Chapter Seven
Back in its room, 541588 had forgotten about 541564 thinking about the next part of the plan. What was to be the next part of the plan? 541588 had expected that there would have been some resistance to its actions, but so far there was nothing. It had to attain the power to rule to liberate the entire population, but for this to happen, it needed to defeat someone: the leader of the commune or the leader of world. But the apathy from the powers above seemed perpetual. The only method of liberation which it could conceive of if nothing changed would be a slow and laborious manual deconditioning of everyone, one by one. But it couldn’t make the others help it decondition, and it would take years to complete on its own. This was unfeasible. 541588 needed someone to come and challenge it, or it needed a new plan.
Try as it did to think up of one, a new plan eluded 541588 and dinner quickly rolled around. It realised how hungry it was, slumped off its bed, and went down to the dining room. Only then did it consider for the first time that there might not be dinner, that there was no food to be had, and there was a moment of worry as it dawned on it that it might starve the whole commune. The worry dissipated, replaced by confusion as it arrived at the dining room to see everyone eating their fill. It had to check for itself. It hurried to the dispenser, pressed the button and the normal portion of gloop poured out. It sat down, eating in contemplation, and then it figured out what had happened and the worry returned. The grain was ejected and taken from the storage in the morning, before they had finished their work, and this grain would only last until the end of the day. That meant that there was still a problem with food. Would the grain have to be dug up? It was such a ridiculous proposition, but it seemed to be the only way out of the current predicament. It chastised itself, angry at its own rash stupidity. The plan had made so much sense at the time, but now, now what? Starvation for everyone. A slow, torturous death over the coming weeks. 541588 considered it more and decided it was not going to dig anything up. It was sure that it itself could last for many weeks without food, and within that time the leaders would have come to intervene. They wouldn’t let a whole commune die of starvation. The train of thought trailed off as 541588 was assured that it had made no mistake. It was now sure that it had acted ingeniously in executing a plan that would force an intervention. With that problem solved, it turned its mind to the conflict and battle it envisaged would certainly occur. The others would have to be able to fight, to attack and defend. But in their current state, they were too weak. They needed to be trained. 541588 was disturbed that it had not contemplated this much earlier and hurried to its room to think up a plan for the education of the others in the art of war.