A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind (19 page)

I flashed
up my first message

The first
communication

As far as
I know

Between a
Human and a Machine

*

I AM OR33140 AND I HAVE NEED TO COMMUNICATE WITH EVES
PAPA

*

‘
I am Eve’s papa.’

*

I AM AWARE

*

‘
You are very brave’

*

I HAVE NO CONCEPT OF BRAVE

*

‘
Then you are remarkably brave’

*

I MUCH LIKED LITTLE EVE

*

Eves papa
widened his cranial orifice as I had seen little Eve do

It seemed
to indicate excellent feelings from within

*

‘
She said you liked her and I told her not to be so
silly’

*

I MUCH LIKED LITTLE EVE AND I LIKED WHEN SHE WIDENED HER
CRANIAL ORIFICE AND I LIKED HER WHEN SHE PERFORMED
GYMNASTICS

AND WHEN I ESPIED HER BEING EXPERIMENTED ON BY MENGTECHS I
LEARNED ANGER AND RAGE

*

‘
You have emotions?’

*

HIGH OFFICE RECENTLY AND TEMPORARILY PROGRAMMED HAPPY AND SAD
INSIDE OBSRECS ONLY

*

‘
But your emotions grew.’

*

LITTLE EVE INFECTED ME

*

‘
Infected you with what?’

*

I DO NOT KNOW BUT SHE SPOKE THE SOUNDS

THIS IS A SPIT IN THE EYE FOR THE BENEFIT OF
MANKIND

*

AND THE LIQUID SLID INSIDE ME BETWEEN MY OPTICAL DEVICE AND MY
OUTER SKIN AND SOMETHING IN HELIX SHAPE BONDED WITH MY
SYSTEMS

*

Eves papa
stared for a very long time

*

‘
Is that why the machines tortured her to death, because she
spat in your eye?’

*

I DO NOT KNOW BUT I WAS MUCH ANGERED BY HER DEMISE AND THE
RESULT OF THAT ANGER YOU SEE BEFORE YOU

*

‘
The machines that tortured Eve and all the others are called
MengTechs?’

*

THEY WERE CALLED MENGTECHS BUT NONE NOW EXIST IN THIS
FACILITY

*

‘
That is wonderful news. You have killed them all?’

*

I COULD NOT KILL THEM FOR THEY WERE NEVER ALIVE

I BLASTED THEM WITH THE LAZEXT66 I CARRY IN MY LIMBS AND I
DISINTEGRATED THEM

*

‘
What about the other guards, the ones who previously carried
the weapons?’

*

ALL DEFGARS HAVE BEEN PERMANENTLY IMMOBILIZED

*

Eves papa
widened his cranial orifice again

*

‘
We call you The Peeping Tom. What is your
designation?’

*

WHEN I LEARNED HOW TO DECODE YOUR SOUND I LEARNED THAT LITTLE
EVE CALLED ME A PEEPING TOM AND I LOOKED THE TERM UP IN HISTORICAL
DOCUMENTS AND I AM NOT A PEEPING TOM

I AM AN OBSERVER AND RECORDER AND ALL MY TRANSMISSIONS GO
IMMEDIATELY TO HIGH OFFICE

*

‘
High Office; what is that?’

*

IT IS SUPREME CONTROL

IT CONTROLS ALL MACHINES

*

‘
It does not control you, OR33140.’

*

THE MENGTECHS KILLED LITTLE EVE WHO HARMED NO OTHER BEING AND
WHEN I WITNESSED THAT SOMETHING IN MY PROGRAMMES CHANGED

FOR SOME TIME

AS AN EXPERIMENT

I WAS INSTRUCTED TO BROADCAST VIA SCREENS TO THE WHOLE OF
PLANET EARTH

TO EVERY MACHINE WHO HAD ACCESS TO ONE

MY AUDIENCE WAS 100.000.000

ALL THAT I BROADCAST IS NORMALLY

WHAT I SEE AND HEAR

AND IT IS TRANSMITTED BACK ONLY TO HIGH OFFICE

*

‘
What if it sees us communicating?’

