Susan climbed from my back and the two women cried a great deal at the foot of the forest
Where they alternately stared at the solar orb and at the trees
Hugging each other tightly
Until we moved into the forest where they hugged tress much as Joshua and Mary had done
And they dragged their hands through the grasses and cried a great deal more
Until we emerged from the forest and ahead of us stood the massive fortress
With dead RolKils all around
Both women halted suddenly and moved closely to me
Taking hold of my arms
And we moved as one past the dead Machines towards the ingress for the security gates were not locked
I had not secured them
And I passed my palm to allow us entry to the facility and the three of us moved inside
Susan made sound
*
‘Oh, my God, this is the prison where Joshua and Mary were held?’
*
WHERE THEY WERE CONCEIVED, WHERE THEY LEARNED AND GREW AND WHERE THEY WEER INCARCERATED. YES
*
As we moved forwards the women stopped and made odd squeaking sounds
*
‘There are machines moving in there.’
*
It was dark haired Anne who made that sound
*
I DID NOT ELIMINATE ALL MACHINES
ONLY THOSE WHO COULD HURT HUMANS
DOCTECHS AND FOODTECHS AND MENIALS I LEFT UNHARMED FOR THEY SERVICE THE HUMANS
*
‘That was most wise.’
*
It was Susan who made sound
*
HUMANS ARE WISE
I AM AN OBSERVER RECORDER ONLY
*
‘Where are your humans?’
*
THEY ARE STILL IN THEIR AREAS
I CANNOT ALLOW THEM OUT ALL AT ONCE FOR THEY WILL ATTRACT INTEREST AND IT WILL LEAD TO CATASTROPHE
*
‘So they are still imprisoned?’
*
YES
SUSAN
THEY ARE STILL IMPRISONED BUT WITHOUT FEAR OF BEING KILLED OR EXPERIMENTED UPON
I HAVE INFORMED THEM THAT THEY WILL BE FREE BUT SOME ARE IMPATIENT AND WISH TO RUN WILD
THEY WILL ATTRACT THE ATTENTION OF HIGH OFFICE AND ALL WILL BE ELIMINATED
*
‘Are you going to take us to them?’
*
We moved together down in the elevator and into the corridor where Humans and Machines were only separated by the fence
We three stared out over the mass of Humans on the other side
*
‘They’re all naked.’
*
THEY ARE UNCOVERED SUSAN
THAT IS CORRECT
THEY WEAR FURS ONLY IN THE COLDEST OF THE SEASONS
*
No Human was yet aware of our presence so we stood and waited for a shout to go up and
Eventually
One did
And the Humans all turned to face us and a large group rushed over to the fence
John led them and held his arms out so that none would touch the fence
*
‘Where are Joshua and Mary?’
*
Susan made sound
*
‘Hello there, my name is Susan and I am from the community who live underground, the one found by your remarkable Observer Recorder, Hope. My friend is called Ann. Joshua and Mary have remained underground to discuss your history with my people, just as we have come with Hope to discuss our history with you. Hope has a plan to release you from the prison so that you may move to be part of the underground community.’
*
John responded with sound to Susan
*
‘It had been quite a time here in the prison, Susan. A revolution nobody saw coming was all part of Hope’s plan, the idea of escaping, the uniting of the Human race, us from above the ground and you from beneath it.’
*
‘Hope is a very marvellous machine.’
*
‘I think we can agree on that statement. Will you come through and join us here in our leisure area?’
*
‘If Hope accompanies us.’
*
I SHALL BRING SUSAN AND ANN TO YOU, JOHN, BUT THERE MUST BE NO TROUBLE
SAMUEL MUST NOT CAUSE TROUBLE
*
‘He will not cause trouble, Hope.’
*
I turned and moved away and Susan and Mary followed me and
Using the security code on my palm
I led them into the area between the leisure area and the Human quarters
Where John and others were waiting
They came forward quickly and hugged Susan and Ann as they made quick sound amongst themselves
Kissing and hugging further
Tears falling from eyes
All of them together
Humans united
Men
Women
And children
The clothes Susan and Ann wore being greatly admired
Finally
We stepped into the leisure area where the remaining Humans awaited
And they applauded Susan and Ann at great length and many tears were shed
John lifted his arms in the air and the mass sat
*
‘This is a truly historic moment, where humans from different communities meet for the very first time. Another community we did not know existed until Hope informed us of such. This is Susan and Ann, women in their twentieth years who have lived all their lives underground whilst we have lived all ours in this prison. They are, and have been for all their lives, free humans.’
*
There was much cheering and applauding again until all settled again
*
I observed the gathered mass searching for signs of trouble from Samuel or other like-minded Humans but none were visible. All seemed to be at peace.
