A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind (15 page)

RolKils
with four of their limbs to the ground

And two
raised

Ready to
race forward should they be reactivated by High Office

*

Now is
the time

Now is
the time for me to be exterminated or to exist with greater
honour

Now is
the best time I have to enact the 100% pulse of the signal of
companionship

Now is
the time to test whether I can incapacitate and immobilize Machines
once and forever

Without
recrimination or retaliation

This is
my time

Either of
further existence or extermination

The time
has come to test a theory

*

I reach
down inside my systems and find the signal of companionship and
power it up to 100%

I can
feel it throbbing inside me

And I
gather myself as I lift my two upper limbs outwards from my main
frame

I gather
the power of the signal to me

And

*

Boom

*

Boom

*

That is
what it feels like when I release the huge pulse of the signal of
companionship

When I
rock back slightly on the bottom of my lower limbs

*

Immediately

The first
4 Defgars in the rows drop their craniums and are utterly
incapacitated and immobilized

And all
the limbs of the first 4 in the rows of RolKils fall uselessly to
the ground

I
wait

If I had
breath in my body I would be holding it

For now I
am in mortal danger

Any one
of the machines could have detected the pulse and could now be
readying itself to exterminate me

I
wait

*

I
wait

*

But
nothing moves

No
Machine moves forward into the central aisle

*

I have
just permanently immobilized a number of RolKils and Defgars and
nothing errant has happened to me

I have
received no message or instruction from High Office

I have
not been short circuited

No
Machine has moved into the central isle to exterminate
me

I am
still standing

I am
still existing

The
feeling of excitement grows within me

*

I take in
what I have done

Turning
my cranium from one side and to the other

Seeing
the totally useless machines I have debilitated

Now is
the time to extend my revolution

I move
forward along the central isle pulsing the signal of companionship
at full power with every step

And with
every step

I observe
that the heads of Defgars and the limbs of the RolKils
fall

Permanently immobilizing each Machine

Making
them useless for any type of attack on Humans

High
Office can no longer call on their services if they are
required

The
Machines are reduced to nothing more than mere metal

I begin
to move a little faster

Booming
out the signal as I move

And all
around me machines fall into misuse and immobilization

But the
chamber is huge

And
somewhere along it

And to my
astonishment

I begin
to run out of energy

I have to
stand for considerable moments

And
regather my energy levels using the Zillear engine

But once
I am back to full power

I
continue with my mission

*

I
incapacitate and immobilize all the Machines in the
chamber

100s and
100s of them

And when
I reach furthest the limit of the chamber I pause for a moment and
wait

I wait
for any action from High Office

Anything
from any Machine

Any
action

From
anywhere

Such as
the chamber suddenly being invaded by other Defgars with weapons
aimed at me

Or
RolKils that are not dead firing all around

*

I
wait

*

But
nothing happens

High
Office has no knowledge of what I have done

They will
not know until they attempt to reactivate the machines in the
chamber

I feel
elation

And I
twirl around in an extravagant routine as balance on the point of a
lower limb in a manner much as Eve would have done and I take in
the sight that lies ahead of me

Rows and
rows of Defgars with craniums dropped

RolKils
with all six limbs touching the ground

Something
that has never been witnessed since before the wars
began

Useless
RolKils

I cannot
resist

I leap
towards the nearest RolKil and I lean upon its central
shaft

And it
slowly topples over

Causing
several RolKils to topple with it

The sound
is loud to me

But I am
in a deep chamber

And no
other Machine is going to detect the noise

I topple
a few more

Then I
topple many Defgars

They are
all just metal

Dead
metal

I have
committed a great offence against the Laws set by High Office that
no Machines should injure or harm any other of our
species

But I have harmed and injured 100s of
them

Killed
them in fact

And I
have never been more excited in all of my existence

I leap
high into the air

Lifting
my upper limbs high above my cranium

If I had
a cranial orifice I would shout and scream much as I heard little
Eve shout and scream when she performed gymnastics for
me

