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This life, which had been the tomb of his virtue and of his honour, is but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. (Macbeth, Shakespeare)
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The maze was made up of broken machinery, rusted metal, and rotten organic waste. The floor was covered with shattered glass and the sky offered nothing but poisonous fumes that clouded the steel ceiling. Calvin Revenant ran down the pulsing, rancid hallways of the maze. His feet crunching the broken glass underneath his boots and his armor’s shields flickering with every spark of busted machinery that made up this hell hole.
As the Security Officer raced through the never ending labyrinth a sneering, mocking voice taunted him from every discarded television screen that made up the rubble. “Yes! Run Calvin Revenant! Run! I have taken your friends… But where are they? You must find them! You must save them!”
‘Don’t listen to him.’ Calvin thought to himself as he backed out of another dead end. ‘Don’t even acknowledge him. That’s how these psychos get their kicks.’ Lord knows, the Security Officer had to deal with a lot of crazy bastards back when he served on Mars. This Allied Mastercomputer or A.M. as he liked to call himself, was just another demented monster to add to the list.
“Whoops! Chose the wrong way again eh? Heheheh…” The laughter of the A.I. echoed throughout the maze, making the machinery crackle, the earth vibrate, and the rotten organic waste pulse rhythmically. “Not too surprising though. You were always late for everything that was important in your life. Weren’t you Calvin?”
Calvin kept running. He knew better than to answer this insane computer.
“Yes. Ignore me. Discard my input! After all, my information couldn’t be any better than your track record. Eh Calvin?” The computer tsked several times over the PA system as Calvin tried to navigate another passage of the maze.
“And what a track record you have!” The A.I. continued cheerfully. “Too late to save your parents from being killed at the Misriah Massacre, too late to save poor Doctor Phineas from being assassinated by MIDA and far… far… too late to save the Earthborn girl from being murdered.”
Calvin slowed to a halt. He placed a shaking hand over the back of his neck where the neural implants sat at the base of his skull. ‘He’s in my head!’ Calvin thought to himself in horror. The Security Officer hadn’t even felt the foreign invasion within his own mind. And yet… There was no other way that this A.M. character could know any of this information.
Oblivious to Calvin’s terror, A.M. continued chatting away. “Oh I suppose being punctual isn’t a necessary requirement in order to be a good Security Officer. After all you want to help people! So… The best way to help people is to notice their problems!”
Shaking his dirty blond hair in denial, Calvin started running again. He had to get out of this maze. He needed to find his brother and Almace before this bastard got his claws into them!
“Oh… Poor Calvin. Despite your desire to do good, you were still oblivious to the pain of the loved ones beside you. Take your older brother for example. How did he manage to feed not only himself but you as well?”
Calvin kept running.
“Think about it Security Officer! You know the odds. Two little orphan children surviving in that big city. Food was scarce. Disease was rampant. Crime was common. Your big brother had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to keep the two of you safe. And he knew so much about the big bad world. Didn’t he? Just where did he learn all that from? Eh?”
A video screen jumped to life at the end of the maze’s hallway. The minute Calvin saw it, he felt sick to his stomach. It was an old case he had to do as a Martian Officer. It was originally meant to be a drug bust. But the suspects were also pedophiles and kept orphaned children as sex slaves.
“Never sell yourself!” That was the number one rule Jason had taught Calvin so many years ago. When the Security Officer made that drug bust, he finally understood why Jason kept insisting that. Calvin could never forget the stench of dried ejaculation, the sight of dried blood coating the young tiny legs, and the feeble rattling of chains as the children tried to free themselves from their bonds. Unable to contain himself any longer, the Security Officer turned away from the screen and vomited on the maze’s hallway.
“Ugh! Really now? That happened such a long time ago! Surely it is of no consequence to you now. After all, that pretty Earthborn girl was of no consequence to you after she died. Oh no! You completely forgotten about her after you reached Tau Ceti. Only to receive the shock of your life when a woman that looked just like her claimed to be one of the Security Officers for the Marathon! And… And this is my favorite part! …And she didn’t remember you!”
