Under McCollum Avenue

Under McCollum Avenue

The wind whipped against a forlorn road sign, which alone served as the last marker of identification for McCollum Avenue. The sign's white letters were partially stripped from its green paint, but anyone would have been able to look at the outline that the letters had left. If there was anyone still around who could properly understand the sign's designation, however, was yet to be seen.

On McCollum Ave., there was a building that had once been known as The Center for Fertilization Advancement. The complex's vaulted ceiling and many of its top floors were missing, but that no longer mattered.

Under the absent ceiling was the lobby, which was now silent except for the scurrying of rats and other scavengers. The breeze picked up discarded pieces of stationery, yellowed from exposure to the elements, and scattered them throughout the lobby. None of the scientists, directors, and the single senator still left in the lobby seemed to care that the paper was being strewn about so carelessly. The receptionist may have, as it was the receptionist's job to care about such things. But she remained seated at her desk, staring up at the open sky.

A few floors down, past the bedrock and the public basement of the building, was a space that held lab equipment that had gone long without any cleaning. Dust had laid a thick blanket over most of the room, clearly disused. Scientists had worked there once, but none of them had been inside the lab for several years. They had served their purpose long before and, knowing that their work could only be carried on without them, had gone home to be with their families, friends, and pets. Some had simply left to be alone.

Under the laboratory, in a small circular room that for all the world did not exist, there was a hatch. Upon that hatch was stamped one word in black, utilitarian print: "EDEN".

If the hatch were to be opened, an automated staircase would extend down into the depths of the earth. Down this staircase was another larger, oval-shaped facility, almost the size of an auditorium. It was divided by standing walls into sections. These sections were made up to be pastiches of different rooms of the stereotypical family home. There was a playroom, nursery, kitchen, and library, to name a few. In the back of this artificial community were several doors, which led to several storage rooms. A few of these storage rooms contained generators that worked to power the facility. The rest were pantries, filled to the brim with preserved and canned foods that would last until the end of this millennium and into the next.

In the corner of the auditorium a final door led to a laboratory, constructed to the specifications of the one just eighty feet above it, only on a smaller scale. The equipment in this lab was much better taken care of than in the one above, almost sparkling in the harsh, clinical light. On this particular day, in that small lab, a modern miracle was taking place.

A large humanoid figure towered over a metal tube filled with amniotic fluid. This figure, a robotic construct that had only been designated as GA-RD3N by its creators, was carefully overseeing the draining of this tube. It was one of the main directives of its programming, to facilitate the final stages of mankind's self-applied resuscitation.

A flat, square face examined the code flashing across the deep blue console that reported the status of the tube's sole occupant. Metal fingers clacked against the plastic keys on the console, initiating the sequence that would flush away the viscous liquid. A final clack, an action that would seem momentous to a human but was lost to the robot, began the gurgling and sucking that signaled the proper removal of the fluid from the tube. When the last of it had drained away, the glass on the tube's surface pulled back with a shudder.

GA-RD3N stuck its squat head into the tube, looking for signs of life. This was the most delicate of the directives and the most uncertain. No simulations, no postulates, no best laid-plan of the scientists that had set these events in motion could guarantee a one-hundred percent chance of success.

A chortling, incoherent noise wafted out of the tube. Then a whimper. Finally, the loud, wailing cry of a baby echoed throughout the small laboratory.

Signs of life had been found and registered.

*

Lif crawled across the carpeted floor of the nursery. The nursery was one of three rooms that were designated for infant care, equipped to handle a growing child. And Lif had been growing, more so than projected at this point of her life. A good sign of health according to the thousands of studies that had been fed to the AI that drove GA-RD3N's actions.

GA-RD3N dutifully stood at the entrance of the nursery room, watching the baby scurry across the carpet. She bumped into one of her many stuffed animals. After bouncing up and down on one unfortunate elephant, she lost interest and scrambled back across the carpet. The robot caretaker's flat face swiveled to and fro, tracking the progress.

The crawling stopped abruptly as Lif gurgled something.

"Hello to you as well," GA-RD3N automatically responded. The robot's programming dictated speaking back to the child whenever it attempted to express itself verbally, to encourage speech development.

