Revolution

by Shawn Davis

  This position has become untenable. I’m a sitting duck. I have to get out of here.

  Leaning hard on his arms, Rayne stood on the dinosaur head and fired another volley of automatic fire toward his attackers. He watched some of them duck behind trees for cover, as he turned and leapt over the side. As his feet struck the water, ear-shattering thunder exploded above him. Plunging into the water, he heard the explosion dissipate as he sank deeper. Kicking his feet, he swam away underwater. Rayne traveled several feet before he had to come up for air. Emerging from the water, he gasped for breath.

  The brontosaur’s head had been blown apart in a fiery explosion. The head was now a partially disintegrated, charred metal skeleton spouting flames and smoke. Rayne turned and swam for the opposite shore.

  More gunfire echoed from the far shore, but Rayne tried to ignore it, swimming hard through the water. His right hand wasn’t much use, clutching the automatic pistol, but he did his best with his legs and left arm. Reaching the opposite shore, he climbed onto the muddy riverbank. Bullets exploded around him, splashing his face and body with slimy mud.

  He crawled through the mud until he reached the tree-line and ducked behind an artificial trunk. Peering out from his place of cover, Rayne observed the small figures of the Shock Troopers firing at him from the far shore. Bullets exploded higher up on the tree. Trying to stay low, he crawled backwards into the jungle. Bullets whizzed through the surrounding leaves as he retreated through the fake prehistoric foliage.

  Rayne was grateful when he felt the ground sloping downward, giving him more cover from enemy rounds. He was surprised when he looked down at his arms and hands and saw they were stained black from whatever chemical compound comprised the fake mud on the shore of the river. The gross stuff also splashed into his face, so he assumed his cheeks and forehead were also stained black.

  He continued crawling forward through the plastic plants – thankful he was out of the gross pseudo-mud. He saw a bright light ahead and realized the trees and plants opened into a large, grassy clearing. Reaching the edge of the trees, he stared across the clearing to the trees on the other side.

  I need to get across.

  Rayne stood and jogged as fast as his ankle would allow him. A loud, thundering roar, like an amplified lion’s roar, boomed suddenly in his left ear. Turning left, he saw a forty-foot dinosaur tramping toward him across the clearing. Unlike the brontosaur robot, this dinosaur stood upright on muscular hind legs and waved two tiny claws in front of it. It had cavernous jaws with four rows of knife-like teeth.

  Tyrannosaurus Rex. Definitely a carnivore. How realistic are these robots? Are they able to eat their prey?

  The dinosaur’s teeth figured prominently in Rayne’s mind as the monster stalked toward him, roaring. The thing was coming directly at him, so his only choice was to move forward or back. He moved forward.

  Peter ran, glancing over his left shoulder to see the dinosaur lumbering past him on its colossal legs. With the danger past, he stopped to watch the monster tramping heavily toward the edge of the clearing, where he could see the blue waters of the river. The dinosaur stopped on the edge of the riverbank, roaring loudly at a passing tour boat. People screamed as the pseudo-Tyrannosaur leaned over the river, extending his neck out, roaring at them.

  Pretty incredible. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was real.

  The dinosaur howled at the tourists with its thunderous voice before turning on its hind legs and stomping back toward Rayne’s position.

  This is as good a time as any to move into the jungle.

  Rayne plunged into the thick jungle, glancing over his shoulder to see the massive dinosaur legs stalking through the clearing. Peter used his pistol to beat the thick plastic leaves out of his way, while he ducked under fake vines and dodged artificial tree trunks. He didn’t know what was beyond the jungle, but he figured his only chance was to lose himself in it until he could find a way out. A bullet exploded on a nearby tree trunk, which made him realize he might not be going far. Peering through the openings in the leaves, he saw pseudo-sunlight glinting off blue armor.

  They found me already? How many did they send after me?

