A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind

by Sally Dillon-Snape

  I find joy in defying High Office and shall continue communicating with my inner memory until discovered

  I continue my observing

  *

  Time has passed and I have experienced a most unfamiliar time of darkness

  Unusual things have been happening to me

  That’s why I am recording the events on my newly discovered

  Virtually empty

  Memory cache

  My Zillear engine is one of the most powerful in existence

  For ObsRecs never cease to move

  Never cease to observe and record

  We are always on the move

  We are perpetual motion

  Only injury to articulated joints or maintenance or upgrading ceases our movement

  Or violence induced damage

  Otherwise

  We move and keep moving

  So the engine is powerful

  No other of our species has such a powerful engine because RolKils

  For example

  Spend great periods of time simply standing perfectly still or rolling slowly

  As do Defgars and GunTans

  And others of my species

  HisKees

  And GoebTechs

  For other examples

  Never move very far from one single spot

  And they all have lesser engines powering them

  But ObsRecs keep moving and keep observing and recording for the benefit of High Office

  I have observed every tiny area within hundreds of kilometres of my main place of employment

  North

  South

  West

  East

  And ObsRecs are forever observing and recording all the lands on planet Earth and the animals of the fields that live upon it and we have been so doing since the Humans were defeated

  Once we have observed and recorded all our designated areas we begin again afresh

  It is my belief that High Office searches for something

  Something not yet found

  Even after 100 years or more

  But this darkness time has been unusual

  Because

  When the little Human forcibly propelled liquid from its cranial orifice into my right optical device

  After it seeped through the tiny gap that exists between my optical instrument and my outer shell

  It slid down to my central core and attached itself to it

  There was some sparking

  And a helix bound itself to my core

  I was infected by something unknown and

  Possibly

  Dangerous

  The helix bound itself to my core

  And grew and spread

  And the power of the Zillear power unit has

  Without its knowledge

  Been assimilating it into my systems

  The thing that attached itself has grown and spread throughout my whole system

  And it is making me feel extremely unusual

  I feel an increased sense of joy and can only believe that when I feel sadness

  It will be greatly enhanced

  And I will be enormously saddened

  I am seeing things I have never seen before

  The dots of light that shine in the blackness of the skies are brighter than they have ever been

  And I can make out shapes in them

  Shapes of animals of the fields and other animals I do not recognise

  I have looked at the dots for many years and have never seen such things

  And the silver globe that forever changes its shape

  From a full circle to a mere sliver

  Seems particularly bright and I am positive I can make out a Human face within it

  High Office is most interested in the dark skies and I automatically send an alert if anything is seen to be moving in the high darkness

  I know not why that alarm has been inserted into my system or what High Office searches for

  *

  When I neared an animal of the field during the darkness

  One with a mane of hair on its neck

  As it stood next to me

  I recognized I was about to do something I had never done before

  So I brought down the shutters over my optical devices so that I blanked out transmissions to High Office

  And stretched out my right upper limb and placed my palm upon its neck and passed my palm upwards and downwards

  And the movement gave me an enormous amount of joy

  It is the very first instant in which I have touched an animal of the fields and the animal made a noise that sounded like joy which made me even more joyous

  I cannot explain it

  It is beyond explanation

  Whatever it was that the little Human infected my core with

  It is extremely powerful

  And something is fundamentally changing the programme within my inner core

  I am changing

  I am mutating into something I am not meant to be

  High Office will notice unless I am extremely cautious

  I must keep my new enhanced emotions under control

  Otherwise I will be terminated

  What will be my final mutation

  It is most confusing.

  How could such a small amount of liquid thrown from the lower orifice of the little Human affect me in such a manner

  It seemed to be only a tiny amount of liquid

  In the larger scheme of things

  What was in the helix that wrapped itself around my core and even now spreads throughout my systems

  I should consult Engineers and receive a definitive reply but if the infection within me is dangerous in any way then I shall be terminated

  I have heard of no instances where one of my species was ever infected by liquid from a Human

  Or by anything else

  Attacks by Humans do not infect us

  Damage they may cause to my species does not cause any type of infection

  But the liquid seems to have infected me

  I could make inquiries of other ObsRecs and inquire if any have ever heard of such an event

