We, The People Of The Clouds by Simon Kewin

Author:Simon Kewin [Kewin, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SciFi, science fiction, post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, arthurian
Publisher: Stormcrow Books
Published: 2014-03-23T04:00:00+00:00

*

The sun glowed hot on Marlon's face but a cool breeze washed across his body. It felt like he was made of light: strong and young. When he opened his eyes he saw a woman sitting in the sand a little way from him. For once, he recognized her.

“Faye. It worked?”

She nodded. “The clouds are now running on the space hubs.”

“I thought you were all dead.”

“I guess we were. But we got restored from backup when the new hubs came on-line. Just like we designed. We're safe now. Safe for ever.”

“Even the sun will die eventually.”

“Sure. I think we'll worry about that in a few billion years.”

“But the people left back on Earth …”

“They come here if they want, when they die. We're still in range.”

He nodded, looked away, out to sea.

“What is it, Marlon?”

“There was this woman down there, Faye. She'd had a terrible life. Seen a lot of death. She blamed us for everything. Blamed the clouds. A lot of people did. Perhaps they were right to.”

Faye sat next to him to look the way he was looking. “Perhaps. But the people in the clouds might disagree. And maybe it was all going to happen anyway. The projections said biosphere collapse was possible.”

“You think the Earth will survive? The beforelife?”

“Maybe. I hope so.”

“She didn't think we were really even alive. Said we were clever algorithms who only thought we were.”

Faye smiled. It was an old debate. “You were alive minutes ago. Do you feel like the same person now?”

“I suppose. Mostly. I'm still me. But I feel different, too.”

“And the you that was alive down there in London, did he feel the same as that twenty-year old man I first met? Or the ten year old boy I didn't know? Or the newborn Marlon Smith?”

“You always feel like you're the same person. You always feel different, too. You're aware you've grown, changed.”

“So there isn't a definitive you.”

“Guess not.”

“And now you've moved on again. We're always the same and we're always different. That's how life goes. You may not be the Marlon Smith, but you're certainly a Marlon Smith. And I think that's all you ever were or ever could be.”

He nodded, saying nothing for a while. The breeze continued to blow across him and the waves continued to wash up onto the beach. As they always would, now.

“That woman,” he said. “I hope she does come here. Eventually.”

“So you can apologise?”

“Partly that. Partly to ask her if she still feels the same way.”

Faye stood up and held out a hand to him. He looked at her, the sun shining through her red hair. All his memories of her, of them, had been restored. Everything they'd done together. Everything they'd planned.

He stood too. How effortless it was. How supple and strong his limbs. “You think we built any other surprises into the clouds? Any other hidden secrets?”

“Must have.”

“I wonder what?”

“Guess we'll have to go find them.”

“I wonder where the children are?”

“Might have grandchildren by now,” said Faye. “God knows what forms they'll have taken on.

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