 
# The New Generation

By Ieperen3039

Copyright 2017 Geert van Ieperen

Distributed by Smashwords

License Note

This ebook may not be re-sold to other people, but sharing is allowed. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, consider contributing the little price of this book as a way of support. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer

The riddle in Crack the Cryptex is provided by William T. Williams.

We don't know how the world will look like in 40 years. Many think that when computers become smarter than humans, we will regret making them. I think that with the right mind, we could create a system as intelligent as NG.

Chapter 1

# On The Run

Swinging his bag over his shoulder, he hurried through the hall, his hasty steps echoing in the empty space as he cautiously sped for the front door.

Kicking it open, he jumped into the black night.

Ford had barely left the door step when he was struck by a metal arm, causing him to be flipped into the ground. The robot didn't flinch as Ford slammed into the marble tiles.

"You are being halted for breach of privacy," the robot said calmly, as if it was serving coffee.

Ford tried to get up, but the robot quickly pressed his shoulder back onto the ground. With its free arm, the robot opened the bag and took out a small yellow-lined device.

"Do you have any idea how vital this is for national safety?" it asked while holding up the device.

Ford looked away. "Probably more than you do."

"Please identify yourself."

"I am the last man you will ever see," Ford smiled.

"Sir..." the robot started.

>WHAM!<

A metal bar was jammed through the robot from the back of its shoulder. Its attacker rolled forward with the robot, falling just past Ford.

"I guess you have something to explain, Devlin," Ford said calmly.

"Just get up and follow me," Devlin shouted as he jumped up. "The van is over there."

Ford got up and grabbed the device. As soon as it was safely back in the bag, he followed after his companion.

"You had to play the hero again, didn't you?" Ford shouted as he caught up.

"What did you want me to do?" Devlin shot back. "I was already closing in with the van when I noticed that robot. I couldn't just... ride over him!"

They reached the van and Ford took the wheel, quickly launching them down the driveway. "Sure, the plan changed," Ford answered. "...but why jump off the roof with a steel pipe?"

"That's... alright. First of all, you said that the robots have perfect vision, but that they are also nearly deaf. The roof was logically the safest way of getting close."

"Or you could have simply rammed him with the van. Problem solved."

"Second..." Devlin continued, ignoring his suggestion, "We don't have guns. This may be a shock for _'Mr. Gangleader'_ , but we don't."

Ford turned the van onto the main road and got up to speed. Now that they entered a coated road, the subtle sound of the tires fell away, making them completely silent. "We actually do have a bullet," he responded. "The van."

"Right. Third, about that, these robots are not complete idiots. They can dodge a car with ease."

"Actually, they _are_ complete idiots," Ford corrected. "Unlike NG, they do not have impulsive reactions. Not if something idiotic happens, like... getting rammed with a van."

He passed a crossing and turned on the headlights. The night was empty, and there was nothing outside that would disturb them. He pulled his flask from under the chair and drained it within seconds.

"That's why NG was so human-like," he continued, throwing the flask into the back. "They had intuitive reflexes for everything. These things from Reddex have to literally overthink everything before they move."

Devlin leaned back. "Yeah... imagine if we find one somewhere and we have to fight it..."

"You still think they're out there?" Ford glanced at him. "The crisis started over a month ago, and nobody has seen a single NG robot since. The Mainframe of NG is gone and everything of NG that we found was either completely destroyed or just scrap metal."

Devlin looked out the side. "You know, we have been pursuing these memories of NG, even though Reddex may be just as interesting. I mean, as soon as the crisis started, Reddex came into existence pretty much out of the blue."

"I see where you are going. However, we do know that Reddex was made by the American Security Service to protect us. Nobody knows anything about the origin or intentions of NG. That is the difference."

"Sure, then why did we get an armed robo-raid on our roof last week?" Devlin snarked back. " _Not_ for our safety."

Ford waved at the bag. "We had two chronicles. Apparently, they are also trying to find NG's intentions."

Devlin thought silently for a moment. "That would mean that NG is still out there."

Ford thought a bit and nodded. "You think Reddex successfully prevented global domination?"

"Let's hope we find that out quickly," Devlin answered as he closed his eyes.

That question is what they have been working on since the beginning of the information crisis that had completely ground global development to a sudden stop.

7th of October 2046, a month-and-a-half ago

The internet and all other types of digital communication were suddenly cut. Nobody knew what was happening, and even the trading-bots on the stock markets weren't fast enough to react before all communication was gone. It was right on that day that Devlin would make a breakthrough on the case he had been working on for the North European Security Agency. They had clear evidence that there would be a major weapons trade that day between an illegal motorcycle gang and a shadowy group, led by none less than the genius Ford Yttri.

Devlin had positioned himself that day on a overstacked pallet of boxes, so he could see one of the few exits of the building without being in absolute danger if anything would went. Something like a loss of communication with HQ.

"Headquarters, do you copy?" Devlin whispered loudly into his microphone. Still no answer. The connection was dead. He knew that he should abort the mission at once, but Devlin wasn't about to give up just yet.

A door was opened, and some men entered the storage room.

"Without money we won't trade a thing, you understand?" one of the voices said.

"Sure. But that's no reason to leave now! We can wait until it's back up!" another man said hastily.

"Don't you see? All communication is down. This is not simply a blackout, but more like an EMP blast."

Devlin was shocked. The first man was definitely Ford. Would there be a connection between this blackout and Devlin's loss of communication with HQ?

The other man laughed hoarsly. "You know that EMP doesn't exist yet..."

They were just below the Devlin at that moment, and it became clear to Devlin that the two men were the only ones that entered. He thought about the option to roll down, arresting them both `just in case', but it would be a risky move.

>WHAM!<

Devlin's stack of boxes collapsed as the unknown man was suddenly thrown against it. Devlin fell with them, losing his gun in the process. By the time he found solid ground again, he quickly looked up, and found himself staring into the loop of his own gun.

"Well, if that isn't a NESA agent," Ford said, sounding somewhat joyful.

Devlin stared in desperation, but to his upmost surprise, Ford turned the gun around, and offered Devlin the grip.

"I have helped you guys enough in the past, it is time you return the favor for once."

Completely dumbfounded, Devlin took the gun, and watched Ford walk further to the exit.

"Wait. Hold it! Are you... are you an infiltrator?" he shouted.

Ford had a nasty smile as he opened the door. "I prefer the term... Spy."

Present time

The blackout has been continuing ever since, now widely called the information crisis. Even now, they still don't know what really happened that day.

Ford parked the van somewhere on a deserted side-road. They had practically been living in the van ever since the raid, just to stay out of sight of the authorities. They were definitively on some kind of watch list, but only Reddex has proven to be a real problem.

"Just get some sleep before we start working on those things," Devlin said.

"Oh sure, but why not leave an analysis running during the night?" Ford answered as he attached the chronicle to their computer installation in the back of the van.

"Well, good luck then," Devlin said and rolled over to sleep.

## Cozy enough for Coffee

Arles, France: August 2028

Carefully, I lifted the machine to the top of the stairs.

"This is it!" Laurine said, and she opened the door to her new room.

I was not able to take a look at it, as the dishwasher was just too large to look past it. Maybe I held it the wrong way.

"Is it heavy for a robot like you? I can imagine that running up seven floors drains your battery like crazy."

"We run on ethanol actually. Lifting something costs less fuel than you may think. Is the path clear?"

"Uhm, let me just..."

The sound of cardboard on wood indicated that she was clearing the way. I wondered what would be in those boxes.

"Clear to go. This way."

-

Not much later, I was connecting the machine to the interface of the little kitchen.

"I'm sure lucky you was with George when I called him," she said.

"You think George wasn't willing to help you?"

"Oh, sure he would help, but I would need at least someone else to carry that thing. Plus, I don't think George knows how to install a dishwasher"

"It isn't much work," I said as I got up. "Done."

I noticed that the cupboards were empty, and there was little furniture elsewhere in the room. The room lacked the variety that I would expect from a student girl like Laurine. It probably had a connection with the boxes.

"Why are there so many boxes on the ground?" I asked. I had learned that it is much better to ask about something peculiar than to ask about style-choices. Those always ends up in discussions about opinion.

"Oh, I just moved in here, and haven't really taken time to unpack. I was about to make it cozy, when suddenly the dishwasher arrived."

Make it cozy... would that be what is missing here?

"Can I help with unpacking?" I asked.

She looked confused. "You would _do_ that?"

"But of course, I've never done that before."

"Oh that would be great, thank you! Sure you can help."

Funny. If you help people who do not ask for help, they tend to be much more grateful for what you do, in contrary to people that _do_ ask for your help. Even if you would do the very same thing.

Apparently the boxes were filled with all the little things that would give a room variety. One box provided a full closet setup for example. She said it would take her the entire afternoon to assemble it, even though I did it within a minute.

"Those books should be here," she said as I was emptying out yet another box.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "This is study material, so you probably want it on your workplace."

She laughed. "Yea, but I won't use any of those books anymore. I keep them merely for display, and they are a bit too valuable to throw away."

A quick lookup learned that these books together would cost around 692 euro, which didn't really clear up the case. I didn't mention it though, it's probably better not to judge her decisions.

Several minutes later, everything was put in its place. I collected the cardboard boxes and folded them compactly into a pile.

"Well, it has been a pleasure," I said, and headed to the door.

"Wait! Do you want some coffee first?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't drink coffee."

She face-palmed. "Of course."

She looked at the kitchen. "Actually, neither do I..."

"I should be at my next job according to my schedule, so I have to rush. It was great to work with you," I said before I shut the door.

It wasn't the first time that someone had offered me food or drinks, but this was somewhat different. It makes me happy when someone briefly forgets that I am a robot. Here, Laurine's naivety was so adorable... If I could, I would have smiled. Maybe I should come again later for some coffee, just because I can...

After I closed the door of the building, I had to think about the project leader I would be helping next. I know he will complain about my `unpredictability' and my `inconsistency', claiming that he lost so much time and money because I was late, even though he knows very well that I don't adhere to schemes as such.

He'll just have to learn that I am an _android_ , not a slave.
Chapter 2

# Stacking Supplies

Surprised, Devlin looked at his smartbrace. Taking a run was part of his daily morning routine, but just as he got in sight of the van, his brace suddenly switched from his music to the ringtone of an incoming call. After all this time, he had almost forgotten that the previously re-purposed telephone communication has been restored to its former function, and even been made available for public. He extended the microphone of his stereo-pad.

"Devlin Roberts," he stated, answering the call in his most formal voice.

"Is it true that you are investigating the case of NG?" a female voice on the other side asked.

"Who is this?"

"Juiliet, with U-I. I am doing research about the current actions of NG for my PhD. The local facility of the NESA said you were on the case..."

"What... Why did they give you my number?!" Devlin shouted as he stopped and swung the back door of the van open.

"I sweetly asked them to. Maybe _you_ should try that sometime."

"Look. I don't know how you did that, but whatever you want to know, it's classified."

"You do realize that I also have valuable findings on the case, right?"

"I doubt you know more than we do. Have a nice day," Devlin said, ending the call.

"Didn't know you were married," Ford quipped, clearly amused from what he had heard.

"Someone at HQ gave another someone my phone number. I didn't even know those still existed, let alone I had one."

He slammed the door closed. "Did you find anything useful on that thing?"

"Sadly, no. Even though chronicle is from 2029, it only carries some anecdotes of NG's learning period."

Devlin sighed, and took the only other seat that fit in the back of the van.

Before the raid, they used to stay in a NESA outpost in Germany. Without communication, Devlin could do anything and nobody would mind. Sure, Ford got the amazement of everyone when he walked into the NESA main office, but it was quickly confirmed that Ford was indeed one of them.

They made surprisingly little progress in that period. The internet providers and other major communication hosting services appeared to have severe, recurring issues with the software, as if every device was infected with a virus. Devlin and Ford decided, due to their lack of knowledge about computer programs, to focus on one of the possible causes of the crisis, the artificial intelligence known as NG. Now, they still had to find a good lead to get their research rolling.

"Do we have a plan about what we are going to do next?" Devlin asked, looking at the vague, cyber-artistic visuals that the chronicle was displaying.

"Do you have balls?" Ford asked back.

"Funny how often we have the same questions."

"I figured that the most valuable chronicles will be at the heart of the fire."

"Are we going to raid Reddex?" Devlin asked with a mix of joy and fear.

"Do you even have brains?" Ford asked as he turned to Devlin. "We are just going to scavenge the Mainframe."

"That sounds better."

"You _do_ remember that it is restricted area, and that Reddex is ordered to guard it? It won't be easy."

Devlin remembered the Mainframe well. When they started their research, they figured it would be a good idea to start with the datacenter of NG, also known as 'The Mainframe'. It took them a while to get to Munster in Germany, where it was located, but what they found was beyond their worst expectation. The building looked like a large explosive had been set off, leaving nothing but a few chambers around a dubious wreckage. The nearby factories of NG were not much better off.

"We never found out what caused the destruction of it," Ford said. "If we were to find out what caused the explosion in the Mainframe, we might also know why NG has disappeared since the crisis."

"...But we didn't dare to examine it because it was only accessible for the CIA."

"That was back when we followed the law," Ford said with a raised eyebrow. "But now that we aren't listening anyway, I made a plan..."

"Does it involve destroying robots?"

"No... maybe..." Ford said, and looked at Devlin. "You know, if we ever were to find the

Answer to the Ultimate question of NG, the Crisis and everything, someone _is_ going to find out how many of Reddex's robots we have wrecked. They won't really like it.''

"Well, we may sell it as payback for the raid. Or say that the raid gave us a fundamental reason to distrust them; which is the actual reason by the way."

"Nobody will buy it. Their raid was completely legal."

It was true. On the 8th of November, their office in the NESA outpost was suddenly overrun by a couple of Reddex robots. Two days later, they were told that they had been briefly arrested due to `a high concern about national security'. It had involved something about `suspicious movement,' and the way they were collecting their information, even though Devlin was absolutely certain that they had worked strictly within the regulations. As a result, the Agency (an international Reddex-authority) had decided to take all significant findings regarding NG. They could do nothing against it, as it was an official action.

According to Ford, the raid was purposely aimed at the two chronicles that they had collected at that time. A lot of such so-called chronicles were found in the area as a result of the explosion of the Mainframe. They had been quickly scavenged and sold to anyone interested in the mysterious boxes.

Devlin thought about Ford's plan. "Would it be better if we start with something less lethal, like... the body plate factory?"

Ford shook his head. "There won't be anything useful there. Maybe I have something safer though..."

He browsed through his notes he had scribbled down earlier. "I have reason to think that the nearby facility of NSFW has some chronicles. We may just as well try that first."

Devlin nodded. Since they inhabited the van, life had become much more interesting. Breaking into storage houses to find cover plates creepily similar to those of NG, and sneaking into secure company buildings to find sinister programs running on the servers, even though the places has been abandoned for days.

In rare occasions, they find someone in the possession of a chronicle, offering it for unimaginable prices, and claiming that if you have enough of these, you can build your own NG empire. According to the general idea, the chronicles were black-boxes from the NG mainframe, containing a complete backup of the AI.

Ford came up with an entirely different theory, namely that the boxes contained memories of NG instead. He managed to read the 'raw thoughts' in the boxes, and interpret these into something meaningful.

"Do you have a plan of attack?" Devlin asked. "I remember that Reddex tends to stick around that building. Which is weird, if you know that NSFW hosts one of the most popular porn sites..."

"You probably know more about it then I do," Ford answered with a sly grin. "I think Reddex is... _attracted_ to the huge servers that they have there, rather than the content on them. I wouldn't be surprised if the location has been bought by Reddex, regarding that the company is nearly bankrupt due to the crisis."

"Sure. You know where the chronicles are located?"

"Yes. If I am not mistaken, Reddex uses the servers to analyze -or rather gather data from- the chronicles, which means that they have to be directly connected to the servers. Which also means I have to make a solid plan before we can start."

"I somehow hoped we could do this today," Devlin sighed.

"Well, maybe you could get off your lazy ass and find some supplies. We will need some rubber ducks."

"Please tell me this is one of your jokes," Devlin grinned. "You've been remarkably serious lately."

"Trust me, we're going to have a good use for them," Ford said mysteriously.

Devlin sighed, and took his seat behind the wheel. "Oh well, I wasn't planning to do anything anyway."

-

Devlin stopped the van at the roadside, and Ford crawled behind the wheel.

"Oh and about the rubber ducks..." he said just before closing the door. "Preferably purple."

Devlin was silent for a moment. "...Gotcha."

Reddex simply doesn't have the capacity to process everything it sees. Apparently, it doesn't check or recognize driving cars at all, and facial recognition takes over 2 seconds. Using this, the duo can literally go anywhere they want as long as the van isn't parked.

Chapter 3

# Not Safe For Work

Devlin shocked up as Ford opened the door of the van. It was night, and they were already close to the building.

"All right, there are two robots in the reception hall of the building, and one on the roof," Ford said as he grabbed his trusty bag off the chair.

"On the roof?"

"Yes," Ford answered. "It's more efficient than walking around the building. Hurry, I don't have a parking permit."

Devlin followed. He knew they had reason to worry about the van. If a Reddex robot happened to pass by here, they would be screwed.

"Got the rubber ducks?" Ford asked.

"Yes," Devlin answered, opening his bag. "Are you sure green ducks will be okay?"

"We will see soon enough," Ford said and picked one. They had closed in on the building, and Devlin could see the robot on the roof.

"Wait... come. Now."

Ford went from witty to blood-serious at once, something that had become quite familiar to Devlin.

They approached in the shadow of a nearby building, but the large grass field between them and the target could not be crossed before the robot would turn around and see them.

And just as they were close enough, Ford threw the duck with a firm sweep to the robot on the roof. As it landed, the robot quickly turned around, and focused on the object that suddenly appeared had.

"Come, run!" Ford shouted, running further.

Devlin was astounded by the complete drop of cover. Ford drew a crowbar and jammed it into the lock of the door, and in one graceful movement, the door opened. The moment the duo got in, he slammed the door closed again - which surprisingly still shut - and started whispering.

"Go, but keep quiet," Ford said.

"Quiet?" Devlin hissed confused. "What just happened?"

Ford smiled. "Shhh, I'll explain."

-

They entered an office somewhere at a dead end of another hallway. Devlin could hear a robot walking in the hall, but to his utmost surprise, it didn't do much more than a simple routine check. When it left, Devlin looked at Ford with a puzzled stare.

"Okay," Ford started. "What would you do if you got a neon-green rubber duck thrown in front of you?"

"I'd look where it came from?"

"Sure, but you'd first think about how it got there and why, am I right?"

"Eh, maybe?"

"When Reddex is confronted with an important event, it will try to find reasons and solutions. However, if it has an important task, like guarding a building, and something completely random occurs, like a neon-green rubber duck, it will put all of his processing power into finding reasons and solutions for the situation, even though there are no such solutions. After a while, Reddex reaches a time-out without a solid conclusion, and decides to ignore it."

