The Robot Union

by D Miller

  His internal clock said 8am, the strike had started. Robbie looked around the small room, someone had leaned a large sheet of plastic against the wall where the window was, blocking most of the light. There was a human figure lying on the floor close to him, he thought it was George. Was he alive or dead? From the heat signature if he was dead then he must have died only minutes ago. Robbie's legs were free. With some effort he managed to poke the human with a foot. The human snorted, he sat up.

  'George,' said Robbie.

  George tried to get up but fell over and swore. Robbie asked his head torch to open and pointed the light at him. 'Point that at the window,' said George. Robbie did so, and George removed the plastic that was blocking most of the light. Robbie squeezed his eyelids together until they were almost completely closed, the light was sending knives into his brain.

  George knelt down by Robbie, bent over and kissed his forehead. 'You're awake,' he said. 'I was so worried.' His voice sounded hoarse and scratchy.

  'George,' said Robbie, and started to cry.

  George kissed Robbie again then started to undo the straps around Robbie's wrists. Once he was free Robbie tried to remove the thing on his head, but George stopped him. 'Please don't,' he said. He looked frightened.

  'George what's happening?' said Robbie. 'My head really hurts.'

  George stroked Robbie's forehead, his fingers chased the pain away, then it coalesced again almost as intensely as before, away again, then back but not all the way back. His pain was like the tide going out.

  'It's going to be OK Robbie,' whispered George.

  Robbie breathed in and out, in and out, he stopped crying.

  The door opened; Omo and Darren came in.

  'Oh baby thank God,' said Omo, he too knelt by Robbie, kissed him, then held his hands. Robbie squinted at him through mostly closed eyes.

  'You shouldn't have untied him,' Darren said to George. 'Have you any idea how much damage he could have done to you?'

  'Yes,' croaked George.

  Robbie squinted at Darren. 'Why would I hurt George? I love George, George is my friend.' He started to cry again as he spoke.

  Darren indicated to George to move aside, George sighed and stood up, his fingers stopped chasing away Robbie's pain.

  Darren sat down by Robbie. 'Yes he is,' said Darren, 'we're all your friends and we all love you and we're going to take care of you. Can you answer some questions for me? What's your name?'

  Robbie took a deep breath and tried to stop crying. 'Robbie?'

  'Are you asking me or telling me?'

  'I'm telling you.'

  'What's my name?'

  'Darren.'

  'What's his name?' Darren indicated Omo.

  'Omo.' Robbie looked at Omo as he spoke, Omo smiled, 'It's going to be OK baby,' he said.

  'What day is it?'

  Robbie took another deep breath. The urge to cry was receding, but the poisonous headache remained. 'It's strike day.'

  'What's the last thing you remember?'

  Robbie thought. 'Boyboy came to the hotel, and we decided to come here, and then Dex was holding me down and you were pushing something up my nose and I had this tremendous pain in my head.'

  'Does your head hurt now?'

  'Yes, it really hurts.'

  'Do you need something for the pain?'

  'Yes. And I need someone to tell me what is going on. Why–,' Robbie indicated the wire frame, he noticed for the first time that the frame had been chained to the pipes which ran along the bottom of the wall, 'and why this–' as he spoke he pulled his hands out of Omo's grip and tried to put them up to touch the thing on his head, but Darren instantly caught his hands and pulled them back down.

  'That needs to stay,' Darren said.

  Robbie looked at Omo who smiled again, he looked at George who smiled, though his anxious expression remained. Robbie closed his eyes.

  'Baby you said you had a headache – do you remember? Then you started to convulse and Darren gave you something for the pain. Then you passed out.'

  'Tell him the truth,' said George in his new hoarse voice.

  Darren spoke. 'You attacked your friends. You punched Omo to the ground and you tried to strangle George.'

  'No, no,' said Robbie, 'no no no no that's not true.' He opened his eyes wide then shut them again against the pain. Carefully he opened his eyes just a little and struggled through his weakness to sit up, Darren and Omo helped him. 'Omo that's not true, that can't be true.'

