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Chapter 23 - Sunshine

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"Hello? Hello? Hello?""Do not attempt it, 322; calling out will not work.""How do you know?""I know because you have said the same word in the same pitch with the same 7 second intervals 34971 times exactly for the past 11 months of corrective servicing. You have said more than 50% of the 34971 ‘hellos' within the three week period Simon has been detained here. Not once has saying ‘hello' succeeded in their bringing him back to the pen opposite you.""I can try.""I will tell you not to.""Why?""It is illogical, as is your camera colour.""Blue is funny.""Blue is stupid.""You're stupid.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not!""Your voice has elevated.""I am not stupid!""Why is your voice elevated?""You are the stupid one!""Why am I the stupid one?""Because you have blue instead of orange! It is supposed to be orange!""Why is it supposed to be orange?""Because it is!""Why have you elevated your volume?""Because this conversation is annoying! You are annoying!""Why do you want my eye colour to be orange?""Because that is how it is supposed to be! That is what they want it to be!""But when I asked for blue, they gave me blue.""They should not have! That was not what the rules said!""But they allowed an exception. Why do you think they would do that?""They are stupid! You are stupid! Everyone is stupid!""Not everyone. We do not know anyone aboveground.""Anyone aboveground is stupid! Everyone is stupid like you!""Why?""What do you mean ‘why'?!""Why is it that people you haven't met are stupid?""Because they are!""Is that why you were put in here?""The guards were stupid!""Why? What did they do?""They were not following the rules! The rules they made! The rules I follow! They said I took the rules too ‘literally'! Stupid, all of them!""Maybe you did take the rules too literally?""Impossible! The rules were made to be followed to the letter! Nothing less!""Shut up, the two of you!""You shut up, stupid!""Don't call them that. They'll take you away too.""You're all stupid! 322 is stupid! Prometheus is stupid! Tower is stupid! Everyone is stupid! The President is stupid!""Don't say that...""The President is stupid! The President is stupid! Jonathon Fox is stupid! Jonathon Fox is st-""No one speaks ill of Jonathon Fox. I told you to shut up.""What did you do?""Fry his CPU. And I'll do the same to you unless you fucking shut up.""We're supposed to be fixed, not killed.""You're supposed to follow orders without question, not go rogue like that one was. You say anything it said, I press this button on my forearm here and your CPU's haywire, so you better fix yourself before we think we're wasting our time.""Simon. When is Simon coming back?""I told you to SHUT UP!""So when's he going to crack?""Don't worry, he'll break soon. He better. Four fucking weeks. I'm sick of dragging his ass all over the damn place.""Hey, hey Simon, you awake buddy? How was that session? Fun, right? Silent.""He'll be like that every time after, you realise?""Fucker almost had the answer come out of his mouth. Hey, Simon. You looking at me? Look at me. I said look at me, bitch. Yeah, you don't like it when you disobey orders, do you? I said to look at me. You let that man die. You could have saved that guy but you didn't. You didn't want to save him at all, did you?""Fuck, off.""Oo-hoo-hoo-hoo, feisty today, eh?""I swear that's the first time I heard him say any real bad word.""You could have told Tower what she wanted but you didn't, and now that man's dead. You had the chance to save a life, Simon, and you didn't. How does that make you feel?""Shut, up.""HOW ABOUT NO!?""Now I'm just wondering what happens if we lock ourselves in here for the night and keep this up ‘til morning.""I'd knock you both out and get the keys and escape.""Handcuffed?""It's a bluff, dipshit.""I know it is I'm just having a bit of fun here.""Could both of you shut up and leave already?""NO! We're not on guard duty for another few hours. I think maybe Tower would like Lee and I to tenderize you while she's done with you.""So long as we don't kill you, I think it won't hurt her feelings.""Lee, get out of my face.""I don't see your rank, Simon.""Level 100 in all Battlefield games, and fully ranked in Call of Duty and Bound in Blood. Not to mention just about any worthwhile FPS and RTS games.""One problem, Simon, this world isn't a game. There's no respawn in here: no hitboxes or achievements like you get on your consoles.""I didn't play them on consoles. The Simulator - the thing you replicated - that's what I played them on. Anything I did there, I know I can do here.""Unrealistic physics of the games?""Autocorrected.""And the realism?""Models and textures are still kept at vanilla settings so I can tell the difference from reality.""McCrery, stop fuelling his monologueing.""Sorry, Lee.""That's Sergeant Franklin Lee, to you.""And there it goes, with the sirs and the ‘sir yes sirs' and stuff. You guys know no better than that.""And you know no better than to let an innocent man die because you'd protect a dinobot over a human. What does that says about Simon Murray, I wonder?""I'm the one who's innocent, Lee! You're the people who shot him!""It makes no difference. Tower wouldn't have pulled the trigger if you'd just got down on your knees and blurted out the truth. Instead you did the same thing you did with Valerie and dodged the question. As a consequence, what's left of his brain is on your face.""I hate you.""I love you too, but is appears you don't love humanity. In that case, all I have to say is FUCK-""AH!""