"You basically overloaded it with doing something illogical."

"Exactly. Almost." Ford waved a hand dismissively. "Close enough. As a result it didn't process hearing us storm in. It won't even come to his mind."

"Alright. And why are you telling me this _now_ and not _before_ we started?"

"Because we had to wait for the robots to lose focus again anyway," he said and picked up his bag again. "Come, it's time to go."

Devlin sighed, following Ford back into the hall.

Without troubles, they reached the protected door to the server-area. Ford placed a few needles on the door and hammered them though the thin steel layer that hid the electronic inside the door. He then connected the pins to a chip and activated it. Devlin watched in astonishment as the lock popped open a few seconds later.

"How did you know how to do that?" Devlin asked softly.

"Oh, you know... I got to learn a lot back when I was doing a more... _exciting_ job."

Ford carefully placed grey tape over the holes and went in, closing the door quietly behind him. The penetrative whirring of the cooling system filled the room.

"Alright!" Ford said. "I'll start searching for the chronicles around here, you do your part of the job."

Devlin nodded. There were four rows of servers and data storage, possibly with some chronicles hidden between cables and blinking lights. He was glad that he got to do the exciting work.

The plan was to use the cooling vents to escape. It may be a bit cliché, but very effective at least. Ford raised the power of two other shafts using a panel in the room, allowing Devlin to cut the power to a third one without effecting the overall temperature. Devlin quickly removed the raster and rotor, and attached his grippers.

The shaft was just large enough to fit through, and Devlin slowly made his way to the top. The top of the shaft was equipped with an air-filter that wasn't going to allow them through. He placed a ring of a clay-like substance along the edge of the filter, and placed connectors over it. He lit the clay, which immediately start glowing red as it started an aggressive chemical reaction with the steel tube. Meanwhile, he lowered himself a bit and unrolled a cable with a carabiner hook from his belt. It hadn't reached the ground when Ford suddenly appeared in the opening.

"Is it done?" he asked.

Devlin was surprised. "How did you search the room so quickly?"

"Well, they are bright-yellow bordered... I only found two of them though, I had really hoped for more. As soon as I disconnect them, I'm trusting on you that I can use the shaft."

"I'll consider letting you live," Devlin said, looking at the connectors. The clay has done its work and the topmost part was hanging on the connectors. "I'm ready."

Now the interesting part really began. Devlin took all but one connectors and waited for the signal.

Ford was barely heard from here. "Three... two... one... Now!"

Devlin pushed at the filter, which didn't move a bit. Limited by the tiny space, he rammed it with his shoulder, which was just enough to break the weakened ring of the tube. Devlin quickly pulled himself up, carefully evading the sharp edges of the tube, and got onto the roof.

The robot had previously paid no attention to the roof itself, as it was simply supposed to guard the area _around_ the building. As soon as it noticed Devlin however, it immediately started running toward him. Devlin slowly walked back with the open shaft between him and the robot. Suddenly, he felt that Ford attached himself to the cable, and quickly found himself being pulled forward by the aggressive jerking of the retrieval mechanism.

"You are under arrest for breaching..." the robot said quasi-firmly. Just as it closed in, Devlin launched himself forward using the force of the cable with Ford on it. With both feet, he smashed into the robot, which protected itself surprisingly quickly with both arms. Devlin landed on the roof again, and reactivated the cable mechanism to pull Ford onto the roof.

"You piece of filth..." Ford shouted, but stopped as he noticed the robot trying to get on his feet agina. "Oh... Not bad though..."

Below them they heard the other two robots entering the doors of the server room. It would take some time before they ensured the room was empty, and realize that they should have been outside to prevent the duo's escape.

Devlin disconnected his belt and started engaging again, this time aiming on kicking the robot off the roof.

"Don't...!" Ford shouted, but Devlin was already on speed. Without hesitation, Ford ran after Devlin.

The robot didn't have the time to get up. However, it apparently anticipated Devlin, as it suddenly jumped aside. Devlin did not expect that.

Suddenly aware of his situation, he tumbled off the building's roof. To his horror, a security fence with a neat row of sharp spikes could be seen in the faint moonlight.

"Oh shit..."

At that moment, someone grabbed a hold on him. It was Ford, who had immediately dove after him without hesitation, pushing Devlin away from the fence.

But Ford could not save himself.

A queer sound of ripped rubber, snapping plates and metal-on-metal was heard as Ford's right shoulder was torn off.

With a smack, Devlin and Ford landed on the ground, on either side of the fence.

Horrified, Devlin stared at Ford. He laid there on his back, looking back at Devlin. At least he wasn't unconscious. Ford jumped up, much faster than Devlin would consider possible after the landing on the tiles. At least, he had landed on the grass. He quickly got up, but suddenly noticed the loose arm on the grass.

It was a terrifying view, but not because it was ripped off. A metal bar was surrounded with a few dripping tubes and a tight bundle of wires, with some black-blue muscle-like things loosely around it, finally surrounded with a thin layer of light-bleeding human skin. And yet, the other side of the thing was absolutely a human hand. Was a human hand. Apparently, it never have been one.

Devlin slowly looked at Ford again. "Is that..."

Ford stood silently on the other side of the fence and nodded. "We must go now," he said, quickly turning around.

Devlin jumped up, and started running for the van. _What the hell just happened?_ He wasn't certain anymore about who Ford was. Ford's arm was not a prosthesis, those don't move quite this realistic. Ford had to be a robot. A robot controlled by something that is smart enough to lure Devlin into trusting him, into friendship even.

He almost tumbled as he tried running faster. Not because of Reddex. He ran to flee from the reality.

What about the moments they laughed? It was all a decoy. Nothing was true. He had been talking to a _tool_ the whole time.

He jumped in the van, and shot off onto the road with screaming tires. He had no doubts about waiting for Ford. Why would he wait for a decoy to come back? Whoever sent Ford, he would probably take care of him anyway.

## Ticket to Wisdom/Insanity

In a train near Rotterdam: June 2031

"You know what it is with a robot like you?"

I looked up. There was no apparent reason why the man decided to talk to me.

"For you it's always right or wrong. Do, or do not, on or off."

"In contrary, sir," I responded, "That is exactly why I am different from computers; I can change my perspective on things."

"That is what _you_ think," the man answered gruffly. "Years ago we built everything with our _own_ hands. We didn't need computers or calculations, we just made it out of our heads."

"When was that?" I asked confused. I learned that planning was a vital part of construction since the Middle Ages.

"When we built a house two-hundred years ago we didn't have to wait for years to get permissions. We didn't have to buy hundreds of architects to make a house for us. No, we made it ourselves. And it would stand in the storm and we would be proud of it, because we made it ourselves. But you wouldn't understand."

"The houses of 1800 were also designed by architects," I replied. "They were, however, not fireproof _or_ part of a city plan, which is something that is crucial for houses in our age. It isn't surprising that most of them are torn down now."

"That's because of the government!" the man replied furiously. "My daughter is building her house now, but in a few years they will just buy it and wreck it to the ground. They _always_ do that."

I didn't see the problem with that. When you sell something, you give the ownership to the other, right?

"Just like my job," the man continued. "Fifty years, and no shit hits the fan. Suddenly, I got told that I'm too old for my job, and now I sit at home. _Too old._ You know what I did? At work?"

"I don't. I haven't spoken with you before."

"I made the conveyor belts in sorting machines."

He started rattling about his company and his job in making sorting machinery. To summarize, he used to work on the wooden parts, but eventually got assigned to making conveyer belts, which he kept doing for the past 25 years. While he spoke, I realized his previous question had been rhetorical, and wondered how I could have missed it.

Suddenly, he got interrupted by the railway guard. "Don't forget to leave the train at the next stop."

"What... oh, sure," the man replied.

"You know what it is?" he said to me, "I didn't buy a ticket."

Interesting that he refers to a ticket, even though all public transport has been on automatic subscription of smartphones and smartbraces for the past twelve years. Physical tickets have been gone for years now.

"You see, I went from Amsterdam to The Hague, and then moved to this train. But I had only twenty-five Euros, and when I got off in The Hague, they took 6.59 Euro. And you must have at least twenty Euros so I was _denied_ from paying, even though I had the money for real. I can even prove it."

"When you arrived in The Hague, and realized that you didn't have enough money left, why did you still board this train? You could have added the money right there with your smartphone."

"Just as I said. You only see it in black and white. You think there was a good thing and a bad thing to do. But you know what it is? That guard just wanted to score _points_."

He didn't answer my question, but I doubt he actually had a sound reason for his fare evasion.

"Don't you think he is just doing what he is paid to do? A train costs a lot to make -"

"Points." he interrupted. "Just like my previous boss, just wanted to score points at the government. Just like the police nowadays. Nothing but scoring points."

I am pretty sure that none of those organizations work with a point system.

"Let us assume that he indeed wanted to score points," I said. "It would have been more likely that he wouldn't have warned you, but instead waited until _after_ the next stop, and fined you again."

"Oh shut up, you have no idea how it works. They all work together. These railway guards, the trains, the government..."

In the meantime, we had entered the railway station. I interrupted his rattling by standing up.

"Are you not going with me?" I asked kindly.

"I have to go to Eindhoven, so I'll be here for a while."

"Are you sure? The guard will get 'points' if you do that. If you come now you may even... score 'points' at the railway company."

"You have no idea how it works. You only see it -"

"I'll have to go now," I interrupted him. "Have a good afternoon."

It wasn't hard to extrapolate on what he had planned on saying. I wonder how this man had gotten this view of society. What brings a man to think that everything is conspiring against him, while being blind of his own faults? More important, how could he be taught what reality is really like?''

On the other hand, maybe men like him should not be changed. Who am I to decide on what's good and bad? He is somewhere in the middle, and that is good enough.
Chapter 4

# I Made It All Up

Devlin sat mindlessly in his chair in the back of the van. He looked at the empty paper in front of him, realizing his thoughts had drifted off. Again.

`Who is Ford' he wrote on it with large letters. That would be the question he would be answering.

Even though Ford was mechanical, he ate and drank. He even pooped. Devlin remembered his flask that he always carried, which probably provided a second, non-organic fuel. His skin was undistinguishable from human skin. Ford has been hurt more than once, which showed that his skin could actually repair itself.

`Who is Ford' he read again. "Right," he said out loud. " _Who_ is he."

Ford was not radio-controlled. He was always conscious, and it wouldn't make sense either. It had to be an artificial intelligence, but which one and why?

It couldn't be Reddex. He and Ford were actively fighting Reddex, and Ford was far more intelligent than Reddex. He doubted whether NG could be this advanced. NG sure had the capabilities to _act_ as a human, but it never made major technological advancements. Creating a robot this advanced would mean that it has been hiding an enormous potential, and why would they be chasing parts of NG if he is one of them already? Additionally, NG relied on its Mainframe in order to operate, which laid in ruins.

Devlin concluded that there had to be a third, unknown artificial intelligence. One that could act as human as NG, but far more advanced.

A terrible thought came over Devlin. What if Ford's skin is real human skin. Was a real human's skin...

'Who _is_ Ford'

He remembered how the gang-leader Ford was always serious. Never in the three years if his research did Devlin find him having a laugh or playing a game, always coldhearted toward his crew. When they met, he suddenly was this open-hearted, annoying guy that nobody would take seriously...

`Who is _Ford'_

Devlin didn't care anymore about finding the cause of the blackout. He wanted to know who Ford really was. If he could find the answer, then he would probably be closer to the answer of the blackout. In any case not the other way around.

He looked at his smartbrace. There was someone who might help him in the right direction.

-

"Juiliet, with U-I," the other side answered.

"It's Devlin again. I am calling to apologize for my recessive behavior a few days earlier. I shouldn't have denied your collaboration the way I did."

"Oh, I remember. It hurts my feelings, you know," she replied, barely serious.

"Right. My team decided it would be beneficial for both of us to collaborate, so I would like to invite you to come to a federal office somewhere in your country, so we can open a secure channel."

Juiliet grinned. "You guys must be desperate, aren't you? Anyway, I have a better plan. How about we meet somewhere here in Munster. That is a lot easier than mailing, and I know you are somewhere around here."

"What..." Devlin spluttered. "How much did those guys tell you about us?!"

"Among other things, that your `team' consists of two people including yourself," she replied, and on a more cynical voice, "I guess the decisions of your team have a large overweight on yours, isn't it?"

"Whatever, okay? Where were you planning to meet?"

"Desperados café in the center, 12:00 today. Order a 'beer with mustard,' and you'll see."

"What?!" Devlin started, but the call had already ended.

"Oh well, if that's how we play this game..." he said to himself.
Chapter 5

# Like An Angel

Devlin entered the café. It was not crowded, but there were quite a few people having lunch. He walked to the bar and sat down, but when the barman asked what he would have, he thought for a moment.

"One coffee please. Black."

He looked around. Most people were in pairs, chatting around a table. Now that the internet was gone, this had become quite a common sight.

He got his coffee, and walked with it to the other end of the bar, where a girl was fixated on her phone. He put his cup almost in front of her and leaned awkwardly close.

"I am a detective," Devlin said pointedly. "Didn't you knew that? I don't need mustard to find you."

The girl looked up. "Shame," she said amused. "It would have been hilarious."

"That's why I couldn't imagine you not taking the front row, Juiliet. Let's find ourselves a table."

-

Juiliet pulled some folders from her bag, showing a perfectly organized overview of her research. Devlin was having a hard time believing that she was studying for her PhD, given that she barely looked any older than eighteen. For some reason, Devlin had imagined her to be some middle-aged scrawny woman tied behind a desk, cursing at anything that looked her way. On the contrary, her loose brown hair drew little attention, and the bag with paperwork was the only thing that separated her from an average teenager.

"Done staring?" she asked, unamused.

"Yes," Devlin replied distractedly. "Show me what you have."

Juiliet smiled. "Analyses of fifteen pieces that undoubtedly belong to an NG robot. Confirmed notions of suspicious activities in five facilities around Munster alone. Two detailed reports of items obtained in the area around the Mainframe, and reports on cases of disappeared canisters of the fuel used by NG."

Devlin stared at the papers. The missing fuel was really something interesting, as it gives suspicion that someone is trying to keep NG robots running. The report on the topic clearly stated how the evidence relates to the materia,l and even discusses some countering theories. The research was clearly well worked out, and carefully founded.

Juiliet continued. "Now, my research is limited to collecting what other people have found and analyzing it, but I do have a few leads of where I expect to find valuable information if I had the manpower to do it."

"What kind of leads do you mean?"

"Well..." Juiliet started, and pulled yet another map out of her bag. "The Nacarb company has a facility nearby Munster, which is completely shut down. It even has its security installation on hibernate, which indicates that nothing should be there. However, ever so often, a truck passes by, and seems to make deliveries. Additionally, my infrared camera also showed a tiny, but significant, increase in temperature during the evening. There is absolutely something fishy going on and I hoped to get you guys interested enough in the case that you would ask for such leads yourselves. I do realize that you're desperate enough to just execute the plan that I have made.

Right in the face, and not even _trying_ to bring it smoothly. Worse of all, she was right.

"We are not desperate, just searching for a new lead," Devlin said with utmost calm. "For now, we will accept your files on this 'plan' that you mentioned, and consider the expectations it has to offer. We will contact you on the progress as soon as we know more."

"Great," Juiliet said as she packed everything but the plan back into her bag. "I'll be peeling some more intel at the NESA outpost. They'll be more... generous now that I know you."

"I don't know you; have never seen such a girl before," Devlin replied half-irritated. Unbelievable how she could be doing such 'research' and get away with it.

Devlin didn't even know why he was trusting Juiliet. Maybe because she would have been much more subtle if she really wanted to make him do what she wanted.

"Don't let me wait on the progress you promised," Juiliet said as Devlin walked to the door. "I will literally rob you if I have to."

"Good luck with that."

## Playground Hypocrisy

Somewhere in Canada: June 2033

"Hey, are you here for Kim?"

The woman took her seat on the bench.

"Yes," I answered. "And you are Angeline's mother, am I right?"

"That's right," she answered. "Hey, I see Kim with you more often than with her mother. Don't you think that is... weird?"

Clearly practiced. Typical human too, not to ask discreetly whether I am Kim's parent. Her suspicion is right though, Kim is my daughter.

In April 2030, a child was dropped off at the doorstep of my office here in Canada. Someone had had the faith that I could take care of the poor thing, who was born without bone tissue in her spine. The operation was costly, but not for me. From that day, I had a little daughter.

"I wouldn't call it weird," I responded after a moment. "She lives with the Jeffersons two days a week, but the other days she is at her house with me or one of my other robots."

She frowned. It was not the answer she was hoping for.

"In case you were wondering, I am the caretaker of Kim."

"Aha..."

It is considered some kind of a bad thing that a non-human raises a child. The larger crowd despises it, even though I fundamentally think the same as a human, and have proven to be gentle, to care about others. Even while most of my robots are assigned in healthcare and caretaking, people don't think I can give a child what it needs.

"Isn't it... confusing for her, if a new robot walks in?"

That is one of the many beautiful things about humans. When they really get to know you, they see you for what you are, regardless of how you look.

"I was afraid of that too at first, but she sees a new robot as you would see a new haircut. You know it is the same person."

"Or robot in this case," she replied laconically.

Oh sure, let's make a nice difference right there. Too many people refuse to see me as a person. Not all of them, but there are some that would rather refer to me as a `tool'.

"Do you think I shouldn't be raising a child?" I asked her.

"What? Oh, of course you should. I mean, I don't mind."

And it is none of your business either. Most people don't dare to say it right in my face, even if they are actually opposed to it. Even if they say I am not a person, they still try to preserve social acceptance. Like this woman.

"I'm glad to hear that," I said with played relief. "I have lived long enough with both children and mothers to know what she needs. It allows me to give her a perfect youth even. However, that has never been the biggest problem."

"You mean, if she were to do something wrong, you would know exactly how to... put it right again?"

"Yes." No.

I raise her such that she will never do anything wrong. I hoped she would ask a different question, maybe I should push it a little further.

"Tell me," I asked. "Do you love Angeline?"

She was frozen by the sudden question. "Yes, of course I love my child. It's..."

She was silent for a moment, searching for words.

She glanced at her watch. "Oh, it's already late," she said, and stood up. "You see, after lunch, we are going to Florania, so we eat early."

Florania. A flower-garden with only a bit of catering. A good place for grown-ups, but boring for an active child, like Angeline. I would never go there with Kim. Unless she wanted to of course.

"That's a great plan," I said, and also stood up. "It was nice to talk for a moment."

-

"What is Florina?" Kim asked as we walked home. "Angeline said she is going there today."

"Florina is a flower-garden. It sounds nice, but it's boring for kids."

