by Eric Warren
If she was in a hospital, then it hadn’t been her parents who’d retrieved her from the insurance office. And it was unlikely to be Jonn either, he would have known bringing her here would be a death sentence. Which meant it could only be the Cadre. But if so, why not kill her there and mop up the mess? Why keep her alive, even repair her injuries? It went against all doctrine.
Medical equipment hummed and beeped all around her. Arista noticed a long, clear plastic tube running from a machine beside her to a port on the sleeve, almost as if it had been plugged in.
Her heart jumped for a minute and she scrambled to lift up the sleeve, finding it pulled away from her skin easily. She let out a heavy sigh. For a moment she thought she had lost more than just the hand and they had somehow replaced part of her arm with a manufactured one, though, that was impossible. Machines had no experience integrating organic and artificial components. The sleeve must be for nothing other than healing her injury. As soon as she was out of this place she would remove it.
The rest of the room was empty save a few other pieces of equipment, a door on the far wall, and a large picture window to her left. Above her head, attached to the headboard, a circular device undulated through the light spectrum. She’d never seen anything like it. Though it reminded her of the bottom of a flying saucer from those old broadcasts. The Device registered it as an Encephalographic Scanning Device, commonly referred to as an ESD. First used in the early 2030’s, they’d become obsolete after the war. Its purpose was to monitor and scan the human brain for abnormal activity or any anomalies, such as tumors, or hormonal imbalances. There was no question they knew she was human. So why hadn’t they killed her?
She glanced around. Whoever saved her life had kept her alive for a reason. Some sort of experiment maybe? As the only known human maybe they wanted to keep her for scientific research. Keep her trapped until they forgot why they hadn’t killed her already. She needed to get out of here. Her hand was clammy and she wiped it on the rough sheets, scanning the room again.
Arista tugged on the tube attached to the machine, it was plugged in good. The ESD above her head continued to undulate faster, moving into the orange and red spectrum. It was scanning her mind, reporting her mental state. She needed to calm it down if she had any chance—
The door clicked and swung open, revealing a dark-skinned woman in scrubs. “Hello, Arista,” she said in a stilted voice the machines used sometimes. Some of them were better at it than others, though Arista had never discovered why. But the ones like this tended to pause more than necessary. “I see you have awoken. How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” Arista said, her voice low. Was this a trap of some sort? A test? Her eyes flicked to the ESD above her head. It didn’t look to be securely bolted into the machine behind her. She might be able to use it to escape.
“I am pleased.”
“Why am I here?” Arista asked.
The nurse’s expression slackened as if she didn’t understand the question. She turned to the machine with the tube running out of it. “You need your rest.”
Arista’s eyes went wide as she watched the nurse press buttons on the machine. A yellow liquid ran down the tube. Before it reached the port on her arm, Arista yanked herself away, ripping the tube from her and sending a spray of yellow liquid all over the room. She reached up with both arms, momentarily forgetting the lack of her hand, her wrist bouncing off the disk. She quickly recovered and grabbed the ESD. Adrenaline surged through her system as she ripped it from its housing, sending a spray of sparks all over the room. She jumped off the bed, and held the device out in front of her, like a weapon to be fired.
“You must return to your bed,” the nurse said, facing her. “It is for your own good.”
Her bare feet slipped in the growing puddles of yellow liquid, but somehow she maintained her balance. The door was still open from where the nurse had come through and Arista backed toward the door, still holding the ESD at arm’s length. She checked behind her, finding nothing, then turned and raced down the white hallway, passing empty rooms on both sides. A nurse’s station sat at the end of the hallway, leading to two other hallways in different directions. A second nurse rose from her seat and lumbered around the station. She had a good hundred pounds on Arista but her expression remained neutral. Arista drew the ESD back like a baseball bat and brought it across the face of the nurse, peeling her artificial skin off and cracking her cranium with the blow and shattering the ESD in the process. The nurse staggered back, falling into a heap beside the station.
Arista stumbled forward, not used to the balance change of not having a hand and barely got her remaining hand out in front of her before she hit the tile. Her feet were still slick with the liquid, but she finally managed some traction, using her hand and the end of her wrist to push herself up. Surprisingly, putting pressure on the end of the stump didn’t hurt. She glanced behind her, the first nurse trotted down the hallway behind her.
Arista took off at full speed. The best thing about the machines was you could outrun them. No matter what trouble she got into, she had her speed. Despite the fact they could probably reach forty or even fifty mph if they wanted to—as Jonn had after brunch when he caught up to her—they never used it. It was like they never considered the possibility. They only did the bare minimum. Which meant they’d never catch her. She was faster, nimbler, and more cunning than they’d ever be. They were nothing more than toasters who could walk and talk.
A sign for the stairwell passed on her left and she shoved her arm into the door, knocking it open with one hit as she fled down the stairs. Hopefully if the hospital was empty enough she could get away. She willed the Device to give her GLS position, which it did in the form of latitude and longitude.
At least I’m still in Chicago.
