1. Curiostiy

C U R I O S I T Y

“Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.” �" Unknown 

~ four years later ~

s i e n a

DISCIPLINE. Discipline and obedience were the two main things our leaders asked of us and expected all of us to deliver. If we weren’t disciplined or obedient, we wouldn’t be the successful people we were today. Our actions were easily influenced by others because we were cyborgs and not complete like our robot leaders. The government of Eden, most widely known as the Organization, has to work hard to purge or fix all the faultier people who were somehow affected by the plagued humans from our society for fear of risking the successful progress in creating the next Golden Age in the 22nd century. 

               This was why Aaron 31408 was being held down and sedated by two robot policemen in the principal’s office right now. I shouldn’t have been peeking through the window of the door like I was, but Aaron 31408 was a close friend of mine and he was also the second cyborg ever in our school, the Cyborg Hunter Academy, to be shipped off to the Organization to be fixed. I wanted to see what they did to him, even though I knew if I was caught being curious I would be the third cyborg to be fixed. So although I’ve only gotten a glance at how the two robots twisted Aaron 31408’s arms behind his back and poised to stick the sharp needle filled with a tranquilizing liquid into the back of his neck, I sat back down on the plastic seat lined up next to the door.

               As soon as the incident with Aaron 31408 happened in history class, word spread like wild fire. I heard from my friend Sarah 22008 that it happened when the history teacher reminded the class why they had to go on hunting missions. The hunting missions were what all the students here at CHA were given a second chance at life to get. We all had one job: to hunt the plagued humans and retrieve their young children so the Organization can liberate them from their broken minds. We all believed in what we aspired to do, and I knew Aaron 31408 did too, so I was slightly confused as to why he was being shipped back to the Organization to be fixed. Maybe it was because his chip was burning out. Either way, Aaron 31408 asked the wrong question. He asked the history teacher why the cyborgs and robots didn’t just reproduce like the humans did. That was a faulty question that stemmed from a faultier mind, so Aaron 31408 had to be fixed. Some say it was a good thing he said that because we only had a week before graduation and if Aaron 31408 was faultier than the rest of us then it is a good thing that they noticed that before sending him off to the plagued humans and risk them turning Aaron 31408 into one of them.

               The door opened, breaking my line of thought, and a thin face with sharp edges poked out of the room and peered down at me. “Siena 12108, you may enter.” The thin face said.

               As I entered the room, the two policemen carried a stretcher that carried Aaron 31408 out. I tried not to stare at his limp body and instead focused on the sharp face with the skin that looked too small for her bones. Of course, that could be because of the tight bun her wiry black hair was pulled into that stretched her pale skin back. Her gaze was on the body on the stretcher, but they immediately swung to land on me as soon as the door slammed shut.

               Burned out coals sat in her two eye sockets and they seemed to drain the life out of me. I started to feel a tickle in my brain, and I pushed that tingling feeling away as I held her probing gaze. “Good evening, Headmistress,” I said while standing still with my hands clasped together in front of me.

               “Sit, please.” Headmistress said as she sat down in her big chair. I sat down and folded my hands over my lap and sat up straight, as that was the correct etiquette that had been drilled into my mind for the past four years. “Do you know why I called you here today?” She asked as she rifled through a stack of documents sitting on her desk. 

               I watched as she found the file she was looking for and looked back up at me, waiting for an answer. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why I was here, and Headmistress seemed to know that because she was not shocked when I said a simple, “I don’t know.”

               “You will be graduating in only one week, and your field trial is only in two days.” She paused and glanced down at the document she was holding. “But of course you know that already.”

               “Yes,” I said.

               “I want to discuss with you about what you will be doing after you graduate,” Headmistress said, shooting her soulless gaze back to me. “As you are aware, you were the first plagued human to ever be liberated by our own people, and we have monitored your schoolwork more intensely compared to your peers because of your extra asset,” she said, flicking her gaze to my machine arm.

