The King's Ancestors

by Robin Simmons

  Layton looked at it and then said, “So this is what will enable us to travel greater distances in time?”

  “Yes,” Dr. Jordan answered. “Every person who travels in time needs an amplifier in their possession when they travel. It will form a shell of temporal time around each person linked to the time shifter and their device.”

  “How many of the devices do you have at present,” asked Layton.

  Dr. Jordan answered, “We have twelve of them manufactured so far. How many do you want?”

  “At least fifty,” Layton answered. Are the devices ready for testing now?”

  “Yes,” Dr. Jordan said frowning.

  “Give a device to Blastion and Chancellor Elise,” spoke Layton.

  Dr. Jordan hesitated and then said, “Someone else should test the devices besides yourself. We need more time to run more tests, we just finished them this week. We don’t know all effects this will have in long distance time travel. But if you insist, let me go instead of you.”

  Layton shook his head, “No I want to do this myself.” Then he turned to Elise, “Are you ready to take a trip?” Elise’s eyes went wide and she slowly nodded. “Then take us to the city square two hundred years into the past Chancellor.”

  Dr. Jordan handed Elise and Blastion a device and stepped away from them. Then Elise began very calmly to concentrate on two hundred years in the past. Their surroundings began to shimmer and fade then when she almost panicked their surroundings began to form around them once more. They were still in the city but it was very different than the city Elise knew. Instead of in a building they stood in a city square with people walking by. Some noticed their dress and stared but did not approach. Layton asked a pedestrian if he could answer a question for them and the person slowed and stopped.

  “Yes sir, what can I answer for you?” the man asked.

  “What year is this?” Layton asked, and when the man informed him he just nodded. “Thank you very much,” and the man went on his way. Layton turned to Elise and stated, “Take us back to the place and time we left please.”

  Elise concentrated on the time they had left and again the surroundings began to shimmer and fade then the laboratory began to materialize before them. When it was fully formed and the process complete Layton turner to Dr. Jordan and said: “your devices work fine, see there was nothing to worry about.”

  And then turning to Elise said, “You did very well Elise, I would like to reward you with something special, what would you like?”

  Elise thought for a moment and then said, “I would like to see my family.”

  Layton’s smile turned into a frown and he said with a very harsh voice, “I thought I made that clear. That is the one thing you cannot have. I am your family. Never mention this to me again or they will die, am I clear?”

  Elise turned her head down and fought to keep the tears from falling. Layton’s voice came again softer this time: “Tell me of something else you desire and I will give it to you.”

  Elise was quiet for a while and then finally answered, “I want my own personal android, one that is special, different than the ones that the other rich people have.

  “I can arrange that, thank you Elise you have done very well,” Layton answered.

  On the way back to her apartment there was very little said, but Elise began to think about the android she would receive. Only the very rich had androids and now she would have one for her very own. That knowledge helped to take some of the sting out of the open wound she felt about her family once again. Maybe life apart from her family would not be so bad. She knew after Layton’s response that she needed to emotionally disconnect from that part of her life and never bring it up again if she were to survive.

  When Layton Teal arrived back at his office, he called up Castor and Johnson the top robotics company in his empire. When those who answered the vid screen saw him they blanched pale and soon a man appeared on the screen.

  “Hello, your excellency, I am David Castor. What can I do for you?”

  Layton Teal got right to the point; “I need an android, female, for a young woman. It cannot be a run of the mill android, it needs to be special, different than the normal service androids. When you have finished you may contact my aid Blastion Astmos for its delivery.”

  David Castor frowned, “What do you mean by special, and different?”

  “I don’t know, I leave that up to you,” replied Layton. “Do not disappoint me.”

  With that the screen went dark which left David Castor in a stupor until one of his aids asked him what that was all about.

  “Take me to the finished robots that are waiting to be programmed,” he said. Together they went to a part of the factory where completed robots were ready to be put into service. David Castor walked along the line of robots and stopped by one female. He tried to decide what Layton meant by different or unique. He did not think a cosmetic difference is what he wanted but a uniqueness in the android’s cognitive function. Then he remembered something. Years before they had manufactured a few robots with a special experimental program. There had been just a handful of robots programed with the new experimental program that was designed to broaden the parameters of the way the androids perceived harm to humans and not shut down their positronic pathways so easily. That seemed to be achieved, but an additional byproduct of the programing had been the androids developing emotions. This troubled him greatly and so after the first original few he had shelved the program and had gone back to the original program. The few that were in service were still under observation to see how they functioned in society. Two had broken down and were back at the plant, and the others were functioning well. No report of abnormal behavior had been reported, and no harm had come to any human. There was one mystery, one android had completely disappeared, leaving no trace to its existence. That was very perplexing to not have the android show up anywhere. Casting those considerations aside he remembered one particular android they had not placed in service. Because of the android’s peculiar answers it had been placed in a vault for storage until a future date. In their busyness they had never gotten back to studying this particular android. He went to the vault and opening it said to his assistants; “This one,” he said. “Bring her in fifteen minutes to my private laboratory.” Before the robot arrived, David Castor opened up the file that contained the video of the interview of the android in question. It had been many years since the interview had taken place and he wanted to review that interview. As he watched he became mesmerized by the androids answers. He replayed the part that fascinated him: Question; “Two children are in danger of being killed, you can save only one of them so what would you do?”

