dead.
‘You know, if an Artemisian is damaged he can take spare parts from any of his comrades,’ he said, wonderingly. He pointed to the dead Guard. ‘They get wounded and they can’t properly repair themselves. I tell you, Eleanor, they may construct better robots here in Turing City, but we have the correct paradigm for war.’
A shout, and another set of infantryrobots peeled away from the head of each column, heading into the city beyond. Eleanor could hear the humming coming from within their metal shells. These were all walking bombs.
‘They’ll soon figure out what we’re doing,’ said Eleanor. ‘Then they’ll just pick them off at a distance.’
‘I know,’ said Kavan. ‘But that’s to our advantage. We can’t beat them at close quarters, but if we reduce this battle to each of us sniping at long range…’
Eleanor said nothing. Kavan glanced back at the burning railway station. It reminded him of something, the way one side of its curved shape had collapsed in on itself…
‘I can’t believe we got this far,’ said Eleanor, suddenly. ‘If I’m honest, I didn’t think we would do it.’
‘What we think isn’t important, Eleanor. Artemis does what Artemis will.’
He looked back at the railway station and he had it now. The whale. The railway station reminded him of that whale, back in Wien. The place where General Fallan had fallen.
There was another shouted command, and the next set of infantry headed into the silent city. Kavan watched them go.
… fell to the ground and rolled awkwardly to a halt. His right side was badly damaged, caught full in the blast of the exploding soldier. He looked back in disbelief at the shattered remains of the silver Scout body. No wonder it had shown such trouble moving! The robot’s entire chest must have been packed with high explosive. He saw the three puffs of dust on the floor in front of him, heard the crack of gunfire a moment later, and he rolled forward, tumbled to the side, his right arm and leg refusing to operate properly. In his peripheral vision he saw the crowd of Turing Citizens that had stood on the gangue pile all watching him. One of them was shouting, pointing to a group of Artemisian robots that had just rounded the corner and was advancing towards him.
Awkwardly, he raised his gun, and then he felt his reactions adjusting to his new body form. The Fort Mothers had done their jobs well: the mind of a City Guard took feedback from the shape of the body to which it was attached, constantly adjusting itself to new circumstances. He fired, once, twice, three times, an Artemisian falling on each shot. As he made to fire the fourth, he was caught in the hand by a bullet. The electromuscle there shorted.
His radio crackled to life.
‘Maoco O. This is Aorne H. What’s your status?’
‘I’m fine,’ said Maoco O, taking the rifle in his other hand. He fired off three more shots, finishing off the remaining Artemisians.
‘Some of the enemy are packed with explosives.’
‘I just encountered one of them. I’m twenty per cent damaged.’
‘Listen, we’re regrouping before the fort. We can pick off the explosive robots there before they can get close enough to do us any damage. We will use that location to relaunch our counter-offensive. Can you make it there?’
‘No problem. I have a group of Turing Citizens with me, though.’
‘Get them clear of your current position, and then ditch them. This is more important.’
‘They can’t fight for themselves, you know!’
‘They’re not supposed to.’
‘Okay.’ Maoco O scanned the area, searching for more Artemisians. ‘What’s the situation in terms of casualties, Aorne H?’ he asked.
‘Thirty per cent. That’s not a problem. We will prevail.’
‘We will prevail.’
Maoco O scanned the area once more. Everywhere seemed clear for the moment. He turned to the Turing Citizens who stood nervously on the gangue behind him.
‘Come on,’ he called. ‘Follow me.’
The robots began to scramble down towards him. Maoco O shifted his position, adjusting to his newly damaged body. Still, he was calm.
Axel’s look of terror as they entered the apartment was enough to unleash Susan’s emotions in a crackling outburst. She took her child in her arms, her voicebox squeaking and squawking as she comforted him. All Karel could do was lean weakly against the wall. Thank Zuse, he thought. He’s safe. He’s safe.
Axel was whining as his mother stroked the currents that emanated from his little body, releasing an electronic hum of anguish. Karel’s gyros lurched in sympathy. How long has Axel been gazing at the front door, listening to the explosions in the city, wondering what had happened to us?
‘Where have you been? Where have you been?’
Karel felt guilt and fear in equal measure. And then the child saw the blue paint down his mother’s side was badly scratched, her mouth and ears obviously recently repaired. ‘What’s happened to you, Mummy?’ he asked.
‘Nothing, Axel, I’m fine.’
‘Susan, I’m going to extinguish the forge. Anything to avoid attracting attention to this apartment…’
Susan didn’t hear him; she was too busy stroking her child. Karel bent down and began to close the forge vents. He just needed to do something. Besides, the Artemis robots would have heat vision; they could be out there now, scanning the city, looking for pockets of life
…
Even so, Karel felt a lurching sensation as he closed the final vent on the fire; it was as if he had just smothered the life of the family.
‘I’m going to the outside room,’ he announced. ‘I’m going to see what’s happening.’
‘Stay here, Daddy!’
‘It’s okay, Axel. I’ll only be next door.’
He slipped from the forge into the tiny room, closing the door carefully behind him. The window in there offered a view over the seemingly impossible evening. Nothing seemed real. The sky was composed of lines of red and black, the setting sun behind streaks of cloud. The city beneath it was lit by orange fires. The train station was burning, the central district was burning. The foundries burned blue and white and red and golden, as different metals ignited, their incandescent flares dimming the flames beyond them.
The flames beyond them… Karel realized with horror that he was looking at the fort of the City Guard. Even from this distance he could see the flare of the fort’s Tesla towers, brilliant white in the encompassing night.
The Artemisians had made it all the way up there! What was happening now? Some desperate last stand? But it wasn’t supposed to happen this way! The City Guard were supposed to be invincible.
And they were, almost.
He recalled how that City Guard robot had erupted from the gangue and saved them all. It had stood in the middle of the street and calmly shot the approaching Artemisians one by one, like doing no more than testing its gun on a firing range. The minutes had crept by and the robot had just stood there, shooting the enemy down to the diminishing applause of the crowd. Even when that Artemisian robot had exploded right next to it it had gone on fighting, badly damaged as it was. And then it had led them through the streets, avoiding the distant sounds of fighting that echoed panic through the city, and shown them a safe path back here, to the flat. The Guard had paused for a moment, thinking.
‘This is far enough,’ it said. ‘I have new orders. Good luck to you all.’ And then it had raised its rifle and headed back towards the fighting.
The City Guard seemed invincible, and yet the Artemisians were winning. They had made it all the way to the fort itself. How could that have happened?
