Can a tool created for revenge grow to be something more? Something human? -- Anon Guest
I was not grown, I was made. I was not taught, I was programmed. I am not a living thing with feelings... or so I was told. I am a machine. Metal and cogs and magic. I do not have a soul. My maker told me this.
I am made for revenge. I can go places my maker cannot. I am harder than flesh. I am stronger than muscle and bone. I do not need to eat. I do not need to drink. I do not need to sleep. I am made unstoppable. I will seek the one that harmed my maker and end them. That is my purpose. It is all I am good for.
That had seemed like all of my existence, until I met some fragile types. Younger than my maker. They were not in my program, but my maker had given me interaction protocols. I did not harm them, and they talked with me. They were... friendly. They did not have programs to drive them, but they decided to help anyway.
One of them felt... sorry for me. One was amused by my attempts to update my interaction protocols. One was worried about me or, as they put it, they were "having a concern."
"So when you get this maniac," said Throllyg the Concerned. "You even the balance. Then what?"
I did not understand. "What do you mean?"
"You're made to last forever. You can keep going until the end of the world. You'll outlast your maker. You'll outlast Hengi the Bastard. You see him dead, and then? What do you do with the rest of forever?"
The question took up my idling runtime for weeks. My maker had not thought of my use beyond revenge. I was the world's slowest missile. Catching up a foe and making certain they were dead and would not rise again. Once Hengi was dead, burned to ashes, and scattered to the four winds, my purpose came to an end. I would still exist. I was made to last. I would continue to operate with all my other functions and protocols intact.
But what would I do with that?
Operating with the fragile ones, I had learned that I could have a fiscal advantage by adventuring. Ridding the world of evil had its rewards, and Hengi was just one evil among many. Certainly, his end was my primary function, but it would benefit few.
It took a month or two of such thought and logic to construct a solution to Throllyg's query. By then we were close on the trail of Hengi. Close to the end of my initial program. Close to what could mean the end of... me.
I am. I am a machine. I am... capable... of solving problems. I am made that way. I was made to be an instrument of revenge. I have evolved my protocols since then. I have... learned. I have... changed.
"I have formulated an answer," I announced as the others set up camp. I could keep them safe. I had learned to clarify, so I added, "You asked in the past, 'What do you do with the rest of forever?' I have formulated an answer." I did not, as requested, play my memory of Throllyg's words. I repeated them in my own voice, for his comfort.
"Oh. I remember that. It was something like two months ago. I'd like to hear what you came up with."
"After my program is finished," I announced, "I will help."
"Okay. That's pretty broad. Who are you going to help."
"Everyone," I decided. "I will help them by eliminating evil."
Throllyg nodded. "Yeah, that'd about take the rest of forever. Good choice."
I repeated a nugget of wisdom that Throllyg had given me. "Everyone needs a hobby."
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / doctor]
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