Lif giggled at GA-RD3N before turning its attention back to the floor. It wobbled a little before carefully rising on her small, shaking legs. GA-RD3N's eyes flicked from green to red as he began to record the event. If Lif could stand and walk ten feet, it would be processed and stored in the robot's memory as an important developmental marker.

Lif took one uncertain step, then another, followed by a third. Confidence rising, the infant began to waddle faster, laughing at her sudden increase in speed. This would prove to be her downfall, as the adventurous Lif could not maintain her course and keep her balance. She fell onto her stomach and began to cry.

She had walked nine and a half feet. GA-RD3N's recording ended, was promptly deleted, and a note was logged in its memory that she had achieved a nine-and-a-half-foot walk, which indicated she should reach the marker of ten feet in one of her next three attempts.

The robot approached the child, lifting her up into GA-RD3N's arms. It was time to rock her to sleep, one of several programmed solutions that were in place to respond to crying.

GA-RD3N's placed the girl in her crib. It watched her as she tired herself of crying and eventually fell asleep.

"There is always next time," it said.

*

"Today we start school," GA-RD3N said. Lif stared up at the robot listlessly from the breakfast table. She had woken up a little earlier than usual and the change was obviously having an effect.

"What is school, Gar?" Lif asked, yawning widely.

"School is where you will be educated." The automaton picked her up. Lif had been able to walk unassisted for some time now, but she still insisted on being carried on occasion. It was permissible; GA-RD3N's programming allowed it to carry her until she reached six years of age. At that age, Lif would be responsible for walking on her own.

"What's eju-kate-ed mean?" Lif asked, leaning against the robot's metal shoulder. Despite the early hours and her apparent weariness, she made an effort to pronounce each part of the new word.

"You will learn about subjects, such as mathematics and science," came GA-RD3N's automatic reply. "They will equip you to help the world."

"The world," Lif perked up a bit, a sense of wonder to her voice. "I want to hear about the world."

"Then we will start with geography," GA-RD3N said. It opened the door to the classroom, where a light automatically illuminated the three rows of five desks, each carefully arranged. At the front of the room was a desk, with a crimson plastic apple placed on it to simulate the proper place of the teacher, when classrooms were full of students. The desk was much too large for GA-RD3N's frame, but that did not matter much as it would never actually use the desk. There was a blackboard that took up the entire front wall.

GA-RD3N placed Lif into the middle desk of the front row. Her arms reached out to grip the sides of the wooden desk as she steadied herself to the new surroundings. Her eyes, bright and almost comically large, made their way around the room. They lingered on the words and numbers taped on the walls, the pictures of animals, and they stayed the longest on the map of the continents.

The robot tapped the blackboard, which rippled as it transformed from an artificial rendering of black slate stone to a bright screen with several modules floating upon its surface. Each module was labeled with a different area of study. GA-RD3N tapped the module labeled GEOGRAPHY.

"Let us begin," it said. Lif's eyes turned to her teacher. "Our home is located in a continent called North America...

*

"Mitochondria," Lif answered. GA-RD3N's face lit up bright green, signifying a correct response. Lif sat at the front desk, one hand propping up her drooping face. It was the middle of the afternoon, and the day's lessons were dragging. GA-RD3N had not registered Lif's increasing boredom with the subject matter, continuing right along with the lesson.

"Correct," came the automatic reply, its synthesized voice echoing around the classroom. He tapped the blackboard, which threw up another colorful splotch, similar in squigiliness to the splotch Lif had just identified.

"And what is the term for this part of the cell?" GA-RD3N asked. Lif blinked at the dots that counted as GA-RD3N's eyes. She looked down, then back up. No answer. GA-RD3N recognized the behavioral signals of hesitancy.

"Gar, can I ask you a question?" Lif finally said. The robot's head tilted slightly at the request.

"You know you are allowed one question on material you have studied already," came the automated reply.

"It's not about cells," Lif added quickly.

"Is it about biology?"

Lif thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess."

"Then you may ask your question."

Lif pointed at GA-RD3N, her small finger reflected in the glass of her caretaker's screen face.

"Gar, are you alive?"

Unlike GA-RD3N's usual answers, there was no automatic response. Its LED eyes blinked, little blocks of green bumping up and down as it considered the question.

