Chapter Seventeen
Racial extinction is always closer than anyone realizes.
—Parvii Inspiration
The armored man watched as a long silver machine dug a new chamber, throwing dirt and bits of rock around, making so much noise that he had to wear high-decibel ear protection. Giovanni Nehr stood back at a safe distance to avoid the debris cast by the machine, which rolled forward on treads and had spinning drill bits on its body. Soon, new barracks would be constructed here, but not for Humans. As the Digger proceeded it illuminated the work area in high-powered beams of light.
With the burgeoning number of robots under Guardian command—owing to Thinker’s ambitious manufacturing program—additional quarters were needed. Sentient machines could live in tighter quarters than Humans, with their metal bodies stacked higher and packed tighter; they had to be kept somewhere, couldn’t be left to wander around the subterranean tunnels and caverns of the compound.
There were also more Humans wearing Guardian uniforms, from Subi’s clandestine recruitment program around Canopa. He and Thinker had initiated strict security controls, developing a comprehensive electronic interview method and even a selective memory erasure procedure—such as the one they had used on Dr. Bichette before releasing him. In addition, the two of them had set up an electronic barricade across all tunnel openings, so that no one could pass in or out without setting off alarms.
One of the young female recruits had dated a Guardian, and he had given her an interesting gift, a nearly extinct little alien creature named “Lumey.” The amorphous creature, which she afterward took along with her to the underground hideout, had once been Noah’s pet, but had been left behind in the rushed escape from EcoStation when the Doge’s forces attacked the orbital facility.
As the machine proceeded now, digging deeper and wider, mechanical scoopers and dumpers scurried about, gathering debris and carting it away. They would dispose of it in a series of deep, vertical tunnels that had been dug by rampant machines in the past, when they were the mechanical pests of Canopa. The current debris removal system had been developed by Thinker and Gio. No one knew how they disposed of excess material in the past, but Thinker theorized it might have been in underground fissures and caverns. Occasionally, piles of dirt and rock had been found on the surface of the planet, but only on a remarkably few occasions, considering the extent of excavation that the machines had been doing.
Without warning, the Digger accelerated and increased the speed of its drill bits. It crashed into a wall and began boring through, where it wasn’t supposed to go. It made fast progress, creating a new tunnel. Gio ran after the errant machine, with guards behind him and alarm klaxons sounding.
Reaching for his belt, Gio pressed a transmitter, sending an electronic signal to the computers controlling the machine. Abruptly, the Digger shut down all systems, including its lights. For several moments, Gio found himself in darkness, down the escape tunnel the machine had dug.
Then he saw lights coming from behind. Moments later, Thinker reached him, clanking and whirring. “I was afraid this would happen,” the robot said.
“It’s a good thing we were ready,” Gio said.
Thinker led a robotic team to inspect the Digger. They disassembled the internal workings of the machine’s computer. Presently, Thinker went back to Gio and said, “Just as I suspected, it has an override system, so cleverly concealed that we didn’t see it before. The unit found a way to supersede your commands, but we had our own ace in the hole.”
“I assume you disabled the mechanism?”
“Oh, yes. But before we use this Digger again we’ll need to reprogram your disabling transmitter and the receiver on the machine.”
“The old signal won’t stop it next time?”
“Better not try it. There could be more tricks in this Digger, more than we’ve discovered so far. Even if we successfully disable its present override system, it could have another, and another. We must be on constant alert.”
“Why haven’t our other two Digger machines done this?”
“Maybe this one is testing us, and somehow they’re communicating with one another. They are sentient, after all. Maybe they’re smarter than we assumed, with hidden intelligence.”
“Kind of a game, isn’t it?” Gio said, in an edgy tone.
“Not the way I look at it,” Thinker said. “Machines are my life.”
O O O
Subi Danvar, as acting head of the Guardians in Noah’s absence, received reports from Giovanni Nehr and from Thinker on the episode with the Digger. He also heard from Gio that he’d grown tired of supervising the necessary construction activities, which kept enlarging with the increasing forces and supplies. The man wanted even more important duties.
Impressed with Gio’s ambition and desire to contribute, Subi assigned him to work more closely with the machines that had brought him here and with the newly manufactured robots, to form them all into an efficient fighting force.
“But I have no real military experience,” Gio admitted.
“You have an inventive mind, don’t you? Doesn’t it run in the family?”
“Well, I don’t know. I do have a lot of ideas.”
“Some of the men said you had ideas about military formations and training. Comments you made over beers.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“They passed a few of your ideas on to me. My boy, if you can think that well when you’re drinking, I’d like to see what you can do when you’re completely sober.”
The two men laughed, and clasped hands to mark the new relationship between them.
O O O
A couple of days later, Gio and Thinker reported to Subi that disturbing news had just come in: The best machine fighters—led by Jimu—had left the Inn of the White Sun some time ago and joined the Red Berets. Even worse, they had initiated a large-scale robot manufacturing program, and with access to more raw materials theirs far outpaced the program that Thinker had established for the Guardians.
It was indeed troubling news. After considering the situation for a moment, Subi said, “We need Noah back more than ever. He’d know what to do.”
“We’ve already discussed that,” Thinker said, his mechanical voice weary. “From our reconnaissance missions and other reports, I’ve assembled all available data, and Noah is nowhere to be found. Since his captors have no podships to take him off planet, we know he’s on Canopa. Hopefully alive. The Doge’s people have set up an elaborate disinformation campaign about his whereabouts, with tens of thousands of Noah sightings reported all over the planet. Too many for us to investigate with our limited resources. We can’t mount a rescue effort until we have some idea of where he is. Why, he might not even be in one of their government prisons. In fact, I suspect he isn’t.”
“That’s your analysis, is it?” Subi said.
“It is. Absolutely.”
“And didn’t you also analyze the Diggers some time ago, without finding their override system?”
“Yes.”
“That proves that there are possibilities beyond your intellect. There is a way to find Noah and break him out—I’m convinced of it—and we need to find out what it is.”
“You’ll never outthink a machine,” Gio said, as he listened in.
Ignoring the comment, Subi said, “It must be a perfect plan, against superior forces. Nothing is more important.” With that, he stalked away, followed by Thinker, who continued to argue with him.
For days afterward, Gio began to think about this at length. If he could pull off a rescue of Noah, or at least get credit for it, he would be rewarded extremely well. Thinker, however, remained obstinate against sending out any rescue missions until they had more data. He and Subi could frequently be heard in loud exchanges.
***