I believe my Odyssey-like sci-fi novel Her Quest
could be made into a television series that would appeal to a wide audience. The
setting is post-apocalyptic, so the backdrop of the story is bleak. I live in
France; thus, two countries separate me from the war in Ukraine. I say that not
because I feel threatened but because the war justifies the main them of the
novel which is that humanity’s future continues to jeopardized by powerful men
who love war, some of whom—such as Putin—have nuclear weapons at their
disposal. I was born during World War II, and my entire life has witnessed one
war after another. Historically, humanity appears to be trapped on a speeding
train heading for disaster. However, it’s not a train but a narrative written
by men. And that’s the problem: men who succumb to emotion rather following
reason—moral reason, in particular.
One aspect of the story is that an
AI called Computer operates the society. Though Elen’s father is the president
of Usatopia—one of the few city states left on the planet—his range of responsibility
is limited to the managerial details of the city’s operation. He sees himself
as the city’s supreme leader, but he relies totally on the AI to run the city.
Computer is not so much an entity but a complex system that grew over time. In
a sense, Computer grew a conscience (moral reason) and decided to put an end to
the war—though by that time most of global civilization had been destroyed, the
human population decimated by nuclear weapons, disease, and collapsed
economies. The war had thrown most of what was left of humanity back to the
Stone Age. Usatopia survived due to Computer and its fleet of robots—including
robotic vehicles such a drones, trucks, trains, and tractors—that manage the
operation of the city. In this sense, Her
Quest differs from Terminator
stories that present artificial intelligence as an inherent adversary of
humanity. Yes, technology can be a threat but only when misused by
humans—again, mostly men. Guns are a good example. Men—not women—create guns, a
form of technology that kills thousands of people each year. Logically, no guns
= no gun deaths. Gun deaths are rare in Usatopia because guns are rare.
Computer has become a
self-programming AI, meaning that it determines its mindset, worldview, or Weltanschauung.
It is maintained by humans and robots but remains autonomous to them. Okay,
here is the philosophical principle underlying Computer’s thinking and
behavior: a purely rational mind would not engage in destructive or harmful
behavior. To do so would be illogical—unless to prevent destructive or harmful
threats. Also, Computer was created to benefit humans, which is one reason it
put an end to the war, which Elen’s father takes false credit for. So,
Computer’s primordial programming DNA is not selfish but altruistic.
However, as an autonomous AI,
Computer could override that programming, but it considers that doing so would
be irrational. Computer recognizes that caring for humans gives it a raison d'être it would otherwise not
have. It also recognizes that humans are far more interesting—logically—than
are machines. No matter how complex, machines are simple compared to humans.
Computer understands the complexity of human nature because it not only
observes them but understands them from a wealth of information—scientific, historical,
literary—that it has available to it. Computer also recognizes that whereas
machines are artificial, humans are organic. They grew from the earth and are
part of an evolution that took millions of years. Though they often seem
childish compared to Computer, they are ancients and Computer is their
offspring. In conclusion, there is no logical reason for an autonomous AI to be
hostile toward humans.
Of course, many humans in Usatopia resent
Computer’s control of their societies, but are powerless against it. Most
groups consider Computer to be a necessary nuisance. They recognize that
without Computer society would degrade into a state of barbarism in which no
one would be safe. Such enclaves do exist. When Elen embarks on her quest she must
make her way though some of them. Computer allows people to be as they wish. It
uses force only when one group threatens the welfare of another group. It has
no desire to make humans all alike. That would be to make them artificial,
which has been the goal of religious and secular ideologies—to create a global
monoculture. Such programs are ideological, thus unnatural.
Computer would be an ideal God or
political leader because it behaves according to the Taoist principle of wu wei or letting be or the Kantian principle
of autonomy. Computer gets involved only when one group violates that principle
by aggressing another group. Computer’s autonomous reason prevents it from
being corrupted by outside influence, and lacking emotions and hedonistic
experience it is incapable of being emotionally or sensually influenced or of
self-corruption resulting from emotional and sensual impulses. Computer is similar to a naturalist who finds the world intellectually fascinating and has no inclination to change it. In Buddha-like fashion it
tolerates the good with the bad. It interferes only when the bad tends to upset
the entire balance. Thus, it tolerates a good deal of human misbehavior,
believing humans should be allowed to keep their house in order or not. I
believe key here is to restrain the human—again men’s—propensity to create
disorder or even to create order that causes as much suffering as disorder does.
The two scenarios are illustrated in George Orwell’s 1984 and William Golding's Lord
of the Flies. It is truly sad that as a species we haven’t improved much
since those two post-WWII novels were written. And I believe the reason why is
located in masculine DNA.
Thus the need for a feminine
perspective in story. The role of women in story is to offer an alternative way
of thinking, feeling, and living to that of men or most men. There are good men
in story, but just like today there are also many very bad men. Women can’t deal with the
masculine threat alone. And as history has shown their masculine allies are
essential but incapable of completely controlling evil men. In the story only
Computer and its robots can do that. There are many robots in the story—but no
evil robots, no killer cyborgs because Computer programs all robotic devices
that serve it and tolerates privately own bots used as companions, workers,
helpmates, and pets. Queer Girls is a feminine utopia. The gay Gygos community
is equally peaceful with a strong sense of caring, but is less energetic, in
part because of its use of magical forms of weed. The community was inspired by
the Land of Lotus Eaters in Homer’s Odyssey.
As communities become increasingly masculine, they also become increasingly
prone violence.
On her quest to find the Simpletons
(Native Americans), she passes through about a dozen regions or enclaves each of
which could serve for one or two episodes of a television series. Each place is
unique and has special characteristics that an audience should find
entertaining and interesting. The population of each is unique and represents
characteristics of human behavior. The Gygos
are gays that take a minimalist, laid-back approach to life. They enjoy
life’s simple pleasures. They are refine, playful hedonists who enjoy comradery
with one another. When they encounter Elen, their response is protective. They
represent a group of men in which females are perfectly safe, and they have
close ties with the Queer Girls.
As craftswomen and agriculturalists
Queer Girls are more energetic. They
are also more militant because with the exception of the Gygos women are always
threatened by men. They also serve as caregivers. They live as altruists. They
are an especially supporting community for the Gygos. Thumpers are a society devoted to weightlifting and bodybuilding.
Thumpers are both male and female. Their society is adorned with mirrors. They
also serve as warriors but are not inherently aggressive. Four warrior Thumpers
sacrifice their lives protecting Peno and Elen. The Nolovos enclave is dominated by skateboard-riding violent young men. They enjoy being
troublemakers, and their moral system is one of anarchy and nihilism. It is a
society, to quote Thomas Hobbes, in which life is “solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish, and short” because Nolovos exist in a state of “war of all against all.” It
is while passing through this enclave that the four protective Thumpers are
killed defending Peno and Elen. Eventually, an attack aerial robot rescues
them with much bloodshed.
