Sol was far more advanced than a normal general-purpose robot, but his programmes had limitations. He could administer basic first aid, but nothing more complex. Now he laid David gently onto his bed and checked he was still breathing. The next on his programmed response was to stop bleeding. There were many bloody scratches visible, but more were hidden by what remained of David's clothing, and Sol carefully cut all of it away with steel scissors.
When that was done, the scissors retracted and four flexible, finger-like appendages slid out from his armoured hands. With incredible dexterity and care, he cleaned and bathed the wounds using aids in a standard-issue first Aid Box kept in the quarters. There were no broken bones as far as he could detect from a superficial inspection, or abnormalities in David's breathing. David remained unresponsive and made no reaction when Sol gently pinched his earlobe.
Sol looked down at the sleeping figure, and despite the emotional limitations predicted by robotic science, he felt a deep love for the man he had helped raise from a child. A boy known only as 'Seven,' by the machines who enslaved him.
Sol was uneasy. The rest of the crew had not yet returned to quarters, and outside, the camp seemed unnaturally quiet. Sol operated on rational principles, and it was logic that had led him to question the search for an underground prison and the proposed scan of the base personnel, but a wider appraisal was beyond him. He needed help, and right on cue, a once familiar voice spoke inside his head.
"I'm back, Sol."
"Steven!" His human controller had returned, and Sol's inner circuits flashed randomly in welcome.
"Relax, Sol, while I read your memory banks and bring myself up to speed," Steven said.
#
Meanwhile, from the Opps room came the sound of gentle snoring.
All the officers, including El Jeffe, were asleep, except for the man who had been staring so intently at David before he fled. Now he was going from man to man, slipping an electronic device around their necks, and tucking it neatly under their collars.
Jarvis was the least affected and tried to rise from his chair, but slumped back the moment the electronic device touched his neck. When he had completed his task, the uniformed android, for that's what he was, left the room and locked, locked the door behind him. The few operatives at their stations in the viewing area were also asleep, but he ignored them; they were not his target. The guard at the bottom of the watchtower was leaning against the wall, resting the butt of his rifle on the ground. He smiled at the officer as he left.
"Tell my relief to hurry up, sir. I can hardly keep my eyes open. Early night for me tonight."
The officer ignored him and walked over to the main administration block. He passed an enlisted man with a vacant expression, ambling along with his hands in his pockets, as if out for a morning stroll. A group of men on a camp cleaning detail had put down their brushes and were sitting on the edge of the raised sidewalk, having a smoke. They glanced at the officer as he passed. but did not attempt to stand up or acknowledge him.
#
Steven Mandell had returned to Sol because he had been summoned by a sensor in Sol's brain, activated by a signal that his programmes had peaked, and were unable to cope with current circumstances. When McCloud had given Sol a routine service, Steven had asked him to install the alarm before he left. When Steven received the signal, he immediately returned.
If you remember from earlier chapters, Steven had volunteered to have his mind temporarily transplanted into Sol after David's parents had been executed by the machines. The only way that allowed him to raise and educate David in an AI-governed world. When David had joined Sol in the resistance, and at the end of the last mission, his mind was returned to his human body.
Now he was back. He knew from scanning Sol's memory banks that Jarvis, McCloud, the Cadian pilot, Joe, and Rogers, a former pupil of Professor Jarvis, had already returned to join David.
The old team were reunited.
David began to stir, and his eyes flickered open. Sol raised his head on the pillow and gently pressed a glass of water against his lips.
"Thanks, Sol," murmured David, after he had drunk his fill.
"Where am I?"
"David, my good friend, you are safe in your own bed. It is so good to see you again."
"Steven!" David exclaimed, now fully awake. "Welcome back. I had hoped you would return to Sol."
David's memory of the demonic attack flooded his mind. He shot up into a sitting position, looking fearfully around the room.
"Are they gone?" He asked anxiously.
