Ground Zer0

The Kingdom of Zero

A story by: Samuel Cincere Fields

A solar system is really nothing more than a delicate arrangement of science and imagination. Fragile, it needs to be tended for, lest it become a beautiful and terrible festering wound. Those who tend for it are called system Administrators, working the balance of the world.

In Zero, they called the Administrator Arygros.

He would sit there, day in and day out, plugged into the world’s core. He would daze off, eyes half glazed as he remained bound by wires to watch his planet spin around. The gravity and the rotation, the days and the night, Arygros watched over it all. Screens would flash graphs, forcing him to make sure it was correct.

It always was. The stars went in the right order and the storms came at the right times. Nothing ever went astray, and nothing ever seemed to change. It did not matter what the humans on the planet claimed; their planet was sedentary. And it pressed their Administrator with a greater weight than he could bear.

Until eventually that weight began to press down on him. First on his body, and then on his eyes. Like a dark, beckoning blanket, it wrapped around him. He tried to watch the screen systems and he tried to resist the call. However, it was already carrying him away. So he did the only thing he could think; he obeyed his exhaustion.

And he slept. Even as a small error light blinked slowly away on the computer screen, he slept.

And he slept until he could sleep no more. Until his eyes shot open and stared at his screens. He had wondered how long he had drifted off, and he had wondered if there was anyone around to care. However, these wonders washed away when he saw the red lights all around him, blinking like a silent siren.

The screens were showing the gene pool, where all life grabbed its DNA, and where everything was born. There was a virus slowly creeping inside, even as the lights blinked and the Administrator stared. His eyes grew with panic as he shouted, “System shut-off in the genetic sector!” trying to pull the place where the virus was. Perhaps he could quarantine it and protect the…

But it was too late. The damage had already been done.

Then somewhere on Zero, a child was born without arms. A moment later, another was born without lungs. Another without eyes. And another with the powers to neglect the existence gravity. And one out ever few children born across the planet would have its own glitch. The genes scrambled and twisted in new and frightening ways.

Old and experienced, Arygros accepted this fate of the children as his punishment for his ignorance, even as he received reports of mortality rates skyrocketing. Unwillingly, he watched this unfortunate fate spin into normalcy.

However, humans were less accepting. Those who were not affected began to grow distant from those who were, afraid of what could happen if they got too close. They named these unfortunate few the “Glitched” and avoided them at all costs.

And so the world beats on, without a step out of place.

----

Here are some notes from the editor of this story:

Actually, that’s a lie; I am no editor, thought I like to think that I am every so often. Yet I still have the right to say that the Administrator was treated too fairly by this writer. He succumbed people like me to racism and darkness. He left children to be born without any hope of survival and yet all he can do is shrug and say “Oops! So it goes?” And that’s somehow okay?

I’m sorry; I never introduced myself. My name is Melinda Farme, and I am one of the Glitched. I confess that I did not realize until I started having these visions and dreams. They were visions that told me that there was nothing to this world but pen and paper. They told me that everyone around me was imbedded with the ability to live in this world peacefully, never knowing that we are at the mercy of the Writer.

I was born without this. This is my glitch that I have to behold. I do not know whether I should be grateful or not. After all, ignorance is bliss, right? I don’t know if the Writer knows. At least, if he does he hasn’t said anything.

But enough about me. On with the show, right?

----

Melinda Farme scribbled down a few words in a journal and placed it by her nightstand. She sat beside her bed for a while, feeling unsurprisingly lonely. It was a weekend and she was going to sleep at eight-thirty. No one ever had to know she had a glitch; she was one of the few who could have hid it away.

Yet she insisted that she did until people wrote her off as crazy and desperate for attention. So they quarantined her anyway, ignoring her until the point that her room was the only place she wanted to be. The odd thing was, she preferred it this way.

As she stared out her window and watched the other kids her age play on the their bikes, she traced circles on her window with her fingers. She was staring out wistfully, only staring. Making friends was just not her science. And like most of the Glitched, the laws of science did not always apply to her.

However, unlike most Glitched, she did not know the full extent of her glitch.

----

System Administrator Arygros of the Planet Zero:
Observation Log: Entry 234-6A-98:

The computers are showing me different charts lately. They are showing me different codes that are pumping the genetic fabric of Zero. I have researched this back to the genetic pool and have found strange binary code in the system. Normally this would not concern me; strange codes have been commonplace ever since the Virus.

Yet, this code has more power than I would like. It seems to be deconstructing and rebuilding the system. Needless to say, this concerns me. I tried, a few hours ago, to find the source of this code. The system is still running the search. However, I suspect that this is a new glitch. I fear that it could be a stronger and rare glitch that has the ability to manipulate reality. Once I locate the owner, I will consider taking action.

For now, I remain at my post. I shall follow this up.

Observation Log: Entry 234-6A-98: Concluded

----

Melinda Farme ate her lunch in her room, still staring out of her window. Like a Repunzel without a prayer, all she did was say on her window seat and stared. She wrote, and she ate. Yet she was still and she was lonely. She never realized life didn’t have to be like this. She never realized that she had the glitch to change everything she thought she knew.

