76268

Number 76268 looked at the wall in front of him, calculating the best means for him to overcome it. There were a variety of options available to him, save a door, which the wall lacked. He supposed he could move straight through the wall, plowing a hole through it, but he was significantly more likely to hurt himself doing that than most other options. He could scale it, digging his metallic fingers and toes into the face, but that faced a similar problem.

As he calculated, his hand detached from his arm and quickly approached the wall, using its fingers to walk. It probed the wall, looking to see the material, sturdiness, density, and so forth. It was a much stronger wall than it appeared. It was likely to have been built that way intentionally, with a very strong core, so as to prevent the experiments from plowing through it, forcing them to calculate their actions. It was also surprisingly smooth and slick, making it difficult to scale. The hand scanned the sides, but there was no reliable end in sight. The simple matter was that it must be overcome, quite literally. 

76268 began separating each piece of himself, each limb and section of his body moving independantly of one another, but all sharing in his one hive mind. The easiest way, it seemed to him, was to go over the wall. Doing so meant that he must be launched, and he was well aware that he did not have the power to move his weight that high and fast through the air. However, by rearranging his body composition, he was capable of constructing a trebuchet that would launch him piece by piece. Starting with his head, the machine made up of himself flung body parts through the air, over the wall, and on to the other side, where a scientist awaited him. 

As the parts arrived, 76268 rearranged himself into the human like figure he had previously held. However, after a while, the trebuchet became less and less effective, resulting in the inability for 76268's left foot and right arm to arrive. He felt misbalanced, and try as he might, he could not fathom a way in which to retrieve the final pieces of his body. 

"Is that all?" the scientist asked, clipboard in hand, writing down information at a constant pace without deigning to look down at his writing. 76268 nodded in silent acknowledgement. "I see. I'm afraid that means you are yet another failure. A pity. I was hoping you would be a success. Your unique ability to work as a unit, each piece functioning on its own, was quite promising. It appears, however, that doing so limited your overall comprehension. Perhaps our technology has not advanced far enough to give you enough computing power to make up for that."

"I will therefore be eradicated, correct?" 76268 replied, voice flat and without tone, more a metallic imitation of a voice than one his own.

"Correct."

"May I be permitted one request before eradication?"

"It is possible, depending on your request."

"I would like to be whole again before I am gone."

"That can be arranged."

"Thank you."