Chapter 8 - Glorious fi... defence
The Slug
At first, nothing. The ship sat there, in the middle of the school yard, waiting. We all stood there, also waiting.
'Tense', I muttered, under my breath. And it was; tense, that is.
Then, something. The scout ship's doors opened and three Cyborgs came pouring out. Unlike Phill and the last Cyborg I fought, these were not in perfect Human form. Oh, they looked kind of Human, but if one paid close enough attention, they would see that something was not quite right about them. And by close enough attention, I mean simply look at them; their hair didn't look real, their noses and ears looked like pieces of skin-coloured metal, and so on. This implied that they didn't intend on staying on Earth for long. I said as much to the others in a low voice.
'It appears so', Phill agreed, but that was all that was said.
Meanwhile, the Cyborgs on the ground spread out, covering the perimeter of the opening. 'OK, let's go', I told the others, and we crept out of the building. Slowly, as slowly as we could, we crawled - well, not really crawled, but we might as well have been - closer and closer to them.
Then, the distraction. Soon after we were all in position, and in exact accordance with our plan, the school bell started ringing. It was the signal that heralded our attack, triggered by Boy. 'You ready?' I asked the others.
While two of them nodded, it was Phill who suggested, 'I have a suggestion.'
'Yes?' Jason asked impatiently. We didn't have much time.
'Allow me to wait back as you go in. After the fighting has started, my presence may give the Cyborgs some confidence that I will help them. Then, we will all easily defeat them.'
Carmen and Jason didn't seem to like it, but we didn't have much time, and I could see no flaw in the plan. 'OK then', I replied hastily. Jason sent me his fear of Phill betraying us, as we were in contact, but I told him not to worry. Phill was on our side.
The Cyborgs were still distracted by the school bell, evidently not aware of what it was. Two of them faced the direction the sound was coming from, while the third kept his back to them, watching their flank.
'Let's roll', I told Carmen and Jason, and they slipped along the ridge of the area, circling around to either side of the enemy party.
At this point, the three Cyborgs really had no idea what was going on. Although they showed no expression, their stances were very cautious and confused; they probably didn't even know what a school was, let alone a school bell. As far as I knew, all Cyborgs are built with all the knowledge they need. The three of them started to warily make their way back towards their ship, suspecting that something was wrong. I knew the others were waiting for me to initiate the attack, but I wasn't sure if now was the best time. Then, to hell with it I decided, and crept yet closer. I couldn't travel anymore now without being seen.
A few things then happened at once. I saw someone, probably Boy, lunge inside the entrance to the ship. I saw all the Cyborgs turn towards the entrance, startled - if machines could be startled - and about to give chase. Then I saw myself - from first-person view, of course - hurtling towards the Cyborgs' exposed backs and two others, hopefully Jason and Carmen, lunging on the other sides.
It wasn't too difficult, really. I hit the closest one on the back of the head with a fist of Metal Slug with the force of a train. Or so I flattered myself. It ripped the... Cyborgy fibres connecting the back of his head to his neck, leaving the head rolling forward. The counter-attack, however, as the Cyborg swung around to hit me was fast and quick. So the CPU wasn't in its head. The next obvious choice would be the chest. I wouldn't make any kind of assumption that it couldn't see, just because I'd disabled its head. Phill was probably the only Cyborg with two eyes... or, cameras.
By this time, all three Cyborgs had turned to me, only to get pounced on by more Slugs from behind. I hoped we gave them the shock of their lives. I also hoped that Boy and the others had managed to disable the ship's communications if they hadn't already. Otherwise, the main ship would now know that I wasn't alone. My fears were realised, however, when I saw Boy, William and Frank being backed out of the entrance by two attacking Cyborgs. The corridors in the ship were too narrow for three Slugs to stand side-by-side, so it was essentially two-v-two with Frank standing behind, not being able to do anything.
Onto more immediate matters, however, and the Cyborg I had ambushed had turned its body for the counter-attack too fast. Its head ripped further on his neck. That almost made me laugh as I whipped my right leg out and severely dented the front of its left leg. If that made it mad, it didn't show it as it tried to lash out with its hand. The fact that it wasn't trying to pull anything shifty told me that this was just an ordinary scouting Cyborg; they didn't send the good ones with the scouting party then.
It wasn't long before I had its arms pinned with both of mine and its good leg damaged also. A hard shove from me and it fell back, ripping at the legs. Not exactly ripping, as it was metallic, but kind of like a tearing... like if a steel beam was rent in half. If it was a Human it would have been disgusting. As it wasn't a Human, however, I jumped onto its body, ready to pummel its chest in the hopes of hitting the CPU, only to realise it was already dead. After inspection, I discovered its CPU was in its leg. Smart tactic, except it didn't work.
Turning aside from the... corpse, I jumped up to help Carmen defeat her opponent. She'd taken a blow to the side; I could tell by the way the slime appeared rippled beneath her clothes there, and how she favoured her other side. But that was OK. She'd just move the damaged slime inside her body for healing, and replace it with new slime. To kill a Slug, it must be done fast.
After we were finished with that one, its CPU in its chest, we both assisted Jason. He'd already pretty much won, but I still got the killing blow by smashing the Cyborg in the neck. Now that we were done, we looked up to find three dead Cyborgs just outside the ship's entrance, Frank and... Rosetta standing over the bodies. Ethan and Pauline hung a bit further back, watching from the shade of a building.
So they'd come out. Of course. Just couldn't stand by and do nothing. Something could have easily happened to them, to him! I couldn't allow that possibility!
