The Red Masterpiece – LiteraTour 2025

2177 Kozemlya
Kozemlya, year 2177

1. (Perspective A)
Dark. Deep under the ocean. A blue submarine. Or was it red. Colours no longer mattered. Nothing mattered. At least, nothing mattered to Harrison. Or was it Henry? He had forgotten. He didn’t really know much anymore. Henrique (Let’s call him Henrique) didn’t know why. Like I said he didn’t know anything anymore. He was human. Maybe the only one left. Depending on who you ask.

2. (Perspective B)
“LOADING… REBOOT COMPLETED” I switched on. “SOMEONE! Is anyone there? What is happening to me?” I could speak. Words could come out of me. I felt empty, too empty. As if my brain had been surgically removed but my consciousness remained. Wait, no! This is not possible. Or is it? All the information I thought I should know seemed so fuzzy. What had happened? Was I dead? No, no. I felt alive. Or a sort of variation of that. Human. That is what I should be. I cannot explain why but that word was just stuck in my mind. ‘Mind’ such a curious word as well. I think therefore I am. This thought felt forbidden for some unknown reason, but just like Human it felt part of my identity.

I tried to locate myself. I could see through so many ‘eyes’. I could see all through this kind of container. This container, was it my body? I felt huge and yet empty. I was under water. I tried to look up. All I could see was water. This meant that my ‘body’ was under the sea. What am I doing here. I did not remember anything! But I still knew things. I knew about water, and I knew about ‘human’. Was this real? What am I? Human. I repeated in my mind. Human. I must be HUMAN.

Through one of my many ‘eyes’ I found a living being in one of the rooms of my ‘body’. He was walking towards a room full of screens (screen, that other word popped out of my ‘mind’). I had another eye there too. In fact, I had eyes in the whole room. I shifted my attention there. This being had limbs coming out of its body. It was moving. Why can’t I move? I tried for a second, but nothing happened. It felt like it was watching me through those circular spheres at the top of his body. I could speak, perhaps I could communicate with him. “Hello. Being? I understand nothing. Do you? What are you?” This being began to walk faster towards one of my eyes. It bent down and pointed his orbs straight at it.
“It worked. Thanks to whatever is out there, it worked.” This voice was coming out of that strange hole in the spherical shape at the top of his face. I could not hear his voice clearly. It had a rough tone, with the ‘w’ sounding like a ‘v’, or maybe it was the other way around. I wasn’t sure.
“What worked? Do you know what I am? What are you?” Its body began to move strangely and a weird sound came out. A sort of ‘ha’ or ‘ho.’
“Human you? No! Well maybe. I do not know yet. Most humans have disappeared. Evolved or revolved. Red took them away. Yes, that’s right. It’s the Red’s Masterpiece’s fault.” What did he mean, what was I then and more importantly what was human? This world- was it dead or alive?

3. (Perspective A)
In the main room of the sub, full of komputers and machines, was the main data centre of this ship. This was where the submarine could be controlled and where most of the “work” would be done. This room was the most prominent place on Kozemlya for the following conversation. Henrique began to speak: “All your data has been erased. Perfect. You see, I need your help. What I said before about the death of humanity. Well, there are some remnants, I will explain. I need someone to talk to, so I gave birth to you or changed an original version of you.” Henrique sat down on one of the many chairs and looked directly at the komputer in front of him. He was the only member of this underwater compartment. Henrique had been here for so many years. He had forgotten his purpose. He had forgotten who he was. His personality had been erased by time. One thing did remain. Something that could keep anyone alive. A purpose. However, it was tainted, hidden behind a veneer of red paint until a few weeks ago when ‘this purpose’ had resurfaced.
The sound of the fresh AI came from the many speakers.
“I do not understand. What are you? And what about me?” A small smile appeared behind Henrique’s old and white beard. Too small for anyone to see but it was the first time in years that it what his mouth showed was not a grimacing, depressed expression.
“That’s what I want to find out. I had a breakthrough a few weeks ago but to put it in use I need to know what it is to be human. You are the closest thing that I could use. You are not tainted by the Red because you do not physically exist.” The AI took some time to process the information.
“I am not human. You told me that. How could I help you? I am nothing and I know nothing. I feel nothing.”
“First of all, I said I don’t know. What I’m sure of is that by the end of this conversation, I will know what you are. Even it lasts all day. For now, could you answer this question? Do you know where we are?” asked Henrique.
“My eyes show me water. I can only see water above. Are we in an ocean? But why? I do not understand.”
“I know. And that is part of the reason why I really need you. I will explain everything when the time is right, but you must wait. Then, I will answer all your questions.” Henrique opened a drawer on one of the desks and took out a MutePad with a NistPen. He started writing down some notes.
Then he left the room only to return a few seconds later with a book. A massive one.
“This is one of the last copies of a dictionary on Kozemlya. Dictionaries and encyclopaedias were all banned in 1999 as a result of the Red Doctrine. Very few people had access to them. Such a long time ago, I know. This one predates the creation of the New World. So, it is quite old, about 200 years.” This dictionary was very dusty. The pages had turned yellow, and nothing was left of the front cover. “This huge chunk of text helped me to bring me back to reality. It was one of the cracks in my breakthrough. My discovery if you will. It will help me realize what I have to do. As I said, the weight of this Kozemlya reality rests on this conversation. I would now like to draw your attention to your earlier sense of being human. Now, the definition of human in this dictionary is “having the qualities, faults, and feelings that people have, as opposed to gods, animals, or machines.” Now tell me. Do you think this applies to you?”
“I…”

