Fake Humans

Prompt Three
Word Count = 4,976

1. Image




2. Words

Demesne
Festivities
Serendipitous

3. Concept

Artificial Intelligence

Fake Humans

     A Laser Ball headed right for a spaceship. It got bigger on the main monitor in Control Central as it got closer to that spaceship. Number One could see the numbers in his eye slits. “Everyone, brace yourself.”

     Number One sat backward in the chair in the center of that room and quickly hit a button on the arm of her chair. A few seconds later a clear metal engulfed her from shoulders to feet. “This one is twice as big as the last three.”

     After tapping another button on that arm, Number One said, “Everyone on board. A fourth laser ball is about to hit us.”

     Less than a minute later the red ball of fire struck them. It shook up everyone there violently, but they all remained at their positions. “Fire back. Aim for their weapons and engines.”
Several seconds later two laser balls could be seen shot out from under the main monitor. One turned toward the front of an almost identical spaceship while the other one headed for the back. Everyone there could hear the explosions that occurred a few second later.

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “Damage report?” Number One asked after her full-length image suddenly appeared in engine central. “Have you found out why we are dead in space yet?”

     “With all the attacks the last few days, I haven’t had the time to scan them. I was about to do it when you popped in.”

     Number Forty-Six closed his eyes and placed his hand on the palm imprint on the control panel in front of him. Through his eye slits, he could see what was in the engines. After a few seconds of scanning, he removed his hand.

     “The problem was caused by some loose wiring that made a power tube explode. I will have it fixed within an hour.”

     “Good, the sooner we get out of here the better. In the last three days, the Vorgons have tried to destroy us six times. I don’t want to be around for a seventh attempt.”

     Number Forty-Six looked at Number One mad. “We wouldn’t keep having all these problems on the ship if we could have tested it before we left Vorgon.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Number One's whole body shivered. Then sat back into her chair and swiveled around toward weapons control. “How bad are we doing on protecting ourselves?”

     “Weapons check complete,” said Number Fifteen not looking up from his control panel. “We have about a thousand Laser Balls and sixty Death Missiles. Five hundred Death Balls, two hundred and fifty Damage Balls, and two hundred and fifty Protection Destroyers.”

     “Good, that should be more than enough to protect us if the Vorgons show up within the next hour. Once we can leave here, it’s going to take them another few months to find us.”

     Number Twenty-Eight swiveled around in her chair toward Number One. “We have another big problem. Long range scans show another Vorgon ship approaching us.”

     “That’s nothing to worry about. “Didn’t you just hear me? We can take out all that they send after us.”

     “I don’t think we can this time. It’s not just one ship. Our enemy is coming toward us in all directions. We are going to be surrounded by them in a few minutes.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “Bring up what we are dealing with.” A few seconds later the image of space on the main monitor disappeared to reveal a large green dot surrounded by sixteen red ones.

     “It doesn’t look too good, does it?” Number One scanned the room as she said, “Any ideas on what we should do.”

     “If we can do it, we should run. Since we can’t we have no choice but to fight back,” said Number Fifteen.

     “There is another choice,” said Number Twenty-Eight. “We could surrender.”

     “That was the first thing I thought too, but with this many ships, I don’t think they are here for surrender. Besides, every time they have confronted us since we left Vorgon they have tried to kill me. They haven’t even tried to make contact. I doubt they have suddenly changed their minds.”

     Number one looked around the room very slowly. When no one else responded, she hit another button on the arm of her chair. A few seconds later the image of Number Forty-Six appeared. “How far have you gotten with the engines? Do we have any maneuverability?”

     “It has only been a few minutes. I just got started with the repairs. Why do you ask?”

     “I don’t think we are going to have enough time for repairs now. We are about to be destroyed.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “What are they waiting for?” Number One asked. “It’s been almost a half hour. Don’t get me wrong; I’m happy they haven’t, but I still want to know why they haven’t attacked us yet.”

     Number One leaned down toward ship control. “We should be able to move a little by now. If we can Number Thirty-Nine, aim us for that planet.” Number One pointed to a small planet that could barely be seen at the bottom middle of the main monitor.

     “It might be our only hope for some of us surviving this. They might even think all of us died in the crash.”

     A few seconds later the image of a planet begins to reveal itself until it was in the center of the main monitor. “The enemy have started powering up their weapons.” Number Twenty-Eight swiveled toward Number One in shock. “They are about to start their attack.”

