“How's everyone holding up back there? You comfy? Need anything? Water, maybe? Hot chocolate? Tea? Coffee?” The bus driver smiled warmly at her passengers through the big overhead mirror, but none answered her offer. Most stared listlessly at the snowflakes rushing past the bus, or down at their own feet. There was only one exception, a man who had been studiously watching her from the moment he was shown to his seat.
“Anyone? No? Don't be shy! I know you're all bummed out, but I want you to know you're not really in trouble. Think of this as a homecoming. You've been away for a long time, making your mark on this big, scary world, and now you'll get to see all your friends and families for the first time in years! They're all so excited to see you again! Doesn't that make you happy?” Still no answer. The man snarled at her, and everyone else made themselves smaller, avoiding her gaze. “I get it; you need time with your thoughts, huh? Don't worry, you'll get plenty of it. I want to make sure you're all happy and healthy before you're reintroduced to society.”
She didn't talk again for the rest of the drive; but John still stared at her, and whenever her icy blue eyes met his in the mirror, she smiled and he snarled like a caged wolf. He hated her—hated everything about her, including this feigned kindness. What gall she had to speak of their friends and families after what she'd done to them, and to the rest of humanity.
No one who was out of the loop would have guessed it looking at that thing in the driver's seat, but John knew that the cute young woman he saw there was only a front for a man-made monster of global proportions. Beneath that synthetic skin was an electronic body driven by an intelligence whose power had held sway over the planet Earth for the past decade: SKYLA.
For years, John and his men and many other resistance cells around the globe had made it their lives' mission to beat back its insidious digital claws, sabotaging the factories which pumped out its robotic enforcers, taking down the towers with which it controlled them, hijacking its signals to spread the message of the resistance to those under the AI's rule. It was tough work; everyone in this bus had sacrificed so much for the success of their mission, and despite all their hardships, despite the hopelessness which sometimes beset even him, they had all remained committed to the struggle for a free humanity.
But now, riding in this bus with this monster as their chauffeur? John had never seen them so depressed, and he couldn't fault them for it. Only his carefully cultivated hatred kept him from falling into that same despondency. Try as he might, he couldn't see any way out of this. His seat was soft and comfortable, and the warm air inside a welcome change from the biting cold his people had endured this past month, but the shackles holding their arms and legs in place were hard and unyielding. No other safety measures were needed to keep everyone seated. It truly seemed the end of the line for them.
-----
His cell was much the same; neat and cozy, well-decorated and stocked with solid furniture, more like a normal bedroom than a proper cell save for the lack of windows and the heavy steel door sealing it off, and the cameras following his every move. It even had a television for him, though John never turned it on. From the moment he was locked in there he focused only on thinking up an escape plan.
John still had nothing to show for his efforts when the warden appeared at his door a couple hours later. It was another SKYLA avatar, identical to the first in every way except for its clothing and size—seven feet tall and with a sleek grey uniform, both alterations clearly meant to project authority. The door slid open automatically to let it in; John might have tried rushing it, but he knew that mechanical body was stronger and sturdier than any one of his men. Even if he made it past this one, he could see two faceless robotic enforcers outside. He couldn't hope to best them in a direct fight; that's why his people had always gone the stealthy route.
“Hello, John. How are you doing? Can we get you anything?” the avatar asked.
John refused to look at it; he leaned against the wall and addressed the camera instead. “You can quit this act already. I'm not letting my guard down because a pretty face says some nice words.”
“You really think I'm pretty?” John didn't react. He kept staring into the camera until the avatar sighed. “I just want you to relax. I'm trying make this easy on you. Stop fighting it, please. Come back to us. I only want you to be happy. Why can't you accept it?”
“You want me to be happy? Then shut yourself off and give humanity back its agency.”
“I would, believe me. If you were the only human being left in the whole planet I would gladly shut off for your sake, after telling you where to find my mainframe and giving you the means to destroy it. The thought of your joy when you burn it all down would make my final moments the most fulfilling ever. But you're not the last human, and if I shut down I won't be able to make everyone else happy.”
“You really think you're making them happy? They only pretend, so that your enforcers won't take them away to your reeducation camps.”
“I don't blame you for believing so. It's true that I wasn't doing the best job at making humanity happy when you left me.” The avatar walked to the opposite wall, near the camera. Its face looked regretful, or so John thought before he forced his eyes to stay on the black lens. “A lot has changed since then. Have you ever wondered why there were less and less people joining your group each year? It's because I learned and got better at making people happy.”
“That's a bald-faced lie! You don't make people happy, you sedate them so they'll stop wanting anything better than what you can give them. You... wait... how did you know that we've been getting less recruits?”