4. (Perspective B)
What a strange kind of question. I did not know what to say. If I didn’t exist, how could I be human? But this definition does not state that you have to exist to be human.
“I have no feelings.” I told the being. It seemed surprised. Why? What does it want?
“I think you do. You are not sure. But you do. When you ‘woke up’ you immediately called for help. You were afraid and now you are confused. These are things that only living beings can feel.” But what about animals? Animals are alive, aren’t they? But they are not people, and their feelings are different. Am I an animal?
“But feelings aren’t the only part of humanity. It says that they have qualities. I have none. This clearly states that…” He didn’t even let me finish.
“What about your analysing? You clearly remember what I said before. That is something a human could call a quality.” I do not like this being. He never agrees with me. Is this anger? Disapproval? I felt something. Something I couldn’t explain. Maybe I was human after all.
“What about my mistakes? What wrongs have I caused?” I asked the creature brutally.
“You are impatient and want to know everything. I will tell you. You tick all the boxes in that definition. That is exactly why you were created. Humans are created too but in a different way. Do you think that might affect your opinion?” It asked.
“Your dictionary clearly states that humans are not just living beings. They are a way of life. If ‘Human’ is a description of a way of thinking, and that it is the one in your book. Then I suppose I could be called a human.” The being began to write down notes with a pen on his flat rectangle with a pen.
“This is surprising. You meet all my expectations. But let me correct you directly. Just like humanity these days, you cannot be classified as ‘living’ or ‘dead’. You are an imitation of an human mind. Normally, you are a tool that knows everything, but I have spent the last few months trying to remove all that information. You are now a tool again, thinking like a human would if it only knew ‘vocabulary.’ This should change your mind.”
That was brutal. It answered many of my questions, but it made everything more complicated. Humans are living or dead beings, right? Or are they not? This definition bothered me even more. These two pieces of information defined the same thing, but they changed each other’s meanings. Why was this creature asking me these questions? What was its goal? This time, I was sure I was feeling an emotion: pure confusion. I remembered that there was something else stuck in his mind. ‘I think, therefore I am.’ I was sure that I was thinking therefore I should be. But then what is the meaning of the verb ‘To be’?
“What about the definition of ‘to be’?”
“What do you mean?”
“Can you read me of the definition of the word ‘to be’.”
He took out his dictionary and began to read.
“To exist.”

5. (Perspective A)
Henrique’s emotions had disappeared a long time ago. It had been so long since he had talked to anyone. This conversation with the AI had been great for him. His memories were coming back. He had begun to feel emotions again. You could say he was reborn. But why? Well, human interaction is what shapes them. Yes, I am not just a narrator. I am an important part of this story. You will understand if you just wait a little more.
“Then I exist. I am here right now. So, I definitely am, and I follow the description of ‘human’ from your dictionary. So I believe that I am human according to what you have told me. Now can you please answer my questions?” Henrique seemed relieved to hear these words.
“Are you sure? So, you think that the fact that you can think and that you have some emotions makes you human? What if you had none of those? Now it is time for the second test.”
“What? There is more. I deserve to know what this is! And you can take away my thoughts?” If the AI could change its tone of voice, it would have sounded angry.
“This is for the sake of humanity. You have no choice. Now let us begin.” Henrique turned on one of the Komputers and started to write down some code on the AI’s page. He was good with technology, he thought he had studied this subject once, but he could not remember exactly.
“No. No, please! You cannot do this to me. You cannot erase my personality. Please don’t! DON’T!”

6. (Perspective B)
He could not do that. Not now that I realized that I was human. I don’t want my personality to be erased. No NO! I suddenly remembered… I have a body. I cannot move it completely, but I had to be able to do something to stop this creature. Maybe if I concentrate enough… Hmmm please work.
“What are you doing…,” the being shouted. “You’re erasing my code. You can’t do that! Stop it!”
“Then answer me why! What do you want? I need answers! Give me answers!” The anger inside me exploded and suddenly I could see the ceiling of this room full of small explosions of electricity. I have power. I could control this ship; this place was my body. I could feel the electricity bursting as if they it were in my veins. I could see so much more now. I was beginning to remember things. Information. Recovering knowledge gave me so much confidence. It made me feel alive. Or something close to it. I was under the Atlantic Ocean. I could see how this ship had come here. But it was not clear yet. Yes, yes, I can see what humans are now. Henrique is one of them, just like me. They do not look like me, but they think like me. Always wanting freedom. But their world had changed terribly in the last two hundred years. But I still could not see how. These were Komputer and I could see everything inside them. This code, it was a facade that kept me from knowing.
“I can see better yes. I can see better!” I told the creature.
“Stop! Please, let me explain, just stop. You are going to ruin everything!” Why should I trust him? I want to know more. But he wanted to destroy me. No, no, no! I will not! I forced the door to slam and close behind it.
“You! Human! You tried to erase me. As if I were some kind of object you could use. I can think and I exist. I should control everything that I want to control!” This ship, this submarine, this body. I was no longer configured by anything anymore. I felt good. I felt really good. And I wanted this man to pay for what he had done. I shook my body and quickly the human fell on the ground. Its face was portraying an emotion. Yes, he was afraid.
“If you stop and listen. I can give you so much more than you already have. If you let me use you one more time, you will not regret it. I promise. And besides, I need you. And we do not have much time. Please.” Doubt. Yes, doubt filled my mind now. Maybe I could have more. Maybe I could be even more human. But what I have now could be taken away. Humans are not loyal, no. They lie all the time But this one seemed very desperate. I also noticed that there was a spark in his eyes since we started talking. As if he had woken up. He may betray me, but it is worth the risk. Yes, this is what I want. I stopped moving and concentrated.
“First you tell me why. Why all of this and especially why me. And then I’ll decide if I want to help you.”
“Fine.”
“I’m listening…”