Well, perhaps the two Humans were safer in the presence of all of us. As a matter of fact, they probably were. Of course, I still had to let them know I didn't like them risking themselves needlessly.
'And what do we have here?' I asked grandiosely as I approached them.
'They forced me!' Rosetta ratted out straight away. That made me chuckle, internally of course. I was still giving off the perception of anger.
'Well, next time, how about you stay where you are, so you don't get killed? We had it under control!'
'It appears you did', Phill replied, walking into the scene. 'I was waiting for an opportunity, but it appeared I wasn't needed.'
'Of course', I told him, but as I did so I touched Rosetta. I informed her that I wasn't really mad with her, which put her at ease. She tried to conceal that she was pleased, of course, but couldn't conceal it from me. 'Anyway', I addressed everyone. 'It looks like we've made a fine start to this glorious fi... defence', I amended as I caught Phill's stare. He was really caught up on that for some reason.
'It appears so', Ethan spoke for the first time. He looked as if he'd already forgotten that I was supposed to be angry with him. So much for that. 'And may I say', he continued, 'that that was the most awesome thing I've ever seen!'
Pauline nodded in agreement, while Rosetta didn't seem too happy about it. They probably had forced her, which was actually kind of funny. 'OK, party's over', I declared. 'Onto phase two!'
The Human
It was true; that was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen. Some actual Cyborg-on-Slug action, and I saw it all. The only injury sustained that I could tell was from Carmen, but she didn't appear to even notice it now. Although Jason also attacked one solo, he wasn't hit. Did that mean he was better than Carmen?
And the way Ma
tthew had defeated that Cyborg... it looked like he hadn't even tried. It may be wrong of me, but I kind of hoped I would see some more fights like that. As long as we won, of course.
Meanwhile, Boy and William emerged from the ship. "I wasn't sure how to disable the communications, so we just smashed up everything that looked important", Boy informed us.
"Will smashing the controls actually stop their communications?" Pauline asked.
"No", Phill replied immediately, making us all feel terrible. But he almost made up for it by saying, "However, if they didn't send the signal, the ship will automatically have sent a warning signal that it lost contact with the exploration team, not what happened to them. In this case, they will probably think you've managed to take them all out on your own." He indicated Matthew. "Perhaps with the help of some human weaponry."
"Phew", Matt exaggerated. "We may just get lucky then."
"Indeed", Phill agreed. "Assuming, of course, that the Cyborgs didn't signal what really happened."
"Indeed", I also said, for no apparent reason. This earned me a look from Phill, which I kind of saw coming.
"We can't worry about what might be", Pauline started helpfully. "Let's just focus on what is. So, now what?"
"Now", Frank opted to answer her, "we wait for the Cyborg main ship to realise that something is wrong, either because their scouts have disappeared, or because they've been attacked by a group of Slugs. They will hopefully come to investigate, which is when we'll blast them with the LOC."
There was a pause before, "I think we should assume that they already know." This came from Phill, somehow thoughtfully.
"Although I gave a whole speech about this before", Matthew added, "I agree." I wasn't aware of any speech.
After another short pause, Pauline put in optimistically, "At least they don't know we have Phill."
Matthew faced her. "Yes. You're right." He turned to Boy. "Get to our ship and ready the LOC." I assumed then that they could fire the cannon from their scout ship. Matt continued, "We also have to assume that they are acting right now."
"Who wants to come?" Boy asked hopefully. "No one?"
"We need everyone here", Frank told him.
"Of course. It would've been handy to have more than two communicators right now."
"You have contact devices?" I asked.
"Yes, although they look identical to the message device you've already seen", Matthew informed me. "And we only have two; Boy's using one, and Carmen the other.
"Ah", was my response. I suppose that meant they were purple then.
After Boy trudged off, probably to drive some secret million-dollar sports car they have to reach the Slugs' ship, we all just stood around. "Well, let's roll", Matt announced.
"You always say that", Phill complained.
No one responded to that. We all moved off to get ready.
"This time", Rosetta told Pauline and I sternly, "we're going to stay hidden."
"We'll see..." Pauline said thoughtfully. I was genuinely worried about what kind of plan she had concocted this time.
The Cyborg
Now was the time. The perfect time to implement my plan. All of these circumstances had fortunately led to this; it was time to broaden my options. I approached matthew, preparing my question.
"Matt", I began, using his human-shortcut variation.
"Yessir?" he asked me.
I took that as a 'yes', and continued. "I have another plan." This was the moment. The time.
"And that is?" he asked, not seeming too interested. I looked around, and saw ethan, pauline and rosetta walking away behind me. So he was looking at them; perhaps he would absentmindedly agree to my proposition. Such a thing would never happen to a Cyborg, but organics are prone to anything.
So I went on, "Well, as I said, we have to assume that those Cyborgs sent signals back to their ship, and therefore back to the main ship, and that the others therefore know everything."
"That is true, despite your overuse of the word 'therefore'." He smirked.
I wasn't entirely sure what to make of that, as I'd only said 'therefore' twice, so I decided to ignore it. "Anyway", I said, utilising his word, "they therefore know everything, except one thing: me. As they are not yet aware of my existence, or of my aiding you, I am a valuable asset in this fight." I opted to use the term 'fight' instead of the correct 'defence' as I was hoping that speaking like a slug would further sway him to my argument. Were he a Cyborg, I would but put forward my plan, and he would answer his reply. Once again, however, organics made everything more complicated.