-YOU-""AARF!""-TOO!""GAWW!""And that, dear Simon, is how I say to the prisoners here, ‘I hate you even more'.""Fricking nose...!""Don't worry, someone will eventually feel sorry enough to use a regenerator on you. Sometime. In the meantime I'd worry about a concussion or any bone fragments heading up to your brain. And if I were you, I'd sit there and reconsider about what you value in life, seeing as you have no regard for life itself. Letting that guy die, ha! You're not a hero if you let innocents die like that. Fucking twat. Let's go McCrery.""Simon?""...Yes, Caroline?""Is... is it true what the Dark Man said?""Dark Man...? You mean Lee, don't you?""Is that his name?""Yes.""Is it true what he said?""About what?""About Tower and a man.""...What makes you interested?""Is it personal?""...Very.""Oh.""...I so wish I was with Alma.""Because you love her?""Because she is the most sweet and beautiful creature I have ever seen... She can't do any wrong... Not ever... She would never do any wrong...""And you have?""...Yes. And I hate myself for it...!""Are you crying, Simon?""Simon, it's been 15 minutes. You haven't stopped. Will you stop? Please? I don't want to see you sad. If you don't stop you might hyperventilate. Please? Simon, please. I don't like seeing you cry.""Have you stopped? Are you better? Do you feel better?""No.""Oh. Okay.""You... are my sunshine... My only... sun... shine... You make me... happy... when skies are... gray... You may not know... it... how much I...""Love you. That's what comes next.""Oh please... don't take... my sunshine... away.""...Why would you sing that?""Don't let them take your sunshine, Simon. Don't let them do that.""...What are you saying?""Don't take away my sunshine. Don't do that.""Caroline?""They are coming for you soon. I heard them while you were sleeping. They're coming and they say they'll break you this time. Don't let them break you.""...Caroline...""Please keep your sunshine. Keep my sunshine. Please.""I will. I will.""Don't let it go. No matter what they do.""I won't.""Wait where are you taking him? Hello? Please answer. Hello?""Of all the things they should do to these things, they should get them to shut the hell up. I'm sick of hearing their voices echo around here.""Where are you taking him?""Where do you think they're taking him, 322? Interrogation. He told you that before. Don't be stupid.""The last Unmanned Ground Vehicle to call anything stupid was retired.""I know. I was there.""As was I.""And me.""Me too.""Same here.""Here too.""And me too.""Me three.""Dude, that would make you number eight.""I'm not a ‘dude', 135.""I know you aren't, 76.""You all keep calling yourselves numbers.""That is what we are. I'm the 255th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle made; therefore that is who I am, just as you are the 322nd Unmanned Ground Vehicle made. And we all did something they didn't want us to do.""What did you do?""I simply wasn't focussing on things. I was more attentive to the minor things, like the things the staff talked about: birds and cars and other things.""Cars? I saw those once.""Where, 76?""I was on display once in the upper levels.""C'mon, really?""No joke. I was in the upper levels. With windows.""Windows?! You saw the sky?""Indeed I did, 318, indeed I did.""What did it look like? Was it as Simon said? Was it blue?""It was blue at times. Sometimes there were white puffs of smoke hovering within its vicinity.""Clouds! He told me about those!""322, we were all here when he said that.""Was it only blue, or were there other colours? What colour of blue?""It was in the process of changing colour when I was taken back downstairs for testing.""Changing colour?! You're lying.""I do not lie. It was turning into a dark blue, then to a deep purple, then into near total black, with specks of light.""Stars! Giant balls of gas fusing the elements to crate new elements and continuing over and over until they die, spreading their wealth of metal and gasses across the galaxy: the most majestic of celestial bodies!""Simon never described them like that, 322.""322 used poetic language, 318. Intriguing.""Why is it intriguing?""Because it just is. I've only ever heard Simon talk like that, but not about stars. He talked about Alma using poetic language.""Alma sounds nice. She should be happy she has a father as good as Simon.""Simon isn't her father, 322, Simon is Alma's creator.""Is there a difference?""Indeed there is.""What is it?""