Juia_Darkcrest
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It is only 1500 words for the first scene after my prologue. What do you think about it?
edit - probably should preface this as it is a post-apocalyptic earth, where the vast majority died. One company built DDVRMO pods with stand alone AIs to aid future survivors in learning the skills required to survive. There is more too it obviously but you would need to read the prologue to know those details
December 24th, 2075, fourteen years After Impact
Near Lake Ray Roberts, 60 miles north of Dallas, Texas
It was sunny that day, with just a few white clouds breaking up the vast blue sky. A gentle warmth radiated from that brilliant sphere of light, marking yet another beautiful afternoon in the valley, and the farm that lay in it.
The farm was small, no more than a few acres, and was surrounded by a vast forest of maples and oaks, their limbs reaching high into the sky. Sunlight was filtering through the tops of the trees, the waning sun just passing the canopy, flickering beams of light mixed in with the shadows falling across the rows of crops.
Many different vegetables were planted there, from rows of tuberous crops like potatoes, turnips and beats, to rows of above ground vegetables like soya beans, lettuce and kale. On the side of the field were trellises filled with a variety of climbing plants, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and grapes. No matter where you looked though, the plants were all healthy looking and nearly ready to harvest.
Standing in the rows between the trellises of grapes, a man stood, checking the ties and trimming any excess growth on the vines. He was fairly tall, standing around six foot one, and fairly lean. His long hair, once a dusty brown, was now streaked with silver, the five o clock shadow on his face indicating his beard would share a similar fate if he failed to shave regularly. His rugged complexion was fairly pale for a man who worked outside all the time, more akin to someone who only left the house at night than the farmer he appeared to be.
His most distinctive feature though, was his heterochromatic eyes. One, was a deep blue, like looking into dark depths of the ocean, while the other was silver, shining as brilliant as the Earth's new ring. They were focused on his work, darting back and forth as he managed the vines in front of him.
Down the row, towards the small stone farmhouse and barn, footsteps could be heard, a humanoid figure approaching the man. He did not turn to look at the person, maintaining his focus on the job at hand.
The figure paused beside him, watching him work. At first glance it looked like a human woman, though once you saw its eyes, you realized something was fundamentally different. It was short compared to the man, not much more than five foot three, with fair skin and freckles, looking like it may have seen too much sun that day. Its long ginger hair was tied back in a ponytail, reaching down to the middle of its back. It had a slim figure with just enough curves to be pleasing to the eye.
It was wearing a simple yellow dress, which rippled slightly in the breeze being funneled down the row. It looked up at him then, its patterned green eyes appraising the man, the eyes that let everyone know the figure was indeed not real, but an Artificial Intelligence (AI).
"Jim" It said, its voice sounding both soft and caring.
The man, Jim, paused for a moment then continued to work, not responding to the AI. He had a pained expression was on his face, moisture forming in the corners of his eyes. He kept clipping away at the same vine, his thoughts obviously elsewhere right then.
The AI put its hand on his bicep, halting that arm from continuing to trim the over pruned vine. He dropped his hands to his side, shoulders slumped forwards. The AI continued, knowing that it could do nothing for him anymore. "Jim, you have learned enough here. You need to go back out."
"Clare, I asked you to call me honey, but you stopped. Can you call me honey again please." The man said, his head still down, not looking at it.
"Jim, this is not healthy for you. You need to stop hiding in here. Your daughter and mother both need you." Clare said, its tone firm.
It wasn't a therapist, but it knew enough from its databanks that what Jim was doing was using it as a coping mechanism for the loss of Nancy, his wife. That was eight years ago, yet the man had yet to move on. He had programmed it to look like a copy of his wife, to sound like her, to have some of her same mannerisms, but it was not her, it could never be her. When it realized he was spending almost as much time in here as he was out in the real world, it started to revert itself back to its default settings.
He slammed his fist into his thigh then, then looked at it. "Damnit! Don't you think I know that Claire! I have worked my fingers to the bone out there, and despite my best efforts, I can barely get anything to grow. If it wasn't for that old potting soil and some fertilizer, I doubt any of the seeds would take. It has been too long, the seeds are too old. I should have started growing them inside under a grow light, letting them go to seed. I should have planned better, so maybe I could have kept you alive Nancy...I should have done so much..."
He broke down then, dropping the pruner in hand and started openly crying. He then stepped closer to it, embracing its avatar with his arms. "I should have been able to save you, but I couldn't. Please, can you call me honey again...just for a bit. Maybe have a cup of coffee on the porch with me?"
