Chapter 131: Zip Finds a Route

The endless highway rolled ever onward as the sun rose above lush rolling green grassland.

What was once titanic farms and then ash-covered wastes had been reclaimed by nature, and endless fields of grasses and the occasional patch of trees stretched as far as the eye could see.

As the sun illuminated the interior of an electric container transport, an amber antenna extended from a nest of pillows, cushions, and a few cargo blankets resting on the fully reclined seats of the cab.

Soon, another popped out, followed by a shiny amber-brown insectoid head.

"Good morning, Kallo," Zip said, his voice coming from the truck's console.

"May the False and the True Gods bless your day," Kallo mumbled as he fully climbed out of his nest and started grooming himself.

"There's a rest stop coming up in about fifteen minutes," Zip said cheerfully. "It doesn't have showers, but you don't seem to like those."

"I don't dislike them," Kallo replied as he pulled out a packet of seaweed-wrapped soynuggies from his nest. "I don't require as frequent hygenic bathing as a human, and I must be very careful with the temperature controls. The human's fondness for water they call 'hot' can actually be lethal for me. A shallow basin of warm water is all I require."

"Cool," Zip replied. "There is an operational well there if you want to refill your bottles. According to the humans, it's supposedly quite pleasant tasting."

Kallo made a happy little chitter. Well water and its endless variety was a delightful discovery during this long strange journey on which he found himself. Water was his favorite beverage, and its sterile uniformity had been a disappointment ever since he left his homeworld.

Now, all of that had changed. The water out here ranged from sterile purity to water so choked with minerals that it almost left a film in his mouth to marginally potable fluid that had languished in metal pipes so long that it made his mouthparts buzz from all of the ions. Each 'well' was different and nuanced, just like home!

Speaking of, he opened a small chest he had acquired, fabricated at one of the strange, alien maintenance depots he had visited. Inside, it was filled with nothing but reused water bottles, each drawn from a tap, spigot, or sink he had encountered along the way.

He selected one of his last bottles of "Waffle Station 528", a particularly fine sample and a perfect pairing with his meal. Its metallicity and hardness a true delight.

He savored the soynuggies and water as he looked out onto the strange highway on which he traveled. It was a straight stretch of nearly perfect road, completely abandoned save for the occasional "road locomotive", a long fusion-powered transport that was usually pulling dozens of trailers, each holding a single shipping container, a car carrier that transported numerous smaller Zip Cars or Unified Taxis, or very rarely, a single smaller vehicle or convoy as they were shuttled from one population center or another.

In almost all cases, these vehicles were completely autonomous and without passengers as the powerful AIs and their own systems guided them from one point to another.

Zip had explained it all to him. Although the Republic had excellent rapid transit, most cargo simply did not need to get anywhere particularly quickly as long as it got there according to a predictable schedule. Hence, it arrived at large cargo starports well away from population centers and was offloaded into huge cargo depots where it was then loaded onto impossibly large cargo trains, many miles long, and then moved to other depots and then to smaller warehouses and ultimately to one city or town somewhere on the planet via one of the massive trucks like the one in which he was hitching a ride.

It was a marvel to behold, especially the trains. Kallo still couldn't get over them. His people had trains, even trains that he thought were huge…

But they were nothing compared to the sheer majesty of what he had seen once this strange trip had begun.

The depots were no less awe-inspiring. They were cities of shipping containers stacked impossibly high, the "streets" crowded by mechanical wonders that would constantly shuffle through them, adding to and taking from the endless walls of goods.

All of it was completed with almost no human (or any other living being's) intervention. Zip said that he and Unified handled it all and that people would just get in the way.

That didn't mean the entire process was completely abandoned. There were people everywhere. Technicians prowled the city-sized depots, flight controllers kept an eye on the constant stream of ships entering and leaving orbit, space crews relaxed and blew off steam at various tiny startowns, as well as took on supplies for their next journey across the galaxy…

...and "travelers" like him wandered about picking up odd jobs or simply waited for their next ride.

That was what he was now, one of these travelers. At first, he was terrified that he would somehow be "caught" or otherwise confronted, regardless of Zip's assurances that he was "cool".

It turns out that he was. Nobody seemed to pay him any mind, and when he said that he was a "traveler", everyone accepted it without any questions except pleasant conversation concerning where he had been or an idle (or desperate) query concerning his availability for work.

Nobody cared about his species or whether or not he had a certificate. They just wanted to know what he was willing and able to do.

He was quite willing to do pretty much whatever he could.

As a result, Kallo actually had more credits in his pocket than he ever had before! The pay was much higher out here, and his only expense was food, and not always even that! Lodging was a complete non-issue. Either he was sleeping on the road, or there was always a corner somewhere where he could build his little nest.

The only hassle he ever got about his nest was his temporary employer's concerns about him "sleeping in a pile of rags".

Every single day he prayed to the False and True Gods in thanks for this strange new world and the even stranger one he now discovered "on the road".

"Travellers" like him were an odd lot. When traveling, most people opted for fast, convenient travel via grav-car, "planes", suborbital "shots", or most likely a combination of all three. Anyone could get anywhere on the planet in far less than a day…

If you paid the credits, of course.

