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"Today, class, we are going to be a little more serious than usual. I'm
feeling a little maudlin, so I decided that I might as well pass it on to each
of you as well."
There were a few chuckles from a few of the students. Even when he was dead
serious, the teacher always slid in a little of his humor. Sometimes it was
pretty odd, but that was to be expected. He was allowed his excentricities,
and for good reason.
The classroom was sparse, little could be afforded in the manner of
decorations or excess furnishings. A large metal desk in the corner, a small
cabinet, and a smaller aquarium being the most conspicuous. There weren't even
any extra desks; all fifteen seats were occupied by the students, most in their
mid-teens, and roughly equal in numbers between the sexes. All in all, it
looked fairly reasonable for a 20th century classroom, all except for the 3d
holo-projector at the front of the room next to where the teacher stood.
Today, however, the projector was off.
The teacher smiled, and waited for the whispered comments to die down. With
only a slight smirk, he continued. "I meant it. I know this isn't your biology
hour, but I want to talk about life expectancy."
There were a few confused glances between the students, but otherwise they
remained attentive.
Unfazed, the teacher continued. He asked of the class, "How long, do you
suppose, could humans with no technological advancements survive?"
One student, a thin boy with black hair, one of the three 18-year olds,
wisecracked, "Out there? Two days. No weapons, right?"
The teacher chuckled. "Okay, Jace, you got me there. Assume we don't have
our most pressing problem. Then how long?"
The answers were serious this time, and varied. "30 years." "40." "Aw, at
least 50." "45?"
"Hmm. All good answers. But instead of guessing, you could instead try to
puzzle it out. How long are Toya frogs known to live in the wild? I know a
couple of you had a project on this not long ago."
A student towards the back piped in, "Six months to a year."
The teacher nodded. "And how long have we kept alive ours?" He nodded
towards the aquarium at the back of the room.
Silence for several moments. Finally, a thin girl with long blond hair,
another of the older students, supplied, "Six years."
"Mmm, given the topic, let's be more exact, Seisha. Six point seven eight
years. Now, think of the oldest recorded age in our community, and do the math.
No need to answer."
Again, silence as they thought this over, frowns showing on several faces.
Finally, a muscular boy with brown hair -- the third of the three older
students -- asked, "Is that really how long a human with no technology could
live?"
The teacher smiled wryly. "I could tell you my answer, but I don't think
you'll like it."
The same student pressed, "Please."
"Very well, Dan. My answer is.... I don't know." Several groans were heard.
The teacher added with a grin, "And I don't intend to find out! Now, you
already have assignments from the other teachers, and I know your duties to the
community are pressing, so enjoy this time to get caught up. Or, better yet,
have fun while you can!" With this, the teacher left the class to their own
devices.
His lectures were often confusing, and rarely to the point, but they always
left the students thinking, and often amused. He may not have been the most
pressing of the teachers, but he was most certainly the most enjoyable, as
well as the most effective.
Yes, X was easily the most liked of all the teachers.
---
The constant clacking of a keyboard was the only audible sound.
The room was dark, and only a few gleams of metal surface were visible in the
dim light of the computer monitor. A sillhouette was sitting at the console,
typing. The face not visible, unlike the typed text.
Journal entry, Day Sixteen of the Season of Mists, Year of the Dawning Moon
Class went by quickly today. Probably because it was only 10 minutes long.
I don't know why they insist that I teach. I'll have to ask Zero. He'll try to
come up with something profound. He usually does. Never mind that he usually
fails.
I've finished up the toy I was working on. I know who's going to beg to test
it. It's also obvious who'll be his sparring partner..
The figure looked up from the typing to ponder. <Yeah, there's only two in
the whole community that could survive that.. And I'm too busy. Heh.> The
typing resumed.
Tomorrow is The Day. Yeah. Both of the Days that I give the title. Ironic.
The day that's most important to me, and the day that's most important to Zero.
The day that's most disliked by Zero, and the day that's most disliked by me.
What're the odds that they'd both end up on the same date? I love it.
I just hope he doesn't try something stupid this year.
Well, no sense wasting any more time on this thing. I hate these journal
entries. I don't see why they insist on my doing this, either.
Well, good luck to anyone trying to figure out my dating system. Heh.
At this moment, the light flicked on. The room was filled with technology:
hi-tech electronics systems, robotics assemblies, and various blinking objects.
The aforementioned computer seeming the least advanced, and looking to be
decades, or perhaps even centuries, old.
Sitting at the computer is a figure, all in blue. Not blue clothing but what
appears to be either plastic or metal.. A solid casing around the whole body in
differing shades, except for the fists, which were white, the face, which was
bare, and the 'helmet', which had some small adornments that looked like
sensors of sorts. On the right shoulder, a marking of a white fist is visible.
The robot looked up to the doorway, at the one who turned on the light. It
was another being, this one taller, covered in red, with yellow hair streaming
down the back. On this one's shoulder was a stylized 'X', in bright blue.
"Still tinkering with your archaic machinery, X?" The taller robot's voice
was filled with amusement.