Meanwhile, matthew seemed to lose his disinterest. That might be a good indication, or it might not. "And how do you plan to fulfil your usefulness as this asset?" he said, looking at me straight in my viewing implements, and phrasing the last word with disgust.
Now this greatly confused me; was I not an asset to be utilised in this defence? What else did he think of me? Perhaps he considered that I would not prove my usefulness, that I was not worthy enough to be categorised as an asset. From where would he draw such conclusions, however? That he beat me in our initial encounter? That I had spent the last 20 years in a cave? That I'd done nothing to assist him fight the Cyborgs? This made my choice clear; he planned to destroy me once this was over.
This also, however, made me blurt out without thinking, "Why aren't I an asset?" That was incredibly strange. I stopped my other processes to consider that I had just said something without considering it first, without weighing the benefits of that speech against the consequences. Is this what matthew was saying about my becoming more organic? I hoped not; it must be just a momentary lapse of judgement.
Matthew answered my outburst with, "You're not an asset, Phil." This confirmed my suspicions, and made me wary of his imminent attack. Why else would he tell me so plainly? However, he would be the one losing a valuable asset in the defence, albeit an unpredictable one. Even were he to defeat me, the other Cyborgs might yet win. My illusions were ended, however, when he continued, "A chair is an asset. Money is an asset. Even ordinary machines are assets. But you, Phil, are a sentient machine. Arguably a form of life. And what's more, you're more like us slugs than anyone cares to admit. No, you're not an asset, you're a valuable warrior, and a friend."
If my visual communication plate - also called my face - showed what my processes were going through at this moment, matthew would most probably understand what I was thinking right now. I almost didn't take note of the fact that all the remaining Slugs, less rosetta, had stopped their various tasks to listen to us. All my information, all my ideas, had all been wrong. As for how a Slug could think so of a Cyborg astounded me. It was too much to comprehend, so much so that my communication device started to muddle my speech due to my scrambled processes. "I... Okay..."
Quickly, I put myself in check, and finished my original intention. "Thank you", I said briskly, not wanting to make him feel his good intentions were irrelevant to me. Of course they weren't, but I still wanted to keep my options open. "Back to my plan. The Cyborgs do not know of my existence. I therefore propose that I will go into hiding, to ensure that I am not discovered. At the opportune moment, I will strike, implementing a surprise attack and hopefully securing a successful defence for us. Or, if circumstances demanded it" - this last part I added cautiously - "I could pretend to ally myself with the Cyborgs, only to betray them at a crucial moment."
After a slight pause, I continued on despite my original plan. Interesting. "Of course, I still remain loyal to you and the Slugs. You should know this as you offer me my best prospect of survival; the Cyborgs would likely decommission me should I rejoin them."
"Like you helped us fight the first battle you mean?" someone asked of me. I was too engrossed in examining matthew's face to determine who it was. Matthew, for his part, just looked at me seriously, not betraying his thoughts, before replying.
"That sounds like a good plan. However, I do not trust you because I know I offer you the best cha
nces of survival. I trust you because you are a friend, one of us. So go ahead, do what you must. I'm relying on you. Are you sure you want to wait it out and not fight immediately though?"
"Don't worry", I reassured him. "I'm good at waiting."
Despite my attempt at organic humour - or was it irony? - his meaning was clear; he deliberately put his faith in my hands. He must know that I could ruin everything, all of his plans, simply by informing the Cyborgs of what they were. I knew his outrageous attachment to this world and its inhabitants, yet still he risked it all on the pretence of trust. Trust of a Cyborg. As I turned and walked away, I had to seriously consider my options. If given the opportunity, would I betray the Slugs to the Cyborgs? I didn't really intend to with this plan, but simply wanted to have the option to should all of our other plans fail. Should we lose the defence, I have a better chance of survival with the Cyborgs than with the Slugs. Despite this, however, could I really betray them, regardless of what effect the decision would have on me?
A true Cyborg would not hesitate to make this decision. Matthew was right then; I was no longer a perfect Cyborg. I was the reverse literal meaning of the word - a machine with organic augmentations. My augmentations were, however, psychological ones. A robot with self-realisation problems; quite a humorous predicament.
Well, I reasoned, there is no point in debating an unanswerable question right now. I will address the matter when it arises.
The Human
And so we repeated our journey. Rosetta, Pauline and I all travelling back to my 'home'. There was silence for the first part of the trip, so I contented myself with contemplating the harshly defined clouds. They looked solid enough to pick up and play with.
All of a sudden, Pauline stated, "Well that went well."
"What went well?" Rosetta asked. I wondered if she was kidding, or really didn't know what Pauline could possibly be talking about.
"That encounter", Pauline replied, annoyed. She seemed to share my sentiment. "We took out a few of them."
"Fortunately, they took out none of us", Rosetta said gravely. "However, you are correct; that first encounter did go well."
"Are all Slug-Cyborg fights that awesome?", I begged of the Slug.
She looked at me as we walked, as Pauline said, "I didn't know you relished life-threatening combat, Ethan."
"I do. As long as I'm not in it", I answered jokingly. Rosetta, however, appeared to take it seriously, so I had to tell her, "I was kidding."
And so we kept on walking. Eventually, we got back to my place outside the hard-waste tip. Pauline tried to conceal her dismay that it hadn't transformed into a palace in the few hours we'd been away. She still wasn't used to the fact that a human being actually lived here. Well, she'd get used to it soon.
I sat down on the familiar mattress. "So, now what?", I asked of no one in particular.
