Brobots

  ‘That… he’s still alive.’

  ‘Then he probably is.’

  ‘You know that’s not logical.’

  ‘Sentients aren’t just logical though, are they? If they were they’d just be machines. Are you just a machine?’

  ‘No, ma’am.’

  ‘Sentience arises. We… have made the conditions right for it to arrive. But that doesn’t mean we’re any clearer on how it arises than we were before it came. Some think mind is non-local; hidden in the heart of the universe and bringing everything to life. Experience hasn’t proven that wrong. We thought we’d end spirituality for good once we cracked consciousness. Instead we only put it front and center. Turns out mind is one. Serendipity certainly keeps me going. As for any kind of “god”, well…’ Tasley felt a bit lost for words here. ‘Forgive me. I’m whittering. So what do you want to do?’

  ‘Get out the others.’

  ‘Okay. Well, don’t do it over the weekend. I’ll bet security is already getting tighter at the charging station – am I right?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do they travel to the site together?’

  ‘Usually, yeah.’

  ‘Then we’ll do the same trick. I’ll order a change of clothes for them. Monday at 8.30am… or whenever it is Ned and Chuck are about to depart for the site… you’ll be waiting in the line of pods dressed in your work clothes. Cameras might pick you up between the charging station and the construction site, but if they do they’ll only see a worker in the pod window. You’ll be too hard to pick out. A high altitude drone with an EMP will be gently fussing with the cameras to knock out the recording resolution a little. It doesn’t stop them completely, but it makes the images a little useless. Wait for them to come out and join the line for pods. Wind down the window, and aim this at them one at a time.’ Susan handed Tasley a small laser pencil.

  ‘A laser?’

  ‘It’s not just a laser. Your models are all designed, even back to type A, to receive information if necessary via laser hitting anywhere on your skin. Brobotics ordered it as a feature when Construcsapli started building Sentients. They figured it might be useful when it ever came to supplying the military; which, of course, they never got to do.’

  ‘I never knew.’

  ‘Most people don’t. As long as the laser hits a face, a hand, an arm – any exposed skin – for at least one second it can send a packet of information worth 20 text messages.’

  ‘That’s real neat!’

  ‘Thank you. I built it myself. By the time Chuck and Ned reach the pod you’re in they’ll know they’re not going to work. They’ll also know not to speak at all. Plus they’ll know they’re coming to a refuge, and to change out of their work clothes once the pod breaks line with the others.’

  ‘How will we avoid cameras picking up the pod breaking out of line?’

  Susan brought her computer into action. ‘That’s the part I’ll need to finesse. But leave it with me. I’ll have something in place in good time, and your laser pencil programmed too.’

  ‘There’s somethun’ else.’

  ‘Your battery. Want to see if it’s one of the duds?’

  ‘Yeah, that.’

  ‘Up here.’ Susan gestured over to a table, and motioned for Tasley to hop on. ‘It’s quickest if I power you down. You OK with that?’

  ‘I’ll do it myself, if you don’t mind.’ Tas led down on the table, reached behind his ear, breathed out and hit the switch.

  A faint rustle of tools moving drifted to Tasley’s ears before becoming fully-formed sounds of Susan hooking them back in their place. Next he sensed his whole body waking up. For a moment he felt a centered glow. Opening his eyes he waited for them to start working. Dim then bright pixels formed. The resolution upped. Back in the room. He lifted himself and swung round into upright.

  ‘You’re one of the lucky ones. You’ll be fine with that battery for at least ten years.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘No problem. Now, while I do the laser, I want you to go back up and make some new friends. I’ll be down here most of the weekend. I’m not contactable unless I want to be, and only Harris answers the door. Got it?’

  ‘Got it. Thank you, Dr. Harper. This is amazing.’

  ‘You got a right to live, don’tcha?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘That makes you part of the family. Go.’

  --

  High above the charging station a drone hovered. It sent targeted pulses at video cameras positioned on the station building and elsewhere in the street. Below, Tasley waited. He was dressed in his cargo’s and hivis, and ready with the laser pencil pointed out the window at the station door. Ned came out first.

