I AM TANK (english)

Red woke up with pain all over her body, she opened her eyes and gasped as all the memories of last night rushed into her mind. Her eyes blinked, feeling every joint throbbing beneath the surface of her skin. She was lying in the arms of a large robot that sat leaning against the cold cave wall.

Red reached over and tapped on the robots arm, to which there was no reaction. Red doesn know where she is now. Like a cave, which Red had seen on the knowledge tablet. In the cave, wires were stretched out as if there was no end in sight. In the center was some kind of altar, but it was full of buttons on the floor. More or less, it was a bit like a hideout.

Red carefully walked around the cave, looking at the surface of the altar floor with strange symbols. As soon as her foot stepped on a green triangular button, a holographic screen appeared in front of Reds face, causing the girl to jerk back in alarm. A blue light scanned Reds body, then other holographic screens appeared. Red just stared in amazement.

”Aegea Harts. Fáilte. Welcome. ”

There was a voice that came from nowhere. A voice was similar to Ingos.

”Who are you? ” asked Red cautiously.

”Im Ingo-lan eight eight nine. My nickname is Ingo-lan. ” A holographic form of Ingos face appeared not long after. ”As ordered, if your presence is here, I must explain everything to you. Anything you want to ask, I will answer according to your questions. ”

”Are you still alive, Ingo? ”

”I am a program that has been implanted in software on a hardware altar. Never on or off. But I was activated on December 31, 3055, at 00:01. ”

”Then that robot? Whose is it? ” pointed Red curiously at the robot lying nearby.

”Ursula, its yours. It was created nine years ago, and refined six years ago by Ingo. A robot with software from a human, Jeremiah Harts. ”

Ursula.

A strange name for a large, intimidating-looking robot.

”Why is she mine? What for? ”

”As per the request of Jeremiah Harts, the AIs in the world must be exterminated. You and Ursula are the martyrs. ”

”What? ”

Red didn say anything else. The contents of her head felt empty. The attack had left her in a daze. Especially now that she got the robot inheritance from her father, and she had to destroy the AI. But what for? All this time the AIs helped Red and Aelea a lot since childhood Red was raised by AI, especially after the death of her mother.

Reds mother died while giving birth to her, during which time she was raised by robots and her father. Then came Sophia. In Reds memory, she remembers that Sophia, her stepmother, was a good woman. Taking care of her and Aelea without favoritism. But ten years ago, Sophia just disappeared, and Jeremiah never explained anything. There was no funeral because she didn know if Sophia had died or not. It was only after that Ingo came into their lives. Taking care of Red and Aelea like a mother.

Her life was normal. So why did she suddenly have to become the executioner of the AI?

What did the AI do wrong, that Red had to execute them all? How many AIs were there and how tightly guarded were their programs? How could Jeremiah make such a clear order? Red would never be able to do it. It would be suicide.

”I didn hear wrong, did I? ” muttered Red in confusion.

”This is a direct order from Jeremiah Harts. There are no errors in the system. ”

”Jeez, Im not talking to you! ” said Red angrily.

”Ingo-lan will answer if Aegea Harts issues a speech command. ”

Then the holographic screen just disappeared.

Red stretched her body, bruises appearing on her pure white legs and arms. She approached the robot named Ursula, noting its massive and sturdy form. Even seated, its head almost touched the ceiling of the cave. Ursula was sand-colored, large like a golem. Its frame seemed to be a blend of metal with soft tissue, hard on the surface, but there seemed to be occasional streams of bluish color appearing all over its body. What Red knew for sure was that this robot was very heavy, and there was no telling how many humans it would take to drag it from the cave. On its chest were two ornate sapphire stones each an inch wide, forming an eye-like curve. Its golem-like head, rounded in one line, formed lips, a nose as if swollen, with eyes without any ornamentation. To Red, a name as beautiful as Ursula was not suitable for this robot.

”Ursula, hey stand up, ” Red commanded.

