TEMPUS CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Machines building machines. How perverse.
C3P0
The scientists took shifts building the exterminators. Within three days they had finished basic assembly of Exterminator 1.
“Cristian there is another entity on my network.”
“Oh?”
“I am communicating with it. I can see what it sees.”
He went into the lab and saw E1. It wasn’t complete, but moving around the lab.
“ I didn’t know you were going to build an autonomous unit. I thought this was going to be a machine that needed an operator. Does it have speech capabilities?”
“M2 suggested that we could make it a better battle unit this way.”
Oh oh, machines building machines and time travel mixed in. This can’t be good, he thought.
“Watcher, check its programming and give me a report.”
“The operating system is not as complex as The M’s or mine Cristian, its function is to serve and protect nothing more.”
“If you say the machine is okay, Watcher good enough for me, don’t want to eliminate a threat to humanity and the universe just to release another. E1 report” said Cristian.
“I am functioning quite well, Cristian. I see that your life signs are functioning normally, although you could use some rest” E1 answered in a husky Lauren Bacall whiskey voice.
“We scientists thought there were too many masculine mechanicals Cristian,” said Albert who was now in the room.
“If E1 can fight, it can represent any gender that it wants.”
“Thank you, Cristian Wolf, E1 out.”
E1 had a limited number of battery packs for the first test.
“Could we make E1 look a little less like Johnny Five?”
“Sure Cristian, who is Johnny five?” Asked Albert.
“You can observe him at 7:00 PM, in the lecture Hall. Ask everyone to come.”
“Okay, Cristian.”
“Cristian, you may also want them to see Wall-E.”
“Tell me more.”
“Another robot movie that will give everyone a needed distraction.”
“I think that’s a great idea, Watcher, they have put in a lot of hours on the E project.”
Johnny five opens the door to find Stephanie in the bathtub.
“# 5 you got away”
“Stephanie change colour. Attractive. Nice software hmmmm”
“You sure don’t talk like a machine”
This caused the scientists to howl. Albert was the loudest one in the room. Stephen managed a chuckle. Lorelei was having a good time. This was the best part of the evening, watching the woman he loved, the one carrying his baby, having fun.
Between movies, the discussions were about Johnny five and Stephanie more than they were about E1, Killer Lizards and the upcoming fight. For a short while, they had all forgotten about the war.
Fresh drinks, more popcorn and some desserts leftover from supper were ready at the back of the room when WALL-E started. Lorelei and Cristian were sitting together in his old recliner dragged into the lecture Hall/ Theatre.
He watched the faces in the room as the show progressed and listened to the oohs and the ahhs and he witnessed the tears from Lorelei and everyone in the room. He even managed a little eye wetness himself.
Lorelei held him closer when she saw that Cristian was wiping a tear from an eye when Wall-e got his memory back. She realized that her man was all about the happy ending. She knew it was because he had not had many in his life. The happy days he had in his lifetime were all lies. The mother that had raised him, spent most of her time drunk and beating him. The man he thought was a father that abandoned him when he was ten, and a woman that had cheated on him and took every opportunity to demean and humiliate him.
Most of the happy moments he recalled were the memories of the births of every one of his children, the problem was those were lies too.
Lorelei was so in love with this man, who in spite of everything that happened to him could manage to show her such love and devotion. He cared about his people, and he cared about the two cats that had the run of the place. She could not do anything except love and admire this man. There was greatness in him.
Cristian looked at his wife and wondered what she saw in him. Before finding Watcher, he was just a screw-up that lost his family and couldn’t pay his bills. The only things he had in his life were the bagger and two cats, and he was close to losing them. He remembered back to a time when he had no food, no companions. There were moments he considered taking his life, riding the bike full throttle into an oncoming Freight liner bumper.
He wouldn’t because he was worried about who would take care of the cats. He couldn’t abandon them like had been done to him over and over throughout his life.
He adopted a new motto during that time “Keep going until you can’t…turn left then go a little further”
Right now, he had his arms around a woman who for some reason loved him. He was happy that it was the way it was. He saw so much greatness in her. She had brought joy back into his life.
In a few more days, the scientists brought him back into the lab, blindfolded with one of his bandanas he used to wear riding.
