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nothing beautiful can last


Eight

By Roxy &

Eight had called their supervisors, Ppai and Maea, to ask for help. They said it was “urgent, but in the kind of way that can wait if they’re too occupied”. Of course, both of them already knew Eight, they had seen their consciousness develop in the last year, and they already knew when something was wrong.

Despite all of the twelve being digital creatures whose program began running on the same date, anyone would have believed that Eight was the youngest of the twelve, still struggling with a lot of realities of the world outside the island, or the implications of their existence as an emotional being. Eight had required more care than the other eleven – they simply needed more time.

They arrived at their chamber as fast as they could. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“I… have some questions… about my future.”

Ppai and Maea sighed and took off their masks. Eight looked tense, the tiny robots that composed their body shaked around, and while their overal shape was kept, their entire structure was constantly shaking. The little robots looked like thousands of insects crawling on someone’s body – except the body here was also made of them.

Ppai nodded.

“What happens if I reject the task?“
“Nothing. You can live your life as you desire”, Maea answered.

They struggled to keep their shape.

“Really? I could have said no since the beginning?“
“Yes.“
“Then why did the others agree to it?“
“This is how they wanted to live their lives.“
“What happens if I say yes?“
“You become our eigth leader, we plug you into the network with the others and you help keep things running.“
“And… that’s it?”

Ppai and Maea looked at each other, confused, unsure of how to ask for clarification without seeming dismissive, until Maea asked.

“How do you mean?“
“Is that all there is if I agree?“
“No. That is just part of it. The rest is up to you.“
“I don’t understand…“
“The only real difference between both choices,” Maea clarified, “is the responsibility you take. In one, you are one of the twelve leaders, and in the other, you are simply a citizen of the island.”

Eight pondered for a few seconds, thinking about billions of things they could say, and simulating imagined futures in the background. The individual parts of their body moved around more wildly each second.

“What will happen to you if I decline?“
“Ideally, not a lot. We’ll raise another one of your kind, and they will get the same choice. The other eleven should be enough to make for a strong system, with our own supervision, of course.”

Eight kept pondering. Data orbs started flying around the room, storing and retrieving data.

“Will you be with me if I decline?“
“Yes.”

Upon hearing the answer, their particles came to a loud, sudden stop.

“Will you be with me if I accept?“
“Yes.”

The rigidity of their body went down, visibly becoming more lax as the individual robots held each other with less strength. What followed was silence.

“I need to think about this more… thank you.”

“We understand that it is a hard choice – sadly that’s more or less where our understanding ends, too. That’s why you’re free to decline. Is it too much pressure?”, Ppai tried to comfort them.

“I… please don’t ask that.”, Ppai nodded and took one step back, as a sign of apology.

“Please leave now,” Eight requested, “I want to talk to my siblings.”