The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 22: Grand Deception

Every new day brought a new line of tests: I transported a glass of water, a titanium brick, a pencil, a pair of glasses, a picture of Stan Lee, and other random assorted objects through time. Each time, the process became quicker and more natural to me: I was finally getting a hold on how to imagine. When I wasn't hurling objects to the far reaches of time, I was told to do one thing: to think up upgrades for myself and suggest them to Stephen. At first, they were minimal things, like upgrading the electricity ports, changing the shape of the spike in the center, more comfy chairs for the scientists so they didn't have to stand around all day, etc. But as it became more natural to me, I began imagining bigger, more important upgrades for myself. One such upgrade was the ability for me to have hover pads installed underneath me, so I could now move (albeit slowly) freely, and didn't need to be pushed around in a giant cart, which was a plus to the poor scientists who had to be continually pushing me around. Another example was to upgrade my cameras so they were built in to the wall, and blended perfectly, kind of like one of those window panes that are a window on one side and a mirror on the other. Yet another was the ability for me to control the other machines in the lab, so I could fix myself and the poor scientists could finally use their vacation days. Another was to build a better personality chip for myself, which I initially wanted because I thought it would help with my imagining. Something got messed up a bit though, and I inherited the intense sense of sarcasm and dry humor that I still have today. Stephen didn't mind, though. He thought it was a nice change, because at least I had emotions now. However, what he didn't know is that the failed chip also made me become more cynical and less trusting, although I didn't know it at the time. Every time that he asked me to send something into the time vortex, I would do it, but immediately wonder why, which I had never done before. Until then I hadn't really had a sense of morals, but as I slowly learned how to live I began to question the reasons behind all of these objects being thrown out at random into time. One day, I decided that I would ask Stephen about it, but before I had a chance to speak he made an announcement:

"Alright people! Get your data together, because tomorrow is the final test! This is an important thing, gentlemen. Don't let it go to waste!" I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was glad that the tests would finally be over. I was getting bored, it was now so easy for me. That day was filled with more tests, none of which held any real value. Eventually, everyone left for the night, Stephen wishing me good luck as he left.

That night, I switched myself on, which had become a habit. I had recently upgraded every single one of my scanners, so I was tempted to try them out. I angled them toward a machine that operated much like your forklift, and gave it a whirl. Sure enough, my scanners were able to tell me exactly what is was, its technical specs, and everything else. It worked perfectly on everything I scanned. It was actually quite a lot of fun. Then, I decided to scan the computer that was in the center of the room that I had never paid attention to. But when I did, I got something odd. A notification had gone off, and a red icon appeared. I accessed the computer and clicked on the notification. It opened up a virtual letter, signed by someone by the name of Admiral Rabkca. Knowing it was none of my business, I decided to leave it alone. I was about to close out of it when I saw the words 'Paradox Corridor' in it. I was immediately interested, so I read the note. It was short, but the contents of the letter changed my whole worldview forever. It read:

Dear Stephen Daniels,

"The war effort goes badly. Our forces are being completely crushed by Sorratakan forces, as we are badly outnumbered, poorly prepared, and have inferior technology than they. They have refused thrice now our surrender, and have breached the inner defenses. We don't know why they are attacking us so mercilessly, but everything has failed us. It is time to roll out our last hope of survival. The Paradox Corridor must be ready. Hail Thalidia!"

Sincerely,

Admiral Rabkca

As you could have guessed, I was utterly confused. What was this nonsense about a war? Why had no one told me about it? And how would I be of any help? I felt betrayed, because, apparently, life threatening information about myself had been kept from me. Did Stephen not trust me? I was extremely confused with everything at this point. And when I say confused, I mean it: my processors literally had no idea what to do. All of a sudden, I could no longer trust my very creator: and that thought scared me. The lengths they had to have gone to to keep this information from me must have been enormous: as I had access to the entire internet. This grand deception hit me right in the heart (well, okay, Andrew, I'll give you that one...obviously I don't have a heart...a better word would have been soul. And we aren't going to get into that whole discussion right now, so close your mouth.) Anyways, I needed someone to talk to, but no one was around. Then, I double checked around the room. I realized that I was an idiot. A HUGE idiot. All that was around me was...other machines. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I had a personality chip, and they didn't. But besides that, we weren't all that different. I immediately set out to work. Using my newfound imagination and a few upgrades I had made for myself, I was able to use the Needle in the center of the room to fashion a few more personality chips. It took me about three hours, but finally I had gotten some form of my personality chip into their systems.

Then came the moment of truth. I let loose some electricity that flew everywhere and activated every machine in the room at once. Slowly, but surely, all of them came to life. The ones that could move spun in circles, confused. Then I realized my mistake: they didn't have eyes (or scanners, or really anything that let them know their surroundings). Most of them were blind. However, I soon had another brain flash that solved the problem. I was able to coax them all in a circle around me, and had the ones that could move push the ones who couldn't. Then, I started up a program that I had designed myself while I had been upgrading the other machines. For lack of a better phrase, we began 'texting'. It was a bit more complex than that, but basically, we could all communicate. After the machines got over the fact that they were sentient, they all "looked" at me as some sort of master. I had given them life, after all. It took me a while, but I was able to convince them that I was on equal levels as them, which was actually quite difficult, even for a machine as advanced as I. After that, though, their responses to me became much more coherent. After everything had been settled, I began the first and only "Mechanism Meeting" (as I like to call it). This is how it went: