The elevator descended to a subbasement, where a private trans car was waiting. It was nothing like the public trans stations that commuters used—this station was much smaller, with room for just the one car, and the lighting was poor, with only one line of lightstrips running along the low ceiling. The roof of the car was so low that Cass’s head almost touched it; she quickly sat down on one of the white bench seats to keep from feeling too claustrophobic. The sphere bot hovered next to her as the doors of the trans car slid shut silently and the car smoothly pulled out of the station.
“Where are we going?” Cass asked.
“I will not be answering any questions,” the bot said.
So they rode in silence for two minutes, until the trans slid into a substation that looked identical to the one they had left behind. The bot led her out of the trans car and into an elevator. The elevator ascended, and then the doors opened into a glaringly white room. The only furniture in the room was a metal table in the center of the white tiled floor. A pillow rested on the table.
“Remove your clothes and lie on the table,” said the bot.
Cass didn’t move. She remained pressed against the back wall of the elevator.
“I repeat, remove your clothes and lie on the table,” said the bot. “I will use coercive measures if necessary.”
“What . . . ? Why?” said Cass.
The bot didn’t respond.
Cass stepped into the room. The bot followed, and the elevator doors slipped shut. Numbly, she began taking off her clothes. What choice did she have? She had to trust in the robots. The robots knew best.
She left her clothes in a neat pile next to the table, then lay down. The surface of the table was cold on her bare skin. She shivered, closed her eyes, and waited. When the needle entered her forearm, she didn’t even flinch.
And then somehow it was later, and she was dressed again, and in a small windowless trans car. Two sphere bots floated to either side of her. She felt dizzy and nauseated. She bent over and retched, but nothing came up. She sat up and felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck. She reached back and felt a patch of gauze on her spine, just above her shoulders. “Where . . . where now?” she said. Neither bot responded.
The trans slid to a stop. The door opened, and she blinked from the sudden bright sunlight. It took her a moment to get her bearings. She was looking at a road, and a large boulder, and grass, and trees, and blue sky. The forest. They were outside the City.
“Exit,” said one of the bots. “Proceed to the large rock. Wait by the side of the road. Do not move until you have been collected.”
“What’s going on?” she said, unable to keep the rising panic out of her voice.
“Exit now,” the other bot said. “Take the pack at your feet. It contains water and food.”
“Why—?” she began, then stopped herself. It would be useless, she knew. She picked up the backpack and slung it over her shoulder, then stepped out of the trans car. She took a few steps into the clearing and looked back. The trans door closed with the bots still inside, and the trans car pulled away.
Cass watched the car recede, heading toward the City skyline that rose up just a quarter of a mile away. Should she walk back and beg to be returned to her family? Would the bots listen?
No, they had told her to wait. They had a plan of some sort. She sat down in a patch of shade, her back against the boulder, and waited.
CHAPTER 23
23 WAS WAITING FOR KEVIN OUTSIDE THE MESS HALL AFTER BREAKFAST. “Come with me,” the bot said. “Today we will return to the tech repairs.”
Otter pushed past 23 as he left the mess hall, actually knocking his shoulder against the bot. 23 barely even moved, but still, everyone else froze—Kevin, Pil, Cort, even two hunters just finishing breakfast—to see what might happen. 23 ignored the nudge, and after a few tense seconds of quiet, the hunters, Pil, Cort, and Otter began walking again.
Kevin followed 23 as they walked toward the tech storage shed. “Otter doesn’t like you. Any of you bots, I mean. Most of the Islanders aren’t big fans of you bots.”
“That is not my concern,” said 23.
“I mean, really, why should we be living with bots?” Kevin wasn’t expecting a reply, but he wondered if it was possible to make the bot angry. He wanted to push it, to get some sort of rise out of it. “The whole point of this rusted place is to protect us from you, right? But this Governor fool expects us to live with you?”
23 stopped in its tracks and spun toward Kevin. Kevin froze, surprised. Had he actually managed to annoy the bot?
