“It will kill us,” Jeff said. “I promise you, if we go with it, we are all going to die.”
“If that’s true, then you do you really think we have a choice to leave right now?” Carlee asked. The question was like a right hook to the jaw; they were dead either way.
“Maybe we should wait till your mind clears from all that pressing and get a feel on the paths available to us before we make a decision,” Stefani said.
“Jane spent all day looking at paths, and she never saw one where we talked to an Apostle. This is something new. I don’t care what decisions I would make in other time lines. In this one, we are going to go with it.”
“Then you know I am going with you,” Stefani said. “I’ve always said I’d follow you to the end of the earth and back. I guess it’s time I put that to the test.”
They both looked to Jeff, and he just shook his head. He knew how to press now, at least marginally well. He could avenge his brother and even start to build a better world for the earth’s second-class citizens all by himself. But he knew that he couldn’t abandon his friends, especially if they were going with an Apostle.
“This is a horrible idea,” Jeff said. “But if I am going to go with you, I’m going to need a new leg and arm.”
“You’re so high maintenance, Handsome.” She was still tense, but Carlee took the joke as a sign that they were unified. Stefani pressed him new limbs, as he knew his mind was far from where he needed it to be to be able to press successfully.
“We’ll go with you, Darwin. But, we don’t promise you any more than that.”
Jeff jumped to his feet as his artificial limbs connected to his body. It was empowering to move again even if it was a feat of self-control not to attack the Apostle that stood before him.
“Very well,” Darwin said. Its voice displayed the faintest hints of relief and accomplishment. “I will ensure that nothing happens to your transport while we are away. It is a significant distance from our current location to where I call home. We can begin our flight as soon as you are ready.”
36 TEMPLE
THE TINY DOTS OF NIGHTTIME fires grew rapidly as they approached the otherwise dark landscape of the Yucatán Peninsula. The journey had been exhausting and mind-numbing. The mind-numbing part wasn’t entirely bad; flying behind the wings of an Apostle that he wanted to destroy with every fiber of his being required numbing to deal with.
The flight over the southern part of what had once been the United States and the Gulf of Mexico had been mostly uneventful. Darwin occasionally garnished some fire from leeches on the ground or ones floating in the ocean, but the vagrants had been several miles behind it, and the trouble had never bothered them.
Darwin landed on the ground in front of them, sending people scattering away from the second-generation Apostle. Jeff expected it to start slaughtering the humans, sure it would reveal its true nature, but instead, it turned to welcome the vagrants back to the earth.
Carlee landed first, as gracefully as if she had been a feather lightly floating to the ground. Stefani and Jeff hit the matted grass a moment later.
“Welcome to where I rest my head and seek peace from the dark and dreary world,” Darwin said. It had a mouth that moved with a fluidity that felt like an abomination. Jeff decided that the way it tried to mimic the human form was one of the things he hated most about the giant robot.
Jeff pulled his helmet off and looked around the area with his own eyes. Darwin was as imposing as ever, but thousands of dark-skinned humans stared up at it as if were their savior. He wanted to vomit as he came to the realization that the people around him were Apostle worshippers and that Darwin likely welcomed their faith and adoration.
“You may know this place as the great ruins of the ancient Maya people, Chichén Itzá, as it is called.” Darwin gestured to where fires were lighting up the pyramid that climbed above the thick jungle surrounding the clearing. Seeing the sentient technological marvel against the backdrop of what had once been the pinnacle of human achievement was powerful, even for Jeff. He couldn’t help but think what the humans who had spent their lives stacking stones would think of humanity’s final achievement. “You must be famished. Please, follow me, and we shall eat.”
Carlee nodded her approval, and they followed after the white behemoth. The humans surrounding the temple looked to be in good shape. They wore simple clothing, but they appeared to be well fed, and he didn’t get the vibe that they had suffered any tragedies recently.
“Did we just follow a narcissistic Apostle to its pet cult?” Jeff asked Stefani quietly enough so that she was the only person who could hear him.
“Just don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”
Every leisurely step Darwin took required a dozen from Jeff, and even then, he felt like he was falling behind.
“I’m sorry that we move a little slower than you,” Carlee said.
“There is no need for apologies,” Darwin said. Its head spun around, and it spoke to them as its body continued to walk around the great pyramid. “Adjusting to the speed of humanity was not an easy task at first, but patience is a virtue that is only learned with practice.”
“You go on walks with people often?” Stefani asked. She had the appropriate tone of disdain, unlike Carlee, who acted as if she were speaking to a long-lost friend.
“No, but I do converse with them quite often, particularly of late,” Darwin said. “The human mind and body interact with the world on the millisecond level, an impressive feat for an organic being, but the nature of my existence is governed by a speed many orders of magnitude faster. Between each of my words, you may take a breath; between each of your words, I can simulate the entire history of your species.”
Darwin pivoted and dipped to gesture them toward a pavilion that was lit from above by a brilliant floating lantern. By the time the light made it through the cloth ceiling, it created a warm ambiance that would have felt welcoming in any other circumstances. A table with fruit, vegetables, and a roasted pig sat only a few feet off the ground. Darwin gracefully lay on its side and rested its head just outside of their open-air dining room.
What little appetite Jeff had felt at seeing the food was gone as he sat down, staring across at Darwin’s face, which blocked out the entire starlit background.
“Thank you. This looks wonderful,” Carlee said. She grabbed some grapes from the fruit platter and gestured slightly for the others to do the same. Jeff reluctantly helped himself to some of the meat, which smelled fantastic even though he would never admit it.
“I have always been envious of the human ability to connect directly with the planet that gave us life through food. There is no adequate substitute for my kind.”
“At least you won’t get fat,” Stefani said between bites. She had plenty of reservations about the situation, but apparently, those didn’t carry over to food.
“When you invited us to your home, I wasn’t expecting . . . this,” Carlee said.
“I don’t rest my eyes as you do, but the concept of a place where you are at peace is one that translates better than food. I didn’t construct this place, nor do I live between any walls, but I consider this my home.” Its sentences were rattled off with a mathematical precision that was slowly becoming familiar.
“I expected factories where you could build your body or make leeches. Maybe a mine to find resources or one of those buildings that Bud uses to recycle used metal from cities into its minions,” Carlee said.
“Such facilities would hardly be becoming of a place of solace, let alone a holy site such as this. A temple is no place for things of war.”
“Didn’t they once sacrifice people here?” Stefani asked. “Like, a cut-the-hearts-out-of-virgins type of thing?”