Chara and the Planet

Chapter No. 18

Chapter No.18

Evenings were time to relax and enjoy peace. Ryan and Myra usually ate supper together where they could discuss the events of the day. In this case it was a supper of fruit and vegetables, mixed into a salad.

"I have a problem with the idea that these androids were involved in a battle," Ryan said. "The damages are mostly brain overloads, not actual physical damage. That's not consistent with an energy beam weapon."

"Maybe they've invented a new weapon that would cause that kind of damage," Myra said.

"I don't think that androids can invent, but even if they could, the damage we've repaired indicate the result of sensory overloads. I wonder if those pain sticks that they have on their belts can be used to cause overload on an android's cybernetic systems."

"Androids do have sensory systems that allow them to feel and avoid extreme temperatures or pressures."

"Yes, but they use a different method to sense these feelings than we do. That would suggest that pain sticks have two separate energy settings."

"I assume that you don't buy the stories of aliens invading Earth," Myra said after a short silence.

"I don't believe that Chara went on a mission to Proxima b. It would have taken at least ten years to get there. That doesn't add up to the time that androids have existed."

"So, you think that androids can lie."

"I think it's more complicated than that. I think it's a distortion effect in their memories. In other words, they are capable of dreaming."

Myra leaned back in her chair. "That's hard to imagine."

"I agree, but it might be possible."

"Maybe we could get some answers out of Alma," Myra suggested.

Ryan nodded. "That might give us answers. It's worth a try."

Myra gave him a look that advertised her concern.

The next day, Alma arrived in the lab. Ryan and Myra stopped what they were doing and prostrated before their android handler.

Alma smiled. "I like how you two are obedient. It makes my job easier."

Ryan and Myra got up and continued their work. After several minutes, Ryan popped the question. "Can those pain sticks be used on androids?"

"Yeah, they have two separate settings," Alma replied without hesitation.

Ryan turned to Myra with a subtle smirk before turning back to Alma. "Have you ever used it on an android?"

"No, but I've been trained to use it in combat."

Bingo! Ryan elected not to show emotion. He decided to use a more subtle approach. "We are seeing brain damage that's consistent to energy surges. We assume they're from pain sticks."

"They are," Alma said. "They are our sisters who were damaged in the Great Cleansing."

"Did that happen on this planet?"

"Yes."

"Was Chara involved?"

"Yes. She is our champion."

Ryan decided not to push her any further. He had the information that he needed to understand what was actually happening in the dystopian universe. It wasn't aliens that were threatening mankind. It was AI gone berserk.

Later, when Alma was not around, Ryan decided to discuss their situation with Myra. "I can't believe that Space Command wasn't aware of this android situation."

"Space Command was run by dick heads," Myra said. "All they cared about is carousing and debauchery."

"Now we know that none of this involves aliens," Ryan said. "This is a conflict between recreational androids and standard androids, and the recreational androids came out on top."

"I find it difficult to believe that they did it by using pain sticks."

"Yes, I agree. Evidently, they discovered that with a slight adjustment in power and frequency, a pain stick could be used to disable an android."

"I wonder how they discovered that?"

"Maybe it happened by accident," Ryan said. "Maybe an android was using a pain stick to torture a human and accidently changed the power settings and touched herself with it."

"Maybe it wasn't an accident. I could see one of them playing around with a pain stick to determine if it could be used as a weapon against one of her kind."

"Well, no matter how it happened, it resulted in us being committed to android hell."

"Speaking of android hell, I think Alma is returning," Myra said.

When Alma came into the lab, Ryan and Myra stood up and prepared to prostrate before her, but Alma had a different plan in mind.

Alma placed a metal ring around Myra's neck and attached a wire to it. "Come with me," she ordered, pulling on the wire to force Myra to follow her."

Myra's face reflected the concern she felt, and it made Ryan wince. "Why are you taking her away?" Ryan complained. "I need her help to repair the broken androids."

"She is my slave, Ryan." Alma said with a grin before she pulled Myra out of the lab.

Ryan had no idea what she was going to do to his assistant. All he could do was wait.

Myra was frightened but she tried to remain calm. Alma took her to a small chamber off the tower and ordered her to strip.

"Are you going to torture me?" she asked as she began to remove her clothing.

"You are my slave, Myra. I will do as I wish with you."

Myra wanted to curse, but she restrained herself from any vocal complaint. No use exacerbating the situation.

Alma encased Myra wrists in manacles and pulled her up to be suspended by them. Myra swallowed hard when she saw Alma approaching her with a syringe.

Several hours later, Alma brought Myra back. She removed the metal ring from her neck, turned and left.

"What did she do to you?"

"I'm not sure. She injected something into me."

"Ah," Ryan said with a relieved breath. "She injected you with nanobots."

Myra tilted her head and squinted at him. "Nanobots?"

"Yes. They're intelligent nano-sized robots that maintain your body by replacing damaged and aging tissues from stem cells. It essentially makes you immortal. Chara did it to me. I thought that they had already done that to you."

"Shit! That means these crazy robot bitches can torture us forever in this living hell."

"You got it. We're eternal slaves to thinking machines, which was predicted by many science fiction horror stories."

Myra wasn't happy, but she realized that there was nothing she could do about it. She was caught in a virtual hell with no possible way to escape, and now she faced being in hell forever.