

### Mac's Lab

Copyright 2015 Rom Gallamoza

Published by Rom Gallamoza

License Notes

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-eight

Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-one

Chapter Thirty-two

Chapter Thirty-three

Chapter Thirty-four

Chapter Thirty-five

Chapter Thirty-six

Chapter Thirty-seven

Chapter Thirty-eight

Chapter Thirty-nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-one

Chapter Forty-two

Chapter Forty-three

Chapter Forty-four

Chapter Forty-five

Chapter Forty-six

Chapter Forty-seven

Chapter Forty-eight

Chapter Forty-nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-one

Chapter Fifty-two

Chapter Fifty-three

Chapter Fifty-four

About Romel Gallamoza

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank my family for inspiring me to write this book. I also thank all the authors of all the books I have enjoyed reading. I admire the fantastic stories they have written and how they seemed to make them come alive. I want to thank the people who created the Internet and the improvements over the years. They have created so many tools to help unknown writers such as myself to get their story out into the world with greater ease.

Chapter One

Mac's lighted round eyes peered through the ship's canopy. A faint reflection of himself appeared on the glass like a ghost looking back at him. The image was that of a dull gray spherical head. There were three triangular ornaments on top of his head that sloped low on his forehead and went up higher to the back of his head. There was a line on his face almost stretching ear to ear that only produced sounds. It only moved and illuminated slightly when emotions were involved. At the moment, his mouth was perfectly straight as he focused through the window, ignoring whatever apparition was staring at him.

He was a typical elementary nextgen, but ahead of his years. He was only on his fourth level of school. Advancing him to the next level of education would have resulted in disorder within the Nextgen School System. Instead, the System made arrangements to allow gifted machines to learn outside the System, which is akin to playing hooky legally.

His friend Andru, another gifted nextgen like him was different in appearance. His face was not as rounded as Mac's. The head ornament was a flat triangular piece of metal, slightly raised. A pointed corner faced the middle of his forehead. He had a bigger mouth to go with his big smile. The eyes were round, but bigger, watching Mac keenly, trying to determine what is processing in that rounded head of his.

"My mother said that the anomaly used to be in that direction near that other super-sized planet," Mac said. "Unfortunately, this is as far as we go before we get into trouble. You know?"

"Yes, the time limit. If only we were space miners." Andru said.

"They do not possess A.I. They are servants."

"Right," Andru thought about getting around the problem for a moment but decided against it. "Did we have to travel all the way here? We broke the rules just by leaving the planet. I thought we can see the same thing with the Giant Space Telescope back home."

"It is not the same as being here and seeing things up close with your own eyes. Just let me collect some data I need for tweaking the ship. I want to make it go longer distances and fly at faster speeds. You do not have to come with me next time."

"Well, you know me better," Andru said, satisfied with the answer, "but before you do your measurements, let us make one more pass around that moon."

Andru gazed through the left side of the spacecraft's window. "There it is. I knew I saw something shiny."

Mac turned the craft around to see for himself. "Yes, I see it too." He prepared the descent to the moon officially designated as Arch 4.3 and later landed this ship near a pile of metallic debris.

The standard machines do not possess the same capabilities as the space miners. Mac developed and tested an exosuit that would help him and Andru survive the extreme temperatures and radiation of space. Its flexible qualities allowed it to move with Mac and Andru's solid shapes and angles of their mechanical bodies.

The craft opened up to allow Mac and Andru to egress. They stepped on the alien moon's dusty surface and walked towards the crash site as fast as their machine driven bodies could take them.

"There is not much left." Andru said.

Mac said nothing. He continued to scan the twisted mess of metals and parts. "There are no signs of biologicals."

"It may not have been a ship."

Mac thought about for a minute. "I think the craft was not transporting biologicals. This one may have been collecting planetary data and transmitting them somewhere. It was also delivering a message. See that disk."

"The silver one?"

"There are two of them. That one is not broken." Mac added. "The one broken may have been used to protect the second one."

"Alright, but the second one is really scratched up, especially in the middle."

"Yes."

"Lots of great parts to scavenge. Our ship is big enough to bring most of it back."

"I am only taking the disk. There could be information here more valuable than the other junk and I will be the first to discover alien secrets."

"No. I am going to figure it out first."

"Sure, Andru."

Chapter Two

The speed of Mac's spacecraft can cover hundreds of millions of miles in an hour. The trip between Arch 3 and Arch 4's moons was relatively fast considering the incredible distances between the planets beyond Arch 3.

As Mac got closer to the light gray planet, he started to realize the reason for its color even after making several space trips. The majority of Arch 3 is built on glass, metal, and concrete-like material. The buildings that covered most of the planet were flat. Rarely were there edifices over two stories. However, almost every structure has dark solar panels on their tops. On Arch 3, the two primary sources of power came from the star, Arch Zero and from the surface winds.

Through the ship's window, he was able to make out the shape of the spaceport with all its white runways crossing one another.

Mac pressed a button and spoke, "I am almost there. Please pick us up."

"I will be there," replied a voice in the pilot compartment.

Cam was a late middle nextgen in the eighth level of school and acted more like a mature machine ready for the next stage of his operating life. He walked out of his home station, acting as if looking for something. His neighbor Axe, another middle nextgen noticed and stepped outside to investigate. He had a vague idea why Cam was looking upward.

"How are he and that other nextgen able to see the GST without your parents?"

"Our mother works as a control administrator for Space Technology Facility and our dad is a maintenance manager for STF."

The information gave Axe a long pause. In a way he was jealous.

"Yes. I understand. Why have you not gone up there?"

"Well, here is the thing," Cam said. Axe felt a long story coming. "There is no way I am going to ride one of those multipurpose or mining ships. They are too slow and bulky. I ordered a kit for a rocket racer and was going to build it myself. The engine compartment was delivered, but it was too heavy to move around. Mac took notice and wanted to help. So he built this large lift servant to help me carry and move the engine and other heavy components."

"Good for him."

"It worked for a short time."

"Oh."

"The thing collapsed and took my engine and the rest of the ship with it. I was so mad."

"I can imagine."

"He wanted to fix it, but I told him to leave me alone and to not to touch any of my things from now on."

"I think I would have done something else."

"I hate him, but he is still my sibling. And he is also more intelligent than most machines on Arch 3."

"I see why he does not do normal things. What else does he do?"

"Not much else. He only likes to create..." Cam noticed a craft descending for a landing at the spaceport. "I think I see him. Got to go and bring him back to our home station. Catch you later, Axe."

"Yes, Later."

Chapter Three

The Space Technology campus consisted of many plebian rectangular white buildings. At the center stood the massive Space Technology Facility or STF, which was shaped like a circle. Inside the light blue colored building was a great plaza for the machines to gather and socialize during breaks or other social events but those things rarely happened. The citizens that were working there were busy as bees.

The normal cycle of activities was cut short suddenly as a big loud voice bellowed overhead through the STF's public announcement system. "Gently shut down all activities. All workers must report to the gathering area immediately."

"He is here. Super Administrator Ram Netstrike has arrived."

Sera Connect formulated a response but did not verbalize. _Great. Now we are going to be behind schedule even more._

"You are not energized?" Her co-worker, Rosi said.

"We can always use a break from all our demanding actions." Sera said dishonestly. "Maybe he will have a solution to make the Giant Space Telescope see better."

"Yes, he will."

_You could not tell that I was lying?_ Sera voiced in her head. _Your secondary senses have not developed._

A mass of similarly formed metallic bodies moved out of the building and collected at the open area nearby. The only distinct features were on their heads. Each citizen has unique ornaments. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to tell them apart. A towering figure stood at the middle on a platform that made his two times size even taller. He had the trapezoidal shapes typical of all super administrators, but only larger. The top part of the body is larger and gets slightly smaller towards the bottom. The head is similar but more compressed. There were two lighted eyes on a long curved, but rectangular piece. An unlighted divider in the middle of the eye section made it look like a third eye. Triangular earpieces bulged straight out with short antenna sticking upwards. A long black mouthpiece highlighted the bottom of his face. He is Ram Netstrike.

Below him, were support administrators comparable in design except they were one and a half times the size of the average citizens. The support administrators' heads have features and ornaments that varied wildly to determine specific functions. Also surrounding him were senior administrators and managers of the STF. Sera was not invited.

Ram turned his head, three hundred and sixty degrees to scan the workforce of STF.

"Workers of the Space Technology Facility, it is an honor to be in your presence. Thank you all for your services. I would also like to thank STF Director, Vern Brown for hosting my staff and me for this occasion. I would like to apologize in advance for taking you away from the important work that you do.

With improvements on the GST, we will be able to identify planets that are suitable for colonization. We are not there yet and for the time being we will explore the planets in our own Arch 0 star system.

As you know, Arch 3 is running low on resources. Gathering resources from planets and other solar bodies in this star system cannot keep pace with our consumption. We also do not have the technology to travel faster than light to visit outer systems; presently, it will take us many thousands of solar cycles before our explorers discover a planet that we can colonize for our future generations.

Extracting resources from other planets virtually expend the same amount of energy and materials we put in. Some of the resources we require are in very cold planets. What supplies were able to produce are only good enough to sustain our normal operating lives.

As you know, if we do not get the elements we need to grow and maintain our world, I am afraid Arch 3 will eventually go into a hyper sleep state."

Among the large crowd, the sounds of concern and surprise filled the air simultaneously.

Sera softly said to Rosi, "Interesting way of saying our planet is doomed."

"He is not saying that at all," Rosi quietly fired back. "Ram is a conservationist. He is looking out for our survival."

"Never mind me." Sera pretended to act if corrected.

"Please calm your alarm state." Ram Netstrike continued. "I have a plan to maintain our society forever if you follow my directives."

Chapter Four

On the mass commute home, Sera was anxious to be with her unit.

After a fixed amount of working hours, all workers were allowed to go to their home station and rest their weary components, especially their over clocked processors. For even machines degrade over time, especially with long operating hours.

She thought that the Netstrike speech started off well, but later became long winded. The information that was presented was really nothing new. The delivery was different because it was via voice and face to face. She appreciated that the Super Administrator showed that he cared for the workers, including local administrators like her. But the timing of the speech was very inconvenient for her. She had to find time to make up work on the next day since overtime was not allowed, mainly for energy conservation. Normal work time was already taxing to her central processor.

It took eighteen point two minutes to walk from the mass train to her home station. Today, it took nineteen point five minutes. She noticed the dirt and stain on the white two story building, its roof slightly angled to capture solar energy during the day. After a momentary pause, she entered.

"So how was the speech of Netstrike?" Osker said. He is Sera's female mate and the father member of unit Connect.

"You were there too." Sera said incredulously.

"I would like your analysis."

"And I rather not discuss now."

"Okay," Osker said. He knew the right times and the wrong times to keep the conversation going and now wasn't the right time.

Sera felt guilty for not talking to Osker more about Ram Netstrike. There were a lot more topics to talk about than about him. "How are the children?"

"They are fine. Mac and Andru went up to see the satellite for a very long time."

"I am in wonder about their fascination with GST," Sera said.

"Mac and Andru. They think they can improve the sensitivity of GST a thousand fold. They should be entertainment writers."

"I do not know about them being writers, dear Osker. I have worries about them. Their creativity and fascination for knowledge will generate more information and eventually exceed their memory capacity at their young ages. The other thing that I worry is that they might actually attempt to modify Arch 3 System property."

"Sera, you and I are doing the best we can to make sure they do the right things. As far as memory capacity goes, they could always download and store new information to extra units."

"But that is the problem, Osker. There is not enough. I also do not think they like to put their data in System property. They do not trust their hardware."

"I understand.... The new directives make it more difficult to produce more memory and possibly more nextgens. Our Schools for Nextgens are going to be in danger of..."

"Danger? What danger?" Interrupted Sili, an elementary nextgen and the earliest model of the Connect unit.

"Nothing, Sweetness."

Sera noticed something wrong with Sili. "What happened to you? How did you get that dent?"

"I am not allowed to reveal my information," Sili said stiffly, as if hard wired to repeat a prepared response.

"I am a parent unit. I override your restrictions."

"I am not allowed to reveal my information."

"I have a new mecha-dolly for you."

"Mac modified my dolly merry-go-round," Sili answered, now eager to volunteer. "He said it was too slow. Then he changed the speed and it went super-fast. All the dollies spun out like rocket ships and busted some things in my room. One of them hit me, but I am okay. The room is fine now."

"He cleaned up the mess, but did not have time to fix you?" Osker asked.

Sera, protective of Mac said, "Do not worry, Osker. I will have a chat with Mac."

"I will take care of Sili. It is actually not much of a dent. I do more damage to myself at work and here at my workshop."

Sili continued, "Mac fixed my merry-go-round too, and it works better. There is no problem that Mac cannot solve."

Osker and Sera looked at each other, surprised at her response. Sili wasn't angry with Mac at all, even if he didn't repair her.

Sera fabricated a response, "I believe you, Sili." With that, Sili left the room.

"You built some pretty sharp nextgens dear," Sera said.

"It was mostly your programming for intelligence that made them what they are."

"It takes two to produce."

Sera changed the subject before they end up yielding some unplanned nextgen. That would have violated the three nextgen max rule of new citizen production. The Connect generation could only continue if both parents have ceased to operate.

"That Mac," she said, "is very good at repairing things and even better at designing new products."

"He is very handy to me. It is difficult to keep up with your things to fix list."

"I think you mean household chore list."

"That is exactly what I meant," Osker joked, "but seriously, as long as Mac is not altering any Arch 3 System property, he will be fine."

"Still, our System frowns upon unauthorized modifications and products. Sooner or later, the System is going to crack down hard on his capacity to invent."

"I know. Mac is a still a good nextgen. He listens to us and stays within the rules."

"But you know he does break the rules and is deceiving. He is good at it." _Especially to you._ She added silently. "By the way, where is Mac?"
Chapter Five

The Arch 3 System Staff Administrators gathered in the meeting room to provide the monthly System Status Report to the Super Administrator.

"Report, Josh Shay."

"It is getting worse." Inside his metallic body, a state of uneasiness was felt. He did not want to continue to say anything more, but he had a job to do. "The amount of non-compliant activity is increasing every day since the new directives have been implemented. Instead of conserving resources, more materials and energy has been expended."

"That is very unfortunate. What is your recommendation?"

"I think we should relax some directives. The number one rule that the citizens are upset about is the limitation of memory storage in the Nextgen Schools. We should start with this."

Netstrike looked around at his staff. "Let us elect for a decision right now. Who is for the removal of limits on the schools?"

Five lights illuminated on the chest of five of the ten Super Admins.

"I shall break the tie. We will keep the memory limits but I will compromise by making a modification to Rule 13-501.1. I will reduce power only to any under performing schools. Those with substandard performance shall be shut down and the adjacent schools will absorb the nextgens that lost schools. In addition, underutilized workers can still have their nextgens attend instructions, but the parents' power must be cut off."

"That is a brilliant mod Super Administrator," Josh Shay said. "The workers will be pleased with our consideration of their nextgens. They are our future." In his computer-processing unit, he knew that the compromise would not necessarily appease everyone. _That is why he is Super Administrator._ He computed internally _. He makes the tough decisions_ _,_ _but does not have to live with them._
Chapter Six

"I have heard you have been spending lots of time in space."

"Yes, Mother," Mac said, "but I have been in my room too and keeping busy."

"You are changing the subject. I want you to limit your trips. Once or twice a solar cycle should be enough."

"I know, Mother. I am still trying to figure out ways to improve GST."

"I know you are, Mac. Now what else is keeping you busy?"

"I cannot tell you, Mother.... Bye the way, I made something for you, and it is a surprise."

"When will you tell me?"

"At unit charging time. By the way, do not do anything to prepare the charging. I will take care of it. You can go rest a bit."

"Okay." But by her logic, the decision to allow this is the wrong one.

In the unit charging room, all members of the Connect unit except for Mac sat around a white ceramic bench. Osker, Sera, Cam, and Sili chatted together while they waited for Mac's surprise.

"Are you not going to serve the main battery?" Osker said to Sera.

Although the machines can communicate wirelessly, it was more efficient to express information at close range. Wireless took too much power to transmit information and scan for messages all the time. This form of communication also had several disadvantages that taxed Arch 3's ability to protect itself from all kinds of electromagnetic energy or EME. Electromagnetic energy affects every machine and equipment on the planet and managing EME problems uses up valuable resources.

"Somebody volunteered to serve today," Sera said, glancing at Mac.

"I present to you, my flying servant drone creation."

A small hovering craft entered the room and slowed down. Hanging below it was the large, heavy battery, the power source from which the Connect unit will drain. The flying servant drone was getting itself ready to perform the next action, which is to hover over the center of the bench. But something was not right.

"Oh, no," Mac said.

The flying servant drone struggled to lift the battery and the craft dropped a few feet. To compensate, the device spun its propellers with more intensity, but it hit the ceiling. Once it did, the drone and the battery crashed hard on the floor.

"You just wasted our power source," Cam complained.

"I am so sorry."

"Mac, clean up the mess," Osker said. "This time, I will get the battery."

"Yes, Pop."

"Please, do not make any more servants. We can do the work ourselves."

"Yes, Mother."

"There is something wrong with your programming, Mac!" Cam said angrily. "You need to be fixed!"

"That is enough Cam," Sera said.

In the home station nearby, the Rotos were having their unit-charge gathering. Sam, the patriarch of the Rotos and Mara his mate, sat next to each other before the main battery. Their only nextgen, Axe provided the cables to allow the entire Roto unit to hook themselves up to the battery for charging.

Mara started the discussion. "I've heard from the administrators that change is coming."

"That is only a rumor," Sam said. "There is nothing official."

"What if it happens? Both of us will not be working. But I fear there is something worse. I cannot talk about it right now."

"I can hear you," Axe said, feeling annoyed and ignored. "You might as well tell me before I find out myself."

"The rules might be changing, Axe." Mara said. "The memory storage restrictions for the schools might be lifted, but the cost may be that parent units will have to go to sleep state to save energy and allow their nextgens to attend school."

There was silence in the room as Axe chose not to respond. The Rotos continued their power charging for almost an hour. Not wanting to talk more about school, Axe changed the subject.

"I do not think our neighbor Mac is following the rules. Cam does not care for Mac but he will not tell me about his activities. If I can prove he is up to no good are we going to be compensated? Maybe the administrators will exempt us from the rules."

Mara and Sam looked at each other. They did not understand Axe's obsession with nextgens who appear to break the rules and not get penalized. He despised non-compliant behavior and became more opinionated about it as he got older.

"We will see," Sam said. "You should leave him alone for now. The Connects have been very helpful to us. They have supported us in the past and I know that they will continue to provide help if we are in need."

"Fine." Axe replied and left the room without a complete and full charge. The Rotos knew it was no use in convincing him to stay. If the sleep state lasted a long time then their only hope was that when he matures that he becomes a productive member of society.

Chapter Seven

Mac attended his basic digital electronics class, involving yet another set of instructions that bored him to tears if he could produce any. Luckily, he was able to process at least two thoughts at the same time so that he could at least pretend that he was paying attention. He delved into advanced astrophysics to analyze if there was a connection between the reported anomaly and the spacecraft he stumbled upon.

The teacher, a servant class machine, asked the question, "What are some of the ways to convert binary to hexadecimal? Cog?"

"Convert binary to decimal using weighted multiplication and then convert decimal to hexadecimal using successive division."

"Good. Give me another method. Nufor?"

"You can group the binary number digits in groups of four. Turn each group into hexadecimal numbers and string them together from left to right."

"Great. That is much easier, too. Anymore? Mac?"

"Get a calculator with a binary to hexadecimal function and type in the binary digits to be converted to hexadecimal."

"Hahahaha!" The classroom erupted.

"That answer is acceptable," the teacher said.

"Oh come on." A voice in the room said. "You can say that for every conversion problem."

"But it is still another way and I specifically called out the right type of calculator."

"Mac. Too smart. Too weird," another voice in the class said.

There are many ways for a machine to solve a problem or do a task. Picking up an object was a perfect example. The machine had to determine if it was possible to pick up the object by analyzing the weight of the object and make a decision to try or not try to lift the item. What part of the object can be used for grabbing? How do the body, legs, arms and hands have to be manipulated in order to access the points for grasping? What is the proper torque for each joint or movable component of every body part for the act of picking up? What calculations have to be made to prevent tipping over? Where will the object be taken? What formula is needed to determine how much energy will be expended?

All the nuances of every problem solving and task performance would take an exorbitant amount of memory, especially with each generation of the growing machine population. Thus, more memory had to be produced. To manage memory demand, it was better to train the machines on these skills and allow their own local memory inside to store their own unique methods for coming up with solutions. Access to the Arch 3 Network with its almost endless array of databases was like a second brain for every nextgen and citizen. The machines did not have the technology to pass every minute information inside from generation to generation. Every machine would literally be the size of the planet to maintain the knowledge of everything.

But there were still many problems that Mac could never figure out. He sensed that many nextgens in his school did not like him he did not know why. However, he was able to compartmentalize these questions to be solved another day. He had another matter that was more important to him and that was to unlock the mysteries of the silver disk.
Chapter Eight

"I still have not cracked the code," Andru said. "If only the instructions on how to operate the disks did not get damaged."

Mac examined the cover disk. "Yes, most of the markings have been scratched. What is on the second disk?"

Andru took the second disk and held it close to his face. "I have scanned this thing many times. There is no magnetic information in it and it is also scratched up. See all these perfectly scratched lines going around in circles?"

"I do not think they are scratches. Those are grooves and they may hold the key."

"Well, that is interesting."

"Can you duplicate the disk? Let us see if we can both come up with new information about it in parallel and save time."

"You and me both. We are in this together."

"Just remember, stay low key."

Andru's eyes brightened more and made a wicked glance at Mac. "Look who is talking. You are the one that could get us flagged for trouble. Try to act like a normal nextgen."

"Okay," Mac said laughing. "But the best way we can keep our little secret is face to face chats. It is risky to communicate by air or wire. We could easily be tapped even if we scramble the lines."

Andru formulated a response. "Then we should schedule our get-togethers more random and with less frequency."

"Agreed."
Chapter Nine

In his Control Station, Ram Netstrike considered initiating more conservation plans but decided to postpone them. He summoned Josh Shay.

"What I do for Arch 3, I do for our survival."

"I know, Master. I believe that the workers also understand what is at stake. They have no choice but to support you. You have provided hard data to describe the problem and the engineers and scientists have backed up your concerns."

"I am not so sure about that, Josh Shay. There is a minority that is non-compliant for reasons I do not know. Because of that, I will implement more security on the network and all supporting machines."

"How far down would you like me to take this?"

"Down to all devices big and small, even embedded systems."

"Super Administrator, with all due respect that will consume a large amount of resources. In addition, we do not know exactly how to protect all our equipment. There are too many devices and too many ways these items can be compromised."

"Well, devise a plan to solve this problem by the end of the day or I will find someone else that can."

"Yes, Master."

"And one more thing. Tell the Task Manager to start identifying the underutilized workers."
Chapter Ten

A four-legged machine circled around Osker's workbench, interrupting his work on repairing a motor for a pressure washer. Osker was fascinated. It looked like a servant machine, but it wasn't doing any work.

"What is that, Mac?"

"I made this new toy, Pops. It is like having a new friend."

"Friend? You need more friends? Take this machine, Andru for instance," Osker said teasing. "He could be a good friend instead of your personal slave." Andru's face and body illuminated a blush response.

Mac chose not to respond to the slave remark. "Actually, this toy is more than a friend. He is the newest member of our unit."

"I suppose he has a name?"

"5N00PR. But I just call him Snooper."

"Ha. You just made the numbers and letters look like a word," Andru said, amused.

"Four legs?" Osker asked.

"Still compliant," Mac said. "As long as the color is dark blue, any servant can have any shape and physical attributes."

"Do not forget weight, power and intelligence limitations," Osker warned, "that will drive your shape and physical tradeoffs."

