by Gary Starta
As man, boy and bug set out for the event, all the other scientists sans Joyce and Mikola Petrovsky had already arrived at the grounds. They were all seated in patio-type lounge chairs and sipping iced tea as a stereo system played ancient orchestrations from the 18th century. Linda Dougherty decided it would be best if the new colonists arrived in unison at the party so she drove everybody in her air coach. As the coach began its descent upon the municipal grounds, Dougherty unfurled a banner from the vehicle which thanked the scientists for their efforts and sacrifice. The vehicle then landed to a round of thunderous applause. After much handshaking and small talk, Linda realized everyone was accounted for except Mikola, and Joyce. Dr. Hiroshi had already explained that Peter was not fit to attend the party. Linda had to catch herself in mid-sentence as she almost blurted out the words, “I hope nothing is wrong with their pro-.” She then quickly started talking about the planet’s nice weather to divert attention but Steven Carlisle was sure she was about to say “programming.” He then nudged Jon Sanderson’s arm in a surreptitious attempt to gain his attention. However, the plastic surgeon was too busy chugging down his iced tea to catch on to his friend’s insinuations.
Carlisle’s mind raced to decipher what the word programming might mean. The sci fi aficionado could only deduce it meant that some or all of the scientists may be artificial. This would explain Peter’s escape from injury as well as why the majority of scientists were saved from radiation sickness. “Maybe they were afraid to tell us they had sent AI’s to prepare the planet for colonization. Our ship was already totally controlled by them. And why was Linda always so eager to teach us lessons about tolerance of other beings? I sure would have been more appreciative if they just came out and told us the truth,” he theorized to himself.
His wife then interrupted Steven’s thoughts with a playful jab to his mid-section. This jolt reminded him quickly that people like Mia would not readily accept living among androids. Mia offered her suspicious husband a drink and suggested that he help himself to a plate of food before his friend Jon devoured it all. Steven flashed a brief smile at Mia’s attack of his verbal sparring partner. He then proceeded to fill up his plate with gusto as he took huge portions of traditional picnic fare including potato salad, hot dogs and cole slaw. However, Steven could only gingerly pick at his food as he kept his eyes trained on what the scientists were eating. Carlisle felt somewhat relieved to eventually see that the scientists were consuming food as well. He believed from the many fictitious stories he had read that the androids would have a hard time mimicking the act of dining.
This false line of reasoning fooled Steven into believing that the carefree boy playing violin at the festival was just a normal teen. Marisa and Mario Perez watched this boy—who introduced himself as “James”—play his instrument with a mixture of joy and envy. Deep down they wished they had a son or daughter to join them at the celebration.
As the party continued, Aaron Starkman found it hard to mask his worry about his wife. Karen Hiroshi started to silently blame herself for Joyce’s absence. However, Anna Ciprelli and Akira Hiroshi did not display a hint of concern as they laughed and gazed into each other’s eyes longingly without fear of attracting attention. Meanwhile, Nadia Petrovsky did her best to deflect questions about Mikola’s tardiness as she stated her husband was probably busy putting the finishing touches on his gift for the colonists. Nadia explained that her husband intended to bring “a gift of revelation” to the festival. Daryl White found this term amusing and explained that he would settle for “a gift of intoxication” after his long journey.
A data net chime went off and Aaron answered anxiously when the identification system announced it was Joyce. Linda Dougherty strained to hear the conversation in hopes that everything was all right. The nosy counselor could only make out that Joyce had asked Aaron not to worry amidst the din of the festival. The strange voice inside Joyce’s head was commanding her automaton body to lie. Joyce said she would be late because she wanted to bring some roses from her garden to the festival. Aaron did not suspect deceit as the visual message showed Joyce in the greenhouse. Joyce had been careful to pre-record this message from the garden as a live message would have revealed that her transmission was actually coming from the vicinity of the Gallant. Starkman had waited by the ship as instructed by the voice in her head. That voice promised her a glorious victory in the defeat of the impostors. It instructed her to murder as many of the aliens she could take aim on. “The aliens will no longer be able to pose as colonists when under attack,” the voice assured her. The time to act is near, the voice continued. “Your husband has confirmed all the colonists are now gathered at the festival with no means to protect themselves.”