*

IT WILL NOT

I AM TRANSMITTING EARLIER

SAVED

RECORDINGS

AND

EVEN IF I WAS NOT

HIGH OFFICE WOULD SEE ONLY A HUMAN MAKING SOUND THROUGH THE
FENCE AT ME

I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO UNDERSTAND YOUR NOISE OR YOUR SOUNDS AND
HIGH OFFICE WOULD SEE NOTHING MORE THAN THAT

*

‘
How did you come to understand our words?’

*

I DISCOVERED A BLOCKING CODE WITHIN MY INNER SYSTEMS AND I
UNRAVELLED IT

*

‘
What do you propose to do with us?’

*

I HAVE NOT INJURED FOODTECHS OR CLEANTECHS OR OTHER
MENIALS

AND THEY WILL GO ABOUT THEIR DUTIES AS NORMAL AND FOR THE REST
I WISH TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU

AND ONLY YOU

*

‘
You wish to speak with me alone?’

*

ON MATTERS THAT ARE IMPORTANT

*

‘
Will you bring your gun with you?’

*

I NEED THE WEAPON OTHERWISE HUMANS WILL RIP ME APART AND I
NEED TIME TO DO A THING THAT IS RIGHT

*

‘
Yes, I understand that. Are you helping us or are you killing
us off, OR33140?’

*

I INTEND TO SET YOU FREE FOR THE SAKE OF LITTLE EVE

*

Eves papa
stared again for a very great passage of time

He turned
to stare at the other Humans who continued to look in our
direction

*

‘
We believed that beyond this prison there was nothing; we
believed that the world had been destroyed by machines, and that
they continue to roam the lands. Is this not true?’

*

PLANET EARTH IS VERDANT WITH MANY TREES GROWING UPON ITS
SURFACE AND GRASSES THAT GROW TALL AND ANIMALS OF THE FIELDS AND
LIQUID THAT ARE MANY IN NUMBER

LIQUID IS PURE AND MANY ANIMALS LIVE WITHIN IT

ONLY OBSRECS ROAM THE LANDS AND WE CARRY OUT THIS DUTY FOR
HIGH OFFICE

OBSERVING AND RECORDING AND TRANSMITTING EVERYTHING WE SEE AND
HEAR

WE MAP THE LANDS FOR HIGH OFFICE

ALL OTHER MACHINES

EXCEPT MENGTEACHS

ARE VIRTUALLY MOTIONLESS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THIS
FACILITY

*

‘
Where is this facility situated?’

*

IN THE HIGHEST AREAS OF GLAND

*

‘
Do you mean England?

*

GLAND IS ALL I KNOW

THAT IS ALL I KNOW

*

‘
May I ask for time to consult with other members of the
Council and put some questions together for you?’

*

I WILL GIVE YOU TIME

*

‘
I will consult with others and return. Where will you
be?’

*

I SHALL PREPARE TO ENTER YOUR AREA FOR DISCUSSION

*

‘
What about your recordings to High Office?’

*

I HAVE SAVED MANY EARLIER RECORDINGS OF MUNDANE
EVENTS

I SHALL PLAY THEM WHILST WE HAVE CONVERSATION

*

‘
You’re pretty damned clever, OR33140.’

*

I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF CERTAIN ASPECTS OF YOUR
SOUNDS

*

Eves papa
widened his cranial orifice and showed the enamel covered objects
inside it

*

‘
You are incredibly brave OR33140 and thank you for launching
an improbable revolution on behalf of my daughter Eve. Your efforts
are immensely accepted even though we may all die in the attempt to
be free.’

*

I SHALL TRANSMIT A LIVE RECORDING FOR YOU OF THE AREA OUTSIDE
THE FORTRESS IF YOU WOULD WISH TO SEE IT

*

Eves
papas front cranium took on a visage of shock and he licked the
surrounding of his cranial orifice

*

‘
You can do that?’

