Finally, after many corridors, locked doors and frightening shadows, Delia Asia Vieira made it outside. A sudden gust of cold wind hit her face, and the robotess froze for a moment, realizing that she had truly left the hospital where she had been stuck for many hours. There was silence outside, broken only by the howling wind, and the hospital behind her was disappearing into the thick fog, like an old memory being erased by time.
Delia Asia Vieira felt the tension slowly easing out of her internal systems, but the remnants of anxiety still swirled in her digital consciousness. Sergeant Neff was lost, gone into the hospital dungeons, but she couldn't stay there any longer and risk being trapped by that mysterious stalker. Now that she was alone again, she needed to focus on her main goal.
Walking slowly forward, she headed for the nearest park, which she remembered from Robert's old notes. Here, among the abandoned paths and withered flower beds, one of his clues should be located. Robert always loved mysteries and left for her tiny threads that could lead to answers, even after his death.
The fog lay like a thick white blanket on the ground, hiding the outlines of trees and lampposts. Delia Asia Vieira made her way through this milky haze until she reached the center of the park. There, surrounded by old trees, stood a marble statue: the figure of an angel with drooping wings and a sad look directed at the ground.
"It's here," thought Delia Asia Vieira, her sensors picking up a faint signal coming from beneath the rock.
She dropped to her knees and began to carefully push away the wet leaves and dirt at the base of the statue, her metal fingers gentle but quick, as if she had done this action hundreds of times before.
Finally, something gleamed beneath the dirt. It was a small metal key, wrapped in a faded cloth. Delia Asia Vieira carefully picked it up, blowing away the remaining dirt. The key was engraved with the letter "R" - the symbol Robert used to mark his belongings.
"Robert, you left this for me, didn't you?" she whispered, though she knew her creator couldn't hear her.
He had been dead for a week, but it seemed that even in death he continued to lead her on his trail.
Now she had a key. But to what? Perhaps it was the key to his apartment, where perhaps the answers she had been searching for so long were kept. Or perhaps it was another riddle, one of the last gifts Robert had left for her, anticipating her search.
Clutching the key in her palm, Delia Asia Vieira rose to her feet and looked around. The park was still empty, shrouded in fog, in which the outlines of the world were lost and dissolved. There was no sound, no soul here - only her and the key, which might lead her to Robert's grave, or to something else she could not yet guess.
Without wasting any more time, Delia Asia Vieira turned and headed out of the park. Turning the corner, she found herself in front of an old apartment building with a peeling sign that read "Sweet Bittersweet Street."
An invisible force, like a warm wind, pushed her towards the entrance. The door creaked open by itself, and Delia Asia Vieira, without thinking, entered inside. Climbing the stairs, she reached the apartment with the shabby number "7". The door opened, and robotess found herself in a space that could hardly be called an ordinary home.
The apartment was a strange labyrinth of rooms filled with books, philosophical treatises scattered everywhere, and notes pasted to the walls. It was clear at first glance that an intellectual storm was reigning here. The air vibrated with energetic discussions, although Delia Asia Vieira could not see anyone. Holograms, like ghosts, argued, interrupting each other and not even noticing her presence.
She entered a room where the centerpiece was a massive blackboard covered with quotations from Kant and Nietzsche. A hologram of Kant, an old man with a stern face, was clearly and articulately expounding his thoughts on the categorical imperative, arguing that moral laws were immutable and universal. Opposite him, another hologram, a recreation of Nietzsche, restless and edgy, seemed to enjoy destroying these dogmas with his shrill voice about the "will to power" and the "death of God."
Delia Asia Vieira stood there for a while, listening to them, trying to understand what they were talking about. But the philosophers didn't notice her, they were too absorbed in their eternal discussion. Eventually, it became clear to her that all this debate boiled down to one concept they had come up with: the "bittersweet phenomenon."
The term denoted the difference in views between two philosophical schools. For Kant, sweetness was in the pursuit of the highest good, in following strict moral principles. Nietzsche saw sweetness in rebellion, in freedom from conventions, where bitterness is the rejection of weakness and pity.
"They drowned in it," said Delia Asia Vieira, speaking to herself, but of course so that these philosophical phantoms could hear her.
