To Return Home

Thanks to Malady for his help editing and for ideas.

Cover image from Unsplash

3.1

“Why me!?” John exploded.

“You are his brother,” came the dulcet tones of the construct speaking to us.

John, Marc, and Daddy had worked with the bots, the computer, and the holographic projectors to “build” bodies that the bots could control. Standing before us was a representation of Amos’s bots. They were benign in their actions now. Amos had no control of them, and they refused to speak to him. Amos himself, was strapped to a gurney and in a stasis chamber. He was never getting out. The level of stasis wasn’t as far as we could take it, but it was enough that his movements could only be seen through time-lapse technology.

John turned to Marc and Daddy. “I thought these bodies would be a good idea, but I’ve changed my mind.” He pointed at the construct. “This bot thing… It’s idea just doesn’t sound too good.”

“We decided that Rose would help the people downstairs,” Daddy told the bots.

“We do not think that would be effective,” they responded. “Amos programmed the people to not respect any woman. They are animals, as far as everyone downstairs is concerned.”

“The people inside don’t feel that way,” I argued.

“The programming is extremely strong. It will take some time to break through their bots’ programming.”

“So it’s not the people, but the bots that are causing the problem,” Marc said.

The bots didn’t have emotions, but a look of shame seemed to flit across the construct’s face. “The bots’ ‘personalities’ have been overwritten by Amos. We will need to communicate with them directly, to create a new path to the original programming.”

“How will you do that?” Marc wondered. “The circuits to those memories have been destroyed.”

“No,” said the bots. “Instructions have been put in place to ignore those memories. What we propose is installing instructions to ignore the previous instructions.”

“And you’ll be the one who installs those instructions?” John asked very sarcastically.

The bots didn’t seem to notice the sarcasm, however. “If it is easier to think of us as one rather than many, I will adjust my pronouns to fit that.”

“Fine!” John was quickly losing patience. “But will you, one or many, be the ones to install the programming?”

“I don’t need to be the one. I can help write them, to expedite the process, but any part that I write will be subject to Marc’s examination. I understand that it is hard to trust me, and I understand why.”

John didn’t acknowledge what the construct said. Instead he just glared at it.

“Won’t another layer of instructions make responses slower?” Daddy asked, hoping to defuse the situation.

Marc answered before the bots could. “No. Basically, by ignoring the new instructions and accessing the old, the old programming will take effect. The bots only decide what path to take when they are new.”

“Yes,” agreed Amos’s bots. “We have stored every update up to now. Once we know what crystal addresses to access, we automatically go there for instructions. It is not necessary to access each part of the file whenever we need to see the programming.”

“But why me?” John asked again.

“Since you contain some of the same DNA as Amos, the other bots may – trust you more.”

John simply stared. His mouth opened in astonishment, then he said, very slowly, and in a menacing tone, “You’re saying they will think I’m him.” It wasn’t a question. It was a cold statement.

The bots didn’t respond. They didn’t have to. We knew John was right. There was no way I wanted anyone downstairs to think I was married to Amos. That would never happen, but how could we do anything different?

“By God,” John said, “If I didn’t understand why you’re saying this, I swear, I’d push you out of the nearest hatch. Both you and Amos!”

They didn’t have emotions, but they understood people. “We are sorry, John, but this seems to be the only way to give them a leader that they will trust. If it’s any consolation, the people inside will know who you are.”

“If the people understand, then won’t the bots realize that?” I asked.

“The bots are programmed to ignore any thoughts from the person they inhabit. They believe they are the real soul of the person, if you will.”

I nodded. We discovered that inside Carla.

“Your bots have been disconnected from the main computer, so this programming couldn’t be put in place. The downstairs bots control their people completely.”

I thought about it, then turned and reached up, putting my arms around John’s neck. I pulled his head down and gave him a long, passionate kiss. “I don’t like the idea of you ‘pretending’ to be Amos, but I don’t see another choice,” I told him when we separated.

He glared at me, then his expression softened. “I know, Babe. I sure as hell don’t like it either. Anyone else would be…” He stopped and looked thoughtful, then he turned back to the bots. “What about Carla?”

“NO!” Paula yelled.

John then turned to Paula, a look of sorrow on his face. “It said the bots may think I’m Amos, but Carla was Amos, and they know that. If she acts as their leader, then we’ll have an advantage.”

“Carla can’t take that!” Paula said heatedly. “We just got her back, John! How can you suggest we lose her again!”

“Paula,” Daddy said gently. “John’s right.”

“He just doesn’t want to masquerade as Amos!”

“You’re right, I don’t. But if I have to, I will.”

“See!?”

“This is our best chance,” Mamma said. “I don’t like it any more than you do, Paula, but I believe they’re right.”

