Top Dog

Top Dog

Ackerman could hear their metallic screeching as he wandered down
Aylesbury Avenue. It was almost uncanny, but he heard their din at
least a thousand times before. This was the new world, and people
figured very lightly in this scheme. After all, Hezekiah X had been
fitted with the most advance anti-criminal monitoring and detection
equipment. They did not come cheap either. Each unit cost two hundred
and fifty thousand credits, but they were not intended for the use and
benefit of human beings.
The robot patrol, as they were known, were ultra efficient and
extremely efficient. Hezekiah X, unlike his namesake, was not concerned
with justice. The robot patrol were a law unto themselves.
Ackerman suddenly realised that he was being followed. He swivelled
around to look at his pursuers. It was with a considerable degree of
shock that he caught sight of the luminescent green uniform worn by a
member of the robot patrol. "Human, you are under arrest", it said.
Ackerman broke into a sweat. "Show me your identity card", demanded the
robot.
Ackerman took out his wallet, and slipped out his card presenting it
to the officer. "Where are you going?" it insisted. "That's my
business", Ackerman replied defiantly. "Where are you going?" Hezekiah
X repeated impatiently. Ackerman paused, knowing that the robot patrol
had the power and authority to 'snuff out' any human it deemed to be an
enemy of the state. They were not required to give any explanations for
their actions.
The robot's red eyes seemed to be enlarging. It would doubtless herald
a final warning, which would be followed by a burst of lanser fire and
death for any living being in its trajectory. "Ok, Ok", yelled
Ackerman. "I'll tell you where I'm going, just don't shoot". Hezekiah X
watched him malevolently. "I'm only walking back to my home. Look,
that's my house, the one with the blue gate. The old house, it dates
back to 2994", said Ackerman, cautiously.
The robot's eyes seemed to expand after Ackerman's remark. "You lie",
it charged. Ackerman attempted to protest his innocence, but to no
avail. "Under Article 34 of the prevention of Conspirators Act, 3098,
you are under arrest", charged the robot. Ackerman's protestations of
innocence fell on deaf mechanical ears.
He did not remember the journey back to the police headquarters. The
robot had drugged Ackerman to keep him quiet. It was about seven
o'clock the next morning when Ackerman was awoken by the V1 monitor. He
tried to go back to sleep, but the high pitched screeching sound of the
monitor made sleep impossible. "Turn that noise off", he screamed. The
screeching intensified in velocity. Ackerman picked up a cup of water,
suspended on a table next to his bunk and threw the cup with all the
strength he could muster against the V1 monitor.
The cup shattered into a clutter on the grey floor. Ackerman sat up
and shook his fist at the V1 monitor. The screeching ceased. He stepped
on the floor, but felt a strong tugging sensation on his neck, as if
there was a chain tying him to the wall. He couldn't break from the
sensation. And then it dawned on him. He realised that he was being
constrained by an invisible flucto thread. "Let me out of here",
Ackerman demanded. "Let me out you bastards", he yelled.
Within a mater of moments, the cell in which he had been detained was
transformed into a crowded courtroom. How it was transformed was not
apparent. He imagined that his was achieved by instantaneous
rearrangement of the atomic structure of the cell in which he was being
held. Ackerman was well aware that in this century almost anything was
achievable. Humankind had colonised countless planets, long ago. People
were living longer than at any previous time in their history. The
world's climate could be changed at will. Even the Sahara Desert had
been transformed. It had become the breadbasket of Africa.
However, humans were no long the dominant species on Earth. Instead,
they had become subordinate to the robot patrol and their masters, the
Sentient. The Sentient had evolved from the primitive computers of the
twenty first century into the most powerful and ruthless life form of
the thirty third century.
The judge's metallic eyes showed no mercy. Ackerman fumed inwardly. He
called out to the packed courtroom. "I am an innocent man. This is a
show trial". However, Ackerman's accusations were silenced by the
judge.
"You will be represented by defence attorney Liro Xerses", he decreed.
The cyborg approached Ackerman and sighed. "I'll do my best, but you're
in a tight spot", he whispered.
"I've been framed", protested Ackerman. "They just picked me up on the
street and arrested me on a trumped up charge. We humans stand no
chance".
"I sympathise, but the law is the law", insisted the cyborg, rubbing
his muscular hands together. These words confirmed Ackerman's worst
fears. Liro Xerses, despite his good intentions, could not protect
Ackerman from the tyranny of the court.
The attorney for the prosecution was a human called Ed Hinks. His
record spoke for itself. In all of his one hundred and seventy years of
legal work for the state, he had never lost a case. The irony did not
escape Ackerman. That a cyborg could be defending him, and a human
prosecuting, seemed nothing less than a cruel joke.
Therefore, when Ackerman received the court's verdict from the judge,
it came without the element of surprise. "Guilty of all charges", it
decreed. This meant life imprisonment on a slave ship, headed for the
Jupiter colonies. It was tantamount to a death sentence. Ackerman
swallowed hard. The Jupiter colonies were renowned for their
inhospitable terrain. Both Gannymede and Europa contained huge
underground mining complexes, in a frozen wasteland known by the
nickname of Hellfire.
