by Terry Persun
Jesus turned as the others crept up to him. He shook his head. “I just have to go through with this, and then I’m done,” he said. He reached for the doorknob and answered the question on everyone’s mind. “The door is never locked.”
After seeing the outside of the house, when they stepped inside the organization was totally unexpected and appeared out of character. But even as boxes were stacked neatly, they couldn’t miss the large, dark bloodstain under and around a stuffed chair.
Leonardo closed the door behind them and dragged Neil and Mavra along behind Jesus.
Neil squinted his eyes and wrinkled his nose at the smell. Mavra put her arm over her nose and mouth to block the odor as well. The robots didn’t react the same way, which meant that they couldn’t smell. So they weren’t perfect, Neil thought.
Jesus raised a hand to get them to stop advancing and to wait where they were. He headed for a doorway that probably opened into a bedroom off the living room, which had been turned into a workspace.
“Who’s out there?”
Jesus stopped his advance. No one in the room moved.
The voice was unmistakable. It was Jesus’s voice.
CHAPTER 32
EVEN THOUGH STEFFENBRAUN was in a hurry, he drove the speed limit. Smythe saw that act as additional proof that Steffenbraun was literally slowing down. He was old, eccentric, on his final scientific legs, and holding onto a theory he had come up with many years ago. This was the man’s last chance at having his name go down in the history books, at gaining fame for the biggest discovery of the century, of fulfilling every scientist’s dream of immortality. But even more than Steffenbraun’s need for notoriety was Smythe’s understanding that the discovery needed to be documented and repeatable, and that General Harkins wasn’t about to allow Steffenbraun to be a part of that. If he didn’t act quickly and accurately, Smythe might not be a part of it either. So, when the four of them stopped at a small gas station well out of town, Smythe figured it was his chance to alert the general of their whereabouts. He had to become associated with the right team or he’d be cut from the project along with Steffenbraun.
“Hurry,” Steffenbraun said when Smythe excused himself for the restroom.
Smythe jogged into the office and asked for the restroom key.
The man at the counter looked at him rather funny. Then it must have dawned on him that Smythe was deaf because his curious look turned into a smile and he handed Smythe a foot-long section of two-by-four with the key attached. The man leaned close as though he was making sure that Smythe could read his lips. “Around the side,” he said slowly.
Smythe rushed outside, unlocked the restroom, and opened his cell phone once he got inside. He punched the buttons for the text-to-voice translator application. The cell phone display read, “Ringing.” In a moment, the text panel read, “General Harkins office.”
“Raymond?” Smythe said, hoping that he had reached the young private who worked at the front desk. “Is General Harkins available?” Smythe hoped that he didn’t speak too loudly into his phone.
The display read, “Hello Donovan, it’s good to hear from you again. How’s your big top-secret project going?” Raymond knew nothing of the project, but did know how important it was. He was always cordial with Smythe, often chatty.
“We’re kind of in a bind with it right now, that’s why I need to talk to the general. I’m really in a hurry.”
“I understand, but he’s not here. He left on a mission a few hours ago.”
“I’ll text him,” Smythe said. “Thanks.” He hung up before another text from Raymond came through. Smythe figured that General Harkins would follow them. It made sense. He should have considered that long ago. Now it became even more important for him to reach the general. If Harkins thought that he was doing anything behind his back even for a second, Smythe would be off the project for sure, along with Steffenbraun and everyone else in the car with him. He couldn’t let that happen.
He texted the general.
“Smythe, I was wondering if you were going to call.” He read the display as the words appeared one at a time.
“My first chance. Steffenbraun wouldn’t let me out of his sight. He’s convinced he knows what’s going on. We’re going to a Dr. Smedley Klein’s laboratory.”
General Harkins texted back. “We’re following you and we’re following a few of those robots. But now that I know where you’re headed, we may be able to rendezvous with the good doctor first.”
“I was hoping so?” Smythe typed in.
