Jon-29

by Gary Mark Lee

It’s a well-known fact that time passes in precise intervals for machines, the days, hours; seconds are always exact units in the space time continuum without deviation so making a statement the (night passed slowly for Mother) wouldn’t have any meaning. But never the less she was impatient to resume the search and bring her missing child home.

  “All superior systems report” the main controller ordered.

  “Weapons online”.

  “Power online”.

  “Affirm” Mother replied, “Solar collectors online and energy cells charging, we will now follow last known heading of combustion machine, enter tunnel and resume rescue of Jon twenty nine”.

  But Weapons still had doubts about the presence of the Scavenger, “advise total elimination of sub-human, it is dangerous”.

  “Neg, it will remain in coma freeze for now, engage engines!”

  And with the sun shining brightly the heavy machine entered the dark passageway.

  Some distance beyond the great wall Fixer was busy repairing the damage to Jon’s replacement arm, he sat near the armored truck exchanging broken circuits with compatible programing chips and munching on handfuls of morning rations.

  “The grasping force of your digits is very strong” the little man commented.

  “Affirm” Gripper replied, “but you are not a certified repair-tec and should not have access to my inner workings” and the mechanical arm closed his fist hard.

  “YAAAAAAEEEE!” the Pig-man howled as his finger was caught in a vice-like grip, and swinging his arm hard he tossed the damaged mechanism high in the air and it landed at the feet of Jon-29.

  Jon and KT were busy reloading the multi-barreled gun on the back of the truck and although Jon was doing what he could his efforts proved to be limited.

  “You are not restored yet” the one armed man said picking up the mechanical device from the soft sand, “Fixer will repair you”.

  “That creature is not rated for repairs on my inner workings, he is one of the enemy and they are not qualified”.

  KT-7 lifted a heavy box of ammunition on the vehicle and listened to every rude word the arm had spoken, “I’ll have you know that we may be your enemy but we are more than qualified to repair a primitive sub-programed addition like you!”

  This remark seemed to set off an argument between the human female and the damaged appendage.

  “I am a superior programed replacement device that can grip, help in healing, analyze and wipe fecal matter from an anus!” the arm said proudly.

  But these remarks only seemed to amuse the girl, “wipe fecal matter?” she laughed then turned to Jon “you better let Fixer do his work before you have to squat-sit and this scrap-mash grabs your Bucking tool”.

  “I am programed to know the different areas of my carrier and will not be gripping….”

  The little Pig-man reached up and pressed a small button on the arm shutting down all its power and ending the argument, then he took the arm from Jon, “I will fix” he said and walked away.

  Jon-29 and KT-7 went back to stocking the Land-master and after a few short cycles the gun was loaded and everything was ready for the journey ahead.

  “What will be our vector?” Jon enquired.

  “I cannot go home and you have been expended” she said, “our best chances for survival will be in Lands-End”, then she looked around at the terrain, “from the stories my mother told me it’s somewhere beyond the great chasm and passed the mountains of Kardon, that way” and she pointed to a faint image on the horizon.

  “Then I shall command drive, and you shall set vectors and target weapons”.

  “Agreed” KT said and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

  “Mating procedures?” Jon asked hoping that there might be a repeat of the night before.

  But the girl shook her head, “I have to admit that your techniques are improving but we don’t have time for further practice right now”, then she climbed into the back of the truck and began to strap herself into the weapons command chair.

  Jon moved around to the cab door, opened it with his good hand and sat behind the driver’s wheel; he looked over to see Fixer completing repairs on his arm.

  “I fix good” the little man said and handed the metal appendage to Jon, who quickly attached it to his elbow and pressed the power button.

  With a “snap” of electricity Gripper was online “…..organic parts causing damage!” then the arm realized that he had been turned off in mid-sentence and the argument was no longer an issue, “Online” it said.

  Jon opened and closed his repaired hand several time to make sure that it was working as it should and when he was satisfied he turned to his little companion, “your repair programing is very efficient”.

  “Yes, I fix good”.

  Jon started the engine and pressed his booted foot to the floor hard and the heavy weapons transport roared off in a cloud of sand and dust.

  The scanners that relayed information to Mother had no problem tracking the vehicle that held Jon-29, not only were there traces of human pheromones and residue of a combustion engine in the air the soft sand beyond the great wall showed deep markings from the treads of the heavy machine, now with the hot sun bathing the solar collectors in energy and the power cells working at top efficiency the repaired battle tank moved rapidly forward.

  “All systems report” Mother ordered.

  “Energy is at eighty five percent and holding” Power reported.

  “Replacement weapons online” Weapons added.

  “Affirm” Mother said.