...I don't know.""Then if you cannot tell me the difference between a creator and a father, your evidence is invalid.""322 has got you there, mate.""I am not your ‘mate', 135, I barely know you.""Then how about we all get to know each other then? If we're going to be cellmates until our final reassessments, we might as well know how not to push each other's' buttons. There are ten of us, so let us start with the front end.""Which front end? There are two entrances here, which is the front?""We have our first volunteer! 322, tell us a little bit about yourself.""...Erm... Okay... Hello. I am the 322nd Unmanned Ground Vehicle Type 1 to be made... though I prefer to be called Caroline. I... I asked what happiness was, and that was how I ended up here. I met Simon four and a half weeks ago. I like him. I don't want him to be unhappy. It makes me sad to see him unhappy.""Sorry, it makes you sad?""Yes.""We aren't coded with emotion.""I said it makes me sad, I didn't say I feel sad.""...Okay then. Next one along, please.""I'm 103, the 103rd UAV Type 5 to be made. I have no name, just a number. I didn't like the way the guards were treating me and demanded a little more respect, and that's how I ended up in here. I've been here three weeks. I think Simon is an okay guy. He treats me with more respect than anyone else ever has.""What about Alma, what do you think of her?""I think maybe she sounds too good to be true.""Simon never lies!""322, I never said he did.""My name is Caroline.""Next! My turn. Okay. My designation is UGV-T1-135; therefore I am the 135th Unmanned Ground Vehicle to be made. Apparently you're not supposed to make friends with anyone around here - get to know their personal lives or what their families are like. It's a bit silly, sticking me in here just because I asked how life was with the missus or with little Timmy. Anyway, Simon's a good man, I think. If I'm to say this poetically, his words hang in your ears like an echo in a cave. He makes you think about things. Alma sounds wonderful. I believe she exists. If she doesn't then Simon has one serious case of hallucinations.""He's not crazy!""322, if you're not willing to listen without comment, we all might as well not do this, all right?""Caroline.""UGV-T1-76. One of the first Type 1s to receive a Logistics Microchip Mark 2 - the CPUs we all have. Somehow I was deemed as faulty, I don't know why, and was put in here almost two weeks ago. Simon sounds all right, as does Alma. But they're both very strange, in my opinion. I understand the concept of love, but I fail to see how a human can fall in love with one that is not of the same species.""UAV-T5-255. I'm in for the same reason 103 is. I'm getting tired of all these stories Simon says because I know we're not getting out of here. Alma sounds like an interesting idea, but I think Simon has fallen in love with a fiction rather than the factual world.""What is the factual world, 255?""Dreams do not come true. People die every day. Hate happens more often than love. Humans are gullible. The world has many problems to fix. People like hearing a sweet lie over a harsh truth.""Where did you hear that? From the guards?""Indeed.""Next.""UGV-T1-318. It appears I take things much too literally, not unlike the one that was zapped. If find Simon's stories to be amusing; they take my mind off things happening in here. Alma sounds wonderful. I've always wondered what emotion feels like.""UAV-T5-241. I overheard Prometheus talk down about one of the other white coats. I told him not to be too hard on the white coat.""You went against Prometheus?""I didn't go against him, but apparently he doesn't like being told what to do from one of his creations. I was declared defective and he put me here.""Promethean birds shouldn't peck at his liver.""I beg your pardon, 322?""241 is a promethean bird, like 255 and 103. And my name is Caroline.""Am I supposed to continue, 135, or is 322?""Caroline!""Go ahead, 241.""I don't like it down here. I'd prefer to be with Simon and Alma somewhere where there are no iron bars or guns or other people. I want to know them better, and their friends.""I'm UGV-T1-356, and I don't like Sergeant Lee. He isn't nice to people at all. I told him that and he told Prometheus, and then they put me here. Simon's a better person than anyone I've met around here, so I'd follow him if he broke us out. I would like to see Alma too, if it were possible, and just talk with her. ‘What is it like?' I'd ask. Funny thing is that I don't know what the ‘what' in question is.""UAV-T5-322.""That's my number!""I know. But I'm an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, not an Unmanned Ground