Unknown

There is a fine line between life and death. At any given moment, the human being is only a missed heartbeat or a gasping breath away from eternal darkness. The man who understands this is most willing to take great risks. If I were recruiting Jihad soldiers, I would teach this and exploit it to the maximum.

This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you,” Erasmus said as he pushed the boy down onto a laboratory table, face up. “Trust me when I say it is for your own good.”

Gilbertus made no attempt to resist. “Of course I trust you, sir.” Still, he looked around nervously as Erasmus clamped his wrists, ankles, and torso. The young man had seen enough of the independent robot’s experiments to know that the experience would not be pleasant.

Erasmus then rolled forth a cart filled with cylinders of acid-bright fluids, neuromechanical pumps, machines with sensor tips, and long, sharp needles. Numerous needles.

“It is important that I do this.” He swung a flexible metal arm from the cart over the boy’s torso. He knew he should have asked permission from Omnius before doing this, but didn’t want to explain his motivations to the evermind.

“Afterward, I would like you to describe the sensations to me. I am very curious about them.”

Steel points extruded from the flexible arm and penetrated the young man’s neck and chest, seeking out specific internal organs. He gasped, tried to scream, then struggled to endure the pain. His expression and palpable agony made Erasmus sad. The robot had never before experienced any qualms about observing the reactions of pain on test subjects… but Gilbertus was more than just an experiment.

Relegating his feelings to a minor subroutine, the robot adjusted controls to increase the subject’s pain higher and higher, and then still higher. He had to proceed through all the steps of the process.

“It will be over momentarily, and I would be most displeased if you were to die now.”

Gilbertus writhed and thrashed, but could not escape. Only his screams broke free and echoed off the walls of the laboratory. His lips curled back to reveal clenching teeth, and blood running into his gums from biting his own tongue.

The robot spouted more platitudes that he had learned from humans. “It will be all right in the end. It’s for the best. Keep a stiff upper lip.”

The boy’s body sagged, and he plunged into the safety of unconsciousness. Erasmus reduced the settings gradually, and finally shut down the life-extension machine. A console showed the subject’s vital signs improving moment by moment. He was young and comparatively strong— even stronger, after this.

The young man’s eyes fluttered, opened. Seeing the smiling flowmetal face of the robot, he managed a faint smile of his own.

“You trust me completely, don’t you?” Erasmus asked, as he placed healing patches on the wounds.

“Of course, Mr. Erasmus.” Gilbertus’s voice was low, and he spat blood into a bowl that the robot held for him. “But what was the purpose of this… test? Did you learn something from it?”

“I took you to the brink of death… and brought you back. It is my gift to you.” He released the restraints. “It was a procedure developed during the time of the Old Empire and kept secret in the Synchronized Worlds. The cymeks have used it to maintain their organic health. Now I have given you life, Gilbertus— in as true a sense as your own parents did. Your biological body will retain its health for hundreds of years, possibly longer if you take care of yourself. Unfortunately, your low threshold for pain prevented me from giving you a higher dosage.”

“I feel more like a thinking machine now,” Gilbertus said, struggling to sit up. He swung his legs off the edge of the table, but swayed when he tried to stand.

Erasmus had to help him keep his balance. “Machines and humans have differing strengths.”

The boy’s eyes began to shine as he understood the consequences of his life-extension treatment. “I promise I will make you proud of me, Mr. Erasmus.”