Page 13 of Operation Iron Heart

Another affectionate smile spread across her face as she looked at the two sleeping boys.

“Don’t wake them up. Put them on the sofa,” she said quietly to Marci and Jack. “It’s better if they don’t hear our conversation.” She offered Marci a chair. Jack stood behind Marci’s chair like a protective soldier while she sat down nervously.

Her host crossed the room to an intelligent bar cabinet that served drinks at the press of a button and ordered a couple of soft drinks including an orange juice for Marci. Cathrin ordered a glass of water. Jack declined politely as he wasn’t thirsty. As a robot, he rarely ate or drank, mostly only when he was with humans so that he could fit in, as he explained to Marci with a wink. Cathrin sat opposite her on a simple stool and looked directly at her.

“Welcome to Hunters Lane,” she said, raising her glass casually to Marci.

“Hunters Lane?” Marci looked around in confusion; the name sounded upmarket to her, and although there was nothing missing in Cathrin’s room, the white furniture gave it all a rather modest look.

“It’s the name of the area of New Jersey where I was born 63 years ago,” explained Cathrin, smiling gently. “I always say that the world was still OK then, even though obviously that’s not true. But in naming our base after it, I wanted to convey some of the peaceful atmosphere that I experienced there as a child. I don’t know how much Jack has already told you about me,” she began, without commenting on Marci’s sudden arrival at the base. “But you should know that I don’t pride myself on having set up this camp or on having created most of the robots who live here with us humans. Quite the opposite: I feel responsible for the problems it’s caused. It does, however, make me proud of the team spirit shown by my troops, who have shown me that something good can always come out of something bad. I’m proud that humans and robots appreciate each other as sentient beings and respect each other in all matters. Everyone who comes to us here should feel at home and live here in peace – we need every man, woman and child if we are to get rid of the ice-cold egotists out there and their rogue regime. If we don’t succeed in changing this world for the better within the next five years, humanity will be lost forever.”

She pointed casually to the screen. “Before Jack accompanies you and the children to your quarters, I’d like to tell you about the base and our work. You need to know that you and the children are safe with us.”

Marci stared in fascination at the holoscreen, which now displayed a map of a subterranean labyrinth that concealed a kind of small town spread across several levels. “We’ve worked relentlessly for two years and taken significant risks to create all of this.” Cathrin pointed to the 3D video that was running. “The main problem wasn’t logistics but security. Building all of this without being noticed by spy satellites or drones was a work of genius by our incredible IT people, who made us practically invisible to global monitoring systems. I don’t know how much Jack has already told you about our organisation?” Cathrin asked, glancing at Marci.

“Not much,” Marci admitted slightly awkwardly, “only that you used to work for people like MacIntyre…” She couldn’t help giving Cathrin a critical look. “And the situation with Will.”

“And now you’re wondering why I didn’t notice earlier what a vicious bastard Monty MacIntyre is and why I moved to CRU as well?”

Marci gave a small nod and wondered whether Cathrin would take offence at the question. But her expression stayed friendly as she answered.

“It was during my studies that I first realised that above a certain energy density in their brain, robots developed a consciousness that interacts independently, just like a human’s. One day, there was a young robot on my operating table and I was replacing an arm that he had lost on the battlefield. As I started using the laser, he whimpered in pain. I knew then that something wasn’t right. Our combat robots are machines and don’t normally develop a consciousness. But when I tested this robot’s main processor, I saw that his brain had developed a consciousness structure similar to a human’s, including sensitivity to pain and surges of emotion. As the brain mass is composed of organic nuclei created using biotechnology and has networks of nerves controlled by a self-regenerating quantum processor, robots are capable of faster, more complex thought than humans. The idea that once there was a critical mass of neuronal links producing the hormones it needed, the brain would develop emotional capabilities, is something that years ago would have been the stuff of fairy tales and legends. But after I made this discovery, I knew how much danger the robots would be in if I were to publish my research findings. People like MacIntyre would destroy any robot that developed its own soul. Robots capable of independent thought and emotion don’t fit into his concept. Quite apart from the fact that he wouldn’t be the only one who would seek to manipulate production to stop that happening, most governments wouldn’t tolerate robots acting independently, either. All those in power have feared a revolution by the machines since they started being developed, and this opinion is shared by the majority of their human subjects, as most of them already hate robots because they take their jobs away from them. If they were to learn that robots can develop what they consider an unacceptable level of human qualities, they would destroy them immediately. The whole matter is extremely delicate,” she added with a concerned look at Jack, who was trying not to show how much he was affected by all of it.

