Denn Bornew was on the verge of dying, and by now he was beginning to accept his fate. Perhaps he had given up? There was simply nothing he could do. Maybe he deserved death after everything he had done. It was reasonable.
Just as he had announced it, Neil pulled the trigger on the weapon.
The sensation that ran through Denn’s body was new for him. It was something special, the product of his convergence. The bullet was going to end his life, and he had felt it before it even happened. But it didn't happen; it still wasn't his time. Just at the precise moment that Neill fired, his rifle was deflected by C0-UN1. He had come out from amongst the people, launching himself at full speed to save his friend.
The people stepped back in shock at the same time the robot delivered a strong blow to Neil’s face, sending him to the ground. The robot had been so quick that it had been impossible to for him to avoid it.
There was no time to lose; if they stayed there, they would both die. C0-UN1 took Denn, placed him over his shoulder and began his escape.
“Shoot, you idiots!” cried Neil, who was already recovering from the blow. The robot ran as fast as he could, carrying his friend, under a hailstorm of bullets coming from the soldiers’ weapons. At full speed, he went in the direction of the fort’s entrance. He turned in between the houses, trying to throw off his pursuers, and once he was sure that they were out of sight, he turned back round, changing his course to the opposite direction. Now they were heading smartly towards the river, which ran past the other side of the fort, whilst everybody would be looking for them at the entrance.
When he was in front of the fast-flowing torrent, he took large jumps between the rocks sticking out above the current. One moment later, they were on the other side. Nobody had seen them, and even if they had, nobody would be able to cross the river that easily. The large jumps the robot had had to take in order to cross to the other side were difficult to emulate.
They were no longer being followed, but C0-UN1 carried on running until he went into a dense forest. He did not even stop there; they had managed to escape, but the robot continued, fearful.
“It’s... all right, C0, we’re already... a long way... away... Stop!” said Denn, fighting for the ability to speak on the shaky journey.
“Are you sure?” he asked, without stopping.
“Nobody... is following... us.”
C0-UN1 stopped in the middle of the forest, where he carefully put down his friend; a pointless gesture Denn had already been fairly knocked about in the escape.
The enormous trees barely allowed in any light. The birds were singing and flying above their heads; it was a place that was oblivious to the suffering they had been through in recent hours.
“I think you’re right, they’re not following us,” said the robot. Everything looked very peaceful, which provoked a strange feeling in both. Denn walked, still with his hands cuffed behind his back, up to the trunk of an enormous tree, and sat down without saying anything.
“Are you all right?” asked the robot, approaching Denn, concerned.
“How did you manage to get free?” he asked, with a depressing look.
The robot walked around him, positioning himself behind his back.
“Like this,” he said to him, and broke the handcuffs into pieces, without even making an effort, freeing Denn’s arms in an instant. The man looked at the robot, disgruntled; it had been very simple for him to destroy the reinforced ties.
“Did you always know you were strong enough to break the handcuffs?”
“Yes.”
“And why didn’t you free us when we were secured to the chairs?”
“I had the hope that the people would believe your version of the story. I thought that if we escaped without saying anything, they would have immediately believed us to be guilty.”
“In the end, that’s how it was, they believe us to be guilty. You saw it yourself... The truth is that I understand them, I wouldn’t trust me either.”
“Don’t be disheartened, Denn.”
“You should have killed Neil.”
“There was no time, I had to get you out of there.”
“You had time when you hit him. If you’re capable of breaking those handcuffs which I thought were indestructible, you could certainly have killed him in one hit.”
The robot did not say anything for a moment; it was obvious that he could no longer hide his true strength. If he had had time to hit Neil, he would certainly have had time to do more damage to him.
“I wanted to take vengeance,” said the robot, “but I didn’t dare hit him with all my strength. I hesitated ... I was afraid of killing him.”
Through the fog of his depression, Denn felt proud of the robot. Although a part of him wished that his friend had finished off the evil man, he was satisfied at verifying his good heart. It did not seem anything like the terrifying image that the Colonisers had.
“You really are special, C0.”
“What are we going to do now, Denn?”
“I don’t know. I can’t go back there now. They don’t want to see me ever again.”
“We can’t leave them with Neil. We don’t know what he could do.”
“I’m going to kill Neil sooner or later, don’t you worry.”
“Perhaps I should go in and capture Neil. Then we could clarify things with everyone.”
“It’s very dangerous, C0. They’ll be alert day and night. They will have finished putting up the surveillance systems in the fort, and it will be impossible to get in.”
“I don’t want to leave Qein in that place whilst Neil is still there.”
“There’s nothing we can do now, C0.”
The robot was disappointed; the person he had in front of him did not seem like his friend Denn Bornew. He looked like a man who was broken and without will.
“This is Qein we’re talking about. We cannot abandon him, Denn.”
“It’s not that I want to abandon him, but we can’t rescue him.”
“Why?”
