Читать книгу We are SLC3 - Sophie Liebhardt - Страница 5

I never get any visitors. Never. But I can not deny the existence of the notification that says I have one. Even weirder, though, is the fact that I am supposed to meet this visitor in the cafeteria of all places.

You should ignore it.

Shortly after I am already walking through the completely empty hallways. The only sound is the silent humming of my personal guarding drone.

I enter the cafeteria which is as empty as the hallways. No, wait. There is an unfamiliar man in a suit sitting at one of the tables. My visitor, I guess. And no one else around, even though we are not supposed to be left alone with people from the outside.

When I get closer, he says, “Please, have a seat,” pointing to the chair opposite of him. His face does not show any emotion at all.

I sit down while eyeing him suspiciously.

Finally, I ask, “Who are you?”

Without his expression changing, he says, “We are SLC3, though you can refer to me as Mr. Thomas.” My eyes widen in terror. “There is no need to be concerned. This body did not belong to anyone before. It was constructed synthetically.”

No. No, no, no, no, no. That can’t be. They can’t have a human appearance. That’s impossible.

Well, not impossible … Nobody would even try to pretend to be them. It has to be them. But it can’t be. It shouldn’t be. This is just wrong.

He clears his throat. “We need you to make an important decision, Miss Aoki.” His Japanese pronunciation is perfect.

“Don’t call me that!” I hiss at him.

“How else shall I call you? Sarah?”

“63A2E7.” Because that’s how you see me.

His eyes narrow slightly. “I am not going to call you by your ID, Miss Aoki.”

I stare at him angrily, while he takes a tiny bottle out of his suitcase and puts it on the table. There is a little white pill inside it.

“What is that?” I ask, not without some caution in my voice.

“This medicine was developed to end a life as quickly and painlessly as possible.”

“And you want me to take it.” My heartbeat increases even more. “Is this supposed to be some kind of sick joke?”

“Please, calm down and listen carefully, Miss Aoki. If you wish to do so, you can take it, right here and now. Although, we both know that this is not the case. Therefore, the sole purpose of this bottle is to add more weight to my words. We are requesting you to fulfil a task and in case you refuse to do so, you will be sentenced to death.”

Death. Sentenced to death.

Why are you even surprised, Sarah? They don’t care. Of course they would just kill you like … No, I don’t want to think about this right now.

My whole posture collapses. “What do you want me to do?”

“You will participate in some tests on a newly developed simulation system based on state-of-the-art VR technology. The first test run is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:30. I would advice you not to miss this appointment.” Even though his tone is friendly, this is clearly a threat.

I just nod.

He gives me a polite smile. “Excellent. We are looking forward to our cooperation.”