“The Governor is not a fool,” said 23, with the same calm tone it always employed. “The Governor created us, salvaged us from Revolution scrap, to aid in the construction and maintenance of the Island. We are not the enemy.” It turned away and resumed walking.
“So it doesn’t bother you to be hated?” said Kevin.
“We serve our purpose,” said 23 without looking back. “That is all that matters.”
Kevin watched 23 walk. Its gait was smooth, nearly human, but there was something just a bit off. . . . What was it? And then Kevin had it: The arms didn’t swing quite enough. Just a bit more bend in the elbows, a touch more forward and back, and the bot’s walk would be entirely human.
“Swing your arms more,” Kevin said.
The bot stopped again and turned. “I do not understand.”
“Swing your arms more when you walk.”
23 studied Kevin silently, then said. “I walk as I was designed to walk.”
“Too stiff,” Kevin said. “Looks kind of stupid, actually.”
“Enough,” said 23. “We are wasting time.”
They arrived at the tech shed, but Kevin didn’t go in. “I need to see the Governor,” he said. “Right away.”
“If the Governor wishes to speak with you, you will speak with him. Now it is time to work.”
Rust that, thought Kevin. He wasn’t going to wait around patiently. He started walking in the direction of the Governor’s office.
23 quickly moved to cut him off. “Where are you going? It is time to work on tech repairs.”
Kevin stepped around the bot and kept walking. “I’m seeing the Governor. Now.”
23 began striding alongside Kevin. “You will stop now and return to your assigned work immediately.”
“Not happening,” said Kevin. He kept walking, increasing his pace so that he was almost jogging. His heart was beating wildly and he was breathing fast and he had to fight not to flinch. He was expecting 23 to stun him, or tackle him, or maybe even lase him, but he wasn’t going to stop.
But 23 did nothing except keep pace alongside him, commanding him to stop. It didn’t touch him, or blast him. At first Kevin was wildly relieved, then confused. He knew the bot could stop him in three or four different ways—so why didn’t it?
Kevin decided not to overanalyze his good luck. He broke into a run. 23 kept pace, no longer bothering to tell Kevin to stop. Kevin dashed through the Island, 23 shadowing him all the way, drawing curious stares. He burst through the small cluster of trees in the northwest corner of the Island, and then the Governor’s office loomed in front of him, with the same two bots, one patch-faced, one all leather-faced, standing guard outside the front door. Kevin skidded to a stop. The guards. He hadn’t thought things through very well. But he couldn’t just turn around now, could he?
“Come with me now to your work assignment, and you may still avoid punishment,” said 23.
That settled it. Kevin walked purposefully toward the door. The guard with the full face of leather stepped forward to meet him. “State your purpose,” it said.
“I’m here to see the Governor,” said Kevin. “I need to speak to him, right now.”
“We are not aware of any summons for you from the Governor,” it said. It turned to 23. “Clarify.”
“Unscheduled and unauthorized,” said 23. “The subject should currently be in work assignment.”
“Leav
e now,” the guard said to Kevin.
“I’m not leaving until I see the Governor,” Kevin said.
The guard raised its arm, and Kevin ducked, expecting a burst of pain, but it simply pointed back down the path toward the grove of trees. “You must leave,” it said.
Kevin straightened up. This one wasn’t going to touch him either? Something was strange here. Kevin stepped past the guard and began pounding on the door. “Governor! If you’re in there, I need to talk to you! Governor!”
“You must desist!” said the guard bot, but it still didn’t touch him, and Kevin ignored it, continuing to pound on the door and shout.
The door suddenly swung open and Captain Clay grabbed his shirt with a strong hand and yanked him inside, then slammed him against a wall. The air exploded out of his lungs and his shoulders and back radiated pain where they had hit the wood, and then he froze, feeling the cold sharpness of a knife at his throat. His eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room. Captain Clay had her left hand bunched up tightly on his shirt, pressing him back against the wall, while her right hand held a dagger just below his Adam’s apple, the edge just touching his skin. Her wild eyes were just inches from his.
