The rusty old village was withering away. Every inhabitant was a robot and almost all were very, very old robots.. They occupied themselves by fixing and improving everything that could possibly be tinkered with. I noticed a very large patchwork steel hut with a massive robot sitting outside. It was obviously a military robot, with a huge gatling gun in place of a right arm.
"Get a load of that one" Wilson whispered " I wouldn’t mind having a component like that."
I laughed and whispered back "I think you’ve got enough gadgets as it is."
We approached the large hut and our escort spoke to the robot with the gatling gun.
"They’ve come to see the coordinator. Keep an eye on them, will you?"
The robot with the gatling gun nodded and turned towards us. He motioned for us to enter the hut.
Inside, the single room building was dark and colorless. The only source of light was the entrance behind us. I could see a figure in front of us, it was large and mechanical. I strained to examine the object in the dim light and it seemed to be a superiorly ancient robot.
This robot was so old that it's chassis did not have a human form. Instead, there were treads instead of legs and a tank like cylinder composed it’s upper body. There were many robotic arms tucked neatly inside of the cylinder and there was a large digital screen on the front of the unit.
I approached the robot and the digital screen flickered to life. It displayed a rather detailed portrait of a living face, emulating an actual head. It greeted me and the portrait moved it’s lips in perfect harmony with the digital monotone voice.
"Hello, who are you? How may I help you?" The robot asked
"I am Airrex" I answered "This is my friend, Wilson." I gestured towards the floating skull next to me and then nodded a greeting.
"We have been to many places searching for a man, maybe you have seen him?"
"A man you say? What is his name?" The coordinator asked
"Durzek." I said. The ancient robot did not answer immediately, instead the portrait on the digital display gave a look of dismay and remembrance.
"I do know this man." He answered, finally. "Durzek the Hurricane, he called himself. He came this way years ago. He caused much chaos."
"Oh?" I asked, curiously.
"Yes. Have you seen the inhabitants of this village? Did you think it odd that there was a civilization of old robots living in the desert?"
"I suppose. Did Durzek have something to do with this?"
"When he came, we were not yet separated from the others. There is a village a little east of here, they guard an oasis of water. We were there, with the humans. The village was once a military base, but when the government dissolved we were left alone, stranded in the desert.
Durzek came from nowhere. His charm won him favor with the humans and somehow convinced them that robots were not worth keeping, that we were wasting their precious water. Shortly after, we were all exiled. We came here and settled, using scraps from a fallen jet to build a community. I was the last to leave the human village and as quickly as Durzek came, he was gone."
"Very interesting.." I said "Do you know where he went? Any idea?"
"Actually" He responded "I do.
"But.. our village is in need of help. I will tell you were Durzek went, if you agree to aid us."
"Okay, sure." I said "What’s wrong?"
The coordinator paused again and the portrait on the digital screen sighed.
"Many of the robots here are quite old." The coordinator said and I nodded, agreeing to the obvious statement "Most of us are made with human components, as pure robotic intelligence is only a recent and expensive invention. Before we were robots, we were infantrymen, who died in the line of duty. Our contracts required that our bodies and consciousness, if usable, would be transferred into robotics shells until our enlistment was fulfilled. We have solar panels, but most are not efficient enough to keep us powered for much longer. We need water, we need hydrogen.
The humans are hoarding the water and if they continue to do so, many of us will not survive for long. Please, you must go to the humans. Negotiate them into giving us some water, do whatever you can. Bring some back and then I will tell you were Durzek went."
I thought about the offer, remembering the four men in the jeep who attacked me earlier and hummed in contemplation.
"Alright." I said, finally "Ill do it. Where will I put the water? And where should I go?"
One of the Coordinator’s limbs extended and reached to a nearby self. The claw like fingers grasped a small cloudy sphere and offered it to me. I picked it up and marveled at the design. It looked like a magic orb.
"What is it?" I asked
"It is a super compression unit. Any water that touches it will automatically be absorbed into the sphere, until it is full. It should hold several dozen gallons which will be enough to get us by for quite some time. To get to the humans go directly east. It is some miles away. My guard outside will assist you further. Please, do what you can." He answered.
"I will" I said, pocketing the sphere. "Ill be back."
With that, the digital display on the Coordinator’s tank-like body went blank and he went into a power-saving sleep mode. I turned around and exited the dim scrap iron tent and began another journey through the bitter desert.
-
Hours passed quickly and it was not long before the sun set and night began. The blistering heat quickly turned into an arctic chill and somehow the desert became even more lifeless. Above us, the lonely moon watched us silently.
“This should be easier at night” I said, finally breaking the silence.
“Maybe” Wilson said “Our hardware loves the cold temperature, but you're low on power from our last encounter. If you go down this time, you wont be getting back up till your solar panels are charged.”
“Well...” I said “The old robot said they had water there, right? A little hydrogen would bring me right back to full capacity.”
“Yeah, if you make it to the water.”
“What do you mean, if?” I said “I'm getting that water, no matter what.”
“Whatever. It's always the same story with you, chief. Why are we always looking for this Durzek guy, anyway.”
“We used to be partners. Before the great war we were the two most renown scientists in the Country. We were the leaders in robotic science. After the war, when government ceased to exist and the anarchy began, he changed. Slowly he became more terrible, until his own wickedness consumed him entirely. He did something... something terrible. I've got to find him and stop him.”
“I've heard all that before” Wilson said “You never tell me, what did he do?”
“It doesn't matter. I wiped your memory for a reason. The only thing you need to know is we're looking for Durzek and we're not going to stop until we find him.”