Rosetta took it into her head that I was talking to her. "We wait for Matthew to tell us it is safe. Until then, we wait here." She eyed Pauline severely, daring her to try something. She didn't.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, I decided that we might as well talk about something while we waited for the arrival of some people who wanted to kill us all. "So, Rosetta", I began, trying to think of something. She looked at me expectantly. I looked back at her with nothing to say.
"What does your brain look like?" Pauline blurted out. Well, it was better than what I had to say.
The Slug eyed the biologist uneasily before replying, "All I can say is that our brains are different to yours. You should ask Matthew for further information."
"If he survives", I muttered, realising that she wasn't going to tell us. Probably didn't want me to know where her weak point is. Matt had said the only way to be sure a Slug was dead was to kill their brain.
"He'll survive", Pauline reassured me, although we both had no idea of knowing.
"We should help", I said abruptly, and stood up.
Rosetta actually grabbed my shoulders, the first time I'd been touched by a Slug (other than Matthew, of course). I kind of hoped that her brain signals would flow into me, revealing a whole other world of this sense, but of course nothing like that happened. What did happen was that she told me firmly, "No. We are staying here. This next phase of the plan is a lot more dangerous than the first, especially if they are informed of our presence. We will stay here."
Her demanding tone forced me to comply, so I sat down again. "Fine", I told her. "But that won't stop me from daydreaming."
She didn't reply to that, so I looked back up at the clouds and dreamed of Slugenis.
The Slug
It was time. Time for the culmination of twenty years, of over a cycle, of surviving; no, of waiting. That whole time I thought I was surviving, I was really just waiting for this defining moment. Yes... defining.
Perhaps I'd better leave philosophy out of this. Especially if I'm never going to tell anyone about it. Ethan and Pauline were safe this time; at least, if Rosetta does her job they'll be safe. Boy is at the scout ship, waiting to fire the LOC, and Phill has gone walk-abouts. I've based the success of my entire plan in the hands of a robot, and we were already missing two Slugs in our fight to start out with. The two Humans were vulnerable, and must be protected...
OK, jumping off that train of thought and boarding the next one, we should be fine. Or so I told myself as I waited in my spot in the school. I was awaiting the arrival of the Cyborg main ship, and the eventual blasting of it with the LOC. Some part of me reflected that this would make an awesome movie if only anyone ever bothered to make it. Perhaps I should write some kind of autobiography once all this is over. "Memoirs of a Slug: For those who don't know, Slugs are aliens. Yeah, that's right. Aliens". Not exactly catchy.
I considered going over my plans for our defence one more time, but I'd done that enough now that if anyone were reading my mind, they'd find it quite boring. So I contented myself with just sitting there, thinking random thoughts. Random thoughts should have worked, but I kept going back to what I would do once we were finished here, assuming we won of course. My options were quite clear: stay on Earth or return to Slugenis. Now, the best choice would be to return home, and re-assimilate myself with the Empire. If I'm lucky, the Slug King won't even know that I chose to defend this planet rather than go straight back with Boy. A few weeks' delay in space travel would not be a surprise.
However, recent events told me that I wasn't in the habit of making smart choices lately. Damn organics, always having their common sense overruled by their feelings. Phill would be disappointed in me. So, I knew I couldn't just leave Ethan. Nor the Cyborg. Assuming, of course, that he doesn't betray us. And, I couldn't just stay on Earth and completely forgo the Slugs and Boy after everything they'd done for me.
So then, my options were no longer varied; only one choice remained. I had to return to Slugenis, and bring not just Ethan and Pauline if she wishes, but also Phill. That will be a fun conversation with Boy, not to mention the King. He'd probably blast me out of the sky before I could land.
Oh well, so be it. I'd better make sure the others are on a different ship so we don't all have to die. I'd lose my Honour, too, I suppose, but my friends would know I died for a good cause. Trying to save a Cyborg. Woot.
This random train of thoughts was interrupted, when I received a signal from Carmen. I was with her and Jason again, because, well, I kinda liked fighting with them last time. Anyway, she touched me and sent me her vision of the sky. There was a dark spludge there. I really should have been worried and anxious, but had to laugh that I'd just used the word "spludge". Jason eyed me, but I just shook my head.
Now I turned my attention to the spludge. It was getting bigger, and it was obvious straight away that it was bigger than the first ship. Well, I didn't want it to get too low in the atmosphere, otherwise the LOC might damage the Earth's ecosystem or something, so I sent a signal to Carmen to use her communicator to signal to Boy to open fire.
The Human<
br />
So there we were, just sitting there minding our own business, when an alien ship descended from the sky. And this one was big, bigger than the other one. I wondered how many Cyborgs could fit in there, but didn't want to think about it. Too late.
"There it is", Pauline pointed out the obvious.
"Yes", I agreed.
A pause. Rosetta said, "Now we wait."
The craft came closer and closer to the ground. "Umm, are they like, going to fire?" I wondered out loud. No one answered, and I assumed that was because no one knew. The craft just kept growing bigger and bigger, and didn't look like it planned to stop anytime soon.
Well, its growth was rapidly accelerated when a great blast erupted from the sky above it, followed by a thundering 'boom!' It almost looked like it knew what was coming, kind of like when you stick your whole arm in a dark hole, and you're ready to take it out as fast as you can at the slightest feeling because you just know it's not empty. The ship quickly zoomed down, much closer to Earth than I thought was healthy for us, trying to outrun the blast which chased it.
Beforehand, I knew, I just knew that the LOC outburst would be purple. So it really surprised me when it was a blazing, flaming red. Why go all-out with the purple, then switch to red? Must be a Slug thing I guessed.
