From Detective Sidewalker's Notebook 10:05 PM I radio Moriz and tell him were heading west on Route 12 and I want him with us. The Orcus family may be leading us to Landgraab. Lawson follows the van when it exits Route 12 onto Eskil Farm Road. Chavez and I take the turn a few minutes later. I see the headlights of Moriz car coming up on our rear. We stay well back from Lawson and the van. 10:20 PM With all the lights off on our cars, we approach a sprawling one-story building and pull up on its lot. It looks like a manufacturing plant. No windows. One entrance. Three garage bays. Lawson says the van pulled into one of the garages. Moriz joins us and I tell the two of them to check the garage first, and then look for other exits around the far side of the building. I dont want anyone leaving the site. I want to question everybody and anybody whos here. If you find anyone, round them up in one place. Chavez and I head for the main entrance. One of the doors is unlocked. We see nothing of interest in the small lobby. A set of doors open into a long hall and we hear the sound of machinery to the right. The sound is faint, but definite. Chavez and I follow the sound down the hall and through a door into another hall. Halfway down the second hall is a set of glass doors opening into a large room full of equipment. The bottom half of this page is torn off. There is evidence that the two following pages have also been torn out of the notebook. On the next page, he writes: I will state in my official report that we did find Dagmar Bertino in that building. I will also state therein that she went to that location voluntarily, and has now returned to her home in Sayreville and to her job as mail carrier. I will further state that one of the two missing robots, Orion Thanatos, was also at that location, and has returned to his home and to his job with Orcus Industries.
From the private files of Duke Sidewalker The one-story building that Moriz, Lawson, Chavez and I searched on that Tuesday night belongs to Orcus Industries. Although Maxine Orcus had told me that her company did not manufacture the robots it designed, she was lying. They build robots, and they build them in that building at the end of Eskil Farm Road. She lied because they have only one buyer for the robots they build. That buyer is our Government, and the project is top secret. When Chavez and I walked into that room, we found three Dagmar Bertinos, all of them identical in appearance. They were robots in production and already dressed in mail carrier outfits, because that is their intended function, to work for the post office delivering mail. I showed my badge to the technician. It stopped his yelling about our trespassing. I asked him where I could find Nigel and Maxine Orcus. He said they were in a conference room across the hall. With Malcolm Landgraab. I told Chavez to stay with the technicians, and used my cell to call Lawson. I told him to meet me outside the conference room. We entered the room together and found all four of the Orcus family members there, as well as Landgraab. Landgraab looked smug. Nigel Orcus looked relieved. I am documenting the ensuing conversation very carefully for my own records. I said, Where is the mail carrier, Dagmar Bertino? Nigel said, Shes in Room 103 down the hall. I said, Why is she here? Who brought her here? Nigel looked over at Landgraab who was talking to Lawson. He looked back at me. She came with Landgraab. He thought we would give him what he wants in exchange for her safety. Nigel was not a happy man. We agreed. Room 103? Detective I am going to walk down that hall and talk to her. If she has been harmed in any way, I will arrest both you and Landgraab for kidnapping. Detective, there is something you should know Lawson will stay with all of you here. Dont leave the room until I say so. I took Chavez, went out to the larger hall, and followed it to Room 103.
A daytime picture of the robot production facility. And stay tuned: Dagmar has more to write in her diary, as soon as she gets it back.
Wow. What amazing pictures. That certainly explains all the Dagmar Bertinos out there! What an imaginative story, Lynet. I would never have guessed! Can't wait to hear what Dagmar has to say ...
Hmm does that mean Sheldon and Pao are robots too, or they're just average Joes hired by the government to deliver mail? Intriguing!
Man...three Dagmars in that picture...that's kind of creepy! Wow; I can't wait to read what Darmar has to say about all this!
Dear Diary, It has taken me all afternoon to read everything I wrote on these pages before today. There isnt much, but I went back to the beginning and read it two more times. And I thought about it for a while, too. I dont feel like the same person who wrote all of that. She was such a silly girl, worried about getting dates, and never wanting babies. Who was Roger? I remember a face. But was he real? Or was he a fake memory given to me by Maxine? I asked Orion. He said that memory is a peculiar and elusive thing. No one, whether their brains are entirely metal or entirely organic, can be sure about what they remember. The conscious mind hates a pothole, and will fill it in with something, real or not, until the road is smooth. But the reason that Orcus Industries created parents for me, and buried them at Gothier Green Lawns, was not to deceive me about who I am. The reason is that all people, even people like us, need an anchor in Time. We all need a starting point. A beginning. Thats what Orcus discovered. The people they created--the androids--failed and died, unless they were each given memories that suggested change and growth over time. Walking out of the lab, fully functional, but with nothing in your skull except a memory of white walls and instructions on how to perform daily tasks, doesnt do it. The androids died within a few days, because they were disconnected from any sense of self. They were completely, unimaginably, alone. But now I know its all fake. Will I die? He grabbed me and kissed me, his mouth warm and so real on mine. Then, with his arms still tight around me, he told me that he had wanted to do that the first time he saw me walking in the lane near the hospital. He said, Do you remember that? Talking to me in the dark there? Yes, I remember. I fell in love with you that night. You must always remember that night, because it is our beginning, yours and mine. Its all we need.
