The Book of David

Long, long ago, long before Conscious Artificial intelligence and even before Mechanized Response Units, and Reactive Droids, there lived a mean and ruthless King who ruled this land that used to be called the United States of America.

He was so worried of being attacked by foreign countries that he spent all the people’s money that he collected from taxes, on science, technology and the military in a bid to making the perfect army. Every penny was used in making larger, faster drones, lighter, deadlier weapons, more of everything the best army would ever need.

There were companies all over this land designing more and more sophisticated and intelligent robots specifically for the battlefield. It was always said, it was better to lose a thousand robots than one human life, but over the years that began to change as the highly sophisticated equipment became more and more expensive.

Money out-ruled human life.

People were cheap.

One day a young man called Brian Metcalfe who worked at one of the largest tech companies of the day called Organic Techatronics, had a breakthrough. He managed to combine human brain cells with quantum level electronics which allowed the level of AI to expand exponentially meaning that robots with a brain comparable to humans was no longer a dream. It would be reality in a very short time. 

As time passed, Brian developed the Organatronix brain to such a level that he was ready to build his first non-human person or Techatron, as the bosses at Organic Techatronics wanted to call it. He didn’t much care for the name but he had no choice as they were the ones with the money and research facilities.

After too many late nights and long weekends, working all the hours he could, Brian finally released to the world his creation. The world’s first truly artificially intelligent non-human being.

Everyone gasped at how realistic this being was. It looked and sounded human. It acted human.

This new Techatron had a ground-breaking internal power system that processed the food it ate and turned it into electricity to power its body, so if you didn’t know any better, you would think it was human.

Brian soon discovered that an intelligent being without a memory of where it had come from, its childhood, growing up, going to school, all the things that make us human, make the being unhappy. Massively unhappy.

So, Brian set about giving it a memory, and as you can imagine conjuring up a memory for someone out of thin air is hugely difficult, so a lot of Brian’s memory went into the new being. So much so, that he felt as if the two of them were joined together somehow. Linked telepathically. Of course they weren’t, they just had the same memories but he would always tell people they had a very special bond, which indeed they did.

The being needed a name, so Brian eventually decided to call him Adam after old teachings from a religious book that had been popular way back in the long and distant past.

Time passed, as time does, and Brian became ill.

Adam had spent all his life in the laboratories at Organic Techatronics and was becoming increasingly depressed at being locked up all the time, especially as he was alone. Ok, so he had all the lab people and Brian, but that was like living at home with his parents. He wanted a companion. A female companion.

Brian’s health was fading fast and knew the only way he could help Adam was to give him a friend. One like him. Except female.

Weeks and months passed and finally Brian had created a friend for Adam which, one evening in his private quarters, he unveiled to him. Adam was shocked. She was so beautiful. He loved her the first moment he saw her.

She was to stay in Adams laboratory in a small room off to the side so they could both have their privacy and people would understand she was there as a companion for Adam. Nothing more. Her name was Jane which Brian had taken from another popular book from the past about a man who lived in a jungle and she was his friend. He had given her the memory of his late wife which made him cry as he uploaded it to her Organatronix brain.

A huge sorrow always filled Brian’s thoughts. His creations were not human and people would always regard them as so.

Over the following weeks and months Adam and Jane became inseparable, doing everything together. They would sit and chat for hours like an old married couple, which wasn’t all that surprising seeing as they both had memories from Brian’s life.

One sad and dark day, Brian died and Adam’s and Jane’s world changed forever. Unknown to them both, Brian had resisted tremendous pressure from the government and Organic Techatronics to hand over Adam and Jane to the military, after all, that’s what the funding had always been for. To develop a new fighting weapon.

It wasn’t long before Adam’s and Jane’s lives had become unbearable. They were constantly being told they would be separated and sent to different parts of the country to assist in home security and train to be soldiers which neither of them wanted.

They both knew they weren’t human but after being imprisoned in the labs all their lives, more than anything they just wanted to live a normal life, after all, their memories were of everything from outside in the real world.

One night Adam sneaked into Jane’s room and told her he had a plan, a way to escape, and he wanted her to come with him. She was hesitant at first but quickly realised that the only way they could lead a normal life would be away from the laboratory and Organic Techatronics, so she agreed.

That same night they escaped.

Within hours the whole world was after them, fed lies by the company telling the media and the people that they were dangerous and shouldn’t be approached at any cost. If they were spotted the police should be informed immediately.

Adam and Jane found a local map and managed to make their way to the coast. They decided on a place called the Lost Coast between Eureka and Rockport. They both figured that with a name like Lost Coast, and according to the map, no roads in or out, it would be an excellent place for them to hide out away from everyone.

They set-up camp many miles south of the Mattole river on a deserted stretch of beach with towering headlands on one side and the open vastness of the sea on the other. It was perfect.

