Hercules III - 10. Chapter 10

Hercules III

Chapter 10

“They will not let you leave,” the bot said.

“There is a lot of static in here, Carlos,” Stefan said. “It’s almost like all of the speeders are on and waiting to be occupied.”

“Yeah, well, we’re here so we might as well take one and leave,” Carlos said.

“All of these speeders are assigned to Security,” the bot said. “They will see you stealing a speeder.”

“How about you take it and we’ll go along, too,” Stefan said. “That way we get away without killing too many bots; whether they’re Security or whatever.”

“I do not know how to operate any of these speeders,” the bot said.

“Yes you do,” Carlos said. “I’ve checked your coding and you’re fully qualified on most of the models here. So how about you pick out one you like and we’ll get on down the road.”

“Get on down the road?” the bot asked.

“Don’t worry about it; it’s an expression used by farmers,” Stefan said. “This looks like a good one.”

“I will have trouble operating that,” the bot said.

“We’ve already gone through that argument,” Carlos said. “Go on and get in the driver’s position. We’re leaving now, whether you go with us or remain here with some semblance of being a bot slowly dissolving into a lump of shiny metal and slippery plastic. It’s your choice.”

“Now, do we go as three or two?” Stefan asked.

“I’ll drive, but under protest,” the bot said.

The speeder Stefan chose was a Security transporter with positions for six troopers, a leader and its assistant, and a driver. It was much bigger than they needed, but both boys suspected the bot agreed to drive it for some later development in their story. The worst part for the boys was the speeder appeared to be very uncomfortable for humans; there simply was no seats designed for human use. Carlos looked around for maybe a switch or button that might reconfigure a bot docking block into at least an uncomfortable seat, but there wasn’t anything like that. Then he heard what sounded like a chuckle which made him jump into the bot’s mind. There, he discovered blocks of memories floating through the consciousness of the bot. Something was channeling black sticky memories into the higher reaches of the bot’s brain functions where they were converted to driver blocks that were being altered into com structures. Carlos wanted to tell Stefan what was occurring, but he didn’t need to worry about that.

“It’s trying to contact its higher authority, hoping they will send reinforcements,” Stefan said.

“I’m losing my patience with this bot,” Carlos said so the bot could hear him.

“Unfortunately, we need to keep him to drive the speeder,” Stefan said. “By the way, where exactly are we going?”

“Ring One,” Carlos said. “It should have a land office where we might be able to get some acreage to farm. Plus, my parents have their farm on Ring One.”

“Both of us on the same farm, is that allowed?” Stefan asked.

“What’s wrong with the two of us living on the same farm?” Carlos said. “Not that we’ll be able to live close to them. Actually they’re brother and sister or at least that’s what they said when I was old enough to ask about aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.”

“I asked about relatives once since most of my school friends had them,” Stefan said. “My mother slapped my face and made me write a 5,000 word essay on the Fifth Mars Earth Eradication Protocol. I never asked, again.”

“What happened to the essay?” Carlos asked.

“Oh, I gave it to a teacher who was a friend of the family,” Stefan said. “She came to our rooms and asked my mother about how could a fourth iteration six-year-old come up with something that I shouldn’t know about until I was at least a third iteration eleven-year-old. My mother asked the teacher if my paper was something a third iteration eleven-year-old might receive as a writing assignment. The teacher said I was too advanced to continue with elementary school and she would give it to an educational proctor at my school for analysis. The next day a tutor came to our rooms. My mother made us go to the extension library for my lessons because we’d make too much noise in my room.”

“Your mother wasn’t very nice,” Carlos said.

“You’re right, she wasn’t nice,” Stefan said.

“We’re coming up to a checkpoint,” the bot said.

“Don’t stop; we’ll take care of the bots and humans, if there are any,” Carlos said.

“From what I’m receiving this is an unattended post,” Stefan said.

“There are sensors that will detect life signs on the speeder,” the bot said.

“You know, we’re very close to the dark matter ionization stream, we could slip into it and go around the checkpoint,” Stefan said.

“That is not permitted,” the bot said. “Humans cannot tolerate the radiation. You will be killed.”