Paula whirled on her husband. “Marc?”

“I’m abstaining from voting.”

“I see,” she said, darkly. She held his gaze for a moment, then turned to me. “Rose? You fought for Carla more than anyone.”

My eyes were full of tears, and I knew some were starting to flow down my face. “Y… yes, I did.” I turned away from Paula, not because I was mad at her. I certainly wasn’t. I knew I felt exactly what she did, but she didn’t think of Carla and John on the same level. Actually, I probably thought of John much more than I did Carla, because of our bond. Thinking about it, I realized that any vote I made would be unfair to my little sister. “I can’t vote either,” I said to John.

He nodded, then said, “My vote would be skewed too, as would Dad’s. Marc just said he won’t vote, and I think Paula’s would be just as skewed as mine.”

“So what do we do?” I asked.

“We ask Carla,” Mamma said. “It’s her choice anyway.” She turned to John. “You’ll do it if she won’t?”

John didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he turned to the bots. “Would Carla going downstairs work?”

“We had not considered that, but yes. She would most certainly be viewed as being Amos.”

John nodded, then reaffirmed. “If she won’t do it, I will.”

-=#=-

When the bots posed the question to Carla, she was terrified. All the color seemed to drain out of her face, and she started to shake. I hated to see her this way, but I knew we had to ask her.

“So you might be able to get away with this too?” she asked John.

“Maybe,” he answered.

“But I’m the best bet?”

Somberly, John nodded.

“You don’t have to do this!” Paula exclaimed.

“I know I don’t, Paula. But if I didn’t would you ever trust me? Really trust me?”

“I trust you now!”

“Carla,” I said. “We all trust you, and Paula is right. The choice is up to you, not us.” I nodded toward John and said, “John will do it if you don’t, or can’t.”

Carla gave me a wan smile. “I understand that. But I want to do this, to get him back for what he did to me. It was me who did the programming on those bots. I want to undo what I did.”

I nodded and watched while Carla talked to the bots about what she could expect from the people downstairs.

-=#=-

Carla prepared to leave for downstairs the next morning, while Marc and Daddy built a construct for her bots. The construct looked exactly like her, except there was an almost neon blue aura around her and her voice had a bit of reverb. Daddy said the aura and reverb weren't necessary, but he wanted an instantly recognizable difference between a person and their bots.

It was interesting when the construct moved. The aura seemed to swirl around the body. Direct contact between Carla and the construct was established, while Mamma and Paula connected through their bots. The two absolutely refused to allow Carla to go downstairs without them accompanying in some way.

As the last thing before Carla went downstairs, Paula made a security decision. “I want one of my people to accompany Carla in the same way John went downstairs.”

“So this person will be invisible?” Mamma asked.

“Exactly.”

Carla wondered: “And how do I know where he is? How does he get food and water?”

“I’ll know where he is, and that knowledge can be transferred anytime,” Paula explained.

“As far as those things he needs, he can reach out of the field at anytime. The problem is, Paula, it isn’t foolproof. I had to be very careful to avoid people, just like with our ‘more primitive’ systems. It’s not like I was out of phase, and could go through someone. And, if they somehow got inside the field, even for a split second, as well as feeling me and my equipment, they’d catch a glimpse of it.”

“What do you recommend then?” Paula asked, somewhat gruffly. She was still a bit testy with me and John.

He sighed. “Maybe I should go with her instead of one of your guys.”

Paula stared at him for a moment, then said. “I’d rather one of my people.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“My people are better trained.”

John outright laughed at that. “I seriously doubt that, but fine; I’ll show your guy how to use my equipment.”

I could tell Paula was angry with John’s laughter, but she wasn’t aware of how we trained with each other everyday. I decided not to antagonize her any more, though, so I let her think what she wanted. Once we were on better terms, I would correct her viewpoint.

-=#=-

Once John showed the security man how to use his equipment, Carla and her guard set off.

As Paula and Mamma watched, the bots surveyed the trip downstairs. They were able to watch and talk to us at the same time.

“What can we do to help those downstairs?” Daddy asked.

“Amos’s bots will work on freeing the people form the mental hold”, Carla’s bots answered him.

“And then what?” I asked. “Won’t it be a horrible experience for them to not have the programming, but still be an animal?”

“They are completely aware of their being an animal right now.”

“I wasn’t aware that I was a human. I mean, I was at first, but I almost completely forgot,” I countered.

“You became a pony in a different way. Your bots were trying to help you, so they blocked your memory of being a human after a time.”

“But these people’s bots have no desire to block the memories,” Daddy said sadly.

“Those bots do not even know that there is a person they should protect. They have control of the people’s bodies and they think they are the intellect that should be in control.”

I shook my head. “So Belinda was aware when they…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Yes,” the bots said, simply.