Chapter 4: Chapter Three

“Do you remember what getting drunk feels like?” Zara asked.

“Vaguely,” I answered, glancing towards her. “I remember that it felt either very nice or very bad depending on the mood I was in beforehand.”

Zara nodded. “I have some vague outlines of memories about getting drunk. I remember… I think I was in a park, walking with some friends.” She paused as her artificial eyes settled on a vacant spot in the distance, staring listlessly at it. “I can’t even remember their names but I know that we’d just finished drinking together. It was a good night where we talked about the future and what it held for us.”

“Sounds like a nice memory,” I said, offering a reassuring smile.

“I hope it was,” Zara whispered. “I…” She sighed. “I wish I could remember their names but sometimes memories slip through the cracks, you know?”

The way she said that and the sadness that overcame her made me look her over once again. She looked state of the art and pristine but I could imagine that even the most advanced technology of our species wasn’t designed to last an eternity.

How many chips had been shorted inside of her, how many wires had come undone inside of her casing?

I looked to my hands now, not wanting to look at her when those thoughts were so prevalent within my mind.

“Do you remember what food tastes like?” I asked.

She was silent but when I looked up, I could see that she was now shaking her head.

“I used to but…” She snorted. “I think I deleted those memories when I knew I would never eat again. I believe I was fond of Italian food though?”

“Everyone was fond of Italian food,” I retorted, allowing myself a thin smile. “That’s cheating.”

“I also liked the Yankees and Superman,” Zara teased. “But no, I… I can’t remember what food tastes like. Nor do I know what things smell like. It’s all just text in some memory banks nowadays. A bunch of binary remarks that pass for recollection.”

Once more the sadness returned to her voice as she looked off to the side. So, I reached across the table and placed my hand over top of hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

I wanted her to know she wasn’t alone in this, even if I was a fresh addition to her life.

Zara drew in a breath and looked at my hand.

“How does that feel?” I asked.

“Still like a string of code but…” Zara smiled a genuine smile. “It’s a string of code that I think I can jive with.”

“Glad I jive with your code then,” I replied, winking at her. “That might be one of the nicest things that a girl has said to me in generations.”

“You uh…” Zara chuckled and looked off to the side. “I’m just happy that you stumbled upon this little encampment, you know?”

“I’m just glad that someone out there decided that we should run into each other,” I said.

Zara blinked in confusion. Then something clicked as she offered a smile.

“Religious?” she asked.

I nodded. “Wasn’t when I was young but… it makes the wandering a little less lonely knowing that there’s some sort of greater power out there looking after me.”

“I can respect that,” Zara said.

She then sighed and looked around the kitchen. “I’m just sorry that there isn’t any food left. I used to make guests food before… food stopped being edible.”

“Your company will just have to do then,” I teased. “I’m used to the sensation of hunger anyways, so it’s not like it really bothers me.”

“Well, if you’re hoping to sustain yourself off of my company then I have some very bad news,” Zara replied, winking at me. “I make for very terrible company, darling.”

I chuckled, feeling a dark little thought come to the forefront of my mind. It would have lingered there if it weren’t for the fact that Zara was studying me with an inquisitive little look.

“Just… a dark joke,” I explained.

She nodded. “I want to hear it anyways.”

“Just thinking about how we might be the last two conversationalists left on the planet,” I replied. “So, no matter what metric we use, we’re the first and second most sociable people left in existence.” I then paused. “Though I suppose that would also make the inverse true.”

Zara cocked a brow but it seemed like the humour reached her as she let out a sad little note of laughter as a companion to my own.

“God, we’ve really overstayed our welcome, haven’t we?” she asked.

I nodded. “We really have.”

“Suicide pact?” Zara asked.

My eyes widened. “Pardon?”

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“Just… more dark humour,” she replied, rubbing at her arm.

Though even I could pick up on the lack of humour in her robotic voice.

“Not that there’s really a way to even go about doing something like that when it comes to us,” Zara added as she threw off a grim little smile. “The curse of being immortal, am I right?”

“Do you have anything to do?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

Zara stirred and nodded towards the living room. “I… I have a functional hard drive which has a lot of old books, movies, music, games, and tv shows on it. I think it might still work.” She sighed. “I haven’t really used it in a pretty long time though.”

“What do you do for fun?” I asked.

Zara snorted. “Watch the sun and tend to my plants. What is there really left to do anymore?”

Existence. That was really the only thing left to do nowadays.

“Is there anything around town?” I asked.

Zara shrugged. “I picked over most of the ruins. Really anything that’s left has probably rotted, worn down, or been destroyed by the heat at this point. Only time I go out is when I need to adjust my equipment or fix the solar panels.”

I nodded and couldn’t say that I very well blamed her. I’d been here for scarcely a few hours and I already had no interest in leaving.

“I think I might be depressed,” Zara murmured.

I smirked. “That’s relatable.”

“Almost feels like some cruel challenge pulled straight out of Greek mythology,” Zara said, motioning towards the heavens. “Grant a creature immortality then allow the burdens of existence to wear them down until they see it as a curse. If it doesn’t happen quick enough then just end the world to really make them regret their hubris.”

“I think even Zeus would find something like that a little cruel,” I teased but couldn’t help but agree with her assessment. Immortality on a barren world did feel a little too cruel to just be the product of random chance.

Zara snorted. “I don’t know, that guy was pretty fucked up. I think he once turned a woman into sea coral or something like that.” She shook her head. “I can’t remember the exact story but I know he liked to fuck around with women in the worst possible way.”

I chuckled. “What a weird thing to do? Like I get being a jealous prick but why sea coral? That’s like an animal that doesn’t even feel anything or do anything. It’s just…” I motioned with my hand and shook my head. “There.”

“Maybe it was to preserve her for eternity,” Zara commented. “Sea coral can live for a very long time.”

I smirked. “Now that is a pretty cruel fate.” I then held a hand to my own chest. “Speaking from personal experience of course.”

“They sold the technology really well though,” Zara said.

“Probably because no one selling it realized that the whole solar system was going to get royally fucked.” I sighed. “I don’t know how something like that sneaks up on a civilization like ours. Didn’t we have like a million science satellites orbiting in space? Didn’t one of them go ‘hey everything is about to get fucked in the next couple of decades.’”

“I mean we weren’t exactly dealing with climate change anyways,” Zara quipped. “So, I guess god or something decided to accelerate the process by making sure that it was impossible to avoid.”

“God’s a prick,” I grumbled.

Zara nodded in agreement and let out a distasteful little note of scorn. “And I don’t even believe in the fucker.”

Though instead of continuing with the topic, she motioned towards the living room.

“Maybe some entertainment will help take our minds off of just how shitty this world is,” she teased.

I nodded. “Hopefully…” I smirked. “Fuck, I haven’t sat down and watch something in close to eight-hundred years. Shame that popcorn no longer exists.”

“At least any popcorn that hasn’t already popped a few thousand years ago,” Zara replied, tapping a finger against her chin. “Though I suppose it would’ve also combusted by now regardless.”

We entered the living room and I noticed that a massive TV was anchored to one of the walls. It looked old and weathered but as Zara turned it on there wasn’t so much as a single dead pixel upon the screen.

Zara plopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote. “So, what do you want to watch?”

I hummed, thinking about it. What did I want to watch after centuries of going without any entertainment?

Well, there was always the age-old answer.

I shrugged and sat down within a loveseat next to her. “Eh, whatever you want to watch?”

Zara snorted and shook her head. “You’re the worst.”

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