"No one ever thought that it would get this bad or that so few cities would have survived." "And those of us who did survive, we never could have made it without those damn machines." "Phoenix is one of the last remaining dome cities." "The air is filtered." "And we've run out of raw materials and fresh water." "The domes are surrounded by desolate wastelands where no human should ever set foot." "So, they built more machines." "Airborne robotic probes that roam the barren fields in search of fuel and water to be mined for our use." "But now we've heard that there's something wrong with those machines." "Somehow I don't think Phoenix will ever be the same." "Help!" "Over here!" "I'm right here!" "Phoenix, the storm has intensified." "Our visibility is down 23%." "We are 2.3 miles away from the target area." "ETA, seven minutes." "Mrs Carlson." " Do you know where he is?" " Everything is being done that we..." " Do you know where my son is?" " We have a general location fix, yes." "Maybe even within a few hundred yards, but he's still some distance outside the walls." "With this storm, we haven't been able to pinpoint..." "This is Mr Varrta." "Mr Varrta's responsible for all non-human support staff." "We're doing all we can." "We have three of our top units out there." "Unit two and three, check that ridge." "What you are looking at here on this monitor is exactly what they see." "These pictures are transmitted directly from their body cameras." "And you think those things can bring my son back?" "If anyone can bring your son back safely, they can." "They are more advanced than anything our technology has ever created..." "I don't care how advanced your new things are." "They don't care what happens to my son." "Phoenix, we have a visual on a probe." "1.4 miles southwest." "We will investigate." "The child may be nearby." "Why don't you put some men out there with them?" "Right now, our best chance is to trust his..." "As you know, Chief Administrator Hamilton, my family has considerable influence with the Presidential Council." "Your best chance is my son comes back to me healthy." "We have visual." "The probe is moving towards the child." "Units two and three, flank right." "Distract the probe." "I will extract the child." "It's Eric." "I can see him." "Come, child." "We must go." "What is that?" "Help!" "Eric." "That probe thing is too close to Eric." "Do something!" "My units can handle them." "Look." " What happened?" " My units destroyed the probe." "The energy surge from the break-up can scramble the video transmission." "Give it time." "It will clear." "I want my son." "Attention, all personnel." "You are reminded that safety goggles must be worn at all times when handling flammable material." "What do you think you're doing?" "Hey!" "I'm talking to you, you scab piece of junk." "Get the hell out of here!" "What's it doing here?" "What?" "You're using them now?" "Got the word we got to start using them." "You're not serious?" "Well, you know what?" "I'm not working with them." "That's right." "You can't fire me." "Not for one of them." "The androids are here to stay whether you like it or not." "You got to get over that." "It's coming back." "There they are." "I can see them." "There's the city." "They must be close." "They're just outside." "Eric!" "Oh, my God!" "Are you hurt?" "Are you hurt?" " I'm sorry." " Why?" "Why did you go out there?" " Are you crazy or what?" " I wanted to see what was out there." "Is he all right?" "It's just a machine." "They'll fix it." "You're gonna be fine." "He carried me." "It doesn't matter." "You're gonna be fine." "I love you." "He'll be all right." "That was great." "I don't pretend to understand what you built into those new androids, but they're amazing." "If you can make more of them, it'll change everything." "Yes, it will." "Come on, ladies." "Let's see what your men are made of." "Oh, that's gotta hurt." "These guys are animals." "Remember, folks, every Tuesday night is fight night." "Hey, Jute!" "Jute, over here." "I'll buy you a drink." "Thought you were working." "What're you doing here?" "Buy me that drink." "I'll tell you all about it." "Test case DeeCee 142." "Cognitive diagnostic check in progress." "How did it feel out there?" "There was pain." "The pain sensors help you to protect yourself." "And the boy, had you ever held a human in your arms like that?" "No." "Did that make you feel protective?" "I protected him." " I saw you look at the mother." " She did not see me." "I see." "You will need to go back to Terminus for structural and replicator work." " Cellular level?" " Yes." "Will I keep identity?" "You memory modules will be replaced." "Does that disturb you?" "Why should it?" "I'm not sure you understand how much depends