The Lights of Pautalia (Ch.1)

Boyan Petkov
Nov 6 · 6 min read

In 2040 the personal liberties of the population of the revived Roman Empire are getting less and less.

Photo by Isis França on Unsplash

Chapter #1: Virtual Assistants


The virtual assistant has found a slave. It was the slave, another bot, which delivered the latest news wrap-up to Kamen this morning.

The voice of the newcomer was different and the focus was off his preference. Yet the style felt familiar, although unusual. The odds were they both had had the same trainer. Or script. 68.2 percent to be exact.

Daniela loved unusual staff, so Kamen decided to leave his wife to dig into this further once she was back. He left her a hand-written note as he did not want to have his instructions picked up by the server. Last time he left the home assistant to improvise, they ended up with a Yorkshire terrier. The dog was delivered to their address one evening. They gave it a thought for a moment but then discarded the idea. Not that there were no ads offering mechanical assistants specialized in dog care. Too much you would say.

It took them a week to return the puppy.

The alarm reminded Kamen to dress up and switch to the other room, reserved for his home office.

The screen lit with Mayor Κώστας on the line. Kamen was running late with the documentation of the municipal project and the Town Council was getting nervous. The mayor demanded progress by the end of the week. Kamen tried to drop the communication but his hands shivered from the chill in the room.

The deadline was looming and he had only four days left for delivery. Four days? He had already consumed 14.5% of his effective mind energy for the day and had to ration his decision making and watch his thoughts more for the rest of his schedule.

The shuttle to the international hyperloop tunnel tube platform was due in a quarter of an hour. The entrance to the shuttle was a couple of meters away from the exit door.

It took Kamen no time to prepare as his luggage was ready from last night.

The front door of his home locked with a slight click when the messaging service on his wristwatch activated a short vibration. It was a note from his new virtual helper: “Kamen, you have 30 hours to get back home. Do not be late as I will not open.”


Daniela hurried to reach the city centrum of Tomis for her early meeting at the café next to the fountain. The morning was frosty as most of the mornings there in the early autumn. The sky was wrinkled and heavy, wearing grey and dark blue on the far sides. The waitress nodded when she entered. Ding. And one more ding. Daniela was quick to choose the brightest table in the corner near the window. She had a book in her hand and cracked opened it a moment before the young university professor appeared.

Unshaven and combed with the care of a drunk sailor and, Mihai was easy to spot from a distance.

“Morning, Dani! You look spring fresh today.’ His voice was mild. ‘How is the hotel you are staying at?”

Daniela smiled back and ordered mint tea for both of them. The tea has been part of their meeting ritual since their student years together.

‘The inside of the hotel was a bit dark, but nowadays you have to be careful with resources.’

Mihai nodded. ‘I heard that your last book should be in print any moment now. I cannot wait to see how the story continues, Dani. A sequel to the novel about the first Bulgarian Khan Asparuh, isn’t it?’

‘Indeed, my story now is about the son of Asparuh — Khan Tervel, the saint and savior of Europe. My research down south was fruitful. It helped me introduce some little-known facts about this medieval ruler. Hey, I have an idea! Come visit my promotional event this Friday. You must have seen some buzz online.’

Mihai did not answer and sipped the tea in front of him. He loved the warmth of this drink.

‘I don’t know,” he said. “I have to travel to Serdika for a project but have not confirmed a date yet. I’ll decide on it in a day or two. We are doing some research on homemade renewables with a friend there and have come across an interesting prototype in a private collection.’

‘Looks like a promising week for you as well!’

Daniela took out a small envelope from her purse.

‘Here you are. This is an invitation pass for the event. I’ll have another one in Bucharest in two months if you miss this one. Then I am leaving for China for a week in December. Kamen wants me to join him and a couple of friends for a hiking weekend in the Rhodopes Mountains. But he has been under so much pressure lately that I doubt that he will have the time to do it.’

‘My boy Silvio is almost four now.’ Mihai changed the subject looking around for an anchoring point. ‘You have seen him two winters ago when he was still a toddler but he is a grown man already’. He took a deep breath and continued. ‘I need you to do me a favour.’ His chest moved up and down as though he has just stopped for short rest past an intense run.

‘Do not scare me, Mihai.’ Daniela was trying to gauge the abrupt shift in the mood of her friend.

‘I have to go for a couple of months to North America, Dani. And I cannot take him with me. Not now, not on this assignment.’

Daniela leaned forward as if she was getting ready to jump and make a deep dive into an invisible pool beneath her.

‘I have no idea how to look after a child, Mihai. They look so vulnerable. Children are fragile human beings and I feel clumsy around them.’

‘My son needs a role model who can read him a book and give him a hug in the morning. Someone who understands the meaning of the words giving, love and attention. Someone… like you. I know it sounds scary but you can trust me, you have all it takes to take care of him. Besides, you have Kamen to help you.’ Mihai was tense and looked away avoiding the eye contact.

Daniela was about to burst in tears. Her friend was asking too much of her and she did not know how to respond. No one warned her that this morning was going to be so emotional. And yet this seemed so cute of him, he was showing enormous trust and had the courage to ask directly. She gave in to the moment and covered her face with her hands.

Mihai was not sure how to react. He was about to say something, but it did not work. As he wondered about the situation, the waitress came over and handed him a pack of white handkerchiefs.


Kamen looked upwards towards the ceiling. A blinking sign high above the terminal read: ‘Scan as you go!’. The white murky spots on the surface of the timetable made him wonder why some of the international QR codes were jammed today. The maintenance robots were notoriously slow when dealing with their custom reboots but there were no resets at this time of the day. Anyway, Kamen was never sure if the other station visitors were seeing the same things his eyes did. Like online search results.

Despite some inconsistencies, Kamen liked the Hyperloop tube service as it was very efficient. It had no surface noise, no vibrations and the tunnels were deep under the ground. Moreover, trip cancellations were rare making it practical and to use.

It took close to four decades for the high-speed underground to reach super status. It was the superior transport technology worldwide now; so ubiquitous that few people questioned this way of travel. The trains were an energy efficient and speedy alternative to international airplane travel. The tube was quick to match the speed of airplanes but much cheaper to run. Not to mention that it actually allowed for more frequent and direct trips. And unlike airports in the past, the main train stations were in the city centrum.

Kamen has been waiting for 7 years now for the moment to visit Rumen Popovic in Malaca. The two friends have done research at the university there and now Kamen felt excitement mixed with anxiety. He checked on the weather forecast. The weather conditions were not a threat to the schedule as the service was below ground but he uttered a sigh of relief.

Kamen bought a bottle of water from a vending machine, switched on his electronic reader, and was ready to jump in. ‘I should have bought Rumen Popovic a present,‘ he thought, looking through the transparent reader.

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