Twisted Metal (16 page)

‘They’re just robots,’ said Karel. ‘Tonight they will take off those skins and put on iron and copper, just like the rest of us.’

The meeting began.

‘Robots of Turing City. This parliament has been called by petition of the people. Susan, will you verify this?’

‘That’s Mum!’ said Axel, yellow eyes glowing.

Susan had stood up. She looked so delicate in her finely painted skin, and yet so self-assured. Karel felt a sudden pang of love that wiped out his resentment of a moment ago.

Susan began. ‘Speaker, sixty-one per cent of the population wish to debate the motion recommending that
This parliament will declare war upon Artemis
.’

‘That is sufficient for the debate,’ said the speaker. ‘Will the proponent please state his case?’

There was a murmur from the assembled robots. Now the proponent moved forward.

‘That’s Kobuk,’ whispered Karel. ‘He used to be part of the City Guard.’

Even dressed in a harlequin pattern of silver on gold, Kobuk was obviously a soldier. You could tell it by the way he marched to the centre of the arena and stamped to attention. You could hear it in the tone of his voice as it rang through the air.

‘Fellow citizens, Artemis’s plans to conquer Shull are well known to all of us. Wien has recently fallen to their troops. Now only one state remains free on the southern part of the continent. Turing City! It does not take Oneill to see where Artemis will next turn its attention. I say we have left our metal too long out of the fire. We must close our borders, raise an army and prepare for war. Why sit here awaiting Artemis’s closer attention? Let us go out now and meet them on the battlefields of Zernike before the city. Zernike defeated Artemis there in the past. If we fight, we will defeat them again. But if we remain here and hesitate we will be destroyed. Let us rip up the rails that lead to Artemis, use that metal to make guns and then march upon that badly twisted state!’

Some of the robots in the stadium began to stamp their feet. Karel looked around him. Many, but not as many as he would have expected. The applause gradually faded.

‘Was he right, Dad?’ asked Axel. ‘Should we fight?’

‘I don’t know, Son. Let’s hear what the opponent has to say. It’s Noatak. She’s an architect.’

Despite her profession, Noatak looked even more like a soldier than Kobuk, the former City Guard. Her golden body was big and heavy. It would take a powerful mind to control that much metal, reflected Karel.

‘Citizens,’ began Noatak. ‘I don’t think that there is a robot here who does not respect Kobuk. His work with the City Guard is celebrated, and justly so. But times move on. Just as the City Guard has reformed itself around a new paradigm of technical excellence, so has Turing City. Look at the magnificence and prosperity which we now enjoy!’

There was more stamping at that. Noatak waited for it to die away.

‘And yet, that does not mean we should forget all of our past. Turing City has always been an open state. Open to all robots, open to new ideas. Remember, it is this that has kept us strong, not the walls and ditches and isolation that Kobuk would wish upon us. I say that Artemis is welcome to come here! They will find our philosophy the stronger, as others have before them. And, should they try to attack, they will find our City Guard more than their measure.’

More applause. Karel listened carefully. Was this louder than before? He thought so.

‘Is she right, Dad?’ asked Axel.

‘I don’t know, Son.’

‘But haven’t you always said that we should welcome outsiders? It’s what
you
do, after all.’

‘I know but . . .’ He became silent. It was Kobuk’s turn to respond. The harlequin robot waved a dismissive hand.

‘Noatak puts words in my mouth. I never said that we should build walls, nor that we isolate ourselves. I welcome the robots who join us from other states! But that does not mean that we should sit here and await our doom! I say yes, keep the borders open, but I also say yes, let us cross those borders, accompanied by all those who would now call themselves Turing Citizens, be they originally from Wien or Stark or Bethe, and that we go forth and face Artemis on the battlefield. That we face up to Artemis and defeat it!’

More applause.

‘He’s right, isn’t he, Dad?’ said Axel.

‘Yes,’ said Karel. ‘Yes, I think so.’

