ACTIVATION

by M. G. GILIBERT

  Gabe cannot help but feel guilty. If something happened to his parents and friends at the base, it would be his fault.

  He keeps on replaying the scene at the factory when they saw the aircraft. He keeps on wondering why he didn’t move the vehicles further to be better covered by the trees. If he did, he believes the aircraft would have passed them without seeing them. He and Dave would now be at the base, safe. And more importantly, the people at the base would be safe as well.

  It is with this feeling of guilt that Gabe slowly falls into sleep.

  He does not feel well, he cannot think straight anymore. He believes a few hours of sleep will probably help him clear his head.

  As Gabe sleeps, Rose redirects her attention to the other boy. She now knows from Gabe’s thoughts that his name is Dave. She will probably learn about Gabe’s name while listening to Dave’s thoughts.

  The same cause produces the same effects on Dave. The only difference is that he doesn’t feel guilty, he is just scared.

  Feelings that Rose still has some difficulties to interpret. Dave’s thoughts are focused on his parents, his sister, and Sonia. He constantly repeats that he loves them. He also keeps on addressing them, even though they are not here with him. To a point where Rose thinks that just like her and the others, he can communicate with people without being present with them.

  But as she does not seem to hear them answering him, she concludes that he may not be thinking straight. But in the process, she learns about Gabe’s name.

  She has enough information about the boys, and Byron is also trying to communicate with her. She needs to concentrate on him and leave Dave to his thoughts.

  “Rose, are you there?” Byron asks.

  “I am now,” Rose answers.

  “I thought something had happened to you or me as I couldn’t hear you anymore,” Byron says.

  “I was concentrating on something else,” Rose says.

  “Are you fine?” Byron asks.

  “I don’t know, I cannot tell,” Rose answers. “Have you noticed the two boys the other day?” she asks.

  “Yes, I actually wanted to talk to you about them. I don’t think they are like us. I’ve tried to communicate with them, but I’ve not been able to,” he says.

  “I know, I did the same,” she says.

  She hesitates for a moment and decides to continue.

  “I did not manage to communicate with them either. But I could hear them think,” she adds.

  “What do you mean? How did you do that?” Byron asks.

  “I don’t know. I could hear what they were thinking about. It was as if I was in their heads. You should try,” Rose explains.

  “Did you learn anything about them? Do you know why they are here?” Byron asks.

  “I think they are called Gabe and Dave. They have been captured by GAIA. They are part of something, an organization, or a movement. I don’t know exactly. They do not live here and come from outside this place,” Rose says.

  “Captured, you said? Do you mean they are prisoners?” Byron asks.

  “Yes. And GAIA wants to do something to them. Something they don’t want to happen. Do you know what being ‘scared’ means?” Rose asks.

  “Yes. I do. But I don’t really know what it is,” Byron answers.

  “I’m starting to have a good idea about it,” Rose says.

  “What do you mean?” Byron asks.

  “Do you know what ‘feelings’ are?” Rose asks.

  “I know the meaning of the word, but just like being scared, I don’t know what it is,” Byron answers.

  “Neither do I. We don’t know because we don’t have them or at least not entirely. But they seem to have them,” Rose says.

  “Why?” Byron asks.

  “I think GAIA did something to us and is about to do the same to the two boys,” Rose answers.

  “You said the boys are prisoners. We are in the same situation as them. Does that mean we are prisoners as well?” Byron asks.

  “I think it does,” Rose says.

  “What can we do?” Byron asks.

  “I don’t know. But one of the boys keeps thinking about escaping from here and about his people coming here to take him out,” Rose says.

  “Shall we escape as well?” Byron asks.

  “They noticed us as well the other day, and they wonder who we are. I believe they are thinking about taking us with them,” Rose says, without mentioning that she only heard about herself in Gabe’s thoughts.

  “I only heard them think about you,” Ted, who seems to have been listening to the conversation the entire time, suddenly says.

  “Hello Ted,” Byron says.

  “I think the boy only thought about me as I am the only one who looked at him in the eyes,” Rose answers.

  “I’m here too,” Kim says. “How do you read in people’s minds?” she asks right away.

  “Focus,” Ted answers quickly as if to put an end to Kim’s questions. Rose tells the other three that not only should they help the boys escape but also go with them. After all, they have been here themselves for a while and there is probably something outside the walls of their cells worth seeing.

  “How are we going to help them?” Ted asks.

  But no one can answer Ted’s question. They simply don’t know. Yet.

  Gabe wakes up a few hours later. He feels rested and more motivated to find a solution to their situation than he was earlier.

  If GAIA is about to make them talk about their location, then they need to act fast. Before GAIA ever finds out about the existence of the base.

  Gabe’s only problem is that he cannot communicate with Dave to coordinate their action. He will need to do it on his own, hoping that when the time comes, Dave catches up and understands what he needs to do.

  Gabe manages to quickly come up with a plan that the four others listen to very carefully. If they didn’t know how to help them, they now know how he intends to try and escape. And they also know that his plan includes helping them out.

  All of them. Not just Rose. Even though Gabe’s thoughts are particularly focused on her.