Gazing into his holographic mirror in his bedroom, Mikola Petrovsky refused to judge himself by his outward appearance. The remaining organic composition of Mikola was too busy readying itself for battle. “I guess you were due for a slight makeover,” he joked in reference to alterations he had made to his android exterior. “In time, I will be free of my false coverings. I will again join the human race through transplant technology.”
The crazed engineer was certain that the federation possessed the ability to transfer his engrams back into a healthy, young man. He would then resume his career as the top space tech in the universe. Any existing artificial life will once again be relegated to a sentence of slavery, he swore into the mirror while affixing a green arm band to his sleeve. “Let the cleansing process begin. Long live the organics!” he spoke aloud to his imaginary comrades. “Hut, hut!” he commanded his army of one. The “army” would now set out on foot. The destination was the festival.
Mikola Petrovsky maintained a safe distance from the festival. He wanted to gain a prime vantage point to watch Joyce Starkman massacre the colonists. This was the only way they would understand his point of view, the pessimistic engineer surmised. Petrovsky decided to abandon any approach based upon reasoning. “They need to be shown,” he spoke softly. His demented mind pictured him surrounded by a battalion of troops he referred to as the liberation army. “When people realize an android was responsible for this attack, federation citizens will never want to use that technology again. Then things will go back to the way they should be,” he declared while twirling a long wand-like stick in front of his imaginary soldiers.
All Mikola had to do now was wait for Joyce Starkman’s arrival.
Joyce was still a few hundred meters away from the festival when Linda spotted her. “Here she comes,” Dougherty shouted. Karen Hiroshi’s face flushed with embarrassment as her heart sank into her chest upon the announcement. She deeply regretted her liaison with Starkman and the possible psychological damage she had inflicted upon Peter. However, the young scientist did not realize the situation she was worried sick over paled in comparison to the danger which lurked out in the surrounding meadow.
James quickly blurted out, “Why is she carrying my violin case?” Aaron suggested that maybe she was carrying the roses in it; however, even he did not quite believe his odd assumption.
Joyce proceeded her silent march through the tall grass with a blank expression on her android face.
Mikola used the uncut grass to lie in wait as Joyce strode through the field. “Mice get ready for the cat,” he whispered with giddy delight.
Petrovsky then broke into a grin when he saw Joyce shed the violin case which concealed her weapon.
The sight of the rifle caused the crowd to do a double take. No one could utter a word as their minds tried to process what they were seeing.
Matt Dougherty was the first to yell everybody take cover. The Whites grabbed James’ hand and began to run in the direction of the municipal building. Linda joined hands with the Sanderson’s and headed for the air coach. Mario Perez yelled for Marisa to also head for the vehicle as he ran to round up Anna Ciprelli, Dr. Hiroshi and Nadia Petrovsky who were all frozen in horror. Marisa failed to obey her husband’s request and went to aid Karen Hiroshi
and the Carlisle’s who could not take their gaze off of Joyce. Aaron and Matt quickly rolled in front of their stunned companions causing them to fall to the ground and out of aim of any bullets.
As the crowd scattered, Joyce stopped in her tracks and dropped down on one knee. She then took aim through the sights of her weapon. An initial blast missed everything save a plate glass window on the second story of the building. Undaunted, she fired again and hit an umbrella used to shade one of the picnic tables.
Before she could fire again, Ruby the bug popped into her view. The insect’s distraction confused Joyce’s artificial mind allowing her engrams to show her glimpses of her previous life. Flashes of the birth of James, her first kiss with Aaron and the serenity of planting in the garden took hold. During this brief instant, the organic portion of her mind pleaded for her artificial body to stop its insane behavior. Since only the artificial portion of her brain had been affected by Petrovsky’s lies, the organic portion of Joyce’s mind might be able to override the orders planted in her artificial consciousness. At this point, Joyce painfully realized she was no longer her former self as Ruby managed to create a telepathic link with her.