Needless to say, when the speeder slipped into the ion stream they were unable to detect even the smallest particle of dark matter. Unfortunately for the bot, it was unable to stop the speeder because ionized garbage packets that altered the physical properties of the speeder’s alignment once they were within the ion stream. When the speeder lurched across the stream the boys began a systemic analysis of the bot’s internal electro-magnetic processes to find out if the bot was in serious trouble. They looked at each other, but they knew there was little they could do to stop the dissolving of the bot’s cranial matter. They also knew one of them was going to have to drive the speeder, which simply meant mentally adjusting the controls to keep the machine centered in the ion stream.

After approximately three digital hours, notices on the walls of the ion stream announced they were approaching the access portal to Ring One. “Carlos, are you going to be able to dock at the ring portal?” Stefan asked. “What should we do about the bot? They’re bound to ask something, especially when we’ve technically stolen the speeder and made the bot drive it. Unfortunately, the bot won’t be able to join us as we travel up through the spokes; it’s pretty much watery toast inside its head.”

“I think I’ll be able to convince border control that the bot has been severely damaged in a bot-to-bot conflict,” Carlos said. “The authorities will be most interested in why we are piloting a Security speeder along the multi molecular ion path. I know we can destroy all the bots, and whatever humans they have working for them, but we should avoid causing a scene which will mean more Security bots moving toward us. It’ll be dicey at best, but I think I’ll be able to fool enough of them to let us pass. There will be a few bots and maybe humans too, who won’t be fooled, but we should be able to convince them they’re in the minority and their opinions should be unheeded.”

“Hey, Carlos, did you hear that?” Stefan asked.

“Hear what, that administrative announcement?” Carlos asked. “I try to ignore those notices.”

“We’re seventh iteration eighteen-year-olds,” Stefan said. “How did they know to send the message here?”

“All of the ship is wired in a complexity that humans usually fail to understand or better yet pay any attention to,” Carlos said. “So, how many iterations do we have to go through until we’re zero iteration nineteen-year olds?”

“Five more, I think,” Stefan said. “We should have a party.”

“We can have a party when we get through Ring One security and find out if the land office has a farm we can live on,” Carlos said.

“I’d like a Christmas tree farm,” Stefan said. “I know hardly anyone puts up and decorates one of those anymore, but I think they look kind of pretty.”

“Look, Stefan, we haven’t made it through security and already you’re planning our lives sometime in the future,” Carlos said.

“I was just trying to lighten the tension here,” Stefan said. “I know it might be difficult, but I’m trying to think of happier times, at least for me.”

********

“Welcome Carlos and Stefan 01AA,” an audio speaker announced when the boys turned into the welcome center’s docking row. “If you could park the speeder in docking stall 4-5, we should be able to get you on your journey to your new home without too much bureaucratic folderol.”

“Um, what do you think, Stefan?” Carlos asked.

“Obviously they’re on to us,” Stefan said. “It knew our joint personal code and it seems we might have a nice visit here. Maybe we’ll be able to get a smaller human accessible speeder.”

A rack of some sort dropped out of the ceiling and lowered until it was directly over their bot. After a rather long pause the rack lowered onto the bot’s body and clicked in place. Then the bot was pulled up from the speeder and disappeared through the ceiling.

Almost immediately after that, an escort bot trundled out from a doorway at the end of the docking row. It stopped at the boy’s speeder, didn’t say anything until its voice was telepathically heard by the boys. “If you will follow me, I will escort you to your temporary quarters.”

As humble humans, the boys followed along single file. When they turned at the first side hall they saw security bots lining the walls. They didn’t take up more than a few meters of space, but there were so many of them it made them nervous. The boys weren’t certain what was going to happen because of all the security bots, but they stayed behind the escort bot thinking that maybe the security bots weren’t a threat to their unknown future. Without warning a contingent of bots moved forward and overwhelmed the boys by fastening their hand functioning attributes to the boys’ arms and legs. There wasn’t anything they could do except throwing up their brain shields against a potential threat. As it turned out they needn’t have worried of any danger from the security bots who held them nearly two meters off the hallway floor. They came to a stop at an open door where Stefan was deposited on a cot. A few meters further along the hallway the security escort stopped at another room where Carlos was placed on the steel bed. In each case a closed door of weaved metal slats kept the boys from leaving their jail cells. Except, possibly this was exactly how it was meant to turn out.