Yet, those gears were already in motion. She watched the kids play without much interest for a while, before getting up to place her dishes on her desk. Her parents would come for them later, she knew. She did not need to worry about this.

However, when she returned to her seat at her window, she noticed something new. Or rather, she noticed someone new. A small boy, perhaps her age, or perhaps a little younger. He was not like the boys or girls in her neighborhood. He was not concerned with his own imaginations and games.

He had blue eyes, almost clear and pupil-less from what Melinda could see from her window. His hair was almost white in the sunlight. However, that was not what concerned Melinda. Both of those things could result from glitches. They did not seem like a huge deal to her.

What concerned her, was that he was staring steadily at her window. Startled, she turned away, only to look back a moment later. He was still there. He stood with the kind of determination that said that even if she left for an hour or two, he would still be there, looking intently at the window, as though it held a great secret instead of a simple girl.

Finally, Melinda looked back at him, from her safe little window seat. The boy lifted his hands above his head, motioning for her to open the window. Curious, the girl did so. However, she only opened it a crack, not wanting to expose herself too much to the real world.

“Come play with me,” the boy said, staring up at her. He did not shout, but was still loud enough for the girl to hear from the second story. She said nothing, but only looked at him as though he were foolish. The boy did not sound foolish. He did not even sound innocent or childish. It was a command, lacking emotion or desperation, “Come play with me,” he repeated, his eyes and face still blank.

Startled by the lack of humanity in this young boy, she shut the window quickly. He did not budge. So, disturbed, Melinda did budge. She moved off of her window seat and closed the curtains. She moved onto her bed and grabbed a book, sealing the boy out of her mind.

----

System Administrator Arygros of the Planet Zero:
Observation Log: Entry 234-6B-99:

I found the source of the strange binary code. I have already sent an embodiment of myself to investigate the threat. Her given name is Melinda Farme; however her code is 317-N29-165Z. She lives with her biological parents, yet has a strained relationship with the outside world. With this information, she is not a threat to the existence to the world. This glitch of hers, or “Ground Zero” as I have been calling it, is reaching full maturity. So naturally, the less she knows of it, the better.

However, I need to get closer. I need to find out more in order to form a more educated hypothesis. Also, if necessary, I may need to terminate her.

Observation Log: Entry 234-6B-99:Concluded

----

He is there again. The boy. I don’t know if I can stand this any more. Every day or so, he’s always there. He’s always staring at the window, staring at me. And he mouths those words at me: “Come play with me”. Ugh. It’s like something out of a bad horror movie. And it’s annoying and creepy.

Am I holding back the plot? Am I trying to avoid something that shouldn’t be avoided?

You know what? I’m going to go out there and play with the stupid boy. There. Is that what you want, Mr. Writer? Or at least, I hope it will make him go away. Ignoring him hasn’t been helping; so this seems to just make sense.

Here I go. Watch me go.

----

And so she went. She left her room and felt the wood floor beneath her feet. Had she left her room more than once in a blue moon, this would not feel strange to her. Yet she did not leave her room that often. So she wrinkled her nose and went to the door, wiggling her toes to accustom herself to the rest of the house she lived in.

Her mother heard the noise of her daughter opening the front door and she perked up with interest, “Honey? Is everything alright?”

Everything was fine. Melinda nodded, though knew her more could not see her. She felt the sunlight wash over her as she nudged open the screen door. She did not wince; the sunlight was not new to her.

She looked to the left and saw the young boy, still staring at the second story room, with no emotion in his little eyes. She closed her eyes in order to fold back her frustration. She opened them once again, trying to obtain some form of Zen.

“I’m here to play with you,” she said softly. The boy turned around to face her. So mechanical and sharp were his movements. They sent a cold shiver up Melinda’s spine. Cold. That was a good word to describe it.

“I changed my mind,” the boy then said, taking Melinda by surprise, “You are too dangerous to play with. You will only hurt me.” The boy stared into her eyes stiffly. Melinda stared at him in confusion.

----

Dangerous? I’ll show you dangerous kid! I swing my arm back, forming a fist with my hand. I haven’t done this in a long time. My breath catches as I release my blow on the boy. It’s almost…what’s the word? Exhilarating?

My hand hits something metal. Oh god. The boy. Metal. Oh god. What are you doing Mr. Writer?

“You aren’t human,” I whisper as I take a few steps back. I look at my house. I should shut myself inside. I should return to my habit of hiding. And yet…

“Please don’t do that again,” the boy says to me, sounding a little shaken up. Can robots be shaken up? “You’ll make the other kids worry.”

“I can do whatever I want!” I fire back loudly. Well I can. He is not the boss of me, metal or not. I am the boss of me, nothing more, nothing less.

----

System Administrator Arygros of the Planet Zero:
Observation Log: Entry 234-6C-99:

Subject is resisting. I have no choice but to shut down the time stream in order to prevent public unrest.