               I nodded. I knew my plans would be slightly different from my fellow classmates’ because I had been the very first plagued human to be rescued from the savage humans and given a second chance at life by the robots. I was the first cyborg. The robots found me with a ragged band of plagued humans, and I was too weak to move because my arm had somehow been blown off and so I was losing blood rapidly. My mind at the time was also being eaten away by the plague that haunted the plagued humans. The robots saved me and liberated my mind from the terrible plague. They said I fought, as the plague made humans insane. When the robots replaced half my brain with a machine, I came to my senses and realized how stupid and crazy I was to be fighting against the ones that saved my life. The Organization was also generous to give me a prosthetic arm, with a few enhanced abilities. However, they only did that to me because they wanted me to be as whole as possible, but the other cyborgs after me didn’t get any enhanced body parts or abilities asides from the basic enhancements: hearing, sight, touch, taste, and memory. I, on the other hand, was gifted with a left arm that could be changed into various types of guns and blades with just a twitch of my muscle. I’ve only been a cyborg for four years, but I’ve gotten used to my new arm in less than a year, which I am grateful for, as it opened many new possibilities for my future.

               “I am assuming you want to be a hunter for life?” Headmistress asked, but it came off sounding more like a statement than a question.

Robots were less faulty than cyborgs. They have virtually no human emotions left, but the numbers of robots were dropping every day. Robots were created by the Zimmermann twins from Germany a few years into the Rotten Plague, the plague that first hit in 2100 and wiped out three quarters of the world. Sebastian Zimmermann, our leader and the first robot ever, was cured from the plague by his human brother, Adrian Zimmermann. After only two years of curing plagued humans by turning them into robots, Adrian Zimmermann was abducted by the plagued humans and we never saw him again. Part of why I was aspiring to be a hunter for life was because I want to save Adrian as he indirectly did me, and I also wanted to satisfy the tiny selfish part of me. I wanted Adrian Zimmermann to cure me from my faults and make me a full robot. I can already feel the strange, tickling sensation of human feelings invading my mind, and being human made me a target for the plague. I was never going back to that dark place again.

               “Yes.” I finally said, feeling determination surge through my words. This was what I wanted. My four years of intense training was finally going to lead me to my ultimate goal: saving Adrian Zimmermann.

               Headmistress regarded me intently and silently for a while before curving the sides of her lips up in a blank smile. Her eyes stayed as black and emotionless as ever, and I longed for that serenity. I hated feeling some of the feelings I did, and the more I thought about my latent feelings, the more worried I got. And that does not help with anything at all. My feelings were obstacles that I strived to overcome �" to destroy. As soon as I thought that, I felt a surge of something ticklish in my brain again, but this time it was stronger. I hoped Headmistress didn’t see that sign of weakness, and I quickly made my face devoid of any traitorous emotions again.

               “Good, that’s good. I can see you are very willing to help our people,” she said and I nodded levelly, “but I have an offer to you. Well, the Organization does.”

               I froze and whatever feelings I had completely vanished. The Organization was the founder of everything I believed in and stood for. The Organization was basically a group of very important scientists and politicians from all over the world who came together near the beginning of the Plague and decided they would try to cure as many people as possible. Adrian Zimmermann was one of the cofounders of the Organization along with Sebastian Zimmermann and a few others scientists from the other countries that used to lead the world pre-Plague. After Adrian Zimmermann was kidnapped, his twin took over and became the head of the Organization, and the robots worked hard to create a safe place where the Plague can’t touch anyone and called this place Eden. The Organization created many different places like Eden all over the world where robots and cyborgs could reside in to avoid the plagued humans, but Eden was the capitol city and the Organization thrived here. 

               Of course, the Organization was our saving grace and we perceived them as our kings and queens. I couldn’t imagine what the Organization wanted from me. I always knew I’d soon lead my very own squad of hunters based on my popularity among my people, my excellent grades and performances, and most importantly �" my arm, but I never thought the Organization would take an interest in me.

               “What is their offer?” I finally forced out, making sure I didn’t falter. 

               “They want to offer you a job in the Organization. As you should know your kind makes great hunters. Your species are also expendable, and that makes you reliable and dependable hunters.” Headmistress said evenly, holding my gaze. I tried to reign in my threatening emotions and my mind whirred with emptiness, but I could feel a trickle of apprehension and excitement slipping into my mind. I immediately forced a plug on that leak, finally shutting down my feelings altogether for the time being. I tried not to think about what job the Organization wanted to offer me.