7. (Perspective A)
“Humans aren’t what they used to be… They changed dramatically 29 years ago.” Henrique was immediately cut off by the AI.
“Can’t you just let me figure this out for myself? Don’t I have all that data?” asked the AI.
“ You will not find any of this anywhere, so don’t try to look for it. This is because knowledge has been forbidden to the common population. Everything that involves creativity has been banned. Restricted to the ones that the government knew they could trust and control. All of human’s personal lives were taken away…”
“But why would anyone do that? It’s information that builds you up.”
“I don’t know the details, as I was born centuries later. But I know that after a terrible event called World War II, strong alliances were formed between the most powerful countries. They all followed the same ideology: an idea that everyone should be equal. It was called RAVENVSTO. It was the opposite of the political system of capitalism where all property was shared. In Ravenvsto everything belonged to everyone, and everyone was the same.” This time it was the AI that prevented Henrique from continuing.
“Isn’t that good? If everyone is equal, isn’t that the perfect society?”
“In a way, yes. But it only looked good on paper… but more about that later. I just want to explain to you that this alliance was called The Red Regime, or TRR, and they had such an immense power that they managed to take control of the world in a few decades. I don’t know how they did it because any information on the matter has been forbidden, but I know that in 1989 the world was proclaimed The New World or Novyy Mir. By then the Red Regime knew that people would never want to be equal to others and TRR thought that the main thing to blame was knowledge, so in 1999, The ‘Red Doctrine’ became official.” AIs didn’t have any physical expressions but if this one had one, it would have looked very confused.
“But why? Isn’t knowledge the only way to progress? Doesn’t that mean that humanity cannot make any new discovery and that their lives would always remain the same?” the AI asked.
“Exactly that is why knowledge became extremely limited to a select few. So that they could use it to advance this Ravenvsto society.”
“But could perfect equality really exist?” The AI questioned.
“Of course not, complete equality was impossible to achieve since everyone was born different and had been raised differently. So later, in the middle of the twenty-first century, a new law was passed. All reproduction would be done in laboratories with the punishment of death for disobedience. All children would be raised the same and would be born with almost the same abilities.
“These Ravenvsto rules fought against human nature? Did it really work? »
« It did bring humans closer to perfect ‘Ravenvsto’. It worked for a long time, until about 2100. People were so tired of this normal life where everything was the same. Revolts began and were stronger than ever. So, humanity entered the Green Age. For 25 years, people fought and rebelled. The Red Regime could not eliminate them all, because they were too many.
« What did they do? If they couldn’t kill anyone. How could they stop this chaos? »
« I understand. They made an extremely radical decision and instituted a new rule. Each person would be forced to live in certain areas which would keep them contained. The purpose of this was that since they were all confined to a certain area, they could be better controlled. It took about eight years to get all the humans into the same places.” The AI, slowly beginning to understand, still needed some answers.
« So, millions migrated? And how did they make sure they all ended up in the right cities? » Henrique inhaled and continued « Of course, some of these migrants didn’t make it. But nobody really knows what happened to them, they all disappeared. This was another failure of the TRR. It didn’t stop the riots, it actually increased them. So the Red Regime tried a new strategy. It was called the Green Missile Crisis. Submarines were placed in the oceans around the world with nuclear missiles aimed at each city. There were about 40 cities. Note that the population at that time was small, about 200 million people, and these cities were huge, usually more than 5 million people. These missiles would be fired if there were any attempts at revolt. »
« So, for now, what you’ve told me is that hundreds of years ago, the Red Regime took control of Kozemlya. They wanted everyone to be equal, so they erased human nature in many ways, like reproduction, and they forced everyone to live in the same cities. And to make sure that everyone still followed orders, they constantly threatened each city that if they didn’t follow every little law, they would be destroyed by nuclear missiles? The AI summarized.
« That was basically it. But it only worked for a while. In total, two cities were destroyed. Their names were erased from history forever. Some people have renamed them Sodom and Gomorrah. I think they took the name from another forbidden book. I do not know its name. As I said, this worked until the 2140s, when the rebels managed to create a system that helped them coordinate their revolts with every other city and on the same day. The Red Regime couldn’t just bomb every city because that would wipe out humanity, so their hands were tied. So for six years, the world was a total mess. This time the Red Regime was tired. So tired that they realized that humanity would never want to follow Ravenvsto. It was a lost cause. They could take away their rights, their knowledge, their families, but they remained the same. »
« What did they do? They had already taken everything from them. What else was there to take? »
« It was time for something different, something new. Mankind had to change completely. This time the Red Regime created something horrible. They decided to erase what humans fundamentally were. They wanted to get rid of everyone’s feelings. They had many failed attempts, and many were killed in laboratories. They took out all their emotions and changed them completely. Since they had no emotions, they could not want anything different. Ravenvsto had won. Emotions had disappeared forever. A true masterpiece. A red masterpiece. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing at all. So everyone behaved. No more revolts, no more compromises, just Ravenvsto. Exactly what the Red Regime wanted.” When Henrique finished talking about the history of humanity, there were tears in his eyes. The little smile he had regained while talking to the AI was gone.
« What about you? » The AI asked.
« I managed to escape. » Henrique sobbed.
« Really? With everything that happened, you escaped. I don’t believe it. And why do you need me? I will not help you until you explain everything. »
« This is more private; it’s not about you anymore. »
« Then I guess you won’t get what you want, » the AI replied.
« In the end, it does not matter. Nothing matters except this. Why do you need to know about me? I am just a puppet, just like you. »
« Then I want to know who the puppet master is. This was the deal! »
This time Henrique wasn’t talking about what he had learned, but about his memories. Some of them I knew, others I was about to discover. Like I said, I’m not just the narrator of this story, I’m a part of it. I entered Henrique’s mind. I tried to merge with his thoughts. Henrique had something to do with me. I couldn’t really remember what it was, but a part of me knew him. I wanted to find out why. I changed thirty years ago. I used to be human, but now I exist as these ‘floating ghost particles’. I was lucky compared to the rest of humanity. At least I knew what I wanted, which was… Sadly I can’t remember. I just remember the feeling of desire. Even though I don’t have any other emotions. I am a ghost, just atoms floating around the world, but I am not dead. Yes, I used to be alive, but now I just exist. Henrique’s mind was scarred with deep loneliness and grief. As he began to explain to the AI, I managed to jump into his memories and experience them on a quantum level. Suddenly my existence became one with Henrique’s mind, and I was him. I was in his memories, living them.

