The passengers began to disembark at the sky exposition.
A woman was waiting to welcome them.
"Welcome to the XII robotics exhibition, this one is very special due to its very peculiar location." The woman said, repeating the same text she announced to all visitors.
Machi thought there was something strange about the woman, but she couldn't say exactly what.
"I must announce to you that you are in front of the very first attraction of this exhibition, it's not to brag, but it's me!"
Everyone thought the woman was crazy, glorifying herself in such a blatant way instead of fulfilling her function of informing them.
"Well, you know, this may seem strange to you, but I'm not human, I'm a robot!" The woman said, lifting a part of her hair and showing a circular line that delimited the junction between two plates of her skull.
Everyone's jaw dropped, apart from the detail under the hair, there was absolutely nothing else to indicate that the woman was a robot.
"An almost human robot, I didn't think robots were already so advanced," Machi said, amazed.
"Please, follow this corridor, you can find out more about me and many other things in the exhibition hall." The robotic woman continued with an expression that could be said to be amusement.
"The corridor is long and dark, please use the lights on the floor to guide you, it goes completely around the enclosure and will lead exactly to this point, but a little further inside where the visitor's entrance is located, the goal of this walk is to make your bodies accustomed to this altitude, to avoid any discomfort."
Visitors started to enter the dark corridor. Machi, Yuka, and Sora stayed for last.
"Don't be late, or you might miss something interesting," Hiroshi said as he passed by them, with a twinkle in his eyes. He gazed at Machi, like someone looking at a long-coveted trophy.
"I hate that guy, when is he going to learn?" Yuka complained, clearly wanting to punch him.
Yuka and Sora realized Machi was no longer with them. She was standing next to the robotic host.
Machi passed her hand over the robot's face in a tender gesture, her skin was soft and warm, just like hers. As she did, she searched the eyes for life.
"Please go with the other visitors, or you will be late," the robot said with a smile.
Machi pulled her hand away. The eyes had closed when she smiled, not letting Machi see what she wanted.
"Let's go, we can't stay behind," Machi said, heading towards the corridor, Yuka and Sora followed behind her.
~~
Inside the corridor, Sora clung to Machi. It was the darkest passage she had ever entered, small nightlights on the floor did little to light the way, and the darkness seemed to engulf everything.
"Relax Sora. This is a short walk, a small price to pay for all the fun we're going to have in there." Machi said trying to reassure her.
Sora had a terrible phobia when she was a child, after a violent car accident where her father died, Sora found herself in a frightening world: sudden movements, dark places, harsh sounds, everything would scare her and cause a devastating panic. The doctors found the only solution that worked for such attacks: blindfolds, ears plugged and her mother comforting her.
Sora could never have a normal life. One day she met Machi, and on that day, Sora's life changed.
After 5 long minutes, the walk in the circular tunnel came to an end. They could see a light blinking at the end of the tunnel.
It was as if the light was rescuing the visitors from the darkness one by one. The reality was much less dramatic: they were passing through a curtain.
Visitors were certainly not prepared for the sight that awaited them: an immense hall hundreds of meters long and at least 50 meters high.
An endless number of walkways were arranged on several levels around the perimeter of the cavernous space, on each level, an endless number of areas were dedicated to a company or a prototype.
In the center of the floor where the visitors were, there was a bulky object wrapped in a thick canvas. Apparently, that prototype had not yet been presented, waiting for its moment to be revealed to the public. On the same floor, several other prototypes were scattered around, inviting visitors to take a look.
A woman was waiting for the visitors, it was exactly like the one they had seen at the entrance. Machi wondered if she had simply gone through a hidden door to meet them again. On second thought, It was probably a copy, she gave up trying to interact with her again.
"Welcome to the robotics exhibition, please run your hands through this reader to register your ids". The woman said pointing to a small panel with the symbol of a hand.
Machi, Yuka, and Sora passed their hands over to the reader and continued forward.
Far away, in a private building, a monitor came to life and displayed an alert in bold letters. A middle-aged man ran towards it. He had to read the event description twice, that couldn't be right, but if it was, it would change everything. That would thwart all of his plans, but there was a deeper feeling, an old visceral hatred starting to boil again without control, whatever the origin of that alert, it had to be eliminated, as quickly as possible.
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