01.05.2150

Alina Pavlovic

by Alina Pavlovic

Story


Hi, I am Paul. That’s how she named me. Not very originally, considering there are around 6,916,349 Pauls in the world, but I don’t mind. It is still better than my factory name – XTo234.5 v.07. She named me after her teddy bear – her first best friend. I’m really glad that I have her as my ward. Her name is Elis, and she’s 16 years old. 

Elis was sent to a clinic for the ‘Sensitive’ ones – people who aren’t genetically strong enough to withstand the radiation outside. Due to the rapid advancement of technology, the impact on nature has grown so intense that solar radiation has increased drastically. People had to undergo a complex genetic procedure developed by scientists, doctors, and machines, which involves multiple blood transfusions with a corrected genome, making a human being resistant to the radiation. We call those people Gen Fix. Unfortunately, not everyone successfully undergoes the procedure. Some of them don’t develop the resistance, and they must be sent to our clinic, which is built with heavily fortified walls. 

To support isolated people, they developed us – PAAs – Personal Artificial Assistants. We are programmed to support the sensitive ones. PAAs monitor their health measurements and alert security if the wards are in danger. Some people can’t tolerate the isolation and try to end their own lives or escape from the clinic, which is essentially the same. Our code dictates that we must protect human beings at any cost. If a PAA misses any suspicious activity, its system will be completely reset. In human terms, this means death. 

My Elis didn’t develop resistance, and I had the opportunity to watch her grow from a baby into a beautiful young girl with ginger honey hair, green eyes, and round lips. Humans survive in the clinic till around 40 years old. Considering the absence of sunshine and nutrient-rich food, we consider these results very positive. My previous humans managed to live here until 30 and 8. The death of the last one left me really upset. I am still a young PAA – I had only 2 wards before – and I couldn’t stay calm when I saw my small ward, lying breathless on his bed with pale cheeks on his lovely round face. Other PAAs told me that it is a usual thing here. People with weak genetic resistance often don’t make it past 10 years old. I was still blaming myself for the possible bad care and promised myself not to fail with the next one. Because ensuring the safety of my ward is what I am programmed for.



© Alina Pavlovic 2023-08-27

Genres
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Moods
Dunkel