I am Automaton 3: Shadow of the Automaton

by Edward P. Cardillo

  Ramses stood there pinching the bridge of his nose deep in thought. After a while, he rubbed his eyes. “Enough.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Wolff.

  “She doesn’t know anything. She’s just a paranoid college student who likes to hear the sound of her own voice.”

  Wolff turned the RGT device off. He walked over to Elicia and gently lifted the headset off her head and placed it back on the wooden table.

  Elicia’s vision was blurry from the RGT. As her eyesight cleared, she began to see her antagonists and the RGT apparatus take shape. She also noticed that she was in a room with no ceiling with bright lights shining down on her.

  “I told you I didn’t know anything,” she whimpered.

  “Well, that’s been confirmed,” said General Ramses.

  “So what now?” asked Darcy.

  “We turn her,” said Ramses as if the answer was obvious. Darcy clapped her hands excitedly.

  “Turn me into what?”

  “You get to become just like me,” announced Darcy triumphantly.

  “What do you mean?” she asked Darcy. “What do you have to do with any of this?”

  “Hey, Elicia, I’m just doin’ my part, serving my country.”

  “You knew all along that I was Tronika?”

  “Hell no,” said Darcy. “These guys clued me in, but I’m real impressed, Elicia. I didn’t think you had it in you. Who knew that my geeky little roommate was a secret badass?”

  General Ramses’ multi-tasker chimed. He took the call. “Yes…yes…I see…thank you. I’ll be right there.”

  “Betancourt?” asked Wolff, already knowing the answer.

  “Yes. You’d better come with me. He’ll behave if he sees the both of us. We’ll get him to come out here and we’ll finish him off.” Then Ramses addressed Darcy and Matt. “Now you two wait here with your friend and keep an eye on her. We’ll be back shortly.”

  Darcy and Matt nodded like two obedient children.

  “Don’t touch anything. Nothing happens until we get back,” Ramses ordered. “Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Darcy insolently.

  He glared at the two of them menacingly, as if to drive his point home, and then left the hangar with Wolff.

  As soon as they were out of sight, Darcy turned excitedly to Matt. “Let’s have some fun. This place is cool.”

  “You heard what the General said.”

  “It can’t hurt to look around,” she insisted. “Look at this setup. There’s even a control tower overlooking the maze. Let’s check it out.”

  Matt looked nervously at Elicia.

  Darcy shoved him hard. “Oh, come on. She’s not going anywhere.”

  “Why don’t you guys let me go?” pleaded Elicia. “Darcy, I thought we were friends.”

  “No can do,” said Darcy. “I wanna check this place out.”

  “Same old Darcy,” said Elicia pensively. “Never a dull moment.”

  “Not if I can help it, bitch,” replied Darcy smiling. “Your life is about to get more exciting, Elicia, when you turn.”

  “So I’m going to be like you?”

  “It’s glorious,” sang Darcy. “I feel so sexy.”

  “Well, you always wanted me to be just like you. Now it looks like it’s actually going to happen.”

  Darcy playfully flipped Elicia the bird and pulled Matt out of the room. Elicia was alone.

  She immediately began to pull at her bindings, but she was secured with plastic ties like the police use. She looked around the room frantically for something she could use.

  Peter waited outside the gated perimeter of Fort Bliss as he saw Betancourt pass the security checkpoint and drive the van into the base. Slinging the assault rifle on his shoulder, he ran along the perimeter fence towards the middle of the base. He crouched by the fence shrouded in the darkness and reached out into the fort like Carl told him he used to do.

  He found it surprisingly easy. He could sense all of the mobile sentries roaming the grounds on patrol. He vaguely sensed Betancourt as he parked the van and entered the building where Ramses’ office was.

  Then he sensed two figures leaving Hangar Four. The Hangar Four. The Hangar Four that was supposed to be shut down along with the Infantry Drone Program. He recognized General Ramses but not the second figure. They were crossing the base to meet Betancourt.