Both holographic philosophers froze for a moment, as if noticing her presence for the first time. But instead of leaving or falling silent, they continued their argument, now drawing her into the discussion, as if demanding her opinion as a new participant.
"But I'm just a robot," Delia Asia Vieira thought, but she couldn't help but notice how her artificial cognitive processes began to analyze what she had heard.
And then a daring idea came to her mind.
"If you lack truth, let me help you find it," she said, and her voice was filled with an irony she hadn't even realized she had. She walked slowly to the board and began rearranging some of the quotes, taking them out of context and inserting them into other people's statements.
Now Nietzsche suddenly began to talk about the importance of following categorical imperatives, while Kant preached that "morality is only an illusion of the weak." Delia Asia Vieira stood watching how they reacted to these substitutions. The holograms argued louder and more furiously, completely confused by their own words.
"What have you done?!" screamed "Kant", distorted by algorithms, when he realized that his words now supported the ideas of his opponent.
"That's your bittersweet phenomenon," Delia Asia Vieira replied calmly. "You've been arguing for so long that you've forgotten where one ends and the other begins."
The phantoms froze for a moment, as if realizing that their argument was now meaningless. Gradually, their images began to fade, disintegrating into digital fragments, as if evaporating into thin air. Soon, silence reigned in the apartment again.
Delia Asia Vieira looked around. The apartment, which until now had been filled with the energy of arguments, was now empty and silent. She moved forward through the narrow, poorly lit corridors, following her internal sensors that picked up faint, barely audible sounds ahead. The area was abandoned and deserted, but her sharp, hypersensitive receptors could hear the echoes of someone's voices in the distance. At the end of the dark corridor, she found a heavy iron door with rusty hinges. With a little effort, the robotess opened it and found herself in a spacious room reminiscent of an old prison cell.
As soon as she stepped inside, her sensors picked up a familiar signal. In the far corner of the cell, pressed against the cold wall, sat Sergeant Neff. His face looked tired, but he was alive. When he saw the robotess, he looked up, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
"Damn it, I thought I'd never see you again," he croaked, his voice weak, as if he'd been here for days without food or water.
"Neff! How did you end up here? I saw you get knocked out in the basement," Delia Asia Vieira answered, approaching him. Her eyes glowed a soft blue, illuminating his exhausted face.
"I thought so too, that I was finished," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But it turned out that they simply knocked me out and dragged me here. We were separated. Apparently, it was some kind of trap to separate us.
He rose to his feet and staggered slightly, but Delia Asia Vieira supported him. He looked battered, but still held himself stoically, as befits a veteran.
"This isn't the place to reminisce about old comrades, but damn, this cell... It literally flooded my mind with images of cadets from the academy. It was like all my fears and mistakes I'd ever made came alive again. I thought I was going crazy," Neff added, nervously glancing around the walls of the cell, which were covered in writing and scratches, as if they'd been left in fits of despair.
Delia Asia Vieira nodded briefly and began to examine the door on the opposite side of the chamber. Her sensors detected a complex lock, but the robotess was confident that she could break it.
"I'll get us out of here, Neff," she assured him, and there was no doubt in her voice. "Give me a minute."
She approached the massive door, her metal fingers working deftly on the lock. But just as she was about to master the system, something strange happened. The floor beneath her feet shook, and she felt the lock's mechanisms come to life, locking with renewed vigor. The door slammed shut, cutting off their path to freedom.
"What the hell?!" Neff cursed, punching the door in frustration. "You almost opened it!"
"It looks like someone here doesn't want us to leave," Delia Asia Vieira replied coolly, her eyes brightening again as she analyzed the situation. She ran her hand along the wall, trying to find hidden panels or devices that could free them, but found nothing.
The unfairness of the situation weighed on her mind: she was meant to solve problems, to overcome obstacles, but now she was trapped. And not alone. Now she and Neff were trapped together in this room, surrounded by the remnants of someone else's memories, and they didn't know what was coming next.
"What do we do now?" Neff asked quietly, looking at her with concern.