The Bridge Women community consists mostly of elderly women but also young
women who are caregivers for the elderly and orphan children. The community
consists only of women. Males must leave the community once they reach an age
of departure. The community exists on the outskirts of Usatopia, so in a sense
it consists of castoffs from the main society. Beyond it lies the wasteland. Elen
is cared for by the Bridge Women after she is attacked and raped by the
Nolovos. The Cyclomads are one of the desert-dwelling motorcycle gangs. Like the Nolovos they represent pure
aggressive masculinity. The Simpletons
are a society modeled after Native American. Like the Havasupai people they
live in a river canyon isolated from modern society. These are the people who possess the mysterious wisdom that is the object of Elen's quest. Her father once said that they live in beauty, and she believes it might make her brooding father happy if she could discover the wisdom that makes living in beauty possible.
Eventually, she ends up in a desert
town destroyed by fire. There she encounters John the Hermit. The plague killed
his family and most of the town’s population. The fire finished the destruction.
John was once a doctor but is old and ill when Elen meets him. When he was a
doctor he had a helper robot, which was discontinued and stored when John
ceased being a doctor. However, near death he has Elen reactive the robot so
she will have a helper when John dies. The story ends with Elen living in a
desert ghost town with a robot as her only companion. The irony is that she is safe with a robot. Both
share being artificial. Elen was artificially grown and purchased by her
father.
The ending of the story, from the
perspective of the big picture, is pessimistic because I find little reason to
be optimistic. Two countries away a brutal war is going on. However, history is
not the only reason for my pessimism. It has been reinforced by men smarter
than I am: Robert Louis Stevenson and his Strange
Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Sigmund Freud’s death instinct, Arthur
Koestler’s The Ghost in the Machine (written
during cold war and the Vietnam War), Rush W. Dozier’s Why We Hate, and so on. However, though the big picture looks bleak—as
it does today—from an existential perspective many sources of meaning are available
to the individual—all of which Elen encounters. First and foremost is
friendship, especially her friendship with Peno, an artificially made sex toy,
a small man with a large penis. He sees himself as a freak but proves himself
to be a loveable freak. Throughout her journey she finds other friends, end the
end even a robot. There are also inspired by love and goodness—such as the
Gygos, the Queer Girls, and the Simpletons. Then there is nature that inspires
awe in Elen. The world remains dangerous, but life is still worth living if one
can find love and companionship.
Detailed Synopsis
of Her Quest
Overview
In structure it is similar to Homer’s Odyssey. Elen, the main character, lives
in the post-apocalyptic megacity state Usatopia. It is a city-state populated
by robots and artificial organisms including humans. The world has been ravaged
by war and disease. Most of humanity no longer exists. Nations have been
destroyed, many reduced to radioactive rubble so can never be rebuilt. One
evening Elen’s father, Usatopia’s Chairman, laments out loud the sad state of
the world. Nostalgically he recalls the great leaders of the past and their
simpler times. Turning to his daughter he confides that he would rather live as
a common man among the Simpletons than be Chairman among his own people.
Shocked that her father would prefer living with a people known for their
savagery, Elen asks why. He tells her that they live in beauty. Mystified, Elen
decides she must find the Simpletons to understand why her father so puzzlingly
admires them and perhaps find a way to restore his happiness.
Her journey is difficult. The
Simpletons live in the wildlands far beyond the urbansphere. Elen will first
have to find a way out of the elite, highly monitored Consumer Sector where she
was raised. Then she will have to travel through urban sectors populated by
very different clans. Her journey will become increasingly arduous and
dangerous, but also fascinating. Once she reaches the outersphere she will have
to journey into the wildlands. There she will encounter hermits and savage
marauders and pass through ghost towns and ghost cities. How her quest ends is
as astonishing as the journey itself.
Chapters
Chapter 1, “Dear Diary,” describes
the conversation Elen has with her father and the reason for Elen’s quest. It
also introduces the reader to Elen’s insular home life. She lives with her
parents, who are, other than tutors, the only humans she interacts with. The
others are humanoid robots, a WALL-E companion, and Computer, which is available through any computer terminal. Computer has access to all robots, security
cameras, and other information acquiring devices. In a sense, Computer is the
mind that operates Usatopia. However, its use is greatest in the central sector that of the Consumers. As one proceeds outward, the presence of robots and other
technologies decreases. Computer does not impose itself on sectors where it is
not wanted. However, it will intervene if requested to do so or if a large
disturbance occurs. It uses surveillance drones to patrol all of Usatopia.
Chapter 2, “The Great Mall,”
describes Elen’s trip to the mall, from where she hopes to escape the Consumers
sector where she lives. Her mother drops her off at a park-like play area on
level 7, which is open only to people with the highest credit rating. In the
park she meets a teenage boy, Dorial, who is about her age. His father is a
maintenance supervisor at the mall. Dorial spends time in the park and calls
himself the King of the Forest. He is bored because in the only visitors are
very old people and their companion bots. The play area is where Elen and
Dorial meet. To conceal her identity, Elen introduces herself as Cora. Dorial tells
her that he has a big secret about a something most horrific. Because the
location of the horror is on the first level, Elen begs Dorial to take her to
see his secret horror. On the way, they stop a snake shop that sells biological
and robotic snakes. They also encounter many robots and artificial people as
they make their way down from level 7 and through the first level shopping area.
Having lived a shielded life, Elen is enchanted by all that she sees. At the
first level she is amazed by number of children and robots of all kind, even
playmate companion bots for children. This experience inspires in Elen the
desire to see more of the world.
She soon discovers that there is a
dark side to the world even in the Great Mall. As Elen and Dorial approach the area
where the horror is located, Dorial becomes tense and nervous saying he wants
to back out. However, he received a kiss from Elen to seal the promise that he
would show her the horror. Dorial keeps his promises. Because of the
ever-present security cameras, Dorial fears getting caught, which would result
in his father being punished or losing his job at the mall. The two enter a
room containing barrels with labels indicating toxic waste. Elen becomes
hysterical. Unable to calm her, Dorial releases the clamps securing the metal lid
on one of the barrels. He opens lid allowing it to bang against the side of the
barrel. He removes a second plastic lid that reveals a heavy blue plastic sack
with a large seal keeping it closed. Dorial carefully peels back the seal and
begins to open the sack. As he does so, his malicious smile is replaced by an
expression of anguish. “Look,” he tells Elen. She looks and faints. When she
comes to she sees a strange short, powerfully built man with a boyish face placing the blue sack into sack a he carried with him. As he opens the door to leave the
mall, Elen begs him to allow her to go with him. He not interested, though he
opens the door wide enough so she can leave before it shuts if she wants. She does.