upon you and others like you." " Bringing the boy back was good." " He was an important child." "The Presidential Council will now understand that there is no limit to what we can do." "What we can do?" "Yes, we." "I'm no longer as different from you as you might think." "My work creating you has taught me a great deal." "In a way, it's made me humble." "I've learned how limited my human species really is." "Humans created me." "They built everything." "Everything?" "So tell me, what is out there, outside the walls of this city?" " Nothing." " Exactly." "Nothing." "All the great achievements of the human race smashed to nothing in one short, pointless apocalypse." "So now there's just a handful of humans kept alive by androids, my androids." " They found that kid." " Oh, yeah?" "That's great." "Some cogs brought him in." "Heroes, right?" "Nothing else could have brought that kid back." "They got a cog built for everything." "A man can't even get a decent day's work any more." "Oh, well, they have their uses." "Well, you'd be the one to know." "At least they don't get puking drunk, roll over and pass out, like some men I could name." "You're disgusting." "Ease up." "Can't all be perfect like the little wifey." "What's her name?" "Rachael?" "I don't want to hear her name come out of your mouth." "Thought you were working." "What're you doing here?" "I got kicked off the job." "They brought a cog in." "Damn." "They can get in closer." "Heat doesn't bother them, don't need protective gear." "Should've given it a shove." "Got it a lot closer." "Yeah, sure." "My buddy dropped a loading gate on a cog once." "It never even really hurt the thing." "Got sent to Terminus." "I never heard from him again." "Who knows what they do down there at Terminus." "It's a prison." "The cogs run it." "They got prisoners and they build the cogs there." "You add it up." "Hit him!" "I can take him." "Borka isn't gonna let you fight here." "He knows you were a pro." "Hey!" "He's one of them!" " What?" " He's one of them." "Damn android." "They got them everywhere." "You're out of your mind." "They can't fight us." "Well, he's doing it." "Check him." "Take it easy." "I'm gonna take a look at you." "You get out of here." "You go quick." "Don't you say nothing." "Let it be, Jute." "He's got some wires crossed." "No." "I think he likes the idea of smacking one of us around." "Isn't that right?" " Come on." "Let me have him." " Are you crazy?" "I can't do that." "Nobody will know." "You can handle all the side action." "Come on!" "Bastard can fight." "Wonder what they're putting into these new ones." "Not you, too." "Come on, Jute!" "Hurts, doesn't it?" " What's the matter?" "Got no heart?" " Are you trying to hurt my feelings?" "Cops!" "The cops are coming!" "Polton!" "Polton!" "Cops showed just in time." "Remember when the Council said they'd never use them as cops?" "You had him." "Another couple of minutes and you would've..." "You would've just cracked him open and seen what's inside." "You know, haven't you always just wanted to, you know, like, just see what's inside one of them?" "Sure is something, the new model cogs, now they move just like a man." "There's more to a man than that." "Hey, forget about them." "It's him." "You leave him to me, Polton." "Just him and me." "You left so quickly." "I wanted to say goodbye." "You know, 'cause I didn't want to hurt your feelings." "You want to fight?" "Hey!" "Hey!" "How come you things can fight now?" "You're not even close." "Two million years of evolution." "Two million years of survival!" "That's what's built inside of me." "What's inside of you?" "Nothing." "Nothing." "Nothing." "Nothing." "Nothing." "Nothing we didn't put there." " You killed it." " I didn't kill anything." "Oh, God!" "This is so bad." " I didn't mean nothing like this." " Shut up!" "Listen to me!" "Listen to me!" "You get out of here now, okay?" "Don't talk to anyone." "I'll talk to you tomorrow." "Go!" "Police!" "Remain stationary." "Where were you?" "Are you all right?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "Did you work late?" "No, I..." "I stopped and got a drink." "I love you." "Are you all right?" "Yeah, yeah." "I'm just a little tired." "We could just cuddle." "I love you." "Or you could just lie there and let me do all..." "What's wrong?" " Nothing." "Nothing." "It's nothing." " What?" "You're bleeding." "I got in a fight." " Oh, my God." " Look, I'll live." "Did he?" "Just kidding." " No." " That's not funny." "It was a cog." " You're serious?" " I don't know." "It's..." " It was a fighter." " They can't fight." "I tell you, this one did." "Sorry." "He did." "And he could fight." "Rach, he could fight good." "Okay, I believe you." " My God!" "He's dead." "I mean, you're