"I recall that I used myself as an example when you were taught the definition of the word 'alive' for your introduction lesson to biology. I stated that I do not fit the definition of alive, but a bird does. I said this on the 15^th of March, 5 P.L. at 11:32 A.M."

GA-RD3N had barely ceased the expositional reply before Lif said, "I know all that. But the definition of alive is something that is active, alert, and responsive-"

"That is very good memorization."

"-and you are all those things. You walk around, you make my food. You talk to me." Lif arms swung wildly from side to side as she made her points. "But I have never seen a bird that is any of those things."

"That is false. There was a video that accompanied the definition," GA-RD3N corrected.

"On the screen, yeah. But you are in front of me, you're..." Lif fumbled for the right word. "Real."

The lights on the robot's screen bumped again. They went up and down for a long time, longer than Lif thinks she has ever seen them dance while waiting for an answer from GA-RD3N. Finally, the lights stopped.

"In that case," GA-RD3N said, "I suppose you can think of me as alive."

Lif smiled. "We're both alive."

The robot's screen face blinked green. "Correct."

*

GA-RD3N finishing chopping the tomatoes. GA-RD3N had a small knife that could be expelled from its left hand, but for safety reasons that tool could only be used in emergencies. However, its mechanical fingers were dexterous enough to wield any number of kitchen knives. GA-RD3N stopped, determined that the tomatoes were sliced to a suitable thinness, and then placed them on the nearby open-faced sandwich. The tomatoes added a much needed genuine taste to the corned beef and freeze dried bread and cheese.

The garden had been coming along efficiently. Artificial UV lights, specially designed to use as little power as possible while producing a maximum output, doused a twenty square meter plot of soil housed in one of the food storage units. GA-RD3N had been programmed to construct the garden not long after Lif had been born but also instructed to abandon the project if its effort outweighed its production. The garden had been more fruitful than anticipated, and now produced a bevy of tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, corn, and occasionally fruit. These crops were cycled seasonally, and at the appropriate age Lif had joined GA-RD3N in maintaining the garden. She enjoyed it immensely, and GA-RD3N was able to log the activity as part of Lif's education.

GA-RD3N brought the sandwich from the kitchen to the living room unit, where Lif typically spent her time at this time of day. The next two places to look for Lif, in order of probability, was the gym and the classroom. The classroom unit was quickly losing favor with Lif, however, as GA-RD3N had removed the brightly colored trappings as she had grown older. She also did not find much challenge in the daily curriculum. Lif's appetite for knowledge was considered a positive to GA-RD3N's programming. Study outside of the classroom, unprompted by the robotic caretaker, was a sign that Lif was gifted intellectually. Conversely, such study often made scheduled class time redundant, and GA-RD3N's AI was working furiously to fill the extra time with beneficial activities for Lif.

GA-RD3N did not have to search the two next probable areas, finding Lif in the living room. Curiously, she had moved aside the couch and littered the floor with cushions and pillows, upon which she was relaxing. The video-wall was playing an older film, genre "western". The action depicted a grizzled old man charging a group of other, similarly dressed grizzled men. They exchanged gunfire as they barreled toward one another furiously on the backs of horses.

Lif, noticing GA-RD3N for the first time, reached up for the sandwich. GA-RD3N handed her the plate, and in the same motion picked up one of the many pillows strewn across the floor. Lif put a hand on it before GA-RD3N could pick it up. "Leave it, Gar, please."

"I should pick these up," GA-RD3N replied, but released the pillow. GA-RD3N's programming dictated that if any resistance to an action is made by Lif, then it is to stop any movement immediately. The probability that she would harm her caretaker was negligible, and an inadvertent move would far more likely lead to Lif being injured.

"I'll pick these up later, I promise," Lif said.

GA-RD3N's screen face nodded slightly in response. It turned to leave.

"Wait, Gar," Lif waved at her caretaker with her mouth full of sandwich. "Watch movies with me."

GA-RD3N processed the request. "I should instead tend to maintenance."

Lif took another bit of her sandwich. "Is the maintenance secondary or primary importance?"

"Secondary."

"Well, I'm primary importance so you can watch a movie with me," she patted the cushions next to her.