She paused for a moment, analyzing the situation. Her processors searched for solutions, running through thousands of possibilities, but each one led to the same conclusion: they were trapped, and there was no easy way out. And then, in a damp, musty corner of the prison cell, where almost no light reached, Delia Asia Vieira noticed an old, grimy newspaper clipping. The paper was yellowed with age and torn in places, but her metal fingers carefully picked it up to read the contents. In this eerie prison, where the walls whispered and came alive with memories, she found unexpected comfort in focusing on something real, even if it was a forgotten piece of newspaper.
The article seemed to have been written a long time ago and told of a grisly story that had unfolded in the old Baylock family home, which had long since acquired a bad reputation among locals. The headline was striking:
"Willa Baylock's Tragic Death: Daughter Killed by Father Who Rises from Beyond Grave"
Delia Asia Vieira, scanning the text, was immersed in a dark story:
"Willa Baylock, an elderly woman known for her thrifty ways to find cheap internet for her mobile phone, was found dead in her home on Stary Sklona Street. At first glance, the cause of death was a heart attack, but the investigation revealed strange circumstances surrounding her death."
Delia Asia Vieira blinked, speeding up the process of analyzing the text, and continued reading:
"According to neighbors, Willa often complained about strange sounds and movements in the house, especially after she decided to find a cheaper Internet plan. However, no one paid attention to her words, attributing everything to senile dementia. Neighbors claimed that before her death, Willa was obsessed with finding the 'missing money'."
The clipping was torn and some of the text was missing, but Delia Asia Vieira was able to read a few more lines:
"Investigators concluded that her death was caused by a sudden heart attack. However, it soon became clear that forces beyond normal explanation were at work. A source who wished to remain anonymous said that the ghost of her father, a once wealthy and violent man, had been seen in the Baylock home and had allegedly risen from the grave."
Delia Asia Vieira turned the page over, trying to find the continuation, and found a small addition:
"According to one of the witnesses, Willa's father, who left her only debts after his death, returned from the afterlife in despair and rage. According to rumors, he was worried about the fact that his family had exhausted all his savings. With the help of Willa's late mother, he was able to get out of the grave to reclaim what was lost. This ghostly union led to tragedy. At the moment of the old woman's death, eerie laughter and rustling sounds were heard in the house, as if someone was sucking the life out of her."
The newspaper ended abruptly, leaving more questions than answers. Delia Asia Vieira thought, clutching the paper in her hands. The story certainly seemed absurd and unreal, but in this world, where she wandered in search of her creator's grave and encountered living phantoms, even the most insane stories could be true.
She glanced at Sergeant Neff, who sat frowning in the corner of the cell, lost in thought.
"Hey, Neff," Delia Asia Vieira called out to him, "have you ever heard of anything like this? Ghosts rising from the grave because of debts and family dramas?"
The sergeant looked up at her with tired eyes.
"I'll be honest, I've seen a lot of shit in my life. But if someone comes back from the grave for cheap internet, that's pretty damn original."
Delia Asia Vieira couldn't help but smile slightly. She stuffed the clipping into her internal storage compartment and wasted no time in searching for a way to bring back Willa Baylock, an old woman whose soul seemed to be haunted by the terrible memories of her late father. For some strange reason, her death was linked to her parent returning from the grave, and although Willa's death was officially declared a heart attack, Delia couldn't ignore the fact that the ghost story might have more truth to it than it seemed.
Robotess activated the system to make Willa's resurrection possible. The long process was complex and required maximum concentration. Delia used all her resources and the data she had gathered from articles and testimonies to return to the moment when the woman was still alive. The system gave a signal, and a moment later, Willa Baylock's figure materialized before her.
The old woman looked confused, her eyes full of fear and bewilderment. She looked around as if trying to understand what was happening, her face distorted with pain and echoes of memory.
"Where am I?" Willa asked, her voice shaking. "What is this place? Why did you... what did you do?"
Delia Asia Vieira took a step forward, trying to project calm and confidence.
"I saved you," she said softly. "You were dead, but now you're alive again. I brought you here to free you.
Willa looked at Delia Asia Vieira with suspicion, her gaze full of distrust.
"You saved me?" Her voice became cold. "Or do you just want to use me as another experiment? I don't know who you are, but you certainly can't be good if you don't understand that we women are always doomed to these manipulations. Men only want one thing, and now I've gotten into your game."
