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The priest raised his hands and began the ancient invocation.
"Query: Strategic Status?"
"Status: Forgotten." The words came as a rumbling echo from deep inside the metal behemoth.
"Primary Directive?"
"Protect the People," answered the machine.
"Operational?"
"Only if needed."
The priest lowered his hands; the invocation complete. Half a thousand years ago this armored titan had saved his people, his planet, from extermination at the hands of the alien Ku'trill. Now, after generations, the status report was no more than a time-honored ritual. He did not know the import of his words, only that they were as ancients texts said they should be. A whispered invocation, not to awaken—but to honor.
The ancient interface dimmed.
The machine did not stir.
But it remembered.
-Based on Keith Laumer's Bolo series.