“Neil isn’t stupid. He’ll surely imagine that we’ll go for him. They’ll be prepared. Trying to go there is suicide, they all want us dead.”
“What do you suggest then?”
“Neil will go out when he sees the days pass by and we don’t appear... Right now the best thing we can do is to search for shelter and wait until the right moment.”
C0-UN1 had not ended up very satisfied with what Denn was proposing; they still had friends in the fort, and he was worried about what Neil could potentially do to them. Against his wishes, he had to yield; without a good plan, there was not much he could do, he would have to wait a little longer.
They both began to walk in search of somewhere to shelter. To their minds came the memories of the friends who had gone. Denn remembered Dani and Senlar, fighting not to burst into tears. Then he remembered those looks of hatred. He was furious with Neil; that man had managed to set all of the people against him. What hurt him the most was Qein. He had a lot of affection for him, and he had let him down. The boy had looked at him in such a way that made him comprehend just how much he had hurt him. The memory alone of that innocent little boy crying for his sister caused tears to run down his cheeks. Many of his friends had gone, and those who were still alive wanted to see him pay for things he had not done.
Now that they were on their own, Denn was beginning to lose interest in restoring his name; now, the only thing he could think about was taking revenge.
After a long walk, they stopped a moment so that Denn could rest. The robot took out of a rucksack, which he had been sure to bring with them before the escape, a piece of fruit, and offered it to Denn.
“At what point did you take that bag?” asked Denn, who had not noticed it until that moment.
“Immediately after they took you out of the room where we were, I freed myself and went as fast as I could to our cabin. I took a few things just in case the situation got out of control, and then I went to the centre
of the fort to see what happened with you.”
“If you went for that rucksack, it means you were expecting the worst.”
“I only wanted to ensure that if something bad happened, I would be prepared.”
“Perhaps you’re even more valuable than I thought... Thanks for saving me.”
Denn began to eat the fruit, immersed in his thoughts. Suddenly, something took him out of them; the robot was taking something else out of his bag; it was the diary that he had given him the previous night. If he had taken the trouble to bring it with him, it was obvious that the robot had a special interest in its content.
“Have you read the whole thing yet?”
“I’m only just about to start.”
"It's rather long you know. If you want to read it, we can set this place up to spend the night. That way, you won't have interruptions.
“This place is not suitable for spending the night. Besides, it will only take me a moment to read the whole thing."
"That's true, you are so... human, that I sometimes forget you're a robot."
The robot began rapidly flipping the pages. He looked at each one for less than a second before continuing on to the next. In a couple of minutes, he had finished reading the whole diary.
"Ready," he announced.
“So... What you think, C0?"
"Why would a robot write a diary? We don't need paper to keep our experiences. Or perhaps they are different?"
"People don't write just to keep memories. Sometimes they want to offload, or leave proof of their experiences for others. Your species is not much different from humans."
C0-UN1 meditated on what Denn had said to him, and found meaning in it. He was inundated by many feelings; curiosity, happiness, and sadness. There were things he had admired, and others not so much.
"I would like to be able to feel the breeze ... Like the robot that wrote the diary," said the robot.
"Can't you?"
"My senses can tell me a few things like the temperature, pressure, and other things, but I'm not capable of feeling them. Not in the way that this robot talked about in the diary. Not like you do... I would wish to be able to do it as well. The robots from the diary seemed to enjoy it quite a bit... Why is it that I can’t feel it, and he can?"
"Remember that you are a proto-type. Helagar Ust learnt a lot from you. He conducted many tests and used what he learnt to create another proto-type with many improvements. He went and did the same thing again with him, and that is how he constructed the final version of the Coloniser. It’s logical that there are great differences between them and you.”
“I remember Helagar, he was good with me. He taught me things and treated me very well. He always said that I was his greatest achievement... Why would he get rid of me?”
“He didn’t get rid of you, C0.”
“Yes he did. He put me to sleep and forgot about me. I don’t understand why.”
"Look on the bright side, C0, if he hadn't done, we would never have met."
"Did he get rid of the second proto-type? Did he deactivate it... the same as he did with me?" asked the robot.
"I've heard some stories... Helagar installed all the improvements from the final version in it. If it wasn’t destroyed on Venus, or on this planet, it must be with the rest of the Colonisers.”
“I would like to meet them... Perhaps they are not as bad as everybody thinks... The robot that wrote these words did not seem to be bad.”
Denn was expecting that; the robot could feel a sense of identification with his own species. Before taking him from Earth, he had already considered all the possibilities; he had to be cautious if he wanted the robot to be an ally, and not an enemy. In the recent weeks, he now knew well that C0-UN1 had a good heart.
"In life, you're going to come across bad people and good people, you should understand that by now, C0. It's the same with those robots. Some of them just want to eliminate the human species. That's why I was trying to stop them."
"How do you know that?"
"Do you know what convergence is?"
