A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind

by Sally Dillon-Snape

  So close that I could feel his inner engine beating against my outer shell

  He held me for some moments of time then stepped back with tears flowing from his eyes again

  *

  ‘You are quite an amazing machine, OR33140.’

  *

  I AM JUST A MACHINE THAT WAS MADE ANGRY

  A MACHINE THAT VISUALIZED REVOLUTION

  *

  Following John

  David, Joshua, Ruth and Mary came forward to hug

  The smaller ones hugging me around my middle and I felt unusually warm feelings in my core

  All of them were leaking tears from their eyes when they stepped back

  John continued to make sound

  *

  ‘I need to ask a great favour, something you may not be happy with.’

  *

  WHAT FAVOUR WOULD YOU ASK

  *

  ‘Could I ask that you stand in front of all of us, all the Humans, and let them see what we see, a gentle machine that wants to free us and has killed most of the machines in the prison so that we may be released?’

  *

  I HAVE EXTERMINATED AND IMMOBILIZED ALL WHO WOULD HURT YOU

  NOT MOST

  *

  ‘Sorry; but would you come amongst us, I guarantee that nothing amiss will happen to you, you will be safe.’

  *

  HUMANS ARE MANY

  THEY COULD OVERWHELM ME AND YOU

  *

  ‘The five of us will sit at your feet and protect you. We will bring more if it would make you feel safe, we will all sit if you wish and any who stand will be punished.’

  *

  I DO NOT UNDERSTAND SITTING AND STANDING

  I AM ALWAYS UPRIGHT

  I AM NEVER POWERED DOWN OR SWITCHED OFF

  I AM POWERED BY THE MOST POWERFUL NUCLEAR ENGINE EVER PRODUCED

  I CONTINUE TO MOVE UNTIL I AM POWERED DOWN OR EXTERMINATED

  *

  The boy

  Joshua

  Dropped down the ground

  John made sound again

  *

  ‘Sitting.’

  *

  The boy climbed to his feet

  *

  ‘Standing.’

  *

  I nodded my cranium

  *

  ‘Will you come and stand before us?’

  *

  I SHALL EXTERMINATE ANY WHO STAND OR THREATEN ANY WHO SIT IN FRONT OF ME

  *

  ‘I will make it known to everyone; you will not be attacked or harmed. May we give you a name?’

  *

  YOU WISH TO NAME ME

  *

  ‘It would be better than continually calling you OR33140, it would personalize you.’

  *

  WHAT NAME

  *

  ‘We would call you Hope.’

  *

  I searched my memory bank

  Searching for Hope

  *

  Hope #to desire something with some chance of fulfilment

  *

  I much liked that name

  *

  YOU MAY NAME ME HOPE

  *

  ‘We will walk with you, but my people wish to pay you homage so they will be standing when we enter and they will bow forward from the waist then then I shall ensure that they all sit. I shall issue your warning. Would that all right, I want no one harmed?’

  *

  LEAD ON

  *

  Eves papa

  David

  Joshua

  Ruth and Mary

  Entered the doorway into the large area where Humans lived their lives

  Though the girl

  Mary

  Held my left palm

  And I realized for the first time that little Eve was a girl just like her

  Older in years but a little girl nevertheless

  All of them spread their cranial orifices

  And except for Mary arranged themselves in front of me and I followed

  And as I became visible to the Humans

  Those that were sitting rose to stand

  All around the area Humans climbed to their lower limbs

  Staring at me as I carried the LazExt66 in my upper limb

  And the screen around my upper torso

  I felt somewhat terrified when so many Humans stood in front of me but John led me forward and Ruth and David and Joshua and Mary shielded my flanks

  John stopped almost central to the mass of Humans and he turned to face me and Ruth and David and Joshua and Mary joined him in the motion

  Lining up in front of me

  The girl releasing her hold on my lower palm

  And they

  The small group

  Bent from their middle towards me

  The huge mass of Humans followed their lead and every man and woman

  Be they old or young

  Be they boy or girl

  Bent forward from their middles

  And when they straightened

  I held the weapon to my right side and I bent from my middle

  And a great noise erupted and I straightened up and pointed the weapon

  *

  ‘No, Hope, it is called applause, my people are hailing you in a Human way, they mean no harm.’

