‘It’s not woven into people’s minds to ask,’ said Melt. ‘Why should it be? They’re only stories.’
‘I’m asking!’
Karel was suddenly shaken, as if by a bolt of electricity. Morphobia Alligator had spoken of this. Robots like Karel, robots who could choose to do things that weren’t woven into their minds.
Robots who saw things that other robots did not.
Karel looked around. Melt, the robot who claimed to have forgotten his past, sat on one side, Simrock the Spontaneous robot on the other. All three of them on a forgotten road through the high mountains. He had once thought that that life in Turing City was liberal and edgy and cosmopolitan. Now it all seemed so safe and predictable, a tiny little island in a far corner of the world.
He had had to come up here to realize just how strange his world really was.
Was he the only one who saw it?
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do made his way from the radio room and out into Smithy Square, his gyros spinning. What was going on? What had happened in Ell?
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do imagined walking through that city. Ell was a beautiful place, set with towers tiled in blue, green and gold. The city was famous for its ceramics, it was said there wasn’t a surface in the city that wasn’t tiled. The robots of Ell made a red iron oxide glaze of a colour unsurpassed throughout Yukawa.
Now he imagined those tiled streets filled with the dead bodies of robots. Bodies slumped on the ground, their arms and legs entangled, their eyes lifeless and faint smoke emerging from their heads. What had the humans done there? What would they be doing in Ka? Jai-Lyn had asked for his help. There was something so pathetic about that request. They had only met for a few hours, and yet she had turned to him. Was that a surprise? Wa-Ka-Mo-Do was probably the most important robot she had ever met.
He walked from the Copper Master’s house into the daylight. The sun was bright, it thinned the black smoke, it threw the scorch marks across the tiled square into harsh relief.
The sight of the humans clustered around one of their cannons at the edge of the square irritated him. La-Ver-Di-Arussah was there, speaking to one of them.
She beckoned him to join her.
‘Honoured Commander, the humans have requested that we remove ourselves from the Copper Master’s house and relocate lower down the city.’ La-Ver-Di-Arussah was buzzing with energy. ‘I’ve already sent Ka-Lo-Re-Harballah down to secure an area around the Copper Market.’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do looked at the broken roof of the Emperor’s palace, looked at the strange cannons that the humans were erecting all around the perimeter of the square. They seemed to move of their own accord, their strange metal muzzles constantly scanning the sky.
‘How are the robots of the city?’ asked Wa-Ka-Mo-Do.
‘They remain under control.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Honoured Commander?’ Her face was innocent. He saw the knot insignias on her panelling and thought of Go-Ver-Dosai, lying dead in the radio room. What would Li-Kallalla do, he wondered? Who would the young robot betray, Wa-Ka-Mo-Do or the Emperor?
Either way, it was out of his hands now.
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do looked up again at the broken roof.
‘Have the humans apologized for what happened to our city?’ he asked aloud.
‘Honoured Commander?’
‘Nothing.’ Wa-Ka-Mo-Do straightened up. He had chosen his path, now he had to walk it. ‘La-Ver-Di-Arussah, fetch me the human commander.’
‘Honoured Commander, he is far too busy at the moment. He is co-ordinating other troop movements, preparing a counterattack on those who came here last night.’
Too busy, thought Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. He is too busy to speak to me.
‘So, Honoured Commander, shall I organize the withdrawal from the Copper Master’s house?’
‘No, La-Ver-Di-Arussah. No. I don’t think so. We will remain where we are for the moment.’
‘But the humans said…’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do felt the current begin to hum inside him.
‘The humans are no longer in charge here. I am. And I received my orders from the Emperor, not ten minutes ago.’
‘But-’
‘No buts, La-Ver-Di-Arussah. Tell the human commander I will be pleased to see him at his earliest convenience, here, in the middle of Smithy Square. Tell him that I will be pleased to discuss his continued presence in my city.’
‘But-’
‘Tell him that now, La-Ver-Di-Arussah. And whilst you’re doing it, get me Ka-Lo-Re-Harballah. He will no longer be required to secure quarters for us in the Copper Market. We’re staying here. Quickly now, La-Ver-Di-Arussah.’
She didn’t move quickly. As slowly as possible, La-Ver-Di-Arussah turned and moved away. He wasn’t overly surprised when he saw her head, not in the direction of the Street of Becoming, but back towards the group of humans. Wa-Ka-Mo-Do didn’t watch their hurried conversation, but made his way instead to look out across Lake Ochoa towards the Mound of Eternity.
There was a lot of movement down there today. Human machines – those boxy green and yellow shapes that spent much of their time in the fields to the south of the city – had been brought back here to the very edge of the city and set to excavating holes, moving soil and gravel.
Human craft flew above them. They were lifting up machines on cables, carrying them to new locations. Wa-Ka-Mo-Do watched as a craft headed up to the terrace, one of the strange guns swinging on a cable beneath it.
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do ignored it. He was still scanning the area around the lake. Amongst all the humans he saw robots. Many, many robots. More robots than had business being there. It was happening already. All the resentment that had been building up over the past weeks had found a focus. Sangrel had been attacked. To make matters worse, the humans were withdrawing from the surrounding land. Whatever pressure had been holding those farmers and miners in their place was being released. They were coming towards the city. For the moment, they were only watching. But for how long would that be true…
‘Wa-Ka-Mo-Do!’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do turned to see a human female. She wore grey cloth panelling; her face was dappled with dew, like metal in the morning.
‘I’m Gillian.’ The female held out a hand, and Wa-Ka-Mo-Do took it in his own, the way he had seen other humans do, and moved it up and down.
‘My official title is Honoured Commander.’
‘I’m sorry, Honoured Commander. Blame the translating machine.’ Wa-Ka-Mo-Do watched the little blinking light as the female spoke. ‘Listen, we have a problem. You saw the attack last night? You saw the machines that came here? Well, our intelligence suggests that the next attack will be with much faster craft. Craft that use rockets for propulsion, not propeller blades. Do you understand those concepts?’
‘I understand.’
‘Good! Now, do you see our cannon? They’re fully automatic. They can track moving objects many miles away, they can turn and fire in a fraction of a second.’
‘They are impressive devices indeed,’ replied Wa-Ka-Mo-Do, politely.
‘Thank you, Honoured Commander.’ Gillian seemed pleased at the compliment. She was not at all like Rachael, Wa-Ka-Mo-Do noted. Her hair was grey, her face had far more lines upon it. ‘But there is a problem,’ she continued. ‘You see, the enemy has equally fast devices. We need to give our cannon enough time to see and react to an attack.’
‘I understand this.’