Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Cormac pans a hand at the stairs that magically appear out of the floor and go up. “After you, Mr. Finn and Miss Jasina.”
“How—”
But Finn is stepping onto the closest moving stair and he tugs me along with him. I have to hop to keep up because a stair appears behind me!
I look back and down at the magic stairs, then up at Cormac and find him smiling, one step below me. There’s something off about his smile—something subtly wrong, like an imitation of what a real person should look like.
“Uncanny Valley,” Cormac says.
“What?” Finn turns.
“Miss Jasina is finding me hard to reconcile. It’s called Uncanny Valley.”
“I don’t know what that means,” I admit.
“It means… I don’t look right. You don’t like it, but you can’t explain why.”
I turn back around and face forward just in time to hop off the escalator, because the stairs disappear into the floor.
Finn hops with me, then Cormac takes the lead, turning a corner, and panning his hand to another escalator. “It’s like a switchback,” he says in a way of explanation. “We’re climbing a mountain!” And this comes out like a proclamation.
I’m so confused about all of it, I simply do what he says. This switch-backing stuff continues several more times, and then, finally, we end up in a large, open room with ceilings so high, I don’t even know if I can see the top. The place is built like a triangle. A very elongated pyramid, I realize. And it’s almost entirely made of glass. Outside, it’s still light, but only just barely. The sky is glowing the oranges and reds of a beautiful sunset.
“Welcome to the God’s Tower lobby!” Cormac says, his voice booming and overly enthusiastic in the echoing chamber. “This is the official Visitor’s Center for all travelers.” He pans a hand to the right. “Over here, you’ll find our state-of-the-art interactive map. Just pick up one of our PPDs—Proprietary Personal Devices—tell it where you want to go, and it will guide you there. It can do other things as well. In fact, as part of the Xi’sperience Package, it can do anything you want—make dinner reservations, schedule a spa day, find you a good book, or the best beach on the canal to swim at. Treat your PPD as your own personal concierge.”
Finn and I both look over at the map, studying it.
But Cormac has already moved on. “And over here, we have complimentary e-bikes. Look for the flashing green light to find one fully charged. Return it to any of our seventy-seven e-bike racks in the city when it starts flashing yellow and pick up another fully charged bike at your convenience. If you would like to leave the city and explore the desert, you’ll find self-driving cars just outside that door.”
He points to a door directly behind us, so Finn and I turn again.
“I’ll leave you to it. But if you need me, just ask your PPD for ‘Cormac’ and I’ll contact you immediately. Thank you for visiting RhoXi. Enjoy your visit. And remember, Every Spark Has Its Purpose!” Then he does a salute-turned-bow—something that feels both official and ridiculous—before spinning on his heel and striding away.
I look at Finn. “Ummm…”
He laughs. “I have no fuckin’ idea, Jasina. But I’m hungry. Let’s just play along, OK?”
“OK,” I say. “Fine with me. Let’s grab our peepees and get the hell out of here.”
Which makes him guffaw as he pulls me in tight and kisses me on the head. “Right. Let’s go get our peepees.”
Twenty minutes later, after we gawked at the lobby and other bewildered visitors, figured out how to activate the PPD, and smartly decided to forego the e-bike after looking at them and realizing we’d probably kill ourselves, we walk out the doors.
And from the moment we step outside the God’s Tower in Xi City, I’m… speechless. I can’t seem to see enough. I’m looking everywhere, at everything. The towers—which are almost exactly like the towers in our Tau City. The canal—which is bright cyan blue, just like our Tau City. And the people. All dressed in long, loose cream-colored linen with sun-bleached-blue accents.
“What is this?” I ask, nearly breathless from the shock of unsettling sameness.
Finn doesn’t answer right away, simply turns in place, taking me with him because we’re holding hands. Finally, after we make a complete circle, he shrugs. “It’s all the same. They’re all alike.” He looks at me, his blue eyes worried. “What does it mean?”
I shrug, buying myself a few heartbeats so I can search for an answer. “Maybe… it’s… some grand design?”
“Grand design?” He laughs.
“What? What’s so funny?”
His blue eyes search mine for a moment, then he looks away. “Ya know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s… a game. That’s all.”
I have no idea what that means, but before I can ask any more questions, he’s moving forward, one hand holding onto mine, the other holding his PPD out in front of him, trying to follow the map to the restaurant where we have dinner reservations.