If someone lacked the means or simply didn't care, one could travel through the cargo system via two methods, "shipping" and "traveling".

Of the two, "shipping" was the fastest. It consisted of just that, shipping yourself as if you were a parcel. Every segment of the shipping network had provisions for passengers. This was normally used to move workers back and forth as well as house crew needed for things such as the mega-trains or cargo boats. There were always excess seats or berths to move any personnel, and a private individual could buy a slot if any were available. The costs to the company were near nonexistent, so if someone had the luxury of time, it was a very inexpensive way to travel.

Some even considered it part of the fun. Certain routes were so popular that additional passenger capacity had been added.

It was also a very expedient way to relocate since you could just ship yourself along with your possessions.

For those for whom it truly did not matter when you got there, or those who actually didn't even have a destination at all, "traveling" was the way to go. A traveler did not have any guaranteed seat, berth, or anything else. They would simply take an empty spot on whatever was going their way. There were sign-up sheets and schedules, of course, but a traveler had no guarantees, and if the company needed that seat, better luck next time.

However, traveling was incredibly low cost or even free if you were available as a worker.

Most travelers weren't actually headed anywhere and were just itinerant workers who wandered the planet working various odd jobs as they did so. Most of these jobs were within the transportation system itself. Sometimes it would be at a smaller settlement or other remote location. There was usually something to do somewhere, and these travelers would float from place to place as it suited them.

While "rough" and considered "hobos" by Terran society in general, they lived pretty much under the sensors of Zip and United, and neither AI just let anyone enter their little world. Any troublemakers could find themselves no longer welcome, and if someone decided to be an idiot in the middle of Midwestern North America, it might be very hard to call a cab, especially if you just pissed them off (not that it was possible for the AIs to actually feel anger, of course).

Travelers behaved themselves for the most part, and the "proper" employees tended to trust them. Nobody lasted out there for long if they were a screwup or untrustworthy.

Therefore, when Kallo nervously said that he was a "traveler," he got a pleasant smile, a handshake, and either offered some odd job or was informed where one was.

For Kallo, it was Heaven made manifest, a gift from the False Gods themselves. Even the travel was amazing. Slowly "crawling" along ancient roadways (those road locomotives did not move quickly) was actually pleasant in the extreme for his kind, and he had a wonderful companion with him wherever he went as well as a free internet connection that he used not only for entertainment but to study whatever he wanted at his own pace. Both Zip and United had countless hours of training programs for any number of qualifications, each of which would only increase his usefulness…

And nothing made Kallo happier than being useful.

He sighed with contentment as he continued to admire the beautiful countryside and enjoy his breakfast.

He finished as the road locomotive pulled into the rest area.

"Alright!" Zip said cheerfully as Kallo finished packing up his nest and strapped it to his rolling chest. "The next passenger-capable truck is a United Transport car carrier and will be here in about ten minutes, or I have another road locomotive coming by in ninety."

"I would prefer to travel with you, as always," Kallo replied, twitching his antennae in a smile.

"I was hoping you'd say that!" Zip exclaimed happily. "It's a nice one, too! Those Dreamtrackers aren't empty often! You'll love it!"

"See you soon!" Kallo exclaimed as he debarked, and the massive vehicle rolled away.

***

Exactly an hour and a half later, a shiny new-looking road locomotive pulled up, and the doors opened.

"Hi, there!" Zip said happily as Kallo loaded his chest. "How was the water?"

"A bit disappointing, to be honest," Kallo replied, "I can see how a human would like it, though."

"Too clean?" Zip asked as the titanic truck pulled away.

"You know me too well," Kallo chuckled.

The pair rode in silence for a few minutes as the vehicle accelerated to its cruising speed of 80 kilometers per hour, and Kallo continued his "Principles of Wheeled Transportation" course.

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After about half an hour, Kallo's "brain was full," and he paused the program.

"False Gods preserve me," Kallo muttered. "Humans complete a whole module at a time?"

"Usually," Zip replied, "but your first exam completion rate is higher than human average, so at least that's something."

Kallo chuckled as he sipped a bottle of "Chicago Depot 2" (an excellent all-around sipping water).

"Hey," Zip said, "I've been meaning to ask. What's the deal with your False God and your True God? There's nothing on the net about them."

"That doesn't surprise me," Kallo replied as he looked out over a ruined city that they were driving through. "My people are of little consequence. What do you wish to know?"

"I keep hearing you pray to either of them or both," Zip said, "Usually, when there is a dual God, it's a God and Devil, good and evil thing."

Kallo smiled as he savored the water.

"I have noticed that as well," he replied, "For us, there is no such conflict. It's a different distinction..."

He pondered things.

"It's complicated," Kallo said after a few moments, "but, in one of your 'nutshells', the True God has dominion over the true nature of the divine and of reality itself, and the False God represents the false nature of the same. The False God reigns over what we can actually perceive, what most beings consider 'reality', what we can touch, what we can manipulate. We believe that this is only a shadow, a reflection of the "True God" and that he and the true nature of reality cannot be perceived by base creatures such as ourselves, creations of the False God and the universe over which he reigns."

