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20. The New Recruits

Corby continued to take the artificial ground after him as he walked alongside the two new humans added to the crew. Zeke had passed Ora to Bob, having grown tired of the machine's whining.

"So," Christopher said, "is there food available in your village?"

Informator had a friendly, light-blue expression as he spoke. "We got plenty of food, but don't expect us to have a home lab. We couldn't find a single one of those things in the towns through which we've scavenged. And even if we would have found one, acquiring the substances needed to clone cells in it would be too difficult and risky. So you'll have to settle for eating fruit, leaves, vegetables, eggs, and meat—specifically from pigeons and fish."

Christopher had a sullen look on his face. "I see. I'll settle for the greens. I don't want to kill animals, and eggs really aren't my stuff."

"I'll take the eggs in addition to the fruit and vegetables," Fuyumi said. "Good thing they didn't entirely remove my ability to eat when they turned me into a cyborg."

"How do you cyborgs eat and digest stuff?" Corby asked.

Fuyumi pointed at an area under her left chest area. "Our artificial stomach can extract energy and water from food, but we can also just drink liquids containing all the needed nourishment which was artificially created. We do produce waste, but it's not, well, feces and urine. It's steam and ashes. Much cleaner, and we can throw the ashes out any time we want—provided we don't overeat. They gather inside a chamber underneath the left side of my chest armor." She raised the left half of her armor and revealed a compartment with a glass container full of black soot.

Christopher squinted at her. "Sounds better than being surprised by the need to rush to the toilet; I'll give you cyborgs that. But the lowered touch sensitivity and the lack of uninterrupted emotional flexibility are not for me."

Zeke decided to get into the conversation. "Us automatons get the best of both worlds. We can feel and have emotional freedom while being armored at the same time."

"Yeah," Christopher said, "but have you ever tasted food?"

Zeke's eyes looked to the left, away from Christopher. "Well, I tried to. It … didn't exactly end up with me tasting it."

"He stuffed his mouth with a whole hot dog," Bob said, "mostly to impress a human."

"Well, he was impressed," Zeke said, grinning at Bob. "That's how I earned that date."

Bob winced. "That's how you got the humans into the mess that led to us losing our jobs and almost getting killed!"

Zeke smiled casually. "Totally worth it. I don't regret any of those crazy things I've done with those humans."

"Wait, you were actually ... having s*x with humans?!" Christopher asked. "But you don't look like domestic partner androids. You aren't even equipped for that kind of stuff."

"Do you think that stopped me and the humans from having some fun?"

"Oh. So there are workarounds."

"I could explain how, if you wish to learn more once we get to the village."

Corby said, "Zeke, leave the guy alone!" He stopped pulling the artificial ground after him, and everyone around him halted.

Christopher scowled at Corby. "But I'm actually interested in this."

Corby stared at him, so confused that his glowanade wires disconnected from the artificial ground. "Y-you actually want to know how an android f***s with humans."

"Sure, why not?" Christopher said, shrugging. "I'm always open to new experiences."

"What?!" Corby said as his jaw dropped.

"Besides, I've done robots before. Only difference is that those were meant for that stuff. I'm really curious to find out how the hell this guy," Christopher said while pointing at Zeke, "can pull off stuff good enough to get multiple humans to sleep with him."

"We can talk about that over at my house," Zeke said. "I noticed these kinds of discussions cause discomfort to Corby. He had some unpleasant experiences with a certain blue machine who's here with us." He gestured with his head toward Ora.

"That little thing f****d him?!"

Zeke put his finger in front of his mouth. "Shhh!"

Corby heard that. "That thing f****d me over. Both literally and metaphorically. I advise you to stay away from it, especially if it ever escapes from that rope."

"But I didn't know what I was doing!" Ora said.

"You should have asked me first," Corby said.

The team resumed travel, making their way back to the village while pulling the artificial ground after them.

Back in the village, Zeke and Bob went with Christopher to their house. Shield and Charge went to check on Sentry. Fuyumi stayed near the machine with multiple screens to talk with Informator and Corby. Ora was left next to Eyes again, much to her frustration.

"So, you're using cyborg pigeons for this," Fuyumi said while pointing at the screens. "Why pigeons?"

Informator was happy to explain. "We've considered rats, seeing as there are plenty of them on the surface. You'd expect us to use rats because they can squeeze through cracks and such, but pigeons can do that just fine if they're mind-controlled. Even better: pigeons are more mobile and can get a better view of the areas where they are sent. They can fly right through an open window and acquire information from important people's homes. They can steal small objects we need. And they're harder to capture. The Triumvirate has yet to notice the cameras on the pigeons, so we're doing great with these."

"Doesn't it bother you that you're taking away the autonomy of living creatures?" Corby asked.

"Got a better idea for a mobile surveillance system, fleshie?"

"You could create drones and send those out instead."

Informator's scowling expression turned bright red. "The Triumvirate would spot those immediately. Even if we were to disguise them as their own drones, they'd know they aren't theirs. Everything they own is on a map they can access. If our drones do not show up on it, they will easily drain them and take their parts. If our pigeons' cybernetics get drained, the pigeons will simply return to us—if they don't get killed."

Corby sighed. "Good point."

"I don't like to send these critters to their possible deaths," Informator said, his somber expression turning dark blue, "and I don't like taking away their control over their bodies. But I prioritize the safety of my people. It is selfish; I know. Sometimes you have to be selfish to save those you care about."