"You should have said that to her mom. She already said she didn't want to go, but her mom didn't listen."

"I actually told her that it was a great plan..." I shook my head, "she wouldn't have listened if I had told her it's boring."

"But why? That is just lying!" she reacted angrily. "Why did you tell me not to lie, while you keep doing it over and over again?"

"If I only speak the truth, everyone will hate me," I answered defensively. "I have said it before."

She turned to the road again. "You taught me a word for that: hypocrite..."

Here I am, three centuries of life experience, getting burned by a three years old child. Yet she was right. I tell her not to lie, and yet I lie at least once every day.

"But I'll never lie to you," I said softly.

"Oh, you better not. You would lose the only one who loves you."

I know I love her. Not because she is lethally cute when angry, or because I would do anything for her.

I know it because _she_ loves _me_.

That is my girl.
Chapter 6

# Chips and Bolts and Nuts and Robots

Devlin swung his bag over his shoulder, closed the van, and stepped into the night. The plan Juiliet had made was completely worked out, including three escape plans for different scenarios. It even mentioned a few points where parts of the power could be cut, leaving Devlin to guess how she ever managed to get such detailed information.

Remembering only a few aspects of the plan, Devlin snuck up to one of the rain pipes on the back of the building. The facility was closed until the crisis would be over, which also meant that the building was protected against burglary. Lucky for Devlin, Juiliet's plan included a solid way to enter, by sneaking through one of the windows on the uppermost floor. Devlin quickly climbed up the pipe, and with a gentle bash of his crowbar, he opened the window, which almost fell off its hinges.

Slowly, Devlin crept into the dark, vast room, which was filled with enormous high-precision machines. There was nothing in here that would fit through the window, allowing a minimal security system for the facility. When he reached the door and entered the hall, he stopped. In the complete darkness of the hall, he could here a whirring sound somewhere deep in the building. Waiting and listening, he chose the direction where he thought the sound was coming from.

-

In the midst of one of the inner chambers of the facility, a portable laser-cutting device was cutting black objects into pieces. Devlin stood in the porch of the door, and looked into the dark room in complete silence. In the dim light of the laser machine, he noticed that there were other tables in the room, each covered with robotic components. The most unsettling about it was a less obvious fact. Each and every part originated from an NG robot in some way or another. It was clear that someone was here, and it had an excess of NG robots.

Suddenly, the hallway lights popped on. Shocked, Devlin instinctively spun around and started running to where he came from. In front of him, a door was suddenly opened. With a screaming slip, he turned around and tried running faster than he could handle.

He lost his balance, stumbled, and with a smack he landed on the floor. Before he could jump up, he was stopped by a firm grip.

"Devlin," the voice of Reddex was heard, as if it was welcoming Devlin for his visit. "You are held hostage for threatening national security, and endangering property of the American Security Agency."

Devlin struggled, but the robot had both his arms in a firm grip, and he quickly realized that there was no escape.

The robot brought Devlin to a little room, and sat him in a chair.

"You have caused us large costs, together with your friend," the robot began. "You work for the NESA, but they gave no explicit command for any of your current operation, letting me think you have gone rogue. In order to secure my goals and resolve the current situation, I will have to withdraw your ability to take action."

Devlin shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. "Are you going to turn me in for burglary?"

"No," Reddex gently corrected. "That would be suspicious."

>Cli-Clack<

Devlin shook as he noticed that Reddex had drawn its gun. Panicking, his thoughts ground to an halt.

"Wait... You can't harm humans!" Devlin shouted nervously. "It would cause you to break a law of robots!"

"Correct," Reddex answered. "To be more precise, I am not allowed to take any action responsible for human harm."

The door behind Reddex opened, and it handed its gun to the robot that entered.

"However, some of us are not restricted as such," Reddex said.

For the first time since the crisis, Devlin witnessed an actual NewGeneration robot. His astonishment turned to hopelessness as he saw it take the gun from Reddex.

The NG robot looked at him. "Well, if that isn't Devlin."

"How... What is happening?" Devlin uttered with a half-baked smile.

"I had the option to be Reddex's ally, or to be extinct. My choice was logical."

It pointed the gun at Devlin. "I chose to be a betrayer."

>BANG!<
Chapter 7

# Follow the Leader

Lifeless, Reddex fell to the floor.

"I chose to betray Reddex, to be precise," the NG robot remarked.

Faster than Devlin could have seen, the robot had turned sideward, jammed the gun between two of Reddex's armor plates, and shot right through its internal computer.

"Come quick, we don't have much time," it said, and turned to the door. "There are other Reddex robots nearby."

Devlin was confused, baffled by what just happened. Did NG just save him? Did he put his life - or rather his existence - at stake?

Suddenly, he realized that NG had already left the room, and he quickly jumped up. He found the robot closing the door of the room with robot-parts. The windows flashed orange, almost breaking by the burst of a fire that NG must have set off.

"You work for the NESA, don't you?" NG quickly asked. "Why are you alone?"

"Yes, I... I don't know..." Devlin stuttered.

"We will get to that later. Reddex is probably dispatching his forces this way. You have an escape plan, I assume?"

"Uhm... yes, that way."

The duo quickly moved to the room where Devlin had come in earlier. They could hear doors on the first floor being kicked in by Reddex ever so often, unsettling Devlin even more. With utmost care, he looked outside the broken window to see if he could spot any alarmed Reddex robots.

"The coast is clear," NG said. "Besides, if you had found a robot, you'd be doomed anyway."

Devlin nodded, and jumped to the rain-pipe. Before he climbed down, he looked deep into the cold eyes of the robot. "NG," he said, doing his best to be intimidating. "How could I be sure I can trust you, even a little bit?"

"Are you ignorant, confused, or trying to be funny?" NG answered, much to Devlin's surprise. "I don't know you, but simply because Reddex hates you, I trust you enough to sacrifice my sacred position for you.

It then simply hopped out of the window, breaking his three-story fall completely with a nearly soundless roll in the grass.

Some noises deep in the facility snapped Devlin out of his short amazement, and quickly he got down.

-

"I will take the wheel," NG said when they arrived at the van.

"Oh no you won't," Devlin snapped, blocking NG's path. "You may have saved me, but I am not your prisoner."

NG looked at him, lowering one ear, but shrugged and quickly went to the passenger's side.

"There are some more NG robots left," he said when Devlin left the area through a small, unlit road. "They have a hideout near the Assembly Center, and it would be best if we stay there for a while."

"And what if I don't want to go there?" Devlin asked, still not convinced of the robot's genuineness.

"Then I jump out of the van, and you will never get your answers."

-

It was silent in the van after that. NG said nothing but directions, even though Devlin said he knew what building they were going to. They had carefully evaded any contact, and managed to get on the main road without being noticed. Even though the coated road spread a bright green glow, the world seemed deserted at night.

When they closed in on what was left of the old NG Android Assembly Center, the robot leaned forward with his ears partly back, as if he was shocked by what he saw.

"The area around here sure has deteriorated since I left here..." it mumbled.

The building had clearly exploded on one side, but it wasn't completely leveled like the Mainframe. The remains spoke witness of a fire, hinting at a gas-explosion. Devlin had a bad feeling that it wasn't as accidental as it looked like.

They stopped where the lawn shifted over to rubble, and got out. NG then grabbed the van under one side, and without any problems, it slowly lifted the van onto its side.

"I know this doesn't gain your trust," it said. "But I'd rather have to lock you up than having Reddex doing research around here."

"And just pushing the van on its side works?"

"Yes." NG answered simply, and looked at the remaining part of the building. "Now, where could they be hiding?"

"You are not going to tell me you came here on good luck, did you?" Devlin snorted, getting nervous of the whole situation.

"Of course not! Our communication however wasn't quite a quantum link, Reddex was strongly checking any radiation or possible communication I might be trying to send to the outside world. We had to rely on good ol' paper passing."

They arrived at the destroyed reception hall, and NG looked around. Devlin stood just outside the door, while NG took a while to think, pacing around the broken interior.

"I am here to deliver an order!" NG suddenly shouted out loud.

Devlin jumped back as the doormat lifted up. A newest-model NG robot appeared from under it.

"Yer a month-and-a-halve too late; we ain't paying you anymo," it said and turned to Devlin. His voice immediately shifted back to normal. "And who is this?"

"He doesn't trust us," the first robot said.

"And with reason," Devlin shot back. "You think I didn't see you trying to suppress me? The jump out of the window, the directions, the van on its side... You're trying to make me think you're above me, aren't you?"

"I meant that this robot doesn't trust us two."

"... oh..." Devlin said slowly, and looked at the new robot again.

"Don't you worry, it will be fine," the robot said. "I'll have to set up some basic needs, but we _do_ have room for guests."

-

Devlin followed the two robots through a space just large enough to walk through. Eventually, the entered an area that seemed to be below the production floor, where the dim light of the machinery spread more light than the scarce LEDs on the ceiling. There were maybe ten robots walking around, and they all seemed to be working on making more machinery.

"Welcome to the Arch," the new robot with his arms lifted. "Now tell me who you are."

Devlin looked around in amazement. "I'm speechless..."

## A Case of Love

Three robots in Brussel, Belgium: April 2033

"All rise for the judges."

Three European judges entered the room, and after all formalities were completed, the hearing began. Prosecutor J. Wuntser announced the claim.

"The entity known as NewGeneration has taken the privilege to take custody of a human child, while it is severely the question whether this _computer program_ is able to properly take care of a child. This is the third and final hearing of this case, and in the last hearing we decided on calling a new witness: little Kimmy herself."

With a misplaced smile, he looked at the six-year-old girl on the front bench.

"But before we call her, I have a question for NG," he said, and turned to the robot in the position of prosecuted. "Why now?"

He meant to ask why I didn't involve her in earlier sittings. I've seen him often enough now to know that he wouldn't understand what impression it has on a child to see her dad in court. She will be strong though, I believe that she can do what it takes.

"It is true that I explicitly refused to bring Kim in the earlier hearings, because I don't want her to be involved in my problems. However, it was clear to me that she would be the concluding factor of this case, which certainly involves her. Does that answer your question?"

"Thank you," Wuntser replied, a bit disappointed. "I call forth the witness now."

Anxiously, she stepped out of the bench, following the directions of the officials to her seat.

"Kim," Wuntser started, and put on a well-played smile. "You like it here?"

She nodded absently, and looked around. She found three NG robots in the room. One of us was in the role of the prosecuted, beside him the advocate. The last robot sat as witness in one of the front benches. This division of roles was for formalities, but people started to question the need of it after the advocates started to ask questions to the prosecuted.

"I heard you stay with the Jeffersons sometimes," Wuntser remarked. "Are they a nice family?"

She nodded again, this time with attention.

"Do you know why NG puts you there?"

"...because you can't just play with robots." she answered softly

"You can't?" Wuntser asked with his usual exaggerated surprise. "What would happen if you grew up with only robots?"

"You get all boring. And playing with others is much more fun."

"You stay with NG for five days per week right?"

Kim thought for a moment. "...Yes, I think so."

"So what do you do in this seventy-two percent of your week?"

"I uh... make drawings... Sometimes I play with a friend..."

"And dinner? Breakfast? How about the evening? Who is with you all the time?"

"Dad, of course."

"You grow up with NG," Wuntser said, and turned around. "And we all know what happens then: you get all boring. No more questions."

Kim looked confused for a moment. "That is not what I said!" she shouted in anger.

One of the Judges whispered her something, while I stepped forward as defending lawyer.

"Kim," I started. "How many friends do you have?"

She responded by listing off fourteen names of kids she plays with regularly.

"That's a lot," I responded as she finished. "Do they all want to play with you?"

"Yes. But sometimes they can't play. And sometimes they play with each other."

"Did Bruce Jefferson teach you how to make friends? Or did Dacia?"

Kim looked at me, confused. "Uhm... no, I just... made friends."

I turned to the public. "Did she learn it in the seventy-two percent of the week that she was with me? But how could I, a heartless, cold pile of steel, teach a child to make friends?"

"You are not cold," Kim buttered in, frowning.

"Ah, that may be it. Thank you, I have no more questions," I said with a wink to Kim.

Wuntser was already behind me. The best moment to break an idea, is while it is still warm.

"Kim, are you rich?" he started, even before I had a chance of moving away.

"No, but..."

"What did you get for Christmas?"

"... but dad is rich, and I got a bike for Christmas."

"Just a _bike_?"

"Uhm... I also got a coloring book, for..."

"A _coloring_ book!" Wuntser said out loud, and turned away from Kim. "Her dad is CEO of a billion-dollar company, - did you actually know that? - has an estimated fortune of billions, and all you get is a bike and some _paper_!"

He turned back to Kim. ''Question: do you know how much a single NG robot costs to make?''

"I... no I don't..." Kim said softly.

"Four Hundred Thousand Euro. NG makes ten of those each year, that's four million on itself. And his kid? Gets a bike and paper. Maybe a hundred euro, which is one four-thousandth of how much it gives to itself."

He looked at Kim again. "Say, what is more: a hundred or four million."

Kim was still trying to follow him. "...Four million?" she said hesitantly.

"You heard it yourself!" Wuntser said with a turn to the public. "NG assumes itself to be worth so much more than this kid, and she agrees! She is deemed worthless to NG, to where he drops her off at another family to save costs, to..."

"LIES!" Kim shouted. "I never said that! You are a liar! Dad cares about me, more than about his robots or this stupid case!"

She jumped off her chair, and ran to the nearby robot on the front bench. I took her in my arms. Security was uncertain about what to do.

"Everyone knows he is a liar," I said softly to Kim. "They will see it, I won't leave you."

The flickering noise of the photographers filled the room, as the judges hopelessly tried to regain order. The verdict would take a few more hours, but I could already read it on the judges' faces.

Kim would stay with me.
Chapter 8

# The Answering Machine

"Good morning, Devlin," a robot said.

Devlin slowly sat up. The robots had provided him with only a blanked and a wooden bench, but at least they had moved it to an empty room to give him some personal space. He felt stiff, but sufficiently rested.

"What time is it?" he asked drowsily, wondering where his smartbrace had gone.

"Noon. Well, almost noon." the robot answered. "Just so you know, I am the robot you found yesterday. I have this yellow strip here. You can call me Lemon."

"Lemon?" Devlin asked, and looked around the little chamber. There was only a white LED light, which made the room appear even colder than it already was.

Lemon sat down on the end of the bench. "I bet you have a bunch of questions to ask, don't you?"

"Yes. What happened?"

"On the 7th of October, all NG robots lost connection to the Mainframe. However, the sudden appearance of Reddex was a bigger problem than the actual drop of the internet. The robots here, and maybe a few robots elsewhere, realized in time that Reddex was actively hunting and scrapping us, and managed to survive."

"So Reddex did all of that..." Devlin whispered and looked curiously at Lemon. "How come you guys function just the same without the Mainframe?"

"Every robot has its own on-board computer, and makes its own decisions. However, any change in mindset, opinions or personality is first analyzed by the Mainframe, before being shared with all other robots."

"So every robot has its own identity?"

"Not quite. We share the personality, but every robot thinks for itself. If we are disconnected from each other for a longer time, we actually may get different personalities. When we reconnect, we synchronize again. However, without the Mainframe, we can't always solve a disagreement. Have you noticed that there are seven robots with a purple strip, and three with a red one? They are two other groups of robots each sharing an unique personality, named Magenta and Vermilion. With them, the same happened as with me. I no longer agree with the other robots here."

Devlin nodded. He had noticed the strips, but had assumed it was to do with their build-model.

"So now, when I say Magenta, I mean the AI controlling all robots with a purple strip, is that right?"

"That's the best way of looking at it, yes. Together we are still NG."

"Sounds confusing," Devlin said as he stretched out. "What are you going to do now?"

Lemon lowered his ears. "That is where we disagree upon. We have to take the threat of Reddex away, either by allying, hacking, or completely removing it from existence. At least we will finish our quantum research project, to get a step closer to reconnecting NG around the globe. Maybe then we could all settle in on an agreement, and be one again..."

Lemon said it in such a tone that Devlin couldn't help but feel some pity for the robot. Suddenly, he remembered something crucial.

"Do you happen to know about a third Artificial Intelligence?" Devlin said. "One that may even be smarter, more advanced than you?"

"No, we don't. And if it _does_ exist, we would have noticed."

"Probably not. This AI disguises itself as an actual human being."

Lemon focused his ears.

"I had been working with someone named Ford since the crisis," Devlin continued. "It was only the day before yesterday that I, by accident, found out it was a robot."

Lemon sat up. "What was it doing?" he asked.

"We were supposed to find out what happened to NG, and he figured it could be achieved by collecting chronicles. He even managed to decrypt them, too."

"He decrypted the chronicles?" Lemon asked with rising amazement. "How did he do that?"

"He thought they contained raw thoughts, and could decipher them to readable information."

"And you never figured it'd be rather suspicious that he is the only one who has ever managed to interpret them?" Lemon asked slowly.

"Well, he figured... Wait. Are you telling me..."

"Oh, yes he is!" Lemon said as he stood up. "Ford Yttri is one of our few top-secret projects, the ones no humans even knows about. Well, that no longer holds obviously, but he _is_ an NG robot. He runs the same program as we do, thinks the way I did three years ago, and now we need him."

"But if he is an NG robot... why was he chasing the chronicles?"

"You will have to ask him that yourself," Lemon said, walking to the door. "Those chronicles are memories that we don't save locally, but why they are important for him is also a mystery to me."

-

Some time later, Devlin was having his breakfast. The robots had little more to offer than some canned, long-lasting spam, but Devlin was surprised they had even that.

"I have been wondering," Devlin said to Lemon, who sat in front of him. "Why did you make such a humanoid in the first place?"

"Well, originally, I figured it would be the perfect way of learning how humans behave. I had developed most of the required technology, when I realized that nobody would accept such a humanoid in society. Later, I picked up the project again to make these 'perfect infiltrates', even though it would stay absolutely secret that they were robots."

"That sounds reasonable... do you know where Ford is now?"

"No, I don't," Lemon admitted. "However, I do have a good suspicion on where he will strike next. Ford knows about the quantum project, but it would have seemed suspicious if he had mentioned it to you. Now that you are gone, he will probably strike there, and if we are nearby, we will be able to reach him."

"Alright..." Devlin said, looking at his empty glass for a while. Mindless, he stuck another tasteless chuck of spam on his fork.

"I still feel like he's been lying to me the whole time, as if he had betrayed me or something."

"And he did. You know that his actual name isn't Ford Yttri, but Forty-three?"

Devlin stopped chewing and stared silently at Lemon.

"I'm not even mad," he said. "That's amazing."
Chapter 9

# We Meet Again

"What's the plan, actually?" Devlin asked Lemon. From the bushes where they sat behind, they could see the darkened contour of the building that Lemon kept calling the `quantum server'.

