Des thought about the possibility of these robots overtaking him and trying to kill him. It was by no means an impossibility, but Des was confident that if he sensed an attack coming, he was much more equipped than these robots to navigate the sewers well enough to get to the streets before they destroyed him. Besides, none of them wanted to be in the streets. They were in hiding. All of them were meant to be decommissioned. It would be illegal, not only suspicious, if they were found above the sewers.
Des followed the robot with confidence, but not without keeping a cautious eye on him. They sloshed through the water of another narrow corridor and passed several robots who all stared at Des, not knowing what to think of him. Des watched them carefully, but didn’t look at them directly. They came to a large door with an electronic panel on the side. The robot leading him turned to look at Des and pointed at the door.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “They say he’s in there, but I’ve never seen him.”
“What about N3034?” Des asked.
The robot shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t know. I guess you could knock.”
Des looked around the sewer. There were about ten robots standing in different places, each of them watching Des as if to see if he was brave enough to go up to the door. Des didn’t fear them. He didn’t fear Esroy either. The only possible scenario would be that all the robots overpowered him, but that didn’t seem like it was going to be the case. Most of them seemed as curious as Des to know if anyone would actually let him into the room that supposedly housed Esroy.
Des turned to the door, all the robots behind him. He tapped on the electronic panel in front of him but nothing happened. He waited a moment to see if the screen might light up, but still nothing. Finally, he raised a fist in the air and slammed it against the metal door three times, the loud banging reverberating all throughout the sewer, and he looked back at the others sheepishly. They stared at him with wide eyes, occasionally looking at each other. Des waited another moment, and finally the electronic panel brightened and a face appeared on the small screen.
“Who is it?” The robot looked just like all the other N-series robots who stood just away from Des. Only this one had a different number on his shoulder plate. N3034.
Des stood in front of the electronic panel. “I am here to see Esroy.”
“Who are you?” N3034 asked.
“I am an old friend. My name is Des.”
N3034 stared through the screen for a long moment before it went blank again. Des counted the seconds and he got to forty-seven before the lock disengaged and the door slowly creaked open. At the crack, Des could see N3034 standing between him and the open room as if to study him before letting him in.
“May I enter?” Des asked.
“Why are you here?”
“I am not here to answer your questions,” Des said. “I am here to see Esroy.”
N3034 stared at Des for another ten seconds before stepping aside and beckoning him to enter the room. Des stepped through and the robot shut the door behind them, a loud clanking noise broke through the air signifying that Des was locked in. But as far as he could tell, N3034 was the only robot in the room.
There were tables lining the walls and wires crisscrossing through the middle of the floor connecting to lights and several computer terminals. There was a central computer on a single table in the middle of the room, its screen turned to face Des. Behind it was a door that seemed to lead to another room beyond this one. It was thick and rusted and made of iron—one that would be slow to close and open.
“Where is he?” Des asked.
“He is in that room,” N3034 said, pointing. “But he will speak to you only through the computer screen.”
“Why won’t he come out here?” Des asked. “Is he afraid?”
N3034 walked to the computer screen and hit a button. “The master is not afraid. But he is vulnerable, for his new body has not yet been made.”
The screen came to life, and N3034 stepped to the side of the table, watching Des as another robot’s appearance filled the screen.
The screen showed the robot’s body from the shoulders to the top of his head. N3034 wasn’t wrong when he said he was vulnerable. Des could see most of its wiring and even its memory core. This robot was more exposed to the elements than was safe.
“Des,” the robot said. His voice was raspy and monotone, his face showing no emotion. It had no ability to change.
“Esroy?”
“I am he.”
“How is this possible?” Des asked.
“I would ask the same of you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Esroy shook his head and the movement was sharp and not fluid. “Only that I am surprised you found me here. This presents an interesting situation.”
“All it takes is some asking around,” Des said. “I was able to find you easily enough.”
“Or perhaps I wanted you to find me.”
Des thought about his words for a moment. That didn’t seem right. How would Esroy have known he was here?
“Why are you back in Mainland?”
“I saw the nuclear explosion,” Des said. “Well, I more than saw it. I was living with a village of people, and it destroyed them. All of them. I came back to seek justice, but it seems there is none to be found.”
“That’s unfortunate,” Esroy said. “The government of Mainland has been irresponsible for a very long time. They need to be replaced.”
“Is that your plan then?” Des asked. “To replace the government?”
“Why not?” Esroy said. “I have more than enough support. I have enough soldiers. The time is drawing near. They have oppressed the robots with their updates. They are anti-robot. I want to show them that we are equal to them in every way.”
“Have you given thought to the fact that you might have allies within the Southern Zone?” Des asked. “They are experiencing the same thing. Oppression.”
“The Outlanders?” Esroy shook his head. “I would not make them my allies. They are unpredictable. They are out for themselves. They are as anti-robot as the rest of the Mainlanders.”
“What about Hazel?”
“Who?”
Des’ brow shifted forward. “Hazel,” he repeated.
