Tony Ballantyne - Twisted Metal

Olam was being dragged to the centre of the room, his body being propped into position next to the empty shell of Parmissa.

‘Olam, when the charge detonates, you mustn’t fight it! Don’t try and keep your mind’s shape! You will only harm some other Artemisian!’

‘What do I care for Artemis?’ Olam shouted, his voice shrill. ‘Parmissa was right! We only joined because we wanted to live!’

‘I didn’t!’ said Doe Capaldi.

‘Then you relax and let your mind be blown apart! I certainly won’t!’

Fragments of Olam’s skull were dropping to the floor in front of him. He willed his electromuscles to start working, to no avail.

‘I don’t want to die!’ called Olam. ‘Listen, I’m not an Artemisian. My mind is not just metal!’

‘Don’t be such a coward!’ called Doe Capaldi. ‘Why not try and hold on to some dignity? You’ll never make it anyway! None of the others did. It’s all a trick!’

‘A trick?’ shrieked Olam. ‘We didn’t even know this was possible until twenty minutes ago! Did you know that the mind had that much strength? Did you know about the Book of Robots?’

So much metal falling to the floor. How much longer did he have?

‘Olam, what does it matter? Your mind is steeped in radiation. You’ll only have a few months left anyway!’

‘So? What did you say to me? Better six months of life than death in Wien-’

And then his vision was cut off. They had unhooked his coil.

What was happening now? Were they squeezing the detonator into his mind? Would he feel it? Could he tell the difference?

How long had it been? How long had it taken them to prepare Parmissa? By now they must be placing his mind into a hinged shell. Hadn’t they hooked Parmissa’s mind up to it in some way? Why was that?

The answer came in the shape of grey light. He could see again, after a fashion. And he could hear the dim sound of Doe Capaldi’s voice.

It was done, Olam realized with horror.

He was now a wire bomb.

Eleanor kept having to stop to wait for Karel, struggling as he was to come to terms with his new body.

‘Come on!’ she called impatiently.

‘I keep thinking I’m still in the train,’ he replied, trailing behind her as they picked their way up the hillside. Snow and dust whipped out of the darkness, forming random patterns around them. ‘So many sensations… I keep wanting to pull the brakes.’ His hands made compulsive gripping motions as he spoke. ‘Where are you taking me?’

‘To see Kavan. You’ve heard of Kavan, haven’t you?’

‘Kavan?’ Karel stopped. ‘He’s the Choarh who invaded Turing City. He’s the one who had my child killed!’

Karel began to stumble up the hill behind her, unfamiliar feet slipping on stray pebbles, the cold creeping in at his joints and numbing the electromuscle there.

‘Why are you taking me to him?’

‘Don’t you want to see your child’s killer?’

Hadn’t he realized yet, she wondered. Hadn’t he recognized her? And then she felt him take hold of her arms, felt him pull her around to face him. She saw his yellow eyes gazing into hers.

‘It’s you, isn’t it?’ he said, his voice crackling with static. ‘You were in my apartment…?’

He lashed out, gripped her neck, tried to force her head upwards, tried to get at her coil. Eleanor almost laughed. He was doing it all wrong: infantry bodies were deliberately engineered to stop this happening, the pieces were joined in different fashions.

Besides which, she was trained in the use of an infantry body. She had worn one for years, while Karel had worn one for only a few minutes. She broke his grip easily, tripped him and sent him tumbling backwards onto the ground.

‘There’s no point fighting me,’ she said, gazing down at the robot on the ground, his hands still clawing the air furiously. ‘Listen, I only followed orders. It was Kavan who sent me to your apartment. He’s the one you should blame.’

Karel gazed up at her silently from where he lay.

‘Karel, listen to me! Kavan is losing it. This battle could well be his last. You don’t know how Artemis works: if Kavan isn’t the right leader, then he’ll be replaced. Kavan knows that, and if he thinks he is wrong for Artemis, he would be happy to be replaced.’

‘What’s that got to do with me?’

Eleanor held his gaze. She wanted him to understand.

‘I can’t kill Kavan,’ she said.

Karel said nothing. Eleanor turned on her heel and resumed her climb up the hill. The weather was going crazy: the icy wind drew itself across her body like a saw, frost patterned her chest, and yet, across the bowl of the North Kingdom, the land was dissolving in a warm mist.

She continued her climb, listening for the sound of Karel’s feet. What would he do? Would he attack her again?

Through the wind she could hear the clank of metal as Karel began to follow her.

Kavan

Kavan’s forces had been pushed back on two flanks. In response he concentrated his remaining troops into one force, intending to push forward like an awl, deep into the heart of the North Kingdom. He would stab right up against the skeletal tower that stood at the centre.

He stood on a splintered shelf at the edge of the broken maze, looking down over the ever-present railway lines that reached from Artemis City, so far to the south, now preparing to probe deep into this last northern post of resistance.

He looked over the remnants of his army as they ranged down the nearest slope, barely three hundred infantryrobots and sixty Storm Troopers. No one knew for sure how many Scouts were still out there.

His troops were forming into the shape of a knife, ready to thrust forward. The mess of the train wreck had been heaved to the side; ahead of it engineers were busy lengthening the track, piercing their way forward.

‘We’re almost ready,’ said Wolfgang.

‘They can see us massing,’ said Kavan. ‘They’ll need to strike soon if they are to finish us off.’

He gazed over at the far side of the bowl. ‘Wolfgang, what’s making that mist?’

The far side of the bowl was filling with a white haze. The magnesium flares reflected eerie white light back from a rising fog bank that was engulfing the land beyond the tower. The wind blew tentacles of mist out across the bowl, which slowly insinuated themselves throughout the Artemisian lines.

‘Heat,’ said Wolfgang, suddenly. ‘The snow is evaporating.’

‘What are they burning to produce such heat?’ wondered Kavan aloud.

‘Something beneath the ground,’ mused Wolfgang. ‘Something that burns for longer than petrol. Coal, maybe? Charcoal?’

And it struck Kavan then, with such force. They really believe, he thought. They are burning their land, rather than surrender to us.

‘Come on,’ he said, as he began to make his way down the hill. Behind him, through the wail of the wind, he heard Ruth’s voice.

‘Where are we going?’

‘To join the troops, of course,’ answered Wolfgang. ‘This is the final attack.’

Even some of my aides don’t really believe, thought Kavan. Even some Artemisian soldiers still believe they are more important than Nyro’s philosophy.

In some ways, the people of this kingdom are stronger than we are.

Eleanor

Eleanor watched the troops forming into lines. She saw Kavan and his aides making their way to join them.

‘Come on, Karel,’ she called. ‘We’re going to join the attack.’

‘Why should I? This isn’t my battle. I’m a Turing Citizen!’

‘There is no Turing City any more. If you’re not an Artemisian, then what are you?’

The words struck home more than she had intended. He came to a halt in the middle of the dirty snow, churned up by the feet of so many robots.