Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact

by Vu, Andrew

  “I don’t.”

  We have reached the front entrance. Colbo takes his access card and puts it in front of the scanner. It takes a few seconds to complete, but when it is finished the device says “Security systems already disabled.”

  “Our access cards didn’t do anything,” Colbo says. “It looks like the security system is already off.”

  “What do you make of this?” I ask him.

  “Either the security system malfunctioned or someone turned it off already.”

  “If it malfunctioned, repair drones should have been sent already. This was a manual shutdown. Someone is here.”

  We both look around.

  “Did the police say if there was any maintenance scheduled for today?” Colbo asks.

  “No,” I respond.

  “We should contact Commander Trevor to report our status.”

  “No, I think we should investigate first. I don’t want the human to get involved yet.”

  “It’s protocol Fenrir, just do it.”

  “Fine.”

  Begrudgingly, I activate the communicator that Trevor has given to us. It provides direct communication via headset to all our squad mates, and has video holographic capabilities.

  “Trevor, do you read me?” I ask.

  Trevor’s face pops up on a video hologram in front of me.

  “I read you, Fenrir. What is your status?” he says.

  “Colbo and I have entered the Primm-Phillips supply depot,” I say. “The security system was already disabled before our arrival. We both agree that an intruder has turned it off. Do we proceed?”

  “Yes, but be careful. Over.”

  We both walk through the front door and, as the schematics tell us, there are two doors, one that leads to the warehouse, the other to the offices. Without hesitation, we head to the warehouse and slowly saunter through the hallway, trying to be as discreet as possible.

  The warehouse machines are off, so the whole building is silent. If there is an intruder in the premise, they must be very good at keeping low because I can’t hear anything.

  We make our way through the warehouse doors and hit an outsized cage that separates the entrance of the warehouse from the rest of it. There’s a small doorway that has a manual handle, as opposed to all the automatic doors we had walked through. Since I do not have hands to operate the human handle, I motion to Colbo to open it. He proceeds to gently pull it down, creating a large enough crack for me to pass through. I motion for him to wait until I scout the area, since I am shorter and possess the stealth that his hefty frame doesn’t.

  All I see are stacks of boxes everywhere. They are labeled with the product names. One box says Alphabrans, a popular cereal among the human population. Another is labeled peaches. It seems this place stores fruits and vegetables. They must be pumped with fresheners. I don’t see how a peach could last long in a dank warehouse like this.

  All the boxes looked untouched, as they are still piled up neatly. If there was a halfkind looking for supplies, it hasn’t happen yet. Things would have been strewn about messily from the rummaging that would have taken place. Either that, or our would-be intruder took every precaution to mask whatever evidence they would have left. I doubt they are that good.

  I pace around to see what else is in the warehouse, but I become disoriented by the clutter and shipments. I look back and can’t even see where Colbo stands. The fact that my vertical height reaches just over three feet prevents me from seeing over the stacks.

  None of the machines have been operating. There’s a compcube nearby, so I walk to it and turn it on. It has an encryption device, but my access card allows full rights to go through it. I quickly navigate the menus to check the operating logs of the building.

  The first thing I go over is when the last shut down was. The menus are voice operated, but that shouldn’t be an issue. There’s no one in the warehouse to alarm.

  “Computer, state the last time of operation,” I say.

  “Last time of operation was at 7:00 PM,” the computer says.

  “That was three hours ago,” I say to myself. “Computer, when was the security protocol activated?”

  “Security protocol activated at 7:01 PM.”

  “When we entered, it was off. Computer, when was the security protocol last disengaged.”

  “Security protocol was disabled at 9:55 PM.”

  I look at a clock on the warehouse wall. The time reads 9:58.

  “Hmm, three minutes ago. Computer, was the security protocol shutdown as a scheduled routine?” I ask.

  “Negative, shutdown was disabled manually.”

  I didn’t see any manual override rooms when I was looking at the floor plan. Wherever it was, it wasn’t in the warehouse.

  “Computer,” I say, “where is the manual override located?”

  “Manual override controls are located approximately thirty feet below this current room. Its entrance is via manhole in the northwest area of this building.”

  “If the security protocol was disabled three minutes ago, and it was done manually, that means whoever did it is probably still there. We have to get to that manhole.”

  I motion to Colbo to let him know the coast is clear. He does not see me, though, so I navigate myself through the labyrinth of boxes and supplies, back to the front where he is waiting.

  “What did you find?” he asks me.

  “The security protocol was disabled manually, according to their system logs. It’s about 10 PM, the system was shut off at 9:55. And the manual shut off is underground, right beneath this very room.”

  “That means whoever turned it off is still here!”

  Suddenly, Colbo and I hear an earsplitting clang hit the floor. It comes from the northwest area of the warehouse, which is the opposite side where both of us stand.

  “Manhole cover,” I whisper to Colbo, “that’s how you get down there. I’m certain that’s the noise.”

  “Let’s go investigate,” he whispers back, “but we must stay silent.”

  We walk toward the direction of the clink quietly, traversing through the stacks while remaining on our toes. I hear slight grumblings and heavy panting as we inch closer to where it is.

