by Gwynn White
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Boot up code: Fully Charged.
Analysis: Final Body available for cleanse job, Bot# 50602
Last memory: Human child. North west corner of Fifth Avenue and Sagan Street.
Scan indicates blocker in place. If human is healthy, no need for blocker. If blocker in place, human is unhealthy. If human is unhealthy, must exterminate for the re-emergence to happen.
Action: Find human. Exterminate human.
The bot analyzes its environment and calculates that it’s three kilometers away from where its last body died. It runs.
Chapter Two
Sidney
Nayne—or Mama in the old language—always said Sidney was a fast runner.
That's all she can count on today, running from this—thing—this robot that's out to kill her, no matter what.
If it catches her—
Well she can't focus on that now. She has to just get away from here. Get to the land her nayne promised would be their salvation.
"Just keep running," she'd said. "Just promise me you'll keep running."
And so keep running she does.
She tries not to think of her nayne now. She tries to focus on what's ahead. Because when she reaches the land, she'll be safe from that—thing. There will be food, there will be other people, maybe a new family that can take her in and help her get better. Because she's sick, and that's why that thing is after her. Nayne had said that's all they're here for, it's to hunt down those who are sick, and kill them.
But Nayne wasn't sick, she thinks. Nayne was as "healthy as a ram’s bottom," as she liked to say. Then she still died.
Sidney tries not to think of that right now. She's got to just keep running. That thing is waking up somewhere, and it's coming after her whether she's ready or not. So she runs even faster, as fast as her legs can take her. It's all she knows, all she's done for the last year since Nayne died. She runs, hides, tries to keep away from that thing. At least it's the only one left, she tells herself. At least, she hopes it is. Nayne had said it is and she hasn't come across any others. So maybe if she kills this one too, this one that's waking up somewhere, she won't have to run anymore.
She makes her way around a corner and sees a building up ahead. She counts the floors—okay, a good thirty floors high. She can make it up that. The robot won't hear her all the way up there. She slows down and walks to the front of the building, pushes on the heavy door and steps into the dark.
Chapter Three
The android finds its way back to the last known location and sees the pieces thrown left, right, and everywhere else, where its body was blown to bits.
It already knows, without scanning for a heartbeat, that the human is no longer around. Still, it crouches and looks for footprints or any other signs of where it would have gone. As it does, it also scans the area for any parts of the dead bot it can reclaim for future use.
At the current rate of degradation, this body will last a hundred years like the one before, but this is the final body. If this one gets killed—it will have failed its assignment. The last one of its kind, it can not fail the assignment, or re-emergence can not happen.
So it makes a note in the database to expand on its carefulness. Can't afford to be careless and lose this one too. Re-emergence must happen.
None of the bits of the dead bot are usable, and it sees signs—the exact spot where it'd died—the small wire, the box. It realizes the small human had planned for this—this was no accident. The dead bot was herded here and killed.
The bot makes a note—this human is dangerous. This human plans on killing it. It's a calculation it’s always found conflicting. Humans are soft, they get hungry, they get weak. It knows much more about humans than that—they're evil, they're selfish, they kill. The bot decides to be more careful in pursuit.
Then it finds a small footprint, analyzing it based on decades of calculations. This human must be in the nine to twelve year range, she determines. This human will not have the chance to trick the bot a second time.
It looks west, where the footprints lead, and turns its head south, where it knows the human must have actually gone.
It walks south. Now that it has determined its opponent and what it’s up against, the bot is not in as much of a hurry, because it knows exactly what's south of here, and knows it will all work in its favor.
Chapter Four
The building's old joints and floorboards creak as Sidney climbs higher and higher up the stairs, not meaning to stop until she reaches whatever the penthouse level is.
She doesn't care how much noise she makes going up the cement floors. There's far too much quiet in this world anyway, her little noises are a comfort.
She hopes her little trick of walking one way, then retracing her steps and using a brush to wipe her footsteps behind her has worked. If not, at least she bought herself a couple of minutes.
Whatever rodents and other animals around her are quiet, but for the occasional tweet of a bird she hears up above in the ceiling. She wonders just how many birds and how many nests there are, in this entire building. She and Nayne used to count them, find them, hunt down their eggs—
She hasn't had a single egg since her nayne died. Rats, birds, possums, lizards, all their gizzards all their gizzards.
But never eggs. She associates the taste with Nayne coz they were her favorite. So she can't touch the stuff anymore.
Still, birds are fine. The smaller ones taste better, sweeter, though there’s never enough meat on them.
Her nayne had shown her how to prep them so that nothing is wasted, including the gizzards—not her favorite—but they go well enough with some of the peppery weeds around the dome.
The act of cleaning them still grosses her out, but as long as she sings through it, she doesn’t think too much about it.
She keeps climbing as she hears the birds tweet, and she whistles back. "Tweet tweet, Birdy, tweet. You my lunch later, sweet?"
