Love in the Robot Dawn

by C. W. Crowe

  It was a robot! Not the human looking kind, but the type we'd seen when the robots first arrived - their size, shape and number of "limbs" were determined by their function. This one must have worked in some small area that required precision, because it had five spindly arms and a body shaped like a football. I guessed that it could stand on any two of its legs while the other three could be busy connecting or wiring or building something.

  "They locked them in a back storage room. There were six originally and they took a couple of them apart, but I don't think they learned much. The others are still there, waiting. Will this one do? The others are too big for me to easily sneak them out."

  I couldn't help myself. Maybe it was the implant, but something made me want to touch the robot. I put my hand on it half expecting to have some sort of robot vision or else to be shocked, but I felt nothing but the cool of the material that it was made of.

  "When will they miss it?" I asked.

  "I don't think they've been in that room for months. It's normally locked, but I have a key to everything." He paused for a moment as Karen reached for his hand. "Now, what else can I do to help get rid of these things for good."

  I put my hand out to Riley and we shook while Karen sniffed and grinned at us. He'd just brought me both of the final two things I needed.

  Chapter Fifty: Robots Alive

  Lucy had trouble falling asleep that night. It could have been because we had an actual robot sitting on our kitchen table, or it could have been because her belly had swollen to the point where it was hard for her to get comfortable.

  When I'd kissed her good night, I'd said to her, "It won't be long now," meaning until our baby arrived.

  She'd answered, "Yeah, I can't wait until those bastards are turned off for good."

  She was focused on the robots and my plan. I felt a rush of love for her at that moment - even stronger than normal. Lucy didn't know the whole plan and yet she'd been a rock of support ever since she learned of it. Sometimes, it had been really hard to get across something that I needed her or Karen to do, but she was patient and, once she understood, never questioned me - she just got it done. With our present situation and her pregnancy, things had changed. At first, she'd been the one leading us, but now it was my job. I prayed every night that I wouldn't let her down.

  Something else had changed too; we hadn't had an argument since she learned that I planned on turning off all the robots.

  As soon as her sounds indicated she was asleep, I slipped out of bed and crept into the bathroom to get dressed. Tonight, I would take the first step and it was one that Lucy knew very little about. She knew I needed the robot - that hadn't been very difficult to say to her at all.

  But what she didn't know was why I needed one of them. There was just no way I could get around the implant's blockage in order to tell her that. I asked her just to trust me and she had.

  I slowly opened the bathroom door, ready to sneak out. I was careful because the hinges sometimes squeaked and I didn't want to disturb Lucy.

  The door opened a crack, but that was enough for me to see Lucy standing right outside, staring at me. Normally, she slept in nothing but an oversized t-shirt, but now she had on a bath robe that covered her from her neck to the floor.

  She moved towards me, offering her lips. Her kiss was as sweet as the first one we'd ever shared. "When will you be back?" she asked once we parted.

  I felt the blockage kick in, but I was able to say, "I don't know. Maybe a couple of hours, maybe more."

  "You're taking . . . that . . . with you?" She nodded towards the kitchen.

  "Yeah."

  Just then there was a barely audible knock on our front door. Lucy took my hand and led me to it, opening it wide. "Come on in," she said quietly.

  I could tell from their noises that it was Karen and Riley. He was dressed in jeans, boots and a black shirt. Karen had on a nightgown very much like Lucy's except it only fell to her knees.

  Karen saw my surprise and asked, "Didn't you tell him?"

  Lucy looked at her and smiled, "No. I thought he might get stubborn." Then she turned her gaze to me. "Riley's going with you." She used her command voice.

  My instinct was to object since I'd thought about this part of the plan for quite a while. But that was foolish - having Riley along would probably be a great help. At least up until the time he saw what I was going to do with the robot. He'd come back and tell Karen and Lucy which was something I couldn't do. I realized that would be better as well.

  I smiled at Lucy and said, "That's a great idea. Glad to have the company.”

  *.*.*

  Lucy held me tight as we said our goodbyes. “You be careful,” she said after our final, final kiss.

  I wasn’t worried about me, but I was about her. I looked over at Karen who’d just pulled away from Riley. She knew what I was thinking.

  “Ah Lucy, why don’t you come over and stay with me. We can talk about the men without them being under foot.”

  Lucy smiled. She could be stubborn sometimes, but this was clearly a good idea. The baby wasn’t due for almost three weeks, but I didn’t want her being alone.

  Riley and I watched as the two women disappeared into Karen’s place and we waited until I heard the door lock. Everyone’s sounds were normal.

  “So what now?” ask Riley. “What are we going to do with that robot, take it apart?”

  “Nope,” I said. “We’re going to wake it up.”

  *.*.*

  The desert was quickly becoming chilly so that walking felt good. The moon was out and almost full, casting evil looking shadows off every rock and little mound of dirt. Even so, the first mile went quickly and then I took the box containing the robot from Riley because it was my turn to carry it. It wasn’t heavy but it was cumbersome.

  We were easily far enough away from anyone in Area 51 to be able to talk freely without fear of being overheard. “So how do you know where the signal that turns off the robots ends? It could be many miles - maybe more than we can walk tonight.”

