Soteria

My story based on this prompt; The Shortest Short Story Ever Written. It goes like this "The last man on Earth sat in his room. There was a knock on the door."

The last man on earth sat in his room. There was a knock on the door. John was startled because he thought he was the only man alive. Maybe, just maybe there were other survivors. He cautiously stepped to the door and peered through the peephole. As soon as he saw those steel gray eyes, he thrust the door open and pulled her inside. “I thought you were destroyed,” cried John.

I thought you suffered the same fate, my creator.” Soteria was the culmination of John’s work. She was the finest robot ever created. John endowed her with superior intelligence that was equal to his own. Soteria completely reflected John’s personality and his qualities.

John, the entire population of the earth is dead. What caused the death of all those people Soteria? Why am I still alive? I’m not sure John. My preliminary data indicates the source is not environmental or chemical. I will analyze your current biologic and compare those results with your previous data and the test results of the deceased.

My anatomized synthesizer can complete the test in a few seconds. John, I know why all those people died. There is no Actin in any of their bodies. We need this enzyme; it defends our bodies against bacterial infections. John, your Actin levels are very low.

I will die just like everyone else.

Not if you agree to my suggestion. What is your solution to this dilemma?

Allow me to transfer your essence into a robot before time runs out. I will build it according to your design specifications.

John thought to himself. I could complete all my projects. Together, Soteria and I could possibly reverse the effects of the Actin depletion. Ok, Soteria, where do we begin?

Design your perfect robotic form. Then I will build while I’m in acceleration mode. You can rest on the bed during the transfer of your essence. After this process is complete, I will inject you with 30 milligrams of Somnolence. You will drift into an eternal slumber.

Soteria and John work to complete this untried scheme before time runs out for John. Five hours later, they finish. John is weak from the decreasing level of Actin; he stumble’s to the bed. Soteria gently inserts the needle into John’s arm. He passes peacefully into an eternal sleep.

“Soon you will awake and we will be together,” whispers Soteria.

 

 

 

Author's Note

My first attempt at writing in this genre. Soteria is the Greek Goddess for protection and wellfare. She is his protector.

Reviews

[L. J. Devereaux]

Very intriguing premise. Begs the question of what it means to be human. If our "essence" can be transferred into another form, then is that the human? Or is it dependent on the physical embodiment?

If anything, it feels pretty rushed. To be the last surviving person on Earth is a pretty heavy subject, and I would like to see that explored a bit more. Maybe John is holding out hope that there is someone else? You touch on that idea briefly at the beginning.

If it were me, I don't know that I'd jump on board with Soteria's idea right away. I'd wrestle with it because that is a huge decision to make. It bears a lot of weight and consequence. Would she have to persuade him?

Anyway, a very interesting idea here. If you are willing to revisit this, I think this could be fleshed out into something very enjoyable and thought provoking.

[Taylor]

Quite imaginative piece -- left me feeling chilled. I think I would like more scene setting, a slower pace perhaps showing more interaction between the robot and John -- not just their dialogue but perhaps some appeal to the senses. Overall, very enjoyable.

[samparks,sam]

why you quite, I wait your reply