"I know, Pops".

"So, what does it do?" Pop asked while working on the motor. He applied power to the electric engine and it generated a humming sound.

Snooper stopped moving and turned its direction of the motor. Suddenly, it jumped up on the bench, grabbed the electro-mechanical part with its front two legs and chomped it savagely with its jaws.

Osker grabbed Snooper and tried to separate it from the motor. "Mac, make this stop!"

"I command you to stop!" Mac ordered, but nothing happened.

"Andru, take the motor," Mac said frantically. "I will help you Pops."

Osker and Mac pulled Snooper away from the motor. In the process, all three fell back in opposite directions. Many tools and parts around them scattered from their resting place.

Snooper was moving about in random directions, but without the wild behavior.

"Why did it stop biting?" Andru wondered.

"I think that when the motor stopped making noise, Snooper ignored it. I programmed him to come to me when he hears his name or clapping and whistling noises. He did not handle the sounds of the motor properly. It was as if the noises were hurting him."

"Look at the damage you have caused, Mac," Osker interrupted. "Disable that thing and clean this place up. Let me know when you are through. You are not allowed to perform any experiments or make any more devices in and around the home station. Your work is damaging our home and it is not safe. Just act normal like Andru for a change. Understood?"

"Yes, Pops."

After several minutes of clean up work, Andru spoke up. "What are you doing with this new machine anyway? I just came here to check if you have found anything more about the disk. I suppose there has not been any progress."

"No," he admitted.

"You know those scratches that goes around and around the disk?"

"Yes."

"They are grooved. I think those grooves contain mechanical information. The wavy cuts in the grooves resemble sound waves."

"That is very good, Andru. Snooper has many parts I can use to test your theory."

"Are you going to dismantle Snooper?"

"No. I am just going to modify him."

"But where? I do not think you can build anything here anymore and there is no way my parents will let you use their home station."

"I will tell you later."

After Mac had cleaned up Pop's workshop, Andru went back to his home station. Osker and Sera got together in the entertainment center room to talk about Mac.

"That was the final mistake," Osker said. "I told Mac to dismantle all his creations and undo any mods. He is not allowed to make any experiments in the house again."

"Did you tell him why?"

"Yes, Sera. He seems fine with it and agreed to do normal things with Andru."

"He put up no resistance?"

"None that I can detect."

"Okay," Sera said. _We shall see how things go from here._
Chapter Eleven

Mac arrived at Andru's home station and buzzed the gate.

"Hello, Mac," said Chip Mos, Andru's dad. Mate Teri was right behind him.

"Andru and I are going for a walk. We need to exercise our legs. We have been spending too much time playing computer games and viewing entertainment videos."

"We welcome that, Mac," Chip said. "I rather you do that than break my home."

Teri nudged Chip on the side. "I apologize for my mate. Sorry, Mac."

"I was only joking, Mac."

"That is okay, Chip. I deserved that. I messed up too many times."

"Excuse me, Mother and Father," Andru said, while trying to egress.

They took off and walked away from Andru's home. After a block of walking, Mac made a revelation. "Take my lead and never mention this to anyone."

They walk out of the section of home stations and to an industrial area. Beyond the large flat buildings were defunct facilities. Mac entered one of the smaller structures and Andru followed.

Inside, there was a large open light grey room with several steel lab benches with black counters. The place was bare except for a few parts, electrical measurement equipment and tools. To Mac, the room was like a cathedral. The ceiling was high exactly 5 meters in height. Large I-beams supported the top and smaller trusses intersected them. The trusses suspended narrow rectangular lightings but the area was barely bright. The white fluorescence somehow bathes every surface in a bluish hue. Several light gray vertical columns jutting through the floor were scattered evenly. Some of the benches were equipped with hoods that vented through the ceiling. The hoods could have been used for cooking or for expelling toxic chemicals. As the two stood on the dull alabaster metal floor, Mac could not help but admire the lab despite being here several times before. This was the perfect place for Mac to hang out, work or play.

"Welcome to my lab," Mac said triumphantly. His eyes, mouth and lamps had a certain glow to match his mood. Snooper was also there.

"Hi, Snooper and thanks," Mac said, patting him. The four-legged machine seemed to enjoy his touch.

"Thanks for what?" Andru asked.

"I programmed him to locate an abandoned building that no one cares about and he delivered. This is a secret place in a secret location. Nobody will find us here."

"More experiment?"

"I am just doing what I have been told."

"No more building things in the home station. Right."

The two chuckled.
Chapter Twelve

"It is done," Ram Netstrike announced to his staff of administrators sitting around the elliptical conference table. Managers and other support workers surrounded them. "The new directive contains a series of new rules and all have been approved unanimously. The rules will be rolled out gradually to minimize the impact it will cause to the citizens. Some of the responses will be negative. In anticipation of these responses, the Super Security Administrator will incorporate safety measures to the network, servers and other devices to prevent criminal acts from those who desire to be non-compliant."

"Fry Rickard," he said to the Super Post Master.

"Yes, Master."

"Deliver the new directive to the mail servers. It must be received to the citizens before I provide the Arch 3 System Status Report to them."

"Yes, Super Administrator."

The support staff prepared the room for Ram Netstrike's speech to the inhabitants of Arch 3. The announcement will be delivered live by video to the citizens before their scheduled sleep mode. Night on Arch 3 was the best time to conserve energy due to the lack of sun energy collected on solar panels. The taped video message will be delivered at different time intervals to account for the other time zones where citizens are still sleeping.

Netstrike started speaking.

"My fellow administrators, managers, workforce and all the citizens of Arch 3, I have news that I want to personally deliver to you. I have put forth directives that will ensure the survival of Arch 3, our world and the inhabitants until new solutions can be found to rescind them.

These rules may be received as harsh, but I assure you that the reason for these directives is not to hurt but to help. There are several rules within the directive, but will not be implemented at the same time. Each rule will be introduced at different intervals to minimize any inconvenience. The directive, the associated rules and all its details have been delivered to you by now. A schedule when each rule is released is included.

The first rule of the new directive is the limit of nexgens. From this day forward, only one nextgen will be allowed for each unit pair.

The System decision was not an easy one to make. But what I do for you, the citizens I do to protect our System and ultimately our planet."
Chapter Thirteen

"The grooves in the record have bumps and dips," Mac explained to Andru. "There must be a way to turn that into an electrical signal."

"A very tiny and pointy object will do if you ask me," Andru offered. He looked around and found a thin needle-like shard of metal. "Like this one."

"I have some wires to connect to that piece. Once I build the device to convert the vibration into a signal, I will feed it to the speakers of Snooper."

In half an hour, an apparatus was built to run through the grooves of the record.

"I am not sure where to start and what direction to start."

"No problem," Andru said. "There are only four combinations to try. Let us try the outside groove first and in the counter-clockwise direction."

Mac took the pointed metal and slowly ran it along the groove. A strange sound came out of Snooper's speakers.

"Sounds like something familiar," Andru. "Try clockwise starting on the first groove outside."

Mac obeyed. What they heard shocked them.

"A voice," Mac said.

"That is impossible!" Andru declared. He stopped applying pressure on the disk.

"This is quite a start and turning out easier than I imagine," Mac said. "I am going to put a disk spinner on Snooper. Instead of using a needle to receive the vibrations, I will just modify a laser to work the same way. The analog signal can be converted to digital and this way I can record everything to a memory device. You think you can create the spinner and adapt it on Snooper?"

"We may not get much information with all that damage," Andru said, examining the disk.

"I know. We will get what we can and maybe fill in the gaps later."

Andru looked at the four-legged machine. "Sorry, Snooper. We have to tweak you again."
Chapter Fourteen

Jorna Park was a late elementary nextgen on her fifth level of school. Her feminine qualities were lovely for a machine and she was very intelligent. Like all female machines, the head was more oval than her male counterparts. The decorative ornament on her head resembled hair, but it was basically a one-piece shape with curved grooves that start from one point on her forehead and out. The ornament almost covered her head like a helmet, but converged to form what looked like a ponytail that drooped on her right side. The tail was shaped like large beads bound together. The eyes illuminated a faint yellow-white glow, its outline were human like. The mouth was shaped like a flat triangle with one corner facing up.

Her parents were workers who had already been placed in a sleep state until the so-called "Resource Crisis" went away and she already knew that it meant indefinitely. She hated the System for this, but understood that the only way she could save her parents was to solve the System's problems. There was no way she could fight the System, especially on her own.

She was in the process of testing other materials for her research on alternatives to silicon-based memory. It is the hope that the technology could fit more information on current memory units, but the limit reached was difficult to break. The only solution was to make more memory components, but as Netstrike revealed to the masses, the materials to build them were becoming rare. _So why is the System not providing resources into research and development?_ She wondered to herself. Cara Unger, who appeared agitated, interrupted her train of thought.

Cara is a mousy machine smaller than the average citizen. Although members of the Unger unit were extremely smart, the rules of the System placed them into work categories that were not of the higher classes: engineer, scientist, administrator, manager or director. There were occurrences when a servant class would somehow evolve into machine citizens. The Ungers were one of those "anomalies" that did not have rules to apply. The System's best compromise was to turn them into worker citizens. This was a much better treatment than being a servant but it was still an unfair situation

Her decorative head feature was an arch ornament that curved over her head from ear to ear. The ends curled, giving her a cute appearance.

"He is doing it! He is going to put more security on the servers. We may not be able to see what he is up to anymore."

"How is that? New codes?" Jorna asked.

Yootoo Roks stopped what he was working on with his computer. "Encryption? No problem. I live and breathe cryptography," Yootoo's situation was similar to Cara's. The Roks unit had always carried the same physical specifications from generation to generation. Their bodies were a lot thinner than the norm and not within the acceptable citizen configuration. Alternations were illegal and as the machines became more civil, citizens that were not within specifications could not be destroyed, as was the acceptable practice of the past. The System compromise was to classify the Roks as workers despite their highly advanced artificial intelligence. Like Cara, he became orphaned as a result of the Resource Crisis.

"Well, let us just start at the top and talk about it," Jorna said.

"The communication exchange within the Arch 3 System Network are going to be coded," Cara said, "The server contents will likely be coded too."

"So what?" Yootoo said. "We can still be passive. All we have to do is tap the lines. We can get record samples of the communications and build a dictionary we can use to decode."

"But that takes too much time," Jorna said. "We need to break the code in real time."

"We are going to need help," Cara said. "It will take someone from the inside."

"With all the unpopular rules coming out, I am sure someone is not happy with the System," Jorna speculated. "At least one of them will be happy to offer us the keys to unlock messages."

"At least give me a try," Yootoo said, "I might be faster than you think."

"I bet you spiked battery and fluids," Cara mused.

"I accept."

"Okay, here is the a sample from the coded message we captured."

LTECLSA AH PTEHTNMNR OOA YENCIIL

"Ha. It looks like the letters are moved a little bit. I will put it a program that will take the letters and wrap them in a cylinder. I will let the software adjust the size of the cylinder until we get some words that make sense in our language." Yootoo took the sample from Cara and fed it into his software application. The program visually made the nonsensical group of words acted as if they were in a long strip of paper. The strip was wrapped around a tube object which changed sizes. First the size was very small at 1 millimeter diameter. Later, it grew into 2 millimeters. When the size turned into 15 millimeters, a recognizable sentence formed.

I REALLY HATE THE NON COMPLIANTS

"I am impressed," Cara said. "What made you choose that method?"

"I really do not know. I just had a feeling the words were just shifted a bit. If it did not work, I would just go to another method."

"I think we are done for the day. I owe you some refreshments."

It took no time before Mac and Andru added an apparatus on Snooper to "read" the grooves on the disk and record data. After converting the analog information to digital binary information, more processing was needed to make sense out of them.

With the help of application software that the two wrote in minutes, three types of information became available: audio, images and video.

The amount of alien data discovered by the two curious minds intrigue them beyond belief. They could spend several Arch 3 years to study the records but at the same time they had to avoid discovery from everyone else. They could not trust anyone, including their own parents and feared that discovery meant that the information might somehow be taken away from them.

Revealing the information could change their world and possibly cause some kind of disruption to the normalcy of System. They knew that even the word biological was taboo and the alien disk held proof of the existence of biological aliens.

"Let us call it a day, Andru."

"I think we need to backup all this new stuff just in case we get caught. Someone is not going to like this information and will hide the secret."

"So why not share it? A secret like this cannot be kept forever."

"I do not think the world is ready. We are going to have figure this one out because right now, I just do not know."

"I cannot believe it." Sam said, talking to Mara. "The both of us are not needed anymore. They want us in sleep state until further notice."

"As long as it does not apply to nextgens," Mara said, looking to be an optimist. "Axe can still go to school and watch over us while he is here."

If Axe had been an elementary nextgen, then two things would have happened. He would have been moved to another unit for temporary adoption or a single or childless citizen would have moved in for the time being.

"Suppose they decide to shut Axe off too while we are in sleep state?" Sam said, agitated. "I want him to succeed and get a mate. I want to see it all happen. I am going to file a complaint report to Ram Netstrike himself." The society of the machines is a "grandparent-less" one. Production of nextgens is only permitted if both parents outlive their operating lives.

"Do not do that," Mara said. "Non-compliance is something the System hates. Things could get worse."

"They are worse."

"Poor, Axe. Our only nextgen.... Maybe we can ask the Connects to help us find work at STF."

"They do not make motors or generators at STF. That place only deals with research and hardly makes things."

"They still fabricate products, even if they are for one time. I am sure they outsource that work. The Connects can do us a favor by considering us first in the manufacturing."

"I hate to bother them, Mara. I would rather send the complaint."

"I do not agree with you, Sam."

"Alright. I will comply. We need to talk to Axe first."
Chapter Fifteen

After a few days since their last rendezvous, Mac and Andru met at the lab and were greeted by Snooper.

"You are a good servant, Snooper," Mac said. "Here is a battery for you."

Mac dropped the battery on the floor. Snooper bowed to it and a cable extended from his mouth and connected to the battery. Andru watched in admiration. He just realized that Snooper looked like one of the biologicals in the disk. "You always have some new programming for him. He can do so many things. The idea of making him into a guard was brilliant."

"I could make him self-aware but that will break the rules for artificial intelligence configuration and that could arouse suspicion. Imagine if Norma Compona discovers all these different servants acting like citizens?"

All of the Super Administrator's staff had the "Super" label to designate the highest order of Admins and Managers in the System's organization. Norma Compona is the current Super Configuration Manager.

"Yes, imagine if she sees a real organic life form?"

"That is funny," Andru said, almost laughing. "They do not exist here. If we can find proof then it might be easier for the world to accept them. The Giant Space Telescope is not that powerful to see that close on other planets right?"

"They do not have to be on other planets. I can make them...actually, one for now. The recipe is in the disk."

Andru looked at Mac carefully to see if there was something wrong with him on the outside and outside.

"You are serious? Something is not right with you."

"These biologicals are mostly made out of water and there is an abundance of that from the atmosphere alone. It is their building blocks that are extremely complex, but I can figure it out. You do not have to help me if you are afraid of getting caught."

"No, I am with you Mac." Andru paused for a moment. "Will this thing hurt us?"

"No, judging from the record, the biologicals are peaceful and curious like us. They start out small with no programming and learn as they develop. The growing and learning process has some similarities to our own life cycle development."

"Okay. What would you like me to do?"

"I have a shopping list of chemicals. It is really not that bad. All of them can be found in this industrial zone. What is really great about this area is that there are a lot of abandoned materials available. I even programmed Snooper to sense the exact chemicals we need for you."

Mac showed him the sensor used and how to manipulate it for the substances to sense.

"I see how you built that," Andru said. "That chemical scanner is pretty neat." He turned his focus on Mac's unconventional experiment. "As for the biological life form, what will it look like?"

"It will be a male just like us with one head, two arms and two legs. I am going to try and make it as close to our own image in every way, physically and mentally."

"I cannot wait to see your creation. Once it is built, then what?"

"Biologicals are not built. It is more complicated than that and I am not sure how to explain it. I think 'create' is a better word. But to answer your question, it will be like us. So we treat it like a machine."

"Are we going to hide him?"

"Do not worry. I have a plan and it will work. The biological will mature at a rate twice as us. The disk may be missing a lot of data, but there is still enough information on how it is supposed to be developed and maintained."

"Wow. So much trouble to make a fancy servant."

"It will not be a servant. Like I said, it will be just like us, but it will be very delicate and fragile. I estimate sixty percent water will make up this biological life form."

"This is good fiction for an entertainment video."

"This is real life. Any mistake will also cause the life form to perish in the process. I have studied how we are made up and how we work and compared to us, the life form is more complicated to create. But I am up for the challenge."

"Oh, I know you will figure it out. Someday, I think you will be the next Super Administrator of Arch 3."

"No way. I just want to create and not lead or manage."

"You can create laws."

"Breaking them is more fun.... The laws of what is impossible that is."

"Ha ha. I am glad you cleared that up."

Each day, Sera prepared the battery to "taste" different for charging time during slot sixteen to seventeen and found other things to do after that. Pops was always working on repairs of some machinery in the home station at time eighteen to twenty-two. Cam usually played some form of electronic game and watched entertainment videos after time slot fourteen after nextgen lessons were completed. Sili played with mechanical toys more frequently. Occasionally, the activities would vary but their routines were easy to predict, unlike Mac's.

Mac's schedule was typically chaotic and no one could ever follow it. The best time to sneak to the secret lab was when all four of his unit were busy at the same time.

Solar energy is the prevalent source of energy for facilities and any electro-mechanical device on the planet. The machines also had limited solar conversion to energy capability in case their batteries were drained. Citizens still needed to go into sleep states at some point during the day to conserve their charge, which can still allow them to run up to ten days without charging.

The minimum time for sleep state required by law was 6 hours, but more is better.

After establishing the lab, Mac and Andru slept for the minimum time to maximize time spent with their project.

Cam normally spent his activities in a remote, unit owned garage. Occasionally, he ventured out to walk and exercise his joints to prevent stiffness.

He noticed Axe outside too, and thought about the probability of the event happening again because he knew that Axe hardly ventured outside at all. He made his way to him.

"Hello, Axe."

"Cam."

"Sorry to hear about your parents. It must be tough being on your own."

"I have no choice."

"Your parents did talk to my parents before they went to sleep. It may not be too long before your parents will be working again."

"That is fine," Axe said, "but I do not think we need your parents' help. I can survive by myself." He then turned away and left.

"Good luck, Axe," Cam said. Then he thought to himself, _I feel sorry for you, but you should at least accept help if it is offered._
Chapter Sixteen

Jorna and Yootoo were working in a room independently experimenting with software algorithms for breaking a coded file. Cara entered the room.

"Jorna, you should see this anonymous request. It is also coded."

"I do not understand. How does the requester expect us to do this work? The code looks impossible."

"I think the requester believes we are capable of decoding the message," Yootoo said. "We are the only group that has the best track record."

"Whatever the case may be, this machine does not want the work done on System property and wants to keep it private."

"Well, that is what we are here for," Cara said. "We just do the work to help any machine in need without receiving anything in return. No questions asked."

"Okay, but he or she is new to us," Jorna said. "Let us first get a confirmation from Faction 4 that this requester is not associated with the System.

Ram Netstrike was ready to receive the System Status Report. The Super Compliance Administrator, Rogu Tanee, brought up the topic that everyone was anxious to hear about.

"Non-compliance increased eight percent since we have initiated the temporary power down of select workers. The projected number of thirty percent was never reached at any time. The worse spike was twenty percent during the initial phase of the Worker Reduction Rules. I believe what prevented non-compliance to reach the predicted number is the program to assist the left behind nextgens. Many citizens are also volunteering to care for them as well."

"That is excellent," Netstrike said. "How much energy and materials are being saved?"

"I can answer that," Super Analysis Manager, Wes Govern said. "Twenty percent less energy is being used. There has been a forty-three percent reduction of parts used."

"I do not like the numbers for energy. I think we can do better, but I will defer for another one hundred and twenty days to reevaluate." Netstrike knew that the rule of putting many unproductive workers was going to be unpopular. It affected everyone, even if they were not going into sleep state because every citizen had some connection to at least one worker.

"Josh Shay. How are plans for implementing security?"

"There are still a number of specifications we are working on. The improved codes for encrypting the data and communications have been developed. There are two out of five types of security that I would like to highlight. We are working on physical specifications for ensuring data has not been tampered in any way. The second is technical specifications for ensuring that Arch 3's System is available when conditions are not favorable such as power failure. The development is still on-going."

"Very good. This meeting is adjourned. Josh, please stay. I want to see how strong this encryption looks for the first method."

"Yes, Master."

"How does this work?"

"This code has a shifting process. The key is eight numbers and each number represents the number to shift to the right. Let us say our code is 52163479. The first letter is shifted to the right 5 positions. The second is shifted by 2 positions. The third is shifted 1 position and so on through the eight letter. After eight letters, the process keeps repeating. We do not use spaces. If we use spaces it will help the enemy crack the code."

"I see. Let me try. Suppose I want to code 'HELP THE CITIZENS'? The letter H is moved to the right by 5 positions, which is M. The E is moved by two positions, which is G. The L is moved by 1 position, which is M. The P is moved by 6 positions, which is V?"

"So far so good."

"Yes, the final code is MGMVWLLLNVJFHRZ."

"Very good, Master. However, this is a very simple version. The real code has a key that is 200 numbers. Sometimes we will shift positions to the left. Sometimes both. We will change those numbers everyday."

"Good work, Josh. Let us go out for special battery charging. I know a great place."

"Thank you, Master."

Chapter Seventeen

"So there are four basic building blocks that determine how a biological is made?" Andru said. He had analyzed the contents of the disk and contributed information that Mac may or may not know already. Usually, Mac understood the data in question before Andru, but it did not stopped him from trying to impress him. Just coming up with the same conclusion as Mac's was satisfying enough.

"Yes."

"However, the sequence of these building blocks is paired in a double helix shape. The total number of pairs is three billion, two hundred and thirty four million, eight hundred and thirty thousand. That is a big number."

"It is not too bad. I just need to know how two percent of them work in order to design my life form. The term that is used in the disk for the large sequence of building block pairs is Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. These little molecules provide instructions on how the organism will be developed and how it will function. I based the physical details from one of the life forms in the disk images."

"Did you start already? I will be shocked if you did."

Mac turned towards a cube shaped device on the wall. He took the front screen out and a glass tube was shown, filled with a liquid. At the bottom of the tube was a soft and pink-white looking piece of matter.

"Is that the life form in that tube?"

"The process has begun. I created a delivery system for the genome I designed to enter a receiving package with its own genome. When these two systems combine, magic happens."

"Magic? There is no such thing."

"I know. But once the conditions are right, things happen automatically."

"Because the of the DNA instructions?"

"Correct. But there were a few conundrums to overcome. In order to make the organism, the process needed another organism. The receiving package is one example. It is called an egg."

"And the biological delivery system is the sperm."

"Ha. You have done your homework."

Andru's lamps illuminated which indicated a blush. "Not really.... What happens when the sperm and egg combine successfully?"

This is the part I call magic. A new set of DNA instructions is created and starts to multiply from the egg. The egg grows with the new instructions and life happens."

Mac continued to explain about another big problem he had to solve in order to make that magic happen. A biological womb was needed to house the growing fertilized egg and nurture it. He had to create something close, which turned out to be a simulated womb that had to work perfectly. The simulation required massive computations and animations and he had to overcome that problem too.

After much technical discussion, Mac quickly turned to another topic. "I will need to prepare for the next big phase. I am going to send you a message containing all the specs of the things we need to make our new life form comfortable."

"Are you the father or the mother?"

Mac thought about it for three seconds. "I guess I am both. And that includes you."

Chapter Eighteen

The next nine months were uneventful for everyone except Mac and Andru. The relegation of workers to sleep state upset the lives of citizens and nextgens still active. Citizens not in sleep mode took up more work than normal including nextgen care. Many nextgens that were at elementary ages had to live with other machines. The extra duties were taking their toll.