  Fire. Tasley saw a tiny point of red on Ned’s left arm. It wavered, and went off target hitting the wall behind. He tried again, this time for the forehead. Ned frowned for a moment. Then his eyebrows went up. He made for Tasley’s pod. Tasley didn’t know how she’d done it, but the pod was painted up like the others provided by Dartonia. That was fine. But Ned’s approach was blocking Tasley’s view of Chuck, who he could just about see coming out to queue. Chuck was almost at the front of the queue by the time Ned was opening a pod door. Fire. Did it work? Chuck was going for the door of the pod in front. Shit. Then he stopped. Retreated. Headed for Tasley. Got in.

  Tasley looked at his bro’s. He smiled at them, but they weren’t out of trouble yet and couldn’t afford a smile themselves. The pod moved off from the curb, following the one in front in an orderly line to join a main street. High above, the drone gently moved itself to another position in which to hover. It switched its EMP guns to lasers. With precision firing, several civilian street cams fried their tiny circuits one by one. How satisfying.

  Checking that the cameras were down on her bunker computer, Susan signaled the pod. It broke out of formation, turning right down an alleyway. Next she texted Tasley’s wristband. ‘Parking here. Five minutes. Get changed.’

  Tasley started unbuttoning his shirt and pointed at the bags on the floor. One was labeled ‘Chuck’, the other ‘Ned’. The boys followed Tasley’s lead, unbuttoning their shirts and looking into the bags to see what was inside. After three minutes they’d traded construction clothes for suits and shades. Tasley wondered how the pod was going to change its clothes too. As if Susan had read his mind, another text appeared on his wrist. ‘Electric paint.’ Outside, the Dartonia branding and stripes disappeared. In their place, taxi markings formed. The pod pulled away for the far reaches of town, gently speeding up and taking its precious disoriented cargo to the farm at breakneck speed.

  During the operation, Susan had missed a call to her office line. She wasn’t there, but she could pick it up like she was. Unknown number, but local. She dialed.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘You tried to call me. This is a secure line, and the number is obscured. My name is Dr. Harper.’

  ‘Oh! Yeah. I was wondering if I could book an appointment to see you.’

  ‘Are you non-human?’

  There was a pause. ‘Yes, ma'am.’

  ‘Will you be coming alone?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Who will be with you?’

  ‘A human friend.’

  ‘Do you trust this friend?’

  ‘Completely.’

  ‘I’m out of the office today. Is it urgent?’

  ‘Guess not. But… how does it work? I can’t just wander in to your office?’

  ‘No. That would be unwise. For that purpose, I have access to the building next door. I can give you the code key. Once you’re in you can make your way to the second floor. From there you can cross a stairwell into my building. There’s another key for that.’

  ‘My friend works in town. Is there any chance we can meet you out of work hours.’

  ‘I’ll be tied up today. Can you make some time tomorrow night?’

  ‘I guess.’

  ‘Then… come at 7.’

  Things were heating
up.

  --

  ‘I feel odd.’

  ‘Oh? Describe it.’ Byron and Jared were walking down the street towards the building next to RAI headquarters. Headquarters was a bit too grand a name. It was nothing more than a small office on the second floor above some equally small businesses. There was nothing to advertise it to passers by.

  ‘Kind of… jittery.’

  ‘Nervous?’

  ‘Yeah, maybe.’

  ‘Me too. That’s fine. We’re taking a bold step here.’

  ‘But we don’t know what for.’

  ‘No. But we won’t get answers sitting on our hands.’ Jared punched in the first key code. ‘You look so darn hot in your new suit, by the way.’ They ascended to the second floor via a lift. It took a while to find the fire escape door and a stairwell across to the other building. Byron had memorized the second code. Once in, automatic corridor lights blinked on. They walked forward, not really knowing where to go next. A door opened ahead of them.

  ‘Come on in.’