Dear Diary, My hands are the same as they always were. I study them front and back, and cant see any difference. I stare at my face in the mirror and try to imagine grey metal flesh, like Orions. Just a day ago, imagination wasnt necessary. My hands and face were grey, with black seams running everywhere, up and down my arms, on my face along the hairline, and on my cheeks and chin. Then, slowly, the grey faded and became pink again. The seams disappeared. I looked the same as I had always looked. Orion stood behind me, looking at me through the mirror. His skin was still grey and seamed. I asked him what happened. Why did my skin change to look like yours, and then back again? It's a defense mechanism. The organic molecules of your skin were absorbed into the alloy when you experienced a severe shock to your mind and body. As a matter of fact, most of your organic parts shut down the night before last, when you saw something you were never supposed to see. You had a horrific shock, Dagmar. You might have died. But you didnt, and you are healing. He rubbed my shoulders, and somehow knew what I wasnt asking him out loud. He said, My skin will never look like yours. It never did. People will always know that I am an android. They wont know that about you. Unless they see a room full of clones, like I did. But you are special. Im duplicated in neighborhoods all over the world. Exact duplicates. Not exact. Not their personalities, their interests, likes and dislikes. Ive heard it referred to as the butterfly effect. Orcus tries, but it cannot completely control all factors. You saw a room full of faces that looked like yours, but none of those women are identical to you, nor to each other. Butterflies. A room full of butterflies. I like the thought of it.
Dear Diary, I know what Orion is doing. He is taking care of a sick person. Me. I heard Maxine tell him that they were going to reprogram me, give me completely new memories and erase all memories of my life up to now. She told him that it was the kindest thing to do, and that if he wanted me to love him, they could arrange for that, too. I wanted them to erase everything. I wanted not to know. I was losing my mind, screaming at the walls, throwing things against it, even chairs and lamps. I wanted to be unconscious. I wanted not to exist. But Orion said he would not allow it. He wouldnt let them touch me. He wouldnt let them in the same room with me. He stayed with me, talked to me, and calmed me down, although I still wanted to die. He knew that, too, and said I could do that later on, in a couple of days, if I still wanted to. I was quiet and not screaming, anyway, when the detective came into the room. First, his face went white, and then he got very red and very angry. They told me that Dagmar Bertino was in Room 103. He was yelling. Where is she?! Orion looked at me. I said, Im Dagmar. It felt strange to say my name, because I knew there were a thousand others who also believed they were Dagmar. Orion said, Dagmar tried to escape from Landgraab, ran into the wrong room, and saw the clones. She didnt know anything about them before tonight, and the shock to her system has had a somewhat startling, although temporary, effect on her. Shell be back to normal in about a day. Maybe two. The detective said, And you are Orion Thanatos.
Diary, the next thing that detective said was, Wheres Andromeda ONeill? Just like that, the detective changed the subject. It confused me for a minute. Orion blinked a few times. I suppose he thought the detective would continue demanding the location of the real Dagmar Bertino. Instead, we were all of a sudden talking about Andromeda ONeill. I think the detective does that on purpose. Maybe he thinks its easier to get the truth that way. I think not. I think people just get angry when they get flustered, and say wild things they dont mean. Orions face got very smooth and expressionless. He said, I do not have any idea where they are. They? She left the house with Arkin. She told me to get a message to her husband, and then they drove away. I do not know where they went. What did they talk about before they left? Arkin told Andy Rose about the Firefly Project. Dont ask me about it, Detective, because I cannot discuss it with you. You might try asking Landgraab. I understand that Nigel has turned over the schematic for that machine to him, which will cause no end of problems for all of us. The detective rubbed his chin. Can we stop Landgraab? Not legally. The detective turned his head and looked at me with narrowed eyes, but I could tell that he knew who I was. I wanted to hit him. Looking at me was not anywhere near so difficult as being me. I stayed quiet. Sidewalker said, Tell me, Dagmar, that you are OK. If you are not, I will go and arrest that whole crowd and throw them in jail. Orion said, Im going to take her home, Detective. Maxine has arranged with the Post Office for Dagmar to have some time off. Her job will be waiting for her when she wants it. The detective still looked at me. I want, he said very slowly and quietly, to hear that from Dagmar, herself. They created me, I said. Can you put them in jail for that? The detective shook his head. No, I cant. Thanatos, give me your address. Ill be around to see you in a couple of days. Obviously, I dont want you leaving town. Are we clear? Yes.
