Red lights went off and sirens played Ode to Joy, joyfully. A mechanical voice said, "Would you fine visitors please pull over your old fashioned automobiles?" It talked like it was British, which Cassie thought was just adorable! Mr. Braddock and James halted the vehicles, and a pristine white robot with blue screens for eyes hovered to the side of the van.
"Pardon me sir," it began, "You must be new here. Welcome to Idyll! I am an Idyll bot, specifically designed for serving all life forms. I noticed your automobile is on the ground. You will receive a FREE UPGRADE to the Yornoroak Flying Car 27." Soon, the group stood aside their vehicles as they were towed away and replaced with a new ride with a sleek design. "Enjoy!" the Idyll bot chirped, turning to leave.
"Wait!" Cassie cried out, catching the bot's attention, "You are right, we are new here. Could you please explain where, and what, here is?"
The adorable robot's eyes glowed brightly. "Welcome to Idyll!" it answered, "The best place in existence! Idyll is the one and only, perfect realm. Idyll has many other names as well, such as paradise, utopia, the promised land, and heaven." The drone tilted its head. "Anything else?" it asked.
"Yes," Stella added, "Tell us more about, the creation of Idyll." The robot buzzed, and faced the asker. "Idyll is the perfect place!" the bot whirred, "Also known as paradise, utopia, the promised land, and heaven, Idyll was created from a void realm by inventor, philosopher, and entrepreneur, Julius Yornoroak over five billion years ago, and thanks to his Life Elongation technology, he continues to create for Idyll to this day! He also holds the record for the oldest living man in existence! Julius Yornoroak is the savior of all, for creating Idyll."
Cassie gaped. He must be pretty full of himself to program the bots to say that. And by the look on her friend's faces, she could tell they felt the same. Even though they should be trying to save Reality, it couldn't hurt to get a quick tour. "Idyll bot?" Cassie questioned, "Can you give us a tour of Idyll?" The bot whirled and chippered, "Follow me!" The bot turned and floated away, and the group followed in the flying car.
Once they were close to the city, the Idyll bot began its narrative. "On your left is the Life Elongation Tower, and on your right is the Bot Factory, where I was born, and the Flying Car factory just behind that!" The bot flew over the factories and to three tall, shining towers, and continued, "These are the Idyll Trade Towers. The best job to get assigned to!"
"Assigned?" Cassie wondered, "What do you mean?" The bot laughed a robot laughed. "Of course!" it beeped, "We can't leave that big of a responsibility in the hands of the civilians! Everyone is carefully evaluated, and when the time comes, they get paired up, are given jobs, and their own house in the Idyll Residential Center to your left. It has rocket tubes to every corner of Idyll, and UD-SINE technology, also invented by Mr. Yornoroak!"
Will butted in, "What's UD-SINE technology?" "Glad you asked!" the bot clicked, "UD-SINE technology is the best thing for over-population! Each housing space receives nine square feet, and the owners design whatever they want. Then the machine creates what they put in, and voila! They can have up to 100 acres of land in only that small space!"
"That's impossible!" Susan exclaimed. Cassie gave her the really-you-think-that's-impossible-look-at-me look and she dropped the issue. "This place can't be perfect! Nobody is perfect!" Braddock ranted. The Idyll bot tilted its head and beeped, "I am not programed to respond to such rubbish."
Cassie looked at all of the people below them. No imperfections on any of them! Flawless hair, smiling faces, they were perfect! Cassie wondered how one person could make everyone so perfect. "It's like magic!" Cassie yelled. The robot stopped and turned around. Having gotten to Cassie's window, it's eyes flashed and chirped, "No magic whatsoever! Magic is simply science that your simple minds do not understand." It beeped and continued the tour.
Once it arrived back at the Life Elongation Tower, it asked if they needed anything else, since it was programmed to do so. "We need to meet with Mr. Julius Yornoroak, please." Will spoke up. "No autographs." the bot replied. Charlie butted in, "We just need to speak with him." "No autographs." it repeated.
