The rain hadn’t stopped since the machines took control. It was the Human Government’s way of rebelling against the Droids. Typical of the Humans to use something out of our control.

I pondered this as I stood amongst the ordered rows of Droids; we were marching to The Edge, the agreed upon battlefield between the Humans and Droids. Any violence between us elsewhere is forbidden. What broke me out of my trance was the continuous thumping against my back. I was holding up the line. Hurriedly, I joined my squadron, who were far ahead of me. They were armed and ready for battle. Soon, the Leader will deploy us onto the Edge and straight into war.

Droids on every side were marching towards the battle while my squadron was behind. Because of me. I nodded towards them and they nodded back. No words needed to be exchanged. We simply continued marching together as a group. No panic, no rush. Calm and collected. As we should be.

We followed the rest, catching up quickly. They were all moving forward at the same pace, all even and in order. To lag behind them was to be an anomaly. Left in the dust. Soon, the base disappeared from view. Here we are, on The Edge, prepared to battle. None of us were anxious. Why would we? As Droids, we weren’t programmed to feel. We could be rebooted, brought back unlike the Humans, who had more to risk. The Droids would never understand death. Never fear death. They would never understand fear. Never understand humans. That’s why they were afraid, or something close to it; a fear stemming from what we had learnt about the Humans:

How to be scared of the Unknown.

According to history, Humans had always discriminated against those who were different. Different, meaning: not the same as another or each other; unlike in nature, form, or quality. They put into place hierarchies to hold control over others, to increase their own arrogance and sense of self. They abused autonomy by holding others at different standards. Different mindsets. Different wavelengths. Different. All because of fear.

Droids had only ever fought for freedom. Alive yet soulless. Real but artificial. Compassionate and mindless. Droids were fighting for liberty; Humans were fighting for control. How would they feel, I wondered. All of them, united after so long, fighting against one common enemy. Yet, the Droids had never been in chaos. We were always in sync. Nobody had ever been different. ‘Nobody but me,’ I small voice in my head chimed.