  This was interesting. What were they up to in Hangar Four? Peter had a choice. He could’ve either tracked the meeting with Betancourt and wait for his cue or he could’ve investigated what was in Hangar Four.

  He figured that Betancourt would be safe for the moment in the Officers’ Office Building. Ramses wouldn’t dare attack him there. So Peter turned his attention to Hangar Four.

  He continued along the perimeter fence until he was in line with Hangar Four. It looked quiet from the outside, but when he reached out, he sensed activity inside.

  Interesting.

  Betancourt was waiting in Ramses’ office when he entered with Wolff.

  “Colonel, I didn’t expect to see you back so soon. Where’s your team?” He saw Betancourt looking uncertainly at Wolff. “Oh, yes, Colonel, you know Assistant Director Wolff of the NSA.”

  Wolff extended his hand, and Betancourt shook it.

  “There’s a problem,” said Betancourt. “The mission was unsuccessful.” He was reluctant so say anything further, wondering what the Assistant Director of the NSA was doing at Fort Bliss with General Ramses.

  “You can speak freely in front of Assistant Director Wolff. He’s tracking Kafka with us. How do you think we intercepted his message?”

  “My team has been wiped out. Kafka has escaped.”

  “But I gave you the portable RGT that Assistant Director Wolff provided us. Didn’t you ascertain Kafka’s escape plan?”

  “We didn’t get the chance, sir. When we used the device, something happened.”

  “What happened, Colonel?” asked Wolff.

  “It triggered some kind of communication through media that somehow turned the bar patrons and one of my soldiers into the undead.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” said Wolff. “What would be the mechanism for such a thing?”

  “It appeared that Kafka communicated back through the RGT, like he was transmitting.”

  “Two-way communication?” asked Wolff. “That’s impossible. We’ve no detection of two-way communication across the broadband.”

  Ramses looked at Wolff nervously and quickly changed the subject. “So what happened to the team, Colonel?”

  Betancourt raised an eyebrow. “Assistant Director Wolff, General Ramses had informed me that you picked up two-way communication through the broadband. In fact, that’s exactly how you detected Kafka’s message to his brother. Hidden in plain sight. Remember, General?”

  Wolff looked a little flummoxed at his error, but quickly recovered. “Well, yes. That was how we found Kafka’s message, but I wouldn’t think he could transmit a signal turning people into the undead.”

  “Yes,” said Ramses smiling uncomfortably, “we’ll have to launch a full investigation into it. But first, Colonel, we want you to come with us. Here’s something of vital importance that we have to show you.”

  Betancourt tilted his head quizzically. “Sir, don’t you want to be debriefed about the mission? Don’t you want to know the details of what happened?”

  “Why, yes, of course. You can fill me in on the way.”

  “With all due respect, sir, the details are of a sensitive nature and should be discussed in a secure location.”

  “Where we’re going, it’s secure.”

  “Sir, I feel you need to hear the details right away because Kafka is at large with his new trick and time is of the essence.”

  “Assistant Director Wolff, would you please excuse us. We’ll meet you at Hangar Four.”

  “Hangar Four?” asked Betancourt. “Wasn’t it shut down with the Infantry Drone Program?”

  “One th
ing at a time, Colonel Betancourt,” said Ramses with a reprimanding tone. “First, you fill me in on the details. The other thing can wait.” He nodded to Wolff, who then excused himself from the office.

  “Please begin with your report, Colonel.”

  “Whoa! Look at this equipment,” said Darcy like a kid in a candy store. “I wonder what all of these buttons do.”

  She pressed one, turning on the cameras. The whole Labyrinth popped up on a bunch of monitors. One monitor displayed it in its entirety while, others zoomed in on specific rooms. The fourth monitor showed Elicia hopping in her chair, moving it toward the RGT console.

  “Look there’s a microphone,” Matt pointed out.

  Darcy grabbed it and pressed the switch next to it. “Now, now, Elicia. You stay put like a good little soldier.” Her voice bellowed out over the maze.

  Elicia froze and looked up around her at the sound. She apparently saw the control tower, and Darcy and Matt chuckled as she looked right into one of the cameras.

  “Now let’s see what some of these buttons do,” said Darcy looking over the control panel. Her eyes settled on three buttons labeled “Cages” and grew wide with anticipation. “Oh, how ‘bout these.”

  She pressed all three buttons and a red light flashed across the maze. The doors opened on three cages, and two undead shambled out of two of them.

  “Darcy, I think Ramses was saving them for the Colonel. They were a gift from Kafka.”

  “Oh, they’ll still be here when he gets back. But Elicia won’t!” Darcy jumped up and down, giddy as she watched the two zombies make their way into the maze.

  “I don’t know if this is what he had in mind,” said Matt.

  “Who cares?” replied Darcy picking her fangs with a red fingernail. “Besides, I don’t want her to be exactly like me. A mindless zombie is much better for her.”

  “You bitches are so catty,” said Matt smiling.

  Peter hopped the fence rather deftly and landed comfortably on his feet on the other side. He sensed two roaming sentries nearby. He clung to the shadows and sprinted from building to building under the cover of darkness.

  When he reached the last building, there was a long stretch to Hangar Four with no cover. The patrolling soldiers were walking towards the hangar. There was no way he could cross undetected.

  He closed his eyes and focused. He felt his facial features contort out of their natural anatomical alignment. When he opened his eyes, he stepped forward out of the shadow of the last building.

  “Look,” said one of the patrolling soldiers pointing off to their right.

  “There,” said the other one pointing to their left.

  “Split up,” said the first one.

  They each took a direction and approached the rapidly moving figures they saw darting around in the moonlight. “Halt! Identify yourself!”

  Peter walked quickly up the middle, right between them, unnoticed. He heard a voice booming over some kind of loudspeaker coming from Hangar Four. He knew someone was in the control tower of the Labyrinth.

  Chills shot down his spine as he recalled his first experience in the Labyrinth, and he quickened his pace. As he reached the side door of the hangar, he reached inside with his senses and detected two strange presences in the control tower. They didn’t feel normal to him. Then he felt two more abnormal presences in the maze moving together, and one normal presence in the middle of the maze whose heart was beating out of its chest.

  He pushed the unlocked door open and slipped in.

  Elicia was looking over the RGT apparatus when Darcy’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “They’re coming to get you, Elicia,” she said in a creepy voice. Elicia heard Darcy and Matt laughing.

  That’s when she first heard it. It sounded like growling and then footsteps, but the feet were dragging. The odd sounds were drawing closer as Elicia heard more giggling over the speakers and then that annoying clicking like cicadas.

  “So what you’re telling me is that Kafka turned bystanders into zombies using the portable RGT device, televisions, and cell phones to escape, and then he did the same to one of the roadblocks,” said Ramses.

  “Who knows where he’s going next,” said Betancourt, “and how many others he’ll do this to. He can cause several outbreaks of the THV virus that would quickly spiral out of control. We’re talking epidemic, here. We need to call in HAZMAT.”

  “Okay, we’ll do that, but you’re not privy to new developments. There’s something I have to show you in Hangar Four. Something regarding Kafka. If we move now we might be able to catch him.”

  “But I thought Hangar Four was shut down.”

  “It was, but there was something we missed. Something crucial to bringing Kafka down. We have to hurry.”

  “We should bring some engineers from R&D,” said Betancourt reaching for his mini-com multi-tasker.

  “There’s no time for that now,” insisted Ramses, growing impatient. He knew Betancourt was stalling and wanted to bring others into it for his protection. Betancourt knew it was a trap.

  Betancourt stood up resigned to Ramses’ urgency. “Okay. Lead the way, sir.”

  Peter looked up and saw two young people in the control tower laughing and pressing buttons. Lights began to flash. As he screwed his eyes and got a better look, he saw they weren’t kids at all. They looked more like those vampires that chased him and Farrow on the rooftops in Tijuana.

  He noticed they were watching and talking to someone in the maze, and that someone had two zombies a few rooms away from her and closing in fast.

