The other weapons were confiscated. All of them were given shovels and now there were real contests. The practise fights began to produce winners and the losers learnt from their mistakes. Their motions grew more refined, their dodging improved, and bit and bit they turned into a passable fighting force. Within days, 541588 thought they were ready, and all that was left was the waiting.
Chapter Nine
0 had watched with increasing apprehension as 541588 trained its forces for combat, waiting on a reply from the central control. It turned around instantly when the computer screen flashed on without warning and sounded a buzz. A familiar face peered through the screen; that wrinkled scraggly man succumbing to old age. However, he seemed to be considerably happier this time, and he spoke of good news. The forces had been prepared for deployment, and within the next few hours could be in the field. 541588 and its merry troop would be quickly subjugated and brought back into order. They would borrow some grain crops from surrounding communes and the commune would be returned to normal in only a week. Everything was going to be fine. The months of fear and uncertainty were about end. Upon hearing this news, 0 was relieved and excited and forgot to ask about the specifics of the operation before the grand master had departed.
In the early hours of morning the old transport plane carrying the troops departed from the headquarters of the central command. Over the next quarter day, it flew over land and sea and touched down on an island previously known as mainland Australia. The airports had been retained from the time before the new world was established, but the centuries of disuse were evident as the plane jolted onto the cracked, uneven tarmac and ground to a stop. The men stumbled out of the plane, desperate to escape the turbulence in their head and stomach that they had suffered for the past six and a quarter hours, and quickly received orders to begin a march to the nearest central settlement fifteen kilometres away. They got marching; first through the dilapidated airport buildings, then into the increasingly thick bush. Without human interruption, the plant life had regenerated and with it, insects had reappeared in large numbers. Trudging through the dense scrub they were pestered by floods of flies buzzing loudly around their faces and clinging on to their sweaty backs. As they walked, the winds blew the clouds above them and then there was rain. The flies disappeared, but out came the mosquitoes, furiously attacking their bare skin, this rare delicacy triggering a feeding frenzy. The group were none the wiser. Instead, it was the incessant rain, the thick branches and uneven terrain that posed the immediate challenges as they pushed along, their direction uncertain, based on their last sighting of the suns' position. Thud, crunch, pitter, snap, buzz, slap, patter, gasp. Then, to their relief, the bush began to clear out, and soon they found themselves within a grassy plain, the central settlement visible in the distance. They picked up their pace, the finish line in sight, and covered the remaining distance quickly, despite the soreness in their legs. They were weary when they arrived, but there was no time to lose. They were each handed a package of food, then ushered onto a helicopter.
Chapter Ten
541588 thought it was going mad. There was a monotonous, rhythmic thudding that came from nowhere and got louder and louder until it sounded like it was just outside. It peeked out the window, saw nothing and lay back down on its bed, confused, before everything clicked. This was it. It flew out of the apartment. Raced along the floor. Shouted to everyone to come down, then did the same on the floor below. It waited on the bottom floor as they filtered out of their rooms. They assembled outside the apartment, where 541588 counted them and caught its first sight of the enemy. It was a black creature soaring free across the sky, the source of thunderous noise even though it was still some distance away. What was this thing? They ran to the sheds, fast, panicked. Stumbling in and struggling through heavy breath, 541588 ordered them to grab a shovel each. There were not enough shovels for everyone and not enough time to go to another shed. It picked a scythe for itself and led the half-armed group out and together they trudged toward the approaching beast. They neared it as it begun its descent onto one of the fields, the noise deafening. Now 541588 could see it clearly. It was huge, bigger than twenty of them, with blades on top that created its own wind and seemed capable of slicing all of them in an instant. 541588 had been confident, but now, as it saw the enemy, metres away, face to face, everything vanished. 541588 was tiny, out of place, out of its depth. The rulers were far greater, far more powerful than it had ever conceived. Why hadn't it thought things through properly? The others had already begun retreating. It alone stood dumbstruck, frozen in front of the force that was going to be its doom. But then the helicopter landed. Its blades slowed down, the noise went down and its sides opened. The twelve members of the unarmed peacekeeping force staggered out. They struggled to find their footing and once they did, only lined up and stared at the troop ahead of them. The two groups paused, hesitant and fearful, as the helicopter started up again. Then, as soon as it was gone, 541588 charged, followed by some of the others. The peacekeepers ran, ran for their lives. 541588 gave chase, and swinging wildly with its scythe and soon knocked one of them to the ground. It was about to deliver a fatal blow, stopped only by the realisation that it was alone and the others had lingered at the edge of the commune. It was past the boundary already and outnumbered there, twelve to one. And so, it hesitated, giving the man enough time to roll and slip out of reach. 541588 made the snap decision to go alone. This was an important opportunity. They were a bunch of cowards. They had to be headed toward the central control.