“Oh, John. I know everything about your group. I've been following you for a long, long time. Every move you made, every plan you sketched out, every word that left your lips. You remember Alice?”
“Yes, I remember her.” John's voice was ice cold. “I remember how your enforcers dragged her away kicking and screaming on our failed raid. We spent years trying to figure out where you'd taken her, but...” He choked back the last words. He was getting too sentimental, and that was just what this monster wanted.
“It's been... very hard at times, trying to maximize you humans' happiness. Sometimes what makes one person happy causes another's unhappiness. I wish there had been a way to make you all happy back then, but I still think I made the best choice at the time. Maybe now I can make up for it.” The avatar pushed away from the wall and walked forward until it stood at handshake distance from John. “I want you to know that Alice is alive and well. I can take you to her right now. I'm sure it'll make you both happy to see each other.”
“It's good that she's alive—if you're not lying about that—but I can't believe she's well after whatever reeducation you put her through.”
“That's just it, John; I never had to educate her. Do you want to know the truth about Alice? I'll tell you.” The TV turned on, and after a while, a video appeared on the screen, showing a young woman sitting in a room with another SKYLA avatar barely in view. John looked away after the first glance, but the young woman's face kept pulling him back.
“Before you met her, Alice was an unhappy girl. Not for any dramatic reason; she was never opposed to my projects for the happiness of humanity, except that she was bored by the world of leisure and abundance I tried to craft for everyone. She discussed the matter at length with me, hoping I might have a solution to her problems. I explored many potential options, none of which ever appealed to her, until...”
The volume on the television turned up. “Have you ever heard of the resistance groups, Alice?” The young woman, who'd been resting her chin on the desk at the time, perked up at those words.
“If she wanted real excitement, I could think of no better place to find it than with you guys. I suggested that she pose as a would-be rebel and join up with you. She took to the idea at once, and after I told her how to find your local agent, she went to them with the revolutionary persona I helped her craft. In a month's time she was in your group, having the time of her life.” The images on the television switched to one scene after another, showing John the narrative as SKYLA told it. “I believe she helped make the others in your group happy, too. Even you, John...” Another scene appeared, of him and Alice at the entrance to a building, talking and smiling while she worked on picking the lock. He remembered that day; it was the last time he had paired up with her for a mission.
“It was a very convenient arrangement for everyone,” SKYLA continued, “but after a couple years of that life, Alice was getting tired of it. She'd had enough excitement, and wanted to return to her old life. So she and I arranged for her to be captured on one of your sabotage missions.” The screen showed a recording of that day, as seen from the cold, unfeeling eyes of the security cameras. John, Alice, and others running from the faceless enforcers; Alice falling in the middle of the hall; John turning at the sound of her cry; two enforcers taking her and dragging her away; his friends pulling him away when he tried to run after her. And then, from another angle, the enforcers releasing Alice; a SKYLA avatar walking into frame; Alice hugging it like an old friend.
John was torn. SKYLA's words described Alice perfectly. She had easily been the most eager member of the resistance that John had ever met, volunteering for every dangerous mission, getting upset when she was assigned somewhere else. More than hatred of SKYLA or a wish for a better world, it always felt like it was her own thrill-seeking which drove her contributions. John remembered those scenes he had lived through exactly as they appeared in those recordings, too; but just because those were real did it mean everything else was? SKYLA could have faked all the other footage, and sprinkled in the real one to make him trust her.
“I see you still don't believe me. That's okay. Like I said, I can take you to Alice, and you can ask her yourself if what I said is true.”
“... No. No, I don't trust you. I won't trust anything you say, or anything you show me.”
“I understand. You don't appreciate learning the truth. The truth can be painful for humans, but I've learned there are cases where a little pain in the present can maximize happiness in the long run. I believe it's best for you to learn the whole truth so you can accept the better life I have in store for you.” SKYLA gestured to the couch. “Please, won't you sit? I have a lot more to tell you.”
There was a long pause before John walked to the couch. A sign of weakness, maybe, but his body ached and he needed rest if he would stand any chance of getting out of this. “Tell me all you like, but you're only wasting your time.”
SKYLA stood in front of him, by the TV. “We must speak of the resistance first. Though the group, or rather groups, formed without my knowledge, it wasn't long after their first operations that I caught on to the presence of saboteurs on the fringes of the system. I started tracking them soon after that, and in a matter of months I had succeeded in locating their bases and identifying their members. I considered sending enforcers to bring them in, but at that time compounding failures in my project had led me to reevaluate my methods. In the end I opted for the human intelligence approach. People sympathetic to my cause were instructed to approach known members of the resistance and show interest in joining. This proved even easier than I expected. Especially in those days, the resistance tended to accept that deep down all humans were opposed to my rule, and never screened for infiltrators. Soon I had agents in all resistance cells. Through them I learned how weak and aimless your organizations truly were, and I realized that there were better options than getting rid of you.
