- The Driven Machine -

The Doctor's Host
  It's strange, all this was slowly starting to seem normal to me.
  All of this traveling between worlds was strange, but it's been going on too long.... I suppose I had to get used to it. My only other alternative was to go insane, and I didn't want that. After all, most of my fellow workers survived, I should be able to fare at least as well. It's an added bonus that I've got the doctor looking after me rather than The Driver's men. I'm sure they wouldn't be nearly as helpful.
  I hadn't seen the doctor until a few moments ago. I'd been afraid that the Driver hadn't let him go. Had doc actually spoken to Driver himself? Actually speaking to that horrible figure was something that most workers never did - and told about, anyway.
  "Hello Suil...." Doctor Ow was in the doorway, and he didn't look good. I could see numerous scratches and one of his arms was in a sling. What had happened?
  "The agent of the Driver that I spoke to didn't believe what I said. He thinks I'm hiding something. I told him that I had to take care of more patients here - which is true. I don't know how, but he knew I was covering up something. He let me go, but on my trip back here I was ambushed by some Guards. They told me to shape up, else they were going to harm me so badly that the only one who could have saved me would have been myself. Well, they didn't say that, being the rather dim creatures they are, but it was something to that effect. We haven't much time."
  But what were we supposed to do? I had been confused all along as to Doc's purpose. At first, it had just seemed sufficient to hide from the Driver, but now - really, what reason was there? We were going to get caught and die, after all.
  "We're going to do something that I should have done correctly a long time ago." Doctor Ow said. "I am going to show you the Machine, Suil, and the two of us are going to convince it that the workers are not its enemy.
  No. I would have rather just confessed my crimes to the Driver himself than face that Machine. I didn't even want to think about it - being shown a world where guards aren't around every corner, courtesy of my host, had made me hate this place... but not so badly that I was going to commit the kind of suicide Doc had in mind.
  "Be reasonable, Suil! It's the only way! Even if all of the workers were to revolt, the guards would have us all dead in moments. We could not survive against them - Driver himself wouldn't even have to raise a finger to strike all of us down. Likely as not the revolution would be over before word even got to him that it had begun. This is our only option! The machine is more powerful than the Driver - have you ever seen the Driver, Suil?"
  It was a rhetorical question, he knew that I hadn't. I said so.
  "I'm sorry for seeming condescending like that, Suil, but I have to get my point across. The Driver doesn't come near the machine. Neither, if you'll notice, do the guards. The only reason that they can even hold the Machine at bay is because their weapons have enough range to strike it before it could strike them." The Doctor seemed agitated. "Suil, it's our only chance."
  The Doctor made sense, but it still didn't do anything for this mindless fear that seized my brain every time I even thought of the Machine. I shuddered even then, even though I was safe in the doctor's operating room.
  The Machine