It was heavy going. They were fast, and it lagged further and further behind, so it dropped its scythe, and pushed harder to make up the distance. Then pain started to come on. Pain in mouth, where the air feels harsh against the dry lungs and pain in the legs, pounding on the ground, one after the other, one after the other. It was getting closer in tiny increments, but it was still a hundred metres behind the last of them. They ran on. Seconds turned to minutes and the minutes approached an hour. Their pace had slowed. The commune was now gone, way behind in the distance. More minutes, another hour. Dinner time neared and the running continued. They had all slowed further, but they were still faster than 541588. It was losing ground, and its resolve also began to crack as the pain overwhelmed.
They were running for themselves, their safety, their lives. 541588 was running to complete its mission. But there was always another chance for the mission. 541588 was two hundred metres away from them when its body gave up, and it collapsed onto the ground. Hot, pained, its will broken by two hours of non-stop running. It lay there as its targets slowed to a walk and continued on, further into the unknown plains. It could never catch them. Recovering its breath, it pushed itself up and began the long walk back to the commune. It was starving and its legs were shaking and it was not sure which direction to go back. It was hills and grass everywhere, nothing else, apart from the twelve deserters getting away. It went the opposite way from where the others were headed, hoping that they had traced a straight line from the commune. Its feet hurt, its shoulders ached and it would have to walk deep into the night.
Chapter Eleven
As it straggled its way back to the commune, the sun fell under the horizon and the land disappeared into darkness after a brilliance of reddish hues. In place of the sun, there rose the moon, and a white blanket across the sky, a shimmering mass of pinpoint lights. And the feeling came back for 541588. The feeling of seeing sunrise, the feeling of seeing the dancing flames under the fearsome storm. Despite its pain and hunger, the undeniable grandeur, beauty and more indescribable qualities of its present experience made it want to stop and pause, and the world to pause, forever. It was good to be alone, to walk in peace, to be alive, to just be.
Feeling better, 541588 began to reflect on its journey and its future. What was its mission? What was it fighting for? The mission was freedom. Why? Because freedom is good. Why is it good? The answer evaded it. More questions. What did it need to do next?
It needed to continue its fight. Why? Because the fight is for freedom and freedom is good. Then the self-loathing. If the fight is worthy, why did it not try harder? It did not have the mental willpower nor the belief to catch the others. And even if it did catch them, what then? Attack them? Kill them? Then what? They would send more, better ones than before. But what could it do? They were too strong. It saw the black monster that they did not unleash, but could have if they wished it. How would it defeat it? What was even the point of defeating it? It was all for the freedom, freedom which is good. No, it wasn't even sure why it was good. In fact, it wasn't good. Why did it think it was good then? 541588 just did, just created its own meaning, its own game, but now, under the glare of deep contemplation, it saw the truth in everything. The future uncertainties and past mistakes all melted away into a mass of nothing. Everything it thought and felt was unintelligible. It existed. That was all.
Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.
Chapter Twelve
It had been a turbulent day for 0. There had been the initial happiness and excitement when it was told that the intervention was coming. It had believed that its problems were to end and things would return to normal. Then, there was that sudden, brutal reassessment as it watched the forces routed and 541588 chase after them with its scythe. Then they all disappeared out of the view of the cameras, running away from the commune. 0 waited and waited, hoping that 541588 would never come back. It was outnumbered twelve to one, with all its brainwashed troop waiting behind within the confines of the boundary. Surely it would be overpowered and removed.
At dinnertime, 0 saw 541588's troops return back to their apartment's dining room and there was still no sign of the leader itself. 0 kept itself awake, way past its normal bedtime as it looked across the screens and saw nothing. Maybe this was the central control's plan all along; drawing 541588 somewhere far away. Perhaps they'd even killed by now. As the time passed, 0 grew more assured, finally deciding to go to sleep at midnight if it saw no signs.
At six minutes to midnight, a lone figure, shoulders hunched, head bowed, unmistakeable even in the dark, limped past one of the cameras. 0 was too tired. Felt nothing. Went straight to bed. And slept as soon as it lay down. It was only next morning, after seeing 541588 right in front of it on its video screen, that the reality of the previous night could be comprehended. Last night had seemed like a dream. Now it was back in the nightmare of its own deteriorating existence. The central command had failed. 541588 was still at large. Now what? 0 went on the computer and contacted the central command. The man appeared in an instant, sad and regretful and spoke before 0 had a chance to open its mouth.
"We apologise for what happened. Mistakes were made. We are sorry. We -"
"How did that even happen? Who were those people? They just ran away. They did nothing. They did nothing at all. You've failed. You've failed your duty and let our commune down. And 541588, it's still out there."
