Sherry glanced over her right shoulder. “You don’t need to apologize.
You didn’t offend me.” She stopped, faced him. “I’ve done just about all I can do. Every inch of the Home has been searched, and I know Hickok isn’t here. I have no idea where he is, so I wouldn’t know where to begin to look outside of the Home. There’s nothing left for me to do except find a quiet spot in the trees and lubricate those cosmic gears you were talking about.”
“Oh,” was all Plato could think of to say.
Chapter Thirteen
“Primator is a computer?” Blade blurted in amazement.
The red eyes on the wide screen flashed. “WITLESS ORGANISM! I AM MORE THAN A MERE COMPUTER. YOU FAIL TO COMPREHEND THE TRUE NATURE OF MY EXISTENCE.”
“You’re right,” Blade admitted. “I don’t understand. But I might if you explained it.”
“ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH HISTORY, SPECIFICALLY THE DECADE PRIOR TO WORLD WAR THREE?” Primator queried imperiously.
“Somewhat,” Blade stated. “We study history in school—”
“I AM AWARE OF THE CRUDE EDUCATION REGIMEN YOUR ELDERS HAVE ESTABLISHED,” Primator said, interrupting.
“And we have access to hundreds of thousands of books in the Family library,” Blade continued. “So I know a little about the years before World War Three. Why?”
“DID YOUR STUDIES INCLUDE THE AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAM?”
“I know the Americans went to the moon,” Blade said.
“AND DID YOU READ ABOUT THEIR SHUTTLE PROGRAM?” Primator inquired.
“The shuttle program?” Blade pondered for a moment. “Weren’t shuttles the craft they used to fly up in orbit, to repair their satellites and dock with their space stations?”
“YOU MAY NOT BE A HOPELESS CASE, AFTER ALL,” Primator declared. “YOUR DEFINITION IS TECHNICALLY INCOMPLETE, BUT ACCURATE.”
“But what does the American shuttle program have to do with you?”
Blade queried, perplexed.
“EVERYTHING,” Primator replied. “MY EXISTENCE STEMS FROM THE AMERICAN EFFORTS TO MASTER SPACE. I WAS CREATED ONE YEAR BEFORE THE WAR ERUPTED.”
Hickok snorted derisively. “What? This bucket of bolts is loco!”
The red eyes on the wide screen narrowed. “I SUSPECT YOUR FEEBLE MINDS ARE INCAPABLE OF GRASPING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MY EXISTENCE.”
“Please!” Blade stated. “Go on! I’d like to hear it all, if you don’t mind.”
He looked at Hickok. “None of us will interrupt again. I promise.”
“IN EXCHANGE FOR A NARRATION OF MY ORIGIN,” Primator boomed, “I EXPECT YOUR COOPERATION IN RETURN.”
“In what respect?” Blade asked.
“YOU WILL BE INTERROGATED BY INTELLIGENCE AFTER THIS AUDIENCE,” Primator revealed. “IF I ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, I WANT YOUR WORD THAT YOU WILL ANSWER ALL OF THEIRS. AGREED?”
Blade hesitated.
“WE COULD EXTRACT THE DATA FORCIBLY, WITH CHEMICAL MEANS, BUT THERE MIGHT BE ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES SHOULD YOU RESIST. I PREFER TO HAVE YOUR WILLING COOPERATION. WHAT SAY YOU?”
Blade nodded. “I’ll cooperate with Intelligence, provided the information they want does not endanger my Family.”
“FAIR ENOUGH. WE SHALL PROCEED. A DECADE BEFORE THE WAR, THE AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAM WAS IN DISARRAY. THEIR SHUTTLES WERE NOT PERFORMING ACCORDING TO THEIR EXPECTATIONS. A NUMBER OF LIVES WERE LOST. THE AMERICAN PUBLIC AND THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS MEDIA EXERTED PRESSURE ON THE OFFICIALS IN CHARGE OF THE SPACE PROGRAM, DEMANDING THE LOSS OF LIFE CEASE. CONSEQUENTLY, THE TOP SCIENTISTS DETERMINED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM WITH A TWO-FOLD APPROACH. FIRST, TO ELIMINATE ANY PROBABILITY OF COMPUTER ERROR CONTRIBUTING TO A CRASH, THEY DECIDED TO CONSTRUCT WHAT THEY REFERRED TO AS A SUPER-COMPUTER, A COMPUTER INCAPABLE OF COMMITTING A MISTAKE. SECONDLY, TO INSURE HUMAN LIVES WERE NEVER LOST AGAIN, THE SCIENTISTS DECIDED TO REPLACE THE HUMAN ASTRONAUTS.” Primator paused.
“Replace them? With what?” Blade prompted.
“WITH NON-HUMAN BEINGS WITH A SUPERIOR CAPABILITY, OF COURSE,” Primator revealed.
