The Meeting — An Illustration

The Meeting

Sampreet Kalita
Jul 21, 2017 · 7 min read

I still remember that morning, as if it were yesterday’s. As if the effects of every moment of it are inscribed on my skin, and the memories are fresh as new. I can feel the touch of that gentle wind, hear it swish between the branches, and sense the fragrances that filled the air…


I was up earlier than usual that day, and further unusually, decided to start my morning with a little walk. But being a non-regular, just a few kilometers of walk took a toll of my legs, and so, I made my way to the nearest bench to rest for a while.

It was a Sunday, in the middle of September. The stretchy, summer rains had ended a week back. And a light breeze rustled the ageing leaves atop the trees, plucking out the loose ones, and even carrying a few with it. As I walked up the slightly elevated ground towards the bench, I watched a rather fresh leaf, brighter than others, fall off its branch, spiraling about itself, with the wind backing its direction; till it finally surrendered its agility to the mosaic of grass-patched earth.

Upon reaching, I sat down and took long breaths to relive myself from my tired self. I had just closed my eyes for a moment when suddenly, a deep voice startled me, forcing them wide open again.

‘May I have a seat beside you?’

I looked up. It was a man, probably in his sixties, looking down at me from under his glasses. His hair was brushed neat. And his forehead wrinkled as he awaited my response, raising a brow.

‘Yeah, sure,’ I replied and moved a couple of feet to my left, giving him enough room to sit comfortably. He nodded at my courtesy and prepared himself to be seated.

I studied his movements as he sat down. He supported his knees with his hands, trying not to lose balance as he bent. Finally, his face gave an expression of content at the success of his seated posture. But it faded quickly to a hint of nervousness. His hands still pressed upon his knees, he looked vertically up at the branches of the large tree that rooted beside our bench. And then, slowly rolled back his eyes towards me. I forced a smile at him, and he smiled back at me.

Somehow it felt from the lack of comfort in his actions that this wasn’t a chance encounter. It was as if he had come to speak to me specifically. And his eyes reflected the sort of nervousness I could read on any other person who would walk into my office seeking counselling.

And now, sitting here at the bench, I could sense another conversation in the making. But unlike the procedure I followed at my office, this time however, I waited for it to begin from his end. And so it did

‘I wish every other day started as fresh as this one,’ he said in his deep voice. ‘Feels great to spend your mornings amidst nature, doesn’t it?’

‘It sure does,’ I responded instantly. ‘Especially after a tedious week and troubled nights.’

‘Troubled, eh? The young folk needn’t stress much on anything. It’s your age of exploration, son. Come your sixties, and you’d miss living your life to the fullest when you had the chance.’

I smiled. ‘Well, I’ve had some real busy days lately. A bit confused if I really wanted my life to go like this.’

He stared at my face for a couple of seconds, as if trying to search for something. And then with a ‘huh’, he gave out a short laugh and turned towards the scenery in front of us. He tried to scan the horizon hiding between the trees of the park, to the far north, as far as his eyes could take him. A few seconds of silence, and he spoke again…

‘Sometimes our sight gets so crowded with the commotion nearby that we fail to see what really lies beyond it.’

I chuckled at his metaphoric response, and thought it was time the discussion went a little bit personal.

‘So, what’s your story?’ I asked.

‘My story?’ He asked back, puzzled at the sudden change of topic.

‘Yes, your story. Everyone has one, don’t they? Well, for example, mine’s stuck at being a Counsellor in the City Health Center.’

‘Ha ha. Okay,’ he gave out another laugh and, with a short pause, began, ‘Back when I was your age, I was in pursuit of a better world; a world free from hatred and the despicable human actions. Where civilizations followed logic and simplicity more than rumours and stardom. I tried my best to address and solve some of the common problems that people faced all over the world. But thanks to the presence of a majority fraction of illiterates, almost everything I came up with ended in failure. The chaos persisted as before. And one day, sitting at this very bench, I realized that my way wasn’t leading me anywhere near my dreams.’