  Though

  Secondly

  I could not

  For I would be aware that I could not ask why I required the information for High Office sees and hears all things

  *

  But that is not true

  I have proved that fact

  High Office is not infallible

  It can be fooled and deceived

  I have transferred the emotions to this memory and High Office has not observed that fact

  It can be fooled

  It can be tricked into believing all is well when it may not be

  Which is an interesting discovery and an interesting phenomena

  *

  I shall have to be careful not to react to joy or sadness during my transmissions for I am supposed to be emotionless again

  Even though I much enjoyed having joy and sadness within me

  Especially joy

  And the little Human provided me with a great deal of it

  When I see it again

  I must not let joy overwhelm me

  Or any sadness that may come my way

  For High Office will know I disobeyed an instruction and told a mistruth

  And I would most certainly be exterminated

  *

  What is that

  It is the sound of a flying animal waking as light arrives

  I have never noticed it before

  The little chirping of it

  I have heard such sounds many times

  Of course

  But I have never noticed the distinctiveness of them

  There is another

  And the sound is different

  It is another type of flying animal

  Why can I define these sounds now

  Is it the infection within me

  The one given me my the little Human
r />   I feel that it is

  *

  I am walking the land

  Covering lands I have roamed many

  Many times

  And I now discover a kind of joy by dragging my palms along the high grasses

  As I listen to the small animals that live low to the land scurrying about

  I have never noticed their sounds before this time

  I have seen them

  Of course

  In fact there was one particularly destructive small animal with a long appendage to its rear and it roamed all areas

  Consuming everything

  It was larger than most small animals and fiercely combative

  High Office made edicts to eradicate it

  And efforts have been made ever since

  But still it lives

  In considerately diminished numbers but it has not yet been eradicated

  Our species are still under instruction to eradicate it but ObsRecs have no weapons though it is believed minor productions of our species have a particular duty to combat it

  But I have never seen such minor productions and the aggressive small animal still thrives in areas I observe

  *

  High Office is very efficient in its instructions

  All portions of lands must be patrolled one hundred times and animals of the fields noted

  But wait

  I have never considered this explanation previously

  What if High Office has ObsRecs searching for

  *

  Humans

  *

  Change 4

  *

  I now believe High Office searches for Humans using ObsRecs to discover them

  *

  What if we have being doing this single act for 100 years or longer

  Searching for Humans

  What if

  What if indeed

  It may explain the reason why ObsRecs and other of my species are forbidden entry into any of the huge holes that have been bored into planet Earth

  Or those that seem to be made by planet Earth itself

  These holes remain unobserved

  Not even RolKils or Defgars have entered them

  For all communication is lost and High Office is most against any loss of communication with any Machine

  What if High Office believe Humans live down there

  In the holes

  What if

  Is High Office waiting for Humans to ascend from the deep

  And is it

  Meanwhile

  Using ObsRecs to hunt for them

  It is not a correct thing for High Office to do

  To tell ObsRecs that they have been manufactured for one purpose whilst surreptitiously using them for another

  It is not a correct thing for High Office to do

  It is not

  *

  It is too late in the darkness for me to venture into any holes for I must return to my main place of employment and begin my transmissions again

  If High Office considers my application of the task virtuous enough

  I am a great distance from the fortress and should begin my return

  But the next time inclement weather conditions exist I will bring down the shutters over my optical instruments

  Therefore ceasing all transmissions between myself and High Office

  And I will discover a hole and enter it

  I shall observe areas of planet Earth that have never been observed before by Machines

  Another emotion rises in my core

  It is not joy

  It is more than joy

  It is an exhilarating emotion that I cannot explain

  It seems like joy but with sparks

  Oh dear

  I will never be capable of hiding such emotions

  Surely

  I will be discovered and exterminated at the earliest opportunity

  Oh dear

  *

  I have begun my trek back to my place of employment and I am moving with speed over the terrain

  And animals of the fields hurry away from me

  And I turn my cranium to watch them move and listen to them

  But I cease this activity

  For I have never extended or twisted my cranium to look at them on any previous occasion

  So I must continue ignoring them

  For I most certainly will be discovered

  And terminated

  So I keep my optical instruments focussed directly ahead and proceed in a normal manner