Noatak took up her place again.

‘And I say that we have nothing to fear from Artemis. And yet, why force their hand by declaring war? If they come, we will defeat them. Why should we go and destroy our quality of life by inviting something that otherwise may never happen?’

She left this question hanging in the air. There was a murmur of conversation from the assembled robots. Brightly painted bodies stirred in the ancient grey stone bowl of the arena.

Now the Speaker took his place.

‘We have heard from the proponent and opponent. I now open the parliament to all on the terraces.’

Many robots raised their hands. The Speaker turned to Susan’s team, who were gazing at the crowd, noting names, comparing histories. That was what Susan did, thought Karel with a touch of pride. She knew
everybody
in Turing City. She and her team could map the opinions of the whole population.

‘What’s happening now?’ asked Axel.

‘Mummy and her team are deciding who will best contribute to the debate. Here we are . . .’

Susan stepped forward. ‘Delius,’ she called out.

Delius stood on the second terrace, an elegant woman with a finely balanced body.

‘Kobuk,’ she called. ‘Wien has just fallen. By all accounts it was a close-run thing, so Artemis will still be weak. Do you
really
believe an attack is imminent?’

Kobuk gazed up at her.

‘It could happen as soon as next month.’

Delius wasn’t fooled. ‘The night moon could fall from the sky next month. When is the attack
likely
to happen?’

Kobuk shifted. ‘Not for another three years at least . . .’ There was a stirring in the parliament. ‘
But that’s not the point
. Whether they attack now or in three years’ time we must be fully prepared!’

The parliament wasn’t convinced, Karel could tell. Now the Speaker was looking to Susan again.

‘Saddleworth,’ she declared.

Saddleworth was a short, stocky robot standing up on the fourth terrace. He spoke in self-important tones.

‘Now hold on,’ he began. ‘I think we’re all missing the point here. We’ve been told that Artemis now basically controls the continent. We’ve also been told that we should have nothing to do with them, that we should shut out the outside world. Well, I operate a foundry, as you all know, and a foundry needs coal. Now, answer me this. Where is the coal going to come from if we have closed our borders?’

There was a murmur of assent from around the arena.

‘I never said we should close the borders,’ insisted Kobuk. ‘Besides, where is your coal to come from now that Wien is captured?’

‘I dare say the Artemisians will still trade with us,’ said Saddleworth stubbornly.

‘Dad, I don’t understand. Aren’t they frightened?’

Karel looked into the yellow glow of his son’s eyes.

‘I think they are. That’s why they are pretending that nothing is happening.’

‘Dad, what’s the matter with Mum?’

Karel looked down to where Susan stood. She seemed dazed, as if she had seen something that shocked her. He followed her gaze, but he saw nothing unusual in the terraces over there. Nothing apart from a City Guard robot who stood at the top of the terraces, obviously just arrived. A City Guard robot attending parliament was unusual, it was true, but surely not enough to induce this reaction in his wife.

Saddleworth was still speaking. Now he had the floor, he obviously didn’t want to give it up.

‘So what I want to know is whether the City Guard is up to the task of defending us? Can anyone answer me that?’

Susan was still staring at the City Guard robot. She looked totally stunned. When she finally spoke her voice sounded strange.

‘Thank you, Saddleworth,’ she said. ‘You’ve had your turn. Maoco O.’

The crowd looked up towards Maoco O. He was a tall robot, his body so beautifully engineered it held the eye, begging to be looked at. So smooth, so seamless. The way the metal curved in at his hips, flared at his shoulders, the dull glow with which it shone, even in the blazing sun. When he spoke, his voice was so clear, so finely modulated.

