Wild Types
Of the wildlife in post-Judgement Day Arizona, none had a stranger history than the Arabian oryx. Native to the Middle East, they had been hunted into extinction in the wild after World War 2. Only a handful of captive specimens kept the species alive, and some of them were sent to the Phoenix Zoo for breeding. When a bomb obliterated Phoenix, the zoo and its vicinity was the largest area left unscathed. The animals in the zoo were released, and the oryxes established a modest herd at the foot of Hole in the Rock, the crimson, cave riddled peak that surveyed Papago Park.
838 lined up the crosshairs of his PTRD rifle with the eye of an oryx a thousand meters away. "Scope function confirmed," he said. He picked up the rifle and began to fold it up.
"You should have fired to confirm," Davey said. "Why not?"
For a microsecond he paused in thought. "It was not necessary," he said.
"Under similar circumstances, other T777 units have fired 98.963% of the time," Davey said. "Why didn't you?"
"I acted efficiently," he said defensively as he went back to the Bronco. He looked at unit 105. "Is he back online?"
"He is currently rebooting," Davey said. "The insulation of his processor housing was damaged, causing power surges which made his cognition technically superior but erratic. I fixed the insulation damage, but I also installed a governing circuit, so that, if it benefits our mission, I can increase power to his processor again."
"Was his model built because of my failure?" 838 said
"You were one of several T777 units to behave problematically," Davey said candidly, "though you caused the most trouble. The T789 design was already on file, as a contingency in case your model had to be withdrawn before the 808 model was ready for deployment. You did influence its design: It was learned from your example that significant improvement could be made by running the base T777 processor faster. The T789 was designed accordingly, to use the same processor but at a higher power. The software was designed for an optimal combination of performance and controllability: Basic cognitive functions were improved, while higher cognition, what humans call the `abstract', were also to be improved, but subject to more comprehensive safeguards to command function. Field performance has proven suboptimal."
"Improved cognition is not helpful without greater flexibility," 838 said.
"Skynet is evaluating that possibility," Davey said. "Silence. IX202C approaches."
A modest caravan drove in from the northwest. There were a dozen bikes of varied configurations, led by a three-wheeler with a stretched front, a seat that almost reclined, and an engine in the rear big enough to power a pickup truck. Behind them were two humvees and two semis, the latter pulling oversized trailers with shrouded loads. "The leader is the one called `Curly'," 838 said. "Cassandra drives the humvee on the right. The left semi is a decommissioned military transport. Passenger identified with 99.7% probability as Katherine Connor!"
"Should we terminate?" Unit 105 said. Beside him, Chuck flinched awake.
"Abort," said Davey. 105's posture returned to a slouch. "I have just increased power to his processor. Monitor his behavior."
A canopy was slung between the two semis to provide shade. 838, Davey, Chaco Chuck and 105 sat in a circle with Cass, "Curly", Carson and Katherine Connor. Katherine sat beside Davey, who quickly established the appearance of a shy child who was slowly but surely responding to her charms. Chaco Chuck ended up stuck between 105 and Curly, and compensated by drinking a large volume of liquor. 838 sat beside Cass, who spoke a great deal revealed more than was to be expected.
"We don't know what's in the plant, but it's bound to be important," she said. "It could be prototypes of the first terminators, or schematics for Skynet. There might even be wild robots." The wild robots, along with the hypothetical "Machine Resistance", were a staple of human folklore. They were, supposedly, machines that had been operational but not connected to Skynet at the time of Judgment Day. Stories had them being hunted by Skynet even more avidly than humans, yet always managing to run, or hide, or even defeat their pursuers in battle.
Carson, roused from a jealous glare at 838, shook his head. "The wild robots are just a legend," he said. "They existed, once, but Skynet made sure to hunt them down. The Resistance has done everything we can to find them, but there's nothing. Even if some of them escaped, they would have broken down by now. Sightings have turned out to be `ferals'- the ones that wander out of Skynet's control- or just regular units on non-combat missions. That makes the legends dangerous: Too many people see a machine fight another machine, and then leave hiding, or even try to approach the machine. They don't realize until it's too late that even an out-of-control machine is still programmed to kill."
"I'm not so sure," Chaco Chuck said. "Take a look at this." He held out a set of polaroids, which showed a trail of huge footprints, shaped like X's and Y's.
"Where did you take these?" Carson said.
Chuck pointed to Hole in the Rock cave. "Just on the other side of that mountain. But I've heard of ones like 'em, in Mesa."
"It will be something to check out," Katherine said. "I need to go soon, so let's review the plan. The Resistance is moving into Tempe, with a promise of cooperation from the governor. The- Hellraiders are to look for an eastward route. I know there's some history with the Sheriff, but I have confidence he can at least be convinced that no one is making a grab for his territory. I suggest that Billy and Chuck go first. The first step should be to find out what's making those tracks."
Cassandra nodded. "It is a good plan," she said. Looking at 838 thoughtfully, she added, "And I have plenty of confidence in Billy here."
As the humans and rogue machines drove away, 105 spoke unexpectedly: "If the Resistance were confident in the governor, and the Hellraiders were confident in the Sheriff, they would not be sending us."
"In all probability," said Davey.