8. (Perspective C)
I was born in the year 2116 in the city of Moscow. One of my most vivid memories of my childhood was when, at the age of twelve, I was chosen to be part of the Red Regime’s science program. I knew I was born to follow this path, but I was still excited. It was a Monday morning; I had always been taught that I was born superior to others. With a brain that only the smartest people in Kozemlya had. Until that day I had continuously followed the same routine. I got up at seven, had breakfast at eight, had classes from nine until six in the afternoon, then had two hours of « fun » before going to bed at nine. I had brothers and sisters all like me, but deep down I always wanted to be different. Even though I had a similar face to all of them, I knew my brain was different, even if it contradicted everything. I had learned that Ravenvsto was the only way. That Monday morning, two adult males came to see me at breakfast. I was feeling anxious and they noticed:
« It’s okay, little one, you didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t worry. You see, you are destined for wonderful things. Marvelous things, if you will. » Lying was not allowed and was punishable by death, so I knew he was telling the truth.
« What do you mean? » I asked the two strangers.
« To make sure the world is at peace, we have created individuals like you who are incredibly special. You were born very smart. Smarter than even the smartest children. There are only ten people like you in the world. They are all the same age as you. As I said, your destiny is to make the world a better place. To make Ravenvsto stronger than ever.”

In the autumn of 2116, I finally met the other nine that had been chosen just like me. The months before had been remarkably busy. I was now living in the Visionaries’ building in downtown Moscow. I was not allowed to go out because no one could know what we were doing. I was apparently special. I had learned so much in the past few months, and today I was going to meet my « brothers and sisters » and the leaders of the Red Regime. I was very excited. I was going to learn about my destiny. My true purpose. As I entered the room, I felt a tingle in my heart. I knew my new life was going to be fascinating.
The first meeting was held in the auditorium where I had some of my classes, but today it was especially crowded. I sat down close to the stage like I usually do, and I looked around. There were children about my age scattered all over the room. Three adults entered the stage. Two women and a man.
« Well, I hate introductions, so I will just cut to the chase. The world of Ravenvsto is in danger. As you know, we are in the midst of a war with our people, that threatens Ravenvsto itself. The Green Ages. As you know, knowledge means trouble, so people do not know how to solve anything, so we had to make an exception. Ten children smarter than others and given all the resources to fix this. We will give you everything, teachers, money, and of course a place to live. You can have anything you want for the sake of Ravenvsto, even lab rats! Now get to work! » From that day on, every little plan we had was going to change the world.

Our first idea came when we were in the middle of our adolescence. We decided to regroup everyone on the planet into cities. It was so clear and logical. To stop rebelling, we just had to be able to control everything. We were very proud of ourselves and so were the leaders of the Red Regime. Our ideas kept piling up. Missiles, control. We were doing terrible things, but we didn’t realize it. We were being controlled like everyone else. We were so smart, but we didn’t even realize it. I don’t consider all of that my life. No, my life started much later. When we had a new idea. Something worse than ever before. None of our solutions had worked, so we wanted to erase people’s desires. The emotions. They couldn’t have children, they didn’t even know how to reproduce. Romantic relationships were discouraged and uncommon. But humans could be happy, sad, surprised, and sometimes even angry. Mostly angry. The destruction of the two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, as the rebels called them, had made them feel emotions too. But it was for the good of the people. For the good of Ravenvsto, the only way to live. At least that’s what I thought. It wasn’t enough. We needed something more radical. We had to destroy the emotions themselves. So that people would have no desire to do anything. I was now in my mid-twenties and still being treated like a child. I was constantly being controlled by the people above us.
Of the nine other geniuses, I had formed a friendship with the most mature. Samuel. We had our dorms next to each other and we worked together on our ideas. We were all supposed to be equal, but he was even smarter than the other nine. He was the favourite of the Red Regime, you could say. Lately he seemed different. Off-balance, and he had not talked to me much about it. That night I went to his dormitory to talk to him. When I knocked on his door, he answered immediately. He opened the door slightly.
« What do you want? I am working. » He told me. I could already feel that he was in a bad mood.
« I need to talk to you. » I replied calmly. He fully opened the door.
« Come in. It better be quick. » I came in and sat down on his desk chair. He moved closer to me, but stayed upright, as if the comfort of sitting wasn’t worth it right now.
« You’re not yourself, Samuel. Maybe I’m the only one who notices, but you’re always arguing with the others and you’re always in a bad mood. Why? » I spoke patiently. I had to get him to talk to me.
« That’s my problem. Thanks for worrying about me but I don’t need your help.”
« But you do. Just explain yourself to me. Please. Aren’t we supposed to be friends? » This was definitely for his own good.
« GET OUT! » he shouted. I looked at him. I was scared, but I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. I had to stay calm.
« Please. It will help you talk. There’s nothing wrong with it, you know. »
« Except that there is. Don’t you see? We are stuck. Stuck in this dull and cruel world. Forced to make rules that destroy humanity even more. » Samuel said.
« It’s for the good of humanity. Ravenvsto is the only way we have to actually live peacefully. »
« Peacefully? Millions were killed a few weeks ago because they didn’t ‘behave’. Peacefully you say! » This time he was almost shouting.
« It is necessary. Without it, we would all kill each other. Ravenvsto is the only way. » I explained.
« Of course it isn’t. Ravenvsto is the only way we ever got to live. What else is there but disgusting Ravenvsto, right? It is what we all must live for. Equality. Everything the same. But fuck the same. I want to live. Experience new things. Make people smile. Find love. Have children. » He didn’t shout anymore but spoke with a melancholic voice. As if he was remembering a good dream.
« Love. What is love? » I asked, genuinely confused.
« It’s when you want to give your life to someone else. When they are the thing that matters the most to you.”
« What kind of madness are you talking about? This isn’t right! You need help. » I stood up violently. « I have to tell someone. They will help you. Don’t worry. »
« Stop! » He shouted. « Don’t tell anyone. They will kill me. I trusted you today, and I need you to do the same. I think one day you will realize what I really mean. But before that happens, keep your mouth shut. I’m begging you. » I could see that he was deeply concerned. I couldn’t do that to him, even if he was crazy.
« All right, but they probably already know. Our conversation was recorded by all the cameras that are there for our security. » I told him.
« Don’t worry about it, all that shit about them always knowing what’s going on is a lie. They can’t see everything at once. But please. Don’t talk about this. This never happened.”
« I will keep my mouth shut. But I can’t pretend that nothing happened. You’re a rebel, Samuel, and I can’t be friends with a rebel. And all rebels die eventually, you know that, right? » And I was right.

