The Awakening

by Kurt Petrey

  Joshua gestured towards a chair. “Do you mind if I sit? My legs are about to give way.”

  “Please do.”

  He practically sighed with relief as he sat. “Well,” he said, “I just woke up today, and I've learned people have been waking up for eight days now. All I know is there are some problems here, and a lot of angry, confused people. I almost got beat up by one guy.”

  “Was it Michael?” Ian suggested.

  “Yeah, that's what I was told. What's wrong with that guy? Why hasn’t someone dealt with him?”

  Ian looked pained. “Michael is a problem, but he's one of many. We just haven’t been able to deal with it yet. There's a lot to do here, and we are still learning about what this place is. I was telling the truth when I told everyone that we just don’t know much, but in time, and if we all work together, I'm sure we can figure more out. Maybe we'll even find a way out.” He forced a smile. “Sounds like you have a good grip on things so far. I’m hoping that the more people wake up, the better the possibility that someone will come up with answers. Like you today, coming in and turning off the alarm when none of us could do that.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He shrugged. “The system wants what it wants. Someone is bound to figure out what’s going on eventually. Until then, we'll do the best we can. It sure would be nice to bring some order to the chaos, though.”

  “Maybe he can turn on the super station!” Chloe exclaimed, her eyes dancing and her fingers linked together under her chin. She looked almost like an excited little girl, not a grown woman. Joshua couldn't help returning her grin. He liked her. She was the first one he'd met here who had both positive energy and attitude. He wasn’t sure if that made her a little crazy, but something about her was comforting.

  “You up for a walk yet?” Ian asked.

  As much as Joshua just wanted to sit, he knew he had to get busy if he was going to figure this out. “Sure.”

  “Good. Let’s take a walk and I’ll show you a few things we figured out today.”

  He got to his feet, feeling better after the short rest. He smiled at Chloe again. “Okay. Let’s go see this super station.”

  Ian scowled at her. “It's not—”

  “What?” she asked, then she rolled her eyes. “Oh, whatever. Ian doesn't like the name. He wants me to just call it the.” She spoke sarcastically, “observational station, but I call it the super station.” She shrugged. “I like the name. Don't worry, Ian. I’ll show Joshua the super station. You can have him after I’m done with him.”

  Chapter 7

  Joshua

  The label over the super station door was just as cryptic as the one over the other door: another alien set of symbols and dashes.

  “Hey, David,” Chloe said, addressing a man who was working on a small device. The door slid closed behind them. “Any progress on the harness?”

  David didn't look up. “No,” he said, half to himself, “but I think I might have an idea. I need to bring it to my room, though. In fact, I’ll head there now and see if I can make some progress.”

  He left without even looking at them.

  “Here we are,” Chloe said, indicating the work area and a device set in the center of the room.

  This is all so familiar, he thought, grasping desperately for clues. He'd been here before; he knew what to do. With no lead from Chloe, he stepped up to the entrance of the device.

  Chloe watched him, intrigued. “The best we can tell is this system connects to all other systems. I think it might be the core system for the dome.”

  Joshua paused. “Dome? Why do you think this place is a dome?”

  “Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?” she asked. “The way the tunnels are lined, and the paths they take. The way the levels are designed. We have limited information, but it seems that we are on Level 1 of a seven level structure. What I do know for sure is that levels 2 through 7 go down, and each level down has a larger surface area. Here. Come see.”

  She pulled up a display and showed Joshua the information, but there was too much for him to process. He had trouble following everything it said, but he did understand the basic logic. He turned back to the device and stepped into it.

  The cylindrical shaped desk didn’t offer much to look at. There was one display at the top near the ceiling, and two half spheres like the one in his room stood at waist height in front of him. They were full spheres, but only half of them were showing above the surface of the desk. He stepped up to the spheres and started to place both hands on them, then hesitated. When he glanced at Chloe, her eyes were wide with excitement. She nodded, encouraging him, so he turned back and touched one.

  The sphere felt a little softer than the one in his room, with more give. A strange, oily sensation was left on his fingers, but when he looked at them there was nothing there. Whatever it was, the substance didn’t collect on his skin. Determined now, he placed his right hand fully on a sphere then put his left hand on the other. At his touch, they both lit up in a light green, then they turned blue. The display up top flashed on and read, Access Granted.

  The entrance closed instantly behind him, and the lights around the device dimmed. A holographic image appeared.

  “Welcome, Joshua. How may we assist you today?”

  We, Joshua thought. “Chloe, can you see this? Can you see all the displays hovering here? I can't make any sense of them, can you?”

  She didn't answer.

  “Chloe?”

  She didn’t say a word. That's when Joshua realized he couldn’t hear any sound at all. He lifted his hands from the spheres and turned, stunned to discover the room was no longer there. No displays, and no Chloe. The room had been replaced with what looked like either an interface or a black background.