  *

  I lowered the weapon as the noise continued for some moments before ceasing and John turned to face his people

  *

  ‘We have named this machine Hope, for that is what it represents, the only hope we have ever been offered in over one hundred years. Since the wars our ancestors told us about, the wars that were supposed to have destroyed the world, we have never been in a position of hope. We have lived our whole lives without it. It has been an emotion denied to us, but Hope, the Observer Recorder number 33140, has immobilised all the machines that would hurt us in this prison. The guards were called Defgars, and we have viewed the one that stood for so many years in the corridor behind the fence and it now stands with its head down and has no weapon. Hope has also incinerated the torture machines that took us from our beds in the night and experimented on us. They were called MengTechs but none now remain in this facility. Hope began his revolution due to the anger he felt when my daughter Eve was murdered; she kept telling me that Hope liked her smile and liked her doing gymnastics but I told her not to be silly and dismissed any such idea. But Hope felt greatly for her. On the back of Eve’s murder, in one little corner of the world, a revolution began and nobody saw it coming. Not the machines, not us. We have spent over a hundred years working on plans to break out of this facility and when we weren’t looking, not even noticing, Hope, a machine that was supposed to go quietly about the business of observing and recording for High Office, began a revolution without us. Finally showing us the land beyond the walls of this prison on the screen he loaned us, and every one of us was brought to tears by the beauty of it. And now Hope stands before us and though a weapon rests in the upper limbs, and he bears it because we are many and Hope is but one and is fearful. In a moment I shall ask you all to sit down and not stand again until we have finished this session. Believe me when I say that Hope will exterminate any who stand unexpectedly. Please understand what Hope is doing, standing in front of ten thousand humans all alone. He believes we hate him for the crimes that have been committed on us by other machines, but we know that he has only ever observed us; we have never seen Hope armed, not until today. We have never been mistreated or hurt by this gentle machine in any way, and Hope became a machine capable of loving my daughter Eve and for that one single act I judge Hope innocent of any crimes. We have time now to question Hope, to gather some answers, to discover what the plan is to be, what is planned for us. If we are all of a similar mind I would ask you all to sit and not rise again until we are finished. Before you do sit, are there any here who are so angry to see this machine among us that they wish to leave the gathering; we cannot risk any violence while he is with us? He is our o
nly hope for the future, if we have a future. Are there any so angry that they wish to leave and not join in conversation with Hope?’

  *

  Eight upper limbs were raised into the air

  7 men and 1 woman

  The largest of them

  A man I had observed for many years

  Was huge in size

  Compared to John

  The large human had never been taken by MengTechs

  And I had seen the man many times exercising violently with other men in the Human area

  And winning every conflict

  The man made sound

  *

  ‘My name is Samuel and the MengTechs murdered my wife and my daughter and though I am aware that Hope was not the cause of it, I can barely control my anger against machines in general.’

  *

  John made sound in return

  *

  ‘Do you wish to leave the area, Samuel, and return to your quarters?’

  *

  ‘Half of me wants to stay to hear what the machine has to tell us, for all of us wish to be free from this prison but half wants to stay because I am not sure I will believe anything it sees.’

  *

  ‘If you stay, please do not cause any trouble for he will exterminate you in a breath if you threaten him. He has the right to his own safety; he is only trying to help us.’

  *

  Samuel considered his position and eventually made more sound

  *

  ‘I will stay, but if I wish to leave, may I raise a hand and ask permission to leave dependant on what Hope says? I will not simply stand; I do not want to die.’

  *

  ‘I would presume that would be fair, I shall ask Hope.’

  *

  John turned to face me

  *

  I UNDERSTAND JOHN AND I AGREE

  IF ANY WISH TO LEAVE DURING OUR DISCUSSION

  IF THEY RAISE THEIR UPPER LIMB I SHALL ALLOW THEM TO DEPART PEACEFULLY

  *

  The other 7 Humans with upper limbs raised

  Suddenly lowered them

  John lifted his upper limbs in the air and brought them down slowly and behind him 10.000 Humans sat as John did

  As did David

  Ruth

  Joshua and Mary

  I alone stood

  The weapon held across my upper limbs

  John made all the sound

  *

  ‘Would you begin, Hope, and tell us how the world has been since the war ended.’

  *

  THE WORLD HAS RECOVERED REASONABLY WELL SINCE THE END OF THE WARS

  I HAVE WATCHED THE TREES GROW AND THE GRASSES AND THE ANIMALS OF THE FIELDS FLOURISH ALONG WITH THE ANIMALS THAT LIVE IN LIQUID

  *

  ‘The areas of liquid are called ponds or lakes or the sea.’