There was no reaction whatsoever from the large robot in front of the girl. Red sighed softly, looking around for a button or voice recognition.

”Hello … Im talking to you. I am your owner. ” Reds voice echoed in the cave.

But in vain. Ursula was completely unmoved.

”Ingo-lan! ” called Red. ”How do I turn on this robot? Ursula I mean. ”

The holographic screen reappeared in the center of the altar.

”Ursula was activated by a special code by Ingo, six years ago. Ingo-lan has no authority or knowledge of Ursula. Only Ingo and Aegea Harts were authorized. ”

”I don know how she gets up, stands up, or anything else she can do, ” Red groaned in frustration. ”Ingo was already destroyed, and he didn have time to tell me anything. Oh, my God! Im going crazy. ”

”Ingo-lan suggested injecting two milligrams of sedative. ” Suddenly from the altar floor came a box of medicine. ”Warning, Aegea Harts is experiencing mental shock, an emergency injection of the recommended medication is permitted. ”

”Oh, you
e such a bitch, ” Red snorted. She sighed softly. ”I don need the medicine. Save some more. What I need is food, do you have food? Or a drink? ”

”Application denied. ”

”Where should I look for food. ” Red wanted to explode her emotions.

The hologram screen disappeared again. Red walked down the long hallway of the cave, looking for a way out. It wasn too dark, because along the hallway there were dim lights in the lower corners, and they lit up every time Red stepped foot.

Until she arrived in front of a large metal gate that was tightly closed. On the threshold of the gate were symbolic buttons, but Red already knew that red meant to close and green to open. It was like a sign from primitive times. There was no need for her to figure it out.

When Red pressed the red button, the gate opened slowly, and the sound of strong wind was deafening. Reds body was suddenly dragged by the pull of the wind from outside mixed with sand. She tried to hold on to the gate that began to open wide, her hands flailing on the side of the buttoned threshold. Reds body was already half-flying, she was short of breath, clinging to the gate and hoping to find the green button.

”Help me! ” Reds screams were drowned in the sound of the raging wind outside.

Reds body bounced out, carried by the wind that surrounded her with sand. Red coughed and coughed, feeling her body slide downward. Red closed her eyes, feeling like she was going to die from the stupidest and most reckless act of her life.

”Ghníomhact. ”

The voice echoed in the distance. Reds one eye glowed, giving off a red light, then refracted towards the body of Ursula who had flown up and was holding Reds body. She doesn know when the robot came, but its chest opened and put Red into its body. Red coughed violently inside Ursulas body, she saw from the holographic screen, the conditions out there. Inside Ursulas body was so complicated, with too many streams of wires but no buttons. There was only a cable with a concave end forming a bowl, very small. It was at most the size of an eyeball.

On top of Reds stand, there was a shiny blood-red ruby. Each cable flowed in and out through the stone.

”What are you? ” Red hissed.

Then Reds body swayed when Ursula straightened her body in a prone position when she entered the cave again. Ursula sat back down where she was, then her whole system seemed to go back to sleep. Red was silent, she tapped Ursulas chest from inside.

”Hey, get me out of here, Ursula. ” She commanded.

However, the order seemed to go unheeded by Ursula. Reds eyes scanned inside Ursulas body. There were no meaningful descriptions, all marked with the phrase unknown objects. Reds eyes scanned the suspicious-looking cable, as there was an infrared flow from its concave end. She picked it up and took a good look at it.

”If you
e mine, then there must be something that makes you tied to me, right? ” Red muttered softly.

She took a breath and let it out long. Red brought the concave end of the cable closer to her eyes. Her heart was beating very fast. As soon as the hollow felt cold in his eyes, suddenly tiny needles came out and pierced Reds skin. Red screamed with pain.

It was as if her eyes would melt from the heat and pain. Her body trembled from the unbearable pain. But Ursula was active, the ruby above Reds seat was glowing. There, Reds brain seemed to be forced to accept various memories and knowledge into her body.

Red was so exhausted, that she couldn take it anymore.

She fainted.