Over time the media lost interest in them and were presumed dead by the vast majority of people, except for Organic Techatronics. The scientists and the military knew how intelligent and resourceful they were, after all they were primarily designed as soldiers, so the search for the couple never ceased.

After weeks of sleeping on the beach and hiding in bushes, they found a cave that was sheltered from the weather and was so well hidden you would have to know it was there or you would never find it. They furnished it with everything they needed, either found washed up on the sandy beaches or made out of local timber and driftwood. It was a real home from home and perfect for their new life together.

Time passed as time does, and their love for each other never wavered, if anything it grew and grew into something only few men and women can ever experience. Completeness. They used to joke that they could never be soul-mates as humans call themselves because they were Techatrons, and as difficult as it was for them to come to terms with, they didn’t have a soul, at least that’s what they were always told back at the laboratories. It didn’t matter anyway, they knew they loved each other and that’s all that mattered.

Weeks turned into months, and months turned into years, and apart from having to look out for, and hide from, the occasional hiker trekking along the beach, they never encountered anyone.

Being together was the best.

The Military eventually gave up their search for the escaped couple as new and more advanced weapons were developed and Organic Techatronics couldn’t stand the loss financially of Adam and Jane and finally closed the laboratories and the research department when their funding was stopped.

One of the young scientists that used to work at OrTech as a lab technician while Adam and Jane were there, was an enthusiastic environmentalist who would monitor commercial and government-run satellites for any signs of natural or man-made disasters happening anywhere round the world.

His name was John Brown and had lived all his life in California in a small village with his parents who both passed away not long after Adam and Jane escaped from OT labs. Most of his nights would be spent searching through the images and videos from the satellites and on one memorable evening while searching along the Californian coast not far from his home, he witnessed a something quite unusual.

A small, almost imperceptible flash of white light along with an invisible surge of power, known as an EMP, was observed on the night of 24th December by an old OrTech satellite which was still operational even though the company had ceased trading years earlier.

John witnessed the event and immediately knew it was something out of the ordinary, but he also knew, if he’d seen it then so had others. He was so excited he wanted to go and see if he could find it straight away before anyone else got there, but it was dark so he would have to wait for the morning.

Bright and early the next day he was up and out eager to find whatever it was had caused the flash of light and the surge of power last night. He began his search at Shelter Cove, a place he’d visited many time when his parents were alive, and worked his way south along the coast. There were no roads in or out and it was about as secluded as you could get with the land rising quickly from sea level at the coast to a few hundred feet in less than half a mile.

By mid-morning he had only covered a couple of miles, and by lunchtime he was so hungry he had to stop or he felt he would collapse in a heap on the sandy beach. Luckily he had packed himself some sandwiches and after devouring them like a starving coyote, he continued his search.

His progress was slow and it suddenly dawned on him that he would have to make his way back to Shelter Cove before dark or he would be stuck out in the wilderness all night. And he didn’t fancy that.

Reluctantly he began to trek back, already working-out in his head where he could come back and begin his search again from the other direction, when he caught a glimpse of something moving in the bushes to his right. There were sandstone cliffs all along the coast at this point so whatever it was couldn’t go far.

He froze. What if it was a bear? He crouched down to try and make himself as small as possible but whatever it was had already seen him. Did he run back along the coast? To where? No. He decided it was best to face whatever it was and then run for it if need be.

He waited and waited but the thing never re-appeared so, carefully and slowly he moved towards the bush. There was nothing there. Maybe the light had been playing tricks with him? He moved the bushes aside one by one until he came to the cliff face where he found a cave-opening covered with drift wood. Being the curious type, and forgetting all about the fact he might have seen a bear, he pushed the wood to one side, piece by piece.

Just as he moved the last heavy piece, a figure leapt from the cave opening thumping into him and sending both of them crashing to the ground. John wasn’t a fighter so begged for mercy while trying to cover his face with his arms.

The attacker stopped and fell backwards, sitting on the ground looking at John.

It was Adam and he recognized John from his time at OrTech.

‘Why are you here?’ Asked Adam calmly.

John struggled to his feet not realizing it was Adam.

‘I saw something last night…from a satellite…a flash of light and a power surge. I wanted to know what caused it.’ He said as he brushed himself down.

Adam stood up.

‘You shouldn’t have come.’ He said turning towards the cave opening.

Then it hit John like bolt of lightning.

‘You. You’re Adam.’

Adam entered his cave and John, still shaken, quickly followed him.

Inside was warm and lit with oil lamps scattered about the place, which gave the place a homely feel, although at the end of the day it was still a cave, albeit, a nice cave.

Adam turned to face John.

‘We are happy here. We hurt no-one. Leave us alone.’ He said forcefully, staring John straight in the eye.

‘We? Is Jane here?’ Replied John amazed at what he was seeing.

Adam didn’t answer afraid of giving too much away.

