Last Robot

Chapter 2. TESTING RILEY

NOW THAT RILEY was alone with Inspector Clark, it was all he could do to continue breathing. His thoughts were shredded and he felt as if they might be leaking out of his head. Manfully, he tried to bind them together.

Please, don't let this be about my dream, or it's a Remote Correction Asylum for me, thought Riley.

Inspector Clark violently shoved aside the tin-potted plastic imitation Prickly White cactus plant with a wide sweep of his arm, sending it clattering to the grey painted concrete floor. Riley almost fell off his chair in shock.

Inspector Clark slid out the aluminium drawer from under his desktop and plucked out a metallic cap made of a copper alloy. He placed it on the desktop in front of Riley.

"The dreaded on-the-spot citizen test Testing Cap, as if you couldn't guess," said Inspector Clark sarcastically.

The cap was a simple looking hemisphere about a quarter of an inch thick. However, Riley knew that within that quarter of an inch was some of the best of the HEP's famed sophisticated and highly advanced circuitry. It was true that in the 1,724 years since the end of the Robot War (fought between Tuesday 22nd July, 2228 and Tuesday 22nd July, 2245 AD, Gregorian calendar), machines had been radically reduced in quantity and complexity. All remaining machines were under the strict design and control of the HEP. In some ways, the current machines were more advanced, but their Perfect complexity was subtly hidden from non-HEP citizens.

"Well, put the Testing Cap on, Riley," insisted inspector Clark. "You've nothing to worry about—if you're Perfectly innocent of unPerfection."

Riley placed the Testing Cap on his head, feeling very anxious. Of course, it was a perfect fit, as you would expect given that all males had the same sized head. He felt no sensation whatsoever.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" said Inspector Clark, almost cheerfully.

Riley managed a slight grin to his surprise. However, this was more than matched by Inspector Clark's slight frown.

"Now," said Inspector Clark, slipping out a small tablet device from his left breast pocket, "I will ask you some questions at my leisure and your answers whether correct or incorrect, sensible or insensible, will be examined, analysed, assessed, indexed and numbered."

Riley gulped nervously.

"You needn't worry that the Testing Cap will read your thoughts. Despite what you may think, the HEP have not developed technology capable of such a task, short of cutting your skull open and attaching probes directly to millions of portions of your brain. We of the HEP do allow citizens some sort of freedom in their thoughts. Of course, the Testing Cap can analyse your answers and give me the results on my tablet device. However, I would be failing in my duties if I did not warn you that the Testing Cap can easily detect a lie from a truth."

Riley gulped again.

"In any case, Riley, I haven't activated the Testing Cap yet. I'll tell you when I do. But first, just to warm you up and to remove the possibility of unrepresentative readings being created by a prematurely calibrated Testing Cap, I will ask you some quick straightforward questions. These will be questions that any citizen of the half a million or so of us that populate the Earth would be able to answer in their sleep—though perhaps if such questions were asked of you in your sleep, I'd not be surprised if you couldn't answer them." Inspector Clark laughed derisively.

Riley was taken aback. Was Inspector Clark, implying that the HEP did know about his extremely lucid recurring dream? Riley knew that if he were to get through this on-the-spot citizen test he would have to assume Inspector Clark was simply being a typical bullying HEP inspector and that his mocking supplementary remark was coincidental with what might well have been a truthful remark.