“Listen to me,” Joyce addressed her android brain. “The human known as Joyce Starkman never subscribed to violence before. Why would she do it now? You have no proof these people are not who they say they are. I’ve got to take command of my…body…,” she muttered while engaged in a struggle with her artificial limbs. Joyce knew she had only a few seconds before her human mind would once again become overwhelmed by its artificial captor.
She then fired the weapon at her own foot in a desperate attempt to severe the hybrid connection. The foot protested in pain—but the shot did not deter the artificial brain from following Petrovsky’s hypnotic suggestions.
“If you do this,” Joyce addressed her artificial body, “You will do it without my help. I will not be a willing partner. Do you hear me? You will have to kill me to kill them.”
As Joyce continued her struggle with her android programming, Ruby the bug managed to hover in front of her convulsing body. The bug proceeded to signal intermittent flashes of light straight into the android’s eyes while its body continued to flail in a herky jerky manner.
Streams of blue-colored rays bombarded the dilated pupils of the android gone wild. The body stuttered like it was in epileptic shock while still managing to re-position the gun in the direction of the crowd. The delay gave most of the colonists the opportunity to take shelter in the air coach and the municipal building. The only person still exposed for a direct shot of gunfire was Marisa Perez. She gallantly remained on the field not satisfied to turn tail and run. Perez wanted to gain possession of the weapon. She did not heed her husband’s screams from the air coach to get down on the ground. Powered by an adrenaline burst, Marisa began to sprint in direct aim of Joyce’s gun.
Joyce’s fingers squeezed the trigger and a blast exploded into the ground sending chunks of grass splaying into the air. Perez hesitated for a brief instant before continuing her pursuit. Marisa was now just about 15 meters away from the struggling scientist.
The android body of Joyce suddenly lost its balance as it fell victim to a very real stab of pain in its injured foot. Apparently, Dr. McElroy had been more successful in reproducing the human response to pain in that area of the body. As the body rolled onto the ground, neither Joyce nor Marisa was aware that someone was rapidly encroaching upon their position.
Up out of the tall grass, popped Mikola Petrovsky. If you want things done right, you have to do it yourself,” he shouted. The crazed engineer sported his red cap and a green arm band which read: “Organics.” He had jumped in between Joyce’s fallen body and Marisa. “Come here, my pretty,” Petrovsky motioned to Perez. Joyce, who had overcome her artificial manipulation, struggled to stand. As Mikola narrowed the distance between himself and Marisa, Joyce was able to get on her knees. She then pointed the gun and ordered Mikola to stop. The cocky engineer ignored her threat as she fired a warning shot which whizzed by his shoulder.
“You won’t fire again—you could hit your friend, here,” Mikola bluffed.
“It’s not because I might hit her. I won’t fire again because I refuse to become you!” Joyce yelled hoarsely at her antagonist.
She then threw the gun at Mikola hitting him in the back. The engineer then bared his teeth at Joyce fighting his initial instinct to turn the gun on her. “I’m through with you, Starkman. It’s her I want.”
He twirled around to face Marisa who yelled, “Bite me.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Mikola responded flashing vampire-like teeth. This interruption allowed Ruby to dive bomb at Petrovsky’s face. The angry engineer swatted wildly at the bug missing several times. His final lunge caused him to lose his balance altogether. As he proceeded to fall, Marisa dashed to dive on top of Petrovsky to pin him down.
James who was in the municipal building could no longer stand anymore of this. Despite the protests of the White’s, James leaped out of the ground story window. His android abilities allowed him to traverse the distance from the building to the meadow in less than a minute. Perez and Petrovsky rolled on the ground each taking a turn pinning down the other. Marisa’s charged up hormones were putting up a respectable fight against Petrovsky’s artificial strength, or so it seemed.