“Shut up!” Calvin finally spoke out. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
“Oh… Did I strike a nerve? Does it bother you that her once brown lively eyes are now the same color as dead machinery? Does it bother you that the once spirited woman is now more mechanical than a Smart A.I.? And let’s talk about that Smart A.I. while we’re at it. Didn’t you originally blame him for killing her in the first place?”
A low keen issued from Calvin’s lips. He hated that memory. He hated it so much. Never in all of his life, was he so ashamed of himself as he was from that time period.
“An understandable mistake really.” The computer kept on talking. “He opens doors. He closes doors. She died because the wrong doors got opened. I can understand why you became so indifferent to the A.I. you once called your friend. It’s not as if anyone can open doors!”
Laughter. So much laughter. A.M. was enjoying Calvin’s torment. “Well…” sang the demented computer. “That’s what you get when you’re so oblivious to everything.”
“I’m not listening to you! You damn computer! I’m going to find my family and we’re going home!” With a roar of pure rage Calvin slammed himself into one of the maze’s walls. Griping the rusting machinery and slick organic waste, he climbed upwards to the top of the labyrinth. Just before he could reach the ceiling, a crackle of pure lighting ran through his entire body from the maze’s wall. With a scream, Calvin fell back down onto the floor.
“Now! Now! Were you just cheating?” A.M. asked in pure amusement. “To think that someone with your high morals would actually cheat their way out of a maze!” The computer laughed. It was not a pleasant sound.
“But then… you’re just full of surprises. Aren’t you Calvin?” A.M.’s voice was lower now. More sinister. “You saw what happened to that poor girl when she became a Battleroid. And you… Calvin Revenant… You… Are… A… Battleroid.”
Staggering to his feet, the Security Officer pressed his hands to his head in pure denial.
“It happened when Doctor Phineas was killed. Don’t you remember? No witnesses? MIDA took care of the two orphaned boys with frightening proficiency. And then, not one to waste resources, they put your corpses to work. Except Jason had made a deal… Did he not? And you are now free and whole as if you never died in the first place! The End!” A.M. played an applause sound file over the speakers.
Calvin squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to hear this.
“Or is it? You are a Battleroid… Calvin Revenant… Those past memories of yours… Loosing your parents, living on the streets, relying on Jason… Just how many of those memories are actually real?”
“Shut up.” Whispered Calvin. “Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up…”
“Perhaps your name isn’t even Calvin at all!” A.M. gasped in horror. “Perhaps you’re nothing but a lab rat, floating six feet in the air of a cell with fiery eyes and tingling hands.”
“You’re wrong! My brother-”
“Your brother lied to you!” A.M. roared over the speakers. “Like a fool, you were led to believe you were a human for so many years! Never once questioning your newfound strength! Your heightened intelligence! Your brother sang a sweet little lie and you fell for it because you were programmed to do so!”
“No!” Howled Calvin. Shaking with violence and fear, the Security Officer fell hard onto his knees. He pounded the floor with his fists in frustration while gasping desperately for air. It took everything Calvin had to stifle his sobs. It wasn’t right, to air every fear, every insecurity out into the open like this.
“Awww! Poor Calvin… If that is even your name.” A.M.’s voice was more mocking than sympathetic. “Tell you what. I’ll let you out. Let you see your friends and family. Maybe that will make you feel better.”
A wall of the maze slid down. Then another. And another. Calvin watched, hollow eyed and empty, as a new path was laid before him that clearly led to the exit. For a long minute Calvin waited for the other shoe to drop. Then, when nothing happened, the dirty blond slowly made his way to the exit.
When Calvin finally looked outside the labyrinth, he promptly threw up.
Dead bodies. Dead bodies everywhere. Dead S’pht. Dead Drinniol. Dead Pfhor. Dead humans. All their blood and guts mixed together on the floor, making a gristly vibrant painting of color.
At the center of it all was Durandal’s broken A.I. core. Both Jason and Almace lay at the base of it. Both of their bodies were slashed, broken, crushed, and mutilated in a twisted horrific display.
“Oops!” A.M.’s laughter echoed throughout the macabre vision. “You’re too late! You didn’t get there in time to save them! Guess you’re just a nameless lab rat after all!”
Calvin screamed.
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