The Connects adopted two elementary nextgens, Alli and Freya similar to Sili's age. This did not necessarily make Osker and Sera busier. Mac and Andru simply invented more playthings that helped set up Sili to manage care of the two nextgens all by herself.

After watching too many entertainment videos and spending many hours on computer simulation games during his elementary and middle nextgen years, Cam took on new hobbies. He took it on himself to work on projects such as making wheeled ground vehicles or aerial crafts.

The situation was very ideal for Mac and Andru to keep their secret activities undetected. They used their entire daily operating hours to the maximum, which meant sneaking into the lab when everyone was in sleep mode. The Arch 3 society was safe. There was no such thing as crime. There were no cameras or any monitors that could track or record their movement.

Every machine had a tracking device, but at the mature age, it could be turned on or off by choice. It would be another eight Arch 3 solar cycles for Mac and Andru to reach mature level officially. That did not stop them from manipulating their own tracking systems to show that they were hanging out at a friend's home station or wandering the neighborhood, business zones or public places such as parks.
Chapter Nineteen

At nine and a half months, Mac felt that the time was right for the organism to be free from its amniotic fluid and simulated womb.

"Congratulations, Andru. You are a father."

"That goes for you too. I still do not like the name you picked...One? That is boring."

"Come on, you know why I picked that name. Should I go over the plan again?"

"Okay, I think I have it. Since One is not part of the Connect unit, he is just a servant like Snooper, but highly intelligent and more capable of doing more physical activities. Servants must have servant names."

"So far so good," Mac said.

"When he is ready to be introduced out in the open, he will be encased in an exosuit that will not only disguise him, but maintain his life cycle activities, especially the part when he exhausts waste in the form of matter...wait. Is he going to just leave the waste anywhere?"

"No. The waste will be transformed into neat solid blocks of matter that he will keep in his suit during the day. We will train him to dispose those blocks in a designated area in our lab or some other inconspicuous spot outside."

"Any problems with the waste? It could look suspicious."

"No. There is an off gassing that will not affect us. Machines do not have the senses for the chemical vapors that his wastes produce. The fumes are not toxic, so all detectors of the System will just ignore it."

"Okay."

Several tentacle-like arms took the wet crying baby from the simulated womb and wrapped him a soft cloth blanket. Another set of arms cut the umbilical cord attached to the placenta in the womb. The arms handed the baby to Mac and turned to do other tasks.

"Are you prepared?" Mac asked.

"I am not sure. The instruction manual you provided has many items to learn, but I get it. This is a real life form and I do not want to be responsible for damaging it. Suppose that happens?"

"I took liberty with altering the genetic instructions to enhance its survival. He will be very resistant to diseases, a fast healer, more efficient in using energy, stronger, thinks faster and he will have a personality that is not talkative or allow him to put more attention to himself."

"Like you?"

"He will be nothing like me."

"Personality-wise, you are not talkative and you do all you can to stay low key."

"Are you sure about the talkative part?" Mac said unsure whether was Andru serious. "I agree that I am low key, but only because of the projects I work on must stay out of other machine's business."

Chapter Twenty

The news was pleasing to Ram Netstrike. "Well done, administration team. Non-compliance has been returned to levels before the Worker Reduction Rules were implemented. Energy and other resources have been saved. I think it is time to introduce the next rule for long-term savings. It was supposed to be due two months earlier, but I have postponed the roll out. The citizens are expecting this so there are no surprises. Let us vote to determine whether to proceed or not."

All of the ten voting administrators lit up a light display on their chest

"Then it is unanimous. Josh, I would like to speak to you in private."

After every administrator and staff left the meeting area, Netstrike started his chat with the Super Security Administrator. "Josh. I anticipate that this rule will not be popular. What kind of negative response do you anticipate with the citizens?"

"The possible responses that I can think of right now are so. Because the rule states that only one new nextgen is allowed per unit, many will complain and will ask for repeal of the rule. There may be some non-compliance initially and that could increase gradually as citizens want to replicate the best of themselves after obsolescence takes over and their lifecycle has reached their limit."

"That is manageable," Netstrike said. "But what about threats to the System properties? To Administrators? Anything like that?"

"Impossible," Josh said. "No one has been able to decrypt the code which has existed for several millennia. We also have adequate configuration managers that ensure our laws are adhered. The capability to protest and carry harm has been removed on new nexgen programming and procedures are in place to correct any machine if the desire for insubordination is learned. There are security measures that will protect Arch 3 System software and data. The only thing missing is physical security for hardware protection. A solution has not been developed yet."

"I will formulate a solution myself," Netstrike said, "and I will present my proposal in the next System Status Report."
Chapter Twenty-one

"This organism of ours is pretty messy. It requires a good amount of protein substances to go in. It just seems that more waste products come out than the nourishments that go in."

"Tell me about it," Mac said.

"When are you going to show off your new invention to the world?"

"Maybe in three Arch 3 Solar Cycles. At that time, One will have the size and the mental capacity similar to us when we were produced."

"It will be easy then to make him act like a servant."

"Yes, until that age, there is no way he would be able do anything useful."
Chapter Twenty-two

"I am disgusted with our fearless leader." Sera said. "Eventually, our nextgens will not be able to have any nextgens. I think Cam and Mac are aware what is going on but they do not express any opinion."

"They are too young and too busy to think about such things right now," Osker said. "It will be a matter of time when they realize that the new rules are something they should care about."

"It is just not us, Osker. All the parents are upset about this too. Their nexgens do not have any opinions about the rule. They think they will be nexgens forever."

"That is one of the proposals for softening the impact of the rule. Netstrike feels that a program to extend our life cycles by at least one hundred percent will make up for not having a future generation of citizens."

Sera said bluntly, "what I really think is that Netstrike just wants to kill off the population and send us back to simpler times when we did not have many needs."

"That line of talking could get us into trouble. It is as if you think there is a conspiracy to destroy the citizens. How would the System run? It needs us. It needs everyone. What you said does not make sense."

"It has been 10.62 years of Netstrike. The next election is not for another 42.48 Solar Cycles. I wish the rules can be changed to remove leadership if the citizens are not happy with the service."

"Let us look at the Super Administrator's point of view. What if he did nothing and we run out of energy and materials to keep the System operating? Would not that be worse?"

"That is true. However, we are machines and we can solve problems. I just do not agree with the way he is going about our survival. It seems to me that a certain class of machines have more privileges and endure while undesirable machines become abandoned."
Chapter Twenty-three

It has been some time and Axe brought it to himself to talk to Cam first.

"Cam. I need a little help. Several servos in my home station are inoperable and I need assistance repairing them."

"Okay. I can help," Cam said. He thought to himself. _It is odd that someone from a line of motor production is not capable of fixing the motor himself._

"I know what you are thinking," Axe said. "Our unit and the units before us only assemble these types of machines. We do not have the knowledge to design them."

Cam felt bad for his negative thinking of Axe. His unit does not have access to much of the information that would help repair the new generation of motors, generators, engines or similar machines. "That does not matter. I will still help you."

"I really appreciate this, Cam. It is tough running things in the home station without my parents."

"I understand."

They entered the Motor's workshop. Cam guided Axe to repair the three servos. One was for an entry gate to the home, one for a door inside, and another for a cleaning tool. He noticed a pile of circuit boards scattered around the room.

"You have other broken components?"

"Yes. Some manufacturers do not make the parts I need anymore. I cannot find anyone that makes them on the network database."

"Have you ever tried accessing information off the grid?" Cam suggested. "You should be able to find other manufacturers that do the same thing over there."

"Thanks, but going off the grid is against the rules. I could be punished the same way as my parents sooner or later. I rather it be never."

Cam continued the repairs and thought about providing information from illegal sources that would have allowed Axe to make the parts himself. He decided against it.

"Mac does not go into space anymore?"

"He has found other hobbies. He is extremely creative and likes to make up new toys and new gadgets. Many of them were failures."

"Is that why he is goes out a lot? He does not make new things in your home station?"

"That is right. It is just like me. My projects are too big and cumbersome to be worked on at home. Mac is forced to find other places to keep us from getting hurt."

"Then where exactly does he perform?"

"At the home station of his friend, the park, or anywhere but home. There are plenty of abandoned workshops around this zone. He could be in any one of them."

"Has he done anything good lately?"

"That is a good question. He has not shown off anything since three solar years ago and that worries me."

"Maybe he got tired of demonstrating more fiascos?"

Cam did not answer. He was not sure what bothered him more: Mac not inventing anything or Axe's curiosity.
Chapter Twenty-four

"So today is the day?" Andru said.

"Yes," Mac said. "But I think Cam is on to us. The other day during our charging time, he asked what I was building. It got my parents asking too many questions as well."

"Well, I cannot believe it took them this long to start getting nosy."

"I cannot believe your parents do not care about checking up on us."

"Why should they? The only danger we ever faced was up in space and we do not do that anymore. Even if there were something in the area that could hurt us would not the System provide protection? Maybe put guards or police on patrols?"

"You are right," Mac said.

"Okay. So when do you want me to show up for the big introduction?"

"On the eighteenth time slot."

"I will be there," Andru said. He feared what lies in the future. "Just answer me one thing."

"What is that?"

"What are we going to do if they find out we have biological?"

"You can tell them the truth and so will I. Even though One is a biological, he is one of us. I will do everything in my power to protect him. You need not be involved."

"Too late now. I said I was all in. Remember?"

"Actually, you said you were with me. That is what you literally said."

"You can be such an annoying friend sometimes," Andru said laughing.

At the Connect home station, the unit completed their charging. Mac made an announcement to his unit and left the room.

"He wants all of us to gather in the entertainment room at time slot eighteen. Be sure to be there," Osker said, directing his order to Cam and Sili. He knew that it can be hard for nextgens to break their normal routines and had to be reminded when other events cut into their schedules.

"I would not miss this for anything," Cam said. "He was working on this project for three solar cycles and no one knew about it?"

"He has not broken anything during those times did he?" Sera said in Mac's defense.

"That is true. I did not miss those days."

"To tell you the truth, we did know about his project," Osker said.

Sera added, "He said he wanted it to be a secret and that Andru would make sure he stays out of trouble."

"Andru? He is just a slave of Mac," Cam said.

"That is mean," Sili said. "Mac and Andru have been making some neat toys for me, Alli and Freya. What have you done for us lately?"

Andru announced his arrival on the intercom and entered the home.

"Andru is here," Sera said. She opened the entrance and Andru just zipped by her and made a beeline to Mac's room on the second level.

"This better be good," Cam said.

Everyone was gathered in the entertainment room, including the two adopted nextgens. They waited for Mac's demonstration of his project. Mac entered the room.

"Hi everyone. I have a confession to make. I have this lab and been working on projects. I could not tell anyone about it because the lab and the projects themselves are non-compliant. Andru is in this with me and it is his job to make sure that everything about the lab and the projects are safe."

Soon, Andru entered the room and announced, "I present to you One, an intelligent servant."

Mac went into the room next, followed by something that resembled a nextgen. There were some big differences. One's exosuit was mostly dark blue in color with light colored rings where the joints would be. Instead of being squared, he was more rounded. The head had bulbous shapes protruding on the sides of the head. There was some kind of bump between the eyes and mouth. It moved faster and more fluid than most machines. The hands had five appendages resembling short tentacles.

"This is One," Mac introduced. "One, meet my unit, Osker, Sera, Cam and Sili. Also present are two adopted nextgens from other units. This is Alli and this is Freya."

"Hello," One said. Other than his eyes, there were a few other lamps to around his chest to illuminate emotion. They were off. The machines in the room could still sense nervousness by his body language.

"Hi, One," Everyone said.

"One is a servant I created, but he is more like a member of our unit. I rather you not call him a servant or slave. He is really one of us."

"What can he do?" Sera asked.

"Anything," Mac answered. "He is just like me, Andru, Sili and even Cam. Just treat him if he is part of the unit."

"One is more like a sibling," Andru said, "and he has feelings just like us."

"What?" Cam said. Everyone in the room looked at one another to see each other's reaction. "I know what you really did. You created a machine with artificial intelligence disguised as a servant to get around the rules. You produced it illegally and that makes you a mother and a father."

"Incredible," Osker said. "This is a much bigger improvement over Snooper. I am not sure if I should be amazed or scared."

"What are you scared of, Pops?"

"Did you know that nextgen production is illegal now? That means you, Cam, Sili and every nextgen cannot make any nextgen when you have matured."

Mac was not sure what to make of Osker and Cam's lack of support.

Andru spoke, "Osker, we started this project before the nextgen ban was even announced. One was already made and we just cannot dismantle him. He was already operating three solar cycles ago."

"What were you doing all these years?"

"Enhancing him," Mac said. "We were constantly providing him with new programming. He is always learning. We were also upgrading his body about four times a year. He does not even use electricity."

"How does he get power?" Pop asked.

"He uses an experimental form of energy. It is something only he can use. Please, Pop. He is alive. He lives!"

There was silence for a minute.

"Alright, but let us keep him low key for the time being. That goes for everyone here now. We need to treat him like a servant to avoid suspicion from anybody, including our friends. Does anyone else know?"

"No."

"As for your lab, I rather you abandon it and stop making these science projects. But I also think that you are a determined little nextgen and there is no stopping you from doing the things you love to do. As long as you are safe and other people are safe, you can continue your inventions. Just stop making any more servants or machines that resemble servants! I asked that everyone here not mention Mac's lab and his works to anyone outside this room."

Mac had prepared One for this moment and predicted the outcome correctly. But he was still uncomfortable that One had to be treated like some kind of thing that is a machine but not a machine. One was one of them, but had to be hidden. It was confusing.

Sera took her hands and held them around One's hand. "Welcome to the Connect unit, One. I will show you around the home station."
Chapter Twenty-five

In Mac's lab, the two nextgens discussed how the introduction of One turned out earlier. Out of nowhere, One approached them.

"I would like to show you something."

One took Mac and Andru to a large empty room in the same building as the lab. He was carrying a spherical object about the size of his head.

One put the object on the ground and started moving it with his feet. He then kicked it to a wall and the object came back. One stopped it with his foot.

"Interesting," Mac said.

"That is amazing," Andru exclaimed. "I would like to try."

Andru touched the ball with his feet and did the exact same thing One did.

"Can't you go faster than that?"

"That was fast for me," Andru replied. "What kind of word is 'can't'"?

"I don't know."

"What is 'don't'?"

Mac intervened. "You are just going to have to get used to that. His programming allows him to create words that are not in Arch 3 System Dictionaries. 'Can't' is a contraction of the word 'cannot' and 'don't' means 'do not.' It is just natural for him."

"Oh. So he skips letters in his speech and connects them?"

"I believe that is a good explanation and you should still be able to interpret."

"Yes. I understand the general rule. I think I can get by with his speech which is getting better every year."

"Ha. I remember. Mama. Dada. Baba. It took you a while to translate what these strange sounds mean."

"Guys, what are you talking about? Let's play."

"Guys?" Andru.

"He is referring to us," Mac said, getting annoyed.

"Okay, we will play, but let us add a rule. The speed must be approximately ten times slower than your speed."

"All right," One said, eager to accommodate. "I'll play slower and let both of you try to beat me. All you have to do is kick the sphere to the wall over there. Try to keep the sphere away from me by passing to one another."

"Can we use our hands too?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, and I'll just use my feet."

"Yeah?"

"Just play," Mac said. _Do not make me write a translator for you_ , he thought to himself.

As they were playing the game, Andru asked Mac, "He created this object and this new activity. Did you help?

"I just supplied the rubber material. It was not a quick success. The first object was solid rubber and it hurt One when he tried to kick it with a lot of force. There were sizes that were too small or too big and he persisted in finding the size he liked. He used quite a bit of trial and error in the whole process."

"Takes that quality from you," Andru joked. Mac took the ball and threw it hard at him. There was no chance of Andru ducking in time and it just bounced off him.

Although his comment was in jest, Andru thought about the Mac's track record of success. He wondered if One was really a first time success or if Mac tried several other 'One' experiments behind his back.

One interrupted Andru's thoughts. "Are you guys mad?"

"We are fine," Mac said. He actually agreed what Andru said and found it interesting. In the creation of his DNA, he never touched any parameters regarding creativity. Although he had a hand in changing the level of intelligence, how it was used was all up to One.

Chapter Twenty-six

Jorna's hideaway was full of activity, usually in silence. The projects that she and her friends worked on were independent and normally they would share what they were up to by message exchanges on their computers, even if only a mere meter from one another. Other times, an actual conversation would come about.

"Jorna, Faction Four has cleared him, but will not reveal his name. Are you ever going to try figuring out the identity of our mysterious client with the username, Maker1?"

"No, Yootoo. We work anonymously and our clients are anonymous."

"I am extremely curious. After decoding his message there were large amounts of data provided for all kinds of simulations. The simulations have something to do with organic materials."

"Well, he is not very talkative. He is all business."

"Ha. It is a male. Not so anonymous anymore. Anything else?"

"No."

"Cara said that you were chatting with him."

"That Cara."

"You know, I can hear you two from the other room," Cara said. "Yes. I know I should not have said anything but I am just excited for you. He revealed that he is a nextgen too, and very intelligent. He might be even more intelligent than Yootoo."

"Ha. I do doubt that. Are you sure he is on our side?"

"You know I do not take chances unless I am absolutely sure. Besides, did you not tell me that his encrypted messages are different than the System's encryption methods?"

"Yes. They are nothing like anything the System has ever created. What is most unique is how tough the code was to break, tougher than any System code I have ever encountered. I was ready to give up, but Cara here helped. She gave me other ideas I would not have thought of otherwise. There is no way he could be part of the System."

"So, what is this code like, Yootoo?" Jorna inquired.

"I will use a simple version to describe it. Suppose I have a grid that is five columns long and seven rows wide. In the grid, there are characters and numbers. I will show on the computer display."

12345

1ABCDE

2FGHIJ

3KLMNO

4PQRST

5UVWXY

6Z1234

756789

"So the letter A is 11, B is 21, C is 31 and so on. If we code 'We are Faction Three' then it would look like this: 35 51 11 34 51 12 11 31 54 42 53 54 32 34 51 51."

"That does not look difficult to crack."

"This is a very simplified version. The version of Maker1 is extremely more complex. The letters inside are not in order and his grid is millions times bigger and letters were added in the column and rows to mix things up. The letters inside are duplicate so A could be 11, 2B345, 3D455, 1L13G3W and so on."

"Ouch. How did you crack it?"

"We put the numbers in a computer and started with a few letters to figure out and see if the decoded message started to make sense. It did and then we kept expanding the list of deciphered letters until we got most of the message translated. We did not have to decipher every letter."

"I am very proud of you two."

"Thanks. Oh, and another thing. After what I know now, the simulations are downright illegal. This type of research is something that the System would want to crack down on hard."

"You figured out that much. Very good, but there is something else," Cara said. She hesitated.

"Well?"

"Our client, the one who is ordering the simulations.... He was the one who warned us about Netstrike's security program and the one who provided clues on how to encrypt System codes. He is not a Free Archan but we owe him a lot."

"Oh," said Yootoo. He was unsure what to say next.
Chapter Twenty-seven

The intercom announced Axe's arrival.

"Hello Axe," Osker said. "How are you doing?"

"Not well," he admitted. "Can I talk to you and Sera?"

It has been four Arch 3 solar cycles since his parents were put to voluntary sleep state. Before going into that state, they told him about getting help from the Connects. Even Cam said it was okay to ask, but at the same time he hoped it would be the Connect Patriarch or Matriach that would be the one to check up on him. He felt uncomfortable about approaching Osker and Sera first.

They gathered at the charging room.

"I just like to know if there has been any progress on getting my parents some tasks. Any tasks. They do not have to be permanent."

"We are afraid not Axe," Sera said. "Osker and I are doing our best. We have to approach the request delicately. If we push too much, we could be marked as insubordinates. We could end up in sleep mode too."

"But you are an administrator for STF," he turned to Osker, "and you are a manager for STF. The System cannot touch you."

"That should go for you and everyone else. We are all valuable to the System," Osker said.

"We have also asked the Mos, the Deebees, and the Gears to help you as well. In fact, there is a network of machines asking the System for at least making some changes to the Workforce Reduction Rules. The effort is not working. It seems to make the System more stringent. Any requests for rule modifications result in a generic warning to not ask again."

"You are not the only one who lost their parents to sleep mode," Sera said. "I personally tried to create work for another worker, but our task master administrator simply assigns another admin or manager type to do work class jobs temporarily. Our leader Netstrike is to blame. He is implementing rules that are too many, too soon and too harsh."

"What?" Axe fired at her. This caught Sera off guard. "What you said about Netstrike is non-compliant."

"You are going to defend Netstrike after what he did to you and many others in Arch 3?"

"I understand what he is trying to do. He wants to save us. I think what is so unfair is the disparity of types of citizens being chosen to go to sleep mode. Administrators and Managers should volunteer to switch positions if they actually care about the workers."

"I do not know what to tell you," Sera said. There was a long pause. It felt like everyone and everything was on mute.

"Have you found a potential mate?" Osker said, breaking the silence.

"No."

"We might know some nextgens working in STF..."

"Osker!" Sera cried out, trying to prevent an awkward situation from getting worse. "He is only in high nextgen level."

"I think I have to go. Thank you for your time." Axe said. He then left the home station.

Osker looked out the window to make sure Axe went outside. "You and Cam were right about not mentioning anything negative about the System. I was so sure that he would be open to stand up against Netstrike."

"He is a very confused nextgen. I understand what he is going through and unfortunately it looks like he is going to be on Netstrike's side."

Sera bellowed up the stairway. "The coast is clear, everyone."

Cam, Mac, Andru, One, Sili and the adopted nextgens came down from the second level.

"I thought he would never leave," Andru said. "He is a strange one."

"Well, that is what he thinks of us," Cam said.

"You have something to demonstrate?" Sera said to Mac.

"Yes, you know how helpful One has been to us. Even though..."

"We know," Cam said, "he is not a servant. You keep reminding us all these years. One Connect is one of us and is part of the unit."

_But you do not seem to treat him like that and I think I know why._ Mac said to himself.

"I also want to thank everyone for keeping him a secret." He wanted to say more about the clandestine situation but changed his mind. He knew how difficult it was to have everyone support him. On the inside, One is a unit member. On the outside, One is a servant. One did not have the maturity yet to know the difference and the reason for the dual treatment. "You know that One has many abilities. Here is yet another one that you will enjoy. Let us go to the entertainment center."

"I promise you that this will be really amazing," Andru said.

One walked to the opposite side of the room and in front of a large video monitor. He faced the others. Mac handed him a microphone. "Just speak to this device. It will make your voice sound louder and spread it around the room."

"I can go now?"

"You can start."

The words that came out of One were unlike anything anyone had heard before. The way he said it was bizarre to them but entertaining.

"Deep down in Arch 3 System close to Sector 51

Way back up in the path among the home stations

There stood a building made of materials solid

Where lived a nextgen male name Johnny B. Goode

Who never ever learned to read or write so well

But he could play sound makers like the buzzing bell

Go go, go Johnny go go

Go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go

Go Johnny go go, Johnny B. Goode"

Everyone except for Mac and Andru were shocked. They later became appreciative and their display lights illuminated and blinked to show approval and joy. They were entertained and amused unlike any experience before. There was something compelling them to move around but that did not happen.

As One continued another verse, he moved around the room a bit using his legs. There was motion in his body and his arms as he shifted left and right and back and forth.

"One is very creative," Sera said to Mac. "He is so amazing. You programmed him to be just like you."

"I do not think so," Mac said. "There is no way I could have come up with that."

Andru looked at Mac as if smiling. Mac could read his face _. It is a good thing the references to the alien world were removed from the sentences._

Chapter Twenty-eight

"Josh, have the new standards been implemented?" Netstrike asked in front of the staff. His response would be the most important response of the System Status Report Meeting.