“It was smart of you to contact me. I only work with team players.”
Smythe shoved the phone in his shirt pocket. He had done the right thing. He had to protect his future. Steffenbraun was going to be yanked from the project anyway. It was his only choice. He’d be able to carry on the research once he had the dark energy balancer in his hands.
Smythe opened the bathroom door. Lowan stood outside waiting. He stood way too close to the door and had a guilty look on his face. Smythe stopped and stared at Lowan not knowing what to say. Had Lowan heard anything unusual? Smythe turned his head so he didn’t have to meet the man’s eyes.
Lowan reached out and touched Smythe to get his attention. “It’s okay,” Lowan said. “It’s okay.”
“Thanks,” Smythe walked away. He rushed around the corner of the gas station and handed the key back to the cashier. By the time he headed for the car again, Lowan was already coming out of the bathroom. They got into the car, but O’Brien had taken the driver’s seat and had the vehicle running. They took off as soon as all the doors were closed.
O’Brien pushed the car well beyond the speed limit; so far, in fact, that it made Smythe nervous. He looked over at O’Brien who was so heavily focused on the road that his face beamed red. Smythe expected him to blow a blood vessel at any moment.
Trees flashed by and oncoming cars rushed past until O’Brien turned off the main route and onto a side road that inclined through the mountains. “Getting close,” O’Brien said.
“How do you know where he lives?” Smythe asked.
O’Brien didn’t take his eyes from the road. He produced a sneer.
Smythe was surprised by his reaction then answered the question himself. “That’s right. You’ve been spying on him.”
“Let’s call it observing his scientific output, shall we?” Steffenbraun announced from the back seat after touching Smythe’s arm to get his attention. “Spying sounds too underhanded.”
“Secretly observing,” Smythe said, but then shut up.
Smythe had become bolder with Steffenbraun the last week. Perhaps he had finally changed alliances, shifting his loyalty to General Harkins instead of Dr. Steffenbraun. He noticed the small, crazy-looking scientist in the back seat. In his nervousness and his worry, Steffenbraun appeared rundown and tired. Age lines ran deeper crevices into his face; his eyes had become more narrow and drawn. Smythe’s previous fear of the doctor, along with tremendous admiration, had kept him blinded to the fact that Steffenbraun was on his last legs scientifically and physically. Desperation did not become him.
“There’s their car,” Steffenbraun pointed out. “Pull over. They must have walked for a reason. We don’t want to alert them that we’re here. Not yet.”
“This could get dangerous,” Dr. Lowan said.
“Shit,” O’Brien acknowledged him, “and we didn’t bring any weapons.”
“I wouldn’t want to be part of a killing anyway. That would be going too far for me,” Lowan said.
O’Brien shot him a disgruntled look. “Shutting down a robot is not considered killing.”
“It’s too late to worry about it,” Steffenbraun said. “Anyway, I think I can reason with them and get them to hand over the balancer.” He exited the car and headed down the driveway.
Smythe highly doubted anyone was going to reason with the robots, least of all Steffenbraun, but kept his thoughts to himself.
Before they got twenty yards,
Smythe saw the helicopter pass overhead. There was no mistaking the camouflage hull.
“How the hell did they find us?” Steffenbraun turned toward Smythe. “You wouldn’t know, would you?”
Smythe ignored the accusation and continued walking, although not fast enough to overcome O’Brien and Lowan.
Steffenbraun picked up his pace, leaving Smythe, who was okay with the situation, in the rear. As far as Smythe was concerned, they were about to step into a dangerous position by engaging the enemy unarmed.
The small house came into view and the four of them stood together again. “This doesn’t look like a government lab,” Smythe said.
O’Brien swung around and shushed him and motioned everyone off the road and out of sight of the house. “Anywhere you do the work becomes a lab, my man.”
Steffenbraun kneeled next to O’Brien. He kept looking behind them and fidgeting. “Is there a way out of here other than how we came in?”