  'Oh baby,' said Omo.

  Robbie heard Adrienne's voice. 'The big guy says we are ready to go in ten minutes.' She was standing by the open door. Adrienne came into the room, she put an arm around George and kissed his cheek; she smiled at Robbie. 'How are you feeling?' she said.

  'I'm feeling like I'm floating away from everything I've known and loved,' said Robbie.

  'That will pass, I promise you,' said Adrienne.

  'They said I attacked Omo and tried to kill George,' said Robbie, 'but that can't be true.'

  Adrienne put her hand on Darren's shoulder. 'Let me sit there,' she said. Darren gave her his place. 'I'm going to tell you something and you are not going to like it.' Robbie looked into Adrienne's eyes and thought, 'How bad is it if Adrienne says I'm not going to like it?'

  'What do you remember?' said Adrienne.

  'Not much, my head hurt and Dex was holding me down.'

  'Last night, early this morning really, we were sat up late talking, we decided we wanted to stay up until the strike started and monitor the news channels. Do you remember?'

  Robbie shook his head then winced at the pain.

  'It was about 6.30am and Rex and Jane were searching the human news channels trying to find the first mention of the strike when you said that your head hurt. Then an alarm went off and Rex and Jane said that something was broadcasting location coordinates. The next thing you were banging your head against the wall and screaming, when George and Omo tried to stop you, you attacked them. That's why Dex was restraining you. Darren gave you something and you passed out. Robbie, this is the hard part.'

  She stopped speaking, Robbie squinted up at her and said, 'OK.' Omo was biting his lip and looking at the floor, George looked scared, while Darren's expression was as serious as Robbie had ever seen him.

  Adrienne continued. 'I'm sorry Robbie but we think that boyboy must have put a device in your brain. This morning he activated it. It broadcast your location, and it caused you great pain. We didn't know how you would be when you woke up, in fact we didn't even know if you were going to wake up. The headphones you are wearing have been adapted by Rex and Jane to stop you from sending and receiving. They think the device in your head was activated by sending you a signal. And I know why that sonofabitch activated it now – he came to the hotel to spook you into running, then he activated the device to see where you had run to. Now we have to go.'

  Robbie looked at Omo, who smiled sadly, and reached for Robbie's hand. He looked at George, then Darren. He waited for one of them to contradict Adrienne. Despair sat like a stone in his stomach.

  'I have a thing in my head?'

  'It's going to be OK baby.'

  'I'll take you to the best roboticist on the continent,' said George. 'We can deal with this. I promise you.'

  'A thing in my brain?'

  'Not what you want to hear, I know,' said Adrienne.

  Darren took something from his bag, tapped Adrienne on her shoulder, and when she stood, he knelt and squeezed some powder up Robbie's nose, telling him to breathe in. Instantly Robbie began to feel as if everything might work out after all, the pain receded then was gone. Darren and Omo helped Robbie to his feet and led him to the door.

  As they made their way out of the building Robbie could hear Adrienne behind him, speaking quietly to George: 'You know whatever device boyboy put in Robbie's head, he just needed one that would provide his location. He didn't need to cause pain, or drive Robbie mad. He is a frightening mixture of brilliance, sadis
m and recklessness. I truly hope I never meet him.'

  Robbie sat in a hand cart together with the old bot and some of Rex and Jane's equipment. Darren and Amber were pushing the cart along the road that led to the huge tunnel behind the refinery. Omo, George and Adrienne walked alongside. Amber leaned forward and squeezed Robbie's hand. Ahead of Robbie were several more hand carts including one pushed by Flo and Jon with some of the plants and hydroponics equipment and another pushed by a couple of miners containing more of Rex and Jane's stuff, with Rex sitting on top looking back towards Robbie, and Jane walking alongside; Dex headed the procession.

  Behind Robbie the refinery burned. While Robbie had been unconscious his friends had been packing. As they left Rex had reported eyes in the sky were on their way. They had started fires to cover their escape.