X sighed. "Yes, still 'tinkering'. You know full well that the journal crap
was /your/ idea, Zero."
"My idea, yes. The council's decision, yes. But who was it that decided to
use a computer that predates the first working AI?" Zero grinned.
With an indignant snort X replied, "Well, it was just lying around, and I
figured I might as well do something with it.. Anyway, tell Johnathon that the
new gear is ready for testing whenever he wants. I even altered the controls
the way he insists is 'better'. Have fun pounding it into the ground. I know
you always do. But /this/ time, tell me /why/ it needs improvement, okay?"
Zero smirked. "I will. You should probably get some rest. Your 'big day' is
tomorrow." The sarcasm was unmistakable. X sighed, and shook his head at Zero.
"I know you don't approve.. But somewhere along the line it became a
tradition, and I might as well carry it out. Part of that responsibility thing
you keep going on about."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Throw my words in my face. I'm going to get things ready
for tomorrow. See you then."
With that, Zero left, the metal door sliding shut behing him.
---
It was a bright sunny morning. A small crowd of people, no more than a dozen,
surrounded the clearing. They were all in their mid-twenties to thirties. They
were here to watch what had become known as the Introduction.
The objects of their attention were the three persons standing in the center
of the clearing, all looking rather nervous. Seisha, Dan, and Jace.
Dan turned to Seisha. "So do /you/ have any idea what this is about?"
Seisha shook her head. "Not a clue. None of the adults would talk about it."
Jace offered "Maybe this is some sort of rite of passage type thing like we
talked about in Anthropology."
"Right, Jace. Whatever you say," came the response of Dan. "If that was it,
don'tcha think we'd've /heard/ about it by now?"
Seisha commented, glancing towards the crowd, "I don't know Dan, but whatever
it is, I think they're expecting it. It's weird."
At that point, the crowd shifted away from one side of the clearing, allowing
a view of a couple of approaching figures. X and Zero entered the clearing, and
the crowd shifted back into place. Zero remained at the edge, but X approached
the somewhat confused youths.
"You look surprised. Who did you expect, the Council?" X' warm smile helped
calm the three who were standing there.
X looked at each in turn. "Dan, Jace, and Seisha. All here. Let's see... Dan,
you told me you want to be a Mech driver, right?"
Dan nodded. "Johnathon's been training me for a while now."
X smiled. "Good, Johnathon's the best. Sometimes Zero even gives him a run
for his money." Zero snorted. X looked to Jace. "How about you?"
Jace frowned. "I don't know yet. I kinda do everything, but I'll probably end
up working at the factory. They could use the help."
X nodded. "Always can. Without those parts, we'd have problems." He looked to
Seisah. "Seisha... I've heard that you want to be both a medical assistant
/and/ engineer. Is this true?"
Seisha nodded. "I like helping people. That way, I'd get to repair everyone."
X nodded. "Well, as long as you remember that it's tough doing either one,
much less both. Good luck." He looked at the three, who were still nervous.
"Something wrong?"
Seisha supplied, "Uh.. We were starting to wonder if we were in trouble or
something."
The robot smiled. "No, not in trouble. Just a silly little tradition."
Jace said, "I was right! It is a sort of rite of passage type thing!" Zero
frowned at this, but remained silent. He continued to watch, not looking happy
with the situation.
X nodded. "I suppose that's a way of looking at it." At the frowns from Dan
and Seisha, X added, "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to walk hot coals
or hunt some obscure animal. We have enough problems without adding stupid
things like that."
Zero mumbled something almost inaudible, but the words 'stupid things like
this?' were quite clear at the end.
X seemed to not have heard Zero, and continued. "No, I'm just here to make
one of my silly speeches, and have one of you do something for me. A small
task, nothing more."
The three glanced at each other. Without speaking, they knew they were
thinking the same thing. <This is weird.>
The blue robot continued. "You know how we 'reploids'.." Zero winced at the
world. ".. have been here for a long time." Nods from the three. Jace opened
his mouth, but before he could say anything X continued. "Don't bother asking
how long, I don't want to remember. Let's just be happy with 'a long long
time.' Now, are there any doubts in your minds as to whether or not we're
alive, just as you?" The three shook their heads, not seeing where this was
going. "Good. I remember one time that I got into a big long boring debate
over what constituted 'alive'. That wasn't any fun." He grinned, and the three
smiled uncertainly. "Then there remains only one thing that needs to be made
painfully clear." Again, Zero winced at the word 'painfully'.
"Who will volunteer for that small task I mentioned?"
The three glanced at each other again, still quite confused. After a moment,
Seisha stepped forward. "I guess I will."
X nodded. "Zero?" At the prompt, Zero produced a small hand weapon, one of
the more advanced pulse beam variety. He tossed it to X, when then held it out
towards Seisha. "Here. Take this."
Seisha complied, puzzlement filling her face. She looked from the weapon to
X in confusion. "What do you want me to do with it?"
"Shoot me. A point needs to be absolutely clear."
Seisha looked back to the two boys in a cross between confusion and fear.