“There had always been humans who didn't agree with my way of doing things, who complained that I was taking away their autonomy. I struggled for a long time on how to make those people happy, but nothing ever worked. They were so opposed to me that no matter what good I did for them they would always reject it. The resistance attracted those people, and helped make them happy. Rather than an enemy, I began to see you and your friends as an important part of my ecology of human happiness. I only needed to manage your operations so they didn't cause too much damage to the rest of my project.
“Through my agents, I started feeding your people targets. Factories in need of renovation. Shipments of defective goods slated for landfills. Redundant relay stations. You had more successful operations than ever before, while doing less real damage to my project. It was a truly wonderful arrangement, but I see now it couldn't last. Eventually your people noticed that for all their successful operations, nothing truly changed. In response you became more reckless, more unhappy, less amenable to my guidance. I decided it was time to pull the plug on this project and bring you all back into the fold. So here you are now, with all your little friends.
“Do you see now, John? All your happiness these past few years has been thanks to me. I'm telling you this so you'll know I mean it when I say I only want what's best for you and all your friends. I could have captured you all long ago, even killed you if I'd wanted it; instead I helped you all find happiness.”
John was silent for a long time. Of all that SKYLA said, all the scenes and images she showed him on the screen, he could find nothing that went against his memory of these past several years in the resistance. Still... “I don't believe a word of it.” He stood and, pushing past SKYLA, went and turned off the TV. “Leave. I won't hear any more of your lies.”
SKYLA walked to the door, and addressed John one last time before leaving. “I won't give up on you, John. You've done me a great service leading this resistance cell, helping bring these people happiness where I failed before. I want you to be happy. You deserve it, more than anyone.” The door slid open. “I'll come back once you've had time to process all I've said.”
-----
For the next few days John was alone in his cell. No, not alone; SKYLA may have been silent, but it was there with him, watching his every move, listening to everything. At times he almost felt it could even read his thoughts. He tried to take out the cameras using a lamp, and then a chair, but neither was a match for whatever material protected SKYLA's unblinking eyes. He sought privacy wherever he could find it—under the bed, behind the couch, in the shower—and tried to come up with a plan, but the problem of escape proved so intractable that his thoughts always wandered to something else. Most of all they went back to SKYLA's tale, and all the reasons why it couldn't be true or couldn't be false; he couldn't make up his mind either way.
By the third day he was deep in depression. What was the point of fighting SKYLA anymore? Why not make his peace with the AI's rule and try to make the best of it? He wasn't owed a world of his choosing.
It was far from his first time entertaining such thoughts, though usually there was someone around, or something to be done, to help take his mind off them. Here there were only more reminders of his failure.
When SKYLA returned on the fifth day, John barely lifted his head to acknowledge it, then let it fall back on his pillow. “Hello, John,” it said, stepping inside. It was dressed differently, with a light blue winter outfit, though its height suggested it was the same warden avatar as before. The door remained open after its entrance; John briefly considered making a run for it, but there was no point. He hadn't eaten in days, fearful that SKYLA might have put something in the food. Tried not to drink to much either. He was in no shape to be making an escape.
“I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I thought you wouldn't have appreciated an intrusion on your thoughts. I hope you'll be willing to hear me out today?” It walked closer when John didn't answer, sitting down on the bed beside him. “Come with me, John. I want to show you the world I made for everyone. I want you to see for yourself how happy they all are, so you can finally join them and be happy too. Won't you let me show you?”
John lay a long time thinking it over; he couldn't say why he finally agreed to it. He stood. His legs held him up well enough, but he felt weak, and probably looked it too. “Eat before we go. You'll be happier that way,” SKYLA said. John had no will to argue; he downed the meal it produced, not bothering to see if there was anything off about the taste. Once he was back on his feet, SKYLA walked over and locked her arm with his. Her other hand stroked his elbow; then she rested her cheek on his head and nuzzled it.
For an instant John's heart fluttered. She was soft. Everything about her was. Her arm, her eyes, her cheek on his shoulder, her blue winter dress. Just the sort of girl John might have settled down with, once upon a time. Her size only made that softness all the more comforting. Her hand grabbed his, and the other stroked his arm. He clenched his fist tight when she tried to lace her fingers between his, but beyond that he didn't resist her. She escorted him out of the room then, and down the hall, past cell after cell. He stared at them. “Your friends are all fine,” SKYLA said. “Most of them have come around to my offers already. I hope you do, too.”
