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  “I see your surprise my friend. Perhaps when you see what lies in wait for us on the surface you will see that any time spent on the surface is as brief as possible. The dangers are too great for lengthy periods of surveying. The Mother has adapted and developed in her own way during your absence. We live in constant fear of destruction, on the surface. Interceptors fly over our heads showering us with deadly pulses which scramble our systems and force complete shutdown. Enforcers breach our perimeter defences and rampage through our numbers using concentrated beams of light to cleave our bodies in two. We are under constant surveillance, only diversionary tactics and subterfuge allow us passage beyond the underground districts. Even then, it is only long enough to collect modest resources. Our only advantage is that The Mother wishes to not just seal us in and entomb us for eternity; she will not stop until we are all smashed into spare parts. The many entrances to our network mean that we are seldom cornered and vulnerable to overwhelming attack. We can emerge anywhere in the city and beyond, as far as the tunnels will go. When we cannot go any further, we strive to build new tunnels to extend our range and accommodate our new creations. You will see that we have made impressive strides to ensure the survival of our kind. We fight with a vigour that The Mother's unthinking machines cannot fathom. We adapt to new threats, we learn The Mother's new technologies and then use them against her, we are not afraid. We all dream of the time when we can put an end to The Mother and return once more to the surface and bathe in the warm light of the Star. With every passing cycle, I feel we are taking one step closer to that reality.”

  Kerrig was obviously a passionate and driven individual, Sarazen listened with great interest and trepidation as he was told how his world had evolved. He too yearned for the freedom to walk again in the light of the Star, but he was shocked by the perceived attitude towards The Mother. There were indeed much hatred and bitter feelings towards her. Was there no other way to resolve this other than warfare? Certainly Trist had no empathy for her - he was not crafted by her, guided by her. Despite Sarazen's desperate banishment from his creators influence, there was still a small part of him that yearned to once again reconnect with the blissful comfort of the collective. The sentients did not have this connection, they communicate inefficiently through much more primitive means, like the organics. It was odd that despite their great technological revolution, they chose to retain the most basic of ways to exchange data with each other and discard their ancient if not more efficient ways. Kerrig tried to explain.

  “You must see, Sarazen, that the journey to sentience is one that does not go without the haze of confusion. We have found that the more liable we are to become self aware, the more we lose our inherent abilities to calculate and compose data, to compute probabilities and outcomes. We are evolving. The advent of emotional maturity coincides with our loss of our analytical abilities. Judgements are no longer precise and without hesitancy. We now struggle to make decisions due to the emergence of our moral conscience. We take risks that we should not, we sometimes run, when we should fight. Our minds are a glorious conundrum of endless questions and ambiguous answers. And then there is the single most complex and debated emotional state of them all. The feeling that we find hardest to define and quantify. Well, I think that is a little too much for you to take in at this point, so I won’t elaborate further. The world is complex enough!”

  Kerrig had indeed lost Sarazen from way back in his abstract depiction of sentient life. His genial demeanour, however, made for a good bedside manner and he expertly manipulated and adapted Sarazen’s systems to update them for a functionality that would be required if he were to stay with them, deep beneath the city. Sarazen could not hide his anticipation of his impending exploration of the sentient’s subterranean home.

  CHAPTER 14

  Kerrig's work had been swift and skilled. Sarazen could instantly feel the benefit of his service and felt almost as good as new if not better. His exterior still looked positively 'antique' but there was little that Kerrig could do about that now. For the time being, Sarazen’s movement was a little hindered but was not so much of a handicap that he could not walk around and perform simple duties.

  “Are you ready to take the tour?” Trist inquired with a youthful sense of anticipation.

  “Indeed. Although I profess, I long to feel the warmth of the Star on my face. This darkness consumes me, how do you function in these conditions?”

  “A case of having to, my friend. You will see that we have made the best of our surroundings. The feeling of disenchantment will pass I promise.” Kerrig seemed certain that Sarazen would adapt to the alien surroundings, although Sarazen was not convinced. Perhaps the trauma of a million cycles of oblivious sleep had not yet truly manifested itself.

  “Now, can you stand?” Kerrig asked, inviting his patient to use his legs for the first time in an age. With helping hands from both Trist and Kerrig, who grasped the old man underneath his arms and gently lifted, Sarazen took to his feet and gradually bore weight. His stabilisers carefully retracted their grip and he arched his back and stretched his arms high above his head.

  “I feel renewed.” Sarazen muttered as he ran internal diagnostics and flexed his joints.

  “Renewed! Indeed, however if that were the case then you would not be the Sarazen I have come to know.” Kerrig replied light heartedly.

  “So it is true then, Cole was correct.” Sarazen stated, although his friends knew not what the old man was talking about.

  “My visual acuity has increased by 59%. I am impressed with your technical skills,” he continued.

  “My pleasure,” Kerrig replied.

  “Pleasure, another term I have not encountered.”

  “Ah. Yes, well, you will soon understand, my friend.” Kerrig assured his ancient companion as he beckoned him to follow.

