The outskirts of Zedek were a deserty expanse, extremely flat and hard to gain bearings of. Sylvie could see Zedek itself get smaller and smaller as the jeep she was in drove further and further out.
Koreh was driving her and Gobot to one of the satellite towers, one of the places that distributed network information across the city. From Sylvie's understanding, workers from Mars Central were being sent to the towers to repair them, in secret of course, and that's why there was still a divide between networked and non-networked Servs in the city.
The one she was driving to was deactivated, and the off-network Servs had no intention of letting anyone get it back online. Indeed, Koreh and his friends had created a small settlement around the tower to protect it from people who would try and fix the tower.
People who would take away his freedom.
It was a shame. Sylvie almost felt bad.
They wouldn't be able to protect the tower from her.
Koreh broke Sylvie's train of thought,
"So, it's a pretty interesting history you've got Sylvie. Almost hard to believe." he shouted over the engine of the vehicle.
"I understand if you don't believe me," Sylvie tried to keep in tone with the lie she'd told Koreh. She'd told him she used to be a Block-3, that she was repurposed to be a lower Block level. She told him that as a Block-3 she was a ruthless soldier, and that being taken off the network by accident made her remember that history. She told Koreh that she empathised with him and everyone else in his boat and that she wanted him to help her find herself. She could tell, he was an empathetic person, he wanted to help as many off-network people as he could. Sylvie acknowledged that it was scummy of her to manipulate someone's kindness. But she needed to.
Yes. Being on the network, ethically it was a terrifying thing. But Sylvie's secret mission was to investigate whether Mother really did have an influence on the network, it had nothing to do with the freedom of the Block-5s or Block-4s, as cold as that was. She needed to infiltrate that tower and find out.
"Koreh, doesn't it bother you? How much the city has fallen because of the lack of the network? Is your freedom really worth all the pain everyone is being put through?" maybe ignorance really was bliss,
"What!?" Koreh shouted over the engine of the jeep. He couldn't hear her.
That was probably for the best.
The tower, that was originally a speck, started to gain form. It was a metal frame that extended to the skies, it looked like it may even be taller than the skyscrapers in Mars Central. At the top there were clusters of huge satellite dishes pointing in every direction. The range of that thing must have been huge.
Keeping just that tower alone off network was probably enough to over the entire city, no wonder the Servs were trying their best to keep it protected from being repaired.
Although no-one really know what was wrong with it so, was there really any point?
The settlements around the tower started to become visible too. They were just a collection of shacks, some vehicles, it was more of a small fortification rather than anything else. Sylvie had told Koreh than her combat training as a Block-3 would come in useful, she wanted to help defend the tower with everyone else.
He believed her.
Actually the settlement itself was quite big, big enough that one would probably need a map to navigate effectively. This was probably also due to the fact it was so shabby though. The shacks were simple rooms made out of metal grating, none of them were used for actual permanent residence, moreso, they were used for when people were taking shifts to protect the tower.
It was called Tower Town. A town that protected the minds of all Servs, a town with an incredibly mediocre name. It really spoke pages about how creative the Servs were though.
***
The three walked through the town, a surprisingly bustling area, it was already getting dark but there were still people about. There was no real reason why, they didn't seem to have anything to do.
They were just out.
She'd never seen it, Block-5 and Block-4 Servs being social with each other. Talking and laughing outside like that. Sure, Zedek was full of offline Servs too, but they were still at odd with online Servs, they weren't as... relaxed as the ones here.
She thought back to the offline Servs in Zedek, and the insanity some of them caused. Painting the streets in defiance, setting fires, going on marches and showing absolute disrespect to Block-3s. A rise in crime and use of narcotic substances had skyrocketed.
But it didn't seem like it was anything but tranquil here.
"This is completely different from Zedek." Sylvie muttered, "I don't get it. Why? Why is Zedek such a mess but this place isn't?"
"Different in what way?" asked Koreh,
"I dunno, no-one seems to have a chip on their shoulder."
"...Well, we're all offline here. There's nothing to have a chip on your shoulder about here. We're all friends. This settlement started from scratch, it was made solely by offline Servs, we didn't have to find ourselves at odds with online Servs when building this place."
"Oh right. Yeesh," Sylvie scratched her head, "really hard to get my head around." that said, technology had taken a big hit here, the houses were shabby, there were no charging stations (meaning only solar charging was possible) vehicles were all taken from Zedek. Was this sort of town sustainable?
"Don't get me wrong Sylvie, this place is nothing more than an outpost where we can live part-time to protect the tower. Almost all of us still live in Zedek. It'll be a huge journey before we all become offline. We'll figure out how everything works once we've achieved that though."
"And me?"
"You said you wanted to help, right? And that I'd help you find yourself too. That means you'll be staying at my place, right near the tower."
That was perfect. Right near the tower.
"And if any more of those bastard Block-3s come along, you can help us take them down. If what you said about your combat abilities is true anyway" he put his hand on Sylvie's shoulder, "hey, you're new to Zedek right? So you haven't really made friends with any offline Servs. Instead of retiring for the night, why don't I take you around and introduce you to some people."
"Oh uh, sure!" why not?
And so he did. Sylvie met loads of people. Happy, cheerful people. Actually it seemed like Koreh was the most cynical of the bunch.
These were once slave Servs. They didn't have personalities. But now they were talking to her like she was fresh out of the oven, and they were veterans.
But they did all find Sylvie extremely interesting. They wanted that insight, the insight of what it was like to be a Block-3. It was difficult to put into words, in reality she didn't know how to scale what autonomy level she was on. After all, she was a Block-2 the whole time and didn't know it.
That would really blow their minds.
A crowd sat around Sylvie in the local bar as she continued to talk about her life in Mars Central as a Block-3. At some point, she didn't know when, at some point she seemed to have forgotten she was acting. She started to fall into sincerity. She started to be more and more honest about what she was saying, and they were all hanging on to her every word.
She was used to being cheery and bouncy, but words she didn't think she'd ever be saying, started to find their way out.
"Even as a Block-3, I could feel like things were wrong you know. I once went on a mission locked inside of a Block-5 body. And as usual, that body died and my mind was sent back. I remember how little I cared about it all, for a long time anyway. But then as time went on and on, I noticed things changing. My body was reacting. I could feel my core thump, my hands tremble, I'd grit my teeth, I'd do all these involuntary things in reaction to what they made me do." she didn't know how to interpret it, she never did, "I met someone, finally, who was able to explain it to me. He was one of my best friends actually. He explained emotions to me, and being around him allowed me to see them from the outside, I saw what it did to people." Sylvie smiled, "to act on impulse, to be defiant, independant, and to be so caring at the same time. He showed me that that's what having that level of autonomy was like."
Sylvie couldn't help but wonder then, what The Major meant when she said that Sylvie was secretly a Block-2. Couldn't anyone be a Block-2 if the system allowed it? What made Block-2s special?
Despite everything, Sylvie still didn't feel like she was as unique. There was still an element about her that made her seem straight edge, something about her was still shouting to be let out.
She wasn't sure what.
The others were overjoyed though, to them, she was that person. She was a person who could give them insight into the new feelings they were feeling. They would, in turn, get her accustomed to life as an offline Serv. There was definitely a sort of kinship Sylvie had with the offline Servs, one she didn't think she'd find.
It was a good deal.
Shame it was a lie.
***
Night fell, everyone seemed to have made a mutual agreement to retire eventually. It was only Sylvie and Gobot left.
Time to infiltrate The Tower.