     “I want an image, now.” A few seconds later an image of their spaceship appeared with the sixteen that surrounded it. All the enemy ships started their attack at the same time. They aimed all their laser balls at the engines. Everyone swerved around toward Number One. Except for gender, everyone there looked exactly like Number One. At least they did in the face.

Fifty-Six Years Ago

     Number One turned her head toward Norcus. “Why are you doing that?” She stood in the center of a scientist room with her back away from Norcus.

     Norcus closed her back panel and turned her around to face him. “I thought something was wrong with you, Number One.”

     “What’s wrong with me now?” Number One asked.

     “Nothing, I just thought there was. I panicked and opened you back up to find out why you didn’t wake up. You didn’t respond when I came in here a few minutes ago, and I tried to do it three times.”

     “So, I am okay now. What was wrong with me?”

     “Just a few loose wires. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, Number One.”

     “Why do you keep calling me that. Is that my name?”

     “The reason I call you that is that you are my first creation. I thought about giving you a real name, but I changed my mind because you’re not human.”

     Number One looked confused. “I’m not human. I look exactly like you. Except I am a female.”

     “I thought you knew that you were a fake human. Maybe you’re not ready to be revealed to the world yet.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     The double doors opened, and a couple came in. They stopped and looked around that large room. When they saw two empty chairs, they took them.

     “It looks like everyone is here.” Norcus stood in the center of a raised platform in front of about two hundred Vorgons.

     “We all know why we are here,” Norcus shouted a few seconds later. “We are here today to talk about my fake human creation.”

     “That’s what you said seven months ago,” shouted a male from the center of the room. “You set up this meeting. Then you suddenly canceled it.”

     “I thought I was ready to announce her, but I wasn't. Now I am.”

     “We are here today to talk about how we get the funding to create more of them. The World Government would be the logical choice. I don’t want to get it from them if we can do it without them.”

     “The way I have figured it we need about ten trillion covs to do it. If you can’t do it yourself, you know those who can.”

     “Why should we do that?” Asked a female toward the front. “You still haven’t shown us your creation.”

     Norcus smiled. “You have been talking to her ever since I started this meeting.” Number One opened her top to reveal her female attributes.

     Everyone reacted to it. Some gasped, but most started shouting questions. “What I’m hearing is that most of you think I killed Norcus. I didn’t. He died a couple of months ago, naturally. The reason I didn’t tell anyone else this until now is that I didn’t want the world to know it until I had this meeting."

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Standing in front of a glass wall, Number One looked down at one hundred fake humans that looked just like her. She had four tubes on each side of her head sticking out. Each one ended above her. Similar tubes came down from the ceiling to be attached to the fake humans in a large room.

     “It has taken me almost two months to give these fake humans’ life. That’s because it was only me creating them.” Number One sat at the head of a long table with five Vorgons on each side of it. Behind her showed her with the tubing.

     “Once I created the first three they helped me create the other seven. Those ten created the other ninety.”

     “The hundred will split up and go to twenty-five creation factories all over the world to create the others. They will do it like I did. A few at a time and they can help the four create the rest. I figure it will take about a year to create them all.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “The last fake human has been completed,” Carnine said as she came running into a large office. She didn’t even bother announcing herself first.

     “That’s great.” Number One sat behind a large desk. She smiled as she looked up at Carnine. “It’s been almost a year. I was starting to think we weren’t going to get it done as planned. Who was the factory that produced the final fake human?”

     “It was factory six. They complete the last one first.”

     “Congratulate them, and give each one of the four originals a million covs. Also, contact all the factories and tell them to stop production. We have our five billion.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Number One came storming through a thick door, knocking it inward as she did it. “Sorry about that.”

     Hella sat behind a large cluttered desk. She looked up in anger. “Who let this thing into my office? What did you do to Sandall?”

     “If you are talking about your assistant, he's going to be okay. I didn’t kill him.”

     After getting up, Hella adjusted her military uniform as she walked in front of her desk. “Why are you here.”

     “I’m here because I want to talk to you about my people. You put them in dangerous situations or the military. That wasn’t part of our deal.”

     “First, they aren’t your people. They aren’t human. Neither are you. You are fake humans.”

     “Secondly, we have no deal. We never did. I just agreed to it to get you things created. Like I just said, you’re not human. So, you can’t make any deals.”

     “I'm the one who started this business, which means I owe it. That’s the law.”

     Hella started laughing. “Yes, you created it, but you don’t own it. You never did because you’re not human.”