  I answered, “Maybe. But Lucy and Karen described the globe and the crack to me in great detail. They both saw it more than once. Lucy even got some pictures with that tablet computer of hers so I've actually seen what it looks like, sitting there in its nest. The crack runs roughly east to west - it’s about twelve inches long and about a half inch wide. So my theory is that the signal, whatever it is, is sprayed out upwards mostly east and west and not so much north and south. That’s why we’re heading south - hopefully the signal doesn’t carry as far in this direction.”

  “That’s smart, Leo. So we just wait until the robot wakes up and we know we’re outside the protected area, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right, but we don’t want it to fully wake up - at least not right away. As soon as it moves at all or makes any kind of sound, we need to turn around and get back in the safe zone - let it go back to sleep. Once we know where the line is, we can slide the robot just far enough outside the safe area for us to do what comes next.”

  “Which is?”

  I couldn’t tell him that. My implant would not let me. I knew that Karen and Lucy had explained to him that there were things I couldn't divulge, but they were women and they liked me. They knew me and trusted me and would cut me some slack. I wondered what Riley's response to my silence would be.

  He waited for a few seconds for my answer and then said, "Lucy tried to explain this to me, but I don't get it. She said you might say, 'I can't speak.' Are you not answering because you don't want to or because you can't?"

  "Can't," I said. My implant let that pass with no problem.

  "Hmm. Okay, so you can't answer because of what? Would it jeopardize the plan or are you physically unable to answer?"

  I wanted to say something inside kept me from answering, but that wasn't allowed. Instead, I said, "physically."

  "Well wow Melly. You have some kind of brain damage or something?"

  He was very close. "Some
thing like that," I said.

  Just then, before he could make me feel any weirder, the pickle box started to vibrate.

  Chapter Fifty-One: Mom

  I was so surprised I started to stutter. "It's . . . it's waking up, Riley. I can feel it." I immediately turned and walked back the way we'd come. The box again became quiet. I removed the robot and sat it on the sandy desert floor. It felt cool to my touch, but that was all. The moonlight gleamed off its metallic grey surface as it left a pitch black shadow on the opposite side.

  It looked dead - just like it had been when Riley brought it to us.

  I got on my knees beside it. "I'm going to push it slowly ahead. You watch carefully with me so that we can find the exact spot where it starts to receive power. Then get a rock or something and mark that spot." Here I was, a guy who'd never even finished high school, giving orders to an army officer. I thought that if Lucy had been there, she'd have been smiling.

  I slid it along, a couple of inches at a time, creating a visible trail in the sand. After every movement, I waited and watched to see if it showed signs of getting power from the robot's energy and communication channel. After a few movements, one of the tentacles started to slowly move back and forth. A gripper of some sort on the end opened and closed lazily. I pulled the robot back an inch and the movement stopped. "Okay, Riley, here's the spot."

  He placed a large flat rock right on the boundary.

  *.*.*

  "So what now?" Riley asked.

  It was a good question. This was one of the places where my plan was thin. I'd worried that it could all come unraveled right here, but couldn't think of anything better.

  "I'm going to let it get some power and then I'm going to touch it and talk to it. I'm hoping my words get up to the mother ship. You watch it carefully; this thing doesn't look like it could run much, but I do not want it to escape."

  "Oh wow Melly, you really think it might run?"

  "I have no idea, Riley, but this is a key point. If I can get them to hear me, I think there's a chance."

  He looked confused, "A chance of what?"

  I couldn't tell him because the implant wouldn't let me. "I can't tell you."

  He sighed. "Okay, Leo, do your thing. I'll watch this little bugger."

  The one appendage that had been aimlessly flailing around found the sandy earth. I couldn't believe my eyes - it was trying to drag itself forward, towards the stronger signal. I grabbed another one of its other legs and pulled it slightly back to me.

  "Here Riley, hold onto this and don't let it move unless I tell you to. I don't know how much of the signal it needs to receive to be able to communicate. I guess we'll just have to try it and see."

  I put both my hands on its body. Inside my head was the slightest sensation, over to the side where my implant was. I realized I'd felt it before, but it was so weak that I'd never paid much attention. I'd felt it in Ft. Smith and also in Los Alamos - I'd felt it when mom had touched me.

  It was time to try and speak. I didn't know any way except to talk out loud, so that's what I did. "Ah . . . this is Leonard Smith. I am just outside Area 51. I have a robot here to help me communicate, but it is damaged so I'm worried it might not work. Do you read me?"

  That last part sounded silly, but I had no idea what was the right thing to say. I waited for a response.

  Nothing. "Okay, Riley, I'm not getting any response. Let him crawl forward an inch or so."

  He had to have been curious, but he did as he was told.

  I tried again. "This is Leonard Smith. I lived with a robot family in Ft. Smith and I have important information for my mom. You have to get it to her."

  I noticed that Riley was frowning, but I didn't care because I started to hear a buzzing inside my head. At first, it was just a noise, but soon I could almost make out words. "Let it go another inch," I ordered Riley.