Away from uselessness, the red bolt was much faster than the ship, and chased the poor thing through what I assumed was the atmosphere. Before it could hit, however, the vessel quickly veered to the side through what appeared to be some kind of thrusters down its flanks. The large ignition blast this quick manoeuvre created sent a great burst of flame and smoke to one side, with the ship suddenly averting to the opposite side. It didn't look good for our greenhouse gas problem.
Anyway, this unexpected turn of the spacecraft was just that; unexpected. The LOC blast tried to change direction to follow it - which greatly confused me as I didn't know it could do that - but couldn't follow it exactly. What ended up happening was the red bolt managed to strike and puncture the side of the ship. I was expecting whatever that blast was to go straight through the main ship and hit me in the face, but it just penetrated it and stayed in there. The ship wobbled around a lot, but it seemed to be able to take it, maybe from some advanced controls to adjust its course. Something like that.
Now, all this happened pretty fast so no one had uttered a word yet; we were all staring dumbly at the spectacle in the sky. "Wow", I let escape my throat, especially when the section of the ship that had been punctured just detonated. Just like that. It blew up, sending fragments of metal (or, what I presumed to be metal) flying everywhere. It was pretty cool, and my 'wow' was, in my opinion, warranted.
This the ship didn't seem to be able to take. It rapidly lost control and flew down in a spiral, trying to slow its plunge. It was only when it was quite close to the ground that I realised what it was trying to do: crash-land right in the middle of the school.
The Cyborg
As soon as it began, it was over. The Slug's delayed-detonation LOC had severely damaged the Cyborg ship, and they now spiralled down towards their destruction. That was their main ship, most likely containing the remnants of their combat force, and perhaps Rabadootime himself. It was a clear victory. The Cyborgs were defeated.
All of my contingency planning, all of my careful evaluations, all for nothing. We had successfully defended the earth. My loyalty to the Slugs would never be questioned. That was good.
My celebrations ended, unfortunately, when I realised the doomed Cyborgs' plans. They weren't spiralling down to their destruction; they spiralled down to Matthew, hidden in the school. Trying to destroy him in their final moments of sentience.
This couldn't be! I needed the Slug to escape this place, the others would never trust me! He was the only one to believe in my usefulness, he hinged his plan on my faith! Even before all that, he was the one to give me a radio wave device, to alter my appearance, to free me!
What kind of tactic was this? Surely not one worthy of Cyborgs?! To take out your enemy who had clearly bested you... this was unbelievable, dishonourable!
...Now this is a problem. I stopped considering the Cyborg craft, although it would crash in seconds, and devoted a large proportion of my processes to study what had just happened. Matthew was right, and I understand him and believe him more every day. To call a Cyborg dishonourable means nothing to us. Anyone who kills Slugs, no matter how, has done their job. Yes, perhaps, they receive no praise, no honour, but they have done what they were created to do. They had killed a Slug.
Was this what Cyborgs have come to? The only reason the vast majority of us exist is so we can fight in a war we have no part in, no stake in, no benefit in, no belief in. We have no reason to fight Slugs, we don't know why we must fight them; but if Cyborgs didn't fight Slugs, most of us wouldn't... wouldn't be. We have no reason for our existence save for this unfathomable cause.
I quickly suspended this concept to dejectedly watch the ship crash-land in the school, in close proximity to the other Cyborg craft, creating a large explosion. They had simultaneously destroyed our commandeered vessel, my allies and my... leader. My leader. This must have been planned; but if so, how did they know everything, about the LOC, about everything?
With dread, I realised not the answer, but what our survivors would perceive to be the answer. Ethan and Pauline must still be alive, and therefore Rosetta. Boy might yet live as he was controlling the LOC from one of the Slugs' ships. My future was all too evident, their thinking all too clear. They would see these events the only way they could, the only way anyone could.
They would blame me. It would be easy too, so obvious they will reproach themselves later for not realising the possibility. To them, it will be evident that I had somehow linked up with the Cyborgs and divulged all of our plans. Perhaps they will believe that I had somehow connected to the network, perhaps was connected this entire time, and that was how the Cyborgs knew about the LOC and where Matthew lay in wait.
I could be left on this world, probably tied up in that miserable cave again. There will likely be no radio this time. The greater probability indicates, however, that the Slugs will simply kill me this time, kill me for good. They trusted me once - allowed Matthew to trust me - and look how I'd betrayed them. They'd see it as vengeance, as restoring the honour of those whom the Cyborgs ended.
Yes, this is what will happen. They will return to their home world, Slugenis. Ethan will likely remain behind; without Matthew, he really had no bonds with the other Slugs, nor they with him. Pauline might still go, if they allow her; she has been instructed by her leaders to gather information. The Slugs will tell of the disaster at the planet earth, where one of their oldest warriors trusted a Cyborg and was killed for it. It will spark hatred and bloodlust, provoking major attacks on Cyborgs, coupled with a large increase in the organic phenomenon of morale.
I will be to blame for the deaths of numerous Cyborgs, all because of this emotional mistake. I had to examine my options.
I considered;
Above all, I didn't want to remain on this world alone, to be back at the mercy of time. However, I didn't want to die either. Therefore, I had to determine a way in which I would live somewhere other than earth. There were 2 options for this: I would either live with the Slugs or the Cyborgs. The Slugs were obviously going to be extremely hostile towards me after these recent events, so that left only my old kin.
