’s it then?” I ask neutrally. “You ready to go shoot some zombies
outside Light City?” Colin mocks me in a childish voice. “I’ve done some serious
damage on the VR gamer at home” he adds.
“Do you think the infected are the walking dead?” I think aloud.
Colin’s face drops. “The infected aren’t dead Jet.”
I can hear the tension in his voice, so I just drop it. I think he lost someone to The
Urge, but like I said, he doesn’t talk about it. The Urge made people act
emotionless and detached from society and when thousands of infected left
behind everything they owned and congregated in the wild, you could imagine
many believed it to be a real-life zombie apocalypse and the infected naturally
became the new age zombies.
“So, when you’re not fucking French holograms you’re shooting zombies in your
living room? Nice life.” I change the subject to lighten the mood.
“Says the guy who gets a kick out of fighting in a pain simulator? I like my face,
thanks” he says sarcastically. He gets his face rejuvenated, so he looks about my
age, mid-twenties. Light City is obsessed with youthfulness and appearance even
if it knocks off a few years of your life expectancy. You only live once right? That’s
probably why my father’s bionic parts are the fastest growing industry in Light
City. “Orgonic Industries, we fix flaws” I see my father wink at me. My neck
stiffens again. I shake my shoulders to release the tension. It’s about time I get
back in the fighting simulator to feel better.
“How about I leave the fighting to you and you leave the love making to me?”
Colin continues.
“Love?” I laugh. The closest I’ve come to that is taking MDMA. My mom died of
blood cancer when I was six, hence my father’s obsession to fix the human flaws.
There is no space to love a kid if you don’t even love being human. There’s
probably a simulation on VR or a supplement available on Nigredo for love by
now. Nigredo originally prevented the onset of The Urge, but so many different
add-ons have been made available it has replaced physicians completely. It tests,
diagnoses, administers and regulates everything you can think of. You really have
no say in the matter, you either comply or die.
Oh, and The Urge is a neurological virus that spread across the globe at the time
of the shifting global temperatures. There is no known cure for The Urge, so
prevention formed the basis on which the new society was built. That’s where
Nigredo comes in, the substance is diffused through your left palm and Nigredo
zones are mandatory in every household and scattered around the city to check
that Nigredo is kept below Urge susceptibility levels.
“Congratulations, the Desolink has been successfully completed. Please return to
the substation and await collection” the bot announces. “Sure thing hun” Colin
winks. “Fuck yeah, we’re out of here! Detaching from docking station” Colin
cheers and releases the bot from the tunnel. “Buoyancy check” Colin runs through
protocol again and navigates back to the substation. The substation usually
connects to either side of the Aquabot and each hemisphere opens into separate
lodging wings that are joined together by a communal area. But since we won’t
be communing in there any time soon I secure the tools and prepare for
collection.
“Collection in 3 minutes, commence safety check” the bot announces. We scan
our palms “Nigredo levels stable” it confirms. We slowly make our accent. The
hemispheres automatically adjust to protect us from the increasing light which
takes a while to get used to after being in the dark for so long. The Aquabot
attaches to the lift and we are raised to the surface onto the deck. The ship looks
like a giant floating handkerchief. It’s called Sting-Ray, so I guess that’s where they
drew their inspiration from. Not that I’ve seen a sting ray in real life, like I said,
they were all wiped out.
I open my left palm to activate my Palmer and check that my eye-wear is set to
auto adjust to the light. Palmers are holographic personal computers. They are
implanted into each citizen’s left wrist and navigated with finger movements. It
activates when the temples connect to the palm and the hologram is projected in
front of you. It was made freely available during The Urge pandemic to help
connect survivors, but it quickly became an extension of each citizen and a pillar
of the New World. Over time advancements led to automated UV protection,
instant access to your personalized database, banking, social media, remote home
control and health stats with a flick of the wrist.
“Pressure stable” the bot confirms before the hemispheres open out to the deck
of the ship. The lenses in front of my eyes polarize as I step out.