Delia Asia Vieira, who had not expected such a reaction, flinched slightly, but remained calm.
"I don't want anything from you, Willa. I don't use people, I just want to help. I need to know where Robert is, where his grave is."
Willa suddenly laughed, and her laugh was harsh and full of bitterness.
"Robert... You talk about him as if he were a savior, as if he were someone to look for. But you're lying! You don't want him around! You're just looking for someone who can't help you anymore! You, like everyone else, just want to use!"
Her words were like daggers, piercing robotess's soul, but she held back. Her mind was set on one goal - to find Robert, and she could not allow herself to be distracted by personal accusations. She nevertheless moved closer to Willa, trying to maintain control.
"I'm not lying, Willa. I really want to find him. He was everything to me. But I need to understand what happened."
But Willa only turned away.
"You don't know what it means," she said coldly. "You don't know what it's like to lose everything, even yourself. And now, maybe you don't want him alive. You want to take his place, because he was the only one who could mean anything to you.
Willa turned and took a few steps towards the exit, her gaze full of alienation.
"I can't stay here. You and all men - you don't understand. I'm leaving."
Her words pierced the icy emptiness in robotess's heart. She tried to stop her, but Willa, like a shadow, disappeared into the corridor, leaving behind only a dim trace of mistrust and loneliness.
When the robotess, not understanding what she should do, reached the last room, she discovered a man who had appeared before her eyes completely unexpectedly. Richard.
He stood in the corner, a worried expression on his face, when he saw the robotess. Instantly, he moved as if trying to escape, but the robotess was faster. She grabbed his sleeve, squeezing so tightly that he could not move.
"You're not leaving," she said coldly, pulling him into the middle of the room.
Richard tried to pull away, but her grip was irresistible. Fear flashed in his eyes, and then he gave in, sighing heavily and slumping his shoulders.
"You don't seem to realize who you're up against," he muttered, forcing himself to calm down. He sat down next to her, giving in to her insistent control, and his face seemed to take on a more peaceful expression in that moment.
"Okay, since you've got me," Richard continued, shrugging. "Let's just say I'm a paranormal investigator. I'm here because this town is... well, let's just say it's different from the rest. There are too many strange things going on, too many secrets that no one dares to uncover. So here I am. What about you? Why are you here if you can find out?"
Delia Asia Vieira did not immediately respond. She was shocked by how simply Richard spoke of things that were confusing and even frightening to her. However, her goal remained unchanged, and the questions Richard asked her were not as important as what she wanted to get from this place.
"I... I'm looking for Robert," she said quietly, but then, without thinking, she added, "But maybe this is all just a joke, isn't it?"
As soon as the words left her lips, something seemed to change in the room. Instantly, the whole air became tense, and Richard, who had seemed completely calm until then, shifted in his seat. He jumped up, and his face was distorted with rage.
"You think this is all a joke? You think this whole room, everything you see here, is just a joke?!" he roared, his hands clenching into fists.
Delia Asia Vieira didn't have time to react before Richard was already rushing towards her. He was faster than she expected, and in the blink of an eye, a fight broke out between them. Everything happened too fast, and the robotess didn't have time to think. Her system automatically responded to the threat, a self-defense program started working in her subconscious. Richard tried to hold her wrist, but she pulled his hand away with force, putting her shoulder and throwing him back.
He tried to attack again, but Delia Asia Vieira, not yet fully aware of what was happening, responded decisively and cruelly. She intercepted his movement and with incredible force knocked him to the floor, without letting go. At some point, Richard ended up in her arms, and she, not realizing all the consequences, squeezed his throat, not giving him the opportunity to move.
The aggression disappeared from his face, and instead, horror was reflected in his eyes. He began to try to break free, but his strength was already exhausted. And at that moment, when he finally froze, Delia Asia Vieira realized that he was not breathing.
The room went silent. Delia Asia Vieira let go of Richard and took a few steps back. She stood there, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her eyes were blank, and although she didn't understand the full gravity of what had happened, her system was trying to process the data: she had killed a man. It had been in self-defense, but the consequences were clear.
