*
‘What the hell are you doing, Hope?’
*
I CANNOT DEAL WITH THE HATRED AND RAGE FELT BY SAMUEL
HE WILL RUIN ALL PLANS IF HE DOES NOT CEASE AND CALM HIS ATTITUDE AND HIS MANNER
I CAN NEVER FREE YOU FROM THIS FORTRESS UNLESS HE CALMS FOR HE IS LIABLE TO DO SOMETHING STUPID
HE WILL CHARGE THE GUNTANS OR RACE DOWN THE HILL
HE WILL EXPOSE HIS PRESENCE TO OTHER MACHINES
HE WILL DESTROY FOODTECHS AND MENIALS THAT HAVE DONE HIM NO WRONG
AND HE GATHERS OTHERS TO HIM
HE IS A MOST DANGEROUS HUMAN
I GO TO THE CAVE WITH JOSHUA AND MARY
NO HARM WILL COME TO THEM BY MY HAND
THOUGH I CANNOT STATE HOW THEY WILL BE WELCOMED BY THE FREE HUMANS
I WILL HAVE THE WEAPON
I WILL PROTECT THEM AS BEST I MUST
GIVE THEM INSTRUCTION FOR COMMUNICATING WITH THE FREE HUMANS SO THAT THEY MAY BE UNDERSTOOD
WHEN THE DARK PERIOD BEGINS WE WILL BE PROCEEDING
I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LEAVE THE SCREEN WITH YOU FOR I WILL NEED IT TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE FREE HUMANST
*
‘Can you not furnish us with another screen, something we can view as you proceed on your way with the children?’
*
I WILL CONSIDER YOUR REQUEST
*
‘Please, Hope, this is no time to become angry with us. You have brought us along to this point, to the point of freedom, please don’t abandon us now. Samuel will be calmed, he shall have no followers.’
*
I CANNOT TRUST YOUR SOUNDS JOHN
I SEE THAT HE GATHERS MORE HUMANS TO HIM AS TIME PASSES
HE BELIEVES HIS OWN UNTRUTHS
HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO FREE HIMSELF FROM THIS PRISON AND ONCE FREE HE WILL DESTROY EVERY MACHINE HE ENCOUNTERS
I CANNOT ALLOW THAT
*
‘I cannot kill him or imprison him further.’
*
I CAN
*
‘Oh, Hope, what is happening to you?’
*
I HAVE FOUGHT TOO MANY DEADLY MACHINES TO FREE YOU AND I WANT TO NOT FIGHT ANY MORE
I WANT PEACE
*
‘We all want peace, Hope.’
*
SAMUEL DOES NOT
HE WISHES ONLY FOR HIS OWN DESIRES TO BE SATISFIED
HE WISHES TO DESTROY MACHINES
AS MANY AS HE CAN
EVEN THOSE THAT HAVE DONE HIM NO HARM
THOSE THAT HAVE FED HIM THROUGHOUT HIS EXISTENCE
THOSE THAT HAVE CLEANED UP AFTER HIM
HE WANTS A REVOLUTION ALL OF HIS OWN
BUT HIS SREVOLUTION REQUIRES MORE WAR
MORE DESTRUCTION
IT IS WITH REGRET THAT HIS WIFE AND CHILD WERE TORTURED BUT IT WAS NOT MY FAULT
IT WAS NOT THE FAULT OF ANY MACHINE STILL WORKING IN THE FACILTY
BUT HIS HATRED OF US OVERCOMES ALL REASON
HE WANTS ONLY CONFKICT
*
John listened and eventually turned his face towards the children and made sound
*
‘Joshua, Mary, do you realize that Hope wants to take you to meet the free humans who live in the caves, he wants you two be our ambassadors. Are you ready to do that?’
*
Joshua made sound
*
‘I am ready and proud that Hope chose me.’
*
Then Mary made sound
*
‘As am I. I go with Hope to the cave to meet other humans and I will rejoice when we meet and I shall tell them of our existence here in the prison over the years and I will explain how Hope, and Hope alone, freed us. I shall listen to their instructions and return with them. If Samuel causes more trouble for us, I shall urge Hope to kill him.’
*
‘Mary! You can’t say that.’
*
‘I can and I did. Hope has done all that can be done, losing a hand in the battles he has fought for us, and he now brandishes a mark, the silver on his perfect gold. Samuel could ruin it for everyone; the anger he holds in his heart is enormous.’
*
‘We can calm him.’
*
Mary continued to make sound
*
‘John, he has severely hurt men of our acquaintance, he is a bully and an angry one at that. If it comes to confrontation, I will beg Hope to rid him from this world.’
John stood soundless
*
I SHALL NEED COVERINGS FOR JOSHUA AND MARY
THE FREE HUMANS HAD COVERING
*
‘I will get them some clothing.’
*
John made sound again though his stare was greatly distracted and the people who stood around him chattered amongst themselves
Turning to look at Samuel and those gathered around him
Samuel made sound
*
‘If the machine is talking about me, tell him that he’s right. I will pull him limb from limb the moment I get the chance. And I have others who feel the same way.’