If Nayne were here, she'd tell Sidney to stop this chattering immediately. She'd think she was taking on the craziness, and she'd probably be right.
But I’m my one and only companion and have been for the last year, Nayne. When would be a better time to take on the craziness? Now sounds good.
She finally reaches the top-most floor and opens the door wide to walk onto the roof.
The world's been dead and empty for so long, for longer than she's been alive. It must have been weird when people were actually living in these here buildings, eating, sleeping, showering, Nayne said. Everything in one small flat. How bizarre.
She makes her way to the northernmost corner of the building's roof, hearing nothing but wind and the birds, of course. Birds are the new rulers of the world, Nayne said. Then she places her arms up over the railing and looks over. Nothing for miles beneath her. Still, it's not the tallest building here, though it's one of the most solid looking she saw.
There's another one, maybe twenty floors taller, just a block and a half away and she makes a note to go check that one out next.
But first, she pulls her knapsack off her back and opens it up to do some inventry.
"In-vent-O-ry," Nayne would tell Sid every time she’d said it wrong. No one cares anymore, no one but nayne’s cared since before she was born. So. It's inventry.
She has her big sharp knife, a "hunter's knife" Nayne had called it. It's so heavy and vicious looking on the one side, she keeps it wrapped in a small leather case. She's only used it to skin animals for eatage. She hasn't had to protect herself with it yet.
She must have lost her batteries somewhere on that run. Well, no bueno, she tells herself.
At least she still has her candles, her torchlight with its existing batts, and her little book that she can't read.
Nayne had found it for her, tried to teach her, but what was the point? Nayne said it would help her someday. Still, she'd died before they got to
the good part of the book, and now Sid has no idea if that character will ever find that funny stone.
She also puts aside her collection of dried cured meat from birds and rats and lizards. "All their gizzards, all their gizzards," she says as she counts them. Okay, looks like she might have to hunt a bit more for food then. That's all right. Lots of birds in this building. Too easy.
She puts aside her little collection of blasters, wires, and the box that will keep that thing from scanning her. Though now that she's made it blow up into nothing, the new robot will know for sure that she's to die.
Coz why else would she try to kill it, right? Those things are clever.
Then she takes out her little map and tries to figure out where she is. That tallest building there, she thinks, as she makes a note with what's left of her pencil. Okay, so, the land is here. She makes another rough circle around where she needs to go. She can't be more than a week away, she reckons.
If only she could fix one of those cars sitting around. She knows how to, but they're all so far gone, all the fixing she does just wastes her time and turns her hands greasy.
So. Just one week. She leans back and chews on a hard, salty piece of meat.
With that thing on my tail, I’m gonna need more blasters.
Chapter Five
The bot keeps walking, but the dark is coming, and it's lost all traces of the human. The sun sets on the horizon as it approaches the old city, scanning left and right, up and down, with no luck.
All it hears are various small animals settling down for the night, but knows that, soon as night comes and the bigger night animals wake to hunt, and they will lead it to the human.
So it stands and stays put for an hour, two, maybe more. It doesn't have to do anything but stand and wait. A big cat comes around its way warily, then sniffs around and walks away, knowing there's nothing to be eaten there. Then another one and another.
They keep walking past the bot, moving on to look for rodents and other critters that the planet has left behind. It knows they're hunting—they're always hunting, and it waits patiently, the sort of patience only a robot can have.
Then one cat pauses for a moment and slinks forward, slightly crouched on its belly. Must be after yet another rodent.
It stands so still, just four feet away from the bot, and it raises itself to look up into the sky, nose in the air, as if it can smell something.
The hunter watches its actions and also lifts its eyes up to the sky and sees—the human's hand.
If robots could smirk, that's the expression it would have on its face right now. Instead, it strides forward. The cat jumps out of the way then slowly follows in its footsteps as it approaches the closed door at the base of the tall building.
It opens the door quietly, looking for the stairway that will take it up to the top. The elevator has long broken. It leaves the door wide open and the cat, followed by another, and even yet another, slink through behind it, all meaning to get to the top of the building before the others. All meaning to go after the human.
Chapter Six
Sidney
She hears them climb up, getting closer and closer every floor. They don't run up the stairs, or bother muffling their steps. They all know she's here, that she's got nowhere to go, and that they have time.
She checks her goods once more and tries to steady her heartbeats. Nayne always said they can hear hearts from far but didn't know just from how far. Still, she hopes her little hiding spot is small enough that they'd have a hard time getting to her before what she needs doing gets done.
She's done her recon on this building, she knows there's very little chance of escape. If she manages to take them out with her, today, on her last day alive, that's what she'll do. It's what Nayne did. We go out with a bit of a bang, the Chester girls. That's what Nayne always said. She smiles, remembering that, and feeling warmth in her heart. She’s sure Nayne's with her right now, even if she can't see her. She knows she'll help Sid stay strong. She knows she'll help her take out as many of them as she can before she dies.