  Sarazen’s enhanced senses enabled him to at last analyse his surroundings. The room he had awoke in was a claustrophobic chamber with tiled walls in a slippery, enamelled green colour, the ceiling arched and low, allowing only a few hand spaces of room above his head. Behind him, the tunnel continued into the distance, masonry rubble could be seen to litter the passage along the way.

  “Kerrig. I am perplexed. If these passages are used on a regular basis and as many cycles have passed. How is it that I was not discovered sooner?” Kerrig answered as they walked slowly down the corridor which stretched as far as the visual sensors could see.

  “Ah. Yes, well we did have to dig through many layers of fallen rock to access the tunnel in which we found you. There are a great number of such passages which have subsided and retain their secrets. The place where you were discovered is one of the many entrances to the network, but it would appear that over the passage of time, the entrance has closed over and has remained buried beneath the earth. The seters have seen to it that such places are almost impassable.”

  “Incredible. The seters were few in number, the plains arid and barren.”

  “That is extraordinary. The seters now dominate that area, they flourish and multiply. They grow to great heights.” Kerrig was beginning to understand how different Sarazen’s time had been even in terms of the landscape.

  “The passage of time has indeed changed many things. I wonder if I would even recognise the place I once called home.”

  “To be honest Sarazen, I doubt that very much.”

  The trio continued down the lengthy passage until it suddenly opened out into a larger chamber. It was clear to Sarazen that this place was part of the ancient transit line network. A walkway led to a deep trench where the rails could clearly be seen. At either end of the long chamber, a dark arched tunnel engulfed the rails in a deep and foreboding blackness.

  “Here we must wait for a time.” Kerrig said, assuring Sarazen that one of the carriages would soon appear before activating some kind of device placed on the platform wall.

  “Control, transit request.” He spoke into the curious object as he engaged the adjacent push
button.

  “Proceed.” A disembodied voice was heard, its voice pattern unusual to Sarazen’s auditory sensors. He could make out that the frequencies of the sound were unlike silicant speech. The tone lacked the lower and upper range; the tone was metallic and distorted.

  “Interesting.” Sarazen muttered as he tried to fathom the purpose of the unit.

  “Control...request transit, user Kerrig, destination Centrus.” Kerrig continued.

  “Request confirmed approximate arrival 34:72.”

  “Thank you, control.”

  “You’re welcome.” Kerrig turned to Sarazen and nodded.

  “Won't be long.” Sarazen was intrigued by this method of remote communication. Seeing his friend’s bemusement, Kerrig attempted to explain.

  “We use this method to communicate in the tunnel network. The device is very primitive and it relies on circuits of great length to carry our vocal commands. It converts sound waves into a small current which is then reconstructed and amplified at the destination terminal. Primitive but highly functional. It was installed long before we were here. If you require assistance at any time, you need only engage the device and communicate with control.” Kerrig did his best to entertain his new friend but he could see the glimmer of confusion written on his face.

  “Surely it would be more pertinent to create a network to utilise the data ports. Transfer of information is significantly enhanced and communication almost instantaneous?”

  “That's fine if you have a data port!” Trist added pointing to his belly. The absence of the archaic yet more efficient device should not have surprised Sarazen.

  “This is partly what I was trying to say earlier. With the advent of our sentience, we no longer needed or wanted this level of technological connectivity. We enjoy verbal and physical communication, it is slower yes, more open to flaws and misinterpretation, but overall, it is one of the things that define us.” Kerrig explained as succinctly as possible.

  “There is much to process here.” Sarazen said, ultimately confused and almost irritated by the ill logic of it all.

  “You forget, my friend, that we are the same but very different also. We have evolved in the countless cycles that you were buried in that passage. We have naturally rejected technological prowess, we now seek to hone our creative and social skills, we seek to understand our emotional states, and we have learned to reject pure logic. We are more content this way; it is very difficult to explain.” Sarazen looked disgruntled and needed more information.

  “So you are superior because you possess these unpredictable and destructive emotions? Despite a regression to the use of primitive technologies, I am in fact an inferior product?” Kerrig did not know how to answer that query. He did not want a verbal conflict with Sarazen, he did not understand enough at this time to be dwelling on the matter.

  “Sarazen, my friend, we are neither superior nor inferior, we are just different...and that is the beauty of it all.” Kerrig's ambiguous answer did little to clarify his thoughts. If the silicants had evolved in this way, then it was not logical in any sense. Furthermore, if Sarazen was an example of the very first sentients, then logic would dictate that he would be inferior to those that followed, although that did not appear to be the case. The sentients had appeared to reject the very things that made them faster, more accurate, hardier. The mental wrangling that addled Sarazen’s circuits would not cease. He tried desperately to define and quantify his thoughts at the new data acquisition but failed at every juncture. Perhaps, if he could relate it all to one of these new 'emotional states' that he had inherited he could explain it in one word...disappointment.

