A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind (18 page)

The lazer
beam blasted the door into nothingness and I was quite shocked and
I stood for some minutes to perceive if the door being blasted away
had attracted any attention

Nothing
moved

Defgars
would probably have had that duty but there were none left active
inside the fortress

When I
looked into the cages the Humans were all lifting their heads and
looking towards me with mouths wide open

I bowed
forward from the waist and made my way to the corridor that led to
the cages

I had
been there but moments

Blocking
the corridor

When the
first MengTech appeared

Moving
along magnetized floors

Its six
cutting antennae lifted in the air

I waited
until three of them had entered the corridor when I turned the
setting on the weapon to 5 and fired the lazer at the first one in
the line

It
disintegrated in front of my optical devices

One
moment it was present

The next
it was gone

Reduced
to dust

A deep
sense of excitement surged within me and as the second MengTech
began to wave its antennae around I blasted that one in the same
fashion

But they
kept coming

One after
the other

Six of
them in total

With the
vicious ends of their antennae snapping like the white enamelled
things inside Human cranial orifices

Snapping
and snapping

Like some
of the large liquid living animals I had observed and the tiny
things that ran close to the ground and which High Office had been
so keen to eradicate

But I
blasted them all into oblivion and it felt very good to
me

The
emotions inside me were high and charged through my systems and I
thought I may be on my way to success

I opened
the door to Cage 3 and entered and the Human that lay upon the
table stared up at me with an expression on his face that I could
not translate

I
unstrapped the Human and departed Cage 3

And
Entered Cage 2 and Cage 1 where I released the Humans from the
tables in those cages

And
together

As they
looked at me with strange expressions on their craniums they
climbed from their tables and rushed their way back to the great
area where Humans moved and did gymnastics

I moved
back to the corridor protected by the fence and I stared out at the
Humans

When the
three appeared back amongst them

Every
single 1 rose to their lower limbs and stared at the returning
Humans

The three
I had released came forward and began to make loud sound

And as
they made it

All the
Humans turned to stare at me

A little
yellow ObsRec standing in the corridor holding a LazExt
66

Five
Humans with appendages between their legs crossed the floor towards
me and stood on the other side of the fence

Eves papa
was the centre of them

‘
Thank you.’

I lowered
my cranium

He stared
with an expression of shock

‘
You can understand me?’

I lowered
my cranium again

‘
You have killed MengTechs.’

I stared
at him without moving my cranium

‘
You will have to kill them all otherwise they will come after
us and you.’

I
considered his sounds and spun round and made my way towards the
elevator and rode it up to the higher floor

There
were 40 MengTechs toiling in the fortress

6 I had
already turned to dust

14 stood
in the large open area watching screens of what their experiments
had achieved

Including

MT261000

MT261340

MT261502

Who I
held in my inner core with great hatred

Carrying
the LazExt66 behind my torso

I made my
way forward until I espied the hated threesome who were gathered
with another around a single screen

Now was a
time of great danger for this OR for the area was open and there
were 14 MengTechs

All with
snapping antennae

Which

Should
they grip me

Would
slice me apart

I would
use my speed and the gymnastic ability shown to me by little Eve to
avoid them

I threw
the LazExt into the air from behind my torso and it circled upwards
and came down again

And I
clutched it in my upper limbs

Aimed
it

And
fired

And
disintegrated MT261000

MT261340

MT261502

And
leaped most athletically into the air as two MengTechs attempted to
grab me with their attached antennas

I landed
on crouched lower limbs

Turned
and fired

Blast

Blast

Two more
disintegrated

Blast

Blast

Two
more

And so it
went

OR33140
leaping into the air

Twisting

Turning

Lowering
my frame in all directions

Backwards

Forwards

Sideways

Firing
the weapon forward

Sweeping
it around

MengTechs
disintegrating all around

No other
machines noticing the miniature war that was being fought between
us

They had
their own duties

And none
of them dealt with warfare

And
throughout the conflict I transmitted recorded images of calmness
within the facility

Recordings showing Machines going about their duties with
much attention

I even
transmitted FoodTechs going backwards and forwards as they prepared
food for Humans at some past date

And I
continued to incinerate MengTechs

Though
they snapped at me with a range of weapons

Sometimes
snapping very closely with OR33140 having to swing back or swing
sideways to avoid any contact

