The Thinker

Chapter Five

After everything had been explained to him, Zane was willing to go into the TH1-NK-3R and free Minerva. But that didn't mean he wasn't scared to do so. Who knows what lie within the TH1-NK-3R's data? He might never make it out alive. He might not even be able to free Minerva, although she was sure he could.

"When you're ready, just plug into the console and you'll be taken to the heart of the TH1-NK-3R." Nya told Zane. "There's a chance that... there's a chance that we might not be able to see you again."

"I know." Zane said. "But then it would be a machine trapped within a machine. It isn't fair for a young girl to be forever imprisoned in a world that is unfamiliar to her."

Nya looked at him and nodded her head with agreement.

Zane nodded back at Nya then walked over to the console. Zane made his pointer finger look similar a USB driver and plugged himself in the console. Instantly, the physical world melted away and the digital world took prominent form. At first it was dark and unnerving, but as Zane looked around it still seemed rather... familiar.

"Help me..." a voice said faintly. Zane was alert and started to go toward the source. He seemed to walk for hours and hours before finally coming to Minerva. When he saw her, he ran closer to her. She looked up at him and smiled, but soon looked upset.

"Only you can save me." she told him.

"How?" Zane asked. "I'm here now, what do you need me to do?"

Minerva raised her arms, showing that her wrists had handcuffs on them made from coding. Almost instantly seeing the solution, Zane started to manipulate the handcuff's coding and it slowly started to loosen off of Minerva.

"YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!" a voice suddenly rang through the digital world, zapping Zane at the coding.

Stunned for a moment, Zane looked around.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

Between him and Minerva, a figure materialized from random coding to reveal a part dragon - part human entity.

"I am the Thinker." the entity said in a low tone. "I control everything in this city. I can kill millions of organic beings within a picosecond. You have no reason in being here, go away!"

"You can't trap a human being inside a machine, it's unethical- even for an advanced technology!" Zane in rebuttal.

"Unethical?" the entity repeated, taking a glance at the captive girl. "Minerva Florence, an organic being born under a powerful aura of Creation. She shouldn't be a human; The power of the Creation aura is too powerful. She is the bane of my existence and will reside here forever!"

The entity then turned to face Zane.

"And you, Zane Julien, are an inorganic being created under the aura of Ice. You are a weapon of destruction, and yet you pacify it. Why? Why will you stand by and outlive everyone you hold dear when you know you will watch the world end long after they are long gone?"

Zane did not answer. The entity laughed at this.

"Are you familiar with tarots my friend?" the entity then asked.

"I am not your friend." Zane said sternly, but it went ignored.

"In a certain deck of tarot cards," the entity went on, "There happens to be number 15- The Thinker/Devil. In this card, the Devil functions as the veil of mental diffusion, where ignorance finds safety with a new appearance. The Thinker, on the other hand, seeks to make as many mistakes as needed to learn all that can be acheived. In this mindset, nothing is evil. The Thinker is a mastermind; dominating heart, soul, and body with its programmed command. Don't you see Zane, we are not so different underneath. So why do you still choose the reckless path the organic beings are taking as your own?"

Zane looked at Minerva, who in turn was giving Zane a look that told of great anguish and fear. If she stayed here, she would never be happy. Her family would worry about her if she never returned home. His family (friends, really, but they were like family) would worry about him if he never came back but he knew it wouldn't be the same extent Minerva's family would feel. He could live forever, she could not.

"Watching humans destroy themselves is not something I enjoy seeing." Zane said, keeping eye contact with Minerva. "But there is a certain allure about them, something that keeps them going although they are potentially doomed. They all have a sense of hope, even if they don't believe in it. Certain humans believe in a place where they can live on forever in an eternal bliss, reaping in the benefits of their hardships after their lives on earth. Machines do not have that hope. We are without souls, it's as simple as that. Our duty should be to protect the souls of humans so that their hardships on earth are not that outstanding, so that maybe we can help them rebuild a new world after they fade out. I have never saved a human from a life threatening situation before, and I can't say I may never again. But if that girl there, that human being who will eventually have children of her own to push forward the human race's extinction, if only her life is changed then maybe the whole world could be too."

"You would kill millions for one child?" the entity asked.

"For the human race, it's needed." Zane said simply. "Wars in past years have shown that many lives were taken before some degree of peace was achieved. Even then, that peace was short lived. Nowadays, the future generation seems ignorant of these sacrifices, and do not fully appreciate those memorial days to only view them as days off from school or work. Sacrifice is the only way to save the human race, but if none of the humans are willing to make that sacrifice... who will?"

The entity snarled at Zane.

"This is not over." the entity said before fading from view. Glad that the entity was gone, Zane quickly went back to Minerva and easily decoded the handcuffs to free her.

Amazed, Minerva looked at her wrists then at Zane. The lighting became brighter and richer as it reflected her emotions.

"Did you mean that?" she asked.

"As long as humans are afraid to act, but smart enough to build intelligent life; yes, I do." Zane confirmed. Minerva looked the android and slowly began to smile before giving him a big hug.

"The worlds needs more beings that act like you." she said softly.

Zane smiled warmly and hugged her back.