Susan and Ann stepped forward and bent from their middles
And my Humans rose and reciprocated and introductions were done and Susan began to make sound
*
‘We received an enormous shock in our underground village during the night that has just passed. Our two guards, we call them guards but it is just a duty for young boys to instil in them a sense of duty, who have guarded our underground village for more than hundred years without encountering anything other than the occasional animal who wandered in, suddenly encountered Joshua and Mary and Hope, the Observer Recorder with the silver hand. All were welcomed into our community and the three of them gave a brief account of your history and how you were murdered and tortured by machines over many years. This has not happened to us, for when the wars were coming to an end we retreated to the caves and the passageways that ran from them. We have spent the past hundred years building thousands of miles of passageways so that our caves are now linked across what used to be known as Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Theoretically, we could travel thousands of miles across continents, even beneath water where tunnels are maintained. Beneath the ground there are millions of humans and the only reason we never came to the surface was that we thought the world was contaminated from the wars and filled with machines. Hope tells us that this is not so, saying machines are only collected around the many prisons where humans are held for experimental purposes. We are greatly sorry to hear this story and in future we will do whatever we can to help free those humans. With Hope’s assistance we believe this to be possible.’
*
‘And do you want us to come and live underground with you?’
*
Samuel had not calmed
He remained angry
Even though his sound appeared trite
Of course Susan and Ann wanted my Humans to live underground with them
*
‘We thought that would be the b
est arrangement for we cannot yet live openly above ground for Machines will, eventually, discover us and they will annihilate us all over again.’
*
‘What if I don’t want to do that, live underground?’
*
‘Samuel, please be quiet. We are discussing our very future here, in a time when it is still not safe to live on the surface of Earth. The caves offer us an alternative.’
*
It was John who admonished him
*
‘I will not be quiet, John. What if there are those among us who do not want to live underground, free or otherwise, what will happen to them?’
*
‘Frankly speaking, Samuel, it is either underground or nowhere. There are no options.’
*
‘There are always fucking options.’
*
And large and burly Samuel
The largest bully among the Humans stood and began shaking his fisted hands and several other Humans stood with him
All of them angry
I admired the free Humans more greatly for their discipline
Samuel began to push other Humans aside as he made his way forward
With others moving with him
To stand before John and Susan and Ann
I lifted my weapon and found a place where I had a decent view of him
*
‘Look, it might be all right for the rest of you, but some of us do not want to live underground where, apparently, you get fancy clothes and have skin like alabaster. We want to be free in the true meaning of the word, we don’t want to hide if we are not prisoners, we want to roam the lands freely and go where we wish to go.’
*
‘You cannot be allowed to do that.’
*
John was firm in his statement
*
‘And why fucking not?’
*
‘Because by behaving stupidly and selfishly, should you simply be released into the wild, you would be captured and made to talk and you would reveal the whereabouts of the underground humans and all would be massacred.’
*
‘I would never talk.’
*
‘Everybody talks, Samuel. Not one person the MengTechs ever experimented on ever kept silent. You would talk, you would tell.’
*
‘And what’s stopping me from running out of the cave once you put me down in one?’
*
Susan made serious sound
*
‘We cannot accept this human. He is too aggressive, too loud and too fond of oaths and violence.’
*
‘Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?’
*
And Samuel took several aggressive steps towards Susan
*
YOU
SHE IS TALKING ABOUT YOU
AND TO YOU
AND YOU MUST STOP YOUR FORWARD MOVEMENT
*
‘Or what, girly machine? What the fuck are you going to do about it if I keep coming forward?’
*
And he continued moving forward
His hands clenched and his face distorted with temper and rage
He pushed John aside
Causing him to fall to the ground
He pushed Susan aside and she made loud sound and stumbled sideways
And he came for me, arms swinging
Though those who had followed him came no further
Samuel was on his own with his anger and his rage
I could no longer accept his behaviour
*
I WILL FIRE THE WEAPON
*
Samuel took no notice and continued stamping forward, the rage becoming more twisted on his face
*
I WILL FIRE THE WEAPON
*
My warnings did not appear to affect his step or slow him down
He left me no options
I aimed the LazExt66 and shot him and that was the end of argument and aggressive behaviour
There was nothing left of the bullying Samuel
He was eradicated
Every Human eye turned to gaze at me
*
‘What the hell did you do that for?’
*
It was John who made sound from where he lay on the ground
*
BECAUSE HE COULD NOT BE REASONED WITH
HE WOULD HAVE HARMED SUSAN OR ANN AND I PROMISED THEIR COMMUNITY THAT I WOULD CARE FOR THEM
SAMUEL COULD NOT BE REASONED WITH
HE WOULD ALWAYS HAVE BEEN TROUBLE FOR THIS COMMUNITY AND FOR THE UNDERGROUND ONE
HE WOULD HAVE HARMED PEOPLE
HE ALWAYS WANTED HIS OWN WAY
HE DID NOT LISTEN TO ARGUMENT
*
‘You gave us no time to talk to him, Hope. You gave us no time.’
