Grailem by Gary L Beer (top 100 novels txt) 📖

is to fit some kind of propulsion system to his mechanical body; Grailem has no desire to spend his life drifting helplessly in space ever again.


Chapter Five

A busy month follows as he improves the flaws in his 'perfect' mechanical body and re-designs his defensive mechanisms. Several kilometres from the empty shop an industrial estate containing engineering companies which supplies the materials, lathes and technology he requires. Night time proves to be the best as the humanoids work a strict day shift and robots are the only occupants.
Meeting humanoids on his way to and fro from the engineering workshops gives Grailem no problems. His telepathic ability has improved a thousand fold and he can easily convince those around him that he is not there. The humanoid minds are easy to control as Grailem has begun to realise – and that they have been under control all of their lives and not been aware of it.

Also built into his artificial body are electrical sensors and Grailem can detect any electronic source from more than fifty metres away. If the sensors had not been fitted, his freedom would have been very brief. Detecting the first two robot guards on the street corner by his sensors gives him sufficient warning; and the opportunity to use a side alley before being seen.
The robot security guards, made from the same mould as the civilian robots, wore a pale white slim fitting safety helmet. A thin shirt and trousers of the same coloured material covers their hard bodies and shiny alloy boots fitted with a soft sole, cover their lower legs and feet.
Being this pale colour tended to make them blend with the surrounding light coloured metal of the buildings, and standing immobile would make them more difficult to see. The security cameras that were placed at strategic points about the city were easy to avoid as the security forces had made no attempt to hide them.
The security on this planet appears excessive as on most street corners robots stand on guard or cameras are fitted. Whoever is in charge here wants to remain that way; and Grailem sees that he will have his work cut out for him for his own plans, for when he is to be in charge.
The control exerted over this planet was not quite complete and by all appearances badly planned; using back alleys and suburban roads he could easily avoid the security robots and electronic surveillance.

Learning from the vast computer communication system that covers this planet Grailem found out that a little over three billion humanoids existed here. This number had been calculated many thousands of years ago as the maximum amount the planet could support.
The planet was divided up into sectors which were all designed to be self-sufficient. In all of these sectors humanoid birth numbers were strictly controlled as food supplies were restricted and too many humans would upset the balance. Anyone producing more than they were allowed in a sector where the restrictions were enforced, had the extra child or children taken away to be terminated. Some sectors where population was high were limited to one child per couple. Other sectors however allowed two or even three children to be born per couple. Fulfilment of the breeding instinct and happiness it seemed depended not only where you lived, but when. It was a harsh rule but Grailem could see the logic in it as it prevented famines and ensured a good healthy population.

Installing a communications platform he had taken from a warehouse to the communications system fitted into the empty shop Grailem connects to the network that covers this world. Who controlled the communications network took many hours of searching due to many false leads. Grailem only comes up with one positive company name; Sirap Communications.
The Managing Director of the company, a large individual called Rames Sirap appeared to rule the company with a rod of iron. A lot of the information Grailem accessed were legal documents dealing with land and property cases relating to the company.
The list of Directors and Managers showed that they all had the name of Sirap and many lawyers who had been involved in these legal cases also have the same surname.
In this perfect world corruption does exist; with control of the planet by one family spells Dictatorship. Amazingly advanced with robots doing the manual labour Grailem wonders why the humanoid population have not rebelled against the family of rulers. Some unfair dismissal cases he came across seemed unusual and appeared to be the only kind of rebellion. These numbers were small only numbering a few dozen in the past one hundred years. With advancement of intelligence comes the natural desire for equality, which appeared lacking in this society; or maybe was severely repressed.
Searching the memory banks on the history of the Sirap company Grailem finds that much of it is either 'unavailable at the present time' or worse; 'The file you have requested is corrupt'.
The only really useful information he can collect on the Sirap Communications Company is that the Managing Director for the last three thousand years has been called Rames Sirap.
Did this mean that the name Rames was passed from generation to generation or was Grailem not the only robot with a human brain? Or was he dealing with a totally different alien being altogether?
As far as he was aware there were only a handful of his kind in existence; and manufacture of more was probably restricted by his killing spree on his home planet. Mankind was shocked by the amount of deaths he had caused and may have modified construction since then; or ceased production altogether.
If mankind had continued with their dream of immortality the future human brain could have been programmed more correctly. Implants of human thought patterns into microchip's had been in an early stage when Grailem had them fitted to his brain. This research would surely have continued, even in secret, and may have even been successful.