"Yes. Qein explained it to me," replied the robot.
"I am a convergence. I received the memories of a person who experienced a universe the same as this one. The only difference, perhaps, is this they were from another time period. As if it were the future we were dealing with. It was fate; thanks to that, I know what is going to happen."
"A convergence......? Impressive. Do you feel any different because of it?"
"I suppose."
"You know, perhaps it might be different; in that diary, it only talks about finding a new home. Maybe they want to live in peace. A long time has passed, and so far, they've done no harm to anyone."
"I know I'm right; the things that happened in that universe, I checked them in this one. When I told Senlar, he didn't believe me either, not until he found something. Yesterday, on his outing from the fort, he stumbled across a place that made him change perspective."
“What place?"
"I suppose it must be one of the shelters that the robots constructed when they arrived here... It's impossible for all of this to have been a coincidence. Perhaps I was supposed to come to this place, but I'm sure I did something wrong. I don’t know how to carry on anymore."
"Do you not know where that place is?"
"Unfortunately, Senlar never told me. I have a horrible feeling of guilt. I thought I would be able to achieve this, but I was very naïve. If we can't get out of here, the only thing I will have achieved will have been getting innocent people to die. If I could just look at that place Senlar found with my own eyes..."
The robot noticed the depressed look in Denn’s eyes; his friend was suffering.
"Perhaps we might be able to find it. I know which area Senlar went to yesterday."
"But Senlar told me that he separated from all of you," said Denn, surprised.
“Before going off on his own, Senlar told us the area he would be going to. We could try to find it, but we would have to cross the river again, and they will probably be searching for us there. Perhaps it might be best if we resolve the situation with Neil first."
Denn‘s countenance transformed immediately. After all of the deaths that had happened because of him, he felt the urgency to find something that would be able to justify having embarked on such an unrealistic mission. If that place had been capable of convincing Senlar, it was probable that it would convince anybody. Although this time, the only person he wanted to convince was himself.
"It doesn't matter that they're looking for us, it's worth the risk. We could be dammed anyway, C0. I have to see that place with my own eyes. It's already late now, let's look for somewhere to spend the night, and tomorrow we'll cross the river."
"What about the fort and the people? We mustn't leave them with Neil."
“Don’t worry, we’ll go for him right after finding that place.”
C0-UN1 was not very happy, but he did not want to separate from Denn. They found a cave and prepared themselves for the night. Fortunately for Bornew, C0-UN1 had also brought in his rucksack a blanket that would help protect him from the cold of the night. Some animals were attracted to where they were, but the robot was able to shoo them away, keeping his friend safe. Even so, Denn was unable to sleep. He was thinking about revenge, and finding the Colonisers, until the night came to its end, giving way to the morning. Denn was the first to leave the cave.
“It’s time to go, C0.”
“Don’t you want us to find something to eat?”
“Are you hungry?” said Denn ironically.
“You didn’t sleep at all, and in addition to that you want to begin the day without eating? That is not good for you.”
“Let’s go!”
They both crossed back over the river and headed towards the area that Senlar visited when he found the shelter. A virtually impossible search commenced. The robot kept himself alert the entire day; he was not going to allow the others to surprise them with their gua
rd down. In spite of the fact they walked for hours, they were not able to find anything. Denn was by now exhausted, and the daylight was beginning to disappear on the horizon. There was not much more they would be able to do.
“That’s enough for today, you must rest,” said the robot. Denn did not want to stop, but he had no other option.
Like the previous day, they searched for a shelter to spend the night, and made themselves as comfortable as they could.
“I can’t see in the night, but you can light your way. You should carry on with the search, C0.”
“I’m not going to leave you all alone, Denn.”
“I’ll be all right.”
“Sleep, you really need it.”
Denn seemed obsessed with the idea of finding that place. If he had had more strength, he would have insisted, but he was shattered. Through gritted teeth he resigned himself; he was too exhausted to be carrying on. After a few minutes, he fell asleep in a corner the robot had prepared for him. The robot covered him well, and went off to keep guard during the night. He noticed how his friend moaned whilst he slept, most likely being tormented by some nightmare.
The robot knew that Denn needed to eat, but he was so insistent on continuing with the search that surely he would not take some time to look for food. Anticipating his friend’s stubbornness, C0-UN1 fetched breakfast just before the dawn. When Denn awoke, his food was already there for him.
“I prepared something for you. Please eat, Denn.”
The hungry man devoured what the robot had brought him. Immediately after finishing, they began the search. Once more, they walked for hours amongst the dense vegetation, trying to find something. The afternoon arrived, still without any result, and the robot’s thoughts were starting to become consumed by frustration. He doubted that they were doing the right thing; they were losing time whilst the people in the fort were in danger. His friend appeared disconnected to that worry; he now looked very different. Dani and Senlar’s deaths had surely caused irreparable devastation to his personality.
Convergence: Genesis Page 24