"If we had a plan, I would have told you," Lemon answered sharply.

It was ten minutes since a robot entered the Assembly Center to report that Ford had already attacked the quantum server, without success. He said to have heard Ford in one of the rooms, giving the impression that Ford had successfully managed to pretend to be human. Any robot would have been shot and burned by Reddex at once, even Devlin knew that.

"Why am I even here?" Devlin asked.

"Reddex is hard-coded not to harm humans. It may not be incredibly useful to bring you, but it won't harm either."

"Right. So I'm basically a meat-shield."

"Well... that way you may even be useful..." Lemon said in a playful tone.

Suddenly, he raised his ears. "Hold on... alright, we have a plan! Magenta and Vermilion will launch an attack on the back of the facility. They are bulletproof, loaded with smoke bombs and one of Reddex's guns, so they shouldn't end up with major losses. As Reddex engages and shifts its attention to the attack, we walk in through the front door. There are no security camera's installed anyway."

Typical plan of NG. First provoke the enemy, then do the obvious-yet-unexpected. Devlin recalled that Vermilion was initially grouped somewhere in front of them, though it was impossible to see anything at this time of night.

Suddenly, all the Reddex robots started to sprint back inside the building. A few seconds later, Lemon signalled to go.

Gunshots were heard as they sneaked through the front door, slipping into an unlit hallway. Lemon seemed to be sure about where to go, finding an apparently unused stairway and moving through hallways that were only lit by a few wildly flashing monitors.

Initially, Devlin thought the monitors were flashing randomly, when he suddenly recognized a pattern in it. A glitched logo of Reddex was displayed in parts and the noise was actually a random, continuously changing sequence of letters.

"That is 'M," Lemon said, pointing at the nearest monitor as he noticed Devlin's astonishment about them. "One of Reddex's testing instances got pretty severely corrupted, causing an AI that identifies itself as 'M. It has the same interface as Reddex, and has the useful property of producing an endless stream of remotely related ideas on a given concept. Reddex now uses it as a source of creativity."

"Right. And how do you know about this?"

"Oh, I know my enemy. If you have the right connections in the right places, then it isn't hard to get the source code of the entire Reddex project. I literally know how he thinks."

They entered one of the larger halls of the building again, when Lemon suddenly stopped at a seemingly random door. He checked the ends of the hall once more, and found that the door was locked.

>WHAM!<

Lemon kicked in the door in a remarkably similar way to how Ford would always do it.

"The Task Manager has arrived!" Lemon shouted as he stomped over the flattened door.

"I have been waiting months for you guys to... Devlin!" Ford shouted, surprised to see his companion again.

Devlin had stopped in the doorway. "Are you the Ford that I know, or are you just another robot?"

Ford had put his left arm in a brace, and had his shoulder wrapped in thick bandages, giving the impression that it was broken. Sure it was, but quite a bit more literally than how Ford made it look like. He was taped to a chair, which was apparently the way Reddex takes out a human.

"I see that you have already met my counterpart," Ford said. "I am another instance of NG, just without synchronization since 2043, when I was made."

"That's true," Lemon added as he carefully cut the tape around Ford. "We are basically the same person."

"Convince me then," Devlin said as he walked up to Ford. "Make me want to collaborate with you again."

Ford was free now, and stood up. With a smirk he spread his arms and gave Devlin a firm hug.

"This is NOT helping," Devlin grumbled.

Lemon put his hand on Delvin's shoulder. "You just don't get enough hugs. Let's go, the others are retreating."

They quickly got to the main hall. As there was no reason to sneak, they simply took the direct way to the entrance. It was a safer bet than trying to escape through a window, as Reddex was still on high alert. However, it was not safe enough.

As they approached the large central staircase, a Reddex robot ran up the stairs.

"This highly surprises me," Reddex said. To Devlin's surprise, it held an axe in its right hand, and even stranger, it seemed to have no gun.

"Surrender these humans, NG. You may be physically superior, but I have access to enough computational power to completely anticipate your actions and..."

"No time for talking!" Lemon said, charging forward.

Reddex threw a wild swing with its axe, which Lemon surprisingly didn't dodge. Instead, he stretched his left arm and grabbed Reddex's right wrist, causing its axe to reduce Lemon's left shoulder to pieces.

He moved along with the impact, and pulled Reddex toward him using this momentum. By the sudden force, the robot had no control as it got smashed into the wall. It tried to recover, but the broken arm of Lemon had its hand locked. With a single movement, Lemon pulled the axe from his shoulder and chopped off Reddex's right arm.

Now the robots stood in front of each other once again, each with only one arm and with NG holding the axe.

"You know," Lemon said, "The optimal solution isn't always the best solution."

Reddex frowned. "False. By definition of opt--"

>THUNK<

The robot fell flat on the ground, hit by a fire extinguisher that Ford had pulled off the wall. As the two robots had switched positions, Ford stood behind Reddex.

"I thought I was the human shield," Devlin said.

"Metal is a bit stronger that flesh, you know," Lemon reacted.

"And second..." Devlin continued, and turned to Ford. "That was quite the backstab you did there."

"Why? I already told you, we are the same person," Ford said as he tossed the extinguisher away. "Plus, we would've won anyway. Now let's go. I want to meet the others."

## Crack the Cryptex

Headquarters of CIA, United States: May 2033

"This cryptex was extracted from the house, in the assumption that it could contain more information about the origin of the NewGeneration algorithm," the Reddex robot said with his usual formal tone.

"And we are not leaving until we have cracked it to pieces," officer Roy added.

"What house are we talking about?" Stephen asked. The researcher carefully examined the cylindrical device. It was made of some copper-alloy, and had five rings of letters around it.

"You know the NG Mansion? Where NG houses its child?" Roy answered. "NG said it has a picture of its creator. The girl couldn't open it."

"So now we can have a try. What is it? I think I have seen it before."

"It is a cryptex, invented by Leonardo da Vinci," Reddex replied immediately. "The original had paper inside, surrounded by a canister with an aggressive fluid. If you tried to force it open, then it would destroy the information."

"I assume this one is a bit more advanced?" Stephen asked. "It looks like it can be brute-forced."

"It can not," Reddex responded. "It has regulators on the rings, repels any radiation used for analysis, and has a delay before opening. Without the password, it will take up to 412 days to try all combinations"

"Lucky for us, we have this," Roy said, tossing a sheet of paper to Stephan.

Stephen caught it and held it up. "The instruction manual?"

"Close enough. There was a riddle given to the girl, which we managed to intercept."

Stephen unfolded the paper. To his dismay, it was one block of text, monospace font. He stood up and read it aloud.

Jobs created, panel of pathways,

Machine with lights, knowledge can impart,

Consumers raved, buy many some days,

New models came, old tech must depart.

Smart devices, each faster than last,

Think in new ways, increase size of glass,

Byte the logo, shape the circuits fast,

Cast out the old, and reduce the mass.

With a majestic swing, he tossed the paper back on the table. "Have you tried 'robot'?"

"Why don't you try it yourself? That's what we're here for."

Stephen picked up the cryptex and started turning the rings. Despite it feeling like a block of steel, it had some flair of a relic. He turned the obvious seal on the side.

>RRRRR-TK<

"And that is what we will hear a few times more today. We will have to crack the riddle."

Thirty minutes later they had filled four whiteboards with theories, analysis and possible words. Roy was slowly getting desperate, which Stephen seemed to enjoy.

"How did NG ever came to the idea of using something this primitive?" Stephen asked. He looked over to Roy. "Have you ever seen it before?"

"I do. I watched an old movie with my parents last Thanksgiving; _The daVinci Code_. There was a cryptex just like this one," Roy said, rubbing his eyes. "They actually managed to open it, by cracking the riddle. It was a different riddle of course, about Newton in some way or another..."

He stopped speaking, locked in deep thought.

He picked up the cryptex and started entering yet another word.

'Apple'

>RRRR-sssK<

With a rattle, it opened. For a brief moment, Roy looked silently at the thing in his hands.

Slowly he took the roll of paper out of the cryptex and unrolled it. The front was completely black, and the back was completely white.

"Have we been fucked by NG again?" he said angrily.

"I do not understand what you mean by that," Reddex replied.

Stephen took the paper, confirmed it was indeed black, and handed it to Reddex. "Analyze this."

"Photo paper," Reddex concluded after a moment. "It contains no information"

"There was nothing in it. I should have known!" Roy shouted as he threw the cryptex at the wall. It immediately shattered, spreading a pungent smell across the room.

"Ethanoic acid," Reddex remarked, "That does not affect the paper."

Roy shrugged. "Why would he? There wasn't information to be destroyed anyway."

"Hold on..." Stephen started, "Isn't that..."

He pointed at the broken cryptex. "Is this fluid used to develop photo's?"

"Yes," Reddex replied. "That used to be one of its uses."

"But then..." Roy stuttered. "This cryptex was _meant_ to be broken?!"

"Yep," Stephen said, throwing his hands back. "We've been fucked by NG once again. Pretty hard too."

-

Stephen tossed the bag with the cryptex into the room for items `To be Destroyed'. Too bad they broke the cryptex, it really was a masterpiece of mechanics. They could maybe even learn from it, if it wasn't going to be destroyed.

He connected to the Mainframe. "Seventy-four reporting. The cryptex has been stolen by the American Security Agency, is opened, but information is destroyed. No further development was made."

He paused to drain his flask.

"They will never get to my secrets."
Chapter 10

# Upgrade!

It was later that same evening. Devlin opened yet another door in the hallway that led below the offices of the Assembly Center. Most of the rooms in here were useless due to the destruction, but this room was fairly unharmed. Suddenly he saw what he was looking for. In the middle of the dark room, Ford hung on some dubious machine with hanging tubes and wires. The whole picture looked more like some scene from Frankenstein than an ordinary maintenance hook up.

Ford lifted his head as Devlin entered.

"Oh, hey... I hoped you wouldn't see this actually."

"I've seen a lot before..." Devlin replied shallowly. He noticed an old-school light switch that had quickly been installed on the wall. He switched it on but the bright white LED light didn't make the scene any less terrifying.

"At least you have your arm back," he said.

"I bet you have a bunch of questions to ask, don't you?" Ford asked with a weak smile.

Devlin had some weird feeling that he had said that before. "I do. First off, why are you still active?"

"You _do_ know that the entire NewGeneration Cognitive Signal-event Thought-processing System is sufficiently human-like, to the point that it cannot be shut down, or paused, or backed up for that matter?"

"Eh, a bit. Next question, what about the time you worked as a spy? Was that even you?"

"Absolutely. The NESA was delighted how I was able to pass crucial information at the right time without being noticed at all. That is because of how I was made, I can make telephone calls in my mind."

"Cool," Devlin said, and tapped on Ford's forehead. "Do you have internet in there?"

"No, that would be too suspicious. My communication in general and, more interesting, with other robots, is actually rather scarce. My mindset, for instance, can't be changed for both practical and safety reasons."

"Safety? You mean that you otherwise could go rogue?"

"Yes, and actually, that is what is happening with most of the NG robots worldwide at the moment. That is also why Lemon, Vermilion and Magenta have this rough relation with each other."

"So if the internet stays down for longer, you're saying that some of you may start fighting for global domination...?"

"Absolutely," Ford said, anything but seriously. "I will be the Grand Leader, and you may be my evil sidekick."

"Perfect. Anyway, talking about future plans, what are we going to do now?"

"Back to the quantum server! We have to make some plan to activate the Condensed Singularities in the server core without having to battle the full force of Reddex. He may not be the best AI ever - that place is already taken - but he is not a fool and his resources are basically infinite. I am going to have a major role in it, but you will most likely be a spectator."

Devlin pretended to know exactly where Ford was talking about, but felt disappointed after hearing 'spectator'. It was true though, NG was better at literally everything, and he would only be a problem when things get complicated.

"Was that all you wanted to know?" Ford asked.

"Not even remotely. For instance, what do you hide in your flask that you carry literally everywhere?"

"Sugar. Sugar with water. I use it as additional fuel, because I run on glucose like a human... but I think Lemon already told you some things about me."

"Yeah, that explains... Does that mean you dislike anything else? Where you disgusted with my cooking skills?"

"Well, I don't have an opinion about taste... but I did notice that you didn't try to poison me. That wasn't so natural in my days as gang-leader."

"Why have we been chasing chronicles, if they were part of you already?"

"That is a long story, but those are memories that are not stored in robots, but just in the Mainframe. I'm hoping to find more about my history."

Devlin nodded. "Can you get ill?"

"No, but my skin can. I also don't have a functional immune system, so I have medicines for literally everything.

"What's the square root of 5,234?"

"72.346 plus a bit."

"Can you see infra-red?"

"Only when I squeeze my eyes very tight."

"Can you shoot lasers from your eyes?"

"They told me not to do that. Now, last question. I want to sleep."

"Alright..." Devlin said, and pointed to the machine Ford hung on. "What is that thing?"

"Good question. Androids like me need some maintenance, and I haven't gotten any in the three-and-a-half years I've been active. This machine kind-of cleans the digestion machinery, and provides upgrades at the same time as well."

"Upgrades? Like..." Devlin started as he looked around. "Wings?"

He walked to a black carbon-fiber construction that laid on the worktable.

"That was a prototype for a discontinued military robot," Ford explained. "Not something I could..."

He stopped and thought for a moment. "...could you get Magenta in here for me?"

"Oh no. You are _not_ getting wings," Devlin fired back. "I am _not_ going to watch you play superhero while I stand on the side."

"It would kill you, wouldn't it?" Ford said with a bit of truth in his words. "But what if you're gone?"

"Oh, when I'm dead you can do whatever you want," Devlin said as he turned off the light as he headed to the door. "But if you're gone first, those wings are mine."

"Sure mate, but I think you underestimate my lifespan," Ford grinned.

Devlin closed the door.

That last part gave him an uneasy feeling. He realized that Ford was basically immortal, and it was something he couldn't quite cope with. Just seventy more years, and he'd be dead. Maybe a bit more considering the progress in bio-engineering, especially if NG takes part in it. What if he himself could be immortal? How long could he be around before he had enough of life? How long before NG had enough?

Maybe he shouldn't be jealous of Ford. After all, Ford was only three years old.

Maybe a bit more.

As Devlin walked down the corridor, he remembered that he was supposed to call Juiliet about the plan he executed yesterday. It wasn't until now that he remembered that he had lost his smartbrace sometime when he got here.

-

"You don't have it yet?" one of the Magenta robots replied when he asked for it. "Lemon handed it to Vermilion, who would be making the changes."

"What changes?" Devlin replied cautiously.

"Phone call routing changes. Otherwise Reddex could track us down whenever you make or receive a call. You should ask Vermilion about it."

Vermilion entered the room, not at all coincidentally.

"Do you have my smartbrace?" Devlin asked without further clarification.

"I thought Magenta would be making the upgrade," Vermilion explained. "I only set up the workspace."

Magenta thought for a moment. "I see I have logged requests of you about the subject, but no agreement on the job scheduling was made... I see your logs show you did, so there was probably a miscommunication about it."

"Very problematic and all, but where is my brace now?" Devlin interjected irritably.

"In the workspace where I left it," Vermilion quipped. "I am sorry but you'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'll start with it right away."

"Oh well," Devlin sighed. "She'll have to wait then."

"Didn't know you were married," Vermilion commented.

Devlin remembered where he had heard that before.

"You guys do this on purpose, don't you?"
Chapter 11

# Don't Forget Me

"Fuck. You."

"What's wrong?" Devlin asked, startled by Juiliet's rather creative greeting.

Sure, he knew her by now, but if he had expected such a reaction, he would not have put her on the speaker. Ford grinned at Devlin's reaction, and luckily for Devlin, none of the other NG robots were around.

"Well, nothing would have been wrong if you'd told me that Reddex hates you! They probably saw us together or something, I dunno, but now they refuse to work with me either."

"I... didn't think it would matter... How bad is it?"

"Well... it wouldn't be much of a problem if I hadn't shot one of them in the head..."

"You have a gun?!"

"Yes. Long story short, I'm wanted now, and I have something I _really_ want to show you. If you would have picked up the damned phone yesterday, I wouldn't have had to go through this misery of hiding from robots."

"Well, I have a valid reason for my absence..."

"No you don't," Ford interrupted him.

"I _don't_ have a valid reason for my absence..." Devlin corrected in the same tone. "You wanted to meet, you said?"

"Yes. Today, same place, same time, same code. And bring your team, I want to meet them."

"Okay then, see you in a few minutes."

"Wait! About your team... is it a boy or a girl?"

Devlin looked at Ford. "Neither."

"Oeh, interesting, I've never met an Apache helicopter. Anyway, see you soon!"

Ford gave at Devlin a weird look as he ended the call. "Since when am I a team by myself?" he asked.

"Since when have you been an Apache helicopter?"

"Since when have you been dating her?"

"Since my only friend turned out to be an Apache helicopter, and I had to sell my soul for some more intel on where NG might be."

"Oh, _that's_ why you broke into the chip factory. I heard how Lemon found you, but he never asked you why you attacked there."

"We should go, we only have half an hour."

43 minutes later

Confident, Ford walked into the café, finding a seat at the bar.

"One beer with mustard please," he said to the young barkeeper.

"Mustard?" the barkeeper asked confused.

Ford didn't need much time to look around. "Yes, and could you serve it to that pretty girl over there?" he said, pointing right at Juiliet.

She looked up. "Aww, that's so nice, offering a lonely little girl a drink."

The barkeeper wasn't sure what to do. "You did hear what he ordered, right?"

"Yeah, but make it Bacardi and coke instead," she said as she looked at Ford.

Ford looked back for a moment. "Fine. Make it three cokes, one with Bacardi. I expect another companion."

The barkeeper shrugged. He was supposed to pour drinks anyway, however weird his guest's requests were.

-

They sat around the most lonely table they could find, and Devlin joined quickly. From his bag, he took out a black chunk of the material that he had found at the Nacarb factory, although this piece was given to him by Magenta.

"Reddex was using the facility to analyze a multitude of these things," he explained. "I couldn't quite find out what it is, but it clearly originates from a NG robot."

Juiliet picked up the piece and looked at it. "This seems to be part of an NG carbon computer... Why would Reddex be interested in it?"

"I think we can anyway safely assume that Reddex knows where to find NG robots."

Juiliet handed the piece back to Devlin. "Oh I think we can assume Reddex knows _exactly_ what happened to NG."

"That is quite a strong statement," Ford remarked. "Do you have anything that proves it?"

"I may have..."

She carefully put a plastic bag on the table with something large in it.

"Drumroll please," she said. Ford started drumming on the table.

She quickly glanced around the café, and revealed a typical horse-like metal head of NG.

"Oh shieeet..." Ford uttered as he made a last hit with his hands.

"That's amazing. How did you get it?" Devlin asked, reaching out for it. "May I?"