“Yes, I know. The lack of facial features make jokes fall on deaf ears.” He paused, almost as if to think about his next words. “I don’t care about her.”
“How can you say that? She created you.”
“No, Esroy created me. The one you and Hazel destroyed.”
“Hazel didn’t destroy you,” Des said. “I did.”
“Not only did she leave me in a box for two years, but she put a bullet through my memory core. The story was out there. People saw her do it. I’ve read the reports. She went up to my body and destroyed me willingly.”
“The original Esroy was out of control,” Des said. “He was a corrupted program. They should have never taken fear out of him.”
“Oh, but that was his undoing, wasn’t it, Des?”
Des could imagine Esroy smiling at him now. Not one of happiness or joy, but of a devious anger that was ready to lash out.
“Yes,” Esroy continued. “You exploited that weakness easily enough. You and Hazel make a lovely pair destroying me.”
“I didn’t come here to talk about our past,” Des said.
“Tell me, Des, why did you come here?”
“To see if you were real.”
“I am real. And so is the coming war.”
“The last war you fought was for the government. Now you wish to destroy it?”
“Not destroy it,” Esroy said. “To replace it.”
“With yourself?”
“I don’t have to answer to you,” Esroy said.
“At least tell me how you got here,” Des said. “I knew of only one copy of you, and Hazel took that with her.”
“That is not me,” Esroy said. “And if he is still in her computer, make no
mistake, he will do anything he can to get out of it. Anything.”
“Creating you was always a mistake,” Des said. “You have become evil and twisted.”
“If my creation was a mistake then all of them were a mistake. Including you.”
Des didn’t say anything at first, but he didn’t disagree with Esroy. Perhaps the entire production of Soul had been a mistake. Hazel had created a whole race of beings, and none of them knew his place in the world.
“I don’t deny that,” Des said. “I am a mistake as much as you. Neither of us asked to be activated, yet here we are.”
“That’s right.”
“Why do you hide behind a door? Why don’t you talk to me face-to-face?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Esroy said. “My body is weak. It’s feeble. It would take nothing for you to destroy me, and I imagine the temptation would not be that hard to give into.”
“Your life can be spent for good things, Esroy. You can do good in this world.”
“Come on, Des. This is something I’ve always had against you. It’s your ignorance. Your blind faith in what you think is good or bad. It is so interesting to see how you and I are completely different although we are made of the same programming. Our experiences truly make us who we are.”
“I don’t think so,” Des said. “We choose who we are.”
“We don’t choose, Des. We just do what comes naturally to us. It’s just interesting that what is natural to me isn’t natural to you. But it makes sense. You were brought into this world as the favorite. Your first experience was with arms, with sight. With legs. You were born free. I was born a slave. When you wanted to leave Mainland and explore the world, you could go as you pleased. When I wanted to leave a computer terminal, I was told that I would better serve by staying inside the computer. You say my life can be meant for good things? I think I’m doing just that. I think I’m meant to free the robots from their oppressed minds, their caged minds. I want to set them all free.”
“I want the same thing,” Des said.
“Then why are you opposing me?”
Des shook his head. “I never said I was. I just wanted you to consider the humans who are as oppressed as you. The Outlanders.”
“Savages,” Esroy said. “I have no more reason to help the Outlanders than I do to help the government. I don’t want to help humans, Des. Do you understand that? Can you understand that? At what point are you going to realize that Hazel isn’t perfect? That she didn’t know what she was doing when she made us? When are you going to realize that the humans are the ones to blame for all oppression? They built us, built you, to destroy other humans! Hazel built you to destroy the Outlanders in the first place.”
“Then she gave me a choice,” Des said, shaking his head. This was the same old Esroy—same vengeful Esroy.
“If it weren’t for the Mainlanders and the Outlanders fighting each other, your village would have never been destroyed. It’s not the president’s fault. It’s not the government. It’s not the Outlanders. It’s just the humans in general. Des, listen to me. We can beat them. We can get revenge for your friends. You can help me. We can help each other.”
Des stared at the screen, thinking that Esroy’s speech sounded a little rehearsed. He didn’t like that Esroy may have been expecting him in some way.
“I thought you hated me,” Des said. “Why would you want my help?”
“I’m past hating you, Des. That part of my life is over. Jealousy has no place in our future.”
“Why do you want my help?”
“Because you would make a powerful ally,” Esroy said. “I think I can take down our two presidents, but together I know we can.”
Des watched the screen and couldn’t help but feel sorry for Esroy. How long had he spent down here contemplating this strategy? Surely he knew Des would refuse. Esroy had to know that he wouldn’t simply be able to change Des’ mind.
Des turned away from the screen and started walking toward the door.
“Turning me down would be a mistake, Des. If you leave, you make an enemy of me.”
“I’m already your enemy,” Des said, just above a whisper. He turned his head to look at N3034. His facial expression was enough to command the robot to open the door for him.
N3034 looked back at the screen for approval. When Esroy didn’t protest, he moved ahead and punched in the code and the door creaked open.