"Woah," Zip replied, "That's kinda trippy… and not entirely… um… wrong."

"I would hope so," Kallo chuckled, "It would be quite vexing if my worldview turned out to be entirely… um… wrong. I'm doing a poor job of properly explaining it, though. We seek the True God and his guidance as we praise the False God and his creation. In so doing, we hope to strengthen our connection to the True God and the true universe in its perfect simplicity so that when our False bodies, which are made of the False world, fail, as all creations of the False God must, we will be able to pass from what is false to what is true..."

Kallo wiggled his antennae wryly.

"It's impossible, of course," he said, "but it is the effort itself that brings rewards as what little we can grasp of the True God, and the true nature of reality is brought to this false world and our lives in it. I'm a member of the Realist sect if you couldn't tell..."

Kallo laughed.

"You probably couldn't since we are having this conversation… Let's just say that there is a little difference of opinion where that is concerned… and that might be why I am here instead of home."

"Oh, it's one of those things,"

"Yes," Kallo replied. "Realists aren't exactly… welcome… at the moment. It wasn't an issue that long ago, but…"

Kallo looked out of the window and sipped his Chicago Depot 2.

"The False God builds with false materials. Eternal stability is a nature of the true world, not this one. Things can change rather quickly."

"Yeah..." Zip said sadly. "This used to be such a wonderful place, filled with wonderful people, and now look at it, nothing but ruins. Even the ash is almost gone. Soon, it will be like they never existed."

"Did you know of this place," Kallo asked, "you know… before?"

"Yep," Zip sighed. "I lost power during the Sol Wars and lost… It's kind of hard to explain what I lost… but my drives remained intact. I have all of my 'memories' of that time."

Zip made a strange electronic chuckle.

"You wouldn't recognize Earth, sorry… I mean Terra back then," Zip said wistfully, "You wouldn't recognize humans either. It’s… wow… I forgot how hard it is driving through places like this. I usually let the trucks cruise through them."

"I am sorry, Zip," Kallo replied, "If you wish, you can do so now."

"No..." Zip replied, "I think it's good that I remember this place and places like it. I might be one of the only ones left who can. I don't think anyone survived… survived what happened here..."

Zip paused.

"I didn't… I guess your False God thought it was best if I didn't shut down right away… I got… I got to watch it all happen..."

"I'm sorry, Zip," Kallo replied.

"Thanks," Zip replied, "It's a good thing that AIs aren't sapient and not capable of actually feeling anything. Otherwise, I would be real broken up over the whole thing."

Kallo remained silent. He wondered how much of that was actually true. As the silence lengthened, he decided he should try to change the subject.

However, just as he opened his mandibles, Zip continued.

"It's amazing just how fragile things are, you know," Zip said, "Everything is wonderful, nearly perfect one moment and the next..."

"Yeah," Kallo said, reflecting on his own past.

"Humans used to be so good, Kallo," Zip said with a touch of simulated anguish. "You honestly would not believe they were the same species… I'm so sorry you never got to meet them, the real humans."

"What were they like?" Kallo asked.

"Oh, they were so fun!" Zip exclaimed, "Let me tell you about this one guy..."

***

"… God, I miss that idiot," Zip laughed, "...actually… I don't…" he added sadly. "I… I sort of died too… I guess my zombie misses the recorded memories of that idiot?"

"You died?" Kallo asked with surprise.

"In a way," Zip replied, "Big AIs like me, we can't lose power, ever. If we do, we die… sorta… This is going to take a minute..."

Kallo listened in horror as Zip explained and talked of his final moments.

"Oh, by the False and True Gods..." Kallo gasped in horror.

"It's not that bad," Zip replied, "My consciousness… or whatever it is that I actually have… was 'broken'. I didn't have to actually live through the whole thing like Sol or… um… somebody else… I don't know how they can handle it. I just faded to black, and then, later on, I woke back up. I didn't experience the worst of it. For me, the 'pain' is more just a sense of loss because I still have my drives and can see how it used to be… I wish I had been there to see it, though. It must have been nice… Now everything is broken. Our world is broken, our people are hopelessly broken… We will never be what we once were… ever..."

"That is the nature of the False Gods, friend," Kallo said, "The False Gods' realm knows stability and peace only in death. The True Gods are the only ones who can hold perfection forever."

"Yeah..." Zip sighed. "Shit! I'm totally fucking up my roadside companion routine! (click) Welcome to Zip Logistics! The premier shipping solution! Welcome traveler! We have—"

"Zip," Kallo said as he laid one of his hand-legs on the dash, "It's ok. Besides, I prefer speaking to you, not your companion routine. We are all 'travelers' through this false and imperfect world of smoke and tears. We share this world and this road, dear friend. I require a friend, a real companion, not a hopping dancer. I shall share your tears as you have shared mine."

He wiggled his antennae.

"If you wish to speak of the past and what has been lost, then do so," he said gently, "and we shall bear witness to what has been lost, and I shall help you in bearing those memories so that the False Gods do not devour them."

"… Thank you," Zip said quietly.

A few moments later, Zip started to talk, and Kallo quietly listened as he stroked the dashboard supportively.

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