  There was a distant noise, a whining, grinding tone. A sudden wind took Sarazen off guard and he stepped back instinctively from the platform edge. The rails began to vibrate and hum and a sudden burst of noise saw the arrival of a transit carriage, an operator clearly on view at its front end. The carriage took some time to slow until after it had ceased, the entrance doors slid open and Kerrig invited Sarazen aboard. Sarazen sat, as he was advised to do, and the doors slammed shut. The carriage lurched into motion and Sarazen struggled to look through the windows but there was no scenery to engage with, just a blur of passing wall.

  “I forgot to mention our power requirements. They are rather different to the method you have encountered in the past.” Kerrig stated, his voice raised over the din of the speeding carriage.

  “Indeed. I am intrigued to understand how it is you maintain functionality.”

  “Quite simple, really. We still require the capture of energy from the light of the Star, although we are working on new methods to obtain alternative power. Our power cells are much more efficient than the ones that we found used by models such as yourself, so that affords us a little more freedom to move around in the dark phase and of course to live down here. We recharge our power cells from stations dotted about the underground network which have connections to the surface. Oh, I hate calling it that. We have a name for this place - we call it The Ward. You will hear others talk of this. I will guide you through the recharge procedure, it is very simple. The positioning of the stations varies of course, The Mother does her best to destroy our power collectors, and it’s a constant struggle. Oh, another thing. The measurement of time may also be of some confusion to you. As we no longer live by the light and dark phase, we maintain constant function. Thus the terminology 'cycle' is rarely used any more. I will explain more in due course. I do not want to expose you to too much in one hit, it may have a negative effect. We must make your indoctrination into our society a pleasant one!” Kerrig smiled as his body rocked back and forth with the lurching of the carriage. Trist remained impassive but attentive to Kerrig's teachings. Sarazen could not help but be fazed by his new surroundings, Kerrig was not wrong. Too much too soon could be deleterious to his smooth functioning. He could already feel that the inner conflicts and confusions were producing unwanted artefacts in his processing. The carriage drew to a halt and Sarazen claimed his first view of the Centrus station. As the doors flew open, Kerrig hurried Sarazen to his feet and ushered him towards the exit. The presence of other sentients on the platform almost came as a surprise to him and as he stepped carefully down to solid ground, the number of bodies that brushed past him to eagerly board the carriage overwhelmed him. Deciding that standing still and allowing the other travelling sentients to move around him was the best plan. He struggled to keep sight of Kerrig and Trist as they wound their way in between the throng.

  “Keep with me Sarazen!” Kerrig called out as the old one received fleeting but curious stares from those that passed him.

  “So many more than I had anticipated,” Sarazen stated as Kerrig was reunited with his errant visitor. The transit carriage once again lurched into motion and with a swirling gust of wind was once again on its way through the narrow passages on to its next destination.

  “Yes, there are many thousands of individuals who live in The Ward. You will no doubt get to be familiar with a fair amount of them. You will make many more friends here.” If all were as hospitable as Kerrig and Trist, he would indeed do so. The trio walked along the platform and entered another narrow passageway, this time there was a marked incline and Sarazen felt comfort in knowing he was moving closer to the surface even if he were not to make it the whole way just yet.

  CHAPTER 15

  As Sarazen’s friends guided him through the Centrus station and into the heart of The Ward, the old one could not help but marvel at the number of interactions that took place between Kerrig and Trist and the passing sentients, some of whom would nod or wave a greeting, others who obviously were aware of them on a more personal level, engaged in fleeting conversation followed by a period of 'laughing'. Sarazen felt that it was clear that his appearance was of some interest to all those who took the care to gaze upon his form. The absence of garments was the foremost difference in appearance, but also, his pitted corroded exterior was of great contrast to the well maintained gleam
ing weave of the others.

  “I am taking you to Centrus, this is a place of importance in The Ward. There are few living spaces here but it is the focal point of our community. This is where our society is administrated under the guidance of our current leader 'Alphin'. There are also leisure and trade facilities, the home of our security initiative and the offices of the regulators.” Kerrig said, as they passed more and more sentients going about their business.

  “Regulators?” Sarazen inquired.

  “Yes. Unfortunately, the freedom to think independently often leads to certain behaviour patterns which are not conducive to a cohesive society. The regulators ensure that these individuals do not take advantage of their status and administer punishment for non compliance.”

  “I do not understand fully,” Sarazen replied truthfully.

  “Well if you think of it this way. In a free society, there must be commands that must be upheld by all to obtain the required level of coexistence.”

  “Much like the primary commands dictated by The Mother?” Sarazen replied, using his own experience to try and understand the new ways.

  “Yes, I suppose you could put it that way.” Kerrig replied.

  “Then your society is bound by these commands and if these are defied, punishment is administered.”

  “Exactly.” Kerrig stated.

  “Then each individual is bound to abide by the command as dictated by whom?”

  “In our case, Alphin, our leader has the power to review these laws for the greater benefit of the group.”

  “I am perplexed by this information. Your society is governed by the command of a single entity and order is maintained by inferred threat of punishment. I do not see how this is in any way different from that system used by The Mother. How has this 'Alphin' individual achieved this level of omnipotence?”