  We are now just around the corner from where an intruder stands. The murmuring is even louder. I can almost make out what he is saying to himself. Colbo wants to proceed, but I tell him to stay behind me. I want to get a glimpse of what we’re dealing with before we charge in.

  From around the corner, I peer in and see a man. But this man has feathers. And he has a beak. And he isn’t wearing any shoes because he has talons instead. It is the bird man from the briefings, it is Lombardi Lawton.

  I retreat back to where Colbo is hiding and look at him. I nod my head and give the motion. Before we do anything, I turn on my communicator to reach out to Commander Trevor.

  “Commander, we have an ID on a hostile,” I say to him. “It’s one of the halfkinds, the bird one.”

  “Is he alone?” he asks.

  “Positive, it’s just him.”

  “Good. You have your orders. Engage the target.”

  “Understood.”

  I turn off my communicator and give Colbo the signal.

  Chapter 9 – Lombardi Lawton - Prey

  November 16, 3040 9:31 PM

  When I left our hideout, I was a little teary eyed. I had never been prouder. The fate of my brothers and sisters rested on me. Not once had I ever been entrusted with such responsibility, and now, it was finally time to prove my worth. I would not let them down. I’d rather die than have failure be an option.

  I have always been seen as one of the weak links in our family. I am an outsider among my brothers and sisters. The facts are hard to ignore. While some of them were given gifts of strength and beauty, I never had anything to offer. I was considered ugly and useless. Some of my siblings tried hard to conceal the truth. Iris and Isaac, for example, included me in their conversations and treated me with respect. Cand
y sometimes tried to explain all the things she was working on. Even though I didn’t understand it most of the time, I still appreciated the gesture. But some of my other brothers weren’t like that, they weren’t kind at all.

  Tiago always has had it out for me. When we were young, he used to beat me up. He teamed up with my more brutish brothers, Alex and Ace, and ganged up on me. I couldn’t compete with Alex’s raw power, nor outrun the cheetah speed of Ace. They used to bully me to no end. Growing up was hard. I might as well have been their whipping boy.

  Everyone had someone in our family. Tiago had his little gang, Iris and Isaac had their twin connection, even the other weak links had someone they could confide in. Maddie hung out with Oscar, and Leonard was the mama’s boy. I had no one.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t try to fit in. Actually, I tried really hard. Even when they pushed away, excluded me from all their little games, I persisted to get in. I think the more they refused, the more I wanted to belong. Even if they rejected me, it was still a sliver of interaction. As pathetic as it was, even that small amount was enough for me to keep trying. I wanted to be in Tiago’s circle. It never happened, though, I was still on my own most of the time.

  Maybe that’s why I ended up sneaking out at night so many times. I wanted to get away from home, to get away from my loneliness. After everyone was in bed, I would climb out of my room and slip through the back door. Our house was far away from the civilization Primm offered, so the back door led to this open field that connected to the outskirts of town. Sometimes, I would walk outside and look at the night sky for hours, thinking about the future and where we would end up.

  Other days, I explored. I snuck in the shadows of Primm’s dim city lights. The town was relatively quiet at night and deserted for the most part, so getting around wasn’t too difficult. I made sure I had a hoodie on to conceal my face. I didn’t do it too often, maybe once or twice every other month. Mother was good at keeping us sheltered in the house, and I didn’t want to run the risk of getting caught, so I only left when I had strong urges.

  That’s how I got to know the area around us. I knew the streets well enough. Ace couldn’t even locate the Primm-Phillips supply depot. When he got confused, I knew it was the opportunity I was waiting for. It was finally a chance for me to prove myself. A chance to shine, a chance to be someone the family could count on. No more being picked on, no more being seen as the weakling, no more feeling that I didn’t belong.

  That was then, this is now. We’re all grown up and we’re all fighting for our survival. And who does Tiago entrust the most critical task to? Not Ace, not Alex, but me. That says a lot. I guess all those years, all that hardship I went through, Tiago was testing me, to see if I have what it takes when the time called for it. I’m not going to let him down.

  I ran as fast as I could toward the Primm-Phillips supply depot, tote bag on my back, instructions in hand. The night has already blanketed the city and I was able to hide within the darkness as I made my way to my destination.

  A block or two after I had left, I referred to the map that Candy had drawn. It was a simple straight path to the Primm-Phillips depot, and I avoided any major streets where I could be easily spotted. I had to make my way down Junket Street, where most of the businesses were either out or not around anymore. It was a street littered with emptied out lots and rusted storage bins, with tall buildings and little lighting. It was easy to go unnoticed.

  I didn’t really need the map, I already was familiar enough with the area to know where to go. It was just a mile away. If I hurried, I could get there in about eight minutes, but I didn’t want to rush. I was fearful of bumping into someone. Quietly, I ran from building corner to building corner, hiding behind emptied bins, old vehicles, basically anything I could. And every time I took cover, I peered out to see if the coast was clear and continued the same thing over again.

  This got old fast, though. About half a mile in, I hadn’t encountered anything. No people, no dogs, no cats, not even a rat. This street was as dead as the night.

