by Eric Warren
“As soon as we remove the bodies the alarms are going to sound. They’ll mark two missing husks. The whole thing might shut down,” Arista said.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?”
“We need to get inside and scope it out. See what kind of security we’re dealing with and watch the process for a little while. That will give us a better idea of how to subvert it. Our goal is to procure one male and one female but honestly if things go bad I don’t think my parents will care. But we need to get to them before their operating systems are uploaded and certainly before they have their consciousness added.”
Frees nodded and watched as Arista reached for one of the doors, tugging on it without any luck.
“Here we go then.” He raised his hand and a flash of light later, the bolts holding the door to the frame fell off, burned from their housings.
Frees helped Arista pull the door away from the frame and they set it to the side, waiting for an alarm to sound.
When nothing came he smiled at her. “This will make it easy for a quick getaway if we need one,” he said, tapping the door. Beyond the entrance the sounds of machines churning back and forth permeated the air. The smell of a dozen different chemicals hit Arista’s nostrils at once and she almost choked.
“Pungent,” she said, getting a hold of her breath.
“I recognize those smells. Hydrogen trioxide, polyalpha-olefin, polytetrafluoroethylene and multiply alkylated cyclopentane. All components in my internal structure.”
The Device confirmed his assessment a moment later. There were also a number of other odors he hadn’t named, but they all belonged to a class of solids used in a machine’s internal structure. It would take her a moment to become used to the stench. She stepped in the inner hallway, careful of anything that might be an invisible sensor of some kind.
“Do we think this is just going to be…” she stopped short.
“…an assembly line?” Frees finished for her, staring down at the floor of what used to be the conference center.
Giant machines filled the room from floor to ceiling, and it was hard to tell where production began and where it ended. On the far end of the wall part of the structure had been cut away to allow the giant box-sized machine to pull in raw materials from somewhere else. The entire area was a flurry of activity. Robotic arms moved this way and that, soldering, welding, examining or testing certain parts before placing them on the line for the next robotic arm. The entire line was incredibly efficient. Arista noticed there wasn’t just one line of production, but two. In case one of them went down they could still maintain their quota. Smart. She leaned forward over the railing to get a better look at the intricacies of the machines. It seemed the production started with an exoskeleton which was brought in from somewhere else, partially disassembled, filled with all the necessary components, reassembled, then moved further down the line. None of the bodies being produced had their polymorphic tissue covers yet; they all looked like a variation of Frees.
“Is it weird for you?” she asked him. “Seeing them like this?”
“No. It’s natural. It’s what we should look like. You should consider giving your parents husks without any skin.”
Arista laughed. “I’m sure they’d appreciate that.” She scanned the production floor. “Do you see anywhere we can remove two without it setting off some kind of sensor?”
Frees shook his head. “Their count is going to be off no matter what, but it doesn’t look like this place is monitored very closely. That’s good news not only for you and me, but for Jill and anyone else who might eventually need a body. You might have just saved yourself months of trouble.”
Arista suppressed a grin. “As long as we don’t go outside.”
“Right. There are probably Peacekeepers stationed out there at all times. But we should be able to remove two from the line at any point we want and get out via the hyperloop before anyone gives enough fuss to come investigate.”
“I don’t want to grab any at this stage in the production, we’re looking for a bit later. Let’s move to the next building,” Arista said, turning to head down the long hallway to their left. The Device had overlaid the most updated map it could find of the center in her mind.
“While we’re here we could grab a…um…” Frees stared at her arm.
“A hand?” She ran her teeth together. “It’s a nice thought but I don’t have any way to connect it. That’s not what we’re here for, once my parents are safe in their new bodies I’ll worry about another appendage. It’s sweet of you to say though. Thanks.”
“Does it still hurt?”
Actually, it wasn’t too bad. Arista had a feeling without the metal sleeve it would be a lot worse. “Sometimes. Just throbs a little. If I were back at home I’d take some painkillers but I doubt anyone has any of those around here.”
“There might be some back at that hyperloop kiosk, in the big atrium.”
“Yeah, a hundred years old. Nah, Mom is a skilled chemist. She could whip some up quick, no problem.”
“Is there anything your mother can’t do? What about your dad, did he contribute to the situation at all? All I ever hear is mom, mom, mom.”
Arista laughed again, the sound inaudible over the hum and cranking of the giant machines as they walked past. “She’s the curious one. The scientist. He’s the historian. I learned everything about human history from him. He’s also a skilled anthropologist, which he picked up after I came along. He was always fascinated by humans and made it a point to study everything about them.”
“Was that so he could know you better?”
She turned to him. She hadn’t considered it before but Frees was probably right. She had to push the longing for her dad back down, thinking about it now would only compromise her.
“Yeah. Yeah probably.” She faced forward again, trying to think about anything else.
“Where have you lived?”