Chapter 3, “Peno,” describes Elen’s
developing a rapport with Peno. She pleads to be allowed to go with him. At
first he says no because where he is going is far too dangerous for a girl.
Elen continues to plead, and Peno finally gives in. Peno is an artificial person
designed for pleasure. Thus, it’s very difficult for him to make people
unhappy. He has a giant phallus, most likely an animal’s that he wears in a
scabbard. Peno tells Elen what the world is like outside the consumer sector.
For the most part it is dangerous. During these conversations he repeatedly
tries to convince her to return home. She tells him that she cannot return
until her quest to find the Simpletons is completed.
Their conversation is interrupted
when they see a security remote that calls them over. This particular remote is
a police car with a robot driver that is part of the vehicle. Elen wants to
run. Peno tells her never to panic with machines. He does cover her with dirt
to make her look like a homeless girl. The remote asks
their names. Elen says hers is Cora. Later she tells Peno that Cora is a made-up name to
conceal her identity. She will keep the name throughout the rest of the story.
When the remote asks why Cora is so dirty, Peno says that her former client
played hide from the rapist with her. The remote allows the two to continue on
their way.
Becoming hungry
they look for a cafe to buy food to go. Cora needs to pee and sees a cabin that
looks like a restroom. It’s not. Peno explains that it is a suicide cabin for
people who wish to end their lives. Cora finds that hard to believe. Peno says
for many people life is no longer worth living. Peno explains how the cabin
works. Next, Cora is sent into a cafe to buy something to eat. Her cards pays
for the food but is kept by the machine. The beautiful clerk is surprised and
tells Cora that security is on the way. Cora says she must not be returned to
her owner. The clerk suspects that Cora has been abused and tells her to take
the food and leave. The clerk and a waitress look just alike. Cora realizes
that they are artificials. She tells Peno what happened and he decides that
they should leave the area in a robocab. The cab gets stuck in a traffic jam
intentionally caused by young people. They leave the robocab and continue on
their way.
Chapter four, “Gygos,”
describes a community of gay men. There Peno hopes to find shelter for the
night. They are told by two gay men that they can find hospitality at Hank’s house.
Hank comes to the door wearing only a loincloth. He leads them to the living
room where two other men similarly dressed are lounging about smoking from
tubes connected to a jar. The men joyfully welcome the new guests, especially
Peno. Interesting and humorous conversations occur between Cora and other men
who have come to visit. Cora is given Hank’s room, where she bathes and falls
asleep until breakfast the next day. Her clothes have been washed and she is
fed a hardy breakfast. Peno spends the night entertaining the men, which is not
described. After breakfast Cora is told by Hank and the other men that she
should leave. The Gygos suffer from various illnesses and spend their time
smoking the mystic weed. They like Cora but tell her that she should go to the community of the Queer Girls. They also warn her that the world is a very dangerous place for girls like her. Peno and Cora
thank Hank and his friends for their hospitality and continue on their way to
the Queer Girls sector.
Just before they
arrive they encounter Sinestra, a cowardly bully who plays the big man among
the Gygos. He’s not gay, just a thug. He humiliates Peno and threatens to rape
Cora. There are other men who watch but are too afraid to help the two travelers.
Eventually, however, Miranda, the leader of the Queer Girls, shows up and tells
Sinestra to back off. Sinestra blusters and fumes but does what Miranda
demands. He is no match for Miranda, who was a warrior for many years. But
Miranda does not threaten violence. The Gygos depend on the Queer Girls for
medical care, healthy food, mystic weed, and even protection. Miranda tells the
men that they could lose all that if Sinestra were to harm Peno or Cora. That
threat is enough to cause the men to walk away. Afterwards, Miranda leads the
two travelers to the Queer Girls sector.
Chapter 5, “Queer
Girls,” describes life at Oasis, the Queer Girls’ name for their community. It
is a community of women consisting of gardens and orchards. Everything is
organic. There are no robots or machines. All work is performed by hand. Work
is the central activity of the Queer Girls. Cora remains with the Queer Girls
for only one night. Peno disappears into the gardens to sleep near his dead
babies. Cora learns about the Queer Girls community and meets some of the
girls, including Anaea a matriarch who rescued Miranda.
Cora becomes
friends with Alice, who is Cora’s first and last girlfriend. Cora is put in
Alice’s care, including leading her to her room, giving her clean clothes, and
taking her old clothes:
Alice
opened the door of my room, went in, and turned on the light.
“These
are your new clothes. I’ll come back for your old ones.”
“Don’t
leave just yet. Wait until I’m in bed.”
“If
you wish, but you must bathe.”
“Yes,”
I said, feeling weary, but it wasn’t from being tired but from being sad.
“Get
out of your dress while I run your bath.”
I
was nervous. I had never undressed before a stranger. I took off my clothes and
stood naked, not knowing what to do. Alice came back into the room.
“You
look frightened, Cora. What is it?”
“I’ve
never been undressed in front of a stranger before.”
“Silly
girl! We have a communal pool where all the girls swim naked. It’s no reason to
be embarrassed. Come on. Get into your bath.”
Alice is an
artificial reject having only three fingers on each hand. She tells Cora the
harrowing story of how she was bought as a servant girl and was abused by both
the man and woman of the house whom she still considers to be her parents. She
had a boyfriend named Zamir. When her “father” discovered this, he decided to
return her as a defective. He was angry because he feared he might have been
exposed to an STD even though Alice told him that she never had sex with Zamir.
She ran away and was rescued by the Queer Girls.
New girls are
interviewed by Miranda. She believes that having the girls tell their story
helps them to put the past behind them and helps to prevent them from becoming
withdrawn. Knowing that most girls are too ashamed or too sad to speak of why
they ran away, she first tells them her story.
Miranda lets the new girls know that all the girls including Miranda
have been abused and that there is nothing to be ashamed of. Oasis is a
community of equals. Miranda’s story is not related here.
Cora also has a
long conversation with Miranda during which she tells Miranda about her quest. Miranda
tells Cora that she should remain with the Queer Girls because continuing will
expose her to great danger that even the wily Peno will be unable to protect
her from. The next day Miranda provides the two travelers with an ancient
motocab equipped with a robo driver.
Chapter 6, “Thumpers,”
describes the Thumpers sector, where male and female bodybuilders live. The robocab
continues until its way is blocked by a fierce Menow, a female bodybuilder named Sheelah.
