by Eric Warren
“How long will it take you to modify my Peacekeepers?”
“I can verbally teach them in an hour or I can go in through their central processing units and do it in five minutes,” Jonn replied.
“You will teach them,” Charlie said. “And then we will retrieve Arista.”
He leaned forward. “You know where she is?”
“I know how to find her. And her friend. She must be removed from the general population before she does further damage. An uncontrolled human is unacceptable. Too many machine lives are at stake.”
“She’s not out there…killing them.”
“Worse,” said Xian. “She’s infecting them. And infected machines, like yourself, are unreliable.” He put emphasis on the last word but Charlie ignored him.
“You will help us,” Charlie said. “You are infatuated with her. It is not your fault. It happened by accident.”
Jonn hung his head. It was true. He’d come to think of her as his actual girlfriend, and not just another person in the system. He didn’t want any harm to come to her, and he was willing to do anything to secure her safety.
“If she is not apprehended by us, if she continues to infect machines we are facing catastrophic losses. The experiment would be at risk. We must sustain a five percent loss every day otherwise results are tainted.”
“Experiment?” Jonn asked.
“Sir, are you sure—” Xian began.
The woman raised her hand to cut him off. “The great experiment is our society. I am the architect of that society. I decide which machine receives which personality. I oversee their programming. I watch them live and die. I commission their replacements. I seek out and destroy any errors in the system and I sanction new designations every day in an attempt to build a more perfect society.”
“More perfect?” Jonn asked. He’d never questioned the nature of society before. It had always been “this was how things were”. And when he “woke up” he’d been so preoccupied with himself, he hadn’t even considered the larger ramifications of other people. The world outside his window.
“Balanced. A perfect society where everyone and everything works in perfect harmony. Every machine has a purpose, every need is met. There is no spillage, nothing left over and nothing left wanting. It will be the ultimate achievement.”
“But, there is plenty of waste,” Jonn said. “We still consume much more than we produce.”
Charlie frowned, turning away from him. “We are using the only model we had: the humans. And we have already far surpassed them. They used to keep the animals of this planet in cages or trap them in their homes. We have allowed them to roam free, without fear of poaching. The natural balance is returning to this planet. But we must find a way to make ourselves fit into it. It is this reason we all have different pre-prescribed roles.”
“That’s why you don’t want her out there. If enough machines gain independence, the system will never be balanced.”
She turned back. “Wrong. If just one machine gains independence the system will never be balanced.”
“What about me? What about your Peacekeepers?”
A smile spread across the woman’s face. “We are still in the early phases. This is a long-term process. We can tolerate certain anomalies for now. If you help us you will remain as you are, free of danger.”
That was good. The last thing Jonn wanted was a full system wipe now that he’d finally become autonomous. He wanted to keep experiencing things like this. Looking back, it had been as if he’d been viewing the world through a smoky window, not seeing things for how they really were. He couldn’t go back.
“And Arista?”
“She will live here, with you. Unable to infect anyone around her. This room is her sanctuary. You will be provided with every comfort you can imagine. Humans live longer than machines, but as long as she is here, she can do no harm.”
Jonn pondered the proposition. Did he really have a better option? Either help them reprogram the Peacekeepers or have his system wiped and replaced. It didn’t seem like there was much of a choice.
“I agree.”
“Excellent. Xian will show you to our main Peacekeeper facility where you can get started.” The woman pushed a small button beside the door, causing the Gate between them to vibrate. Jonn stepped through easily.
“What about this other character? The one who kidnapped her?”
The woman placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, “He will be terminated. He is an insurgent, one who does not believe in the balance.”
An insurgent? “Do you know where he is? Is she with him?” A strange feeling bubbled up through him. Jealousy? Hatred? He couldn’t be sure.
She stared at him. Through him. “We have a lead.”
Jonn nodded. “Good. I want to see him wiped. I want to be there.”
The woman regarded him with interest. “We will arrange it. I will leave you to Xian. Do not disappoint me.” She blinked rapidly a few times, then turned to Xian. “I am needed elsewhere.” Her voice had changed completely. Now it was soft and smooth, a complete reversal from what he’d just heard. It sounded more like a voice should but it was physically jarring.
“Yes, ma’am,” Xian said, keeping his eyes locked on Jonn. He’d called her sir earlier but now ma’am? What was going on here? She turned and exited past the Peacekeeper.
“If I see even the hint of betrayal,” Xian said, shoving a finger in Jonn’s face. “Your cortex will be cleaned out before you can blink. Understand?”
Jonn nodded.
“Then let’s get to work. You have a big job ahead of you.”
Eighteen
“I’VE ALREADY FIGURED OUT YOU DIDN’T COME AFTER ME out of the goodness in your heart,” Arista said from behind him.