The only other sound in the stairwell was the echoes of her bare feet hitting the concrete steps. She almost tripped again, reaching out for the handrail and realizing she had nothing to grab it with. This was going to take some getting used to. She slowed, taking the last few flights carefully before she came to the bottom floor.
As she pushed her way through the door, bright sunlight hit her face and she had to shield her eyes for a moment. She’d come out in an alleyway. Beside the door stood a tall man in a dark suit, very tan and bald. Despite his sunglasses, he seemed surprised to see her. The Device registered him at 1.975 meters exactly. There was something off about him, something she didn’t like. He didn’t utter a word, only made a move to grab Arista. She jumped back, her feet landing in a puddle of who-knew-what. Arista could outpace this guy easily, given his size he shouldn’t manage more than four or five miles per hour. She turned, swift and took off down the alleyway. If she could reach a street somewhere, she might be able to find a way underground. Somewhere to hide until she could contact—
A strong hand grabbed her by the arm, wheeling her around with tremendous force. All of her forward momentum arced and she flew face-first into a hard chest. Looking up she met the sunglasses-covered eyes of the man she’d just seen. He’d caught her.
“Come with me,” he said as if it were a choice. He yanked so hard on Arista’s arm she thought it might detach from the socket as she was pulled along.
“Hey!” she yelled. “I don’t understand, how did you do that?”
The man turned back to her, removing his sunglasses. Arista stepped back as far as she could. “I do what I want,” he said, his red eyes glaring back at her.
The Device flashed one word in her vision: Peacekeeper.
Five
“YOU’RE A PEACEKEEPER?” Arista yelled as the man drug her back inside the alleyway door.
He didn’t respond.
She’d never had the misfortune of meeting one before but had always been on the lookout for them. Signified by their burning red eyes, they were the Cadre’s personal enforcement group. If a machine had a malfunction or exhibited too many variations in its daily routines, it received a visit from a Pea
cekeeper. After that, the errant machine disappeared forever. Arista and her parents had taken special care to avoid any such encounters, staying off the Cadre’s radar had always been priority number one. But now here she was, face to face with one and she couldn’t stop the pain in her chest. in her lungs. Her legs wobbled underneath her.
He yanked her back and pulled her to him, tightening his grip around her arm. He’d said he did what he wanted. A snarky answer. Or was it just part of his particular programming? Regardless, she couldn’t go back in there. They were planning to make her an experiment and she couldn’t let that happen. If they could read her mind they would find her parents; they would learn about the plan to extend their lives. She had to do everything she could to prevent that.
The Peacekeeper pulled her past the stairwell she’d come down, into a hallway on the ground floor past a couple of businesses built into the hospital. A flower shop, a small café, a couple of offices; and in each of them, people milled about, doing their jobs and following their programming, but none of them made a move to help Arista despite her yells and protestations. She wasn’t part of their routines, why would they bother? An older-looking couple looked up out of curiosity and then returned to their work.
Blasted machines. Lacking even basic empathy. The whole thing struck her as pointless and repetitive. What was the point of all these machines going about their lives every day if nothing significant ever changed? From what she could tell this had been the norm for the past eighty or ninety years: the machines coming in and following their programming, acting like they were all part of this society when all they were doing was emulating it. It had made for good cover but was lacking in almost every other respect.
They reached a bank of elevators, the Peacekeeper pressing the “up” arrow and waiting for the carriage to arrive. The doors opened and before them stood the same nurse who had first entered Arista’s room.
“If you, please,” the nurse said, indicating they join her. Arista had stopped struggling, instead focused on saving her strength. She wouldn’t be able to get away as long as this thing had his clamps on her, but as soon as she got the chance, she’d break free again. Find some way to dodge him. They all had weaknesses somewhere, a Peacekeeper would be no different.
The elevator doors closed behind them and in the stillness Arista’s heart was like a freight train thumping in her ears, threatening to break through her ribs. The Device informed her her adrenaline and anxiety levels had peaked. She blinked away the warnings. If she was to get out of this, she would need all the adrenaline and anxiety she could get.
“You shouldn’t try to run,” said the nurse. “The Peacekeepers are not known for failure.”
Arista said nothing, only keeping her eyes straight forward at the mirrored reflection of the three of them in the polished elevator doors.
“You are…” the nurse trailed off, as she bent down, pressing her hand to her head. “You…are…” Losing her balance, she fell against the wall of the elevator, still pressing one hand to her head.
“Nurse Williams, are you—?” the man asked.
“In my head,” the nurse whispered, her hand gripping her skull. “She’s in my head. Something’s happening. Get her away!” All trace of the stilted voice was gone, instead having been replaced by a frightened, panicked one instead.
It had happened again. Just like in the office with Drew and Melanie. Just like what had happened with Jonn. In a few moments, the nurse would have all her mandated programming stripped away, no longer bound by the intent of the Cadre. It was Arista’s ticket out of here.
“What are you doing?” the Peacekeeper demanded, yanking hard on Arista’s arm again. She remained silent, staring at him defiantly.