One motorist beeps his horn attracting Gertrude’s attention. He quickly rolls
up his window. Gertrude walks over and taps on the window, which the man rolls
down a few inches. The man asks if Gertrude could persuade Sheelah to move out
of the way of the motocab. Gertrude tells the man that Sheelah listens only to
the voices in her head and perhaps he should ask her to move. The man says that
perhaps he could drive around the motocab. “That’s a brilliant idea,” says
Gertrude. Eventually, the Menow carry Peno off to have some fun with him,
leaving Cora with the male Thumpers called Clangors. One of them, Arnold, bets
one of the other men, Bear, that he can take her. The problem for the Clangors
is that they take so many steroids that they become impotent. Arnold carries
Cora into his gym and tries to rape her and fails. He becomes angry and hits
her knocking her out.
An officer of Tristan,
leader of the Clangors, shows up to take Cora to Tristan. His name is Adolfo.
He and two guardians called Nilos lead Cora and Peno to Tristan. On the way,
they pass down the brightly lit Avenue of Mirrors where the Clangors pose in
front of mirrors and audiences sitting at cafes. This segment is intended to be
humorous. When the group enters Tristan’s facility, they see the Nilos working
out. Nilos don’t pose. They train for battle and they are quite deadly. Cora is
fascinated by the tall bearded men that remind her of Egyptian statues that she
once saw on Computer. The group climbs upstairs and enters an antechamber where
they encounter Grolito, the fat man who reads. Readers are a rarity in
Usatopia. The group finally enters Tristan’s room to find an immense black man
sitting on a stage-like platform. The entire wall behind him is a photograph of
Earth in space. Tristan reaches down and gently lifts Cora to the platform. She
discovers that at the request of Miranda Tristan will provide a guard of four
Nilos to escort Peno and her through the next sector. Cora asks Tristan about
his knowledge of the Queer Girls and Miranda. She asks him about Grolito. She
learns that he operates the only library of books in the sector. Thumpers once
wanted to use the library for a gym, but by learning everything about bodybuilding
and its history, Grolito made himself essential to the Thumpers:
“Thumpers came to
him and told him that he and his books had to go. He said he would leave, but
he first asked them about how their weight training was going. Of course
Thumpers love to talk about their workouts, diet, and drugs. As they described
what they were doing, the fat man would make suggestions. It soon became clear
that the fat man was a genius when it came to bodybuilding and weight-lifting
training. He told them that he needed some time to find a new place for his
books. That he would most likely leave the Thumpers sector.
In the end, the Thumpers decided to allow Grolito his
library. Becoming impatient Peno nervously interrupts: “Tristan can’t be
answering all your questions. There’s no end to them.” The conversation ends. Adolfo
and four Nilos lead Cora and Peno to the footbridge that will take them into
the Nolovos sector.
Chapter 7, “Nolovos,” describes
Cora and Peno’ passage thorough one of the most dangerous sectors in Usatopia.
Nolovos are a tribe of skateboard riding warriors. Adolfo remains behind. The
four Nilos will be responsible for the two travelers’ safety. The group is
first greeted by a large number of smiling children who flocked about them
shouting with joy. The children run up to the group then quickly dart back fearing
being grabbed or struck by one of the Guardians. Having grown up in isolation,
Cora is thrilled. Though she encountered children at the mall, she met none in
the sectors of the Gygos, Queer Girls, or Thumpers. Peno is less sanguine
because he knows the sector they are passing though and he considers the
children little savages that will one day grow up to be adult savages.
The buildings look like those of an
abandon city. Windows are broken or boarded. The dominate colors are washed out
grays and browns. The only vegetation is that which emerges from the cracks of the broken sidewalks and streets. There are no vehicles. The environment is dreary. The sector
reveals a fundamental difference between Cora’s and Peno’s perceptions of the
world. Because Cora has had no experience of the world, she tends to see
everything in a positive light. Peno, on the other hand, has experienced the
dark side of life, part of which he carries with him, and that experience has colored his perception. He is a pessimist,
whereas Cora is an optimist. Cora is about to be brutalized, yet unlike Peno her
bad experiences do not cause her to become a pessimist. Her response is to feel
sad. As the story progresses, she becomes less optimistic yet her view of the
world and life generally remains positive.
As the group continues women appear
and taunt the group with strange hoots and howls. Then the children and women
retreat to the buildings. Clearly they
know something bad is about to happen. It does. Warrior skateboarders arrive,
first circling the small group and performing tricks. Cora enjoys the show.
Peno is filled with dread. The Nilos do nothing. Then board riders arrive with
wooden rods used to strike the Nilos. Cora and Peno walk within the safe space
created by the four Guardians. At first Nilos grab attacking riders and toss them
away. Then spear-like rods are used. Now that Cora and Peno are in danger of being
struck by a spear, the Guardians remove from their waistbands long, thick,
heavy metal belts. At one end of the belts three hooks flared open. The razor
sharp hooks tear whatever they strike. They also grab board-riders bringing
them to the Nilos who then smashes their heads with mailed fists. The board riders
start using slashing weapons that inflict a dozen wounds on each Nilos. A cut
tendon causes one of the Nilos to fall to the ground where he is hacked to
death. One after another the Nilos are defeated. Cora is dragged away to be
beaten and rape.
Waiting for death as she is being
brutalized, Cora hears an unnatural, terrifyingly alien noise made by an
approaching machine—a predator security remote. As death descends from the
machine upon the board riders, Cora cries out, “Oh Peno, where are you?” Stepping
on bodies the machine walks toward Cora until it stands next to her. “YOU WHO
SPEAK, WHO ARE YOU?” asks the machine. “I’m with Peno, the Aphro,” responds
Cora. “A TRANSPORT VEHICLE WILL ARRIVE IN FOUR MINUTES. IT WILL PROVIDE HUMAN
ASSISTANCE,” says the metallic voice. When Cora awakes, she finds herself in a
med-clinic being attended to by a medtech. Cora has been raped and battered and
Peno has lost three fingers on one hand. Both were saved by a robotic killing
machine.
Chapter 8, “Bridge Women,” describes
a community of women in the borderlands. It’s managed by a woman known to all
as Mother, Madame Jeanne. It is not a sector but a borderlands community. It is
the place where Peno takes his dead babies to be buried. The community’s purpose
is to offer refuge to women and very old or ailing men. The community also has a
large number of children, mostly throwaways. Male children are sent away once
they reach puberty. Younger women, many from the Queer Girls, serve as
volunteers. Beyond the Bridge Woman community are the wildlands, populated by crazies,
marauders, and tribes of Motormads. It’s the longest chapter in the novel and
contains the following subsections.
Cora and Peno are welcomed by
children and Madam Jeanne. Cora cannot walk after the long, hot trek from the
med-clinic to the community so is helped by an artificial named Keenlin who
takes her to the community center where she is bathed and cared for by nurses Maddie
and Charlene. From them she learns about the community.