Then the small door to the room pushes forward and she knows they're here. She holds her breath and shuts her eyes for a moment, drawing more strength from Nayne's memory, drawing what she can remember. "Stay strong," she'd say. "Stay strong and don't give in."
She opens her eyes wide again and looks through a small crack she left in the ceiling, to spy on her enemies.
Large paws double the size of her head push through into the room. She still doesn't know why these bots were made to look like big cats and animals. Everyone knows there aren't any real animals like these out here.
Nayne had said some were held in a historical place that showcased animals from another planet and another time, and others were kept as exotic “pets” by Allendians, but it all makes little sense to her.
The cat strides in and immediately looks up to where she is—it hears her heart of course.
Then another one walks through, then another, and another.
They all gather right under the spot she's crouched, all staring up at her sightless—coz she knows those aren't real eyes they're using to peer up at her. Then she braces herself as more of them walk in as the first cat begins its slow crouch to lay its belly flat on the ground. It'll pounce in about T-Minus five—four—three—two—.
She presses the button and pushes herself as far back against the top of the floating ceiling as she can.
Still, the explosion is so loud, it leaves her ears pounding and ringing. Her hands raise automatically to her face and her right hand comes back wet with blood. Her left ear is still pounding as it fights against the pain and noise. The right ear murmurs and pounds too, but she can't hear a thing from there, then realizes it's bleeding too.
That's fine. Where she's going next, she won't need to hear a thing.
She peers down to the smog and black smoke that still rises to where she sits. She tries to fight back the choking coughs but knows it's useless. So she hacks and coughs and coughs, knowing that they're not all taken care of yet.
As she coughs, she remembers her knife in her bag and scrambles to take it out. She’s never had to use it to protect herself, doesn’t even know if it would do anything to the robot. But today’s a good day as any to see.
Once the smog settles, she looks down again, and there it is—the robot that was after her.
It stares around at the debris—leftover bits of the other bots. It's not like it'll miss any of them, she thinks. Then it looks around in the broken bits and matter, and she realizes it's probably looking for parts it can use. It knows she's still up here—her heart's erratic as all get-go, but it's still in no rush.
After it's moved around through the debris, finding maybe three pieces that it places into a compartment in its leg, it finally stops rummaging and looks up to where she sits in the ceiling. Another cat moves to its side and stares up as well, meaning to pounce. It's lost one of its hind legs, but she knows from this angle, that won't stop it from getting to her. She presses on her second button, waiting for the explosion.
She depresses the button harder, but nothing happens. She knows the explosives didn't all go off with that first button—else she would have blown out of the ceiling too. So, as she frantically presses on the button twenty, thirty times, she realizes something down there's broken.
She watches as the cat flattens itself flush to the ground. Then pounces.
Chapter Seven
The hunter bot hears the human's heart beating faster as it pushes something in its hand. Its eyes are big as it stares down at the bot and the last of the two remaining hunting animals.
But the bot’s scanner sputters, like it's coming back online. Something in that last explosion nudged it back to life. The human’s blocker could only do so much.
The bot looks up at the human, and its secondary scanner works, but is inferior to the primary scanner which is now broken. The scanner comes back with: Possibly has the flu. Can not confirm. Must e
xtract. Stand down.
With that, the bot turns and clamps its arms around the cat that's pounced. Until it's sure whether this human has the flu or not, the human can not be assassinated. It must be checked closely. The bot must extract its blood.
The cat turns as if to defend itself but the hunter slams its body into the concrete so hard, it sits still, its eyes lighting up for a split second before dying.
Then the hunter turns to the other cat as it moves up to its side.
"Subject possibly healthy, stand down," it instructs, and the cat sits back on its haunches, waiting for its next instructions.
Then the bot looks up into the small crack in the ceiling.
"I need to extract your blood. You are possibly healthy. Kindly comply and climb down from this high spot."
And it waits.
Chapter Eight
You—what?? Sidney thinks. Is this some sort of trick? Must be, because this thing is out to kill her, isn't it? But she sits back as she stares down at it. Why did it stop that cat from getting her? And why is it standing there, as if waiting patiently for her? If it wants to kill her, well it wouldn't go through all this. Time doesn't pass for it the way it does for humans, but still, it works with purpose. What is the purpose of this?
So—not a trick then.
"You are possibly healthy," it said, though she knows that to not be true. Maybe it's broken somehow. “My primary scanner is disabled. Kindly comply.”
Okay, so if it's broken, and thinks she might be healthy, that buys her some time. To do what? She doesn't know. Time to figure out how to fix the last of her explosives and take it out, she reckons.
She doesn't have much of a choice anyway, she thinks as she screams and the ceiling underneath her collapses. The knife falls out of her hand, but she hardly notices as she flails her arms, trying to grab on to something.