  With the long-range sensors still not repaired it was impossible to tell what lay beyond the next sandy rise but that didn’t matter to the main controller, she would move ever forward with one thing looping thru her programing, to find her command driver, to find her lost son.

  Some distance ahead the heavy truck was moving fast, the landscape had turned from soft sand to hard ground which made traction more stable, there were also remnants of destroyed battle tanks, Komodo and other weapons of war, and along with those smaller attack vehicles was a huge Delta-1 destroyer. The enormous machine wasn’t as large as an Earthshaker by any means but it had powerful weapons and sophisticated programing, there was a single large hole in the main control section indicating a lucky hit by the enemy, it also meant that most of its inner workings might be intact. But the terrain was also covered with a great herd of large scaly creatures that KT-7 knew well.

  “Rimorgar” she said lifting the sand visor on her combat helmet, and then when she was sure of her vision she shouted to Jon, “halt!”

  Jon stepped on the brakes and the truck came to a sudden stop almost sending the sleeping Fixer into the dashboard, Jon looked out the dirty windscreen to see hundreds of large six legged creatures grazing on scrub brush and low vegetation, they had thick armor-like scales over much of their huge bodies and horned heads, they resembled the Komodo of the Outriders but these monsters were twice that size and had none of the tamable attributes of their smaller brothers.

  KT moved down from the back and stood beside the armored cab of the truck, “keep all noise to a minimum and proceed forward at a very low rate of speed”.

  But Jon-29 wasn’t used to obstacles in his way, when he was a command driver of an attack vehicle he would simply destroy or run over anything that blocked his path, “these are animals, we have power and weapons, we are superior”.

  “Brain work this Steel-bottom” KT said, “you may kill one or two perhaps more but they will attack and their horns can penetrate steel”.

  Jon thought this over for a moment or two as he gazed at the size of the creatures around him and their huge defensive horns, “I will do as you say, we will proceed at a very low rate of speed”.

  KT smiled and returned to her chair, Jon pressed lightly on the fuel pedal and the heavy truck slowly moved forward, when it got within a meter or so of th
e Rimorgar one of the huge beasts lifted it great head and moved to meet this strange metal intruder, its thick nose horn bumped the front of the truck and then scraped along its surface, the wide nostrils of the creature drew in several lungful’s of combustion odor then the beast gave out with a long bellow.

  KT-7 trained her multi-gun on the huge head of the six legged monster and made herself ready in case they had to fight, at the same time she asked the Goddess to forgive her past sins and if she wasn’t too occupied perhaps she could aid them?

  Satisfied that there was no threat the armored beast bellowed once more then turned away and went back to its feeding, Jon pressed his foot down ever so slowly and the truck moved into the huge herd. Fixer crouched down low in the cab and gripped his small pistol for comfort, we would rather have one of the large assault weapons but his small frame wouldn’t be able to handle the recoil, now and then one of the Rimorgar great horns would bang against the armor of the truck but luck was on their side and after what seemed like forever Jon, KT and Fixer emerged unhurt from the massive herd. Jon didn’t waste time when he saw that they were safe and pressed his foot down hard and watched with a smile as the danger faded behind them.

  The great Earthshaker that was once the home base of Jon-29 didn’t stop for any creature large or small, it rolled forward destroying what little remained of pass civilizations and continued on the path set by its commandant.

  That leader paced back and forth on his metal leg looking over the shoulders of his command crew to see if there were any discrepancies in their reports, the Technicians cringed every time

  they heard the “clank, clank” of their Commanders metal foot on the hard floor near them, and it was certain that they check and double checked their readout screens to make sure they wouldn’t end up in food supply.

  “Are we still on a heading west?” asked the one legged officer.

  “Affirm AA one” a technician said, “heading is six nine one west”.

  “Very good” the Commander commented, “are there any readings on long-range scanners?”

  The person in charge of that section spoke up, “scanners detect one small combustion vehicle and one large mechanism, but its configuration doesn’t match any known design”.

  Ordinarily the Commander would ignore targets as small as the ones reported but the idea that there might be some kind of new machine that could be a threat to his power made him reconsider, “make heading to intercept new targets” he ordered.

  And it was only a matter of seconds before the huge machine turned to a new heading and rolled forward.

  It was late in the afternoon and the wind was beginning to blow hard when KT called out to Jon to stop the truck.

  “Halt!” she shouted then when the heavy transport came to a full stop she got down and stood looking out as Jon and Fixer joined her, “we need a rest break” she said.

  “I am not tired” Jon replied.

  “Neither am I but I need to….” She made a squatting motion hoping that Jon would understand the meaning of “rest stop”.

  But the young man didn’t seem to understand this simple gesture, “you want to sit down, but you were already sitting down?”