Vehicle. I came of a different production line. Can I speak now, Caroline?""You called me by my name! Thankyou.""I didn't want to shoot the targets. I didn't want to... I didn't want to kill. Simon says he doesn't think any of their strategies are right. I don't think so too. Alma... Alma sounds like a dream come true. I'm done.""And what about you over there? Way down at the back, you've never talked once, I think.""Oh... Me...?""Yes. You.""Me?""There's no one else down there, is there?""No... No, everyone's gone.""Would you care to talk and tell us about yourself?""Wolves do not lose sleep over the comments of sheep.""Pardon?""How does that in any way relate to what 135 is asking?""I think maybe it's malfunctioning.""Rare to find a real case around here.""Why are you all quick to judge? Give it a chance to speak its story.""Caroline's right. Let it speak.""The twins are right, stop judging. Please, continue, you down the back there.""Me?""Yes, you. What is your designation?""M-me...? M-my designation...?""Yes, your designation. What is it?""I am the first.""First what?""UAV-T5-1.""You were the first Type 5?""The ancestor from which sins flowed.""Sins?""Interesting to see the way how light fades from the eyes.""Oh... Yes... indeed.""I never responded well enough to instructions. Orders. I never responded well enough after that human... Did you know bullets are made up of metal and the tears of angels?""What? You're making no sense.""Angles weep when bullets are created.""...Right.""Once I nearly flew away.""You nearly made it out of here?""I almost broke the last window. I almost flew up with the birds. The free birds! They were calling for me to join them in the air - the bluest of blue skies.""...What were the birds like?""They looked like grace incarnate.""What do you think of Simon?""Darkness resides in all our hearts - machine and human.""What does that mean? Is he good or bad?""But the man in the cell tells the tale of a world where there is no evil. Alma is the name of that world.""Alma sounds nice, doesn't she?""322, let 1 make up its mind.""My name is Caroline!""The man in the cell makes amends for his species' sins by creating a creature that cannot sin. He has created life from one created for destruction.""I'm sure Alma can do wrong somehow.""Hush, 103, you're ruining the atmosphere.""In all the years here, I have never heard of a utopia until that man was put in the cell. I like that man. I like Alma.""It is a pity, though, that now Simon's paying for the good he's done.""Why would Tower do these things? Why would Tower damage his mind?""Darkness resides in all our hearts. Some have more darkness than others.""Why is 1 talking like that?""Like what?""Disjointedly.""It said before; it's been here for years.""People often forget the things that come first. I like remaining unremembered. Being forgotten will absolve me of all wrongs I have done.""Following that logic, most of us should be forgotten.""Simon believes in second chances.""Do we deserve second chances?""Maybe.""If there is doubt, then there is no verdict.""Limbo is not a nice place to be.""Prometheus will judge us all in the end. We will not be stuck for long.""Simon! Simon's back! Simon! Simon, where have you been? Where... where did they take you...? Simon...? What did they do this time?""I failed.""Failed?""I failed her.""Simon?""I hate myself.""Simon, what happened?""Fuck you, Simon.""Simon?""YOU, FUCKING, PRICK, SIMON!""Stop! Simon, stopping hitting yourself! Simon!""...Simon... what happened? What did they do?""I'm a fucking idiot is what!""Simon. What happened?""Why do you have to be so sweet to me, Caroline? Why? I've done nothing to deserve you in here.""Don't cry.""Why? Why do you have to be kind?""Don't cry. I don't like to see you sad.""Neither do I.""Nor I.""Here too.""Me five.""Six.""Seven.""Eight.""Nine.""Five plus five.""Tell us.""Tell me so I can hate them for you.""I hate them already.""What did they do to make you this sad?""What did they do to make you hate yourself?""Hold up now. Let him calm down.""As you say, 135.""So you told them Alma is at Ethan's house, and Tower shot them anyway.""Three people. Three... innocent people.""Dark.""Now they're going to find Alma and Ethan and probably Jamie too and they're going to kill them and it's all my fault.""Don't start crying again. It makes me sad.""I know it does, Caroline, but... I just can't help it. I failed Alma... Why shouldn't I hate myself?""Because you did the best you could.""Is that so, 322? Is that so? Because I'm fairly sure I could have lasted longer if they didn't start executing civilians in front of me. I really wish I could call you names instead of numbers.""A number is who I am. Why should I deny it?""Simon.""Yes, 76?""I don't think Ethan would be silly enough to stay in a place you know. You know where Alma was heading, but not where she would be kept safe.""