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Crippled

Posted on June 1, 2007
Filed Under The Stories |

Kim was visiting Mumbai for the first time. Not many people knew if Kim was his first or last name though there was no denying his Asian origins. He had been sent to evaluate a facility his people had been doing business with for several years. Recently, the facility had begun to exhibit a slowdown in production and he had been sent in an official capacity to determine why that was.

In the last communication from a source within the facility, unofficial of course, there had been some talk of something being crippled. It was an unauthorized channel, more white noise than actual video and it was unclear from the final few images where the man had been reporting from. It appeared that there were a couple of machines in his background but it was really difficult to tell, even with the application of the most advanced image recognition software. Which is why Kim was in the city in person.

Even though they were doing business in the city, it was his first visit and like most foreigners he was surprised by how modern it appeared to be. The dust, the heat and the smell were the first to assault the visitor as well as the traveling local but it was the visitor who was always surprised by the modern-looking constructions and roads that wove through the city. Ninety-five years after the country had won its independence from the British settlers there were still hints of the architecture imported from the West in the older parts of the city. The rest of it however looked like a cross between Manhattan, Shanghai and Rio de Janeiro.

The drive from the airport to his hotel took less than twenty minutes at that hour even though it was clear that they had traveled a great distance. The following morning he was waiting, showered, shaved and wearing a fresh suit in spite of the fact that it looked like a forty-degree morning outside the confines of the air-conditioned lobby. Breakfast had been frugal and he was looking forward to the day and the information it would provide about the slowdown at their only offshore Advanced Armaments division.

The facility was an imposing structure, masquerading as a science centre while housing a severely advanced facility for testing and manufacturing cutting-edge weaponry seventy-five feet underground. The floor of the facility itself was nearly three hundred feet under the ground and so effectively built that nary a tremor or vibration would be felt above ground from everything they were doing down there.

The man he would be meeting at the facility was the face of the organization to the outside world. Known only as Kaiser, simply because that is what everyone called him, quite like Kim, no one knew if it was his first or last name. One thing was clear though, he was definitely not German. Kim didn’t expect any answers from Kaiser. He expected the usual corporate double talk that would issue forth from both sides until both of them could retreat to their respective corners to fathom what had been said. The reason Kim had visited in person was that he was hoping to speak with some other people at the facility, possibly even make contact with their contact so that he could get a true picture of what was really going on.

They met, shook hands and Kaiser got right down to business after the very initial pleasantries, “I understand you would like to inspect the facilities Kim. Can I ask why?”

Kim smiled.

Kaiser had a reputation for this kind of direct talk. He also had a reputation for stonewalling when it came time to truly be clear so Kim decided to stick with diplomacy instead of a correspondingly direct approach, “No one had actually seen the facility, we’ve been in business for some time and my superiors thought it was time we sent someone over to see where our fine products are made.”

“That’s a babysitting mission Kim, from what I gathered you were used for more important work.”

Kim’s smile became strained, “We try not to define any individual’s role too strongly. It allows for greater flexibility when the requirements of a job change.”

Kaiser nodded and got to his feet, “Let’s start.”

Again, Kaiser wasted no time getting to the floor where the heaviest armaments were manufactured. The elevator descended with the men observing each other in silence. An assistant had joined them but Kim had little hope of getting anything out of her. There was no denying that she was an incredibly attractive woman. He wondered idly whether she assisted Kaiser with much more than just his business needs. When his gaze fell back on the man in question he worried that the thought had somehow transmitted itself to Kaiser because it looked like he knew exactly what Kim was thinking.

The floor was huge in the most accurate definition of the word. The shadowy lighting in some parts made walls and ceilings invisible so it gave the impression of looking into infinity itself.

After walking through a small holding area they arrived at a balcony that overlooked the shop floor and for as far as the eye could see, giant machines were working like clockwork to manufacture very advanced tanks. At first glance Kim couldn’t see anything amiss and then, as if his eyes or his brain were malfunctioning in some way he began to notice the irregularities. He looked at Kaiser and then his quietly calm assistant and it appeared that neither of them seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. So he looked again. Sure enough it was as he had seen it earlier.

Nearly all of the machines on the shop floor were operating with one or more appendages missing. Most of them had a missing arm or one that was simply hanging uselessly off one side. A few of them that required legs or treaded wheels for movement had one or the other lying broken or inactive. Kim’s customary reserve went flying out the window, “but this cannot be!”

Kaiser and his assistant looked at him. Nobody said another word until Kim protested, “Most of the machines are in such a state of disrepair. How can that be Kaiser? Surely this is no way to run a facility.”

Kaiser looked at him for a long moment without speaking, it was as if he was actually weighing Kim’s words. He came over and put an arm around Kim, escorted him away from the guardrail and spoke in a low voice, “You are aware that this is a research as well as manufacturing facility, yes?”

“Yes.”

“It would be the easiest thing in the world to replace those missing or damaged arms and treads, correct?”

“Yes!”

“If I were to break your arm, would you be able to replace it?”

“What?”

“If I were to rip your arm out of its socket and toss it in a meat grinder, would you be able to find a replacement?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No my dear Kim. I am simply making a point.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Because you aren’t seeing it yet. When humans lose a limb they have to learn to do without it. Sometimes they experience pain and discomfort in a limb that does not exist but eventually they are forced to learn to cope without it.”

“I know this.”

“Have you had any complaints with the materials we’ve sent you?”

“No.”

“Design flaws, bad installations, loose nuts and bolts?”

“No, of course not.”

“So you’re here to find out why things are progressing slower than originally anticipated?”

“Yes.”

“This is why.”

It was clear that Kim still didn’t understand.

So Kaiser explained.

“We are testing all our machines to see how well they achieve their primary directive in the face of a fault or actual crippling. An entire platoon of right-armed Soldier Bots could be rendered useless if the enemy is able to shoot off or disable their shooting arm. We are testing to see how effectively the robots would be able to continue functioning in spite of damage. It is the true final test of artificial intelligence.”

He walked away, back towards the guardrail and looked down at his production floor with a great deal of pride, “and as you can see, my men are doing something right.”

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