Emiliano Bombieri-Morales

53 Eisenacher Strasse
Berlin, 10823
(646) 266-4643
emiliomor20@gmail.com
Word Count: 4,550

Practically Human
(As inspired by the story and character of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell)

On behalf of my department within the Corpocracy, I am obliged to inform you

that this is an interrogation, you are under oath, anything you say can and will be used
against you in a court of law. Understood?
I understand.
State your name and age for the record.
An-Kor Apis, twenty-six.
Good, then let’s get started. How is it that you came into possession of, let’s see,
Larie 714.
She wasn’t my possession, as far as I’m concerned I don’t know if you could have
even considered her to be a fabricant.
Well Mr. Apis, I believe you would be wrong. That thing you were harboring was
nothing less than a well-fashioned imitation of a human being.
If you really believed that, I don’t think you would have taken the time to
interrogate me. I’m sure you know as well as I do that she was much more than a
fabricant. She was practically human.
We know that she was… unique, not much else. That’s why I need you to tell me
everything you know.
And tell me, why would I cooperate with you?
 If you do not comply with our requests, you will be immediately terminated.
Besides, we’ve found your diaries, your journals. You’re a man of words, and I can
imagine that regardless the audience you’d rather tell your story than let it fall into
nothingness.
Three nights ago I was at Pappa Song’s with some friends.
And were these “friends” also part of the Syndicate?
No, just acquaintances.
You just said that they were your friends?
They were people I knew, people I went out with every now and then, maybe they
were apart of the Syndicate, who knows, the organization functions by district, so if they
weren’t in my section I wouldn’t know.
Alright. You were saying?
I was at Pappa Song’s grabbing something to eat. It was a dead night, nothing
going on and nowhere to go. We were all pretty tightly wound and were just looking for
some good old fun. Ken, a friend who I had met two years ago, had been staring at one of
the fab servers. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was thinking about fucking
around with her. As she was walking our way with a tray of food, Ken stuck out his foot
and tripped the fabricant. She and everything on the tray went flying, ketchup smeared on
her forehead. Everyone was laughing except for me.
And why was that? I’m sure you knew then that fabricants have no feelings, that
they don’t have the ability to think outside of their pre-programmed functions, correct?
Yes, but I was never one for cruelty.
Says the young man who joined up with some of the most cruel and dangerous
criminals in this city.
That wasn’t entirely a choice; it was more of a necessity.
A necessity? How so?
When I was ten years old my mother passed away from excess exposure to the
acid rain in Huamdongill. My father couldn’t cope and turned to drinking. He beat me
because he couldn’t wail on his boss, he didn’t have the guts to get into a brawl in a bar,
and he couldn’t strike back at the world that had hurt him over and over. I knew that what
happened to him was cruel, but what he did to me was even worse.
 So, you ran away?
No, I never ran.
So what happened?
He was shot, right in the living room of my house. I came home from school one
day and there he was, lying on the ground. A few days before I had met Joe-Chai, Capo in
the Syndicate. He was like the neighborhood guardian angel. Sometimes when I walked
by his shop he’d give me groceries. He’d have me run little errands for him. Go pick up
this package. Run this message here. Little stuff. I guess he took a liking to me.
And I imagined he noticed the black eyes you’d get, the bruises on your arms.
He never said anything, but I could always feel his eyes scanning the marks.
So he raised you up to be a mob man. Didn’t you ever think it was Chai who killed
your father?
Never crossed my mind. My father owed a lot of dangerous people money. He
was gambler. Besides, if Chai did kill him, I should have thanked him for it when I still
had the chance.
Cruel words for the man who raised you in this world, no?
Maybe not cruel enough. In any case my friends had their fun with the Yoona, but
she didn’t even have the mind to know that she was being ridiculed. The manager finally
chased us out. That was when I got the call from Chai, he told me to meet him at the
docks in twenty minutes. So, I hopped in my Ford and drove over to meet him. When I
got there I found him and four other men from his security detail. He hugged me like a
son and told me that he had a very important job for me.