GA-RD3N cycled through replies, its internal programming weighing Lif's statement with the maintenance routines he was to perform at this time. Ultimately GA-RD3N found the primary consideration of Lif's request did come before the secondary nature of the other tasks, which could be completed later. It took two steps forward, standing on the couch cushions that Lif had indicated.

"You can sit," Lif said. Then, quizzically, she asked "Can you sit?"

"I cannot bend my limbs in the manner in the way you can, Lif, that allows you to 'sit'," GA-RD3N stated, "but I can retract my posture to lower my stature. Would that be suitable?"

"Sure."

The hydraulics in GA-RD3N's system began to release, and there was a whirring sound as GA-RD3N slowly sank to the ground. GA-RD3N's "legs" folded under it until its body was more box than bipedal. The square face turned to Lif. "How is this?"

"That's fine." Lif waved a hand. "This is my favorite part."

In the film, the first grizzled man, wounded by gunfire, turned his face toward a sunlit open valley as a little girl cried over him. The camera lifted above the two of them to display the majesty of the sunrise. GA-RD3N tracked Lif's eyes. She seemed far more entranced by the natural beauty of the movie's setting instead of the emotional scene between the dying cowboy and his ward. GA-RD3N processed this information, trying to determine if nature films would be an appropriate addition to Lif's curriculum.

*

Lif let out a series of racking coughs as GA-RD3N replaced the rag currently keeping her head cool. The robot held a glass of water to her lips, made her take a drink, and then removed the glass. Next GA-RD3N held an ingestible medicine to her in the same fashion, which required more prompting to get her to drink. There was a moment where her reactions suggested she would be unable to keep the medicine down, but it soon passed.

GA-RD3N had found Lif trying to walk to the classroom unit after she had been twenty-six minutes late. She had been stumbling along slowly, one hand against the wall to keep balance, and GA-RD3N immediately scanned for symptoms of illness. After determining she had a fever, GA-RD3N had scooped her up and took her to the infirmary unit. Carrying was allowed if GA-RD3N could determine that Lif could not walk on her own.

The infirmary had been stocked with medicine for any minor illness that could possibly affect Lif. It even had a room where minor surgeries could be performed, such as bone-setting and appendectomy. Lif had also been routinely vaccinated and their underground home was kept at the same sterility as a hospital, outside of select parameters in rooms that by their nature did not allow for such sterility. Yet there was always a risk of sickness, and GA-RD3N was programmed to make Lif a sole priority upon discovering any illness or injury. Currently her illness was at a low risk of threatening her life. GA-RD3N was required to focus on her until the risk was considered nonexistent.

"Gar, am I going to die?" Lif asked.

GA-RD3N calculated her chances of survival for the nth time and picked the most comforting phrase. "It is very unlikely that you are going to die. You only have a fever."

Lif groaned. "But didn't everyone up there get sick?" Lif glazed eyes stared at the ceiling.

"Lif, you know I cannot discuss anything outside the facility until P.L. 18. Please respect your education goals." As he said this, GA-RD3N remotely adjusted the temperature of the infirmary.

"But didn't you say that my current education exceeds the goals for P.L. 18?"

"That was to motivate you toward working harder. It does not physically make you P.L. 18."

Lif's eyes flitted. The medication she took was supposed to inflict drowsiness, which would assist in the healing process. GA-RD3N took another diagnostic and discovered a slightly improved condition.

Lif, in a voice that was trying to hold back both tears and sleep, said "I'm just afraid of the outside. You said we should never go out there but now I'm sick and... and." She stopped.

GA-RD3N processed Lif's current emotional state, her health, and decided that it was in her best interest to divulge some of what had happened.

"I assure you Lif, that is not possible. The sickness that happened above has obsolesced. It was intentionally created and deployed to affect large areas, to be incredibly potent among large populations. But without any human hosts, the disease quickly dissipated. The air above is actually cleaner than it has been in over fifteen years."

Lif sniffed. "People made the disease?"

"Yes. Even though it is not a disease as you think of one."

"Why?"

"Why what, Lif?"

"Why make a disease?"

"Because they did. I have already told you what I am currently able."

Lif accepted the information stoically, or she was about to fall asleep. She held out her hand toward GA-RD3N.

