I dreamed that I was not myself anymore… Not entirely.
That I had been condemned to take care of one of humanity’s outposts in the vast emptiness of space. And to do so, to ensure that I could secure the future of mankind, I had been forcefully downloaded into a robotic body that gave me the power to do the job at hand.
But it also removed my ability to feel…
And most importantly, since I have first been put into this body, thousands of lives have passed. Generations and generations of humans in the outpost I am taking care of have known me without really knowing who I am…
Or who I really was…
I dreamed that, being in this humanoid robot, I had almost forgot that, once, lifetimes ago, I had myself been human. That I knew then what feelings were.
That I had been engaged to the most beautiful woman on Earth – you. That you had surprised me in some ski resort looking strangely like Whistler and that we had vowed to each other to live together and journey the little but sacred time nature had given to us on this planet hand in hand.
However, something went wrong…
During a documentary shooting about the alteration of the Earth due to climate change, I had suddenly understood that the movie director was seeing us, performers, as expendable. After all, the weather had changed so much that humans were too many and that scarifying a few unworthy ones would not hurt. The movie he wanted to put together was supposed to end with our death due to the impact of global warming. We were condemned by him to die on screen. Due to this, I remember killing the man to save my life… Which is why I was judged and downloaded into that metallic body.
To live forever, but forget what life is about…
Having to leave my beloved one behind, far, far away in time and space, forced by humans to take care of them as if I was a simple machine. Your destiny was left out of my sight…
But, in the settlement, humans are now in despair. Since centuries, our outpost has lost contact with the rest of humanity. My masters, do not know if they are the last of their race or not. They are fewer, disappearing as death claims them and less newborns cry every year.
And I am lost, without a purpose, as I see their generations dying.
Until one day.
One day, someone, who somehow looks strangely like the descendent of the man I killed, sees me and remembers that, one day, I too was human. That, as humanity is close to the end, I, also, have the right to remember.
He creates a trap.
His trap is simple. He put me in front of a mirror and confront me with what I have become. He plays with my basic instincts and tries to force me to eat. To eat real food. He threatens me. But I cannot eat. How could I? I have a body made from metal. He keeps trying and trying. Until he starts to become physical, pushing me, trying to rip my metallic body apart. And, out of a sudden anger, I defend myself and push him back, rebelling.
Anger.
Anger.
I feel something. Suddenly.
Feelings…
Through the ages, all the memories of us wandering the earth come back rushing. A gigantic, long-forgotten, long-overdue tide, a hurricane, a tsunami… The laughs, the love, the sun rising, the warmth of dawn, the sound of water. The softness of your skin, your gentle embrace, your smile. Us, cuddling in the grass, in front of a majestic but fragile ocean that do not exist anymore.
That’s when I woke up.
Feeling full of love and wanted to pull you closer…