Time Stream: now going into standby.

Observation Log: Entry 234-6C-99: Concluded

----

With the time shut off, Arygros could now operate without any interruptions. The small boy pulled out a shut off port from his innards. All representatives of the administrator where equipped with materials to decommission any living thing on the life planet. Like turning a computer off permanently, it was the only way to peacefully get rid of something that was not supposed to be there.

Admittedly, Arygros would usually never shut off a human, no matter of how dangerous they were. However, this glitch, Ground Zero, was a result of his mistake. He was the only one who could take responsibility. This became painfully clear as the boy approached the girl with the port.

That’s when Melinda opened her eyes.

----

System Administrator Arygros of the Planet Zero:
Observation Log: Entry 234-6D-99:

Subject is making holes in the time stream using her glitch. I am now switching the representative off autopilot. I need to take care of this myself.

Observation Log: Entry 234-6D-99: Concluded

----

The boy is still there. He is still staring at me. Yet, something is different. The air feels staler and the earth feels quieter. I look to the children playing in their places, frozen by time. Frozen by the writer? Or frozen by the boy? Or perhaps…

“I demand an explanation,” I say, surprised at how scared I sound. I am shaking from my head to my feet, and my breath is caught in my throat. Yet I don’t think I should be this frightened.

“You have a terrible glitch Melinda Rose Farme,” the boy says. Yet, the voice is different. It is less metallic, but more cold. It seems as though I should know whom it belongs to. It’s almost as if I’m playing with the wrong fire here.

“You are the administrator,” the words gush out of my mouth automatically as everything clicks in my mind, “People talk about you. They say you made the glitch. You say you are the one that made me this way. Well if you are offering to take it back, I don’t want it. I’m the only one who knows the truth. I’m the only one who knows we are all book. Just words on a page.”

He’s hissing at me now through his little metal teeth and glaring at me with his metal eyes, “You do not know what you are saying!” Oh but I do. He’s holding something. I don’t know what he’s holding, but I don’t like it.

I step back a little ways to avoid whatever he is planning. He steps forward, “This time thing is cool,” I note casually, trying to catch Mister Administrator off his guard, “You do it?”

“Melinda,” he says carefully, as if talking nicely will get him anywhere, “You have to listen to me. I need to eliminate your glitch. If you are not careful…” he begins. He stops short, “Do you not want to be like them?” he points to the other children, stopped in the middle of their laughter, “Do you want to be alone forever?”

“If the writer doesn’t want me to be alone, I won’t be,” I tell him firmly. He hushes me sharply. I take a few more steps back. I’m against a tree; a tree I can climb if need be. Robots can’t climb trees, right?

“You need to listen to me carefully,” says the boy.

----

So he told her everything. He told her of Ground Zero and he told her of the universe’s science. And he told her how her idle fantasies of writers could destroy them all.

“How?” she asked, tilting her head. She laughed to herself at the boy’s ideas, “There is nothing that we can control,” she said delightfully, her sense of danger slipping away. Why, this was just a silly imaginative boy with a silly imaginative machine that probably did nothing.

“You are incorrect; we all shape the world around us in little ways,” Arygros said through the representative’s body as he inched closer to the girl, hoping she would not notice he was getting closer. She did not. Or at least, she did not move from the tree. Arygros hated to fight. He just wanted this over with. He just wanted to return to a world where he could control everything. He did not one night of sleep destroying everything he had, “But you, you are the divine heroine of this story. With your white horse, you can change the world.”

----

Change the world? I don’t think so. Yet still, it’s a nice thought. Of course, it didn’t matter how many glitches someone had. No one could manipulate the world around them. No one could just make something exist because he or she wishes it so.

But what if one could? What if I could?

----

What if she could? Without her, would this story even exist? Would I? Perhaps I'm not the one really making this story. Am I really in control? What if there is something spiraling beyond my power? What if-?

----

System Administrator Arygros of the Planet Zero:
Observation Log: Entry 234-7A-100:

The subject has stopped resisting. Now sending the representative forth to decommission her before she starts getting ideas.

Observation Log: Entry 234-7A-100: Concluded

----

He’s coming for me now. He’s running. I am running. He is faster. He has the machine. I don’t think it does nothing. Because I feel funny. I feel light.

Mister Writer, can you save me? Mister Writer? Can you hear me?

----

System Administrator Arygros of the Planet Zero:
Observation Log: Entry 234-7B-100:

My theories on the subject’s glitch were not mistaken. However, now she is tucked away in the core of the world, just like me. Silent and sleeping, no one will ever bother her, just like she always wanted. I will momentarily begin to hook her glitch to my system. With her power, I will be able to control Zero more smoothly. I will finally be able to rest.

Still, I cannot help but wonder about the things she said. Are we really just a story or a figment of someone else’s imagination? Or was the “story” just a figment of her imagination? Did she create a reality of it? These are musings, yes. However, one unanswered question does need to be addressed:

Is the story over?

Observation Log: Entry 234-7B-100: Concluded