2nd Last Post.

Here's the second of my original science ficition stories...for more details refer to previous post. :D
Comment anything u like...whether good or bad.

Friends for Life.

Blackness.

He thought: Am I dead?

His vision came on suddenly, startling him. What was worse was that he noticed the stares of men clad in white; at least he was a little relieved, the dead do not see, yet he saw!

‘Where am I? Who are you people?’ were the words that he tried to blurt out, but he could not even open his mouth.

And all of a sudden his worst fear was realised: he did not remember who he was! One of the men in white said to the others, “The subject seems to be doing well…for the moment. Let us leave him to slumber for the last time.” Then turning to he who was lying on the operating table, he said, “Subject 10-niEL, you’ll learn more about yourself soon.” The man gave an uncanny grin and left the room with all the others. 10-niEL was too tired to retaliate and fell into a deep slumber, haunted by the worst of nightmares.

“No! NO! Why are you doing this to me? Please, no! What wrong have I done you?” screamed 10-niEL in a hoarse voice as he saw a young man pick up the murder weapon and pierced him bull’s-eye in the chest. With a final scream, 10-niEL woke up from the nightmare, but he did not have any cold sweat.

10-niEL had jus slept for the last time of his life.

Soon he learned all there was to learn about his purpose on this earth. He had nearly been killed, and would have been dead if not for the new experimental technology that would help certain people live for as long as was possible.10-niEL was at first pained to know that he only had fragments of his original memory left, and the rest of his life memories could almost never be retrieved again. That was the horrific price that he had to pay for his new life.

Even more shocking was his new body. He was no longer of flesh and blood, but of steel and complex machinery; the only parts of him that had been preserved to remind him of his human roots was his face and his brain. All other traces of his humanity were obliterated in that life-giving operation. Whenever he came across a mirror, he could see his own brain enclosed in a translucent yet strong plastic case, wired all over the place to the rest of his machinery and his logic circuits, which helped him to make decisions. He did not know his original name, and no one was willing to disclose it to him. He was only known as the governmental subject ‘10-niEL’.

10-niEL was a great triumph for the scientists who envisioned a cybernetic future. As his designation suggested, he was the 10^th human to be ever transformed into a cybernetic organism, but was the first successful one. All the previous attempts had only managed to produce mutilated flesh bags of blood, never to return to the world that we know of. 10-niEL turned out to be of enormous physical strength and was to become the new generation of mankind’s servants. The scientists were gleeful and continued to churn out these victims of technology for the years ahead.

Having no family or friends, 10-niEL seemed to have lost the need for emotions; most of the time he behaved more like a dumb robot than a human; perhaps that was what one degenerated into when he was deprived of flesh and blood. But no matter; it did not hinder the scientists; in fact it encouraged them even more. This was because the Corporation, which was the corrupt world government, could take advantage of such unfeeling cyborgs to serve as their deadly spies and assassins; they were mostly unhindered by human ambitions and emotions and were thus perfect for the job.

So it was that 10-niEL almost lost all his humanity, knowing only how to kill the intolerable opposition parties around the clock; he did not need any food, drink waste disposal, sex or sleep. However, he still retained one of his human aspects; he still wondered who had tried to murder him in his previous life, and still had the urge to find out his real name.

***

Several decades passed, and most of the subjects gradually became just like dumb robots, lacking the emotional functions of humans; only their face told of their sad human origins. But 10-niEL was slightly different. He now knew his designation was just slightly different from his real name, just like all the other assassins; his name was Daniel, which might have meant that he was once a religious person. But of the present he did not know anything about religion; he had no use for it, for it could not kill.

But 10-niEL could not shake off his humanity even if he wanted to. He was constantly haunted by visions and memories of his murder, and they became clearer day-by-day.

***

Daniel and ___ were returning home after an event. Being the best of friends, they were always close to each other, and decided to take a shorter path home, as it was late and they wanted to get back to their own homes quickly. It was at that unfortunate moment that the robber had to appear and demand valuables from them. ___handed over his calmly, but Daniel simply had none. The robber tried to force Daniel to strip so that he could take what he wanted, but Daniel refused, agitating the robber. In a state of frenzy and frustration, the robber produced a sickeningly sharp knife that gleamed dimly in the moonlight, and thrust it towards Daniel. ___ somehow was quicker than the robber and ran in front of the madman and his friend, hoping to deter the former.

Alas, the robber was truly a madman. ___ slumped right before Daniel’s eyes into a bloody mess, and said his last words weakly, “Daniel! Run while you still can! Go...” The now terrified Daniel ran like the wind, but somehow the madman knew the alley better than them, and appeared before Daniel’s eyes, grinning like the Cheshire cat. “No! NO! Why are you doing this to us? Please, no! What wrong have I done you?” screamed Daniel in a hoarse voice and backed away cautiously. The robber said nothing and thrust the blood stained murder weapon towards Daniel…

And as far as the spirit was concerned, Daniel’s humanity ended there.

***

As for the present, 10-niEL had become the monster that had murdered him; he had taken away countless lives for the sake of the corrupt Corporation. However as for the murder incident, it had no impact whatsoever on the 10-niEL’s conscience, though 10-niEL could never seem to recall his ‘best friend’s’ name and appearance.