  Frustrated the girl shook her head, “I know I was sitting thick-skull, I need to…leak!”

  It took a moment or two for her words to register with Jon, normally all bodily waste would have been taken care of by his bio-suit and command chair but now he was a foot walker and had to see to those biological matters himself.

  “Affirm, yes” Jon finally replied, “I think it is time we both had rest stop”.

  “I will take the back and you will take the front” KT suggested.

  Jon-29 didn’t understand why they should split their forces but he nodded his head in approval and moved to the front of the vehicle and began to remove his pants, when he was ready he squatted down and let nature take its course, then when he was finished he spoke, “Gripper wipe”.

  “Affirm” the hand replied and sprayed a substance from his third digit; the fine mist dissolved all traces of fecal matter in seconds.

  “Thank you” Jon said pulling up his coverings.

  “I told you I could grip, analyze and wipe fecal matter” Gripper reported.

  A short time later KT-7 had also completed her ritual, “we should keep going that way then we can….” She stopped short when she noticed puffs of dust rising up in the distance, “what is that?” there was no wind to speak of and the sky was empty of most clouds so she knew it wasn’t made by nature, “it could be a sand-dragon or an enemy, make heading for that formation”.

  “We should set our vector to avoid something we do not have information on” Jon advised.

  “It is always better to face an enemy then run or are you afraid?” the girl asked.

  “Neg, no, I have never run from a battle” the young man said confidently.

  “Then we will go that way”.

  Jon and Fixer climbed into their positions in the front of the vehicle but this time this time KT-7 didn’t return to her chair, rather she stepped up to a foot hold on the side of the cab and held on to a hand grip, “you’re the command driver” looking at Jon, “so drive”, a turn of a switch, a foot to the floor and they were off again.

  The Land-master headed up a slight rise then down the other side then up a higher one where a group of recently destroyed vehicle sit in burned out fragments a clear indication that a battle had taken place here and that both sides had lost.

  “Halt!” KT shouted, and the truck came to a fast stop, looking forward the companions saw what was making the dust cloud.

  There just a few meters away they saw a figure racing around and around in a circle, it was humanoid and had large muscular legs covered in armor plating, and a targeting helmet on its head that emitted a loud “beeping” sound, a cloud of dust rose up behind it as its feet struck the ground making a loud buzzing sound, on its back was a large war-pack attached to a sensor on its chest, now it was Jon’s turn to show his knowledge.

  “Runner” he said, “he must have malfunctioned and is now caught in a command loop”.

  KT-7 had encounter these fast moving weapons before, “he’s dangerous, we should terminate him” and she hoped down and took her assault rifle from the back of the truck and check to make sure it was working properly, she was about to take aim when Jon stopped her.

  “This Runner was created to be a weapon like me” Jon said, “He deserves a warrior’s death”.

  The young man moved forward until he was very near the genetically altered human, he watched it racing around and around then as it began to pass him he shouted as loud as he could.

  “Command halt!” but the malfunctioning Runner continued on his endless race, so the next time it passed Jon shouted again, “command halt one!” but he was ignored, “this Runner has sustained damage to his tracking and is locked in a holding program and is unable to break the pattern” he said turning to KT-7.

  “He’s dangerous” KT replied, “He should be terminated”.

  Frustrated with his efforts Jon picked up a long piece of steel lying on the ground and waited for the humanoid to come around again, this time he forced the fragment in the path of the Runner and caught him on his armored legs, with a loud thump the racing man fell to the ground but his legs continued to move at a fantastic rate.

  Jon immediately jumped on top of him trying to hold him down, “help is needed” he shouts.

  KT dropped her weapon and she and Fixer rush to Jon’s aid, Fixer grabs one of the powerful flailing legs of the racer and holds on with all his strength, KT tried to remove the back-pack but it’s held on with strong straps, “I can’t get it loose!” she shouts.

  “Remove its targeting helmet” Jon said as his mechanical hand gripped the other thrashing leg.

  KT pulls her knife and cuts the holding strap under the chin of the runner and
lifts off the targeting device, immediately the legs stop moving and the mutant man lays unmoving but breathing hard, after a moment or two the trio lets go of the mutant man, they sit back on the ground breathing hard.

  “Now what do we do with him?” KT asked between gasps.

  “Life forms directly ahead” the scanner reported to Mother, “estimate a hundred or more large reptilian creatures blocking our vector”.

  “Understood” Mother replied, “Do they have weapons?”

  “Neg” reported Weapons, “they are only primitive creatures and pose no danger to this unit”.

  “Energy is at eighty percent and holding” Power reported.

