“We have individual freedom,” Neirbo replied. “We have chosen to defend humanity against the nanobot scourge. We are here because of our compassion.”
“You shoot me compassionately, son?” Old-timer seethed.
“They have the illusion of individual free choice,” James explained, “but at anytime their leader, the person who calls herself 1, can control their actions.”
“1 communicates with us and leads us. She does not control us!” Neirbo fired back.
“I’m willing to put that to the test,” James replied. He turned to his companions. “We are not going to destroy the solar system.”
“James, are you sure about this?” Thel asked, with a serious look of concern. “You may be right about everything you said, there’s no way to know for sure, but what we do know for sure is that the nans have turned against us! How can we just let them have this solar system to use to reproduce and kill more people in the future? Shouldn’t we destroy the nest?”
“Hello, 1,” James responded without missing a beat.
“What?” Thel answered back.
“I anticipated you would take her first. You’re counting on my emotional connection confusing my reason. However, I have more than just my emotions and reason to rely upon now.”
“James!” Thel exclaimed. “It’s me! I love you! What’s the matter with you?”
“It’s not Thel,” Old-timer asserted, turning to Rich and Djanet. “James is right. There’s no reason to think 1 couldn’t control any of us at anytime.”
“That’s paranoia!” Thel shouted. She threw her arms around James and tried to kiss him, but he roughly withdrew.
“You’re not the woman I love. Stop pretending.”
“You’re wrong, James!” Thel turned desperately to the others. “Don’t listen to him! There’s something wrong with him!”
James kept the gaze of his glowing blue eyes on Thel. “I can see you, 1. I have more eyes than you can imagine.”
“You’re confused,” Thel pleaded. “The A.I. has done something to you! He’s tricking you!”
James ignored her pleas and addressed everyone in the room. “The android system of transferring power sounds perfect on the surface. The android randomly selected to become 1 leads the group for a period of time and then, on the designated date, surrenders the power. Therefore, anyone and everyone has a chance to become the leader. But there’s a flaw. It was only a matter of time before someone was selected leader who would realize that he or she could continue as 1 forever. All that was required was that the randomly selected person be a person of 1’s own creation.”
“Of course,” Old-timer assented, “and that person would continue leading them, essentially, forever. Their civilization followed the singular vision of one entity—like fascism or any kind of dictatorship.”
“It’s even more similar than you think, Old-timer,” James continued. “Just like fascism, they’re xenophobic. 1 has unilaterally decided what is human and what is not and has made it her mission to stop human civilization from progressing into anything that
“Something like you, for instance,” Old-timer observed.
“Exactly,” affirmed James.
“Then that’s their real mission,” Djanet realized, “to find human civilizations and…assimilate them.”
Thel paused for a moment, as though she was considering her next move. Then, suddenly, her body went slack, she released the grip that she had on the wall and she floated for a moment in the zero gravity. “What happened?” she asked.
“1 took control of your body,” James replied. “Any one of you could be next,” he began, “but I already know what her next move will be.”
“You don’t know a thing,” Neirbo replied as he held his weapon up to James with a snarl on his lips. Seeing Neirbo’s aggressive stance, the seven men under his command did likewise.
“Welcome back, 1,” said James. “Long time, no see.”
“You think that body of yours and your new senses make you special?” 1 replied with Neirbo’s lips. “You’re just another abomination.”
“Oh my God,” Old-timer said, shaking his head slightly in dismay. “This sounds so familiar.”
“Picked a hell of a time for deja vu, Old-timer,” observed Rich.
“I’ve been through this with people before, on Earth, back in the old days,” Old-timer related. “There’s always someone out there who thinks we should draw a line and not cross it and that humanity will be much happier if we just stand still.”
“I’ve been through this more than once myself,” 1 replied. “And I’ve always managed to stop the spread of monsters like him,” she said, gesturing with Neirbo’s body toward James. “Don’t fool yourselves. He’ll just be the beginning. When people are given the reins to become anything they want, they will become unrecognizable…and uncontrollable.”
“We don’t want to be controlled,” Old-timer retorted.
“You’re a petty, selfish, idealist,” 1 answered back. “What I have done, I have done for all of humanity, throughout the universe.”
“Isn’t that what all dictators claim,” replied Old-timer. “You did it for the people? Bull. You just wanted to be number 1.”
1 snapped her neck quickly toward Old-timer, her eyes filled with black hatred, fueled by a war and a conviction that had lasted for centuries. “How dare you speak to me that way!” she thundered with Neirbo’s voice as she used Neirbo’s arm to train his weapon on Old-timer again. 1 fired.
20
James held his hand up once again, palm outward, and the bullets became a harmless puff of smoke that wafted through the air. “That’s not going to happen.”
“What did you do?” 1 furiously demanded.
“If you had allowed your civilization to progress scientifically, you’d know what and how I did it.”
“Your science makes you smug and arrogant,” 1 stated coldly, “but you have absolutely no idea in which direction it is taking you, do you? You’re just blindly moving forward, unable to even realize the simple reality that your science has taken away your humanity.”
“It hasn’t taken away my humanity—
“You have become too arrogant to admit it, but we were meant to have limits,” 1 retorted. “If we do not respect them, we will inevitably destroy ourselves.”
“That’s the same fear I’ve been fighting against my entire life,” Old-timer countered. “You sound like a broken record.”
Neirbo’s head tilted slightly as 1 sent a command message to the troops on the ship. With negotiation at an impasse, she had decided to eliminate James and his companions. In a flash, each of them drew their weapons and fired.
Equally quickly, James held his hand up to dissipate the bullets. However, this time, he didn’t stop with only the bullets. He waved his hands in front of his adversaries, and their entire bodies simply evaporated into a white smoke that hung in the air.
A brief moment of astonishment from his companions followed. “Where’d they go?” Djanet asked.
“I think you’re breathing them,” Rich replied.
“You killed them?” Thel uttered, aghast.
“They will live again,” James replied. “I’ve just removed them for the time being.”
“Removed them? James!” she shouted, stunned.
He grabbed her shoulders with his diamond-hard hands and pulled her to him. “You’re going to have to trust