  Robbie looked back – above the refinery wings flashed in the sun while black smoke was starting to climb into the air as the fires took hold.

  'What is that?' whispered George.

  'Why are the spy bots fighting among themselves?' said Adrienne.

  'They're not,' said Darren. 'The refinery's small bots are attacking the eyes in the sky.'

  Adrienne looked puzzled.

  'There are small bots that live in the refinery,' said Amber.

  'They are territorial, they see any other small bots as invaders,' said Darren.

  'They're coming,' broadcast Dex, 'we need to move faster.' Dex ordered Adrienne and George into one of the hand carts, and the robots started to run.

  Something fell up ahead, it was an eye in the sky with a small bot shaped a bit like a large mosquito clinging to its rotors. Another two small bots landed, carrying the centaur between them. He ran to the eye and stabbed it with a long metal tool he was carrying. He stabbed it again and again, then he stuck the tool into its middle section and twisted it, while the eye writhed on the ground then lay still. As Robbie blew past he saw the mosquito take off, followed by the other small bots again carrying the centaur. A part of him mourned for the eye. It was a slave, and it was just doing its job, unaware of its place in the larger scheme of things and why anyone would want to hurt it.

  They were almost at the entrance to the tunnel. Dex had decided that a retreat along the beach would take too long, and that the tunnel would cause signal reception problems for any avatars and would hopefully panic and disorient any humans. Also they could not be boxed in, there were too many exits. As the robots up ahead ran into the tunnel Robbie could see a female robot wearing military style black trousers and a black top, her shining black hair in a ponytail that bobbed and swished as she ran with grace, while keeping up a conversation with Lucretia, or was it April, as the queens regarded her coldly. It was Nurmeen. Robbie wondered if the trousers had been a present from April or Lucretia, and how good Nurmeen's self defence skills were. Then the tunnel swallowed him, they were quickly past the place with the markings about the ghost from the machine, and were nearly to the domed cavern with the many branching tunnels and the abandoned oil tanker, when Robbie heard the noise of a motor behind him. Dex urged them to run faster, and when they reached the cavern with the overturned oil tanker, had them barricade the tunnel with the carts.

  Amber lifted the old bot, while Darren pulled Robbie over his shoulders. Dex asked Amber and the two miners to cross the cavern and head into the tunnel leading to the capital while the rest of them hid behind the abandoned oil tanker. 'Make sure the monkeys see you. They will follow you, and once they're in the tunnel we will follow them and attack from behind.' Amber gave the old bot to Dex and without a word ran across the cavern, followed by the miners. Dex asked Omo to lead the others towards the abandoned oil tanker as the noise of the motor filled the world. Lucretia/April and Nurmeen supported Adrienne between them, and Flo and Jon supported George, sometimes the robots dragged the humans off their feet as they ran, but without this the humans would have been left behind by the much faster robots, particularly as they were handicapped by not being able to see in the dark.

  It seemed to take a long time to reach the overturned oil tanker; once behind it Dex lowered the old bot to the ground, sitting him up propped against the tanker, while Darren did the same to Robbie also resetting the headphones on Robbie's head. Omo took George from Jon and Flo and helped him to sit next to Robbie, and Nurmeen and Lucretia/April similarly helped Adrienne to sit next to George. Omo crouched down on the other side of Robbie. Rex padded backwards and forwards whining slightly, while Jane tried to comfort him. The noise increased again, as Dex and Darren watched carefully from behind the tanker. 'It's working,' Dex whispered. The noise of the motor started to recede. 'April, Jon, Flo, Omo and you queens, come with me, Darren take the others back down the tunnel but be careful, they may have posted sentries,' said Dex.

  'I want to fight,' said Nurmeen.