Humans who worked the mines lived on average less than a year, and
they were easily replaced. Long ago, in the past, when humans had
controlled the Earth, Ackerman was aware that many unspeakable
atrocities had been committed. Humans had butchered their fellow
humans, and caused the extinction of countless species. Perhaps nature
was exacting revenge, using the Sentient as their vehicle.
Ackerman paced about his cell, in a state of high anxiety. His eyes
alighted on another prisoner in the adjoining cell. Geino Prize, a
stout, pasty coloured man with fuzzy brown hair, and mutated purple
eyes, had been jailed on two counts. Prize was a telepath, who had been
found guilty of being a member of "The People's Resistance Movement".
Telepaths were regarded as being a danger to the state because they
gave humans the ability to keep one step ahead of the Sentient.
Ackerman stepped back as the telepaths made contact with him. He had
always mistrusted telepaths, and attempted to avoid them.
Circumstances, however, had dictated that on this occasion he would
form a close alliance with one.
"What are you here for?" probed Ackerman. "The same as you, and yes,
I'm telepathic, but you will need my help if you want to escape from
here", said Prize, drily.
"Let's make this clear, I don't want your help", insisted Ackerman. He
rubbed his chest, a nervous reaction, he often had when under stress.
"I see", said Prize, who turned his back on his fellow prisoner.
Ackerman regretted his attitude towards the telepath, and called back
to him, to attract his attention. "I accept your apology", replied the
telepath, indifferently. Ackerman nodded significantly. "Now, let's get
out of here", he said.
Geino Prize had many talents, bestowed on him by his ancestors who
were wealthy enough to utilise genetic engineering for their progeny.
This had resulted in the telepath with purple eyes and enhanced
intelligence. Prize disguised his intelligence, because he was aware
that the Sentient would not tolerate a human with the ability to
outsmart them. For this reason alone, his days were numbered.
Ackerman pointed to the cyborg who was patrolling the high security
defence perimeter, which separated the cell block from the court house.
"You attract his attention, while I think of something.".
Prize shook his head in dismay. "Don't you know anything about
telepaths?" Ackerman looked puzzled. "I could have escaped from here
anytime I wanted. I was waiting for you?. Observe", said the
telepath.
Ackerman watched in amazement as the cyborg guard approached the cell,
and lowered the force field, allowing the prisoners to escape. The
cyborg carried a vacant expression, as if he was daydreaming.
Ackerman and the telepath hotfooted it out of the prison compound.
However, their break out was short-lived. The fugitives soon found
themselves surrounded on all sides by the robot patrol and were
instantly apprehended. Ackerman's heart sank as he imagined that escape
was impossible.
The two prisoners were separated. Whilst Ackerman was waiting in the
detention centre, a message flooded into his brain. "Interface with the
Sentient, like I did with the cyborg. Use your mind", said the voice of
Geino Prize.
Ackerman touched his head in horror. Receiving a message from a
telepath could mean only one thing. Prize was at the point of execution
and was somehow passing his gift on. Ackerman fell to the ground as he
heard Prize scream in terror, and then he knew the telepath was
dead.
He staggered to his feet, vowing that he would run for his life, when
the opportunity presented itself to him. As the robot patrol marched
Ackerman onto the 'Jupiter', a great anger welled up inside him.
Ackerman resented the Sentient, once the servant of humanity, who had
now become their masters.
Ten thousand human beings were being led onto the prison ship, their
neural chains ensured complete obedience. Soon it would be all over for
Ackerman. Whilst he was musing over this, he heard an explosion of
massive proportions. The robot patrol and armed cyborg troops, were
engaged in a battle with The People's Resistance Movement.
Bright red laser flares muddied the skyline. Ackerman grabbed a weapon
from one of the guards as they were distracted. The robot tumbled as
Ackerman fired at his adversary, and then he made good his escape. Of
course, he was afraid.
He remembered the telepath's final word to him. "Interface, use your
mind", he had urged. Ackerman screwed his face up and concentrated. He
felt stupid, for he did not know how to interface with machines.
Ackerman continued running away from the prison ship, all the time
repeating the telepath's words in his mind.
Ackerman imagined the Sentient being defeated. He cursed them, swore
at them, and with all the strength he could muster, he let his thoughts
become daggers. "Damn you machines", Ackerman railed.
He suddenly noticed a large group of humans heading in his direction.
Some were wearing battle fatigue, whilst others sported long beards,
and green skull and cross bone tattoos on their faces. He realised he
had encountered the rebels, and they were cheering him.
"There he is", said a strikingly beautiful woman, with wavy, auburn
hair. "The Sentient have received a crushing blow Nobody knows how you
did it, but thousands of the robot patrol were blown sky high across
the province. Not a shot was fired".
Ackerman was raised on the shoulders of the rebels, who were singing
his praise. "What makes you think I'm responsible", shouted Ackerman,
who had strong misgivings. Nobody answered him. They needed a hero. For
now there was a glimmer of hope for humanity, and its name was
Ackerman.