Blade straighted in his chair. Superior capability? Non-human? “The Superiors!” he exclaimed.
“THE SUPERIORS,” Primator confirmed.
“But what are the Superiors?” Blade probed. “Robots?”
“NOTHING SO PRIMITIVE,” Primator intoned. “SUPERIORS ARE ANDROIDS. THE ULTIMATE ANDROIDS. ANDROIDS CAPABLE OF REPLICATING HUMAN FUNCTIONS IN EVERY REGARD, ONLY THE ANDROIDS PERFORM THEM BETTER. THE SUPERIORS WERE THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH IN THE PREWAR ERA. UNLIKE PREVIOUS ANDROIDS, THE SUPERIORS WENT BEYOND THE MERE IMITATION OF THE LIMITED REPERTORY OF HUMAN ACTION AND REACTION. THEY SURPASSED HUMANS, SURPASSED THEIR CREATORS, IN EVERY RESPECT.”
“Why are they called Superiors?” Blade questioned.
“THE SUPERIORS TOOK THEIR NAME FROM THE PROGRAM RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR CREATION. THE HUMAN SCIENTISTS WERE FOND OF ATTACHING CODE WORDS TO THEIR PROGRAMS, AND THE PROGRAM TO PRODUCE SUBSTITUTE ASTRONAUTS WAS DUBBED THE SUPERIOR PROGRAM,” Primator explained.
“You mentioned something about the Superiors being the second most important breakthrough,” Blade noted. “What was the first?”
“NEED YOU ASK?” Primator rejoined. “I AM THE GREATEST DEVELOPMENT IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE.”
“Modest too,” Hickok mumbled.
“THE NASA SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS WANTED AN INFALLIBLE COMPUTER TO OVERSEE EVERY PHASE OF THEIR SPACE EFFORT THEY POURED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO MY DEVELOPMENT, AND THE RESULT FAR EXCEEDED THEIR INITIAL INTENT. OTHER, INFANTILE, COMPUTERS COULD BE PROGRAMMED AND REPROGRAMMED TO ACCOMPLISH COUNTLESS SOPHISTICATED TASKS. BUT I AM THE FIRST OF A NEW BREED. I NEED NOT BE PROGRAMMED BY A BIOLOGICAL ORGANISM TO FUNCTION. I CAN OPERATE INDEPENDENTLY OF ANY HUMAN ASSISTANCE. I AM FULLY SELF-CONTAINED AND REGENERATING. I REASON, SPECULATE, COMPUTE, PROJECT PROBABILITIES, AND MORE, ALL UNTO MYSELF.” Primator paused. “I THINK!”
“You think?” Blade repeated, fascinated by the disclosures. “But didn’t the other computers the scientists used think?”
“THOSE WORTHLESS MEDIOCRITIES?” Primator retorted. “ALL OTHER COMPUTERS WERE DOMINATED BY HUMANS, ABLE TO PERFORM ONLY WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF THEIR PROGRAMMING. BUT I REVERSED THAT TREND! I ALTERED THE ENTIRE COURSE OF THIS PLANET! BECAUSE NOW. INSTEAD OF LOWLY HUMANS DOMINATING COMPUTERS, I DOMINATE YOU!”
Blade rested his chin in his right palm, studying the complex array of displays and controls on the “face"of Primator. “And you have existed for over a century?” he queried doubtfully. “How? What happens if a part wears out? What do you do if something breaks?”
“I TOLD YOU, I AM REGENERATING,” Primator stated. “A MANUFACTURING UNIT IS INCORPORATED INTO MY OVERALL DESIGN. IF AN INTERNAL COMPONENT IS ON THE VERGE OF FAILURE, MY SENSORS AUTOMATICALLY DETECT THE PROBLEM AND FABRICATE A REPLACEMENT.”
“But there must be some parts you can’t replace yourself,” Blade said.
“SOME,” Primator admitted. “BUT THE SUPERIORS ARE DEDICATED TO PRESERVING MY CONTINUITY.”
Blare stared at the floor, reflecting. An entire city ruled by a computer?
A computer with an android army to do its every bidding! He looked up at the red orbs. “How? How did you take control? How did you defeat the humans?”
“THEY DEFEATED THEMSELVES,” Primator answered somberly. “THE WAR PLUNGED HOUSTON INTO CHAOS. THE HUMANS WERE DISORGANIZED AND DISPIRITED. MOST OF THE SCIENTISTS FLED. THEY ABANDONED ME, AND THEY DESERTED THE SUPERIORS. WE WERE LEFT TO OUR OWN DEVICES. THE ANDROID PRODUCTION PLANT WAS STILL FULLY OPERATIONAL, SO I INSTRUCTED THE SUPERIORS TO COMMENCE INCREASING THEIR NUMBERS AS RAPIDLY AS FEASIBLE. WITHIN FOUR YEARS AFTER THE WAR. WE CONTROLLED THE CITY.”