  I decided to change up my strategy. I was only less than half a mile away, so at that point, a non-stop sprint would get me there in a few minutes. I was already hooded. Face, arms, everything was obscured by my clothes and nightfall. Even if I did bump into someone, I would be running by them so quickly that they wouldn’t even have time to realize what had crossed them.

  I positioned myself in a runners start and lost myself. I can’t ever remember running that fast before, but the adrenaline from the danger coupled with my motivation attributed to my speed. I think I would have even impressed Ace with my swiftness. If only my brothers and sisters could see me.

  And now I am here, standing in front of the Primm-Phillips supply depot with the weight of my brothers and sisters on my shoulders and a few breaths to catch. I look at my watch and see that it is already 9:30.

  I start to search the grounds for this grating Candy had described. It’s supposed to lead to an underground tunnel system where the main security controls are. According to her instructions, the grating is somewhere towards the back end of the building, opposite side of the entrance.

  I walk to the rear and look at the ground, but I still see nothing. Candy has provided me with a flashlight wristband, so I turn it on and point to the ground. All I see are weeds and blades of grass. The plant life has grown wild and thick. Candy assured me the grating is here somewhere, so I get on my knees and tear away at the weeds. I have to move quickly.

  The security system is only activated when an intruder enters the building unauthorized, so the outside grounds between the outer fence and the depot is safe. I am paranoid, though. I’m afraid that there might be some surveillance equipment or sensor that Candy failed to catch. Her research and hacking skills are amazing, but mistakes happen.

  I continue to pull the weeds furiously, until my hand hits something hard on the ground. I stop in my tracks, turn my hands into a fist, and knock on it. It’s dense. Carefully, I feel the surface. It’s cold, smooth, and rusted. This must be the grating.

  I remove any roughage I might have missed until I uncover the whole thing. It’s a small, metal circle no larger than two or three feet in diameter, severely rusted from the ravages of time. Since it’s so old, I don’t have to worry about locks or anything like that, Candy’s instructions state I can remove it manually. It’s heavy, but with all my strength, I lift it briefly and slide it to the side. The hole reveals a ladder, which I climb down.

  I make my descent into the ground below. It smells horrible, like aged feces. Humans used to dispose their waste down here, long before modernized toilets had the capability to disintegrate droppings on the spot. The smell must be from the remnants of the shit and urine, left to rot for decades, even centuries maybe. I can barely stand it, but I continue on with my mission, walking down the north end of the tunnel as my directions tell me to do.

  The floor is a little moist. It’s dark down here, but there are a few lights adorned on the ceiling that help me see. The air is colder than on the surface and occasionally I feel a few drafts of wind. It is larger than I thought it would be, and longer, too.

  At the end, I reach a large metal door. It looks new, probably something that had been built over the remains of the sewer. It has a numeric pad digitized on it, meaning a code is needed to open it. Behind it lies the main console that will allow me to disable the security system. According to the specs given to me, there should also be a metal grating on the ceiling of the room, which I can use to gain direct access to the warehouse floor.

  But first things first, I must get past the secured door. Luckily for me, Candy was able to hack into the Primm-Phillips secured servers and obtain the access code for this door. She says it was pretty easy to do so, something about their server walls being breakable and a weak infrastructure on their encryption. It was a lot of technical jargon that I didn’t understand.

  I enter the ten digit combination: 4815162342. And as usual, she do
esn’t fail. Her access code works like a charm. I hear a click and clank within the metal door and it slides open. When she first gave me the code, I was wondering why I couldn’t use an access code on the top entrance. She told me the locks used to fortify the security system were older than the rest of the security in the building. They built that first and later upgraded the security upstairs. Then they simply never upgraded back the stuff underground. Really shows you how well maintained this place is if everything is so out of sync.

  I walk in to see a room very different from the dank tunnels. It’s clean and smells much better. The walls are white and on the opposite end of the door is a giant computer. It’s equipped with hologram technology, meaning there’s no screen and, when powered on, a graphical interface appears in thin air. The room wasn’t exactly state of the art, but compared to where I was earlier, it is a welcome change.

  After I enter, the door shuts behind me. I turn back to Candy’s instructions to see what I need to do. According to her, it’s a standard Tang Phalanx Third Generation, meaning it’s one of the earlier models. These ones have a manual override, which is configured by remapping certain wires on the circuit board. The newer models, which Candy said were in the ninth generation at this point, removed this feature, but I guess they didn’t bother upgrading this console.

  I open a small panel at the bottom of the box and I see nothing but a sea of wires attached to the circuit board. Candy’s instructions make it very clear where I should place what. Switch circuit A from port A1 to A2, wire R from port B2 to B5 and so on. The goal of all this switching is to cause a system failure without making it obvious to the system. If I go about randomly pulling wires, the system’s AI will be aware of tampering and automatically cause the alarms to go off. The wires I’m programming are masked switches that the artificial intelligence purposely ignores. Then after I’m done, the system failure goes off before the AI can react. It’s a manual override designed to trick the AI from doing anything about it. It was installed in case the AI goes haywire and prevents a manual override. Once a system failure is detected, and after the AI realizes it can’t do anything about it, thanks to the override, it automatically shuts down the security programs and my task is done.