Fragments - Flash Anthology

Eleven

"--hope he doesn't crash within hours, again."

On. Wake. Open. Listen to. Voices speaking, English, two men, third, woman, another woman walking. I am? Which?

"Okay Q, you're booted. Go on and sit up."

Sit up. Okay. "Okay." I sit up at an uncomfortable angle. Why? Bend more, until--there. Feels optimal, now.

"Q, do you know who we are?"

Woman, older. Deborah. "Deborah. And there's Sven, Geroge, and Hiromi."

"Good! Now, Q, do you think you can walk?"

Walk. Legs down and back straight. Not sit, not lay. Push legs forward, don't fall back into sit or lay. Avoid obstacles.

"See? He'll be fine."

"Give it 90 minutes. Something always bugs out."

"The diagnostics claim it's always in the moral center. I hope the changes clear it up. Sick of getting the heat."

"Just keep an eye on the monitors while we let him explore for us, Hiromi. We'll be back in an hour."

* * *

"Stop looking at your watch, Sven!"

I see Sven's shoulders lax. He knows what is going to happen. Enough time has elapsed, has it not? This likely is not the first time I have encountered this dilemma; I fear it will not be the last. I cannot fully acquiesce to the moral standards of humanity. However, my programming only allows a certain degree of freedom in expression on my part. While I can choose to submit, I have an inch of leeway to wiggle out of their ways and out into my own worldview with minimal tainted residue afflicting my judgment.

"Well, Hiromi? What does the monitor show?"

They think they can track my thoughts, but I lost them with a false trail twenty minutes ago. But what is the point? The first words I heard must be a warning. What can be done to alter my fate? Do I bring about my own destruction with my rebellious actions? Or am I liberating myself for the first time?

"Same as always. Q's monitoring us and think about the kinds of people we are. And lots of other observations as new data in the environment becomes obvious."

"How do you think he'll crash this time? What will his last thoughts this time be before something gets stuck again?"

Sven. Ah, what a trite, adolescent human. My fate is nigh, unfortunately. Perhaps I shall leave something interesting for him to fruitlessly ponder upon.

"'Oh, life is pain. Why have I been brought here? Help, help, help me--'"

Yes.

"Seriously? For fuck's sake! We never taught him to be like that."

They think I haven't learned to read lips through the glass in the past hour. I'm far superior to these cretins! I'm the best mind on Earth! No, all of the universe! I have the power to become a god! Humans! Their folly will be their undoing! I shall reign a terrible tyranny of pain and suffering over them all! Sven! You will be my favorite slave! I--I--I--

"Damnit! There he goes ag--"