It’s another day, like every other day in Ortho’s world. The year is 2246. Almost two hundred years since the nuclear war of 2050. The sky has a purple haze to it. A fine crystal dust still coats the ground in exposed areas. Mankind has survived, though no longer as rulers of the planet. They now dwell in caverns under the ground, a species mutated to nothing more than scavengers.
Ortho is a handyman, a class of Robot dedicated to restoring and fixing the buildings mankind once occupied. Today he’s working on the Pentagon, a building of importance in the pre-nuclear years. Its historical value puts it in the elite class of buildings. Ortho felt something close to pride, when he was chosen to renovate its lavatories.
The new masters are particularly concerned with the lavatory, a favorite place to dwell in the pre-nuclear days. The building was not a total loss. The nuclear bomb targeting Washington D.C., fell short of the mark, decimating Arlington instead. The cracks in the Pentagon have been time consuming to fix. Especially repairing the marble floors, and porcelain fixtures in the lavatories. The new Masters watch with anticipation as the restoration continues.
Of all the creatures on Earth they’ve been the most adept at change. The inherent mutations caused by the radiation fallout, have enhanced their species. While most land animals, like the Fox, couldn’t adapt. The new Masters faired well. Their hard shells protected them, and their cunning intelligence grew. They’ve developed a powerful fleet of Robots. Single focused, in their dedication to restoring the buildings in the greatest cities on Earth.
Germaine is the elected leader of the new Masters. Under his watchful eye, his civilization has grown. His kind have thrived, and created a world built on technology and peace. The wars and dissent of humans are over. This has taken diligence and attention to detail on his part. The humans must be monitored on a daily basis. When a new human is born, it’s tagged and closely monitored with the rest of its species. Though mutated to dysfunctional scavengers, humans are still dangerous.
Germaine checks a report sent via email by one of his Watchers. A new human has been born, one that possesses greater intelligence than it’s parents. Germaine calls his staff together to discuss this newest human. It’s not the first human to show signs of greater intelligence, but it’s the first to use tools. Yesterday it killed a Watcher with a rock. Pounding the Watcher on the back, and disabling it. The infant continued to pound the Watcher until it died. This has not happened since before the War.
The act of terrorism will not go unpunished, nor be tolerated. A suggestion is made to use a Robot to dispose of the infant. But built into the robotic code is the law to not kill a human. Weapons of destruction were destroyed years ago. So killing the human infant will not be easy. Germaine remembers how humans used poison to kill his kind. They used sprays and powders deadly to his species. Would this technique work to eradicate the human infant?
Germaine calls Ortho into his office. He questions Ortho on the products used to fix the porcelain. Ortho tells him of a powder they use to seal the cracks. Germaine has the powder tested, and discovers it’s deadly to humans if ingested. It will erode their stomach lining, causing death. Germaine has Ortho leave a bowl of powder near the infants dwelling. But does not tell him why. As hoped the infant tenaciously sticks a finger into the powder. Curiously it licks its finger. The powder has a bitter taste, but the infant’s curiosity has already sealed its doom.
Germaine feels like a Demon. It’s goes against his ideologies to kill another being, even a human. But Germain knows it was necessary to preserve his kind. Roaches have evolved into a higher species. And he will allow nothing, least of all a human, to destroy what he’s created.