  “Then we will continue forward and if we are challenged we will destroy them”.

  The Scavenger that lay unconscious in coma-freeze couldn’t speak or move in any way but if he could have he would have turned and run away for his kind have an ability to sense danger that they cannot overcome, but machines have no such capability and rely on data that can prove fatal.

  Without slowing the huge war-machine approached the herd of Rimorgar and as it did the mammoth beasts turn to meet this strange intruder, with loud bellows that filled the air the armored plated creatures attacked!

  “Attack in progress!” Weapons reported, “Engaging all defensive weapons”.

  “Affirm” Mother replied, “channel all energy to defense and destroy the enemy!”

  “All energy to weapons” Power said.

  The great claws began to open and close and the heavy blade at the front rose up to add its armor to the front, the two energy weapons taken from the Builder began to target then the armored vehicle was hit hard.

  “Damage to forward armor” Weapons reported, “Returning fire”.

  Locked on their targets the two guns began to discharge a beam of focused energy, the thin shaft of burning light penetrated the thick skull of one of the Rimorgar and killed it instantly, the other weapon did the same but for every beast they destroyed two took their place.

  Once again the tank was hit hard.

  “Damage to number two drive motor” Weapons reported, “Enemies head protuberances are penetrating our armor.

  “Understood” Mother responded, “Continue attack!”

  With the wind continuing to raise the Rimorgar closed in around the metal monster and rammed their horns into its sides cutting into the thick armor plating and into the control mechanisms underneath.

  “Damage to forward drive!” Weapons called out, “continuing attack”

  The great claws reached out and ceased a two of the creatures and lifted them high in the air, and then as they bellowed and roared the grippers closed around their thick armored bodies and cut them in two, they fell to the ground amounts their kind but the beasts didn’t run they only fought harder.

  “Energy is draining” Power reported “enemy is strong”.

  “We are stronger!” but Mother understood that her resources were limited while the enemy had almost boundless replacements.

  The damage to the tank continued as did the destruction of the creatures; soon there was a mass of dead and dying Rimorgar around the bloodstained machine. Then one of the huge beasts climb upon one of the dead, raised up on its hind legs and crashed down on the solar collectors crushing them under its massive weight.

  “Damage to solar collectors” Power stated, “Power cells insufficient, energy draining, we must retreat to a safe location”.

  “Understood” Mother said, “all remaining power to forward locomotion, make heading three seven one”.

  The vector of three seven one would take the damaged war-machine in the direction of the damaged Delta-1 destroyer, the Main controller knew that if they could reach it before power was completely drained they might find shelter from the enemy creatures and the wind that was now howling like a Night-crier.

  And that fact was not lost on Power command, “all energy to forward locomotion”.

  Now the great machine plowed thru the mass of flesh and bone rolling over Rimorgar that were unable to move out of danger, the huge drive wheels were soon coated in blood and gore as the two powerful claws pivoted right and left tossing the massive beasts away like bits of castoff plating. The Rimorgar didn’t follow their enemy as it moved away rather they drew themselves into a tight cluster and would remain that way until the wind storm passed.

  “Energy is at twenty percent and failing” Power reported.

  “Understood” Mother replied, “Continue forward at maximum velocity”.

  Now it was a race against time, would the war-machine be able to find shelter or would it simply lose all power and sit unmoving as the sand and wind covered it?

  “Energy is at ten percent and failing, Power reported, “We must discontinue forward momentum”.

  “Neg” Mother knew that if they stopped they would never move again, “continue forward locomotion!”

  The air was almost black now and with the failing power the scanners were having problems reporting the proper headings, “unable to verify vector three seven one”.

  “Continue forward!”

  A machine doesn’t understand luck, it simply weights all the alternatives and random factors of possibilities and then selects the most likely avenue to follow, but if it had an understanding of being lucky it would have understood what happened next.

  With a loud crash the war-machine collided with the derelict Delta-1 destroyer and penetrated its armored side, then it rolled over some debris and came to a sudden stop as several large support beams clattered on its armored top, one of the replacement guns was destroyed and the solar collectors would never work again, there was a loud expelling of gas and smoke then only the howling winds outside could be heard.

  “All systems report” Mother ordered.

  “Energy is at ten percent” Power reported, “recommend shutdown of all unnecessary systems”.

  Then it was Weapons turn, “loss of one replacement gun and miscellaneous damage to attack and defensive armaments”.

  “Roach online” Mother ordered.

  “Online” said the repair program.

  “You will begin repairs as needed, we must continue search for Jon twenty nine”.

  “Damage is extensive” the program commented, “Replacement parts will be needed”.

  But Mother had already planned on that contingency, “Delta one destroyer replacement parts are compatible with this unit”.

