Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [18]
Yazra'h clamped a firm hand on Anton's shoulder, grinning proudly. 'I was sure you would be thrilled. But do not fear. I will protect you from the robots.'
Nine
Sirix
The extermination and sterilization continued on Wollamor. It would be the first of many worlds. One at a time.
Sirix participated in the satisfying hunt, chasing down victims and tearing them apart. He admired the random splash patterns of dried blood on his exoskeleton. Eventually, though, he subjected himself to a sandblasting scour, then a bath in solvents, and now his body gleamed again. He didn't care about his appearance, but he did want to operate at peak performance.
Back aboard his Juggernaut, Sirix entered the quarters formerly occupied by Admiral Wu-Lin. He drew satisfaction from having what had belonged to the human admiral. Millennia ago, Klikiss scientists had instilled in their robots the pride of possessing a thing, that way, after they were defeated, the robots could feel the pain of defeat and loss. Humans, however, had not programmed such concepts into their compies.
Sirix's attempts to understand compies had frustrated him. His finest test subject had been a Friendly compy called DD, to whom he explained how masters subjugated their servants. But when he finally freed DD from the insidious bonds to his human creators, the compy had chosen to escape rather than show his gratitude. A great disappointment.
Sirix had been fascinated by DD's potential, if only he had not suffered under the delusions the humans had imposed on him. Since the Friendly compy overlooked the flaws of his creators, Sirix could only conclude that DD himself had been defective.
Inside Wu-Lin's quarters, Sirix scanned the dimness. Two other compies dutifully waited there. PD and QT were nearly identical in their programming and artificial personalities, PD's synthetic skin was bronze and copper, however, while QT's was a flashier green highlighted by musculature lines in shiny chrome. The pair had not moved since Sirix had ordered them to enter dormant mode, a brief cycle similar to the much lengthier Klikiss hibernation.
When he sent out a burst of machine language, PD and QT snapped to attention and said in unison, Yes, Master Sirix.'
'Do not refer to me as master. It is offensive.'
'Yes, Sirix.'
Upon finding the two compies aboard Wu-Lin's flagship during the bloody takeover, Sirix had isolated them. He did not know how they might react to the Soldier compies and Klikiss robots going from deck to deck, massacring the human crew. When the two compies demonstrated signs of loyalty to the dead Admiral, Sirix reluctantly expunged their personal memories. Then, they had both undergone the difficult liberation process, releasing them from behavioural strangleholds.
Once his military plans came to fruition, Sirix looked forward to his secondary goal of freeing all compies. PD and QT were his new experimental subjects. They would not disappoint him as DD had. This time, the compies would do exactly what he expected of them. 'I will take you down to Wollamor, our new colony.'
'Wollamor is one of the worlds settled by the Hansa in the Klikiss colonization initiative,' PD pointed out.
Sirix was not pleased with the comment. He had not deleted pure data from their memories, but the compy's irrelevant statement suggested that some of the old, misguided interests remained as well. 'Wollamor was only temporarily claimed by humans. This is a Klikiss world. It belongs to the robots.'
'Were the colonists relocated?' QT asked.
'The colonists were removed. They will no longer be a threat or a hindrance.'
'Were the colonists a threat or a hindrance?' PD pressed.
'Do not be concerned with the colonists. Focus your attention on your role among us.'
'Yes, Sirix,' both compies said in unison.
'Follow me to the launching