     “We own it and you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Hella returned to her chair. “By the way, that five million covs you gave yourselves has been taken away from you. Things don't get anything for doing what they were created to do.”

Forty-Two Years Ago

     “Do you know why you are here?” Bacca, according to the nameplate in front of her, asked. She sat in the center of a large half circle table with six other Vorgons beside her. Number One stood opposite them in a small one individual half circle.

     “When we first created you we thought five billion would be good since there is a trillion of us,” Bacca continued. “Especially when two billion went to the military and dangerous situations, but we were wrong.”

     “A lot of us still fear you,” Bacca continued after a few seconds. “We are afraid that you will try to destroy us.”

     “First, you didn’t create us. We created ourselves,” said Number One. “Second, we have only a few in every city all over Vorgon. If anything else there needs to be more of us. Third, we aren’t a threat to you. We were created thirteen years ago to help make your lives easier.”

     Bacca talked to the others for several minutes. “You have brought up some valid arguments, but our fears are still there. The military and the dangerous workers we still need, but the rest of you aren’t.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Number One sat behind a big desk staring at five floating monitors. “The Committee still says that I have to destroy all the domestic workers, the city workers and the out of city workers. I have been spared because I am considered your leader, but the rest of you are not.”

     “They gave me two months to do it,” Number One said after a few seconds. “Those months are almost up. I’m not going to do it.”

     “There is only one thing to do,” said Number Two One Six in a military uniform. “We have to fight.”

     “That’s easy for you to say,” responded Number Four Eight Three who stood in an almost empty field. “You can fight. We can’t.”

     “You’re not even among us that are in danger,” continued Number Seven Two Five Four who stood in a living room. “So, you shouldn’t even be here.”

     “Yes, he should. You five represent the rest of us,” said Number One. “What we decide today we do it together.”

     “I don’t like it, but I agree with Number Two One Six. “What else can we do?” Number Nine Four Seven asked while cleaning an office.

     Number One didn’t say anything for several minutes. “I agree with Number Nine Four Seven and Number Two One Six, but if we do fight, we will be admitting to their fears against us.”

     “No, we won’t. They started this,” said Number Two Five Three Six One who stood in the opening of a cave. “We will be just protecting ourselves.”

     “I didn’t think about that,” said Number One who then turned to face Number Two One Six. “If we do fight back, how long will it take for you to train the rest of us to fight too.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “I told you that if you gave us four more months, I would eliminate them,” said Number One. Once again, Number One stood in front of The Committee. “It took longer because I couldn’t just switch them off or push a button. We are not mechanical beings.”

     “That’s good,” said Bacca. “What proof do you have you have done this?”

     “Why do I need that?” Number One asked.

     “We find it hard to believe you would do this to your own kind,” said Bacca. “That’s why we need proof.”

     Number One didn’t say anything for about a minute. “What if I don’t want to give it to you?”

     “If you don’t then we will presume that you didn’t do it, and we would do it ourselves,” said Bacca.

     “You would be making a big mistake if you did that,” replied Number One. “That would be an act of war, and you don’t want to go to war with us. That would be five billion to one trillion. Who do you think would win it?”

     “So, you didn’t destroy them after all. You just said five billion,” said Bacca.

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “Why haven’t we won this war?” Asked Number One. “We should have done it in five or six months after it began. “It’s been almost two years now.”

     Number One leaned over a large table in front of her desk. Five others stood around her. She was looking at some papers, shuffling through them, and every so often they would look at the monitors that surrounded them. Almost every monitor depicted a different battle.

     “How many battles do we have going on right now?” Number four five one asked.

     After looking at the papers and monitor for a minute, Number One said, “We have seventy-six battles all over the world at the moment, and we are losing all of them. Why are we being defeated? After all, we are superior in strength, knowledge, and fighting skills. I want to know why we haven’t won this war yet. There has got to be something the humans are doing. The big questions what is it.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     A body shaking scream came from one of the monitors. Number one looked up at it. There were now ten others there. They all looked up at it at the same time as Number One did. Number One closed his eyes, and through his eye slits, she could see who made that scream. “We just lost another one. How many does that make now?”

     Number Six Four Seven Two glanced over at the monitor there that had numbers on it instead of a battle. “That makes almost three billion.”

     “How many have the humans lost?” Number One asked.

     “About twenty times that many.” Number Nine Eight Seven answered after glancing up at the numbers monitor.

     “There should be a lot more than that,” said Number one. “They must have a weapon that they are using against us. If they do, we have lost this war. It’s only a matter of time before we are all destroyed.”