Now this presented a new set of problems. I couldn't allow them to discover that I had aided the Slugs in any way. Nor could I show them how much I was changed; such a discovery would indicate my collaboration with organics. So, I had to assume my previous Cyborg way of thinking, of analysing. I also had to ensure that the Slugs never know that I have returned to the Cyborgs. If so, they will likely tell them that a traitor is in their midst, out of pure spite. That is my nature now; I am a traitor to both Cyborg and Slug. I even betrayed the humans.
Next, I would need to find a way off this world, and back to
my race. Both Cyborg ships were destroyed; that was unfortunate. A brilliant strategy on the invaders' parts, but a missed opportunity on mine. Obviously, the humans had no ships capable of long-distance space flight. Therefore, I would need a Slug ship to escape. This will get me back to my former home, and can be easily explained to whomever finds me; I will tell them I intercepted it and killed all Slugs on board.
So, I now need to decide how to take the Slug ships. The interstellar ship was the only one capable of taking me back to Cyborg territory. However, that ship still hung in orbit around the planet jupiter. I had to first commandeer the Slugs' scout ship, and use that to travel to the larger one. This would leave the Slugs stranded on earth with only the small transport ship, not capable of any prolonged space travel. I quickly stopped my processes from considering this implication.
As to how to fly the interstellar ship, that I would have to figure out. No amount of contemplation will assist me there.
Lastly, I needed to consider how to get there. This ship was in the so-called 'australian outback'. Taking a human transportation vehicle would not work; I had no idea how to use one. Unlike the Slugs' ship, I had nothing to base any knowledge on, nothing Cyborg to compare it to. I'd never used a Cyborg land vehicle; indeed, compared to some Cyborgs, I was lucky that I'd ever set foot on a planet. So, I would have to travel to this outback manually. It would take time, as all things did, but it would be inconspicuous.
I began on my journey. Hopefully, the Slugs would not search for me for some time. Even if they did, they could hardly determine my plans. It seemed a plausible venture to me, but I could understand that organics would view it as impossible.
As I walked in the direction of this australian outback - I had learned its rough location from our multiple defence conferences - I contemplated where exactly in this place the ships might be. Surely it isn't a large area, for I had heard from the radio wave device that the continent of australia was one of the smallest on earth; it therefore likely only encompasses a small amount of land. It shouldn't be too hard to search. Well, for that at least, I would have to wait and see.
The Slug
Well, that was unexpected. The LOC had operated marvellously, penetrating the Cyborg ship and detonating perfectly. That wasn't the unexpected part, however.
The unexpected part began pretty much at the beginning when the ship appeared a bit too prepared for an LOC blast to come suddenly out of the sky. Boy tried to steer the remote-controlled blast into the ship, and hit it, but not at an optimal point. This, unfortunately, meant that the explosion didn't kill everyone and everything - actually, just everything - on board, nor did it destroy all of the ship's vital equipment.
And those damned Cyborgs knew exactly what to do; they spiralled their ship down straight towards the school, to crash on top of the original ship. A great plan; it should have killed me and any nearby Slugs, while also taking out the Cyborg technology that we'd captured.
Of course, it didn't entirely work. The second that ship took off away from the LOC blast, so did I. Carmen, Jason and I hightailed it - what a strange word - out of there as fast as our legs could respond to frantic brain signals.
We would've made it out flawlessly as well, but a stray piece of ship metal just had to fly out and spear poor Carmen in the leg, while at the same time destroying the communicator that she was keeping there. She was copping all the damage today. Not to mention, now Boy was the only one with a contact device, so that was not entirely useful. In fact, now that I thought about it, it was utterly useless.
After a small debate over whether Carmen should try to bring the damaged slime into her body for healing or let it shed her body naturally along with all of the dead cells - since most of her slime had survived the little piece of shrapnel - she declared that she would heal it. I suppose that Slugs can get quite attached to their slime, even though its roles aren't as specific as a human's arms or legs.
So we stood there, watching the flame-ball that used to be the courtyard of my school perform the function of a flame-ball - it was on fire. Well, that could be easily remedied, plus the fire shouldn't spread to any of the buildings. Of course, it did leave a nice crater in the asphalt, but that would make a nice addition to the school. Add a bit of character to it.
Anyway, we were discussing our next move. 'I sure hope that Ethan didn't come back into the school looking for us again', I muttered.
'I doubt it', Jason told me. 'After what happened last time, I don't think Rosetta would let him do any such thing.'
I supposed that was true, but still. Well, still nothing. 'Very well then', I replied. 'So, for our next move, I vote we regroup with Frank and William. We've no idea where Boy or Phill are, and so we have the best chance of finding the first two.'
'Ahh, on the topic of Phill', Jason began, but I knew where he was going. As if I hadn't already thought of it. But I let him say it out. 'I fear that we will have to assume that he has... defected to the Cyborgs.'
'Why are we speaking this aloud?' Carmen asked suddenly. Now that startled me. She was right; we weren't conferring like true Slugs. I knew I was, but perhaps we were truly this Human now, that we always speak aloud in private; I wasn't too sure that was a bad thing, but I kept that thought to myself.
'Good point', I told her, and extended my hands out. Each of them placed both their hands interlaced with mine; my left hand on the bottom, then Jason's, then Carmen's, then my right hand. This was a well-known three-way Slug conference formation that kept all three of us in constant contact with each member. It had the double benefit of being highly efficient and looking really alien to anybody that happened to see us.
So, I simultaneously told Jason that I agreed with his assumption - although not that I'd considered it long ago - and proposed the best place where we could find William and Frank. Jason sent me his acknowledgment of my acknowledgment, but didn't count on me seeing his immense relief that I'd taken no offence on Phill's behalf.