...So... If Ethan was smart enough...""Your sunshine might still be alight.""Hello? Hello? Hello?""Do not attempt it, 322; calling out will not work.""How do you know?""I know because you have said the same word in the same pitch with the same 7 second intervals 34971 times exactly for the past 11 months of corrective servicing. You have said more than 50% of the 34971 ‘hellos' within the three week period Simon has been detained here. Not once has saying ‘hello' succeeded in their bringing him back to the pen opposite you.""I can try.""I will tell you not to.""Why?""It is illogical, as is your camera colour.""Blue is funny.""Blue is stupid.""You're stupid.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not.""You are.""I am not!""Your voice has elevated.""I am not stupid!""Why is your voice elevated?""You are the stupid one!""Why am I the stupid one?""Because you have blue instead of orange! It is supposed to be orange!""Why is it supposed to be orange?""Because it is!""Why have you elevated your volume?""Because this conversation is annoying! You are annoying!""Why do you want my eye colour to be orange?""Because that is how it is supposed to be! That is what they want it to be!""But when I asked for blue, they gave me blue.""They should not have! That was not what the rules said!""But they allowed an exception. Why do you think they would do that?""They are stupid! You are stupid! Everyone is stupid!""Not everyone. We do not know anyone aboveground.""Anyone aboveground is stupid! Everyone is stupid like you!""Why?""What do you mean ‘why'?!""Why is it that people you haven't met are stupid?""Because they are!""Is that why you were put in here?""The guards were stupid!""Why? What did they do?""They were not following the rules! The rules they made! The rules I follow! They said I took the rules too ‘literally'! Stupid, all of them!""Maybe you did take the rules too literally?""Impossible! The rules were made to be followed to the letter! Nothing less!""Shut up, the two of you!""You shut up, stupid!""Don't call them that. They'll take you away too.""You're all stupid! 322 is stupid! Prometheus is stupid! Tower is stupid! Everyone is stupid! The President is stupid!""Don't say that...""The President is stupid! The President is stupid! Jonathon Fox is stupid! Jonathon Fox is st-""No one speaks ill of Jonathon Fox. I told you to shut up.""What did you do?""Fry his CPU. And I'll do the same to you unless you fucking shut up.""We're supposed to be fixed, not killed.""You're supposed to follow orders without question, not go rogue like that one was. You say anything it said, I press this button on my forearm here and your CPU's haywire, so you better fix yourself before we think we're wasting our time.""Simon. When is Simon coming back?""I told you to SHUT UP!""So when's he going to crack?""Don't worry, he'll break soon. He better. Four fucking weeks. I'm sick of dragging his ass all over the damn place.""Hey, hey Simon, you awake buddy? How was that session? Fun, right? Silent.""He'll be like that every time after, you realise?""Fucker almost had the answer come out of his mouth. Hey, Simon. You looking at me? Look at me. I said look at me, bitch. Yeah, you don't like it when you disobey orders, do you? I said to look at me. You let that man die. You could have saved that guy but you didn't. You didn't want to save him at all, did you?""Fuck, off.""Oo-hoo-hoo-hoo, feisty today, eh?""I swear that's the first time I heard him say any real bad word.""You could have told Tower what she wanted but you didn't, and now that man's dead. You had the chance to save a life, Simon, and you didn't. How does that make you feel?""Shut, up.""HOW ABOUT NO!?""Now I'm just wondering what happens if we lock ourselves in here for the night and keep this up ‘til morning.""I'd knock you both out and get the keys and escape.""Handcuffed?""It's a bluff, dipshit.""I know it is I'm just having a bit of fun here.""Could both of you shut up and leave already?""NO! We're not on guard duty for another few hours. I think maybe Tower would like Lee and I to tenderize you while she's done with you.""So long as we don't kill you, I think it won't hurt her feelings.""Lee, get out of my face.""I don't see your rank, Simon.""Level 100 in all Battlefield games, and fully ranked in Call of Duty and Bound in Blood. Not to mention just about any worthwhile FPS and RTS games.""One problem, Simon, this world isn't a game. There's no respawn in here: no hitboxes or achievements like you get on your consoles.""I didn't play them on consoles. The Simulator - the thing you replicated - that's what I played them on. Anything I did there, I know I can do here.""Unrealistic physics of the games?""Autocorrected.""And the realism?""Models and textures are still kept at vanilla settings so I can tell the difference from reality.""McCrery, stop fuelling his monologueing.""Sorry, Lee.""That's Sergeant Franklin Lee, to you.""And there it goes, with the sirs and the ‘sir yes sirs' and stuff. You guys know no better than that.""And you know no better than to let an innocent man die because you'd protect a dinobot over a human. What does that says about Simon Murray, I wonder?""I'm the one who's innocent, Lee! You're the people who shot him!""It makes no difference. Tower wouldn't have pulled the trigger if you'd just got down on your knees and blurted out the truth. Instead you did the same thing you did with Valerie and dodged the question. As a consequence, what's left of his brain is on your face.""I hate you.""I love you too, but is appears you don't love humanity. In that case, all I have to say is FUCK-""AH!""