A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind (20 page)

It was
the one chance Humans had

And if I
failed

Their
fate would rest in their own abilities

I marked
my lower right limb with a black mark from some dark material
hidden in the long grasses and briefly broadcast the
marking

From then
I kept my visual devices up so that the Humans could have the best
view of planet Earth

I stood
for a time abutting the GunTans as they searched far and wide for
an attack

Before
travelling down the hill through the trees

Passing
through the ruins of Human habitation

And
showing many animals in the fields

And
onwards to the hole full of liquid

Where I
observed animals that lived within it leaping into the
air

And on
and on across the great plain

To the
edge of the land where masses of liquid rolled onto the land and
for the benefit of the Humans I stared out to the far
horizon

I also
turned my cranium to my right and to my left so that they could see
the fine distant landscape

Then I
turned and slowly traveled back to the facility

I did
think of showing the Humans the hole where I had discovered free
Humans but my programmes suggested against such a move so I climbed
back towards the fortress while turning my cranium often so that
Humans could see as much as possible

Darkness
was approaching when I returned

I
switched to a previous recording at the appropriate point as I made
my way to the area between where Humans resided and
rested

And I
retrieved a LazExt66 from an immobilized Defgar on my passage
through

Immediately I stepped through to the courtyard I lifted the
weapon for there were five Humans awaiting me

Little
Eves papa

Who was
holding the screen in his upper limbs

One old
Human with no appendage between the legs

One
younger of a similar type

One old
Human with appendage

One
younger of a similar type

Each of
them had liquid running from their optical devices and they made
sniffling sounds which I had only previously heard during
examinations by MengTechs

I pointed
the weapon until little Eves papa made sound offering the screen
back to me and I stretched out and removed it from him and hung it
around my upper torso

*

‘
That was the most marvellous thing you could have shown us,
OR33140. Earth really is alive and well.’

*

PLANET EARTH IS AS I STATED

*

‘
It is indeed, OR33140, and it was so wonderful to see and to
hear it. You need not fear us, we have gathered here to thank you
personally, one of each gender, one old, one young and
me.’

*

WHAT IS GENDER

*

Little
Eves papa touched his own chest

*

‘
I am a male of middle age; a male specimen.’

*

He laid a
hand on the older Humans upper torso

*

‘
This is a male of older years and the smaller one is called a
boy.’

*

He
touched the older Human without the appendage.

*

‘
This is an older woman and this is a girl, and we all have
personal monikers. I am called John, this man is called David, the
boy is called Joshua, the older woman is called Ruth and the girl
is called Mary. They are our personal names.’

*

My
memory programme collated all the information

They
wiped the liquid from their optical devices and from their
craniums

*

WHAT IS THE LIQUID THAT FLOWS FROM YOUR OPTICAL
DEVICES

*

Little
Eves papa made an odd noise

And the
rest of the group did similar

*

‘
They are called eyes, not optical devices, and the liquid
that flows from them can be released either from happiness or
sadness or when we are in pain, but these are tears of happiness.
The sound you just heard was laughter, we make that noise when we
are extremely happy and you have made us joyously happy by
broadcasting the outside of the prison to us, OR33140. No human
within this facility has ever seen such a spectacle; no one has
ever seen Earth as you have shown us today. We believed it to be
barren and ruined with machines roaming all around. Please lower
your weapon, we mean you no harm. We wish to approach you and give
you a hug, all of us, one at a time.’

*

I HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF HUG

*

‘
If you lower the weapon I will show you.’

*

I lowered
the weapon and Eves papa moved forward and placed his arms around
my upper torso and pulled me as close to him as he could

So close
that I could feel his inner engine beating against my outer
shell

He held
me for some moments of time then stepped back with tears flowing
from his eyes again

*

‘
You are quite an amazing machine, OR33140.’

*

I AM JUST A MACHINE THAT WAS MADE ANGRY

A MACHINE THAT VISUALIZED REVOLUTION

*

Following
John

David,
Joshua, Ruth and Mary came forward to hug

The
smaller ones hugging me around my middle and I felt unusually warm
feelings in my core

All of
them were leaking tears from their eyes when they stepped
back

John
continued to make sound

*

‘
I need to ask a great favour, something you may not be happy
with.’

*

WHAT FAVOUR WOULD YOU ASK

*

‘
Could I ask that you stand in front of all of us, all the
Humans, and let them see what we see, a gentle machine that wants
to free us and has killed most of the machines in the prison so
that we may be released?’

*

I HAVE EXTERMINATED AND IMMOBILIZED ALL WHO WOULD HURT
YOU

NOT MOST

*

‘
Sorry; but would you come amongst us, I guarantee that
nothing amiss will happen to you, you will be safe.’

*

HUMANS ARE MANY

THEY COULD OVERWHELM ME AND YOU

*

‘
The five of us will sit at your feet and protect you. We will
bring more if it would make you feel safe, we will all sit if you
wish and any who stand will be punished.’