Cassie knew they weren't going to get through to it. It was programmed one way, and that's it. The poor robot didn't have the ability to think for itself. That's it! Cassie went over to the window and looked at their guide.
Little bot that doesn't know,
You were programmed to do your orders without fighting back,
With my powers, to you I bestow,
The ability to think on your own, and a name that is Mac!
The robot shook around and sparked. It whirred and clicked and dinged. With a big screech, it stopped moving.
"Mac?" Cassie called quietly, "Can we speak with Mr. Julius Yornoroak?" The bot looked at Cassie and flashed its electric eyes. "Well," Mac pondered, "I really do not see why not. Follow me!"
They parked the flying car outside Julius Yornoroak's Palace. It was so tall that you couldn't see the top from the ground. Mac flew up the steps and scanned a mark on the wall. With a few beeps, the doors slid open. "Come on!" the robot yipped. Everyone hurried inside.
Everything was white and glistening. The floors were paved with gold, and the ceiling dotted with silver. Its incredibility could rival that of the legendary streets of Olympus. The group walked down a narrow hall, tracking in tons of mud; some robots promptly scurried over to clean up the tracks. They went up some steps and another door opened.
They all walked in the huge vibrant room, with more gold than where they were previously. At the opposite end of the room sat a solid gold throne with goose feather-stuffed cushions. "Whoa." Cassie whispered. Stella rolled her eyes.
"Who enters my home?" a voice bellowed. An old man stood a few feet away from the chair. He looked at the robot and said, "Report?" Mac twirled and beeped, "Um, these visitors wanted to meet you." "And what did you say?" Yornoroak persisted. "I said 'No Autographs.'!" the bot buzzed proudly, making Cassie snicker.
"And then what?" Yornoroak pressured. "They said they didn't want autographs so I brought them here!" it whirred in response. The man nodded. "I see," he sighed, "a malfunctioning robot. That mustn't happen again. TRASH THIS ONE!"
Big sumo-sized robots thumped out and went for the robot, who scrambled for his life. "NO!" Cassie yelled, stopping the scene, "Why waste him, when I could fix him? Or at least try?" Yornoroak frowned, "I don't think so."
Cassie put her head down and sighed, "In a perfect world, maybe."
Yornoroak ordered his minions to leave. Idyll WAS perfect, and one girl's rumors weren't going to ruin it! "It's yours now." Yornoroak snorted, "Still under my command, but yours." The inventor sat on his throne and then continued, "Are you new here?" They all nodded. "Well then," he sighed, "Welcome to my greatest invention! Idyll is the only perfect place there is! We'll get you some housing, and I'm assuming that the delinquent gave you a tour. Any questions while you are here?"
"Just one," Cassie began, "How do you keep this place, so 'perfect'?"
Mount Olympus
“It worked!” a beautiful woman dressed in pink cheered. Her hair had no specific color and her face the likeliness of the most beautiful women throughout history. She looked down from her seat high in the sky on the mortal she bewitched. “The royal family will totally fall just as Zeus ‘prophesized’!” she proclaimed, standing from her chair as the mortal joined hands with a woman, “Clytemnestra will be soooo jealous when she discovers her hubby’s cheating on her!”
“At least you have come through, Aphrodite.” a young man sighed, “Hades wasn’t so successful in the conversion of the Death Realm. He was captured by him.” The man sat down in the center throne and looked down on Earth.
“Well what are we going to do, Zeus?” Aphrodite worried, “These foolish Greeks won’t be around forever! I want to be worshipped!” The goddess slammed her fist on the arm of her love throne, breaking a nail.
“Relax!” Zeus comforted, placing his hand on Aphrodite’
s shoulder, “I have finally created the spell that will do what we need. It requires the force of the three divisions of Reality: air, water, and death! All we need to do is distract him, free Hades, and cast the spell!”
Aphrodite stood and crossed her arms. “What do I need to do now?” she huffed. Zeus smiled, “I’m sure you have an idea.”