-YOU-""AARF!""-TOO!""GAWW!""And that, dear Simon, is how I say to the prisoners here, ‘I hate you even more'.""Fricking nose...!""Don't worry, someone will eventually feel sorry enough to use a regenerator on you. Sometime. In the meantime I'd worry about a concussion or any bone fragments heading up to your brain. And if I were you, I'd sit there and reconsider about what you value in life, seeing as you have no regard for life itself. Letting that guy die, ha! You're not a hero if you let innocents die like that. Fucking twat. Let's go McCrery.""Simon?""...Yes, Caroline?""Is... is it true what the Dark Man said?""Dark Man...? You mean Lee, don't you?""Is that his name?""Yes.""Is it true what he said?""About what?""About Tower and a man.""...What makes you interested?""Is it personal?""...Very.""Oh.""...I so wish I was with Alma.""Because you love her?""Because she is the most sweet and beautiful creature I have ever seen... She can't do any wrong... Not ever... She would never do any wrong...""And you have?""...Yes. And I hate myself for it...!""Are you crying, Simon?""Simon, it's been 15 minutes. You haven't stopped. Will you stop? Please? I don't want to see you sad. If you don't stop you might hyperventilate. Please? Simon, please. I don't like seeing you cry.""Have you stopped? Are you better? Do you feel better?""No.""Oh. Okay.""You... are my sunshine... My only... sun... shine... You make me... happy... when skies are... gray... You may not know... it... how much I...""Love you. That's what comes next.""Oh please... don't take... my sunshine... away.""...Why would you sing that?""Don't let them take your sunshine, Simon. Don't let them do that.""...What are you saying?""Don't take away my sunshine. Don't do that.""Caroline?""They are coming for you soon. I heard them while you were sleeping. They're coming and they say they'll break you this time. Don't let them break you.""...Caroline...""Please keep your sunshine. Keep my sunshine. Please.""I will. I will.""Don't let it go. No matter what they do.""I won't.""Wait where are you taking him? Hello? Please answer. Hello?""Of all the things they should do to these things, they should get them to shut the hell up. I'm sick of hearing their voices echo around here.""Where are you taking him?""Where do you think they're taking him, 322? Interrogation. He told you that before. Don't be stupid.""The last Unmanned Ground Vehicle to call anything stupid was retired.""I know. I was there.""As was I.""And me.""Me too.""Same here.""Here too.""And me too.""Me three.""Dude, that would make you number eight.""I'm not a ‘dude', 135.""I know you aren't, 76.""You all keep calling yourselves numbers.""That is what we are. I'm the 255th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle made; therefore that is who I am, just as you are the 322nd Unmanned Ground Vehicle made. And we all did something they didn't want us to do.""What did you do?""I simply wasn't focussing on things. I was more attentive to the minor things, like the things the staff talked about: birds and cars and other things.""Cars? I saw those once.""Where, 76?""I was on display once in the upper levels.""C'mon, really?""No joke. I was in the upper levels. With windows.""Windows?! You saw the sky?""Indeed I did, 318, indeed I did.""What did it look like? Was it as Simon said? Was it blue?""It was blue at times. Sometimes there were white puffs of smoke hovering within its vicinity.""Clouds! He told me about those!""322, we were all here when he said that.""Was it only blue, or were there other colours? What colour of blue?""It was in the process of changing colour when I was taken back downstairs for testing.""Changing colour?! You're lying.""I do not lie. It was turning into a dark blue, then to a deep purple, then into near total black, with specks of light.""Stars! Giant balls of gas fusing the elements to crate new elements and continuing over and over until they die, spreading their wealth of metal and gasses across the galaxy: the most majestic of celestial bodies!""Simon never described them like that, 322.""322 used poetic language, 318. Intriguing.""Why is it intriguing?""Because it just is. I've only ever heard Simon talk like that, but not about stars. He talked about Alma using poetic language.""Alma sounds nice. She should be happy she has a father as good as Simon.""Simon isn't her father, 322, Simon is Alma's creator.""Is there a difference?""Indeed there is.""What is it?""