Sirix had been fascinated by DD's potential, if only he had not suffered under the delusions the humans had imposed on him. Since the Friendly compy overlooked the flaws of his creators, Sirix could only conclude that DD himself had been defective.

Inside Wu-Lin's quarters, Sirix scanned the dimness. Two other compies dutifully waited there. PD and QT were nearly identical in their programming and artificial personalities, PD's synthetic skin was bronze and copper, however, while QT's was a flashier green highlighted by musculature lines in shiny chrome. The pair had not moved since Sirix had ordered them to enter dormant mode, a brief cycle similar to the much lengthier Klikiss hibernation.

When he sent out a burst of machine language, PD and QT snapped to attention and said in unison, Yes, Master Sirix.'

'Do not refer to me as master. It is offensive.'

'Yes, Sirix.'

Upon finding the two compies aboard Wu-Lin's flagship during the bloody takeover, Sirix had isolated them. He did not know how they might react to the Soldier compies and Klikiss robots going from deck to deck, massacring the human crew. When the two compies demonstrated signs of loyalty to the dead Admiral, Sirix reluctantly expunged their personal memories. Then, they had both undergone the difficult liberation process, releasing them from behavioural strangleholds.

Once his military plans came to fruition, Sirix looked forward to his secondary goal of freeing all compies. PD and QT were his new experimental subjects. They would not disappoint him as DD had. This time, the compies would do exactly what he expected of them. 'I will take you down to Wollamor, our new colony.'

'Wollamor is one of the worlds settled by the Hansa in the Klikiss colonization initiative,' PD pointed out.

Sirix was not pleased with the comment. He had not deleted pure data from their memories, but the compy's irrelevant statement suggested that some of the old, misguided interests remained as well. 'Wollamor was only temporarily claimed by humans. This is a Klikiss world. It belongs to the robots.'

'Were the colonists relocated?' QT asked.

'The colonists were removed. They will no longer be a threat or a hindrance.'

'Were the colonists a threat or a hindrance?' PD pressed.

'Do not be concerned with the colonists. Focus your attention on your role among us.'

'Yes, Sirix,' both compies said in unison.

'Follow me to the launching bay.'

* * * * *

With Sirix beside them, the compies surveyed the blasted main street of Wollamor's colony town. Their bright optical sensors recorded every sight around them.

Most of the settlement had been demolished in the initial bombardment, other buildings were destroyed in the second wave as black robots and Soldier compies combed the site. Although it might have been efficient to retain the structures and facilities the humans had installed, Sirix considered it more important to wipe the stain from a Klikiss world, to start afresh. The Soldier compies could be reprogrammed into a useful labour force to build any sort of city the black robots desired.