But A Memory
By Mike Pollock
(SFFWorld.com November 2017 Flash Fiction Entry)
Caleen squinted against the driving snow and pressed on. Her boots sank deep into the snowy mountain side, and while her body screamed at her to turn around, she persisted. Gritting her teeth, she defied those very instincts and trudged father on. Slowly she gained ground on those ghosts of her past.
“Welcome to the Hillary Steps.” She heard Victors voice in her head. Instead of answering the Memory Bot, she simply nodded and continue her assent. Not one to be ignored, Victor’s mechanical voice whirred once more.
“You’d have surely died had these conditions been present during a summit, Cal.”
“You’re kidding me right?” She demanded. Around her the din from the storm dulled and the wind around her disappointed to a gentle breeze. Her outburst had caused Victor to lose control of the Memory just slightly.
“I’m sorry Cal, I was not programmed to understand human emotion.” His apology was sincere, yet the image around her burst apart like smoke.
“You’re a real buzz kill Vic.” Cal said. She felt the urge to vomit as her mind struggled to reconcile with the shift from the Memory Victor had inserted in her mind with the fact that she was nearing her deathbed.
“So you’ve mentioned, only about a thousand times. As a Memory Bot, my only function is to keep you entertained in the last stages of life. Not to keep this Buzz you’re so fond of mentioning alive. And to be completely honest with you, it feels like cheating letting you relive other’s memories.”
She chuckled at that.
“Victor, the only memories I have of this damned space station.” She pointed a wrinkled hand at the slate gray walls of the small room she rested in. “This is the only view I’ve had for 93 years. I spent more years than some had at all looking out the five by five bay window hoping to catch a glimpse of the earth when the rotation was right.”
Victor’s small spherical body bobbed in the air beside her bed. “Very well.” He remarked, spinning again while lights danced across his metallic surface. Again the room faded and she found herself standing near the summit of Everest.
The storm had passed and she stood looking out from atop the monolithic peaks of the Himalayas. Their peaks bathed in sunlight cast long shadows down into the valleys far below her.
“It’s beautiful.” She whispered.
“Indeed, it was. Or so I was told.” He stepped beside her, taking the form of a man from one of his Memories. “It’s gone now, these peaks are rubble. The earliest memories I can access are those from the retreating ships. The mantle itself began to crumble. Many of these same rocks lay beneath the still boiling oceans.”
“Jesus, Vic. Buzzkill!”
“Buzz kill.” She muttered.
“Was there ever any doubt?”
“Not in a million years.”
“Where to next?” He asked, sensing the fleeting nature of her wonder.
She turned quickly towards him, sporting a wild smile. “Give me wings.” She said, stepping closer. “I want to fly.”
“That’s impossible, I’m not programming with memories of flying humans.” He replied, internally he scoured a million hours of Memories, finding nothing he could use.
“Well, I don’t need actual wings to fly. I read there were suits with webbed wings just under the arms. Give me one of those.”
“That I can do.” He answered, and she heard the almost musical whirring as he shifted the Memory. There was a slight rush of air and she looked down to find a lime and yellow jumpsuit. Under her arms hung fabric she assumed was for flying.
“Thank god I can’t feel the cold in these Memories.” She chuckled.
“Actually, Cal, I meant to ask. Why did you insist on the parka if you could fee-“ but she had already rushed to the edge of a nearby cliff.
With a joyful shout she threw herself into the air. Throwing her arms out to the side she felt the tug as the Kevlar fabric fought against gravity. Soon she was travelling just shy of parallel to the ground.
“It’s fantastic!” She cried, tears filling her eyes as the beating in her chest increased.
“Miss.” Victor said, his voice sounding slightly alarmed.
Instead of answering, she gestured with her hand that he leave her alone.
“Please, Cal.” He said again, appearing beside her in the memory. “Your heart… you haven’t much time left.”
“Then let me enjoy what I do have!” She shouted at him. He retreated, still beside her in the memory as she flew low over the snowy landscape. Quickly they approached a cliff and she hurtled beyond it into the blue skies.
The beeping of machines brought his focus back to her room and he noticed her chest heaving rapidly. “Thank you.” She whispered, her hand falling limp as she reached out towards him. The quickening beep turned into a solid tone as she slipped away.
“Miss Cal?” He asked, knowing full well she was gone. Sensing the lack of organic life, the Space Station began to shut down the lights and other machines. He bobbed closer to his bed and regarded the woman he’d been paired with. They’d shared a lifetime of memories in only a few short months, yet did he ever really know her?
Something strange stirred in him, and he groped for the foreign feeling. What’s next? He thought. There was a clunk as the air filtration systems shut down and the ship stopped its gentle spinning. Gravity failed and objects floated into the air around him.
VM114 he thought to himself. That was what the Makers called me. He felt a current pull at him as the shutdown protocol neared the programming of the Memory bots.
“Victor.” He heard. The voice was Caleen’s. He’d have smiled if he could at the memory. It was one of his own this time, and he was reminded of who he was.
Quietly, Victor followed her into the night.
