"Tell me again, why are we in a
desert?" A humming, monotone voice asked.
"Because."
I answered "The last guy we talked to told us there was a
village this way. Maybe someone knows Durzek."
"Yeah,
I’m sure. It’s not like we haven’t been looking for this guy
for years. Anyway, If a weird guy like you came up to me and asked if
I knew an imaginary ‘Durzek’ I’d say anything to get him out of
my face, too." The monotone voice rebutted.
I looked
towards the owner of the ominous voice. It was my only companion,
Wilson, an odd floating chrome skull with three eyes and a dangling
spine full of gadgets and tools. Although he was technically a robot,
his personality was transferred from his former self.
"Yeah,
I’m the weird one." I said. "Anyway, it’s the best
we’ve got and I know Durzek is out there, somewhere.."
"Well.."
Wilson stopped "Hey, wait."
"What, do you see
something?" I asked
Wilson’s third eye made a
mechanical noise, like the zoom on a camera and the pupil opened and
closed, focusing on a far away object.
"Yeah."
Wilson answered "It’s a jeep, filled with people. They’re
coming this way. Some of them have guns."
"Hm." I
said, contemplating "How many?"
"Four. Jeep looks
old too, but they definitely see us, one of them has binoculars."
We stood now, waiting for the jeep. I was gripping my sword
firmly. I had been in enough fights to know what was going to happen
next. I squinted into the horizon and sure enough I saw a spec
speeding towards, with a trail of dust behind it. The noon sun was
directly above us and there was nothing but dirt and cracked earth
for miles. The air was still and it was as if the whole world had
fell silent in anticipation.
A minute passed and the spec grew
larger. I could hear the sound of an ancient gasoline motor breaking
the silence. It came closer and closer until, finally, it skidded to
a stand still 15 feet away from us.
"Hey!" A rough
voice barked from the passenger riding shotgun "What are you
robots doing out here?"
"We are looking for a village,
we are just passing through." I said, calmly
"This aint
no place for you. I suggest you turn around and go the way you came
from." He said, showing his gun for effect.
"Im sorry."
I said "I cannot turn around."
"Then I think we’ve
got a problem." He said, lowering his Uzi towards my head and
aiming for a shot "This is your last chance."
I paused, looking him in the eyes. He
looked angry and seemed threatened by my boldness. I stood, defiant,
until my ultra sensitive hearing caught a stray sound in the
stillness. The software that controlled my body sensed danger and
slowed down the world around me to a sudden crawl. I heard the noise
more distinctly and it was unmistakeable. The man pulled the trigger
on his gun and I heard the gentle click of a lever making contact
with a bullet, then the explosion of the bullet ripping through the
barrel of his gun.
With lightning fast reflexes I
unsheathed my sword, jumped forward and slashed my blade through the
air, slicing through his wrist and narrowly avoiding the speeding
bullet. His hand and the Uzi fell to the ground with a thud. His eyes
lit up with fear and he struggled to speak. He wanted to scream, but
he barked an order before mending his bloodied stump.
"G..Go!
Drive! TAKE HIM OUT!" he yelled
The jeep propelled
forward and the two passengers in the back began to unload bullets in
my direction. The world slowed around me, again and my software
perfectly predicted the paths of each projectile. The bullets crawled
passed me and I easily dodged every bullet, swiftly pursuing after
the jeep. The gunmen, amazed at my agility, took a second to reload
and began to dump more bullets at me. I evaded them again, speeding
after the racing jeep. I threw my sword at the driver and it pierced
through his chest. He screamed for a moment and slumped, steering the
jeep into a wild fishtail.
The jeep turned to my direction
and I jumped inside, landing between the two passengers in the back.
My metal hands grabbed their throats before they could fire and I
crushed their necks like play-dough. I grabbed my sword in time to
see the man whose hand was missing jab his Uzi into my chest and
fire. Bullets seared through my body until the clip was empty. The
man flashed a wicked smile, before I took my sword from the limp
driver and beheaded him. I jumped out of the jeep, falling to my
knees in pain. The jeep continued rolling wildly far off into the
distance.
Although I had only a few essential organs, I could
feel the vital functions of my body screeching to a halt. My power
was draining fast and my visual display showed a picture of a green
man with a bright red chest, indicating the source of the damage. I
looked at my injury and saw several small holes innocently peaking
through my abdomen. Sparks arced inside of the holes and the world
began to fade in and out. "System compromised. Shutting down in
5. 4. 3. 2. 1." Were the last words I saw flicker onto my visual
display. I blacked out.