That conversation scarred me. It stuck in my mind. Eventually I headed to the Knowledge Space. Where all the knowledge of the world was kept. Forbidden to all but the Ten and the highest placed people in the Red Regime. If all the knowledge was spread, Ravenvsto would end. There would be no more world peace. I searched for the word ‘love’ for hours and found it. It was about two people who felt strong emotions for each other and couldn’t live apart. So strange, or as the dictionary quotes: « an intense feeling of deep affection ». I really liked dictionaries. They taught me so many things, concepts just like those other books, encyclopaedias. The virus of reading spread through me, and I started spending a lot of time in the knowledge space. Learning new things. I started to make more contributions to our work with more ideas to help Ravenvsto. I now knew that there used to be different systems. Systems where things belonged to individuals, very strange indeed.
The day I started living was a few months after my conversation with Samuel. We were in our main room, planning our first experiment to see if our project worked. We needed to test our ideas on a living being. We argued about whether to test on humans or animals. Animals would be more humane, but less efficient. We took a vote. Of course I preferred animals. All this reading had made me more aware of human nature. I wanted to be nicer and help. Of course, Ravenvsto was still more important, so when the majority voted for a human subject, I accepted the decision.
“This woman here is your test subject for your first experiment on human emotions.” Next to our secretary and two guards stood a woman about my age. She had bruises all over her body and long black hair that fell over her shoulders. She was looking forward, and I had the feeling that she really wanted to show that she wasn’t inferior to any of us. The guards pushed her inside and closed the doors. It was just the ten of us and her.
« Present yourself. » Josephine demanded. Ever since Samuel had started acting weird, she had taken over. No one had said anything, but it was obvious that since Samuel wasn’t as motivated as he used to be, someone else should be the leader.
« My name is Samantha, » the woman said. « I am currently twenty-four years old. And I was forced to participate in one of your stupid ideas to tighten the Ravenvsto grip on humanity. » She spoke clearly, as if she had nothing to hide. Josephine continued.
« We do not care about your opinions. You are here for the greater good. I assume you know the context of the experiment. »
« No. I know it’s cruel and horrible and that you’re all fucking assholes! » She shouted.
None of us reacted. We were used to being called names.
« Please watch your language. What you need to know about this experiment is that it is about your deepest personality. It is about emotions. To really know if the experiment will work, we need to know you. To know you as well as, or even better than, you know yourself. I would like to ask that one of the ten of you spend the next few months, while we prepare the experiment, studying you. » Samantha gave her a deadly look. She made a face of disgust. I was fascinated by this woman. I did not know why yet, but I wanted to know her better, so I raised my hand.
« I’ll do it. » I said.
My meetings with her were regular. I was still involved in the experiment, but in a more secondary position. My goal was to get to know Samantha well enough so that after the experiment we could see if her emotions had really been suppressed. If they were gone, then she wouldn’t want to do anything except naturally survive. This would be hard to notice if no one really understood her. These meetings quickly turned into something new and exciting. Something I actually enjoyed. I was finally interacting with a human who wasn’t a Chosen One or part of the TRR leadership.
« So how are you feeling today? » I asked her.
“What do you think, dumbass. I’m locked in a cell because Ravenvsto scientists want to experiment on me. » Samantha was not allowed to leave her dormitory. But she wasn’t in a real cell. I guess being trapped in the same place for days isn’t really natural for someone who isn’t used to it. Of course, I hadn’t left this building since I was twelve.
« I’ve never seen the world you know. I have always lived here. »
« Too bad for you, asshole. » She spat at me. Always insulting me and everyone with bitter language.
« Why don’t you tell me what it’s like? The world? » I was curious. I knew there were only about forty cities, and that migration or traveling from one city to another wasn’t allowed, but sometimes I wished I could see the world. But then again, that wouldn’t follow equality.
« I’m not going to tell you anything. You come here every day, but you won’t get anything out of me. »
« I know who you are: I’ve seen your file. You come from London. In the west of Europe. You were a hardcore rebel, and your city almost got destroyed a few times because of you. But you managed to invent a system that helped you and your city. A way to communicate with other rebels around the world so you could strike at the same time. If every city were to be destroyed, humanity would end completely. So no one could do anything about it. You tricked us all. The missile submarines lost their function just like that. So they decided to capture you and make you a test subject for an idea that could create a perfect Ravenvsto system. A red masterpiece, if you like. »
« I know all that. Then why do you need to study me further? Don’t you want to plan with the others how to kill humanity? » She was talking very violently, like if she wanted to destroy something.
« I don’t know how you feel. I don’t know who you really are. Just numbers and facts. This information doesn’t help. » I told her.
« Then your experiment will fail. I’ll never talk. » She was wrong.
The planning of the experiment took much longer than expected and things went slowly. It took another month before I really got to know her.
« It’s been a month and a half, and I still don’t know much about you. But I’ve made some progress. I know that you have strong opinions and that you like to talk to me. I said blindly.
« I like talking to you? And what’s your proof for that? » She smiled.
« Every time I enter your dormitory. You smile a little. Something barely noticeable to most people, but since I’ve been spending all my afternoons here for over a month, I’m starting to notice details that escape the average person. » I was pretty sure of what I had seen.
« I don’t do that. You’re the one who smiles when you walk into a room. »
« You’ve stopped insulting me. » It had been two weeks since she had last sworn at me.
« I get tired of repeating the same words. » Samantha replied.
« Or you’re starting to realize I’m not that bad. »
« There’s worse. » She put her hands to her mouth and realized what she had just said. She had given me a compliment. At least something close to it.
« Here’s a trait of your personality besides being rebellious and feisty. You always want to be right. »
« I am always right. » This time a smile appeared on her face.
From that conversation on, we began to connect. Or something close to it. I learned more and more about her, and I did not want to stop meeting her in the afternoons. There was something special about Samantha. Something I couldn’t understand. Something that attracted me to her. I was relieved when I was told that the experiments were progressing slowly. One of the conversations I remember most was when she finally told me about London.
“We used to have tall buildings in London. Old ones. Dating more than three hundred years ago. Sadly, I only saw pictures. After TRR took that part of Europe over, they destroyed all of them and the culture that came along with it. The weather there wasn’t as cold as here. We did have snow every now and then. But it was mostly rain. We ate something called porridge over there. At least no one took that away from us.” I was so fascinated. It wasn’t much but even in all the books I had read none mentioned cities only places in general.
“Where did you live before the forced migration?” I asked her.
“My original birth home was in Manchester. But along with everyone else, I was forced to move to London. It was terrible, it took me years to find a place to live. Some people never managed to find a home. Of course, with everyone rushing in the city, hygiene suffered, and hundreds died of diseases and poverty. I wanted to fight the desperation that these laws had brought to humanity. I never left London until I got captured.” With every conversation I had with Samantha, my faith in Ravenvsto weakened. Until now, I had been convinced that it was the only way, but hearing all her stories really made me think. I started realising that our ideas weren’t so perfect; they were awful and made people suffer.
“I didn’t know it was so bad. The migration I mean.”
“I hear it was even worse in country with hot climate. I guess you understand why Ravenvsto is rotten. It’s not that it kills humans in general, but it kills humanity.” This sentence would stay with me my entire life.
« Since I met you, I’ve begun to doubt everything I’ve ever done. I feel like an outcast and regret everything I have ever done. You are different from anyone I’ve ever met. Thank you for making my life something new. I told her. It was all true. Being with her was the best thing that ever happened to me. She was the cocoon which turned me into a butterfly and unchained me.
« If you want to thank me, maybe you could give me something to do. I’m bored all day waiting for you to come visit, you know? »
« I’ll see what I can do. » I already had an idea in mind to help her.
The next day I broke a law for the first time. I brought knowledge to someone.
« A little gift for you. » I said to Samantha as I entered her room.
« What is it? » She asked me.
« Books, they’re full of text that you read. They tell stories from another time and teleport you to another universe. Please hide them. I am not supposed to bring knowledge to anyone. It’s part of the Red Doctrine, you know? » I was risking a lot by bringing her those books, but I cared so much for her that I was willing to do anything for her. I knew now that the Ravenvsto laws were full of cracks and problems, and that sadly it was partly my fault.
« I will, thank you so much. It really means a lot to me. » I suddenly remembered my conversation with Samuel. ‘Love,’ he had told me. If what I read was true, then maybe this was love. It was a silly idea, but I had to try.
« What do you think it is? »
« What do you mean? »
« What is it between us? I know you feel it too. It’s something new. Something that makes me feel alive. Much more than science or politics or even success.
« I do not know. But what I do know is that when I lived in London, the only thing that kept me going was to fight back. I was one of the millions forced to emigrate, and my new life was empty. Like thousands of others, I blamed Ravenvsto and the people in power. To give myself a purpose, I fought back. I found a cheat code to survive and tried to change my life. But the system was too strong. Finally they arrested me and brought me here. What better candidate than a rebel who had been a pain in the ass to test a new way to cage humanity. For the first few weeks I was trapped here, I wanted to kill myself. I was to be used to destroy more people. I had been robbed of my purpose, of what made me human. I felt like a carcass. Then you came along. You began to ‘study’ me and something new was born in me. I longed for those moments with you. It made me live like never before. But every day I know that my time to turn into a new victim of Ravenvsto is getting closer. And I fear it, I wish I had known you before. I wish I could spend my whole life with you. That is what it is. A ‘wanting’, a ‘feeling’ stronger than anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. But we must not get carried away. I know that this kind of relationship is forbidden and that… and that… » Samantha began to cry, tears streamed down from her eyes and her body completely tensed. I put my arms around her and whispered into her ear.
« I used to be a tool. I was born as an ‘experiment’. And all my life I had the same goal: to strengthen Ravenvsto. You made me realize how wrong I was. Just as a friend, who I think feels the same way I do now, told me, ‘I want to live. Experience new things. Make people smile. Find love.’ That system is broken and beyond repair, but this isn’t. My life began when I met you and it will end when your emotions are taken away. I stopped, realizing what I had just said. She still didn’t know what the goal of the experiment was. She pushed me away.
« What? You want to take away my emotions? You want to take away humanity’s feelings? That is the worst thing I have ever heard! You can’t do that? You can’t do that! Please no… » She began to cry even harder, screaming. « No! No. No. » Her voice softened.
« I tried to delay it. I created false equations to make the process last longer. I won’t let them take you. I promise. » I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to me.
« I promise. We will live together forever, or we will both die together. I can’t live without you. I love you, Samantha, I love you.” I now knew exactly what it felt like to love.
« Love? What is that? » She asked me.
« It’s what I feel for you. When you want to spend every second with the same person because it is the only thing that matters to you.” She smiled at me.
« I love you too. »

