not literally alive
“She’s still just as alive as she was before” the technician stated. He was a head shorter than Josef but still he felt smaller at that moment. His eyes felt cold on him. The technician picked up a tablet and checked something before explaining: “Maybe not as literally. But what she is, is still there.” Josef stifled a sob and placed a hand on the smooth surface of the machine in front of him, gently caressing the laser-engraved name. Monika Schäfer it read beneath the word Egopod. It was a pill-shaped device with the bottom half being of a dark gray while the top part had a yellowish white color. It was about a meter long and had a diameter of 30 centimeters. There were no flaws or breaks in its surface but somehow the surrounding machinery could still communicate with it. Josef tried to collect himself, forcing his mind to come up with a retort. Something witty. Something hurtful. But he couldn’t overcome the void that had opened when he had heard what she had done.
There were rhythmic metallic sounds coming from the corridor behind him, then the door opened. “Is he.. Oh. I see we have Visitors.” a distorted female voice noted. The emotions were only poorly conveyed through the static of a speaker. Josef turned around the see the newcomer and gasped as he took in the figure.
Before him stood one of the dome warriors. A complicated bipedal contraption built around an Egopod. Created for war, perfected for killing. Josef had wondered why all the rooms and doors were so large around this lab. Now he knew as he took in the terror-inducing mass of the machine filling the doorway. The skull shaped sensor array on its top seemed to stare into Josef’s soul. He didn’t know what to say. This thing was death incarnate and now his Monika was one of them.
He wiped away his tears and tried to straighten up. He had heard they didn’t like weakness and with that in mind he mustered every bit of strength he had left. “Why did you take her from me?” he asked but his voice cracked, and he had to ask again. The technician started to answer but the new arrival raised a giant hand to stop him. Josef felt the vibrations in the floor as it took two steps towards him to clear the door. It knelt down which brought the sensor array down to the height of a standing human. The speaker somewhere within it crackled and it spoke: “No one is chosen to be a dome warrior. One chooses to be a dome warrior. Willingness is paramount to the extraction’s success.”
This did nothing to easy Josef’s pain, and he cried out: “But why her?” The machine repeated what it had said before but now it sounded like a recording replayed. It lifted and reached for the Egopod, Josef tried to get in its way. Trying to wrap himself around it in Protection. “Your grief is understandable, Inhabitant. But I must present Schäfer to the Chamber or her sacrifice was in vain.” the dome warrior stated and picked up Josef by his shoulder. It’s grip felt like bench vises tightening. It didn’t throw him but the mass and power involved alone made him stumble and fall. Josef cried out in pain and shock. The technician rushed over to him to see if the warrior had injured him. As Josef looked up he saw the Machine cradling the Egopod like one would a newborn. The careful and affectionate way the machine held what was left of his spouse made him shiver. Like seeing Father Death soothing a dead child before bringing it into the Light.
The sensor dome rotated towards him, the voice sounded almost soothing: “She has forsaken his humanity to serve it for eternity. Love her more for it, not less.” Then it turned and left the room in wide strides. Something made Josef think of how it sounded like fleeing. As if the machine couldn’t suffer his pain any longer. Each step echoed through the corridor with a sound like shells hitting armor plating. “What will they do to her?” Josef asked breathless and the technician answered while looking after the dome warrior: “They will ensure that her mind hasn’t broken during the procedure. Then they mount the pod in a new battleframe. As soon as calibrations are complete they airlift her to Niemandsland Dome.” Josef sighed defeated: “How long do they last? Fighting against Agata I mean?” The name of the artificial intelligence holding humanity in a grip of terror made the technician shiver. He looked down and said: “The Egopod is virtually indestructible. As long as the ejection mechanism works and Agata doesn’t get her hands on her. She will fight for eternity.”
Josef stood up and helped the Technician get up as well. “They still are looking for Medevac Crew Members, right?” he looked the man in the eyes, and the technician stuttered confused: “Yes. No one wants to risk their lives for a tin man.” Josef had never felt more driven than now as he ran down the corridors, he thought: “You will give your life for humanity. And I will for you.”
This was a response to a World Prompt: He’s still just as alive as he was before, although maybe not as literally.