Everyone said the sadistic, genocidal implac robots were all destroyed, but when Tommy McPherson heard one was hiding in a lunar tunnel, he knew the time had come to face his nightmares.
In a tunnel under the moon's surface, Tommy McPherson finds an implac, the last of a species of vicious, genocidal robots that has been hiding for decades. He captures an interrogates it. To his astonishment, the monster claims cosmic rays have mutated its 'brain' so it no longer hates humans. It says there are other implacs still in hiding, and it can help humans track them down, but only if Tommy frees it. It's tempting to think the robot is lying; however, the implacs had never before developed the programming needed to lie. Tommy must decide if this one has learned.
Excerpt
Tommy was still thinking about his teacher's hatred of computers when Allison came and sat next to him on the bus back home. His heart raced.
“Do you really think computers are just harmless toys?” she asked.
Tommy glanced around the bus. “No. They’re dangerous if used wrong, but they aren’t evil by themselves and they can be helpful. Only terrorists use them for terrorism.” Damn. His father’s words. “Lots of people use computers without problems.”
“Those are sealed computers and responsible people supervise them. Otherwise, they’d be dangerous too.”
“I have a computer that isn’t sealed, and it isn’t dangerous. Too small to hurt anything.” He grimaced.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I can show it to you.”
“Fine. I’ll get off with you at your stop.”
“Good,” Tommy said, but wanted to bite his tongue. The computer in his room, though tiny, was illegal, and his father had ordered him not to talk about it.
When they got to Tommy’s house, Allison met Margaret, phoned her own mother, and went upstairs with Tommy.
“Leave the door open,” his mother yelled.
They entered his room. Thank the Power he had bothered to make his bed that morning.
Allison looked around. “You have a TV, but I don’t see any computer,”
“Yes you do. You just don’t recognize it.” He took the keyboard from a drawer, turned on the TV, and connected the components. “Here it is.”
Allison’s eyes shot wide open.
Tommy typed:
10: Allison Moreland has beautiful hair.
20: GOTO10.
RUN
The screen filled with praises of Allison’s locks, whereupon she screamed and ran out of the room.
“Wait. It won’t hurt you,” Tommy called, ran after her, and saw her dash out the front door.
Margaret came of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, Mom.”
She went to the door. “Allison. Come back. What’s wrong?”
“He has a computer upstairs. A naked computer.”
Margaret looked at her son. “Oh Christ. Tommy, you didn’t show it to her?”
“Well, uh…”
Margaret turned back to the open door. “Allison, don’t worry. I promise it won’t hurt you. Come back and I’ll call your mother to pick you up.”
“You call. I’ll wait out here.”
“What a stupid twit,” Margaret said and picked up the phone. “And you, Tommy, you’re not much better. When your father comes home, he will not be pleased.”
Time Travel, Sacrifice, and the Fate of Humanity
He must give up his future to save it.
"A gripping tale of time travel, sacrifice, and the power of human determination."
