A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind (24 page)

Probably
the closest any Machine had ever come to RolKils and
survived

As I fell
I reached out with arms and legs and knocked both Machines over in
the long grass

Instantly

I
scrambled away until I found a place of safety from which to view
the remaining 10 RolKils

They
seemed to be in a high state of agitation

Fully
powered

Emitting
their localized alarm louder and louder but receiving no response
to it

Probably
wondering what was going on

If they
did wonder

I was
half way to my target

10
down

10 to
go

When I
was settled

I exposed
myself to their view again

But this
time no RolKil came forward though all turned their weapons towards
me

None
entered the forest

They
remained in front of the egress and blocked my passage to the
Humans

I would
have to go after them

I climbed
another tree and waited for darkness to fall

How were
my Humans

I
thought

Were they
worried about me

For I had
been gone a whole darkness period and now most of a light one and
shortly it would be dark again

I tried
not to recognise their concerns

Though I
had enough of my own

It was
odd to settle in a tree for a long period for I was a Machine of
perpetual movement

Eternal
movement

And
sitting in a tree was not a natural thing for me to do

Though it
was gloriously warm

Animals
of the air were chirping and flitting all around me and I was most
content

And it
was this concentration on animals of the air and a feeling of
contentment that distracted me and almost cost me my
existence

But I was
alerted just in time that 2 more RolKils were in the
forest

Rolling
in almost complete silence towards where I was hiding in the
tree

I climbed
higher up the tree and I climbed quickly

Away from
the Machines

That

I almost
learned to my personal destruction

Could
work on strategies

And could
creep as well and move at 100 kilometres an hour

I looked
down from high above in the tree and the Machines eased their way
around the tree

Circling
it in almost total silence

And
stopping when they thought they had me

Only to
discover that I was now gone

I decided
to something brave at last

From my
high position

I dived
from the tree

Out into
the air

With my
arms out like the appendages of the flying animals

RolKils
could not see upwards

So I was
safe until I came into their sight

But
before I arrived at that point

I began
to Boom out the signal of companionship

And it
took 3 Booms for each Machine before they collapsed on to their six
limbs

Immobilized

Dead in
the forest

Except I
was worried beyond belief to realize that the RolKils were becoming
immune to the signal

3
Booms

How many
would it take to immobilize the remainder of them

While I
was worrying about this

I crashed
into the bushes and long grass

Rolling
into a ball

And
actually rolling down the hill upon which the trees
stood

Not
stopping until I was blocked by another tree which shook me to my
core

And for a
moment I quite enjoyed simply lying on my back as I unrolled
myself

As I
stared at the blue skies through the growth of the trees

After
some moments I climbed to my feet and began tracking up the hill
again

Using the
trees as cover

8 more to
go

I
recharged my energy

I was
going to need all the energy I could garner

**

**

Section 14

**

Internal
Transmission

*

From my
vantage point high up in a tree I could see the 8 RolKils gathered
together moving slowly through the tall grass outside the ingress
into the fortress

And I
could not work out why they were gathered in such a
place

They had
worked out that I was an enemy but why were they blocking my way
in

They
would be better letting me enter then trapping me along with all
the Humans

But they
had a strategy and they were keeping to it

They had
ceased sending out the alarm or ordering the massacre of all Humans
but there was no way they were powering down their
weapons

They
remained at the top level of readiness with all their LazExts
armed

I
considered that they may like to charge down into the forest but
were restrained by the disappearance and immobilization of those
they had sent in

And they
were no doubt confused by their enemy

An
Observer Recorder with no history of violence in all the history of
Machines

They must
be exceedingly confused

I climbed
down the tree and made several efforts to entice any

Or
all

Of the
RolKils into the forest but though they aimed weapons directly at
me they made no attempt to enter the trees

Or fire
their weapons

One dead
tree was quite enough for them

The light
period drifted into duskiness and then darkness

Now was
the only time I was ever going to get

*

I began
to creep upwards through the forest

Honing my
night vision to see the RolKils, who remained where they
were

Rolling
slowly with sinister intent

I decided
to approach them from a different angle and moved laterally along
the forest

