The New Humans

Chapter 28

"What do you mean? Frank Moses is dead," said Ash.

"Before I died, my mind was probed and my memories were recorded," said the voice from the drone. "My entire memory was then loaded onto a hard disk, and my reasoning was replicated by means of algorithms. Then my mind was digitalized and saved on this drone."

Ash had heard of those technologies: a chip is planted in the brain of a subject that's still alive, on which every thought is recorded and then forwarded to a drone. The moment the subject dies, the drone is activated and exists in its place.

To hear that luminous drone talk had a strange effect on Ash, as if he were standing in front of a ghost. "Are you alive?"

"What is alive? I'm no more alive than a character in a videogame. What is your name?"

Ash decided it would not be prudent to reveal his real name. "Rike, Tom Rike," he said.

He took two steps toward the drone, but it buzzed behind a shelf of bottles and then reappeared on Ash's right as if it didn't want him to get too close.

"You're John Lock, aren't you?"

"I am Frank Moses," it replied.

"Now—but you were John Lock before. You were a Shadow, isn't that right?"

At first it did not reply.

"You could deign to answer us," Herbert said. "Considering how much this cost."

"Yes, I'm Lock," it said then, almost with pride. "During the Civil War I killed so many Numas, I lost count. I burst into their homes and killed entire families, and then stole everything I found, even the blood of my victims. What's the point of hiding it? I got away with it, I did everything I wanted, and I didn't spend even one day in prison."

"You got away with it?" Ash said. "Perhaps you're not aware of the fact that a week ago you had your head cut off."

It did not reply, as if that comment had offended it.

"Do you know the Living Dead?" asked Ash.

"What do you want from him?"

"Offering him a deal," said the bartender.

The drone start laughing. "Living Dead has been hiding from justice for fifteen years, do you think he would let you find him to talk business over a cup of coffee? He will kill you as soon as he realizes that you know who he is."

Herbert held his arms across his chest like someone who would have liked to be somewhere else right then.

"So, he is still alive," said Ash.

"Sure, that man will never die. He's smarter than anyone I've ever known in my life. He moves in the shadows and is always one step ahead of everyone else. But worse still, he has no pity. I'm not surprised that he managed to disappear for so long."

"How did you know him?" said Ash.

"We were in the same Shadow squadron in Bard for six months."

"So, you knew him well," said Ash.

"I don't think there is anybody in the world who knows that man well. During those months I thought I was the person nearest to him, but he never told me anything about himself. He was strange; he never talked. In six months, I never saw him go to a restaurant, meet a woman, hang a photo on a wall. You meet some sick types in the Shadows, but he was on another level."

"Tell me more about him," said Ash.

"I told you, you couldn't drag a word out of him. In the evening he would return to camp and read. In six months, he must have read an entire library."