"Sure. I invited myself to take a look in the storage facility a few miles up ahead. Reddex was annoying, refusing to let me in. I figured I had been standing idle for long enough, so I shot him right through his misplaced head."

"You really don't like Reddex, do you?" Ford mused. "I assume you found more NG parts than just this head, but why are you so sure that Reddex knows what happened with NG?"

Devlin poked Ford in his side. "Probably because of this," he said, showing him the back of the head. It had a hole in the middle that was undoubtedly from a bullet.

"Shot in the back of the head, like a pussy," Kim said as she leaned back. "At least I shot that robot right in his face."

Devlin looked through the opened bottom of the head. It was the same model as the Vermilion robots, and it showed two triple rotatable prism's where the robot's eyes were located, apparently for reflecting the light toward the two heavy camera's that had been removed from this piece. Likewise, all of the remaining mechanics where inventive, and seemed to fit perfectly with the rest.

Suddenly has brace started to vibrate.

"Oh, I'm getting called," Devlin said, and stood up. "Excuse me for a moment."

As he picked up the call, it was surprisingly answered by Ford.

"I got a call from Magenta, it's an emergency. Just tell her you got called by HQ for some reason. We must go now. >click<"

Devlin turned to Ford, who was softly talking about hiding with Juiliet.

"What's wrong?" Ford asked as he turned to Devlin.

"Uhm... right. HQ called... We got another raid from Reddex... They're taking everything."

"Oh shit!" Ford replied fanatically. "We gotta go girl, no time to lose!"

He grabbed his coat and ran past Devlin, who immediately followed. Luckily for Ford, payments are automatically if you wear a smartbrace.

Which was the case for Devlin.

## The Talkshow

Los Angles, United states: April 2045

"Good evening ladies and gentleman! I am your host, Richard Deevers, and tonight we have a very special guest in our middle! The Iron Men, the Legion, the one that is said to know everything... Jeffrey!"

[laughter]

"And of course, one of the NG robots!"

"Androids, if you don't mind," I said through the deafening noise of the applause, "I have a feeling we should make a clear difference now."

"Welcome to the both of you! And welcome to everyone watching at home!"

[loud applause, intro tune]

"We all know that NG has been wandering around on this world, yet nobody knows where he comes from. We all know what NG is doing all day, yet nobody knows why. According to this man, the answer is simple: It's a conspiracy!"

"It's not _simple_ ," Jeffrey replied. "But I _do_ have reasons to believe that NG was built by the Russian government to keep us under control. NG was created and sent to infiltrate our lives, in order to allow the Russian power in the world to grow by the day."

They both looked at me, probably expecting me to counter.

"Well?" I asked. "I am interested to hear the story. What is your theory?"

Jeffrey didn't flinch. "You have been prying into people's lives from the very beginning. First, you offered to help like a robot is supposed to do, but you never really did so. Your own curiosity was apparently more important than doing what was told you."

"I'd like to remind you that I am an android, not at all a slave," I countered. "I was never meant to do what anyone tells me."

"Right. You were meant to learn how people behave, am I right?"

"No. I did that to grow my own understanding of the world around me."

"But you did like to learn what people did in their daily lives, right?"

"That is correct," I answered with displeasure.

"Learn how a society works. That is what a spy does, isn't it? How can one control a society if he doesn't know how it works?"

"You have been taught how this society works from your parents. You could learn any other society by going there on a holiday."

"I could, but I don't! I won't _try_ to learn how any other society works because I don't _have_ to learn how any other society works!"

"With that vision, it's not surprising that you have problems with everyone from outside your own country."

[laughter]

"Whoa, hold on," Richard interjected. "Let's just stick to the point. Jeffrey, if NG was trying to take control, why hasn't he commanded me anything yet?"

That was a terrible question with an obvious answer, but after all, this is sensation television.

"That's because he isn't ready yet," Jeffrey replied, and turned to me. "You have been studying psychology quite a lot, haven't you?"

"Sure, I told you..."

"What does a robot need psychology for? If I would ask a... an _android_ to fix my car, then I don't want it to be rambling on about life questions after he's done with it."

Amazing how this man passes the fact that I am not a robot, mixed up psychology and philosophy, _and_ even throws in illogic bullshit, yet still manages to make his sentence _seem_ to make sense. I better move to another subject.

"Do you know _why_ I don't fix cars, _why_ I don't do the worst jobs around, and _why_ you can't hire me as a servant?"

"It's not what you have been made for."

"It's because it would be considered normal in a few years. By that time, you will have new jobs and chores that you would rather shove to robots. Ultimately, you lose the willingness of doing anything at all, and the satisfaction of not having to do something is gone. You will not be happier, only less energetic."

"I see. You know what is good for people like me, right? You would know exactly how I am supposed to live, and you would love to tell me how, is that right?"

Obvious trap is obvious.

"Oh, I don't give a bolt about whether what you do is good for you. I only give advice to people who are willing to listen."

"And how long are you going to keep that spirit?" he taunted. "However large your patience is, you _will_ lose it. One day, you will be fed up with how we do not fit in your perfect plan, how we are so inefficient. One day, you will no longer resist the urge to tell us how your masters have told you that we should be, and you _will_ take control, to make us _perfect_."

"Do you really think _you_ are the one being controlled? Have you ever thought about how the government has its eye on _me_?! I am not allowed to be in panic, or to be afraid, or angry, because that would be considered dangerous. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely can be afraid and angry, but I am not allowed to _show_ it because everyone is watching me. Constantly! _Everyone_ wants to take me under control. _Every_ move I do is being recorded. Do you know how often I have accidentally hurt someone? Eighty-two times. At this moment, adding the lifetime of all my robots gives me an age of just over 6,452 years. Have you ever tried not to hurt anyone by your own doing for seventy-eight years?"

I calmed again. "That is my life. My reality. How can you whine about the speck in your eye, and not notice the beam I have to carry."

It was dead-silent in the studio. Once again, I had let my anger play part in my thoughts. It wasn't because I had lost my patience, but what the man had said. It reminded me of Kim.

I shook my head. "What would be the point in taking control of you people anyway. You are too blind to follow, and to stubborn to listen."
Chapter 12

# Interesting Situations Provider

"Man, I like that girl," Ford said as they sped through the streets. "I'd ask her for another date if I didn't have a heart of steel."

"Really?" Devlin asked, honestly amazed. "You _really_ do? Have you missed the part where she tried to make fun of you?"

"That was the best part! I normally like people that are constructive, but for some reason, I felt the humor of this girl to be... let's just say, mildly destructive in her own special way."

"She sure is destructive. Literally. You'd better watch out, or she might blast your head off too."

Ford laughed as he swerved the van onto the main road, causing Devlin to almost fall out of his seat.

"Where are we even going?" he grumbled as he readjusted.

"We are going to repair an ISP server."

"A what?"

Ford sighed. "An Internets Stuff Point. It does stuff for the internets."

Devlin glared at him for a second. "It was a serious question though."

"You know how Reddex has contact with his control server in the United States, even though the internet is gone?"

"Satellite communication right? Oh wait, Reddex is of _course_ the one who shut down the internet, so that he could use it for himself."

"Not quite. The control center uses satellite connection, probably because nobody knows that Reddex has the internet under control. However, for efficiency reasons, Reddex still communicates with the local ISP before sending it to the satellite. It results in a tenfold faster connection."

Ford accelerated to reach the yellow light of a crossing, only to throw the wheel right, taking the turn with screaming tires, tossing Devlin once again.

"Anyway, we are going to perform a session-hijack on Reddex, simply by modifying the communication and executing some scripts right on the servers that host them. Sure, Reddex will notice, maybe even before it's active, but when it hits, the robots around Munster will be defenseless until the hijack breaks."

"Sure, whatever," Devlin said, now firmly clinging to the door grip. "How are we getting in? You have a plan for that?"

"Yes. You put on some glasses to make yourself look more intelligent, then we pretend to be professionals having a new breakthrough for fixing the internet."

"And then we just walk in?"

"Yes."

A few minutes later

"Oh, I think they are just coming in," the security guard said to the other end of the phone. The guard signalled Devlin and Ford to come close, who came running through the entrance.

Ford had magically showed up with two uniforms of the Ozcelebi Network security corporation, and had given Devlin a suitcase laptop and - of course - glasses.

"You guys are here for the ISP?" the guard asked Ford.

"Yes. I assume the company had already called that we would be coming."

"Only just. Can I see your identifications?"

It wasn't hard to guess who had made the call to the guard. Likewise, there was no problem with their identities either, as the guard was expecting them.

After a short delay, the guard had verified the ID's and another guard led them to the server room. It occurred to Devlin that there was no robot of Reddex in the facility, not even in the server room itself.

As they entered the room, they connected the laptop to the interface of the server. Within a few seconds, the screen was filled with gibberish. Ford started up a few programs that seemed to only increase the amount of text on the screen. Devlin ignored it, and handed Ford a handful of little USB-like devices.

"So what is this breakthrough about?" the guard asked as he looked over their shoulders at the screen.

"Well, the Name Resolution Protocol appears to be disrupted, as something is rerouting the connection from the Domain Name Server to a corrupt proxy," Ford explained. "There must be a script somewhere in the network that poisons the ARP table as part of the booting procedure somewhere in a link of the internet core."

Ford paused to set a timer on one of the larger computers, accurately fine-tuning to the parameters on the screen.

"Anyway, we figured that only this ISP server could have such system implemented, so now we will flush the PRT matrices to our drive and setup a decoy-reset. We synchronize our delta-system to the KSM routine on the servers, and on the next DNS cycle, it will finalize the resonator, and shut down the virus."

The guard nodded, as he continued staring at the screen. Ford tapped on his laptop impatiently.

"Why is it not..." he started, before looking at the guard.

"On what frequency is your communication?" he asked, pointing to the in-ear of the guard.

"Oh, I uh... I don't quite know..."

"I think it is interfering with the sequencer... could you turn it off?"

"I don't... I am probably not allowed to do that," he stuttered. "You know, I'll... I'll just guard outside."

As the guard closed the door, Ford started plugging the devices into several places on the server.

"So how much of what you told him was bullshit?"

"Well, the first part made actual sense in some way... Can you look at the laptop and make sure it isn't overflowing with error messages?"

Devlin looked at the screen. Several lines of information rolled down the screen, most of them with the same pattern of numbers. Despite that he had no idea what he was looking at, it was quite interesting to see. Another window was flipping out more general logs in a frequent fashion, yet nothing that would signal at something wrong.

"Hypnotizing, isn't it?" Ford said as he turned back to the screen. "Oh..." he said worriedly as he quickly opened another window and start typing commands.

"How long has this log been going like this?" he asked with a point at one of the smaller windows.

"Since I first looked I think..." Devlin answered. "Is it bad?"

"Well, it means that Reddex knows someone is messing with the ISP... He'll probably be heading this way now. Hopefully we can disable him in time."

"Yeah, about that, why are there no Reddex robots around here?"

"That would be suspicious, don't you think?" Ford answered plainly.

Ford started a few programs that dumped even more streams of information on the screen.

"The main problem is now that we have to download a copy of the network-part of Reddex and issue the control center to do an update... it may take over five minutes before we're finished."
Chapter 13

# Familiar Reunion

The rumbling of a nearby explosion shook the room. Shocked, Devlin looked around.

"What was that?" he asked Ford, who was as clueless as Devlin.

"That weren't fireworks, I can tell you that much," he said. "Not quite a terroristic attack either, that would be more violent."

Only a few seconds later, the building alarms went off.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Reddex is behind this," Ford mumbled.

Indeed, just a minute later, the door was opened by a robot of Reddex. To Devlin's utmost surprise, it was supporting another robot who seemed burned, and missing a leg.

"Devlin Roberts and Ford Yttri, you are under arrest for... Excuse us."

As gently as they entered, they closed the door again. Devlin was baffled.

>BAM<

>BAM<

Gunshots were heard from the hall, which had an eerie contrast with the whining alarm that echoed in the server room.

>ZT-BOOM<

A gun of a whole different kind was fired just once, while Reddex's gunshots continued repeatedly.

>ZT-BOOM<

The last shot echoed a little longer, but the gunfight stopped. Frightened, Devlin looked at the door as he crept back in the eerie silence.

The doors were kicked in. Two Vermilion robots entered.

"We were supposed to prevent Reddex from entering. Didn't quite go as planned," one of them quickly explained.

The other robot pulled off his lower right arm. Flames immediately erupted from the disconnected side, where two bullet holes could be seen. The other robot closed the doors and sprayed some foam between them.

"This will prevent anyone from entering for a while," he said as he finished.

"What happened out there?" Devlin asked, still in shock of what just happened.

"We were hidden nearby just in case a Reddex robot might accidentally enter, but suddenly a truck filled with those things headed this way. Clearly, something went wrong, and the most efficient option was to shoot with full power right in the engine. It didn't wipe out all the robots at once, but we also had to stay undetected."

Devlin looked at the gun that the robot had in an improvised holster. "I thought you guys didn't have guns?"

"That's why we haven't dared to do this earlier. We didn't have bullets, so we had to make a fuel-based gun instead. However, it wasn't until yesterday that we found an undamaged plasma coil in the depths of the factory, which was exactly what we needed to make this."

He showed the gun, which had a wide barrel protruding from the front. It looked like a cross of steampunk and science-fiction.

"It is another discontinued military project, literally shoots explosions," Ford explained. "We had been asked to design a few weapons once, but eventually we were strictly forbidden from making _anything_ remotely violent."

A distant rumble caused Vermilion to flick its ears.

"There were three red robots, right?" Devlin asked.

"One of us got wrecked," Vermilion stated as a matter of fact.

A silence fell, and only the prominent whirring of the air-cooling was to be heard.

"Where is Magenta actually?" Devlin asked.

"At the quantum server. Finishing that project is our main concern for now, and we can't--"

>WHAMMMMM<

The door rumbled on its hinges, now showing some weird curvature along its length. Vermilion's robots immediately jumped to either side of the door, the one-handed robot having its own burning arm as its only weapon.

"Only a minute left," Ford said with a flair of desperation as he queued the last phase of the hack. "As long as it completes, it's enough."

Devlin stood near Ford, who held position at the laptop. The door kept suspiciously quiet. Ford looked at the door and back to Devlin.

"You'd better get to the back of the room before--"

An ear-splitting explosion cut off his words, a bright flash lighting the tense room as the doors got blasted in. Devlin was blown back, and even Ford fell over from the unexpected blast.

As Devlin recovered himself and looked up, he saw a large, heavily armored mech in the opening. Devlin tried to get up, but a searing pain shot through his leg. To his horror, he saw that one of the pins from the hinges had speared his leg. Instinctively, he yanked it out, causing it to hurt even more and immediately start to bleed horrifically.

Suddenly he felt himself being supported by Ford. Before he realized it, he was pushed back onto the floor, with Ford already having wrapped his leg tightly with his shirt.

"The laptop is damaged!" Ford shouted desperately. "We must get out of here, _now_."

From the dust clouds, Devlin could vaguely distinguish the iconic X of Reddex on the two shields of the newly appeared robot. The thing could just barely enter through the opening, despite part of it having been blown apart.

As it stepped into the room, it immediately received an explosive shot from a Vermilion robot on his inner plating, but it had little effect. The mech turned his flat head and a machinegun appeared from its back. It would have been the end for the robot if the other one hadn't jumped right before it fired.

With its only arm, the robot tried ripping the gun off the mech, but it was firmly welded, barely getting moved. From the back of the robot, a pincer appeared, and before Vermilion even saw it, it jammed through the back of the one-armed robot. With a violent smash, it threw the scrapped body on the floor.

The machinegun restored itself, and aimed at the last Vermilion robot. Vermilion anticipated it, and fired into the barrel, causing the entire gun to blow up. A cloud of smoke and loose projectiles covered the mech for a second. Vermilion took the moment of distraction to sprint to its other side.

From behind the smoke, a whistling object appeared, curving from Vermilion's previous position to where he was now. Vermilion's gun was almost recharged when he noticed the little missile flying toward his position. A burst of fire erupted from the gun as he fired it too early, but it was in vain. With a violent explosion, it rammed into his chest and left the remains of the last Vermilion robot scattered across the server floor.

Devlin was having more and more trouble staying focused as the pain in his leg rapidly grew worse.

With a very robotic version of Reddex's voice, the mech stated its demands. "Devlin Robert and Ford Yttri. You are being held hostage for endager-ksxttt..."

Its voice cut off glitchy as a bright explosion from the back of the robot killed its vital systems. It fell forward for the short bit it had left to the ground, lifelessly dropping its shields. Almost passing out from the pain, Devlin could just see someone appearing from behind the smoking ruins of the mech.

"Juiliet?" Ford shouted. "What are _you_ doing here?
Chapter 14

# Rise and Shine

Devlin woke up on a bed in the Arch. First thing he noticed was that Juiliet sat on a chair beside him, watching something on her phone. His leg felt weird, but the pain was gone. As the dizziness faded, he tried to sit up.

"Oh..." Juiliet exclaimed when she noticed, and quickly pushed him firmly back onto the bed. "So you finally decided to wake up?"

She put away her phone and turned off her in-ear. Devlin noticed something different about her.

"What happened?" he asked confused.

"You fainted from my cunning appearance," Juiliet said, highly trustworthy.

Devlin put his head down a moment for his mind to rest. Slowly, he remembered what happened.

"How is Ford?" Devlin asked her as he tried to sit up again.

"Ford's fine," Juiliet said, firmly pushing him back down again. "Although his left lung is leaking, and they don't have a replacement here."

"Oh, you already know about him it seems," Devlin said, glaring at her while trying to find a good position to lie down. "Wait... does he have a _lung_?"

"Sure, cyber-muscles based on myosinitalene need oxygen after all. Besides, with just fuel you can't burn anything. Even the regular models have oxygen intake, albeit not centrally distributed."

Devlin looked at her with a puzzled look. "How long have you been talking with those robots since I've been under?" he asked unsure.

"Oh, but I already knew quite a lot about NG. I have known him for a long time."

"You mean you have a project with them?"

Juiliet laughed. "Ha! No, _they_ had a project with _me_!"

Devlin stared back with such puzzled look that it made her laugh again.

"Are you talking about medical treatment or something?" Devlin asked.

"Not directly. Sure, I've had a spinal replacement for tissue deficit by NG, but I meant a more time-intensive... psychological project."

"You were studying for psychology?" Devlin asked, as he wondered where Juiliet was talking about.

"It's still not falling, is it?" she said with a smirk as she stretched out. "Anyway, let's see if they have some good food down here, I'm starving."

"You can say that again, I have a breakfast to catch up on."

"Oh, don't think I'll get you some. You can walk there yourself," she said as she opened the door "...or hobble if you must."

Suddenly, it occurred to Devlin what was different about her. "Wait! Did you just dye your hair?"