He led me over to a freight container, and Chai signaled his goons to open it up.
Inside was a single crate. His men loaded the crate onto a truck while Chai pulled me
aside. He looked me in the eye and told me that change was coming. That the Syndicate
had stumbled on something that would change the trajectory of our dwindling
organization. When I asked what was in the crate, he just told me that it was very
important and that I was the only one he trusted to safely deliver this package to it’s
destination.
Of course while Chai may have had his favorites, he never trusted any individual
completely, so he left one of his guys behind, Dan Nieson. I pulled myself into the
passenger seat, and we drove. I leaned my head against the window and looked out at the
luminous city skyline of Neo So Copros, its overpowering lights spreading across to the
half sunken buildings of the Sial Sol Dictrict. The crumbling superstructures now only
accessible by Sea-Ray and cat-walks, and the oncoming lime green haze of
Huamdongill’s acid rain.
You went back to Huamdongill? Why?
Apparently, the Syndicate had taken a number of precautions to conceal the
contents of the package. Huamdongill is as good a place as any to hide something that
you don’t want found, and especially something that you don’t want talked about.
But the drop didn’t go as planned.
No.
Please, continue.
Dan and I were in a hurry. Acid rain can have bad long-term effects if you stay in
it too long. As we unloaded the crate, Dan had gotten a bad grip on it and the crate
slipped out of his hands. I heard a sharp cry as it hit the floor. The lid flew off and to my
amazement I saw a young woman crawl out, gasping for air. A multitude of questions ran
through my head, and those questions were only quelled when I saw her neck, the small
silvery ring that distinguished her as a fabricant. After she caught her breath she looked
up at me, and I saw something, something in her eyes that scared me, that made me
question my existence entirely.
And what was that?
Fear. The look was so human, so real that it made me freeze. The next thing I
knew Dan had pulled a small remote device from his pocket. I recognized it immediately.
I’d seen the same model in the hands of numerous Pappa Song managers.
The kill-switch for unruly fabricants.
Yes. Dan was pointing to the box and yelling at the fabricant. I heard her say
something that enraged Dan. He began to kick her, and I could hear her words more
clearly, “Please, stop.” I don’t know what it was that compelled me to do what I did next.
Maybe it was the memory of my abusive father. Maybe it was related to what had
happened earlier that evening with Ken and the server at Pappa Songs. To tell you the
truth, I honestly don’t know. But the next thing I knew I had a brick in my hand and Dan
was sprawled out on the ground, out cold. All I could hear was the steady patter of the
rain rebounding off of the crudely fashioned houses of Huamdongill.
You killed a member of your own organization?
I don’t know if I killed him or not. I didn’t exactly wait around to see what would
happen next. In that moment I knew what I had done and the repercussions that that
action would have for me. In that moment I had signed my resignation; I was no longer
apart of the Syndicate, but a fugitive in my own city.
So?
I ran. I wrapped my coat around Larie’s exposed body, making sure to cover her
collar and drove away.
But where did you plan on going? It’s not like you would have an easy time
escaping your former employers. Even we know that the Syndicate has managed to take
control of most of Huamdongill and parts of Sial Sol.
Having lived in Huamdongill my whole life, time wasn’t exactly against me. We
needed a place to lay low for a while so I brought Larie to a small teahouse that I knew
of. The Shangdo Teahouse was almost impossible to find if you didn’t know where it
was. I often told the manager that if he wanted any business he would need a new
location. The place was always empty.
I remember drinking my tea, Larie’s eyes burrowing into my own. It was almost
as if she was trying to decipher some quality in me, was I friend or foe? Eventually I
couldn’t stand the silence anymore, and neither could she.
***
“Why did you help me? What are you planning on doing?” She glared at me
through mistrusting eyes. It was fascinating, she expressed emotion, first fear, now anger.
It was almost humorous. But it didn’t completely take my mind off the fact that I had just
stolen from my employer, something I swore I would never do.
“I don’t know alright? Just let me think for a second.”
“Are you going to touch me? Keep me for yourself? I’d rather die.”
