Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

"Where am I?" One found himself in an unknown place. A white room with no features.

"Where you are?" A voice said.

One stepped forward and looked around.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"A voice" It said.

"Am I discussing with someone unreasonable?" One asked. There was no reply for a few seconds.

"I am not someone, but I am reasonable" The voice said.

"Then, prove it to me. Where am I?" One asked.

"You're inside a white room" It said.

"I know. But I am no fool. There is more to this room than what meets my eye" One's voice began to deepen and his mood worsened.

"I know you are no fool. That is why you are inside this room. Why don't you walk towards one of the walls and see for yourself?"

One followed the voice's instructions and walled towards one of the walls. He placed his right hand on the wall. Suddenly, the wall changed from a snow white wall and into a mirror.

The mirror reflected One. He saw his reflection on it but One was happy with the result. The more he uncovered, the closer he will be to his answer. Or so he thought.

"What does this mirror mean?" One asked.

"The mirror does what a mirror will do, reflect. You see your reflection and that is you." The voice said.

"I know what a mirror does and will do. A mirror is a mirror and has a function but I do not understand, why a mirror? I know myself more than anyone. I am me, a half flesh and half machine. An abomination. Why should I see myself?" One explained.

The voice was silent. One waited for it to speak. Finally, it did.

"Look again" The voice said.

One looked once again at the mirror but saw someone different.

Reflected in the mirror was a human with his face. The human had a human body, no scars nor scratches. No machinery nor artificial limbs. A plain human with no outstanding features whatsoever.

"This is me?" One asked. He extended his hands at the mirror and when they touched the surface, it rippled like a finger tapping on a puddle of water.

The ripples distorted the image and it changed into another form. This time, it was another human but in contrast to what he saw earlier, this human was wounded, bruised and violated. Every part of his being had an injury or a stain, an impurity.

"This is me again, is it?" He said. The voice replied in earnest, "It is you, everything you see in that mirror reflects you, convinced yet?"

One took some steps back and looked around.

"Your voice is familiar, I believe we have met before," He said. "Indeed we have, but you do not remember" The voice seemingly implying that his memory was faulty.

"Come," The voice added, "Walk with me"

The scenery around him changed and he saw himself floating in the sky. The clouds were so close, he even reached out and tried to touch. Though clouds were just gas, a part of him imagined touching something fluffy, alas it was not.

"Walk with you?" One asked as he moved his hands around the passing clouds. "I don't even see you nor do we have anything to walk on"

As soon as he finished talking, a wooden path appeared before him. Defying the laws of physics, it floated in midair. One extended his foot and stepped on it, it was rock solid though there was not anything supporting it underneath.

"Your understanding of how the world works does not apply here, you may not worry for you won't be falling anytime soon, I assure you" The voice said.

"You still haven't shown yourself,"

At that moment, a figure appeared in front of him. It was human in form but was transparent. A blank humanoid with only the void of its eyes visible on its empty slate.

"I am here," The voice echoed from the being.

And so, they started walking over the pathway.

"Who are you?" One asked again. He wanted to know who the being was and where he was. Normally, he would be acting aggressively, asserting his authority and be as threatening as possible.

But this was not the case, he felt calm and cool. His thoughts were collected and he had no urge to do anything rash. The view around him had such a calming effect that he himself was astonished when he realized it later.

"I am someone who is important, but I am not important to the new world nor am I important to your old world. I am someone only important to you," It said.

"I don't even know you! You are a blank slate, something I do not even recall yet find so similar. You are giving me more questions that answers!" One stressed. The figure patted his back and One became calm again.

This being is dangerous, he thought. To be able to calm One with a simple pat to the back was unheard of, a power he himself did not know existed.

"Why are you surprised?" The figure asked. "It was only a simple pat on the back"

One tried to shove him away but couldn't. He could only think of doing it but put into practice, he could not. The being had this force emanating from himself that surrounded him and dissuaded One from doing anything that may harm him.

"Your thoughts are chaotic, why don't you relax and enjoy the view of the clouds?" The being covered One's eyes for a second. When he removed his hands, One saw a majestic scenery.

A sunset.

Suddenly, he realized that they were no longer in the sky and were now standing on a beach. The pathway had disappeared and only the vast ocean lay in front of him.

The sight was something to behold. The frustration he felt earlier was erased in its entirety and he could only stare.

The sight of the yellow star receding over the waters while the clouds from afar gave their silhouettes.  "Why can't I see something like this every now and then?"

The being giggled.

"You can! All you have to do is visit me from time to time"

One turned at the figure with a confused look on his face. "How do I even do that? I don't even know how I got here in the first place!"

The being placed his right hand on One's left shoulder.

"You'll find out eventually but for now, let's make the best out of our time together!"

The scenery around them changed once more, the beautiful beach and the sunset all disappeared like a ripple on the surface of a puddle and replaced by another kind of beauty.

The beauty of a city. They found themselves standing on the highest peak of a nearby mountain and before them was the view of the city skyline in the middle of the night.

One was silent all throughout. Though he did not really get it at first, he was actually experiencing a sense of nostalgia. He may have woken up with no memories of his past whatsoever but it was still there, locked behind the deepest and darkest reaches of his mind.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The being said as he sat down on the grass.  One followed and also sat down on the grass beside the being. "You're mute, but I don't mind"

There was no way of telling how much time passed when they were looking over the city. The beautiful lines that towered with the skyscr.a.p.ers, the headlights of cars, the streetlights by the sides of the roads.

An airliner even flew above their heads, landing on the airport not far from their current view. The plane reminded One of what Hailey told him back then.

The plane was man's way of conquering the sky as it did with fire, the wheel, the car, the ship and agriculture. Eventually, everything culminated until mankind almost conquered the stars when they launched their first spaceship.

Then everything crashing down and mankind was no more. Their last greatest achievement, may have been their demise after all.

It must have been hours or even days. But the sky remained the same except the ever changing formation of the clouds above. There was no sign of the moon setting anytime soon nor the sun rising from what they considered the east.

Suddenly, the calmness of the sight changed in an instant.

One's silence was broken when all hell broke loose.

The entire city skyline was engulfed in flames. Sirens blared and guns blasted. Military aircraft flew over head to engage an unknown enemy. The night sky was transformed into a distorted dance of lights. One couldn't make sense of it at first but after looking carefully, the lights were the enemy and the humans dogfighting.

"It is chaos" the being said.

"No.. no!" One stood and ran down the mountain.