RT diary

Leith

I don't remember much about the service that followed; it was so unremarkable. I hid myself in the farthest row of pews, while still keeping the organ console and Margarita in view. I noticed neither Kayden's return nor Father Adriel's sermon. My mind obligingly brought up the images of both Margarita's and her father's shocked faces over and over again until they moulded into one, the eyes staring at me unforgivingly.

I did not get a chance to press Adriel for an answer to my audacious question, but logic told me it would be an unequivocal no.

I was one of the first to leave the church.

The day outside was as bright as it would ever get, lit up with the purple hue, produced by UV panels, which were hidden in between the thick clouds. They have been in place for almost twenty years now, to stop rickets and aid agriculture, switching on for several hours a day. The downside was that the UV light painted everything in a deathly preternatural colour. I looked up at the sky once more. What would the world look like in actual daylight, with genuine sunshine, not obscured by the thick and heavy cloud? As always, there were no answers to my questions.

I've made my way through the back streets towards the other end of the settlement. Still reeling from my earlier insolence and Adriel's reaction to it, I decided against returning home and ventured out to visit my friend Professor Leith. The rather peculiar individual lived by himself and did not socialise much with the rest of the Community. He was the third and the last person who was not troubled by my oddities. On the contrary, he never missed an opportunity to study and dissect me with the help of his many computing machines. His dwelling was also the only one with a steady daily supply of electricity from the grid. Leith has been my last hope in uncovering the answers to my past.

I knocked and waited politely.

"Who the heck is it at this ungodly hour?!" There came a discontented reply from within.

The door opened to reveal a sleepy face with dishevelled brunette curls. The obsidian-coloured eyes seemed struggling to stay open and squinted in the light. Leith procured a pair of glasses to put on.

"Art, is that you? You know better than turning up at my doorstep before afternoon! You woke me up!"

Professor opened the door for me. "Well, since you are already here, come on in then."

There was a large dated mirror in the entrance hall of the cottage, and I unwittingly stole a glance at it. The face that looked back at me was skilfully constructed, I noted with gloomy satisfaction. The chestnut brown hair, green-grey eyes, straight nose, impeccable symmetry and proportions made my face appear attractive. Nevertheless, it lacked vivacity and those small imperfections that made all human faces human. My actual face was a metal mask, crammed with various sensors. The mirror reflected a lopsided smirk. I looked away in disgust.

"Perfection itself!" Leith caught me staring and remarked with half-laugh. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, my dear titanium friend?"

I felt myself getting annoyed at Professor's choice of words.

"Leith, if you don't wish my 'friendly titanium' limb to give you a 'friendly titanium' kick, stop calling me that! This is not even true, as my alloy contains only about a fifth of titanium..."

Upon hearing this, Leith threw back his head and laughed out loud:

"Sweet Jesus, look at you trying to flout the First Law; and to top it off even attempt some humour!" he found it hilarious. "C'mon, robot! Your threats are as empty as Kayden's head" Leith scoffed.

"Perchance... But I could always fry up one of your exquisite machines..." I took two slow steps towards the computer room.

The merriment blew off from the Professor's face; it now showed an expression of mock horror.

"O-o-okay, okay, relax, easy does it. You need my machines to dig out answers, don't you?" He sounded smug now.

"Indeed, I do. I only fear that you may grow bored with the string of failed attempts." I remarked darkly.

"Remember my favourite Einstein quote? The one about the two infinities, the Universe and human stupidity? Well, I'll add the third one: my stubbornness. So, don't you worry, my friend, nothing is un-hackable, and that includes you!"

Leith gestured for me to enter the main room, which was not a room in an ordinary sense. It was rather a holding space for every kind of computer, laptop, processor, screen imaginable. Multiple other hardware parts were strewn on the floor, tables, chairs and other surfaces.

In the middle of it all, a throne was positioned in front of the largest screen and a keyboard. Next to it, there was a settee, turned into a makeshift exam bed, where I promptly lay down.

"I have been thinking, Art, just how to hack you. I have one last idea." He powered up his computing centre and was typing in access codes.

I parted some of my hair on the left temple to expose an input, where Leith inserted a data cable.

"I shall infect you with a good old Trojan."

"I do not like the sound of it".

"Don't chicken out yet, hear me out. We'll get to the inaccessible portion of your data, and I'll let the virus loose. We'll crack the protection before your defences come to wipe us out, and I'll kill it with the vaccine. Easy plan, right?

"In theory, yes".

"There's only one little catch. A Trojan is nasty stuff; therefore, it'll hurt. You'll have to prevent your systems from emergency shutdown somehow."

"I'll do what I can. Let's go".

I closed my eyes and got ready for a dive.