               “Yes, I understand.”

               “Are you ready to take on full responsibilities?”

               “Ma’am? �"” 

               “Are you ready to risk your life for something bigger, something more important than your very being?” Her voice was on the verge of being frantic, but of course that wasn’t possible. Her iron gaze burned holes in me and I could feel the confusion threatening to pour into my feelings-free mind. I wasn’t sure what Headmistress was asking of me, but it made me sweat and my mind turned uncontrollably.

               Finally deciding to relieve me of my miserable confusion, Headmistress finally said, “Are you, Siena 12108, ready to go to the Organization headquarters to represent the cyborgs on the board of directors? Today?”

               That completely took me by surprise and I couldn’t keep the dams up anymore. Feelings poured into my brain for a split second before I frantically patched it back up, but I could still feel the wondrous sense of warm emotions taking up the space in my mind. Thankfully it was more difficult for robots to detect emotions. “What do you mean? Forgive me, Headmistress,” I rambled, “but what about my field trials? What will I do at the headquarters? What do you- I mean, they, mean by represent the cyborgs? What�"”

               One sharp look from her made me shut my mouth. “You are the very first cyborg to ever be created, and you are no doubt different from your kind.” She quirked an eyebrow up and glanced at my arm and continued, “The Organization board has recognized the importance of cyborgs, and they have decided that you will make a worthy addition to the board.”

               I wanted to ask her more questions, but quelled the thoughts when she lifted her chin and looked down her nose at me. “As for your field trials…” her jaw ticked as she said this, “You will be skipping them. The Organization needs you right now, and there is no time for the graduation test. You will have plenty of missions, I suppose, at the Organization.” She gave me slanted look that I didn’t understand, and stood up. I stood up just as quick.

               “When do I leave, Headmistress?” I asked. I figured that if they so urgently needed me, I’d probably have to leave soon. I still didn’t understand anything of this. Cyborgs were taught to adapt really quickly, but we were also taught to obey and respect rules, and rules didn’t typically change. What the Organization was asking of me was quite out of the ordinary.

               Headmistress cut me another look I couldn’t decipher. “Now. A pod will be leaving in fifteen minutes. It is waiting at the front gates. Pack now and you can make it.” Without another word, she turned around to face the giant window overlooking the school campus. I took that as my cue to leave and hurried back to my dorm room to pack away my life.

               ♠

THE DORM ROOM was quiet when I got back. It was already 9PM, and curfew was in thirty minutes. Not that we needed a curfew, with our extreme sense of discipline. I didn’t need to pack for long; the only clothes I had were two sets of school uniform and a black t-shirt and a pair of form-fitting grey jeans that Sarah 22008 and I bought together when we thought we were going to be paired together for the field trials. If we were going to hunt down humans, we had to blend in to infiltrate their camps, and we learned human girls had kept their fashion from years ago and continued wearing tight-fitting jeans. I never understood how they could survive in denim. The pants were not practical and were hardly uniform. Grey was the only color I would say yes to because everything else sold at the Black Market was too colorful and messy.

                Pulling myself out of my reverie, I grabbed my bag which only consisted of clothes, a hairbrush, and some female necessities that even cyborgs and robots needed. I opened the door and surveyed my room one last time and almost stepped out of the room when a distinct red color on the windowsill caught my eye. Cocking my head to the side, I walked to the window and took in a sharp breath when I saw a tiny red origami crane. My eyebrows drew together as I bent down so I was eye level to the crane. Who had put this here? It doesn’t matter, I thought, I must take it to Headmistress in case there is a threat. I studied the crane again and gingerly picked it up. How could a tiny crane like this be a threat? I tried to ignore the gnawing sensation in the back of my mind. Curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat. 

               Without thinking any further, I shut down my emotions again and grabbed the crane and pushed it into my pocket. Then, without looking back, I practically ran out of the dorms and to the front gates where a pod waited for me.