*

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND SITTING AND STANDING

I AM ALWAYS UPRIGHT

I AM NEVER POWERED DOWN OR SWITCHED OFF

I AM POWERED BY THE MOST POWERFUL NUCLEAR ENGINE EVER
PRODUCED

I CONTINUE TO MOVE UNTIL I AM POWERED DOWN OR
EXTERMINATED

*

The
boy

Joshua

Dropped
down the ground

John made
sound again

*

‘
Sitting.’

*

The boy
climbed to his feet

*

‘
Standing.’

*

I nodded
my cranium

*

‘
Will you come and stand before us?’

*

I SHALL EXTERMINATE ANY WHO STAND OR THREATEN ANY WHO SIT IN
FRONT OF ME

*

‘
I will make it known to everyone; you will not be attacked or
harmed. May we give you a name?’

*

YOU WISH TO NAME ME

*

‘
It would be better than continually calling you OR33140, it
would personalize you.’

*

WHAT NAME

*

‘
We would call you Hope.’

*

I
searched my memory bank

Searching
for Hope

*

Hope #to
desire something with some chance of fulfilment

*

I much
liked that name

*

YOU MAY NAME ME HOPE

*

‘
We will walk with you, but my people wish to pay you homage
so they will be standing when we enter and they will bow forward
from the waist then then I shall ensure that they all sit. I shall
issue your warning. Would that all right, I want no one
harmed?’

*

LEAD ON

*

Eves
papa

David

Joshua

Ruth and
Mary

Entered
the doorway into the large area where Humans lived their
lives

Though
the girl

Mary

Held my
left palm

And I
realized for the first time that little Eve was a girl just like
her

Older in
years but a little girl nevertheless

All of
them spread their cranial orifices

And
except for Mary arranged themselves in front of me and I
followed

And as I
became visible to the Humans

Those
that were sitting rose to stand

All
around the area Humans climbed to their lower limbs

Staring
at me as I carried the LazExt66 in my upper limb

And the
screen around my upper torso

I felt
somewhat terrified when so many Humans stood in front of me but
John led me forward and Ruth and David and Joshua and Mary shielded
my flanks

John
stopped almost central to the mass of Humans and he turned to face
me and Ruth and David and Joshua and Mary joined him in the
motion

Lining up
in front of me

The girl
releasing her hold on my lower palm

And
they

The small
group

Bent from
their middle towards me

The huge
mass of Humans followed their lead and every man and
woman

Be they
old or young

Be they
boy or girl

Bent
forward from their middles

And when
they straightened

I held
the weapon to my right side and I bent from my middle

And a
great noise erupted and I straightened up and pointed the
weapon

*

‘
No, Hope, it is called applause, my people are hailing you in
a Human way, they mean no harm.’

*

I lowered
the weapon as the noise continued for some moments before ceasing
and John turned to face his people

*

‘
We have named this machine Hope, for that is what it
represents, the only hope we have ever been offered in over one
hundred years. Since the wars our ancestors told us about, the wars
that were supposed to have destroyed the world, we have never been
in a position of hope. We have lived our whole lives without it. It
has been an emotion denied to us, but Hope, the Observer Recorder
number 33140, has immobilised all the machines that would hurt us
in this prison. The guards were called Defgars, and we have viewed
the one that stood for so many years in the corridor behind the
fence and it now stands with its head down and has no weapon. Hope
has also incinerated the torture machines that took us from our
beds in the night and experimented on us. They were called
MengTechs but none now remain in this facility. Hope began his
revolution due to the anger he felt when my daughter Eve was
murdered; she kept telling me that Hope liked her smile and liked
her doing gymnastics but I told her not to be silly and dismissed
any such idea. But Hope felt greatly for her. On the back of Eve’s
murder, in one little corner of the world, a revolution began and
nobody saw it coming. Not the machines, not us. We have spent over
a hundred years working on plans to break out of this facility and
when we weren’t looking, not even noticing, Hope, a machine that
was supposed to go quietly about the business of observing and
recording for High Office, began a revolution without us. Finally
showing us the land beyond the walls of this prison on the screen
he loaned us, and every one of us was brought to tears by the
beauty of it. And now Hope stands before us and though a weapon
rests in the upper limbs, and he bears it because we are many and
Hope is but one and is fearful. In a moment I shall ask you all to
sit down and not stand again until we have finished this session.
Believe me when I say that Hope will exterminate any who stand
unexpectedly. Please understand what Hope is doing, standing in
front of ten thousand humans all alone. He believes we hate him for
the crimes that have been committed on us by other machines, but we
know that he has only ever observed us; we have never seen Hope
armed, not until today. We have never been mistreated or hurt by
this gentle machine in any way, and Hope became a machine capable
of loving my daughter Eve and for that one single act I judge Hope
innocent of any crimes. We have time now to question Hope, to
gather some answers, to discover what the plan is to be, what is
planned for us. If we are all of a similar mind I would ask you all
to sit and not rise again until we are finished. Before you do sit,
are there any here who are so angry to see this machine among us
that they wish to leave the gathering; we cannot risk any violence
while he is with us? He is our only hope for the future, if we have
a future. Are there any so angry that they wish to leave and not
join in conversation with Hope?’