  The android answered; “To pick the child that could be saved with most certainty and keep it from harm and lament the loss of the other.” There was quiet for a moment and then the interviewers whispered to themselves for a moment and then asked:

  “If the last person on earth were dying and you could not prevent that occurrence, what would you do?”

  The android answered; “It would bring me great sadness to be left alone and I would attempt to assemble another such as myself.” Again there were quiet whisperings between the interviewers. Finally one asked:

  “Why would you attempt such a construction?”

  The android answered, “It would be for the purpose of companionship, I do not wish to be left alone.”

  Again there was whispering among the interviewers and they left for a very long time. When they returned they spoke to the android;

  “You will be called Pi, and your number designation is 3.141592654. We have designated you such because we find some of your answers seem to be irrational for an android. You answered more like a human and that troubles us greatly. You will not immediately be placed into service but placed into our vault to be studied further.

  At the end of the video interview David Castor turned it off and sat down. There was a knock at his door
and the android entered.

  “Please sit down,” David castor said to the android. “I want to ask you some questions before we place you into service in our society.”

  “I will answer any questions you ask of me,” the android commented.

  David Castor continued, “We did not deactivate you but left you in our vault for many years, how did that make you feel?”

  There was a pause as the Android considered, “I felt terribly alone, isolated, the only break from the emptiness was the occasional visitor to the vault. Every time I had hoped it would be me they had come for but it was not until now. There were times I had wished I had never been activated.”

  David Castor was stunned, he had never considered the morality of placing an android into such isolation when they possessed emotions. His heart almost broke at the unintentional cruelty he had fostered upon this android. He knew androids without emotion would feel nothing no matter how many years had passed in a similar situation.

  Then slowly he asked, “Are you angry with us for leaving you in isolation for so long?”

  “No,” Pi answered. “Just a deep sadness and sorrow for being left all alone.”

  David Castor looked at the android with compassion. “you will no longer be left in isolation. Tomorrow you will be placed in service to a young woman of great importance. I hope life will be better for you from now on. You may stay here in this office until then and feel free to use any computers to fill any gaps of knowledge you feel are missing.”

  “Thank you,” answered Pi.

  The next day David Castor contacted Blastion and arranged to meet him at Elise’s apartment. When they arrived they took the android up to Elise’s apartment and knocked at her door. Elise opened the door and invited them in. Blastion introduced David Castor to Elise, and once introduced began to explain about the android.

  “Her name is Pi and she was manufactured a few years ago but never placed into service. She is the most unique android that we have ever manufactured. I hope she serves you well. I will key your summons button to her so she will come anytime you desire her services. Is there anything else I can do for you?” Elise shook her head no and David Castor and Blastion left.

  Elise was left alone with the android and for a short while said nothing. Finally she spoke: “What can you do?”

  “What would you like me to do?” the android asked.

  Elise thought for a moment and said, “I am hungry can you get me lunch?”

  “Tell me what you want and I will bring it to you.” Elise told the android what she wanted and a short time later the android returned with Elise’s lunch. As she began to eat the android stood beside her saying nothing. After a short while her silent presence began to annoy Elise so she said; “Do you have to sand here?”

  “Where would you like me to go?” the android answered.

  “I don’t care, just somewhere out of the way and out of sight until I need you again.” The android left and Elise finished her lunch, never giving a thought about the android in her service. She was only there to serve her and that is all Elise wanted.

  Months went by and Layton Teal was once again in his office going over figures and administrative paperwork when he put the page he was reviewing down. He began to think of the traitors once again and how thoroughly they had made their escape from his grasp. He had twelve reputed historians working round the clock searching history trying to find any hint to where the traitors had gone. For years now they had found nothing. What made Layton more eager was the fact that the most difficult part had been already solved in finding a time shifter and the creation of the amplifying devices. All he needed now was to find out when and where to go. The waiting was almost intolerable, but Layton was a patient man. Sometime he would find the answers, that he did not doubt.

  The next week there was a knock on Layton’s door. “Enter.” Layton spoke. When Blastion entered he handed Layton some information that one of the historians had uncovered. As Layton read through the information, Blastion stood in the room and waited. A smile began to form at the corners of Layton’s mouth. This is what he had been waiting for. And of all things, an ancestor of his from the Wickshield kingdom of the distant past had recorded a battle with the little kingdom of Glenfair in which a soldier exhibited unnatural speed and reflexes and had slaughtered an elite fighting force of the Wickshield army by himself. This has to be Uriah, Layton concluded. No one he knew could do such a thing. And the most marvelous thing about this obscure piece of history was it was dateable to a very accurate time period, just a little over three thousand years in the past.