"What do you need, Lif?" asked the robot.

"I want to hold your hand."

GA-RD3N processed the request. "Very well." The robot held out its hand. Lif squeezed the mechanical hand and then fell asleep shortly after.

GA-RD3N stayed there until her fever broke. After the risk to Lif's life became non-existent, the robot went about its other tasks for the day.

*

Lif was late for dinner, and GA-R3DN was attempting to find her. She was not in the gym, which was a normal pre-dinner activity. The robot was now checking other rooms, the current destination being Lif's living quarters. It was becoming more and more difficult to find her based on probability alone. GA-R3DN's AI was almost constantly correcting and adjusting its internal programming. It was more difficult to keep up with Lif the older she became.

Lif's living quarters were sequestered somewhat separately from the rest of the facility. The location was to give Lif some modicum of privacy, even if GA-R3DN could check every room in the facility in less than thirty minutes. GA-R3DN's programming instructed that the robot knock once if GA-R3DN had seen Lif in the past two hours. After the two-hour mark, the robot could enter units without making its presence known. It had been three hours since GA-R3DN had seen Lif, so he opened the door.

Lif's living unit was simple; there was little besides a bed, a closet, a plastic dresser, and a mirror. A door near the bed led to a small bathroom, one of only two in the whole facility. Next to her bed sat a small nightstand, the only item in the facility that was made of real wood.

Lif was standing in front of the mirror, wearing only lower clothes. At the sound of the door opening she shrieked, covering her bare chest with her arms.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes", GA-R3DN stated. Then a pillow smacked into its square head.

"Get out!" Lif screamed. She was now wrapped up in a blanket on her bed now, hugging her other pillow as if she needed it for protection.

Based on her reaction, GA-R3DN detected embarrassment. There were several replies available for such a situation.

"Do you have any questions about your changing body? I am happy to help you understand anything-" the second pillow interrupted and muffled the rest of the sentence.

"Just leave, Gar." Lif was lying face down in her bed, now completely swaddled in her blanket. GA-R3DN audio receptors could barely make out the muffled words, but there was a distinct sound of crying.

Programming determined that it was best to leave and allow her to come to dinner in her own time. "Please be at dinner soon," he said, and closed the door.

Lif did not come down to dinner that night. GA-R3DN made a plate for her and left it at her door before completing its nighttime routines.

*

GA-RD3N found Lif in the education room, flipping through random images on the large blackboard screen. Lif had run through nearly all of the education classes that GA-RD3N had been installed with and was nearing completion of her designated education nearly two years ahead of schedule. Yet recently she remained in the classroom beyond education time, reading about past cultures, the cities and nations that had fallen during the catastrophe. Today she was pouring over maps.

GA-RD3N ran a quick diagnostic to make sure Lif was in good health and then went on to do other chores. But before it could leave the classroom, Lif called for it to stop.

"Gar, I want you to look at something," she said. GA-RD3N's electronic eyes processed another map. It was different from the geographical maps that Lif had used in her studies, but instead much more detailed. After a moment, GA-RD3N registered the map as a depiction of the city that their facility was underneath.

Lif pointed a laser near a street named McCollum Ave. "Our home is here, right?"

GA-RD3N eyes blinked green. "That's right."

Lif used a remote device to zoom away from the current viewpoint. "And this is our city, Angel City? Right?"

"Translating it roughly into English, yes."

Lif swiped on her remote, and the map sped along, passing away from their home into the northern United States. Lif stopped it above the state marked Oregon. A flashing light pulsed in the middle of the state.

GA-RD3N's screen face turned red. "This map is a live feed," it stated.

"Yeah, I figured out how to get around the encryptions about a week ago. No other map we have is this modern, but still pretty boring. But today, see this?" Lif pointed at the tiny blinking light. "This begin to flash today and I've been trying to figure out what it means."

The map disappeared in an unceremonious blink of light. Lif made a short noise between a scream and a frustrated yell, an exclamation that GA-RD3N had become accustomed to as Lif entered adolescence.

"You cannot view that map until P.L. 18," the robot said, relaying the instructions of its programming.

"I have achieved P.L. 18 education, I should be allowed to see these maps!" Lif screamed.