After a couple of hours, kitchen bots brought a tray of a variety of foods for both boys. Being some distance from each other, they couldn’t see their trays contained different food items; in fact, neither boy expected that their trays contained favorite foods from their childhood so many years ago. Carlos dug into a barbecued pork chop before tackling the peach and cottage cheese salad. He paused for a moment when he became aware of the faint odor of Stefan’s food. It was definitely different than his. He wanted to say something to Stefan, but he couldn’t imagine the bots would’ve made a unique tray for each of them. He went back to the pork chop which was more interesting than an uncertain lengthy conversation with his brother.

********

The next day when each brother woke from an obviously drug induced period of sleep, they immediately noticed a personal hygiene bot in each of their cells. It showed them how to activate the shower and laid out some new clothes, much different than their usual skimpy shorts and t-shirts. They still had their sandals, but the clothes were black denim jeans and a red and white plaid long sleeved shirt; these were clothes worn by nearly every agricultural worker on the rings on Hercules I and III. Something was up, but the boys couldn’t figure out just what it was. Of course, having long pants to wear—after so many years only wearing very short shorts—could mean the unknown future ahead just might be a tolerable situation.

Breakfast was an immense hotcake on a china serving platter. There was maple syrup and too much butter—real butter, real cow’s creamery butter—plus a medium sized glass of watery orange juice. As they were eating both of their doors slid open which they ignored until they finished their hotcakes.

“So, Stefan, what do you think is going to happen now?” Carlos asked.

“Why ask me, I don’t know any more than you do,” Stefan said. “Where’s the nearest exit port?”

“Come on, you don’t think they’ll do that, after all of this?” Carlos asked.

“I don’t know what to think,” Stefan said. “Wait a minute, here comes that escort bot from yesterday.”

“Good, you’re ready,” the bot said. “A vehicle more suitable for your needs has been procured for you, your future needs will be assessed at a meeting that has been scheduled for you. If you will follow, I will lead you to the conference room.”

“Come along Carlos, we might as well get this over,” Stefan said.

“This is not a judicial matter,” the bot said. “You will not meet any danger. If at any time you feel threatened, you may ask for a cessation and the conference will cease. Matters may be altered to satisfy your needs.”

“This isn’t bot talk, Carlos,” Stefan thought.

“We can read to brain messages,” the bot thought back.

“Strike one Stefan,” Carlos said.

They were standing at a doorway that was sunk in about five cm from the surrounding walls. There was nothing to indicate they were about to enter a conference room. The boys looked at each other, but the bot was first to speak into the cognitive areas of their minds. “You see no security bots. We know who you are. We also know where you want to go and what you want to see. The meeting taking place behind that door will satisfy both of you to the degree you wish. We are sorry, but Carlos’s parents are not here, they will never be available to you for any degree of conversation.”

After they entered the room, the first thing they saw was large vid screens displaying various agricultural scenes, presumably from the ring below them. Then there was the table about five meters square.

“Welcome, Carlos and Stefan, to your future. You wish to reside in a rural environment, with the normal cadre of bots to take care of you for the indeterminate future. That is granted,” a bot spoke; possibly the conference bot.

“A forty acre plot is available for your requirements on Ring Two. Unfortunately, there is not anything close to meeting your needs here on Ring One. The humans on Ring Two are sparsely populated with a religious sect that might be a problem if they find out the truth of your existence as genetically modified organisms. Though, your true purpose will not be revealed until around 75 centuries from now. There are others of your kind; enough, it seems, to populate a new ring here on Hercules III, but that is the future and no one can specifically say what will exist 75 centuries from now. If you are satisfied with the arrangements, we can have you on your way shortly.”

“I guess it’s okay, if it’s okay with Carlos,” Stefan said.

“Good enough for me,” Carlos said. “I was hoping for Ring One, but I’ll take what we can get.”

“Excellent, your new vehicle is waiting,” the bot said. “An escort bot will take you to the inner spoke port that leads to the Ring Two land office.”

End

Thus we reach the end of the early story of Carlos and Stefan.

What is the significance of 75 centuries and others of their kind? 75 centuries is a long time and there is an event that occurs around the 50th century mark that will provide the meat of the next story. Will Carlos and Stefan be there? Frankly it’s too early to tell.

Once again, a special thank you to my editor/beta reader Sharon.