THEREFORE I AM [Completed]

Chapter Ten

Katherine showed me around, only her and one other Human lived here. Six Androids also lived there full time, including Kelvin and another—not as old—Hoover-style female named Trish who was the only one awake and not on low power mode. The movement had made progress in the underground, they had saved many 'damaged' children like the girl from the Cleansing... if only she had that chance. They told me how they put them in safe houses outside of the city. The details were not thorough, and I suspected that it was on purpose, however I didn't feel the need to push for the details. I was more interested in how I could help.

"Have you seen other Cleansing squares?" Kelvin asked me excitedly as we finished off the tour.

"No." I winced at the thought of more being out there.

"Well, they're made of concrete but that Arden Square is wood. We blew it up back in 2072," Kelvin's sagging skin tightened into a grin "Mother surely blessed us." I shot Katherine a look.

"Oh, calm down newbie. No one was killed in the blast." She said as if to answer an unspoken question.

"Mother will bless us again." Katherine and I ignored the Mother comments that continued throughout our conversation. Once we got back to the main table Katherine let me go on ahead, a gun was still close to her at all times but now she let me view the place. Scrap pieces of news articles, pins, drawings and blue prints. It was a mess. Storyboarding. Thought clouds. The Network provided me with more information. I understood the idea of it but there's a lot to comprehend. I started looking through the scenarios, they fell from the boards they were attached to into shaky iridescent pictures.

A collection of Humans and Androids big enough to make a stand to say no at the Cleansing. It got to approximately eighty more supporters, even if it reached to the Cleansing there were collectively more bullets in the guns of the guards than there were supporters—which was an educated guess not a vision as the plan doesn't get that far. Word on the street hits at least two of the guards. In a matter of days of attempting the plan. I saw this dimly lit room ablaze with flashes of orange, splatters of blood and silver fluid. I had yet to see all the Humans involved but I saw a flood of faceless families executed at the Cleansing and uploaded for torture.

"No." I simply said moving over to the next.

More texts and pictures wrapped into moving images. It swirled like a rainbow until it reached full definition. Kelvin and the other Android Lyle created a piece of code that acts like a computer virus, I saw the purpose of the code. It gave Androids a task, an optional one that asks them to leave their work duties and travel to the NC building in Emmaus and occupy the government with brute force. It's violent in nature but it doesn't kill civilians but there was a hint of something after I couldn't quite reach, a feeling of more violence. Once occupied, they demanded to be heard and demanded control. There was a certain shudder to the picture, this path entertained the idea that the virus could only get that far but it's like my ability, it grew and had potential to spread and evolve into something further. I attempted to extend the path, branching it out like a tentacle but I'm pushed back. I tried to force it out again and the pictures turned static. I felt like I was trying to push a brick wall with nothing but one hand. Again. Harder I pushed and there it was, a dent between the shudders. Humans are bowing to an Android but the picture is distorted. It's too unlikely. Instead I gave up on that and followed the most likely route; the attempt to upload the virus fails instantly and their location is tracked. I didn't bother wasting more energy. I already knew how that path ends.

"No." I said again.

"You really are the logical outcomes guy. I mean I knew it was being developed but I didn't think it could work." Katherine said with a little awe seeping through the eye lids. I smiled nervously, like I'd received a compliment. To me it felt natural, or at least something that was built into my standard programming. I couldn't really fathom why another Android like Kelvin could not look at something and see its path. Their logic is based on speculation, just like a Human. You are built with the ability to take in every bit of information and fill in the gaps to produce the most logical outcomes.