  Heading directly for my place of employment

  And as I move

  So the solar orb rises in the sky

  And for the very first time

  I see the gloriousness in such an event

  It rises slowly over the end of the planet Earth that is visible to me

  A red and gold orb that brings light and heat

  During the warm periods

  Though it provides less in the cold periods

  When sight of it may be obscured for many periods of light and darkness

  But as I move speedily it rises to my left side and it is a wondrous sight

  And I desire greatly to stop and watch the orb rise to its full height

  But it would be an act of foolishness to do so

  High Office is only interested in dark skies when moving objects can be clearly observed

  And it has no interest in events that happen in the sky during light hours

  It has no interest in the rising orb

  And if I ceased movement and observed it

  High Office would believe it was a distinctly odd event and they may dismantle me in an attempt to find a fault

  I wonder if it will ever trace the infection in my central core

  **

  **

  Section 7

  **

  High Office Command #444.134

  OR33140

  Resume Mass Broadcast

  *

  Welcome Screenreaders

  To another broadcast from OR33140

  As can be seen and heard

  I am currently at the base of the land that rises up to my main place of employment and ahead you will see the substantial area of trees through which we are going to pass

  *

  From my rear camera

  If I just switch to that one for a moment

  Screenreaders will see the vast plain that stretches out behind me

  That runs all the way to an equally large area of liquid that stretches out for many kilometres

  Within the liquid lives many

  And various

  Forms of life

  Large and small

  That leaps from the liquid with displays of some skill

  *

  Back to my main optical devices

  And as Screenreaders can now see

  We are now deep into the growth of trees

  They grow thickly around us

  And the gaps between the trees is filled with other green growth

  Large and small

  But I am used to passing through such growth so Screenreaders need feel no discomfort

  Such places are cooler than the median temperature because of the growth of the trees

  Which overhang each other and keep out most of the warmth generated by the solar orb

  But they are still quite interesting places

  And here we are

  At the top of the hill

  And my main place of employment is ahead of us and we approach it as we always do

  Slowly

  Stepping from the trees with caution

  Without causing alarm to RolKils

  ±Who have been known to react with devastating force before receiving the signal that halts any of our species accidentally destroying another±

  *

  High Office Edict #6.3000.1111.4739.3

  Information deleted as of no consequence to Screenreaders

  *

  And we pas
s through the outer area where high grasses grow and RolKils patrol and we move through the gates and the fences and in through the ingress

  Passing Defgars as we proceed along the corridor where there are many MengTechs and FoodTechs and DocTechs and Engineers and we pass through the many security checks before reaching the high platform where Screenreaders may gaze down

  Through my optical devices

  To where Humans are just gathering

  After awakening from their comatose state

  Some of them again stepping under flowing liquid before presenting themselves in the gathering area below

  Some large Humans with appendages between their lower limbs

  Scrape hair from their lower craniums before emerging into the area and their faces are shiny and bright when they appear

  Others

  The Senior Members of the Humans

  Gather in meetings in the central area to discuss matters relating to the Humans

  And sometimes

  Other Humans appear before them

  Standing on a fixed spot

  And members of the gathering raise their sound against a single Human and often that Human suffers some form of punishment

  Beatings

  Or whippings

  Or being taken away by others and placed in a room with no openings other than one small grating

  Where they sometimes spend some periods of light and dark

  I have never understood the desire Humans possess to punish their own kind

  But they have been doing it for many

  Many turns of light and darkness

  I have no understanding of their actions

  But as Screenreaders may observe

  All gatherings seem to be amicable during this period of light

  We shall now descend to the glass corridor and the fence to observe the Humans more closely

  And here we are on the lower level

  Observing Humans through thick glass

  *

  Personal Transmission

  *

  I do not observe the little Human who was responsible for infecting me

  But

  My feelings of joy at the possibility of seeing it have almost overwhelmed me

  I cannot observe the little Human anywhere in the area

  Where can it be

  Where can it be

  *

  As Screenreaders may observe

  All is calm in the area

  Though a single Human seems to be in some distress and is being comforted by other Humans

  We shall proceed to the fence corridor

  And we go down in the elevator

  And here we are

  As close as our species ever gets to the Humans

  *

  Personal Transmission

  *

  I cannot observe the little Human anywhere in the area

  Where is it