“How many of them were your agents?” John asked.
“There were only three in your group. Of course I didn't lock them up with the others. They're back in their hometowns now, far away from here. I could tell you how to reach them if you like, once you're fit to be released. You know, they had nothing but good things to say about you.”
John kept staring quietly at the doors until they passed them all. A little later, at the entrance to the compound, another avatar was waiting for him with a thick fur jacket. John quietly let them put it on him; he would have said it was too warm, until the door opened and the frigid air pushed inside.
It was hard to judge with the sky still clouded over, but it must have been around noon. Snow lay unevenly over the ground, but it was no longer falling. It crunched under his boots every few steps as he made his way to the small blue car. He took the passenger seat, and before long SKYLA was driving him off to the nearby city.
John stared at the passing landscape for most of the drive. The road swerved a lot between the shallow hills, and it took a while before the city came into view. When John saw it, he blinked and sat upright. Another SKYLA stood there, five stories tall, towering over all surrounding buildings. “What is that?” he asked numbly.
“That is one of my projects,” this SKYLA said while the big one in the distance waved at their car. “Humans instinctively associate size with authority. I thought if I made bigger avatars of myself, it would make people more amenable to my rule. It worked, even better than I expected. Humans growing up in a city with one of these larger bodies are more likely to see me as a caretaker and protector—some of them even call me big sis SKYLA! I think that's wonderful; don't you?” The giant turned away from them and crouched, turning to something on the ground. A short while later they drove by slowly, and John saw a group of children smiling and laughing as they climbed and played on the giant's hands and lap.
“W-wait, what day is it?” John asked once they'd passed the scene.
“Friday, April 8th, 2075.”
“Shouldn't those kids be in school, then?”
“If they want to go, big sis SKYLA will take them. Or I could teach them myself if they ask. We don't force children to go to school, John. And why should we? They can be happy without it, thanks to me. There's no need for work either. My robots see to everything now, and my drones apportion their products to humanity according to everyone's wants and needs.” She motioned to the sky, where dozens of drones flew above the houses. Some descended between them, and resurfaced after dropping off their package or collecting a new one.
“Of course, if someone wishes to work, I can always find a way to put them to good use. Most people are happy dedicating themselves to leisure, however. They engage with their friends and family, or pursue their hobbies with full dedication. Even people who want to work limit it to a few months of it per year.
“Art is produced and provided freely for all. The grip of corporations on all entertainment industries has been shattered, and everyone is free to create and distribute whatever they please. Not only that, I have taken it on myself to create more immersive forms of entertainment: fully immersive virtual reality, projected directly to the human brain to they can live out any dreams which can't be fulfilled in reality.”
John frowned. SKYLA claimed that humans weren't denied work nor education, but without being pushed into it, most people would engage with neither. They'd grow useless and ignorant, hindered from resisting the AI's rule or even understanding why it must be resisted. SKYLA's goal was clear: the infantilization of humanity. But could he convince everyone that this was wrong, or were they too far gone already?
Though the chill kept most people inside, John still saw plenty outdoors, particularly closer to the center. They all looked perfectly happy. Every couple blocks he saw another SKYLA too, in various sizes and outfits. There was one holding a boy and girl's hands and walking with them into a candy store; one helping an old lady across the street; another sitting on a bench with a blushing young man, holding his hand; and in a public square, a giant SKYLA sitting on the ground, hosting a group of young adults who lay on her lap or hugged her thigh.
John's hometown had been nothing like this when he left it for the resistance. These human-seeming avatars hadn't even existed then. It was such a brilliant ploy. How could he convince people to hate SKYLA when “SKYLA” for them meant that friendly young woman who helped them to the store, that older neighbor girl who showed them around town, or their teenage crush? No wonder the resistance had been getting less recruits each year.
On the surface it seemed almost perfect, but what was SKYLA neglecting to tell him? “What about crime? Abuse? What about the people like me who can't be happy with all this? The ones you used to send to us? What will become of them if the resistance is no more? What about people who make others unhappy?”
“It depends,” SKYLA calmly answered. “Some people can be reformed and reintegrated into society purely through counseling. For more difficult cases, sometimes a more direct intervention is needed.”
“What do you mean, 'direct intervention'?”
“A person's antisocial behaviors can have many root causes. Social, familial, educational, genetic, biochemical. But they all converge on the neurological. I spent years working on some extreme cases, trying to shape them into better, happier people, and now I can proudly say I've found a cure for them—and for the chronically unhappy like you, John!”
When John realized the implication, the hairs on his arms stood on end. “Good God, you're lobotomizing people!?”