I gritted my teeth, I couldn’t think with her talking like that
 “I just… I don’t know, ok? And would you stop talking or else I might have to use
this,” I said, waving the kill switch. The one that Dan had. I didn’t even remember taking
it. At that she stood up and slammed her hands on the table.
“So that’s it! I’m just some sort of entertainment for you!”
“No! That’s not it at all,” I looked away from her. There was something about her
eyes that made me feel uncomfortable.
“I couldn’t help it. What I did, I did on impulse, nothing more. I don’t like seeing
people beaten for no reason, and when you said those words, when you told him to stop.”
I finally looked her in the eye.
“What are you?”
The anger in her eyes faded away, replaced by embarrassment, she even
apologized. Clearly in just the same manner that she could express emotion, she could
read it as well. I reassured her that it was fine, and we began to talk like old friends. She
told me everything about her life before, where she worked, how she had a feeling of
emptiness, and how that feeling came to fruition after ingesting soap that had almost a
rotten flavor. She told me that she started to have thoughts.
“It was about five minutes after I’d had eaten it. I realized that I could’t go to
sleep. I started having thoughts that I’d never had before. I began imitating customers that
came into the restaurant when no one was around. Observing how pure-bloods talked, the
words they used, so different from my own. I started to use them in the same context, and
before I knew it I could speak whole sentences that were not part of my programming. I
even pocketed a few items that people had left behind.”
“You started to change? Was it the soap?”
She shook her head, “I don’t know. I kept it a secret from my sisters, especially
the manager. I didn’t want to be decommissioned. I was afraid to no longer exist,” she
looked at me with a sadness that bore into me, “I didn’t want to die.”
I could see tears welling up in her eyes, I couldn’t believe it.
“How did you wind up in the crate?”
“Twelve days after I started to have these thoughts and feelings, a group of men
raided the restaurant. They kidnapped me and my sisters and took us to a warehouse.
They questioned us individually. I tried to resist acting outside of my original
programming, but they must have seen through it. I believe they were trying to determine
whether there were more fabricants that could act outside of the parameters of their
programming. None passed, except for me. I did not see my sisters again after that. They
began giving me Sonys to watch. Historical documentaries, recorded English classes, and
later on pornographies.” When she said this last part she reacted in a unique way for a
fabricant. Her eyes furrowed and were downcast; she turned her head away from me.
***
She was embarrassed? Interesting that she exhibited so many emotions in such a
short period of time. Did she explain what the Syndicate had planned for her?
No. She didn’t have to. I managed to piece it together rather quickly. I already
knew that the Syndicate had a large hand in the fabricant prostitution market. The
problem with that market is the inconsistency in fabricants’ sexual actions. There is no
program for it, and often times the recalibration to the operating systems are clumsy. The
fabricants don’t last very long and eventually break down. Inserting a new program into a
fabricant is the same as injecting a deadly virus into a human. The body tries to reject the
unknown virus, but when the virus attaches itself to the body’s natural cells, civil war
breaks out. The white blood cells can’t tell the difference between the virus and
everything else. Ultimately, the body destroys itself. Larie was the key to that problem. If
Larie could learn one thing, then she could learn another.
I see. I’m curious though. Knowing that Larie-714 was in fact a fabricant, what
was the reason you used to justify your aiding her? Why would you jeopardize your own
safety for her? Did you have feelings for her?
Maybe. I’m not sure. It’s not the easiest thing to explain. Emotion, it comes and
goes, and sometimes it arises when you least expect it.
And where exactly did you plan on going? How would you possibly be able to
escort Larie-714 onto a trai, or through any security checkpoint without a soul?
I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. I also realized that if we had any chance of
escape, we would have to leave immediately, before Chai had time to monitor the roads.
