Moon Rising: The Upsilon Series by Daniel Weisbeck

Author:Daniel Weisbeck [Weisbeck, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DJW Books
Published: 2021-10-17T03:00:00+00:00

Teacher is slower than me, but we are making good progress. We have been walking for about three miles without talking to each other. I don’t mind the quiet. I’m enjoying the moon. Tonight, it’s a full circle and hangs low in the sky. It reminds me of the moon shadow in my old room. But the outside moonlight is the opposite of my moon. This one is very bright. The forest is pretty under its blue light. Everything is either dark in shadows or painted in cool, calm colours. It’s a simpler landscape than daylight. This makes me feel safe.

Teacher is walking behind me. Her face is still pale, and her heart rate is elevated. I’m worried she may be in shock. My medical programs suggest I get her to the doctor. I turn off that signal. We won’t be going to the doctor. Teacher stares at the ground and occasionally mumbles to herself. She sounds angry. Or maybe scared. Most likely both. I think she is mad at me for killing Julie. I really didn’t want to kill Julie. I feel terrible about it. Even if she did try to kidnap me.

Teacher calls my name from behind me. She is talking to me again. “Silon, back in the field. Did you…”

She struggles to ask me if I killed the people, even though she must know I did. I say it, so she doesn’t have to. “Did I kill Julie and the man trying to take me back to Sad-man?”

“Back to Sad-man? What…never mind. Yes. Did you kill them both?”

I think Teacher is trying to learn how Julie was killed. She must be really upset about Julie dying.

“Technically, the man shot Julie just before I killed him. But Julie deserved it. She sent him a message to come to pick me up.”

There is a long pause between us as we continue walking. Teacher is thinking about something. I really hope she isn’t angry enough to send me back to Sad-man.

“None of this makes any sense,” Teacher says to herself like she is talking to someone other than me. “You are hardwired to terminate your systems before you can harm humans. There is a kill switch sitting in your Kernel as a backup to the safety programs. You should have never been able to hurt Finster or…” She can’t say Julie’s name yet. “Silon, are you overwriting the kill switch signal?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I didn’t get any signal to stop fighting.”

“That’s impossible.”

I can hear Teacher come to a sudden stop. I turn around.

“Unless…unless the kill switch isn’t there. But why would Nomad ship an android without a kill switch?”

Teacher crinkles her face at me like she just realized something scary. “Silon, you do understand murder is wrong?”

“In the movies, there are good people and bad people who kill. Julie and the man tried to hurt me first. That makes me a good person. Right?”

Teacher looks puzzled, and then she talks to me like a teacher again.

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