by JOSEPH RAY
The remainder of the playback went dark, the lower right of the screen indicating that the footage had been removed from the Cyber’s memories. David saved the data from the footage before shutting the device down and returning it to his pocket.
“What happened to the rest?” Ballistar asked.
“I thought it best to delete the footage,” Joseph replied. “Had I not, Elsmere’s men would likely find Yomiel and his family. My efforts would have been in vain.”
“It will seem suspicious,” David stated. “A Cyber whom deletes his own playback shows that he has something to hide. Do you have a plan for that part of the hearing?”
“I do,” MA Joseph recalled. “I will plead guilty to tampering evidence. I shall lose my position and be removed from service. A small price to pay I’m afraid.”
“You mean to keep Yomiel and his daughters safe?” Ballistar asked, looking back to the door. “They’ll probe your memory banks for the information. King Isom will demand nothing less. If you are removed from service, they won’t turn you back on after they’ve downloaded every file in your head. They’ll decommission you for sure.”
Joseph looked puzzled at the Major’s comment. His mind searched for other cases, quickly realizing that the man spoke the truth.
“If that is what must happen,” the MA offered. “I suspect I will be given little choice in the matter. However, as for the footage, do you agree that I’ve acted within my orders? I need to know that you are on my side.”
The Major laughed.
“On your side?” David laughed. “It doesn’t matter if I’m on your side or not. Either way, I will defend you to the best of my ability.”
A look of concern formed on the MA’s face.
“It matters to me Major Ballistar,” he replied calmly. “It is very important to me that my defender believes in what I have done, regardless as to whether or not it is his job to.”
The Major looked the MA over, wondering if he understood as much about Cybers as he’d previously thought. So far, every word the Cyber spoke, every stroke of the Cyber’s actions all contradicted what he had learned of their kind. It was unsettling.
“I do believe you,” the Major muttered, standing from the bench. “Now it’s just a matter as to whether or not I can convince others.”
The Cyber smiled.
“That is your task,” Joseph replied. “I would not dare tell you how to do your job. Do you know when the trial is scheduled to begin?”
The Major knocked on the door, signifying to the guards that he was ready to exit. The heavy metal latch moved, freeing the door from its lock.
“Tomorrow, 0900,” he replied. “Get some rest. I don’t want dark circles under your eyes tomorrow.”
The MA became puzzled by the last comment. Slowly, he realized why his looks were important. He was a Cyber who killed a human. He would need to look as human as possible. He decided he would deactivate the scanners in his eyes. No sense in reminding everyone what lie beneath the Cyber’s skin.
***************************
Captain Julius Quaid’s hands trembled as he held onto the stick, slowly lifting the Hopper free from the planet’s atmosphere. Luckily, the terraforming was thin on the planet, as were many with only numbers instead of names.
The last thirty minutes had been the most trying in the Captain’s career. Quaid had moments that found him on the wrong end of a gun, left for dead, and even facing a firing squad, but none of those moments found him as fearful as sitting at the helm of his own ship, forced to do an ancient Cyber’s bidding.
The Cyber had spent much of the thirty minutes with Sandra’s tablet in his hand, an endless stream of text and pictures flying over the screen at a blurred pace. He’d claimed to want to catch up on history over the last four hundred years, roughly the time since he’d gone missing. The crew had wanted to ask questions, though each of them had a different take on what the most important of the questions should be. Not being able to stand the silence, Jenna finally broke the awkward air.
“So, you gonna kill us?” the teenager calmly asked.
The Cyber looked up from the tablet. The device paused with the words ‘2842’ blinking on the screen. Since waking, a thin yellow light had illuminated on the circular disc that covered the Cyber’s eyes. One almost had to be within arm’s reach of the being to be able to see it though.
“I see no reason for violence,” the Cyber replied before returning to the data pad.
Jenna and Sandra looked to one another from their seats, each shrugging their shoulders as to what action they should take. The word about Cybers was that they were far too quick for anyone to take on. The manner in which the Cyber had taken the gun from Quaid’s holster seemed to confirm the gossip of the galaxy. As the ship entered the freedom of space, Quaid turned to join in the awkward confusion.
“So what exactly do you want?” Quaid asked, his narrow eyes bearing down upon their captor. “You’ve barely said a word since I fired up the engines.”
The Cyber turned off the device and sat it on the panel beside him. The cockpit of the Hopper was wide and deep, accommodating up to six passengers. There were two seats by the main controls, one off to itself on the left wall, and a bench with three belts on the back wall, next to the door to the corridor. Various panels hung from the corners of the cockpit, all angled down to remain viewable from a seated position. Every color of the rainbow either blinked or remained lit from their view as the planet below became smaller in the cockpit's windshield. They weren’t traveling backwards, the Captain had merely switched the screen to watch from the rear cameras. The front windshield consisted of three rectangular panels, each resting vertically like three ‘III’s. A thin piece of black trim separated each screen, nearly invisible when showing the black vastness of space.
