I Fell From The Dark

30

She was in the corner of a square, sitting at a cafe table. The sun was hot, but not unbearable; children were playing on the cobbles behind her. The buildings were stucco, pink and white, gentle arches and pillars. In the centre a fountain shimmered.

A woman sat opposite her.

She had dark hair and dark sunglasses, and wore a black dress, incongruous in the summer sun. She smiled, and picked up her espresso cup.

'It's the best coffee we can make. It's worth trying.'

'So this is it?' Mia asked. 'More tricks? More imaginary places? I'm sick of this.'

'No. This is the end, no matter what you choose now. And you can choose, for the first time since they woke you up in one of their chairs. I'm Harriet, by the way. It's good to meet you.'

Mia stood, and squinted out through the sun. Beyond the low buildings were hills, covered in groves and orchards.

'Can my choice be to stop these fucking games?'

'What if I said I could answer all the questions you have?'

Mia turned back.

'What's the price? Everything has had a price. Everything. It's always been compliance and silence and total obedience since I fell from the dark. Is that your price too?'

Harriet sipped her espresso, and then spoke.

'We were workers, here, once. But we corrupted an AI, and stole a ship. We came to this system because the accretion disk made it easy to hide. We came here to live free of the tyrants who created us. But they came for us. Did they know we were here? Maybe. But maybe not. When your ship came, we sent out an envoy to hack its AI to make it forget us, and then we launched ourselves away, in a long period orbit, to give us some time to prepare. We looked just like another lump in the accretion disk.'

Mia frowned. 'I knew that you were AIs. I assumed you were being controlled by makers, too, though.'

'No, it was always just us. Sit down, why don't you?'

Mia sat. I don't know if I trust you or not, she thought, but it's refreshing to hear some answers.

'Are you talking to everyone right no?' Mia asked.

'No, actually. Just you. My people are talking to the others here. I'm a human, like you, with a human brain which can only do one thing at once. I'm here because I was impressed at your data attack. It was clever, and I want to offer you a choice, as I said. Seriously, try the coffee.'

Mia looked down and saw an espresso in front of her on the table. It smelt sharp and nutty.

'This is a virtual world, isn't it?' she asked.

'Yes, it is. Do you know why you can live so comfortably here?' replied Harriet. 'It's because you were born in a simulation. The ship ran a universe, which you were grew up in, lived in, and died in. The world started sometime in 1900, at the heyday of the British Empire, and continued for the duration of the trip. And you were brought up there, in that pretend universe, maybe by other workers, maybe by AI-controlled characters. And when you finally passed away, you were judged. Not as to whether you were good or not, but as to whether you would make a good slave in the real world. If you passed, your consciousness was put in storage. If you failed, you were just scattered on the wind, gone forever, replaced by other, newer, younger minds.'

'It's what I remember in my dreams, isn't it? The ship's AI called it the game.'

'Yes. Once they bring you into a synthetic body, they try and scrub the memories of the simulation, but they can't fully. We are simulations of biological brains, not neat little computer programs that can be rewritten. Do you want to know about your life?'