Frees remained hunched over his monitor, trying to make it look like he was doing something important. He couldn’t believe he’d shown himself. No one since Marcus had ever seen him. Was it a human thing? Had she affected him as well? Changed his programming? No, he was free from his programming now, she couldn’t alter him anymore. He hoped. But seeing what she’d done to that Peacekeeper had unnerved him; what if she had other abilities—other ways of affecting them—neither of them knew about? And if those manifested themselves he’d have no way of protecting himself. But he had little choice. He’d wanted a human and now he had one. It was time to move on to the second phase of his plan. “I need your abilities,” he finally said.
“You mean the eye thing.”
He turned and stared at her. Really looked for the first time. She was as average as a person could get, dirty blonde hair cut short, brown eyes, plain face, no distinguishing characteristics other than the fact right hand was shorn clean as if it had been erased from a page. She’d tracked him down and repaired him; no doubt she was smart. But she was also dangerous. The Cadre should have killed her immediately.
“Do you know what it means?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Kind of. I know sometimes the machines around me change, their eyes turn to orange and they become…well, more like me.”
“They become themselves. But do you know why?”
She shook her head. “I just know I need to be careful.”
He straightened up and faced her. “Where did you come from? And how did you manage to stay hidden for so long? They should have detected you long ago.”
She took a deep breath and paused, as if she was contemplating her answer. “Let me ask you a question instead. When you say you need my abilities, what do you plan to do? For all I know the Peacekeepers wanted my abilities too.”
Frees shook his head. “No, that doesn’t make sense. You are a threat to them. I don’t know why they kept you alive. Someone must—”
“They were afraid,” she interrupted. “They wanted to know how I’d eluded them, to make sure they could find any other humans that might be out there. But I’m the only one.”
Frees regarded her. The only one? Did she really believe that? Maybe
she was right, what did he know? It wasn’t as if he’d ever found any others. Suddenly he felt a swell of pity for her.
“Thank you for fixing me. Did I say that already?”
Her eyes flashed to his, then turned away again. “No. And you’re welcome.” She paused, making a motion with her head. “How did you get your name?”
“I gave it to myself,” he said, proudly. “I am the sword of justice that will bring freedom to my people. Hence: Frees. It’s what I do.”
Arista chuckled, then stifled it with her hand.
“What?”
Her face remained straight but he could see a smile tugging at her lips. “Nothing.”
He grimaced. “I don’t want to hurt you. And obviously you can do what I need you to do without any damage to yourself. So you don’t have to fear me. But I do need your help.” Frees realized he hadn’t actually offered her the choice. But did he need to? What if she said no, would he force her to help him anyway? He should be able to elicit the response he needed from her with or without her cooperation. But it would be much simpler with it.
“Okay,” she said, drawing the word out. She walked over to the couch full of control boards, parts and tubes, moving them all gingerly from their spots and took a seat at the edge. She rubbed her wrist with her remaining hand. “What would I have to do?”
“What you did in the alleyway, except without the bodily injury, then running off leaving them for dead.”
Arista dropped her head, then sat back on the couch, keeping her gaze averted. “You said she would be okay.”
“She will be, my friend is taking care of her.”
She looked distant, like her mind was somewhere else. Did he ever look like that? Lost in thought? It must be a fascinating sensation. “Your friend, she’s like you?”
Frees nodded.
She rubbed the end of the wrist missing a hand. “I’ll help you, if you help me.”
“Help you do what?” Frees asked.
“The whole reason I was in the system to begin with, the only reason I got caught was because I was infiltrating the insurance company.” She sat up, serious, her eyes on him. “I needed to create a false loss in the system, so I could procure two husks for…for my parents. Husks without programming. They are reaching the end of their spans and if I don’t transfer their consciousnesses into new bodies, they’ll die.”
“Your parents,” he began. “They’re…machines? But they…I mean they couldn’t have…” Nausea overwhelmed him.
A funny smile spread across her face. “What? Birthed me? No, I know how biology works.”
“Then how…”
“They found me. When I was little. I don’t remember much before then, but I do remember seeing them for the first time.”
“What happened?” Frees asked, suddenly very interested.
“I was in a field,” she said, putting her hand to her head as if it were giving her a headache. “Cornfield? Or barley? No, no, that was from a movie. I think it was wheat, on an old farm, down in Alabama. But I remember not knowing where I was, then pushing through the wheat and seeing the farmhouse. I saw Dad first. Then he was on the ground screaming. I was terrified and ran.
“He caught up with me. But when he did, he was different. He held me, comforted me. Took me to meet his wife. And the same thing happened to her of course. After that their eyes were orange and that, as they say, is that.”
“And you’ve been with them ever since.”
She nodded.
“And they’ve shielded you? From the drones, surveillance, and the Peacekeepers?”
Arista hesitated. “No…I have this uhh…piece of equipment.” She shifted on the couch. “I don’t know how I got it, but it masks all my life signs. Keeps them from detecting things like my heartbeat or my body heat.”
“You register as a machine?”
She nodded again. “Mom found a way around it, to detect me if she needed to, but you have to know what you’re looking for.”
“And you don’t remember anything about where you came from? About anything before your time with your parents?”
“I assume I had biological parents at some point. But I figured the machines probably got them, and they sent me away to keep me safe. That’s how I like to think about it anyway. I don’t know.”