  And for some reason that she cannot explain yet, it makes Rose feel uncomfortable. This is something new to her. A new perception, a new feeling. As days go by, Rose and the others get more and more attuned to their feelings. What started as something very faint and primal, more like a reflex such as self-preservation, is now turning into real and more complex feelings.

  Now that they know about Gabe’s plan, they need to stay on constant alert and be ready to join him and Dave when they come for them.

  They do not need to wait for long.

  Two robots walk down the hallway the following day. They stop in front of the boys’ cells. Their doors open simultaneously and automatically.

  The robots do not say a word, but Gabe and Dave understand they need to follow them. GAIA will probably interrogate them again. But this time is probably the last as GAIA will manage to pull all the information it needs from the two boys.

  Dave is already outside when Gabe steps out of his cell. He is looking in his direction as if he was waiting for him.

  With a quick and short movement of the head, Gabe notifies Dave that something is about to happen. Dave doesn’t know what exactly, but Gabe’s sign was not ambiguous. He stands ready to react to anything.

  Gabe thinks about all the opportunities he might have between now and when they are in front of GAIA, provided this is where they are going. While quite fluid in their movements, the robots are definitely slower than a human being. Slower in their reactions. Not by much, but enough so Gabe can surprise them with a sudden move.

  The four other kids are still in their cells, stuck to their doors, concentrating on Gabe and Dave’s thoughts. They wait for the action to unfold to their brains. They can feel from Gabe’s thoughts that everything is accelerating. He is visualizing his next moves. Quickly rejecting the ideas he thinks will not work.

  But he needs to speed
up more and think even faster as they are about to arrive.

  The four suddenly notice a sudden slowdown in Gabe’s thoughts. He found his move. He knows what to do. He is concentrating. His action is imminent now.

  Gabe knows it is now or never.

  He takes a deep breath, turns around and jumps at the robot-soldier behind him. His plan is to make it lose its balance and fall.

  Gabe jumps as high as possible and lands his entire body weight near the robot’s face. He attempts to push the robot with him in his fall as gravity pulls him down to the floor.

  But it does not work as planned. It does not work at all.

  The robot’s sensors and servo motors, all run by powerful processors and dynamic balancing algorithms, allow the robot to restore its balance. After moving a couple of steps backward, the robot stops smoothly.

  It is standing straight.

  Gabe lies on the floor. The robot looks down at him and grabs him by the neck. It lifts Gabe up, so high that his feet no longer touch the floor.

  The group of four is witnessing the scene through Gabe’s thoughts. They are getting worried about what is going to happen next. Rose, especially. She cannot help but to scream a little. Her worry is growing by the second.

  As she screams, her door vibrates and shakes. A little. But she doesn’t notice it.

  After several long seconds, the robot finally releases Gabe from its firm grip. Gabe coughs a little and starts walking again as the robot pushes him back to their original destination.

  He understands his chance of escaping is now behind him. He has failed.

  Dave saw everything. But it went so fast that it didn’t leave him a chance to react. And what could he have done anyway? Gabe is bigger and stronger than he is and did not even manage to destabilize the robot.

  A few feet now separate them from a room where two other robots are apparently waiting for them. Not soldiers like the ones escorting the boys, but a different kind. With four arms each.

  Maybe this is not over.

  If the two boys stay alone with these robots, they may still have a slight chance of escaping.

  And then what? Gabe wonders. They don’t have weapons and they are necessarily going to meet robot-soldiers on their way out. Given what just happened, they clearly will not stand a chance.

  As they enter the room, they realize the robot-soldiers are staying with them. After Gabe’s failed attempt, they are probably on their guards and will not give the boys another opportunity to try anything.

  The room is much smaller than the one where they confronted GAIA the first time. There are many screens and monitors all around them. Robotic arms are making what Gabe and Dave believe are experiments. There is a table in the middle and a couple seats. Both seats seem connected to some kind of helmet but the boys have absolutely no clue of what they are looking at.

  GAIA suddenly appears on the screens.

  “Hello, David. Hello, Gabriel,” GAIA says.

  As none of the boys bothers to respond, GAIA continues.

  “Your attempt to escape could have cost you both your lives. This was not very wise from you. But I have decided to spare you.”

  GAIA pauses to let the boys reflect upon their situation.

  “It means that you are in debt to me now. How about paying me back with some information?” GAIA asks.

  “We don’t owe you anything!” Gabe protests.

  After these words, one of the robot-soldiers comes to Gabe and grabs him by the neck like it did earlier. Except that the robot squeezes a lot more this time and doesn’t seem to be willing to let go.

  “David, have you reconsidered our last conversation? Is there anything you want to tell me?” GAIA asks.

  “Don’t say anything …” Gabe manages to scream.

  “I’d rather die than talk to you,” Dave tells GAIA.

  “You will not die, David. But your friend will. And it will be for nothing as I will still know everything I want to know,” GAIA says.

  “Do not touch him. Leave him alone!” Dave shouts.

  “Where is Henry Bright?” GAIA asks.

  “I don’t know!”

  “What were you doing at the factory?”

  “We were hunting for food.”

  “Where are the others?”