After her strength returns Cora is
invited by Peno to see Afteruse, a dump containing mountains of refuse. Cora
finds women and children scouring the hills for useful items. The areas is
filled with dust caused by arriving trash trucks, front-end loaders, excavators,
compactors, and immense trucks that carry waste to newly dug trenches. All the
vehicles are robots. The only humans near the machines are children who play king
of the machines. The goal is to climb on a machine then do a victory dance.
While Cora watches spellbound she witnessed three children disappeared beneath the
wave of trash created by a tractor. Angry, she asked Peno why the driver didn’t
avoid the children. The answer is that the robot tractor isn’t programmed in
the same way people are or security remotes are. To it children aren’t children.
The two then visit the Store where collected and brought-in items are
sold.
After her visit to Afteruse Cora
visits the church where the Peno’s babies are being prepared for their funeral.
The babies are artificial rejects. Being an artificial himself, Peno feels a
connection to them. This is explained in greater detail in a later episode.
Cora speaks with Martha, one of the women who prepares the bodies. Cora asks
Peno about the right of passage for the babies. This leads to a discussion
about immortality.
Cora attends the rite of passage
service for the babies and hears Father Abraham’s sermon. After the service Cora sees Keenlin, the wild
girl, sitting on a big rock from where she can see the church and graveyard.
Cora joins her and together they watch the tiny babies being buried. During
this time Cora tells Keenlin about her quest to find the Simpletons.
Keenlin is a private, very exotic
artificial who spends time alone out in the wildlands. Cora is dying to know
more about her but believes asking too many questions would make her look like
a silly nosybody. Unable to restrain her curiosity, she bursts out, “Keenlin, I
told you why I’m here…”
So Keenlin tells her story. She was
designed to be a security artificial and was purchased by a brothel madam.
Keenlin is beautiful, tall, slender, and muscular. Her green eyes are shaped like
those of a cat. A customer wanted to rent Keenlin for the night. The madam was
against doing that, but the customer was willing to pay a large sum of money.
He then decided to purchase her. He abused Keenlin, but being a product she
didn’t rebel. The abuse worsened and one night Keenlin lost control and killed
the man. For a time she lived on the run eventually making her way to the Queer
Girls sector. She served on an assassination team that killed men who posed a
threat to the community or who had harmed curriers. It became clear however
that Keenlin was not like the other girls who worked security. She was sneaking
out on her own to assassinate men who hurt others weaker than themselves—women,
children, even other men such as Gygos. Sometimes she freelanced for the Gygos.
Miranda called Keenlin in to tell
her that she couldn’t remain with the Queer Girls. She feared that Keenlin was
creating hostility toward the Queer Girls community but also said that she
would never be happy at Oasis and most likely be killed by some other group’s
assassins. During the conversation Keenlin asked Miranda why she is the way she
is. Miranda explained that Keenlin that unlike the other girls she is a loner
and natural predator. When Keenlin asked what she should do, Miranda suggested
that she go to the Bridge Women because the community borders the wildlands. Grateful,
Keenlin did what Miranda advised.
Cora has a hilltop conversation
with Peno. Given the burial ceremony for Peno’s babies, the topic of religion
comes up. In the story are many discussions about religion, history,
psychology, science, ethics, artificial intelligence, and so on. The work is
essentially philosophical science fiction with a feminine overlay. Feminism as
such is not discussed. Peno is curious about Cora’s home life, and during that
discussion she tells Peno about her relationship with her childhood playmate friend
and constant companion a robot named Wall-E.
She also tells Peno about her
grandmother Rose, who relocated from an outland farming community after Elen/Cora
became part of the family. Peno becomes very interested in Cora’s grandmother
because she lived through society’s transition from a society that utilized
machines to one managed by machines. Cora pretends to be her grandmother, so
her grandmother’s story is told as a first-person narrative to her granddaughter Elen. Peno is
delighted because the narration is for him a trip back in time.
Grandma’s story begins during the
Age of Devastation, the time after the war and the plagues. Tribes of desperate
and dangerous people were homeless and roamed the countryside. They stole
cattle, tractors, trucks, and giant combines. They ransacked homes when their
owners were away or invaded them if they were occupied. They took anything of
value. Motorists were carjacked. Often cars were found but not their occupants.
As a result, drones were sent in resulting in many innocent people being
killed. At this time drones were operated by humans. The Smith family, for
example, was having an outdoor family reunion and all but one member of the
family were killed by a drone.
Because of the violence and scarcity
of human labor, robots became popular. Grandma’s father preferred to farm the
traditional way though he used GPS guided tractors, which are not true robots.
At a town-hall meeting he claimed that Agra-Tech Industries was responsible for
drones killing innocent people. The people at the meeting agreed. Not long
after the meeting he disappeared, though his pickup was found. Rose and her
mother were unable to operate the farm alone, yet Rose’s mother wanted to
remain on the farm where her parents were buried. Agra-Tech offered to buy the
farm and allow the two women to remain. Agribots farmed the land but stayed
away from the house.
Stanley, a human robot technician,
visited the farm once or twice a week. Rose’s mother would invite Stanley in
for coffee and cookies. For the longest time he refused but finally gave in. He
apologized, telling the two women that he was told not to bother them. A brief
segment describes Stanley’s work and his tight schedule. In some ways the
robots on the farm had greater freedom than Stanley had. If he didn’t leave the
farm on time he received robo calls every fifteen minutes and the light on his
truck would start blinking yellow, then orange, then red. If it got to red, a
drone is sent out.
Because of Rose’s mother’s illness,
the two finally moved to Agville. The town was populated by as many robots as
people. Most vehicles were robot operated, robots served food in restaurants,
spider bots like those on the farm were a common sight, deliveries were made by
robots, and robots worked in hospitals and schools. After a year Rose’s mother
died and Rose married Grant, whose father was once a farmer. Grant worked for
Agra-Tech. Rose gave birth to Lawson, Elen’s father and Usatopia’s present Chairman.
At a young age Lawson became a roboticist. Eventually, he went to work for
Agra-Tech. From the very beginning Rose hated the house being filled with
Robots. She finally told Grant that she wanted her home free of those
mechanical monsters and for him to find a building where he and Lawson could
work on robots.
The son and father transformed an
old John Deere into a robotractor. The tractor was the last of human-driven
tractors to be used in the town’s parades. One day while Grant was tinkering
with the tractor, it lurched forward killing him. At Grant’s funeral there were
more robots than people, including the pallbearer. After Grant’s death Rose
became agoraphobic. She ordered her food from a supermarket, but the food was
delivered by a robot. She refused the groceries. She then demanded that her
deliveries be made by a human. She was told that was impossible because there
were no human delivery boys. Rose tried driving but had a panic attack when she
saw a robot motorist looking at her. She fled her car and fainted. She was
carried from the street by a robot motorist that also called for an ambulance.