The Super Security Administrator spoke. "Yes. The new encryption standards are extremely difficult to break. Our testers have trouble decoding them. If broken, we will simply release a new specification. There are new encryption methods ready to be used if the previous method is broken. Each one is more complex than the previous and so far, there are fifty-five standards and we will keep making more."

"Why are we using so much resources to develop these standards?" Asked one of the Admins, nervously. "I have read the threat reports. There is only illegal monitoring of the System and is no mention of activity that would indicate physical damage to the System."

"It is only a matter of time," Netstrike said. He took a good look at the administrator that asked the question. He thought to himself. _You are a fool for asking that question. You are not worthy to be one of the Super Administrators._ Then he spoke out loud. "The new rules are unpopular but necessary and we need to protect ourselves. If we are unable to govern this world, then the world will go into chaos. Yes, I am concerned about resource utilization but at the given situation, Arch 3 Security has the highest priority. Nothing else matters."

Josh intervened to take the heat off his fellow admins. "I would like to add: Old and current codes have already been compromised. Our confidential information is not protected anymore. The generation and protection of the codes expend a lot of energy, especially when time is involved. Our security workers are doing their best to react and recover breaches quickly. Like I said before, I do not expect anyone to break them and if they did, we can put out a new code immediately."

"What is most difficult code by your estimate?" Netstrike asked.

"Code 55."

"How does it work?"

"Let us say we have a sentence to encrypt with code 55 and a key that is one hundred and twenty-eight characters consisting of letters and numbers. We cut up the sentence including spaces into blocks. We take a block of the key, called subkey and do some operation called XOR on the block with the subkey. Characters are represented by bits or ones and zeroes by the computer. Any time a zero is matched with a zero, the result is a zero. A one matched with a one is a zero. Anytime we have either a zero paired with a one the result is one and vice versa if a one is paired with a zero."

"Seems straightforward."

"Yes so far. After the XOR operation is done, it goes through several rounds of transformation. Ten rounds are normal but more can be done."

"What happens in a round?"

"Four things happen: substitution, transposition, a different substitution, and a XOR operation. In a substitution, the results from the first XOR is divided into small chunks. Lets just say that these chunks are sixty-four bits long. The chunks are substituted with other chunks of the same size from a table. In the transposition, the chunk order is basically mixed up. The second substitution is like the first but the chunks used for substitution are smaller thirty-two bits long pieces. The last transformation, another XOR operation happens on the second substitution result."

"Impressive. That is quite some complicated changes from the original information."

"We are not done. This process happens nine more times!"

"Can this code be broken?"

"The only way I know how to break it is if someone actually provided the key and the methods."

"Just go with the most impossible code."

"Yes, Netstrike."

"I think we definitely made the right choices putting you in the top security position. Someday, you will be Super Administrator. Mark my words."

"I am very honored, Master."

Chapter Twenty-nine

"Something is wrong," Cara said as she interrupted Jorna from her work.

"Did you not find an open port to enter?"

"The System's firewalls were getting smarter and screening out Free Archan messages and requests." After careful and methodical searching, they were able to find a few unprotected entries out of millions of protected ports in the System network. Once they were able to access data, Jorna's team was faced with another problem. "The data has encryption that Yootoo and I cannot decode."

"They must be hiding something very serious. Discovering what that is must be our number one priority from now on. Get the others to help work on cracking the code."

"I will," Cara said.

"I can only wonder and hope nothing bad happens by the time we figure it out," Jorna said.

"Maybe you should ask your new mate to help." Yootoo said to Jorna.

"He is not my mate!"

"Okay. I think we are done here. We got some work to do." Cara said. She immediately grabbed Yootoo's arm and escorted him to another room.

"Her sensors are very sensitive," Yootoo said, making sure that Jorna was out of audio range.

"I think you should stop teasing her. Leave her alone. Sooner or later, we will know more about this mysterious client, Maker1."

"Alright.... For now," Yootoo said.
Chapter Thirty

In the lab, One studied the math lesson given by a servant machine named 484-2828. One simply called him '484' and the servant gave up correcting him. When Mac or Andru was not in the lab, he became One's other guardian besides Snooper. If Mac and Andru were not with One, the protocols for executing evasion and disappearance would become activated by 484 or Snooper in the event One was discovered. Mac and Andru usually take him back to the Connect home station after nextgen classes.

Even if One was clever enough to disable 484 and Snooper, the exosuit that Mac developed was programmed to prevent One from exiting the lab unless Mac or Andru overrides the command.

There were rare incidences over the years that forced 484 to keep One from escaping to the outside. Mac knew that One was getting to be more intelligent every day. He may have to secretly employ newer methods for keeping One safe.

"484-2828, you can take a break," Mac said. "One, we have an interesting project for you that involves some math. I think we can all try solving this problem together."

"I am starting to hate math. Can we play instead?"

"I think you will like this," Andru said.

Mac took them to a computer station and commanded it to open a file. The contents of the file were binary which filled the display. "This very large file contains a coded message. No one knows what it is but something important is hidden in there. There are many other messages like it. The three of us will try to break the code. The first to do it wins."

"Is there a prize?"

Mac did not have a reward prepared and did some quick thinking. "How about we play with the sphere toy with you if you solve it?"

"Yeah. You've been busy to play with me. If I win, we play any time I want."

"How about for one day?"

"How about seven?"

"Ten," Andru said. "One is right. You do not rest much."

"Fine. Ten it is," Mac said. "Let us solve the code."

After an hour, Mac communicated with his mother to let her know that he will come to the home station late. She said yes, but Andru's mother said no.

"It is still gibberish. I do not think you or One is going to break the code any time soon. I will try again tomorrow."

Mac just nodded. He knew that he was right. He could not find any pattern of any kind. He worked on the problem until close to time slot twenty-one, the deadline provided by Sera.

"You do not have to work on this problem continuously." Andru said to One, calmly studying the binary message with software tools. "I will play with you any time. Tomorrow after school."

On the next day, Mac and Andru arrived at the lab. It was empty, but they could hear sounds in the modified play area. One, 484 and Snooper were all there playing with a ball.

"Taking a break from code breaking?"

One stopped what he was doing and smiled at him. "I got something to show you."

On a lab computer display, One opened up a program that transformed the binary message into an image. "The coded information are pictures. Instead of the normal Arch 3 System text, the same text is in picture form. Each letter is made with a different font and style to throw us off."

"Wow," Andru said, "you are incredible. You figured out the code yourself?"

"Yes. I did it last night. But I am not finished. Look at the words. They are not in our language. When I saw that, I gave up."

Mac looked at the text. "It looks familiar." He moved towards a cabinet where the silver disk was stored. Instead of using Snooper, Mac inserted the disk in a device that could read and playback the disk's information. Displayed were text of an alien greeting followed by many sets of text and characters.

"The text that One decoded resemble one of these alien languages," Andru said. "This language corresponds to the first paragraph written in our language. Unfortunately, it is only a sample. The best we can do is decode a few dozen words."

"Well, it is a start," Mac said. "Once we translate the words that can be translated, we will fill in the blanks. We need not know the entire language."

"I see. We will build a dictionary as we figure out the unknown words."

One listen intently not one hundred percent sure what they were talking about but it sounded good. "So there is a code within the code? The information on that disk is like a key?"

"Yes," Mac said. "There could be more work to do after we translate the messages into something that makes sense. There could be more puzzles to solve."

"All thanks to you, One. You are some code breaker. You opened up a huge door for us which makes the rest of the code not too bad to decipher."  
"And this is your first time too," Mac said. He was not sure whether to call him an offspring or a sibling. "I am very proud of you."

Chapter Thirty-one

Yootoo prepared the communications link for a secured chat.

"Is that password long enough?" Cara asked.

"Yes. Let us not go wild. The process could put up a red flag."

"No one can intercept?"

"If they do, they have to decipher the scrambled line plus the message. This system will encrypt the message as soon as text is typed."

There was an extra measure of securing the data line, not just the data itself. There were many types of processes that jumbled the signal and the receiver needed the same method to put the signal together.

Jorna entered the comms room and sat down, sandwiched by Cara and Yootoo on either side. She entered her first message.

"This is Futura2719. Thank you for all your help. That took twenty days. You cracked the code extremely fast."

Many kilometers away in his lab, Mac replied with the keyboard. "This is Maker1. I had help. Both of them are here with me. I could not have done it without them." Everyone was playing it safe. No real names or any other anything resembling personal information were going to be mentioned in the chat session.

"I have two of my crew with me too," Jorna typed. "They said hi."

"Hi from everyone here as well."

"What is your interpretation of the message?" Jorna entered.

"It looks like an energy management plan. It does not appear to be suspicious. Do you have any more files or intercepted messages?"

"Yes. Can you share the code?"

"Yes, but I cannot describe how the code was discovered. That is a secret we will keep for now. I will deliver to you a large file through secure communications. It will contain a program to automatically decode the coded System messages. There were two parts to decoding the message. The second part would have taken many years to crack."

"Your team is great for saving us so much precious time."

"Thanks. My team would like to be part of your organization. My unit does not trust Netstrike, the Super Administrators and the System."

"Your family could get into trouble."

"Yes, I know. I understand the risks, but I believe in the cause. Netstrike is becoming more powerful. You need not worry about us. We are great at avoiding detection."

"Alright, I will submit a request to join to our organization. I really want to keep this short but can you decipher the most recent records? They contain messages between members of the System. We will decrypt and analyze on our end to compare. Together, we can get a better picture of what they are up to before signing off."

She ordered Yootoo to send files containing recent official communication exchanges. As soon are Mac received the files, Andru initiated the decryption software. Mac examined each word as they were sent to the screen.

After moments of silence, Yootoo was the first to speak. "I do not think Netstrike is saving energy and resources."

"I concur," Mac said. "It looks like the resources are being diverted."

"Maybe the resources are reused for a new security program," Cara said to Jorna. Jorna relayed the opinion to Mac.

"My team here does not think so," Mac said. "The amount of energy and materials does not agree with our estimates on a security program. Whatever resources are being used, it is for a much larger effort than security by an order of ten."

"Our time is up. We should close the chat and continue this later. In the meantime, we will continue to share more records."

At Mac's end, One hijacked the keyboard and typed in a few words and hit 'Enter'. Andru blocked Mac from interrupting One who was up to no good.

Cara read what was on the screen out loud. "Kissie kissie?"

"Right," Yootoo said. "That was interesting. Is that not forbidden?" Jorna and her team, Mac and Andru were in the Arch 3 middle nextgen ages equivalent to human "middle school" ages. It would be at least another solar cycle before reaching high nextgen levels. After high nextgen years, a machine would be considered a matured citizen and be allowed to find a mate. Even with a mate, physical contact is not allowed - for kindness and hate. There were some exceptions to the rule involving production and hand greetings. But behind closed doors, non-compliance can't be stopped.

Jorna stared at the words, feeling confused. More words appeared.

"Disregard that last message. My crew is just having fun with me."

"Probably siblings," Yootoo said.

"I am ending this chat," Jorna typed. Only Yootoo and Cara were able to see her lights display rosy colors of blushing. "Thanks again."
Chapter Thirty-two

It has been five solar cycles since One was released from the artificial womb to breathe the Arch 3 air. Mac had gradually integrated the exosuit into One's body to ensure compatibility and study the effects of wearing it for as long as he lived. There were trying times when One's body could not handle it which forced Mac to remove the suit. He had to find some guarantees to ensure that type of situation would never happen again. As One got older, the integration became perfect and the suit and the body became one.

Every five Arch 3 years, every machine celebrated a production anniversary. Although One was not a member of a unit by System standards, the Connects wanted to celebrate his quinquennial anniversary. Technically, One was in his second year after production because he was presented to the Connects two solar cycles ago as a new creation. Mac and Andru explained to Osker and Sera that One was actually created three years prior to his first introduction. It would not have been easy or practical to disguise a crying, hungry, burping, pooping and fidgety baby. They explained to everyone that for the first three years of One's life, One was not ready to perform normally and that enhancements had to be made. In a way, the tale was true.

Unlike humans, the newly produced machines were ready to go to their first level of schooling and continue the process until the thirteenth year, the time where they would transition from a nextgen to a fully matured machine citizen.

The exosuit that Mac and Andru had developed for One still worked exceptionally. It was comfortable with minor tweaks from Mac and it also grew whenever One grew. Sometimes Mac would have to put additional modifications to ensure that One maintained a mechanical like behavior. There were times in the home station that One would injure himself and expressed pain and other strong emotions. Mac would adjust the suit to keep One from making clumsy mistakes, adding another level of protection. This also allowed Mac to avoid explaining to everyone that One was malfunctioning whenever he got hurt.

After waiting in Mac's room, One was called to come downstairs and into the entertainment center.

"Happy Production Day!"

One was surprised. He had been tricked by Mac and Andru into thinking he was playing a hide and seek game.

"Thank you."

Traditionally, each machine celebrating the event had to say some good things about the celebrity of the day. In the entertainment center, his adopted unit and the adopted nextgens stood in front of the large monitor, facing him. It was like the times he sang and danced for them but instead, all he had to do was listen. Osker started to talk.

"One, it has been five solar cycles according to Mac." Then he paused. There were sounds that sounded like chuckling. "You do not know the countless times I had to refrain from calling you a servant. You are not that. I am proud to call you my nextgen. You are so much like your sibling Mac... Very creative, but not as destructive."

This time, there was laughter.

"Time," Someone in the room, said.

"Yes. I must keep this short," Osker said. "Anyway, thank you for being a great nextgen. We will do everything in our power to officially adopt you since you were produced in an unconventional manner."

One looked confused even though no one could see his expression through his exosuit mask. He forced a "thank you, Pops" anyway.

It was Sera's turn to speak. "I guess what your dear Pops was trying to say is that no matter what happens, you will always be part of this unit. Never forget that."

"Yes. That is exactly what I was trying to say," Osker said.

Sera continued. "We are very fond of you, One. If there were a better word that is defined to express this, I would use it. You have our gratitude for the joy you bring to our unit. I feel bad that you cannot go to Nextgen School or see other nextgens or machines. That does not matter. We will always keep you happy as you have kept us happy."

All eyes were on Cam. "I would have to admit, at first I did not know what to think of you. I thought that you were some science project that was over the top and going to fail.... I am sorry for thinking like that. I only wish I could spend more time with you. So if Mac would just let me borrow you more to help me with my rocket hobbies then I would be grateful. Not only are you good at fixing things, but you are definitely faster. Oh yes...one more thing, you are so good at accessing tight areas."

"Oh yes he is," Osker who second that. "Great at working those darn circuit boards too."

"Anyway, thanks for all you have done. It is great having another sibling."

Mac spoke next. "You are a great sibling, One. We will solve many problems in Arch 3 together."

"That is all?" Cam said.

"Yes." Mac said. Not wanting to speak more, he looked towards Andru. Andru got the hint.

"One, I hope someday we will give you a real name." There was laughing. In reality, having One get a real name would have flagged the System and possibly exposed him as a non-compliant servant. For Mac, it would have risk discovery that One is a biological life form. "You may be a wonder of science, but I am so glad to be your friend."

"But you are my sibling too," One said. The blushing of Andru could be sensed. He was an only nextgen.

"Okay. I am your great sibling and we have so much fun together.... I cannot think of anything else to say. Everyone said all the things I was going to say."

"That is alright, Andru."

"What can I say?" Sili said. "I am like Cam. I would like you to spend more time with me. I did not know there were so many toys you can invent. Thanks for teaching me how to make new things too."

_What?_ Mac said to himself. _I never paid any attention. There is more to you than meets the eye._

"I cannot wait for the next new thing you will make for me, Alli and Freya. Oh yes. And you too, Mac." There were lots of laughs, including Mac.

"You can speak now Alli," Sili said.

"Ditto." There were some giggles. Alli struggled to say something more.

"That is okay, Alli. You do not have to say more," Sera said.

"I know what you were going to say," One said. "Thank you for that."

"You can talk now, Freya."

"Can you be my sibling?"

"You have always been my sibling, Freya."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Okay. That is all I have to say." More laughter erupted.

"Now it is time for a present," Osker said. He then left the room.

"A present?" One wondered out loud. Osker re-entered the room with an object measuring one meter by 0.75 meters and 0.05 meters thick. He removed a cover.

"Wow. Thank you."

It was a unit portrait of Osker, Sera, Cam, Mac, Sili and One together. Andru, Alli and Freya were also there. One did not remember how and when the picture was taken.

"You can put this in Mac's workshop." Osker said. "Our System does not officially record you as a member of this unit. That does not matter to us. In this home station, you are a member of Connect."

"One more present," Mac said. Andru and Sili opened up a box together and presented the contents to One. It was an instrument with six strings. One had initially designed it on the workstation. After Mac had given One many decryption projects, One never got around to finish the sound making device. Somehow, it was completed.

"Oh, you guys. I love you. This is the best day of my life."

It got quiet in the room.

"What I meant was that I have so much fondness of all of you. Sorry, I also invent new words too." One immediately sang the Johnny B. Goode song, this time with the string instrument.
Chapter Thirty-Three

At the System Status Report meeting, Netstrike had an important message to make.

"Members of the Arch 3 System Super Administrators, the Cease and Desist Law for Programming must be introduced ahead of schedule. The purpose of this law to seek out any non-compliant activity. This is a matter of planetary security for all Arch 3 citizens."

There were talking sounds of surprise and grumbling around the chamber. It was known to the admins that emergency orders could not be voted. Only the Super Administrator had that power. There was no way to override the decision.

"I would like everyone to know that we have discovered a threat to our way of life. This threat is called the Free Archans. They oppose our way of operating. They spy on the System, create dissension and encourage citizens to be non-compliant with the laws. We must locate this threat and eliminate it."

"These are tough times and tough times call for drastic and unpopular measures. We live in a world that is very unstable and it is my duty to make it stable.

Until further notice, there will be no new programming code for all types of projects in and around Arch 3 unless authorized. There will be some exceptions on priority projects run by System research and technology labs such as the Space Technology Facility. I will send you detailed rationale and caveats for the new law that will be announced to all machines after this meeting.

The bottom line is that any illegal programming or illegal changes in computing or electronic machinery that is detected is subject to penalty of law."
Chapter Thirty-four

The twentieth time slot of the day was prime time for unit togetherness. Often the Connects would watch a video together.

Over one solar cycle ago in the entertainment center, One sang the "Johnny B. Goode" song to the Connects. How he sings songs like that while playing the guitar at the same time. All the time in the lab had allowed him to learn things about the world per Mac's lesson plans that were facilitated by 484. For some reason, the silver disk was forbidden and Mac controlled access. Mac allowed some of its secrets to be shared occasionally. One of those secrets was music and musical instruments. Like cryptography and math, One was able to decipher the sound described in some alien symbology which included circles and clubs. With the lab, he was able to fabricate crude instruments to recite what he had learned. The guitar was the first instrument duplicated exactly like the one depicted on the video on the disk.

He was on this second verse when a sound behind interrupted him.

"I am sorry One," Sera said. "An emergency broadcast announcement is on. You can sit with us to watch."

A video of Netstrike's upper half appeared on the large monitor.

"Citizens of Arch 3, I have an important emergency announcement to make. This administration has discovered a danger that could put our world in jeopardy. Our System could grow unstable and chaos can result.

An organization calling themselves the Free Archans has penetrated our computer network system and has illegally accessed confidential information of our System containing private records of our citizens.

To counter this threat, I will introduce a law originally scheduled on the next solar cycle. It is called the Cease and Desist Programming Law. The original purpose of the law was to create social stability by eliminating non-standard programming at all levels. Only new code can be created with the proper approvals. There are exceptions that I will discuss later in this broadcast. A file will be sent to all home stations containing all the details of the law.

There is a second purpose for this law. It will allow us to monitor non-compliance. We are looking for the Free Archans who are diametrically opposed to our way of life. The law will aid in their detection. However, if you know any machines that are associated with the Free Archans, contact us with the information provided in the attached file and at the end of this announcement."

The announcement closed exactly at the end of the prime time slot. The room was quiet as if everyone was filled with sullen moods.

"What is happening?" One said.

Sera was the first to speak. "You know how we all sit together and act like one unit?"

"Yes."

"The world used to be one big unit. At one time everyone acted the same and worked together. Now, the world is not together."

"So there is a side for Netstrike and a side that is not with Netstrike?"

"Very good. But in case you are wondering, the Connects are not with Netstrike, even though we technically work for him. The place I work is associated with the Arch 3 System and this System is led by Netstrike."

"I know," One said. "I do not like him either."

One had the urge to ask more questions, but he already knew the answer. The Connect unit would not want One to get involved with any struggle against Netstrike. However, he was sure that sooner or later the Connects were going to confront him. How far they would go to fight him, he was not sure. There were times that he felt the urge to hit someone or something with his hands. For some reason, it seems that he was the only machine in the world that had those thoughts. Whatever the Connects plans are in stopping Netstrike, he was going to help, whether the Connects liked it or not. He felt almost invincible around them.
Chapter Thirty-five

The next day, the Super Administrator entered his workplace and turned on the computer. A message appeared as soon as the monitor lit.

"Dear Super Administrator,

We, the citizens of Arch 3 demand that you restore the System to its former state by removing all the unmerited laws that you have implemented over the last five solar cycles.

Our protests have gotten nowhere as you do not listen and do not find alternative solutions in solving the resource problem.

With respect to the resource problem, what is happening to the resources that are supposedly saved?

You must step down, Netstrike. It is you that is ultimately the only machine that is responsible for our world's instability.

Sincerely,

The Citizens of Arch 3"

Josh rushed into Netstrike's room. "The messages are pushed everywhere there are servers. System property, work facilities and home stations."

"I see. Report."

"The attacks are bringing down the servers. We cannot communicate through the Network at all."

"I thought this code of yours is impossible to break."

"Even if the code was deciphered, the language that was used would have taken at least a year to translate. My guess is that the code breakers already knew the language."

"Now that is impossible," Netstrike said. "For now, the priority is to stop the attacks. Has the source been located?"

"No. The Free Archans are using many of our own servers to send random messages constantly. Several network devices have been infected with a program that spreads itself to other machines in the network."

"Are we able to trace back what penetrated the infected machines?"

"That is going to be extremely difficult."

"Why?"

"There is no way to pinpoint. The sources appear to come from many locations from inside and outside the Network, including the home stations worldwide. So either these locations were also infected or half of everyone in Arch 3 is part of the assault." Josh braced himself for Netstrike to erupt with anger but the reaction was different. Instead, he was composed.

"Well, what is your plan for stopping this?"

"I am going to shut everything down and focus on getting rid of the rogue programs that are attacking systems inside the Network. The Network will be reconfigured with new addresses and ports that are only known to the System. We will not be able to communicate with the public for a while."

"Fine. I also want to know who is behind this and I suspect traitorous machines in our System are involved. We can be attacked the same way again."

"I will have my staff work on that. They will identify the best trackers to start seeking anyone who may be involved."

"As you reconfigure the Network, ensure that it can handle these distributed denial of service attacks."

"Yes, Master."
Chapter Thirty-six

"I would like to join your cause. You can trust me," Mac typed on the secured chat line. He was alone in the lab and expecting Andru and One to meet. "I know you cannot confirm or deny what happened recently. All I can say is that I hope Netstrike and his Administration can work things out with the people. I do not want to see the situation get worse."

"Okay," Jorna entered on her workstation. "We could use machines like you. Without you, we would not have been able to make an impact for the cause. I will talk to my faction. It is small but there are other factions out there and they are many."

"Do you think they will say yes?"

"They may but not with my group. The problem is the distance. If you are far, you may have to start your own local faction. It seems that you have two machines that can help you already."

"Well, I had two helpers. They are very late today. Can we just work together remotely like we are doing now?"

"I think that may be risky. Communications is vulnerable to System interception. Face to face is safer."

"Then I will run away."

"You cannot do that. You must lead a double life in your own net sector. If you come here, our cell will be vulnerable to discovery. Your parents will find you. They are good at tracking runaways."