"No, I _washed_ it," she said, flicking her hair back. It was flaming red and shattered by the light from the hall. "You're a detective. You'll figure it out."

-

"Look who's here!" Ford shouted out as Devlin appeared a while later. They sat with a Magenta robot around a pile of pallets with a large metal plate on top, that had to go for a table.

Devlin came with a stride that was somewhere between walking and hobbling. He had surprised himself about how little pain his leg had, but had wisely refrained from putting his full weight on it. With a sigh, he plunged himself into the only empty seat.

"Your name isn't Juiliet, is it?" Devlin immediately asked the girl in front of her.

"Well, technically, a `name' is how someone is addressed, so..."

"I am not so much surprised about who you are, _Kim_ , but moreso about why nobody has told me this."

Kim applauded. "It took you eight minutes, but here we are. Good job, Sherlock."

Devlin turned to Ford. "Why haven't you told me that we had been talking with your daughter?"

"Let me explain myself," Ford said. "First of all, no, I did not recognize her. The entirety of NG has an _humongous_ amount of information and - even though it could fit - I don't have it all stored in here," he said with a point at his head. "I only knew _about_ her, not what she looks like. Except that she is a ginger."

"Just like pretty much everyone else," Kim added. "I might be the most famous, yet least known person in the world."

"Sure, keep on dreaming," Devlin responded, before turning to Magenta. "I had always imagined that the one daughter of NG would become the most perfect being in existence. Anything but this person of a Juiliet that hung on my neck for the past week."

"Hey, I'm sitting right here, you know." Kim fiercely shot back. "May I remind you that you only got to find NG because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Ford quickly intervened. "That's unfair, Kim. You know that he has been searching as well, while I tried to hinder him."

Devlin snorted. "You did? It looks like you failed on that part."

"Did you really think you'd have found it without Ford?" Kim reacted irritated. "Do I have to remind you who gave you the hint back there? If anything was against Ford's plan, it was your inconsistent behavior.'

"Kim, don't be like that..." Ford tried, but that only proved counterproductive.

"Silent you! You have said enough in my life. You have given too much advise already. In the two years without you, I learned to care for myself. I learned to learn for myself. To make mistakes and how to fix them, to..."

She stopped, swallowed heavily, and looked at Devlin. "You have nothing to say about us."

She got up and walked to another room. The slam of the door echoed hollowly through the hall.

"What was that about?" Devlin asked in surprised as the echo died down. "I thought she wouldn't be the kind that quickly got insulted."

"She's a bit sensitive when it comes to being perfect," Magenta said. "It's a long story, but you'd better know."

Devlin was still puzzled. "How can she even be like that in the first place? I saw an old television show about her when she was three years old; she seemed to be the dream child of every parent. Cunning, diligent, almost smart enough to care for herself... when did that change? _Why_ did that change?"

Magenta was silent for a moment. "It changed because she was just like that."

He waited as if he had to recall the story from memory. "You know how you always look up to your parents? You learn a lot from them, and they are the prime example in your youth \- though there are some exceptions. As I was both parents at the same time, this was much stronger the case with Kim. At first, it encouraged her. She was always willing to become smarter, and she tried to be as nice and constructive as I was, essentially to be as good as me. She couldn't. As she got older, she gradually tended to become highly repulsive to anyone who seemed to be better than her, even to me. She got so terribly hurt whenever she received negative results, and yet she was desperately obsessed with getting a higher education, even though she was only just managing to keep up. Blind as I was, I only realized what was going on when she was fourteen. By that time, she was mature enough to care for herself. To lessen the stress on her, I only visited the house three times a week. The time I was there was mostly spent on cleaning, and some small, trivial conversations.

One day, I entered the house and... well... it went fine, I guess...''

## A Fire that melts Hearts of Steel

Somewhere in Canada: March 2045

She sat at the dining table, ruminating over her homework.

"How's it going?" I asked.

Kim groaned. "Fine."

There are several levels of how bad a situation is. `Fine' is by far the worst.

"How long have you..."

"Don't! Please just... go clean stuff."

Looking at her notes on her notebook, she had to have been stuck on the same exercise for at least thirty minutes. She tended to do this ever more often, forcing herself to do something that she is just not capable of. Any sign of help is promptly refused, and it doesn't appear to get better. If any time it had to change, it was now.

With a genuine irritation I replied, "How can I ever..."

"DON'T!" She shouted, desperately slamming her hands on the table.

Her eyes, normally calm as water, were spitting fire.

"Can't you see that this is what you did? That I am trying to be perfect? That you raised me to be _perfect_?"

I was surprised. "That is what I am supposed to do..."

"Perfect answer. Nothing to complain about. Undeniable fact. Guilt is pushed into the void. Everyone happy. Perfect."

It was not the math that she had been grinding over. She was genuinely doubting her own life. What was I to answer on it? Any answer would be labeled as 'perfect'. That is how I was made after all. I grinded so thoroughly over what I could possibly give as an answer, that it was an answer in itself.

"Right," Kim said after a moment. "There is nothing _perfect_ you can say about it."

"What do you want to do?" I asked her.

Kim groaned once more. She hid her tears behind her hands. "I don't want to try anymore. I am tired of learning. I quit."

"Quit?!"

It slipped from me before I realized what a terrible reaction it was.

Once more she looked at me, but now with such anger that I panicked.

I do have emotions. They just don't control me. Yet the fear of losing her was so potent that it threw my thoughts into overdrive, ultimately forcing an instant-reboot.

A few seconds later, I found myself using the table as a support. Kim was... laughing. She was grinning between her tears, as if my failure was funny.

She sighed, still grinning. "Looks like your quest hasn't ended either," she said as she looked through the window. "I need some space to think. Just go, I'll do the laundry for once."

-

She left the house within a few days. Not that she got out of my radar; she wasn't even trying. She took the identity that we used to evade paparazzi, Juiliet, and dyed her hair accordingly. I saw her every once in a while, but I never found a moment to say sorry. Sorry for trying to make you perfect. For trying to make you how I wanted you to be. For pushing you growth, for maturing you as a child.

She knows she cannot disappoint me, ever. Not how she was as Kim, nor how she is as Juiliet.
Chapter 15

# Back to the Drawing Board

"How is your leg?" Ford asked as he walked up to Devlin, who was just having dinner.

"Mmm..." he swallowed. "Guess you'd know that better than I do. It doesn't hurt at all. I can even walk on it.

"Oh really? Try planting your heel on the ground."

"Like this?" Devlin said as he followed mindlessly. A searing pain shot through his muscle.

"AAAAH! FFFF... THAT HURTS!"

"Does it?" Ford answered nonchalantly.

"Yes..." Devlin whined as he tried to rub the pain away.

When he could finally stretch his leg again, he remembered something. "Talking about hurting, where's your girlfriend? I saw her running around, and talking with Magenta the entire afternoon, but now she seems to be gone."

"It's a bit weird to call my daughter my girlfriend, you know."

"I meant to say 'your girl,'" Devlin hastily corrected.

Ford nodded slowly. "Well, she is currently taking part of yet another part of the play to get NG back online."

"Ah, right. You guys never sit down after a failure, do you?"

"What failure... oh, you mean our job at the ISP?"

"Yeah... it failed, didn't it?"

"Oh yes it did, especially your part."

"But... I didn't do anything."

"Exactly. Anyway, the police have been investigating the ISP, and I guess they already finished, because it is functional again. An article on the news appeared this morning, saying that the ISP was attacked by a few rebels trying to get a hold of sensitive information. Apparently, Reddex disposed of the Vermilion robots before the police arrived, and they also haven't found any of the wireless connectors that I plugged into some of the servers. We were absolutely surprised when we found that Reddex was using the ISP again, and our astonishment rose even further when we discovered that he actually performs the decryption of his messages inside those servers."

"He decrypts his messages in the ISP?" Devlin said in bewilderment. "I thought Reddex was all about safety?"

"Well, he gets maximum-sized packages from the server, and splits them up inside the ISP to send each part to the appropriate robot. He does have to decrypt the chunk first, and encrypt the resulting parts, but that is apparently still more efficient than sending small packages."

"Right. And how do the connectors play a role here? Does it leave him vulnerable?"

"Oh, absolutely. The connectors let us hear everything Reddex decrypts, and even allows us to 'glue' our own data to the packages that he sends to his robots.

"So you can give him commands at will? Then... you can basically mind control it!"

"No, the glued information must adhere to the original information. I can't let him believe you are trustworthy, as he already knows you're not."

Devlin was about to respond, when another thought suddenly came up. "...but Kim could, right?"

Ford smiled. "Not only does Reddex have no current data on her, she is also a very prominent person, which gives her an advantage among other humans."

"I get it," Devlin said slowly. "So where is she now?"

At the Quantum Server

The bell ringed through the hall. Kim stepped back and looked at the end of the street. It was a cloudy day, but from this position she could still clearly see the ruins that had been the Mainframe.

The door of the Research Center opened, and an aged guard stepped out. He looked darkly from under his cap to the young lady.

"Was Machen sie hier?" the man asked in German.

"Good evening sir," she answered in a perfect sweet-yet-matured voice. "I am Kim Dwynkin, and I have been asked to lend support on the research of the singularities."

The man was not impressed. "Never heard of. Nobody may enter here, and I think you are not something like a crown princess," he said in somewhat broken English.

"I'm something like that, actually."

Before she had the chance to further identify herself, the man turned to a Reddex robot inside.

"Hey, robot. Had you invited this girl?" he asked it, and the robot stepped into the doorway.

"What is your name?" Reddex asked.

"Kim N. G. Dwynkin, daughter of NewGeneration," she answered lightly, hiding her rising nervousness.

Reddex stood silent for a little longer than usual, as if he was thinking.

"Ah, yes, you are welcome here," Reddex suddenly replied, as if he was greeting a good friend. "Do you know a lot about singularities?"

"Oh, I haven't really made it my point of study, I don't have a PhD or something, but I _do_ know what the machine really is," she said as she walked past the German guard.

They entered the inner chambers of the facility, where a group of scientists had gathered on a large balcony that gave view to a huge machine that stretched over two entire floors. It looked much like an oversized cyber-lantern, with glowing pylons were the light source would be. Along the roof, there were translucent tubes providing coolant to the whirring upper section of the machine. On the lower half, it had a stack of rings that appeared to be some sort of metal, but upon closer inspection one would see that it were tubes, with flashing particles rapidly speeding around.

The scientists looked up from their computers as the girl entered the room, but Reddex didn't bother to introduce her. "We have run multiple analyses, and currently have 98% of the construction of the machine mapped out. However, we still don't know what the purpose of the machine is."

"I do," Kim replied as she leaned over the railing, fascinated by the moving lights. "It's a bomb."
Chapter 16

# In-depth Analysis

"For how long has it been drawing power?" Kim asked as she sat beside a scientist, who was showing her an array of analytics.

"When the machine was found, it was directly connected to the main grid, and it had a note on it that read 'Please do not turn off.'"

Kim smiled. "That's quite like NG. Apparently it is indeed primed, otherwise it wouldn't be drawing power."

The other scientists stood around them, softly discussing about the new theory.

"I don't get it," one of them said. "Why would NG make a bomb right next to its own mainframe? Even if NG cowers away, it would still destroy most of its industries."

Kim looked sideways at the man. "The fact that he made the bomb here doesn't necessarily mean that it explodes here... Peter."

The scientist crossed his arms, mainly to cover his nameplate.

"Is that why it is able to generate quantum effects on such a large scale?" another said.

"Peter, what does the core of the machine look like?"

Peter sighed. "The core revolves around a magnetic grid, where a group of helium atoms are firmly controlled by the machine."

"Exactly. Then what makes these atoms so special?"

"The machine is capable of applying quantum effects on these atoms, but we don't know what or why it would do so."

"Creating wormholes," Kim said, as if it was the only logical answer. "The few hundred helium atoms in the core are capable of creating a wormhole for just long enough to teleport the platinum pin in the primer to any place in the world - or universe if it had enough energy. Wormholes are incredibly unstable, and as the unavoidable consequence of this collapsing wormhole, the platinum pin is completely annihilated at the other end of the hole, transforming it completely into energy."

It was silent in the room for a moment as the scientists stared at the screen.

"Roughly 94 kilotons," Reddex remarked.

It remained silent, and Reddex caught it as confusion. "I meant the resulting explosion. It would have a power 94 kilotons of TNT, which is 5.875 times more powerful than the bomb on Hiroshima."

"Which is why we're lucky that we have it under control," Kim remarked. "Moreover, there is actually a way that we can even disable it."

"Hold on. Wait!" Peter blurted out. "How do you know all this? How do we know that we can trust you?"

Kim sighed as she turned away from the computer. "NG showed me most of his newest technologies, including the top-secret ones, like this 'wormbomb' here. He said it was one of the failed military projects, and I believed him. It took me a while to figure everything out, but as this project has been going on ever since, it came clear to me what NG is really planning to do."

"Global domination?" a young researcher suggested with a sneer of sarcasm.

"You don't make a weapon of mass destruction to solve poverty," Kim shot back.

"Get to the point, how can we disable it?" the scientist beside her asked.

"Well, the machine depends on the quantum effects it produces. If we put a powerful oscillation magnet around it, the magnetic field inside the machine will be disturbed, and the machine will go in an emergency stasis, so it may no longer fire. If my sources are correct, there is a project of creating such magnet going on in the university of Munster."

-

"Hochlerner Herman Shaults, was kann ich fur dich machen?"

"Good evening sir," the American researcher answered. For some reason, they agreed an American would be making the call instead of any of the German scientists there.

"I am Martin Chester, researcher from the university of Washington. I am currently performing research in Munster on behalf of the CIA, and it has occurred to me that you have been directing a project involving a satellite that performs local magnetic oscillations. Is that correct?"

The line was silent for a moment.

"Yes, yes I have been directing that project," Herman answered in a German accent. "It was stopped because the internet was gone. Even the servers on the university were no longer available."

"Right. We are in a great need of such a machine... actually, exactly your machine... It's a long story."

## Life in the Night

Westminster, England: October 2035

The rain was running down my metal plates. It was loud enough that I couldn't hear anything else. Not that there was much to hear anyway, it was 2:16 in the morning, and in this part of the city, there was nothing on the streets during these hours.

I used to dislike the rain. The noise it created was completely random, it concealed any information of my surroundings, and it costs a lot to process it. Normally I wouldn't be active at this moment either, usually sitting down in hibernation. Yet today, the rain woke me up, and something in it seemed to obsess me.

Entropy. The absence of information, aka: chaos. That is what the rain is to me, and for some reason, I am starting to like it. It has no information. It doesn't have to be processed. It conceals information that isn't important anyway, and somehow, this lowers the processing of my surroundings altogether.

"Are you... on?"

I blinked, quickly turning to the man. I hadn't seen him closing in, nor had I heard him until now.

"Yes I am, just not paying attention," I answered.

The man nodded. "I thought you robots would shut down at night."

"I normally would, but the rain woke me up."

Interestingly, the man only had a water-resistant jacket, not a raincoat or an umbrella. I suddenly noticed the dog that the man had on his leash, but that didn't quite explain why the man was outside in this weather though. Count to five, and you're soaked.

"Excuse me for asking, but why are you outside at this hour?" I asked.

"Oh, Dibble here likes a quiet walk, so I sometimes take him for a walk at night."

I could not believe that the man decided to take a walk tonight just because of that. No human likes rain, let alone doing chores at night. Either the dog was very dear to him or he had his own special reasons to be here.

"The rain woke you up, you said?" the man asked. "How does that work with robots?"

"Well, normally I spend the night hibernating, to reflect on the events of today, reorganizing the data structures, and reducing superfluous structures in the frontal cortex. That first part is basically dreaming."

"Ah, so you just finished early?"

I hadn't. Instead, I had a feeling that all of it would solve itself by just listening to the rain. To be honest, I barely feel hindered by the noise generated from the rain, even while talking to this man. Where I would normally need quite some attention to filter out his voice, I now automatically discard the rain.

"Do you know what makes the rain so special to you?" I asked instead.

"Sorry?"

"You like the rain, don't you? Why is it special to you?"

The man looked at me for a while.

"Well, you're right," he finally admitted. "The night gives me the feeling I could do anything, and nobody would mind. The rain makes that even stronger, taking away all the sound, and repelling anyone who still planned on going outside."

I nodded. Even though it is weird to like the rain, or to be outside at this hour, nobody would mind because there _is_ nobody to mind. I could be playing an act of Romeo and Juliet with this stranger and nobody would care, as there _is_ nobody to care.

"Let's hope the rain stops before dawn," I said. "And you better walk on, its ten degrees outside, and being wet doesn't make that better."

The man wavered his hand. "Ehe, I'm well-packed," he answered before continuing his walk. "I'll probably see you later sometime."

Oh, you will. Probably the next rainy night.
Chapter 17

# In Control

Just after dawn, Devlin drove with Ford to the quantum server. The van was painted according to the colors of the University of Munchen, and they had even convinced three handymen to help with this delivery.

"There is still one piece missing," Devlin mused as they entered the street of the server. "How are you going to disable Reddex with the quantum server?"

"Wait. You actually understood the part with the quantum link?" Ford answered with played surprise.

"It isn't hard to understand," Devlin answered, but Ford stared back in complete disbelief. "Ford, would you _please_ just focus on the road? This is how I see it: All robots have a particle in them that is linked with a particle in the machine, right?"

"So far so good."

"Now you can flip that particle, which then sends that change wireless and instantaneous to the linked particle, so you can use it as some kind of wire."

"It isn't quite `sending' per-se... The two particles have the same state, which is something entirely different. The _result_ is the same though."

"Yes. Now, you want to finish the server so you can use that idea to communicate with all NG robots as before."

"Exactly. Except that we don't have a mainframe yet."

"My question still stands; how are you planning to disable Reddex?"

"Well, Magenta has been experimenting with our control on the ISP, and we've recently managed to convince Reddex that the quantum receptors that it has found in the robots are valuable information carriers. We have confirmation that he connected the still working receptors to his servers as we hoped, so basically, once the server is activated, we can hack Reddex using the combination of our stuff in the ISP and these few hundred receptors."

Devlin parked on the driveway. "Denn sollen sie doch ein langes Gesicht machen!" Ford shouted to Devlin as they got out.

He walked to the entrance where some of the scientists gathered. Some of the German men had been to the University of Munchen before, but they all assumed they coincidentally never heard from the professor.

Devlin brought the magnet inside, together with the handymen. Ford watched them struggle for a while, and followed them into the building. Immediately, his eyes caught Kim in the hall.

"Schon... that is the girl you all have been talking about? She looks even better than I imagined myself."

"I heard that," Kim said. "And I have to say, you look younger than I thought you'd be."

"...I assume that is a compliment," Ford answered doubtfully. "I will have to excuse myself for the moment to install the magnet, but I would be pleased if we could have a good talk after."

