by Young, B. R.
Lili lay down in her bed, happier than she had been in a long time, not only had she made a new friend but she had also learned there was a whole new world out there that truly belonged to them and that it was a beautiful, amazing place just waiting to be explored, just ripe with adventures for her. She quickly drifted off dreaming of the many adventures she was sure to go on in the future.
9
Lili woke the next morning with a smile, as she stretched she looked around the room and jumped with a small shriek as a pair of red eyes and wild red hair stared back at her from the corner. She had forgotten about her new friend from last night. “I’m sorry, you startled me. Did you not sleep?” she asked.
“As I told you, I am a machine and do not require sleep nor do I require food. I merely sat and observed you as you replenished your energy. You do a lot of talking while you do this sleep thing,” she said.
Lili looked at her horrified, “I talk in my sleep? I hope I didn’t say anything too embarrassing,” she muttered as she got up from the bed. She rifled through her dresser to find clothes to wear for the day.
“You talked a lot about a man named Kev and you went on about animals and the world above,” she said.
“Oh, I must have been dreaming,” she giggled. “Kev is my best friend. Well I need to go to breakfast and to work. I have free time later, I will come back when I have finished so we can talk more,” said Lili as she quickly changed her clothes.
“Very well, I shall remain here until you return, remember, no one must know I am here or we could both be in danger,” said Dawn as she watched the girl leave the room.
Lili made her way out of the barracks house and over to the kitchen area where she met up with her friend Kev. She was in a better mood today than she normally was, full of energy and smiles. “Good morning Kev,” she said as they jumped into the breakfast line.
“Good morning, you seem awfully cheerful today Lili,” said Kev.
She smiled at him as she grabbed a tray from the pile and started loading it with fruits and breads. “It’s just a good day is all, we only have the one line to check today and I’ll have plenty of free time. I thought I might spend it in my room reading today, it’s been a while since I’ve read a good book,” she said smiling.
“Oh,” he said as they continued through the line. “So you won’t be going with me to the animal pens today to see your animal friends?”
“Sorry, not today Kev, I just feel like being by myself doing some reading. I promise next free period we have together we’ll go.”
He shook his head as he looked suspiciously at her but said no more as they made their way to the tables to eat their breakfast. Breakfast was usually the one meal of the day where everyone was quiet and simply ate without much to say to one another. Any other time during the day there was always much chatter about the day’s events, which usually consisted of the daily life on the farms and the small variety of jobs that were done, or they discussed how they would be spending their free time.
Lili was excited to get through her day, she rushed through her meal hardly taking the time to taste anything. As soon as everyone was finished she was the first one to jump up and start clearing the table so they could get started with their day.
Today was one of the rare days when Lili worked by herself. The first two sections of piping that led away from the farms were easy to check and required only one person each, so they each took one section. The rest of the lines required two people at all times to check over.
Lili loved what she did because it usually involved getting dirty. She made her way to the hatch that would let her into the lines of her section and climbed down into the piping of the water lines. There were many smaller lines that ran off in different directions, they fed the many fields that lined the roadways along the lines. There was also a bigger line that crossed over into the livestock barns to make sure the animals had plenty of fresh water. The main line, also the biggest, is the one that led to the living area of the community which kept the population supplied with drinking and bathing water as well as swimming water for the pool area.
Lili’s job was to walk along the pipelines and check the filtration units at each branching line to be sure there was no debris from the lake plugging up the filter or the lines themselves and also to be sure the lines had no cracks or leaks in them. If any were found she had to seal up the leaks. The first part of the lines was the easiest part to do because there weren’t very many branches to check, just the main filtration system and the livestock filtration and several smaller fields that were closest to the settlements. It was the rest of the sections that took the longest because there were many more branches of pipes to check on each of the sections which is why it usually took two people most of the day to check.
By the time Lili had checked every filter she was usually soaking wet, and by the time she managed to crawl back out of the duct she was caked in dirt which mixed with all the water, turned to mud. She’d managed to finish her work faster than she normally did, usually she took her time because she enjoyed spending time in the tunnels, but today she wanted to be out of there and go talk to her new friend.
She quickly made her way back to the settlement and went to take a shower, she didn’t even bother stripping off her clothes she just turned the water on and stood underneath the hot water letting the jets wash away the caked on mud until the last of it had washed away. She grabbed a towel to dry her hair then wrapped it around herself to attempt to dry off. She didn’t want to draw too much suspicion from anyone that might be watching her as to why she was in such a hurry to be back to her room while everyone else was off working, it was unusual for anyone, especially her, to finish working so early. She made it back to the barracks area and opened the door to her room then slipped in, quietly letting the door shut behind her, there was her red headed friend sitting on the bed staring at the wall. “I’m back,” she said. As Dawn looked over at her.