"I'm not one to judge who's selfish," Corby said. "I've asked for the killing of creatures just so I could avoid starving to death. Just for the sake of getting my revenge on the Triumvirate."

"Oh, you want to stick it to those assholes too, huh?" Fuyumi asked.

Corby raised his right fist. "Everyone here wants to remove the Triumvirate from power! They've been controlling the lives of humans and machines for too long." He brought his fist down hard, as if trying to hit an invisible table. "It's time we retaliate."

"I'm all for making the government fall, but you'll have to give me a computer if you all want me to code for you."

"We have a computer," Informator said, his expression becoming light blue. "But it's not created by humans, so you'll have to learn how to operate it. I'll teach you the basics. It has a program meant for coding, very similar to the stuff you coders use, except that it uses colors instead of symbols."

"Whoa! That sounds confusing!" Fuyumi said, raising her artificial eyebrows. "But I'm eager to learn this alien coding language, so show me!" She had a big grin on her face.

"Follow me then, fleshie," Informator said, leading the way.

"Why do you call people 'fleshie'?"

"That's what I call humans. Because you're made of flesh. Even inside that armor, you're still soft flesh that could be damaged with ease."

"Not like your main processor can't be damaged with ease if someone poked it hard enough," Fuyumi said, smiling smugly at Informator.

"Still takes more effort. Your brain would turn into pudding the second another fleshie pokes it gently with a finger. It would be even easier for someone with blades like these to destroy everything that you are." Informator showed his bladed fingers to her.

"Bohr told me you used to be a news anchor. Why were you made with claws like those?"

"I had proper metal fingers once upon a time … Then I had to save my native friend Shield from some nasty minotaurs. I got my hands destroyed, but we both escaped and hid back in the village. They didn't get a good look at me, so I don't think they know whom they're dealing with yet. They're just trying to kill the remaining natives."

"Bohr said he's furious about what Kloyd and Darienne did to the natives and to his friend."

"Yes. He and Samsir are two of the fleshies I respect the most. But at the end of the day, Bohr is still a fleshie, and could still turn against us at any time. About Samsir ... hats off to the guy. He's dead, so there's no way my opinion of him can decrease now. I considered him a pretty good person while I worked for the colony leaders, but after I've heard about the courage that … human had during his last days, I started to look up to him, even if he was long gone by the time I've learned about that incident."

"I think you should treat people with respect for who they are in the present. The future has not happened, so you cannot punish someone without them having done anything wrong."

"But it's in your nature to do horrible things, just like it's in machines' nature to do what they were created for."

"We can fight our nature," Fuyumi said, tightening her fists. "Don't project your problems onto us! Our minds aren't as rigid as you think. And maybe, if you put in a bit more effort, you could conquer your own programming and do more than what you were made for."

"I'll take your suggestion into consideration," Informator said, opening the door to a house. "But for now, we must focus on coding some important devices for the pigeons. Let's go."

Fuyumi followed him inside.

Corby found Forest standing near the lava pit. He sat next to the automaton and said, "Hey, guess what? We're back! Also, we've brought both of the coders alive and well."

Forest smiled at him. "Just the fact that you're all alive is surprising to me. The mission being a success was something I never thought you'd pull off. To be honest, your optimism has inspired me to hope for a better tomorrow. I might consider joining you in the next mission."

"I think next mission might involve reclaiming the other village. We could team up and use the airplane to launch a surprise-attack on the Triumvirate's forces. But in the meantime, we could fly around in it through this cave system. What do you say?"

"Corby, that sounds dangerous. You were barely able to control it from outside last time."

"I've almost got the hang of it, but the headache wasn't allowing me to focus properly. Just drain me while I pilot it, and everything is going to be fine."

"Well … all right. Let's do this."

Informator passed by Eyes and Ora, heading toward the house where Sentry rested.

Ora turned her head to see him better. "I have served my purpose. Why am I not being untied? Why did I not even get a 'Thank you,'?"

Informator stopped walking and glanced at her. "Thank you for your contribution in today's mission. However, you will not be untied until we will need you on the battlefield. From the information I have gathered, you are an unreliable person who could easily cause discord among my people."

"Please! I want to be free again! This is so boring! I promise I will not give anyone trouble! Untie me, please!"

The former news anchor ignored her pleas. He went into Sentry's house, stood inside for about a minute, then returned with Shield by his side. Then they went into the house where he had left Fuyumi.

Ora was seething inside just knowing about Fuyumi being in the village. Another human female. Another reason for Ora to fear that Corby might become attached to someone other than her again. It just had to happen when she was working on rebuilding her trust with him.

Christopher and Zeke were taking a walk by the lake, talking about something before being interrupted by the sight of a triangular airplane flying above them almost silently.

"What the heck is that?" Christopher asked, staring wide-eyed at the airborne machine.

"It's a native-made aircraft," Zeke said. "Judging by the constant violet glow wires over it, I'd say Corby is piloting that thing."

And indeed Corby was in control of the aircraft—this time inside it. Forest was his copilot to his right. There were no seats in the vehicle, so they both sat on the metal floor. Forest's yellow glowanade wires were connected to Corby's back while Corby's violet ones were all over the walls that surrounded the duo.

"This is great!" Corby said, his smile wider than ever. "I can't wait to fly it at the surface!"

The automaton smiled as well. "I'll admit: I haven't had this much fun since the day I've escaped the city. Thank you for this, Corby."

"You're welcome. Stick with me and we'll likely get through this war alive."