by Linda Harley
Nick’s eyes darted all over the place, and he would not look at her. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
Anna stepped in front of Nick, blocking his view of the hills and stared him down. “Oh, I don’t know, perhaps since they look at me coldly, and seem to brush me off whenever I’ve tried talking to them. You’ve told me a lot today; why not explain this?”
Nick cocked his head to the side. Finally, after several minutes of agonizing silence, he straightened. “What I am about to tell you, you can never repeat to anyone. No bot, person or any being must ever know about this.”
Anna shrugged. “Okay.” She was good at keeping secrets.
“No, Anna, that’s not good enough. You must swear to me that you will never, even if your life depended on it, even if someone you cared for depended on it, reveal to anyone what I’m about to tell you. Swear it.”
“Why?”
“Swear it,” Nick said, meeting her stare straight on.
She could sense the seriousness behind what was happening and so relented. “Fine, I promise. But I don’t understand why it’s so important to you.”
“Come sit with me.” Nick walked back over to the couch that faced the windows and took a seat.
Anna knew that there was no way that Nick could be so tired that he had to sit down, being a bot and all, but he wanted to give off the illusion of being a real person to make her feel comfortable. She acquiesced and took a seat.
Nick drummed his fingers on his knees. Anna could tell it took him a lot to muster up the courage for whatever he was trying to tell her. She wanted to hurry him up but knew it would be best to let him tell it to her in his own time and in his way. Hopefully, that would be sooner rather than never.
“After you went into cryo, Mommy, and I devoted our lives to find a cure for your cancer. Several years after you went in, Mommy stumbled across a virus from the Swampers who live past the Somerils Mountains, that she thought if altered could be the cure. She spent every waking breath working on the damnable virus. One day there was an accident in her lab while she was out having dinner with me. Her assistant had cut herself, and her blood had come into contact with the virus. Mommy’s mutated virus infected the assistant. At first, nothing happened. Then one morning 2 weeks later, the assistant did not show up for work. Mommy wasn’t worried since the assistant had been on sick leave for a while and had been recovering nicely. Then the police called and told Mommy her assistant and the assistant’s entire family had died from a virus, and that the entire neighborhood was under quarantine. But it was already too late. The virus spread tremendously fast and was so resilient that nothing could be done to stop the spread. Everyone was urged to stay home and not leave until the threat had passed, but people did not listen. People still had to eat, and for that, they needed to leave their homes.
The police escorted mommy and me to the Cryoplex because word had gotten out that the virus that was killing everyone was because of us. We continued our research here, but now we were focused on finding a cure for the virus. Since we were the ones that created the virus, the government thought we were the best chance at finding the cure. But as you now know, we failed. Anna, the virus is called the McKlendle virus because Mommy was the one that created it to save you.”
Anna’s hands quivered, and she hastily sat on them, a clear sign that she was upset. It was her only tell in life, and one she had worked years to suppress, but whenever things got really bad, she would shake. “You mean everyone’s dead because of me?”
Nick placed his arm around Anna and pulled her close. “No, my dear, it’s not your fault; you did not do any of it. Don’t blame Mommy either; she had no idea what the virus was capable of when she had started her research.”
“But… all those people, everyone’s dead because…”
Nick cupped Anna’s face in his hands and stared into her eyes. “It’s not your fault. Mommy loved you, and she wanted you home.”
Anna nodded, feeling exhausted from all the truths she had to face. Nick let her face go, and Anna slumped into the couch, head resting on Nick’s shoulder. “So, why can’t I tell the truth to others?”
“Once the truth came out, there were riots. People burned down our house, the lab we had worked in, and some even protested outside the Cryoplex when they became aware of our location. Those who came here to protest were quietly disposed of, without our knowledge. The military saved us by crushing down anyone who even thought about raising a hand against us because they hoped we could save them. But anonymity would have kept us safer. Only a hand full of people knew what we were researching here, and only the General knew our real names. All knowledge of who we were, died. We did everything we could to engineer the antivirus, but every attempt failed. I could bore you with all the details, but it would be beside the point. This is part of the reason the Cryoplex went off the grid and completely hid. People wanted someone to blame, and they blamed Mommy. Don’t tell anyone you are a McKlendle. If they knew who you truly were, they would surely kill you to exact their revenge.”
“What about James, Robert, and Betty?”
“They are the only ones besides us that know the truth. They were there with me when the uprising happened and was instrumental in saving many minds by creating the bots. They have saved my life more than once. You can trust them, but don’t expect them to like you. They will never tell anyone the truth. I made sure of that in their programming.”
“So the cure you gave me, what was it?”
Nick laughed sardonically. “I gave you the virus. It turns out it does heal cancer. But I couldn’t give you the virus before figuring out how to change your DNA to combat against it. I’m sorry it took so long.”
“So, Mommy saved me, after all?”
“Yes, pumpkin, but she paid dearly for it; we all did.” Nick stood and stretched. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. “Come on, let’s go see about some supper for you, and then it’s off to bed.”
