DOOMSDAY HIVE
A distant, isolated colony of robot labourers race to survive a destructive solar flare and impending conflict with their human caretakers. This work of fiction may contain strong content and glaring scientific inaccuracies.
PART ONE
THE X41 WAVE
CHAPTER THREE
While much of the surface of Arles was covered with vegetation, what lay below the trunks of the mammoth plants, so important to the human population, was a freshwater ocean. Sauriol, a robot pest control operative from the Leather Clogs hive, weaved through the forest of, what looked like to the casual observer, to be ten-storey sunflowers with their heads upturned, searching for mischievous fauna.
Pilots of the crop collection drones became hive guards and hunters after they had served their intended phase of duty at the hive. Now into his second year of semi-retirement, Sauriol would stalk any given region in search of curious minds or simple trouble-makers. The planet’s fauna was not aggressive in a predatory way, but rather defensive and territorial. The life of a pest control hunter was a solitary, but tranquil, existence. One that Sauriol had felt he had earned.
His one-person hovercraft also had limited flight capabilities, which would take him only up to the flower of the giant plants. Also, it would lift him back into a drone, once one agreed to rescue him.
His marksman’s rifle lay beside him in the canoe. It was a Saline-Rigg Sharp S-12, a classic piece of equipment. It was not as efficient as the precision, long-range assault rifles used by most hunters, but Sauriol found it made his job more exciting. It was a one-shot device and, on most occasions, one shot was all Sauriol needed.
Some argued that this was less impressive for a robot to accomplish, what with his increased sensory perception, but Sauriol stubbornly clung to his metallic pride.
The sunflowers seemed especially thirsty today. The trunks pulsating with nutritious liquid intake. Sauriol began running an atmospheric test, in case there were any unusual chemicals in the air that needed reporting to the hives in the region. There had also been a significant surge in fauna boreholes in the stems, which may end up having an adverse effect on crop harvesting.
When the humans first discovered Arles, they noticed that the twin moons of Vincent and Theo spewed their own unique minerals into Arles’ atmosphere. These minerals, combined, whilst airborne, then slowly descended over the planet’s vast fields below, fertilising a crop which speedily replenished carbon-based cells and curtailed DNA interference. The humans realised this crop could be harvested and ingested to make landing on other alien worlds less dangerous, as the crop would reduce or completely eradicate the negative effects of extreme gravity, air composition, and radiation intensity on the human body. Without the crop in pill form, parts of the universe would see a human being’s body positively boiling with radioactive tumours. The controversial issue was, the natural process of moon-to-planet fertilisation served to be prohibitively slow, which was why Johannastad, and the hives, were set up - to increase production. Vincent and Theo were mined for their minerals, which were brewed in transit to Arles, then sprayed over the fields below. One standard Earth year later, the drones would launch out of their hive complexes to collect the crop, delivering their finds to the queen harvester, who brought it all back to their factory. Within the factory, the mature crop was prepared, during which time a pasteurising process took place. This final form was delivered to Johannastad to be modified into edible pill-form and stored.
NO GASEOUS ANOMALIES DETECTED… ONE HUMAN PRESENCE DETECTED AT 300 YARDS…
Stated the analyser on Sauriol’s body.
The robot hunter flicked out his Vorstedt Protector pistol, which he kept on his person for close-proximity removals. There was nothing currently in sight, but Sauriol knew that, on this world, that meant very little. A fauna borehole on a stem nearby showed signs of recent activity. He fired one shot at the water near the stem’s base. There was a minute gasp of air in shocked response.
Sauriol lowered himself into the two-foot deep swamp and crept forward.
“Hive hunter, show yourself!” He said, balancing confrontation and authority.
A small pair of hands rose above the lower lip of the borehole.
“Don’t shoot! I’m a human!”
Sauriol’s, his synthetic instinct reassuring him there was no real danger, holstered his pistol.
“Come on out, you’re in no danger.” He said, taking a step back.
Much to Sauriol’s surprise, a young boy, of particularly short-stature and light frameb fell out of the borehole into the swamp. The hunter raced forward and helped the child to his feet. The boy looked down at his soaked attire and rolled his eyes.
“Oh great, just what I needed!” He said, fishing various small personal affects from his pockets.
“What are you doing down here, child?” Said Sauriol, lifting the boy into his canoe. “I heard no report of any shuttle crashes in the vicinity.”
The boy began flipping his attire across the side of the boat to dry in Arles’ particularly balmy midday sun.
“I’ve decided to make it on my own.” He said, sniffling emotionally. “I’ve had enough of robots and humans.”
Sauriol changed his demeanour to a relaxed one, promoting openness and a willingness to share intimate thoughts and feelings. While this behaviour was not one he had made use of before, it had always been stored in his mind for potential use, especially around humans.
“People are just the worst, I agree.” Said Sauriol, concocting possible negotiations in his head. “That is why I prefer working alone.”
The boy snorted.
“Maybe I should become a robot.” Said the boy, laying back to dry himself off. “How much does being a robot pay?”
“Nothing, if you’re a hunk of metal, I’m afraid.” Sauriol said, removing the boy’s clothes from the side of the canoe one by one and flapping them energetically in the air to promote drying. “What iss your name?”
“Maybe I don’t have one anymore.” Said the boy, staring into the infinite. “Nobody owns me anymore.”
Sauriol consulted his scanner.
“Samuel Howard?” He said, scrolling through the boy’s digital biography. “Housed on the Theo-side of Johannastad. Stationed at Majolica Jug hive until this morning. Booked on a shuttle due to leave Arles three hours ago. Did not check-in. Wanted for alleged theft of hive property.”
Sammy could not repress a cheeky smile.
“You’ve got the wrong guy.” The boy said, adjusting his weight as the canoe drifted into a conflicting tide.
“So what happened?” Said Sauriol, replacing the boy’s clothes back onto the boat’s gunnel.
After a futile minute of refuting silence, the boy finally decided to drop his hardened persona.
“I was just being me.” He said, wiping his eyes. “It happens all the time. I get up in the morning, act like me, then get into trouble for it.”
A bird screeched and hurriedly flapped by. Sauriol, forgetting who he was sat with and the tone of the situation, instinctively took a shot at the bird with his marksman’s rifle, without wasting a single cell of energy. The boy smiled and lifted himself up onto his elbows.
“Cool!” He said, shading his eyes to see where the bird had fallen. “Think you could teach me how to do that?”
Sauriol emptied the spent casing from the rifle’s chamber.
“Sure.” The robot said, flipping the safety on and placing the rifle down at the boy’s feet. “But first, we need to get you onto dry land.”
Sammy sat up proper, a frown darkening his youthful features.
“I’m not going back up to Johannastad!” He said. “Or the hive. I’ve had twenty-four hours of people shouting in my ear. I can’t take anymore!”
Sauriol nodded.
“Well, there’s a robot hangout not too far from here. They’ve got some human provisions there. It’ll give you some time to freshen up and clear your head.” Said Sauriol, checking the coordinates before even getting an answer.
Sammy nodded.
“Sure, I could go for a drink.” The boy said, pulling his t-shirt back over his head. “Your round?”
As the canoe’s engine spat into life and edged the human boy and robot hunter forward, a deep laugh echoed amongst the pillars of sunflowers.