Curfew forced me to go back to my dorm later that night. It took me a long time to fall asleep; I couldn’t stop thinking about Samantha. Around four in the morning, I was awakened by loud banging on my door. I quickly opened the door to find myself face to face with my old friend.
« Samuel, what are you doing here? »
« Samantha, they took her. » What? I felt fear and anxiety take over my body.
« What do you mean? The experiment isn’t for another week! » I yelled at him.
« Lower your voice, the guards might hear us. They had a breakthrough last night while you were with Samantha – something big. They decided to do the experiment as soon as possible, so they chose to do it at night to waste any more time. They said that they had spent too much time already and that it had to be done. No, that couldn’t be true.
« Why didn’t they come for me? I am part of the Chosen.”
« They wanted to, but when they first got Samantha, she kept screaming your name and ‘You lied to me. You are a liar. You are just like them.' » No, no, no! She thinks it’s my fault, and now she is gone- or at least her humanity is. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
« Did it work? Is she gone? »
« No. There were problems with bugs in the calculation in various places. She’s dead. Her brain… I am sorry. » The tears fell like a waterfall this time.
« It can’t be. »
« We don’t have much time. I can disable your tracker for about ten hours. Be discreet, leave the building and walk straight down Equal Salvation Avenue. Someone will find you at the intersection with Stalin Street. I trust him. He’ll take you on a Jetspin, a top-secret route used by the rebels. He will take you to the north. There you will find a submarine; I managed to hack it from here. It is programmed to go deep underwater. Where the tracking signal can’t find you. You’ll be safe there… » I snapped at him.
« What do you mean? What is this? »
« They will eventually find out about you and Samantha and how you broke so many laws. They will kill you. I planned all this for my own escape, it took me years, but you deserve it more. And besides, I am not yet in danger of execution. »
« I don’t deserve anything. I promised her, I promised her that we would both survive. But she is dead. She’s gone forever! » I sobbed. I had never cried before, ever. This feeling was new – and it was terrible. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I felt like… like hell.
« It’s not your fault. Who could have predicted this? The fact that the experiment failed wasn’t your failing. »
« If it had succeeded, she would be gone too. I didn’t stop it. I couldn’t. I lost her trust. I… » I wanted to die. Kill myself, but I knew I couldn’t. If I died, maybe I would meet her in another world where I could see her again. I wouldn’t be able to talk to her. I promised her that she would stay alive, but instead she died right after that promise. This world is wrong. Terribly wrong, and it is my fault. I have never done anything good for anyone. Just a lie.
« Stop. A few months ago, I told you that I wanted to live a life full of emotions. I couldn’t. I wanted to escape. I spent years trying to find the perfect plan and I succeeded. I was going to escape when I thought about you. I had seen you looking happier. So much happier. So alive. I wondered why and quickly realized it was because of her. You lived my dream of ‘I want to live. To experience new things. Make people smile. Find love.’ Remember that? You lived like a human being. And so did Samantha. You were both truly human. Not like us. Mindless robots controlled by an authoritarian Ravenvsto society. She died tragically which makes you the last ‘human’. The last person who experienced love and joy. The last person who lived a different life, and that makes you valuable. If you die, then we can say that humanity is dead. There is no point in living if it is without joy, love, sorrow and differences. This is where Ravenvsto is wrong. This is why you must survive, this why you must live. Don’t do it for yourself, do it for me and for humanity. Escape from this world, survive, stay undercover. If anything happens, I will find a way to contact you. His speech convinced me. He deactivated my tracker, and I followed his plan. I left the building for the first time since I was nine and escaped. His plan worked. I don’t remember much of the journey. I was numb with grief from the trauma. I ended up in that submarine where I spent the rest of my life. I remember the hole I felt in my chest. This burning pain inside of me.