               Promptly forgetting about the strange little crane in my pocket, I studied the vehicle in wonder. The pod was bigger than the school-issued ones and it looked sleeker with its black color and dark tinted window that took up the top half of the pod. The Organization emblem was printed in the front of the vehicle, just below the window. It was a fist-sized silver crescent shape with two sharp ended stripes running out of the opening on the right side. The stripe on top was longer than the second, representing the robots in our society, and the second line represented the cyborgs. The crescent shape encompassing it symbolized the Rotten Plague that had threatened to wipe us out, but we came shooting out of the plague, not willing to die at its hands. The emblem was meant to instill into our minds that we were brave survivors and also to remind us what we have to do to survive.

               It was dark and quiet and everyone was sleeping. No one was there to see me off, but then Headmistress was probably the only one who knew about this and I didn’t expect her to say farewell to me. I walked towards the sphere that was steadily hovering one foot off the ground. All pods were activated by voice recognition, as it made stealing these expensive vehicles extremely difficult. I only hoped the Organization had remembered to somehow find a recording of my voice so I can actually ride in it. I glanced at the watch on my left wrist and realized I only had two minutes left before the pod would speed off on its own without me. 

               Sighing, I said, “Open,” and much to my relief, the top half, the window half, popped off and I stepped into the leather cushions that took up the entire bottom half. I told the pod to close and the tinted glass dome came down around me.

               I studied the panels. I’ve driven a pod only two times in my entire life, but I remembered how to control the complicated yet rather simple vehicle. There were two touchpads parallel to each other and facing the front. All it took to drive was to say “drive” and put both hands on the touchpads to navigate. However, both times I tried driving a pod had been a wreck. It was quite difficult to navigate with touch screens, and it was especially hard to control where to face with both hands on the pads. 

               Thankfully, before I could put my terrible driving skills to test, the pod hummed with energy and zoomed off into one direction without warning. I sat back and strapped myself to the seat as the pod maneuvered itself through the dark streets. Few pods were on the road at this time, and I relaxed as I turned around to see the school I spent my entire life in �" well, the life I could remember �" gradually disappeared from view. I didn’t think about anything concerning the academy, my old home, and my friends there. Instead, I pushed the notion of the thoughts away and reached into my pocket. I breathed a sigh as my fingers brushed the delicate crane. Feeling another wave of tingles pushing into my mind, I closed my eyes and decided not to block it out this time. The feeling was the one that visited me most often. Curiosity.

               “Curiosity killed the cat,” I whispered to myself as I continued to stroke the little crane in my pocket.

Reviews

[Tyler Golec]

Wicked cool concept, I really enjoyed that. You way want to consider whether or not you want to cut back on some of the information you give in the first chapter in favor of pace, your descriptions of people(Robots/Cyborgs) emblem on the emblem on the pod were spot on, don't lose any of that. I was definitely engaged the whole way through and I want to read more!

[Tate Renforth-Frederick]

I am a little confused as to the difference between the cyborgs and the robots? Both apparently have human parts in them
"Sebastian Zimmermann, our leader and the first robot ever, was cured from the plague by his human brother"
So wouldn't that make them all cyborgs and Siena 12108 not the first to be cured of the plague?

[fireflies]

Oh yeah, I was deciding whether I should explain that in the first chapter or spread it out in the coming chapters. I thought it was too much to fit into the first chapter. But basically, Adrian Zimmermann was allegedly kidnapped by the humans and he was the only one who knew how to do the entire operation, so the robots can only rely on their own wits to make their own robots, but they are not as complete, and the robots don't know how to make the entire brain a machine, so that's why cyborgs don't have robotic eyes and they are thus less "complete" (and more human, which they view as a bad thing) Sorry for the confusion!

[Tate Renforth-Frederick]

Thats fine, maybe you should refer to Adrian as the first cyborg who was built because his brother wanted him immune to the virus and have Siena be the first to actually be cured?

[fireflies]

Oh, no, Adrian is a human and he was the one who made Sebastian a robot, but Siena is the first one that Sebastian tried to make into a robot, but he didn't know how to do the entire thing, so Siena has more human feelings than the robots that Adrian made :) They're not exactly cure, they're just not human anymore. But Siena is more human than Sebastian and the robots Adrian created are.

[Tate Renforth-Frederick]

Ok that does make a lot more sense now :)

[fireflies]

Haha yep! I'll clarify it later on.