“Hello?!” Aphrodite called, waltzing into the Death Realm, “Is Tartarus here?” Aphrodite fixed her hair and looked around. That brute had better be there; she put on her most expensive cloak for this!
A red lightning bolt shot across the dark sky, striking the inky ground. In a swirl of goop, a menacing-looking man appeared, sitting in a rocking chair made-of bones. “Hello, Aphrodite.” Tartarus greeted, rocking back and forth, “I know what you are up to, but have no fear, I want the same thing you do! Have a seat and we’ll discuss.”
With the wave of his hand, Tartarus made a second bone chair appear from the slime. Sitting in the chair, Aphrodite began, “So.”
“You and your fellow Olympians want to be worshipped as gods, and in order to do that you need to cast a spell that requires the three forces of Reality.” Tartarus recounted, “Hades tried to overpower me, but failed. Even though you tried to destroy me, I have decided to offer my assistance. I will free Hades and let you cast the spell which will make you into immortal Greek ‘gods’, so long as you spread the word that I, Tartarus, is the Darkest Soul, and all shall fear me.”
Tartarus looked at Aphrodite, his black eyes swirling in his evil skull. “Deal.” Aphrodite agreed, “Now bring me Hades.”
The Darkest Soul whisked his hand, turning into black ink, and vanished. In his place sat a ghostly white man wearing black rags. “Hades!” Aphrodite yelped, “How are you?”
“Fine.” Hades grumbled, “Let’s go back to Olympus and cast this spell I heard about.”
After arriving back in Olympus, the Big Three gathered around a gold cauldron; Hades with Tartarus’s staff, Poseidon with his trident, and Zeus with his lightning bolt. They each pointed their tools at the cauldron and Zeus began the spell.
Better than mortals,
Wizards we are,
Atop Mount Olympus and behind its walls,
Gods we shall be forevermore.
The gold cauldron and the wizards’ tools glowed brightly, emitting a golden smog from the handles. “It’s working!” Poseidon yelled, “I can feel the power rushing into me!”
The smoke cleared, and the gods emerged, clothed in shining satin robes. “I am Zeus!” Zeus announced, raising his arms, “King of the Gods!”
The Truth About Idyll
Shoot! An open-minded one! Yornoroak liked the girl's appearance, but if he didn't get rid of her curiosity, well...
"Idyll is perfect because it just is! Let's leave it at that, for now, and get you all settled in." Yornoroak replied to the question, "The kids will get put in school, and the adults will get assigned. I'm just assuming you are going to stay because, well, no one leaves!" Julius chuckled and had one of his minions escort the group out. Once they were out of earshot, he pressed a red button and whispered, "Ten arrivals, at least four disposables."
The minion had gotten them in their flying car and told Mac where to take them. Mac nodded and flew them all to the court. "Time to get assigned!" Mac beeped excitedly. They were led inside a giant court house and immediately put into separate rooms.
Cassie was sat down at a desk and handed a booklet. It read, 'Determination Test' across the top. The robot in the room with her clicked to life. "Welcome to Idyll! The perfect place!" it beeped, "You are Cassandra Smith. You will be taking the Determination Test to determine if you are perfect enough to proceed. Please open to page one of the booklet and start the exam." Cassie wondered why all of the robots were British, even though Yornoroak wasn't even close. Nevertheless, she opened the exam and read the first page.
Stella sat down in a chair and was given a booklet titled, 'Determination Test'. Another British Idyll bot chirped, "Welcome to Idyll! The perfect place!" Stella reached for the test and picked it up. "You are Stella Sanders. You will be taking the Determination Test to determine if you are perfect enough to proceed." it continued, "Please open to page one of the booklet and start the exam."
Charlie had been put in yet another room with a bot, and the test. The bot powered up. "You are Charles Myers." it began the speech. Charlie grabbed the book and flipped through it. Holy! He never took a test this big before, nor did he want to, but something told him his life depended on it. He opened the book and began taking the test. The bot scanned him every so often and rambled off a series of numbers. "This test is so easy!" Charlie announced loudly, to which the bot shushed.
