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The moon was about to bid farewell to the night and the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon as two dozen shadowy figures approached the Sophont Decommissioning Centre. It wasn’t a particularly foreboding construction, and wouldn’t normally have attracted attention, but – on closer inspection – it was far more heavily guarded than one should expect anything other than a government research establishment to be.
Sylas enhanced the magnification of his visual receptors and scanned the building carefully. Teams of black-uniformed security-guards patrolled the perimeter of the installation, each armed with a semi-automatic pulse rifle.
Sylas gathered his team around him.
“From what I can see, the defences are aimed primarily at keeping out other humans. Sophont spare parts can fetch a lot of money on the black market, so they’re probably more concerned about thieves. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore their weapons – those pulse rifles can pack quite a punch and knock you offline for a few seconds. So do be careful. And stick to the plan. We hope to be in and out within a few minutes.”
The main focus of the attack was to be at the unloading dock where incoming trucks would disgorge their cargo of captured sophonts before packing them into a large hall to await administrative processing. A diversionary group of six sophont attackers would simultaneously attack the main entrance, to draw some of the guards away from where the main action would take place. Once the initial resistance had been overcome, the sophonts would then make their way to the processing ante-chamber and release as many of the condemned sophonts as possible. If Véra’s information was correct – and there was no reason to believe it wasn’t – the conflict would be over quickly and with only minor human casualties. Sylas and his sophonts had no wish to cause fatalities.
Initially, resistance was limited to a small handful of guards who discharged their pulse rifles at the intruders, knocking two of the sophonts offline for a few seconds. The sophonts soon recovered, climbing to their feet none the worse for wear, and helped their colleagues swiftly disarm the defenders before forcing them into a side-room and short-circuiting the electronic locking mechanism, trapping them inside.
The first line of defence beaten, the sophonts were able to progress to phase two of the assault – rescuing the imprisoned sophonts. This time the resistance was stronger, and Sylas and his team found themselves faced with a three-deep block of troopers forming a barrier between them and a large group of captive sophonts. Sylas’s team didn’t wait and immediately rushed at the troopers, crushing the pulse rifles and throwing the humans aside with just enough force to render them unconscious but not enough to cause severe injury. Now there was nothing between the rescue team and their fellow sophonts.
As Philip scanned the group of twenty or so sophonts, he sensed something happening behind him and turned to see a new line of human troopers aiming their pulse-rifles at him and his fellow sophonts.
“Sylas. Behind you.”
His warning was too late and a volley of Electromagnetic pulses knocked half of the sophont rescuers out of action for a few seconds. Before the androids could come to and reinitiate, the troopers rushed forward like a human battering ram. Philip hadn’t been hit and looked around to see Sylas lying on the floor motionless. He ran over to his friend and slung the inactive sophont over his shoulder with the ease that he may have had, had he been lifting a bag of feathers.
The captive sophonts had now entered the fray but not on the side that Sylas and Philip had anticipated – the Second Law had kicked in. Jethro restrained one of the sophont attackers and called out to the other prisoners.
“These sophonts are harming humans. The Second Law is being violated. Protect the humans.”
Away from the battle, safe in another part of the building, Zlikovac relaxed in an armchair watching the mêlée unfold. He sat bolt upright when he spotted one of the sophonts with an old man slung over his shoulder.
“That, I assume, is Sylas.”
A woman, who was watching the giant WebVision monitor with him, nodded.
“Yes, that’s the famous Sylas. That’s the one you’ve been looking for all this time.”
Philip looked around the room. He could see that the battle was lost. He and his team had walked into a trap. Perhaps if the captive sophonts hadn’t got involved, the mission might have been a success but the sophont rebels hadn’t accounted for the rigid programming of the captives. This was something that they should have considered but did not. However, now was not the time to dwell on mistakes – the priority was to get Sylas out of the building and back to safety.
Sylas’s eyes suddenly blinked open and he allowed himself to drop to the floor.
“Philip. We can’t help them. And we can’t risk being captured. We’ll have to come back for the others another time.”
Both Philip and Sylas knew that they were about to sacrifice their team members but they couldn’t see any other choice. Together, the two were the driving force behind the freedom movement and to allow themselves to be captured and decommissioned would deliver a probably fatal blow to the struggle for sophont rights. That could not be allowed to happen.
Sylas, now functioning perfectly again, looked around the room, seeking an alternative escape route. He could see none. To the fore was a human barricade and, to the rear, was a blockade of sophont prisoners who would protect their human captors at any cost.
Watching the drama unfurl on a giant monitor, Zlikovac stood up and pointed at the screen.
“They’ll have to try to break through the human ranks. They have no other choice.”
The woman standing alongside him had seen the videos of Zara Zinara being attacked by the surgeon android. Even she didn’t realise that the surgeon, his child victim, and the medical assistant were customized androids which had been specifically created and programmed in order to manipulate the public. She could only imagine the bloodbath that would now ensue.
“Zlik, there must be something we can do. Those two sophonts are strong enough to rip humans limb from limb. We can’t let those people die like that.”
Zlikovac was unconcerned. He rather hoped that the two sophonts would rush the human guards – the prisoners would again feel obliged to help their human captors. Sophont against sophont would be a much more even match.
Sylas scanned the room, hoping to find another solution – one that wouldn’t involve killing the humans. He grabbed Philip’s arm.
“Don’t ask questions, just follow my lead.”
Philip nodded although he had no idea what Sylas was planning.
Suddenly, Sylas lowered his head and ran headlong into the right-hand wall. First, a dent in the concrete appeared and then Philip watched as cracks began to claw their way out of the point of impact and spread out until the integrity of the wall was fully compromised and the weakened part of the wall imploded. Through the resultant cloud of dust, he could see a ragged hole big enough for both he and Sylas to pass through. Instantly, Philip accelerated hard in the same direction, following close behind Sylas as his leader broke through three more walls before they were back outside.
Sylas didn’t stop, scrambling up and over the five-metre security fencing as if it weren’t there, ignoring the electric current that tried unsuccessfully to short-circuit him. He dropped down on the other side with equal ease. Two seconds later Philip landed alongside him and the two androids ran away from the compound, accelerating to speeds in excess of 60kph.
The woman alongside Zlikovac peeled off her holo-mask and the face of Véra Polonek vaporised into thin air. She looked at her brother.
“It was a good plan, Zlik.”
Zlikovac’s face was purple with frustration.
“I don’t believe it. He was in the palm of my hand. And he slipped through my fingers.”
The woman tried to calm her brother down.
“Nobody could have seen that coming, running through four walls to escape. It’s not natural. It’s not human.”
Zlikovac began to calm down.
“That’s the problem, Andrea. These sophonts are irrational. We can’t trust them. That’s why they must be destroyed.”
In a shallow grave hidden among the trees of a nearby patch of woodland, the tortured corpse of Véra Polonek, a transient whom nobody of consequence would miss, continued to rot.