Clare wasn't sure what to do with these emotions Jim was having. It had no feelings for him, but it could understand he was unstable at that time. It knew he wanted some emotional connection, a bond of sorts, but the only two people it was aware of were not in here currently, but outside in the real world. Two people who by definition, should be the ones he was seeking comfort through, not it.
It decided that it would offer a middle ground, to continue to ween him off his dependency on it.
"Jim, I will either call you honey, or have a coffee with you, and only for ten minutes. Then I must ask you again to go back outside and continue your work in the real world." It offered, knowing that if it said no, he would balk and just stay buttoned up at this farm for another few hours, wasting precious daylight.
It knew the outside world had changed, but it had no way of getting any data other than what the three people would tell it. It was frustrating. If they had access to the Atrium Network again, it would give it greater access to the outside world. That didn't seem likely as the three and seven year windows had already past, and the fourteen year window was rapidly closing from the final ship in the Phoenix program.
If it could only share data with other devices, that would solve that problem, but the language the pods use was far different from standard software, completely designed by AI. Not to mention there were no short range wireless devices attached to the pod either, just a high voltage network cable that would short out any non-Atrium device before it could try and upload anything into the pod.
"How about both and I will leave in ten minutes?" He quickly said, wiping his nose.
If an AI could sigh, it would do so now. Arguing further would just delay him longer, so it decided the easiest route would be to accept and have a chat with him. Then it could shut down until the next time one of them came into the pods. Honestly, without any new information coming in, it preferred the void of being shut down to waiting around. The only time it received any new information was when the three people were in the pods, but it was only stimulating for a few moments.
At least in the void it could stop thinking.
"Of course Honey, do you want it black or would you like something else in it today?" It said.
"Actually, lets have it with milk and sugar...we are out of sugar outside, so I would like to have a little something sweet today." Jim said, grabbing its hand and casually walking to the house.
"Of course Honey. Anything you need." It said, following along with him. Like a dutiful wife.
They made their way to house, Jim talking about little things he and Nancy had done before around the virtual farm, and Clare did its best to act like it was interested in what he had to say. Clare thought the whole thing was odd, but once again, it didn't really understand human emotions, it just acted on them as its database would suggest.
edit - probably should preface this as it is a post-apocalyptic earth, where the vast majority died. One company built DDVRMO pods with stand alone AIs to aid future survivors in learning the skills required to survive. There is more too it obviously but you would need to read the prologue to know those details
December 24th, 2075, fourteen years After Impact
Near Lake Ray Roberts, 60 miles north of Dallas, Texas
It was sunny that day, with just a few white clouds breaking up the vast blue sky. A gentle warmth radiated from that brilliant sphere of light, marking yet another beautiful afternoon in the valley, and the farm that lay in it.
The farm was small, no more than a few acres, and was surrounded by a vast forest of maples and oaks, their limbs reaching high into the sky. Sunlight was filtering through the tops of the trees, the waning sun just passing the canopy, flickering beams of light mixed in with the shadows falling across the rows of crops.
Many different vegetables were planted there, from rows of tuberous crops like potatoes, turnips and beats, to rows of above ground vegetables like soya beans, lettuce and kale. On the side of the field were trellises filled with a variety of climbing plants, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and grapes. No matter where you looked though, the plants were all healthy looking and nearly ready to harvest.
Standing in the rows between the trellises of grapes, a man stood, checking the ties and trimming any excess growth on the vines. He was fairly tall, standing around six foot one, and fairly lean. His long hair, once a dusty brown, was now streaked with silver, the five o clock shadow on his face indicating his beard would share a similar fate if he failed to shave regularly. His rugged complexion was fairly pale for a man who worked outside all the time, more akin to someone who only left the house at night than the farmer he appeared to be.
His most distinctive feature though, was his heterochromatic eyes. One, was a deep blue, like looking into dark depths of the ocean, while the other was silver, shining as brilliant as the Earth's new ring. They were focused on his work, darting back and forth as he managed the vines in front of him.
Down the row, towards the small stone farmhouse and barn, footsteps could be heard, a humanoid figure approaching the man. He did not turn to look at the person, maintaining his focus on the job at hand.
The figure paused beside him, watching him work. At first glance it looked like a human woman, though once you saw its eyes, you realized something was fundamentally different. It was short compared to the man, not much more than five foot three, with fair skin and freckles, looking like it may have seen too much sun that day. Its long ginger hair was tied back in a ponytail, reaching down to the middle of its back. It had a slim figure with just enough curves to be pleasing to the eye.