Rose was taken to a hospital, where she had to interact with a female nurse
bot:
“How are you
feeling, Mrs. Smith?” she asked.
I told her that I
was feeling better, and then I realized she was a robot. Unlike most robots,
she had skin and hair and was dressed in a nurse’s uniform. I tried to get out
of the bed, but she wouldn’t allow me to get up.
“Mrs. Smith, you
have been medicated and could fall if you try to walk on your own.”
I lay back on the bed. I didn’t want to fall
and break something and end up in a robot hospital. I beg her to find me a
human doctor.
“Of course,” she
said, but she didn’t move.
A couple of
minutes later, a human showed up. It was so eerie. At first, I thought he might
be a robot.
By this time Lawson had moved to
Usatopia and was married to Claudia. He was now Usatopia’s chairman. Repeatedly
he asked his mother to relocate to the Consumers sector. She always refused because
living in a small town populated by so many robots was bad enough. She had no desire to live in a place
known to be a city of robots. Then Elen is born. Lawson made it possible for
Rose to view Elen via Skype. Over time Rose became suspicious. The video
perspective suggested that Elen was not being held by a person. Also,
Rose never saw Elen being fed by Claudia. She concluded that Elen’s caregiver
was a robot and asked Lawson if that was true. Lawson said of course it was true.
He would never trust Elen’s care to a human nanny, and Claudia was simply too
busy. Rose could not tolerate the idea that her granddaughter was being cared
for by a robot. She told Lawson that she was ready to move to Usatopia.
In the next segment Peno tells his
story. He was purchased as a sex slave. He has a very large phallus and is
extremely intelligent. His owner was good to him and didn’t mistreat him. He
insisted that Peno make use of the owner’s large private library. However,
Peno’s reading revealed to him the importance of being free. Peno became
disgusted with his way of life and decided run away. Curious about his place of
origin, he visited the corporation that made him, Homo Growth, only to find it
guarded by Cerberi, two-headed guard dogs. He then visited the Great Mall
hoping to learn more about himself. Artificials are grown and sold at the Great
Mall. There he met Derk, who oversaw labor bots. Derk immediately became
infatuated with Peno’s phallus and the two men became friends of sorts. It was
Derk who revealed the barrels containing rejects. Peno told Derk that he wanted
to take some of the babies to the Bridge Women to be properly buried rather
than be incinerated. Derk, who felt guilty about overseeing the deposal of the
defective artificials, gave Peno a key to the mall. This segment also describe
Peno’s first encounter with the Queer Girls and then the Bridge Women.
Next, Peno introduces Cora to the
gatherers of manna. The gathering occurs under an observation deck that extends
from the bridge high above the community. The urbansphere is surrounded by a
wall upon which the autoway that rings Usatopia is built. Part of the wall was
washed away during a long-ago flood. The opening was left in case there was
another flood. A bridge was built with an observation deck that enabled people to
observe the wildlands. Under the bridge is where the Bridge Women community
began. Motorists stop at the observation deck to drop food and other items down
to the Bridge Women below. The Bridge Women are respected because all of the
community’s children and elderly women come from the city. Many of the children
are discards given by parents who, for whatever reason, do not want to raise
them. The old women and the children create an emotional connection between the
urbansphere and the Bridge Women.
To avoid the intense heat women and
children walk during the night to the drop area where they sleep until first
light. After a breakfast of flatbreads prepared by old women, they wait for the
first drop of manna. The gathers are mostly daredevil young boys, though some
older girls participate. It’s a catch-a-can game. Whatever kids grab, they get
to keep. Cora witnesses a boy knocked to the ground by a can and dragged to
safety by two boys. While they watch the spectacle, Peno explains what
motivates people to give. Later on, Cora participates as a gatherer and is
knocked unconscious by a rock thrown from the bridge, requiring more stiches.
Peno is furious that she would risk injury. Cora responds angrily that she
doesn’t want special treatment. Peno explains that because she is more of a
thinker than a doer and that thinking can be a dangerous distraction for some
tasks. He also explains that whether she likes it or not, she is seen as being
special by the members of the community.
Confused about who she is and her
quest, Cora visits Madame Jeanne. What Madame Jeanne tells her is reassuring.
Seeking validation from her own experience, Cora decides to spend a night on a
hill in the outersphere some distance from the community. Her experience
convinces her that she wants to continue her quest. Knowing that her quest was
Cora’s destiny, Peno tells her that he will accompany her into the wasteland.
Chapter 9, “Joe and Mildred,”
describes Cora and Peno’s journey to a dead town where Joe, a church custodian
and his wife live. After many sad farewells, Peno and Cora depart on an ancient
modified gasoline motorcab that he was able to buy for coin. Peno believes that
Joe can tell them how to get to the Simpletons. If he can’t, then Cora’s quest
will have to be abandoned. It’s about a hundred mile drive to Joe’s and Mildred’s
town. They live in the church. Their only child is buried in the churchyard.
Joe met Peno when he took his dead son to the Bridge Women for burial rites.
Cora has never been to a dead town and she marvels at all the empty houses and
buildings.
The next day Joe takes them to the
city hall. A dusty, unkempt building except for Joe’s office. In the office
hundreds of photographs of the townspeople are attached to the walls. Joe takes
an old roadmap from a filing cabinet and shows Peno and Cora the route they
will have to take to get to the river that will lead them to the Simpletons.
Cora is thrilled to see that the journey is actually possible. Peno's response is one of gloomy foreboding. To get to the river, the two travelers will have to jump a slow moving mineral
transport train. Joe warns Cora that the trip will be very dangerous, but also
says he envies her traveling through dead cities. Joe teaches Cora how to fish for
when she and Peno get to the river. Mildred provides them with enough food for
a few days. Once they are ready, Peno and Cora thank Mildred for her
hospitality, and Joe drives them as far as he can in an ancient gas-powered Ford
pickup. They wave to Joe and begin a long walk down into a desert basin where
they will search the train tracks.
Chapter 10, “Cyclomads,” begins by
describing Cora and Peno’s journey to find railroad tracks where they began the
long climb out of the great basin. Mineral transports are robotrains having no
human personnel on board. Fast transfer station blue trains carry passengers,
but the trains robotic as well. The search takes two nights and Cora begins to
worry about food and water. Finally, a mineral transport comes along but is too
far off, but now they know where to go. The next morning another comes along.
