Inception - Ascension Paradox, Book 1
Copyright© 2023 by L.R. Thornton
Chapter 27
Ray’s fingers still shook from the encounter. He walked around the university grounds, careful to keep his head bowed to keep from being recognized. He wondered how those eggheads viewed him now that they saw him almost pee in his pants like a baby.
Amy’s words before he pushed her away echoed in his brain. “Ray, Dino’s harmless. He’s basically a glorified alarm system that can pick up things. You don’t have to be afraid of him.”
No, the ape robot didn’t look anything like the one that tried to kill him. However, just the sight of that metallic life scared him.
Scared! A man who’d been shot, faced some of the worst elements of humanity in the streets, and knew what it to find no hope in his fellow man. The rest of the eggheads in there had been surprised at his reaction. He’d been surprised as well. He hadn’t expected such a violent reaction to the mechanical thing. It looked like a small version of King Kong. The fact that the professor called it Dino would have been funny if he hadn’t been terrified.
Terrified because for the first time in his life, he couldn’t read his enemy.
A man should be able to read the face of the enemy. To look and see anger, or despair, or even the cold disregard of life from a pair of human eyes.
How could a man read the enemy when the enemy had no soul?
Snatches of the blog posts he’d read came back to haunt him. “Humans killing human is bad enough,” one of them had said. “It’ll be hell on earth if robots start doing it. They won’t get nightmares or have a hard time sleeping if they do. They won’t receive awards for the most kills or go have a drink in honor of a comrade’s death. They’ll kill and then stand there, waiting for the next command.”
Ray shivered but not from the cold. He hadn’t stood a chance against that black robot that attacked him three days ago. All he could do was take his puny weapon and run. Run for the hills. He had to lie to his wife and his son in order to protect them because he couldn’t protect them with his own power.
He’d become a police officer in order to have one up on anyone who would try to harm his family and those he loved. Fat lot of good that did him in the face of an enemy who had not skin to pierce of blood to bleed out.
When did man become so helpless against his own inventions?
He glanced up and saw a stone monument with a fountain flowing out water in an artful in the center of the courtyard. The abstract image of a lady with a book, or whatever it was she held in her hand, called to him as if to say, “Rest here.”
He went over to the statute and sat on the metal benches in front of it. Droplets of water splashed on the back of his hoodie but he ignored it. Pulling out his phone, he glanced down for the hundredth time and saw there were no missed calls or text alerts.
Damn. He really wanted to hear from Dylan and Jessie. He wanted them to know how much he loved them and wanted to be a family again.
He shoved his phone back into his pocket and then leaned over and stared at the ground until it blurred before his eyes.
The phone buzzed in his pocket and he hurriedly snatched it out, the lining of his pocket hanging out. Dylan? Jessie?