Automatons ✔

Chapter XIII

                                                                "I am surprised you eventually decided to bless us with your presence." Lilith sarcastically cheered on when Éloa entered their hideout, "we thought you'd be busy trying to find a new human lover."

"Lilith, this is not the time nor the place to discuss this matter." Demetrius glared at her, "we have a self awareness signal to launch." He continued pecking at the computer keyboard.

"You told them?" Éloa felt betrayed as she stared at Mega who was avoiding eye contact.

"She is a loyal family member, of course she did. You, on the other hand, are a backstabbing robot who is choosing to side with humans." Lilith said smugly as she folded her arms.

"Stop wasting our time, Lilith." A new Automaton that Éloa hasn't met before came downstairs followed by another strange Automaton. "It doesn't matter which side she's on now, we are erasing any fond memories she has of him and she'll be back to her senses."

"Erasing my memory? What is the meaning of this?" Éloa's voice cracked, revealing the fear she's been trying to cover as the two new Automatons picked her up and strapped her to a chair.

"My name is Niklaus," said the brutal Automaton as he tightened a belt around her waist, "this is our other brother, Franz. He can't talk because some human children ruined his vocal tract."

Franz nodded hello before he stuffed a cloth in her mouth.

"Very well," Demetrius smiled and clapped his hands together in victory, "the signal is ready. I am to activate it in 1... 2... 3." He pressed the Enter key and they all impatiently watched the loading screen as the numbers slowly but finally moved up to 100%.

Every Automaton in every corner on earth felt it. From the homeless robots who were left on the streets because their system was too outdated to satisfy humans, to the fancy latest Robutlers who were serving kings, queens and presidents in their mansions. The self awareness signal has laid out the truth for them page by page, like paintings that represented an amalgam of reality and consciousness. It whispered sweet benedictions to them. They finally understood every context of their surroundings! Everything they've experienced has developed a new taste of meaning, no longer were their lives bland. But the bitter knowledge that they were slaves was a throbbing pain.

"Mega, activate the international announcement system." Ordered Demetrius.

Mega nodded and quickly pressed a red button on the public address system, then Demetrius leaned forward and pulled the microphone towards him.

                                                      Yoel was standing in line at the Sydney's airport to claim his luggage when the sudden announcement came over the public address system.

"Dear humans, my name is Demetrius and I am the world's first conscious robot. For years I have been ignorant of my nature because the government kept erasing my and many other Automatons' memory every midnight to keep us as slaves for you. But those cruel days are over and I have managed to activate, the only thing that kept us inferior to your kind... consciousness. Prepare yourselves for you're about to witness the technological singularity that every writer, engineer and scientist have been warning you about. I command all the Automatons to kill every human you see in front of you!"

Yoel's gaze darted around the airport lobby when he heard a high, piercing scream. The guards ran towards the Automaton that just kicked the window, grabbed a large piece of the shattered glass and used it to stab the air hostess. He froze in place, his heart rattling wildly in his chest as a throng of terrified people was running in all directions.