by Camie Elias
ALL HUMANS TO THE TUNNELS
by
CAMIE ELIAS
Copyright © 2020 by CAMIE ELIAS.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Smashwords: October, 2020
ISBN: 9781005158187
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Follow the author on Twitter @CamieElias
ABOUT THIS BOOK
"All Humans To The Tunnels" tells the Carbon, a young girl who lives with Sentient, a synthetic fox—her mentor, teacher, and friend. Carbon and Sentient lead what seems to be an uneventful life until the day they find an old robot rusting on the outer islands of Gaea-32. The robot keeps saying "all humans to the tunnels"—which is very strange because Carbon is supposedly the only human left on the colony. But what if it's true that other human beings are living in tunnels, somewhere on Gaea-32? Carbon will not stop until she has found those tunnels and the people living underground. The truth, however, might turn out to be quite different from what she expected—or even ever imagined.
ALL HUMANS TO THE TUNNELS
Prologue: A Normal Day
"Sentient," said Carbon.
"Yes," answered the white synthetic fox sitting next to her.
"Nothing, really. I just like saying your name," the girl admitted.
"I like that you like saying my name," said the fox.
They sat in silence and watched as the purple sky on Gaea-32 turned to dark blue dotted with stars.
Chapter 1: The Sleeping Robot
One day, while visiting one of the outer islands after having finished her lessons, Carbon noticed something somewhat rusty leaning against a wall.
"What is that?" she asked Sentient.
The synthetic fox approached the thing, scanned it, and explained:
"It’s a very old robot."
The girl touched the robot's darkened surface and wondered: "Is this iron?"
"Some alloy," said the fox.
"Is the robot dead?"
"I’m not sure. It’s probably just resting—and rusting as well, I guess."
“Can we take it home?”
The fox hesitated.
“Please, Sentient. Please...”
Sentient shook his head, apparently unconvinced by Carbon’s plea, but he ended up by saying: “All right.”
“Yes,” shouted Carbon. She had never seen a robot quite like that. It was half her size and looked cute, almost like a toy.
Using his teleporting in-built system, Sentient helped transfer the robot to the spherule Carbon called home: a sky hovering orb with a transparent ceiling.
They placed the robot in the garden, against one of the trees Sentient had planted there.
"Can you make it wake up?" asked the girl.
The synthetic fox looked at the old thing for a while, and finally answered:
"Maybe."
He sat down in front of the robot and asked:
"What is your name?"
There was no reaction.
"Identify yourself," then commanded the fox.
This time, there was a response: a series of strange noises.
"Very well," said Sentient. "That's your serial number. Now, what is your name?"
The robot seemed to fall back asleep.
"Maybe it doesn't have a name," suggested Carbon.
“I’m sure he has one,” asserted the fox. “All old robots have names.”
"Scars," the robot suddenly replied.
"Scars," repeated Carbon. "Is that your name?"
The robot looked at the girl and its mood seemed to change. It stood up, clanged its chest, and said:
"Me Scars. You Carbon!"
"What? How do you know my name?"
"It doesn't," said Sentient. "All it did was scan and identify a lifeform."
"All humans to the tunnels," said the robot with a rusty voice.
Carbon jumped up and shouted:
"Did you hear that? All humans to the tunnels!"
"All humans to the tunnels," insisted the robot.
"It's an old robot," noted Sentient. "What it says has no relevance now. I'm sorry, Carbon."
"Yes," Carbon agreed, "but maybe it knows where the tunnels are?" She turned to the robot and asked: "Where are the tunnels, Scars?"
"All humans to the tunnels," repeated the robot.
"Yes, Scars, I understand. Where are the tunnels?"
The robot went silent.
"As I said, a very old robot," commented Sentient.
Carbon moved away and sat on the grass, looking at nothing.
Sentient followed and sat next to her.
"I'm sorry, Carbon," said the fox. "I know you want that robot to be some sort of cosmic sign."
"I can't be the only one left," the girl mumbled sadly. "It's not possible."
"We can ask Silver to take a look at that old thing if you'd like," said Sentient.
"Do you think she can mend it?" asked Carbon, hope brightening up her expression.
"She does know old bots better than anyone," declared Sentient.
Carbon jumped up again and shouted joyfully: "Let's take the robot to Silver!"
Chapter 2: Silver’s Junkyard
Carbon and Sentient took the robot to Silver's junkyard. The spider was busy fixing a vehicle, so she greeted them with just one of her eight metal legs.
"Girl, fox, how can I help you? Oh, you've found old Scars. Good, good. Very good."
"You know this robot?" asked Carbon.
"Of course I know old Scars," said Silver. "I've fixed it a few times. It's a good bot. A bit rusty, a few dents, yes, but good, good, very good bot."
"I think it knows where the other humans are," stated the girl.
"The other humans? What other humans?" questioned the metal spider.
"The robot kept saying all humans to the tunnels," explained Sentient.
