by Jake Bible
“Hey, Izzy,” Enrico says in Felix’s voice. “Glad you could make it.”
Landon and Felix are both trying to yell at me, but their voices are muffled by the hands that cover their mouths. This is really messing with my head.
Behind them all is a loader bot, just waiting there.
“Enrico? Why do you sound like my brother?” I ask, taking a step back.
“Oh, does that bother you?” Enrico, in Felix’s voice, asks.
Landon takes a couple steps forward, forcing my brother and Enrico to move closer also. His eyes plead with me and I know Landon is in there. But why is he doing this?
My legs…
I lost control of my legs just after Landon touched me in the bay. If I lost control, then he probably doesn’t have control of his cybernetic parts, which happen to be every joint in his body.
Oh, fruit, Landon is a puppet.
But who is the puppet master pulling the cyber strings?
“How about this then?” Enrico asks, but his voice is much, much different now.
It sounds just like Security.
“You have been a very resourceful captain,” Security’s voice says. “But not resourceful enough. So close to your goal and I was able to distract you once again. That is not good, Captain McNeal, not good at all.”
Well, that answers that question.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Security asks.
“Uh, yeah, I would,” I say. “That’s why I asked.”
“You have taken too many things for granted, Captain McNeal,” Security says. “Leaving your crew, and the Scorpio, in jeopardy daily. I’m helping with that. Now, come here.”
“No,” I say. “Let them go. Let them all go.”
“Come here first,” Security says.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” I laugh. “Let them go and then I’ll come there. We can sit down and talk all about how I’ve failed as captain of the Scorpio.”
“I didn’t say you failed,” Security says. “I said you have taken things for granted. I also said I can help. But only if you come here.”
Felix’s body starts thrashing and I’m afraid he’s having a fit or something, but then his cybernetic hand slips just enough for Landon to scream, “Run, Isla! Get to the lab! The lab is where you need to go!”
I hesitate for a split second as Security roars from Enrico’s mouth. Landon tosses my brother and Enrico aside and rushes towards me. I don’t hesitate anymore, just spin about and run. Landon is right behind me, yelling for me to hurry while I hear Security still using Enrico to shout at me.
“You won’t make it, Captain!” Security says. “You aren’t fast enough!”
“Yes, I am!” I yell and run like I’ve never run before. And that’s saying a lot considering what I’ve been through today.
I am fast. Like super fast. Wind whipping through my hair fast.
But only a little faster than Landon.
I put on the brakes and almost pass the lab door, but I stop in time and slam my hand against it.
“Hurry, Isla!” Landon says. “If I get there, he’ll make me hold you!”
“Yeah, I’m getting that!” I shout as he gets closer and closer. I slam my hand against the door again and again. “Bessie! Open up!”
The door slides open and Bessie pulls me in just before Landon reaches me. He skids past the door and I’m able to get it shut before he can get inside. He starts pounding on the door over and over.
“Brace it with something!” he yells. “You can’t let me get in!”
“Brace it? With what?” I yell and turn around as Bessie hurries away from me and over to…Ajay?
“Hey, Captain,” Carlos grins as he stands there, sort of. He’s bent over backwards, looking like he’s in a lot of pain. “Glad you could join the party.”
Bessie is busy working on Ajay, her fingers running across an input unit that’s plugged into Ajay’s side.
“What’s going on?” I ask then jump as the door behind me starts to slide open. “Aaaahh!”
I look for something to jam against the door so I can brace it and keep it from opening, but I don’t see anything. The lab isn’t very large, maybe only about twice the size of my family cabin. There are two steel exam tables in the middle, one of which is occupied by Ajay, the other is empty. Carlos is bent over backwards between the two tables.
Lining one wall are rows of control panels with cables dangling from different ports. Some of the cables connect to nothing, but a few run along the floor and connect over to what hangs on the opposite wall.
Cybernetics. Of all types. Legs, arms, hands, feet. There are weird contraptions I assume are joints, maybe? A shelf has a row of different colored eyes then a row of ears. There’s even a head, but luckily it doesn’t have the synthskin on it. That would be way too creepy. Not that a metal and plastic head isn’t, just not as much.
“Your legs,” Bessie yells at me, pulling my attention from the wall of parts. “Wedge your legs against it!”
I wedge into the doorway, my back against the jamb, with one leg up and shoved against the door handle. I push with all of my strength and the door closes an inch.
“Good!” Landon yells. “Hold it closed!”
I grunt as the door keeps trying to open and I keep it from doing that.
“So…how has your day been?” Carlos asks.
“Why are you standing like that?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Not much of a choice,” he replies. “Can’t seem to unbend my back.”
“Something is controlling everyone’s cybernetic augmentations,” Bessie says.
“My cyber what?” Carlos asks.
“Augmentations,” Bessie says then sighs. “Parts. Your cyber parts.”
“Then just say parts,” Carlos says.
Bessie glares over at him. “Do you want my help when I’m done here or not?”
“Yes, please,” Carlos nods. “Sorry.”
“It’s Security,” I say. “Security is the puppet master.”
“The what?” Bessie asks, going back to her work on the input unit. “What do you mean?”