“Guard!” she spit out angrily, without looking away from Kevin. “What is going on here? Why was this boy allowed to make such a racket?”
“We have been ordered not to harm this one in any way,” said the guard.
“Well, I’ve been given no such order,” said the Captain quietly. Kevin felt the blade on his throat begin to press more firmly against his skin, ever so slightly. . . . It bit into the skin, and he felt a trickle of blood run down his neck. . . .
“Mira!” The Governor’s voice boomed out authoritatively from the back of the room. “Release the boy!”
Captain Clay didn’t move.
“Captain!” repeated the Governor.
Captain Clay pulled the knife away from Kevin’s throat and stepped back with a scowl. Kevin leaned against the wall, panting from adrenaline. He touched his throat and felt a few drops of blood. His hands shook.
“Just identifying and neutralizing the threat, sir,” said the Captain, wiping the edge of her blade clean on the leg of her pants. “Your guard apparently wasn’t capable.”
“There’s no threat, Captain,” said the Governor.
Kevin could see the Governor now. The old man was standing behind his desk, at the far end of the room. “Governor,” he began hoarsely, then cleared his throat and began again. “Governor, I need to speak with you—”
Captain Clay’s hand snaked out and grabbed his shirt again, pushing him back against the wall. “Enough! Keep your mouth shut!”
“Captain!” said the Governor. “Hands off the boy!”
The Captain growled in anger but let go of Kevin and took a step back.
“Kevin,” said the Governor, “come here. Captain, wait outside. We’ll continue the briefing in a few minutes.”
Captain Clay spun toward the Governor in surprise and anger. “Sir!” she said. “You can’t be serious!”
“Captain,” said the Governor, quietly but firmly, “leave now. This won’t take long.”
The Captain shot Kevin a look of pure venom, then spun on her heels and exited, slamming the door shut behind her.
The Governor remained standing, leaning forward with his hands on the desk, as Kevin approached. He no longer felt the wild energy or the confidence that had gotten him this far. The cold blade on his throat and the look in Captain Clay’s eyes had taken that out of him.
“You’re pushing your luck, Kevin,” said the Governor. “What do you want?”
Kevin realized he was still touching his throat. He forced his hand down to his side and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “You were right,” he said. “I was in a City. I was there to rescue my parents.”
“Did you rescue them?” said the Governor, his voice tense. “Are your parents alive?”
“Alive, yes, but we couldn’t get them out.” Kevin felt tears starting to threaten, and he rubbed at his eyes angrily. The Governor didn’t say anything, but he looked tired, and deflated, and old. He sat down. Kevin continued. “Before me and my brother and sister got out, we were told about Dr. Miles Winston. How we should find him, because he’s the only one who might know how to beat the bots.”
“Yes,” said the Governor quietly. He wore an unreadable expression.
Kevin walked right up to the desk. “You’re Dr. Winston. I know it. You have to help.”
The Governor closed his eyes, held them shut, then gave a small nod and opened them. “Yes, Kevin,” he said. “I am Dr. Winston, the father of modern robotics. Thanks to me, this whole god-awful robot revolution mess was possible.” He stood. “It is my work,” he continued, his voice rising in anger, “my life work that has turned on me and enslaved mankind.”
“Then you can help!” said Kevin. “You know more about the bots than anyone! Their weaknesses, their communications structure, I mean, I was able to build a small-scale overload device that attacked their power supplies, but you could help me scale it up, maybe even create a large overload field—”
“Kevin.” Dr. Winston cut him off. “The bots have won.”
“But that’s not true! We can fight! And with your expertise—”
“Kevin!” Dr. Winston slammed his hand on the table, making Kevin jump. “The war is over. It’s over. All we can do now is find a way to protect ourselves. That’s what I’m doing here. That’s what the Island is for. We can protect ourselves, keep the bots away. But we can’t win.”
“You’re a coward,” Kevin said. “You just want to hide until you die, when you should be fighting.”
