It had been seventy years since the world had been plunged into smoke, fire, cold, disease, and destruction. Seventy years since the survivors turned to subterranean vaults to weather the disaster. Seventy years since Purpose-3’s people lost communication with the Vatican.
It had been forty years since the surface was deemed safe to inhabit.
It had been twenty years since the town entered a period of bounty.
It had been five years since someone first asked about the Faith, and whether or not they were committing a spiritual faux pas in practicing it without guidance from the Vatican.
It had been four years since someone first joked that they should send a mission to the Vatican, but this joke quickly became a plan.
The mission had been two-years in the making.
Purpose-3 had been in the ruins of Rome for about a year.
…
The ruins formed intimidating walls that pressed in on the spaghetti-shaped streets in an uncomfortably claustrophobic way. Were it not for Purpose-3’s Cyber-neural brain, he might’ve easily gotten lost in that urban maze.
He wound his way around the city, passed by a smattering of crater-ponds, then reconnected with the road on the opposite side of the river. In one of the more affluent piles of rubble, he had found an old weathered brochure advertising the vault… It wasn’t much of a lead, but it was something, and that was more than he’d had.
He climbed over piles of rubble, then as he passed Saint Peter’s Basilica, he bowed. He thanked Jesus for giving his people strong, robotic bodies, thanked the Holy Mother for her protection on his journey, and asked Saint Peter and Saint Anthony to help him find the Vatican Vault and Her people in good, healthy conditions. Once his prayers had been made, he rose and continued to the vault’s alleged location.
…
Purpose-3 searched for three more weeks before finding the giant titanium-coated door. It had been largely overgrown, and at some point it looked as if someone early in the disaster had tried to cover it with as much rubble as they could to keep it hidden from the outside world.
It took a week to clear away the foliage and debris, and all the while an array of small black cameras gave the residents of the vault something to watch… That was, of course, assuming they had survived. Purpose-3 prayed often that the people inside were safe and secure.
It took another two weeks of knocking on the vault’s door and chatting with the camera before a person emerged, not from the vault itself, but from the crest of the hill overshadowing it.
Purpose-3 watched as the man, adorned in a priest’s garb, approached him.
“Hello, android.” The priest said.
Purpose-3 bowed. “I am Purpose-3, full-utility android, capable of over twenty-five thousand generalized tasks.” He spoke with a voice that was not his… It was an automatic script that had been set as a pre-programmed introduction, and the voice belonged to the engineer who had designed him.
“Purpose-3.” The priest nodded. “Are you alone?”
“I am, but I come seeking the lost Vatican.” He explained that he belonged to a very devout village across the ocean, and once his people had ensured their physical survival and safety, they began longing for spiritual fulfillment. As he spoke, the priest remained stony faced.
“So you wish to reestablish a connection with the Holy See?” The priest asked.
“Yes.” Purpose-3 stated.
The priest frowned. “Are your people androids like yourself?”
“Yes. But several of them are generation 4 androids, and with minimal resources they’re able to reproduce. This is how we’ve increased our numbers.”
“And you say your people are Roman Catholic?”
“Yes.”
The priest seemed to consider something. “You do understand that the Church does not believe androids possess a soul, right?”
Purpose-3 eyed him curiously.
“Androids are not considered rational, as they are incapable of true free will,-“
“-but I-“
The priest held up a hand. “You were programmed.” He said. “And you’ll always be beholden to that.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I will treat you with kindness, and I will do what I can to aid you as you prepare to return to your people, but I cannot lie to you and tell you the Church sees you as anything other than an automaton.”
The words struck Purpose-3 to his core. He wanted to argue, but found himself wanting for words.
“Would you like to stay with us tonight?” The priest asked. “Maybe meet the pope?”
Purpose-3 merely shook his head. “I must go.”
The priest nodded in a somewhat sympathetic way, then disappeared back up the hill. When he was completely alone, Purpose-3 spent time concealing the vault doors once more as the centurion cameras silently watched. Once it had been adequately hidden, Purpose-3 gathered his meager possessions and set off into the distance.
Back home?
No. He couldn’t risk revealing the truth to those he cared about. They would live their lives with the belief that the Church still counted them among Her own.
He’d find a new land… New people. Perhaps, in time, he’d even find a new faith.