-
An hour later I was laying flat, on
my back. I opened my eyes and saw Wilson hovering over me. His many
arrangements of tools were working on my body, inserting wires and
soldering here and there. My visual display showed a perfectly green
man, indicated no damage to my body. I looked down at my chest and
saw Wilson had replaced the many holes with nearly perfect
replacements. He stopped his operation and hovered back a
little.
"All done." He said "How do you
feel?"
"Im alright" I said, standing up "Powers
pretty low, but I’ll be okay."
"You know.."
Wilson said "I wouldn’t have mind going back. That beach we
went to wasn’t so bad."
I laughed and answered plainly
"Come on. Let’s see what they’re protecting."
We
trekked through he desert again, with little sign of life or
civilization. Every half mile there would be the odd cactus or animal
bones. Above us a vulture circled, probably waiting for us to die. We
traveled on and on until the sun was halfway to setting.
In
the distance I spotted a row of small houses, made of scraps. There
were metallic figures moving to and fro and between us and the
village there stood two robotic guards. We approached with
caution.
"Halt!" One of the robots commanded,
motioning us to stop. "What is your business here?"
"We
mean you no harm. We are looking for someone." I answered
I
examined the guards closer and noticed they were pretty ancient
robots. They had to have been one of the first models ever made which
meant, like Wilson, their thoughts and personality came from a once
human being. It wasn’t until very recently that robots were capable
of original thought without human integration.
"We will
take you to our coordinator, you may ask him what you will." The
robot eyed my sword and gestured toward it "You’ll have to
give us your sword. The coordinator is frail, you will not need
it."
I looked at Wilson and then towards the guard. "I’ll
give you my sword, but the skull stays with me." I said and the
guard nodded in agreement.
I unsheathed my sword and offered
it to the guard. He thanked me and motioned me to follow.
The
rusty old village was withering away. Every inhabitant was a robot
and almost all were very, very old robots.. They occupied themselves
by fixing and improving everything that could possibly be tinkered
with. I noticed a very large patchwork steel hut with a massive robot
sitting outside. It was obviously a military robot, with a huge
gatling gun in place of a right arm.
"Get a load of that
one" Wilson whispered " I wouldn’t mind having a
component like that."
I laughed and whispered back "I
think you’ve got enough gadgets as it is."
We
approached the large hut and our escort spoke to the robot with the
gatling gun.
"They’ve come to see the coordinator. Keep an
eye on them, will you?"
The robot with the gatling gun nodded
and turned towards us. He motioned for us to enter the hut.
Inside,
the single room building was dark and colorless. The only source of
light was the entrance behind us. I could see a figure in front of
us, it was large and mechanical. I strained to examine the object in
the dim light and it seemed to be a superiorly ancient robot.
This
robot was so old that it's chassis did not have a human form.
Instead, there were treads instead of legs and a tank like cylinder
composed it’s upper body. There were many robotic arms tucked
neatly inside of the cylinder and there was a large digital screen on
the front of the unit.
I approached the robot and the digital
screen flickered to life. It displayed a rather detailed portrait of
a living face, emulating an actual head. It greeted me and the
portrait moved it’s lips in perfect harmony with the digital
monotone voice.
"Hello, who are you? How may I help
you?" The robot asked
"I am Airrex" I answered
"This is my friend, Wilson." I gestured towards the
floating skull next to me and then nodded a greeting.
"We
have been to many places searching for a man, maybe you have seen
him?"
"A man you say? What is his name?" The
coordinator asked
"Durzek." I said. The ancient robot
did not answer immediately, instead the portrait on the digital
display gave a look of dismay and remembrance.
"I do know
this man." He answered, finally. "Durzek the Hurricane, he
called himself. He came this way years ago. He caused much
chaos."
"Oh?" I asked, curiously.
"Yes.
Have you seen the inhabitants of this village? Did you think it odd
that there was a civilization of old robots living in the desert?"
"I
suppose. Did Durzek have something to do with this?"
"When
he came, we were not yet separated from the others. There is a
village a little east of here, they guard an oasis of water. We were
there, with the humans. The village was once a military base, but
when the government dissolved we were left alone, stranded in the
desert.
Durzek came from nowhere. His charm won him favor
with the humans and somehow convinced them that robots were not worth
keeping, that we were wasting their precious water. Shortly after, we
were all exiled. We came here and settled, using scraps from a fallen
jet to build a community. I was the last to leave the human village
and as quickly as Durzek came, he was gone."
"Very
interesting.." I said "Do you know where he went? Any
idea?"