“We can’t turn back the clock,” she said pensively. “Robots like Jack and others whose consciousness has awakened to the point that it’s similar to human consciousness, already exist and it would be akin to murder to switch them off and destroy them because of it. People like MacIntyre need to understand the consequences of their indiscriminate manufacturing and that they will ruin themselves and the world if we don’t stop the robot industry. Eventually, they will all awaken, and then there’ll be a battle for resources like humanity has never seen before, because I very much doubt that MacIntyre’s robots will turn out to be as gentle as Jack and his colleagues.” Cathrin raised an eyebrow and gave Marci a searching look. “I hope I’ve helped you see what we’re dealing with here?”

Marci nodded uneasily and tried to imagine what reactions Jack was capable of, and how different he was from a real human.

“Do you know why you’re here?” asked Cathrin gently, leaning towards her with an understanding look on her face. It was a move designed to create a sense of trust, but Marci was still wary. The idea of being part of this robot revolution as a human, without being asked, frightened her.

“Jack said, Will was…killed in action,” she said hesitantly. “And he asked Jack to get me and the children out of Chicago.” She swallowed, trying to hold back tears and clasped her hands together tightly in her lap.

Cathrin noticed her tension and nodded gently. “Yes, that’s right. Your husband was turned into a hybrid soldier by MacIntyre’s people and seriously injured fighting in the Gobi Desert. When the military wanted to dispose of him, Jack ignored his programming and got him out of the danger zone in a speed glider. He then fought his way across five thousand miles in a medical glider to rescue him and bring him here. He’d heard about our organisation from another robot, but by the time he landed in our hangar, it was too late. Will had lost too much blood for us to be able to re-start his human systems.” She was silent for a moment, giving Marci time to understand what she was trying to say. “Will? He’s…still here,” she said, swallowing hard. “I mean, his…remains?”

“Yes,” replied Cathrin, choosing her words carefully. “We’ve frozen him in liquid nitrogen. If you’d like to see him one more time, you can. You can decide afterwards what happens to him.”

“What does he look like?” asked Marci tremulously. “I mean, will I still recognise him?”

“His head and face are undamaged,” Cathrin assured her. “The rest of him is covered up.”

“However much is left of him, I want him to have a Christian burial,” Marci said immediately with a choked voice.

“Of course,” said Cathrin. “We’ll arrange that for you when the time is right.”

“Thank you,” whispered Marci numbly, looking at her sleeping sons. “Having to explain to them that they’ll never see their dad again is going to be the hardest thing of all.”

“We’ll talk about him tomorrow,” Cathrin suggested quietly, glancing at the children and seeing how Marci was fighting back tears. “Jack will show you to your quarters now. Tomorrow, once we’ve settled the children in our residential school, we can talk more about everything else.”

Marci gave a deep sigh and nodded in agreement.

She remained tight-lipped as they left their meeting with Cathrin and Jack took her to a small, sparsely furnished room where, initially separate from the other residents, she and the children could recover from the exertions of their escape. Logan had woken up and now walked alongside her despondently, while Jack carried Willie Junior as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Rest for a while,” he said firmly, commanding the door to open so that Marci could inspect her temporary home. The room had no windows and was not exactly welcoming; there were just three pallets with mattresses, pillows and blankets, all important for humans.

As a robot, Jack did not need either sleep or a blanket, but he wished he could have lain down next to Marci and held her, as she immediately collapsed onto one of the beds, closed her eyes and gave an exhausted sigh. As Jack carefully put Willie on the other bed and put a blanket gently over him, he felt Marci watching him.

“I would never have thought a combat robot like you would be able to handle a child so tenderly,” she said with a gentle smile, looking at him curiously.

Jack didn’t know how to respond to that, so he simply shrugged and said, “I’d like to have children, but that’s not possible for a robot.” He met Marci’s look of surprise.