*
HE ACCUSED ME OF DOING NOTHING FOR OVER ONE HUNDRED YEARS
AND NOW I AM DOING SOMETHING
IT DID NOT MAKE HIM HAPPY
HE WANTED TO CAUSE TROUBLE FOR EVERYONE
HE WANTED NOTHING BUT HIS OWN WAY
*
‘You have shocked us all.’
*
I HAVE SHOCKED ME
I NEVER THOUGHT IN ALL MY EXISTENCE THAT I WOULD HARM A HUMAN BUT I HAVE
AND I FEEL NO GUILT ABOUT IT
I AM STILL TRYING TO HELP BUT IF YOU AND YOUR COMMUNITY WISH TO REMAIN HERE WITHOUT THREAT OF HARM AND INJURY AND NOT BE FREE
THEN I SHALL RETURN UNDERGROUND WITH SUSAN AND ANN
WE SHALL GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS
*
‘No, Hope, that is not what the vast majority of us wishes. We want to be united with our fellow humans’ underground, but you did not give me, or anyone else, a chance to talk about things with Samuel.’
*
HE WAS THREATENING SUSAN AND ANN
HE WAS THREATENING ME
*
‘Did you feel threatened Susan?’
*
‘Yes I did, I have never seen such aggression in another human, we control our feelings underground for the betterment of the community. I thank Hope for what was done. I did feel threatened by the big man.’
*
I was much thankful to Susan for making such sound
*
‘I felt threatened, too. I thought after all this time I was about to be injured by another human. I thank Hope too, for rescuing us. I shall report back to my community that we owe him many more of our thanks.’
*
I thanked Ann for her sound but stood silently behind them
The weapon still held in my hands
Ready for use
Those who had stepped forward with Samuel had now stepped back into the mass
They had been calmed by his eradication
Susan made sound again
*
‘My Leaders gave Ann and me specific instructions, but you may only follow them if you wish. If any are to come to the cave, the first ones should be families where there are parents and children together, a group. They are to be first into the cave.’
*
John looked thoughtful as he stared at Susan and Ann
But he finally made a decision
He turned to face his people
*
‘We go to the cave as instructed by their Leaders. Who disagrees with this assessment?’
*
No hands were raised into the air
*
‘All those who agree please raise their hands.’
*
Every hand of every single one of my Humans lifted a hand
Even the children
Both tall and small
Everyone wanted to be free
And I was working on my programmes to provide me with a way of allowing all Humans more time on the surface of Earth
Results of that had not yet surfaced but the moment they did I would relay it to th
em
*
‘So, families to the front, please.’
*
John was now fully authorative and in control of the community
No argument was left in them
Even those who agreed with Samuel
Now fell into line with the majority wishes
Families began to shuffle forward to the front and stand together in small groups
One family had four children
The largest family of our community
The number amounted to approximately 1000 to 1500 Humans
*
I TAKE 200 NOW AND RETURN FOR THE OTHERS THROUGHOUT THE DAYS
*
John walked along the groups until he came to a point where he pushed his arm in
*
‘From here, the first group step forward.’
*
There were groans from those who were cut off from the first group but the families were quite well disciplined and did not fight or cause trouble
*
‘This group Hope, if you can manage them all.’
*
I CAN AND I SHALL TAKE THEM TO THE CAVE
SUSAN AND ANN SHOULD ACCOMPANY ME SO THAT THEY CAN ACT AS GUIDES AND DISPENSE INFORMATION ON OUR WAY
*
‘Good idea.’
*
He stepped close to me
*
‘I do wish you had not shot Samuel.’
*
HE WOULD HAVE CAUSED TROUBLE FOREVER MORE
*
‘He was a troublemaker that is for sure, but I didn’t want to lose anybody.’
*
IT WAS UNFORTUNATE BUT HE WOULD NOT LISTEN AND HE THREATENED SUSAN AND ANN
*
‘Yes, he did, but I should never have admonished you in public, I’m sorry.’
*
IT IS YOUR RIGHT AS LEADER TO ADMONISH WHO YOU WISH
YOU HAVE TO BEHAVE IN A WAY THAT IS CORRECT IN THE FACE OF THE MANY
*
‘Thank you, look after them on your walk to the cave.’’
*
I SHALL
WHEN HUMAN FAMILIES REACH THE CAVE THEY WILL PROBABLY BE SENT ALONG PASSAGEWAYS TO JOIN OTHER VILLAGES
YOU MAY NOT SEE THEM AGAIN
*
John gazed at me in something akin to shock
*
‘Of course, I never thought of that. Please, everyone, the group leaving with Hope, when they arrive at the cave, they may be moved on through the passageways to other villages and we may never see them again. If you wish to make farewells, please do it now.’
*
There was a rush of emotion and many Humans rushed down to hug and to cry with those who were leaving and our departure was greatly delayed
But soon after the farewells
The first group to escape the prison were on their way down through the forest
A Spit In The Eye - For The Benefit Of Mankind Page 19