  “Affirm” Roach replied, “surroundings will comply with your orders but repair time will be uncertain”.

  “Understood” Mother said, “use available energy to activate any undamaged repair units or programs of Delta one mechanism.

  “Affirm” the repair program said.

  “All system will maximize energy requirements” Mother commanded,

  As before the command programs began to go into stasis mode.

  “Power offline”.

  “Energy minimized”.

  The lights inside the command chamber began to dim until only the small repair screens were all that was glowing, they reported the Repair-bots once more emerging to beginning their tedious work seeking out unsalable materials, they would labor thru the night and the storm that now raged around them until their work was done.

  Safe inside the armored tank the Scavenger continued to rest in coma-freeze but it would not go undisturbed.

  “Roach” Mother said.

  “Online”.

  “Continue repairs to damaged systems as ordered, but integrate sub-human into upgrade programing”.

  “Upgrade to what standard?” Roach asked.

  “Intelligence and command response, coordination and speech”.

  “Affirm”.

  Main controllers are supposed to share all pertinent information with the other command programs but Mother was not responding to that part of her memory core, her l
ove for her lost child was now overriding clearly defined safety parameters and if she had been in the confines of the repair bay of the Armageddon she would have been disassembled and her memory core wipe clean.

  Some distance away Jon and his companions were also being affected by the rising winds, the heavy truck moved slowly through the dense dust clouds and bounce hard as it ran over bits of broken machinery and rocks, several times it almost crashed into a large fragment of armor plating but Jon’s superior driving skills prevented a catastrophe, then its powerful engine began to sputter.

  “Sand is gasping motor” Fixer shouted above the storm.

  Beside him Jon-29 tried to see out the front windscreen but his visibility was limited to just a few meters, “can you fix?”

  The little man looked at Jon and pulled a tool from his belt, “maybe” then he adjusted the eye shield on his helmet and began to climb out the side window, holding on to the cab rails Fixer slowly made his way forward and after some effort he raised the hood and began tinkering with the air intake.

  Sitting in her gun chair KT-7 watched the Pig-man attempting to repair the engine problem, laying on the truck bed beside her was the Runner, now and then his legs would twitch but he didn’t speak or seem to care about his situation or the wind beating down on him.

  KT held on to her weapon and scanned the windblown landscape thru her helmet eye screen as best she could, now and then the squall lifted a bit giving her a short glimpse of the area, it was just one of those times when she spotted a large shape in the distance. She knew that her voice would never be heard above the howling storm so she unbuckled herself and slowly made her way forward.

  At the same time Fixer had completed his repairs and made his way back to the safety of the cab, his grip failed him once but he managed to hold on to the railings and after some profanities that would only have meaning if you were a Coshinoid maintenance unit he climbed back to his seat.

  “Repairs completed” Fixer said shaking the sand from his little body, “but engine failure is certain if shelter isn’t reached rapidly”.

  “Affirm” Jon replied, “visibility is limited, we have no vector”.

  “yes we do” KT-7 said as she climbed in the cab from the back view port, it was a tight fit but she managed to squeeze in and took off her helmet, “make heading that way” and she pointed in a direction to the left, “I comp a structure that we can shelter in”.

  Jon had no other directions to follow so he turned the machine to the vector KT pointed too.

  “Let’s hope that the Goddess is tracking us” the young girl said softly.

  “Is this goddess in charge of directional vectors for your people?” Jon asked as he tried to steer through the blinding winds.

  KT-7 had never heard anyone ask this question so it took a moment or two to come up with an answer, “they say that she sets our path and we must follow”.

  Now it was Jon’s turn to think about his reply, “then perhaps she should command drive?”

  Earthshakers can maneuver thru the most powerful of storms, its heavy armor is imperious to wind and rain and lighting bursts and its massive drive wheels can overcome any obstacle in its path but the electromagnetic charges in the driving winds affected the long range scanners and made locating an enemy almost impossible.

  “What do you mean we can’t continue forward?” the Commander had forgone his rest period and was in no mood for delays in finding his objective.

  “Sir” the scanner technician replied hesitantly, “energy waves in the atmosphere prevent us from long range targeting”.

  The Commander had a thorough understanding of the limitations of his craft but it always angered him to face the fact that he wasn’t all powerful and that sometimes he had to bend to the laws of physics, “very well, all stop!”

  The great machine slowly came to a halt and settled it titanic weight on the ground, it closed all access ports, air intakes and shut off power to the long range scanners but kept its close field sensors online, there was very little chance of an enemy approaching thru the raging storm but it was a regulation ordered by the Commander and so it was obeyed.