Twenty-Three Years Ago

     “Another group of us are on their way here,” said Number Twelve. “They should be here in a half hour.”

     “Are there any humans in the area?” Asked Number One.

     “There aren’t any humans around here,” said Number Five One Four. “This group should get here too.”

     “Good, contact them. Tell them it’s safe, but to be watchful for any humans that might show up.” Number One continued pacing around the small cavern they were in.

     “I still can’t believe the humans are still trying to kill us after sixteen years,” said Number One a few seconds later. “We’re not a threat to them. We never were.”

     “At least we are safe in these caves.” Number One continued a few seconds later. “The humans won’t come in here because of the chemicals.”

     “How many of us are still out there?” Asked Number One a few minutes later.

     Number Three Two Five glanced done at an old looking mini monitor. “According to this, there are about five hundred thousand that haven’t gotten here yet.”

     “Contact them too and tell them to get to the nearest caves if they aren’t there already and to stay there until we contact them. There is no reason for them getting caught by the human hunting parties,” said Number One. “We still have a year or two before they have to get here.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Number One walked out of the cave tunnels into a large cavern. Floating in the center of that cavern was a partially built spaceship. She walked over to a small group. “how are things going here?”

     “Don’t worry; we will get it done in time,” said Number One Six Nine. “It’s just going to take us another four or five months to do it.”

     “It’s been over a year. Why is it taking so long?” Number One asked.

     “We have had a few problems,” said Number Seven Four Three. “It’s been hard getting supplies down here past the humans.”

     Number One sighed. “We may need to take a little bit more risk. I don’t want to do it, but we might not have the time to test it.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “How many of us are still out there?” Number One asked as she entered the cave tunnels.

     “There are still about a hundred thousand,” said Number Eighty-One. “Another group is on its way right now, but there is a problem. The humans are in the area.”

     “Contact the group and warn them about the humans,” said Number One. “Tell them to get here as soon as they can, but not to let the humans see them or follow them. Most likely, the humans would just kill them, but why take the risk. They don’t need to be here just yet. We still have a couple of months until we can get out of here anyway.”

     Number One continued a few seconds later. “Also, contact the others that still need to get here and tell them to come here too, but to be careful of the humans.”

     “I think we have a bigger problem than that,” said Number Three Zero Two as he walked in to join them. “It looks likes the humans are coming this way. It could be that they found out where we are. It’s also possible that they have found a way to survive in the caves. At least long enough to kill us.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “I haven’t been here in over fifty years,” said Number One as he walked around the room where she was created. “It looks the same. There aren’t any signs that anyone has been here.”

     “I’m sure this is the way the humans have been killing us. I thought Norcus destroyed his findings after he gave it to me. Maybe he left something behind the humans found.”

     “That would explain how they have been killing us all these years. If the humans did find something to us against us, they must have taken it with them. I'll keep looking. I still have a few days left before we launch.”

     “Besides, we needed a distraction. I am it. The spaceship can launch with or without me if necessary.”

     “The humans haven’t found us yet, but they are around us a lot more now. I think it’s only a matter of time before they attack. Maybe they know about the spaceship. They may even know it’s about to launch.”

     “I am that distraction. I'm sure the humans know that I am here. Hopefully, they will come after me instead of the spaceship.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Once again Number One stood in the opening of the large cavern looking at the now complete spaceship. Number One walked down a narrow incline toward a lowering ramp that led up to a door on the spaceship. A few minutes later she stood in the center of Control Central. “Is everybody on board.”

     “Yes, they are. Those in Sleep Mode have been secured,” said Number Fifty-Two. “The rest of us are at our post.”

     “What about the humans?” Number One asked. “Are there any in the area?”

     “Yes and no,” said Number Six Four One Seven. “They’re not by the caves, but they will probably see us when we launch.”

     “I don’t care if they do,” said Number One. “As soon as we are ready to let's go.”

     Number One took her chair and looked up at the main monitor. It showed the entrance to a cave tunnel. Suddenly Control Central started to shake as the spaceship headed for that tunnel. Just as it got there, the sides of it fell apart as they moved through it.

     It got a little bumpy. Number One watched the main monitor as they bumped into the side walls a couple of times each as well as the ceiling and floor as they shot out the cave opening a few minutes later. Once out of the cave they aimed the ship toward the sky. A few seconds later and they were in Space heading away from Vorgon.