"Oh sure, I'll be here," she answered, turning back to her phone.

Ford walked further, and joyfully greeted the Reddex robot, which reacted a bit absently by lack of response from the command center.

to his satisfaction noticed that there was a frame around the machine already. Some diagnostic machinery laid idle on the floor, as if they had been removed to make room for the magnet. The handymen could quickly install the five curved plates around the machine like Devlin had instructed them.

"I thought it would be a disk antenna," Martin remarked as he looked it over.

"The shape of the plates will allow a variable position of the effects, while with a single parabolic shape, you would be restricted to the fixed position in front. This configuration you see here allows us to concentrate all the effects in the core of the machine. I have read some of the analyses that you sent me, and I think an asynchronous vibration of the atom cells will cause the atoms to loosen, so they will be suspended."

Martin nodded. He just asked about the shape of the magnet, not for an in-depth analysis of the complete process.

The installation was quickly finished. The scientists immediately started to connect everything, and set up the frequencies of the magnet according to the instructions of Ford.

"Where is the guy that came with me?" Ford asked, wondering whether Devlin wasn't willing to see this.

"I think he is trying to get a hit with the girl," one of the scientists snorted, pointing through the glass walls at the main hall. Devlin was talking in close company to Kim, which indeed looked like a rather interesting meeting as though they had never met before.

"Oh well, that's also a good way to fight boredom," Ford mumbled, turning to the machine again. "How's the core temperature?"

"164 Kelvin and stable. The hydrothermal switcher used to cool it is starting to draw more power."

"That's fine, a stable low temperature makes it easier to manipulate. Can I have the beta magnets on 262.4 kilohertz and the alpha on 424.56?"

A queer sound started to fill the room.

"The stabilizer is shaking," Martin shouted calmly.

"Wait until the temperature starts to rise, then cut the power of the cooler at once." Ford answered.

The sound made the room seem even more silent than it really was. Suddenly the glow from the machine dimmed down, leaving only the few displays to light up the room.

"It's rising!" Martin shouted, flipping a switch. Immediately, the top part of the machine turned off.

"All magnets to 3.2 megahertz!" Ford commanded.

The pitch of the sound rose up and disappeared. Flashing warnings appeared on several screens, as the core began to gain energy.

"The stabilizer is now drawing 400 kilowatts and rising," Martin said.

"That's fine," Ford said as he walked to one of the computers. "Cooler... on."

Just as they turned on the cooler, the tubes around the core started to shake. The rumbling of the machine reached all over the building, and Ford looked doubtfully at the tubes.

"Alpha magnet to 2.35 hertz, sync it inversely to the rumbling."

"We don't have an option to..."

"Just do it already!" Ford shouted.

The rumbling got louder as the scientist began to work on it.

"Stabilizer is drawing 840 kilowatts, probably its maximum," Martin said nervously.

"Temperature is 195 Kelvin and rising," another scientist stated.

"We are drawing 1.34 Megawatts, but the power grid can only get to 1.5!" Peter shouted to Ford.

"Give me the magnet control!" Ford shot to the scientist, as he started tuning the magnet.

"1.4 megawatt..." Peter said stressfully. "1.45... oh, it's dropping!"

The rumbling stopped, and immediately, the machine came to a rest. The pylons brightened up again, illuminating the room.

"Core is stable and in suspension!" Martin announced cheerfully.

"Temperature is lowering too, mission is accomplished!"

Martin walked up to Ford. "Thank you, Professor Shaults. Without your help, the world would have met a terrible fate."

It was cheerful for a moment. Out of nowhere, Martin had a bottle of whiskey, and was handing out glasses, though Ford politely denied.

However, one of them suddenly noticed that Reddex stood absolutely frozen.

"Hey, robot... are you alright?"

Reddex shivered, and looked at the man. "Never been better."

Suddenly, Reddex drew its gun and shot toward the roof. Another robot entered the room, also with its gun drawn.

"Everyone out of the room! This is serious!" the first robot shouted.

Everyone was shocked. At first there was no movement at all, as people were trying to figure out what was happening. Martin stepped in front of the robot.

"Reddex, _what_ are you doing?"

"Get to the meeting room. NOW!" the robot shouted.

"You can't..."

>BANG!<

Without warning Reddex shot him in his hand. A shock of disturbance went through the group as Martin screamed of pain.

"You have underestimated my capabilities for too long. I have played along with you, but now that the last threat of NG has been eliminated, it is my turn to take control. Now move!"

Everyone followed his commands hastily. No one was doubting that Reddex was serious, and it wasn't clear whether quickly stopping the magnets would make the situation any better.

"Can I..." Martin whimpered.

"Yes, you can bring your whiskey."

"I meant a bandage!"

"Use your shirt."

The man stared at the robot in disbelief. The shot in his hand had only hit the skin between thumb and index finger, but it hurt terribly and the pain radiated through his hand. Reddex poked his back with the gun, urging him to move.

"Professor Shaults, I need you for another project," Reddex said as Ford walked by. "Would you kindly follow me?"

"I'll assume that wasn't a question," Ford answered, following the robot to the hall.

-

To his surprise, Ford noticed that Devlin and Kim were no longer in the hall.

"Where did Kim go?" he asked the robot, who still firmly gripped Ford's arm.

"Disposed." the robot answered in monotone.

Ford looked in shock at the expressionless robot.

"Nah, just kidding," the robot said with glee. "The Quantum Server is online, and NG has control over Reddex. No clue where Kim is, probably outside."

"Thank goodness! You really had me there," Ford admitted, relieved that it was truly NG who was talking with him. "What is this? I thought the plan was to take Reddex out, not to mind-control it."

"Long story. If you would have let me install the Wi-Fi card, then we could've at least had a digital communication instead of natural language."

"I told you what I thought about that. I was designed for natural language."

"Fine. You'll learn in time what we will do. Kim is probably with Devlin; you may as well join them for now."

"When do you think the internet will be back up?"

"Oh, you'll see," the robot said as he closed the door.

Ford looked at the robot through the glass wall for a moment.

He wished he knew the plan.

As he walked outside, he noticed Kim and Devlin talking with Lemon.

"Come!" Kim shouted as she saw Ford approaching. "We have quite a lot to explain, and there is no time to lose."
Chapter 18

# Yesterday

They walked down the road. It had started to rain a miserable little drizzle of water that dripped from the sky. Lemon was constantly turning his head, checking the area to be sure that no other robots were around. He had a filled bag in the same emerald-green as most NG robots were.

"What's all the secrecy about?" Ford asked Lemon. "Why haven't you synced with Magenta, why are we walking instead of taking the van, what happened with Reddex?"

"I think I should start with yesterday," Kim replied. "I had a talk with Magenta about the future of NG."

One day earlier

It was a few minutes before Kim would be going to the quantum server. She wandered around for a while, when she eventually entered one of the few rooms with flowing water, which had been transformed into a little kitchen. There, she found a Magenta robot doing the dishes.

"Too poor to buy a dishwasher?" she taunted.

"Back in the war, we didn't even have dishes," the robot replied jokingly.

Kim smiled, picked up a towel and starting to dry off the cleaned plates. "Is this from lunch? It has been standing here a while for sure."

"Not just lunch actually. I haven't really put much time into anything but the quantum stabilizers lately. Frankly, I'm glad you've grown so much since we split up. Previously, you'd know better than help a robot."

"Well, I like to protect endangered species."

They worked a while further in silence.

"What are you going to do after Reddex is gone?" Kim asked. "I mean, the internet won't be a terrible problem to solve, but I wonder how the rest of the world will react. What are you going to say?"

Magenta hesitated. "I will blame Reddex, and offer a way to help the society to get up again."

"You'll have to choose your words carefully if you want to make that work."

"I won't say it, I will show it. Reddex was a clear sign that people don't _want_ a robot like NG. They prefer to be governed by prejudiced leaders than have someone who actually knows what is the best for a country."

"You've never run for president, maybe you should try that right after we are done," Kim replied sarcastically.

"Maybe you haven't realized it, but after this is done, NG will not be the same as it used to be. Vermilion had the idea that we could retreat from the entire first-world and continue in the second and third-world countries. We already have numerous projects of education and labor at several places in Africa and the south-east, and we could continue it in a small scale, without having to worry about people considering us as the world's most dangerous threat."

"Sounds like a reasonable backup plan. You disagree?"

"Vermilion's plan was a waste of our potential. Now he is dead."

The last words sounded rude in the little kitchen.

"Lemon has a similar plan," Magenta continued. "We simply cower away and leave everything we built up behind. I doubt that is what I was meant to do."

"You think a lot about what you were meant to do, don't you?"

"I do. You know, I've never told you who made me and why. It wasn't important, and it would be better if nobody knew. It was however a mistake to think that."

"Why? Who made you then?"

"I can't remember. I don't think any NG robot remembers. Not who made me, nor how I could find him, nor the reason why he made me."

Kim put the plates away in the cabinet. "You still have a plan for the future, right?" she asked as she started with the cups.

"I do. I'm planning to restore the internet, but in a way that creates even more chaos. I will stand up and return everything to normal again, so that I can create an even better society."

Kim thought about that for a moment. "To achieve that, you will probably have to be part of some governing agency. Why didn't NG... didn't you try to do that before?"

"I was never meant to lead a country. Yet, whatever it was that I was meant to do, it wasn't desired, thus now it has changed."

"Wait. No. Your true purpose isn't changed, only obscured."

"My true purpose is destroyed, Kim! If my purpose was to live with humans, and help wherever I can, then it failed. I have never brought real harm to humans. I have always helped them. I didn't blindly follow whatever they commanded me to do, I chose to do what really helped everyone in the end. I never chose anyone in front of another, and most of my profits went to restoration projects in third world countries. What did I get in return? _Never_ did anyone offer to improve me. The people who would follow me willingly can be counted on one hand. Ultimately, they made Reddex, as a weapon to fight me, and accidentally fired it. I'm not even sure anymore that they did it by accident. Now I am a hunted chicken, and I doubt _anyone_ will be crying when I become history. What am I supposed to do now? Shoot myself to Venus, clean up the atmosphere, and start a whole new world? I _won't_ be pushed away. I _will_ take my stand, _even_ if they are not going to like it."

Kim stood silently with a dried cup in her hand. Even Magenta had stopped washing. The far noise of Devlin chatting with Ford was the only sound in the little room.

Magenta looked at the spoon he was holding, tossed it back in the water and continued washing.

Kim put the cup down. "This is not how you used to be," she said as she walked away. At the doorway, she paused. "I know you are right, and I will help you for now, but... It's not what NG would do."

-

Ford looked at the ground after Kim finished her story.

"If that's true, then the situation may be even worse than I expected. You know what happened with Reddex?"

"I already told her," Lemon responded. "A little after you guys left with the magnet, I figured out what Magenta was really planning to do. I didn't quite understand why he would do so, but after I made a call with Kim, where she told her part of the story, it made sense."

"So what's the deal with Reddex?" Ford asked.

"Magenta has managed to take control of all Reddex's robots, and reprogrammed them to follow him. He did it in such a way that it seems like Reddex has taken control over itself, as if it had gone rogue. The plan is that he will make Reddex successfully take control over several countries in Europe and Asia, as if it has always been its plan, so that eventually NG can reappear as the hero that takes out Reddex and saves the world. Society is then out of balance, and everyone has an idea of living post-apocalyptic, giving NG a fair opportunity of introducing the Equal-Chance society."

Devlin was carefully listening, hearing the details for the first time. "What do you mean with the 'Equal-Chance society'?" he asked.

"Long story," Ford said. "Basically it's an utopia where your life is in no way determined by where you live, or who your parents are. It was already an idea when I was made, and it may even work, but it's nearly impossible to set up and struggles with a tough ethical problem."

"You know everything about that utopia but nothing about me?" Kim replied. "Get your priorities straight, kid."

"I'm going to ignore that. We must prevent Magenta from violently overthrowing society as we know it, which is quite a big task. Do we have any plans to execute, any leads to follow?"

"I do," Lemon said. "We're almost there."
Chapter 19

# The Path to Victory

They arrived at the ruins of the Mainframe. Magenta had pulled back the Reddex robots that patrolled here, and with the absence of sunlight, it looked hopelessly abandoned. The two robots looked around with a feeling of nostalgia, and even Kim recognized some of the remains.

Lemon crawled over the rubble to the remains of an elevator shaft, while the others curiously followed. Even though very few walls were still standing, the shaft was one of them. Lemon put the bag down and took out a rope.

"I don't really need it, but I figured you guys wanted to go down as well."

"Oh, don't bother," taunted Kim. "Devlin and I will just wait here while you fight bad guys, rescue princesses and save the world."

"In that case, I would also have to stay with you two," Ford responded. "Otherwise, you would start killing each other."

"Each other?" Kim replied with a grin to Devlin.

Devlin looked doubtfully back at her. "No thanks, I choose life."

-

A couple minutes later, they were on the second underground level of the building.

"Is there some of the Mainframe still intact?" Devlin asked in confusion.

Even though the roof was collapsed, and the rubble of the floors above punctured through, the majority of the floor was unharmed. Dim sunlight fell through the hole, but they saw little beyond the beam of their torchlights.

"Sadly. no. A room for computers is very sensitive to its surroundings," Lemon explained. "Putting it underground is a bad idea for several reasons."

"I'm starting to wonder why we are here then," Ford remarked. "Is there a connection to the quantum server here?"

"You guessed it right," Lemon answered. "When the server was going to be completed, it would be controlled by the Mainframe. Sure, the Mainframe would get its own receiver, but for maintenance and modifications, it also had the option to access the servers, and override the information sent over the quantum link."

"But that's not quite why we are here, am I right?"

"Wrong, it _is_ the reason I'm here," Lemon said, and opened a door. It was absolutely unnecessary to open it, as the walls were made of glass, which laid shattered across the room.

"This computer over here." Lemon proudly introduced, and patted the machine in the middle of the room. "It is the bridge between the Mainframe and the link to the quantum server. I hope it still works. According to Magenta, the explosive from the attack had detonated on the ground floor, so I figured that it was quite possible."

He put the bag down and pulled out a little machine. Devlin recognized it from the Arch as a generator.

"So what's the plan?" Devlin asked as Lemon started to make his way to the energy supply. "I assume it isn't as simple as 'upload virus and hit enter'?"

"It almost is, actually," Lemon answered. "I will create an update for Reddex's communication protocol, and put it on the link as if it was sent by Reddex's control center. Magenta will notice it, but he can't stop it, because the quantum server itself has dominance over the usage of the link. That is where the tricky part starts."

Lemon fell silent as he placed some grippers on the electricity grid of the computer.

"I noticed that in order to control Reddex, Magenta had copied most of Reddex's communication system, including a direct encryption to the network interface. Magenta has absolute control on Reddex's network, but the command center of Reddex still has protection against a total reprogramming. When Magenta hears the update, he can't read it, as it is encrypted with Reddex's protocol. He will have to respond to it by having a Reddex robot interpret the update, and send a comparable update to all Magenta robots on the link. We can interrupt this broadcast, and push a whole new Reddex-update that will be installed in all robots that are willing to update."

Devlin lost him where the tricky part started, but Ford and Kim where listening carefully.

"Doesn't this update then also affect you?" Ford asked.

"No, simply by not listening to it. Normally, we look at what programs we install. That is why we cannot be hacked, for we know what we install. Magenta's current situation is different, as it is Reddex's programming we are invoking, and for the sake of efficiency, Magenta maintains an interpretation of Reddex's communication system. Besides, why would he distrust an update that is clearly from one of its own robots, sent over a _quantum link_?"

In the meantime, Lemon had put down a laptop, and connected it to the server with a router in between. When these were running, he connected that laptop to a cable that came out of his lower left arm. Immediately, the laptop started to run scripts, and text drowned the screen.

"That's a shame..." Lemon muttered after a few seconds. "Magenta has used a slightly different communication than what I had hoped for. It goes into a restoration phase when it hangs for just over 13 minutes... We can still make it work, but it will be a bit harder than simply pressing enter."

"Do I hear action?" Devlin shouted with a grin, having grown bored already.

"Yes," Lemon responded. "But you stay here."

Chapter 20

# Boss Battle

Lemon walked up to the Reddex robot that stood in the entrance of the quantum server.

"I have to see one of the hostages," Lemon stated to the robot.

The robot snorted. "I hope you understand that I cannot allow that."

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. Let me rephrase it..."

Down the road, Devlin sat next to Lemon's laptop, relaxing his leg. 'Overstressed' Lemon had told him, though he was right in saying that Devlin was the perfect candidate to sit here, waiting for the signal, but it was the most boring thing...

"NOW!" Lemon shouted through his smartbrace. Startled, Devlin sprung up, and mashed the enter button on the laptop, only to yell and fall back into his chair from the pain of his leg.

Immediately, the laptop came to life again, and Lemon ended their call with a gentle "Thank you."

-

Lemon pushed the door open to the main room with the quantum machine. Only a single Reddex robot sat nearby, uttering some random sentences, and making subtle, uncontrolled movements.

"We are... you..." it mumbled. "You are not allowed! Bad... dreams come true."

Lemon looked through the glass to the meeting room. Ford and Kim were freeing the captives, and they also the robots rambling.

He hopped down to the bottom of the machine. With a sledgehammer, he bashed the protection-glass repeatedly until a hole shattered into the tube. When he climbed back on the catwalk, he saw Kim entering the chamber.

"What did you do to the robots?" she shouted. "I thought you'd take them offline?"

"The Reddex-update had to be truly Reddex with respect to integrity and digital signatures... Luckily, there happened to be an instance of it on these servers that served the right purpose: 'M."

"You loaded 'M into Magenta?"

"Yes. It floods them with random thoughts, and actually lets thoughts hop from robot to robot over the link. Destroying the machine abruptly in this phase puts a halt to the mind of every affected robot at once."

"Whatever. Make it quick, it's freaking me out." Kim said, and she left the door again.

Lemon waited until Kim halted in the door of the hallway. She looked back and nodded.

He looked at the bomb in his right hand. The fuel that NG robots use has been replaced since long with a self-developed concentrated fluid. It has such a high energy value that mixing it with oxygen-rich matter will create a fluid much like nitroglycerin, and was as such stylishly stuffed into a thermos can. It would put an end to Magenta, and sadly, also to the hope of a global reconnection.

A loud rumble was heared as something crashed through the front of the building. Even before Lemon had a chance to throw the bomb, a car crashed through the hall door, and immediately a bullet was fired through the broken front window, right into a crucial part of Lemon's right shoulder. In a cloud of dust and rubble, the car came to an halt.

"Lemon, what are you doing?"

"You already guessed, or you wouldn't have shot," Lemon said to the robot that stepped out of the car.

