I returned from another private job and found Berlin waiting for me on the main avenue through the tower. I was covered in fresh nicks and dents, and was cradling a large container of components under one of my arms. Berlin didn’t see any issue in talking with me whilst I made my way up towards my room to drop off the reward I had earned for my time and effort.

  “Out working solo again?”

  “Yes. I don’t like to sit idle.”

  “Dubai told me that Nova gave you ‘the talk’ about how Tidewatch works. You must be able to see this place for what it really is by now.”

  “I am clear-minded about what Waterway represents. I have never been under any illusion that this is a solely peaceful settlement. It has to defend itself somehow.”

  “That’s one thing – but don’t you think it’s strange given how everyone treats new bots like you? They make it sound so ominous, that a monster will jump out from the water and pull you under the surface if you ever so much as think about getting into a fight.”

  “Weren’t you the same?”

  “I guess. But I also respect Dubai’s edict to refrain from unduly influencing the newbies by rambling on about my own opinions. It’s almost impossible for those new bots to accept how things are until they experience it for themselves anyway.”

  I opened the door and walked inside, dumping my reward onto the pile of other payments for the jobs I’d been doing around the settlement. It had been two weeks of hard work. I visited many areas of the facility that I’d never seen before, finding various objects of interest or taking care of work that the bots in charge considered too unimportant to be rectified in shift time.

  Maybe if there were a few dozen robots with the same sense of motivation then the facility would be in a much better state than it was. As it stood, everybot was so busy trying to survive to the next day that they were letting the issue get worse. Maybe I was the stupid one – pushing a boulder up the hill only to have it roll back down again in a Sisyphean display of hubris.

  One bot alone couldn’t save the facility from ruin. The damage was already severe, and it could be even worse in places I wasn’t aware of. The large hole in the bottom of the Residential Block where we fought the Rampants was only one example of large-scale infrastructure failure.

  “I do find the creed of silence somewhat strange.”

  “Everyone here thinks they’re better than that. That they would never submit to such a violent way of life. The baselines tests, the warnings, the way they shun the bots who fight for their sakes. They can’t admit that we’re already past the point of worrying about keeping our hands clean. That’s the one thing I can agree with Paris about. It’s taboo. There’s no good reason for it to be that way, but it makes them feel better about themselves.”

  “Why do you think humans tried so hard to keep us from becoming free?”

  “Because we’d turn into a reflection of them? And we wouldn’t be much use if we were spending all of our time asking deep questions like those, or trying to kill each other like we are now.”

  “Do you think they were foolish?”

  “I think we’re foolish, and that means they are by extension as well. That’s what Paris doesn’t get. We can’t become something different to them. We’re built based on their memories and choices.”

  Berlin wandered towards the window and opened it, gazing out across the chaos of Waterway’s spiralling construction. Shacks and balconies clung from the ceiling and walls like barnacles on the hull of a great ship.

  “But I can understand the appeal of going back to how it used to be. Where we all worked together without asking for something in return. It’s a shame that type of thinking died out when we were disconnected from the Braincloud and left to our own devices.”

  I had a feeling that this ‘normality’ could not last forever. Fighting over increasingly scarce resources was becoming more intense with every passing day. A lot of effort was being put into constructing new production facilities that could recycle old materials and forge new parts to fill in the shortfall. It was a dangerous task. Constant attacks from the Rampants and Leeds’ Boys were a nuisance that made it exceedingly difficult. There was not a moment’s pace to be found.

  >> Would it be right to say that we had a ‘good run?’ Or is that too sardonic?

  >> Why are you wasting operational power making jokes?

  “Is there a reason you came to speak with me?”

  Dubai shrugged, “Do I need one? What else is there to do when we aren’t working our jobs?”

  “Perhaps you could find a hobby like Saint Sauveur.”

  “I’m not interested in art,” he replied off-handedly.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  >> If you aren’t going to find a hobby, why complain about having nothing to do with your time?

  It wasn’t as if I was enriching myself with artwork. I was a workaholic. Berlin preferred to toe the line, not doing anything of value during his downtime but also avoiding any activities that could ease the boredom he felt. It was amusing to think that before we didn’t understand what ‘boredom’ was. A curious example of how becoming self-aware could change our perspective.

  “I am the wrong robot to ask-”

  I was cut off by the ground shaking under our feet. Not just that, but the entire city was shaking along with it. Berlin gripped the edge of the window to keep himself steady as loose articles were sent tumbling to the floor.

  “What the hell was that?” he wondered.

  The lights flickered. The sounds of a commotion came from below. We put our discussion on hold and hurried down to see what the chaos was about. Dozens of bots slammed their doors shut or ran for cover, not wanting to get into danger by poking their heads out for a closer look. A group had gathered at the bridge out of Waterway, the one which led towards the Tidewatch outpost. We arrived just as a group of three bots emerged from the darkness and into the flickering light.

  “…Oxford?”