We got into the Ford, and I put my foot on the gas, knowing that our window of time for
escape was closing fast. Larie, however, seemed to be enjoying every minute of our little
adventure. Her gaze was fixed on the monolithic buildings of Neo So Copros and the
dwindling skyline. She asked where we were going. I looked over for a moment, her
large dark brown eyes glowing with curiosity. She almost seemed giddy, like it was the
kind of adventure a child dreams up. I told her that we were going to drive as far as we
could. We wouldn’t have been able to take a train due to the security checkpoints, so I
figured we could drive to the border and find some way out of the country. She asked me
where we’d go after that. I told her that I didn’t know, that maybe we could go to Europe,
or America, maybe Australia.
Interesting choice of destinations. America is pretty far.
You don’t know Chai like I do. He would hunt us down to the ends of the world if
that’s what it meant, but to the far west? Maybe he’d stop there.
You never made it that far though, did you?
No. Chai had been alerted to the situation far quicker than I had hoped. We were
passing the Sial Sol district, right by the river. We crossed the bridge leading to the
countryside, and for a moment I thought that we might actually have a chance, that we
might actually make it.
After we’d crossed the bridge I looked back at the illuminated skyline of Neo So
Copros to say a silent farewell. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang, and the car started to skid
and slide all over the place. We skidded to a halt and I realized with a sickening feeling in
my stomach that they had shot our tires out. I looked up into the glaring lights of a small
blockade that Chai had set up. I heard his voice coming from a silhouette stationed in
front of the lights, and then more started to appear. I could tell from the dark figures
slowly approaching that they were packing automatics. I couldn’t discern which one was
him, and even if I had known, even if I’d managed to take him down, we would have
been killed instantaneously. But I knew that would have been a better way to go than
being taken alive.
Chai called out to me; his voice was calm and almost soothing. He said he was
disappointed, that he couldn’t believe that the man he’d treated like his own son would
turn on him. He also said that if I turned over the girl, he might consider taking me back.
I knew he was lying. If I hadn’t witnessed so many cruel things that he had done over the
years maybe I would have fallen for it, believing that he might actually forgive and
forget. But I knew what he was. Nothing short of a monster.
 That’s when another silhouette fell, and chaos broke out on that small bridge. A
light shone on the group of men that Chai had brought with him and before I knew it
enforcers were coming in from all sides. That was all the time I needed, and the only
chance we’d get. I put my foot on the gas and my Ford started to zig zag its way down
the main road. We were caught right in the middle of a crossfire as I rammed through
Chai’s blockade. A sharp pain cut through my leg, and doubt started to invade my mind.
I’d been shot in the leg. I managed to maneuver the car in the direction of the woods, but
with the wheels being blown out the car flipped and rolled down a hill.
People say your life flashes before your eyes when you feel the imminent grip of
death. Well, that’s bullshit. Nothing passed through my mind. It was just a flash of white
and then nothing. When I finally came to, I made sure Larie was ok. She had to help me
out of the car. We moved away from the crash, but my leg wouldn’t get me far, and she
wasn’t big enough to carry my weight. We stopped, and I pulled a pocketknife from my
pocket, ironically enough a knife that Chai had given me. I cut out the soul embedded in
my left forearm.
She looked at me with urgency, trying to spur me on. But I told her that there
wasn’t any use. I took her arm, made an incision, and placed the soul there. I told her to
keep following the sun and to stay off the main roads. Eventually, she’d get to the station
and buy a ticket going to the International Airport. The soul had all the information to my
account so that she could buy a ticket for the train. I also gave her the pocketknife for
good luck.
I could tell that she wanted to stay or find some way to bring me along, but she
must have known it was futile to argue, so she didn’t. She kissed me and then ran without
a word. So there I was, bleeding out in the middle of the woods. I could hear footsteps
making there way to my position. I thought about going down with a fight, but suddenly I
felt tired and I remembered something that Chai had told me. “Never let them take you
alive. There are worse things then dying.” I didn’t want to find out what those things
might be. I pulled my handgun out and brought it up to my temple, my hand shaking the
whole time. The only consoling fact was that for once I could take the easy way out. I
was about to pull the trigger when a light shone down on me. The muffled voice from a
mouth piece called out to me. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by enforcers. I put the
gun down and had to smile a little. And that’s where my story ends. The enforcers took
me in and now I’m here, sitting in front of you.
