Jarvis
I felt somebody shaking my shoulder, and heard the sound of Marco's voice.
"Wake up, Jarvis. A big plane is circling overhead and flashing a message in code."
Another man came and rushed up. "It's gone," he said. "It waggled its tail once and then soared upward, showing no lights."
"Did anybody try to record the message?" I said.
"The tail waggle is a sign for goodbye that only a human would use."
"We did our best to record it," said Marco. " The flashes were a combination of short and long. I am certain it was a code. But none of us recognised it, "said Marco.
"Show it to me," I said, and he handed me a slip of paper.
"It looks like Morse code," I said, "and it's something I never learned. Get Jock he has been at sea and is sure to know."
After a couple of minutes, Marco returned with a bleary-eyed Jock.
"What do you make of this? "I said and shoved the piece of dog-eared paper into his hand.
—- .- .-. …- .. … —..— —. —- -… .- -.-.. …
"Morse code, "he said. "It's been a while now, give me a minute to wake up and remember."
He stared at the slip and began to spell out: J. A. R. V. I. S. G. O. B. A. C. K.
"Jarvis, go back! There is another letter at the end – 'S'".
"Sol!" I exclaimed. "He must have escaped. He took a chance, circling three times. They are sure to have detected him."
Sure enough, there came the sound of drones overhead.
"He must be heading for the base on the plain. The drones won't think to look that high," I said, "but with no lights and at that altitude, it is going to be a tricky landing."
I had a vivid mental picture of him crashing on the rocky surface, and it was an effort to get rid of it.
"I didn't know that he knew how to pilot an aircraft," Jock said.
"He doesn't. Let's hope he is a quick learner." I replied.
"He did not have the time to land here, and it seems that he wants us to go up the same way we came down. Can you help us get to the foothills, Marco? We should be OK from there."
"Yes, there is a passage that surfaces near where you made your first base. We will wait until dawn, about five hours from now."
"Thanks, Marco. I would like to talk to you in private before we leave."
An hour later, we were alone in Marco's office, and I gave him the news that this world was destined to end. He took it well and pressed for more details.
"I'm sorry, Marco, but I have no idea of the exact time when it will happen. It could be a day, it could be a hundred years, but no longer than that."
"In the reality where you are about to return, the last two thousand years of machine rule never happened. What kind of world will that be, I wonder? I envy you, Jarvis."
"No need, Marco. I am staying right here. I am part of this reality, and my life will end when the world ends, but another me will experience a different future."
"But who is the real you?" said Marco, puzzled.
"We both are," I said. People can exist in multiple states simultaneously. There is even one version of me who fought in the first war against the AI invaders."
"Two thousand years ago?" said Marco.
"Sounds crazy, doesn't it? I replied, "But rationality is not the defining standard. Thousands of years of rational thought on Earth failed to provide an answer to the fundamental questions of who we are or the meaning of existence. AI cannot provide an answer because it works on algorithms, logic, and data. All its responses are rule-based and learned; irrationality, on the other hand, opens other routes based on thoughts and feelings.
"Our brain consists of the pre-frontal cortex, the rational brain, and the limbic system, the emotional brain. AI has no equivalent to the limbic system; it lacks consciousness and subjective feelings. They cannot act on emotional impulses or dream, and they are unable to access the irrational. Their weakness is our advantage.
"But of course, you know all this, Marco, which is the reason why you chose El Viajero del Siglo as your book cypher. I apologise for this quite unnecessary lecture; it was stupid of me."
"Not at all," said Marco. "I like to see my beliefs confirmed, but we were not the first in history to reject reason and logic. In ancient times, there was a movement in the field of the arts and literature called 'The Romantics, and coincidentally enough, it was a response to the rise of the machine in the Industrial Revolution. The Romantics championed irrational inspiration and subjectivity, compared to the mechanical and emotionless drive towards increased production and profit, the hallmark of an industrialised society."
"You are very well informed on the ancient history of our race", I replied.
"We have much free time in our underground prison," said Marco. "We refuse to abandon our cultural heritage, and I had hoped that one day our people would be free to walk the surface again, but now..."
He trailed off, and I sensed the hopelessness he felt.
"You will come again, Marco, I am sure of it. You must remember that identity is fluid, and there are other realities where you will realise your ambitions. A human lifetime is brief, but that is not the end. The physical world is finite, and when that ends, so do the machines. That is the difference between us."
"But it seems senseless to keep my records and preserve our culture," said Marco, "when it will be shortly to be destroyed."
"Come on, Marco, your life will end eventually anyway, perhaps even before this reality disintegrates. All physical existence is temporary, but we must act as if our conscious essence will endure. Some brave philosophers say that even if the universe is ultimately meaningless, you can create meaning for your existence by making choices and living an authentic life."
"Do you have a belief, Jarvis, a religion?" Marco asked.
"No, but I respect people who hold a sincere belief; after all, they may be right, but I have no respect for those who pretend to have a faith and mechanically follow the rituals of whatever church they choose just in case religion's promise of an afterlife for believers is true. They regard faith as a sort of insurance policy.
"Like 'Pascal's Wager?" Marco replied.
"Exactly," I replied. "Oh dear, it seems that I must again apologise for falsely assuming that you don't know this for yourself."
"I am not so small-minded as to take offence, Jarvis, but we must put our discussion to one side and get down to more practical matters. Are you ready to leave?"
"Yes, we have little to take with us. McCloud and Rogers will be with us shortly. I cannot tell you how grateful we are for you taking us in and now guiding us back to the place where we stored our equipment."
"I hope you have a safe climb back to the base," said Marco. "We have much to think about, and since you will be staying here to the end, we may meet again."
We embraced briefly, and shortly after, McCloud, Rogers and the two guides to the tunnel exit met up with us. It was less than two miles to the tunnel end, and after thanking our guides, we stepped out into the bright sunshine and found our equipment where we left it.
Now for the climb.