GA-RD3N eyes bounced around its screen face. "Lif, you know that unacceptable outbursts will not be met with responses." Despite the reminder Lif continued to, loudly, provide reasons for why she should have access to restricted materials. GA-RD3N continued to repeat that unacceptable outbursts will not be provided any responses.

Lif fumed while GA-RD3N remotely examined the digital safeguards to restricted information. Lif glared up at the robot's dancing eyes and sighed.

"Is that flashing light...is that marker another home like this? Is it another person?"

GA-RD3N stopped its processing and focused its attention on Lif. "Thank you for speaking quieter. As to your question, I cannot answer that until P.L. 18."

Lif sneered, "Fine." She left the classroom as GA-RD3N examined the digital safeguards on the education room interfaces. After a satisfactory digital lock-down, the robot proceeded to complete the day's maintenance.

*

GA-RD3N electronic eyes brightened as it "awoke" for the day. GA-RD3N's internal clock noted that the time was 2:05 P.M. GA-RD3N's programming immediately noted that time and processed it as error. GA-RD3N only powered down for a total of three hours every morning, from 1:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M. Internal logs noted that GA-RD3N had powered down at the correct time, but he had awakened thirteen hours later instead of three.

According to programming, the first task after any major error was to find and assess the safety of Lif. GA-RD3N often charged in the "rest" position, collapsed in on itself to facilitate easy storage while charging. As the robot's body began to extend into a normal bipedal form, it became stuck. GA-RD3N reached around to find that ropes had been tied around various parts of its mechanical body, making it impossible to unfurl from the boxy rest position. After noting specifically how he had been tied down, the small utility knife ejected out of GA-RD3N's left hand. After a moment of sawing, the ropes fell around its feet and GA-RD3N was able to stand properly. GA-RD3N logged that there had been an intentional interference with its body on the way to Lif's living quarter. Emergency protocol now dictated that a full facility sweep for trespassers be initiated once Lif was found.

GA-RD3N opened Lif's door to find the room empty. Her nightstand and dresser both had drawers open, quickly ransacked for whatever items were in them. Other items were missing as well; a few personal effects that Lif had collected over the years. They were mainly old parts of GA-RD3N's that the robot had thrown away during self-maintenance, such as old bolts and wires.

Lif's room had been cleaned out. GA-RD3N shifted into emergency mode, and wirelessly activated the facilities alarm system. The yellow lights deactivated to be simultaneously replaced by a dark red sheen that bathed the entire facility in a hellish glow. GA-RD3N switched to a low-light vision to better search through the facility. The top priority was now to find Lif and ensure her safety. Upon a determination that Lif was missing from the facility, the programing authorized GA-RD3N to venture outside to search for her.

GA-RD3N searched the entirety of the facility as quickly as its mechanical body could move. He traveled from Lif's room to the fitness area, covering the entire facility in a new record of sixteen minutes. Yet the robot could not find Lif. Even the facility's automated cameras, which GA-RD3N had rarely referred to over the course of Lif's life, showed empty rooms and empty hallways. GA-RD3N programming forced GA-RD3N to even destroy parts of the facility in its search. Finally, there was no longer any logical place to look.

GA-RD3N went to the center of the facility. At the robot's command, a cylindrical module arose from the floor with a puff of steam. Five slots slid back on the module's face. All five of GA-RD3N's fingers on the robot's right hand retracted slightly, each metal digit transforming into a thin spiral. GA-RD3N plugged its hand into the five ports within the module. The module silently approved of the action, and a high-pitched whine from the module briefly reigned louder than the repeating alarm.

Above the module a round hole released from a pressurized locking system, swinging out on hinges that had not moved in years. Despite their age the door to the upper lab opened almost effortlessly. An automatic staircase lowered itself from the ceiling, coming to rest beside the module. GA-RD3N began to surmount the staircase.

"Gar, wait."

GA-RD3N turned to see Lif standing behind it. Her face was obscured by the lack of light, but it was clearly her. She was wearing a heavy camping backpack, which had been stored in the facility larders. GA-RD3N had been so focused on finding Lif that it had not registered that the backpack was missing.