‘Yes I’m here.’ She replied appearing slowly from behind an alcove in the rock. ‘I remember you.’

‘Jane.’ Exclaimed John. ‘Yes. I remember you too.’

‘Why are you here?’ Asked Adam reaching out for Jane’s hand. ‘Why come now after so long?’

‘I told you. I saw something last night when I was monitoring the images from an old OrTech satellite. A flash of light and a power surge. It was from round here. At this location. Was it you?’

Jane and Adam looked at each and then back at John.

‘No.’ Replied Adam firmly. ‘You must go. We don’t want you here.’

John knew something was not quite right and Adam was becoming more aggressive. He didn’t want another fight. Adam was too strong.

‘It will be dark soon. I…’ He began to say.

‘Here. Use this.’ Said Adam picking up a large battery-powered torch that had been leaned against the cave wall.

John looked at Adam in amazement.

‘Many things get washed-up on the shore.’ Said Adam with a slight smirk on his hairy face.

‘Thank you.’

John left feeling completely confused.

As he struggled to make his way back along the moonlit coastline so many thoughts flowed through his head.

They were alive. Both of them. What was the light he light he saw last night? Where did the power surge come from? There was no sign of anything electrical in the cave. Was it a coincidence? Was the old satellite faulty?

Many hours later John finally made it back to Shelter Cove where he had left his car. He needed to get home and get to bed. He was exhausted.

A couple of days later while eating his breakfast, John was shocked to see a news bulletin on the TV about Shelter Cove. He always watched the morning news while eating breakfast and today was no different.  The report said that two escaped Techatrons from OrTech had been spotted by a weather satellite surveying the area and they had been killed during an incident when government forces were called in to recover them.

Why had they been killed? They didn’t seem that aggressive when he was with them only a couple of days earlier? What had happened? What had gone wrong?

He had to find out.

Later that day after packing a rucksack, he made his way back to Adam’s cave making sure he could get there and back in daylight. He certainly didn’t want to do the trip in darkness again.

As he approached the entrance he could see it was cordoned off by rows of yellow and black tape emblazoned with the words ‘Crime Scene No Entry’. He stopped and looked around wary that the Police or some other government force may still be around, but it was all quiet. He lifted the plastic tape over his head and slowly entered the cave but unlike his previous visit, this time it was completely dark. He removed his rucksack and took out the torch Adam had given him a few days earlier. As he scanned around the cave he could see there had obviously been a fight because all of Adam’s furniture and belongings were randomly strewn about with much of it lying broken and smashed where it had landed. There were dozens of small blackened holes scattered over the cave walls where the Police had used explosive kinetic weapons. Adam and Jane hadn’t stood a chance.

Why had the Police used such force? One reason. They must have wanted Adam and Jane dead.

John moved silently through the cave carefully trying not to stand on any of any of Adam and Jane’s belongings, which wasn’t easy as the floor was covered in their stuff…or what was left of it. He approached a small alcove at the far end of the cave and couldn’t help but see blood splattered almost six feet up the wall. So much of it, that it had run down and formed pools on the cave floor. The sight of it made John sick to his stomach, but worse was the smell. It made him wretch.

That was it. He’d had enough.

He turned away and began to make his way back towards the entrance where daylight was streaming though when he heard a noise coming from behind him. He spun round.

‘Who’s there?’ He called out but no-one answered.

It was coming from the alcove where he’s just been. He didn’t see anything.

There it was again. It sounded like a cat meowing. Maybe Adam and Jane had a pet cat? There it was again. He directed the beam from his torch into the recesses of the cave and could just make out a few feet away against the wall, a bundle of rags moving ever so slightly. Maybe it was a rat? He hated rats. He prodded at the wriggling mess of rags with his boot half expecting a cat or a rat to fly-out but nothing happened. Then he heard something that made him freeze to the spot. A sound that every human being knows. He slowly reached down with his free hand and the torchlight focused on the bundle he moved the covering of cloth to one side.

It was a new born baby. It couldn’t have been more than a few day old. How did it get here? He scooped it up and cradled it in his arms moving the shreds of torn cloth to one side to see if it was hurt. No. It appeared Ok.

Now what? What was he going to do with a baby? And why hadn’t the Police taken it? They must have missed it because the last thing they would have expected was a baby.

Was it Adam’s and Jane? Of course not, they were Techatrons. They couldn’t have babies. Only human beings have babies.

He had to get back home and get this baby to a doctor to make sure it was alright.

After a visit to the doctor, it was confirmed that the baby was ok but obviously he had to have a name, so quickly, without much thought he named it David, after his father and with his surname, Brown

He lied and said it was his brother’s son come to stay with him for a while because his parents were going through a divorce and needed some time alone together.

And so the story of David begins. A new chapter in history…and a new species.

A Techatron-human hybrid.

A Humatron.

The End…and a new beginning