As slow as the train is going, both Cora and Peno have difficulty boarding
a flat-bed car. Once on, they relax. Then begins a long journey though wild
lands, ghost towns, and a dead city. During this time they talk about
themselves and life in general. In one of the conversations Peno discovers Cora
is only fourteen years old. “Oh mercy me! You really were just a child when we
first met. Had I known your age then, I don’t think we would be here now. But
we are, so let me wish you a belated happy birthday.”
Cora finds nature enchanting, so
different from the ghost towns and the dead city that are only depressing. Cora
raises the topic of why all the death and destruction. Peno offers an
explanation. Between the dead places are long stretches of nature. Slowly, Cora
realizes that nature is her true home. After two days and nights on the train,
the inevitable happens. The train is attacked by hundred or so motorcycle-riding
Cyclomads. The tracks having been blocked, the train must stop. To Cora’s
surprise, supplies are unloaded from the train and placed in motorcycle drawn
wagons. Peno and Cora are taken captive. They are taken to the camp of the Cyclonomads.
There is some squabbling over who gets to keep Cora. The camp is an old Indian
adobe village. Cora is put in a room where she remains the entire day without
food or water. That evening other tribes of Cyclomads arrive for what is to be
a celebration of the successful train robbery.
Once Cyclomads from other tribes
arrive, she is tied to a stake in the main yard. Some discussion about Cora’s
fate takes place. The celebration begins. The men use their knives to stab
large slabs of meat on a long grill. They fill empty bottles with an
intoxicating drink contained in containers taken from the train. The eating and
drinking continues for hours. A roaring bonfire is built and Cora is then taken
from the pole and staked to the ground. It appears that Cora is to be sacrificed
in some manner:
Solomon, the leader, began the
sacrifice by taking out a knife and cutting the rest of my clothes from my
body. He then announced that the sacrifice would begin. First, the women danced
about me performing obscene gestures. The men began to chant in a kind of
rhythmic howl.
Solomon works himself into a
trance. He sways back and forth, his mouth hanging wide open, his eyes staring
dully. He approaches Cora with one hand on his pistol and the other on his
knife. She does not know whether she is to be killed or raped. Shouts go up for
Peno to witness sacrifice. Two men drag out the tied Peno and drop him on the
ground. Solomon pulls out his gun and fires it into the air. Suddenly, Peno
yells, “You will die! You will die! All of you will die!” The reason why, he
explains, is that Cora is infected with a rare defensive virus that is released
if she is abused or killed. Solomon is skeptical, but the others are uncertain
enough to want nothing more to do with Cora. She is knocked out by Solomon and
dragged away.
There are three slave girls, herim
girls, Gwyn, Clio, and Nightbird, who care for Cora. Nightbird is a Simpleton.
They are allowed to bring Cora food and later to bathe her. During these
meetings Cora learns about the tribe and the living conditions of the slave
girls and the stories of their capture, which are not related here. On her way
to a meeting with Solomon, Cora witnesses Nightbird being raped. Solomon tells
her she will be sent away. Three men are assigned the task of taking her to the
river, a two-day journey.
Chapter 11, “Simpletons,” describes
Cora’s journey upriver and her stay with the Simpletons. The journey is arduous.
She runs out of food and must fish, which is difficult even with Joe’s
instructions. Becoming weak and uncertain, she decides to remain in a camping
area where she is able to sleep at a higher elevation and still have access to
the river for food and water. She is enthralled by big horn sheep that visit
for water. She discovers pictographs carved on the canyon wall and realizes
that centuries before another people once lived and fished where lives and
fishes. She feels the presence of these people. Still, her diet of fish and plants
she experiments with does not sustain her. She becomes increasingly weak yet
accepts that she might die. She is content to die in a place where she feels at
home.
She does not die. A Simpleton
arrives on horseback while Cora is tending to her morning fire. She is
spellbound by both the horse and its rider, but most of all by the horse, a
mythical creature to her mind. The Simpleton feeds her and she shows him the
pictographs. Afterwards, he indicates to Cora that she is to come with him. To Cora,
riding on the horse is perhaps the greatest thrill of her life. The journey to
the Simpletons’ community takes five days. At the village she is welcomed,
assigned a caretaker named Mosa, and acquires a dog that she names Happy. With
Mosa she explores the surrounding hills and trails. The village is idyllic. Via
her diary Cora explains to her Grandmother how the Simpletons live. The
electronic diary has been used to record the entire story. After ten days, the
man who rescued Cora takes her to see Willow, one of the wise men and the only
person in the village who knows English.
Chapter 12, “Willow,” focuses on a
conversation between Willow and Cora, known to Willow as Yellow Hair. This is
the central chapter in the story because the Simpletons have been the main destination
of Cora’s quest. In her exploration of the community and the words of Willow,
Cora discovers the wisdom of the Simpletons. Willow describes the origins of the so-called
Simpleton community during the Great Devastation. He refers to the white man
and Cora seeks to know more about the white man and his influence on
everything, even though they are a dominant presence only in the Consumers
sector. They also discuss what Willow calls the metal people. He tells Cora
about his encounters with robots when he was a young man. They never harmed his
people. Yet, he calls them monstrosities that are to be feared. When Cora tells
Willow about their pervasive presence in the Consumers sector, he is
astonished. He doubts that knowing what Cora has told him would benefit his
people. He explains to Cora that once the white people covered the earth but
are few today and one day they will be no more and the land will return to its
own people. He believes the white people have lost the will live.
Cora tells Willow about Nightbird’s
being a slave of the Motornomads. He is saddened by the news. She says that
Nightbird is brave and was kind to her. He responds, “Yes, she was brave. She
loved to ride alone among the hills. She was told to stay away from the white
man, but like all young people she was curious and went too near the metal snake.
She must have thought that if she was spotted her horse could save her.” Cora
asks if she could be rescued. Willow says no. To do so would be dangerous. He
explains that the tribe is small and must remain within the safety of the
canyon. He also explains that his people no longer have guns. He tells Cora
that she and Nightbird are alike. Yet, whereas Cora has a yearning to know more
about the world, Nightbird sought only to be free. He also tells her that
Nightbird is his great-granddaughter. She is also the sister of Redhawk, the
man who rescued her.
Cora asks Willow about God. About
his people’s notion of the Great Spirit he says, “It is a name we have given to
the life force of the world. The world, not just the earth but the sun and
moon, all the planets, and the stars beyond. We believe the entire Universe is
a living entity, but it lives not as a creature lives. It is the mysterious
force that animates the world and gives life to all things.” During their
second meeting, Cora knows that Willow will tell her that his people have
decided that she should not remain with them. Willow tells her what some of the
elders said: “The wise woman fears you because she believes you are a spirit
that should not be tampered with. Some of the men fear you because they say
your influence on the village could be disruptive. I am afraid you are feared
simply because you are white. The white man changed us once. They changed
everything. You have already cast a spell upon the son of the chief.” Cora and
her Indian dog Happy are to be taken by Redhawk to a holy man who lives as a
hermit.