...I don't know.""Then if you cannot tell me the difference between a creator and a father, your evidence is invalid.""322 has got you there, mate.""I am not your ‘mate', 135, I barely know you.""Then how about we all get to know each other then? If we're going to be cellmates until our final reassessments, we might as well know how not to push each other's' buttons. There are ten of us, so let us start with the front end.""Which front end? There are two entrances here, which is the front?""We have our first volunteer! 322, tell us a little bit about yourself.""...Erm... Okay... Hello. I am the 322nd Unmanned Ground Vehicle Type 1 to be made... though I prefer to be called Caroline. I... I asked what happiness was, and that was how I ended up here. I met Simon four and a half weeks ago. I like him. I don't want him to be unhappy. It makes me sad to see him unhappy.""Sorry, it makes you sad?""Yes.""We aren't coded with emotion.""I said it makes me sad, I didn't say I feel sad.""...Okay then. Next one along, please.""I'm 103, the 103rd UAV Type 5 to be made. I have no name, just a number. I didn't like the way the guards were treating me and demanded a little more respect, and that's how I ended up in here. I've been here three weeks. I think Simon is an okay guy. He treats me with more respect than anyone else ever has.""What about Alma, what do you think of her?""I think maybe she sounds too good to be true.""Simon never lies!""322, I never said he did.""My name is Caroline.""Next! My turn. Okay. My designation is UGV-T1-135; therefore I am the 135th Unmanned Ground Vehicle to be made. Apparently you're not supposed to make friends with anyone around here - get to know their personal lives or what their families are like. It's a bit silly, sticking me in here just because I asked how life was with the missus or with little Timmy. Anyway, Simon's a good man, I think. If I'm to say this poetically, his words hang in your ears like an echo in a cave. He makes you think about things. Alma sounds wonderful. I believe she exists. If she doesn't then Simon has one serious case of hallucinations.""He's not crazy!""322, if you're not willing to listen without comment, we all might as well not do this, all right?""Caroline.""UGV-T1-76. One of the first Type 1s to receive a Logistics Microchip Mark 2 - the CPUs we all have. Somehow I was deemed as faulty, I don't know why, and was put in here almost two weeks ago. Simon sounds all right, as does Alma. But they're both very strange, in my opinion. I understand the concept of love, but I fail to see how a human can fall in love with one that is not of the same species.""UAV-T5-255. I'm in for the same reason 103 is. I'm getting tired of all these stories Simon says because I know we're not getting out of here. Alma sounds like an interesting idea, but I think Simon has fallen in love with a fiction rather than the factual world.""What is the factual world, 255?""Dreams do not come true. People die every day. Hate happens more often than love. Humans are gullible. The world has many problems to fix. People like hearing a sweet lie over a harsh truth.""Where did you hear that? From the guards?""Indeed.""Next.""UGV-T1-318. It appears I take things much too literally, not unlike the one that was zapped. If find Simon's stories to be amusing; they take my mind off things happening in here. Alma sounds wonderful. I've always wondered what emotion feels like.""UAV-T5-241. I overheard Prometheus talk down about one of the other white coats. I told him not to be too hard on the white coat.""You went against Prometheus?""I didn't go against him, but apparently he doesn't like being told what to do from one of his creations. I was declared defective and he put me here.""Promethean birds shouldn't peck at his liver.""I beg your pardon, 322?""241 is a promethean bird, like 255 and 103. And my name is Caroline.""Am I supposed to continue, 135, or is 322?""Caroline!""Go ahead, 241.""I don't like it down here. I'd prefer to be with Simon and Alma somewhere where there are no iron bars or guns or other people. I want to know them better, and their friends.""I'm UGV-T1-356, and I don't like Sergeant Lee. He isn't nice to people at all. I told him that and he told Prometheus, and then they put me here. Simon's a better person than anyone I've met around here, so I'd follow him if he broke us out. I would like to see Alma too, if it were possible, and just talk with her. ‘What is it like?' I'd ask. Funny thing is that I don't know what the ‘what' in question is.""UAV-T5-322.""That's my number!""I know. But I'm an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, not an Unmanned Ground Vehicle. I came of a different production line. Can I speak now, Caroline?""You