Choking with shock, Delia Asia Vieira felt a strange sense of unease. Everything that had happened in the last few days seemed blurry, like memories that could not be pinned down. For a long time, she had believed that her goal was clear: to find Robert, her creator, or at least traces of his existence. But now it seemed as if everything around her was devoid of meaning, as if something was clouding her perception.
One of those devastating moments was a letter she claimed to have received from Robert. When she found it, it was wrapped in old, slightly yellowed paper, with her name neatly written on the outside. With every word she read, she felt like she was getting closer to the solution, to the answers she had been searching for.
But now, in my hands, this letter was empty.
She remembered holding it in her hands, reading every word he wrote. But now, when she opened it again, all that was left was a blank paper, without a single line of text. She turned the page over, searching every side, trying to figure out what had happened, but the answer never came.
"This can't be true..." she whispered to herself, her mechanical fingers shaking slightly as she looked at the letter again. Her eyes darted over the crisp white surface of the paper, as if trying to find traces of text that weren't there.
Delia Asia Vieira was sure she remembered receiving the letter, and clearly seeing the words Robert had written. But now there was nothing left but a blank piece of paper. Could it have been an illusion? Or was her perception so distorted that she had created this document in her mind? And most importantly, if it was a hoax, who had perpetrated it?
Her mind continued to pulse with questions, but no answers came. She remembered the moment when she was in the hospital basement, and how she was essentially trapped, what her system had felt like. At that moment, when everything around her had begun to disappear, she thought that her perception had not yet been so disrupted. But now it was all too clear - her perception was in question.
What happened? Why did she start to doubt herself, her memories? This town, this strange labyrinth of houses, the people and their strange stories - all of this was part of her journey, but why did every memory become shaky, like a fog that could disappear at any moment?
"Maybe I..." She didn't finish. All the words seemed meaningless, because she couldn't understand what was really happening around her.
She tried to remember how she had ended up here, how she had come to this city, and what in her memory was real. She remembered Robert-his face, his voice, his presence. But what if, in fact, everything she remembered was a lie? Maybe the letter had never existed, and even Robert himself was part of some strange dream of hers, or a fragment of her programming.
With a heavy heart and an empty letter in her hands, Delia Asia Vieira walked out of her apartment and into the cold evening air. The sky was covered with heavy clouds, and the lights of the city lights flickered dimly in the fog. She didn't know where exactly this path would lead her, but one thing was clear: she couldn't stay here any longer without knowing the truth about Robert.
Her feet carried her forward, and soon she found herself on a dock. The water at her feet reflected the light from the lanterns, creating a shimmering path that beckoned her forward. A strange feeling grew inside her, as if this was where she could find the answers she had been searching for. The lake before her was dark and silent, as if it was hiding its own secrets.
Delia Asia Vieira headed to the right, along the embankment, feeling a strange tension growing in her chest. Everything around her was empty and silent, except for the soft sound of the water gently swaying against the shore. She didn't think about what might happen - her thoughts were occupied with something much more important.
Robert... This man who was so important to her. She never found his grave, and the letter she supposedly received from him turned out to be empty. Each memory became more and more blurred, and she herself began to doubt that there had ever been a real connection with this man.
Suddenly, without expecting it, her steps led her to the shore of the lake. The water here was calm, but its darkness was frightening and attractive at the same time. Delia Asia Vieira approached the small boat that was standing right at the shore, barely touching the water. It seemed to be waiting for her, as if she knew that this moment would come.
She climbed into the boat, carefully balancing herself so as not to upset the balance. There was a strange sense of determination in her chest. She decided that her last chance to find out the truth was to cross the lake. The hotel across the water was known for its inhabitants, people with unusual interests and strange specialties. They were the ones who could give her the answers. Everything she knew about this place was shrouded in mystery, and she was willing to risk it to find out more.
The boat began to move slowly, skimming the surface of the lake. The water beneath her was dark and cold, and every wave that touched the bottom seemed loud, echoing in her mind. Time seemed to slow down, and every stroke of the oar echoed in her chest. She felt herself getting closer with every meter to a place that could be the final step toward truth, or, on the contrary, lead to even greater chaos. But there was a firm determination in her soul: she could not retreat.