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Chapter 16

"What happened to the other Tunneller?"

"We lost contact with its onboard AI" Matron King admitted sadly. "It was likely subverted to serve the MacPhee child as well"

With two of the powerful machines now under her control, I wondered how long before Rachel would take control of the Deeps and the Burrow with it. Matron King preceded me into the dormitory building where the majority of her followers waited anxiously, all eyes locked on me as I entered.

It seemed inexplicable to me that my arrival spurred a sigh of relief from the men and women in their simple robes. Perhaps my almost-new appearance after the repairs made it seem like law and order had been restored, with my Sheriff's badge gleaming proudly on the chest plate of my chassis.

The bronze star had been damaged but mostly intact after the battle in Deep Below and Asimov was going to replace it with a freshly printed one. I had refused and asked him to prise the original from my old chest plate and reattach it to the new armour. I wasn't sure why I asked him to do that yet it seemed important to me for some reason.

He had given me an understanding look and did as I requested, then picked up a well worn hammer I had seen him use frequently in his workshop.

"Did I ever tell you the story about my grandfather's hammer, Sheriff?" Asimov asked me with a faint sheen in his eyes. "This same hammer has been passed down through three generations of Ferchow tinkerers and we have all treasured it. My grandfather had to replace the handle, then my mother needed to get a new head fitted - on the hammer I mean, not her own. I've had to replace the grip twice now already, yet this is still the best tool my family has ever owned"

He hefted the hammer firmly and smiled at me.

"If the handle and the head have both been replaced, surely it is not the same hammer" I said in confusion.

"Isn't it?" he asked and gently tapped the hammer against my bronze star.

I understood now what he meant, why that battered bronze star held so much importance to me. So much of me was replaceable, in fact every part of me could be swapped out for another component. I could be rebuilt from the feet up to the top of my head and provided my processing cores remained undamaged, it would still be me.

The simple bronze star, the one that Eleanor had glued to my chest that first day as Sheriff, reminded me that I was still David. No matter how much my outward appearance would change, that badge would tell the world that I was the Sheriff of Deep Below.

Looking back now, it was the betrayal of that trust which hurt the most.

The Burrow, Level 8

The Burrow had fallen quiet as they moved into their night cycle, the overhead lights fading away into darkness. A solitary white disk glowed in the semblance of moonlight, the distant ceiling awash with the glittering of tiny stars.

"It's not as beautiful as the real night sky" Matron King said in her deep, thoughtful voice as we strode among the now silent fields. Animals clucked and brayed in their enclosures as we walked slowly past, the glow from her lantern casting strange shadows ahead of us.

"I have never seen the real sky, Matron King" I answered. "Yet even a machine like me can see that you have created a paradise for your people"

"It is the will of the Machine God" she reminded me gently. "I am but the bearer of his message to the people"

We had come to one end of the big chamber and I could detect the vibrations of machinery through the heavy walls and floor. Beyond that barrier the machines continued their non-stop work to build the immense bunkers that would one day house thousands of humans, refugees from the city far above us.