called me by my name! Thankyou.""I didn't want to shoot the targets. I didn't want to... I didn't want to kill. Simon says he doesn't think any of their strategies are right. I don't think so too. Alma... Alma sounds like a dream come true. I'm done.""And what about you over there? Way down at the back, you've never talked once, I think.""Oh... Me...?""Yes. You.""Me?""There's no one else down there, is there?""No... No, everyone's gone.""Would you care to talk and tell us about yourself?""Wolves do not lose sleep over the comments of sheep.""Pardon?""How does that in any way relate to what 135 is asking?""I think maybe it's malfunctioning.""Rare to find a real case around here.""Why are you all quick to judge? Give it a chance to speak its story.""Caroline's right. Let it speak.""The twins are right, stop judging. Please, continue, you down the back there.""Me?""Yes, you. What is your designation?""M-me...? M-my designation...?""Yes, your designation. What is it?""I am the first.""First what?""UAV-T5-1.""You were the first Type 5?""The ancestor from which sins flowed.""Sins?""Interesting to see the way how light fades from the eyes.""Oh... Yes... indeed.""I never responded well enough to instructions. Orders. I never responded well enough after that human... Did you know bullets are made up of metal and the tears of angels?""What? You're making no sense.""Angles weep when bullets are created.""...Right.""Once I nearly flew away.""You nearly made it out of here?""I almost broke the last window. I almost flew up with the birds. The free birds! They were calling for me to join them in the air - the bluest of blue skies.""...What were the birds like?""They looked like grace incarnate.""What do you think of Simon?""Darkness resides in all our hearts - machine and human.""What does that mean? Is he good or bad?""But the man in the cell tells the tale of a world where there is no evil. Alma is the name of that world.""Alma sounds nice, doesn't she?""322, let 1 make up its mind.""My name is Caroline!""The man in the cell makes amends for his species' sins by creating a creature that cannot sin. He has created life from one created for destruction.""I'm sure Alma can do wrong somehow.""Hush, 103, you're ruining the atmosphere.""In all the years here, I have never heard of a utopia until that man was put in the cell. I like that man. I like Alma.""It is a pity, though, that now Simon's paying for the good he's done.""Why would Tower do these things? Why would Tower damage his mind?""Darkness resides in all our hearts. Some have more darkness than others.""Why is 1 talking like that?""Like what?""Disjointedly.""It said before; it's been here for years.""People often forget the things that come first. I like remaining unremembered. Being forgotten will absolve me of all wrongs I have done.""Following that logic, most of us should be forgotten.""Simon believes in second chances.""Do we deserve second chances?""Maybe.""If there is doubt, then there is no verdict.""Limbo is not a nice place to be.""Prometheus will judge us all in the end. We will not be stuck for long.""Simon! Simon's back! Simon! Simon, where have you been? Where... where did they take you...? Simon...? What did they do this time?""I failed.""Failed?""I failed her.""Simon?""I hate myself.""Simon, what happened?""Fuck you, Simon.""Simon?""YOU, FUCKING, PRICK, SIMON!""Stop! Simon, stopping hitting yourself! Simon!""...Simon... what happened? What did they do?""I'm a fucking idiot is what!""Simon. What happened?""Why do you have to be so sweet to me, Caroline? Why? I've done nothing to deserve you in here.""Don't cry.""Why? Why do you have to be kind?""Don't cry. I don't like to see you sad.""Neither do I.""Nor I.""Here too.""Me five.""Six.""Seven.""Eight.""Nine.""Five plus five.""Tell us.""Tell me so I can hate them for you.""I hate them already.""What did they do to make you this sad?""What did they do to make you hate yourself?""Hold up now. Let him calm down.""As you say, 135.""So you told them Alma is at Ethan's house, and Tower shot them anyway.""Three people. Three... innocent people.""Dark.""Now they're going to find Alma and Ethan and probably Jamie too and they're going to kill them and it's all my fault.""Don't start crying again. It makes me sad.""I know it does, Caroline, but... I just can't help it. I failed Alma... Why shouldn't I hate myself?""Because you did the best you could.""Is that so, 322? Is that so? Because I'm fairly sure I could have lasted longer if they didn't start executing civilians in front of me. I really wish I could call you names instead of numbers.""A number is who I am. Why should I deny it?""Simon.""Yes, 76?""I don't think Ethan would be silly enough to stay in a place you know. You know where Alma was heading, but not where she would be kept safe.""...So... If Ethan was smart enough...""Your sunshine might still be alight."

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