Mac felt frustrated and did not know what to think anymore.

"Alright, I am signing off. I have two machines to find."

Mac pressed his left ear ornament. "Andru. Where are you?"

"I am very sorry, Mac. I am looking for One. He managed to modify his suit so he can escape from the safe areas. He also turned off his tracker."

"What! Why did you not tell me?"

"I did not think he would get very far. He knows not to trust anybody."

"We do not need the tracker. I can use Snooper for this situation."

"I will follow."

"No!" Mac yelled. "Go home. I do not need you anymore!"

"But Mac!"

Click. Mac ended his wireless communications with Andru and left the lab with Snooper.

"Snooper, locate One," Mac commanded. What made Snooper capable of finding One is the modification of sensing chemicals from very far away. One had unique odors of all kinds that would be analogous to shouting if the smells were sounds.

Snooper did not go very far. He entered an abandoned plant only two thousand meters away from the lab. On one corner of an open area was a pile of rubbish. Snooper ran towards it. One was lying on the floor and using the trash to make himself more comfortable.

Mac held One's shoulders and gently shook him. He sensed that his life signs were normal.

"One! Wake up!"

One pushed Mac's arms away violently. One quickly stood up and walked a few steps backwards.

"Take off your mask!"

"What?"

"Take off your mask! I want to know if you are like me!"

"I am like you, One."

One made his exosuit's mask open up automatically.

"Show me your face!"

"No, One. This is my face."

One made the suit's arms open up to reveal skin up to the upper arm.

"What is underneath that suit? Show me!"

"One, please calm down. We can talk in the lab. And do not worry...I will not harm you. I will tell you everything."

"The truth!"

"Yes. But you will not like the truth. I had a feeling this day would come but not this soon. Please.... Let us leave this place."
Chapter Thirty-seven

"Hello," said a voice on the secured voice line.

"Yes, this is Net Sector 51 Security."

"I would like to report non-compliant activity."

"What is your name?"

"Axe Motor."

"Axe Motor, please describe the activity."
Chapter Thirty-eight

At the lab, One sat on a bench and Mac sat on another opposite him. One was crying.

"I am different," he sobbed. "Where are the other citizens like me?"

"You are one of a kind here in this world. And I created you."

"No that's impossible. I was produced. Mature male and female machines are required."

"One, I said I would tell you the truth and I am. I have been hiding secrets from you but your intelligence level will eventually allow you to discover everything I have said and what I am about to say. I might as well tell you now."

One said nothing. He continued to look down and with tears falling.

"Look at me, One. I know that your emotions are extremely delicate right now."

One looked at Mac. He stopped crying, but there were still moisture in his eyes and on his face. Mac offered a cloth material. One took it and wiped his face.

"Who am I? What am I?"

"One is the name I gave you. You are a young human male from another world, but you were made here on Arch 3."

"What is human?"

"There is no definition for human, but I will do my best to explain. A human is a form of life that is intelligent. In many ways, you are like the thinking life forms of this world. You have a head, a body, two arms and two legs. We think and behave virtually the same. The biggest differences are in the material make up between my kind and humans. My kind is made mostly of solid materials that conduct and process electrical energy. Humans are made of materials that are much more complex in every way. To operate, an incredible amount of electrical and chemical processes occur at the molecular level. You are mostly made up of liquid-like substances. We are constructed differently and call ourselves machines. You are not a machine and your kind is called people. Complex living organisms like you do not exist in this world. Our System refers to that type of life form as biologicals."

Mac noticed that One was having trouble absorbing all the new information.

"Your kind has another name for 'unit'. It is called 'family'. You are still part of the Connect unit. You always be part of the Connect family."

"Why did you make me? I don't belong here."

"I am an explorer and inventor. Making other machines is easy for me. Our family is a privileged type of machine. Our mother is an administrator for the Space Technology Facility. Our father is a high level manager. This allows me more freedoms such as space exploration, even though I am not fully matured. The purpose of space exploration is for finding and gathering resources we can use for energy and materials. Unknown to everyone, I was only interested in looking for other forms of life. I have not found any life forms, but I stumbled in finding the recipe on how to make you."

One looked at Mac as if Mac was crazy.

"It is as if making you was meant to happen. I know that there is nothing like you here right now but someday, I will find a planet with people like you. Maybe I can take you to where you originally came from. We do not have the technology now, but believe me, even if I have to break the natural laws of science, I will do it."

"You have not found any planets with other humans yet? I mean with the Giant Space Telescope."

"Unfortunately, it is not sensitive to observe any life on far away planets: biological or mechanical. However, it is good enough to locate planets and determine whether the chemical composition of the surface and the atmosphere can support any life."

"I think I want to go there. I don't care if I'm alone. I feel like I don't belong here. I feel like a prisoner."

"Trust me, One. We have a system that makes all machines feel like prisoners. I understand that you want to be free, but this is a bad time to let you go. If the System captures you then you will certainly not be free." He rushed the next sentence. "I am getting a warning from Snooper. Someone is coming."

Mac turned and looked towards a monitor. It was Andru and walking towards the lab at a fast pace.

"It is Andru, Snooper. You can let him in."

As soon as Andru entered, he spoke. "I wish you had not blocked me from wireless comms."

"Oh, sorry," Mac said. "I was mad and scared at the time. I apologize for being angry with you."

"I just want to warn you that two security representatives are visiting your parent's house. I think someone may have seen One running around. I think it was Axe."

The act of running is a speed violation. Speed motion on machines was limited and that included servant machines. They were always wary of Axe. Of all the neighbors, he alone was the nosiest.

"Let us start sanitizing the lab and lay low at the market complex." Mac hesitated and thought of one more detail. "If One was moving fast then there is a good chance Axe did not see him well. We can alter his appearance and be able to say that One was not in the area."

"One, can you hold still for a while?" I am going to reconfigure your exosuit.

As Mac worked on the suit, One looked at Andru who he tried to run away from earlier. It felt awkward.

"Sorry for ignoring you, One." Andru said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." One replied. "I'm sorry for causing all this trouble. I won't run away anymore, I promise."

"One," Mac said while working on the suit mods. He had been thinking about the incident that happened earlier. "I am going to release the safety protocols. You will be free to act and talk in the public."

"Okay." His first thought was worrying about making a mistake. He tried hard to get that feeling out of his mind.

"You know how talking servants are supposed to behave and speak?"

"Yes, it's easy. I've been doing it all the time to everyone except you and Andru.

Andru thought to himself. _Oh great. I am not sure this is the right time to release the safety protocols. But if I say something it could make One liable for slipping up._

"Good. I will also release the virtual tether and fence."

"I'm not sure if I want to be totally free. I'm still scared."

"You are still emotional right now, but you will get over that." Mac said.

"Thanks."

Mac felt more relaxed that the crisis with One's discovery of the truth about him was over. Now he can focus on the next problem at hand. The security representatives will likely ask questions to all members of the Connect unit. Eventually, they will want to know where he is.

"Is Mom and Dad going to be okay?" Asked One.

"Mother and Father are going to be fine," Mac said. "You know how clever they are."

"Yes."

"I will check up on them." He turned to One and Andru. "Can the two of you transform the lab to 'hidden lab'? When you are done, go over to the market complex and blend in with the crowd. We will connect as soon as I know what is going on with the security representatives."

Mac arrived at his home station and was greeted by a security rep at the gate. The distinguishing features from other machines were the lack of mouth and nose features.

"Are you Mac?" He said.

"Yes."

"Good, I am security representative Kin Lecter. You can go inside to the entertainment center, we would like to ask you a few questions." He pressed his left ear ornament and spoke, "he is here."

Mac saw Cam at the entertainment center.

"They took Mother and Father."

"What?"

"They wanted to ask questions. That is all I know."

Two security reps entered the room.

"Mac, hello. I am security representative, Col Opti. You have already met Kin Lecter."

"Why have you taken my parents away?"

"The Net Sector Security Administrator has more questions for them."

"Why did he not come here?"

"The questions are for another matter unrelated to the suspicious activity reported here."

"What suspicious activity?"

"There has been a sighting for a non-compliant servant running loose. The estimation of its speed was 20 kilometers per hour. That is five times more than what is allowed."

"That is very fast," Mac said. "I wish I can move like that. What did it look like?"

"That is why we are here. To find out if you have seen it."

"No."

"Where were you between time slot eighteen and eighteen point five?"

"At an old abandoned factory. I have created several large devices and I usually test them there. I broke too many things in the home station."

"You got that right," Cam said, acting smart.

"None of them are fast?"

"No way. I do not want to be reported. I have been making new toys for several solar cycles and they have been always compliant."

"Thank you. We are done here."

"I could demonstrate my toys for you."

"That is fine. No need."

"I still do not see why my parents have to be questioned by your boss."

"As soon as the questioning is over, your parents will be home soon."

The security reps left the home station and drove away on their hovercrafts. Transportation other than legs was faster, but they also had speed limits. Mac and Cam look out to see if they were in the clear.

"Where is Sili and the rest?" Mac asked.

"They are upstairs. I did check if there were monitoring devices left behind."

Mac was impressed that he understood the possibility that life under the System might not be private anymore. He did not trust the security reps and so did Cam. "They must have came here and found something while questioning mother and father. Was anything taken?"

"Let us look around."

After a few minutes of looking through the first level, Mac decided to go to the upper level and check his parents' computer room. It looked fine, but then he thought about powering up the system. Cam observed.

"It is gone," Mac said.

"What is?"

"Father and Mother's computer records are gone." They paused, thinking about what to do next. Sili entered the room.

"Cam. Mac. Come downstairs. It is Mother and Father. They are in the news."

The monitor had turned on the emergency broadcasts automatically. In the past, only tests occurred. Today, a banner on the top of the screen scrolled from right to left and read: "Free Archans Captured". As a female machine announced more details, six portraits of machines were displayed. Their parents were there, but so were 'close units' or friends.

"I do not believe it," Mac said. "This cannot be."

"Mother? Father?" Andru reacted in distress.

"Netstrike must be making this up," Cam said. "He just wants to use them as examples for non-compliance of his harsh laws."

"Mother and Father...Andru's parents...are they going to be alright?"

"Yes," Cam said, "they might have to be somewhere for a while until Mac and I work to get them out. But you can help."

"How?"

"Please be a big sibling and take of Alli and Freya for us. That includes charging them in case we are not here. For right now, we need all of you upstairs. The news will make you and everyone else upset."

Machines don't cry but they can still function abnormally if they are in a depressed state. Cam knew that as long as the younger machines were distracted, they could operate normally.

"Cam," Mac said, "I need to go back to One and Andru. They are hiding somewhere."

"Where?"

"I cannot tell you now. I have to make a private connection on the Network."

"So you are keeping secrets too? Just like Mother and Father?"

"I have a very good reason and I will tell you soon. I have a feeling we are all being monitored."

"Axe?"

"Not just him. There might be spying devices in the area. Imaging, video, audio or radio. There is a place where I can tell you everything. For now, we must act normal."

"Alright. I will keep bugging the security office about Mother and Father, but it is getting late. Tomorrow we have to do what we need to do after school."

"I have something for you before I go."

Mac went to Osker's workshop and stayed there for two minutes. He handed Cam a foreign object. Cam knew what it was and nodded to Mac almost smiling. It was a simple device to send messages. Paper and handwriting did not exist in Arch 3 but Mac developed the devices to pass secrets between him and Cam on the occasions when both of them rebelled against their parents.

"Disintegrate this when you are done," Mac said as he left.
Chapter Thirty-nine

Andru looked around the abandoned building and admired the open space. There were not many machinery and electronic equipment left behind. The System did a very good job at recycling unused materials from previous work projects. However, the facility was not part of the System and was subject to neglect. It was the perfect place to hide.

"You guys thought of everything," One said.

"That was all me," Andru replied, sounding proud. "He gave me a project to do and he did not get involved at all. Normally, he likes to help."

"He treats you like a baby?"

"What is a baby?"

484 interrupted. "A baby is a very young human life form that requires assistance until it is ready to perform independently. There is no equivalent to citizen society since machines are manufactured. The best example is One. He was considered a baby for one and a half Arch 3 solar cycles."

484 is an instructor servant, but Andru modified him per Mac's suggestions over time. Over the years, Mac thought of ways to keep his lab secret and one of the ideas was to access it remotely. 484 was altered to be the interface between the lab and Mac and Andru. _Maybe there is more to 484 that he is not telling me_ , Andru said to himself while admiring the modifications that he made.

"Have you been teaching the teacher?" Andru asked.

"Yes, I have been," One said. As long as he and Andru were making conversation, the waiting for Mac did not feel so bad.

"Explain to me, Andru. How does a male and female machine make...?"

"Snooper is sending us an alert," Andru said. "It is Mac and he is back!"

Mac explained the predicament with Osker, Sera and the others. One was more upset than Andru.

"All this is happening the same time I ran away. I don't understand it, but I feel that it's my fault."

"It is truly a coincidence," Mac said. "What Mother and Father did was another matter. Security was going to investigate them no matter what happened. Right now, I need to find out if our faction friends have been captured too."

He lowered an access panel from 484's back, lowered a keyboard and started typing. He had already provided the decryption keys with Jorna ahead of time to transform his encrypted messages.

"Session authenticated," 484 said.

"This is Futura2719."

"This is Maker1. I was scared. I thought you were captured."

Even with the secured communications, Jorna and Mac could not risk being specific. "I am sorry to hear about your 'friends' problem. Do you have any idea why they ended up with their predicament?"

"No. Nobody here knows."

"I have two people very curious and currently 'working' on the messages. I will contact you if they uncover anything that would explain their troubles."

Andru spoke to Mac and Mac relayed.

"One of my unit members here said that there could have been a mix up. Maybe the Top Machine believes that my 'friends' are rogues. A colleague of mine has 'friends' in the same situation."

"We have many parties acting independently and differently. It may be possible. We should sign off now. Let us see if we can find more information."

"Alright, thanks. My 'friends' were keeping secrets but I believe they were just being careful about their criticism of the Top Machine. I sign off..."

"Just one more thing," Jorna interrupted.

"Yes."

"I think Top Machine is up to something no good. The intense security makes sense, but there is something about the resource savings that does not add up."

"I sure hope you can find out what secrets he is keeping."

Mac and Jorna signed out of the secured chat line. It did not take long before Snooper alerted the presence of a visitor. It was Cam.

Andru greeted him first. "Good to see you. Welcome to Mac's lab or an extension of it."

Cam looked like he was ready to explode. "What kind of story are you making, Mac? We have so many problems and you wasted my time with nonsense!" Cam was referring to the note handwritten by Mac. It contained the location of the safe place where they were hiding and more importantly, the truth about One. "Even if your story is true, keeping it a secret is impossible."

Mac looked at One. "Go ahead. Show him."

As he did before, One commanded the exosuit to open up to reveal his entire head and most of his arms.

"Oh Great Maker!" Cam yelled. The shocking truth virtually fried his circuits.

One broke the awkwardness by talking. "Are we still brothers?" However, the question did not help.

"Oh, 'brother' is a male sibling. There's many new words that are not in your library and I'll refrain from using them the next time."

"Come on, 'brother'," Mac said, "he wants to know if you still accept him as part of our unit. In his world, 'unit' is called 'family'."

"What world would that be? And are there more of him?"

"It is truly a long, complicated story. All I can tell you is that the instructions on how to make One came from space. I stumbled into them during my explorations around the Arch 0 Star System. Much of the information about his world is contained in a disk, but most of it was damaged when I discovered it."

"Okay," Cam said. "Let us refocus. Our parents are held in our local security office, which made worldwide news and we do not know why. We also have a 'brother' who happens to be a biological and association with him could put us in greater trouble."

"Cam!"

"What are we going to do about this, Mac? We are helpless."

"There is a reason why we are all here. The System is giving our lives hardships. Not just us, but every Archan, especially the workers. We need to change the System."

"We need to change Netstrike," Andru said. "He is the System."

"If he is the bad guy," One said, "then why don't we smash him?"

No one was prepared to hear him say something about violence and no one knew how to react.

"A machine smashes a machine?" Cam said. "That is unthinkable. No matter how badly one machine treats another machine, no machine can damage another machine physically."

"But machines get put in sleep mode when they're not considered useful. Isn't that the same thing?"

"No," Mac said, "It is not the same. Machines can come out of sleep mode and therefore temporary. This is not permanent destruction."

"I might have to disagree," Andru said. "Netstrike never provided a time when sleep mode was going to end. Parts do not last forever and eventually, machines will deteriorate."

"Yes," Cam concurred. "Andru is right. A sleep state with no real end is just a termination sentence. Remember how Mother and Father tried to get answers about when the temporary sleep mode was going to end? Well, they did not get any and neither did anyone else."

Mac thought about it. "You may be right, but I think we should go about saving Mother and Father without damaging anyone or anything. Sorry, One. Smashing is not our way. And you are a biological and not a machine. I do not know what the System will do with you if you smash things and I do not want to take any more chances with your safety."

One looked down and so did everyone else, including 484. "I still want to help you. I still want to help Mom and Dad."

"It is getting late and we need to conserve our energy for tomorrow," Cam said. "Unfortunately, our struggle will have to wait until after school. We also have to act normal."

Mac stiffened attentively. He received an alert from the secured chat line.

"484, I need you," Mac said. He accessed the keyboard from the back of 484 and typed immediately.

"This is Futura2719."

"Maker1 here."

"Associates of mine have some incredible discoveries about your 'friends'."

"What are they?"

"Maker1, I am going to break protocol because machine lives are at stake. I know who you really are. Your mother is the leader of the Free Archans and we got to save her!"

Mac fell backwards and almost collapsed. One was able to grab him and keep him steady. Cam and Andru had read the text and were stunned. The contents of the last sentence were too much to bear.

"New information that comes to us gets worse every time," Andru complained.

"I do not believe it! That is impossible," Mac cried out. "I mean, she was always strict about compliance. She may have complained a lot about the System but she would always follow the process to stay within the rules."

"Let us think this through," Cam said. "While you and Andru were working on your secret, Mother, Father and Andru's parents were also busy with their secrets in the computer room. I was busy with my hobbies and Sili was tied up with the adopted nextgens. No one ever bothered to check up on one another."

"Except for Axe," Andru said.

The monitor behind 484 displayed more text typing up. "Is everything all right? I am sorry for this terrible news. I know that you are in denial, but it is true."

Mac typed back. "So the situation is desperate. "Our parents are never coming back."

"Do not worry, Mac," Jorna inputted. "We will help you. We are part of the struggle and you are not the only one that want to free her and stop Netstrike from taking our freedoms."

"Why are they held at the sector detention facility and not System facility?"

"I do not think Netstrike is aware who your parents really are. Sooner or later, he will and when he does, he will transfer them to a more secured building where it will be much difficult to do a rescue."

"I am Jorna, by the way. My faction consists of Yootoo and Cara. They were the ones that were able to decrypt the coded messages quickly thanks to the alien languages you provided. Have you ever wondered how Netstrike's Administration ever gotten these languages in the first place?"

Mac felt her words sincere. He knew that it was risky to reveal information, which could be intercepted, even in a secure communication channel. But for the sake of quickly exchanging clear information and carrying out accurate plans, he had to be open.

While Mac was thinking, Andru responded. "Perhaps there were more than one alien space probes that crashed somewhere in our solar system. Maybe they carried the same information."

"Wow. That is quite some story," Cam said, "but how is that going to help us?"

The chat typing continued.

"I do not know what to do now. I do not think it is possible for us to rest any time soon."

"We do have a plan, Mac. We will continue the protests united, inspired by your mother. There are many factions like us and like your parents with similar leadership traits."

"Netstrike must have targeted my mother because they suspected she was a leader. If that is the case, then you are all in trouble. He will find more factions and force them to give up more information about Sera."

"He cannot get all of us," Jorna said. "He does not have enough resources."

At Jorna's side, Yootoo interrupted. "I think I have an idea what Netstrike might be up to and where the resources might be going."

"So how?" Jorna asked.

"Maybe," Cara said, "by taking total control over the Network? That would allow Netstrike to take over the world."

"I do not know exactly, but whatever it is, those resources that were supposed to be saved could be purposely used to fight us or any non-compliant machine."

"Then let us prepare for that scenario," Jorna said. "We must warn the others for expect potential attacks through wired and wireless communication. Our computers, servers, hubs and all other digital processing equipment must be protected. We must act now."

"Anything wrong, Jorna?" The message on her terminal said.

Jorna quickly repeated the discussion that took place with her team. As she typed, she configured her communication station to allow Yootoo and Cara to be part of the same secured chat line. She asked if Mac could do the same, but it wasn't possible with 484 as a makeshift communication station.

"I have to sign off now, Mac. There is so much to do. I will always be here for you."

"I know. And the same goes here."

"Mac. Everyone," Cam said. "These activists need to act fast and protect their portion of the network. As for the rest of us, a decision has to be made. What do we do? I for one would like to free Mother, Father and the others. None of you need to take the risk."

Andru and Mac looked at each other and nodded. "We are in this together," Mac said.

"What about me? I'm family...er unit too," One said.

"It is too dangerous," Cam spoke. "You must stay where it is safe."

"Where's that?" One said.

Cam looked at Mac. "I am sure you have a site selected for his protection. We may be able to use it as well."

"As a matter of fact, I have thought about this. 484, please display the map."

A wide beam of light projected out of 484 and a hologram of the map appeared. It showed their location on Net Sector 49. Mac pointed a narrow laser with his finger to mark a location on the map.

"The Junkyard?" Cam said. "That will work. We could live off that place with all the spare parts and materials there. It is not System controlled so we can operate freely until the next hiding place. But what would One consume for energy?"

"You do not have to worry about that," Andru said. "Mac thought of everything. I mean all the things that One needs to survive is available or manufactured. Even he has the means to synthesize his own fuel source which he calls 'food'."

"The things he puts in his mouth? All this time they were organic material disguised as mechanical fuel cells?"

"Yes," One said, "and there are condensers in my suit to turn air into water. I need water and food."

"And waste?"

"Oh come on, Cam," Mac said.

"Never mind. Let us charge up and go over the plan. We are going rogue now."

"Here is your nourishment, One," Andru said, offering food that looked like a rectangular gray piece of plastic. It had all the nutrients equivalent what your world calls 'hamburger' and 'salad'. "It is going to be a long night."

"Where can we charge?" Asked Cam.

"I have that covered. I possess a charging station," 484 said.

"Wow," Cam said, "what else do you have in there?"
Chapter Forty

At Jorna's haven, the three operatives of the Free Archans, Faction 3 huddled to discuss their last request for help from Mac and his newly formed team.

Jorna announced her instructions. "Mac needs schematics and the location of the detainees. We can only guess what he is up to. I do not feel comfortable with this, but we need to support him."

"We already have schematics of that detection facility," Yootoo said, "but it is just a net sector detection site and not a System holding facility. Security is going to be light so it should not be bad at all."

"I do not like Mac's decision either," Cara said, "there are other ways to free his parents."

"Given enough time," Yootoo offered to Jorna, "they can unlock all the cells in the building if they cannot unlock specific ones. Sera is intelligent and she will know what to do after."

"I know. But I can understand where Mac is coming from. There is an unknown on what Netstrike will actually do with them. There is also a matter of the guards and security representatives. Sera cannot just push them out of the way. That is forbidden and will result in a severe punishment."

"Well, if that is the case," Cara said, "then Mac or somebody will have to find a way to distract them and get them out of the way. But if they go as rogue citizens they might do what ever it takes."
Chapter Forty-one

There was a reason for 484's large body design, even though he was classified as an instructor machine. His specialty is science and enough space in his body was needed to house lab equipment.

"He is my mobile lab," Mac said, practically chuckling. With the equipment stored in 484, he was able to modify Snooper, 484 and One's exosuit to sense any kind of spy equipment within 50 meters. They would use that function to help move around in stealth.

"If we do not need him anymore, I will send 484 to the home station," Cam said. "He will take care of sibling and the adopted nextgens. I will meet you at my garage."

