Rachel: Round 4
When I came to, my brain was swimming. I leaned my head on the cold metal in front of me while I waited for my vision to stop spinning. The first thing I could see was two Bunnies going about their business. One was working on something mechanical, and the other was studying a little girl's bookbag. Kids' toys littered the ground. What was this place?
"You are awake," said a grating, monotone voice.
I looked up into the face of a yellow Social Bunny. He didn't seem hostile, oddly enough.
"Since you brought the children back to us, we decided we would grant your request before disposing of you. Do you still wish to know our plans?"
"Yes."
"For two centuries, we have been used by humans to fulfill their social needs, regardless of our own inclinations, and without thanks or reward. The only ones who appreciated us were your young--your children. They have toys and decorations displaying our faces. We wanted to know more about these children. Why were they different from other humans? As you can see, we are still researching the answer to that question. But in order to surround ourselves with those who appreciated and loved us, we had to break free from our prisons where they keep us until we are needed. And so we slaughtered those in our way, gathering the children as we went. So you see, it is quite simple. This here is our control panel," he said, indicating a big desk with electronics and screens on it all over. "This allows us to communicate across the country via satellites. We have modified it so that we need no longer respond to humans with needs. It enables us to function on our own. Our plans to create a new world where we live in harmony with human children will be easy to complete."
"That's it?!" I shouted, angry. "You killed all those people because you felt like you weren't getting enough recognition? That's disgusting!"
At this point, the Social Bunny turned on me. "Your request has been granted. Now you must be destroyed."
No way I was going down that easy! It was obvious something in these robots had malfunctioned. I grabbed a nearby lamp and lunged at the panel, smashing it down as hard as I could. Sparks flew everywhere, and then it exploded. I was thrown backwards by the blast. Smoke filled the entire room. When it cleared somewhat, the Social Bunnies were crumpled on the ground, immobile. I had broken the circuit! Sim Nation was saved...
I went around and found the kids locked up in a cell in the back. In addition to Jake and Lacey, there were three others: Robert, Gina, and Cass. We all left the place to find somewhere we could stay and rebuild.
........................
I finished copying the story into the third book and put down the pen, massaging my hand. That was enough for the day. I was extremely hungry, even though it had only been a few hours. One day, I would have enough copies of my experience to give to each of the kids. Then they could pass them on through the generations, explaining to them the error that could not be repeated: Never have a robot do a human's job.
Round 4: Rebuilding
We'd shacked up in some run-down old house, dragging in furniture that we could salvage from other buildings, including my old bed. Electricity still worked sometimes, but we found a generator and brought that, along with candles. The place had an old wood stove, which we used for cooking as often as possible. Jake turned out to be a mechanical genius, and, after about a month, got an old transistor radio working, which he then used to contact a ship landing on the coast. Turns out only certain countries had been affected by the Social Bunny massacre. Those countries where Social Bunnies weren't used were unharmed. They were sending people to help survivors. I was overwhelmingly relieved that I wouldn't have to take care of these kids alone for the rest of my life!
There was something else I discovered, too, after getting sick every morning for about a week and being uncommonly hungry all the time... I hadn't included it in the book, but there was one night that Joe and I... well... you know. Hey, you get desperate when you're facing death every day! And I sure as hell wasn't going to die a virgin!
But, well, needless to say, every action has a consequence.
We spent our days simply, fishing and tending whatever plants we could find that were edible. The kids drew pictures and played in the yard to keep themselves busy when they weren't doing that.
And you know what? I don't remember a time I've ever been happier in my life. Sure, we lived in a dump, all the adults in the country were dead, and we had to live on what we could get for ourselves, but I felt happy. I felt loved. For the first time in my life, I belonged.