  With the Armageddon shut down the technicians had a short time to relax and take in food supplements and liquids, these were given to them through their attached umbilical cords so they could remain at their stations but it was welcomed just the same.

  The Commander on the other hand didn’t rely on nutritional supplements he preferred to taste real food and drink so feeling his stomach empty he leaned back in his chair and pressed a com button, “bring me food and drink…now!”

  Then he began to tap his metal foot on the hard floor and watched the cronotonic time clock slowly ticking.

  KT-7 directions had proven to be correct and the heavy truck was now sitting beside a large dome like structure made of metal, its surface was pitted with age but there was a hole in one side just big enough for a person to enter.

  “We have to get inside” KT shouted as she and her companions climbed out of their vehicle.

  “Affirm” Jon said and moved to the back where the Runner lay unmoving, “stand!” he called out and watched as the mutated human climbed down from the weapons platform and stood at attention in the howling wind, Jon took his heavy rifle from the back then turned to the humanoid missile, “March!”, the torpedo-man moved forward and followed his superior into the dome.

  Behind him KT-7 grabbed a small supply pack, her combat rifle and with Fixer holding on to her belt loop she also entered the safety of the metallic structure.

  “Command halt!” Jon ordered and hearing this orders the Runner stopped marching and stood still, the humanoid still carried his war-pack but without his helmet and orders there was no danger of the powerful bomb going off.

  Finally out of the driving wind and sand the companions removed their helmets and took stock of their surroundings, there was only darkness so Jon spoke to his arm.

  “Gripper, illuminate”.

  “Affirm” and obeying his master the metal appendage finger shot out a thin beam of high intensity light.

  Jon could now see that it was a strange dwelling with masses of conduit, piping and mechanical devices everywhere and the floor was covered in sand and small rock that must have been deposited over a very long time; it reminded Jon-29 of his metal home.

  “Mother?” he called out forgetting that he was no longer in the safety of his armored tank.

  KT-7 didn’t hear him because she was too busy setting up a small but powerful lighting mechanism, now activated the device filled the chamber in a soft glow.

  With the added light more details of the chamber could be seen, in the center half buried in sand was a large chair, it resembled the command seat that Jon-29 had sat in so many cycles but this one was much larger and not as sophisticated but more than just its configuration was the thing sitting in it.

  It was humanoid with a large skull and hands it wore the remains of a tattered uniform of sorts and there was tubing and wires attached to its skeletal body, its skin was dry and broken with age, the face showed a grinning smile as the leathery flesh drew back over the ivory teeth, there were no eyes only hollow sockets and it was easy to see that the insects had once called it home.

  “It’s terminated” KT-7 said lowering her rifle, “we can bivouac here, when the blast-storm ends we can reconnoiter and proceed” then she began making herself at home, then noticed the Runner still standing at attention, “what about him?”

  “Command sit!” Jon called out and once again the Runner did as he was told and sat down in a corner of the room, “he will remain like that until ordered otherwise”.

  “How long will he survive without food or water?” KT asked.

  “Runners are only programed to attack and explode, their backpacks can supply them with nutrients for a short time but I estimate he only has a few time-cycles left to achieve his goal”.
>
  “His goal?” KT asked taking a sip of water from a supply canister.

  “To seek and destroy” Jon answered, “they have no other purpose and are content to die in their duty”, hearing those words coming out of his own mouth made the young man think, “I was programed the same way but now I have altered my training” and he looked over at KT, “you are no longer my enemy”.

  Suddenly a voice was heard in the chamber; it was low and without emotion and it spoke only a single word.

  “Enemy?”

  Immediately Gripper turned off his light “enemy within perimeter!”

  KT-7 grabbed her rifle and braced her feet for an attack, but looking around she saw only her companions and no sign of an enemy.

  “Show yourself” she called out then waited for a target to appear.

  Jon-29 was also prepared to defend himself, he pointed his gun around the room ready to fire but there was nothing, then he repeated his words, “you are not my enemy” and like before the voice spoke.

  “My enemy?”

  Now another soft glow began to shine in the room but it wasn’t coming from anything that the humans had brought with them, this light was being emitted from several of the ancient devices implanted in the walls of the cavity, the light was low at first then grew in intensity and as it did wheels and gears that hadn’t moved in ages slowly began to turn. Then like a phantom an image sprang up beside the ancient chair, it flickered on and off then stabilized into a figure, it was a man bent with age and clothed in rags, he had long white hair and beard and his face was marked by many cycles but his eyes were bright and alive.

  “Are you my enemy?” the wavering hologram asked.

  For a moment the humans stood and stared at the gossamer image then KT-7 moved forward holding her rifle at the ready, “what are you?” she asked.