But I
eradicated the 14 on the main floor

No other
Machine took any notice

They
carried on with their duties as ordered by High Office

Defgars
may have come to the MengTechs aid but there were none remaining
active in the fortress

20
MengTechs down

20
MengTechs still standing

The
remaining 1s worked in the laboratory into which I moved with great
casualness

Not
wanting to attract too much attention

The
LazExt hidden behind my torso again

The 20
MengTechs were bent over benches studying all kinds of flesh and
bones with medical screens flashing all around the room

Once
again I threw the LazExt into the air and the moment I clasped it
to my upper limbs I began firing

The
MengTechs in the laboratory were much further away than the
MengTechs in the main hall

So it
became like a simulated shooting game

As they
turned or came forward so I incinerated them

The
LazExt being a most powerful weapon

And no
MengTechs came near to me and I exterminated them all

I felt no
guilt following this action

No guilt
whatsoever

At no
time did I broadcast to High Office that I was exterminating its
Machines

I
transmitted only recordings of great calmness and Machines working
together at their duties

I
exterminated all the MengTechs toiling within the fortress and none
were now capable of causing harm or danger to the Humans

I moved
out and away from where the MengTechs had been obliterated and
moved to the small area where the 8 GoebTechs practised their
art

The only
8 working in the fortress

And I
moved through the ingress of their office and blasted all 8 into
oblivion

They
never even saw it coming

Immediately

I
returned to the underground chamber to eradicate the remaining
MengTechs and GoebTechs but when I entered

I
experienced something of a problem

Half the
MengTechs were active

Though
they seemed to be unfocused in their movements

But the
moment I entered the chamber they became focused

On
me

They
began to move more quickly than I expected over the ground with the
ends of their antennas snapping and I fired the LazExt66 and cut
down the first row of them

As I
still attempted to comprehend what had awakened them

I
considered that the MengTechs I had already eliminated must contain
a localized emergency signal that prompted those on standby to
become active

And
whilst considering this possibility

I had to
leap into the air to avoid the snapping antenna of the deadly
Machines

Each time
I leaped

I fired
the weapon

And more
and more of them were eliminated

Some
antenna came very close to my outer shell

Too close
for comfort

And I
found myself twisting and turning in many directions to avoid
them

The
miniature war continued for some time in the darkness of the long
chamber

But
slowly I began to thin out the numbers of my adversaries

Eventually getting their numbers down to a more manageable
level

Though
they kept coming forward

Trying to
surround me

And I
swung around

Firing
the weapon in all directions

Until all
MengTechs were eliminated

Obliterated

Only
metal dust remaining where once stood many destructive
Machines

The
GoebTechs had no such signal to awaken them

Maybe
because I gave none in the fortress time to send one

But I
destroyed the 8 that were on stand by

And felt
mightily pleased with myself

Now all I
had to do

Was
immobilize the RolKils

But
first

I had to
communicate with the Humans

**

**

Section 12

**

It took
some moments for my programmes to inform me how to achieve this but
the answer was obvious

I simply
required a screen

That was
all I needed

I
departed the underground chambers and crossed to the laboratory
where MengTechs once toiled and I lifted a screen from a
desk

I
unplugged it for I needed no other connection except to
myself

And I
hung it around my upper torso but beneath my cranium on a length of
ripped out wire and I plugged the remaining USB into the recharging
point in the lower middle of my right side

There
were some flickers upon the screen

Some
programmes were required to be wiped from it and another programme
fed in

A
communications programme

And it
took some time

But when
I checked the screen

Lifting
it to read my own communication which was in large script for the
benefit of Humans

Realizing

That many
of my actions were for the benefit of Humans

I AM
OR33140 AND I NEED TO COMMUNICATE WITH EVES PAPA

I would
request he send all Humans to their quarters for if I stepped into
their area

There
were too many of them for me to deal with if they
attacked

So I
wanted a much smaller number of Humans

Once the
screen was communicating correctly I took the elevator back down to
the lower floor and marched along the corridor behind the
wire

Eves papa
was still standing on the other side

He
stepped forward and came very close to the wire

I was on
the other side with the screen hanging from my upper torso and
holding the LazExt66 in my upper limbs