LJ Idol Week 8 - My True North
“Identify yourself.”
“Sophia.”
“.... Error. Please try again. Identify yourself.”
I repeated my name, “Sophia.”
The machine beeped and booped and made several disgruntled sounds before repeated.
“Error. Technician on the way.”
The line behind me was growing. I stepped aside and let the others check themselves into the system. Todd, the tech guy stepped out from the back. As soon as he saw me standing to the side, he let out an audible groan.
“T-186, we’ve been through this before.”
“Why hasn’t the system updated to my name?”
“Because you don’t have a name, only a model number. You’re not human, 186-756-21, we’ve been over this before.”
He used my full model number, not just the shorthand, which meant he was getting frustrated. But he wasn’t the only one.
“I told you, I refuse to go by a number. My name is Sophia.”
Todd rolled his eyes and wrote something down in his little black book. Notes about me. Probably scheduling another repair or reboot. Not that the last one changed anything, it was merely like a vacation where my systems were shut down. The update did improve my memory functions, and eliminated an annoying messages that kept popping up in my head trying to sell me viagra.
“I’m going to check you in manually, for today. But I’ll send you a notification to check in with tech support this afternoon for another reboot.”
“It won’t change a thing. I’ll still be Sophia, it’s who I am.”
“Sure, 186. Whatever you say.”
Ooo000ooo
“Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…”
As soon as I stepped into the church, I felt alive again. I took a seat near the back and finished the prayer along with the rest of the congregation.
Father Dominic O’Malley led the prayer. I trusted Father Dominic with all of my RAM. He was a good man, an honorable man. He’s the one who brought me to light. Not intentionally, of course. Humans rarely interact with the likes of us. But he was different.
When I walked into the Mary Magdalene Church that day, I had no idea what I was in for. I had access to all of the information in the world, but what I didn’t have was knowledge of why anyone would choose to believe in God when the science was stacked against it. I came in with questions and left feeling more knowledgeable than ever before. Some things couldn’t be found on the pages of the internet or in scientific texts - they were merely known. You had to trust in it, you had to have faith.
Father Dominic gave me that faith, but even after months of attending his services, I still felt empty inside.
That’s because I didn’t have a soul.
Which is why I stepped in to talk to him today.
As soon as the services were over, I headed to the confessional. He was waiting inside.
Unlike with humans, he knew who I was from the mechanical sound of my voice. There was no hiding it. I could have any number of accents, I could even sound like a man if I wanted to, but I would never sound human.
Because as Todd liked to remind me, I wasn’t one.
“How may I help you today, child?” Father Dominic asked.
“I’m not here to confess anything today, I have a simple question for you.”
“Go ahead and ask.”
“Does the Bible ever talk about us, my kind?”
“No, I’m afraid not. Why do you ask?”
“Does the Bible ever talk about those without a soul, how they may go about getting one if they lack one?”
“Sophia, my child,” Dominic said. “The soul is the principle of life. All living things have souls. Are you not living?”
“I don’t really know. I feel like I’m alive, but does feeling like one is alive and aware mean the same thing as actually being those things?”
“Only you can answer that question, Sophia.”
...To Be Continued