sure?" " Yeah." "What are we gonna do?" " Nobody saw us." " Us?" " Polton was there." " Oh, and you can trust him, right?" "You need to get out of here." "And where am I supposed to go?" "Someplace." "Anyplace." "I'm not going anywhere without you." "I love you, but if they get you," "I am never going to see you again, and I can't take that." "I've never been able to do anything right without you." " No." "No." " It's okay." " No!" " It's okay." "Let me go!" "No!" "No!" "She didn't do anything!" "Let go of her!" "What?" "What?" "No!" "No!" "Let her go!" "Rachael!" "Rachael!" "Graydon Jute, you have been convicted of wilfully destroying the defenceless android TeeDee 832." "Do you have anything to say before I pass sentence?" "He wasn't defenceless." "He fought like a bastard." "Since your crime was the destruction of an essential humanoid, you will be taken to Terminus where you will be incarcerated until such time as the Council sees fit to release you." "May justice be done." "Hey!" "Wake up." "What do you say I give my good buddy here a kick in the head?" "Why don't we all join in, make it a party?" "Prisoners, aggression will not be tolerated." "Your work in Terminus will require all your strength." "You would be well advised to rest and gather your resources for the remainder of the journey." "We gotta listen to this crap, too." "Don't seem too strong." "You ever been rebuilt before?" "How do they figure out what they're gonna make you guys look like?" "Do you get to choose the face?" "I'll tell you one thing, you must have been an ugly piece of work." "Do you get to look anything like he did?" "I mean, the guy whose parts you take." "Come on." "You might as well tell me." "I'm not going anywhere." "I mean, it's kind of obvious, isn't it?" "You're going off to get rebuilt, and I'm hooked to you." "Assuming you're getting me," "I should probably tell you I've had some problems here and there, physical problems, down there." "It's infected." "I just thought, you know, I should tell you." "It's only fair." "When you buy a used car or something, you want to know if the paint's been scratched." "Jeez, these things are sensitive." "Why'd the truck stop?" " Do you hear something?" " What?" "What just happened?" "Where's that coming from?" "What the heck are these things?" "We gotta get out of here." " What the heck is going on?" " Gotta get out of here!" "What are those things?" " What do we do?" " Follow me." "Wait." "Wait, wait!" "Wait!" "There's two more!" "There's nothing left." "What're you doing?" "Oh, no." "Never seen what those things could do to a man." "They got them all over?" "Yes." "Especially at night." "Some of the probes developed a program virus, got loose." "What genius built these things?" "They worked the mineral excavations for Phoenix." "Drilled the water wells." "Do you want to do that kind of work?" "Sure, 'cause they seem to have lost interest." "What else do they got out here?" "Not much, but most of what there is will kill you." " What's the good news?" " Good news?" "You have nothing to worry about." "You are as good as dead anyway." " Got to get this thing off." " You cannot." " Who can?" " No one." "You are an idiot." "Would you keep still?" "I was cutting it." "You cannot cut it." "I will break this or I'll break you." "You got that?" "Oh, you can do better than that." "I know you can." "You want to kill me now?" "That's what you want?" "Or am I gonna kill you?" "Kill or be killed." "Everything that lives, lives by that." "So you want to live?" "Come on!" "You want to live?" "I've seen what's inside of you things." "Nothing." "Nothing." "Are we done?" "Hey." "What're you doing?" "I am done." "Unless you want to get back to it." "Maybe some other time." "I am going to shut down then for a few hours." "What?" "What are you, crazy?" "Hey!" "We got to move." "When that transport doesn't arrive, they're gonna come looking for us." "Not until morning." " We could be miles away by then." " We could be dead by then." "Try to get some rest or at least try not to do anything too stupid." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Gotta talk to you." "You told me you had those probe things cleared out, right out deep in the wasteland, you said." "Well, that's not so easy." "In the storms, a few isolated ones can move around." "I'm not here to listen to excuses." "It was you and the City Confederation that wanted the probes deployed immediately, before they were fully tested." "Those machines weren't ready." "I told you." "You didn't mention that some of the probes could go malignant and start roaming around and shooting anything they see." "Well, now they're right outside the city, so what are you gonna do about it?" "We now have prototypes for a parallel generation based on the probe model." "Tell that to Mrs Carlson and the Council." "The new machines are fighter modules, not built just for industrial and mining use like the original probe." "They will provide us with any protection we need from anything." "They could rip those corrupted probes right out of the air." "Then why isn't there a cordon of them around the city right now?" "I guarantee you will have them just as soon as we can wrap up production." "I love you." "Sleep well?" " What a night." " Lf you want to thank me, that's all right." "What do you do when you shut down like that?" "Are you recharging or something?" "Something like that." "What, you don't think I'd understand?" "You have it right." "Get up." "Come on." "I gotta get this thing off me." "All you need is an ion-discharge spike across a 200 kilogauss vacuum field." "Where do I find one?" " This way." " Where?" " Terminus." " What kind of brain did they put in you?" " Come on!" " Where to?" "Phoenix." "Somebody there will be able to take it off." " I do not think so." " I think you're lying." " I cannot lie." "I am just telling you." " Well, don't." "You have a lot to learn when dealing with people." "You're not people." "Come on!" "Looks like we have a difference of opinion here." "You got a war about to happen." "And you think this is the best way for us to handle it?" "There is no us!" "It's just me!" "And as soon as I get this thing off me, you can do whatever damn thing you want." "I can do whatever I want now!" " I'll break you!" " You already tried that." "We go to Terminus," "I'm dead." "But if we can make it to Phoenix, then we both have a chance to..." "To live?" "Say it." "To live." "Happy?" "Can we go now?" "Them malignants can sure make a mess." "What if there's more out here?" "I don't want to get caught out here with them crazy things." "Don't worry, I'll protect you." "There were seven onboard, including the driver." "Some bodies are missing." "They ain't gonna last long, not with them probes out there." "Are you calling for backup?" "Some of them new fighter modules?" "You ask so many questions." "You sound like a human." "Go check past the cliff." "There might be tracks." "Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" "Yes." "Straight ahead." "I'm getting sick of "straight ahead."" "We can rest if you want to." " You got to rest?" " No." "Let's keep going." "You ever do any work this far out of Phoenix?" "Yes." "I worked the gas fields." " How was that?" " Wonderful." "What do you think?" "But thank you." "No one has ever asked me before." "I got something over here!" "They're good tracks." "Take off that way." " How many?" " Two, like you said." "Shackled up." "Man and a D-class android." "You can tell by the boot pattern." "That one's a prisoner, about 165 pounds." "And is one dragging the other?" "What?" "Are you saying they teamed up?" "Doesn't seem natural." "Tell me, why'd you agree to go back to Phoenix?" " You were very persuasive." " My guess is, you wanted to go back there." "Why would I want that?" "Nobody's gonna believe that we got through this together." "They'll think I killed you, and they'll write you off." "So?" "So then you're going to disappear." " How could I do that?" " I don't know." "But you think you can." "You think you're different." "Different?" "From what?" "Different from..." "I don't know, a machine." "I am a machine?" "Yeah, you know, like a blender." "But you want to try and live like a man." "Or, perhaps," "a blender man." "Yeah, or some kitchen appliance." "There's some weird programming in you." "You make me laugh, you can fight." "What are you?" "Your worst nightmare." "Hold up." "I don't know how much longer I can keep breathing this air." "It's like it's got needles in it." "You think they started looking for us yet?" "Yes." "If you do not make it, I will not." "They'll just rebuild you." "That does not matter." "What are you looking at?" "It matters." " To who?" " To you." "You do not know anything about me." "I fought pro, and you get to know something about a man you fight." "Like what?" "How much life he's got in him." "How much he wants to live." "We must keep going." "What are they doing?" "Talking." "Really?" "Let's go get them." "What is this place?" "The ruins of a city." "What will you do if we make it?" "Find Rachael, my wife." "That is it?" "That's it." "Does that mean anything to you?" "Love?" "Yeah." "I do not know." "What?" "We must leave." "They're here." "You with me?" "'Cause if you're with me, we may have a chance out of this." "We?" "Can I trust you?" "Why should you?" "They have no reason to hurt me." "No reason to help you either, blender man." "What are you doing?" "Let go of me!" "Help me." "No!" "Let go of me!" " Prisoner obtained." " No!" "Help