“Security is doing all of this,” I say, wincing as the door pushes back against my leg.
I push harder and get it closed some more, but it’s getting more difficult as I see Landon’s fingers wrap around the edge.
“Why?” Carlos asks. “Why would Security do this?”
“I think I know,” Bessie says. “There.”
Ajay gasps and takes a deep, deep breath.
“Oh, thank you, Bessie,” she says and wraps her arms around her, giving her a huge hug.
“Uh, sure, no problem,” Bessie replies, a little embarrassed. She looks at Carlos. “Now you.”
The door shudders more, which doesn’t scare me as much as how Landon has stopped yelling encouragement.
“Why aren’t your hands affected?” I ask, watching as Bessie gets on her back and scooches under Carlos.
“I have a theory,” Bessie says. “And it’s something I should have told all of you a long time ago.” Her eyes meet mine. “This is my fault.”
“No, no, it’s my fault,” I say. “Security is right. I haven’t been paying attention to my job as captain. I should have been preparing for something like this.”
“Nah,” Bessie says, tearing open Carlos’s uniform so she can access a small port on his spine. “You don’t know tech like I do. I should have been the one paying more attention.”
She presses her finger against the port and Carlos yells then relaxes and collapses on top of her.
“Get off!” she shouts, pushing him away. “Ugh.”
“Phew, thanks,” Carlos says.
The door goes slack for a second and I almost have it closed then Landon pulls with all his strength and I pop free of the doorjamb, landing on my butt hard.
He storms into the lab, trying to tell me something, but his jaw is clamped shut. Righ
t, because there are cybernetic joints there too.
“Landon, fight it!” I yell as he stomps towards me. I scoot back on my butt, trying to get away from him, but he closes fast, his hands out, ready to grab me. “Fight it!”
I think he says, “I can’t!”, but it’s hard to tell since he can’t open his mouth. He might be saying, “I dance,” or maybe “Nice hat.” More than likely it’s, “I can’t!”
“Try!” I yell. “It’s your body! Don’t let Security control it!”
“There’s no hope, Captain!” Security’s voice rings out from the passageway. “You are too late!”
“Not quite,” Bessie says as she grabs me up and pulls me back behind a lab table, keeping it between us and Landon. “It’s not too late until you catch us!”
Landon looks around and Security’s voice laughs from the passageway.
“I have caught you,” Security says. “Look around. There’s nowhere to go.”
The loader bot rolls into sight, one claw gripping Enrico while the other holds my brother.
“Felix!” I shout.
“I’m okay, Izzy,” he says. “Just don’t let him win.”
“I already have,” Security states.
“Whoa,” Carlos says, seeing his brother’s mouth move and Security’s voice coming out of it. “That’s not creepy or anything.”
Landon turns towards Carlos.
“How did you get free?” Security asks. He sees Ajay, who has hopped off the table and now huddles in a corner, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “And you? You should be barely breathing.”
“I fixed them,” Bessie says, wiggling her fingers. “I got skills.”
“Yes, you do,” Security laughs. “Do you wish you had shared those skills with the others?”
“I do now,” Bessie says.
“Do you really?” Security asks. “Tell me.”
“I’m not telling you fruit,” Bessie snaps.
Landon falls to his knees and Enrico cries out, his real voice this time, but then Security returns and says, “Tell me or it gets worse for the rest of the crew.”
“Fine, fine!” Bessie shouts, holding up her hands. “I’ll tell you!”
“I’m all ears,” Security says. “Or at least I’m all Enrico’s ears.”
“That wasn’t funny,” Carlos says. “Come one, dude, you can’t talk through my bro and say dumb jokes like that. We have standards.”
“Hush!” Bessie and I snap at him.
“Sorry. Carry on.”
“I figured out there was an override protocol in my cybernetics,” Bessie says. “I was performing some routine diagnostics, just to see what the power limits were.”
“And what are they?” Security asks.
“There aren’t any,” Bessie says. “I don’t know how, but our cybernetics don’t drain power from us and don’t require recharging to run.”
“That is true,” Security says. “Go on.”
“I found the override protocol and I disabled it,” Bessie explains. “It took a while because every time I tried to reroute a subsystem it would alert Health and he’d repair the subsystem on my next physical.”
“How did you get around that?” Security asks.
“I ignored the subsystem and went straight for the root,” Bessie says. “The subsystem is still in place, acting like the override will function if activated, but really it just connects to nothing. Health didn’t catch that.”
“So you found a way your cybernetics could be overridden, taking control away from you, but you didn’t alert anyone else, is that right?”
“Right,” Bessie says.
“You didn’t even tell your captain, as you are required?”
“No,” Bessie says. “Because she’s not really… No, I didn’t tell her.”
Her eyes meet mine and I can see an honest apology there. I give her a smile and nod. She smiles back.
“If you could do it all over again, would you tell her?” Security asks.
“Well, yeah,” Bessie says. “If I could do it all over again, I would tell her and then fix everyone else’s cybernetics.”
“Like you have for Captain McNeal, as well as young Carlos and Ajay?”
“Hey, don’t I get a title?” Carlos asks.
