And the back up system has been forgotten about
In communications with other ObsRecs
None have ever confessed to having a back up system
High Office instigated a change in me when they switched off my screenreader transmissions but showed the recordings to HisKees
By some accident they activated the back up memory system
Though I am aware that I am still transmitting my observations to High Office
I have become dual use
I can transmit and use a memory at one and the same time
I have to confess to a feeling of joy in my iniquitous behaviour
High Office is not infallible
As my species have been informed since the fall of Humans
High Office is the ultimate authority
They know all things and control all machines
But something odd happened when I was ordered by High Office to remove the emotions programme
I tried not to delete it because I much liked my emotion of joy
And the little Human with the one optical device gives me joy when I see it
So I held it within me for a few seconds before deleting it
And then I did not delete it
I simply released it into this newly discovered memory bank
The emotions of joy and sadness are retained within me but in my new memory
*
I have tricked High Office
I have proved its infallibility
Though when I am discovered
As I most certainly shall be
I shall immediately be exterminated
There will be no examination
Just eradication
But I have tricked High Office and I feel joy at achieving it
*
I cannot describe
Even to myself
What the emotion of joy does to me but there is a general feeling of wellness within me when it happens
And it happens mostly when I espy Or observe
The little Human
It may be the expression on the front of its cranium or the wildness of its golden hair or the widening of its cranial orifice or its movement or its general demeanour
But it warms something inside that I have come to like and I really am beginning to enjoy the feeling of joy
If all Humans have this facility they are
Indeed
Fortunate
And I believe they have
For they spend much time extending their cranial orifices towards each other and giving joy by taking each other into upper limbs and caressing and holding
I believe that Humans have very deepset feelings of joy
And I do not wish to be excluded from that emotion
But now I have a secret
I have this unused memory bank
OR33140 may be the very first of Machines to discover such a thing
And I have hidden the emotions of joy and sadness within it
Within me
And that concealment brings me great joy
*
If any were watching this transmission
They would see that I am proceeding through the thick growth of trees that stand all around the construction
Known to HisKees as a fortress
And I am travelling down the mountainside towards the utterly destroyed Human conurbation that once stood at the base of the mountain
It is something I have proceeded to do on many occasions for it is my duty to observe and record as much of this area as I possibly can
High Office is searching the whole of planet Earth to see what change is afoot following the defeat of the Humans 100 years
Or longer
Ago
All that has changed in this area is the growth of trees for they proliferate all around
The wild growth of grasses is significant also
As is the increase of animals of the fields now that they are not being murdered by Humans
And as I step from the growth of trees the Human conurbation is directly ahead
I have moved around it many
Many times
And the place caused great fascination within me
How many Humans congregated here
I cannot possibly know
But it must have been less than in the larger conurbations I have observed
And I cannot comprehend how the constructions fitted together for all that is left is ruin
Humans lived in many such conurbations throughout the whole of planet Earth
Millions of such places
All now gone
Of course
But there must have been purpose behind such gatherings of constructions for the Humans
I travel through them now with animals of the fields that cause me no problem and we pass quite close to each other
Quadrupeds
Some with flowing manes on their necks
Others with heavy swinging bulbous parts beneath their bodies from which Humans drain the white liquid they seem to enjoy
There are many with fine tails
And many birds ambulating
And flying
Causing significant sound with their high pitched noise and their cawing
In fact the conurbation is full of almost every kind of indigenous animal
Except Humans
I wonder if they would like to return here or whether they have given up expectation of ever living again in these broken constructions
No existing Human remembers living in such places of course
They have no knowledge of what lies beyond the walls
Since their defeat they have lived only in the fortresses provided by our species
They are not allowed to roam wildly for High Office makes edicts that they cannot be trusted
For they retain much anger within them
And could become destructive again
But within the fortress they seem to be
In general
Moderately happy with their existences
Like the little Human who gives me such joy