“You will have to forgive my manners,” the Cyber stated. “Perhaps we should start with introductions? I would like the Captain to go first please.”
Quaid looked to the women, taken aback by the Cyber’s display of consideration. Two sets of blue eyes stared back at him, holding their breath as they awaited Julius to take the peace offering.
“Well,” he started. “I’m Julius Quaid, Captain of the Hopper.”
“The Hopper?” the Cyber asked, his thin eyebrows raised in question. “Odd name for a space vessel.”
“Yeah, it is,” he replied. “The military calls ships that can’t break a planet’s atmosphere ‘Jumpers,’ short for pond jumper. This was a cargo ship by the same standards, retrofitted for space travel. So, it can ‘hop’ from planet to planet. Sorry, it wasn’t very original. The previous owner named it before I came in possession of it. I’d change it, but it already had clearance codes for the rings, so I left it alone.”
“Rings?” the Cyber asked. “Do you mean to say Gabriel Rings? I’d thought they’d found a more suitable technology to replace those by now.”
“If it isn’t broke,” Sandra offered. “The Gabriel Rings work, always have. They just keep making them farther and farther out. Course they put more distance between them when you get to the outer planets, like this one, so expansion has been slowed.”
“I’m sorry, and you are?”
Sandra felt embarrassed, realizing that she wasn’t playing along with the manners game.
“I’m Sandra Oliver,” she answered. “This is my sister, Jenna.”
The Cyber turned to Jenna, slowly looking the teenager up and down before returning to Sandra. Quaid watched the scene unfold, wondering if he should try to take advantage of the situation. He wasn’t sure if they were in danger or not, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. He wanted to live long enough to spend his fortunes he’d stashed away on various planets.
“So who are you?” Jenna asked, growing impatient. “You got a name or just a serial number?”
The Cyber’s brows raised once more.
“Serial number? What the blazes do you mean?”
Jenna looked confused, passing from
Sandra to Quaid, searching for support. Surely, the Cyber knew.
“She means to say that Cyber’s usually go by their group letter and number,” Quaid interrupted. “Say group ‘A’ has twenty-two Cybers in it. You could be A4 or whatever.”
“How simplistic,” the Cyber responded. “No, I do not have a serial number. I am called Abraham.”
“Abraham?” Sandra asked. “Was that your name before the procedure, or after? We don’t see many second gens these days, so I can’t ask these questions any other time.”
“Second gen?” Abraham mocked. “I assume you mean that Cybers created by Cybers are called second gen? That seems fitting, I like it. However, to your description, I am a first generation Cyber. My name before the procedure is not of importance. My children, actually, were the ones whom gave me my name. I was going by my name from before, but it didn’t seem fitting to use the name of a ghost anymore.”
“Where’d they come up with Abraham?” Jenna asked, her mood lightening.
“My name prior was Thomas Abrams. Abraham derived from my old name, and from the bible,” he stated. “The many sons of Abraham ring a bell?”
“Uhm, not really,” Jenna replied. “I’ve heard of the bible, just never read it.”
The group sat quiet for a moment, everyone uncertain of which question to ask next. Quaid checked their trajectory, making certain they weren’t about to crash into a satellite or another ship. He had questions he needed answered, but now didn’t seem like the right time.
“What’s your accent?” Jenna continued. “I’ve never heard it before.”
Abraham looked to the group, almost certain that someone else would answer for him. He sighed when no one spoke before answering the question.
“It’s British,” he said. “I was going to erase it, but there was this female scientist back on Earth whom begged me to keep it. It seemed to make her happy, so I left it alone.”
“British?” Sandra asked. “I’ve never heard it either.”
“Not surprising,” Quaid muttered. “Not many of the old nations left on Earth anymore.”
“To that point,” Abraham interjected. “You are Asian, correct?”
“Yeah.”
“I believe the Asians were the first to abandon the Earth. Which planet did your people decide to colonize? I’m afraid I lost track of that over the years.”
“Well, we’re everywhere,” Quaid replied, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “Asian covers a lot of countries. China and Japan wanted nothing to do with each other, so they went their separate ways. The smaller countries formed together and colonized Suhdessa. It’s about four rings from Earth.”
“Suhdessa,” Abraham repeated. “I love how it rolls off the tongue so elegantly. One of my children is Asian. Lovely girl. I named her Haven, which means ‘a safe place.’ I hope she followed her namesake.”
“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Sandra spoke up. “You called them ‘children’ twice now. Do you mean the Cybers you created or do you actually………procreate?”
A faint smile formed on the Cyber’s face.
“The Cybers I created,” he answered. “They are very much my children.”
“Why do you call them that?” Jenna asked. “They don’t share your blood.”
“No, they do not,” he replied. “But I spent a painstaking amount of time creating each and every one of them. I gave each one of them their own characteristics in their programming, and I even created different trades and expertise. I wanted each of my children to have a unique gift to offer.”
“Aw, that’s sweet,” Jenna squealed. “Like a little bundle of love in each one.”
“Love,” Abraham started. “Yes, I do have to say that I love each and every one of my children. They are, after all, a part of me.”