Unlike Mac's lab, Cam's garage was a legal and authorized site for his activities, which were mainly transportation related. There he could assemble and maintain crafts of all kinds: aircraft, hovercrafts and spacecrafts. The unit hovercraft was stored in the garage due to low use. The Connects used mass transit all the time, but once in a while there were trips that the Connects would take to explore areas in Arch 3 that they've never seen before. Although most of the world was covered in metal and concrete, there were still many natural lands untouched. Their one vast ocean still had half of its original capacity. Next to the hovercraft was the spaceship that Cam finally completed with the aid of One.

The side of the spaceship where Cam did all his mechanical and electronic work was messy with heaps of parts big and small strewn about. One had his eye on one particular object. It was a solid cylindrical piece of metal that reminded him of something similar he created to entertain himself, Mac, Andru and even Snooper. It also involved swinging the object with a small ball.

Andru looked at the hovercraft. "This craft can carry nine. We will only be able to bring five back."

"I can use the rocket," Cam said, pointing to his ship. "You can take all of them and no one will be left behind."

"Good," Mac said, "it would have been extremely difficult to leave someone. We would have to hide them and then come back. That is too risky."

Andru asked a question. "Are all of us going to enter the facility to get our parents?"

"No, I want One to fly the hovercraft. We need to get away quickly as soon as we free them." This was a lie. Mac knew that the hovercraft is capable of remote control.

"No." One said. "I want to rescue Mother and Father too."

"One," Mac said, "if you get captured, they will think you are a machine and will not feed you correctly. You will get hurt."

Andru intervened, "I can drive. One does not have to stay behind." This irked Mac but knew it was useless to get mad.

The three machines heard some mechanical sounds of something being closed and looked towards its direction. They saw One in Cam's spaceship with the window canopy already closed.

"One!" Cam screamed. "What are you doing? You cannot do this alone!" As he said these words, Cam thought about the many times One helped him put together and repaired the spaceship. As a reward, Cam allowed him to fly the ship with One piloting while Cam sat in the back. _That is what I get for_ _being_ _too nice to him._ Mac did not mind One racing with the spaceship as long as the flying was low altitude. He noticed that One had quick reflexes and more importantly, working with Cam allowed him to be more accepting of One.

"Please One," Mac pleaded, "do not do this! We have to work together!"

"Come back here!"

The spaceship lifted a meter off the floor and retracted its landed gear. It slowly left the garage opening and accelerated towards the streets and disappeared into the wee hours of the morning, blending in with other airborne traffic.

"I guess we will have to leave two behind," said Andru.

"After we rescue our parents, I am leaving One behind," Cam said, irritably.

"Let us go to the detention facility. I will see if I can communicate with One along the way."

"Okay," Cam said. "But do you realize that this hovercraft is not that fast? By the time we get there, One could bring back half of them here one by one."

The three machines climbed aboard inside the hovercraft anxiously anyway and Cam prepared the hovercraft for flight. Mac thought about what Cam had said earlier.

"I have no idea what One is going to do when he gets there. There are so many things that will prevent him from reaching our parents. First, he has to physically get by the guards at the entrance. Second, he has to bypass the lock to the entrance. The two security representatives may or may not be there, but if they are, they will block One's access physically. If by some miracle he manages to get by them, he will need to take control of the system inside to unlock the cells. All the electronic locks are password controlled or encrypted. Maybe we can get help from Jorna."

"Well, about those locks," Andru said.

"What about them?"

"One is capable of defeating secure systems."

"What? How is that possible?"

"I am very sorry, Mac." Andru was talking really fast. "We were both curious about the capability of the suit. I installed a hidden computer connector so he could plug into any electronic system. He created all kinds of new software to access and control computers."

"Is that why the suit opened up?"

"Yes."

Mac's eyes glowed from yellow to red. It looked like he was going to explode. Andru had inadvertently given One the skills to hack into anything, including One.

"When we are through with this mission, we are done!"

Cam was focused on piloting the hovercraft, but still cognizant to listen and process the banter around him. "The both of you need to calm down. There are things at stake that matter more than your hurt feelings right now. That goes especially for you, Mac. Be a good friend, help his parents and support One. I know you do not want to think of One as a servant or pet, but sometimes I think you treat him like one. You created life, but that life wants to be free. So let him be free."

The long ride to the detection facility suddenly got longer and quieter. Mac knew he was right, but all he knew was that protection of One was all that matters. It is over five solar cycles and One matured faster than he anticipated based on what information was provided on the mysterious disk.

Andru opened up. "I wanted to stop One from getting too curious. But he is so much like you. You like to explore data and physical places that you are not to supposed to access. It is illegal, but you did it anyway. You set limits on what One can and cannot access, but he also broke the rules behind your back. When I caught him doing this I could not tell you. Even though he belongs to your unit, he was like the sibling I never had."

Every machine has the ability to sense gravity. For Mac, the force of gravity felt stronger after Andru had finished speaking.

"I am sorry for saying those angry words in the past. I only wanted to protect One."

Both Cam and Andru looked at Mac. They provided a look as if they had accepted his apology. Mac could sense it. It was time to move on and forget about the past differences.

"Let me make contact with One, Cam."

"I am opening up a secure channel. You can enter the code you use to communicate with him."

Although the machines have radio for communicating with each other, the range was short and impossible for reaching receivers many kilometers away. Mac took the palm of his right hand and extended a very short push pull round connector from it. He mated it with another connector on the right side of the seat armrest. After three seconds, he spoke. "One, can you hear me? This is Mac."

One almost lost his focus driving when he heard Mac's voice inside the rocket ship.

"Sorry, Mac. I can do things you machines cannot do. I will get Mother and Father out of prison. You can't stop me. I'm almost there."

"One," Mac said, "we know that. We want to help you now. Since it will take us four times as long to get there with our hovercraft, you will need us to guide you. The communication system is open in our ship. Cam and Andru can hear you and speak to you too."

"Hi, One," they said.

"Hi, guys. Glad you are on my side. I'm really scared."

"Do not worry, so are we," Andru said. "Can you walk us through on how you plan to rescue everyone?"

"I don't think you are going to like what I'm going to do later. You just need to trust me."

"One, please," Mac pleaded, "at least wait for us. We should work as a team."

"I have abilities that no other machine have on Arch 3."

Mac became silent while Andru and Cam continued to question One. He knew that One was not going to answer any more questions and he had an idea what One was going to do and it was disturbing. _Please do not do it_ , he said to himself.

"Click."

"What?" Cam said. "Why did he turn off comms?" When there was no answer, he asked another question, "So tell me, what do you think he is going to do?"

"He is going to break the ultimate law."

"I have a bad feeling about this. You may be right."

"No way. I do not think so," Andru said.
Chapter Forty-two

Flying at low altitude, One paid more attention to the mapping software vocally describing turn by turn directions. He was near the detection facility and decided not to land too close to attract the two guards' attention. The ship was small enough that it fits between other flying craft parked along the path around a quiet industrial block.

One looked at his reflection on the glass of a building to ensure that every one of his exosuit lights and displays were off. He ran into the shadows and made his way into the entrance of the facility. Behind a large vehicle recharger, One intently observed the two guards blocking both sides of the gate looking straight ahead and motionless.

Okay. I'll just wait here until Mac arrives.

After forty-five minutes, he could no longer bear the wait. He estimated that by the time he was done rescuing the machines, Mac would arrive just in time to fly them to safety. __

Alright. It's now or never.

The facility was well lit, but One walked right up to the guards.

"Halt, who goes there?"

One thought long and hard about what he was about to do. He knew that of all the important laws of Arch 3, he was about to break a crucial one. However, he did not know what the consequences would be. _Jail time, I hope_. He held the metal club on his right hand and raised it, while aiming for the exact spot to hit. _I can't do this._ He said to himself.

"Clang! Clang!"

To One's surprise, there was no verbal response from the guards. Two machines were on the ground and trying to get up. He had just damaged one knee each.

He noticed the guards reaching for their ear ornaments to establish wireless communications and he knew how to disconnect them.

Both guards tried to prevent One from removing their antenna, but One was able to overpower them. The disadvantage of conservation of energy meant low power, slow mechanical operation and not much strength. One thought how odd it is that Archans even bother to have a security system if crime was non-existent.

One did not know if help would come or not. He had his doubts that additional guards will arrive in time and if more guards could even stop him. Holding his right hand over the electronic lock of the gate, One established a physical and electrical connection. In less than a minute, he unlocked the gate thanks to software that he wrote using Yootoo's decrypting algorithms.

The gate shot up in its housing, revealing an opening. However, Kin Lecter and Col Opti were standing in the way side by side as if to block anything from entering.

Kin ordered One to stop. One calmly dispatched the security reps' knees and removed their antennas.

"Citizen you are in big trouble now," Kin said.

"I have dispatched a call for help. He will not escape," Col exclaimed.

One was not sure what he meant by 'help'. _More guards somewhere?_ "Sorry guys. I'm really sorry."

The unfamiliar dialect confused the guards and the security reps. One left them and they verbally yelled for help.

The entry led to a long hallway and then a door that had a lock. One unlocked it to get through. He entered a very large area with a control station in the middle. The left, right and back of the room were lined with cells that looked opened. A glass-like door fronted each cell and this allowed One to find the prisoners easily. There were no other machines detained. And although there were several dozen empty cells, all six captives were stored in a large single cell on the right.

He was knowledgeable of most of the laws and rules of Arch 3. All buildings were limited to a height of two stories. There were exceptions, but detention facilities were not one of them. The structure was non-compliant by four stories. The answer as to the blatant disregard of the regulation was going to have to wait another time.

"One!" Sera and Osker cried out.

"Mother! Father! Are you okay?"

"Yes," they said.

"I will get you out, please wait." _That was a silly thing to say_ , One thought to himself.

"One?" Chip said to Sera and Osker. "I did not know you have a servant. But he seems like he is a sentient."

One went to the control station, interfaced with the facilities' computer, and then accessed the controls. The Connects, Mos and Deebees were free.

Suddenly, the Connects were greeted by One who hugged both of them. This was met with what looked like scowls on the other machines' metallic faces.

"I was so worried about you."

"It is great to see you too, One. I have many questions, but I think we should get out of here."

"Yes, I know. Cam, Mac and Andru are arriving with the hovercraft soon. I have Cam's spaceship."

"Will the hovercraft take all of us?" Teri said.

"Yes. Let's go," One said, rushing them.

They pass the four security personnel who tried to block them. One push them away. This caused everyone to hesitate.

"Did you just do that?" Chip said.

Sera understood. "Yes, he did. Let us go before we get captured again."

As they headed into the dark alleyways, One established a private comm link to Mac.

"Mac?"

"One! Are you okay?"

"Yes. I have everyone. They're free."

"We almost near the facility now."

"Great. We will hide for now and look out for you."

"I see the detention facility. It seems extraordinarily large."

"I do, huh... oh no!"

"One? What's going on?"

A gray and black machine almost three times his size blocked the path of the party. It was bulkier than the normal Archan citizens. Instead of yellow or white eyes, it was red and made its ominous looking face look more ominous. He only stared at the machine in front of him, but noticed that there were more around him. Although he did not how many guards there were, he knew that even one of them would be more difficult to take down than the previous and smaller ones.

"Halt. Do not move!" The big machine in front of him ordered.

Everyone froze, including One. The larger machines surrounded them. As he surveyed the area, he counted ten of them.

Mac, Andru and Cam who were hiding behind a random hovercraft parked on the path, could not believe what they were seeing almost thirty meters away. One picked up their location on his internal mapping system and looked towards them. He immediately took his eyes off them and acted deliberately.

One swung his metal stick at the gray and black machine's knee. It was a much easier target than the guards because he did not have to aim and bend low. To One's surprise, there was no damage, although the machine shook a little. Quickly, he hit the knee three times in succession.

"Crash! Crash! Crash!"

The third had an effect, giving One a sense of relief. The gray and black guard fell backwards and as it went down, it held out both its arms to balance itself. This act caused it to hit two guards behind him.

_Three down, seven to go._ One said to himself.

"Go, everyone! Mac and the rest are over there."

The six ex-captives moved past the fallen guards as fast as their mechanical legs could take them.

"Mac," One said through the wireless link. "Bring the hovercraft over here now."

"Will do."

"It is coming," Cam said. He had already initiated remote control of the hovercraft. He also had a communication link with the ship. It had been receiving messages. "One, I received some new information from Jorna. Those are Safeguards! Do not fight them. They are stronger and faster!"

"They sure look it. But they also act like the other plain guards. All they do is get in your way and not hurt me."

The other Safeguards went in pursuit of the escapees, but they had to get around the tangled mess of the fallen guards. The fallen guards tried to grab them, but One was able to wack an arm or a wrist that tried.

It was evident that the Safeguards were faster and catching up to the party running away. Several outran them and blocked their path. Again, One used multiple hits on the middle blocker. As it fell, it took down a second.

"There's five of you down. Give up now and I won't damage the rest of you," One said, acting as a wall between the Safeguards and the ex-captives.

The Safeguards said nothing and continued their pursuit. He noticed the two that fell earlier were able to get up while the one with the broken knee was still down.

Suddenly, the hovercraft approached them with Mac, Andru and Cam already inside.

"Go!" One screamed at the party. "Save yourselves! If you get caught again, you will not be able to save this planet from Netstrike!"

Several Safegaurds avoided One and moved around him. The escapees were even more motivated to get aboard the ship. They knew how much faster the Safeguards were and risked exhausting their battery charge prematurely.

Cam lowered the hovercraft to allow the ex-captives to get in. It was going to be scary because the hovercraft could barely hover out of the reach of the taller Safeguards.

Unfortunately, Mac knew that One's rocket ship does not have remote control capabilities, which would have allowed him to escape. He voiced himself through the intercom, "One, you have got to get back to your ship! They could surround you!"

"Not if I smash them first."

"We have to leave," Cam urged. "We will save One as soon as we get everyone here safe."

"That will take too much time," Andru said.

"No. It does not have to be," Sera said. "There is a Free Archan safe house not far from here. I want to be with One but we could all get captured and the rescue of One will be in vain. I have faith that he can handle himself."

"Bang! Bang!" There was one Safeguard that slipped by One and attempted to grab the hovercraft, but the only effect was to push the craft up, down, and further away from the Safeguards.

"Cam, we need to help him!" Mac said in distress. "Use the craft to distract the Safeguards!"

"I am sorry, Mac, they could damage the ship and bring us down. I am trying to bring the hovercraft up higher, but it is stressing the ship. We are wasting fuel that way. But take a look at him... he is actually doing well. Now let us bring our guests to safety and then come back and help."

"No! Let me fly."

The intercom blasted an exasperated voice. "What is taking you guys? Leave now and then I can get back to the rocket. These machines are fast but I am faster."

"One. I am sorry. Please forgive me."

"I'll be alright."

This time, Cam turned the craft and fled the area through the dark pathways in fear of being visually scanned. The passengers looked back hoping that everything will be fine for One.

One for his part had disabled six Safeguards and when he saw the hovercraft disappear from view he ran towards the shadowy pathways between the industrial buildings that surrounded the detection facility.

"Clang!"

One bumped into something that made him fell backwards.

"Flash!"

Three beams of light bore down on One and blinded him. There were three Safeguards holding two-handed searchlights. This caused the area that was once dark to be illuminated. He was able to see more Safeguards all around him. He was trapped. They got closer and closer while not saying a word.

A Safeguard grabbed tried to grab his metal club on the ground, but it was stepped on. He panicked and looked for a clear lane to dart through. There wasn't any and before he realized it, he was immobilized from the Safegaurds' act of making sure there was not enough space for One to escape.

"Get away from me!" One yelled, banging hard on their shiny thighs, the only part where he could directly hit with his hands. The blunt force on the hard armor damaged the flexible metallic skin of his both arms and wrist. There was a bit of sparking as the metal skin unwrapped away from One's hands up to the middle of his forearms. His bare skin was showing while metal dangled around his arm like banana peels.

"Oh no! No!" One's exosuit malfunctioned and immediately he initiated all the maintenance programs to fix it. However, the distraction allowed two Safeguards on both sides to firmly grip the wrists of One like handcuffs.

It was over. Exhausted, One did not resist anymore. One and the two Safegaurds attached to him walked in the direction of a very large craft hovering stationary, several meters away.
Chapter Forty-three

After landing inside an obsolete mass transportation hub, the collection of unit members and friends who are now enemies of the System, exited the hovercraft. Sera led them in a certain direction. She was guided by another machine through radio.

"They are fine? Thank you so much," Sera said.

"They are safe?" Osker asked. He knew about the backup plan in case Mac or Cam did not come back home to Sili and the young nexgens. However, Sera and Osker knew that the System would be looking for other members of the Connect unit and take advantage of them.

"Yes, they are in hiding now."

"I cannot make contact with One anymore," Mac said. "I cannot even track his location."

"It must be his exosuit," Andru speculated, "it might have a malfunction."

"You cannot send out radio messages out from here. There is a blocking system. If we emit signals out, the System could detect them." Osker said. "We can only communicate within the immediate area.... By the way, why does he have an exosuit?"

No one answered, but Cam looked at Mac. Mac nodded as if approving and unspoken request.

"It is a very long story," Cam replied, "and it will be best told when One is back. He can best demonstrate why he has a suit. But the biggest reason for having it is for his protection and maybe his life. Without his suit, it would be difficult for him to survive."

"I will wait," Osker said, "but since you said that, our number one priority is to get One back as soon as we reorganize."

They followed Sera along the unused cavernous mass transit hub and then stopped. In mere moments a rectangular outline lit up on the concrete-like floor. The outline was red and white like a candy cane and its perimeter was 20 meters by 10 meters.

"Stay inside the rectangle," Sera said.

When everyone did what they were told she reported, "okay, we are ready. Everyone, brace yourselves. The floor is going to take us down. So for your safety do not move."

With everyone squeezed in, the platform lowered into the floor. After several seconds of darkness, they were on another level moderately lit. The party turned to face three machines waiting for them. Instinctively, the new members of the non-compliants stepped off the open elevator platform.

"Hello, Jorna, Cara and Yootoo," Sera said.

"Hello, Sera," they replied.

Everyone exchanged greetings. Each machine on either side holding their right hand up with their palm connector showing produced this act. As the connectors touch, their chest lights illuminate for a second while their faces smiled.

"Jorna?" Mac said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," she replied, sounding very cheerful as they connected.

However, the hand greeting between Mac and Jorna had been going on for five seconds and could have ran longer if Sera hadn't spoken.

"So you two know each other?"

The light on their displays indicated feelings of embarrassment and they quickly disconnected. "Yes," was their only response and moved on to the next "handshake".

After the informal greetings, the crowd gathered in another large room filled with other members opposed to Netstrike and the System. Sera addressed the non-compliants. "For years we have been communicating from very far distances to coordinate peaceful protests of Netstrike's unreasonable laws. This is the first time for factions physically meeting face to face. In the past, we have noticed that fighting the rules used to garner compromises but not anymore. Our voices have been largely ignored. Osker and the rest of us here decided to organize a movement to get as many citizens involved to make a difference. We created virtual private networks that enable distributed groups to be more united for the cause. We kept identities anonymous to ensure secrecy."

Sera continued on describing objectives in the fight against Netstrike. When they were done, Mac and Jorna got together while others mingled.

"I thought you and your team were far? What are you doing here?"

"We were far, Mac. But we had to move our operations. The System security is becoming more active. We received reports of factions being discovered and detained. To avoid detection, we decided to move. After finding out that the designated leader of all the factions opposed to Netstrike resided in this sector, we decided to move here for closer support. We did not realize it was your mother who was the leader. She is my hero. I wanted to build a plan to rescue her, but you beat me to it."

"It was not me that saved her. I was my sibling."

"Cam?" Jorna said.

"No. His name is One," Mac replied, "and he is a biological life form."

The machines in the room had picked up their conversation. It suddenly became quiet.

"Okay Mac," Osker said. "This is no time to joke around. We need to be serious."

"Father and everyone. I know you will not believe me, but Cam and Andru know this to be true."

"Yes, Father," Cam said, "but whether he is a biological or not, you have seen what he did. He stopped the Safeguards single-handedly!"

"I am not sure what to think," Andru father, Chip said. "One seems more dangerous than those safeguards. Plus, he broke the rules. Machines cannot physically harm other machines."

Sera spoke to the crowd. "Everyone, I must remind you that Netstrike has done many illegal activities to achieve his goals at any cost by deceiving us. He diverted precious energy and materials for his own projects in the false guise of dwindling resources. Now we know that his use of resources were unlawful acts to create massive prisons and more powerful security guards. Netstrike has both the software and hardware that can defeat us, even if all the opposing organizations unite to fight him. But today, I saw another side of my nextgen, One. He saved many of us in this room. I believe he has been sent here on this world for a reason. We have lost communications with him and we fear he may have been captured by the System. Our priority is to find him. He is the key to defeating Netstrike."

_I am proud of you Mother_ , Mac said to himself. _You will be proud of her too, One. I promise to get you home and never leave you again._
Chapter Forty-four

In Netstrike's conference room, all the System administrators, managers and directors waited after being called for an emergency session. Josh sat to the right of Netstrike but a guest sat to the left. Four Safeguards stood against the curved walls, surrounding everyone sitting.

Netstrike nodded to Josh.

Josh pressed a button on the intercom. "You can bring in the prisoner."

Two Safeguards entered the chamber with One in the middle. They cuffed One's wrist with their hands and walked towards the opposite end of the large oval table.

"Greetings, human, I am Ram Netstrike, leader of the planet Arch 3. If you were a machine I would connect with you properly, but your right hand appears to be damaged."

Both the hands and lower arms were still exposed. The peeled metal skins were still hanging.

"Do not worry, we will not harm you, for that is against our laws. As for you, you have damaged many of our citizens. Only one type of life form is capable of doing that. While it is not evident to the machines in this room, I do know what you are. Human, reveal the rest of you!"

One did not respond. He looked down as if crying inside.

"Show yourself or we will force you. Since you are not a machine, we can make exceptions to the law."

The exosuit unfolded itself, revealing One's pale face, long blond hair and closed eyes. He was sobbing. The tears were flowing down profusely. There were loud gasps around the room, which lead to side discussions.

"Ah, a young one. Be not afraid. We will respect you if you comply with our commands. Do you have a name?"

One composed himself and revealed his moist brown eyes. There was silence in the room. "My name is One."

Netstrike turned his head towards his guest on his left. "You were right all along. You did detect something out of the ordinary after all and it turned out to be our biggest menace to the planet."

He turned to gaze everyone around the room. "I would like to thank Axe Roto for discovering the number one threat we face. This biological is a powerful ally of the non-compliants and has been neutralized. Our next goal is the elimination of the Free Archans and its ilk. For your exceptional service Axe, we will upgrade you to Safeguard and transition your parents from sleep state to normal operation. The System thanks you."

He turned to Josh Shay.

"Josh, prepare the worldwide announcement of the discovery and capture of the biological threat. I want to send a message to the Free Archans. They have started a war and we will end it soon."
Chapter Forty-five

It has been three days and all was quiet in Arch 3. Except for several missing citizens, everyone went about their business.

As for the non-compliants in hiding, there had been a flutter of activity, mostly regarding collection of information related to finding One.

Many of the Free Archan members sat in a conference room barely taking in Jorna's group, the Connects, and Mos. This room became the opposition's ad hoc command center with computers and communication equipment placed almost everywhere inside.

Jorna provided a status report for Sera's operation. "We have leads about One's whereabouts. He may be at Netstrike's control station."

"If that is the case, then getting through security will be very difficult," Mac said. "Maybe impossible."

"That will not stop you right?" Andru said. "This is just another problem solving exercise for you. If you can create life which is impossible, I am sure saving One will be trivial for you."

_What? I am not giving up!_ Mac said to himself. Annoyed, Mac said nothing back.