"There is nobody here but us. You were in a dreadful state when we brought you in. Sol, single-handedly, carried you back and dressed your wounds, but we are now as one. Will you tell us what happened out there? "
David described the attack in detail.
"Did the demons speak?" asked Sol.
"Most of them hissed threats and obscenities, but there was one, the leader, I think, who tried to persuade me to come over to their side. He promised me that I would be given great power and sit at the right hand of Satan. His voice had great authority, not the type I would normally associate with those vicious, bat-like abominations, who ripped at my flesh."
Sol did not immediately reply, deep in thought, and when he spoke, his voice was grave.
"You are in great danger, David. Satan is pitching his most senior and powerful acolytes against you. You were right to doubt that one of these lowly creatures could speak with such conviction. A demon of much higher authority was speaking through the mouth of your attacker. Most likely it was 'Astorath', the so-called 'Grand Duke of Hell.' He is a particularly malevolent demon, renowned for his ability to deceive.
"It seems that his master, the evil one himself, is determined to destroy you before you find him, and reveal his true identity. He cannot refuse your offer to meet him in single combat and fears you will win."
" You are right, Sol, and I think it was a two-pronged attack. El Jeffe and his men are acting irrationally. They have come up with some totally flawed tactics to deal with the identification of any androids who have infiltrated the camp, and they are all behaving childishly and irresponsibly, which is quite out of character. All of them except for one, who is entirely unaffected by all this, and was staring at me with such intent during the meeting, that I was sure he was going to try and finish off what my first assailant failed to do - kill me. That is when I fled."
"Anybody else unaffected by this change in behaviour?" Sol asked.
"No," David replied, "except for me."
Sol was silent.
"Do you remember the nickname you used to call me when you were a child?" David.
David laughed. "That was a long time ago. Why did you ask me such a strange thing in the middle of a conversation?"
"Answer the question, David," said Sol menacingly.
"What has got into you, Sol?" David asked
Sol got to his feet.
"Can't you remember?"
"Of course, I remember. I called you 'Jeep' after your designation, 'GP' a general-purpose robot."
Sol relaxed and sat down.
"Sorry, David, but I had to check it was you. We have no idea who is human and who is a robot, and when you said you, and what I take to be an android, were the only ones unaffected, well, I had no choice. . ."
"I understand, Sol, and I ought to say 'well done' for being so alert, but I have to admit you scared me for a moment. I realise how intimidating you must appear to our enemies. I am glad we are on the same side!"
"Thanks, David, but that still does not explain why you are immune to whatever it is that is causing everybody else to behave out of character. The only others unaffected, as far as we know, are androids, and me, a functioning robot, which suggests the destabilising agent is something that is breathed in by humans or ingested through skin contact. "
"That sounds like a reasonable conclusion," said David, " and we will act upon it. Our first objective is to find the source of the contaminant and disable it. We could do with some help, but McCloud, Rogers, and Joe are still missing. Any idea where they might be, Sol?"
" There are two possibilities," Sol replied. "They have been incapacitated by the contaminant and are wandering about not knowing where they are, or they may have immunity, like yourself."
"If they were immune, they would surely have returned here to find us," said David. "So, we are left with the alternative that they are contaminated, and lost on the base, or they have been captured by whoever is behind all this or even killed. There must be a reason why the base has been brought to a virtual standstill, and it is the work of an enemy. They could strike at any time, and at the moment, with all our defences down, we are helpless to respond.
"I am going to need your help, Sol. Have your laser blaster ready, and we will return to the Opps room and fight it out if necessary."
Sol stood his ground.
"It is you they are after, David, nobody else, and you must complete your mission. That is the reason we came to this world. No matter how hard it is to leave the others, we must board the Skytrain and fly out of here. Your survival matters more than anything else. We are talking about the future of humanity".
David started to protest.
"No, David, the stakes are too high. We leave immediately. If necessary, I will use force.