In one swift move, the Peacekeeper hit the stop button on the elevator, bringing it to a jolting halt. He wrenched open the doors with his one free hand revealing they were halfway between stories. The fourth floor sat at eye level to them, barely enough space for her to crawl out if she wasn’t attached to this giant crane.
The Peacekeeper leaned down and grabbed the nurse by the collar, lifting her with ease and in one deft move, tossed her through the opening into the hallway. Arista was sure she heard the crunching of plastics and metals when the nurse landed.
“Get her away…” the nurse whispered again, seemingly delirious. When she landed, her features still faced them in the elevator. Her once blue eyes had changed to deep shade of ochre.
The Peacekeeper pressed the close door button again, removing the nurse from their sight.
Damn. Another one. That made at least three, not counting Jonn. She was doing a terrible job of keeping a low profile.
And there was something strange about this Peacekeeper. Was he really like she’d been led to believe? Fully autonomous? He certainly didn’t act like the others. Instead he seemed to make decisions and take actions based on new variables presented to him. He didn’t seem to be following a script like the others. But if he were fully autonomous, then why work for the Cadre, the very organization that made sure everyone followed their programming? It didn’t make sense.
“You are more trouble than you’re worth,” the Peacekeeper said, his lip curling in disgust.
Arista arched an eyebrow at him. He was definitely not like the others. There was more there. The Peacekeeper smoothed out his black suit with his free hand. Further confirmation. A machine wouldn’t take such care to keep themselves tidy. Not unless it was in their programming description and Arista highly doubted it was part of his.
The elevator bell dinged on the sixth floor and they stepped off into the same hallway she had run from originally. As they passed the nurses station the body of the one machine she’d clocked still lay there, immobile. Good. If she was dead she was better off anyway. One less machine Arista had to worry about. But her real problem was the Peacekeeper. Taking him out wouldn’t be easy.
He led her back to the same room, closing the door behind them. “On the bed,” he said.
“No.” Her hand trembled as she said it.
He grabbed her by both arms, picking her up, and slammed her back on the hard mattress. She flailed against him, if she had any chance of getting out of here this would be it. The Peacekeeper held her down with one hand and reached under the bed to a restraining belt, which he pulled across her torso and attached to the other side. She gasped for air, desperate to draw a deep breath. Strapping her down only made her thrash harder. Panic rose to the forefront of her mind. She couldn’t let him fully immobilize her. She hit, kicked and did everything she could before he grabbed her arm again, this time taking the one encased in the silver sleeve. He pulled the same tube out of the machine as before, holding her arm still, and plugged it into the sleeve. He tapped a button on the machine and the yellow liquid ran down the tube. “Night, night,” he said, more playfully than she would have liked.
Darkness came fast this time.
***
Before Arista even opened her eyes, she tried lifting her arms only to find they were immobile. He had strapped her down. The Device flashed warnings of anxiety spiking in her system. She jerked and wrenched with what little she had, hoping to at least loosen the restraints. None of it worked, she only managed to dig the straps deeper into her skin, rubbing and burning as she thrashed. She had to find a way out of this, a way off this table. Tears fell from her eyes in hot bursts as she cried out, doing anything she could to move. She just needed to move, if only a little bit. She paused to take a breath, fearing for a moment she wouldn’t be able to breathe. The Device instructed her to take deep breaths, which she did, watching the anxiety meter in her vision fall, albeit slowly. She wasn’t going to get anywhere if she didn’t calm down.
The sound of metal on metal had awoken her. Not a scraping or a scratching, but a tinkling of small metal objects touching each other. She was almost afraid to look but when she opened her eyes there was no one else in the room. No tray of metal instruments she’d imagined she’d heard. On
ly her and the hospital room. Her right arm throbbed and she forgot for a second she didn’t have a hand at the end of it anymore. The cut on her left arm where they’d removed her phone had healed completely. How long had she been here? And what about her parents, were they safe?
“Uhhh.” Arista couldn’t help the moan escaping from her lips. As her body woke up it only began to ache more. She’d obviously been in this position too long and her body was rebelling against it. She wasn’t like them, she couldn’t lay perfectly still for days on end without consequence.
The door at the end of the room opened, revealing the same Peacekeeper who’d dragged her back up here.
“What do you want with me?” Arista asked as he moved around the bed to inspect the machines.
“If it were up to me, you’d be dead already,” he said. “But it’s not.”
“Aren’t all humans supposed to be killed on sight?” she asked.
“Apparently,” he said, his tone sharp. “You have value. That’s what I’m here to discover.”
She stopped struggling. “Discover?”
“As a human, you should be easily trackable to our sensors,” he said, facing her. “You have a heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature, carbon dioxide emissions, any one of which should set off our sensors. And yet you’ve been walking around freely. Explain that.”
“How do you know I didn’t just get here?” she asked.
“We’ve reviewed the camera footage. You have an apartment under your name which your neighbors confirm you’ve been staying in for the last six months.”