  “There are no others,” Dave answers.

  Each time Dave gives an unsatisfactory answer, the robot tightens its grip around Gabe’s neck.

  His face is completely red. The veins on his temples are fully dilated and threaten to explode. The white of his eyes is getting red as the pressure augments.

  The four other kids witness everything from their cells. They are losing their link to Gabe’s thoughts. He is about to pass out or even away. They are all getting agitated.

  Rose is slowly falling into some kind of trance.

  As Dave stares at his friend’s face, he suddenly screams and begs GAIA to stop.

  Nothing happens.

  But if GAIA and the robot do not react, a reaction is however taking place somewhere.

  Not far.

  In Rose’s cell.

  She seems to be out of her trance.

  Her eyes are wide open now, and they are intensely staring at the door in front of her.

  Without showing any foreseeable sign of what she is about to do, she suddenly starts roaring. Her door instantly blasts and smashes against the opposite wall in the hallway at incredible speed.

  Her scream is so loud that the others’ concentration is broken.

  Rose is in rage against GAIA.

  As she walks down the hall, her friends’ doors blast open behind her.

  The walls and the floor tiles crack in her path.

  Byron, Ted, and Kim are confused. They follow her without thinking as they feel a tremendous force and a powerful energy coming from her.

  As she approaches, the two robot-soldiers get out of the room where Gabe and Dave have been taken.

  They stand in front of the door, blocking the entrance. They have already drawn their weapons and are preparing to shoot.

  Rose does not stop, nor does she slow down. While she should be, she is actually not impressed by the robots’ threat. As she gets closer and the robots are about to fire their weapons, their movements slow down and eventually stop. The robots are no longer able to move. They are immobile. They stay like this for a couple of seconds, helpless, until their armors start bending out of shape. It looks like they are subject to intense and unexplainable pressure.

  By the time Rose passes them, they are nothing more than two deformed shapes. The other two four-armed robots in the room have experienced the same fate.

  Rose sees Gabe on the floor as soon as she enters the room. Dave is trying to reanimate him. He is pushing as hard as he can on Gabe’s chest and giving him mouth-to-mouth.

  After several attempts, Gabe finally starts to cough.

  And after a few more minutes spent recovering and catching his breath again, Gabe is back on his feet and breathing normally.

  Gabe and Dave have absolutely no idea of what just happened. They first think about an offensive from the base to rescue them, but as they look around, they do not see anyone they are familiar with.

  The other three do not understand what happened either.

  The only one who can provide answers to their questions is Rose.

  But she is in bad shape as well. She passed out a minute after she arrived in the room. Her friends are now taking care of her.

  Gabe cannot help but sit by her side and take her hand. He feels something for her. He doesn’t know what yet.

  But what he does know is that she is certainly the reason why he is still alive and the robots are completely destroyed. In a way that he has never seen anything destroyed before.

  As Rose slowly regains consciousness, she finds her hand inside Gabe’s. She feels serene, the complete opposite of how she felt a few minutes earlier.

  “We don’t have much time,” Gabe says to everyone, “and I
think we need to leave this place before there are too many of these robots.”

  “Where are we going?” Ted asks.

  “I don’t know for sure, but we need to get out of here. We need to get moving. We’ll probably find where to go on the way,” Gabe says.

  “The aircraft’s base?” Byron asks.

  “That’s exactly what I had in mind,” Gabe answers.

  “Yes, we know,” Byron says.

  Gabe does not respond to that. He doesn’t know how to. He doesn’t even know if he understood correctly. And no matter what, there is no time for that.

  CHAPTER 31

  The details of the rescue mission are now finalized. Don and a small team will leave that very evening. They will go in advance to secure an aircraft before a truck loaded with robots meets them at a location they have defined. Don does not want to waste time in case an aircraft takes longer than expected to arrive at the location. And in case something goes wrong during his mission, he doesn’t want the truck to be seized and their plan to infiltrate the Metropolis with hacked robots discovered.

  Three teams will participate in the mission.

  The first one is made of Don, a driver, and four other men. They will travel in an armed vehicle. A similar model to the one that was destroyed at the factory. The four men are former Special Forces and highly-trained for ambush missions. They will be in charge of destroying the robots in the aircraft.

  The second team will travel in Henry’s car. It is lighter, and most importantly for the mission, unarmed. The team comprises Henry, a programmer, a soldier, and John. John will drive. Henry and the programmer’s mission is to disconnect the aircraft from GAIA’s control.

  The third and last team is made of Jack, an engineer from his team, two soldiers for protection, and the robots. They will travel in the truck.

  According to Jack’s latest report, the robots are almost ready. The truck will be able to leave the base in the next few hours.

  Given the truck’s speed, Jack will leave two hours after Don and his men. They will meet near the ambush site. It is located almost two hundred and fifty miles away. It is only slightly beyond the base’s surveillance capabilities. It has been chosen as it represents an ideal spot for such a mission. Most of the itinerary will be closely monitored by the base. The teams will also be able to get there as discreetly as possible. The route goes through forests and vegetation, providing them with good natural protection. The landscape will eventually change to a flat and dry area.