Deep Black Road: The Head of the Snake

Chapter 9

Late the next morning, Dr. Shamir strolled into the lab and called, "Hello, Bruce." Going over to where his friend was labouring, he asked, "How are you progressing with your robotic-skin seminar preparations?"

"Oh, okay," Dr. Sheppard answered, straightening up. "I'm having a bit of a problem getting the display to read this sensor properly, but I should have it licked by lunchtime. How's that research on hyper-quantum patterning coming along?"

"I have refined the parameters for the interference patterns, and am now able to get a slightly clearer image of the spark. However, I suspect that it will take a breakthrough in my understanding before I can improve the process to my satisfaction."

"I see." He hunched back over his problem sensor. "Sorry, Ibrahim. Got to get this working."

"Quite alright. Do you mind if I have a word with Ricky while I am here?"

"No problem," he muttered absently. "Go right ahead."

Dr. Shamir went over to where Ricky was testing a small cylindrical robotic creature designed to inspect specialized piping, which his father had invented in response to a request from the research department of a manufacturing company.

"Hello, young man," he said.

Ricky put down the controller and responded, "Hi. What's up?"

Pulling a stool over, Dr. Shamir sat down and said confidentially, "I have recalled this morning a topic of some importance which I needed to discuss with you, and that is that you are not a child any more."

"I know. I'm robotic; but I don't think that's what you're getting at."

"No, it is not, for by being robotic, you will never mature, never grow up-or perhaps better, you are already grown up. You are as you always will be. Are you ready to face the world on those terms?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you were in your human body, you still had the process ahead of you of becoming a man, with all of the emotional and bodily changes implied in it. Now all you can do is mature in wisdom and understanding. You have no need to prepare for the choosing of a wife, the raising of a family, the finding of suitable work to support it, or any other such thing. What will you do in their stead?"

"I hadn't thought about it."

"That is as I anticipated, which is why I broached the subject. But you must think about it, because you must give yourself over to someone or something so that your life has meaning."

Ricky picked the controller back up. "Isn't this okay? I mean, there's stuff here I can do that no carnate human can."

"That is true enough; but it would appear that God has given you a new life for a particular reason-a higher purpose-and I would fervent-ly hope that it is to achieve something far beyond technical research."

That 'great and terrible' destiny of mine, Ricky thought, and then asked, "So what should I do?"

"Of course I am unable to answer that question; nor is it my place to do so. It is for you to resolve. What I would recommend, however, is that you undertake extensive study so as to bring your knowledge of the world to a higher level. From there you may be in a better position to decide on your direction."

"Okay; and here at the university I can explore the entire campus library using Dr. Sheppard's unlimited access as a member of the faculty."

Dr. Shamir stood up to go, and said, "That sounds like a very good place to start."

"You believe I'm still human," Ricky said, "even though my builder doesn't. How come?"

He leaned forward and said confidentially, "I know that the spark is more than memories: it is the core of our being, what makes us alive; and it is what God gave to each of us. By it he means for us to live in him."

"How's that work?"

"I do not have the time to explain. May God teach you." He quickly crossed the room and left.

#

At the end of the day, Dr. Sheppard called to Ricky, "Time to head home."

"Can I stay here tonight and keep working?" Ricky asked. "There's nothing to do at home during the night when I don't need to sleep."

"I-if that's what you want."

"Yeah, it is."

"Well ... alright. I'll set it up with Sentinel, and see you in the morning."

Once the door had closed, Ricky wondered where he should start his studies. After all, it would be easy to continue testing the little robot while he searched.

He'd been built to fly in space; so he downloaded everything he could find on interplanetary travel and exploration, on orbital mechanics, as well as on the nearest thousand stars and their many discovered planets.

But he wouldn't likely be going off-planet for a while-not alone, anyway-so what would a robotic person find useful down here? Text-books on programming! Service manuals! With them he could get a much deeper understanding of what made his robotic and other systems run.

Music? Let's see: Bach, Beethoven, Brahms. No Black Mice? Never mind then.

Books to read when things were quiet? Sure, why not?

He had to sleep several times before daylight to store all the downloaded data.