‘Blaize must have been quite impressive in its day,’ he ventured.
‘Both cities were,’ said Banjo Macrodocious. ‘I have the memory of them woven into my mind. They were built of the riches that flowed down from the Top of the World.’
Seeing the spectacular remains of the two cities there, Karel almost believed it was true. That there really were robots at the Top of the World.
‘Greetings, Karel.’
The voice came from somewhere to his side. Karel turned to gaze at the strangest robot he had ever seen. Everything about it was different. The proportions of its body were all wrong: its arms far too long and jointless, they waved and rippled like snakes. Its head was the shape of a droplet of water turned upside down, rounded at the top and then curving inwards and downwards to meet at a sharp point well below its neck. It had two large black hemispheres for eyes, set wide apart, so that Karel gained the impression it could see behind as well as in front. It had a fat body, like a light bulb, bulging at the top and pinched in where the short legs joined on. It didn’t have feet as such, instead four rods curved out from its ankles like blunt claws. They pierced the grass as it walked towards Karel, making him feel deeply uneasy. He quelled the feeling.
‘Greetings,’ replied Karel. ‘You must be Morphobia Alligator.’
Morphobia Alligator bowed in a complicated movement that made Karel’s gyros wobble. The other robot seemed to have joints in all the wrong places.
‘You are Karel, yes, yes? Formerly of Turing City, now stateless since the fall of the Northern Kingdom.’
‘Were you there?’ asked Karel.
‘No, no. But Banjo Macrodocious was. All of them were. When that place was on the brink of collapse, they were sent out to find safer lands so that the knowledge they held in their minds would be preserved. Some of them found me. Strange how old enemies work together in these times.’
‘Banjo Macrodocious is your enemy? You don’t believe in the Book of Robots?’
‘Oh, we believe what it says is the truth. Oh yes, yes! But that misses the point.’ His eyes brightened, and Karel sensed he was amused. ‘Anyway, I was told that you were nearby. I asked them to bring you to see me.’
Karel was confused. The robot’s words made little sense. Even its voice sounded wrong, like it was being modulated in a different way. And then Karel noticed the strangest thing about the robot.
‘Your body. That metal, what is it?’
‘Aluminium,’ said Morphobia Alligator.
‘The mythical element?’
‘Obviously not a myth.’
‘Where are you from?’ Karel looked aghast as realization dawned. ‘You’re from the Top of the World!’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do
They glided on in silence, gazing from the windows. The vast patches of churned brown earth had given way to something even more disturbing.
‘Warrior, I have never left the Silent City before. Surely these plants are not natural?’
‘They are not,’ replied Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. ‘Not natural to Pen-rose, anyway.’
The plants were tall as robots, straight green stalks swelling to a cylindrical bulge at the top. They were planted in staggered rows that allowed long views along the green lines as the train rolled past. Wa-Ka-Mo-Do had never seen anything so alien.
‘Do you think that the Emperor is aware of what the animals are doing in his kingdom?’ murmured Jai-Lyn in a voice that hummed with static.
‘Be quiet, Jai-Lyn,’ warned Wa-Ka-Mo-Do, glancing around the otherwise empty compartment. ‘I am sure the Emperor is aware of all that happens in Yukawa.’
‘Then how could he permit this? Those plants should not be here! They look so wrong!’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do gazed again at the long rows of green stalks. Some of the bulging tops had peeled back to reveal the yellow segmented fruit that lay inside.
‘The rumours are true…’ said Jai-Lyn, softly.
‘What rumours?’ asked Wa-Ka-Mo-Do.
Jai-Lyn lowered her eyes, well aware she had said too much.
‘Jai-Lyn. What are the rumours?’
‘Oh my master! I should not have spoken.’
‘But you have. Tell me, Jai-Lyn, what have you heard?’
Green speckled with yellow flickered by the window. Jai-Lyn stared at his feet as she spoke.
‘Oh my master, back in the Silent City, some of the women would service the Emperor’s messengers. Robots who had been the length and breadth of the Empire. They would remove their plating for polishing, they would dip their electromuscle in fine oil and reweave it, they would listen for the singing of the current in the wire, all to ensure the smooth running of the messengers. And sometimes, as they did this, the messengers would speak of what they had seen on their travels.’
‘What did they say?’
‘What we have seen, warrior. The messengers who had been to the south spoke of whole swathes of land given over to the animals that they might grow crops for themselves.’
‘Well, it is true. We can see that for ourselves!’
Jai-Lyn wore only cheap metal, and yet she moved with an elegant grace. Even looking at the floor, her hands pressed together so nervously, she looked so pretty.
‘There was worse, my master,’ continued Jai-Lyn, miserably. ‘For what is land to a robot but a luxury? Crops and cattle help one to live a more comfortable life, but they are not essential.’ She looked around again, to see if anyone was listening. ‘I…’
‘Go on, Jai-Lyn,’ urged Wa-Ka-Mo-Do.
‘I… Oh, my master, it cannot be true, but I also heard it rumoured that the animals were to be given mining rights. That the Emperor had granted them leave to take coal and ore from his mines. Oh, I am sorry.’
She lowered her head now so that it touched her chest. Silence descended, underscored by the sound of the wheels on the track.
‘Be very careful that you do not speak these words outside this carriage, Jai-Lyn,’ warned Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. ‘They are highest treason. The Emperor would never allow what you say to be.’
‘I know it is true, but that is what I heard, warrior. And it troubled me, for I also heard that the animals had no use for the robots who worked in the mines.’
‘No use for them?’ said Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. But he knew what she meant. He had seen the silver machines in the fields. If the animals could make a machine that would plant and tend crops, then surely they could make one that would mine for ore.
‘No use, my master. The robots of the mines were cast out to walk the land, with access to neither fire nor forge until their bodies fell apart and they were left broken and unmoving.’
‘Be silent, Jai-Lyn!’ He hadn’t meant to shout, but he was rattled by her words. He already nursed doubts about this command; this news only unsettled him further.
Jai-Lyn had fallen to her hands and knees, her face close to the floor.
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do centred himself. ‘Be silent,’ he repeated, though more softly. ‘Such things cannot be true. The Emperor is just and wise. He would never countenance such actions.’
Wa-Ka-Mo-Do had met the Emperor, and had seen him to be neither wise nor just. Surely, though, he would not contemplate this? To give metal to animals?
‘Warrior?’ said Jai-Lyn, face still turned to the ground. ‘I’m sorry.’
Look at me, thought Wa-Ka-Mo-Do. One of the Eleven, taking out his anger on a young unarmed woman. What would those robots of the Imperial Guard think if they were to see me now? They were right. I am uncultured.
‘Jai-Lyn. Please get up. I’m sorry I shouted. Here.’
He bent down and held out his hand, helped her to her feet. He smiled in apology.
‘Jai-Lyn, will you forgive me?’
‘I have nothing to forgive you for, warrior. I shouldn’t have spoken as I did.’
‘No. The fault is mine. I commanded you to speak. Please, forgive me.’