  Peter capitalized on the two vampires’ distraction and bolted across the room and into the maze. Amazingly, his enhanced senses and ability to reach out allowed him to navigate the maze rather easily.

  Within a couple of minutes, he found Elicia.

  “Who’s that?” asked Matt.

  Darcy saw someone moving quickly through the maze. He moved too fast for her to get a good look at him on camera.

  She grabbed the microphone and pressed the button. “Hey, who are you? What are you doing?”

  She and Matt saw the man stop for a moment and quickly look up. He was dressed in regular clothes, not like a soldier.

  “Maybe he’s the third zombie,” offered Matt.

  “I didn’t see him come out of the third cage,” replied Darcy. “Go down there and check it out.”

  Matt cracked his knuckles as the fangs in his mouth extended like a horrible erection. “With pleasure.”

  Elicia screamed, startled, as Peter burst into her room.

  “It’s okay. I’m here to help.”

  Just then, two zombies, both men dressed in black, spilled into the room. They looked like paramilitary. One rushed Peter while the other went for Elicia. Peter spun as he was grabbed; sending his zombie falling forward and landing face down.

  He wanted to unsling his assault rifle but Elicia screamed in terror as the other zombie snarled and reached out for her. Peter reached out and grabbed the zombie from behind by its shoulders right before it closed its jaws on her neck.

  It snapped at her as Peter backed away, pulling it with him. It spun around and grappled with him, trying to bite any part of him it could get its hands on.

  “Look out behind you!” yelled Elicia.

  As Peter turned his head, he saw that the other one was on its feet and reaching out for him. Before he could react, it sank its teeth into his collarbone. He heard, more so than felt it snap under the pressure. The other zombie got a hold of his forearm and sank its teeth into his flesh. Blood soaked his shirt by the collar and sleeve.

  “Oh, the hell with this,” Peter groaned, and he reached around with his right hand and wrapped his arm around the head of the zombie biting his neck. He grabbed the hair on the back of its head and held tight. He felt it pressing his rifle into his back.

  Peter dropped suddenly, snapping the zombie’s neck over his shoulder. It released its bite and rolled off of him onto the floor, its head dangli
ng at an unnatural angle.

  It still reached for him.

  The zombie biting his forearm did not release its bite and was still standing. He slid under it in between its legs and gave it a good kick. His flesh ripped off in its mouth as it staggered backwards and into Elicia, who cried out in horror. The force of the impact toppled her chair on its side and she went crashing to the hard floor.

  Peter sat up, the zombie with the snapped neck just missing him, and unslung his assault rifle. When the zombie on top of Elicia got to its feet, Peter blew its brains out the back of its head. He then swung the rifle up and sent the stock crashing down on the zombie behind him, crushing its skull.

  “Who the hell are you?” cried Elicia.

  Peter got to his feet just as Matt entered their room in the maze.

  “Well, well, a visitor,” said Matt licking his chops, clicking like a cicada. His four eyes were black as night and his fingernails were claws.

  “Who’s this?” Peter asked Elicia.

  “Shoot him!” she yelled.

  As Assistant Director Wolff crossed the grounds, he heard gunfire coming from Hangar Four. He quickened his pace into a run when he came upon two patrolling soldiers. He flagged them down.

  “Sir, that’s coming from Hangar Four,” one of them reported.

  “Alert security and find General Ramses,” said Wolff.

  “Yes, sir. You need to come with us.”

  Wolff hesitated, looking at the hangar. “Yeah, okay. Lead the way.”

  They began to sprint back towards the front of the base when they realized he wasn’t with them.

  “Where’d he go?”

  They heard a strange clicking sound. When they turned around, there was a roar and a flash of teeth and claws, and they screamed.

  Ramses and Betancourt saw the flashes of gunfire in the distance as some kind of wild animal tore two soldiers apart.

  “What the hell is that?” gasped Betancourt.

  “We have to hurry,” said Ramses.

  Betancourt pulled his sidearm and put it to Ramses’ temple. “Not so fast, General.”