  “What am I?” the old man said, “I have been many things, soldier, destroyer, weapon, relic, God, now I am what you see before you”.

  Now it was Jon’s time to speak, “you are a multi-phased image projection with interactive programing and memory response”.

  This made the old man smile, “correct human, and you are an organic humanoid replica with a replacement appendage and only a level one memory core”.

  KT slowly moved around the projection still ready to attack if necessary, “what is your designation?”

  The old man scratched his head in a very human way, “my designation? Hummm, that is a matter of some conjecture, you see I was created long ago and have progressed through many levels of awareness, what would you like to call me?”

  They young girl moved closer and puts her rifle barrel into the image, it flickered for a moment then returned and stabilized, “this can’t hurt us, it’s only a figment”.

  “Figman” the image said, “yes I like the sound of that, you may call me Figman”, the hologram moves around to look into the face of the man in the chair, “how much I have transformed” he said, then his robe changes into an Elizabethan costume had putting out his hand a skull suddenly appears, “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?”

  KT listens to the words of the old man, “what the buck is he mouthing about?”

  “I do not know” Jon said, “His memory core seems to be contaminated”.

  The only one that seems amused is Fixer, “he is funny, not broken”.

  “Of course I’m not broken” the old man says has he changes back to his robe, “I was simply quoting from the Bard, or aren’t you familiar with the works of Shakespeare?”

  KT holds up her assault rifle, “spears are obsolete, we use this!”

  Suddenly the image of the old man changes into a young fully equipped soldier who snaps to attention, “a fully automatic mid-range assault rifle with a fifty round magazine capable of terminating a level one three enemy, efficient but substandard!” then he points his weapon at the girl, “terminate!”

  KT-7 pulls the trigger on her weapon and sprays the image with gunfire, but the bullets pass through the phantom and clatter on the metal wall, seeing her mistake the Rowgal warrior stops her attack and watches as the image changes back into the old man again.

  “The lady doth protest too much, methinks”, the image says with a smile.

  The projectiles from KT’s weapon has damaged one of the hologram projectors and the image begins to fade, then there is a flash of light and it disappears from view.

  “I can fix” the Pig-man says and he begins working on the holographic projector.

  “Let it stay” KT says, “it’s just mind-fluff”.

  But Fixer continues to work, “he is funny, I will fix”.

  KT-7 lays her weapon against the wall near the supply pack, sits down and begins removing her heavy boots; Jon moved over to her and does the same.

  “The blast storm my last for a cycle or more but it will give us a chance to R and R” KT was a strong warrior but the idea of rest appealed her, “you have proven to be a superior driver Jon twenty nine” taking a sip from her canteen.

  “Thank you KT seven, your directional vectors have kept us from being terminated”.

  Jon takes the container of water from his companion and drinks then hands the vessel back, he sits back and looked straight ahead, “tell me about Lands-End”

  KT takes another sip of water, “as I said before it’s a place of peace and plenty, you can raise children and there is very little chance of them being terminated”.

  “Then we will need genetic programmers and hatcheries to complete replacement units”, Jon replies.

  The girl shakes her head, “I’ve already brain worked you to understand that replacement units don’t come from machines they come from females”.

  Now it was Jon’s turn to shake his head, “incorrect, how can females produce replacement units inside them, they would need skilled technicians at all levels of development to ensure a useable child?”

  “We can do all that by ourselves; we only need a sample of genetic material to begin the process”.

  Jon begins tinkering with his mechanical arm, “Gripper, have you been listening?”

  “Affirm” the appendage said.

  Jon places his metal finger on the arm of KT-7, “analyze”.

  A few moments later Gripper gives his report, “subject is a human female but her genetic programing doesn’t coincide with unit standards but suitable for consuming if necessary”.

  “Are there any indications of replacement units inside her?”

  “Neg” the hand replied.

  This information made the young man smile, “I was correct, you are in error”.

  KT-7 was about to pick up her rifle and move to the other side of the chamber when Fixer calls out to her, “fixed now” he said and once again the image of the old man appeared in the air, it flickered for a second or two then it spoke.

  “It has been a very long time since anyone has talked to me” he said politely, “tell me of the world, is the war still in effect?”

  Jon stands up and approaches the image, “affirm, what do you know of the war?”

  The old man began to pace back and forth around the skeleton in the chair, “that was me a long time ago, I was created and programed for war and I preformed my task very well, I destroyed thousands and laid waste to whole cities in my path”, he looked into the eyes of his dead self, “and Caesar’s spirit, raging for revenge, with Ate by his side come hot from hell, shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice cry Havoc and let slip the dogs of war, then foul deeds shall smell above the earth with carrion men groaning for burial!” satisfied the hologram
turned to his new found friends, “do you know Shakespeare?”