“Look,” Quaid snapped. “I hate to interrupt all the pleasantries, but I think it’s time we got down to business here. Let’s start with why you were in that tank, shall we?”
The smile faded from Abraham’s face as he turned to the Captain. Sandra felt her muscles tighten. This wasn’t the first time she’d heard this tone from Julius. It always meant that something was about to happen, something unpleasant. Since all the guns that weren’t locked away were in the Cyber’s possession, she didn’t like their chances.
“I wish I had an answer for that,” Abraham replied calmly. “I’ve tried four times, unsuccessfully, to access my last memory. It seems that someone has denied my ability to discover the answer for myself.”
“I see,” Quaid said sarcastically. “You understand that I don’t exactly trust you right now, don’t you?”
Abraham looked to each of the cockpit’s occupants, one at a time. He scanned each of them, recording their respiration, heart rates, and neural patterns.
“I’m terribly sorry,” Abraham stated. “Your bio-patterns all indicate that you are in a state of heightened stress. I should remedy that issue immediately.”
The Cyber reached out with both his pale hands, each clutching the grip to the pistols that rested on either side of his thighs. He stood slowly, letting each of the guns barrels aim to the floor as he held them by their trigger guards. Sandra humbly accepted hers, Quaid snatched his away forcefully. Abraham returned to his seat, still scanning his new companions.
“Good,” he stated. “I see a twenty-seven percent reduction in your vital signs already. Jenna, I’m afraid I have nothing I can offer you. Is there something I can say to ease your mind?”
Jenna looked to her two elders, hoping for some indication that it was okay to ask the questions on her mind. True, the Cyber did not have anything of hers in his possession, but she would gladly give her data pad if it meant cutting the tension in half. She looked at the Cyber for a long time, the swirl of questions all trying to force their way out simultaneously.
“The Captain and your sister show signs of hostility,” he continued. “I gave them their weapons so that we could conduct the introductions under more suitable conditions. You just seem overwhelmed at the moment, perhaps a little uncomfortable. Is it the eyes?”
“Thank God,” Quaid snapped. “Yes, Abe, it’s the damn eyes. What’s going on in there?”
Abraham looked to him, uncertain as to whether or not he liked being called ‘Abe.’ He monitored the Captain’s vitals, noting the heightened testosterone levels in the man. Either he needed to engage in sexual intercourse, or the man needed command of the situation returned to him. The Cyber had no intentions of pleasing the man sexually, so allowing him to believe he was in control was his only other option. He decided to let all of them refer to him as ‘Abe.’
“Yes, the eyes,” Abraham repeated. “We didn’t have the technology to apply the scanning ability as well as the holographic projection of the human pupil and iris when I underwent my surgeries. Therefore, I have these covers applied to ease the people around me. I can take them off if you’d like.”
Without waiting for a reply, the two-disc lifted away from the Cyber’s face, as though hinged to the small squares on the man’s temples. The disc straightened, then retracted back into the squares. Like they had seen with other Cybers, his eyes were mirrors, reflecting their own images back at them. He looked to each of them. A moment later, the discs popped back out of the squares and folded back over the mirror eyes.
“Perhaps not,” he mumbled.
“Why didn’t you change them?” Jenna asked, leaning in to examine the Cyber’s external implants more closely. “Couldn’t you have gone back and, I don’t know, upgraded yourself?”
“Perhaps,” he replied. “However, I felt it necessary to remain focused on more important tasks at the time. Cosmetic issues were the least of our concerns at the moment.”
“Yeah,” Quaid muttered. “You had to get us off the planet before we killed each other, right? What’d you do to fix things anyways? I’m not trying to be a dick, just curious.”
“Actually, I created the Cyber whom created the Gabriel Rings. He was
such a humble boy. He wanted to call them something else. I believe it was JSX171944MM6. Imagine having to say that over and over again? I insisted he take some pride in his great accomplishment and name them after himself.”
“So THAT’s where the name comes from,” Jenna exclaimed. “Always wondered about that. I think what the Captain meant though was if YOU created anything that saved us?”
“Oh, no, I wasn’t assigned to those tasks. My brothers, so to speak, were the ones in charge of space flight and colonization. I was very glad not to have been involved, given what happened to the first colony. Mankind blamed all the Cybers for that one though, whether they were responsible or not.”
Quaid and Sandra looked to one another, sharing a curious moment. It was Sandra who decided to reply.
“The first colony was a success,” she stated, looking back to the Cyber. “Mars was the first terraformed planet. I believe it was England and Africa that populated it first. It’s abandoned now, but not cause of anything that happened back in your day.”
“Mars?” Abraham exclaimed, laughing. “No my dear, Venus was the first colony. They thought Mars would be too cold to colonize. Easier to cool things off than heat them up it seems. I gather they corrected that problem if Mars was a success, as you say. However, the colony of Venus found a tragic ending.”
“No, look,” Jenna offered, taking the datapad from the panel. Her thin fingers tapped something on the device. “First colony. There, see?”
