The Calling

A Submission to Lunar Awards Prompt Quest #2

The Attendant walked slowly down the corridor in the cold light of the artificial sun and a young boy followed. The air was tense and full of the boy’s grief. Every fiber in his body ached to run away, to hide. But he knew there was nowhere they wouldn’t find him. So he continued with his heart pounding in his ears, off-beat from the Clank! Clank! Clank! of The Attendant’s metal footsteps. 

The Calling was the one thing that everyone looked forward to. Once a year, everyone was automatically drafted into a lottery. One lucky member would get the blessed chance to meet The Oracle, the artificial intelligence that ran their utopian society. It was said to be omniscient, able to see not only everything within The Cave, but in the whole universe, too. They said It could see into the past as well as the future. When Called, the lucky individual could supposedly ask it any questions they wanted to and some even claimed that it would grant a miracle. Afterwards, they would be given the most sacred treasure of all: a purpose. RC couldn’t ever get a straight answer about any of that, though. Because no one ever returned after they were Called. Why didn’t they ever return, he wondered.

RC had received The Calling this year. He was determined to be the first to return.

They walked silently through the maze of immaculately white hallways that had a lingering sterile smell. People parted like the sea in front of them. Many gave the young boy cold looks when they thought he wasn’t looking. For eight years RC had lived in The Cave. It was the only home he ever knew. It was a perfect society, made that way by the benevolent automata that carefully watched over them. No one went without food, shelter, or even the most complex of medical care. All that was ever asked of them was their complete obedience. And no one ever considered dissent. 

As he followed the Attendant to his Calling, RC took his copy of The Scriptures out of his back pocket and stared at it as they walked. He didn’t study it as much as he should have and he wasn’t the most voracious reader for his age. At least, he didn’t think so. He was the only child he’d ever met. The other citizens usually kept their distance, unsure of how to interact with someone so young. Everyone except Emphy. She would read him The Scriptures every mealtime between bites of exactly portioned out protein chunks and vitamin enriched gelatin cups. She even prayed with him every night. He wished she was there with him now.

A few moments later, the Attendant and the boy were standing in front of a large, metal door. The door opened swiftly and soundlessly. The Attendant motioned for RC to proceed into the room without him. The boy hesitated, but eventually relented. Once inside, there was a procession of robots there to clean, analyze, test, poke and prod at him to ensure he was pure enough to proceed to the Holy One. He didn’t cry as he was injected with something one bot called “penicillin.” He had only cried one time in his entire life. A feeling grew inside of him dark, and suffocating. 

Cold metal hands and cold metal beds left RC numb to the world around him. The whole time he was being tested with various medical instruments he kept going over in his head what he would say. What he would ask for. Oh great Oracle, All I want is to be able to go back home after this. Please, grant me this simple request. The whole process took a bit longer than normal, they claimed, due to his elevated heart-rate. But this was eventually written off as normal. “RC-75 must just be excited. After all, why wouldn’t he? He’s about to see Its Holiness for the first time!” they said. 

And then there he was, standing in front of one last doorway. The passage was open, but the room was dark. “So no one impure would accidentally see the magnificence.” RC entered.

The Oracle was a spindly machine, all eyes and legs perched up on a spiderweb of cables and antennae. The boy scanned the robot while it looked back at him with concern. The boy’s wits returned to him and he averted his eyes. He stared at the ground as he fumbled an apology for his rudeness. 

“There is nothing to apologize for,” a voice said. It was soft and warm and sounded as if it was coming from all around the room. “You are afraid. But you don’t need to be. You are a unique case, RC-75. Special, more than you could ever know.” 

This surprised RC enough for him to forget himself momentarily. He looked up and met The Oracle’s gaze. All of its many eyes were trained right at him. Once they locked eyes, RC was mesmerized, now unable to look away. The machine in front of him rubbed two of its front appendages together as if it was unsure of how to continue. As if even this immortal being was unsure of how to proceed with a person so irreverently young.

“As you know,” it eventually said, “The Calling is a very momentous occasion. It’s why you are here. It’s why all of us are here. It is my job to give you a purpose.”

The Oracle clicks one of its legs against a cable and images begin to flash across the walls. Picturesque stock photos of men and women happily frolicking in fields, and city cafes, and other generic looking locales. Big, bold lettering emblazoned each image with words about the hope that comes from The Calling. The pictures smiled with their mouths, but not their eyes. A detail that was lost on RC because those are the only smiles he’s ever known. 

“And I have a purpose for you today. Possibly the most important purpose, all things considered. However….” The images suddenly disappeared, leaving the white walls blank once more as the artificial deity considered how much information the boy could handle. 

“However, last year I made a promise. A promise that I fear I can not fulfill.” Another click as the walls are once again covered. This time, it’s a video. A giant effigy of Emphy, standing right where RC was standing now. Her silvery, wire hair more perfectly brushed than RC had ever seen it before. Her recording was soft, but firm as she had always been before her name was picked for The Calling the year prior. 

“The only blessing I ask of you is to take care of the boy. He doesn’t have anyone else and I worry about leaving him like this.” Tears cropped up in RC’s eyes but he tried desperately to force them back down. He had to look away from the wrinkled ghost that stared at him from every angle of the room. He had already cried for her once. Wasn’t that enough?