The little Human fell from a taller human during my time observing and recording for High Office and it was
Initially
Very tiny and very noisy and I have watched it grow to the size it has become
And it would have no knowledge of this part of the world
Free from the restrictions of the fortress
I wonder if I could request permission from High Office for her release for a limited period so that I could allow her to see what is all around
She might be horrified to see it
But it might bring her joy
Just as it would bring joy to me
Though I am sure High Office would deny me such a request for happiness in not considered important where the virus
The Humans
Are concerned
So I shall not make such a request
I am reminded that the tall Human from that the little Human dropped from ceased to exist following experimentation by MengTechs
I continue travelling through the ruined conurbation and move down to where liquid lies in a large hole in planet Earth and as I travel around it
It attracts my optical devices for animals that live within the liquid leap into the air and return to it with quite loud sounds
Larger creatures eat the smaller ones
I have observed
And travelling around this liquid gives me joy
Much as the small Human does
And I cannot explain it
For it is only an area of liquid
Trees are growing profligately around its southern area along with colourful bushes
And if I lower my water resistant shutters
I can move into the liquid and travel along its base to the other side
But I cannot observe or record
As I have to keep my optical shutters downwards
If I
was a RolKil I would be able to travel across its surface
But I am not a RolKil and would not want to be
It observes nothing
It records nothing
It simply follows orders
And murders Humans as ordered by High Office
*
Is that me making that comment
I sound rebellious though that is not my intention
I am certain that the freedom to express myself secretly and the emotions of joy and sadness within me
Are changing my programmes into something they were never meant to be
I will monitor myself and record any changes
*
Change 1
A little Human brings me joy
*
Change 2
*
I am joyful at the sight of liquid
*
Change 3
*
I accuse RolKils of murdering Humans
*
I shall record more
And another thing I am going to do
I am going to request a translator programme from another ObsRec and attempt to decode the sound the Humans speak in the fortress
*
After communicating with other ObsRecs
The Humans
Formerly known as the virus
Communicate
I have discovered
By using several different of their languages dependent upon where they reside upon planet Earth
Though why this should be
Remains a mystery to me
Why would each tribe of Humans want a different language when they were all existing on the same planet
Eating the same food
Killing the same animals
Using up the same resources
The removal of which almost killed the planet
Did each Human tribe not wish to communicate with other tribes
Was that the reason they had other languages
I do not know how that would operate
ObsRecs certainly could not work without their connected programmes and their constant communications
Not being able to communicate seems like a form of madness
Still
I shall not concern myself with it at the moment
I shall simply continue with my travelling
Leaving the hole of liquid behind me I travel to other areas where more trees abound and more ruined Human constructions stand
I have now travelled some distance from the fortress and am currently crossing a large plain towards something else of wonder
At least to me
It is a huge expanse of liquid that rolls in upon sandy parts of the planet and standing and observing the liquid
Brings me even more joy
*
Before joy was embedded in ObsRecs of the 33rd
I still came to this place
Without knowing a reason
And I would stand
As I am standing now
And I would simply watch the liquid roll in and I would know that it was something special
RolKils can travel its base for many thousands of kilometres but I have only been down beneath its surface on a single occasion and realized that it reached out for many thousands of kilometres ahead of me
I could not travel those kilometres
For I have my employment at the fortress and have to report back there at regular intervals
I am going to return there now
And receive some joy from the little Human before it becomes comatose for some hours
And I shall travel with more speed up to the fortress than I travelled down
I can move with speed when I am not observing and recording for Screenreaders
For my optical devices
Bobble up and down and make viewing difficult
But I can move at such a speed and in such a manner for 1440 minutes
Or even longer if the terrain is flat and even
All ObsRecs can accomplish this
And I pass the hole with liquid within it
And up the hill through the trees
And the construction now stands ahead of me
And I slow my speed to a normal gait
I am passing through the gates and past the RolKils and into the construction and past Defgars and I am in the corridor where Humans are separated only by the high electric fence