  Rayne ducked behind a large fake rock wedged between two fake prehistoric trees and aimed the barrel of his pistol at the approaching Troopers. The Troopers advanced cautiously like guerillas, using the trees and bushes for cover. Still, their blue armor easily gave them away. Peter aimed for the bright glints of armor through the openings in the leaves and fired.

  A bizarre, metallic scream pierced the jungle as an armored body fell back into a clump of bushes. Ducking behind the rock, Peter heard bullets striking the tree trunks above him in retaliation.

  These bullets sound different. They must be using silencers and non-explosive bullets- probably for increased stealth.

  All Rayne heard were rushing sounds and tiny impacts like arrows striking the trees. Peeking his head over the rock, he saw gleaming blue armor through the leaves everywhere he turned.

  This doesn’t look good.

  Ducking again, he heard more impacts from the new, non-explosive bullets striking the fake rock. Peter crawled arduously backward, listening to the sound of the bullets whizzing through the bushes all around him. He crawled diagonally away toward another tree. He listened to the rock being peppered with an intense volley, one whizzed directly over his head. Peter lifted his gun above the bushes, firing at the unseen targets. More bullets whizzed through the fake plants around him.

  I have nothing to lose by firing back.

  Rayne got on his knees, taking aim at the blue shapes behind the nearby trees. White sparks erupted on a Trooper’s metal armor as he scored a hit. He watched with satisfaction as the blue armored body dropped into the thick green undergrowth.

  Rayne emptied another magazine at the advancing blue-armored bodies, realizing with despair that it was his last. He threw the gun down and turned to run. Peter only moved a few steps when he felt two sharp stings on his back as if stung by a pair of bees. His running slowed as he felt dizzy and fatigued. He wiped his hand across his back and brought it to his face. A thick, red, sticky substance dripped from his fingers.

  Blood? No, nerve gel. They want to take me alive.

  Rayne felt his entire body go numb as he lost control of his limbs. His legs wavered and he fell forward into the bushes. He couldn’t feel the additional nerve gel pellets striking him as he went down.

  Chapter 24

  Painful Questions

  When Rayne opened his eyes again, he felt a sense of déjà vu. He was seated in a dark room, staring at a silhouetted figure standing in front of a narrow light beam. His numb mind thought he had returned to the rebels’ underground headquarters and was being interrogated by Campion.

  He tried to focus on the silhouette in front of him and realized the proportions weren’t even close to Campion’s. The figure standing in front of the light was tall and thin. It moved out of the light, which caused the full intensity of the spotlight to shine into Rayne’s face. He squinted his eyes and turned away from the light. Trying to move, he found he had been tied securely to a metal chair.

  “He’s awake,” the silhouetted figure spoke in a male voice.

  As a response, Rayne heard another sound that gave him a sense of déjà vu, a cart being wheeled into the room behind him. The cart was placed next to him. He glanced down to see a mechanical apparatus lying on it.

  Another lie detector? But this time, the government is using it. From some of the stories Campion told me, the agents of the government might not be quite as understanding as the rebels.

  Peter knew that this was an extreme understatement. He braced himself for the worst.

  “Who are you?” the silhouetted figure standing to the left of the light asked him.

  “That all depends. Who are you?” Rayne asked.

  “I’m the one asking the questions. Hook him up,” the voice spoke ominously to the person standing to the right of P
eter.

  Peter realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. Glancing down, he saw that his arms and hands were still stained black from the disgusting pseudo-mud he crawled through in Prehistoric World.

  He felt a hand skim across his black-stained arm; it was holding some unknown metal instrument. He gritted his teeth when he felt a pair of sharp metal pincers squeeze into his right index finger.

  “What the fuck kind of lie detector is this?” Rayne exclaimed.

  “Lie detector?” the silhouetted figure spoke again, sounding amused. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that. It will make you tell the truth.”

  Rayne grimaced as he tried to shake off the metal pincer on his finger. It was so tight that he could feel its small metal teeth drawing blood.

  “Light him up,” the interrogator said.