“All over.” She paused speaking but continued to walk down the hallway. “We started out in Alabama, then moved to Texas for a while. Then it was off to Arizona, then California, then we hid out in Montana a while, and up into Canada. There’s not much out there so I had a lot more freedom back then. But as I got older and they got older we knew time was drawing short. So, I moved to Chicago last year, to form a plan. The plant was here so it seemed like the best bet. And I’d stopped growing so drastically by that point so I wasn’t in any danger if I began interacting with the world.”
Frees nodded, silent. They’d come to the end of the hallway and an old placard indicated the way to the next building was to take the sky bridge on level three.
“Guess we’re going up,” she said.
They found the stairwell close to the elevator banks and climbed. She’d started to feel comfortable around him again, almost involuntarily. It was strange interacting with someone for so long that wasn’t her parents, or Jonn.
Shit, Jonn. She’d completely forgotten about him back at Cadre headquarters. Hopefully he could hold out for another day. Once they got in tomorrow night she might be able to find a way to get him out in all the confusion. Because once everyone woke up at once, there would be a lot of confusion.
They reached the third level and exited the stairs, following a series of signs to the sky bridge. It was curved slightly and made almost entirely of glass. The twinkling lights of Chicago were easily visible beyond.
“I’d put your hood up if I were you,” Arista said, leading the way down the bridge. “You don’t want it looking like one of the machines inside walked off the assembly line.”
“Very funny,” Frees replied, pulling his hood over his head.
“See any patrols?”
Frees scanned the area. “Not within my visual field. You?”
“Nothing.”
As they crossed the bridge Arista glanced down. A giant tube ran from one of the conference buildings to the other.
That must be the feeding tube, moving the empties from the main
production floor to the final stages.
She also kept a sharp eye around the bridge for any remote drones, or people out on the street who might recognize her in some way, seeing no one. Which was fortunate. The problem with machines was they all had telescopic vision and perfect memory. All they had to do was recall the video of her, even from very far away, and she’d be done. She needed a hood like Frees. As soon as she found the time to obtain some extra clothes, she’d nab herself one.
After they finished crossing the bridge they had to descend two floors to get back to the second production floor. This space was about the same size, but much quieter. The exoskeleton bodies arrived via the tube they’d just passed over and entered some sort of heated chamber. When they emerged, they had a full covering of skin and hair where appropriate. Each person produced was slightly different.
“Okay,” Frees said, his voice low to match the hum of the machines. “I think I can pull a couple off after they come through that skin machine. It doesn’t look as though they receive any intelligence for a couple more steps. We may have to do this piecemeal. If the first one sets off some kind of proximity alarm we’ll have to come back for the second one another day.”
“No,” Arista whispered through clenched teeth. “We didn’t come all this way just to—”
“Think about it. We have a proven, easy to access transport system right below us. We can come back if we need to. There’s no need for unnecessary risk.”
She hated to admit it, but he was right. If it did set off an alarm it was better they get out now and come back once everything had died down for the second body. But what if it took weeks for things to die down? Arista might not make it that long without the nutrient shots. And without her…without her she’d have to entrust her parents’ safety to Frees.
She kept her eyes on him as he watched the machines move through their cycles. He was reliable, he would make sure they were okay. Machine life was his top priority, so there wasn’t any reason to think he couldn’t do it. She had wanted to be their hero, but sometimes things just didn’t work out like you wanted them too.
“Okay. You’re right,” she said. “Let’s get the first one and see what happens.”
“What does your mom look like?” Frees asked.
“Why?”
“Don’t you want me to pull a body that is aesthetically close to the one she already inhabits?”
“I guess…I mean I hadn’t really—”
A loud voice cut her off.
“Listen up! Charlie needs four hundred and seven replacements. Let’s halt the current production cycle, upload these new specs and get started. We don’t have much time. Now get on it!”
Arista and Frees had ducked down as soon as they’d heard the voice. Frees made a move to take a look but Arista pulled him back.
“Don’t,” she said. “I already know. It’s Jonn.”
Thirty
“WE NEED TO ABORT,” Frees said. He’d peeked over anyway, reporting multiple figures moving through the machinery. “If they’re inside, there’s no way we can get a body out without them seeing us.”
“No. I’m not leaving empty-handed.” Arista stared straight ahead at Jonn, giving orders to the others. They had hidden behind some of the machinery but she could glimpse him through parts of the machine, moving in and out of her field of vision. Her immediate reaction had been to call out to him, but he obviously wasn’t here by choice if he was giving orders. What had they done to him?
“We might not even make it out without them seeing us.”
“I can create a distraction.” Arista pulled the spare phone out of her pocket. “I’ve already programmed my parents’ number in here. It is the only way you have a chance of contacting them if I don’t come back. You complete the mission, get the bodies to them. I’ll talk to Jonn, he’ll listen to me.”
Frees took the small piece of flexible material, folding it into his own pocket. “Then what happens? How do you escape once he knows you’re here?”