‘Citizens,’ he said. ‘I bow before Kobuk.’ At this he turned and bent in an ostentatious fashion towards the ex-City Guard who still stood on the parliament floor. He straightened up and addressed the crowd once more. ‘The City Guard has served us well in the past, and I pledge to continue that tradition. Turing City has stood here many years, during which our mines have produced the best gold and nickel. With these metals we have wound the finest minds. Here, at least, all robots may stand equal. I say to you, citizens, the City Guard will stand strong.’

The assembled robots stamped their feet again in applause. Karel paid little heed to the robot’s words. He was still gazing at Susan, rapt in concentration as she stared at Maoco O. What was the matter with her? The Speaker was trying to gain her attention, trying to find out who would be the next to contribute to the debate. Finally she noticed him; she seemed to take a moment to regain her balance and consult with her team. At last she spoke.

‘Leavore,’ she said.

And the crowd began to murmur again. Leavore? That was an Artemisian name!

Karel saw ripples in the silver pool of light reflected by the assembled robots. Heads were turning to the stranger in their midst. And there she stood: an Artemisian war robot. A Scout dressed in a silver skin of katana metal, the blades at her hands and feet barely sheathed. She reminded Karel of the robot he had seen so recently at the Immigration Centre. Maybe it was even the same one, now released and given citizenship. She would have the right to attend parliament, so why should she not be here? For a moment his thoughts travelled back to Banjo Macrodocious, the strange robot that had denied its own intelligence. What had happened to him?

Leavore spoke. ‘I wish to question Maoco O. I am a new citizen of Turing City. I thought we were all equal here. And yet Maoco O claims that your minds are wound of better metal. Is this true? Are we not all equal?’

There was silence. The point had struck home.

‘Dad?’ said Axel, but Karel was trying to think. He had never thought of that before. Turing City minds were wound with equality in them, and yet the war robot had a point. They did believe their minds were better than others’.

‘Don’t listen to her. It’s an Artemisian trick!’

‘She’s a spy!’

‘Even if she’s not, she’s a traitor to her own state!’

The Speaker raised his hands. ‘The parliament will come to order!’

In the ensuing confusion, and much to his own surprise, Karel found he had raised his own hand. As the noise died away he saw Susan, down below, staring at him. He held his hand higher. Susan seemed to consult with her team. Then she spoke.

‘Karel,’ she called out.

This brought silence to the crowd. Now all those many heads turned towards Karel. So many eyes, yellow and green and red, their glow dimmed by the bright sunlight.

‘You know me,’ said Karel, ‘and that I’m an immigration officer. If this woman has been deemed fit to be a citizen, then we should listen to her. We may disagree with what she says, but we cannot dismiss it. I will try to answer her question for her. Leavore, what makes us better isn’t our minds or our gold or our nickel. It’s our philosophy, our . . .’

The Speaker interrupted. ‘I am sorry, Karel, but this is not pertinent to the debate. Do you have anything to add that is relevant to the motion?’

Karel felt his electromuscles tense in anger. Slowly, he allowed them to discharge. Across the stone bowl of parliament, he saw Leavore, the war robot, gazing back at him with something like contempt.

‘Dad, what’s going on?’

Karel looked again at Axel, and the last of his anger ebbed. He looked back into the arena.

‘Yes,’ he called, ‘I do have something to say. Noatak, assuming that Artemis does not attack soon, what will you be advising us in three years’ time? Will you still counsel patience?’

‘If it is the correct thing to do.’ Noatak chuckled. ‘Karel, your mind seems already made up. I wonder when that happened?’

There was a ripple of laughter around the terraces, and Karel felt himself gripped with cold fury.

‘Why are they laughing, Dad? Are they laughing at you?’

‘It’s okay, Axel.’ Karel could barely speak. His electromuscles were sparking within him, overloaded with angry current. The Speaker was shouting for order again.

‘Noatak will withdraw that remark!’

‘Of course I withdraw,’ said Noatak, bowing in Karel’s direction, and Karel felt himself seething. Axel still didn’t quite understand. But he got the gist of it.

‘Dad, are you okay?’

Karel said nothing.