“Welcome back captains, the general requests a meeting straight away” the
lieutenant welcomes us. We shake hands and follow the lieutenant to the
hovercraft.
“They don’t waste any time” Colin mutters as we step inside and take up the two
empty seats. We strap in and the hovercraft takes off. The lenses disappear, and a
hologram is activated by our presence. The general is sitting at his desk. I’m not
sure if this is a recording or a live feed so I check his response “Nice leg sir” I point to his new bionic leg. I recognize the brand, Orgonic. He straightens his leg with a
grin, clearly proud of his choice. Yes, the hologram is live.
“It’s been a while, good to see that you boys still look sane after being down there
for so long” he jokes. The general has been around longer than anyone I know. He
got me a spot in Aquabot training after my father called in a favor to get me out
of his way. He practically raised me.
“Jet barely made it, sir” Colin jokes and the general tries to hold back his laughter.
He coughs and continues. “Congratulations on completing the Desolink
gentlemen. The unity of Light City will enable unprecedented growth and
expansion and we have you to thank for that. As you both know the fresh water
within our borders have been depleted and the water we have in the
underground circulatory pumps are limited. The Aquanauts will now be merged
with The Harvest teams and all Aquabots will be adapted to land resource
acquisition to harvest resources from the infected areas. The new bots will
harness the same hemisphere technology, so we are recruiting all the Aquabot
captains that have obtained high levels of synchronicity to undergo training as
soon as possible. More information will be given at the training facility and
collection times will be sent to you within the next 72 hours.”
“Looks like we’ll be shooting zombies after all” Colin nudges my shoulder.
“Aw, looks like you won’t be fucking any robots anymore?” I fatten my lower lip
mockingly.
The general coughs again to get our attention. “I would like to speak to Jet in
private. Captain Rovell you are dismissed.” Colin salutes and his audio and visual
feed is distorted so only I can see and hear the hologram.
“Captain, I am sorry to inform you, but your father passed away a few hours ago.
He was a remarkable man and it is a great loss to the entire Light City. On behalf
of the Aquanauts we send our condolences. The funeral arrangements have
already been made and have been sent to you. Take the next few days to attend
to your personal matters. Training will commence thereafter.” I didn’t see that
coming. My father and I haven’t spoken in years. I don’t know how to react to the
news.
“Permission to end the session, sir? I request.
“Permission granted” the general nods and the hologram disappears.
“What was that about? Colin asks while scrolling through the latest trends on his
Palmer. He selects a gray jacket. “I ordered the new acid resistant coat by Sterile.
They have it in gray, your favorite color, so I sent you one too.”
“My father died” I say neutrally.
“Well, that’s a relief I almost thought they were promoting you! There is already
hardly enough room for me in the Aquabot with your over-inflated ego” he says
without flinching and keeps scrolling through the new trends. The model on his
palm takes up a different pose every few seconds.
“Fuck you, Colin” I say, and the model looks at me shocked.
“You’d love to” Colin says and turns to me with a concerned look on his face, like
he didn’t expect my reaction.
“Are you okay?” he says in a sympathetic tone. I preferred him joking about it.
“I don’t feel anything” I reply bluntly. Colin backs off and doesn’t say anything. I
watch him scroll through his news feed and order more stuff online. I turn to the
window.
The cloud cover seems denser than usual. Since The Urge, Light City has been
covered with a permanent layer of clouds. I’ve never seen the sun, but the
brightness of the lights in Light City makes up for it. I watch the city grow larger as
we fly closer. The black ocean below and the layer of dark gray clouds above
creates a tunnel vision effect, and the light at the end of the tunnel are giant
holograms dancing around buildings, like strippers around poles. Our forefathers
knew how to leave a place thoroughly fucked up, tightly wrapped in permanent
cloud cover and surrounded by a dead sea. I laugh a little. Home is where the
heart is, whatever that means?