Kev couldn’t help but wonder why it was that Lili was acting the way she was. She never passed up an opportunity to go and visit the animals, she loved them more than anything on the farm. Kev watched her all through the meal as she quickly devoured her food, barely tasting anything.
He thought there would be time to catch up to her after they’d finished their work before they went off to their free time. Lili always loved getting dirty down in the tunnels and would take her time finishing her work down there so he knew if he finished quickly enough he could wait for her and catch her as she finished up.
As he walked down the road pushing his cart of tools he looked up to see Lili already headed toward the supply storage to put away her tools. This seemed rather odd to Kev, Lili never finished her work this quickly. He watched her as she put away her things, she seemed to be in a good mood and was smiling and happy as she quickly tossed her tools and cart inside.
Kev waited until she’d gone to the barracks before he put his own tools back in their place, he decided he should follow Lili and see what she was up to. He hated the thought she might be getting herself into trouble. She was his best friend and had a knack for finding trouble.
He made his way into the barracks and went to her door, he noticed there was far too much noise coming from her room for her to be reading a book. He put his ear to the door, he could hear two voices coming from within the room. He stood and listened as they talked of some strange outside world, someplace that wasn’t within the farm.
10
“So I see, you were not gone very long,” said Dawn.
“Yes well, I didn’t have much to do and I was excited to hear more about the world above. It’s all I’ve been able to think about all day,” she said.
“Come sit with me and I shall tell you of the world in which your ancestor’s were born.”
Lili climbed onto the bed next to her new friend and grabbed a pillow placing it behind her back for support as she leaned back to listen to the story that was about to unfold before her.
“The world the way it looks right now is a beautiful amazing place. It is full of trees and animals that roam free. The sun burns high in the sky,” she was saying as she got cut off.
“What’s the sun?”
“The sun is a giant star in Space that heats and provides light.”
“What’s space? What’s a star?” Lili asked, cutting her off once again.
“If you will allow me to continue, I will tell you of all of these things in time,” Dawn said.
Lili hung her head. “Sorry, I just get so excited, I can’t help myself sometimes.”
“Now as I was saying, the sun burns bright and warm in the sky and the air is pure and breathable once more. The ground is clean and pure and many of the resources that had once been taken and ripped from the land have been replenished, which was what my kind were built for, to replenish the resources and bring life back to your planet.”
“It all sounds so amazing, oh how I wish I could see it! Do you think you could take me there?”
“That would be a very dangerous undertaking, there are many A.I. patrols in these parts of the caverns, not to mention the other humans. If we were spotted trying to leave there could be a lot of trouble for the both of us,” she said.
“What about Kev? He’s very smart, if I just talk to him, let you meet him and tell him what you’ve told me I’m sure he’d understand. I bet he’d come with us and help us,” said Lili.
“Are you sure you can trust him? We cannot risk letting too many people know about what we would be doing?”
“Yes I’m sure, Kev is my best friend. If I hurry I can go and get him during his free time. We can gather supplies and leave tonight while everyone is sleeping during the dimming of the lights. No one is allowed out of the barracks during the dimming so it would be the perfect time to go.”
“Very well, if you are sure this is what you want to do I will take you, but be warned if your friend turns on you it is danger for the both of us,” Dawn warned.
“He won’t I promise, you’ll see. I’ll be back soon.” Lili left the room and headed out to find her friend.
Lili knew that by now Kev would have finished with his line and would be spending his free time at the livestock barns with the animals like they usually did together. She made her way over to the barns. It took her several minutes before she finally found him in the pen with the goats playing with babies.
Kev heard everything that they’d been talking about and couldn’t understand half of it. He knew nothing of this world above, surely the councilors would know if this world existed and would have taken us all there by now. Lil what have you gotten yourself into now? Kev thought. He heard Lili mention his name and that she wanted to come and find him and talk to him about all of this. That was when he knew it was time for him to leave, and quickly, he knew he’d have to run in order to get to the animal pens.
He raced across the compound jumping over small hedges and other obstacles that lay in his path. He needed to get to the animal pens before Lili and have enough time to compose himself and catch his breath before she found him.
“Kev, I finally found you,” she beamed with excitement. “I need to show you something, will you please come with me?”
Kev looked up with a forced smile as he heard his friend’s voice. He had to try to control his breath from running hard. “Hey Lili I thought you were reading?”
“Umm. Well I was but there’s something I really want you to see. Come on Kev please?” She whined.
“Ok, ok Lili I’m coming.”
They made the trip back to the barracks at a quick pace with Kev trying to get Lili to tell him what it was she wanted him to see the entire time. “You’ll just have to wait and see,” is all she’d say every time he would ask.
They stopped outside the door. “Ok Kev close your eyes until we get inside and please don’t freak out.”