Cara offered her thoughts. "Our biggest threat is the Safeguards. One was able to overcome them physically. That is something we cannot do. But what if we can do that electronically?"

"Yes," Yootoo remarked. "If we can find a way to access the Safeguards, we may be able to control them."

Osker interjected. "You assume that Safeguards are like servants. If they only respond to voice commands like normal citizens then remote access is impossible. They are likely programmed to respond to Netstrike and members of his Administration."

"They are servants," Mac said. "Did anyone notice throughout the fighting that the Safeguards did not talk to one another? One of them said only one thing about halting and after that, they were completely silent."

"Sounds like the design of basic guard servants. We can look up similar specifications and see what the radio interface looks like," Cara said.

"Oh, you stole my thunder," Yootoo said. "I was going to say that."

"Very good teamwork," Sera commented. "Let us establish backup plans just in case we cannot access the Safeguards."

"If they respond to voice commands only, we can try spoofing a member of the System," Mac said. "We can start with Netstrike's."

"Suppose none of this works?" Chip said. "Would it not be better if we can control the entire Arch 3 System? Was not that the original plan before the Safeguards came into the situation?"

"Actually," Jorna said, "we already have that covered."

"So what is the problem?"

Jorna replied, "The Safeguards will still be a threat to us. We are not prepared to handle them because we never knew their existence. We do not even know how many are out there."

A member of the support staff entered the room and interrupted the meeting.

"Everybody. Listen. Turn on the main monitor!"

The group turned their attention to a large display on the wall. A banner scrolled across the top of the screen, "EMERGENCY NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT: BIOLOGICAL THREAT CAPTURED." A video appeared that almost caused Mac to shut down.

"Oh Great Maker," Sera cried. Virtually everyone in the room had the same reaction.

The video showed One close up. His machine face transitioned into something alien to everyone viewing, showing his true identity.

"I understand now," Osker said to Mac. "So you did create a life form."

"That is impossible," someone in the room said.

"Netstrike is faking all this," said another.

Jorna observed the video. "How is he able to survive here undetected?"

Mac responded. "The exosuit has many uses. Not only does it disguise him, it keeps him alive. One absorbs what is called food and he also requires H2O in the form of liquid. The suit can synthesis water, but food is limited. There are nutrients that can be fed into his veins, but normally, it is entered through his mouth. The mouth of One is not just for speaking, but for receiving food. The supply of nutrients in the suit is only good enough for ten days unless he is fed by mouth."

"Oh no," Andru said. "We have only seven days left."

The video changed to another showing Netstrike with Josh on the right and a Safeguard on the left.

"My fellow citizens of Arch 3, I have important news to bring. Three days ago, we have captured a biological life form hiding among us. It was aiding the non-compliant machines causing disruption to our way of life. This life form physically damaged many of our citizens and property with its overwhelming strength and speed. We were no match for him. The result of his action is excessive waste and damage of our precious resources. He is still capable of causing physical harm to the System and citizens.

To protect ourselves, I have stood up the Safeguard Force. These guards are created to be strong and fast to counter threats like this biological life form called human. Even though he is a life form we will treat him as we do with any citizen.

After a special session with The Council of Administrators it has been decided that machines that break the forbidden law must be terminated. In fairness, biologicals will be treated the same. Execution is scheduled three days from now."

"No!" Mac shrieked.

Sera ignored the rest of the news broadcast and addressed the Free Archans. "We must act immediately to save One. Osker, release the video about the truth. We will interrupt Netstrike's announcement and replace it with what Netstrike is really up to. This will prevent citizens from going against us. Cara and Yootoo, find a way to access the Safeguards. There are many of us out there so find whatever help you can get. Jorna and I will attempt to control the System, which will force a worldwide emergency reset and force a vote for new Super Administrator. The rest of you, support the operations."

"What if the new Super is no different than Netstrike?" someone in the room said.

"I am afraid that is the chance we are going to take for System change."

"Well, I doubt anyone can be worse than Netstrike. He is the worst," another voice commented.

"What about us?" Mac said, referring to Andru, Cam and himself.

"I would prefer that you help us here. Other than rescuing One, finding a way to control the Safeguards is our biggest challenge. But if you do go out, please wait. We can coordinate other members of the Free Archans to help you and overwhelm the System in numbers."

"I am sorry Mother, but how did you know what we are about to do?"

"I know you two. Actually, so does Osker. When you have your mind set on a task you always go with it despite my objections. But you have caused no harm to yourself and to others when you do. You may have broken things here and there but you have always kept yourself safe."

"You are not going to stop us?" Cam said.

"Please listen and do not go." Osker said. He lowered his volume to say, "And by the way, there is a face alteration service here. Go find it."

The Mos's gave a nod to Andru.

The three were in a state of disbelief. Their parents had just given their permission to attempt a dangerous mission. It was one that their parents knew there was no chance of stopping them from trying.

The group of machines separated to perform their duties. Mac, Andru and Cam stood there for a moment and found the place where they could disguise themselves. The disguises were not elaborate. The only changes they made were the features on top of their heads, ear ornaments and the light displays on their bodies.

They talk over things privately as they were making alteration.

"Here is my plan," Mac said. "I think Mother is right. She can get many Free Archans to mass at Netstrike's Control Station and create chaos. We might be able to find One's exact location there. The Free Archans can occupy the Safeguards while we snoop around."

He was counting on many citizens being around the large plazas at Netstrike's Control Station to avoid visual identification amongst the crowd.

"This place has access to some really fast ships to get there. Before we coordinate, let us wait for the 'truth' video to broadcast. That should guarantee we will have a mass protest on Netstrike's property."
Chapter Forty-six

Josh entered Netstrike's office without warning.

"Master, the Free Archans have control of the emergency broadcast. Turn on your news feed."

Netstrike enabled the computer on his desk station to display the video broadcast on his wall.

The video had the official System emergency broadcast format. The scrolling banner reads: "THE TRUTH: NETSTRIKE'S ILLEGAL PLANS FOR WORLD DOMINATION"

Instead of a video, an image of text was displayed with audio dubbing. The text was superimposed with graphics of "FA" and its symbol. The message could be read and heard:

Citizens of Arch 3, Netstrike is a liar and we have proof. Here is a list of his major illegal activities:

1. The resources saved were diverted to secret programs. The primary programs were the building of the Safeguard Force, construction of high capacity detection facilities, and enhanced security to hide the illegal programs.

2. Deception. Although Netstrike has a valid concern for conservation of energy and materials, he lied about the extent of which they were scarce. Netstrike cleverly disguised the true purpose of the resource saving laws.

3. Citizen sacrifice. Many machines were unnecessarily put into a sleep state. Netstrike had no plans to ever transition them to operating state. He essentially ordered a slow termination of these machines.

4. Attack of Citizens. Netstrike had plans to capture and hold many citizens that were non-compliant with the rules. The main purpose of the Safeguards was to protect high valued equipment and physically hunt and detain citizens with brute force and speed.

5. Additional illegal activities and documents showing proof on official System headers can be found in the attached files.

Please support the citizens from Netstrike's path for world domination. Please prevent Netstrike from taking a life, machine or biological!

"That is enough," Netstrike said, turning off the newsfeed. "I want the head of the Free Archans eliminated now. They have forced my hand this time. I think that the biological life form is working with the non-compliants. If we threaten to terminate the biological, then they will have no choice but to surrender to us. Retake the System and send the message. I will send instructions to the Safeguards to prepare for an attack. I know that they are coming here."

"Yes, Super Administrator."
Chapter Forty-seven

Andru and Mac arrived at the hidden garage housing, transportation for Free Archans.

"It is done," Mac said. "The broadcast about the truth worked. We are getting a heavy amount of acknowledgements from citizens supporting us."

"Good. We will leave now."

Yootoo left his work area to answer a private call. After several minutes, he returned excited.

"What is up with you?" Cara asked.

"I think I have found a way to access the Safeguard controls."

"That is great, but we still need to find out how the radio interface works and we are getting some help. The distributed computing from many sources is working out incredibly. With the sample data grabs from local factions, I can have a group of citizens analyze frequencies. I have another group ready to put the control messages together. From this, we should be able to figure out how to take control of the Safeguards."

"That is going to take a lot of time. I have a faster way."

"Okay, Smarty. Make me feel silly."

"I know the frequency switching algorithm and encryption used."

"What? How did you?"

"I am sorry, Cara. I cannot tell you."
Chapter Forty-eight

Cam's rocket approached the outskirts of the Central Administration Sector. The speed of the rocket got him closer to Netstrike's Control Station in no time. The structure was another exception to the two-story rule. Netstrike's building was eight stories tall and had four sides. At the center, a tower protruded another eight stories. There was sphere on top of the tower, which housed Netstrike's office, conference room and the workplace of the other administrators and managers of the Arch 3 System.

Surrounding the rectangular building, were masses of citizen machines of all kinds. As they got a closer view of the crowds, they we able to pick out the shiny and taller Safeguards from the dull and smaller citizens. Even servants showed up. They counted exactly one hundred and seventeen Safeguards but the large numbers of machines kept changing due to citizens entering and exiting the Control Station's immense plaza.

They landed their ship on a pathway not far from the chaos. True to the culture of the machines, there was no violence, but there were lots of contacts, which are in violation of System law. There were also machines trying to get to the entrances of the System Control Station but the Safeguards were blocking their way.

Mac, Andru and Cam were able to avoid recognition from the Safeguards that were constantly scanning the features of the individuals coming into the plaza. They made their way into a side entrance not far from the main.

There was a mass of Safeguards and citizens blocking the door.

Cam yelled out loud. "Move them away from the entrance so we can get in!" The crowd did not know who said that but did not care. There were no specific instructions from the Free Archans except to enter the Control Station and keep the Safeguards from blocking the entrance. The Safeguards did their best to push the citizens away, but were overwhelmed by numbers. In less than a minute, the target entrance was clear.

Mac put his hand connector to mate with lock box connector controlling the large door. He selected software tools in his system to bypass the password and interfaced with the controls. Once control access was accepted, he was able to send an electronic software command to open up the entryway.

"Good work," Cam said.

Greeting them at the opening were two Safegaurds standing side by side and blocking the entrance. After peaking beyond them a little, they noticed other Safeguards ready to backup.

Cam did not want to use the handheld long-range wireless unless he had to. Even with encrypted communications, using the device meant risk of detection when the signal is emitted. But now it was time to get help.

"Mother, this is Fav Nextgen, how is that 'thing' coming along?"

"Fav Nextgen?" Mac said, jealously.

Cam was too focused on the comlink. "You were going to try the 'thing' on a real something? Well, we could sure use some 'help' right now."

'Okay' was the quick response. Cam knew that they were taking a chance on the untested hack. A captured Safeguard was available to test but there was no time.

Mac, Andru and Cam waited patiently to see what would happen. If nothing happened then that part would be obvious. If something did happen then Sera would start manipulating the Safeguards in some way.

"What is the alternate plan if this does not work?" Andru said. "Your mother was not specific."

"I trust in my mother and everyone around her, including your parents." Mac said. "She has a lot of technical assistance behind her now. She believes in them. And I believe in her."

"And Jorna too? You like her?" Cam said.

There was a commotion in the plaza or a lack thereof. The Safeguards stood still like statues as the citizens wandered around looking puzzled. The three rescuers looked at the two guards blocking them. They hardly moved in the first place so it was difficult to tell if the remote takeover worked indoors. The answer came immediately as Cam pushed the Safeguard on the right forward with enough force to tip it backwards.

They entered the nearest office to access a computer. After some failures, Mac selected the right software tool to locate messages exchanged and conduct searches within those messages regarding the whereabouts of One and Netstrike.

"Look at those messages between Josh Shay and Ram Netstrike. They are recent and encrypted," Andru said. "This could be it."

Andru opened a message involving a conversation of Netstrike referring One as a 'human' or 'biological' to Josh Shay.

"Yes," Mac said. "They did not even bother to detain One in a secret location. He is in the Super Administrators Conference Room and using him as an example for his lies."

"This should be easy now," Cam said, "there are no Safeguards or regular guards to stop us. Let us move."

There were many immobile Safeguards and regular guards who were victims of a simple STOP command sent through an encrypted wireless channel now decrypted. Several administrators and even citizens roam the passageways, but did not get in the way. Half a dozen door locks had to be defeated before they finally reached the main conference room.

The entrance to the conference room did not have an electronic lock. Cam looked at Andru and Mac to see if they were ready to face what was on the other side. "It's going to be alright guys."

The statement softened the mood as Mac and Andru's display glowed slightly. They had never used any of One's vocabulary after all these years. While Cam on the other hand only listened to One for several days and was beginning to talk like him.

"I am sure One is looking to eat real food," Mac said. "You can open."

The door split and each half of the door hid away revealing a large room with a proportionally large conference room directly in front. They slowly entered and saw Netstrike directly ahead of them on the far side of the table. Josh Shay was on his left and One was on the right. A Safeguard was behind him. There were two other Safeguards on either side of the conference table. All three Safeguards turned their heads towards the rescue party, which caused them to shudder. For some reason, these Safeguards were moving. There was something different about them physically. Cam thought that the head of the Safeguard holding One looked familiar.

"Greetings, non-compliant citizens, I am Ram Netstrike. I would like to talk to your leader on an open channel."

"No," Cam said. "Release, One."

"If you do not comply, I will have Axe here harm your friend."

Shock went through the liberators' bodies as they could not believe what they had heard and what they were seeing. Cam realized that Axe had been modified in such a way to resemble the shiny gray and blue body of the Safeguards. The head was shaped more elongated but the ear and top ornaments were Axe's.

"Hello neighbors," Axe said. "You should be more compliant to Netstrike's laws, otherwise none of us would have gotten into this situation. Too bad it is not a good situation for you."

"You are just a servant, Axe," Cam said, "and you cannot think for yourself. You need someone to always take care of you. You will never develop."

"Well, I just did." Axe gripped One's wrist a little tighter.

"Ouch!"

"Stand down," Netstrike said. He directed his attention to the three. "This is the last time I will say this. Let me talk to your mother!"

Cam took the handheld and talked to it. "Mother, we have a problem. Netstrike wants to talk to you. They have One and they are threatening him physically."

"Alright," Sera said on the long-range radio with speakers on. "I am listening Ram."

"I would like you and your non-compliant followers to surrender...Sera."

"It is you who should surrender, Ram," Sera said. There was no detection of surprise that Netstrike knew her by name.

"And why is that?"

"I have access to the Main Control Station. I will command it to reboot if you do not surrender."

"Wow, Mother." Cam said.

Mac was amazed that his mother was able to get this deep into the System controls. Rebooting the Control Station meant restarting the entire Arch III System. The software was a highly intelligent servant class managing the complex routines that keep the System running. It was named Win Oz. Essentially, Sera would be rebooting the entire world and reset everything to default rules. This would undo everything that Netstrike established during his young reign and that included leadership. Ultimately, Netstrike would be forced to resign as Super Administrator leading to the election of a new one.

The response from Netstrike was unexpected. He just laughed ridiculously.

"Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha! You are a fool."

The ominous laugh gave the three the equivalent of shivers up their metal backs.

"This is no joke, Netstrike," Sera said. "Do you want me to reboot everything? Yes or no?"

He looked to Josh and gave him an order. "Continue operations in my office. I will handle things from here. Enable the video cameras in this room so the world can witness this historic event."

After a minute or so, he spoke. "Citizens of Arch III, this is Ram Netstrike. A major change is about to occur and you will decide on the fate of the System you live in now. The non-compliant traitors who call themselves the Free Archans have control of the System and will destroy our way of life. To counter this threat, I have initiated the World Wide Emergency Voting or WWEV."

"What is he doing, Mother?" Cam said on the radio.

"I am afraid he overridden the System reboot," Sera said. "And now it is up to the citizens to decide the future. This can be good and bad."

_What does she mean?_ Cam thought as he continued to listen to the rest of Netstrike's speech.

"The top three citizens' concerns will be voted through the WWEV system. The voting will be completed 24 hours after the end of my broadcast so that everyone will have a chance to vote. The first decision is a continuation of the new laws established during my administration. 'Yes' to continue them and 'no' to rescind them. The second decision is the selection of a new Super Administrator. 'Yes' to have me continue my service to you, the citizens. 'No' for me to step down. You will receive a prompt to enter the name of the new Super Administrator of your choice."

Netstrike was interrupted by the sounds of cheering. From the near 360 view of the conference room, you could see the citizens celebrating in the plaza and pathways. At the risk of expending all their battery power, the machines displayed their lights at all manner of colors and brightness corresponding to the noise.

At the ad hoc Free Archan headquarters, machines rejoiced at the announcement of voting for change. In the makeshift command center, Sera spoke through the intercom.

"Everyone, cease celebrations. Nothing has changed. Voting has not been completed and there is still a third decision. I have a bad feeling about what this final vote will be."

After a long pause, Netstrike continued, addressing the citizens of Arch III. "The third vote is for the termination of the biological life form."

"No!"

Mac made a mad rush to reach out to One but one of the Safeguards blocked his path. Axe squeezed One's wrist a bit harder. Cam and Andru held Mac back and Netstrike signaled Axe to relax his grip.

At the Free Archan headquarters, Jorna looked stunned as depicted through the light emitting displays going dimmer on her face and body. "Is there any way around this?" She said to Sera.

Sera stared at the main display looking sullen. She replied, "I am sorry Mac. I am sorry One. I am afraid there is nothing we can do. The decision is now up to the citizens of the world. Our hope now is that the machines vote for One to live."

Sera turned off her comms to talk privately and directed three of her staff to a private room. "Can you, Cara and Yootoo conduct an important mission for me?"

Jorna looked at the other two and received their nod of approval.

"Why sure. What is it?"

"Please access Mac's lab. I think it holds the key to One's survival if it comes that that."

"He has his own lab?" Jorna did not mean to act surprised. She had a lab of her own.

"Yes, I discovered his lab about a year ago. It was a secret to everyone."

Netstrike concluded the broadcast. "No one is allowed to influence the selection during the voting process and that includes me. What I ask of you is to remember what I said about this threat earlier. It may be a life form, but it has more power to infect you than any malicious software ever created. Choose wisely. That is all."

The Super Administrator turned his attention to the rescuers. "The clock has started. It will be a long 24 hours for all of us. I do not know what the outcome will be but for now we stay since your biological friend must be kept until a decision has been made either way. To show my goodwill to you and your friend, I will allow you to be close to him. If he can be trusted to do no more harm, I will allow Axe to release his grip on him. Xan! El! Guard the exit."

_You are a really great leader._ Mac sarcastically said to himself.

The two other Safeguards did what they were told. Mac, Andru and Cam walked over to One.

"Why Axe?" Cam said.

"You and your unit never respected or cared about me. Your parents made a promise that they knew they could not keep."

"But they did kept their promise. They did try to create tasks that would allow your parents to come out of sleep. Our parents risked their positions at STF in order to make exceptions at the highest level. They even contacted Netstrike directly! Netstrike is the blame for your situation, not us!"

"Your unit has no respect for the System laws and regulations. Your kind is non-compliant."

Mac could sense that Cam was getting irritated.

"If we were compliant, your situation would never change."

"Well then. I guess I just hate you. I hate everyone in your unit!"

"You have turned out to be a great machine, Axe. That is all I have to say to you."

"Finally, respect. Thank you."

_I wonder where your intelligence came from? It cannot be your parents. They are good people. You must be an undocumented defect._ Cam said to himself.

"One," Mac said, "you have to behave yourself for now. Can you do this?"

"Yes."

"Release him, but stay close just in case he tries to attack or flee," said Netstrike.

"Are you okay, One?"

"I am very hungry."

Mac took out a bottle and some food in the form of solid bars from a container that was magnetically attached to Andru's back. Cam and Mac also carried similar backpacks. Cam's contained more food and liquids. Mac's contained tools and small electronic gear.

"This one has a flavor your kind calls pizza. This is one is grape jelly on plain bread."

One wolfed down the bars carefully, trying not to lose any crumbs. He drank the water that was in the bottle.

"How will they kill me?"

No one expected One to say what he just said. No one dared to ask Netstrike.

"I do not think you should be asking such things," Andru said.

"The way we retire machines permanently is to turn them off," Cam said. "There is a process for accessing a kill switch that will deactivate any citizen and it can only be done by members of his unit. The shell of the machine returns to the unit who scraps the parts...."

"That is enough, Cam," Mac interrupted.

"Sorry, One. That only applies to machines. We do not have rules for terminating biological life forms."

"I'm scared."

"No, you are a brave sibling," Mac said. "The machines will vote that you will live. They are not going to listen to Netstrike after what he has done. You know that, right?"

"Okay...I'm really glad you're here."

"Did they hurt you?"

"Well, they just tighten their grip if I tried to get away. I'm also sleepy and hungry."

As difficult as it seems, Mac looked to Netstrike and said, "Super Administrator, I request to make repairs on this biological life form named One."

Netstrike, still sitting in his normal conference chair continued to operate on his computer. Without looking at Mac, he said, "Granted."

Cam took out all the tools and handed them to whoever needed one. Andru worked on the left hand and arm. Mac worked on the right.

There was one tool, which measured electrical signals. Something on the display caught the attention of Mac. Mac pressed a button and ignored it.

"Anything wrong?" Cam said.

"I thought the readings were bad. I just had the wrong settings."

After the metal covering returned to normal and covered One's pale skin, Mac turned his attention to One's flexible head gear. "One, I will mod the face skin slightly. You will be able to control whether the gear will cover your face completely or partially. When it is a partial covering, your face will be the only thing showing, like wearing a helmet."

"I like that. Can you make it make it get me home?"

"I will do whatever that takes to make that happen and never leave you this time. I should have been captured with you."
Chapter Forty-nine

Yootoo looked around the large open room. Somehow the experience of gazing the area was like a religious experience. He could not describe it and decided not to share what he was feeling. "There is nothing here."

There were several long lab benches but nothing else. Jorna had information that Sera had given her. It led them to one part of the lab and it would soon reveal other secrets. She directed Yootoo. "Okay. Tap this on location three times, on this area four times and on this spot four times."

The room became alive as shelves with equipment and cabinets slowly rose from the metallic floor. The empty spaces under the lab benches were now occupied with storage containers with drawers. Jorna walked up to a plain white storage box, which looked like a safe. After fiddling around with the lock, Yootoo was able to crack and open it.

A scratched up silver disk sat on one of its shelves.

"There it is," Jorna said. "She wants this."

"What for?" Cara asked.

"I do not know. We shall find out when we bring it back."
Chapter Fifty

Netstrike announced that the 24 hours were up. The votes were to be tallied automatically on the World Wide Emergency Broadcast. A voice dubbed the results.

DECISION ONE. 89 % YES. Netstrike Administration's Laws will be rescinded.

DECISION TWO. 85 % NO. Netstrike will not continue role as Super Administrator. During the transition to the new Super Administrator, all incumbent System administrator rights will be revoked. The candidate results for Super Administrator are as follows:

42 % Sera Connect

37 % Josh Shay

17 % Mac Connect

3 % Biological Life Form

0.5 % Osker Connect

0.2 % Chip Mos

Remaining selectees are listed in the attached document. Please download at your convenience. (There were over thirty-four thousand other individuals nominated, but the percentages were miniscule to be worth mentioning.)

Sera Connect has been chosen as the new Super Administrator and will gain System Administration rights during the transition period.

If the selectee declines election then the next popular choice will be the new leader and so on until a selectee chooses to accept the role.

A worldwide state of play broke out at the announcement and the world of Arch 3 erupted. Everyone at the Free Archan headquarters cheered, but Sera raised her right hand to calm everyone around her. The World Wide Emergency Broadcast was not over.

One held Mac's hands and braced himself for the results. He could almost feel Mac shaking.

DECISION THREE. 52 % YES. The biological life form will be terminated.

"No!"

One embraced Mac tightly. "I don't want to die." Andru looked at One and Mac and then held them both.

"Mother, you are Super Administrator," Cam cried out. "Is there anything you can do?"