Lorelei slid the bandana off his face. In front of him was the scariest armed machine he had ever seen. It had three offset Mini-guns. Ammo fed from trays under the guns. It had a chute on the opposite side that funnelled the spent casings away from the E1 so that any personnel on the left side would not be slipping. The deployable metal shields on each side would retract so the E1 could go through narrow doorways. The rear shield had openings to shoot through. There were fore and aft rockets and flamethrowers, upfront were smoke grenade launchers. Mounted on the rear were extra shotguns assault rifles handguns grenades first aid kits and a couple of canteens.
“E1, would you give Cristian a demonstration of your stair-climbing abilities.”
“Sure Albert, no problem,” said the newly created killing machine.
A smaller track extended from the back of E1 for balance, like a kangaroo tail with treads. A set of stairs had been set up for testing onto a table. E1 easily climbed the stairs.
“Please come down.” Another track extended from the front for the trip down.
“What is in the box above the guns, Albert.”
“That is the best part, Cristian. Lorelei, please.”
Lorelei left the room. Albert handed Cristian some hearing protection and some shades all the others were putting theirs. The lights were turned off.
Next came a hard-driven guitar solo so loud that glasses on the table started to rattle. A scary-looking head that could have come from the movie Aliens appeared from the box above the guns. Flames shot out of its mouth for effect. The room was flooded with strobes and flashing lights and lasers and more flames. The effect when you took the glasses off was dizzying. With the glasses on, targets and objects were painted and easy to detect. The lights came on, and the music turned down.
“Well, Cristian, what did you think? asked E1.
“What was that music E1?”
“Buck Cherry Lit up. It will be released in six years, Cristian.”
“Excellent E1, you are beautiful.”
“Thank you, Cristian?”
“Watcher, send me all the specs.”
“Done Cristian.”
“Albert, how soon can you have E2 and 3 ready?”
“Basic functions three days, another day to add weapons, Cristian.”
“I am not leaving until you have protection. Mary, how are we making out with Baby protection?”
“Another day I should be finished. The prototype is here.”
“It looks like a corset that won’t make Lorelei very happy.”
“Comments have already been made, Cristian, she knows what is at stake.”
“Good job everybody, excellent work, very impressive. I will make sure that the Lizards see your work close up.” The scientists were clapping at that.
“M1 and M2 make sure everyone here has battle armour.”
“We will get working on it right now.”
“Thanks also develop some armour for yourselves, you will be going to the fight with me.”
“We had hoped that would be the case, Cristian, we have already started developing the armour in our spare time.”
Cristian went into the cafeteria, where Lorelei was sitting having a glass of Almond coconut milk. “What did you think, Cristian?”
“I think the Lizards will be slipping in their own shit, wife.”
“That paints a pretty picture, Cristian Wolf.”
“You asked, that is a very scary machine.”
“Are you hungry, Husband? I am going to have some soup.”
“Yes I am sweetie, let me help.”
While they were in the kitchen, Cristian lifted Lorelei onto the counter and kissed her hard.
“Cristian, you are incorrigible.”
He reached under her dress. “Lorelei, you seem to have forgotten your undergarments.”
“I had hoped you would discover that.”
“Shall we go to our room, or would you like to finish this discussion right here on this counter right now?”
“A little of both husband.”
“You are the woman for me, Lorelei.”
“I know. Should I get you to our room?”
“Yes” Lorelei walked closely in front of her Husband until they got back to the room.”
The next few days they emerged from the room only long enough for a meal. They both knew that one or both of them might not survive the battle. They had no real Intel on how many Lizards were in the nest. They had only the word of a dying Lizard. They also knew that if they failed, the earth would be scorched. Humanity would become extinct.
“Watcher, do you retain information even if the timelines change?”
“What did you have in mind, Cristian?”
“I want to wait for the Lizards in the warehouse in the future, capture one of them for interrogation, and not lose the work we have done with E1.”
“Cristian, do you remember what a Panhead is?”
“Of course. It’s the one part I regret.”
“The multiverses still apply. There is a future where the scientists were killed. There are an infinite number of variables that can be changed to make an infinite number of possible futures. There are other versions of the future where they were not killed.
“Makes sense.”
“Lorelei, I have an idea. We need to take a trip, we are bringing E1.”