A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind (29 page)

I WILL

*

‘
How many will you take?’

*

50

BUT THEY MUST BE ORDERED IN THEIR MOVEMENTS

THEY MUST NOT TRY TO ESCAPE AND RUN WILD

50 MAY LEAVE

BUT 50 MUST RETURN

*

Ronald
began to call out names immediately and Humans came forward with
wide smiles upon their faces and he designated the two men who
stood with him to accompany us

When they
were gathered Mary released her grip on me and made
sound

*

‘
Keep them safe, Hope, let them see.’

*

I SHALL

*

And I
moved away and Humans moved along the lake

Hugging
Joshua and Mary as they came and followed me along the footpath to
the entrance of the cave

And
thenceforth to open ground

There was
a mixture in the group of fully grown men

Boys

Girls

And
women

And the
moment they were out beneath the stars and the moon they fell as
one to the ground and began to sob loudly

They rose
and ran to each other and hugged and cried some more

They
stared at the skies and looked all around them

And they
were extremely well behaved and none attempted to race
away

And one
of the leaders came to me and made sound

*

‘
If we re-enter the cave, Hope, may another fifty come and
see?’

*

THAT IS POSSIBLE

*

He held
out his right palm and shook mine

*

‘
You are a machine of a very different kind to those we were
warned about by our ancestors. They told us that the world would be
ruined and overrun with machines.’

*

THERE ARE MANY HURTFUL MACHINES BUT I CONSIDER THAT THEY ARE
GATHERED AROUND THE FORTRESSES OF THE WORLD AND NONE
ROAM

OTHER THAN OBSRECS

WHO MAP THE WORLD FOR HIGH OFFICE

*

‘
But you are not one of the hurtful machines, Hope, and thank
you so much for this moment of sheer magic.’

*

IT IS MY PLEASURE

*

He
gathered up the still tearful Humans and they hurried along the
footpath back into the cave whilst I waited at the entrance for the
next fifty Humans to join me

And they
did

Coming
along the footpath at some speed but I stopped their hasty progress
and led them out in a calm manner

Once
again I witnessed more tears and more rolling around in the grass,
more gazing at the moon and the stars

I became
most affected by the manner of the free Humans

They
seemed to be greatly disciplined

Unlike
the small group who were causing trouble in the fortress

The
second group returned to the cave and I returned with them and when
I appeared the Humans were applauding loudly and shouting and Mary
held my hand and assured me so that I felt under no pressure to do
anything remiss

When the
sound had fallen to silence the Leader, Ronald, made
sound

Addressing me

*

‘
We thank you in a way we have never thanked any before, Hope,
certainly not a machine, who we have greatly feared for
generations. It is because of the fear of them that we live
underground. What you have given us this evening will be written
into our legends and those who were the first to see the stars will
talk about the event even when their children are old.
We thank you greatly.’

*

There was
much applause again and Mary made sound

*

‘
Bend from the waist, Hope.’

*

And I
bent from the waist and the Humans shouted louder

And it
took some time for the sound to return to silence when Ronald made
sound again

*

‘
We have sent messages to the world to tell of what has
happened here during this night and we have received instructions
from our World Government on how to proceed. We have to take in all
those who are held in the prison but we cannot take them in all at
one time, not ten thousand. Do you know how many families you have
in there?’

*

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND FAMILIES

*

Ronald
nodded and turned to Joshua

Who made
sound

*

‘
There are many families, Leader, two parents with sons and
daughters, but because of the experimentations there are many
mothers only with children, many fathers with children, and also
many who are together but without children. Following them, we have
many old men and old women and many single woman and single men. We
are a community of all types.’

*

Ronald
took in all that Joshua stated and he gazed round and communed with
other Leaders and walked amongst his people and communed with many
of them

Men and
women ran from passages and whispered in his ears

Passing
messages they had received

And a
great sense of excited noise rose amongst them

*

‘
Joshua, Mary, would you be prepared to remain here while Hope
returns to the prison? We can talk long with you and you can speak
to our World Government and tell them what you have told us. You
shall be under no danger and we will find proper clothes for you
and we will feed you.’

*

Both
Joshua and Mary turned to face me

*

YOU WILL BE SAFE HERE AND THESE FREE HUMANS NEED TO KNOW WHAT
IS ON THE SURFACE AND I CANNOT CONSIDER ANY OTHER WOULD BE MORE
PROFICIENT IN THE TELLING THAN YOU TWO

*

Joshua
nodded

He was
already growing into manhood

And Mary
hugged me and stepped to be with Joshua

*

I NEED TO RETURN WITH A FREE HUMAN OTHERWISE MY COMMUNITY WILL
CONSIDER I HAVE DONE SOMETHING REMISS WITH JOSHUA AND
MARY

*

‘
We are discussing that now, Hope. We are having difficulty in
deciding who it should be.’