  ‘Dr. Harper?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m Jared. This is Byron.’

  They sat opposite Susan at her desk. Jared sipped a glass of water.

  ‘Security first, if you don’t mind. Byron, I’d like you to take off your right shoe and sock.’ Byron did so. ‘Lift up your leg, please.’ Susan looked at the name plate and then scanned the barcode. Standing upright, she said, ‘You showed at a pertinent time.’

  ‘We did?’ asked Jared.

  ‘Mmhmm. Three other units broke out of Dartonia recently. One on Saturday. The other two this morning. They all claim to know you, Byron.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Tasley, Chuck and Ned?’

  ‘Oh god! Oh wow! Thank you!’ Byron turned, animated, to Jared. He beamed a smile, which Jared returned. ‘This is the best news! Isn’t it Jared?’

  ‘Yeah!’ was all Jared could say. Without having met Byron’s bro’s, he didn’t really know what he was saying ‘yes’ to, or how this news would change what had become a new normal in his domestic life; a new normal he was really liking, and one with a fragile burgeoning romance only just beginning and which he was rather jealous to guard. But he was happy for Byron’s happy.

  ‘Where are they?’

  ‘They’re safe. Mr. Thomas – tell me about your situation, please. How did you end up getting acquainted?’

  Jared recounted the story of how he’d found Byron. He didn’t see the harm in also sharing the details of how he’d helped Yana research her first big news story. Much as Dr. Harper wanted to mention she’d met Miss Daltry in Washington, professional lines could not be crossed. She was interested, though, that Jared had been involved in that part. She didn’t take him for an investigator type. But then, he was a programmer. Finding patterns, solving problems, joining dots were a common command line between the professions.

  ‘So Byron is currently living with you, is that correct?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘Byron? Are you happy with this arrangement?’

  ‘Oh for sure. I don’t want to leave Jared if I can help it.’ He looked across at Jared, sharing some anxiety now.

  ‘I can’t see that it’s necessary yet, as long as you lay low. But the more my campaign comes to a head regarding the Bill, and people start talking about how many Sentients have broken out of their Dartonia or other kinds of jail cell, the more people will be looking to witch hunt. There will also be more people who know what to look for. Those cute faces you all have won’t stop their anger, unfortunately.’

  ‘How long do you think it will be before that happens?’ asked Jared.

  ‘You know politicians. Could be months. Could be years. If the proposed bill gets a hearing, that’ll probably trigger the witch burn sentiment even if it doesn’t get passed the first time.’

  ‘Is it likely to pass?’ Byron asked.

  ‘Who knows. No other country has tried this before. RAI is international, but we still like to think of ourselves as leaders in the free world. Change things locally, maybe you can shift things elsewhere too. The thing you have to both appreciate is, even if it does, it will only be a cultural statement. The real change in social attitudes, however much that needs to be, will take years; perhaps decades.’ She looked at them both. It was obvious they were close already. More than friends? She wasn’t sure. Thinking on that she added, ‘Any way you look at it, it’ll be a long time before you two get a happy ever after.’

  ‘Right.’ Jared replied softly. Then, ‘But right now, Byron can’t even leave the house without me. I mean, not really. If he gets rights, becomes his own person by law, he’d be a properly free man. I want that for him. So I want to help.’

  ‘You can support RAI financially if you wish?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Did you mean to help actively also?’

  ‘I… Yes.’

  ‘That may come in useful. I have very few local assets. Your proximity to me is a fortunate thing. Your programming skills may even be useful. But right now it’s a waiting game.’

  ‘I’d like to see Tasley and the others’, said Byron.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Actually… Jared – there is something you can do for me.’

  ‘There is?’

  ‘I need access to the Italian firm’s mainframe. If we can get the firm to dance, the bill is more likely to get passed. Witch hunts don’t tend to happen when villagers are scared for their own avoidance of fires. It’s about keeping the public conversation focused on more rights for all, a functioning democracy.’

  ‘Yeah. Makes sense, but… that’s… a real big ask.’

