There’s a clock on the wall to the left of where his head is and it tells me that right now the sun has risen and in a few hours I’ll be able to see a bit of sunlight before, a few hours later, it will be night again. Those photons will ricochet off of the balcony and into this room, near where my two eyes are at this moment and they will pass right through this space and into the wall opposite, a few bouncing again, around, again, pointless. I’ll be dead by that time.
“Is there any way out?”
“No.”
“So you are just an arm of a machine.”
“Maybe.”
“But you are! You’re just submitting to something.”
“I’m less than an arm. I’m nothing. In fact, there is no machine.”
“No, there is a machine, there has to be a machine.”
The man has a pulse on his belt. In a few minutes, something from there might be over here, or not. Is it part of a machine?
He’s got this… removed expression, his face is glaring at me. If not at me, where would those eyes be pointing, where would that drink in his hands be at this precise moment? His watch makes a small sound, ripples, recognition. “Actually, you know what?” He stands. “I’ve got to get going.”
“Perhaps we can reschedule?”
This causes him to laugh.
“Right. You’re an entertaining one. No, seriously, it’s always a regret when I can’t talk to the contracts before I fulfill them. I was, however,” he looks at his watch, “fifteen minutes late, which I imagine was torture for you, I do apologize, but hey.” He puts his arm around my back and leads me to the balcony, towards the large window. “If life is good and thinking is positive and all that, maybe even toss in an afterlife or two, then that’s good news for ya, mate!”
“If not?”
“Well you have nothing to lose. Or maybe you do. I have no idea.”
“You should have an idea! You’re Death!”
“Fuck no. My name’s Darren.” A pause, and we’re at the balcony. He trips me and I fall over. Something about a syndicate in the background.
Well in a matter of minutes I’ll be dead. I’m surprised at first that the zero-point net hasn’t taken over by now and tossed me onto safe ground but I guess they would have thought of that. Soon enough my eyes adjust and I can see the buildings and crosswalks around, both sides, and also up, towards the sky in the distance. It’s only a small quadrilateral even at this range but it’s shrinking slowly enough because I’m far enough already. And even now, I’m falling, past people and I can’t see their faces and it seems I’ll reach terminal velocity soon enough if I haven’t already. It comes to me that I never found the time to research what terminal velocity is on Earth.
Maybe I’ll hit a crosswalk and die sooner than expected or maybe their fix of the zero-point net isn’t complete and I’ll be found and saved or maybe, or maybe, or. And. No, I’m going to die. A matter of seconds? No, still minutes.
