A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind (35 page)

*

IT IS TRUE

*

Many Humans in the galleries began to cheer and to shout and
some stamped their feet and a great noise rose into the air until
the 101
^st
of the Government stood and lifted his arms high about his
head and silenced many

Many

Hundreds
of them

*

‘
I will continue, if I may. So OR33140, you did all of these
things and never did any wrong, is this so?’

*

I NEVER DID HARM TO HUMANS

*

The 101
^st
took his seat again and looked around at the other
members of his Government

Just as
they looked back at him

*

‘
You tell an untruth on that particular matter, OR33140, don’t
you?

*

I NEVER DID HARM TO HUMANS

I ONLY WANTED THEM TO BE FREE

*

The 101
^st
slapped the desk in front of him

*

‘
That is an untruth and you know it. You murdered a human, did
you not?

*

I MURDERED NO HUMAN

THE ONE I KILLED WAS A BULLY AND UNCONTROLLABLE

AT THE MOMENT OF HIS DEATH HE WAS THREATENING UNDERGROUND
HUMANS WHO I HAD PROMISED TO PROTECT

HE KNOCKED OVER JOHN

LITTLE EVES PAPA

AND HE WAS THREATENING MANY

INCLUDING ME

THERE WAS NO OPTION BUT TO ELIMINATE HIM

*

‘
Who gave you the order to kill him?’

*

I WAS GIVEN NO ORDER

I WAS PROTECTING HUMANS

*

‘
Was there no meeting to decide the man’s fate, no trial, no
discussion of any kind?’

*

THE HUMAN WAS ATTACKING

THERE WAS NO CHOICE

THE HUMAND HAD TO BE ERADICATED

*

‘
Will John, to whom the machine refers, please
stand.’

*

John
stood

And he
appeared to be a very small figure among the many Humans that
surrounded him

*

‘
You are John, Eve’s father?

‘
I am.’

‘
And is it true that this machine reacted to your daughter’s
murder by launching a revolution against its own
machines?

‘
It is true, Great Leader.’

‘
And you know of no other reason why the machine would launch
such a revolution?’

‘
Hope does not tell untruths, Great Leader, he is not
programmed to do so.’

‘
But he just lied to the Government when he said he had done
no harm to humans when, in fact, he had murdered one.’

‘
Hope did not murder a human, his statement is correct. The
human who died was a bully and he was, when he was killed,
preparing to attack Hope.’

‘
Preparing, not attacking?

‘
He was rushing at Hope with fists clenched and rage in his
heart.’

‘
Ah, so you can see into human hearts can you, John. Is that a
skill all surface humans
possess?’

*

John looked angry when the 101
^st
made this sound

*

‘
What exactly are you trying to intimate here, what problem do
you have with Hope? Are you machinophobic? Do you hate all machines
because of the past, because humans lost the wars? Why are you
accusing Hope of murder?’

*

The 101
^st
stood with much anger in his expression and he
stood stiffly and faced John

*

‘
I am the head of the elected Government and you shall pay me
proper respect. I say only this; murder was made a crime where no
defence could be offered, there is never any excuse for murdering a
fellow human. And as we existed in such precarious circumstances,
rules and laws had to formulated and abided by. It was placed into
our law that whosoever committed a murder would be put to death.
There could be no defense for such an act, there can be no defense.
This machine killed a human, committed murder. There was no
consultation; there was no discussion, the machine took the
decision to kill all on its own. It is to be broken up; it killed a
human, it is, for all sense and purposes, to be put to death. That
is the decision of the Government.’

‘
That cannot be. Hope did not even live under the laws of the
underground humans when he killed that bullying human. How can he
be guilty of any offence that involves you?’

‘
The machine cannot be allowed to exist otherwise other humans
will believe that they, too, can get away with murder, that they
could make excuses and reasons for carrying it out.’

‘
My grandfather had a reason over sixty years ago after a man
raped my grandmother, and he was put to death for defending her
honour.’

‘
He had already failed in the attempt to defend her honour; he
had no right to take life.’

*

Other
humans began to shout and scream at the Government, many shaking
clenched hands, many women being particularly angry and as
pandemonium was in total flow, I made a decision not to stay around
and argue for my existence

It was
obvious that the Government would allow no argument

I gently
slid over to where John stood and I removed the screen from around
my neck and I handed it to him

*

‘
No Hope, whatever it is you are thinking, please don’t do it,
we can defend you; we can succeed.’