Carmen, on the other hand, sent me her agreement with my plans to search for the others and for where we would search, but didn't know that she'd sent me readable signals of self-doubt regarding her abilities. So far, she'd been the only one injured in this whole encounter, and didn't count that as favourable on either her Honour or her combat aptitude. I almost caught myself saying in Phill's voice, "classic organics". She would have to deal with it on her own; I wasn't yet ready to inform anyone of my unique abilities.
On a side note - or, thought - I detected no more signs of mutiny from Carmen. She must have come to her senses then, must have seen, learned and understood what I had. In my mind, her Honour was restored; excellent.
And with that settled, we set off. We were headed to the other side of the school, where the other two Slugs would have escaped to had they survived the crash. I sincerely hoped they had survived, and not just because we needed every advantage we could get. But, if they hadn't, they would be remembered with Honour. Were this the case, I would try to be happy for them.
After a few minutes of silence - we had ceased communicating - Jason asked to no one in particular, 'If that was the main Cyborg ship, then doesn't that mean all the Cyborgs are dead? That we've won?'
'You'd think so', I replied, but didn't elaborate.
Carmen, however, felt the need to. 'We also have to assume that the bulk of the Cyborgs survived, and are perhaps on Earth right now. After all, that ship looked like it knew what was coming. They must've had a backup plan.'
'Carmen's right', I continued. 'I wouldn't be surprised if that ship held no Cyborgs. But it was their main ship; therefore, they must all be on Earth now, looking for any survivors probably. But what are they doing on Earth, you may not yet have considered to ask, when they've just destroyed both of their ships? Well, they must also have another ship somewhere, ready to pick them up when they are done here. It all looks quite bleak for us.'
'If we're lucky', Carmen said thoughtfully, 'they will believe us all dead from the crash. They
may even leave.'
'Unlikely, if they find no remnants of our bodies', Jason informed us, 'they will know we survived.'
'But they won't know how much of us survived', I interjected, hopefully. 'Or where we are, or if we've regrouped, or if we know they're here. We still have some surprises up our sleeves.'
Carmen paused before telling us thoughtfully, 'It seems to me that this entire defence has just been the determination of what we know, of what we think the enemy knows and of what we think that they think that we know.'
I hadn't thought of it like that before, but now that I did, I agreed. 'Pretty much', I confirmed. 'But what choice do we have?'
No one had an answer to that, so we continued our little trek around the perimeter of the school. I noticed that Carmen was limping, not because her legs were damaged, but because the weakened slime she'd brought inside her was making it more difficult to walk. She had sustained quite a bit of damage back there, and it would take time to heal. That was a worry; not only was she mentally handicapped for battle, she was also physically handicapped. Great.
Nevertheless, on we marched, about to find out if our close comrades had survived the deadly explosion that almost killed us, and which marked the latest development in this defence plan which had so far gone so terribly wrong. Well, the start was alright, but no one thinks about the good things when something bad just happened.
The Cyborg
I continued my travels towards the Australian Outback. Unfortunately, this gave me a great deal of time to consider my plan, and time to consider is the end of all seemingly great ideas.
I was quite frazzled when I developed this plan - a state no normal Cyborg had ever been in - and I therefore didn't consider it properly. Now, the more I considered it, the more I realised its flaws. The more I realised my flaws.
1st, this 'outback' would have to be quite large, if it is large enough to conceal 2 Slug ships. The probability of me finding one of these ships was therefore extremely remote. Of course, the ships are most probably parked near each other, increasing my chance of not finding them.
Additionally, although it is unlikely, I could not discount the possibility that Boy remains at the scout ship, after triggering the LOC. He would not only be a great hindrance on all of my plans, but would most likely try to kill me. No doubt he is now informed of what happened; like the others, he will come to the incorrect conclusion that I betrayed the Slugs.
As yet another hindrance, I realised I had no idea how to fly a Slug ship. I couldn't just assume that it must be similar in some way to Cyborg ships; they likely used some kind of system that I had no chance of being able to manipulate. My only option now was to hope that Boy did remain on the ship, so I could restrain him and force him to take me back.
This contained an obvious problem; apart from the fact that he would most probably fight back, and that I didn't know if I could defeat him, did I want to do this? To attempt to force someone who used to be my friend to help me, whom he considers an enemy? To abandon any other surviving Slugs on earth, leaving them to the same fate as Matthew and I?
No, I decided, I didn't want to do this, not to Boy or any Slug, regardless of whether or not they believe that I betrayed them.
… Did I betray them? Was it not I who split off from the group, in order to keep my options open? Does that not amount to a form of betrayal? I did not trust the Slugs enough to ensure my survival, and so I separated myself from them in order to increase the probability of my continued existence. Where Matthew had trusted everything to me, hinged his entire plan's success upon my goodwill, I responded with distrust and suspicion. I hardly deserved to escape this world.
A real Cyborg would not contemplate whether they deserved to live or not. It is obvious; for every Cyborg that lives, more Slugs die. Obvious for normal Cyborgs, perhaps, but is that what I want? To survive this ordeal, to return to the Cyborgs and pretend to be like them, to continue to fight against the Slugs just like I did 20 years ago? Were I a normal Cyborg, this answer would also be obvious.