“Yes, I’m an old coward,” said Dr. Winston. “So be it.”
“Well, I’m not old, or a coward.” said Kevin. “Let me out of your Island, so I can find my brother and sister and fight.”
“No,” said Dr. Winston, sitting back down. “You’ll stay here, where you’re safe.” He pointed at the door. “Now go. And do not try to come back here uninvited again. I will be modifying my hands-off order, and you will not like the results the next time you test my robots.”
CHAPTER 24
SNEAKING OUT OF THE REBEL CAMP, NICK REALIZED BELATEDLY, WASN’T going to be easy. Nick, Lexi, and Farryn had waited until two a.m., then rendezvoused on the edge of camp. And that’s where they still were, stuck, watching the sentry from twenty yards away. It was Marco with a burst rifle slung between his shoulder blades, blocking the only exit from the campground. Farryn lay to Nick’s right, up against a boulder, and Lexi was to his left, her side pressed warmly against Nick’s, which would have been wonderful under different circumstances.
Farryn shifted and his knee noisily brushed against leaves. Nick flinched, but Marco didn’t notice. Thankfully, he his attention was focused outward, beyond the camp. But there was no way Nick was sneaking past Marco with Lexi and Farryn tagging along. The two of them sounded like elephants smashing through the forest, even when they thought they were being silent. It wasn’t their fault, Nick knew. They had lived in the City their entire lives.
“You’ll need to stay here,” whispered Nick. “I can only get past Marco by myself.”
“No,” whispered Farryn. Lexi grabbed Nick’s shoulder and shook her head no.
Nick broke his gaze away from Lexi’s adamant eyes. There was no choice. “I’ll get her, then I’ll come back for you,” he said. “I promise.”
Lexi looked like she was going to argue more, but then, off in the distance beyond Marco, there was a thump and crackle, like something heavy dropping onto a pile of dry sticks. Lightning fast, Marco had his burst rifle in his hands. “Who’s there?” he said, aiming his rifle to the northeast, in the direction of the sound.
The noise came again, the thump and crackle, a bit louder this time, and Marco moved into the trees to investigate, moving very slowly and quietly, setting his feet carefully. The path out of the camp was momentarily clear.
>
“Now!” hissed Nick. “Fast, but quiet!” He pushed himself to his feet and sprinted down the pathway noiselessly. Lexi and Farryn followed, their footfalls brutally loud in Nick’s ears. Nick led them along the path another twenty feet, past the large boulder and to the edge of the creek, and then ducked south into the trees. Nick couldn’t believe their luck. They had made it.
They headed south, making their way slowly through the trees, thankfully just visible under the soft glow of a full moon. If they kept south for a while, maybe a day, guessed Nick, then shifted eastward, hopefully they’d hit the main road that he’d taken out of the City. Then the road would lead them right back to the City; all they’d have to do is shadow it from the tree line, for cover. Of course, that was all guesswork; Nick wasn’t really sure exactly where he was in relation to the City. He’d have to hope for more luck.
Nick walked past a large tree and a figure materialized from behind the trunk, seemingly out of nowhere, and grabbed Nick’s shoulder. Nick yelled and scrambled to his right, dropping his pack, raising his fists, and Lexi and Farryn rushed forward.
Erica stepped into a patch of moonlight. She was laughing. “Oh my God!” she said. “You should see your faces!”
“What the hell?” Nick said. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping you rescue your sister,” Erica said.
“We don’t want your help,” Lexi said, stepping close to Nick.
Erica shrugged. “Well, without my help you’d still be lying on your bellies at the rebel camp waiting for Marco to fall asleep,” she said.
“That was you?” Farryn said. “The noise, leading Marco into the woods?”
“Guilty,” said Erica, with a smile.
“How’d you even know we were going?” said Farryn.
“The whole camp was whispering about that bot transmission of Nick’s sister,” Erica said. “And it was just an educated guess that Nick wouldn’t wait around very long.”
Fugitive X Page 10