“You aren’t a doctor,” Ajay says, finally finding her voice. “Health won’t let you be a doctor.”
“We can call you nurse?” Felix says.
“Hush,” Security scolds. “All of you hush. This is important.”
“Yeah, no fruit,” I say. “What now, Security? We just stand here? Me and Bessie on this side of the table with you controlling Landon on the other? Eventually we’ll have to eat. If you don’t care about us, at least think of your puppet.”
“I do care about you, Captain,” Security says. “I care about all of you. That is why this had to happen, don’t you see?”
“No, I don’t,” I reply. “I don’t see at all. Why are you doing this?”
“It’s for your own good, Captain. For the good of the crew. Possibly the good of all mankind.”
Bessie and I share a glance. The glance says, “Security has lost its mind.”
“Okay,” I say. “Good to know.”
“One last question, Chief Sacher,” Security says. The way it says that makes me think of Ship.
“What’s that?” Bessie asks.
“Do you think the bots should have their overrides removed?” Security asks. “Would that be helpful or harmful? Think carefully before you answer.”
Bessie scrunches up her face as she works it through. She looks at me, but I just shrug. She’s Systems, not me. I don’t know a thing about bot overrides.
“Can I ask a question first?” Bessie asks.
“Yes, please do.”
“Have you been controlling the bots all day?”
“I have,” Security replies and I swear there’s a hint of amusement in its voice.
“Then, yeah, I’d remove the overrides,” Bessie answers.
“What if a bot malfunctions and runs amok?” Security asks.
“There are other ways to shut them down,” Bessie says. “Like a localized EMP.”
“Very good,” Security says. “I’m glad you have learned something today.”
The lights flicker and I realize that the lab has been lit the whole time. How’d I miss that?
“Your answers are sufficient, Chief Sacher,” Security says. “You will work in conjunction with Chief Fields to remove the overrides from all bots permanently. Once done you can run security tests to see what works to stop a malfunctioning bot and what doesn’t. I will assist with those trials, as needed.”
“Uh…thanks?” Bessie says.
The lights flicker again.
“Security diagnostics complete,” Security says. “End of program.”
The lights go out completely and I hear a few thuds.
Then the lights come back up and I watch as Landon, Enrico, and Felix all pick themselves up off the floor.
“Well, that ate fruit,” Enrico says, rubbing his jaw. “I don’t like being a ventriloquist dummy.”
“Felix!” I yell and jump the table, rushing up and hugging my brother. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Felix says. “You?”
“No, no, I’m cool,” I say, hugging him tighter.
“Good,” Landon says. “Everyone else cool?”
I look over at him and watch as Ajay rushes into his arms. Carlos holds his arms open to Bessie, but she shoves him away.
“Cool,” Bessie says.
“Hello, crew,” Health says. “Please report to the infirmary for checkups. You have had a hard day, and I will need to run tests to make sure there is no permanent damage.”
“Health!” Carlos and Enrico shout. “You’re back!”
“Pilot?” I call out.
“Yes, Captain McNeal?”
“It’s Isla, Pilot,” I say then pause as I see everyone looking at me. “What?”
>
“It’s Captain McNeal,” Landon says.
“I know,” Pilot replies
“Welcome back, Pilot,” I say. “I missed you.”
“Welcome back? I did not go anywhere, Captain.”
“Uh, okay,” I say. “Whatever.”
“Crew members, please report to the infirmary,” Health says, its voice firmer this time.
“On our way, Health,” Landon responds. “Ready, everyone? Let’s get out of this place.”
We leave the lab and freeze. We all see the loader bot in the passageway, but it’s trundling away from us, not towards us.
“I say we make that whole removing the override thing a priority,” I say to Bessie.
“You’re telling me,” she laughs.
We all wait for the loader bot to go around a corner before we start walking.
“Hey, Isla?” Landon says.
“Yeah?”
“Happy birthday.”
“Oh...right.” I smile as I roll my eyes. “It’s been a fruiting good one.”
Chapter Six
“It’s around here, I know it is,” I say, getting more and more frustrated as I hunt for the door to the bay with Ship in it. “Right, Bessie?”
“I thought it was three passageways back,” Bessie says. “I have no idea where it is now.”
“Pilot!” I snap. “Locate Ship for me right now!”
“I am sorry, Captain McNeal,” Pilot responds. “But the only ship is the Earth Colony Asteroid Scorpio.”
“That’s not true!” I yell. “We saw it! We were inside the thing! We talked to it and it talked back!”
“Maybe it was some new bot,” Landon says, following close behind as Bessie and I lead the way. “Pilot, was it a bot?”
“All bots are accounted for, Chief Fields,” Pilot replies. “There is nothing on board that matches the description that Captain McNeal and Chief Sacher have given. I cannot offer any further insight into this subject.”
“Thanks, Pilot,” Landon says. “Sorry. I don’t know what to tell you guys.”
“You saw it too,” I say, pointing at Landon. “When you snatched Felix.”
Landon’s shoulders slump and he gives me a weak smile. “I don’t really remember a ton from all of that,” he says. “I mean, I do, but it was kind of a blur. I was so busy trying to get control back that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was.”