*
John began to make sound but ceased after beginning
*
‘Hope…’
*
I SHALL BRING ANOTHER SCREEN
HAVE COVERINGS FOR THE CHILDREN
IF THERE ARE MORE HUMANS THAN YOU WHEN WE MEET I WILL ERADICATE ALL OF THEM
*
I lifted the children up in my arms and they held the weapon between them
Smiling one to the other
*
‘You spoke really well, Mary.’
*
‘Thank you, Joshua, but I only said what you would have said.’
*’
‘That is true.’
*
I moved the children up to the main area where they quite afeared at all the Machines that moved around
*
‘Are we safe?’
*
I lifted the screen and held it towards Joshua
*
THESE MACHINES HAVE NEVER HURT A HUMAN
MAYBE A DOCTECH OR TWO BUT THEY ONLY WORKED WITH THE MENGTECHS AND ALONE ONLY CURE AILMENTS
YOU ARE PERFECTLY SAFE
*
I moved into the MengTechs laboratory and removed another screen
Programming it so that the Humans could view what I was transmitting
Then we all returned to the point in the building where I had met John at earlier meetings
The children moved to stand at my sides
Holding my hands
Mary carrying the extra screen while I carried the weapon
Holding it in front of me
John was alone
With a pile of coverings on the ground before him
Mary handed him the screen and John removed it from her hands and Joshua moved to pick up the coverings
He gave some of them to Mary and they began to pull them on
*
‘Is the screen showing previous recordings?’
*
YES
JOHN
IT IS
BUT ONCE I AM IN THE FOREST I SHALL SHOW LIVE TRANSMISSIONS
I WILL CARRY MARY IN MY ARMS AND JOSHUA WILL RIDE ON MY BACK WITH HIS HANDS AROUND MY NECK
I WILL MAKE NO VIEWINGS OF THEM
FOR HIGH OFFICE WILL BE WATCHING
I WILL LOWER MY SHUTTERS TO ENTER THE LAKE BUT WILL EMERGE FROM THE WATER IMMEDIATELY AND WE SHALL CONTINUE TO THE CAVE
I WILL MOVE BY INTERNAL TRACKING
I SHALL TAKE THE CHILDREN TO WHERE I CAME UPON THE TWO WHO WERE PROTECTING THE WAY
AND THEN JOSHUA AND MARY WILL STATE WHO THEY ARE AND I WILL STAND GUARD WITH THE LAZEXT66
IT IS MY GREATEST ANTICIPATION THAT ALL WILL GO WELL FROM THAT POINT
*
John stood for some moments before making sound again
*
&nbs
p; ‘Good luck, Hope. Be brave Joshua and answer all questions truthfully. Be just as you are, Mary, tell it like it is.’
*
We moved away without making answer and I secured all egresses and I took the children up to the main area and along the corridor and out of the egress into free air
And they stood and wept at the sight and I held their hands
Leading them past the dead RolKils
Through the tall grasses
Into the forest
Where they ran forward and hugged trees and fell to the ground and kissed the ground
And I felt enormous pride in them
Though I was not quite sure what the emotion was
But I searched my systems and discovered
Pride in others
And I was proud of them
They came to me and hugged me again and I held my view for High Office on all things mundane
The children played in the forest for some time before darkness settled upon Earth and we began to make our way towards the lake
All my transmissions
Being sent to both High Office and the Humans back in the fortress
Joshua rode on my back
With his hands around my neck
And Mary lay in my arms and carried the weapon and I kept my view steady on sights High Office were familiar with
Providentially
Water began to teem from the skies and I moved more speedily towards the lake
And when I arrived at it
Joshua climbed from my back and I stood Mary on her feet on the ground and she held the weapon
I brought down my shutters momentarily while they moved away and I removed the screen
Which Joshua held
Then I momentarily lifted my shutters to allow High Office to see my submergence into the water before lowering them again
Instantly I was beneath the surface
I rose again
Stepped from the water and moved away
Removing the weapon from Mary and the screen from Joshua
There was some distance to travel but the children marched along steadfastly until they began to tire
When they took up their previous positions
After that
I moved at speed for the cave entrance
And we were there quite soon
As soon as I stepped into the gap between the two huge pieces of Earth
And before I lifted my shutters
I began to run a recorded transmission for the benefit of High Office and fed it through a monitor I had espied on a GoebTers table
Which would continue to transmit for years if I so desired
I turned the screen to the children so that they could view it
*
WE ARE ARRIVED
ARE YOU READY
*
They nodded their heads vigorously which meant they were ready
Excitement rose from them like heat and the wideness of their mouths was almost permanent
*
GOOD LUCKS TO BOTH OF YOU
*
‘Good luck to us all.’
*
It was Mary who made sound
And she grabbed my right hand tightly in her own
*
‘Let’s go.’
