The casket seemed to fill the main room and the line of wooden chairs from one wall to the other. A sea of people quietly, slowly filed through the pair of open double doors, shuffling forward to view the sculpted, white casket with the small metal placard reading, “Please, Send Off for Divinity.” The line inched forward, the shuffling of feet and shed tears on shiny black shoes was the only sound, and the only color in this small room. The mourners did not know who Divinity was, but they reluctantly wanted to show respect.
“It is as they said,” said one in the back of the line. “Explored her insides with a robot for a week before she died. What kind of death was that?”
“Never happened to me, that’s for sure.” Another answered.
“Ah,”
the first
answered. “But you said you just got back from the galactic rim.”
“And when did you get back, friend?”
“Last year,” the first one said. “I was in the queue for that cardi thing the doctors did.”
“Yeah,” said the second. “I had my own repair for that. I guess it is just one of those things.”
“Yeah,” the first answered. “So, where is it you’re going to? Is that a fact?”
“No.” the second answered.
“But we all know that’s where you’re going, right?”
“Didn’t you read my guestbook?” the second asked.
“Guestbook? Who saves all that stuff?”
“Well, I noticed you did.” the second said. “I’ve never seen someone with so much stuff on a guestbook. At least, not since I was a boy.”
“I didn’t even know my guestbook was used,” the first said.
“I think you can go ahead,” the second said. “There is no one behind me to ask.”
“Oh,” the first answered. “Alright then.”
“You don’t seem to be looking for a path to Divinity.”
“Well, no,” the first said. “I don’t think so. I’m looking for my cousin Narcissus.”
“Oh, right,” the second answered. “I didn’t see him listed in my queue, so you are probably out of luck.”
“Are there other places?”
“There is always the queue,” the second said. “But some of us get fast-tracked. Others, like, well, like your cousin get shunted aside. I’m not saying he was a bad person. If he had written a book like some people did, it might have been better.”
“Yes,” the first answered. “But, let’s be honest, everyone is talking about the blood that’s spilled in the name of the one called Priest.”
“And those people still come to the line,” the second said. “So, what do you know about this Priest person?”
“Not much.” the first answered. “Actually, I just got back from the rim. I don’t really know any of this stuff.”
“Right,” the second answered. “You don’t want to add blood to the Priest’s list. Welcome to the queue.”
“But, how did you know that I wanted to be here in the queue?” the first asked.
“He doesn’t get bored, does he.” the second answered.
“Nope.” the first said. “I pretty much see everything there is to see. I’m full of facts to share with my friends, and now I start learning about History.”
“And that’s about it,” the second answered. “Oh, I see the Priest now. He is that robot priest at the front. He does all the talking at the funerals. But, like you said, he has a lot of blood on his hands to pay for.”
The first and second were now next to each other, moving up the line quickly to the two doorways, one door leading to the casket, the other to the priest. They both knew that they should go through the casket door, because everyone did, and this was a silent goodbye ceremony after all. But, they wanted to say goodbye to the robot. Since he was actually a robot, he represented a whole new world for both of them. For the second, it was like the robot read their minds and knew their questions before they asked them. For the first, the robots knew the record of all the people who lived and died since the robot was built. He knew more about Religion than a religious man should know, because a Catholic robot had to be Catholic.
“I guess this is it.” the first said.
“Yeah.” the second answered.
“Alright,” the first answered. “Well, we’ll see you on the other side.