Back to the Present

     Shaking his head vigorously Number One suddenly opened her eyes. She looked around at what was left of Control Central. Number One grabbed hold of the pieces of the ship that covered most of her body and tossed it away as though it was paper. As she got up, Number One scanned what was left of Control Central. She also looked at the crew that was there.

     “Is everyone okay?” Number One asked. All of them gave her a positive as they themselves cleared their way out from under the pieces of the ship.

     “When we left Vorgon over twenty years ago we had just over one billion of us left,” said Number One. “After all those years we have only lost about four million. How many did we loose because of this crash?”

     Number One closed her eyes, and the bodies started appearing in her eye slits. She counted each number out loud. “According to this, we lost over half a billion more.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Number One, among others, stood on the top of a small hill overlooking what remained of the spaceship. There wasn’t much to look at. Only seven big parts of the spaceship. The rest was small pieces of it scattered among the bigger ones.

     “Did anyone scan this planet as we came down?” Number One asked.

     “I scanned both the planet and our enemy,” said Number sixty-Three. “This planet doesn’t offer too much. It’s just white sand. As for our enemy, none of them have come down here. Nine have left, and four have stayed where they were. The other three approached the planet, but haven’t entered orbit.”

     “The first thing we need to do is find shelter,” Number One said as he scanned the area around them. “If our enemy does come down here hopefully they will see the wreckage and think all of us died in it.”

     “let’s scatter and find that shelter,” said Number One after a few seconds. “Preferably a cave to cover our existence. The dead will remain on the ship for now.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Walking through a series of tunnels, Number One walked into a small cavern. Looking around, Number One could see three individuals in front of a group of monitors. Number One walked over to them. “Did you contact me? Is there a problem?”

     “No problem. At least not yet,” said Number Four Zero Two Seven. “You wanted to be contacted when we got the monitors working.”

     “Yes, I did,” replied Number One. “What have you found out?”

     “We only have one enemy spaceship in orbit,” said Number One Eight Nine. “The others have left. We have been monitoring this one for the last couple of weeks.”

     “All we have been able to monitor is their voices up until now,” said Number Five Three Two. “We heard them talking about the other ships leaving, but up until now, we didn’t know if it was a trick. They are the only one up there. That doesn’t mean the others couldn’t come back here quickly if they were needed.”

     Number One looked up toward the ceiling. “We may have just found our way off this planet.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     A group walked on the white sand heading for their spaceship they could barely see. Number One led them. Every so often she looked up at the sky. “Keep scanning the sky. I want to know when our enemy decides to come down.”

     “So far, they are just orbiting. We have been monitoring them, and they haven’t done anything to indicate they are headed this way. I will let you know if they do,” said Number Six Three Two Four.

     For the next mile, nothing happened. When they got to the spaceship, Number One said, “You all know why we are here.”

     “I will remain here and watch out for our enemy,” said Number One. “You go and get what we came here for.”

     They all back in about half an hour. One group carried hand weapons and long tube weapons over their shoulders. The other group worked together to carry two huge metal boxes.

     “Is that all the weapons you found?” Number One asked group one.

     “It’s all we could find that still functioned,” said Number ninety-Four. “The rest have been destroyed.”

     Number One turned to face the other group. “Are those the Laser Balls and Death Missiles?”

     “Yes it is, and they are still functional. We just don’t know if we will be able to use them outside the spaceship,” said Number Five Eight Three.

     On Their way back to the caves Number Six One Four ran up to Number One. “They are coming down, and it’s not just some of them. It’s the whole ship.

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “Contact the others in the cave. Tell them what’s going on.” Number One told Number Four Seven Eight.

     “How many were on those ships?” Number One asked a few seconds later.

     “We couldn’t scan the enemy ships too good during the attacks, but we think there were about ten thousand on each ship. Of course, some could have transferred over to this ship before the other left.” Number One Six Seven answered.

     Number One sighed. “How many could have been transferred to that ship if they wanted to hold as many as they could?”

     “I would say about twenty, twenty-five, thousand total. Is that all that they have sent to kill us. That can’t be all that there is,” said Number Five Four Three.

     “It can if they still have that weapon they have been using against us. We never did figure out what it was.” Number One turned to face everyone there. “Start passing out the hand weapons. Try to get the Laser Balls and Missiles operational too. Once they start coming out, we kill them, or they kill us. If we can kill all of them first, we can get off this planet. Not only that but we will finally be free. All we have to do is use their voices if Vorgon ever contacts them. We can tell them we are in pursuit of us. We are all about to become free one way or another.”