Menagerie - Martin Day [96]
'No, I must destroy this —'
'Listen to me!' The Doctor's voice carried great conviction, even over the flickering comm link. 'Many, many years ago a Mecrim gut microbe was accidentally released into the atmosphere, resulting in a virtual plague.
Almost the entire civilization was wiped out. However, some humans survived, developed resistance to the disease, and over the centuries their descendants spread out over the entire world. It's not surprising that the city that formed over the top of the older, more advanced one would be so afraid of science. A deep fear of what had happened was passed down from generation to generation. Whoever Kuabris and Rexulon were — if indeed they existed — they were certainly aware of the fear that technology engendered in them.'
'Your casual blasphemy will be —'
'But you, Zaitabor,' said the Doctor, his voice quelling even the knight's outrage. 'You are not one of those descendents.'
'Then who do you say that I am?'
'You arrived on this planet a very long time ago. Your job was to report on the research that was being carried out here. You overstayed your welcome and contracted the disease. Desperate to survive, you abused your position.
You made sure that you would survive, even if everyone else died. The surgeons literally hacked out the infected tissue and stuck in cybernetic parts. All your sytems, including your brain, were given electronic backups in case of further degeneration. Then you tried to flee in a shuttle craft, taking with you a single Mecrim specimen in a cryogenic casket. For some reason there was an explosion.
The cybernetic and computer systems ensured your survival, but only by causing a shut-down that lasted for centuries. Over time the automatic systems replaced damaged parts and rid you of every hint of infection. You were a guinea-pig in an advanced self-replicating cybernetic experiment, and you outlived the scientists who operated on you by hundreds of years.'
'This is ridiculous!'
'There was, however, a problem,' continued the Doctor with scarcely a breath. 'I can only guess that the software to control the brain was almost entirely wiped by the explosion. The microprocessors were built to learn, to adapt
— but the only thing they remembered was that technology and science were, in some indefinable way, evil.
'You awoke in mental darkness and confusion, and sought meaning and identity in the nearest inhabited place. You insinuated yourself into society, and took on the role that most suited you — that of a Knight of Kuabris. You doubtless learnt quickly, rising through the ranks, but never speaking of your past — because you haven't got one.
'I can only guess what happened next, but no doubt you found yourself being drawn to those few Kuabris texts that remained from the previous Grand Knight. Before Himesor was made Grand Knight you had already stolen one of the holy robes. Some semi-dormant computerized memory told you that the suit would offer protection against the deadly gases of the sewer. Over a period of time you — and others
— discovered various entrances to this submerged city that avoided the sewers. The irony is you needn't have bothered.'
The Doctor paused, aware for a moment of the sounds of the Mecrim fighting each other. For the first time he could see the lights of the power station somewhere in the distance.
'You see, Zaitabor,' said the Doctor, staring down at the unit in his palm, 'you aren't human.'
Nineteen
Your words are meaningless,' said Zaitabor, 'You speak the unintelligible sounds of science and expect me to —'
The Doctor stared at the small image of the man in the palm of his hand. 'Really? Are you sure that you do not understand me? Tell me, what are your earliest memories?'
There was a faraway look in Zaitabor's eyes, his words stumbling. 'Nothingness . . . Then the ability to grapple with the void, giving it definition, knowing that by being able to assign a word to my condition I must be alive .. . Then a rush of input, raw data, so much I could not put words to.