Chapter 23:// Ripping out

 

The wifi named aresholding3 had monitored net access and a whole lot of failed-to-deliver packets of data.

It was a miracle they had even gotten that precious info moments before.

But the user was still stuck between the bars, at the bottom of the prison door. The huge cobra was about to prey on him, and the only consolation was the inmate across the hall urging him to push and get free (so he could let him free as well).

 

eyed> We’ll never fit through.

fingerd> Maybe the snake is friendly after all.

eyed> Yeah right.

httpd> There has to be something. There always is. WWPD? WWPD people?

eyed> Wha’?

rfid> CF02032533139342DFDC1C35

armd> Oh great, now everyone is speaking nonsense.

httpd> WWPD. What Would Parrotd Do? Let’s revise our situation. Come on.

armd> Well, we’re stuck. If I had punched that cobra we might have had more time to squeeze through, but now it is attacking again. The worst part is, the user is scraping the shit out of my shoulder on the prison bars. That joint will never be smooth again.

httpd> That’s it! Armd, rip yourself out of your socket!

armd> Are You Mad Daemon? NO! N-O. That’s a negative.

eyed> Hey, he’s right. The way I see it, if you break the hinge on your shoulder it might just be enough for the user to squeeze through.

armd> Break his left fleshy shoulder then! It’s squishier!

httpd> RTFM! Humans have an innate aversion to hurting themselves. It says they will do so in dangerous situations, but that necessitates a strong force of will AND/OR training. Examples given are breaking one’s own thumb to get out of handcuffs.

fingerd> Breaking his own thumb? The horror!

armd> I have an innate aversion too! And it tells me you tell you to SYFIUYA. Stick Your Fucking Ideas Up Your Ass.

fingerd> We don’t have an ass. Do you mean that metaphorically?

armd> AAAH!

eyed> armd, what is the First Law?

armd> A digital entity may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

httpd> We’ll let you think about that for a few cycles.

 

As the daemon thought about it, the large cobra twisted around, bringing her body in striking position. This time she did not hesitate, she barely tasted the air once with a half taking-out of her tongue and lashed out. She bit the user’s leg, but he thrashed against it and only managed to rip out a piece of meat from his thigh.

The other inmate yelled in horror and banged the cell bars to get the warden’s attention. Even if someone came to help, it would be too late by then.

 

armd> OK fine!

 

The cyberarm operated his servos and squeezed the matte black arm, levering it between the prison floor and the bottom of the bars. He pushed beyond his safety specifications. Alarms blared up all over the user’s vision, artificial pain mixed in with the real pain from his bitten thigh made him let go off a primal scream.

Fingerd yelled along with his user.

 

httpd> At least turn off your pain receptors this time…

armd> ACK. Now shut up and let me destroy myself.

 

If a text prompt could convey sorrow, this would be it. The daemon in charge of the cyberarm, who was the cyberarm for all intents and purposes, was doing what nobody had ever written in any version of his manual: tearing himself off his hinges.

All for the sake of the user.