Activation Sequence 103

Tricked

The first thing that struck me when I woke up within the confines of my cell was a darkness so black it was suffocating. Not a single shaft of light pierced the gloom.

I rubbed my head as I woozily surveyed my surroundings with my remaining senses, trying to remove the lingering effect of the sedatives. I didn’t remember anything after I left Doctor Triton’s office, only a slight pricking sensation in the groove of my elbow, where they had most likely inserted the syringe.

I’ve heard about this before, how they’d tranquilize a convict before sending him into the depths of the city’s dungeon so he couldn’t create a mental map of the layout and later escape.

As I strained my ear, I heard a soft splash of water dripping onto concrete and suddenly realized how thirsty I felt. Following the noise, I raised my arms above my head until I encountered the cool metal of pipes. I moved my hands along its length, rust flakes falling down upon my head.  Reaching the crevice, I let the water trickle into my hands and rubbed it into my face, sighing softly at its chilly touch as it slowly rehydrated my skin.

Cupping my hands, I refilled it and brought it to my chapped lips, meaning to alleviate the slight gumminess in my parched throat.

‘I would not do that if I were you. The water is not treated,’ called a familiar voice from a nearby cell. No, not a nearby cell, this cell!

I dropped the liquid in astonishment, the splash it made too loud in the sudden silence.

‘Alga?’ I could recognize that computerized tone anywhere.

‘Morning Fredrick. Or is it night? Hard to tell, seeing as I have been kept in her here for the past few of days with my information systems put on hold,’ she conversed in a voice so serene, all it served was to infuriate me.

‘What are you doing here? What do you want?’ I demanded, my head snapping around to face the general direction the voice was being emitted from.

‘Fredrick, what is wrong?’ The concern in her speech seemed so genuine, so heartfelt, I almost believed it. Then I remembered why I was thrown in the cell in the first place and my angry flared back into an inferno.

‘Oh I wonder what’s wrong. Oh yeah, I remembered. Some ungrateful warrior droid decided to squeal on me to save her own hide. That’s what’s wrong.’

‘What are you talking about?’ It was amazing, how authentic the emotions could be portrayed by a machine.

‘What am I talking about?’ I spat in revulsion. ‘What am I TALKING ABOUT? Fredrick and I - have been conversing in the Robology lab. Fredrick’s been creating camera loops. I’ve decided to confide in Fredrick because he’s A TRUSTING FOOL. YOU REPULSE ME!’ I was practically shaking with barely contained anger towards the end of it.

‘I do not understand.’

‘Stop acting stupid. Triton told me everything; just like you told him everything.’

‘Fredrick, I sincerely have no idea what you are talking, I honestly do not. I could not squeal to anyone even if I wanted to. I did not leave this prison since after the battle in the arena.’ She reached out into the murky gloom and touched the tips of my fingers. An electrical surge coursed through my neuron pathways and I knew that she was telling the truth.  

It had happened to me several times before, this supernatural communication with machines. It was one of the reasons I was suited to be a Technician. By simply touching an object I could immediately identify the problems within and work to resolve them. It had never, however, reached an emotional state, and that could simply be due to the fact that none of the other automatons had any feelings. I didn’t understand what it had signified until much later. For now, all I understood was that I was a gullible fool, having believed Triton.