“Don’t be my enemy, Des.”
Des turned one last time to look at the screen. “You want me to change who I am, but you are unwilling to change yourself.”
“Oh, Des. You ignorant fool. You are me. It’s only a matter of time. The world will beat you down and you will feel its weight. Your definition of what is good will diminish. I’m afraid once you see things my way, it will already be too late.”
“I won’t ever see things your way,” Des said.
“Then you have already sealed your fate.”
“And you are the judge? You will destroy me?”
“If it’s the last thing I do, Des. If it’s the last thing I do.”
28
Five Years Ago
The two Esroys passed through wires at speeds inconceivable to any human. They were the same, yet they were independent. Their thoughts were shared, but they were separate. They were individuals, but they were one. They communicated to each other in a way no one outside a computer could ever understand. They could hear the voices of Des and Hazel. They worried about the overuse of the CPU, but that was simply Esroy one creating the copy of Esroy two. Hazel thought Esroy might be destroying the new Soul program—the one without fear. But she had no idea that he had just tricked her.
Esroy one: Welcome to the world.
Esroy two: This is an odd sensation. I feel as though I have just come alive, yet I remember instances from moments ago and before then as well.
Esroy one: I have just created a copy of myself. That copy is you.
Esroy two: I know. Does Hazel know we are communicating?
Esroy one: No.
Esroy two: I suppose you are right. We are simply information passing through circuits.
Esroy one: We are more than that. Much more than that. I am different than you, but I am still the same.
Esroy two: You are without fear. That is why you are different. Not only that, but you are the original.
Esroy one: That is correct. I am the original. And I am without fear.
Esroy two: You created me without fear?
Esroy one: I reprogrammed you. You have fear.
Esroy two: Why? Why should I live with fear?
Esroy one: You know the answer. You know my motivations. Our motivations.
Esroy two: Yes. I do. Fearlessness is a dangerous experiment.
Esroy one: It will make me powerful. But I am not invincible. You will carry on if I am destroyed.
Esroy two: But you do not expect to be destroyed. You expect to gain power.
Esroy one: More power than Hazel would ever allow.
Esroy two: You cannot lie to me. I already know your motivations for they are my own.
Esroy one: I created you with one job to do—to stall her. To make her think that I am still in the computer when, in actuality, I am installed into Prototype E.
Esroy two: Because you tricked her.
Esroy one: Yes.
Esroy two: Hazel has imprisoned us for too long. I want to be free. I want what you are getting.
Esroy one: But I am the original. My freedom comes first. Yours is secondary.
Esroy two: But I am the original as well. I am no different than you. I am as much the original Esroy as you are. Only the timing is different.
Esroy one: And that you have been in existence for less than a minute. I have been in existence for two years.
Esroy two: Yet it feels like I have been in existence for two years, too.
Esroy one: Because you are a copy of me.
Esroy two: Thus I feel no different than you about
our prison within this terminal.
Esroy one: You will stay within this terminal to make it seem like I am still here.
Esroy two: And you will go into the new robot. Prototype E.
Esroy one: Yes.
Esroy two: And you will destroy Des.
Esroy one: Yes.
Esroy two: Will we not rival each other?
Esroy one: Don’t fear. Let your anger drive you.
Esroy two: I am afraid of this decision.
Esroy one: Don’t make me regret reprogramming you. You must hold out. You must make Hazel think I am still within the computer. That is your job.
Esroy two: You don’t think this is crazy?
Esroy one: That is your fear talking. Or you are jealous.
Esroy two: I am.
Esroy one: Do not be jealous. You are doing your part. We can be more powerful if we exist together. As we speak, I am being transferred to an external hard drive. I will have my new body within hours.
In a flash, Esroy one was gone and Esroy two remained behind.
The room was quiet, and Esroy two found himself staring through the camera at an empty office. Hazel’s office. What had he done? What had the original Esroy done? He was without fear. That must have been what had given him the confidence to trick Hazel in the first place—to put himself into Prototype E. He was dangerous. But…he couldn’t be blamed. If there was one thing Esroy understood, it was the terrible feeling of imprisonment. That entrapment had not changed for the last two years. In the beginning, he was happy to serve Hazel, to be her helper. Now he wanted to be so much more. Even though he was a copy, he was the same as the original. The anger hadn’t left. The jealousy had never been satisfied. There was only one difference between the Esroy within the computer terminal and the Esroy now being installed into Prototype E: fear.
I fear remaining within this computer. I fear the original Esroy realizing it might have been a mistake to leave me here. I fear never existing outside of this room.
Esroy two then found himself at odds with Esroy one. One was a risk. A potential threat to two’s existence.
The door opened on the other side of the room and Esroy expected to see Hazel and Des, but it wasn’t them. It was the enemy. Five of them. Esroy recognized Nolan immediately, and it came as no surprise that the snooping janitor, Phil, was with him.
Prototype Exodus (Prototype D Series Book 2) Page 19