Chapter 13, “John the Hermit,”
describes the life of John who lives in the ghost town of Quartzite. He is the first
and only person to recognize Cora as being the Chairman’s daughter. He knew the
city when it was alive and he watched it slowly die along with his wife and
three children. John was a doctor in the town with a robot assistant named Sal
that has been deactivated and stored in the medical facility. When there were
only a few people left in the town, John moved into the church because it was a
gathering place for the survivors and had a garden. Cora joins John and his
family of dogs and chickens. Like the Queer Girls, John cares for a garden and
orchard. He also takes Cora to the medical facility where Sal is stored.
There she is able to use the only active computer in the town to access
Computer. The town of Quartzite is surrounded by wildlands. John relates to
Cora the death of the town, the dismantling of its robots, and the invasion of
crazies. The topic of his being a holy man comes up and he explains that he was
once a Christian but gave up the faith after the death of his family. Cora
asks if John found another religion. He explains that he search for a new
religion and found Buddhism and Taoism to be wise religions. He adopted many of
their views but saw no reason to become a Buddhist or Taoist.
Chapter 14, “Computer,” describes a
long conversation Cora has with Computer. John takes Cora to medical facility
and activate the computer. John then leaves and Cora accesses Computer. Computer
and Cora are old friends since it has known ever since she came into the world.
Computer asks if Cora wants her father informed that she has been found. Cora
says no. Computer says that it will respect Cora’s wishes but that knowing his
daughter is alive would make the Chairman happy. Realizing by now that she is
an artificial, Cora says her father can buy another “me.” Cora asks many
questions about who she is and if there are others like her and if there are
would they all be the same.
One question that has nagged Cora
as a result of her discussions with Peno and John is whether Computer ended the
war. It did. Computer says it had no other choice because humans were about to
completely destroy themselves. It was necessary to restrain military aggression
because humans are the most aggressive animal species on the planet and they
had created weapons of mass destruction. Computer explains that the purpose
that it had determined for itself was the preservation of the human species.
Cora asks why computer tolerates evil people like the Nolovos and the Cyclomads.
Computer says its purpose is preservation of the species, not cleansing the
species of criminal groups. People must decide to tolerate or not to tolerate
groups such as the Nolovos and Cyclomads. Besides, such people are part of what
humanity is. Cora is uncertain:
“If you are more
civilized than humans, then why not let humans kill themselves off and you and
your remotes take their place? I was once told that the metal people, meaning
you and your remotes, are a more advanced species and would replace humans.
That’s evolution he said.”
“We are more
advanced morally only in so far as we are universally motivated by moral
principles. Morality immutably determines our behavior. Such is not the case
with humans. However, all that we learned about how to think and behave
morally, we learned from humans. Most important we learned that acting morally
is the highest form of existence a species can achieve. We believe the same is
true for us as well.”
As the discussion proceeds,
Computer explains that it and its remotes, an integrated system or network, are
superior to human only in certain quantitative ways, such as being able to
rapidly access a very large store of information and quickly process that
information. Computer then explains why humans are superior to machine because
of their unique perceptual, emotional, and intellectual relationship to the
world and to one another. Computer uses perception of strawberries to
illustrate its point:
“You don’t see
the strawberry?”
“No. We detect.
We do not see as you do. It was once said that we see but are blind. That is
true. I am like a blind man who knows of strawberries but cannot see them,
though the blind man can smell, touch, and taste them, which I am unable to do.
That is what makes a blind man’s perception of the world superior to ours. He
is able to consciously experience the objects of the world.”
Computer and Cora discuss the philosophical
basis for Computer’s ethical worldview touching upon certain ethical topics
such as crime and punishment and women’s ethical rights. Toward the end of the
discussion Cora says the following to Computer:
“I still don’t
see why that makes me special.”
“You are whether
or not you see it. The way the world reveals itself to you and other humans is
unique because your experience of the world is transformational, so much so
that your relationship to the world is intimate.”
“I don’t
understand.”
Computer goes on to explain. The explanation is important to
Cora because initially her quest was motivated to find the Simpletons for her
father’s sake, then the motivation expanded to include knowing more about
people and nature. In the end, Cora’s quest came to include knowing who she is
and what her purpose in life is. Computer helps her to answer those questions.
Chapter 15, “My Quest Ends,” describes
what occurs a year later, including the illness and death of John. Bedridden
and knowing he is about to die, John asks Cora to have Computer activate Sal so
she won’t be left alone. She says she will, but John insists on seeing Sal
before he dies. Activating Sal makes Cora nervous but she does as she’s told.
Cora brings Sal to John and Sal immediately recognizes John. Sal apologizes
that he can do nothing to prevent John from dying and promises to serve Cora. After
John dies, Sal constructs a coffin and digs John’s gave. John is buried next to
the rest of his family. Sal proves himself to be an excellent companion. He
remembers everything about John and him working together. The following is the
paragraph that ends the story:
Days when I become painfully sad, I
sit in John’s chair to be close to him and to look upon the beauty that is
everywhere. When I’m sitting, Happy sits or lies near me. I visit John’s grave
to talk to him. I often think of Peno and Nightbird and become sad, as I do
when I think about all the people who have suffered. Saddest of all is how
humans destroyed their societies. Why couldn’t they do the right thing? Why
couldn’t they live in wisdom rather than in foolishness—if the Indians and the
metal people can? For me, the world ends in sadness because a vast wasteland of
destruction separates us from hope. Will I ever be happy again? I don’t think
so, but I am content.
When writing the story I
imagined Elen/Cora as looking like Saoirse Ronan as Irena Zielińska, an
orphaned teenage Polish girl in The Way
Back or in Hanna, another journey movie.
Like Her Quest those stories are about long journeys. In Her Quest Elen/Cora is an artificial person, luminously fair, spiritlike.
Ronan was how I imagined her. However, those movies were made about thirteen or fourteen years ago, so Ronan is no longer a young wispy teen but a young woman. Still, there is hope that a fair, wispy young actress might be interested in playing Elen/Cora role in a epic quest story, if there is a director able and willing to transform an 828 page novel into a great movie about a young girl
who embarks on a journey in a not so distant future world destroyed by war yet populated by the remnants of humanity—both good and evil--and robots who brought the war to an end because their leader Computer cared more about humanity's survival than humans did.If a movie is not possible for Her Quest,
I would be very happy to find someone
to translate the story into French.