I roll
forward and leap again into the air

Lifting a
lower limb high up above my cranium before lowering it
again

Before
lifting the other and lowering that

I am
doing what little Eve did when she performed gymnastics for
me

I am
copying the movements I observed the little Human performing
throughout its own existence

Before
little Eve was taken

I find
that absence hurtful for little Eve brought me much joy

That
particular Human should not have been exterminated

Not in
the way it was

Lying
strapped to the table

Being
tortured by MengTechs

For no
reason

Little
Eve should not have been exterminated

But I
made oath that I would do something for that Human and I have
begun

I have
incapacitated and permanently immobilized hundreds of Defgars and
RolKil

And for
the other Machines who patrol the areas above where I
stand

In the
fortress

Beware
Machines

For I am
coming

*

While I
am down in the chambers I move from the very large 1 into 1 of
medium size

It
contains 100s of FoodTechs

So I move
on

For they
do not threaten Humans

And I
move into another chamber

And this
one contains MengTechs and GoebTechs

All
powered down

The
antenna of the MengTechs standing stiffly still

Both
Machine types ready to be called to action at an order from High
Office

I stand
and stare at them for a moment

Then I
boom out the signal of companionship

And
nothing happens

Nothing
happens to the MengTechs or the GoebTechs

They
remain on standby and do not collapse or fall into
demobilization

Though
they do not reawaken and attack me

I am
confused

I boom
the signal again

And
nothing happens to them

I cannot
attempt another effort for I may wake them from their High Office
induced trance

I shall
work on another method of exterminating them

I am in
great fear of MengTechs

They are
Bastard Machines

I hear
something of an echo of Human sound in that statement

And it
fits my accord

In
another chambers I discover many DocTechs

And I
consider leaving them

But I
cannot forgive them for the tortures they have conducted with
MengTechs

Even if
they have cured Humans of their ailments

If my
plan succeeds

There
will no Humans in the fortress to treat

I decide
to try and kill them

I boom
out the signal of companionship and all their craniums fall forward
onto their upper torsos

I push a
number of them over onto their backs to confirm their demise and I
am elated at the result

Only
MengTechs and GoebTechs remain on standby in the chambers but once
I have a solution

I shall
return for them

Engineers
and CleanTechs and many of the menial varieties of Machines that
are based at the fortress

I leave
to stand

But there
are no back up GunTans in the chambers

They are
probably too large to hide down here

Or too
cumbersome

But then
my memory reminds me that GunTans were created long after the war
against the Humans was won

And the
chamber was constructed many years before the war was
over

I move
through all the chambers and corridors

And find
one chamber with 100s and 100s of LazExts though none are of the
type 66

All are
of an older production

Though
they are still deadly in their application

I do
nothing to the weapons

Without
the upper limbs of Machines to hold them

They are
useless

Satisfying myself that I have left no Machine functioning
that I could have demobilized

When I
have convinced myself that such is the fact

I return
to the fortress and carry on my duties as if nothing had
happened

Bringing
down my shutters to return from recordings to live
transmission

I feel
greatly thrilled that I have another enormous secret

I have
eliminated many Machines from planet Earth

But still
there are more

I move
past the area where MengTechs gather and I observe

MT261000

MT261340

MT261502

They
congregate together

And rage
surges through me like wildfire and for a moment I believe I am
going to react to that rage

But this
is not the place and not the time

All the
Defgars inside the construction must be dealt with
firstly

They must
be incapacitated and demobilized

And when
I have carried out that duty

I shall
return for the MengTechs both in the fortress and in the
underground chamber

I will
get all of them

I move
through to the upper walkway where I observe the Humans going about
their daily duties

Just as
they always have done

During
their long

Long

Time in
the fortress

And I
observe little Eve’s papa

All alone
now

Without
his little Eve

Just as I
am without her

I run a
programme on my systems to aid me in the problem of how to
communicate with the Humans

My
options

I
realise

Are
few

Because I
have no cranial orifice with which I can make sound so I must
communicate in a more diverse fashion