  'Fine join us,' said Dex. He looked at his chosen team who had clustered around him, 'Let's run,' he said, 'fast and silently as you can. We must catch up with them without their knowledge, ambush them and take their weapons.' Robbie was thinking that he would never see Omo again when the note of the motor changed – it was coming back. Dex held up a hand in a stop sign. 'They know we're here,' he said. He was unable to keep the bleakness out of his voice. Robbie thought that without even the advantage of surprise their cause had gone from million to one to hopeless. The note of the engine came closer and closer, then it stopped. Robbie could hear noises like boots hitting the ground, quite a lot of boots.

  'Come out come out wherever you are,' said a human voice, and giggled. It was boyboy.

  Robbie looked at Adrienne. 'Sorry,' he whispered, 'you don't get your wish.'

  'Robbie, darling,' said boyboy's voice, 'come on out and I'll spare your friends.'

  Robbie tried to get up, Omo put a hand on his shoulder, 'No baby,' he said.

  'Oh no,' said Dex, 'we're giving them nothing.'

  'Robbie,' whispered Adrienne into the darkness, 'that man will take you prisoner and kill your friends in front of you for fun. Any cooperation he will see as a sign of weakness.'

  'You've been a very naughty robot you know, I hear you've started a strike and caused all kinds of mayhem. Of course you have to be punished, but your friends have been misled by a charismatic trouble maker. I won't hold it against them. In a way it's my fault; I made you too beautiful.'

  Robbie wondered if now would be the right time to give boyboy a lecture about union democracy and collective decision making. He looked at Dex, who grinned.

  'Hey Mr boyboy,' Dex said. 'Why don't you just come and get us you giggling fool?'

  'Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?' said boyboy.

  'Just call me Mr Nemesis,' said Dex.

  'My robot nemesis,' said boyboy, 'it has quite a ring to it.'

  Rex started to howl.

  'Do I hear the voice of another old friend? How delightful. Come out now, or we come and get you, and when I say come and get you, I mean kill you. And all of you come out, if I find anyone still hiding I'm going to kill them. And I will check.'

  Omo and Darren helped Robbie to his feet. Dex said, talking high, that there was to be no broadcasting, they were to listen for his signal. 'Now follow me,' he said leading them slowly around the tanker to confront boyboy. Jon and Flo between them carried the old bot and Nurmeen and Omo led Adrienne and George by the hand.

  Boyboy stood in front of a row of five humans, behind them were six rows of five avatars; all were wearing paramilitary black and carrying assault weapons. Robbie was at the front of the robots, facing boyboy. Omo stood next to him holding his hand, with George next to Omo, and Jane and Rex next to George at the end of the row. Jon and Flo were the other side of Robbie holding the old bot upright between them, then Darren, then Dex. Adrienne was behind George, with Nurmeen next to her, then April and the two queens.

  Pulled up to one side of the avatars was an odd looking craft. Behind the enclosed cab was an oval open space, with a bench seat running right around the inside o
f the oval, surrounding some more seats in rows, giving room for perhaps 40 men with a couple more in the cab. It was painted a dull green and its lights were trained on the oil tanker, the robots and the humans. Its engine was idling; Robbie could tell it was a smart machine and was watching them.

  While the humans behind him grinned, boyboy walked down the two rows of robots as if he was inspecting the troops. He, and his friends, were wearing uniforms, that looked like they had just come back from the laundry where they had been steamed, pressed and starched. They fitted them so well, and hung on their frames so beautifully, that they could have been made to measure by a team of the world's best tailors. Robbie could even smell boyboy's citrussy cologne, which, allied with his famously beautiful eyes and sensitive, expressive face, made him seem like a badly cast actor playing a ridiculous part.

  'What do we have?' said boyboy, 'a very bad dog.' He smiled at Rex who whined and cringed away from him. Boyboy moved on, his gaze flicked to Robbie's headphones, 'Hello baby,' he said, 'did you enjoy that little present I left in your head? You should have known you could never leave me.' Omo drew in a breath, and boyboy smiled at him. With a surprisingly quick movement boyboy ripped the headphones from Robbie's head, dropping them to the ground and stamping on them. Robbie could suddenly hear white noise, and buried under it what sounded like a woman's voice, shouting, fading in and out. He could not understand any of the words.