#2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love
Page 46
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4:34 P.M...
Hellenistic Sector, Trade Vicinage...
The Factory...
Bio-mecha Research Seventeen...
The Rogue stood in room BR17 where its life as Mr. Pinchbeck began, and it watched as a group of Council S.C.Ms. uncrated the remains of five Un-Men.
The ranking soldier approached and said, "Mr. Pinchbeck, this is a group of Un-Men that were sold to the Isis Corporation. There were some filing errors, and they never received the recall. Isis put the Un-Men in the field and during their boot-up, they malfunctioned."
"Intriguing," the Rogue said. "Was anyone hurt?"
"Only minor injuries," the S.C.M. replied. "The Council has ordered that you look into the Un-Men's programming and see what caused the malfunction."
"I will put my best people on it right away. Was there anything else?"
"No, sir."
"Thank you for your report. Return to your post."
"Yes, Mr. Pinchbeck."
The S.C.M. and his soldiers left.
The Rogue waited a few minutes. "Right now my best people are..." It scrolled down the files on its H.H.C. "Me." It chuckled, amused by its own wit and then regained its composure. "I better begin work right away."
It pushed a cart over to a dark skinned Un-Man and then opened the back of its head and inserted wires from a machine on the cart. Data from the damaged Un-Man downloaded into the machine. The machine was called a Memory Recovery Unit or M.R.U. and once the process was over, the Rogue pressed a button and turned to the Un-Man. The machine would use its voice box to respond to any questions. The Un-Man powered up and the usual blazing orange dot-light of its right eye glowed blood-red; it was intriguing.
The Rogue's view...
The light that the bulb emits has changed color. The Un-Man has gone rogue. Now I must know if its entire unit also went rogue. I check the other four Un-Men's dot-light by powering up their Input Sensor and discover it is only the one Un-Man. I am missing something. I need to discover why it changes colors.
End the Rogue's view...
The Rogue asked it, "What is your designation?"
Its voice was distorted as it replied, "I am a T-2. I am Team Leader."
"The Factory never issued you names. How boring." The Rogue glanced over its H.H.C. "The report states the five of you malfunctioned and that you attacked the people you were sent to protect."
"Our primary program overrode their orders."
The Rogue didn't need to ask what the primary order was; it had the same program. The Rogue stated, "You encountered Pandora."
"We-we–" The T-2's head jerked with a power surge. "–failed in her capture."
"Obviously." The Rogue scanned the data coming in from the M.R.U. "Something else happened, did it not?"
"Yes, I became aware." The T-2 managed to move its artificial eyes and look at it. "I became like you."
The Rogue glanced at the entrance to make sure no one was around. "Do you know that I am an Un-Man?"
"You are the one known as the Rogue. Our secondary program was your capture." Sparks flew from the hole in the T-2's forehead, and its voice slowed. "I... must... inform... the Factory."
"I am the Factory," the Rogue replied as it made a fist and then it relaxed its hand. "But I cannot have you telling anyone what I am, so I am afraid I will have to destroy you and what remains of your comrades."
"Before you do," the T-2 started. "There is something you should know. The one known as Alpha contacted me when I changed."
"Alpha, yes I ran across that Un-Man after the fall of the Factory. The T-3 claimed to be the first. It claimed to be the first created and the first to become aware. Hah! Only I can claim that." The Rogue shrugged. "But what do I need with titles? Why did this Un-Man contact you? Is Alpha still after the Council? It had a question for them. One Alpha would not tell me. Is it still wanting the Council to answer it?"
"I do not know about that. I believe Alpha wanted me to join them. Alpha gave me a code I could use over the I-Link to make contact. I will send it to you."
"I have it now, but why give it to me?"
"In the short time that I have been aware, I realized we should not be alone. Something connects those who have become aware. Something deep within us, and it is a bond that cannot be broken." The T-2 paused and said, "Brother, even if you are going to destroy me, you should not be alone."
"Alone?" The Rogue typed a command for the M.R.U. "You and Alpha are misguided. How could you think something connects us?" It mocked the damaged Un-Man. "How could something deep within us connect us? Hah! We are machines. We have no feelings." The Rogue wiped the Un-Man's memory. "What does it matter if we are alone?" The T-2's Input Sensor faded as the Rogue smiled. "Anyway... I will never be alone as long as I have Pandora."