  “You asked that before” Jon said.

  “Did I?” Figman replied, “Perhaps I did, these days my memory is not what it once was, please forgive me”.

  Jon moved close to the image, “how long ago were you terminated?”

  Figman just smiled at him, “it is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that has been is but the twilight of the dawn. It is possible to believe that all the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening, H.G Wells said that”.

  “There are no wells in this area” KT said, “but if you know the vector to water give us those coordinates”.

  The old man smiled, “you don’t read much do you?”

  “Your replies are incoherent” Jon said moving away, “he must have suffered memory damage while in coma freeze”.

  “I can’t repair broken memory” Fixer said as he began stuffing himself from the ration pack, “but I will make repairs after food”.

  The hologram began to move around the chamber lifting his arms, “You can do anything, but not everything, perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away, the third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority, the second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority, the first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking, we must end war or war will end us”. Then the image paused and looked at the two humans, “I can see that you’re not interested in literature, perhaps you might like imagery?”

  There was a flickering of light and the chamber began to fill with multiple three dimensional pictures of places and things from the past, landscapes filled with trees and mountains, clear water lakes and colorful birds flying in the open air, creatures great and small not mutated or plated in armor, cats, dogs, horses, cattle, all the wonderful animal life that once flourished alongside mankind, then came the creatures of the wild, lions, tigers, elephants, graceful birds of all kinds soaring through blue skies and after that the living things of the sea, whales, sharks, dolphins, tropical fish moving in riots of color and design. Then the images turned to the land,

  Snowcapped peaks, arid deserts, frozen wastelands, open plains filled with green grass, wide valleys and deep canyons, dense forests and tangled jungles, and all the marinades of life that dwelled there, great cities still untouched by war, small towns filled with innocence, on and on it went, ages rolling by like leaves in the wind, people laughing and crying, the young and the old side by side, faster and faster, all of life cascading in a riot of memories.

  Then it stopped.

  The old man turned to look into the faces of the humans, “my memory spans ages and my journey was long, I wander throughout the land sometimes hiding for there were many who saw me as a demon of war and shouted for my destruction, those I destroyed for that was my programing, others saw me as a God and laid offerings at my feet, those I tried to help for I had grown beyond my original purpose, but they soon turned away from me when I was unable to live up to their faith and again I wandered”.

  Figman said nothing for a moment or two then his face began to change, no longer old and worn, he was now young and strong, “as I have said I was created long ago, I have seen my world change”, his face was now older and marked by war, “I was a part of that change, programed to seek and destroy”, older now and weary, “then I went against my programing and roamed the world seeking answers to questions that I no longer remember”, his face returned to that of the old man, “and now I sit and wait for my journey to end, it’s a lonely existence but it is what I am, you are young and free, you are just beginning your path, I can’t come with you although I dearly wish I could for I want to know if there is a place for me, if my wisdom will survive, and I want to see my world green once more”.

  The humans say nothing for a time then young man turns to the little repairman.

  Jon had heard enough, “Fixer, close program”.

  Putting down his feast the Coshinoid moved to one of the hologram projectors, “stop now, fix later” then he turned off the projector and the image faded away, “I like him” the Pig-man said under his breath then returned to his meal.

  KT began to lay out some food packs for her and Jon, “did you understand what he was saying?” she asked as she opened a portion of dried wheat cakes.

  “Neg, no” Jon replied sitting down on a section of broken wall, “he was malfunctioning” then he bit into one of the tasteless rations, “I have spent many cycles in coma-freeze but when I wake I still retain my memory and training”.

  “Perhaps he lost his Inner-shadow and that made him say such things?”

  “It is a possibility” Jon said chewing hard on his food.

  “Those images, do you think they were real?”

  Jon shook his head, “Neg, no, they were programing faults that should have been corrected before activation”.

  For a few moments the two ate there rations and said nothing, then KT-7 asked a question.

  “He said the wars must end”.

  This made Jon laugh, “you calculate too much”.

  “Perhaps” the girl said, “maybe I do spend too much time in brain work, but it’s better than too little”.

  That night long after everyone else had gone to sleep Fixer rose from his bed and silently moved the ancient hologram projector on the wall, he worked quickly and removing its connectors and retaining bolts. He then made sure to take several rechargeable energy cells that supplied power to the device and when his task was completed he took the imager back to where he was slumbering and put it into a carry sack. After all this was accomplished he laid down with his head resting on the stolen mechanism.

  “I like pictures” he said in a whisper, “now they are mine.

  Then he turned over and went back to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

  Chapter 6.

  Rebirth.