Lif appeared fine but GA-RD3N began an immediate visual diagnostic. The alarm immediately stopped and the lights returned to normal. As a matter of protocol an electronic voice proclaimed, "EDEN exit has been opened," a reminder that echoed across the facility.

GA-RD3N completed a visual diagnostic. "I am pleased to see you are safe Lif. Please come with me to the medical ward."

"No."

GA-RD3N computed the refusal. "We must take you to the medical ward to make sure that you are in full health."

"No."

GA-RD3N face screen shifted somewhat. It was not a characteristic of Lif to refuse commands so obstinately.

"Lif, I must make sure that you are safe following an emergency."

"I know, Gar. But I'm not going with you to the medical ward. I'm leaving."

GA-RD3N processed. "Leaving?"

"Leaving home."

"You may not leave home until P.L. 21. The outside world is not yet safe despite the absence of the disease."

Lif gripped the straps of her backpack. "I'm done living my life here Gar. I'm leaving and I want you to come with me."

"I cannot go outside. There is likely no place I can charge myself." GA-RD3N stepped down from the staircase, blocking Lif. "You must go the medical ward."

Lif took a reflexive step back but stood her ground. "You won't hurt me Gar."

"That is correct. But I won't let you pass either."

"I want to leave, Gar." Lif said.

"No."

"I need to leave, Gar!" Lif said. She was crying now, the words barely making it past the sobs in her throat.

"Go to the medical ward."

Then GA-RD3N vision shifted violently to the left as the robot crashed to the ground. Internal diagnostics alerted GA-RD3N that a hydraulic in the left leg had suffered severe damage, resulting in an imbalance. GA-RD3N tried to sit up, but then damage to the right arm was registered as well. GA-RD3N turned its face to see that its arm had been snapped off. Ga-RD3N looked up to see Lif standing over it, one of the knives from the kitchen in one hand and its metal arm in the other. Tears fell onto the GA-RD3N screen face, partially obscuring its vision.

"I'm sorry," she said.

GA-RD3N's AI kept trying to come up with solutions to what had happened, how to respond. Yet the programmers had never accounted for the child attacking its caretaker.

"I'm sorry, Gar, but...I was dying down here," Lif wiped her nose.

GA-RD3N registered the response. "You are in perfect health, Lif. But you must go to the medical ward so I can be sure."

Lif laughed slightly, wiping away the tears. "Wait right here." She ran off, leaving GA-RD3N broken upon the floor. She soon returned and dumped tools and parts on the ground next to GA-RD3N's working hand.

"There, you can repair yourself. I'll come back. I studied the maps as much as I could. It's all up here," Lif tapped her head. "I also studied your build for the last few years. I've gotten you exactly..." her voice broke for a second, "exactly what you need to repair yourself, okay? I'll come back to see you."

GA-RD3N registered all this. The programming provided no responses, so alternate patterns began to formulate within GA-RD3N's AI brain. The pathway it created was to assess Lif's ability to survive.

"Lif, you...memorized the maps?"

"Yeah, as much as I could."

"And food?"

She patted the backpack. "Between dried and canned food I have about two weeks of rations. I have survival equipment and I can scavenge." The tears had stopped falling and Lif had gotten her voice under control. "I'm going to Oregon. I'm going to find my...sibling." She said the final word almost like a question.

"Survival studies was not your top class but you should be satisfactory," GA-RD3N said.

"Will you be okay?" Lif asked.

GA-RD3N took a minute to consider the question. "I will be okay."

Lif smiled. A big toothy grin that was one part sadness and two parts excitement. She grabbed GA-RD3N's mechanical frame and lifted the robot up, no small feat of strength. She wrapped her body around GA-RD3N. An embrace. A "hug".

"Thank you," she whispered. She laid the robot back down gently and then she was gone, up the metal steps into the unknown.

GA-RD3N laid there in the dark for several hours, the necessary repairs left undone. The AI that served as GA-RD3N's brain was calculating Lif's chances of survival in her journey. It finally settled, promisingly, on 73.4%, not accounting for extreme outliers.

GA-RD3N's electronic eyes disappeared. Three words appeared across GA-RD3N's face: Prime Directive Achieved? Y/N.

The Y flashed twice, denoting selection. Then, at 10:30 P.M., in P.L. 18, GA-RD3N ceased functions.