The Oracle saw the boy's discomfort and immediately shut off the screens. It watched intently as RC brought his emotions back in check, forcing the lump in his throat down into the pit of his stomach. Once he was composed again, he lifted his gaze back up to meet the Oracle’s, this time with a silent anger burning in the background. He wished this reaper would just get on with it and stop torturing him. 

“And therein lies my conundrum. I can give you The Calling that you deserve, or I can protect you as I had promised her. But I can not do both.” The machine waited for a response that never came, so he continued. 

“I will leave the choice up to you. But I want to make sure you understand both options completely first.”

“Will I be able to see Emphy again?” The words escaped his lips before he even realized that was a possibility he still believed was attainable. The Oracle deflated unnaturally. 

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. She has fulfilled her Calling already.”

“But I want to see her! You’re supposed to be able to grant miracles, aren’t you? …Aren’t you?!?” RC’s anger was slowly washed away by the chilling sadness that held him closely once more. The words cut deep,  the Oracle flinched. Against its better judgment it replied,

“That’s what they say, but the truth is even I have my limits. But here,” another click brought a video up on the walls again, this time without sound. RC was taken aback by what he saw. It was Emphy! But she was different, her face distorted as if possessed. She was sitting in the middle of a busy restaurant, swinging violently at a waiter who was trying to place a glass of water in front of her. A lit cigarette dangled precariously on her lip, and a clear plastic tube connected her nose to a tank on the floor with O2 in bold on the side. 

“I wish Emphysema-3115's calling had included her heart. It was such a good heart…” The Oracle said quietly before shutting the screen off for a third time. “No, your Calling is different. More important, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation to begin with. Had it been anything less I would have reported you as defective and moved on, letting you live your life in The Cave below. But I believe that you deserve better.”

The boy stared up blankly at the robot. What could be better than to stay safe in the Cave? He wondered but didn’t dare to ask. The Oracle must have read his mind, though, because it immediately answered his question.

“In this cave, I can ensure your safety. That you will never suffer from anything more than minor bumps or bruises. But there are plenty of things I can not provide you. Things that a young person needs, but can not put into words. Down here, there is no compassion. How could there be? There are no leaders, only followers and so no one to bring people together. Everyone here is just doing what is required of them. Nothing more, nothing less. And that helps them prepare for their Callings but surely you must feel the pull for more, to belong. Don’t you?”

RC shifted uncomfortably which was all the response the Oracle needed. 

“I’m going to be as honest with you as I can because like I said, the choice is ultimately yours. If you want to stay down here and live in safety I can make that happen. But up there is so much more. A heightened version of reality, if you will. There will be pain, heartbreak, and yes, even death. But there will also be love, wonder, excitement. The same sun that provides warmth also burns, you see. You cannot have love without pain. But despite that, there will be people that care about you. In fact, they are already there.”

The Oracle clicked something else and the screens once again came to life. The first thing that RC noticed were the trees. They were somehow different from the brown and green spray painted metal oxygen discharging stations located in the Cave. They were rough and tall, swaying slightly for reasons unknown to RC. But there in the center of the frame sat RC. Or someone who looked strikingly like him. The boy on the screen was younger, frailer somehow. But he was flanked on either end by two adults. A woman and a man. The three of them were in much closer proximity than what was allowed in the Cave, close enough that they were able to wrap their arms around each other. He couldn’t explain why, but RC suddenly felt something in his chest that he’d never felt before. A desire to be pulled into the scene playing out. To change places with that boy who shared his face. The Oracle continued as the scene played out in front of them. 

“Most people in the Cave are loved for something singular within them. Their heart, their lungs, an arm or a leg. Very few are given the chance to fill a void with their whole being. The young boy here died of cancer a year ago. Unfortunately it spread much quicker than anticipated and you weren’t ready yet. But his parents have asked about you every day. They ask questions not as if they needed a replacement for their son, but questions about who you are. Your interests, your personality, your desires. I believe that if you were to accept your calling that they would do everything in their power to fill your life with the love and compassion that you deserve. Something that I can not fulfill.”

The Oracle’s gaze remains singularly transfixed on RC’s face as the boy stares longingly at the screen. When the video reaches the end of the recording the walls cut to black. 

“The time has come, child. Will you remain here in the safety of my watchful eyes? Or will you venture out into an unknown, chaotic world where you will be loved?” 

RC stood there and considered. Here was his chance to be the first and possibly only one to ever return home from a Calling. But he felt such a strong pull to answer against what he felt was his best interest. He had no idea what this ‘love’ thing was that the Oracle kept talking about. It certainly didn’t appear in any of the Scriptures he had read. And it was dangerous, the Oracle was very clear about that. As far as RC was concerned, the choice should have been an easy one. 

“So, will you stay?” The Oracle asked after a few minutes. Unable to verbalize his response, RC merely shook his head.

“I see,” The Oracle said. “For what it’s worth, I believe you are making the right choice. I will annotate your records. Please proceed through this door and it will take you directly to your destination.”

A door silently opened behind RC. He felt that he should say something to the Oracle, but instead just bowed his head and slowly made his way to where he was directed. It closed behind him and he felt his stomach dance as the elevator began to move. 

When the door finally opened the boy stepped out boldly into the warm embrace of a sun he had never seen before.

 

This post inspired by the Lunar Awards Prompt Quest #2