Initially

Away from
the deadly Machines

But

Eventually

Slipping
out of the forest to hide in the long grasses that inhabited the
whole of the outer shell of the facility

The
RolKils were now ahead of me and not above me as I slithered along
in the grass towards them

I needed
to spilt them up

I could
not kill 8 at one time

I had to
have them in groups of 4 or less

Except
they were rolling in a circular motion very near to each
other

Tight
circles

An almost
unbroken wall of terror and fear

As I
slithered along very close to the surface of Earth I moved over a
lump of it

A small
particle

But it
gave me an indication of something I could do

I lifted
the small lump of Earth and threw it in the air and it landed with
an incredible amount of noise in the silence that we were all
keeping

Me and
the RolKils

When the
noise was made all the Machines wheeled round to face the sound and
two of them released a short volley of lazer power towards where
the lump of Earth fell

While
they were all focused on that noise I crawled quite quickly towards
them finding myself up against the wall of the facility
again

Hidden in
the tall grasses

With 1
RolKil very close indeed

I boomed
out the signal and immobilized that one and curled into a ball and
rolled away

Leaving
the other RolKils totally confused as to where the signal had come
from

They
began firing anyway

Striking
the outer fabric of the fortress while I lay totally still and as
close to the surface of Earth as I could

Some of
the strikes were only just above my head and tiny particles of
building materials cascaded down on me

I could
not believe I had been so foolhardy

Creeping
up on them and immobilizing just 1

It was
hazardous in the extreme

I was
working without a plan because it was a time of darkness and I
thought I had the advantage

But I was
becoming careless

Though I
only had 7 more to immobilize

The
remaining RolKils were circling in wider circles moving ever closer
to the trees

Widening
their search for me

So I
moved away from them

Finally
back into the forest where I felt safest

And I
watched

And the
Machines had a plan

As they
slowly widened their circling motion

Moving
ever closer to the edge of the treeline

What were
they planning

For it
was something

Then the
circling came to a halt and all 8 RolKils were lined up along the
tree line weapons aimed

Or so I
thought

At the
trees

But I was
wrong

I had
once again underestimated the planning strategies of the
RolKils

Because
they began firing their lazers on very low power and set fire to
the bushes and the long grasses

Neither
of those things were covered by a law from High Office

They
were

With
great care

Removing
my cover

And that
removal would leave me nowhere to hide

As a
Machine in conflict with them

I was
very impressed by the RolKils and the way they worked
together

They must
have been a devastating sight to Humans during the wars

Rolling
along

Working
together to herd and to surround many thousands simply to eradicate
them

I slipped
further down the hill

Lower
down through the trees but I realized that my efforts were
futile

For

Eventually

The
RolKils

With
their gentle light firing of their lazers were going to remove all
cover from the forest

And they
would not hurt or damage a single tree

It was
very clever

I speeded
out of the forest and momentarily along the plain

But I
turned to my right and speeded along adjacent to the
forest

Swinging
past it and climbing the hill at another point

Coming to
the fortress from a rare and seldomly used route

The
RolKils being on the other side of the building from me

I speeded
round to the edge of the fortress where I could espy the RolKils
continuing with their mission

And I
decided on an action that would surely lead to my ultimate
destruction

All
RolKils were concentrated on destroying the cover in the
forest

In
effect

They had
their backs to me

Their
blindsides

So I
stepped out from the building and speeded alongside it

Nearing
the RolKils that were all lined up

Side by
side

Quite
quickly I reached my maximum speed which

In
relation to almost all except RolKils

Was
considered to be very quick

And as I
speeded past them I boomed out the signal

1
down

2
down

3
down

4
down

I speeded
around the corner of the building just as the remaining RolKils
spun round to face me and fire

Their
lazer took out great chunks of the fabric of the
construction

Though I
did not cease my flight to look

I kept on
speeding at top speed

For the
RolKils would be after me

Only 3
remaining

But 3 was
enough to eradicate not only everyone in the fortress

Plus
myself

But
enough to eradicate all the remaining Humans