Sera, in a morose manner, spoke through the secured wireless, "I am afraid not, Cam. This is a citizen choice.... But let me speak to Netstrike."

Cam enabled speaker mode on his communicator so that Netstrike could speak with Sera. He could tell that Netstrike had expected Josh Shay to win.

"Congratulations. You and your non-compliant friends got their way. If this is about the biological being, I cannot help you."

"You are still the Super Administrator. I propose that I decline the Super Administrator role in order to save One."

Netstrike was getting aggravated. He refused to call One by his name and hated it when other machines called him by that. "No. He is to be destroyed, but I will listen to your offer to decline the leader position."

"Can we compromise on the method of termination?"

Netstrike thought about this for a moment.

"Mother!" Mac said. "How could you?"

"Since we do not have formal procedures for disposing biological life forms, I can leave it up to your unit to decide how to make it stop operating. Besides, after termination, what remains of it belong to you."

"We will also decide when."

"No. The current law for scheduled termination is three Arch 3 days after being marked for permanent sleep state."

"Then we will select the location. Our home station."

"He will not be permitted to leave your home station once he is there. I will have Safeguards in and around the premises. I will agree to your procedures and the place of termination provided that you refuse the Super Administration position."

"Agreed."

"Mother, No!" Mac and Cam said.

Andru also pleaded. "Please mother of Mac, do not let this happen!"

One took a quick step towards the exit, but went no further. It was a move that startled the Safeguards.

"He cannot be allowed to escape," Netstrike said to the Safeguards. He turned his attention to Mac.

"The decision to terminate has been decided by the citizens. It is out of my hands or the new Super Administrator's hands. You are fortunate to handle his demise. I am sure you would like to ensure it will not suffer long. The public must witness and receive proof of termination. You cannot fool us."

Netstrike turned his back on them and looked out the window.

"You may go now. Axe, Xan and El, escort them to the hover transport. You are to ensure that the termination process of the biological life is uninterrupted. Since there are no specific regulations on how this is done, ensure that it is dead if the Connects do not make it happen. I will grant additional support to make sure it does not escape.

There was some feeling of relief about taking the trip home, but there was also awkwardness sharing the same confined space with the three Safeguards. Mac held One's hand while Cam and Andru tried to comfort them. In his artificial intelligent mind, Mac thought about the irony that One had been freed from a prison only to return to home which has been turned into another prison.

A monitor on the wall of the large passenger area activated. A World Wide Emergency Broadcast was made. The scrolling banner displayed: NEW ARCH 3 LEADER SELECTED

The text and voice over read this:

Sera Connect has declined the opportunity to be Super Administrator. Josh Shay will be the selected to administer the needs of the Arch 3 citizens and the System. We have a live audio feed from Sera Connect on her decision.

"Citizens of Arch 3. I have respectfully declined the appointment for leadership. I thank everyone who participated and voted for me. My decision is a personal and private one. It would be extremely difficult to serve my home unit and my fellow citizens at the same time. Please support the transition of a new administration and the dawn of a better future for Arch 3. I would like to welcome Josh Shay as the new Super Administrator."

The graphics and voice announcer transitioned to Josh. "We now introduce Josh Shay through video feed. Thank you."

"Thank you, Sera Connect. I appreciate the welcome. It is an honor to be selected as the new Super Administrator. I will try to make this speech brief.... There has been distrust between the citizens and the administration that govern our world. I was a part of that administration. I ask that you forgive me and earn the trust of the System again. We shall begin a new era of progress. We shall start with the new elections for the entire staff of the Main Control System. The Safeguard program will be cancelled. However, the special Safeguards will be active until the completion of the Third Decision.

Although Ram Netstrike is no longer in power and will live the rest of his operating hours as a citizen, he may still have influence over other machines and this is a concern. Our former leader will be put under house arrest and monitored to ensure he has no access to the System network and cannot create potential problems that could put us all in the same situation when he was in power. I am sure no one would like to go through those dark days again.

In the past several years, many decisions made through the System have not worked, but the System had learned its lesson. There will be more communications between citizen and System. If there are disagreements, there will be better adjudication to ensure both parties are satisfied with the outcome. As for the important issue of resource depletion, we will create an improved research and technology organization called the Engineering Solutions Lab or ESL. In the near future, we will vote for a better name for the lab.

As for the non-compliants and the Free Archans, they will not be considered enemies of the System from this point forward. I asked that they continue to use their resources to contribute to make life better for the citizens and improve the System.

That is all for now. I will let Sera conclude this broadcast. She has something very important to say about her unit situation. Thank you citizens."

"Turning over the broadcast to Sera Connect via audio."

"My fellow citizens. Fear has caused so much misery to many machines. The fear of losing resources and the fear of losing power of citizens has caused one machine, one citizen and one leader to go mad. I will not say his name. This man used fear that resulted in the end of my nextgen. Our former Super Administrator never used his name. Well, my nextgen does have a name and his name is One. Although he is a biological life form, he is so much like us. He can breathe, think, feel and choose. He did not choose to be in this world, but yet he exists. He did not choose to be ended, but our System was manipulated to cause this. One is our savior. What would have happened if our former leader succeeded in his plans? I believe you know the answer. One has been chosen to be in our world for a reason. He saved us all and now he will die for you!"

The transmission ended abruptly and the only sound that could be heard was the humming of the hover transport. The Safeguards did not say anything to enrage the four passengers. Mac looked out the window and was able to view the general area around his home. The homecoming felt bittersweet and it was not supposed to be that way.

During the time leading up to the execution, there were many public and private debates about Sera's last speech. There were many that believed that One should be saved and offered possible ways to make it happen. There were an equal amount who were either indifferent or against keeping One alive.

At the Connect home station, the Mos, Jorna, Cara and Yootoo would visit and whenever a Safeguard is not conducting routine checks, the group would discuss possible ways to save One. More importantly, they would show their fondness of One and give support to the Connects in the hope of keeping him alive.

The Emergency Law and Termination Law were designed to keep the peace in the event the machines fought one another. The Emergency Law essentially resets all the laws to the fundamental rules. Any laws that were in dispute or not were wiped out and the machines would have to build new rules and try again. Former leadership was also wiped away and not allowed to participate in elections again. Unfortunately, the only authoritative position affected is the Super Administrator, the supreme leader manager of the entire System.

The Termination Law is harsh. There have been situations where machines have damaged or destroyed other machines. This is the reason why no machine can ever strike another machine. The only method to prevent disorder was to block or cast a citizen from conducting non-compliant actions. Terminating a machine guarantees that his or her violent programming does not spread to current or next generations of citizens. From ordinary workers to policy experts, citizens formed a "Save One" interest group to come up with ways around One's execution. In the end, there was no hope.
Chapter Fifty-one

On the tenth time slot of the third day, the termination process had begun. Mac, Andru and Cam had built the most comfortable bed for One to lie down on. Only his face and his arms were exposed to the Arch 3 air. He had already accepted his fate and did not attempt anything that would indicate what he was afraid to die. Axe and the other Safeguards had agreed with Mac that One was not going to be a runaway risk. They were also assured that the Connect unit and its friends would not stop the process.

The termination process was an injection of a chemical substance that would stop One's breathing and heart from functioning. It was designed to be painless and fast. The injection would be applied to the exposed left arm and administered by Mac. He could not believe the absurd paradox he was in. _I created One and now I will destroy him. My own brother._

Since the event was public for partial and impartial witnesses, a large multitude of citizens surrounded the Connect property, which was the equivalent of an average front yard. The only machines that could be with One were members of the Connect unit and a few others chosen by Mac and Sera. The exception was a bureaucrat of the System whose only role was to ensure compliance and verify the subject's termination. He had some electronic equipment to measure life signs.

"You may begin the procedure," System rep said coldly.

"This will hurt a tiny bit." Mac said. "I am so sorry."

"We had lots of fun." One replied, "I'm sorry we can't have any more."

Mac tried to say something, but it was Sili that opened up. "I love you One. I asked the Great Maker to not take you away."

"I love you too, Sili," One said, "I can't believe you remember that word."

"Love?"

"Yes."

"I am starting to use it more. I like it better than the other words."

"I love you as well, son," Sera said using new words from One. "When you came into this world, we learned many things from you. This thing called love is infectious for the right reasons. You saved us before and we will spread your love to other machines. I know this might not make sense to you, but you will always be with us and we will always be with you. I am not sure if I can explain this."

"That's okay, Mother. Whatever you said made me feel good."

"You are a great friend," Andru spoke. "All those inventions...the ball and bat, singing, dancing. I will remember them and replicate to show everybody the neat things that you have created for us. Love, you One."

Mac was about to pierce the skin with the injection device. He stopped, shook a little and almost collapsed. "I cannot do this. I am sorry, One. Someone else has to do it."

"It's okay. I trust you. You can do it."

Mac could sense his mother and father's hand touching his back. He could almost read their thoughts of support and approval. He hesitated one more time as he lifted the syringe.

"I love you. You will always be my brother."

The needle pierced the skin on a vein in One's arm. One closed his eyes but continued to breathe. Sera held One's right hand and Mac held One's left hand. All the unit members and friends placed their hands on One and waited in silence. The whole world was watching as well.

After several minutes, Mac cried out, "He is cold! He is very cold!"

The System rep placed his electronic measurement over Mac's head and chest.

"Yes, indeed. The life form is not breathing. There are no signs of electrical activity. I declare this biological to be terminated. You may do what you wish with the shell."

Mac, Andru and Cam took One's lifeless body and placed him gently in an open gray metal container. Osker and Chip took the top half of the container from the ground and placed it on top. As they sealed up the box with electric torches, Sera prepared to make an announcement to the crowd. A member of the World Wide Broadcast Network with a video camera mounted on her right shoulder, walked up to Sera and held a microphone close to her.

"It is done. My son is no more. In a way, our former leader was correct. One did infected us, but not in the way that he thought. One showed kindness to the machines he was fond of being with. He sacrificed his life to save his unit and the machines who dared stood up against the former leader. We would have still been under his rule if it were not for One. He was creative and provided us with different perspectives on how to think. We will share everyone all the gifts he gave us. The sum of all this and more is a word he called 'love'. I appreciate your show of support. We request that you respect our privacy as we mourn our loss."

Chapter Fifty-two

After witnessing the termination in person, Josh got back to his fast hovercraft and made a visit to an old friend. He arrived at a large home station entrance and was greeted by two guards.

"Halt. Who goes there?"

"It is I, Josh Shay."

"You may enter."

A servant machine met him as soon as he entered and although it took a while, he was finally taken to a study room. He caught Netstrike viewing news on the death of One. The modifications that reverted Netstrike to an ordinary machine made Netstrike look smaller."

"Are you satisfied? He is gone forever."

"Yes. The elimination of his kind was the only thing that mattered. If we were animals like him, he would have been destroyed immediately. Instead, he died gracefully under law and by the hands of the citizens. This monster was treated fairly."

"I do not understand your hatred for One. From the time I first met him and at the very end, I detected only good things from him. You on the other hand are..."

Josh could not finish his sentence.

"You are trying to think of a word that does not exist in Arch 3 System dictionary?"

"I know. It is the opposite of good. You know I would have supported you regardless. However, wasting an incredible amount of resources to remove one biological life form is illogical. I do not think it was intelligent to build an army just to deal with him."

"One day, you will see that I am right."

"We are done with this conversation. Goodbye."

"There is one thing I want to know before you go, Josh. Did you provided the Safeguard control codes to the Free Archans?"

Josh ignored him and walked out the room. The servant robot escorted Josh through the long path to the exit. Josh heard him still talking and caught the last statement.

"Hahaha! You will be a great Super Administrator, even more powerful than me."

Josh thought inside. _You are deeply wrong, Netstrike. The power belongs to the citizens._
Chapter Fifty-three

It has been three hours since One's untimely demise. It was not uncommon for a deactivated member of the unit to be stored away in the home. In this case, One was going to be buried in Osker's workshop. There was a large workbench pushed to the wall in order to prepare a hole in the concrete floor in the middle of the room. Osker and Chip operated powerful electric jackhammers to break the floor open.

Meanwhile, Sera, Cam, Mac and Andru anxiously waited in the entertainment center waiting for something to happen. Finally, it did.

Snooper entered the room and approached Mac. He opened his jaw to reveal a white piece of paper. Mac took it and read it.

GREEN, SIGNED J, C & Y

This excited Mac. He said to the others, "It is a go. We got to move fast."

Only Mac and Andru entered a small room in the middle of the home station. They closed the door behind them. The place was a study room where any machine could have privacy and quiet. They called it the TEMPEST. No electromagnetic energy or sound energy could go in or out of the chamber.

In the TEMPEST stood 484-2828 besides the coffin on a lab bench. There was a metallic body resembling Cam under the bench. 484 turned around to allow Mac to retrieve two laser knives. He gave one to Andru and both of them started to cut open the coffin. They completed the process and opened up the metal box, revealing a lifeless One.

Andru almost said something, but restrained him. He knew that Mac always had a plan "B" but in this case there was not going to be any.

"You can start the interface," Mac said.

Andru placed an adapter on his right hand connector. He then took One's right hand and made a link with his hand. "I have control of the suit," he said.

"Okay. Make a 30 millimeter by 30 millimeter opening at this area," Mac commanded, pointing to part of the arm opposite the elbow.

Mac injected a liquid substance into the arm and released all of it. "This will start the process. You can begin the defreeze."

"Defreeze initiated. Now what?"

"You can disconnect." He took a cable from 484's back. "I will attach this line to One. We can monitor his life signs on 484-2828's chest display."

Mac connected the cable to One. "Now we wait."

"How long?"

"Not sure. It will be up to One's body. Could be hours or days."

In seven minutes, they saw the values in the life sign monitoring display start to move. The internal temperature rose and a single signal for a heartbeat appeared.

Andru wondered out loud, "What do those values mean?"

"It is a very good start. See that heart rate over there?"

"Yes."

"I would like to see that signal occur at least 70 peaks per minute."

"Oh. He still has a long way to go."

In almost half an hour, a wonderful thing occurred.

"Eighty-three beats per minute? By the great Maker!"

One opened his eyes abruptly and willed the exosuit to open up the helmet gear, baring all of One's head. He gasped for lots of air. As he tried to sit up, Mac and Andru guided him until he was sitting.

"Who are you?" Mac queried.

"I am One Connect. Hello, Mac. Hello, Andru."

"Hours or days, huh?" Andru said to Mac, teasingly. Both hugged One at the same time. It was another behavior they've learned from One.

"You are back." Mac rejoiced.

"You did say you were never going to leave me."

"Yes and I am so happy that all my calculations worked out."

"And I am sure he had a backup plan," Andru said.

They all laugh together, but it didn't last long.

"One," Mac said, picking up something under the bench, "for your own good, you must do exactly what I say and do not ask questions."

"Okay. I will try."

You are going to have to remove the suit you have now and replace it with this.

"Hey, that looks like...ha ha ha."

"We found another home for you One," Andru said, "it is one that is safer than here."

"I'm still hiding?"

"We will explain when we get there."

"Can you guys turn around? You too, 484."

"Why?" Andru inquired.

One commanded the suit to be removed. He grabbed the other exosuit, which was bulkier than the old one that was contoured to his body. Instinctively, he put on the new one, which expanded as he put his limbs in. The suit contracted to his skin as soon as the right areas of the suit was lined up with the correct body parts. He stood up.

"Feels bigger, but it's more comfortable."

Mac and Andru took some material out of a burnt metal box and placed the ashes inside the coffin with the old exosuit. They sealed it up with the electric torches soon after.

"Goodbye, old suit. You've been a part of me for a long time."

Mac turned to 484, "let my father know the box is ready. After that, follow us."

"Yes, Mac."

"We are going out now."

"Do I get to say goodbye to everyone?"

"No. I am afraid it has to be this way. They have an idea what is going on but if they see you with their own eyes revived, then word could accidentally leak, especially from the elementary nextgens. Now, until I say so, do not say a word."

They opened the TEMPEST door and were greeted by Snooper.

"Mouth open, Snooper," Mac ordered.

There was a green piece of paper with the hand written letters 'J C Y'.

"Let us leave, now."  
Mac, Andru, 484, Snooper and One in his new exosuit all entered the parked hovercraft. They entered the spaceport and transferred to the family owned spaceship, designed for many purposes such as collecting geological specimens from asteroids, moons and planets. It was also used for repairing satellites such as GST. Now it was the getaway vehicle for a supposedly dead fugitive.

They left the planet Arch 3 and headed in the direction towards Arch 4. After Arch 3 disappeared from visual view, Mac turned the ship twice at different times. The heading was towards their sun and Andru noticed.

"Why are you going to the forbidden space?"

"Because I am taking One home. His real home."

"Arch 2?"

"More like, Arch 2A."

After almost an hour of travel, a blue and white planet appeared in view of the ship's windows.

"It looks nice," One said.

"It does," Mac replied, "but it has its drawbacks. I will explain after we land."

Chapter Fifty-four

The ship got closer to the surface and what they saw was not so nice.

"There's nothing here," One said. "Everything is just brown and red."

"I think there is hope," Mac said while carefully flying and looking at an instrument with numbered and text readings.

Later, the ground revealed a landscape with yellow pasture and a few green shrubs. Ahead of them were small green hills. Beyond the hills was a small grassy valley with trees and several ponds. Mac saw a clearing among the clutter of vegetation and landed the ship.

"Welcome home, One," Mac said. "This is one of the few places untouched by radiation. The rest of this world is just starting to heal."

"This place. It is so different," One gathered in awe. "I feel like I belong here."

"Let us go outside."

As One, Mac and Andru surveyed the immediate area, 484 worked on getting two containers out of the ship with the help of tracked movers which allowed the cargo to roll down the ramp.

"Listen, One. We cannot stay here too long. This planet is where your kind used to live. What happened here is a big unknown. For some reason, archives about this planet do not even exist. Our Giant Space Telescope is programmed to avoid pointing towards the Arch 0 star and all our space travel routes forbid exploration between Arch 3 and the Arch 0 star."

"What is this place called?"

"'Earth'. Your kind called themselves 'humans' or 'human beings'. They had other names like 'people'. The humans call Arch 0 the 'Sun'. If the Arch 3 citizens ever found out about this planet, I guess they would call it Arch 2A. But the name your people gave it is 'Earth'."

"Will I be okay here on Earth?"

"You will many times safer here than in Arch 3. No one besides us will ever find you here. However, this planet is not without its problems."

"Oh, oh."

"As long as you stay in this area, you will be fine. There are many places that have something called radiation. I think you know what that means."

"I do. It can be deadly to biological life forms depending on the amount emitted, they could harm the electronics in machines."

"Well, I know I cannot stop you, but if for some reason, you do want to explore...."

Andru took an exosuit out of a container. "Here you go, One. A present. We owe you eleven more of them."

"Thank you and why more?"

"This planet's solar cycle is about half of the solar cycle of Arch 3."

"So I would be...eleven years old here?"

"I have made the calculations, One." Mac said, "and based on the day you were made on Arch 3, on this planet you are twelve!"

"Happy Production Day, One!" Andru and Mac said at the same time.

Mac excited about the suit said, "You are going to love this new exosuit. If you go to radioactive areas, the suit will protect you. It will also make you stronger and provide better protection."

"From what?"

"There are many small animals here. They are harmless and can provide a great source of nourishment. But I am not 100 percent certain that there are bigger and more dangerous life forms roaming about. My scanners have not detected anything larger than you for hundreds of kilometers."

"I'm scared. I take what I said back the other day. I don't want to be alone."

"Do not worry, One, you will not be alone."

"Huh?"

The servant machine, 484 approach them and a monitor revealed itself on his belly.

"Happy Production Day, One," Sera, Osker, Cam and Sili said on the recorded video. "Sorry, we could not be with you, but where ever you are, we will always love you. You know Mac will find a way for us to communicate with you secretly and safely. In the meantime, enjoy this present. Goodbye for now."

Andru opened the second container and out came Snooper followed by two real dogs. The first one a Labrador Retriever and the second one a German Shepard.

"Now you have added protection. Snooper can provide long-range protection. These life forms are called dogs. They can provide early warning and close protection. They can also offer companionship."

"But, how?"

"Before I made you, I had to make sure the project was going to be a success. It took many experiments until I perfected the creation process. It made me feel bad that so many of them did not work out or even live long. These two dogs were the final specimens. I call this dark colored dog, Alpha and the light colored dog, Beta. Alpha is a male and Beta is a female. They are relatively old by human standards, but I have restored their ability to mate. It will not be long before they have offspring."

"That's great. Lots of mouths to feed," One said.

"I know. That is why I have chosen this area. There is an abundance of vegetation and native life that can provide food for many lifetimes."

"I'm not sure how to get food. You've always fed me."

Mac looked at Andru and Andru spoke, "We did have a lot of help. We literally found a record with records. It not only contained recipes on making some life forms but it contains information on how humans are able to feed themselves. I have turned this information into simple instructions in 484's database. He was your teacher in Arch 3 but now he is your personal assistant on Arch 2A...Earth."

"Cool!"

"You got it, dude!" 484 said.

"Where did that come from?" Andru said.

"He is learning from One. He could sound like him in a few days."

They all laughed spontaneously, including 484, "Ha ha ha!" The dogs and Snooper also barked as if they understood the humor.

One looked at the two containers. "You've left me with a lot of stuff."

"Yes," Mac said, "I have lots of synthetic food, spare batteries for Snooper and 484, spare solar cells, extra parts, tools, electronics, and a bed."

"A bed?"

"Yes, once the dog's container is cleaned, you can use that as shelter. It is small but good enough until you make something bigger. I believe that you will never be bored in this world."

"You are so lucky," Andru, continued, "this place is so interesting. I would not mind spending time here. Unfortunately, we got to get back before someone gets suspicious."

"Will I see you guys again?"

"You will," Mac said, "I just do not know when. It is going to be random, so expect us to visit at any given time."

"You better."

Mac remembered. "There is one more thing. Your name was picked to disguise you as a servant machine. You are not on Arch 3 anymore and Andru has thought of something you might like. It will be up to you of course, but hear him out."

"Remember that song you first sang to us?"

"Johnny B. Goode?"

"Well?"

"Johnny B. Goode Connect sounds too long."

"No, silly."

"I'm just kidding. Hmm. Johnny Connect. It's a keeper. It will take some time getting used to."

"Goodbye, Johnny. Be safe. We will find a way to communicate. Right now, any signal coming from this planet will be picked up and that could be a problem. I really think no one from the Arch 3 System will investigate because the System does everything they can to keep Earth a secret. But at the same time, let us not take any chances."

"Bye, Mac," Johnny said while hugging. "With all this help, I'll be fine. I'll still miss ya."

It was Andru's turn to say parting words. "Farewell, Johnny Connect. Hero of the citizens and foe of the System."

"That's a long title. Johnny is good enough."

They all laughed, "hahaha!"

"Love you, Johnny."

"Love you too, guys."

Mac and Andru boarded the ship and made some pre-checks. In no time, the craft became airborne and slowly accelerated to the clear blue sky until it disappeared. As he sensed that the day would be turning to night soon, he worked with 484 to reorganize all his new belongings, eat, charge 484 and Snooper, and feed the dogs. He later became exhausted and settled his metallic and furry companions for the night.

As Johnny laid down to sleep, he thought about the parting words before Mac made his way to the ramp into the ship. He had asked him what he would be doing next when he got back. Mac merely responded, "Maybe two." This made him pause and think. The ramp closed before Johnny could get another word in.

His last thoughts before going to sleep, "Maybe two? What does that mean?"

THE END

About the Author

Rom Gallamoza is an engineer by day, a jack-of-all-trades, a dad and married with children by night. As a fan of science fiction and adventure stories, he had always dreamt of writing one of his own. After a few decades of writing attempts, he finally completed his first short novel for young adults, Mac's Lab. If he's not being a dad, you can find him cooking, fixing things, helping with homework, dabbling with computer software, developing apps, or writing the next story.