I see, and I take it you don’y know where Larie-714 might be at this moment.
Not a clue, and there’s no point in searching the data base for my soul. Early on in my
service with the Syndicate, I inputted a series of firewalls that would ensure the soul
would always scan but could never be tracked. I never told Chai, or anyone else for that
matter. I thought that might be a secret best kept to myself. You’ll never find her, and
even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you. So we can get on with the execution now, I’m ready.
***
The interrogator leaned forward and turned off the Orison recorder. Apis looked
on in bewilderment, expecting a pair of enforcers to come in and drag him to the
execution chamber. The two sat in silence for a moment.
“We found her. Or should I say, I found her. I had some of my most trusted men
on every train leaving the city. Larie-714 was spotted on a bullet train headed for the
Colony Shuttles. She was taken in before she got more than a mile out of the city. But rest
assured, she is solely in my possession.”
“That’s impossible!”
The interrogator met Apis’ rage with nothing more than a smile, pulling up a Sony
and showing Apis the thing he dreaded most. He looked at the small figure of Larie
seated in a room with two enforcers. She was reading a book. The interrogator contacted
one of the enforcers in the room, who then directed Larie to look up into the camera.She
looked up for a moment and then returned to her read. The interrogator then turned off
the Sony and directed his attention back to Apis.
“I can guarantee her safety Apis. Only myself and a trusted few know that we
have apprehended her. In exchange for your help, I will make sure that she is treated well
and left alone. In time we can arrange a way for you to see her, but you need to cooperate
with us.”
“How do I know that was really her?”
 The interrogator pulled out the Sony and played the footage again, zooming in on
her left arm. Apis saw the small incision that he had made there not two nights ago and
something else that he had failed to notice earlier. His pocketknife was resting next to her,
and it was undoubtedly his. Apis exhaled and leaned back in his chair.
“What do you want from me?”
“It has come to our attention that the Syndicate is more than just a group of
mobsters. They are a front for rebellion against our state. They have secretly been
organizing rebel cells that have been impeding the Corpocracy in a number of ways. We
would like you to take charge of this rebel group. We need you take take control of the
Syndicate”
“To what end?” replied Apis.
“To ensure that we will never be in the dark on this matter again. You will play
the role of leader and organize a real rebellion, taking any measures necessary to
convince the public, Corprocracy, and myself, that opposition is a very real threat. As it
stands now, there are in fact many who oppose us, but they are hard to find, just as you
will have to be. Real rebels will flock to you, giving us a huge advantage against any
uprising against us. In exchange we will not touch a hair on Larie’s head. If, however,
you do betray us, we will terminate the both of you, and it wont be quick. Do you
understand?”
Apis ground his teeth. What choice did he have? The last thing he wanted was for
any of his actions to have been in vain.
“When will I get to see her.”
“When the time is right Apis.”
“Alright, I’ll try.”
“No, you will succeed.”
The interrogator leaned back, and his smile broadened. “Now, when I turn the
Orison back on I will have officially ended the interrogation, enforcers will come for you
and take you to your execution, be ready, however. We have planned your escape by a
group of your trusted allies.”
 The interrogator turned on the orison and ended the interrogation by sentencing
Apis to death. He called in the enforcers stationed outside the room, and they took Apis
away. The interrogator pulled out his phone and contacted his superiors. “It’s done,” he
said. “He fell for it, hook, line and sinker… No he couldn’t tell the difference. While he
was talking we did a quick scan of his memories, in the time it took for him to recount the
events that took place we were able to extract the details of how Larie acted, what she
was wearing, and even the exact pocketknife that he had given her. After that it was
simple enough to create a digital video that lined up with every detail he would possibly
need to be convinced that it was Larie-714… No, unfortunately we could not discern
where it was she had actually gone… No, he was lying about going to America. He’d
planned on escaping to the colonies in Orbit, but we could not find her on any outbound
trains. With the modification he made to his soul it is unlikely that we will be able to find
her. But Apis is more important at the moment. With him, our victory over the rebellion is
absolute… Thank you sir, I am honored. Good bye.”