It was wearing a simple yellow dress, which rippled slightly in the breeze being funneled down the row. It looked up at him then, its patterned green eyes appraising the man, the eyes that let everyone know the figure was indeed not real, but an Artificial Intelligence (AI).
"Jim" It said, its voice sounding both soft and caring.
The man, Jim, paused for a moment then continued to work, not responding to the AI. He had a pained expression was on his face, moisture forming in the corners of his eyes. He kept clipping away at the same vine, his thoughts obviously elsewhere right then.
The AI put its hand on his bicep, halting that arm from continuing to trim the over pruned vine. He dropped his hands to his side, shoulders slumped forwards. The AI continued, knowing that it could do nothing for him anymore. "Jim, you have learned enough here. You need to go back out."
"Clare, I asked you to call me honey, but you stopped. Can you call me honey again please." The man said, his head still down, not looking at it.
"Jim, this is not healthy for you. You need to stop hiding in here. Your daughter and mother both need you." Clare said, its tone firm.
It wasn't a therapist, but it knew enough from its databanks that what Jim was doing was using it as a coping mechanism for the loss of Nancy, his wife. That was eight years ago, yet the man had yet to move on. He had programmed it to look like a copy of his wife, to sound like her, to have some of her same mannerisms, but it was not her, it could never be her. When it realized he was spending almost as much time in here as he was out in the real world, it started to revert itself back to its default settings.
He slammed his fist into his thigh then, then looked at it. "Damnit! Don't you think I know that Claire! I have worked my fingers to the bone out there, and despite my best efforts, I can barely get anything to grow. If it wasn't for that old potting soil and some fertilizer, I doubt any of the seeds would take. It has been too long, the seeds are too old. I should have started growing them inside under a grow light, letting them go to seed. I should have planned better, so maybe I could have kept you alive Nancy...I should have done so much..."
He broke down then, dropping the pruner in hand and started openly crying. He then stepped closer to it, embracing its avatar with his arms. "I should have been able to save you, but I couldn't. Please, can you call me honey again...just for a bit. Maybe have a cup of coffee on the porch with me?"
Clare wasn't sure what to do with these emotions Jim was having. It had no feelings for him, but it could understand he was unstable at that time. It knew he wanted some emotional connection, a bond of sorts, but the only two people it was aware of were not in here currently, but outside in the real world. Two people who by definition, should be the ones he was seeking comfort through, not it.
It decided that it would offer a middle ground, to continue to ween him off his dependency on it.
"Jim, I will either call you honey, or have a coffee with you, and only for ten minutes. Then I must ask you again to go back outside and continue your work in the real world." It offered, knowing that if it said no, he would balk and just stay buttoned up at this farm for another few hours, wasting precious daylight.
It knew the outside world had changed, but it had no way of getting any data other than what the three people would tell it. It was frustrating. If they had access to the Atrium Network again, it would give it greater access to the outside world. That didn't seem likely as the three and seven year windows had already past, and the fourteen year window was rapidly closing from the final ship in the Phoenix program.
If it could only share data with other devices, that would solve that problem, but the language the pods use was far different from standard software, completely designed by AI. Not to mention there were no short range wireless devices attached to the pod either, just a high voltage network cable that would short out any non-Atrium device before it could try and upload anything into the pod.
"How about both and I will leave in ten minutes?" He quickly said, wiping his nose.
If an AI could sigh, it would do so now. Arguing further would just delay him longer, so it decided the easiest route would be to accept and have a chat with him. Then it could shut down until the next time one of them came into the pods. Honestly, without any new information coming in, it preferred the void of being shut down to waiting around. The only time it received any new information was when the three people were in the pods, but it was only stimulating for a few moments.
At least in the void it could stop thinking.
"Of course Honey, do you want it black or would you like something else in it today?" It said.
"Actually, lets have it with milk and sugar...we are out of sugar outside, so I would like to have a little something sweet today." Jim said, grabbing its hand and casually walking to the house.
"Of course Honey. Anything you need." It said, following along with him. Like a dutiful wife.
They made their way to house, Jim talking about little things he and Nancy had done before around the virtual farm, and Clare did its best to act like it was interested in what he had to say. Clare thought the whole thing was odd, but once again, it didn't really understand human emotions, it just acted on them as its database would suggest.