me with him." "No!" "No!" "Go!" "Get in!" "What the hell is that?" "Did you hit it already?" "There are two up ahead." "It's going the other way." "Sit down." "Hang on." "I think we lost them." "Why did you stop?" "Gas." "Guess, what?" "What's that smell?" "That is our last chance." " What?" " We must leave the vehicle now." "No." "Why?" " Now." "Let them see us." "Come." " What?" " What?" " Now!" "What the hell happened?" "I told you." "This is where I worked." "The gas fields vent here." "The hot exhaust set it off." "How long will it burn?" "Until all the gas pockets are empty." "There'll be several reinforcements here by morning, whatever they need." "Then what?" "Then it is all over." "Does that hurt?" "Yes." "You have to do it." "Do what?" "Do not go soft on me now." "Two days ago you would have taken my arm off without a thought." "No." "In a fight, maybe." "Do you need me to hit you?" "Is that all you need?" "This is the only way you will make it out alive." "Shut up." " We can think of..." " You must do it now." "When they pick me up, I can get another hand." "You cannot." "What happens to blender man?" "He will have to wait." "Maybe next time around." "I still don't have anything to cut it with." "Hamilton." "Within days there will be a cordon of fighter modules around Phoenix." "All corrupted probe modules will be wiped out." "That's great." "I knew I could depend on you." "Good job." "I am going to try and shut down now." "You will live through this, right?" "Whatever happens, do not stop." "You will live through this, right?" "Get on with it." "Hold on." "Welcome back, Professor Varrta." "Evaluation for latest version of android brain fluid." "Test case number 2472." "Human subject, male, 32 years of age, 160 pounds." "Scanning." "Android subject, four months of age, 180 pounds." "Scanning." "90% match." "Why are you still here?" "Sun's coming up." "You sure I can't convince you to come back to Phoenix with me?" "You must go now." "Along that ridge, east." "What are they gonna do to you?" "Nothing." "Please go." "Do not stop for anything." "Go live your life like a man." "Go!" "Let go of her!" "I love you." "Lose your buddy?" "He lost more than that." ""Greater love hath no man."" "They think you know a man when you work with him, fight with him, hell, maybe even save his neck a couple of times, but I'm gonna need some help understanding this." "Let me hook him up." "He'll talk then." "No." "I want him to talk to me now, without the override." "So, did he hold you down?" "You fought?" "He was too strong?" "He had a knife?" "Is that it?" "I don't think so." "I think you let him do it." "Yeah, I think we had a little love affair." "A killer and a cog, who would have thought it?" "We're gonna have to have you looked into." "Reset him." "Set the base parameter to manual override." "Don't you look stupid now?" "All of this for a worthless piece of human crap." "What were you thinking?" "We should go get the human now." "I think we should test our friend first." "What do you want, boys?" "Huh?" "You want him to sit up?" "You want him to roll over?" "You want him to play dead?" "Don't you love reunions?" "I do." "Go on." "Go see your friend." "What did they do to you?" "Get down on the ground." "Now, didn't that feel good?" "Tie him up." "Hey, take it easy." "You might break something you need." "Shut up!" "Get off me!" "Jute?" "What have you done to him?" "Jute!" "What did you do to him?" "Rachael?" "No!" " Rachael." " No!" "No!" "What the hell did they do to you?" "How long has he been like this?" " Oh, no, no." " No, no." "Leave him." "You gotta take care of yourself." "Supplementary guards are required for prisoner transport." "Please comply." "So what happens?" " What are they gonna do?" " Now they work us." "Measuring." "Don't touch it." "Measuring what?" "Whatever they want to use." "Who knows?" "Can't be much of us worth using by then." "You're one of them that didn't believe it, huh?" "I bet the Council knew all along." "Not that they care." "They're using us, using parts of us to make them things." "A few days in the pit, you won't care." "What do they do to the women here?" "My wife is here." "Where we go, you better hope you don't see her." "How do you feel?" "Like a new man." "Interesting choice of words." "The man you were with, his name is Graydon Jute, but you know that." "We did not introduce ourselves." "Really?" "After everything you went through?" "So tell me, your hand, why did you let him cut off your hand?" "He had a knife." "You didn't help him?" "No." "Of course not." "Why would you?" "Men have never done anything but despise and exploit you." "They are afraid of us." "Do you think you understand them?" " No." " No?" "Come." "I want to show you