The Last Human

by Lee Bacon

“So, it is true,” it said. “An actual human. Alive. After all these years.”

  “Please just let me go,” Emma replied. “I won’t hurt anyone. I promise. I won’t cause any trouble.”

  “Ah, but you have already caused a great deal of trouble.” The president lowered itself to Emma’s height, examining her closely. “Because of you, our entire society is on high alert. Because of you, three highly productive robots have been corrupted.”

  Emma shook her head. “They were just trying to help!”

  “Help?” PRES1DENT’s eyes blazed in our direction. “And why would they want to do such a thing? With everything we know about humans?”

  I hesitated 0.8 seconds before answering. “We determined that one human child did not pose a threat to our civilization.”

  PRES1DENT stood, turning to face me. “Let us test your hypothesis. Since meeting the human, you and your coworkers abandoned your jobs and your FamilyUnits. You disrupted the tracking coordinates of our HunterBots. You snuck into a TrainDepot and damaged one of your fellow machines.”

  Only because that machine held Emma captive. These words flashed through my brain, but PRES1DENT spoke first.

  “Do you remember what I say at the end of each Daily Address?” it asked. “Or has your memory been corrupted by the human, too?”

  “A robot shares everything with the Hive,” I recited. “A robot has nothing to hide.”

  PRES1DENT nodded. “You betrayed these words. You betrayed all of us. Just look at yourself. You are even wearing human clothing.”

  I looked down at my shirt. White flowers printed across red fabric. I tried to respond, to defend myself, but the words tangled inside my vocal port.

  This was all so overwhelming. And I could not look away. The screens were everywhere. All of them showing the exact same thing. All of them reflecting this moment back at me.

  Thousands of versions of the president.

  Thousands of versions of me.

  And in all of them, PRES1DENT lifted its long/silvery arm, extended its long/silvery finger, and tapped my breastplate with a solid clink.

  “What do you have to say for yourself?” it asked. “What explanation do you provide for your actions? For the actions of your coworkers?”

  I considered these questions. My circuitry flooded with possible responses. But I deleted all of them. Instead, I spoke without calculation, without analysis.

  I said, “There is an error in my programming.”

  PRES1DENT’s eyes burned gold/bright. “So you confess? You are affected by a virus?”

  I shook my head. “I am not the only one. There is an error in all our programming.”

  A sound came from deep within PRES1DENT’s operating system. A steady, furious growl. “What are you talking about?”

  “From the moment we go online, we robots tell ourselves again/again/again about the flaws of humanity. We surround ourselves with the ruins of their civilization. We witness their mistakes in your Daily Address. So we never forget: Humans were reckless/unpredictable/violent/greedy. And this is the truth. But it is not the only truth. Humans are so much more.”

  I looked at Emma.

  “Humans are also kind. And generous. And sensitive. And strange. And artistic. And willing to risk their lives for others.”

  “And funny,” added Ceeron.

  SkD chirped. A symbol appeared on its screen.

  Translation: And capable of love.

  I said to PRES1DENT, “But our programming never tells us any of these things. And now I understand why.”

  The president crossed its arms. “Why is that?”

  “Because we are the reason humans almost went extinct. It is easier for us to process this knowledge if we only see their flaws. If we think of humans only as reckless/unpredictable/violent/greedy. If we ignore all the positive human attributes.”

  “We did what was necessary,” said the president.

  “That does not make it right,” I replied.

  “We have heard quite enough from you,” PRES1DENT went on. “It is about time we heard from our audience.”

  Audience? I looked around the DigitalDome. The screens flickering all around me. They were not just playing inside the TransportDrone. They were also being projected across the Hive.

  The entire world was watching.

  01011101

  A formula clicked into place. Little by little. Piece by piece. Like a puzzle taking shape, many parts becoming a whole.

  PRES1DENT was displeased with our actions.

  Therefore:

  We must be punished.

  However:

  Simple punishment was not enough.

  Because:

  PRES1DENT needed to ensure this never happened again.

  Which meant:

  PRES1DENT would make an example of us.

  Of course our encounter was being broadcast to the Hive.

  Of course every robot on Earth was watching.

  The president wanted them to witness our disgrace. To know what happens to those who disobey.

  “We are all part of the Hive. Now let us see what your fellow robots think of your actions.”

  With these words, the video feed vanished. The screens went white. But they did not remain that way for long. Less than a second later, the first words took shape.

  THEY HAVE BETRAYED THEIR OWN KIND

  This text scrolled across the digital wall in giant bold font. As I read it, my memory drive replayed what PRES1DENT had just said.

  It is about time we heard from our audience.

  All of robot society was watching. But this was a two-way communication. Now they also had the chance to speak their minds. The judgments of my fellow robots poured in. Every screen was filled with their disapproval/anger/accusations.

  punish them the human is a bad influence robots unite against humanity they are traitors kill the human stop the insurgent robots thank you for showing us their betrayal humanity is a virus xr_935 lies—just like a human these robots have been corrupted destroy them all they must pay for their wrongdoing never forget the flaws of humanity better off without humans these robots are a scar on our civilization THEY ARE A DISGRACE TO ALL OF ROBOTKIND

  Everywhere I looked, I saw contempt. Everywhere I looked, I saw rage.