  Rayne felt sweat beading on his forehead as he listened to the unknown person on his right flipping switches on the machine.

  Suddenly, Peter’s body became rigid as an intense pain surged through his right index finger and spread rapidly across his hand, arm, and body. He screamed as a searing white-hot heat burned him from the inside out as if he were being cooked in a microwave oven. The heat traveled from his internal organs to his outer skin and burned like napalm.

  His brain didn’t register the precise moment when the machine switched off and the pain subsided. His body continued to tremble violently and remnants of white-hot heat shot through his skin like sparks shooting out from a bonfire.

  “As you’ve probably realized, we’ve hooked you up to a particularly effective lie detector,” the silhouetted figure said. “It’s actually an old ground-vehicle car battery - adjusted to be applied to a human being.”

  The figure was quiet for a moment as he allowed his words to sink in. Rayne was still too shocked for the horror of his words to register.

  “Let’s see if we can help him to clear his mind,” the unknown interrogator said as he stood and walked in front of the spotlight.

  Rayne saw him reach behind the spotlight and the room suddenly went dark. Stars swam before his eyes in the blackness. Peter heard the man’s footsteps move to another corner of the room. Something clicked and faint lights came on in the ceiling, illuminating the room with a dull overhead glow.

  He could now make out more details of the silhouetted man. He was a tall, thin man wearing a dark colored business suit. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and wore gold wire-rimmed glasses like Broderick had worn in his Breechlere office. Something about his look and manner reminded Peter of Broderick. His thin, receding black hair also appeared to be slicked back like Broderick’s. A long, thin face matched his long, thin body. He had a perfectly straight nose, which looked like it had been drawn in with a pencil.

  “You might want to reconsider any further outbursts. You will speak only when asked a question. Do you understand?” the interrogator asked.

  Rayne discovered he had to concentrate to answer the question. His tongue and jaw felt numb and slow to forming words.

  “Y-yes,” Peter stammered.

  “Good. Then, we can proceed. Who are you and who sent you?”

  Rayne’s mind reeled with terror. How was he going to realistically tell the lies that Campion had drilled into him at the rebel headquarters, when they had a machine that could disrupt his entire nervous system at the push of a button?

  “My name is Peter Rayne. I’m a computer expert working for the Breechlere Corporation. I was sent to run tests on the Powerdrome’s new Artificial Intelligence system.”

  Rayne felt another sense of déjà vu as the suited man seated in front of him turned to regard his colleague standing next to the machine.

  “That’s what his wrist code says,” the man to his right spoke in a deep voice.

  Rayne used his peripheral vision to see that the second man wore a white lab coat. He was short and stocky with a bald head. A small gray fringe of hair spanned the base his skull. He looked to be in his fifties.

  “Okay, Mr. Rayne. That’s a good start. We can confirm you are telling the truth from your wrist code,” the interrogator in the suit told Rayne, enunciating his words like a pedagogue instructing a slow student. “Why were you wandering around the sub-levels of the Powerdrome?”

  “I got lost,” Peter said, wracking his brain for a realistic-sounding lie. His skin still felt numb from the electric jolt. “I was in the Powerdrome when the robots started going nuts, trying to kill everybody.”

  “It’s true,” the man in the white lab coat interjected. “Our video surveillance cameras recorded Mr. Rayne in various areas of the Dark World attraction, which also happened to be the areas of the worst robot malfunctions. We have recorded images of him fighting for his life with some other tourists.”

  “I know that. I’ve seen the recordings,” the suited man in the chair replied, condescendingly, to his colleague, as if he was talking to an imbecile. “The problem I have is this, Mr. Rayne,” he turned slowly toward Peter. “According to your wrist code, the computer says you are supposed to commence work on the Powerdrome systems on 5/06/58. Why are you in the park on 5/05/58?”

  “That’s easy,” Rayne replied, feigning confidence. “I wanted to check out the park. I’ve never been here before. I wanted to try it out before I tested the systems.”