Anna followed Nick down the tunnel and scampered down the elevator shaft ladder after him. As Anna reached the bottom, she turned off her headlamp. Light from the waiting room filtered into the elevator shaft. As Anna jumped from the ladder to the main floor, the lights flickered and went out. Anna lost her balance and started falling back into the elevator shaft. She screamed.
Nick caught her and deftly pulled her into the waiting room. “This can’t be good. Can you see in the dark?”
“Of course not.”
“Try Anna.”
Anna took a deep, exasperated breath, opened her eyes, and waited for them to adjust. Within moments she started to make out shapes, and then gradually everything started to take on a green tint, and she was able to make out everything. “It’s like wearing night vision goggles,” Anna said awed.
“Good, let’s go find out what’s going on. You should be able to keep up on your own now.”
Quickly they made their way over to the control room. As they entered the room, Betty swirled around in her seat. “Reactor 6 is about to go. Time’s up.”
Chapter 8
“How much time is left?” Nick asked, pacing the length of the control room. His nervous energy made the hairs on the back of Anna’s neck rise. This was not good.
“I don’t know,” Betty stared blankly at the bank of computers. Her eyes were blinking rapidly as the information scrolled over the screens. “It could be any minute or several more hours. If it is anything like the other reactors going out, it will continue to come on and off, and then at any time it just won’t turn back on again.”
“What are we going to do?” Anna asked. Her hands shook, and in an effort to control the shaking, she resorted to biting her nails.
“We have to wake them up.” Nick stopped pacing and stood to stare off into space. “Our only choice now is to wake up as many of these children as we can, and then power off in our docking stations before the reactor blows.”
“But the cure, did it work?” Betty asked.
“Se
e for yourself.” Nick said, pointing at Anna, “She’s still alive, isn’t she?”
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to wake them all up. The cryo process is going to suck the reactor dry. We may need to bypass the safety protocols.”
“Do it,” Nick ordered.
“Who do we choose first?” Betty asked, her hands flying over the controls flipping switches, pressing buttons, and causing a whole lot of noise to rumble from the depths of the mountain, or perhaps that was the reactor dying.
“Wake the chef, a strong boy scout, the lifeguard, the genius, and my brother first. After that, use your silly random number generator to pick who to wake up, preferably keeping siblings together,” Anna said. “What can I do to help Nick?”
Nick headed for the core, Anna close on his heels. “Run and go tell James and Robert that I need them both here in the cryo rehab center and medical ward immediately. James can pull the kids out of the pods, and Robert can carry them up to the medical ward.” Nick paused at the door and said over his shoulder, “Betty, you best shut down the elevator and all other non-essentials, no sense in using up any more energy than we need to.”
“Already on it,” Betty said, not even breaking a stride in what she was doing.
Nick paused at the door to the stairs leading to the medical ward. “I’m going to go prepare the medicines. Hopefully, it will work on these children as well as it has on you, Anna. When you get back, come to the medical ward and help me with the children. They are going to be scared, and it will be good for them to see the face of another child.”
Nick pulled Anna into a bear hug, and moments later let go and pushed her to get her running. “Now, hurry. We must hurry, or we will lose them all.”
Anna nodded. There was so much she still wanted to say to Nick, but the words stuck in her throat. There would be time later. For now, she had a job to do. Anna sprinted for the waiting room, passed all the dilapidated furniture, and pounded through the kitchen doors. The bright outdoor light caught her off guard, and she had to blink several times to allow her vision to return to normal. The night vision was going to take some getting used to.
Once her sight had returned, she looked around, but James was nowhere to be seen. The door to the outside world stood wide open, and Anna remembered how James enjoyed gardening. Anna rushed forward without further thought. She stepped out into warm sunlight, and all her cares seemed to fade away. The smell of fresh flowers and plants was delicious. In the distance, a trickle from a stream could be heard. The sense of being outside and free was intoxicating. Not now, Anna thought, she had to find James. She sprinted on.
Anna found James toiling over a grove of apple trees. “James, come quick.”
James lifted his metal head and smiled a toothy grin. “What’s happening, dear? What’s the emergency?”
Anna stopped before him, doubling over with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. “The last generator is about to go. Nick wants you in the cryo rehab room to help wake up all the kids.”
James dropped his pruning scissors and sped away in the direction of the kitchen. “Come on then,” he shouted back at her as he passed out of view.
Anna stood for a second longer, took a deep breath, and then ran after him. Soon she caught up to and overtook James. She wondered at how she was able to outrun a bot on a rollerball. Surely James was the fastest bot around. She did not have time to stop to find out, though, so she kept on running.
She ran right into the kitchen, through the glass doors and took a sharp left, angling for the stairs that would lead her to Robert. He was always in the power station, and that was where she was heading next.