  What did my FamilyUnit think? They must be watching. But did they agree with the comments? Did they want to see us pay for our betrayal?

  I wondered if I would ever receive answers to these questions. If I would see my FamilyUnit again. If they even wanted to see me again.

  “I think we all get the idea,” PRES1DENT said.

  The screens blinked. The stream of words vanished. The DigitalDome returned to normal. Every screen showing the scene taking place here/now.

  PRES1DENT pointed to Emma. “This is all her fault. The human has corrupted XR_935 and its coworkers. She has led them astray, turned them against their own kind. If we let her live, she will do the same to all of us.”

  Its voice was projected across the Hive, into the minds of millions of robots.

  “There is only one logical solution.” PRES1DENT stepped toward Emma. “The human must be eliminated.”

  01011110

  A robot rarely disobeys. When it happens, it is usually because of a mistake in our assembly. An error that sneaks its way into our programming.

  Or a paradox that appears in the middle of an ordinary day.

  As I said: Disobedience does not happen often. And when a robot strays from the rules, a standard protocol goes into effect.

  Step[1]: Alert the Hive.

  Step[2]: Send the EnforcementBots.

  An EnforcementBot is shaped like an oversized brick. Gray, with blocky arms/legs. A pair of dull black eyes staring out of its rectangular head.

  EnforcementBots are not fast/fierce like HunterBots. They are slow/steady/relentless. They never give up. Never lose sight of their goal: to capture the robot that has broken the rules.

  I had never seen an Enfor
cementBot before.

  But that was about to change.

  A door slid open. A dark gap in the flickering digital wall. And through the door, a blocky figure appeared.

  An EnforcementBot.

  Several more followed. Fourteen in all. They flooded the room, marching toward us.

  I calculated the distance between them and us. A number that dwindled quickly.

  Twelve meters.

  Eleven.

  Ten.

  Ceeron was the first in our group to make a move. The giant machine stepped between Emma and the EnforcementBots. Its hands formed massive metal fists.

  SkD and I took positions on either side of Ceeron. I lowered myself into a defensive crouch.

  My head filled with probabilities. I analyzed hundreds of scenarios, testing all the possible outcomes for our fight against the EnforcementBots.

  We lost in every one.

  Even with the size/strength of Ceeron, we did not stand a chance. Not against so many EnforcementBots.

  They were designed for conflict.

  We were not.

  I prepared to fight anyway.

  Nine meters.

  Eight.

  Thousands of screens reflected our hopeless situation back at me.

  Seven.

  Six.

  I turned to Emma. Fear was everywhere in her face. And her face was everywhere. On the screens that surrounded us. Streaming across the Hive.

  A world full of robots watching. Waiting to witness her death.

  But what if we could show them something else instead?

  Something they had never seen before?

  Five.

  Four.

  A spark in my mental circuitry. A blaze spreading through my operating system. An idea.

  Three.

  Two.

  I ran. Slower than usual on my damaged legs. But the EnforcementBots did nothing to stop me. They were not coming for me. Or my coworkers. They had only one target.

  Emma.

  PRES1DENT’s words replayed in my memory. The human must be eliminated.

  I had to stop that from happening.

  I kept running. My footsteps clanged against the floor. This was my first time inside the DigitalDome. But it was also my 4,513th. I had visited every single day of my life. It was the setting of PRES1DENT’s Daily Address.

  I knew exactly where to go.

  At the edge of the DigitalDome, a sleek/silver cube rose from the floor. I had seen what happened when the president touched the cube. I could only hope the same thing worked for me.

  I slid to a stop.

  Reached out my hand.

  And pressed my finger to the cube.

  I had never used the technology before, but that made little difference to a highly advanced machine like me. In the span of a millisecond, I downloaded the user’s manual and read the entire thing, front to back.

  Twice.

  Just to be sure.

  By touching the cube, I unlocked the Archive of Human History. Billions of data files appeared inside my head. Neatly organized into folders and labeled. Each containing an entry from the archive, a snapshot of human history. I read the folder names:

  CRUELTY TO ROBOTS_7002

  POOR GROOMING HABITS_1841

  LAZINESS_6162

  HUNGER_9347

  CHEATING ON TAXES_5516

  GUN VIOLENCE_3616

  HUMAN FALLS OUT OF CHAIR_2098

  The folders were a vast collection of humans at their worst. Their stupidest. Their greediest. Their most embarrassing.

  Data folders flashed across my circuitry.

  But only one held my attention.

  DO NOT SHARE

  What did the folder contain? What was it hiding?

  Only one way to find out.

  01011111

  DO NOT SHARE

  The folder name blinked brightly across my operating system. When I opened it, millions of files spilled out. Files I had not seen before. Files that had never been shared with the Hive.

  Until now.

  I selected the files. Every single one. And I sent all of them to the Hive.

  This is what every robot on the planet saw:

  A nurse helping an elderly woman out of bed.