During his aimless voyage in space Grailem had lost track of time; he could have been drifting for a hundred thousand or even millions of years. During that time slowly drifting through the cold vacuum, mankind itself may have changed and evolved.
Aware that he may be up against a formidable enemy Grailem incorporates more weapons into his artificial body. He had already put the thrusters into the prosthetic calf muscles to enable him to move about in space. Powered by small atomic motors the thrusters used a source of protons as the propellant; as long as he was in range of a light source, however faint, the motors would continue operating.
Converting the mechanical hands and fingers into energy weapons takes a little longer. His hands and fingers still have to look normal so Grailem makes a life-like looking cap that will fit neatly over the finger tips. The barrels of the new phasers and projectile guns in the fingers are completely covered by the caps and he moves on quickly to the next task.
Fitting a mini grenade launcher into each cheek makes his face look fatter. Aware that he needed to change his appearance he had stolen some black dye and silicone several days ago from an engineering works.
Using the thick black dye to cover his brown hair Grailem does not forget the artificial eyebrows. Packing the cheeks out further with the clear silicone he inserts a large amount under the chin. Giving the appearance of a well-fed humanoid Grailem tries to form a smile; the smile looks false and mechanical and the eyes remain cold. More work would be needed before he can explore this new world.

Several weeks later in his new disguise Grailem approaches the new shiny building of Sirap Communications. Carrying a small black attaché case that holds his burglary kit and enough explosives to reduce the huge building to rubble, he steps through the main doorway.
A smiling female looking robot receptionist wearing the uniform of dark blue and purple greets him as he enters and asks him to step forward to the identifying scanner.
Grailem is prepared for this and knows scanners are used in all official buildings. Wearing prosthetic fingerprints and retina copies of a communications expert who lay dead at his workshop, he approaches the identifying scanner with confidence. It had been easy to re-shape the face and body to resemble the appearance of the expert, Alexander Finda and Grailem remains calm.
The scanner has a vital flaw in its programming in that it only scans retinas and fingerprints; if it had scanned the entire body or attaché case he would have no hope in carrying out the deception.
Easily passing the scanner test Grailem is shown towards a large elevator, as he steps inside, the receptionist pushes the button for the one hundred and forty fifth floor.

Determined to find out who ruled this planet Grailem had suspicions that it was the main company in charge of communications across the planet. Deciding to test his theory he had offered Sirap Communications a revolutionary device; when incorporated with any communication device it would also transmit all of the transmitted information to Sirap; without the user being aware.
He had forwarded initial plans and was convinced that Sirap Communications would eagerly accept this invention. The invention was not new as it had been created thousands of years ago by mankind. But on this planet Grailem had found no trace of such a device, though he knew that there had to be monitoring in some way. 'His' device had yet to be invented; and would enable complete knowledge and ultimate control of the population.
Stepping out of the elevator he is ushered into an office by a robotic receptionist in the mould of a blonde female wearing the familiar uniform of dark blue and purple. As he steps inside he sees a large table surrounded by smartly dressed executives. Sitting in leather bound chairs they all stare at Grailem expectantly.
The receptionist directs him to the far end of the room where a three dimensional projector stands beside a large white screen. The vague plans he had sent previously to Sirap had been in the three dimensional form. Expecting that such a projector would be available to him he had already prepared the sales pitch and technical details.

"Good morning Mister Finda." greets the grey haired man sitting at the head of the table; "Our company is very interested in your device; if it works as well as you claim."
"Yes it works, but it will involve an upgrade of all of your systems. Along with the device I have also designed a programme which will improve your current systems by at least thirty percent."
Grailem had done his research well on the communications system that controlled the planet. Choosing Alexander Finda was not a haphazard killing as he had learnt the mans' history before adopting his life and personality.
At one time he had been top of his field in binary communications; but getting married to the wrong woman proved to be his downfall. Her promiscuous behaviour broke his heart and he would attend work (which had been Sirap Communications) bad