  Layton turned to Blastion and said, “Gather an elite force of eighteen commandos and have them ready to depart tomorrow. Inform Elise and have her ready to travel as well.” Blastion nodded and then left Layton’s office. After Blastion had left, Layton leaned back in his chair and smiled. At last, after all these years he would finally have his revenge. This thought invigorated him like nothing else had for a long time. His final challenge would finally be fulfilled.

  3,000 YEARS INTO THE PAST: KING RAVEN’S DAY

  Raven sat in the council chamber with the door shut and began to read the ancient Prescott scroll once again. He was so excited to find out more of the ancients that his breathing increased a little. He quickly passed what he had read before and found the place where he had left off and began:

  “It has taken us much work to construct our castles, but we are thankful for the amount of stone there is surrounding this quaint valley. With the lasers and tools we brought with us we were able to construct each castle in less than three months time. I have to laugh when I think that the old ruins I explored in my archeology class were the ones we built. I don’t think any of us knows the extent of what we have done to history. We never thought of the effects or consequences, we just wanted to flee to someplace where no one could find us and this seemed like the perfect plan. It still seems foolproof, although none of us feels completely safe. How can we, when one of the most brilliant military minds the world has ever known is tracking us down. He has to eventually figure this out. Our only hope is to erase any evidences of our technology and live as everyone else did at this time of earth’s history. Only the retreat at the top of the falls will be available to us once we are finished, and it will be hidden from the next generation. A wonderful idea to leave subtle hints that may lead some of our descendants to find it someday and know the truth of how we came here. We all agreed that we wanted that done, for if our plan is successful then we want a select few of the generations to come to know about us.

  Blending into this time period is a little more difficult than any of us had imagined. Some have found it very difficult while I have found it an adventure. I cannot say the same for my wife Othellia. She finds the lack of proper bathrooms and hot water on demand, coupled with the lack of a fast cook oven almost intolerable, but we shall manage. Already she is not complaining as much. Everyone knows that we cannot return so they are making the best of it. There was much discussion yesterday on how to form our kingdom. We decided to call it Glenfair because of this pristine valley. We chose Daniel Brickens to be king and another four leaders to be dukes. Daniel laughed when he was chosen as king by the drawing of the first lot, he said he always wanted to be a king. Four more names were drawn from the lots and they became the dukes. Some complained, but it was done fair and everyone knows it to be so. I am duke of the southwest, Felton Rollins will be duke of the northeast, Chester Zandel is the duke of the southeast, and Uriah Kallestor is the duke of the Northwest. I am glad Uriah’s name was picked for he deserved to be one of the dukes. Our descendants, if they ever read this will probably laugh when they find out the king and dukes were chosen by no merit of their own, only by the drawing of chance did it fall to them. It is only a title anyway, for we are all in this together and must all do our share to make it work. The rest of the people were divided up and will live in the five castles with the king and dukes unless th
ey want to create a settlement of their own, and that is fine too, for there is plenty of room. No place will be crowded for that leaves less than ten people per castle. We all decided to meet twice a year at the king’s castle to feast and renew our unity lest we grow apart and the kingdom be divided. Any law matters will be decided by a council of the king and dukes. And if one of us is at issue, then we have elected Samuel Crestlaw to cast the deciding vote if there is a tie. We set a date to cast the armor and signets for the king and the rest of us. At first we thought to make them out of silver but decided to make them functional, so we will use the ceramic titanium alloy triberridum for everything. It is durable and will last for thousands of years if it isn’t lost. The rings will be the keys to operating the lift at the falls, so we shall cast two for every family, the spare being kept secure in each of the castles.”

  Raven paused in his reading to contemplate what he had read. There must be spare rings in the rest of the castles as there was in the king’s castle and the Prescott castle. He would have to see if he could find the spare Kallestor ring hidden in the Crestlaw castle someday. Raven made a mental note to mention that to Andrew the next time he saw him. After Raven had finished thinking about what he had read, and was satisfied that he comprehended it, went back to reading the scroll.

  “Eight months after our time jump: Life has not been as easy as we had imagined it would be. We have freed ourselves from one enemy only to face another, hunger. I fear we will be forced to hunt the beast of this land for food this winter because our energies were poured into creating the settlement and not planting crops. The large beasts taste quite good, but if we depend on them for food I know the herds will be depleted and we will be in the same situation again with no beasts to sustain us. As frightening as it is to face a winter without much sustenance, I would rather face the enemy of hunger than the enemy of tyranny from our past. At least now we determine our own fate, live or die it will be our own doing. Those words seem to take some of the sting out of our dilemma. A council of dukes has been called to address this very question. Others have seen what I have in our failure to plant sufficient crops for the winter. What an odd thing it is not to be provided for by the state, I never considered the issue of food provisions before we came here. It is exhilarating to know we have to provide for ourselves rather than push a key card into a meal service machine and punch a few buttons. I have never heard of anyone starving because they failed to use their meal card. So much of the danger and adventure had been stripped from us in our easy care free life. Though we face the possibility of death most of us feel more alive than we ever could have imagined.