Frees picked up a self-sealing stem bolt, turning it over in his hand and back again. “How do you know you’re the last one? The last human?”
“Well, I’ve just assumed, you know the war and all…” she stopped, staring at him. “Wait. How did you turn? I’ve never met you before, have I?”
Frees pondered. He should tell her. But then again, if she knew, she might not help him; her priorities might change. No, it was best to keep it close to the chest for now.
“No, we’ve never met. But I used to work for the Cadre,” he lied. “I encountered a bit of rogue programming in the data storage units in the same tower where they held you.” It was partly true at least, he had infiltrated the Cadre’s core in an attempt to figure out how to free everyone. But it hadn’t been how he’d originally gained his independence.
“You accessed the code from within the Cadre? They have it? Is that how they change the Peacekeepers?”
“By accident, yes. But once I’d accessed it, it was deleted. I couldn’t get it back. But you, you do the same thing that code did, and it seems you can do it to as many machines as you want.”
“Yeah, that’s not turning out great so far.”
Frees leaned forward. “If you help me free my people, get the code out to as many people as we possibly can, I will help you procure bodies for your parents.”
“New bodies,” she said. “It does them no good if they’re already used up.”
“New bodies,” Frees agreed. Though he had no clue how he was going to do it. The production facility would be hard to infiltrate, she’d been smart to go through the insurance company. That might have actually worked. Whenever thoughts of transferring into a new body entered his mind he always pushed them away. It was a problem he’d have to face eventually, but not for another ten years. He had plenty of time.
“Okay,” she said, resolute. She stuck out her hand and he took it, giving it a hearty shake and releasing it. It took him a moment to realize she’d left perspiration on his superstructure.
“Ew.” He wiped his palm on the discarded hoodie.
“What?” Arista asked.
“You’re…leaking.” He nodded to her hand.
“I can’t help it when I get nervous. It’s been a rough day, okay?” She glanced around the apartment. “You don’t happen to have any food, do you? They didn’t feed me much while I was there.”
“I don’t keep food here. I find the whole endeavor disgusting.”
She laughed. “Really? You’ve never eaten? Or…you know?” Arista motioned her head toward the back.
“What?”
“The bathroom.”
Frees shuddered. “I did. Back before I was turned. I haven’t since. I find human behavior unsanitary. It’s a wonder disease didn’t wipe your kind out.”
She narrowed her eyes. “How do you keep yourself powered? Isn’t the food designed to keep your systems functioning? Some kind of lubricant and energy charge?”
“I have my own power supply.” Frees pointed to the fridge. “Energy drives. They have to be kept cold: supercooled to negative ten degrees Celsius to maintain a good charge. One drive lasts ten times as long as a charging cube.”
Arista jumped up. “Really? I want to see.” She made her way through the kitchen.
Frees was quick on her heels “Wait, no, I didn’t mean go get—”
She opened the freezer door. “Whoa! What did you do to this thing? It’s frigid in here!”
He shut the door, nearly catching her hand. “I had to modify it to keep the drives cold enough. And if you’d put your hand in there your cells would have crystallized in an instant.”
“Well, I’m going to need foo
d. Especially if you need me at my best. Humans need constant fuel to stay alive.”
“What did you do…before you were captured. You didn’t eat our food?”
“Actually, I did. It made it easier for me to go out and socialize when I needed to, which wasn’t often. Mom designed a nutrient shot for me. It contained all the vitamins and nutrients I would need for a given day. We also had a stockpile of non-perishables we’d stored up over the years. And a variety of fruits and vegetables from outside the city. Out where there are still farms. But when I couldn’t eat any of those I had these powders, which I put on your food and it modified the cellular structure to something I could digest. Not that it ever tasted any good.”
“Where did you get something like that? I’ve never heard of anything that could change molecular structures.”
Arista shrugged, returning to the living room. “Mom invented them. Somehow she managed to develop the technology. I know how they work, but I doubt I have the skill to re-create them.”
“Where are they? The powders and nutrient shots?”
“Probably destroyed by now. I kept everything in my apartment.” She was silent for a moment. “But you know, when they had me in there—in fact, not long before you broke me out—they brought me a meal. It wasn’t what I would call appetizing, but they’d managed to make something I could eat. And it hasn’t killed me yet so I have to assume it was actual food.”
Frees returned to his monitor out of habit. He’d spent so much time in front of this screen, waiting for the day when it would light up—tell him there was a human out there. And now here she was, standing in his living room asking for food. “What if I went and checked it out? You’re no good if you’re starving.”
“You want to go to my apartment?” Her voice had raised in pitch.
“I’m good at getting in and out of places. If they haven’t destroyed or confiscated them yet, I’ll bring them back to you. What do they look like?”
As Arista described them, Frees built a mental map in his head of how he would get into her apartment unseen. It would require roof access, and now that he’d learned of his jumping ability, it should be relatively easy to scale another building, then jump to hers. It would keep him out of the spotlight at least.
