Chapter 2 – Rebels #4
“Cathrin found out from her whistle-blower at CRU that Rochelle had ordered a prototype of their latest male escort model,” Jack explained.
“And we were looking for a suitable opportunity to get access to her safe. When I found out about the order, I asked Cathrin for permission to take over so that I could get you and the children out at the same time, and she agreed straight away. And that’s exactly what Silver and I did.
” Looking at Willie Junior, asleep in her arms, Jack’s expression suddenly turned hard.
“Time was of the essence. They were already testing how to build hybrid components into humans that would grow with them, and were working on how to manipulate their memory using a chip so they could be abused for their own purposes.”
“But who would buy robots like that? If you knew that they were actually humans?” asked Marci in horror.
“Believe me,” replied Jack scornfully, “people who can afford robots like that don’t care who or what it is.
Their main concern is that they’re cheaper than an original model.
And they absolutely don’t care whether they’re adults or children.
It’s a pretty grim affair, and I don’t want to go into the details right now.
” Jack’s troubled gaze fell on the two sleeping boys.
Marci swallowed, unable to suppress the shock and disbelief in her eyes. The thought that Logan or Willie Junior could have suffered the same fate as Will while she was at work almost drove her over the edge.
“Does that mean you were never in Tanaka’s factory and were never reprogrammed by them either?” Marci looked at him, clearly surprised.
“No,” he admitted almost ruefully. “Silver and I just intercepted the transport van and shut down the robot that Rochelle was expecting. I then got into the crate in its place.” He grinned modestly.
“Really quite simple. Especially as our research told us that Rochelle hadn’t made any particular requests about what her new lover should look like.
We could have put a giant monkey in it.” He laughed again at how foolish Rochelle and her security team had been.
“To be honest, I’m relieved that you’re not a good-time robot,” said Marci drily a moment later. “They’re probably incredibly annoying if all they can think about is sex,” she remarked. “I mean, women normally expect a bit more than that.”
Jack responded with a gentle smile that could have been interpreted in many different ways. “I’m afraid my skills as an all-round entertainer are not that impressive,” he admitted slightly stiffly. “And anyway, nobody’s tried them out yet.”
They reached a door that slid open at Jack’s command and he led her into a brightly lit room that contained no furniture except for a simple white plastic table, a large sofa and a couple of comfortable-looking chairs. And a huge holoscreen.
Marci was surprised when an older woman immediately stood up to greet them and introduced herself with a friendly smile as Cathrin Porter.
Marci was astonished by how unremarkable she looked – she was slim, but not thin, and about one metre sixty.
Her round blue eyes held an incredible warmth and compassion, even though as the hard-core commander of a rebel army, she probably had to make tougher decisions than simply accepting a few refugees.
Her impeccably styled silver hair was cut in a sleek bob that made her wrinkled face look younger.
Like all the other residents/inhabitants they’d met so far, she wore a loose-fitting grey jumpsuit that looked much the same as everyone else’s.
Somehow she didn’t match Marci’s mental image of a tough scientist, far less a genius designer in the highly competitive robot business.
She reminded Marci more of a favourite aunt who might tell you wonderful stories at bedtime.
Another affectionate smile spread across her face as she looked at the two sleeping boys.
“Don’t wake them up. Put them on the sofa,” she said quietly to Marci and Jack. “It’s better if they don’t hear our conversation.” She offered Marci a chair. Jack stood behind Marci’s chair like a protective soldier while she sat down nervously.
Her host crossed the room to an intelligent bar cabinet that served drinks at the press of a button and ordered a couple of soft drinks including an orange juice for Marci.
Cathrin ordered a glass of water. Jack declined politely as he wasn’t thirsty.
As a robot, he rarely ate or drank, mostly only when he was with humans so that he could fit in, as he explained to Marci with a wink.
Cathrin sat opposite her on a simple stool and looked directly at her.
“Welcome to Hunters Lane,” she said, raising her glass casually to Marci.
“Hunters Lane?” Marci looked around in confusion; the name sounded upmarket to her, and although there was nothing missing in Cathrin’s room, the white furniture gave it all a rather modest look.
“It’s the name of the area of New Jersey where I was born 63 years ago,” explained Cathrin, smiling gently.
“I always say that the world was still OK then, even though obviously that’s not true.
But in naming our base after it, I wanted to convey some of the peaceful atmosphere that I experienced there as a child.
I don’t know how much Jack has already told you about me,” she began, without commenting on Marci’s sudden arrival at the base.
“But you should know that I don’t pride myself on having set up this camp or on having created most of the robots who live here with us humans.
Quite the opposite: I feel responsible for the problems it’s caused.
It does, however, make me proud of the team spirit shown by my troops, who have shown me that something good can always come out of something bad.
I’m proud that humans and robots appreciate each other as sentient beings and respect each other in all matters.
Everyone who comes to us here should feel at home and live here in peace – we need every man, woman and child if we are to get rid of the ice-cold egotists out there and their rogue regime.
If we don’t succeed in changing this world for the better within the next five years, humanity will be lost forever. ”
She pointed casually to the screen. “Before Jack accompanies you and the children to your quarters, I’d like to tell you about the base and our work. You need to know that you and the children are safe with us.”
Marci stared in fascination at the holoscreen, which now displayed a map of a subterranean labyrinth that concealed a kind of small town spread across several levels.
“We’ve worked relentlessly for two years and taken significant risks to create all of this.
” Cathrin pointed to the 3D video that was running.
“The main problem wasn’t logistics but security.
Building all of this without being noticed by spy satellites or drones was a work of genius by our incredible IT people, who made us practically invisible to global monitoring systems. I don’t know how much Jack has already told you about our organisation? ” Cathrin asked, glancing at Marci.
“Not much,” Marci admitted slightly awkwardly, “only that you used to work for people like MacIntyre…” She couldn’t help giving Cathrin a critical look. “And the situation with Will.”
“And now you’re wondering why I didn’t notice earlier what a vicious bastard Monty MacIntyre is and why I moved to CRU as well?”
Marci gave a small nod and wondered whether Cathrin would take offence at the question. But her expression stayed friendly as she answered.
“It was during my studies that I first realised that above a certain energy density in their brain, robots developed a consciousness that interacts independently, just like a human’s.
One day, there was a young robot on my operating table and I was replacing an arm that he had lost on the battlefield.
As I started using the laser, he whimpered in pain.
I knew then that something wasn’t right.
Our combat robots are machines and don’t normally develop a consciousness.
But when I tested this robot’s main processor, I saw that his brain had developed a consciousness structure similar to a human’s, including sensitivity to pain and surges of emotion.
As the brain mass is composed of organic nuclei created using biotechnology and has networks of nerves controlled by a self-regenerating quantum processor, robots are capable of faster, more complex thought than humans.
The idea that once there was a critical mass of neuronal links producing the hormones it needed, the brain would develop emotional capabilities, is something that years ago would have been the stuff of fairy tales and legends.
But after I made this discovery, I knew how much danger the robots would be in if I were to publish my research findings.
People like MacIntyre would destroy any robot that developed its own soul.
Robots capable of independent thought and emotion don’t fit into his concept.
Quite apart from the fact that he wouldn’t be the only one who would seek to manipulate production to stop that happening, most governments wouldn’t tolerate robots acting independently, either.
All those in power have feared a revolution by the machines since they started being developed, and this opinion is shared by the majority of their human subjects, as most of them already hate robots because they take their jobs away from them.
If they were to learn that robots can develop what they consider an unacceptable level of human qualities, they would destroy them immediately.
The whole matter is extremely delicate,” she added with a concerned look at Jack, who was trying not to show how much he was affected by all of it.