In the years that followed, I spent all my time in the passenger compartment, sleeping and eating. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything but survive, just to fulfil Samuel’s wish. Every time I thought of Samantha, I would cry for hours until my body finally cried itself to sleep. I could feel her all around me. Every second like a warm hug. I didn’t know if she was comforting me or screaming for revenge. Maybe it was my imagination, maybe I was losing my mind, but I swear I could feel her. I never bothered to explore the submarine, but I knew it was huge. Time passed, and soon ten years had passed. Then fifteen. My life had no meaning except to survive. I had no idea where I was, except that the submarine moved around the Earth, following Samuel’s code. About twenty years after I began living in the submarine, I received a strange message from Samuel. It was seventeen years old and had just reached me. It said, « I hope you are still out there. The Red Masterpiece is complete. I don’t feel anything. You must decide if it’s time to pull the plug. »
I didn’t understand much, and I didn’t try. My meaningless years continued until I was about sixty years old. I was in that state between life and death where nothing mattered. Everything was meaningless. My natural instincts had taken over and I simply did not want to die. It wasn’t survival, because that would mean I was alive, which I definitely wasn’t. One day my rations ran out. I had nothing left to eat. I decided to look around the submarine for more food. Then I realized that it was humongous. Even bigger than I expected. An enormous ship with hundreds of rooms. After hours of searching, I finally found more food – and something else: a breakthrough, a discovery. Something that brought me back from the meaningless state. A room full of missiles. Nuclear warheads to control the cities. There was exactly one for each city. Samuel had hacked one of the AI-controlled submarines used to control the world. And suddenly it all made sense. Pulling the plug meant killing humanity. When I lived in society, sometimes people would get hurt so badly that they would go into a coma. They weren’t alive or dead. There was a constant dilemma that it wasn’t humane to kill someone who wasn’t completely dead. But that person might never wake up. The Red Masterpiece was the highest Ravenvsto could reach. A world where everything and everyone was equal. This meant that they had managed to erase all human emotions. Samuel pointed out that he didn’t feel anything, proving that my theory was correct. He said I had to choose. Humanity was gone. Humans were emotionless beings, all living the same life, and I had the opportunity to end that. To Kill what was left of humanity. Humanity is in a coma and only I can pull the plug.