She scanned the workers he was ordering around. None of them had red eyes which meant if she didn’t trigger them, they might actually ignore her. Or at least not pose any kind of threat.
“They’re not Peacekeepers. I’m sure I can convince him to stop what he’s doing. I just have to remain calm. And if for some reason I can’t, I have a detailed map of this place. I can run him in circles until I get away.” She drew a deep breath as if to reinforce her need to keep her emotional levels stable.
“Just so long as you don’t lead him to the hyperloop.”
“But this could be our opportunity to get him out too. He can help us. He tried to help me escape when you broke in.”
“Look, he’s doing something for them. Do you think he’d be doing that by choice? Don’t trust him,” Frees whispered.
“What are you thinking?”
“That they reprogrammed him in some way. Something they did changed his nature. Just be careful, he may not be the same person you knew a few hours ago.”
Arista lurched. Had it really only been a few hours? Frees had broken her out of the Cadre earlier that day, and other than a quick nap they’d been going ever since. It might as well have been last week. But even if they had done something to Jonn nothing was going to stop her from finishing this tonight. “Is that even possible? To reprogram him?”
“After today, I don’t think anything is impossible anymore.”
“Get in position,” she whispered, motioning toward the end of the assembly line where the bodies were fresh from the skin application. “If I’m not back at the terminal in twenty minutes, get the body back to Jill’s place.”
He nodded.
Arista worked her way around the large machine, staying close to the ground and out of sight the best she could. She counted six other workers who had accompanied Jonn and waited long enough to double-check none of them had red eyes. Once she was sure she crawled under another piece of machinery, making her way past a short control station and two robotic arms with long needles at the end of their appendages. A light laser emitted from the end of the needle, measuring and quality checking the bodies being produced. Jonn stood ten paces ahead of her, his back to her as he barked orders. Suddenly the line stopped abruptly, and Arista crouched back down.
“Input the new parameters!” Jonn yelled to a worker stationed above them. The worker on the floor above them nodded, working controls from behind a control panel. “Confirmed?”
“Confirmed. Beginning new sequence. Estimated time to completion: six hours, forty-eight minutes, thirty-three seconds.”
Six hours? Jonn had said something about replacements. What exactly was he doing here? She half-wondered if as soon as he saw her he’d suggest they escape together. The Cadre shouldn’t have been able to wipe what she had done to him, should they?
The machinery above her started up again and after a few moments she felt it safe to move again. There was no telling where Frees was, but she hoped he was in position, ready to move the first of the bodies.
She stood, less than a few feet from him. Here went nothing.
“The human!”
Arista glanced up. The figure operating the controls above them stared daggers at her, pulling something from his person. It took her half a second to realize it was his gun. Instinctively she ducked down, but not before seeing Jonn turn to her in surprise. What was a regular machine doing with a gun?
The shot rang out like a cannon and a bullet clipped the moving belt above her.
“Wait!” She heard Jonn yell but couldn’t get a look at him. She started crawling back to where she’d come from.
More bullets peppered the ground and machines around her. They weren’t regular machines. They were Peacekeepers. Peacekeepers who had somehow learned how to change their eye color. And she only knew one person who could do that.
“Jonn, you bastard! How could you? I thought you wanted to be free of all this?” she yelled while she crawled.
“Stop!�
�� he yelled, his voice panicked. “Stop shooting! Don’t kill her!”
But the bullets kept flying. Arista only prayed Frees used the distraction to his advantage and got the body out of here. She got to her knees behind a machine made of pure steel. The bullets wouldn’t penetrate it; the Peacekeepers would have to make their way around to get to her. But she wasn’t planning on being here long.
“Arista, I don’t know why they’re not stopping! They’re supposed to listen to me!”
“Sounds like you’re not the one in charge!” She glanced around. Beside her was the control panel with the two robotic arms, still inspecting the bodies as they moved past on the assembly line. She shuffled over to the machine, scanning it for any kind of identification. It was printed on the side: Compuarm Model LGZ-842-D2. As soon as she’d read the number the Device produced a schematic in her mind downloaded from the net pertaining to the manual operation of the Compuarm. A bullet zinged past her shoulder, missing it by millimeters and she ducked back down. She wouldn’t have long. “I guess you’ve chosen your side!” Arista shouted.
“Just…just hang on! Stop shooting goddammit!” he yelled at the Peacekeepers. Arista had built a mental map in her mind based on where the projectiles were coming from. All six must be armed and they were spreading out in a pattern designed to circle around and entrap her. She had to give Frees enough time to get the bodies out of here. She had to stall.
“I will apprehend her!” Jonn said, his voice a little lower. The shooting stopped. “Yes, I will apprehend her and bring her to Charlie.”
Who is Charlie?
Arista counted two breaths. The Peacekeepers were no doubt still circling her, but she was camped in the middle of a mountain of industrial robotics equipment. It would be hard to get a shot from any side unless they made their way in.