He gave her a weird look. “What’s going on Lili? Why would I freak out?” He already knew some of what she was hiding but he’d still be in for a shock once the door was opened.
“Please Kev just promise me,” she begged.
“Ok Lili I promise, for you, I won’t freak out,” he let out a sigh.
Kev closed his eyes and Lili opened the door guiding him inside. She shut the door behind them and led him to the middle of the room. “Ok Kev you can open your eyes now.”
When he opened his eyes Dawn was standing before him, trying to smile the way a human would smile, however her attempt was more unnerving and resembled that of a menacing monster than a happy to meet you type of smile, between the smile and the bright red of her hair and eyes and the fact her joints were all metallic, it was enough to make anyone freak out. Kev was no different.
Kev let out a loud gasp as he leapt back against the door, barely able to catch his breath. “L.. Lili what have you done? Guardian please forgive her she doesn’t know what she is doing?” he babbled as he bowed his head.
“Kev relax, this is my friend Dawn. She’s the one I wanted you to meet. She’s not like the guardians.”
“Greetings to you Kev. It is a pleasure to meet you,” said Dawn.
Kev just stared awestruck at what he was seeing. He was trying to comprehend what it was he was seeing and hearing. He’d never been this close to one of the guardians before and he’d never heard any of them talking before. He wondered if this was who he had heard Lil talking to before.
“I.. Ah, yea you too, I mean it’s nice to meet you too. How is she not like the other guardians?” He asked Lili, still looking confused.
Lili beckoned for Kev to come and sit with her on the bed. Between herself and Dawn they spent the next hour or so going back over everything Dawn had already told Lili about the A.I. and of the Earth above. He listened to everything they had to say with rapture. “I knew there had to be more to life than what the farms had to offer us,” he said when they finally finished with their story. Kev was unsure what to believe but he wanted to appease Lili, she was his friend and he didn’t want to do anything that would upset the guardian.
“So, you believe us then? Will you come with us? I really want to see this world above.”
“Yes of course I would love to see it myself but Dawn is right, it would be very dangerous for all of us. We have to be very careful not to be caught. We should try and stock up some food, which will not be easy, and we will need to find a way to get to this surface you talk about without being seen by the Guardians that patrol the caverns,” said Kev.
“I think I might know of a way,” said Dawn as she thought for a moment. “If we could commandeer one of the ships at the docks, just after the dimming of the lights, no one would know you are gone until the morning, by then we will be long gone. On the far side of the lake I believe there is another entrance that leads to the surfaces, an entrance that has not been used by anyone for a very long time. I think we may be able to use this as a means of getting to the surface.”
“Ok so we will try to grab as much extra food as we can during dinner so we have enough to feed the two of us on the trip. But once we leave will you be able to take us somewhere to live on the surface? We’ll probably never be able to come back here, people will wonder what has happened to us, there will be questions and we’ll be in a lot of trouble,” said Lili.
“Let’s worry about that when the time comes, for now let’s worry about the immediate need of getting the food we’ll need for our journey,” said Kev.
“There are many places outside of the large cities on the surface of the planet that the A.I. do not inhabit, where we can visit and settle. Perhaps in time we can bring others to the surface so they too can see the true beauty of the planet that belongs to all of humanity,” said Dawn.
“That would be a great thing if we could once again live as our ancestors did,” said Lili with a huge smile.
“Well it’s almost time for dinner, we should eat as much as we can and stash as much as possible without being seen,” said Kev.
“Right, I’ll wear my pants with big pockets,” Lili laughed.
Kev left and went to his room to change while Lil changed into her big pocket pants in preparation to stash as much food as they dared. She told Dawn they would be back soon and to be ready as soon as the lights dimmed.
Kev left the room worried even more than before that Lili was getting herself into far more trouble than she’d ever been. She was talking about breaking the most sacred of rules. He knew he’d have to do something in order to keep her from getting into too much trouble, whatever it was it would be for her own good and he was sure it would be nothing too serious.
After he went to his room and changed he made his way to the chamber of the council. He found councilor Tor pouring over his books. He looked up when he heard Kev enter, “Kev, what can I do for you today?” He asked.
“Councilor Tor, I am worried about Lili, sir. I fear she’s being led astray. There is a strange guardian in the compound telling her lies of a world above ground, telling her how it is filled with beautiful creatures and plants and telling her how we could all go and live there the way our ancestors once did.”
The councilors face twitched a bit as he listened to Kev’s story of the plan that had been made for the night. “Have no fear Kev all will be dealt with. Continue on with your plans for now, don’t let her know you have come to me or she may find other means of leaving the safety of the farms. I will speak with the rest of the council and we shall intervene at the docks,” said the councilor
“As you wish councilor,” said Kev as he made his way out the door and headed towards the dining area to meet up with Lili.