Down and down she spiraled, leaping down 2, 3, sometimes 5 steps at a time. She got a little dizzy by going around in a circle so much, but kept going. Finally, she reached the bottom and ran through the tunnel that spilled out into the caverns. With the power station now in plain sight, she picked up speed since she could run flat out in a straight line, occasionally leaping over a stalagmite. Not stopping at the door, she barged in and headed to the main room.
Robert sat at his work desk. He looked up at her as she came in. “Oh, it’s only you.”
“Nick said to tell you he needs you upstairs in the cryo rehab room to help wake all the kids and carry them to the medical ward,” Anna said panting and gasping for breath. Her arms and legs shook, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the running or her nerves.
Robert’s shoulders slumped forward. “Tell Nick I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do. It’s over. We’re all going to die.” Robert rolled a nut over the workbench, back and forth.
“You are not going to die. I won't allow it.” Anna said, stubbornly placing her fisted hands on her hips. She shook her head. “You hear me. You cannot die.”
Robert said nothing for a long moment, just rolled the nut back and forth. “You are a frail human. There is nothing you can do that I haven’t already tried. We are all going to die. It was only a matter of time, and finally, the day has arrived.”
“Don’t you dare give up. You’ll only be asleep until I can find a way to wake you up again.”
Robert lashed out and in one fell swoop pushed all of the clutter off his workbench, sending tools, nuts, bolts, and everything else clattering to the floor. “When the power goes out, we will be worth nothing to you. We will be as useless as this pile of junk. You’re only a child. You won't survive long enough to restore our power. We will be forgotten and lost forever.”
Anna took a step back at Robert’s outburst, not sure how to proceed. She could feel every second ticking by, as her heartbeat kept track of the time they were losing here because Robert had decided to throw himself a pity party. No. There was work to be done. There was no time to feel sorry about what could not be changed; only do what needed to be done.
“Why are you even here?” Anna asked.
“What do you mean?” Robert asked, still staring at the mess by his feet.
“Why were you created? What is your programming? What is your duty?” Anna urged, her voice growing a bit steadier as she realized that Robert was probably just scared of dying like she had been that morning before she knew that she would survive the virus.
“To keep the power station running,” Robert replied.
“And why is the power station supposed to be running?” Anna asked.
“To keep us alive,” Robert said.
“And who is us?” Anna asked.
Robert considered the question for a moment. “The humans and the bots.”
“So you are responsible for the lives of humans, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why in blazes aren’t you doing something to help?” Anna asked, her anger spilling over. Reasoning with a bot named Robert was turning out to be more of a challenge than she had thought. He was a bit dense when he wanted to be.
“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more that I can do. The reactor is going to go.”
“There is nothing more for you to do here, but you can still save the lives of the remaining children. Is that not worth fighting for?”
Robert finally looked up but remained silent. His eyes were blank, and his face held no emotion. He didn’t even look at her with anger, just nothing. It was like he was shutting down, right in front of her eyes.
“Robert!” Anna shouted, “I promise with my life that I will come back and save all of you.”
Robert’s eyebrows lifted slightly as if he wanted to believe that what she said was true. “You would do that?”
“Of course, I would.” Anna reached out and grabbed Robert’s wrist and started to pull. “Now, come one, we’ve got to go save those kids.”
Robert stood frozen in place, still refusing to move. “First. I must show you something.” Robert ripped free of Anna’s feeble grasp on his wrist and turned away from her. “Follow me.”
“No, there’s no time — the kids. Nick said we had to hurry. Please.”
Robert disappeared
behind the machine that took up the bigger part of the room. “It’s important, Anna. It will only take a moment.”
Anna sighed and peered around the machine. Robert disappeared through a door that was blocked from view by the massive machine. She had no choice but to follow him. They needed him upstairs, and so she could not just leave him down here.
Anna hurried through the door after Robert. Great more stairs, Anna thought as she ventured on. “Where are we going?”
“Did Nick show you Pearl?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. In Pearl, they have power sources that are portable and can last for years. You’ll need to get your hands on one of those devices if you want to keep your promise of saving us.”
“What does it look like?”
“I’ll show you.”
They entered an underground passage that opened up into another large cavern that contained 6 power generators, neatly lined up. Robert led Anna to the base of reactor 6; it was still barely functioning. Robert opened up a small window hatch and peered in, then stepped back. “Look in there.”
Anna looked through the small window; before her stood a pedestal with a cylinder on top. The cylinder was pulsating blue light. Every time the light of the cylinder dimmed, Anna heard the machine strain. “What is that?”
“Trisidiumpac. It’s a radioactive energy source that is stored in that cylinder and can produce energy for many years. This one has been going for about 200 years and has reached its end. You must find another like this and bring it back here. You will need to take this one out first and place the new one into this reactor. If you do, we will all wake up again. Promise that you’ll do this!”
Anna considered the task. She did not know how she would do such a thing; she was only a kid herself after all. But if this is what she had to do to see her dad again, then she would find a way. “I promise. Now come on, we’ve wasted enough time.”