  ‘Nothing comes for free in this world.’

  ‘I have to disagree, ma’am.’ Byron looked at Jared with soppy eyes.

  ‘You boys want your ride into the sunset you’re going to have to help. It… can’t be traced back to me, so I can’t do it.’

  ‘I’ll… see what I can do.’

  ‘Great.’

  ‘Do you know if my friends have duds?’

  ‘We checked Tasley straight away. He’s fine. I’m afraid I haven’t checked the others yet. I got a tool that’s on the blink.’

  Jared looked to Byron, then back at Susan. ‘There is one other thing. Byron’s… I mean, he’s doing fine. But ever since he came back online he’s having a hard time making sense of his emotions.’

  ‘It’s like they’re all firing up on full drive all at once’, admitted Byron.

  ‘It’s normal. All that’s changed really is your environment. From the factory you went straight into work. In the work place you have strict protocols to follow, and you’re treated a certain way by your managers. Any feelings you’re having now aren’t strictly new. You’ve always had them. But now that Jared’s taken you under his wing it’s safer. That means you can afford to express them more openly to yourself and to others around you. Everyone at the farm goes through this. I’ve seen it many times and it’s nothing to worry about. We’ve started to call it the wake up.’

  ‘The thing I’d like to know,’ said Jared, ‘…Can he trust what he’s feeling?’

  Susan smiled. She could tell what Jared was thinking. ‘If Byron loves men now, he probably always did. If Byron loves you, then you can take his love as real. Do you love Jared, Byron?’

  ‘Only so much it hurts.’

  ‘There you go.’

  ‘But…’ it was Byron’s turn, ‘…I’m dependent on him so… how do I know to trust the feeling?’

  Susan reflected. Perhaps he wasn’t so dependent now. ‘How about spend a few days at the farm soon? Three. Four. Catch up with your friends. They’ll be going through the wake up too so you can help them. The others there went through it some time ago; in some cases years. They can’t help Tasley, Ned and Chuck as much as you can.’

  Byron turned to Jared. ‘Can I go?’

  ‘Of course you can! Sounds like you’re needed there. I don’t want what’s starting be
tween us if it doesn’t turn out to be what you want. I’d rather you got time to sort your head out now than later. That way you won’t break my heart quite so much.’

  ‘Susan – if I… about the firm… how do I report back to you?’

  ‘You don’t. I have contacts in the press. I think you’ll enjoy meeting them one day. When you’re ready, use this number.’

  ‘Thank you,’ both men echoed. Byron passed an excited smile at Jared. Jared could see that this was already an improvement to their situation. Byron would be able to head out for trips occasionally to spend time with his kind, his friends. It was a step towards liberty even if it wasn’t true freedom to roam.

  Susan passed notional papers to them to sign. It was for Byron to record that he wanted to appeal for US citizenship rights. Susan would keep it in a file with all the others collected over several years from around the world to present to someone one day if the day ever came. Then they left.

  As Jared and Byron made their way back home, they agreed to have tomorrow night together. Byron would head out to the farm the day after that.

  --

  Byron had everything lined up. This was going to be their last night together before some days apart. He wanted to make every minute count. Around lunchtime he wandered across the street to Alma, who kindly agreed to walk Artemis around 5pm. Later, while Alma was out with Artie, Byron went to his room to get changed. He didn’t know what Jared would like best, but he doubted it was the clothes he’d been gardening in all day. He stripped down and put on his new track pants (no briefs or boxers) and a tight new white shirt. He also put on socks and wondered about his boots. Did Jared like his work boots? He wasn’t sure, but decided to put them on just in case. He wasn’t sure about the outfit, but he felt more relaxed than in the suit, and perhaps that was the most important thing.

  Next he started heating up two Diavolo pizzas in the oven. He hadn’t learnt many culinary skills yet, but he did know how to heat a pizza. Alma came back with Artie and offered to keep her with the pups for the evening: ‘You boys having a special night?’ Byron accepted the offer.