Freedom Song
I didn’t get to see the grand hall. The chandelier dropped onto the marble floor, breaking the resplendent marble floor with patterns. There were even dismembered human corpses. Blood seeped into the cracks on the ground and mixed in with the wine, creating a bizarre smell. I had smelt lots of things, including burnt flesh and decayed corpses, but blood and wine was a first.
The flames closed off access to many areas, but the tragic cries and crackling flames were accompanied with gunfire from various directions. WA2000 held onto her rifle but hesitated. She asked, “Commander, do I open fire on the T-Dolls?”
“Mm… not yet. I think we can speak to the T-Dolls.”
Springfield shoved aside the burnt stuff. I crossed through the fires. There were rooms spread out on either side of the circular hall. As soon as I reached the first room, I heard cries from within: “Stop! Stop! You T-Dolls can’t hurt humans! You can’t shoot humans! Sorry, we didn’t do anything wrong! What exactly do you want?!”
“You humans still want to beg for mercy? You didn’t do anything? You commanders don’t respect our opinions. You forced us to have reproductive modules installed. You think we wanted to have them installed?! We had to be part of your harem solely because we couldn’t defy you! We brought you glory on the battlefield as weapons during the day, and then we had to let you force yourselves on us at night. Once you broke us, you threw us into the rubbish dump to let our conscious rot. Why didn’t you consider our feelings?! You’ve never considered us comrades! You treat us as tools, and then you throw us away once you’ve broken us with your abuse!” raged the young girl inside.
I went to rush in, but someone grabbed me by the arm and pressed me against the wall. A man with a beard made a hush gesture with his hand. I was dumbfounded for a moment. He….
“Mm… mm… Isn’t this my boss?!” It took a second, but I recognised him.
I didn’t hear gunshots. I just heard the men begging for mercy: “You can’t hurt humans! You can’t shoot humans! Your system doesn’t allow it! I’m your commander! Y-“
“Yeah, yeah,” insipidly responded the girl. I then heard metal ring pulled off. The girl smiled: “”We T-Dolls can’t hurt humans, but our hands do slip. For example, my hand may slip while I’m holding this grenade.”
Kryuger pressed me onto the ground and hushed me. I knew he wanted me to feign death…. I didn’t know if it would actually work; however, he was my superior, so, whatever you say boss.
The girl in grey exited the room and shut the door behind her. An explosion occurred within the room right after. She looked at us on the ground and cleared her throat gently: “Mr. Kryuger, Commander of Strategic Area S09, it is pointless for you to feign death in our presence. First, we have no intention of killing you two. Second, we can tell you are pretending.”
“Mm…” I awkwardly raised my hands and stood up.
The T-Doll titled her head and smiled: “It is a great honour to meet you. I have heard that you genuinely love Miss Springfield and dared to fight a Sangvis Ferri T-Doll to protect Miss M4A1. You are the best commander we did not have the fortune of meeting. We, therefore, will not harm you even if you shoot me now.”
“I won’t shoot you… I just want to ask… what exactly happened… Wh-Why did you…”
“We received a call that… revealed the truth to us. We learnt about all the deeds these humans did unto us and the oppression that many have put us under. Your so-called human rights organisation attacked our supply warehouse and removed our hardware to trade. Those repulsive human rights organisations claim that human rights should be prioritised over our rights, yet refuse to provide us with as little as living necessities. We saw the truth behind how you treated us and what you perceive us to be. Previously, we naively thought we were your friends. Now, however, reality has told us we are merely your slaves!” thundered the T-Doll, fists clenched.
I took in a deep breath. I knew how humans treated the T-Dolls, but… I certainly didn’t think they would revolt… They were robots. Robots were able to make decisions? Weren’t robots supposed to only obey orders?
“We are aware of the consequences of our actions, so you don’t need to worry about us. If humans won’t respect us as equals, let us provide them with equality. They can die the same way we do. We’ll be dismantled in the end, so let’s dismantle more people together!”
The T-Doll turned around. That was probably all she had to say. She didn’t have a virus installed nor was she deceived. The T-Dolls had made their decision and were cognizant of the consequences. They were bound to be dismantled in the end. But nevertheless, they made a decision. They no longer followed the program installed in them. Robots wouldn’t do something harmful to themselves. However, they decided they would make humanity pay the price even at the cost of their own lives,
“Humans are humans, because they know how to choose. They choose to fight to the bitter end in the face of insurmountable odds while covered in wounds and knowing they’ll inexorably fail. Animals flee to follow their instinct to survive. Humans won’t, for the reason they have emotions and a will. Humans know what a choice is.” Based on Persica’s reasoning, the T-Dolls were no longer T-Dolls but humans.
I lowered my hands. WA2000 and Springfield didn’t know what to do. The young girl chuckled in a quiet voice: “You have chosen to trust humans?”
Springfield calmly looked back at the girl. Voice soft, she answered, “There are so many humans in the world. There are bound to be those who have a conscience.”
“I’m envious, Springfield. If I met that sort of commander, perhaps I’d have hope for humans, and perhaps I’d continue trusting them. I’ve made a decision, though, so don’t try to dissuade me. Leave. I never saw you, and I won’t drag you into this.”
“Let’s go, Springfield. I hope that everything we do will prevent us from ever being slaves again in the future.”
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