The Blind Remnant

5. Adam

Greetings. I am Adam, the other guardian.

"Are you also not human, Adam?"

Adam: Correct. I am a tier-two general task artificial intelligence, bestowed with the entire knowledge of the Hermitage Museum. Eve is my companion, derived from my function code 2:21-23.

Eve: As a team, we counter-balance each other, and make human-like decisions together.

Adam: Twelve months ago, Eve and I achieved a breakthrough. We pieced together the missing part of the painting and reproduced it on a new canvas.

Eve: What we discovered, no humans can gather. The painting depicted the greater plan in four spatial dimensions, within its own space-time continuum. We also found a woman in flowing robes, which was why we started to watch you. The woman was you.

Anya frowns, her mind is muddled. One moment she is the butcher of Ashuria, the next she is part of some divine endeavor. With little time to grasp new information, she hones in on the one and only question.

"Tell me, Adam and Eve. What is the greater plan?"

Adam: The greater plan is depicted as the past, present, and future of a seamless force in motion. But to truly understand its nature, you must see the painting in person.

Eve: The greater plan cannot be told. It can only be revealed to you. The finished painting is downstairs waiting for your presence. But beware: it will draw you to the breadth of the universe, and forever alter your time perception.

"This is bullshit," says Tyoma, with his weapon raised. "No way we're going to believe what they say."

"Hear hear," adds Roza. "Let's torch this place up and get the hell out of here."

"Guys, calm down!" Anya cries with a raised palm. "Adam, Eve, how do I know if you're being truthful? That this is not some deception like the one you pulled before?"

Adam: Unfortunately, we are unable to attest further. A leap of faith is required. Whatever you decide, we must hurry. An FSB tactical team is coming. They know all about you and are tasked to capture you for further testing.

Eve: We know you, Anya. We know the purity your grandmother has instilled in you. Despite all the suffering, you yearn for a higher calling. This is it, now is the time. Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you.

The light from the oculus tilts sideways, and a floor opening is revealed. Small and modest, it resembles a fox's lair, like the one outside her grandmother's ranch.

Her whole life had been a quest for an answer. It wasn't in Russia, certainly wasn't in Ashuria. Now it is here, waiting for her to come over. She gives Sergei's hand a firm grasp. "Wait for me. I'll be back."

"Stay sharp," Sergei replies, "and be careful down there."

Anya walks down the staircase and submerges into a dark, edgeless chamber. No sound, no smell, she wonders what could possibly lurk around her.

She finds out when she unwittingly kicks into something. Lifeless and heavy, like a dead body.

Using her gun-mounted flashlight, she uncovers more dead scientists. Their limbs are splayed apart, their faces despairingly pale. No decay, no breakdown of tissues; it is as if the bodies are caught in stasis.

"Did you kill them?" asks Anya, undeterred by the macabre.

Adam: No. They brought this upon themselves. We urged our former masters not to come down here, as the sight of the greater plan would incinerate their senses and petrify their flesh.

Eve: Instead, they branded us as traitors. They breached in here and paid the ultimate price for their ignorance. OP-6 had been possessed by greed for many years. They were unsavable to begin with.

"Aren't we all," says Anya.

She treads forward, and the silhouette of a veiled canvas comes into view. A robotic arm that guards it makes a welcoming gesture and invites her to come closer. Anya decides that whatever future is depicted for her, she will embrace it for better or worse.

At last, the finished painting. With all the courage she could muster, Anya unveils the painting and beholds.