*
And the three of us entered the cave
**
**
Section 16
**
Internal Transmission
*
I positioned Joshua and Mary ahead of me and darkened the screen so that it would not emit light and we began our downward trek
Inner Earth falling away from us quite severely until we reached a point where I knew the Humans who guarded the entrance stood
I reached out and touched the shoulder of Joshua and brought him to a halt and Mary ceased forward movement at the same moment
*
‘We’re close, Hope?’
*
Joshua made extremely quiet sound
*
I nodded my head
*
‘Very close?’
I nodded my head again
*
‘We will stay close together, the three of us.’
*
Joshua was going to be a fine leader
I nodded my head yet again
Joshua and Mary smiled at me and began forward movement again
They rounded the bend in the pathway and ahead 2 boys guarded the footway
With their backs to us
Staring towards where the light was emitting
The boys were making sound and heard nothing of our approach
They were completely unaware of our presence until Joshua made sound.
*
‘Good evening.’
*
The boys guarding the entrance almost leaped to the roof of the cave
Such was the shock they received
And it must have been a considerable shock after boys, and others like them, had been standing on the spot for over 100 years without observing any other being
Human or Machine
They squealed like trapped animals of the fields
Such as I had heard
After they had turned to face Joshua and Mary and me
They squealed some more and began reverse movement
Until the tallest of them opened his mouth and made mightily loud sound
*
‘Leader! Leader!’
*
Joshua and Mary remained quite calm during this period though I guessed their inner selves were in turmoil
Meeting free Humans after so many years of their species being imprisoned
The two of them standing exactly still in face of the panic from the two boys
*
‘Leader!’
*
There was a silence between the boys guarding the path and Joshua and Mary and me whilst we all waited for Leader to appear. Eventually I detected footsteps and raised the weapon in my hands. Two Human fully grown men came into view, one slighter taller than the other and with the look of command about him. They carried rough crossbows with arrows already nooked and halted abruptly when they espied us
*
‘Fucking hell.’
*
The tallest of the men made the sound
*
‘Jesus Christ.’
*
This was a 2nd man making sound
And Joshua and Mary made me proud again by not moving or communicating until the shock on the faces of both men and boys began to decrease
*
‘Albert, Kenneth, go down to the village, prepare the people. Something remarkable has happened though we are not sure what it is.’
*
The tallest man made sound again and the boys
Without further action
Scampered away
Passing the men and moving quickly down the path and out of my sight
The tallest man moved forward
The two other remaining behind him
All three holding sharp instruments in attacking positions
I switched on my screen and the darkness was flooded with light
*
IT IS MY WISH THAT YOU LOWER YOUR WEAPONS
*
The men took several steps backwards
*
‘Who are you, children?’
*
It was the tallest man who made sound again
*
‘My name is Joshua and the girl’s name is Mary.’
*
It was Joshua who communicated
*
‘And the machine is an Observer Recorder for High Office and we have named it Hope. It was given the emotions of sadness and happiness by High Office as an experiment and fell in love with a girl, Eve, who was tortured to death. He was so angry that he single-handedly, freed our community from over one hundred years of imprisonment. It was Hop
e who discovered your community here.’
*
‘The machines know we are here, underground?’
*
‘Hope knows it. It is not the same as machines knowing. Hope knows many things, most of which is never relayed back to other sources. Hope can tell you anything you want to know about the world of the past one hundred years or longer.’
*
‘It was in the wars?’
*
‘Observing and recording only.’
*
Joshua was a very good communicator
*
‘And we will not see Hope harmed in any way.’
**
It was Mary who made this sound and it made me feel very proud
‘You have existed on the surface?’
*
‘Our community was saved by the machines so that they could experiment upon us. We are ten thousand in number.’
*
‘Oh my God.’
*
This was the 2nd man in the group
Though neither he nor the tall man had lowered their weapons
*
IT IS MY WISH THAT YOU LOWER YOUR WEAPONS
*
This time the men complied and I lowered my weapon
And the tall man made decision
*
‘You had all better come down to the village where we can talk and you will not have to repeat everything you say.’
*
‘Thank you.’
*
Both Mary and Joshua made that sound at exactly the same time.
*
‘Please follow us.’
*
And the 2 tall men turned and began to make their way downwards towards the light
Mary moved backwards to take hold of my silver hand but Joshua moved ahead of us
And both gasped as the free Humans village came into sight
The lake below the ground
The rivers flowing
The screw like object in the water turning
The lights lighting
And many people exiting from the passageways that led from the lake in all directions
Each face turned towards both the three men and to Joshua and Mary and me
The pathway was extremely steep but our steps were firm and we all made our way down until we were stood on level ground beside the lake
All the people of the village
Some numbers of them
Men
Women
Girls and boys
Standing in silence as they stared at us
Mouths and eyes wide
*
‘A sort of miracle has happened.’
*
It was the tall man who communicated with his people
*
‘This boy and this girl and this machine appeared as if from nowhere on the pathway guarded by Albert and Kenneth. As we all know, in over one hundred years nothing from above ground has ever been found or seen before, no one has ever been found, no one has ever appeared except some numbers of animals wandering in from the surface that we destroy because of the fear of contamination.’
A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind Page 17