  There had to be a reason for this. This was his opportunity to learn as much as he could about this device. It still felt familiar, but he couldn't figure out why.

  “All right,” he said. “Let's see what we have here.”

  Hanging in the air directly in front of him was a display of words, offering more options than he'd seen in the control center's display. On his right, a series of alarms were going off. Following instinct, he lifted his hand and pointed at an option, but just as he was about to place his finger on the text floating in the air, more data concerning the alarm quickly displayed. The new message flashed red, indicating an error which posed Imminent Danger. A list of options blinked red below, informing him that,

  Repair bots unavailable

  Medi-bots unavailable

  Model U51 bots unavailable

  One option was still available. Its message was displayed in green, saying it was set to execute. Human Intervention Required - Wake Up Initialized.

  He stared at the words, needing to make sense of them. Could it be that this error was the reason they had all been woken up? The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced that he was right. The system couldn't fix itself, so it needed humans to step in.

  “How can I help?” Joshua asked.

  “You must resolve error V254181,” the system informed him.

  That didn't help. He tried again. “What do we have to do?”

  “You must resolve error V254181,” the system repeated.

  Joshua shook his head then thought for a moment, needing to rephrase his question. “What is error V254181?”

  The system dutifully displayed a length of data, but it scrolled so quickly in front of him he couldn’t keep up. He caught flashes of code and descriptions but none of it made sense. If he didn't ask the right question in the right way, he would never figure out what needed to get fixed or where to go to fix it.

  “Show me error V254181 one line at a time.”

  The system did as it was told. He read: Error V254181 - System Has Detected Damage.

  Joshua spread his hands a foot apart. “Can you show me this much data at a time?”

  The system complied, and Joshua read every line, learning that m
ost of the system had been damaged. Fortunately, it wasn’t in a state that had immediately threatened their lives.

  “Okay,” he said. “Next section.”

  The system refreshed the data with a new set. The next page informed him that power levels were decreasing. Joshua was getting frustrated.

  “What is the imminent danger that needs to get addressed concerning error V254181 right now?”

  The system scrolled for a while longer, then stopped. Joshua paused, forcing himself to read the next section over a few times. In large letters, the title of the error stated, Refinery Shutdown Due To Unknown Circumstances. It continued by explaining that if distribution of the refinery was not put back online, all maintenance systems would be terminated in six hours, resulting in uninhabitable conditions for humans. Within eight hours, all life would be terminated.

  Joshua stared at the display, blank with panic. Then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I have to stay calm and think straight.

  “Why is the refinery distribution not functioning properly?”

  The voice replied, “There is a problem in the distribution chain. Robot 236 of the refinery division has caused a complete halt to the entire refinery process.” Data rolled out in the air before him. “Priority is to restore conversion process at all cost. Current human life a secondary factor.”

  While the cold reality of that last sentence was jarring, Joshua wasn’t overly surprised. This was simply a computer following programming commands. It held no value for life.

  “How can I find Robot 236?”

  A three-dimensional display appeared to his left, showing the station. One dot indicated his current position, then another dot appeared, indicating the last known approximate location of Robot 236. It appeared to be about a foot down and another foot across diagonally. When he placed both hands around the map, it responded to the movement. He pulled closer, and the map moved with him. He quickly learned how to manipulate the map so he could view it from different angles, but he couldn’t figure out how to show the tunnels and rooms it would take for him to get there.

  “How do I enable the map to show me how to get to Robot 236?”

  The display to his right disappeared and was replaced by two buttons. One said Activate Shoulder Harness. The other said Apply Human Interaction. Considering how little the humans had accomplished so far, Joshua decided to tap the air where it read Activate Shoulder Harness.

  Chapter 8

  David

  David was beyond frustrated. No matter what he did, he had failed to get the harness to work. Not only did he want to solve the puzzle, he wanted to impress Chloe.

  He placed one hand on the sphere. “How does this device work?” he asked out loud.

  The room's automated voice replied, “I’m sorry, but I am not designed with any knowledge of this device. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

  David ignored the voice and went back to looking the device over, trying to visually split it into the different base components, of which he could see three: a clamp and strap that attached to the shoulder and around the torso, a central processing unit in its center that interfaced with the display, and a movable arm. He could clearly make out a number of holes and sensors, which he assumed must be data collection agents. The device looked like it might be capable of doing many things, but he couldn't even figure out how to turn it on. There were no switches or buttons in sight.

  Maybe it was voice activated. “Turn on,” he said.

  The voice in the room came back. “I do not turn off. Is there something I can help you with?”

  David rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Do not respond to my voice for the next twenty minutes. I’m talking to myself, okay?”

  The system didn’t reply, and David was briefly annoyed that it didn’t say it was going to turn off. Then he reminded himself it was just software. It didn’t understand what he wanted, only what he said.

  “Okay?” he asked again. He paused. “Okay.” He nodded, satisfied, then got to his feet and lifted up the mysterious device. “Device in my hands,” he said loudly. “Turn on!”