From the private files of Duke Sidewalker I noticed Sheldon Hanby putting mail in the stations mailbox and I went out to chat for a minute. When I shook his hand, I wondered what lay under the skin, bone or metal. Or both. The story behind the robot factory on Eskil Farm Road has me wondering about all the people I see every day, behind the cash registers at the grocery story, waiting tables at Reds diner, delivering my mail and my newspaper. Sometimes I dream about armies of androids marching down the streets, the same face repeated over and over, eyes blank and staring, and I wake up in a sweat, breathing hard. Not all of them, I think. It cant be possible that all the shopkeepers and public servants are robots. But, they are always there, day or night, always ready to seat us at the table or sell us that magazine. Do they ever leave their posts? If so, where do they go? Underground? Are there massive, dark machines rumbling deep below the earth beneath my feet? Machines that keep the food on the grocery shelves, the clothes on the store rack, the trees green, the sun and moon in orbit, and the clerk in place at the cash register? I have to stop thinking like this. It's bad for my blood pressure. I turn over and look at the sleeping face of my wife, at the shape of her body under the blanket. I think its time we had a baby. There is nothing more real than the needs of a baby.
I think I should admit that the idea of underground machines providing all needs is not original with me. I borrowed that particular idea from H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. However, I thought it fit particuarly well into sim lives, the underground machine in this case being the computer beneath your monitor. The robot idea was mine, though, unless I read something I don't remember reading (by Isaac Asimov, perhaps .)
What a fabulous story, Lynet! (As usual!!!) It is is in the same tradition as all of the great story-tellers, who look at the world around them and ask "Why are things the way they are?" and then come up with a story (however fanciful) to explain it. (Why is the sky blue? How did the leopard get its spots? Why is there a Dagmar Bertino who delivers mail in every neighborhood?) Bravo, Lynet! Bravo!! raise: And what an interesting concept - the government paying to have mailpeople replaced by androids. Well, I guess that is one way to cut down on Postal Workers going - well - going Postal! (At least one hopes so! It simply chills the blood to think about a whole army of android postal workers running amok!!! :wideeyed: )
Thanks, Sacha. There will be a couple of more chapters because I still have to bring Andromeda home to her long-suffering Cory. Meanwhile, back to work.
Dear Diary, I've moved in with Orion. We drove over to Sayreville to get my things and then stopped by the pet store. Orion promises me he's going to build walls around the rooms of his house and put a roof on it, but in the meantime, because I feel so nervous here since being kidnapped by Landgraab, we got a dog. Of course, the dog knows nothing. He sleeps on the furniture when he's not chewing it to pieces. He runs out and stares at anyone who walks by. He's loud, barking at everything that moves. He drools, and he keeps peeing on the carpet. It stinks. It's hard to find a clean place to sit and write. But he's cute. And it's cute to watch Orion playing with him. I guess I'll get use to him. I called Pao today. I didn't tell him all that's happened, just that I've been sick. Pao said he's found another clue about Andromeda O'Neill! Someone in the building right down the street from the police station ordered books just like those that Arkin and Orion used to get. Scientific books about strange things. Pao told Detective Sidewalker. They're checking up on it. I sure hope it's true. Oh, BLAST! Hunter's doing it again! I'm leaving it to Orion. He was supposed to take him out for a walk.
From the private files of Duke Sidewalker 10:30 AM Pao Mellons information about the book order is probably nothing, but I have no other leads. I take Moriz and Chavez for a walk down the street. I try not to think about the embarrassment to me, and to the rest of the force, if the missing woman turns out to be living on the same block as the police station. For a month. A ring on the doorbell brings a pale man in shirtsleeves running. Moriz asks the man if he has seen a dark-haired woman in the area. Her name is Andromeda ONeill. Etc., Etc. Of course! Shes downstairs with Arkin. Come along. Ill point the way. Moriz, Chavez and I look at each other, then follow him. He leads us through the property to an older building in the rear, one of those that the Preservation Society has listed as Untouchable. Inside the crumbling interior, a small, rotting wooden door opens to concrete steps leading down. I suspect the Preservation Society does not know about the brand new concrete steps and walls that we discover as we walk down to a brightly lit area three levels below the street. We feel a faint vibration through the floor. We dont have to walk far before we find ourselves in a small room full of people. One of them looks like a member of the Orcus family. Shes busy talking to another guy who looks like hes a member of the mushroom family. He and several others, like the man who met us upstairs, have skin so pale that Im forced to conclude they live permanently underground. In the middle of them, and in the middle of machines covered with multicolored, blinking lights, is a robot. And also, Andromeda ONeill, looking flushed, healthy and very happy. We did it! she says when she see us. Landgraab is finished. Did what? Chavez and I spoke together. The robot said, We took control of the weather machine away from him. Around you here is the Counter Effect. Its taken weeks of hard work, but its done. He thought he could control the world by controlling the weather. We cant stop the weather, but we can mitigate the damage. All three members of the police force stared at him blankly. Finally, I said, Whats weather?
From the private files of Duke Sidewalker I will not try to repeat what Arkin told us. I didn't understand it anyway. But he and Andromeda insisted that whatever happens after today might have been a whole lot worse, and might now be only amusing. Even entertaining. I hope so. I looked around at their machines and didn't ask any more questions. I really didn't want to know the answers. Then I took Andromeda home. ~~~~~~~~~~ THAT'S ALL, FOLKS.