<Shoot him? Why? What point does he mean?> She looked back to X, who was now
wearing his best grandfatherly wise look. It only served to make him look a
little silly, since he didn't look old enough, and he certainly didn't seem
wise enough. Seisha suppressed a nervous giggle. "Wh-why?"
"Just do it. Don't worry. I'll be fine."
Seisha frowned. This didn't make any sense. But this was X talking, so she
might as well do as he asked. She looked X over, raised the gun, and fired.
Everybody expected the white flash as the pulse beam shot towards X' chest,
and everyone except the three youths expected what followed.
A loud *crunch* sounded from X' chest, and he flew back 20 feet to land in a
crumpled heap. Zero was by his side before any of the humans could blink.
But this time, everyone but X and Zero was shocked at what happened next. X
didn't get up.
Zero wasn't surprised because he had been expecting something like this for
some time now.
X wasn't surprised because he didn't notice. Darkness had already claimed him.
---
The lab was only dimly lit. Zero spent no time in getting X there, and had
little patience for such things. In fact, he wouldn't have bothered with the
one lamp, had X not requested it. Zero didn't know why, nor did he care. He
merely did what was requested of him.
Zero kicked a half-finished mech off of a table, to make room for X. He laid
the smaller robot on the table, seemingly not noticing the crumpled mess next
to the wall that was just seconds before a new machine. Again, he didn't care.
His only concern was for his blue-clad friend.
X was in rough shape. His chest plating was blackened and buckled, and in
the center of the blast, a seam was cracked and pressed inwards. Zero, had he
not known the person aiming, would have sworn this was a calculated attempt
to kill X. It was that perfect a shot.
"Dammit, you idiotic piece of scrap metal, I *TOLD* you this would happen!"
X opened his eyes to peer at Zero. "An' you say.. /My/ mem'ry's bad.. This
hap'd b'fore.. 'mem'er?" His voice was clear, but that didn't prevent him from
sounding disjointed.
Zero snorted. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. I know.. Why don't you tell me
about it while I work? Be just like old times." Zero didn't wait for a
response as he started work. First step, he unceremoniously ripped X' chest
plates right from the body, causing a slight jerk in the smaller robot's body.
".. Old times? Was'n' it /me/.. that fixed /you/.. all those 'ol' times'?" He
kept his gaze on the ceiling, more to keep from seeing what Zero did wrong than
to avoid seeing his internals.
Zero grinned maliciously as he started the tedious task of repair. "It's that
fallible memory of yours, again, X. I *never* get seriously hurt. That's your
job. Now, you remember what happened the last time you got messed up in an
Introduction, right?"
X took this opportunity to snort. "Righ'.. Ego.. Was.. 30? years 'go.." X
paused as Zero changed priorities. Suddenly, X' speech became more coherent.
"What? I thought you were trying to work on my power core."
Zero's smirk was even audible in his voice as he replied. "You *really* think
I can stand several days of 'X the CaveBot'? If you sound like that the whole
time, I'm liable to shut you down to save my sanity. Now, where were you?"
X smiled, and started his narrative.
---
The room was sparse, like the classrooms. In fact, it looked to be one of
the classrooms converted into living quarters. There were four beds, two large
dressers, a mirror, and a table. The dressers had a few small odds and ends,
but that was the extent of the luxury. Seisha sat on her bed, thinking. Her
roommates weren't around; they saw her mood and decided to leave her alone.
Seisha was worried. And scared. And frightened. She had hurt the Founder.
That wasn't supposed to be possible. But it had happened. He had handed her a
gun, she had fired where instinct said she should if she was in a real fight,
and he had gone flying. It was completely unreal.
She hadn't heard anything about his death. If he had actually died, it would
be practically shouted from every 20 meters, so X must still be alive. Now,
anyway. No telling if he was actually going to die. No news from Zero yet, but
then it hadn't been long, and he just about blew the head off of the first 'bot
that had made the mistake of interrupting. That was two hours ago. No telling
what was going on, now..
<Only one way to find out. Go ask.>
The thought surprised her. Who was /she/ to go into X' private lab, to bother
Zero about X, whom *SHE* had hurt in the first place?
<Well, I guess I don't have a choice. I have to know..> With that
resolution, Seisha got up from her bed, and started the walk towards X' lab.
---
"30 years ago. The 'Introduction'. Say, that was your name for it, wasn't it?
Oh well. Doesn't matter. I hadn't been doing it long, maybe a generation or so.
The day started out sunny and peaceful, just like today.. It ended up messy,
too, just like today.. Though it /did/ have that one major difference...
"Oh. I see. *THAT*'s what you want me to remember. That 'The stupidity of
your actions is beyond belief' stance is just an act. Oh, shut up, I'll believe
what I want. I have a right to self-delusion.
"Anyway, I guess it really started before that.. That was a week before, I
think.. Two weeks? I guess you're right. Yeah, yeah, fallible memory, I've
heard that one for the last couple of centuries. Find a new one.
"... Daedalus. It all came back to Daedalus.. I should have named him
Icarus.
"Why, you ask? Isn't it obvious? He flew so high in my eyes, I thought him
to be everything I could hope.. But then came the fall.. The possibly
inevitable fall.."
---
.