  Nothing happened. “On!”

  Nothing happened.

  He shook it, then wondered if maybe it needed to be attached to the harness to be activated. He quickly placed it on his shoulder and fastened the strap under his right arm. The harness sensed where it was on his body and clamped down, making him flinch. The display was folded and pointing backwards, but that was the only way the clamp could work, so he left it. Since he couldn’t move it physically, he tried the voice command again.

  “On!”

  No change. He slumped, feeling useless. Chloe was probably figuring everything out all by herself, and he was an idiot. Then he thought about how she'd hate hearing him be so negative. He needed to start thinking positive like she did. He hopped up and tried his best Chloe impression, whining out a high pitched, “Okay, little guy. Let's work together.”

  The device just sat there, unmoving. “Come on. Let's get you turned on, little guy. What do you need? Some loving?” He reached over and patted it as if he was patting his own shoulder. “Come on. You can do it, little guy.”

  Suddenly, two lights turned on. The display rotated sideways and flipped over in front of his right eye. A man showed up on his display.

  “Who are you?” David asked, stunned.

  The man looked just as confused as David felt. “I’m Joshua,” he said. “Who are you?”

  Chapter 9

  Joshua

  It took a little while to get the hang of it, but Joshua was finally able to activate six of the harnesses once they were charged, plus one more of the dual ones for Chloe. That one looked like it had a few more options. Joshua knew he would need as much help as he could get, so he asked Chloe, wanting her to be a part of what was going on. He made her promise to stay close to him in case anything went wrong. Video displays of all seven devices streamed before him, and he had highlighted Ian's. Jabbing his finger in the air towards the Communication button, he asked, “Ian? Can you hear me?”

  “Yeah, I hear you. Where do we go from here?”

  Joshua had finally managed to convince Ian and the others that they had to find Robot 236 in order to figure out why the refinery wasn’t operational. Time was counting down fast, and with fewer than four hours left, he didn’t even know if it was enough. He wouldn’t know until they learned more about what was going on down there.

  After learning the options of what the system referred to as the extension interface, which connected to the harnesses and allowed for live communication and observation, Joshua named each video feed after the person wearing the harness. When that was done, he placed his finger into the airspace where Chloe’s display was, then dragged it over to Ian's display and waved it over Chloe’s communication button.

  “Chloe, I think I figured out how to let you see through another person's feed. Can you see Ian's display?” Joshua asked.

  He heard her gasp with surprise. “Oh wow! This is amazing! It’s like I’m standing right there. I can even hear what he hears. I wonder what else it can do. I bet it can—”

  “Chloe!” Joshua interrupted. “We don't have time.”

  A long silence. “Yes, I can see Ian's display.”

  Above all the displays a timer indicated that in three hours and forty minutes, the facility would no longer be able to sustain life. According to the system, Ian and the crew would need to go all the way down to the bottom level to find Robot 236. That was seven floors down, counting the one they were presently on, just as Chloe had said earlier. To make matters worse, all the access panels to the lower levels so far were filled with debris from whatever had happened before they'd woken up. Six men had gone ahead, checking for ways to get down to the lower levels, but so far there was no clear way down. Every time the men walked down a corridor, the map started updating and showing the structure, so Joshua kept panning through whatever floor plans the system allowed him to see. Unfor
tunately, he was only able to see the plan on their level. That meant he could zoom out to see where the robot was, but he didn’t have a clear path to get to it. Whenever he tried to go to certain areas or levels of the floor plan, the system gave him an insufficient information - sensors not responding alert.

  “I think I found a way down.”

  The border of the display vibrated slightly, indicating which person was talking. The name over the display this time read Nikolai. Joshua passed his hand over the display and dragged Nikolai's name to his center, forcing the other displays out of the way. When he tapped the air where the display was, it doubled in size, letting him see what Nikolai saw. The video stream showed an access panel that looked in good shape and a ladder attached to the side. When Nikolai looked down the ladder, they saw debris at the bottom, but this was still the best way down they’d found yet.

  Joshua waved the comm button of the viewer. “Don’t go down there yet. Wait for …” Joshua checked the map to see who was nearby. “Wait for Simmons to get there. He's almost done checking his area.”

  Disregarding the order, Nikolai started to climb down the ladder.

  “Nikolai!” Joshua yelled. “Don’t go down there yet. What if you get into trouble?”

  “What if?” Nikolai snapped, continuing down the ladder. “No way I'm waiting for anyone. We need to get to the robot right now. We're running out of time.”

  Once Nikolai reached the bottom, the feed started to flicker slightly. He pushed a large stone to the side then stepped through the narrow opening. In that moment, his feed stopped and his dot disappeared from the display.

  “Ian,” Joshua said, pushing Ian's name to the center of his view. “Nikolai went down the access panel before Simmons could get there. Has anyone found another way down?”