  As the robot dragged itself forward, the noise became speech. It was still distorted and scratchy sounding, but I could understand it. I could even identify its voice. It was mom. I hoped that the poor signal would not let her know when I was lying - because I was soon going to do a lot of it.

  "Leonard, we did not believe you had survived."

  I could hear her in my head! I knew that the robot surgeon had communicated with and programmed my implant and also that Nick Presser had done the same thing. He'd implanted most of my memories, so I'd hoped that the robots would be able to communicate with me this way. I think touching was required - as far as I could tell, the implant had no ability to communicate through the wireless robot "Channel." It seemed necessary that I be in physical contact with them.

  "I ran away when the raptors got close. I knew they were nearby because I'd seen them at the zoo many times and knew what they smelled like. I knew what was coming because of that smell and no one else did. I ran."

  "And Lucy?"

  I felt a pain deep inside from even thinking of such a thing. "I didn't have time to warn her. She didn't make it." The thought of Lucy's beautiful electric blue hair stuck to the teeth of that monster was almost too much.

  I forced myself to be calm and continued with my story. "Afterwards, I knew I had to come to Area 51 and I knew why. When you used the pain stick on me in Los Alamos, something snapped in my head. It all became clear - what I was and what I had to do. That's why I'm here."

  Mom paused, probably consulting with type of aggregate robot intelligence. "And are you prepared to fulfill your mission?"

  "Yes, I think so, but there may not be time. That's why I took the chance to communicate with you now. It's very dangerous for me - if they find out what I am they will kill me or perhaps keep me alive as an object of study. The humans believe they are invincible inside Area 51."

  "You said there may not be time. Time for what?"

  "Time for me to destroy the ability of the globe object to emit its signal - the one that blocks robot power and communication. I just arrived here a few days ago and am slowly learning things. I thought I had time, but today I found out something that you must know about and act on."

  "What is it, Leonard?" She sounded infinitely patient.

  Now was the time I'd been waiting for. "Listen, mom. They don't just have the one globe with the crack. The alien ship had five others that are intact, and the humans think they know how to release the signals from inside them too. Pairs of humans set off weeks ago to travel to specific parts of the world to position these five more globes so that the entire sky above earth will be affected by them. Once in place, they will simultaneously activate them and the mother ship will lose its power so that the entire race of robots will be helpless. If they do what they plan, there will be no safe place left for the mother ship."

  "Where will these five globes be positioned." The question was perfectly logical, but I thought I detected a slight change in mom's speaking pace. She was concerned.

  "That's the problem. I don't know because they sent pairs of humans off to position them long before I arrived here. They've been planning this for a while. I just overheard some conversations about it today along with the fact that the globes will be in place soon. They will likely activate them within days - maybe hours. It will not be long, but they will call a special meeting when they are ready so I'll know when they are going to act."

  I guessed what the next question would be, and I was right. Mom asked, "Leonard, can you capture the person who knows these locations? Force them to talk? Perhaps bring them outside the boundary so that we can deal with them?"

  This was it - what I'd been waiting for. "No. I don't know for sure who has the information - it could be any number of the humans. This is no way I can get the information out of them, but . . ."

  I let that hang for a moment. Riley was staring at me intently. "But you can do it. It has to be you and other robots."

  "Leonard, have you forgotten . . ."

  I cut her off and it felt good. "I'm going to destroy the globe here in Area 51, mom. You'll be able to bring in as
many robots as you want. You can then make the humans talk and reveal where the other five globes are."

  "When will you do this?"

  "I can't be sure, but soon, maybe even tomorrow or the next day. On most days, I am able to get access to the globe and be alone at 4 p.m. Watch carefully and if you see the signal stop at that exact time, that means you should come quickly and rescue me. Once you force the humans to reveal the location of the other globes, they can be destroyed by bombing."

  "You said the other globes could be activated in days or even hours."

  "Yes, mom. If I detect they are preparing to activate them, I will act immediately, even if they are able to see exactly what I am doing. My programming will kick in and I'll destroy the globe here - even if they kill me as a result. So if you see the signal stop here in Area 51 at any time other than 4 p.m., that means the other five will be activated within minutes. Don't delay. Get to safety."

  "But the only safe spot would then be over Area 51."

  "Yes, but you'd still have the humans here and you'd still be able to get the locations of the other five globes from them. Once you know where they are, you can make more . . . humans like me. You can send them out to destroy the globes and soon you will have the entire world."

  I motioned for Riley to pull the robot slightly back. The signal immediately got weaker and mom's voice became distorted. I didn't care what she was saying anyway. I was done.

  "Mom! I'm losing you. This robot is damaged. It . . ."

  I picked up the large rock that Riley had used the mark the signal boundary. It was heavy - just perfect. I slammed it with all my strength down on that robot, crushing its body.

  "Over and out," I said.

  *.*.*

  Without the robot, the walk back to the base was easier. The first few minutes were done in silence, but eventually Riley spoke. "You're setting a trap. I get that because I know there has only ever been one globe. But I don't see how it can work. Once you stop the signal coming from the globe, the robots will be free to come inside Area 51."