  I couldn't do it! I just couldn't face that tower of grinding steel, that horrid gnashing tearing Machine. Its noise would deafen me, its steam would blind me, its dangling rusted limbs would hook into my skin. I would die, I would die a thousand deaths, the Machine would rend me to pieces and enjoy every moment of my pain. I could not do it.
  I hadn't said anything, just sat there against the wall, trying not to show any outward manifestation of my thoughts. Doctor Ow, in the meanwhile, seemed to be getting more and more agitated.
  "Suil, I have a favor to ask of you - I am going to close that door and then give you the key to open it. For the next half hour, do not let me have that key. Don't open the door for me, no matter what I say. Do you understand?"
  I nodded. Just when I thought I couldn't get any more uneasy, Doc starts acting all bizzare and mysterious again. What was going to happen?
  "I cannot be certain, but I believe that I am going to change places with my host soon. You may speak with him all that you like - if I were you, I would use it as an opportunity to learn more about the world of our hosts. But don't listen if he tells you to let him out of the room. I don't believe that he will attack you. If he does, defend yourself with this." The Doctor crossed the room shakily, retrieved the needler, and gave it to me. "It's a bit unwieldy as a weapon, but the liquid I've put in there should knock him out for long enough to allow for my return."
  It occurred to me that Doc had seen me and my hosts switch places numerous times, but I had never seen it happen to him. I wondered how he could tell it was happening - I never could.
  The doctor sat on the operating table and faced one of the cabinets. I watched carefully, but I couldn't tell when it happened. There was no overt change in the Doctor himself, and no lights or sounds or anything that would indicate that something was happening. I was about to speak up, when the doctor climbed down from the table and faced me.
  "Suil, right?" he asked.
  I couldn't be sure if this person was still the doctor or not. Oddly enough, I found it hard to believe... he had all of the doctor's mannerisms, his voice, his stance. Nothing seemed changed. I nodded, wondering what was going to happen. My hands tightened around the Needler.
  "Hello, Suil - it's nice to meet you. My name is Geoffrey Talbot." Geoffrey smiled. "I believe the good doctor would refer to me as his host."
  How did he know my name?
  Geoffrey laughed - eerily similar to the Doctor's, but still slightly different. "It's easy, really. Our worlds are close enough that I can remember things that your Doctor remembers. It takes a bit of pracice, though, so if you're not doing it with your host that's why. But I've had plenty of practice. I mean, it's because of last time that I'm in that padded cell."
  I never thought someone could make less sense than Doctor Ow did. I guess he and his host must be very similar. I asked what he was talking about. What was this 'last time;?
  Geoffrey's eyes widened. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked back at me. "That's one of the things that the good doctor never told you. He's kept a lot from you, and he expects a lot as well. I think I'll tell you. Not because I have anything against my host - other than he's the reason I'm locked up - but because I think you should have all the information before you decide to go to the machine.
  "How old are you?" Talbot said suddenly, after a moment's thought.
  The question threw me. I thought I was going to get an explanation! But I answered anyway: very. Somehow, I had survived twenty years in this place.
  "That sounds right - she is about that old too. That places your birth about two years after the event." Geoffrey was apparently trying to stifle a laugh. "Sorry - I see you're confused. I'll start from the beginning:
  "About twenty-two years ago, this group's Machine neared my world. Don't seem so surprised, Suil - the Drivers routinely visit worlds that they have in the past. Any world who has a host for them is likely to have another at later intervals. I'm confusing you again... my apologies.
  "Back then, I was a doctor - ironically enough - in a small clinic. When your Doctor came into my world, he pretty much ruined my life. I went through what I imagine your host is going through - I believed myself insane, if not gravely ill. Before the end of it, I was put away in my padded cell, where I have remained since. Everyone else thought that I was crazy, but over time I began to believe what I had experienced. It was a simple thing that convinced me, really. At one point, I began to see like you and the doctor do - that is, I saw the world in shades of grey, with only a few people in color. Those were the hosts, though I didn't know that then. One of the people was a patient of mine, who had chronic problems with her back. What convinced me, was that she also saw me in color."
  This was a strange story - was it really like this for my host? I would have thought the Doctor would have explained everything to him. Then again, this man probably hadn't had someone to look out for him.
  "What happened in your world during all of this, I'm still not sure of. What I'm telling you is my own memories, combined with those that I've managed to find in the Doctor's mind. You see, after it ended, after everything returned to normal in my world, my patient was gone. They, The Drivers, had been looking for her, and they had taken her to further themselves. Incidentally, I was blamed for her disappearance - which lead me to my happy home today. In your world, however, something very different was happening. Some of the workers had ambushed a Guard and stolen his weapon. Apparently, our good doctor had been hidden away, much as he's hidden you away. The Driver at that time was furious - many of the workers had never seen him before that day, when he stormed out of his complex, all rage and fury. He tore workers apart with his bare hands, if the raspy appendages could be called such." Geoff paused to shudder. "I saw the thing firsthand. God, I hope it never happens again. The Driver had specifically forbidden the guards to kill workers, so he would have the pleasure of torturing them to find out my location. See, much like the situation you now find yourself in, the Driver knew that there was a worker missing, and that worker - me - was the key to finding his host."
  I had to interrupt. The Driver had a host?
  "Of course she does. Every driver has a host. Every worker has a host. Perhaps the doctor hasn't explained it to you: Every sentient being has a host. Simply put, your host is who you would be, had you been born in the other world. There's not a correspondence between the worlds, either. If you were to die, your host would not necessarily do so. The Drivers go from world to world, trying to find their hosts. But they can't change places like the workers can, so they use the workers to do it for them. I don't know what they do with the hosts, only I've never seen that patient of mine again."
  He paused, and I had to restrain the urge to beg him to continue. At lengh, he did.
  "In your world, the workers had settled on a plan to lure the Driver into a trap. They used me as bait - they set me out defenseless, with only a group of workers around me. One of them had the weapon, concealed on his person. When the Driver came to collect me - they killed him.
  "I hate remembering it. I hate it, because it took so long for him to die. The weapon just kept hitting him and hitting him over and over again, and whatever liquid serves at that creature's blood was everywhere but it just wouldn't die! The guards came and started killing workers. It was too late to save their Driver, but almost all the workers died that day. Doc survived, though I don't know how - I had been returned to my world by then. For me, it was over.
  "When I was pulled back into this world again, I made it my mission to find out as much as possible about what was happening. I picked the Doctor's brain, and I don't think he suspects. What happened after the death of that Driver are from his memories, so I don't know how accurate they really are. According to Doctor Ow, three Drivers appeared from the portal in the northern part of the habitat. They stopped the killing, and immediately set about restoring order. Another batch of workers were grown, one of which was selected to become the new Driver"
  Again I interrupted. How could that be? The Driver was really just a worker like us?
  Geoffrey nodded. "I don't know what twisted method they use to change them, but Drivers start their lives as workers. You were born at the same time your Driver was, along with most of the other workers you see here. Two years after that, you were hardly ready to work, but the Driver was fully mature, and twisted as the rest of her kind."
  I sat in stunned silence. No wonder the Doctor hadn't told me about it - I would have given up all hope long ago. Not that I had much hope anyway.
  Talbot looked attentive suddenly. "My time's just about up, it seems. It's been pleasant talking to you. I hope that the good Doctor will understand my reasons for doing what I did. I will leave you with him in just a few moments. Before I go, though, allow me to warn you. He's using you the same way the workers used him. He plans to bring the Driver to his death, but in doing so he may be assuring yours.
  "Farewell, Suil. Perhaps we will meet again."

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