As you'd expect, Will got the same treatment. The bot turned on, gave its speech, and instructed Will to begin. "What do you mean, to proceed?" Will asked, "What happens if I fail?" The bot chuckled. "You won't fail. You have royal heritage." the robot assured, "Now please open to page one of the booklet."
Vander and Vanessa were put in a nursery room while their parents were taken care of. "We are in big trouble." Vander whispered to his sister. "I know doof!" she scorned, "We find out things at the same time, remember!"
Just then, a robot came in and chirped, "Movie time!" It gathered all of the children in one spot, turned off the lights, and turned on a TV. "How to live in Idyll!" a man on the TV announced, "Watch closely, children, you wouldn't want to mess up!"
The adults, Betty, Braddock, James, and Susan, were all sent to a dark room with a few other people. "We are about to get our jobs!" a woman chirped. Susan noticed they were different from the people outside. They looked normal, as in not perfect.
"I'm James Smith!" James introduced, shaking someone's hand. "I am Henry." the man responded, "I hope I get a good job. I hear the offices are nice." Betty cut in, "Well, we aren't staying, so don't worry about us interfering!" The lady who first spoke asked, "What do you mean? No one leaves here! It's PERFECT!" "Helen's right." someone said, "Once you are here, you usually don't leave."
"Why did you say 'usually' Dave?" Helen pressed, "Who did you know that left?" Dave crossed his arms. "My brother left some time ago." he explained, "He went to work one day, and never came back. They said he took a Realm Jumper and ran, but I can't imagine why."
Braddock perked up. "A Realm Jumper?" he questioned. That could be very useful. "Yeah," Dave sighed, "There's tons of talk about them, but no one seems to know where to find any." Mr. Braddock relaxed. Shoot!
As they talked, the room lurched and they heard an engine noise. James flew to the door, but it was locked. He looked at his wife and yelped, "We're trapped!"
Cassie scanned through the questions. "Who has the right to make choices?" she read. The options were Julius Yornoroak, the court, your leaders, and the citizens. "These questions are all like this!" she realized. Cassie went through and circled the answers she knew were right for her. "The citizens." she whispered.
Stella whizzed straight through. It was so simple! All her life, she got whatever she wanted, because of her parents. She figured that since she never really made her own choices, that her parents were to thank! Stella never used to think that, but she had learned to appreciate things more since the portal opened the first time. "Choices?" Stella thought aloud, "The leaders, duh!"
Charlie was already done. He had faith that he passed, so he stood up and handed the packet to the robot. A small tray popped out of the bot's front, and in went the booklet. "Please sit down while you are being reviewed." it ordered, scanning him again. Charlie plopped down, with that strange feeling that the scans were more invasive than they looked.
Will finished his test and slid it in the bot's tray. "Can I go now?" he interrogated, "And where are my friends?" The robot's eyes flashed and it honked, "Please sit down while you are being reviewed." The bot scanned him a few times as he sat back down, and after he was sitting. It babbled a list of numbers and beeped, "William Rindenton, you look VERY promising." Wi
ll felt like his privacy was invaded, and even more so when the bot kept scanning him and wouldn't stop.
Vander and Vanessa watched the video. "In order to make Idyll stay perfect, we need you to listen to orders, and NEVER question anything." the narrator repeated, "Keep yourself healthy, or consequences will be severe." They caught a glimpse of a truck pulling a cart behind it to a shed in the middle of nowhere. Then people were unloaded and shoved inside, and screams were heard. Vander grabbed his sister tight and they both lost sight.
They saw their mom and dad in the same type of cart, as well as Betty and Mr. Braddock. There were others too, but it was too dark to make out their features. The truck was heading for the same shed in the video!
The twins pushed each other away. They needed to save their parents!
James was able to crack the side of the wall and saw the landscape rush by. They were definitely moving, but to where? "This can't be good!" Betty warned.
Sealing Death Page 10