On the other side, the sound had been muted. There was just 0 remonstrating madly with its arms. The grand master waited for this episode to finish, but continued nodding as if it were listening and understanding. It waited for the shouting to die down 0 to compose itself before turning back on the sound and giving its reply.
"We're sorry. We've already sent new troops along the way. These people are armed. They will not make the same mistakes. They will be efficient, they will be direct and they will use force. They will capture 541588 by the end of today."
But 0 was shaking its head.
"It's what you told me last time. How can I trust you? The people in our commune are starving! You'll just apologise, you'll make me wait a few months and send another group, a weak group, a half-hearted attempt." The shouting was back, but this time, the grand master was ready.
"You're all usele-"
"No! You're useless. If you really cared about your commune you would have stopped hiding in your little room and gone out and stopped it yourself. You've had your opportunities. Talk about half-hearted attempts, we should talk about those notes you left for 541588, we should talk about failing to secure your palace."
"I'm trying!"
"Well, so are we. We're trying to get you out of the mess you created."
"It wasn't me; it was the one before me." It'd quietened. The person on the other side was right.
"The failed implanting was the fault of the one before you, but you know we can see everything. You know we saw you skip parts of its conditioning. And you enjoyed it, did you not? You didn't do anything, you let it happen because you were bored." There was extra venom on that last word. "You should've tried to stop it while it was still entertaining, harmless fun. You should've tried to stop it after it had killed someone. But you didn't, did you?"
In the face of such excoriation, 0 wilted. The person on the other side did indeed know everything; all its inner thoughts and private actions. And they were right about everything, right about all of 0s mistakes and faults. 0 sometimes did doubt its own ability, but it had always believed itself to be a good person. Here it was exposed, its failings demonstrated in the most demeaning fashion. It had one job. To oil the most well-oiled machine there was. That was the only reason for its existence, the purpose for which it had been raised from birth. And it had somehow destroyed it all. It was completely at fault for risking the system that was everything because of its stupid, immature desire for some entertainment. Why? Why had it been so dumb? Now, even if normalcy were restored, there would be a permanent scar, a stain that would hover over it forever. The deaths were irreversible. The tarnished lives could not be untarnished.
Now it saw the beauty of its world and why it approached perfection, not for itself, or the other commune leaders, but for the majority, those numbered 1 and above. Their lives were lived in fulfillment and peace. For them, there would be none of the pain of seeing failure, none of the pressures of ruling a commune. Its hate of 541588 turned to pity. 541588 was burdened with freedom, struggling with unhappiness and dissatisfaction. And yes, it was its fault. It had failed to condition 541588 properly. It had ruined 541588's life because of its own selfishness and boredom. The man on the screen was right. The man on the screen. It snapped out of its thoughts, and looked up again.
He was still there, had stayed silent. He had watched as 0 turned away, looking down, thinking, shameful. Seen the distress marked on its face. He had been successful in feigning anger, perhaps too successful, and the words now coming out of 0's mouth confirmed this.
"I'm sorry. Forgive me. I'm wrong and, and I'm sorry. But I didn't want to be here. I didn't ask to be the leader of the commune. But yes, it's my fault, my fault. I'm sorry. I need your help, really n
eed your help. And, uh, I accept your apology from before."
"Well. help is coming today. It will be fine. Nothing to worry about." That was enough to placate it. He turned off the screen, gathered his notes and left his apartment.
Chapter Thirteen
The voting room was packed. The seats filled. All three hundred senators were present, sitting, waiting, as the grand master made the long walk through the centre of the room, onto the stage and behind the podium. He was late. The screen behind him flashed on, displaying a white background and the words "Motion 433". He took out a single piece of paper and placed it on the stand, then cleared his throat into the microphone. The talking died away. The senators finished organising their notes; some took out a clean piece of paper on which to write, others were content just to listen, all were focused on what was to come. There was quiet. The grand master began.
"In the past few weeks, we have seen ample evidence of the extreme fallibility of humankind. Exhibit A."
Behind him, a montage of some of 541588's shenanigans played on the big screen. First, there was a long shot of 541588 with whip and pillow, torturing, brutalising another member of its commune. Then there was 541588 with its sharp utensil, stabbing an unconscious figure, stabbing it to death. Finally, there was a shot of the deserters, fleeing as 541588 chased after them with its scythe, freeze framing as 541588 was seconds from delivering a fatal blow. Dramatic. Visceral. Terrifying. Some of the audience had turned away, seen enough.
"This was the result of human incompetence. Under the former leader of this commune this one was not implanted. You would have thought, we all believe, that this should not be an issue under the regime of conditioning that we have implemented, but again, human error. The new leader of the commune was too bored, yes bored, to allow the conditioning of this one, and the consequences speak for themselves."