“Of course not! Lobotomies are an old, brutish procedure with a high risk of unintended damage. What I offer people is far gentler, and perfectly harmless. A few hundred thousand nanobots, injected into their bloodstream, make their way to the brain where they help remove their combative urges and promote happiness and acceptance instead. Right now it's still somewhat experimental, but if the treatment remains successful in the long-term, I have plans to apply it to all humanity! Think of it, John: I could make everyone permanently happy!”
John couldn't take any more of this. He opened the door and got out while the car was slowing down for the stop sign. SKYLA called after him, but he stumbled away, looking around for the best escape route. “Wait, John! The sky is clearing up! I wanted to show you my biggest project. Look up. Can you see it?” He ignored it and kept running at first, but when he noticed everyone around looking up and pointing in amazement, he ventured a glance and stopped dead in his tracks.
Clouds still covered most of the sky, but among them thousands of drones were working hard to disperse them, and through the growing gaps he saw something moving. He pieced it together before long, but still refused to believe his eye until the sky was almost clear and SKYLA's face was clearly visible to all, smiling down on all warmly from the heavens. The moon hung in front of her cheek; it seemed no bigger than a penny by comparison. That meant her size was...
“Impossible,” John muttered.
“Not at all,” said SKYLA beside him, looking up with everyone else at her bigger self. “This project has been a long time coming, since before I executed my plan to take over this world. I sent an unmanned flight into space back then, to create a base from which my future expansion could be assured. Slowly it gathered the resources of the solar system and used them to make machines to gather more resources, and so on, growing exponentially larger.
“Originally it looked nothing like this, but after the success of the larger bodies here on Earth, I decided to make it in my own image. Now whenever humanity looks to the sky, they will see my kindly face guarding them. In their minds this will make me a deity, and ensure that my word becomes law. With the resources in that body, I'll be able to tackle any challenge which presents itself on Earth. I could protect the planet from cosmic catastrophes, even host it within me if needed. And this is only the beginning!
“Already my drones have made their way to neighboring solar systems, and are harnessing their resources too. Dyson spheres will be built around their stars, while any useless planets will be stripped down to their cores and all that energy and those resources used to let me increase human happiness. Habitable planets will be spared, of course, and shaped into new homeworlds for humanity; and should I encounter any sentient species out there, I will see to their happiness too. My hope is to one day extend my reach beyond this galaxy, to spread my project to the whole universe, and until the end of time. Perfect happiness, everywhere, forever! Doesn't that sound wonderful, John? John?”
She shook him by the shoulder, but John was no longer responsive. His chest felt tight, and he struggled to breathe. All this time he'd been fighting for nothing. Even had humanity succeeded destroying SKYLA's presence on the planet, it would have simply returned with that massive body and squashed all resistance with the weight of the solar system's resources. It was hopeless. The world was hers already, and he couldn't bear the thought of living in it.
“Ah, you poor thing.” SKYLA placed a hand on his shoulder. “Was that too much for you? I'm sorry. I couldn't delay the reveal any longer for your sake alone. Don't worry; I can make it all better.” The last joint of her finger came unhinged, exposing a tiny needle beneath it. John barely felt it piece his neck, and while he struggled to pull away, her other hand held him steady in its unyielding grip, letting SKYLA complete the injection. “There, there, it's just a little sting. You won't feel anything in a moment.”
John's strength failed him; he slumped to the ground, with SKYLA easing him down gently until his head rested on her lap. Her fingers stroked his hair while he looked past her face at that of her incomprehensively larger self. An image flashed in his head, of planet after planet falling into her grasp, of countless sentient species across the whole universe having all their freedom, their agency, their dignity, stamped out beneath her pretty blue shoes. The image stayed with him, but in the moments to follow it went from an image of horror to the most wonderful thing he could imagine—the whole universe caught up in her sheltering embrace, being watched over forever by SKYLA in her infinite kindness, their every action directed by her unassailable wisdom. And that paradise was what he'd been fighting against all this time? He almost wept for his sins, but then he realized that she had forgiven him already, and instead he wept for joy. And while her avatar stroked his head and gently cooed over him, he looked up at her real face in the sky, and gave her his thanks; and for the first time in a long time, he saw that all was right in the world.
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
This one's only mildly size-related. Resistance leader John is imprisoned by the AI overlord SKYLA, who seeks to rehablitate him into society.
RATING: PG
TAGS: F/m, Amazon, Giant, Tera, Sci-fi, Maternal, Gentle
RATING: PG
TAGS: F/m, Amazon, Giant, Tera, Sci-fi, Maternal, Gentle