“No,” O’Brien said. “Unless you want to go through the woods.”
“I can’t let Harkins have the balancer. I just can’t. He won’t know what to do with it. He’ll give it to someone else.” He nodded at Smythe. “He’ll pull me from my own discovery. He has no right.”
O’Brien didn’t appear to be listening. “We’ve got to get in there.” He glanced behind them. “And we’ve got to keep them out for now.” He patted Lowan on the back. “This is amazing. We’re going to see how they interact, one from the past and one from the future. I wonder if he’s had time to install all the parts he ordered.” O’Brien expressed himself with a great, wide grin and said, “The DNA interface.”
“I wonder how many robots he has in there with him, and what they’re programmed for,” Lowan said.
Coming up the path behind them was General Harkins and five armed soldiers.
Steffenbraun shoved past O’Brien and jogged a few steps toward the house before slowing to a walk. He headed straight for the front door.
“Christ almighty,” O’Brien said. “That old son-of-a-bitch will ruin this for all of us.”
Smythe had no idea what O’Brien was talking about. With General Harkins coming down the driveway, it already was ruined for all of them. The general wasn’t someone to shuck control. The moment he got close enough, he’d be in charge. Smythe had no illusions about that.
Smythe acknowledged the general as he approached.
“Don’t worry about the old man,” General Harkins said. “We followed the robots here. I just finished setting up a patrol outside their back door. We’re doing the same over here.”
“What if they threaten to kill everyone,” Smythe said, remembering what the general had told him about how lives were more important than science. “Like they did in the warehouse.”
“Aren’t robots supposed to have some logic?” the general said. He didn’t wait for a response. “Then they’ll understand that if everyone is dead, we’ll just come in and slaughter their circuit boards from here to hell.”
“Well you can’t wait them out,” O’Brien said. “They don’t need food or sleep.”
General Harkins didn’t look worried. “They want out.”
“How do you know?” Smythe asked.
“I know soldiers. Robots are a lot like them. In many ways, they are programmed the same. They have been from the start, even domestic robots. These plastic and metal beasts are on a mission. Whatever that mission is, whatever reason it brought them here, doesn’t matter. Once they’ve completed their mission, they will have the impulse to go home. Somewhere along that trip, they’ll do something wrong.” The general waved one of the soldiers to come closer. “Everyone’s to stay ready for anything.” He turned back to the group but with the solder still listening. “If those things start shooting, we go in.”
“I thought you said they wouldn’t,” Smythe said. He saw the general in a totally different light. He too, just like the robots he had talked about, was on a mission.
The general didn’t answer. He motioned for two other soldiers to come close. “Get these guys out of here before another one plans to walk into the line of fire.” He smiled at Smythe. “Just a figure of speech.”
The soldiers reached for the three men and O’Brien pulled his arm away. “I can walk on my own.”
“As long as you come with me, sir,” the soldier said.
“Will I be able to talk with them, examine them, once this is over?” O’Brien said.
“We’ll see,” the general told him.
Lowan didn’t resist the soldier. In fact, he looked relieved by the situation.
Smythe started to stand and General Harkins reached out for him to kneel back down. “You can stay.” He waved the soldiers off. “Just get the hell out of the way when you see us move in.”
“I can do that.” Smythe didn’t understand why he was allowed to stay, but was more than happy to do so. He turned back and saw that Steffenbraun had slowed down the closer he got to the front door. Even from that distance, he looked scared. Smythe admired Steffenbraun for so long that in light of what appeared to be a huge change in many ways he worried for the man’s life. “Will he be okay?”
“I wanted you to see this, Smythe. That is what you don’t want to become. His chance for one scientific discovery has become more important than his own life now. That might be all right for him, but while he’s at it he’s putting other lives in danger as well, which means he doesn’t care about anyone. No moral conscience. ” General Harkins put a hand on Smythe’s shoulder. “You’re a brilliant young man. Steffenbraun told me that on numerous occasions before he became unreasonable and we stopped communicating. But it’s about time that we adjust our scientific mindset for good and not merely for discovery. This,” he said pointing at the poorly maintained house, “is our nuclear bomb. And it has already spread. While we’re here, I’ve got even more troops outside that warehouse strategizing on how to save the rest of those FBI agents. We’ll do it too. Don’t you worry.”