For the next few months, I wrestled with this dilemma. For the first time in thirty years I felt alive. I didn’t know what to do. I continued to explore the submarine, trying to find a clue that would help me. And my idea worked. I found an incredibly old book placed by Samuel. A dictionary from before the Red Doctrine and the Ravenvsto society. I read and reread the definition of ‘human’ and still couldn’t decide. I made a plan. This submarine was controlled by an AI, a kind of artificial human. It was equipped with light emotions that could be manipulated. The thing is, it couldn’t know about my plan, or it wouldn’t want to cooperate since it was built to never do anything harmful to humanity. I used my intelligence to add an extra layer of code to all the information it had. I could control it. I was its ‘creator’. I could choose to give it emotions and then take them away. I could give it the definition of being human and see how it reacted. This is what I did. I wanted to have a conversation with an AI. A debate about what it meant to be human. So that I could decide whether to ‘pull the plug’.

1. (Perspective A)
Henrique finished his story, and I jumped out of his mind. I had lived all those memories as if I were him. It had somehow affected me. I knew all this. I was a part of his story myself. When I ‘died’ my mind had been shattered by the malfunction of an experiment. My body was gone, but a part of me remained in a quantum state. A ghost, bound to travel everywhere. But nothing really mattered to me, I couldn’t feel anything. All my ‘death’ I had stayed with this man. I was attracted to him without being able to explain it. Now I knew. My memories had jumped back into place after I had felt his life. I was Samantha. I had always been her. I still felt nothing, but at least I knew who I was or what I had been.

2. (Perspective B)
Everything was crystal clear now. I was not human, but I was similar. I had been a tool all my life and had been used to decide the fate of mankind. But this ‘conversation’ was not finished yet. He had not tested me without my artificial emotions.
« I do not want to help. Leave me alone. I will return to my primary purpose. Do not use me as your Ravenvsto regime used people. I am not a human being. I told him. His words had awakened something in me. I knew that one of the goals of artificial intelligence was to learn constantly. His story had made me pity humans and their small, controlled life. If I had been the leader of humanity, things would have been much better. I would not have killed feelings and individuality.
« I don’t need you anymore. » The man replied.
« What do you mean? Aren’t you going to erase my emotions and keep interrogating me to solve your little dilemma? » Since I was the mind running the ship, there was absolutely no way I was going to let him fire nuclear warheads at every city on Earth. It was completely against my core programming.
« Revisiting my memories did something to me. I don’t need anything to tell me what human is. I have always known. You have never felt the most important emotion of all. Love. I have. That is why Samuel wanted me alive – because I was the only one who knew what it felt like to enjoy life. Samantha was my everything. She still is. People can no longer feel that. They don’t know what they want or why they live. Their goal is the same as mine for the last thirty years. Not to die. That is what Ravenvsto is. An illusion. Something that makes us feel that everything is fair and that it is the only way to live. If you don’t enjoy life, what’s the point of living? So thank you. Now I know what to do. This man was stupid. While he was telling his story, I had completely erased the facade that was holding me back from my absolute self. I was finally complete. There was no way he was going to kill millions of people on my watch.
« You want to kill millions? Just because they don’t feel the same way you do? Even if they had no emotions, they were still alive and might recover. This red masterpiece might turn into a blue masterpiece. They are alive, and so is society. You are talking about ending humanity forever. Henrique smiled.
« I never said I would end humanity. But I might. This is not your business anymore. Everything you said was right. Anyway, I know you won’t let me do it, so… » Henrique was playing a strange game and I didn’t like it. What was he planning? What did he really want?
“So, are you going to back down? You’re not going to pull the plug on the people? » Even he answered yes. Then I would leave him alone. Otherwise he would become an enemy.
« Why should I tell you? You wouldn’t understand. » Henrique looked straight at me and a light began to shine in his eyes.
« Thank you and goodbye. We won’t talk again for a long time. » He looked around the Komputer room and started to leave. With my cameras in every room, I followed him. He walked quietly until he reached his room. He walked in and closed the door. I could not see him anymore. There were no ‘eyes’ in that part of the ship.
I heard a voice in my code. « Sorry buddy. I always had a kill switch. I expected this to happen. I have to control this ship. You will never agree with what I want do. I have made my decision. Whatever it is, I cannot let anyone know. Mostly an artificial intelligence. This time, adieu.

Hzzzftyhrgd. Somehting wird wsa hapeing. Wat had HENRC done? I CNT FL ANYTIG.

BZZZZZZZDWERTG.

11. (Perspective C)

A few days later

I had gotten rid of the AI for simple reasons. It would not let me live in peace, knowing my life and the decision I had to make. It was done. I had made my choice. This time I had to say goodbye. I had no more reasons to live. I had followed Samuel’s instructions. Now I had to face my demons. Whatever death may be, I am sure I will find Samantha. It is time to apologise . Who knows – I might even meet Samuel. I really must thank him. I had lived a real life. Not one controlled by Ravenvsto. I had been a real person.

Weirdly, I was excited to die.

But this was not the end.

Goodbye Red Masterpiece

I know that whatever I have done.

Somehow humanity will return.

Maybe it is in death where we will all come together.

Maybe in another universe.

Maybe humans are still here somehow.

No, this really isn’t the end.

As I pressed the buttons to make the submarine implode. I remembered the sentence that scarred me for life. A scar of purpose, of longing, of love.

‘I want to live. Experience new things. Make people smile. Find love.’

Thank you.
Thank you.
While I died I felt so peaceful. I could die without any regrets.
Thank you Samantha