“Whatever.” Wilson said, disinterested.
In this distance, I saw the outline of a fenced structure. As we came closer I could see that it was clearly a ruined military installation. “There it is.” I said.
We approached the installation with caution. As we entered through the mangled fence, I searched the area for threats. Nothing. Not even the dust stirred. “Strange” I thought, continuing through the compound. We passed many similar, gray buildings with various symbols and designations. Mess Hall.. Armory... Game Room... Living Quarters.
“Where could the water be?” I asked Wilson
“I don't know, chief, but I've got a really bad feeling. Where is everyone?”
As we continued to walk, I noticed a circular object speeding towards us out of the corner of my eye. I looked at it and it seemed to be a metal base ball. It landed on the concrete near my feet with a loud bang and I crouched down to inspect it. When I realized what is was, it was too late.
The metal sphere sprung to life and it split in two. Electricity zapped out of the object like thousands of lighting bolts and it caught me and Wilson in the explosion. It was an EMP grenade. My last memory was a brilliant display of white hot electricity surging through my body.
-
I opened my eyes and was slightly surprised to see several soldiers, equipped with assault rifles watching over me. I was laying flat on a table, held in place by a large, heavy duty chain wrapped around my entire body. Wilson was nowhere to be found. Before I could say anything, a voice spoke.
“So, what brings you to this place, grayskin?” The owner of the voice approached me and I caught a good look at him. He was an aged soldier, in a lieutenants uniform. “Don't try to lie, either, your friend already spilled his guts.”
Damn it Wilson, I thought to myself.
“Water?!” The lieutenant laughed, along with the rest of the soldiers “You want water? Who put you up to this?”
“The robots who you kicked out of here, they asked me to come here.” I said and the room fell silent. The old lieutenant looked at me for several moments and ordered the rest of the troops to leave the room.
“Why did they send you here?” He asked, in an ominous voice
“They're dying... they need water. I was asked to retrieve some water for some information.”
“Well” he said, sighing deeply “there isnt any water here. It's gone. We have a month's supply left and that's it. We've been searching desperately for some water, ourselves.”
“You're lying.” I said, boldly
“It's true! Believe it!” The lieutenant commanded “Even if you looked for some you wont find any, trust me.”
“That's a shame.” I said “If you'll release me I'll be on my way..”
“Not so fast.” The old man said. “How do I know you're not lying?”
“Why would I lie?” I said “This is a desert filled with ancient technology, little food, no water, no wealth.. what could I possibly want here?”
“Good question.” He said “Explain yourself.”
“I'm looking for a man named Durzek. The coordinator in the robot village said he knew where he went, but he agreed only to tell me if I could find him some water.”
“Durzek?” The lieutenant asked, sharply “You want to know about Durzek..?”
“Yes”
“He came here, years ago. He was a strong man, very bold, much like yourself. One day he came to our base, he said he was a traveler just passing through. His charm was subtle, the man had a way with words. We did our part to feed and house him while he was here.
A few days passed and somehow, we all became entranced by his ideas. He had a very peculiar way of looking at things, but it made a lot of sense... at least it did back then. He told us the robots were evil, that they were demonic husks filled with the souls of the damned. All of us, we believed him. We became so riled up that we exiled every robot from the base. In our fervor we had hardly noticed when he left. Things haven't been the same, since.”
“The sounds like Durzek.” I said. “Where did he go?”
“The men were all drunk and disorderly, furious at the robots, they were too busy to notice Durzek leave. But I saw him when he left. With a smile, he told me his work here was done. He said he was going to the mountains, to continue his journey.
Tell me” The lieutenant asked “Why do you want to know about Durzek?”
“He was my friend, a long time ago. We have some unfinished business. I've been following his trail for a long time.”
“I see” the lieutenant said
“Can you release me now? I thank you for the information, but I must leave now.”
“Of course. Your weapon and your friend will be returned to you before you leave.
One last thing, though. How was the coordinator? How's my brother? Is he okay?”
“He's not looking so good, honestly. They need water, badly.”
“I'd feared as much. I think it's time we ended this feud, it's gone on long enough. If we must die... at least we can die together.”
I let the lieutenant's words linger in the air and I considered his statement as he unwrapped the chains from my body. Even though both the robots and the humans were sure to die, they would both be much happier to live in peace. Maybe they would even find water, together.
“There you are... ... what was your name?”
“Airrex.”
“Right, there you are, Airrex. Sorry about the mixup but you can never be too sure. Good luck finding Durzek... hopefully he hasn't caused too much trouble out there.”
Later, the lieutenant brought me my sword and Wilson. The soldiers showed us out of the compound and the lieutenant saluted us as we left. I looked towards the mountains, to the north, and I knew we were one step closer to Durzek.
“What was that all about?” Wilson asked
“Apparently the humans don't have water either, but they told me where Durzek went.”
“That's good, I don't want to spend another minute in this desert.”
“By the way, Wilson, why did you rat me outback there? What exactly did you tell them?”
“Oh,” Wilson laughed “I told them we were gold bandits. Apparently they have a lot of it and they weren't too happy with that answer.”
“What?!”
“Yeah, I thought it was funny too.”
“That's not funny, Wilson, they could have shut us down... permanently.” I said
“Well, It's not totally false.” Wilson retorted and I noticed that one of his teeth were a shining, golden color.
“You didn't...”
“Funny thing, chief.” Wilson said “They threw me in the storage closet where they keep most of their gold. Not too bright, are they?”
I didn't say anything, I just looked ahead towards the steep mountains miles away from us and imagined what kind of place I would be taken to next.