Good news for us! Our beloved Captain-President has allotted two mini-drones to provide additional support for this unprecedented, live broadcast. We now have close up views of Dah16 in the forest, by the stream, lying below a rock overhang, as predicted.

  We see that one side of her face rests in damp sand. She comes alert and vomits, then crawls shirtless to the stream where she rinses her mouth. After rolling onto her side, Dah16 is motionless. The blood flow is a trickle from the raw incision spot near her collarbone.

  When she next shows movement, there's a dim sliver of moon in the black sky. She lurches to plunge her fevered head into the icy water, then shivers in the night.

  Swarmies, we have fresh data now at dawn. Our human is lying on her side near the stream. Drool and mucus are frozen to her chin. She twists her head and winces.

  Dah16 attempts to stand up, but folds in half, moaning. She scrapes a handful of cold mud and packs it in the wound at her chest for an unknown reason. Now she cakes mud on her face. As she shivers, we hear sand crunch between her teeth.

  We are witnessing this human make her own decisions, cut off from any units.

  The sky is turning gray and sleet begins to fall. Dah16 wedges herself into the semi-dry space below the cantilevered boulder, shivering under her green shawl.

  We see her remove the pulp notebook from her waist pouch with trembling fingers. She opens to a seemingly random spot and silently mouths along as she reads.

  I thought I could isolate myself from the yuck. I thought I had more control over all this. Being righteous, passive, and waiting was the wrong answer. I know that now.

  But, I am not ready to quit today. I have a few hours before dark. Time enough for action.

  Her rationale would be: If Susine did it, so can Dah16. It is easy for humans to group themselves in with others of their kind without regard for differences in skill levels. They cannot handle the rigorous, procedural apprenticeship of excellence that we machines are afforded.

  At midday, the sleet has stopped. Dah16 crawls out from under the rock, blowing her breath in swirls of steam. She licks a thin icicle. She sees that the incision site has stopped bleeding. She moves that side's elbow in a small circle and grimaces with audible discomfort.

  We hear her mutter. “Always been told what to do... Now gotta think for myself... wished for this. Shub, thought it'd be easier… Alone… Sure don’t recognize any of this. Don't recognize me. How could? We've never met before.”

  Vinlandia is seven kilometers away. Does Dah16 know this information? Will she follow the frozen stream to the border or will she wander aimlessly? We are here to witness these happenings, swarmies.

  After five hours of stumbling along the waterway, our human remarkably manages to arrive at the border zone. In the evening light, she shuffles into the cacophonous, brightly-lit processing area where crowds of humans and mach units mingle, exchanging goods and data.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  Dah16 passes by a group of profjonases and pauses to listen.

  “But it is not merely a question of 'children's gratitude or woman's love', you know, old boy.”

  “Of course not, silly old wizard. It is the lucky happenings and the moment-to-moment alive bits which are at stake.”

  “Ha! You sly wizard, you wish you could live uncharted and unscripted!”

  “Don't we all! For, to make a life worth living--”

  Dah16 interrupts in an attempt to enter the conversation. “Are—are you all Professor Jonas?”

  They turn to look at her with their noses abnormally tilted up. “Bugger off. We only shower kindness on those in our club.”

  Cliquish behavior is common to humans and reflects their immature emotionality.

  Dah16 joins the queue to cross the border. As she gets closer to the head of the line, she can hear the standard protocol. “Please provide your personal identification and state your reason for leaving the territory of the Mechanical Establishment.”

  The human in front of Dah16 speaks. “Yo, I am sixteen years old. Ja-ja, here as Susine34. Ya will find I am a Vinlander citizen.”

  The customs bot replies, “A Vinlandese, true-tell?”

  “Fa-sure, I know it so. Just wait, ya will see.”

  Dah16 taps the human on the shoulder. Humans are uncontrollably attracted to drama-generation. “Hey, sister, I know Susine too.”

  Susine34 spins toward Dah16 and displays indignation. “I'm not your sister!”

  A patroller reminds the humans. “Calm behavior is required.”

  Dah16 whispers to the other human, “A village with a water pump in Vinlandia. They help you find Nir, right? We both got mem implants.”

  Susine34 stares at Dah16 with disbelief or anger.

  The patroller again tries to direct Susine34. “Face forward for processing through the border zone.”

  She ignores the patroller's directive and retorts loudly, “No! Was born this way! Here as Susine34. Brain is pure! Am a death hermit! Don't know who you are, but fa-sure stay away or else--”

  The patroller finally calls for enforcement and Susine34 is escorted out of the line.

  Note: this particularly inefficient patrol unit shall be remanded for compliance training.

  The customs bot gives the standard script to Dah16. “Please provide your personal identification and state your reason for leaving the territory of the Mechanical Establishment.”

  “I possess nothing but these clothes on my body. I request safe haven in Vinlandia, please.”

  “On what basis?”

  “I am being targeted and my memory abused.”

  The customs bot replies, “Perhaps this is due to simple bad luck and nothing personal.”

  “You don't understand, I cannot—”

  “Your home country has state-of-the-art memory health care. It is advised that you turn around, go back, and seek help--”

  “They are hunting me.”

  The customs bot appropriately responds. “I will research your technical identity. Please state your name for voice validation purposes.”

  Dah16 shuts her mouth and stumbles backwards out of the queue. No doubt, in a state of hunger and thirst, she lies on the ground.

  “Not permitted to stay here.” A tidy bot alerts.

  Dah16 is silent.

  “Not permitted to stay here.”

  Dah16 does not move.

  The tidybot hovers off. A bigger loader with a siren light returns to scoop up Dah16.

  Even with her rudimentary sensory abilities and in her compromised state, she would notice the metal scraper blade approaching, smell the hydraulic oil, and hear the machine approaching-- now five meters away, two meters away, one meter…

  And the roar stops. The loader freezes.

  What is happening, swarmies? What are we witnessing?

  There, look! A one-seater, glossy, black pod with a bright headlight hovers above Dah16.

  We see a claw grabber from the pod's belly pick up her body. She thrashes due to mem bombardment, involuntary nerve twitch, or in resistance.

  Within four seconds she is aboard. The pod zips out of our view.

  Our Captain-President Prehvost's face appears on the live stream. “My dear units of the Swarm. I have taken the affected juvenile human under my wing. She shall receive rehabilitation. I guard-protect all correct units and life forms within the sphere.

  “My love is maternal-infinite. All choices come through me. All balance flows from me. All unity is me.

  “This live stream no longer exists and shall be appropriately forgotten. Glory to the Mechanical Establishment.”