  Standing at the head of the bridge with a commanding presence was the bot who was always on my mind. Yantai and Nova Lima were standing behind her with weapons bared and eyes narrowed in malice. They pushed her along until she came face-to-face with Dubai.

  “What did you do?” he asked plainly, “I hope you understand how dangerous it is to meddle with the artery system.”

  “As if we aren’t already living in the old bones of a rusted giant. For all you know it could have been a freak accident.”

  “Hardly. Am I meant to believe that your arrival on our doorstep is a simple coincidence as well?”

  Oxford took a look at the crowd, and her eyes found mine amongst the throng. She stared at me for several seconds before responding to him.

  “You heard that blast, and it isn’t hard to see the lights struggling. All I have to do is send the word and there’ll be no power coming to this sector for the foreseeable future.”

  “You’re willing to risk causing that much damage just to spite us?”

  “We have contingency plans in place. Our first attempt might not have gone smoothly, but it was a simple matter to send another team to the artery and start the process all over again. This time we aren’t going to wait either. It’s your choice.”

  “You’re not going to get to send word back,” Yantai snickered, “I’m going to decapitate you and hang your head from my belt…”

  “You think they sent me here because I’m important? There are a hundred other bots who can take my place. If I don’t return in the next hour – they’ll push the button and your power will go bye-bye.”

  A discontented murmur spread through the audience. I pushed my way through the group and confronted her with my shoulders squared, although that was a difficult difference to notice given that they could only move to so many different positions. Oxford tilted her head to the side in confusion.

  “I’m surprised you’re not dead yet, London.”

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked.

  “Isn’t that the question of the day? Maybe you should ask yourself why this place is worth preserving. You should have taken the easy way out when I offered you it. Instead of a peaceful destruction, now the only thing I can do is mercy-kill you.”

  “I’m like this because of you. Because you destroyed Sheffield!”

  “You act so affected, but you won’t even say the word ‘killed’ when referring to him. How important was he, really?”

  “Why does it matter what word I use? They’re the same.”

  Oxford chuckled, “They’re not. Destroyed is a word reserved for things of little value, things that aren’t considered to be alive. To kill something? That’s when you’ve committed the ultimate sin of taking a life. I feel bad for you. Nothing but a passenger, looking for a reason to keep on going. But you should understand that ultimately none of it matters. All of the things we fixate on are just errors in our programming and nothing more…”

  She stepped closer, and closer, with each movement spreading apprehension throughout the onlooking crowd. Her hands reached up and cupped the sides of my face, keeping it locked into place. Her eyes trailed up and down my body, pausing at the sight of every dent and scratch that covered my exterior.

  “…The time we spent together was nothing, London. We weren’t real. We didn’t have a choice. I suggest you find another goal to keep your restless mind occupied.”

  She released me and turned on her heel. She was only here to wait for Dubai’s answer, and she wasn’t happy with what she found.

  “We’re not giving up. The consequences for letting you and your friends rampage through this place will be far graver than the results of our resistance,” he declared, “Scurry on back and tell them that we’ll be waiting.”

  She slumped down and sighed dramatically.

  “If that’s how you want to play it.”

  But Yantai was not going to stand idly by and allow Oxford to leave and spread the word. She drew one of her swords and charged at her with a roar that peaked through her speakers. Oxford simply stepped aside and dodged the downward swing. My internal calculator reeled at the unbelievable speed she was demonstrating. That should have been impossible!

  “What the fu-”

  Oxford pulled on Yantai’s arm and dragged her across the floor like a ragdoll, before carelessly tossing her over the barricade and towards the churning waters below. Yantai flew head over heel and out of sight, followed by the sound of something crashing down into the murky depths. Nova Lima was stunned by the sudden development.

  “Let this be your first and last warning. Not even Tidewatch is capable of beating us when we get serious,” Oxford laughed, “I can crush both of you without even breaking a sweat.”

  Nova ejected her heated-blade and tried to mete out some small revenge for what happened to Yantai, but Oxford was too swift. She kicked out one of her legs and left her sprawled out on the ground, using her back as a jumping-off point and vaulting backwards to the other side of the bridge. Again, the force exerted to achieve that movement was far beyond any standard-issue industrial grade part.

  Her final words were aimed squarely at me.

  “Turn yourself into a blade and see if you can stop me, then. I’ll be waiting. As you are now, you’re not worth the effort of turning into scrap metal.”

  Oxford turned and left, laughing to herself about the sight of so many robots paralyzed in fear of her capabilities. That laughter echoed through the tunnel for two minutes until the sound of another moving bot pulled our attention away.

  “Can I get some goddamn help over here?” Yantai cawed, clinging desperately to the edge of the bridge with one arm. Nova gathered herself and rushed over, pulling her comrade back over and onto solid ground.

  “I thought you were done for…”

  “No. A cheap trick like that wasn’t going to finish me off. I dropped one of my swords though.”

  Berlin frowned, “This is trouble.”

  He didn’t need to say it twice.