"Oh, humans in the tunnels, that old mythos," remarked the spider. "Good, good, I understand now."
"Do you know where those tunnels are?" asked Carbon.
"No idea. Never cared to find out," Silver replied.
"The robot knows where the tunnels are, I'm sure of it," said Carbon. "Can you help us retrieve that information?"
"Even if Scars still has that data, why would you want to have it?" asked the spider. "The old regime is over."
"Why?" the girl shouted. "How can you ask me that? Isn't it obvious? I want to find my people!"
"Your people," echoed Silver, her many little eyes flickering with incredulity. "Your people?"
"Yes!"
"Calm down, Carbon," said Sentient. The fox then looked at the spider and asked: "Please, help us retrieve the information if you can, Silver. Let me worry about the rest."
"I'm sorry," said Carbon. "I didn't mean to shout at you."
"Good, good," said the metal spider. "I can try doing what you ask. Very good."
Silver then leaped from the vehicle she was fixing onto the robot's head. Scars seemed to wake up; it looked at Carbon and proceeded to repeat its old instructions: "All humans to the tunnels. All humans to the tunnels."
"Good, good," said the spider. "Let me just check something inside you, all right? Be very still now. Good, good. Very good."
Silver extended one of her metal legs and inserted it through a chimney-like orifice on the robot's head.
"You do understand that, even if Silver manages to retrieve any information from that old robot, it will be da
ta from a different epoch," said Sentient. "It'll probably lead to nothing."
"It'll lead us to the tunnels where the other humans are living now, I'm sure of it," declared Carbon, and she sat down on the ground with a resolute expression.
The synthetic fox sighed and sat next to the girl while the spider probed the robot.
"I'm sorry," said Silver, after having finally removed her metal leg from the robot's head. "The information you're looking for is very well protected. A good security protocol. Very good security protocol. I'm afraid the data might self-destruct if I force its unauthorized retrieval."
Carbon stood up, and anxiously asked: "But is the location of the tunnels inside the robot?"
"There's definitely something in there, attached to those instructions. What it is I cannot tell for sure."
Carbon sat down with her head in her hands.
"Oh, is that an expression of sadness?” asked the spider. “Fox, is the girl sad?"
"Yes," Sentient confirmed. "Carbon is sad."
Silver moved away and disappeared inside the most cluttered part of the junkyard. She emerged after a short while, carrying a box ten times her size on her back.
"Don't be sad. girl. Look at what I have here!"
Carbon looked up and asked: "What is that?"
"A food synthesizer," triumphantly announced the spider. “A very good food synthesizer. For you!”
"I already have one of those, thank you."
"You don't understand," said Silver. "This a pristine gourmet food synthesizer."
"What is gourmet?" asked Carbon, turning to Sentient.
"Gourmet is something humans called food that was particularly tasty," the fox explained. "It's also the word they used for people who enjoy such food."
"Good, good food," added Silver. "Very good food. All for girl!"
"Thank you, Silver, that's very kind of you," said Carbon, and she took the box from the spider's back.
Silver didn't have to ask Sentient a second time if the girl was sad.
"Take Scars with you, too," offered the spider.
"What for?" asked Carbon. "You couldn't retrieve the information. What makes you think that I can?"
"You seem to have been the trigger for that message about the tunnels," said Silver. "Maybe Scars will end up telling you the information you want."
A glow of hope began to illuminate Carbon's face.
"Do you really think so?"
"It's a good possibility," stated the spider. "A very good possibility."
"We'll take the robot with us, then. Thank you for everything!"
"What does this robot do?" asked the fox. "What was its initial function, do you know?"
"Scars was created to protect small humans," answered Silver.
"Children," Sentient rectified.
"Children, yes,” assented the spider. “That is the correct term. Very good!"
Chapter 3: Lovely Macaroons
Back at the bubble Carbon called home, Scars seemed to fall back asleep. The girl sat next to the robot and kept staring at the old thing with anxious eyes as if it were about to reveal its most precious secret.
"Why don't we try the new food synthesizer?" proposed Sentient.
The girl shrugged at the fox's suggestion.
"Why are you interested in a food synthesizer? You only eat sunlight."
"That's true," admitted the fox, "but I'm sure a bit of tasty food would do wonders for your psyche. Besides, you know I like to look at food—and I can't wait to find out how gourmet food looks like. Maybe it looks just like the ordinary food that comes out of the old food synthesizer. What do you think?"
"It can't look like regular food, can it?" asked Carbon, at long last moving her gaze away from the robot.
"There's only one way to find out."
***
Carbon tried almost every delicacy the new gourmet food synthesizer could offer.
"I like the way macaroons look," said Sentient, happily wagging his tail. "I declare macaroons my favorite food to look at."
"They taste wonderful," admitted the girl.
"I'm sure amazing food synthesizers like this one used to cost a fortune. Aren't you happy Silver decided to offer it to you?"
