Chapter Three
The leader of the commune was sitting alone in its control room. It watched the destruction unfold from a collection of screens on the wall. It saw 514588 meddling in the manufactory, saw it conduct some sort of process in the fields with its deconditioned group and then saw the disastrous effects of that process. And though I had seen multiple thunderstorms throughout its life, it had never seen one so ferocious, one that would set fire to the crops. Now, things were starting to fall out of its control despite everything it tried to do. It chastised itself as it watched the fields and the crops burning in the brilliant fire. The fault lay with itself. 514588 had been borne out of an inattentiveness of its predecessor, but I had many opportunities to rein it in. Instead it had, as much as it loathed to say, enjoyed the spectacle of 514588’s life. It was boring, the days sitting alone in front of the terminal, eternally monitoring nothing, so when it discovered 514588, it thought it some harmless entertainment. But then, it escalated, of course it would, and it happened far too quickly for I to handle. The failed crops were an issue, but the commune could still function as normal; they had a large amount of emergency rations in storage. There was enough food in there to last them to the next harvest season. If 541588 could get its hands on that, then there would be real trouble. That would starve the commune, or even worse, allow 541588 to take control of it.
I looked at the screens again and saw the disoriented workers running back to their apartments as the wind swept the fire in their direction. On another screen there was 514588, lying on its back, smiling deliriously. The idiot! It was too stupid to understand what it was doing and how much damage it was causing, but it could somehow constantly conjure up new methods of ruin. The murder, the torture, the deconditioning and now the fire. It was an evil too much for I to handle. It moved over to its computer and initiated a never used program.
After a short period of loading, a stern face showed on the screen. I was not used to seeing the faces of those from the central control. This one was lined with old age and sprouted grizzled grey hair. His strange appearance did not help with I’s nervousness. It knew that this was only for emergency situations, and was embarrassed to have to use it, but it was too important, too necessary. It was out of options.
“There’s a problem I need help. It was…it was the one before me. It didn’t… didn’t do it properly and now there’s this it wasn’t my fault and there’s one that didn’t get conditioned properly, didn’t get the BCM and now…” it trailed off. The face on the other side of the screen remained silent, and the quiet lingered for long enough that I was emboldened to continue. “It was, it was fine at first, then it, it killed one of the others and then somehow started to decondition some more, and then today, it, I, I don’t know what it did, but there was a storm and massive storm, I’d never seen anything like it before and there was lightning,” a shaking boom at that very moment verified the veracity of this statement, “and then the crops were set on fire and I don’t know what to do or what it’s going to do and if the grain stores are destroyed or the, if it destroys the grain stores, then we’ll be without food and then we’ll…” I trailed off again as it contemplated the potential and very disastrous consequences of this likelihood.
The face listened and after I finished, its features softened into a slight smile. Its calm voice was in stark contrast to the desperate blubbering of I. “We understand what’s going on in your commune. We see and hear everything, and I can assure you that we are working extremely hard in finding a solution. We expect that we will be able to send military forces to assist you within a single month--”
“A month! That’s too long!”
“Well it’s the best thing we can do. We’re trying. So sit tight and help will come.”
Despite I’s protestations, the connection cut out. The person on the other side had left and it was clear that there would be no further discussion.
I was at a lost. What was it to do? All it could do was sit and watch. It turned around and tested the knob on the door. It was locked. One month. It had to limit the damage and preserve its own safety as best it could from inside its sanctuary. It resolved to call the central control again in a short time and try to pester them into sending help sooner. I was not sure if it could handle a whole month with 514588 continuing to wreak such havoc.
Unbeknownst to I, the person on the other end of the line was no ordinary member of the central control. It was the Grand Master himself. It was in the midst of a complex project, and the news it heard from the commune was conducive to a positive result for the work it was undertaking. Of course, help could be sent immediately, but the Grand Master had other plans.