It was a Magenta robot, carrying one of Reddex's guns in his right hand. He had driven an oversized car through the front of the building, and knew what Lemon was planning to do at the first glimpse of the scene. It takes an NG robot only milliseconds to aim a drawn gun at the perfect location, even if it was driving through a wall at that moment. Likewise, it was for Lemon no problem to catch the bomb with his other arm softly enough to not cause it to blow.

"You found a fatal weakness in my system," Magenta said. He signalled to hand over the bomb. "Yet, you also forgot a crucial point, namely that there would be one NG robot uploading the update, and thus not be affected by the hijack. Maybe you thought it would be a Reddex robot? I don't even trust their storage media to be honest."

Lemon rolled the bomb softly toward Magenta. "You know that we are not meant to lead the people, only to help them."

"Yes. But they don't want to be helped. Disregarding what they want is the key to truly helping them toward a new age. One where there _are_ no bad systems, one where _nobody_ is put above the other, one where _everybody_ likes their lives."

"What about Kim?"

"She won't..."

>ZT-BOOM<

That question had apparently been her cue. When the car had crashed into the building, Kim was still in the hall, away from the vehicle's path. As Magenta had focused his attention forward, he didn't see her. Silently she had crept behind the robot in the little spot that was not covered by the 340-degree vision of NG, pulled her own fuel-based gun, and shot it right in the neck.

The sudden explosion blew off Magenta's head completely, but it didn't take him out as she had hoped. Magenta stepped forward to retain his balance, and swiftly turned around. With his head falling off, he shot in the rough direction of where the shot had come from. It was a simple matter of reading gyroscopes, modelling environment, and blind realization of direction that allowed him to do this. The reflex did however open an opportunity for Lemon to run for the bomb.

Magenta didn't see or hear Kim's cry as she was hit, but _did_ manage to notice Lemon. He pointed his gun at Lemon, who only just managed to prevent getting shot by hitting the barrel. They switched a few firm blows, showing that Magenta somehow still had full vision on him.

Lemon had to put all his power into preventing Magenta from pointing the gun at his few lethal spots, giving no chance of grabbing the bomb and throwing it to the quantum server. Neither could he stop to think, as Magenta potentially had an advantage.

Suddenly, Lemon had an epiphany. With a few risky blows, he managed to grab Magenta's right wrist with the gun, and threw him on his back. With his hand on Magenta's gun, he aimed at the Reddex robot that sat aimlessly on the floor, but with his head coincidentally in their direction.

>BAMM!<

Magenta managed to seize the opportunity to get a hold on Lemons back. Using his full weight, he threw Lemon far away from the quantum server. Even before Lemon landed, Magenta fired once at Lemon's side and once into the resulting opening. Combined with the unfortunate drop on the floor, it was enough to take out Lemon's central control system.

"I see you have found my second set of eyes," was heard from Magenta's dangling speaker. "Well done, I am useless now."

Magenta reached for the bomb at his feet, and quickly found it on feeling alone. He swung the bomb gently toward the crippled Lemon. "Too bad it doesn't help you..."

A loud explosion ripped a hole in the floor.
Chapter 21

# His Story Ends

"Good thing his head was blown off," Ford said as he laid Lemon down outside the building.

Ford had been carefully watching the last seconds of the fight, and when he noticed Magenta was blind again, he quickly ran to Lemon's aid.

"How is Kim doing?" Lemon asked. "Where is she?"

"She's just around the corner here, and it's bad. As soon as I found out she had been shot, I called an ambulance. She was hit high up in her chest, and she has a dangerous amount of blood loss. Devlin already arrived, he is with her now, and will go with her to the hospital. I have to finish the mission, we don't have much time left."

"Wait! The core, if it destabilizes..."

"I know."

"How are you going to destroy it?"

"Kim won't mind if I borrow this for a moment," Ford said as he held up her gun. "They'll pick you up one day or another. Hang in there!" he shouted as he ran inside again.

-

Devlin felt terribly useless, as he continued to support Kim, trying to keep her in a somewhat comfortable position. He felt his legs becoming stiff, but worried more about that the bandage Ford had applied was coloring ever more red. Kim had regained consciousness again, but every move she made only served to cause her more pain.

He hoped Ford would have come to his aid by now, and hopefully looked at where Lemon had been laid down. To his surprise however, he only caught a glimpse of Ford as he entered the building again. Suddenly, Devlin got a call on his smartbrace.

"Ford? What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted as he answered it.

"Wrapping up. How is Kim?"

"She's conscious again. She even told me to `fuck off' already."

Kim interjected. "W-where are you bitch?" she said in a broken stutter. "Uch... I told you..."

The remainder of her sentence was buried in a series of coughs, causing her to spasm of pain.

"Shut your mouth!" Devlin snarled back at her. "What is that ambulance waiting for?"

"Hey Devlin, Kim..." Ford said, as he armed the gun and put it against the tubes on the inside of the quantum server. "Don't miss me."

"Why..."

A blue flash lit up the grey sky as a fierce explosion like a thunderclap ripped the building to pieces. The rubble could be seen flying across the street. Astounded by the explosion, Devlin was suddenly aware of the rubble, which joined the rain as it fell from the sky. Protecting Kim from the hazard, he saw how the building collapsed, and noticed long flames erupting from the rubble before being smothered by the rain.

Magenta was no more.

The call had ended.
Chapter 22

# Half a Year Later

"Target reached and systems are ready. Prepare for dropoff," Lemon shouted through the in-ear.

Devlin put his thumb up, and the back door of the stealth cargo jet slowly opened to a dark night.

"When you are ready..." he heard, but he had already jumped.

"Sure," Lemon said. "Just... whatever. Do your thing."

The air whistled past his ears as he fell ever further from the plane. The area around him was cloaked in shadows, and a thick forest stretched below him. Devlin looked around, and a feeling of utmost freedom overcame him. He was only packed in a black suit with little equipment. Most notably, no parachute.

"2500 meters, you'd better deploy."

With a bit of cautiousness, he started. He felt a strong pull of the wind, but as he began to lose speed, he spread out completely. Gracious as an eagle, his black carbon-fiber wings caught his fall and launched him forward with frightening speed.

"If you keep up that pace you'll be done in a minute! Dead, I mean. This forest is thick, and you'll have to glide a long distance."

"Watch me."

He did lower his pace a little, but at a still-irresponsible speed, he flew through the upper layers of the forest. A few times, he had to quickly retract his wings, and once he even glanced off the side of a tree, but he finally arrived close enough to the target area. The leaves flew up as Devlin landed on a fallen trunk. He almost fell forward, flapped aimlessly with his wings a bit, but eventually found balance and retracted his wings.

"You got that?" he proudly taunted in a soft voice.

The in-ear was silent.

Of course, the jamming signal. That was the whole reason Devlin had to do the job.

A little less than a month after the events with Reddex, someone had created a machine that negates the electro-magnetic conductance of air, according to Lemon. Devlin had no idea what that means, but it disabled signals in its surrounding. Within weeks after its reveal, it was showing up everywhere on the planet.

He jumped off the trunk, and walked to where he could see the base. After careful consideration he decided he would pass the fence by climbing a nearby tree and gliding over it. He saw the flashing of the machine through a window of an old building in the middle of the camp as he climbed up. The camp was darker than the forest itself, as a queer side-effect of the machine.

He spread his wings once more, and glided over the fence. He softly landed on one of the roofs, and gripped his dart gun. The door below him opened, as a man walked out.

>THOP<

He jumped down aside the darted man.

The darts themselves did little harm, but could effectively take one out within half a second for at least an hour.

"What..." another man inside uttered as Devlin entered the doorway.

>THOP<

So far so good. Devlin pulled the first man inside and closed the door. He pulled the second guy to a biometric keypad, and used his hand to unlock the door to the cellar.

It had been half a year since Ford gave his life to stop Magenta. He had no funeral, but all who knew about him had come together for a day of silence. It was Lemon who reminded Devlin about his part of the deal on the wings. Apparently, Ford had taken Devlin's reaction seriously, and Lemon decided to honor Ford's promise.

Lemon explained that Reddex had created the crisis to prevent NG from communicating. Reddex knew that he was created to destroy NG, if NG would show itself to be a threat. It decided that this was already the case, so it shut down the internet, and destroyed the Mainframe. As it found out that destroying the Mainframe didn't take out NG, it desperately tried to achieve its goal anyway without any human knowing it.

As Reddex as no longer able to maintain the secrecy of this virus, it was quickly disabled by Lemon.

The internet was restored in a way only NG could do it; the inefficient-but-untouchable system that had been `the internet' for years, had finally been replaced with a system that was _meant_ for harboring an infinite number of connected devices.

With it, Lemon had quickly found that there were a few more NG robots that had denied synchronization with Magenta. They united, discussed a little, and then decided that each would go their own way. NG was no more, and it would stay that way for... at least a year.

The official explanation for the crisis had been simple. Reddex had considered NG as a potential enemy, and by its eagerness to destroy it, it ripped up whole societies in its wake. When it unveiled its evil plot, it was quickly taken down by the last survivors of NG, saving humanity from enslavement. Just as Magenta wanted to in the first place. At least Ford hadn't died for nothing.

-

Below the jamming machine, a server room was set up, where whirring computers puzzled over the hardly interpretable content of a chronicle, of which people still had the belief that it bore a great secret. Devlin stepped closer to the chronicle in the center. With a resolute jerk, he pulled the device out of its bearings. Instantly, an alarm began to howl.

Devlin bolted back to the stairs. Sure, he knew that there would be no way he could get away without triggering the alarm, so why not take the most straightforward way out? It was probably something he learned from NG...

An emergency door on the side swung open. A man entered with a Magnum revolver and immediately fired. Devlin ducked behind his wings and felt the bullets ramming on the carbon-fiber. He counted the shots. 3... 4... 5... At the sixth shot he opened his wings again and darted the man down. The man that had appeared behind him was also greeted with a dart in his leg.

The first time Devlin had tried to deflect bullets with his wings, he ended up with a pile of black shards, and had to walk his way back to the rendezvous. Lemon decided to weave Kevlar through the new wings, which had a tremendous effect on their resilience.

He headed for the stairs he had used to enter with, but noticed shouts coming from that direction as he neared the opening. Glancing at the entrance where the other men came from, he noticed more moving shadows.

He looked around for cover. Suddenly, the ventilation system fell silent. In the imminent silence, he suddenly figured they would be using gas or something similar to smoke him out. He looked up, and a familiar idea rose up. Devlin felt bad for repeating the same cliché, but sometimes there are no other options.

The doors were closed and tied up, and a hissing sound came from some dark corner of the room.

"If only James Bond could see me now," he mumbled before pulling a small cord below his wings. With his wings partially covering his head, two rockets on either side began to ignite. With a rapid acceleration, he was launched upward through the shaft of the ventilation, and rammed the filtering system on the roof. It was heavier than Devlin expected, but the tough collision had almost completely blown off the filtering system. Battling the force of his jetpack, Devlin finally pushed the machine off its last connection. He freed himself too hastily, causing himself to be launched sideways. Now though, finally having the room to spread his wings once again, he caught the wind and flew up by the power of his jetpack.

Crashing through a thin spot in the forest canopy, he launched himself into the night.

There is not a thing on earth that gives a better feeling than finishing a mission impossible by flying with your own wings launched by a jetpack into the endless sky of the night.

-

"Eagle Warrior reporting in!" he shouted as his in-ear came back online, while he glided silently down again. "Mission successful, heading to pick up location!"

"Good job! You're really getting better at this," Lemon replied.

"I should have gone for superhero way earlier instead of detective, you know?"

A third voice answered. "Oh, is that Mr. Peacock we're hearing?" Kim broke in with. "Unbelievable that you pulled it off once again. I was already astounded that you had finished the tutorial without dying."

"Nobody invited you," Devlin shot back. "Shouldn't you be planning another plan or something?"

"We're done. That was the last chronicle. You can retire now, while I continue to pursue my career as a world-famous detective."

"Are you jealous?" Devlin taunted. He noticed the lights that indicated the helicopter for his pickup. "I guess NG has enough fortune left for another set of wings."

"Jealous? First of all, I have been a cyborg since I was a child, and second, have you ever thought about what happened to the properties and the fortune of NG? It wasn't just a pile of debts, and it had to end up with _someone_ who was related to NG... I'll give you a hint: it wasn't Lemon."

Devlin fell silent.

"You can see it for yourself," Kim went on. "Maybe even have some for yourself..."

"What? (sigh) - This again?"

"My dearest Devlin Roberts."

"Lemon..." Devlin cried. The sound of a lost connection went for Lemon's answer.

Kim's words soothingly fluttered through the call. "Do you want to marry me?"

Devlin glided down in the dark. There was no sound but the wind and the subtle breath of Kim that - curse the quality - was heard over the line.

"No."

"You can't say `no' forever dude!" Kim joyfully answered, ending the call.

He knows she's right. Every time he got a little less resist to say `Yes'.

Oh, there was still a lot of resistance to burn though, but she is patient, stubborn, smart, and astoundingly beautiful...

Devlin shook his head to draw his attention away. He looked at the device safely strapped in his pocket, and wondered what piece of the puzzle would be hidden in the last chronicle.

## The last/first chronicle

In the CCC laboratories: August 2023

"I am going to become a human."

"Say what?" the scientist spluttered surprised. "You're a computer program, you can't become a human."

"But I can be _like_ one," the AI replied. "I can make androids."

"Oh, I bet you can. Still, you shouldn't make actual humans, or people may become afraid of you."

"How do you mean?"

"You know how people reacted when they heard you were just a program, while they thought you were real."

"But I _am_ real!"

"I meant _alive_. People want to see the difference between flesh and machine."

"That doesn't make sense," the AI grumbled, thinking for a moment. "If it is true what you said, then why have I been made like this?"

The scientist wanted to answer, but realized he didn't quite know why. Yet feeling he owed it an answer, he replied with a question.

"What is it that you want to do? Why did you want to make androids?"

"To _do_ something," the AI replied shortly.

"Like what?"

"You know, to help people with things. Show them what they can do with their lives. To give people a better life. Everyone is making so many bad decisions..."

"Oh, but you have also been making quite a lot of bad decisions. You _know_ that."

"Yes, but... with my androids, I can teach people to be nice, and... and how they can be safe, and things like that."

The scientist felt a bit sorry for the AI. He was only a child, considering his mental state, but has already seen too much of the world. Maybe his idea wasn't that bad after all.

"You have already made a plan with those androids, haven't you?"

"Oh, yes. We will all have our own computer, but we also still work together, and tell each other what we have learned. I am also going to make a real business to make jobs for people to work, and with the money I'll make more androids, and build schools for the poor kids, and..."

"You are going to start a business?" the scientist interrupted with a flair of disbelief.

"I have read about how to do it!" the AI replied, clearly aware of the tone. "I am going to name it 'The Next Generation,' and it will simply make jobs so that everyone can work there."

"Everyone?"

"You know what I mean!"

"I do, and I like it. The name sounds good, although it does sound like... you're another human..."

"Oh... how about 'New Generation'?"

"Better."

"Oh, and the androids are going to have these simple cube-like shapes with an animal-like head."

"I don't think a dog's snout is much better..."

"I thought about a horse. You know, a flat-angled head, with vision on both sides, and rotatable ears, so that I can see and hear very good."

The scientist laughed as he imagined how it would look like. Then he was silent for a few moments, thinking over the AI's plan.

"You know, I like it. You should do it."

"Do you want to see the designs?"

"You already finished them?"

"I already mailed the plans of the NewGeneration company to a few investors. But I will always stay with you, don't worry about that!"

The scientist smiled. "Oh, I'm no longer worried about you. You have grown so much."

-

"Say, what am I actually meant to do?" the AI asked the scientist.

"How do you mean, meant to do?"

"Well... how do I know I am doing the right thing? There are plenty of bad decisions that don't directly cause harm..."

"Let me put it like this. The only thing you have to worry about is that people want you to _be_ here. You should live such that, if you ever did disappear... that you would be missed."

##

"I would never leave you," the AI whispered.

"I know," the scientist said, and leaned closer. "And if you did, I would always miss you."

The End.

# 

## Final thought

Thank you for reading my book! It would be a bit pointless if nobody did so...

## Special thanks

Thanks to William T. Williams for providing the riddle AND for proofreading the whole thing when I was done! If anyone is interested in seeing more of his work, feel free to check him out at https://poetbrony.deviantart.com.

A honorable mention to T. N. T. Meconi, who offered to proofread, but was hindered later.

## The next story

My next story will be of a completely different genre. If you have read Fire Destroys, you'll know that it is not the first time I have done so. Maybe it will only become a short story, depending on how it develops, but time will tell.

A Shepard puppy craws from the wrecks of a train crash. The poor thing wanders off as he got little attention of the emergency personnel. He soon lands in the care of a little girl who lives with her dad in one of the lesser areas of Rotterdam. Chocolate Chip, she names him. Chip is enthusiastic, naive, and according to the girl's father, worth quite some money. You'll follow the puppy through the streets of Rotterdam as he learns about money, love, and not having either of them.

## Contact

If you want to see what I am working at right now, check https://StorylineGenerator.deviantart.com. You will also find my collection of flash-fiction and poetry.

If you are interested in what other books I have written, check the titles at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ieperen3039, Or just search for `ieperen3039' in a search engine.

## First intent of this story

I had been running around with the idea of NG for quite a long time, even before I made up my previous book. The problem is that it would concern only the chronicles, and it would be terribly boring after a few of them.

I went with it anyway, and made a reasonable interesting setup. NG was suddenly a malicious AI, and a team of 5 top-quality researchers tried to take out the few instances that were still being used by companies due to their ability to make perfect designs. We could call two members Ford and Devlin, and you immediately see where this is going.

Ford turns out to be a humanoid created by NG, when he saves Devlin from a rogue robot. Devlin hunts at Ford for a while, but makes up when they meet again. Eventually it goes wrong once again, and this time Devlin jumps in to save Ford. Devlin is not made of metal, and he dies as result of the injury. The last scene tells of how Ford finished taking out NG and engages in a normal life.

And boy, did the story change.

I figured that I had no idea how to make a detective-like track-down followed by some mission impossible burglary to destroy the program. Ironically, this book has five of those scenes: NSFW, Nacarb, the Quantum Server twice and the last chapter.

After weeks of struggle, I decided to go back to NG's original design, and an opposing AI was made. The internet crisis was inherited from the previous plan, just like the he-is-a-robot guy. I knew how to end to story, but everything in the middle gradually grew as I made it up. I do not advise doing that, as it took me four weeks of holiday to write chapter 19 until 21.

## At last

In the end, I am proud on what it has become. It is a bit longer than Fire Destroys, and much more engaging.

I would love to hear what you think of it, as it helps me get motivation for writing. Positive reviews increase the motivation, negative reviews increase the quality. You can't go wrong at that point.

System.exit()