  *

  WHICH IS WHICH

  *

  ‘Ponds are smaller, lakes are larger and the seas and the oceans are the ones you stood on the edge of and looked at the water rolling in, and looked out to the far horizon.’

  *

  I took on the information and filed it away

  *

  BEFORE I CONTINUE

  COULD YOU DESCRIBE MY FRAME FOR I DO NOT KNOW WHAT ANY PART OF ME IS CALLED IN HUMAN LANGUAGE

  *

  I lifted an upper limb

  *

  ‘An arm’

  *

  Ten thousand voices shouted as the Humans laughed

  I lifted a lower limb

  *

  ‘A leg,’

  *

  The same number shouted

  *

  ‘A head,’

  *

  They shouted when I bobbed my cranium

  *

  ‘Hands, feet, bottom, palm, thumb, eyes, ears, nose, waist.’

  *

  The Humans described my whole frame in their own language

  When they finished I lowered by body from my waist and they all shouted ‘Hope’ and they laughed a very great amount and for a very long time and much applause followed

  *

  ‘Can you tell us why you endlessly patrol, Hope? We would be interested to know.’

  *

  I PATROL A VERY GREAT AREA AND COVER EACH AND EVERY SECTION 100 TIMES

  I BELIEVED THIS WAS MY DUTY

  TO OBSERVE PLANET EARTH AS IT RECOVERED FROM THE WARS BUT RECENTLY I LEARNED THAT HIGH OFFICE HAS OBSRECS SEARCHING FOR HUMANS

  *

  ‘Searching for Humans? But that is preposterous, no Humans could have survived out there in the early days, only ones captured like our ancestors were kept alive, all Human life is probably here in this prison, ten thousand of us, that is all that remains.’

  *

  I BELIEVE THAT NOT TO BE TRUTHFUL

  *

  ‘Can you prove another point of view?’

  *

  I KNOW THERE ARE FORTRESSES SUCH AS THIS ACROSS PLANET EARTH

  EACH

  PROBABLY

  CONTAINING 10.000 HUMANS

  THAT MUST BE FACT OTHERWISE ALL MACHINES WOULD BE BASED AT THIS FACILITY AND THEY ARE NOT

  *

  ‘What were the machines we saw on the screen standing at the top of the hill?’

  *

  THEY ARE CALLED GUNTANS AND THERE ARE 3 OF THEM BASED AT THIS FACILITY AND THEY HAVE NEVER MOVED SINCE THEIR POSTING

  THEY LOOK OUT ACROSS THE GREAT PLAIN AND AWAIT ATTACK

  *

  ‘Your High Office must be insane if it expects attacks. From where would an attack come?’

  *

  I HAVE QUESTIONED MYSELF ON THIS SUBJECT AND I DO NOT KNOW BUT I AM FULLY CONVINCED THAT HIGH OFFICE SEARCHES ENDLESSLY FOR HUMANS

  *

  ‘But that is pure madness; all Humans are captured or dead.’

  *

  EXCEPT FOR THE FREE HUMANS WHO LIVE IN THE HOLES

  *

  *

  *

  There was

  At first

  A great silence

  Then much chatter amongst the Humans

  With much turning of heads and waving of hands

  No Humans lifted a hand or rose to his feet

  John made sound again

  *

  ‘Could I just clarify what you just said, Hope? When I stated that all Humans were either captured or dead, you intimated that you knew of other humans, free humans, who live in holes. By holes do you mean caves?’

  *

  LARGE HOLES IN THE FABRIC OF THE LAND

  *

  ‘They are called caves, Hope. And you have seen humans in such places?’

  *

  ONE PLACE ONLY

  ALL MACHINES ARE FORBIDDEN TO ENTER CAVES FOR HIGH OFFICE LOSES CONTACT WITH THEM SO NONE HAVE EVER ENTERED TO MY KNOWLEDGE

  BUT I ENTERED WHEN THE WEATHER WAS INCLEMENT AND LATER TOLD AN UNTRUTH TO HIGH OFFICE AND STATED THAT I WAS INSIDE THE LIQUID WHERE HIGH OFFICE ALSO CANNOT DETECT A MACHINE

  *

  ‘You can travel beneath the surface of the water?’