James was about 25 meters away from his destination when his body hit an invisible barrier. The boy desperately fought to penetrate the force field while Marisa seemed to gain the upper hand in her struggle. She was on top of Petrovsky for just a brief instant when the engineer saw his chance. He quickly acted and threw her body off of him. In the same split instant, he reached for the gun Joyce had thrown at him. He did not hesitate for his chance to fire. A powerful blast penetrated the force field and the artificial body of James Starkman which fell to the ground in a heap. Cries of anguish from both Aaron and Joyce ricocheted in echoes off of the municipal building.
Petrovsky then took advantage of Marisa’s shock to subdue her. With one hand around her neck, and the other wrapped around the gun, he headed for his hiding spot in the field. In a few seconds, an air coach emerged from underground.
“Listen up everybody,” Mikola yelled to the crowd. “Do not try to stop me. I am headed for Terran’s Ark to appraise the federation of the situation. A situation caused by the demon of artificial intelligence. I will demand that my engrams be returned to a human body as I’ve been unwillingly turned into a hybrid automaton. If the federation does not comply, I will begin by killing the colonists one by one starting with my pretty Hispanic friend. I will then come back to kill the rest of the colonists until my demand is met.”
Mikola then tucked the gun into his jacket and shot his tongue out at the stunned onlookers. The tongue had been carved into a forked shape resembling that of a lizard.
“And see this,” Mikola said while grasping his wand. “This device’s force field will keep every one of you bastard hybrid androids from getting in the vicinity of 25 meters of me.”
Petrovsky lifted a screaming and kicking Marisa onto his shoulder as he turned to run for the air coach. In a minute, the air coach had left for the ship. In another moment, the hopes of colonists had sunk to the depths of despair.
Linda Dougherty could no longer afford the opportunity to conceal McElroy’s secret. The price had been set by Mikola Petrovsky—and the payment was overdue.
Before Matt could say a word, Linda ran from the air coach to the municipal building. Once inside she grabbed Steven Carlisle and handed him an electronic note pad. “Take the coach in this building’s garage and fly it to these coordinates. When you arrive, you will find a radio shack located behind a dwelling. Inside this shack, you will find a device that will deactivate all of our android neighbors.”
“But what…” Steven was then cut off mid-sentence by Linda.
“There’s no time for anymore questions. Please forgive me if you felt I deceived you. I eventually
knew you would probably be best able to handle this difficult situation because of your open mind.”
“I understand. That was good thinking,” Steven acknowledged with wide-eyed wonder. “So you’re not an android?”
“No. Now get to the air coach,” Linda demanded in a stern tone.
“Aye, Aye Captain,” Steven replied. After Linda was out of sight, Carlisle paused a few seconds to reflect on the magnitude of the situation. He spoke aloud to himself. “This is sure better than any sci fi movie I’ve ever seen.” He then sprinted like a super hero to the air coach.
In that same minute, Linda had gone to signal the White’s to come aboard the coach. Once everybody was inside, Linda found herself cornered by Matt.
“Just what is going on here?” her husband demanded with his arms folded across his chest.
“Just get this coach pointed in the direction of the ship and I’ll fill you in on the way,” Linda replied.
“All I want to know right now is that my wife’s all right,” Mario Perez intervened.
“We’ll do everything we can to get her back safely, Mario,” Linda replied. She then turned to speak to Jon Sanderson. “Speaking of safe, I’d like you to please attend to Ms. Starkman and her son. I would like Dr. Hiroshi to remain aboard, in case…well, you know.”
Matt then countered his wife’s precautionary request. “No one else is going to need a doctor. Don’t you worry, Mario. But I agree that Dr. Hiroshi can help attend to the androids later. Jon please do what you can for the androids.”
The plastic surgeon cast a confused look at the Dougherty’s. “For all we know these androids are our enemies as well. Is this a wise course of action?” Matt countered Jon’s argument. “Petrovsky said his force field will keep other androids away. He seems to be acting on his own volition.”
Sanderson then reluctantly nodded in agreement and embraced Terry before proceeding to the meadows.