***

“You freak of science! Damned soulless creature! ARGH!” cried 10-niEL’s latest victim. Without faltering at the comment, 10-niEL emptied another round of shrapnel into the man’s body, and the room was made silent. Sensing motion from outside the house, 10-niEL disappeared in a flash. “Another successful mission accomplished,” he reported to the Corporation through the intercom.

As he awaited his next mission, 10-niEL pondered over what the man had just said. He knew he had human roots, yes, but did he have a soul? Was there a way to find out? Abruptly ending his train of thought (something he could not do as a human), he received a transmission from the Corporation. His next mission was to eliminate a dangerous young man name Keith, who had powerful revolutionary ideas that threatened to overthrow the Corporation. 10-niEL was also cautioned about how Keith owned a few assassins and guards of his own, and that 10-niEL must not underestimate him.

***

10-niEL made his way quickly around Keith’s residence and saw the human guards there pass by the main gate. Hiding at the corner, he silently snuffed the life out of them within a minute, for he was one of the Corporation’s most experienced units.

Hoping to clear this mission within record time, 10-niEL hastened his mechanical limbs and was outside the door of Keith’s room. “It is certainly so easy this time round,” thought 10-niEL as he slammed the flimsy piece of wood down.

Keith sat at the far end of the room behind his wooden desk; he was as calm as the blue sky above. 10-niEL was not, and could not, be prepared to face whatever was in front of him right now. Oh, the cyborg bodyguard beside Keith was easily expendable, but he could never bring himself to shoot. 10-niEL’s logic circuits ran round and round and round in frenzy, nearly causing his brain to overheat. Keith cackled like a witch and sneered, “What’s the matter, assassin? Can’t bear to murder your friend again? Like how you left him to die a few centuries ago? You want to get me? You’ll have to finish my loyal bodyguard off first.”

10-niEL could not believe it! Standing right in front of him was a cyborg who looked exactly like his former best friend! Perhaps that was the best cure for his own memory loss; 10-niEL was flooded with emotions he had not experienced in decades once again. 10-niEL used his lenses and zoomed in on the chest plate of the opponent, no, his best friend, and saw the designation ’51-An9’ engraved in the cold steel skin. 10-niEL was suddenly aware that he was indeed a freak of science and saw his own chest plate with ‘10-niEL’ engraved on it. As 10-niEL, no, Daniel tried to find his identity, unit 51-An9 leveled his own gun at 10-niEL’s forehead, which was the only weak spot of all assassin units.

Keith’s voice came through cold and clear to the emotionally wrecked 10-niEL, no, Daniel. “Its either I go or you go. Say, why not you go? You poor little thing, can’t even remember what its like to be human? Five-One-Ay-En-Nine! Fire at will.”

Daniel knew he had a soul, but what about his friend? He quickly scanned the cold, dull eyes of Unit 51-An9, for he remembered an old saying that ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’ and how his previous victim had accused him of being a ‘soulless creature’. Apparently 51-An9’s eyes showed no signs of the soul, and was just a piece of machinery that had the thought processes of a human; and so there was no reason for Unit 10-niEL not to fire.

Brushing aside his humanity once again, 10-niEL fired at Keith. As expected, Unit 51-An9 rushed in front of Keith to block the shot. The incident of the past suddenly had Daniel and the murderer’s roles reversed. 51-An9 crumpled into a heap; Keith, who was also a well-known sharpshooter, fished out a simple laser weapon of his own, and aimed perfectly at 10-niEL’s forehead.

The unexpected always happens, for this is the rule of life. 51-An9 had not completely gone yet; he looked painfully with teary eyes at 10-niEL and whimpered in an exceedingly soft but still audible voice, “Daniel….Run…..while you still can…….Go….” 10-niEL glanced at 51-An9; the latter had his life snuffed out finally, with a single tear emerging from his right eye. But poor 10-niEL, he was brought back to a moment in the past, where his best friend had said exactly the same thing to him just before he expired. History was repeating itself all over again, but currently 10-niEL knew that his friend still had a soul.

Suddenly 10-niEL was Daniel again, the human who could feel guilt for all his misdeeds and pain for his dead friend. He lowered his weapon and said to Keith, “You are a great man who will accomplish much. I cannot thank you more for letting me regain my humanity, and for that you shall live…” Keith genuinely smiled; it was as if through divination he knew that this would happen all along. “But for me, Unit 10-niEL, otherwise known as Daniel aeons since, am a freak of science, and have served evil, do not wish to live in this mutilated state any longer.” He knelt down beside 51-An9, metal knees scraping against the floor, and in a quick movement; he removed the plastic case that held his gray matter and ripped out the latter with all its wiring. A terrific clang resounded as metal fell upon metal. Daniel gave an inhumanely piercing scream of pure agony and suffering, and cried out his last words:

“I am coming to join you, my friend…”

Alas, the legacy of Unit 10-niEL was finished; not by powerful weapons or conspiring intellectuals, but by the great weakness of lifelong friendship.

Keith quickly buried the two lifeless machines together behind his house and called for more bodyguards to be sent. The sun was rising; he now knew who was the real revolutionary, and he knew he could live up to Unit 10-niEL, no, Daniel’s words of wisdom. Thus he went back to his room to continue planning the long-awaited revolution against the Corporation…

“Amigos para siempre
Means you'll always be my friend
Amics per sempre
Means a love that cannot end
Friends for life
Not just a summer or a spring
Amigos para siempre…”

End.