Smythe had no doubt that the general meant what he said, but also recognized that the robots had their mission programmed in as well. It was robot against man, and Smythe wasn’t sure which would win in that battle.
One thing was sure in his mind, though, the lesson had struck home. When he called the general, it was because he wanted to move forward with the discovery that Steffenbraun had started. At that time, his decision was career oriented. He felt that attitude change as he watched his mentor reach up to knock on the door of Dr. Klein’s house.
CHAPTER 33
JESUS STOOD COMPLETELY STILL, as though he didn’t know what to say at first. He was afraid to advance too quickly. He pulled the incident that had just occurred from his twenty-year-old memory and registered how violent Fennimore had become when confused. Jesus tried to pull up other memories from the past to see how he managed Fennimore’s reactions at that time, but there had been so many things stuffed into his memory that over the years he had to erase some of it.
There was the sound of crying behind the door again. Then a loud voice demanded for the second time, “Who’s there!”
Jesus pointed at Gatsby’s gun and motioned for it to be handed to him. Then he waved his hand for everyone to stay back.
“You can’t hurt you,” Gatsby said.
“It’s just to slow him down,” Jesus said.
Mavra whispered, “This way.” Leonardo stepped along one of the workbenches so that they would be able to see inside the room around Jesus.
Mavra and Leonardo had created a bond that Jesus couldn’t quite understand. But there was no time to evaluate that now. He had no choice but to complete what he came to do.
As the crying resumed behind the door, Jesus advanced. His hand shook. He grabbed the knob and threw the door open.
A mound of blankets on the bed indicated a curled body covered over. “Leave me alone,” the mound said. “Get out of here.”
“It’s me, Fennimore.” Jesus took a step backward instead of int
o the room. “It’s all right now. I’ve come back for you.”
The blankets moved at the top and two flexible shafts poked through. “You’re wearing the face I made. I don’t understand.”
“It’s a story in itself,” Jesus said, “but I’m here now.”
“Who are you exactly?” The blankets fell away as the robot sat upright.
“I’m from the future. Your future. I’m you. But I’ve taken the name Jesus,” he said, not quite sure how to approach Fennimore. In a few days Fennimore would take the name Jesus, but that had not happened yet.
The moment he addressed Fennimore and told him who he was, he became aware that he wasn’t Fennimore or Jesus. He was Fenny once again. He had been Fenny ever since he arrived. The robot in front of him wasn’t him any longer. They were not the same. The only way they could become one and the same person was for him to remove the DNA material from Fennimore. That was what he came to do.
After Dr. Klein’s death, Fennimore had been alone a long time. He hated being alone, he hated himself, and the life he had been saddled with. That pain did something to his circuits that he had never understood. Standing there, he knew that he had the chance to change all that.
Looking at himself, as though time had truly been turned backward, Jesus, who was now Fenny again didn’t quite know what to feel. He had hated the hold that first Fennimore, and then Jesus had on him, yet without the DNA-enhanced circuitry, a depth of feeling would be lost. He might not feel as whole.
The eye shafts on the robot moved around and eventually settled on the floor as though thinking. When they came back up, they stared at Jesus. “Why did you come back?”
“To save you,” Jesus said. “To save myself.”
“You are not Fennimore,” the robot said. “I am.”
Gatsby stepped in behind Jesus, shaking his head. “Your name was Fennimore?”
Jesus shot him a look that said stand back, but Gatsby didn’t retreat. “Do what you came to do, and let’s go back. We’ll take him with us.”
“You’re not Fennimore, are you?” The robot repeated himself as he got up from the bed.