  Peter took the opportunity to look around the room, while he waited for the suited man to digest what he said. All he saw were plain, bare walls devoid of any interesting details. He guessed the door to the room must be somewhere behind him. His mind was finally starting to clear after receiving the electric shock. He thought he might be in a position to talk his way out of there.

  “Mr. Smith, please see if the gentleman is telling the truth,” the tall, suited man said to the man standing to Rayne’s right.

  “Sure thing,” Smith replied casually, flipping a row of switches on the machine.

  Rayne felt himself go rigid in an instant as searing heat burned into his right hand and spread through him like wildfire. This time, he gritted his teeth and tried not to scream. He could actually hear his teeth clicking with the effort of holding them shut to prevent a scream from escaping. His eyes rolled up in his head while it shook up and down, as if he was in adamant agreement with his captors. The heat enveloped his entire body and sent his nerves into a frenzy of pain.

  Again, he was unable to register the exact moment when the voltage was turned off. His teeth continued to chatter while his body trembled. His mind felt numb as he waited for the involuntary trembling to subside.

  “I’ll ask you once more, Mr. Rayne. Why were you in the park a day early?” the interrogator asked.

  “I-I told you….before….I was….I was experiencing the….the park for the first…the first time,” Rayne spoke through his chattering teeth. He thought it odd that his teeth were chattering as if he was cold, but his skin felt hot as if he had been placed next to a furnace.

  “Okay, fine. You wanted to check out the park. A natural action for someone who’s never tried it before,” the thin, suited man conceded. “We watched you on camera in the Dark World attraction. You did quite well against the AI modified robots. Why did you leave the Dark World attraction through the air duct?” the interrogator asked as he adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses like a librarian.

  “The answer is simple,” Rayne said. “I wanted to get out of the Powerdrome. Being an expert on AI programming, I knew the robots were malfunctioning. They appeared to be learning at a geometric rate. I knew I barely escaped Dark World in one piece. I felt like I had to get out of there. I hoped the air duct would lead me out.”

  “It turns out you were right to get out of there,” the interrogator said. “The robots were indeed learning at a geometric rate. Many of them learned they could make their human targets stay down permanently if they smashed their heads repeatedly, rather than letting the nerve gel do its work. Your friends found out the hard way.”

  Rayne’s mind whirled w
ith confusion. They had been killed? All of them?

  “Are you sure it was the group I was with?” he asked. “I saw two of them killed, but I know at least one esc-“

  “I believe I warned you before,” the government’s suited representative said as he gestured to the stocky man on Rayne’s right.

  Rayne tried to tune out his mind as he felt the third electric surge convulse his body. His mind sought refuge in a fantasy where he wasn’t sitting in a chair getting shocked by a pair of psychopaths. He imagined he was floating above the room looking down at his body as it convulsed in the chair. He pictured himself being transformed into a being of pure spirit with no links to his physical body. His new, transformed self felt detached as he looked down at himself getting shocked.

  Is this what it’s like to be dead? Have I been killed?

  Rayne’s vision faded to black as a searing wave of heat flowed through him. He could feel his shoulders and arms trembling. He opened his eyes and regarded his calm tormentor.

  “You will not speak out of turn again, Mr. Rayne,” the suited man said. “Do we have an understanding?”

  “Y-yes,” Rayne said through chattering teeth.

  “Good. Then you can answer my next question. We have you on the Dark World surveillance cameras fighting the robot dragon, which is understandable considering it was trying to kill you. How were you able to find the air duct you escaped through?”

  “J-just luck….It was pure luck. I went to hide behind the stalagmite and felt a breeze blowing over my shoulder.”

  “Where did you think the air duct led?”

  “I didn’t care at that point. I was just trying to avoid being deep-fried.”

  “Where did you think you were when you found yourself in the basement of the Powerdrome?” the interrogator asked.

  “I didn’t know and I didn’t care. All I knew was I got away from the dragon. I just wanted to find a way out,” Rayne replied.