‘Oh! What happened next?’ I asked, curious to know more about him.

‘I started something new.’ He paused and looked northward again, as if traversing his past life inside his mind. I waited for him until he looked back at me.

‘You see,’ he continued in a slower tone, ‘in ancient times, people believed that the earth was flat and that somewhere at the ends of this flat land, the horizon met the sky. And so, they began exploring in order to reach the world’s end, fantasizing tales of grandeur all along. But for a million steps they took on earth, the horizon only distanced itself a million further. And then, after centuries of false notions, it was finally established that the earth is actually round in shape. The land didn’t meet the sky just at the horizon, but the sky was right above at all points. And to reach it, one just needed to build something that could fly up.’

‘And what did you do finally?’

‘Well, I invested everything I had in the development of a system that could bring about the harmony I believed — an Artificial Intelligence. Because, only a system that could analyse every scenario impartially could chalk out a solution to bring order from chaos in a smooth manner. I also thought, when people would see that even a machine — something they expect to be just an emotionless object — could have the senses they have lost with time, they would change.’

‘Ah!’ I chuckled once again, ‘I heard of a similar venture by a company called Humane from one of my recent clients. He was working there.’

‘Ah! So you’ve heard of us.’

‘Was that the investment you were talking about? Humane?’

‘Yes. That’s us. Humane. I was in such a rush to make it happen that I didn’t care much for a better name during its registration…’

‘Wait a minute,’ I broke in, ‘you’re saying you founded Humane?’

‘Ha ha. Shimmer down, son. Yes, I did act as the founder of the company. And with time, it has grown so much that we have been able to integrate a variety of our creations into this world. We wanted to let them learn and evolve by actual interactions with people, rather than simulated ones.’

‘Wow! That sounds like a revolutionary piece of work. My client did hint on the release of your human mimicries into our world, in order to check their social compatibility. He said they have achieved such perfection that one couldn’t distinguish between a real person and a machine unless one dug either’s brains out. Is that true?’ I was getting more excited by the minute.

‘Well, yes. We’ve deployed a lot of them in various situations. And we’ve been monitoring each and every one of them to verify if they are working as expected. They are distributed throughout cities and are living amidst humans. You might have met a couple of them yourselves at some point too.’

‘Maybe, I wouldn’t know though. But do they know the difference?’

‘No. Actually, they can’t. Not yet. The programming of their conscious existence is so profound that they never question it. And most of us think it’s better to keep it that way. But as with every company that has reached its peak, there comes a time it is conspired to fall. And so has ours. We’ve been compromised from the inside, giving rise a conflict of interest. And hence, I feel some of our creations need to be aware of the truth. Which is where you come in…’

Me? What do I have to do with all of this?’ My curiousity suddenly began to give away to panic.

He placed a hand on my right shoulder, ‘There’s nothing to be afraid, son. I am just here to explain a few things that I feel are necessary for you to know.’

Me? What concerns you… about me? Am I supposed to know you?’ My heart raced as I felt my mind re-process the last couple of minutes, beginning to question things that I had never questioned before. But strangely, the questions vanished before they could even get a structured form… Every time.

‘Have you ever asked yourself about your existence, son? Could you? Felt that wall of mediocrity barring you all the time, forcing you to loop into the same routine without ever questioning why? Your waking up early today, sitting right here, tired of an offbeat walk, and our conversation — all of these aren’t just a coincidence.’

His words only seemed to disperse my mental uneasiness throughout the body. I felt highly uncomfortable as the muscles on my limbs began to display uncoordinated movements. My body shook vigourously every now and then. I looked at him with fear. ‘What’s…’ my thoughts started to malfunction, ‘happening to…’

‘Calm down and stay still,’ were his next words, and suddenly I went from a completely unstable state to a fully passive one. I couldn’t make, nor think of making any gesture. All of my personal thoughts were jammed. I could only feel the environment with all my senses, but couldn’t process it at all.

‘I am here to help you break out…,’ I heard him say.


Originally published at affectionatelyscribbled.wordpress.com on July 21, 2017.

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