*

It was
Ronald who made sound

*

I CAN CHOOSE

MY PLAN WAS TO BRING LEADERS FROM THE FORTRESS BUT BECAUSE OF
ARGUMENT I BROUGHT JOSHUA AND MARY INSTEAD

LEADERS ARE NOT THE BEST CHOICE

SOMEONE NEEDS TO GO WHO IS NOT OF A THE DECISION MAKING
CLASS

JUST SOMEONE WHO CAN COMMUNICATE ON AN HONEST BASIS

I SAY CHOOSE TWO OF THAT TYPE AND I SHALL TAKE THEM

*

‘
You want to take children back to your prison,
Hope?’

*

NOT NECESSARILY

TWO YOUNG WOMEN WOULD BE MOST SUITABLE

SOMEONE ARTICULATE SO THAT THEY COULD EXPLAIN WHAT IT IS YOU
WISH DONE

SOMEONE WHO CAN STAND IN FRONT OF TEN THOUSAND HUMANS AND MAKE
SOUND

*

Ronald
stared at me for quite long moments before whirling round to face
his community and make sound

*

‘
Two volunteers are required to accompany Hope. Young women
only, not including those who have already been
outside.’

*

Many
hands were raised in the air

*

‘
Susan, Ann, step forward. You are chosen.’

*

Once
again I was impressed at the discipline

Ronald
was a real leader

There
were no dissenting voices

Nobody
shouted out that the choice was not right

All that
happened is that Susan and Ann received many hugs from all the
other Humans as they came forward towards me

The
Leaders grouped together with the two women and they communicated
and while they did that I communicated with Joshua and
Mary

*

JOSHUA

MARY

BE KIND AND SPEAK WELL WITH THE FREE HUMANS

*

‘
We shall do everything we possibly can for and with
them.’

*

It was
Mary who made the sound

And as
she made it she reached out and touched my head

Running
her hand down it

*

‘
If only you had a mouth, it only you could talk.’

*

I CAN USE MY SCREEN

*

‘
I know. Be kind to the ladies you’re taking with you, keep
them safe, help and protect them when they speak to the mass, do
not let Samuel bully them.’

*

I WILL NOT ALLOW THAT

*

Susan
and Ann finally broke apart from the group, hugged the Leaders then
hugged Joshua and Mary

Moving
forward to stand in front of me

*

‘
I am Susan.’

*

She was
fair of hair

Taller
and older

Than
Mary

And
taller than the other woman who was going to accompany
me

But she
was dressed in colorful clothing where Mary was dressed in basic
furs made from the animals those of the fortress had been allowed
to kill over the years

*

I AM HOPE

*

‘
Oh, I don’t think anybody in the next thousand years is going
to forget your name, Hope.’

*

She
smiled

*

‘
And I am Ann.’

*

The
other woman stepped forward towards me

She was
darker of hair and of eye

But as
slim as Susan

She also
wore colorful clothing

I nodded
my head in acknowledgement

*

I AM INFECTED WITH FEMALE DNA

*

The girls
stared with shocked expressions on their faces

Mary
laughed and made sound

*

‘
One of our girl’s, Eve, spat in Hope’s eye and infected him
with her DNA. ~She said it was for the benefit of
mankind.’’

*

Susan
turned to face Mary

*

‘
Does that mean Hope is a girl?’

*

‘
If not now, probably in the future.’

*

And Mary
and Susan laughed loudly between them

*

ARE YOU READY

*

‘
Yes Hope, we are, lead one.’

*

It was
Susan who made sound

I led the
way from the cave until we reached open ground then I picked up Ann
in my arms

And she
rode as Mary had done

On her
back in my arms

With the
weapon held in them

And Susan
climbed onto my back with her arms around my neck

Both of
them cried at the sight of the world outside their cave and Susan
hugged me tightly and Ann smiled up into my face

I moved
with some speed across the land for light was seeping from the
skies and I wanted to arrive at the forest as the solar orb was
rising so that the women with me could see both things at the same
time

My timing
could not have been better

I stood
Ann on her feet

Susan
climbed from my back and the two women cried a great deal at the
foot of the forest

Where
they alternately stared at the solar orb and at the
trees

Hugging
each other tightly

Until we
moved into the forest where they hugged tress much as Joshua and
Mary had done

And they
dragged their hands through the grasses and cried a great deal
more

Until we
emerged from the forest and ahead of us stood the massive
fortress

With dead
RolKils all around

Both
women halted suddenly and moved closely to me

Taking
hold of my arms

And we
moved as one past the dead Machines towards the ingress for the
security gates were not locked