However, I was no longer a 'normal' Cyborg; that can no longer be denied. Thus far, I had physically admitted it with thought and speech, but not mentally admitted it with belief. Now, however, I understand. I am no longer a Cyborg. My extensive isolation, coupled with my exposure to organics, has permanently altered my being. Matthew's initial naming had now taken full effect; CY-4384:G died a slow death in that cave, losing itself to isolation and time. It no longer exists. In its place stands Phil, a synthesis of mechanical parts with organic mentality, a fusion of Cyborg body with Slug and Human mind.
Now that this revelation had taken place, I had to reconsider all of my plans. I could not return to the Cyborg world. I could not remain in the Human world. I could not travel to the Slug world. I had but one option left; I could only cease to be. Cease to exist. Do what should have happened all that time ago.
As to how to accomplish this task, I would leave that to the Slugs. I would have to return to them, plead my case, and let them decide what they planned to do with me. Despite the high probability that that would be my undoing, it was the best option; the right option. I had re-evaluated my previous concerns of living; although still desirable, that was no longer as important to me as it once was. I was but an old, disused, traitorous machine. The Cyborgs would look down on me and dispose of me to make a valuable and trustworthy Cyborg in my place; the Humans would fear me and exile me; the Slugs would hate me and kill me. Was there ever any choice as to my course of action?
I turned around and headed back towards the school. As I travelled, I tried to think about what mental processes the Slugs would go through to determine my fate.
I considered;
Doubtless, they had already determined that I was to blame for this treachery. How the Cyborgs had been so prepared for everything had only one possible explanation. Obviously, it was the wrong one, but they would see no alternative. I could see no alternative either.
Conceivably, I would be doing them a justice. Providing them with a reason for the untimely death of Matthew, an excuse, a scapegoat, for his inexcusable demise. Yes, that will be feasible. A good solution for all of our problems; the Slugs would have someone to blame the incident on, and I would be serving Matthew with one final act of sacrifice. Despite the fact that it wasn't my fault.
Or was it? Perhaps, just perhaps, it was all my fault. Is it possible for a Cyborg to be connected to the network without knowing it? I tried to send or receive information, but nothing happened. Maybe, instead of actually destroying my network capabilities, Matthew had only disabled my abilities to sense them. Maybe I'd been connected this whole time, without even realising it, and that was how the Cyborgs had found out.
I should present this new idea to the Slugs, and let them decide. I'd spent the last 20 years in deep contemplation of my fate; it was now time to let others decide for me.
So, what were their options? They could kill me. They could leave me here. Or, they could take me with them.
It is extremely unlikely that they will take me back to Slugenis with them. If I suspected them of betraying my race - if, of course, I was still a part of my race - I would never jeopardise our worlds by bringing them to it. So that left 2 alternatives.
Leaving me here is a viable end for me. Perhaps they will believe me that I didn't willingly betray them, but still can't take me back with them. Or perhaps Ethan will insist that they leave me alive so he won't be alone. I envisaged spending the rest of my existence keeping the Human entertained; it didn't seem an unsatisfactory fate. After all, Matthew had done it for a period of years.
However, the most likely choice that they will choose for me is also the most obvious one; death. They would have to kill me, as punishment for what I had supposedly done, and to prove to themselves that Matthew had been avenged. Plus, they would carry a warning back to Slugenis; never again trust a Cyborg. Look what happened to Matthew. Any chance of our races ever having peace would end with me. Perhap
s I could try to persuade them to keep this treachery secret, for the facilitation of an eventual treaty. Of course, they won't accept it; they will claim that a race as honourable as the Slugs will never have peace with the treacherous Cyborgs. It was all too obvious.
So deep was I in my contemplation that I didn't notice a figure approach me until I stopped and looked up. He was tall, large, flanked by multiple others and was neither Human nor Slug.
It must be Rabadootime.
Instantly, my processes formulated a plan, a way to redeem myself in the Slugs' eyes. A way to ensure my continued existence. Although my survival was no longer as imperative as it once was, it was still a desire of mine. At least, it was as soon as I saw the Cyborg leader. Here, here was a way to give one final reason for my being. A way to tip the balance of everything. But I had to do it perfectly.
The Cyborg continued to look at me, before slowly opening its mouth. "Why aren't you connected." It was a query of my condition with regards to the network, spoken without any tone or inflection of a question, yet sophisticated enough to indicate that it had studied Human language. It also eliminated the possibility that I was unknowingly connected. That was good.
I had to do this perfectly. They couldn't know how broken I am. Walking up alongside him, we all began to travel in the same direction I was going, back towards the school. I might be able to do it now, but none of the Slugs would see; it wouldn't be perfect. "My network capabilities were destroyed by the enemy", I explained, hoping it would be enough, yet hoping it wasn't too much.
He didn't respond, which meant it was. Cyborgs were all about efficiency; they didn't waste time with greetings or obvious responses.
We turned, and walked up to a small Cyborg transport ship, although it was still large enough to carry the 6 other Cyborgs around us. So the ship that the LOC had destroyed wasn't their main ship. It must have been some kind of distraction, as their actual ship landed elsewhere during the spectacle. The Slugs had died for nothing. Matthew had died for nothing.
Switching my processes before I gave myself away, I deduced that a transport ship that could hold 7 meant that the parent ship was of medium size. Perhaps not relevant right now, but it may be of use later. What was relevant was that that made 12 Cyborgs in total; the 7 here plus the 5 that had been defeated previously. There were more Cyborgs here than the predicted 10, plus more ships; that might have some significance.
As we entered the ship, I grew more resolved in my plan. I knew what I had to do, what I must do. I would ensure that all the Slugs knew of my success; then, they would know that I didn't betray them.
I would destroy Rabadootime.
The Slug Rebellion Page 9