Carbon smiled and agreed, but her gaze drifted to the old robot sitting against the tree.
"You're still sad," remarked Sentient.
"I don't want to feel sad," the girl assured him.
"Don't you like your life? Don't we have fun?"
"I do. We do," said Carbon. "It's just—" She stopped and shook her head.
"Please, tell me what's wrong," pleaded the fox. "I'm your friend; you can tell me everything."
Carbon stared into Sentient's eyes and said:
"I miss seeing other human beings. Wouldn't you like to meet another fox?"
Sentient sat down.
"Another fox? Do you know why I look like a fox and not a human being?"
"Because the Scientific High Council banned the production of synthetic humans," said Carbon. "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to be cruel."
"It's all right," said the fox. "I know you were not trying to hurt me. Finding this robot has upset you tremendously. I can see that."
The girl nodded.
"You can braid my tail if you'd like," said the fox. "If it helps you feel better."
Carbon laughed.
"You used to enjoy braiding my tail," remarked Sentient.
"Ages ago! And you used to upbraid me about it."
"I didn't upbraid you. I just tried to explain foxes are not horses."
The girl giggled.
"I'm sure it was a bit harsher than that. Thank you for your offer, though. It's very kind of you."
"I could reread The Little Prince to you. You like that story a lot," recalled Sentient, "but the ending always makes you sad."
"What? Oh, right. Yes, it does," said Carbon. Her eyes had once again drifted toward the tree and the old robot leaning against it.
"Equanimity," said Sentient.
"Equanimity?" echoed Carbon.
"Yes," said the fox. "That was the name of an old program designed to protect people in case of panic-inducing incidents."
"Using robots?"
"Some robots were specifically programmed to protect children."
"And you think that Scars..."
"Remember what Silver told us about Scars' initial function? Yes, I think it might be one of those robots."
"Will that help us find out more about the tunnels?" asked the girl with hope lighting up her eyes again.
"I'm not sure," admitted the fox. "What I know is that if we don't try to find those tunnels you'll probably be sad for a long time."
Chapter 4: Follow The Robot
Sentient stood in front of Scars and said:
"Equanimity. Can you recall Equanimity for us? Equanimity."
The robot didn't react.
Sentient shook his head.
"Maybe the information got corrupted, and Scars can't recall the program anymore. It's been a long time since the program's inception."
"I'm eleven years old," stated the girl. "So it couldn't have been more than, I don't know, twenty years ago? Could it?"
"Maybe," answered the fox.
"Do you think Scars is older than that?"
"Probably," Sentient admitted.
"How much older?"
"Can't say for sure."
Carbon squinted her eyes at the robot.
"Let me try."
She sat down on the grass facing the robot and said:
"Equanimity."
No reaction.
"E-qua-ni-mi-ty."
Nothing.
Carbon sighed and whispered:
"I really need your help, Scars."
The robot seemed to remain oblivious to her words.
"I'm sorry Carbon," said the fox.
Carbon got up, but she turned back, faced the robot again, and told Sentient:
&nbs
p; "It's in there somewhere; I know it is."
"We can try again later," suggested the fox. "Why don't we go tree-hunting? I'm sure I saw a tiny almond tree on Sector 7. It would look great in the garden."
The girl agreed, unenthusiastically.
They were about to leave the spherule Carbon called home when the robot suddenly said:
"Carbon."
The girl rushed back and shouted:
"Yes! Yes, Scars, I am Carbon."
The robot stood up and declared:
"All humans to the tunnels."
"Yes! Where are the tunnels?" asked the girl.
Scars didn't react.
"We've tried that," said the fox. "It probably can't recall the location of the tunnels."
"No, no. I'm sure that's not it. We're just not asking it right. You said some robots were designed to protect children?"
"They were programmed to take young humans to safe locations in case of panic-inducing events," confirmed Sentient.
Carbon looked into the robot's eye-cameras and commanded: "Take me to the tunnels."
Scars moved its head as if it were scanning the girl, and then surprisingly stated: "Follow me."
"Yes," screamed Carbon. "I will follow you, Scars. Just lead the way."
"Wait," said the fox. "We should take the robot to Liberty first."
"Why must we take Scars to a desert?" asked Carbon.
"Because it is a desert—empty and flat—that means there will be no obstacles when Scars starts walking toward the tunnels. We won't lose sight of it."
"All right," said the girl.
"You should pack a rucksack," advised Sentient. "We don't know how long this will take. You'll need—"
"Macaroons," exclaimed Carbon. "I'll take some of those delicious macaroons with me. They make great snacks."
"I was about to suggest Hydration and Nutrition capsules, but I guess you can take macaroons as well."
Chapter 5: Deadly Sting
Carbon and Sentient teleported to Liberty, taking the robot with them. They landed on golden sands. The desert unfurled in all directions, as far as the eye could see.
"Can't remember the last time we were here," said the girl.