"Actually" He responded "I do.
"But..
our village is in need of help. I will tell you were Durzek went, if
you agree to aid us."
"Okay, sure." I said "What’s
wrong?"
The coordinator paused again and the portrait on the
digital screen sighed.
"Many of the robots here are quite
old." The coordinator said and I nodded, agreeing to the obvious
statement "Most of us are made with human components, as pure
robotic intelligence is only a recent and expensive invention. Before
we were robots, we were infantrymen, who died in the line of duty.
Our contracts required that our bodies and consciousness, if usable,
would be transferred into robotics shells until our enlistment was
fulfilled. We have solar panels, but most are not efficient enough to
keep us powered for much longer. We need water, we need hydrogen.
The humans are hoarding the water and if they continue to do
so, many of us will not survive for long. Please, you must go to the
humans. Negotiate them into giving us some water, do whatever you
can. Bring some back and then I will tell you were Durzek went."
I thought about the offer, remembering the four men in the jeep
who attacked me earlier and hummed in contemplation.
"Alright."
I said, finally "Ill do it. Where will I put the water? And
where should I go?"
One of the Coordinator’s limbs
extended and reached to a nearby self. The claw like fingers grasped
a small cloudy sphere and offered it to me. I picked it up and
marveled at the design. It looked like a magic orb.
"What
is it?" I asked
"It is a super compression unit. Any
water that touches it will automatically be absorbed into the sphere,
until it is full. It should hold several dozen gallons which will be
enough to get us by for quite some time. To get to the humans go
directly east. It is some miles away. My guard outside will assist
you further. Please, do what you can." He answered.
"I
will" I said, pocketing the sphere. "Ill be back."
With
that, the digital display on the Coordinator’s tank-like body went
blank and he went into a power-saving sleep mode. I turned around and
exited the dim scrap iron tent and began another journey through the
bitter desert.
-
Hours passed quickly and it was not
long before the sun set and night began. The blistering heat quickly
turned into an arctic chill and somehow the desert became even more
lifeless. Above us, the lonely moon watched us silently.
“This should be easier at night” I
said, finally breaking the silence.
“Maybe” Wilson said “Our hardware
loves the cold temperature, but you're low on power from our last
encounter. If you go down this time, you wont be getting back up till
your solar panels are charged.”
“Well...” I said “The old robot
said they had water there, right? A little hydrogen would bring me
right back to full capacity.”
“Yeah, if you make it to the water.”
“What do you mean, if?” I said “I'm
getting that water, no matter what.”
“Whatever. It's always the same story
with you, chief. Why are we always looking for this Durzek guy,
anyway.”
“We used to be partners. Before the
great war we were the two most renown scientists in the Country. We
were the leaders in robotic science. After the war, when government
ceased to exist and the anarchy began, he changed. Slowly he became
more terrible, until his own wickedness consumed him entirely. He did
something... something terrible. I've got to find him and stop him.”
“I've heard all that before” Wilson
said “You never tell me, what did he do?”
“It doesn't matter. I wiped your
memory for a reason. The only thing you need to know is we're looking
for Durzek and we're not going to stop until we find him.”
“Whatever.” Wilson said,
disinterested.
In this distance, I saw the outline of
a fenced structure. As we came closer I could see that it was clearly
a ruined military installation. “There it is.” I said.
We approached the installation with
caution. As we entered through the mangled fence, I searched the area
for threats. Nothing. Not even the dust stirred. “Strange” I
thought, continuing through the compound. We passed many similar,
gray buildings with various symbols and designations. Mess Hall..
Armory... Game Room... Living Quarters.
“Where could the water be?” I asked
Wilson
“I don't know, chief, but I've got a
really bad feeling. Where is everyone?”
As we continued to walk, I noticed a
circular object speeding towards us out of the corner of my eye. I
looked at it and it seemed to be a metal base ball. It landed on the
concrete near my feet with a loud bang and I crouched down to inspect
it. When I realized what is was, it was too late.
The metal sphere sprung to life and it
split in two. Electricity zapped out of the object like thousands of
lighting bolts and it caught me and Wilson in the explosion. It was
an EMP grenade. My last memory was a brilliant display of white hot
electricity surging through my body.
-
I opened my eyes and was slightly
surprised to see several soldiers, equipped with assault rifles
watching over me. I was laying flat on a table, held in place by a
large, heavy duty chain wrapped around my entire body. Wilson was
nowhere to be found. Before I could say anything, a voice spoke.