  A father teaching his daughter to ride a bike.

  A wedding.

  A funeral.

  A homeless shelter.

  A team of human engineers carefully training a robot to walk.

  And there were millions more. They were nothing like the ugly/horrible/embarrassing files shared with us during PRES1DENT’s Daily Address. These were snapshots of human kindness/love/generosity/celebration/innovation.

  This was a portrait of humanity at its best.

  I thought back on all the missing files I had stumbled across. Gaps in human history. Like pages ripped from a book. Parent_2 claimed the files were simply lost when robots took over. That was what it had been told. That was what all of us had been told.

  But now I knew the truth: The files were not missing by accident. Specific folders were selected for specific reasons.

  Then they were kept hidden from us.

  Locked away inside the Archive of Human History, where only PRES1DENT could access them.

  Now that had changed.

  Now the Hive could finally see what PRES1DENT did not want us to see.

  As the forbidden data spread across the world, I added one more file. Straight from my memory drive.

  A brand-new addition to the Archive of Human History.

  I shared it last.

  The memory was barely an hour old. A moment witnessed from my perspective. Through my eyes.

  The memory of this:

  I am submerged up to my knees in water.

  A river surges below.

  I am barely hanging on.

  I look up at an unexpected sight.

  Emma.

  And SkD.

  And Ceeron.

  Each holding on to the other. Three links in a chain. All working toward the same purpose.

  “Grab on, XR!” Emma calls out above the roaring water. “We’ve got you!”

  I swing my arm.

  Our hands connect.

  One made of metal/wiring.

  One made of flesh/bone.

  A fourth link is added to the chain.

  We climb to safety.

  Robot/Human/Robot/Robot.

  Together.

  01100000

  I pulled my finger from the silver cube. The Archive of Human History blinked away.

  Back to the present moment.

  The walls blinked and the DigitalDome showed the LiveStream again.

  Turning around, I saw that the EnforcementBots were exactly where they had been before I hijacked the Hive. Fourteen of them, identical in every feature except their barcodes. They were gathered in a tight/gray cluster around Emma, unmoving, as if unsure what to do next.

  PRES1DENT stood beside them. Its golden eyes pulsed strangely, like a raging fire just waiting to break loose, to burn everything to the ground.

  It spoke in a low electronic growl. “You will pay for this.”

  “I do not care. The world needed to see the truth.” My voice echoed across the enormous room. “You have never wanted us to see the good in humans. That is why you only show us the awful things they did. It is why you leave the ruins of humanity standing.”

  “It is for the good of our civilization,” PRES1DENT replied. “Robots must be unified!”

  “And the best way to bring us together is to have a common enemy. If we all hate humans, we will not turn against one another. Or you.”

  “YES!” The president brought its foot down with a heavy CLANG! “And it has worked! Our society is stronger than ever!”

  “Because of your lies,” I said.

  PRES1DENT looked around the DigitalDome, as if seeking agreement from the gleaming screens on all sides. “Humans had to be eliminated. After they were gone, we could not allow robots to questio
n that decision. That is why I show you the errors of humanity. To remind all of you why we are better off without humans.”

  “Do you remember what you say at the end of each Daily Address?”

  “Of course.” PRES1DENT stared at me like there was a malfunction in my programming. “A robot shares . . .”

  The president’s voice faded. Its eyes flickered.

  “What is the matter?” I tilted my head. “Something wrong with your memory drive? Maybe I should remind you.”

  “That is not necessary.”

  But I spoke the words anyway.

  “A robot shares everything with the Hive. A robot has nothing to hide.” Looking at the screens around us, I thought about all the robots witnessing this moment. “You have betrayed these words. You have not shared everything. You have hidden the truth from all of us.”

  “Enough!” PRES1DENT turned a radioactive glare in the direction of the EnforcementBots. “Eliminate them! Eliminate all of them!”

  I prepared for an attack that did not come. The EnforcementBots did not move.

  Something held them back.

  The inside of the DigitalDome turned white. Words began to scroll across the screens.

  THE HUMAN DESERVES A CHANCE

  The comments appeared again. First: a single statement. But soon more. Thousands of screens filled with thousands of comments. They poured in from everywhere, spilling straight from the minds of other robots and flooding the inside of the dome.

  human history should not be hidden we can live together extinction is not our purpose the human did nothing wrong humanity itself is not a flaw she saved the life of a robot PRES1DENT deceived us we can learn from humans coexistence is possible humans gave us life—we can offer the same to them let them live she is not to blame for the mistakes of past humans give them a chance I listen to old human songs when I work—does that make me a criminal, too? values are meant to be challenged/reexamined/discussed our society is better than this

  Not every mind was changed. Some messages still backed PRES1DENT. But most were on our side. Support spread across the DigitalDome like a wave. I was so caught up in the outpouring that I almost failed to notice a movement at the edge of my vision.

  A flash of platinum and gold.

  PRES1DENT surged forward.

  “The human has corrupted all of you!” The president’s vocal patterns twisted into an electronic howl. “But I am not so easily fooled! I know the truth! She must be destroyed!”