****

Red woke up.

Her eyes were not yet clear, as she saw a yellow glowing color. Ingo had said that it looked like fireflies. Maybe thats what it looked like. Fireflies would appear the moment after falling unconscious. Red groaned softly, holding her throbbing forehead. Realized, there was still something stuck in her left eye area.

The cable was still attached to her eye, but it was no longer painful. Red carefully removed the cable from her eye. Holding it around her eyebrow and under her eye, there appeared to be a wound. She saw on her fingers that there were traces of dried blood.

”Horrible thing, ” she whispered weakly.

The left eye scanned Ursulas chest, then like an open door, Ursulas chest split open. Making an opening for Red to freely enter and exit. Red limped down from Ursulas body, then the chest closed again when Red was already in the cave area.

”Ingo-lan … I wonder what this place is and what it does? ” The question crossed Reds mind, as there were memories of such as video snippets from Ursulas memory system. Clearly, Jeremiahs memory was there. Most often, it was Ingo who doubled as the household assistant at home.

”This is the workshop. ”

Red could hardly believe her ears. A cave, with advanced technology, then the hologram program only said a workshop?

”What workshop? ”

”Ursulas refinement. ”

”So this is where Ursula was made? Am I right? ” Red probed.

”Thats right. Ursula was created by Jeremiah Harts and full authorization was given to Ingo as well as Aegea Harts after the refinement of Ursula six years ago. ”

”What if one day Ursula breaks down, I can come here and you fix it. ”

”Application denied. Ursula is only authorized by Ingo and Aegea Harts. ”

”But I authorized you to fix it? ”

”Negative status. Ingo-lan is only authorized for information. ”

”Oh, you
e just a spokesperson? ” Red shook her head while clucking.

”Ingo-lan is only meant to provide information that is needed and authorized. ”

Red sat down on the cold stone floor. Trying to recall everything that had entered her brain earlier. What happened after the cable connected with her eyes, as if Red and Ursula were synchronized with each other?

”Ghníomhact, ” said Red.

Then the blue color flowing through Ursulas body moved quickly and lit up. Ursula moved to her feet until the sound of her stomping feet thudded in the cave. Red clapped her hands, amazed. She rushed over to Ursula, raising her head to the robot that was about fifteen feet tall.

”Open your chest, I want to get in. Open it now! ” Red commanded.

But Ursula flinched, just in a static state of standing doing nothing.

”Oh my … why again? ” Red ruffled her hair in frustration.

There was no information on how to give Ursula orders, only the synchronized video capture memory. Other than that, nothing else. Red did not know how Ursula could follow all the instructions without him having to memorize the command words. Even the guideline tab did not exist.

”Ingo-lan, what does ghníomhact mean? ”

”Activation. In the language of the past, Irish. ”

Red began to understand that Jeremiah wasn just giving the command words to this secret robot. It seemed that Ursula was created as a time bomb, and Red still couldn believe that she and Ursula should be the destroyers of the AI.

”Then whats the word in that language, which means we
e leaving or departing? ”

”Fàg. ”

Red nodded. ”Ill go first, Ingo-lan. See you soon. ”

”Ingo-lan says goodbye to Aegea Harts. ”

Red touched Ursulas palm. ”Ursula, fàg. ”

Both of Ursulas palms opened, then grabbed Reds body in her embrace. Ursulas body bent down and rested on one knee, then shot out through the cave passage at full speed. Red closed her eyes.

When she closed her eyes, a row of numbers, a red symbol was visible in her left eye. Outside the wind was strong with dust, but Red was in the protection of Ursulas hand, she was not distracted at all. As if she and Ursula had begun to connect, though not fully, Red envisioned her home.

”Ursula, mo theach. ”

The robot took off, who knows what speed, but it was very, very fast. Red enjoyed the short journey until she finally arrived at her compound. Ursula opened her palms and let Red down. The wind was blowing so hard that Red had to cover her face with her arm. Her eyes couldn believe what she was seeing now.