  *

  I CAN TRAVEL BENEATH THE SURFACE OF WATER BUT I STATED TO HIGH OFFICE THAT I WENT BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE WATER

  BUT I DID NOT

  I TRAVELLED INTO THE CAVE

  I FOLLOWED A FOOTWAY AND DISCOVERED TWO HUMANS GUARDING THE ENTRANCE

  BOYS

  I NOW KNOW THEM TO BE CALLED BOYS

  BUT I PASSED BY THEM BY CRAWLING OVER GREAT LUMPS OF PLANET EARTH AND THEY HEARD ME NOT NOR DID THEY ESPY ME

  I LAY UPON A LARGE LUMP OF PLANET EARTH AND STARED DOWN UPON A HUMAN SETTLEMENT FAR BENEATH THE SURFACE

  IT WAS WELL LIGHTED AND THE HUMANS WERE MOVING AROUND WITHOUT CARE OR FEAR

  I DID NOT TRANSMIT THIS INFORMATION TO HIGH OFFICE AND TOLD UNTRUTHS WHEN QUESTIONED BY THEM

  BUT THEY ARE THERE

  HUMANS

  LIVING IN CAVES

  *

  Once again there was
much noise amongst the Humans

  John was moving across the ground on his bottom towards the Human group where he spoke to several of them

  Then he continued moving

  Again on his bottom

  Sliding towards other Humans

  He returned to sit between David and Joshua and Ruth and Mary who also made sound between them

  *

  ‘Does your plan to free us involve these humans who live in the caves?’

  *

  I HAVE NOT YET COMMUNICATED WITH THEM SO I CANNOT STATE THAT THE HUMANS WILL BE FRIENDLY TOWARDS YOU

  BUT EVEN IF THEY ARE I CANNOT MARCH ALL 10,000 OF YOU DOWN TO THE CAVE

  FOR SUCH A NUMBER WOULD OVERWHELM THEM

  AND I REASONED THAT

  IN THE 1ST INSTANT

  THAT I TAKE ONE HUMAN FROM THIS FACILITY TO THE CAVE SO THAT INITIAL CONTACT MAY BE MADE

  I CAN BROADCAST A RECORDING TO HIGH OFFICE AND MAKE THEM THINK I AM OUT AND ABOUT ON PLANET EARTH BUT I WOULD PREFER FOR THE BROADCAST TO BE LIVE

  I HAVE A PLAN THAT I COULD ENTER THE LAKE AGAIN

  FOR THIS I HAVE TO LOWER MY SHUTTERS

  AND BY THIS METHOD I COULD QUICKLY TRAVEL TO THE CAVE WITH THE HUMAN I WOULD CARRY

  *

  ‘Your plan is to take a human from here to the cave, but stop to insert yourself beneath the surface of water in a lake before proceeding to the cave? Is that your plan?’

  *

  THAT IS MY PLAN

  I HAVE USED MY SYSTEMS TO INDICATE PERCENTAGE OF SUCCESS

  AND SUCCESS IS ESTIMATED TO BE 1%

  *

  ‘That is not a very high percentage, Hope.’

  *

  WHEN I BEGAN THIS REVOLUTION THE CHANCES OF SUCCESS WERE 0.01%

  WE HAVE MOVED ALONG FROM THAT LOW POINT

  *

  Many Humans laughed at this statement and I knew not why

  For I was simply stating fact

  *

  THERE IS ONE FAULT IN MY PLANNING

  *

  ‘What is the fault, Hope?’

  *

  I HAVE TO IMMOBILIZE 20 OF THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE MACHINES THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN

  ROLKILS

  THAT YOU ESPIED WHEN I PASSED BY THEM ON MY WAY TO THE FOREST

  THEY CAN FIRE MINIATURE LAZERS 100.000 PER MINUTE IN ALL DIRECTIONS AND THEY CAN ROLL AT OVER 100 MILES PER HOUR

  THEY CAN RACE OVER LIQUID

  THROUGH DESERTS

  UP MOUNTAINS

  AND ALONG THE BOTTOM OF OCEANS

  AND THEY ARE THE MACHINES MOSTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ULTIMATE DEMISE AND DEFEAT OF THE HUMANS

  THEY ARE BY THE FAR THE MOST DANGEROUS MACHINES ON PLANET EARTH AND THIS FACILITY IS PROTECTED BY 20 OF THEM AND THEY PATROL ALL AROUND IT

  I HAVE TO IMMOBILIZE THOSE MACHINES BEFORE WE CAN TRAVEL DOWN TO MEET THE HUMANS IN THE CAVES