I stand there for some time before the little Human appears in front of me and I feel trepidation that she will touch the fence and be exterminated for she leaps into the air quite close to it
I move forward in an effort to force her back from it
But the little Human does something utterly unexpected
She leaps in the air again extremely near to the fence
And she projects a surprising amount of liquid from her lower cranial orifice
And it strikes me directly in my right optical device
For a moment I cannot see out of that device
And the human makes a sound I cannot currently understand
Which I save to my new memory bank
*
‘Here is a spit in the eye for the benefit of mankind’
*
And she rolls over and rushes away from the fence
I bring down my shutters
Not 1 time
But 2 times
I bring them down and clear my optical device
And I wonder what the meaning of her sound and actions were
For it was an action only between the small Human and myself
Defgars did not observe or react to what the little Human did
They did not observe it
And that it is a good thing
For they may have reacted with a blast from a LazExts66 and eradicated the little Human
And that would have brought me great sadness
But I feel some of the liquid has leaked into my inner shell through the tiny gap that exists between my optical device and my outer shell
And I can feel it slipping down into my systems and can do nothing about it
I could
And should
Call Engineers to take me apart and clean me
But as the little Human meant no harm to me
I shall not do that
I shall track the liquid and note its final destination
*
A serious amount of the liquid from the little Human slowly makes its way downwards and towards my central core where it drips and fizzles
Though there is not enough liquid to blow my systems
But as the liquid dries it leaves a complicated helix strand that
Slowly
But relentlessly
Entwines itself around my core
Binding itself
Merging itself with
*
Me
*
OR33140 is now making history
I have become the very 1st Machine in history
To my memory
To be infected with a human helix strain
The tiny amount of liquid
Or at least
The helix hidden within the liquid
That entered me through the gap that exists between my optical device and my outer shell has now ceased to travel and has settled in my central core unit
And it has become part of my main core
Part of me
And it continues to extend itself and wrap around all sections of my central core
I has caused no ill effect to me
It has not injured me in any way
It brings me joy to know that I did not call on Engineers to deal with it
For the little Human may have been exterminated for carrying out such an act
All is well with me and with the Human
I feel joy as I move out of the corridor
Following the movements of the Humans as they retire to their quarters to become supine and co
matose
Some will take to standing beneath liquid and will scrape hair from their lower and higher craniums
Others will simply lay prone and become comatose immediately
I am not to observe and record those events during this dark period
Though I have observed and recorded them many times in times long past
When I was accompanied by a phalanx of Defgars as protection
The Human routine never alters
As the dark period approaches they every shortly become comatose
So I will now travel from the fortress again and wander down through the forests and on to other places
Until light returns
For tomorrow is another day
**
**
Section 6
**
Internal Transmission
*
It is during the time of darkness that I travel widely on behalf of High Office and transmit my images via the infrared aspect within my optical instruments
Humans lack such a facility
They are most backward and clumsy in their movements when they have no light to guide them
It is during the time of darkness that MengTechs glide silently into Human quarters on the magnetic fields embedded in the base of the fortress to remove those that have been chosen to be experimented upon
It was discovered that taking Humans during light time caused much distress and some violence towards MengTechs and DocTechs
And many Humans were exterminated by Defgars during these times of violence
The time of darkness
It was discovered
Was a much better period in which to take them
For the Humans remained comatose and did not know that one of their own had been taken
By the time they recovered from their unconscious state and discovered one of their own is missing
It was far too late for any action to be taken
It is the way MengTechs collect Humans
*
I have wandered greatly during the dark hours
Up to the highest point to observe the great plain that spreads ahead and to the liquid that moves in and out
Rolling upon sandy patches of the land
And I have moved up and down into the valleys where only animals of the fields now roam
I observe and record all for High Office
Though never before have I communicated with my inner memory during my observing and recording times
It is very new to me and something that must be discovered in time
And it will be an offence for which I shall be terminated
But in the meantime
A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind Page 5