*

I
unplugged the screen and shook his hand

Then I
leaped into the air and spun on the tip of my right leg, lifting a
hand in a motion of farewell to John and Susan and Ann, and Joshua
and Mary, who I only just noticed, and to other Humans that I knew,
and I raced from the large dome, through the narrow passageways in
the opposite direction from that which I had come along the rails
and I found myself racing along a long high and wide
tunnel

Some
humans made vain attempts to halt my progress but I was moving at
full speed and spinning such as they had never seen and I brushed
off the attempts without harming any

Eventually

The
tunnel become quieter

Then
narrower

Then it
became a passageway much like I the 1s I had seen on the other
side

In
Gland

In the
distance I espied light and sped for it

And burst
out into warm air with the solar orb high above and tall grasses
all around.

I was in
another place

I
realized

Turning
to stare back at the tunnel from which I had exited

No human
followed

I truly
was on my own this time

I moved
away from the cave entrance and never went near one again for over
5 years

For all
those years I roamed the lands and saw no other machine or
human

Each
morning as the golden solar orb rose

I danced
and turned and twisted and leaped and performed gymnastics in
memory of little Eve who I greatly missed

Who I
wanted to be a sister to

Except
she was gone from life

Though
not from my memory

I made a
friend with an animal of the field

A tall
golden coloured animal with a white mane

That
followed me for many phases of light and dark

Until it
allowed me to climb upon its back and

Together

We roamed
the lands

With me
holding its mane

And we
moved quickly and we moved slowly

We went
high into mountains and travelled through white snow and ice and we
swam in the balmy waters of rivers and lakes

I came to
feel great affection for the animal

And
considered that it felt great affection for me

And I was
sitting astride the animal one fine day, in a forest

As I hid
my trusty friend from a fierce heat being transmitted by the solar
orb

For the
animal was worn easily in heat

When

Much to
my surprise

An
Observer Recorder wandered past

Moving
down a hill

And I
knew I was close to another fortress full of humans

I slipped
silently from the animal and stepped quietly through the high
grasses moving past the stranger OR

That was
meandering down a hill upon which a fortress must be standing and
as the machine passed

I dived
out of the forest and dragged it to the ground by its
ankles

If fell
flat on its face in the grass and I sat astride it

Covering
its rear camera with my right hand

I used
the communication system common to all OR’s to communicate with
it

*

I am
OR33140

What is
your designation

*

I am OR
33199

Why have
you attacked me

*

I have
not attacked you

I have
simply laid you on the ground

Bring
down your shutters and we shall enter the forest and further
communicate

*

Why is
there another OR in my jurisdiction

Am I to
be deleted

*

I am a
free Observer and Recorder

I answer
to no authority

*

OR33199
brought down his shutters and I released him and we stepped into
the cool of the forest

*

If you
wish

OR33199

We may
meander down the hill if you would only show scenes of interest to
High Office and not broadcast me or my animal

We may
still communicate using our common programmes

Would you
wish this

*

I wish
that

I will
focus my optical devices on scenes familiar to High Office and we
will communicate

*

We moved
out of the forest

My animal
following me

And
OR33199 focused his eyes on mundane things

*

You toil
in a fortress containing Humans OR33199

*

That is a
truth

*

And you
have toiled there since the end of the wars

*

That is
truth also

*

And do
you feel any affection for any of the humans

*

It is a
question I have never been asked and I cannot answer it

*

I toiled
also in a fortress full of humans and I felt affection for a little
girl

Eve

Who was
tortured by MengTechs

I
launched a revolution on behalf of her and released all the Humans
from that prison

10000 of
them

*

OR 33199
stopped in his meandering and looked around him for the sake of
High Office

*

I have
seen many Humans examined by MengTechs

*

MengTechs
do not treat

They
torture and murder

I
obliterated all of those machines in my fortress

And the
GoebTechs and Defgars

I united
my Humans with other

Free
Humans

*

There
are no free humans

*

Yes
there are OR33199

I found
them and reunited the human tribes

*

You are
surely a worker of miracles if you accomplished all those things
OR33140

*

I was
very vengeful following the murder of Eve

But I
killed a Human and was sentenced to death by a human
Government

*

There is
no human Government

*

Yes there
is

It is
hidden beneath the ground