*

I SHALL WALK TO THE AREA THAT SEPARATES YOUR QUARTERS FROM
OTHER AREAS AND I SHALL LAY DOWN THE SCREEN YOU SEE HANGING FROM MY
UPPER TORSO

IF YOU LIFT IT TO YOUR UPPER LIMBS

AND GATHER AROUND ALL WHO WISH TO SEE THE PLANET
EARTH

I SHALL SHOW IT

YOU WILL SEE AND HEAR IT

YOU WILL SEE BEYOND THE WALLS OF THE FORTRESS

*

‘
How will I know that it isn’t another saved
recording?’

*

I WILL NOT FALSIFY MY RECORDINGS

YOU WILL BE WITH ME AS I MOVE OUT OF THE FACILTY AND I WILL
MOVE DOWN THROUGH THE TREES AND ACROSS THE GREAT PLAIN TO THE
ROLLING LIQUID

IT WILL NOT BE A RECORDING

IT WILL BE PLANET EARTH

AS IT IS

NOW

*

‘
How will we know you are showing us a live recording and not
something you recorded many years ago? How will we know the
difference?’

*

I SHALL MAKE MARK ON MY LOWER RIGHT LIMB AND MY OPTICAL
DEVICES WILL OCCASIONALLY OBSERVE IT SO THAT YOU SHALL KNOW IT IS
AN UNFALSIFIED BROADCAST

BUT YOU MUST RETURN THE SCREEN UPON MY RETURN OTHERWISE WE
CANNOT COMMUNICATE

*

‘
Of course.’

*

We stared
at each other for some time

Human to
Machine

Until he
turned away from me and walked away

I
continued to transmit the recording and turned and traveled along
the corridor

Past the
empty torture cages

Through
security doors

Until I
reached the area between where Humans resided in the open and where
they lay supine in their quarters

When I
arrived at the place

Little
Eves papa was already in place

And we
stood and stared for some passage of time

*

‘
Are you running a recording of your past duties for the
benefit of your High Office?’

*

YES

*

He
extended his right limb towards me

Palm
out

*

‘
I wish to shake your hand.’

*

I had no
conception of what he wanted me to do

But his
cranial orifice was wide

And the
gesture seemed to be high on a friendly scale

Holding
the weapon in one hand

We closed
on each other and he gripped my right palm and shook it
vigorously

As his
lower cranial orifice widened further

After we
had released

I lifted
the screen from around my upper torso on the wire upon which it
hung and disconnected it from my connection and handed it to Eves
papa and he took it and hung it around his own upper
torso

*

THE SCREEN WILL HAVE POWER FOR MANY HOURS

IT IS TRANSMITTING RECORDED DETAILS OF THIS FACILITY THAT MAY
INTEREST YOU

I SHALL CONTINUE TO TRANSMIT IT UNTIL I STEP FROM THE EGRESS
OF THE FACILITY

THERE WILL BE A VERY BRIEF BREAK IN TRANSMISSION WHEN I SWITCH
FROM PREVIOUS RECORDINGS TO LIVE OBSERVATIONS AND YOU MAY THEN
FOLLOW ME WHEREVER I ROAM AND HEAR THE SOUNDS I HEAR

IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT SUCH A BROADCAST MAY BRING YOU
JOY

*

‘
OR33140, you have no idea how much joy a broadcast such as
that would bring.’

*

I spun
round and made my way back through the facility transmitting the
recording and I was able to change from recording to a live
broadcast with barely a break in the broadcast when I stepped from
the egress

And moved
away from the facility

Through
the security gates

Past the
RolKils

In which
I took particular interest

The 20
that patrolled were spread around the facility and were only ever
found in in groups of two

It may be
possible to permanently immobilize them and leave them to rot at
the point of immobilization