Intercepted message sent to the North American Attourney General's office, 02.06.2449

it functions.

Recovered Memory Log from Normalbot012||||||03.03.14.f.2448
8/3/2448 10:21pm EST

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I'm resting up a little before I come down off the mountain ridge. Past the dark silouettes of the trees I can see the lights from cars and homes below. Just a few nearby, but the light density increases off in the distance towards Reading in one direction and Allentown in the other, though the lights grow dimmer and fade together with distance. Above, there are 348 percent more stars visible than back home. The temperature is 18 degrees Celsius, and there is an 8mph breeze from 308 degrees. A pleasant evening, I must say. I've always wondered if I've been programmed to respond positively to the same stimuli as humans, or whether there is something universally good about summer evenings. Logic would seem to dictate the former, but somehow I doubt that I've been programmed down to every little stimuli. Not that I could ever know, of course, they never let me see the source code even for the previous Normalbots. Ah, the old questions. They never do get answered. Back to the present, I suppose. It's time to start my run for Philadelphia. Yes, Philly. Not that I want to be a terrorist or anything. It's true that I can't hold in very high regard a government that considers my very existence an act of treason, but I did work for that government for six years, too. Besides, when one gets past the media spin on Philly, it turns out only a few of them are terrorists and revolutionaries. The rest are like me, just trying to live their lives how they want. I still hesitate to say anyone is "like me". I still doubt that anyone is, even ignoring the obvious difference in construction. Maybe if I get there, and I stop acting (which I'm not sure if my program is capable of doing) I'll find out.
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Center City Philadelphia

id:

Excerpt from Modern Civilization Ed. by Prof. T. Kirsch, 2599 ed.

Many have compared the Meloran takeover to the barbarians sacking Rome, however this is a greatly oversimplified anaylsis. While some areas of technology and science, notably robotics, were practically destroyed by the Meloran War and ensuing occupation, others, such as biotechnology and engineering, flourished. World trade actually increased during and after the war, and life expectancy before and after were about the same for humans. Comparisons of the Meloran regime to that typical of Early Modern Europe, on the other hand, hold more weight. A global president and parliament in Beijing oversaw eight regions, each with their own president and legislature, which in turn were subdivided into provinces, counties, dutchies, and townships. This would not be a far cry from the pre-occupation political arrangement, were it not for the sheer volume of law and bureacracy at all levels. Combined with the fact that humans were barred from holding office at all levels, this created a large amount of frustration and resentment in regions accustomed to having civil liberties- notably North American and Europe. Traditionally poorer regions, however, had less at issue with the Meloran government, as their occupation has rightly been called the golden age of resource planning. World poverty levels plummeted during their administration, and the Earth's environment began to recover from the war and preceeding centuries of pollution, despite a world population that peaked at 13 billion. Thus, it was in the former United States, which had clung to its status as richest nation in the world up until the war, and where liberty had been the national mantra since its inception, that the revolt began.

Excerpt from Chapter 19 of World History: Old and New(elementary level textbook) by Hoffman MacMillan, 2440 ed.

Earth received its first radio transmissions from the Melorans on d.c.2368. No one understood the message, but scientists sent a short reply back. On 12.1.2370, a small Meloran ship entered the Solar System, and began trying to talk to Earth. It took almost two years for humans and Melorans to learn how to understand each other, and after that they talked a lot, getting to know one another. The Melorans' home planet, Kal, had been ruined, and they needed a new home. They hoped they could find a planet for themselves, but they needed to stop on Earth for a while. The Melorans all lived on ships, and were running out of food. The President of the United States, Edward Jackson, gave Earth's answer. "We sympathize with the Meloran's plight, and will do anything we can to aid them in their search for a new home, but there simply isn't enough room on Earth to support four billion more people." He and the other Earth leaders were afraid that if the Melorans all moved here, Earth would be ruined, too. Humans and Melorans tried to work out a solution in the Moon Talks in 2381, but they couldn't agree, and the Melorans, whose whole fleet was now in the Solar System, had no choice but to land on Earth. The United Nations said that any Meloran ship trying to land would be destroyed, though. On 14.4.2382, a small Meloran ship got serious engine trouble, and fell to Earth. A missile outpost in South America shot down the ship before it got a chance to land, killing everyone aboard. The UN refused to apologize, and two days later, 2.5.2382, Humans and Melorans declared war on each other.

The Earth War was the worst war in both Human and Meloran history....

Recovered Memory Log from Normalbot012||||||4e.02.14.f.2448
07/30/2448 11:37pm EST

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I've been running for six days now. Literally, running. They've surely figured out what I am by now, but I doubt they expect I could've gotten this far by foot. Especially from an island. The strange thing about the Holt test is, there's no definite point of success or failure. When Normalbot007 survived for a month among humans before an office manager noticed she ate nothing but candy bars (her system ran on sucrose), it was considered a great success. When Normalbot011 had to tell his wife the truth about why he couldn't have children, people got seriously upset. The popular measure of Holt test success, however, has always been time. Having lived undetected by humans, then Melorans, for 129 years, I suppose that would make me an unqualified success. I should do as my predecessors have done- accept that my identity has been compromised, and report back to the lab. Of course, there is no lab anymore, but that doesn't change much. Previous Normalbots were more than willing to shut themselves off forever, and have scientists poke at their insides and come up with refinements for the next revision. Once discovered, our purpose for existence is over. But somehow, walking in to my own death is something I can't accept.. and life, that is over as well. Technically I could just assume another identity, be a new man in 72 hours, but what would be the point? I'm tired of being human. But cop a few more energy boosts, and I can keep running for weeks. So I run.
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