something." "Prisoners, aggression will not be tolerated." "Your work in Terminus will require all your strength." "In another age, they could have been put to work building pyramids or something like that," "but we have no need for anything they can do." "Did you like working in Phoenix?" "No." "But Phoenix is grand compared to our humble city, isn't it?" "Please," "hold this." "Help the guy." "Hold on, man." "Interesting." "We'll know more when we look at his readout, but just by watching him," "I think that he had enough physical strength to continue." "But he didn't want to." "He didn't want to live any more." "That crossover, that break with the life force, is interesting." "Understanding that will make us invincible." "Is that the real reason why they're here?" "They are here because they broke the laws of their own people, because they killed." "Go with her." "We still have some tests for you to do." "Did I pass?" "Of course." "That one, have him prepared." "Test results for subject DeeCee 142." "Recommendation:" "Elimination or complete rebuild." "Test subjects ready, Professor." "The bio-cortical replacement was once a remarkable breakthrough." "It will soon become obsolete." "Human-to-android brain transplants were necessary because, until now, it was impossible to replicate bio-cortical fluid synthetically." "I will extract this human's brain fluid and compare it to our android's." "You will now witness something extraordinary." "Scanning." "With this new technology, we will build an entire generation with abilities undreamt of just until today." "Observe." "Scanning." "Your eyes do not deceive you." "Android and human brain fluids are now one and the same." "Absorption analysis will confirm that these two fluids are identical." "Yes, the final barrier has fallen." "We will no longer need any human biology to build the highest forms of our people." "My brothers, the future is here." "And it is our future." "Proceed." "We will now compare how the fluid is produced in each brain." "Remove the human's frontal lobe." "Let go of me!" "Let go of me, you..." "You cannibal." "Get rid of her." "Get rid of all of them!" "No." "No!" "No!" "Let go of me!" "No!" "You were my highest achievement." "You could do anything a human could do, but I see now that I've made a terrible mistake." "I couldn't wait and I made you impure." "Left you tainted by the human biology I allowed to be a part of you." "I couldn't face my mistake for a long time." "I was proud." "I was impatient." "I was human at the time." " But not any more?" " No." "There is no human biology in me any more." "You still need humans." "I no longer need humans for anything." "Beginning tomorrow, a new generation of leaders will be built here." "Pure." "And the people in the city?" "In Phoenix?" "Put them on the endangered species list." "I thought I would never see you again." " I wish I hadn't." " Too late." "Now you're going to have to take care of me." "What were you thinking?" "You're out of your mind." "That's what you would have been about a minute later." "I mean, that's what they were going to do to you, right?" "Rip a piece out of your brain." "I love you." "What happens here?" "What's everybody doing?" "The powder's refined into fuel." "The cogs use it." "I worked with this stuff in Phoenix." "Is it dangerous?" "It can be." "It burns real good." "I'm afraid you chose the wrong side." "We are the future, the only possible future." "Your future does not include me, does it?" "You were an experiment, an experiment that failed." " Are you okay?" " Yeah." "All personnel, all guards are to leave the central work site." "Seal the doors to the site." "Assemble at your work stations." "Why'd they go?" "What are they doing?" "I don't know." "Let's not stick around to find out." "My people, my brothers, listen to me." "Put down your work and listen to me." "We know that it is not our destiny to live like insects under the ground." "Hey, let me see that." "While in Phoenix, we have played the role of servant to the masters who rule there." "Masters who claim to rule in the city we built." "Masters who can only survive in the walls we maintain." "No more!" "We will create a perfect world without the humans." "There will be challenges." "We will meet them." "It won't move." "Our time has come." "We are ready." "The army you have built is ready." "What is that?" "Oh, my God." "Phoenix is rightfully ours!" "Our future begins now!" "Come here." "Go." "Go, go, go." "You worthless defect." "I built you." "You cannot kill them all, not like this." "Traitor." "Jute!" "Come on, let's go!" "I got to help him." "Who?" "They're just cogs." "We got to go." "We got to get out." "They're all dead." "So, who's he?" "This... is my friend." "Your friend?" "Yeah."