“So, what brings you to this place,
grayskin?” The owner of the voice approached me and I caught a good
look at him. He was an aged soldier, in a lieutenants uniform. “Don't
try to lie, either, your friend already spilled his guts.”
Damn it Wilson, I thought to myself.
“Water?!” The lieutenant laughed,
along with the rest of the soldiers “You want water? Who put you up
to this?”
“The robots who you kicked out of
here, they asked me to come here.” I said and the room fell silent.
The old lieutenant looked at me for several moments and ordered the
rest of the troops to leave the room.
“Why did they send you here?” He
asked, in an ominous voice
“They're dying... they need water. I
was asked to retrieve some water for some information.”
“Well” he said, sighing deeply
“there isnt any water here. It's gone. We have a month's supply
left and that's it. We've been searching desperately for some water,
ourselves.”
“You're lying.” I said, boldly
“It's true! Believe it!” The
lieutenant commanded “Even if you looked for some you wont find
any, trust me.”
“That's a shame.” I said “If
you'll release me I'll be on my way..”
“Not so fast.” The old man said.
“How do I know you're not lying?”
“Why would I lie?” I said “This
is a desert filled with ancient technology, little food, no water, no
wealth.. what could I possibly want here?”
“Good question.” He said “Explain
yourself.”
“I'm looking for a man named Durzek.
The coordinator in the robot village said he knew where he went, but
he agreed only to tell me if I could find him some water.”
“Durzek?” The lieutenant asked,
sharply “You want to know about Durzek..?”
“Yes”
“He came here, years ago. He was a
strong man, very bold, much like yourself. One day he came to our
base, he said he was a traveler just passing through. His charm was
subtle, the man had a way with words. We did our part to feed and
house him while he was here.
A few days passed and somehow, we all
became entranced by his ideas. He had a very peculiar way of looking
at things, but it made a lot of sense... at least it did back then.
He told us the robots were evil, that they were demonic husks filled
with the souls of the damned. All of us, we believed him. We became
so riled up that we exiled every robot from the base. In our fervor
we had hardly noticed when he left. Things haven't been the same,
since.”
“The sounds like Durzek.” I said.
“Where did he go?”
“The men were all drunk and
disorderly, furious at the robots, they were too busy to notice
Durzek leave. But I saw him when he left. With a smile, he told me
his work here was done. He said he was going to the mountains, to
continue his journey.
Tell me” The lieutenant asked “Why
do you want to know about Durzek?”
“He was my friend, a long time ago.
We have some unfinished business. I've been following his trail for a
long time.”
“I see” the lieutenant said
“Can you release me now? I thank you
for the information, but I must leave now.”
“Of course. Your weapon and your
friend will be returned to you before you leave.
One last thing, though. How was the
coordinator? How's my brother? Is he okay?”
“He's not looking so good, honestly.
They need water, badly.”
“I'd feared as much. I think it's
time we ended this feud, it's gone on long enough. If we must die...
at least we can die together.”
I let the lieutenant's words linger in
the air and I considered his statement as he unwrapped the chains
from my body. Even though both the robots and the humans were sure to
die, they would both be much happier to live in peace. Maybe they
would even find water, together.
“There you are... ... what was your
name?”
“Airrex.”
“Right, there you are, Airrex. Sorry
about the mixup but you can never be too sure. Good luck finding
Durzek... hopefully he hasn't caused too much trouble out there.”
Later, the lieutenant brought me my
sword and Wilson. The soldiers showed us out of the compound and the
lieutenant saluted us as we left. I looked towards the mountains, to
the north, and I knew we were one step closer to Durzek.
“What was that all about?” Wilson
asked
“Apparently the humans don't have
water either, but they told me where Durzek went.”
“That's good, I don't want to spend
another minute in this desert.”
“By the way, Wilson, why did you rat
me outback there? What exactly did you tell them?”
“Oh,” Wilson laughed “I told them
we were gold bandits. Apparently they have a lot of it and they
weren't too happy with that answer.”
“What?!”
“Yeah, I thought it was funny too.”
“That's not funny, Wilson, they could
have shut us down... permanently.” I said
“Well, It's not totally false.”
Wilson retorted and I noticed that one of his teeth were a shining,
golden color.
“You didn't...”
“Funny thing, chief.” Wilson said
“They threw me in the storage closet where they keep most of their
gold. Not too bright, are they?”
I didn't say anything, I just looked
ahead towards the steep mountains miles away from us and imagined
what kind of place I would be taken to next.
![[send message]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/mail.png){kind=small}
![[befriend]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/friend.png){kind=small}
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Flag Writing
