‘Isn’t there a facility nearby we could maybe go and turn on some appliances.’
The machine nodded. ‘We can turn on every appliance here. There is another hidden outlet in the mound.’
It pointed at the mound we passed on the way here. ‘Our generators are already connected for their own maintenance. But so much direct power will blow its fuses.’ It paused again. ‘Once the fuses blow all power will direct to a nearby Urban. But their fuses are not operational so the Urban will be destroyed.’ The emotionless voice made this sound OK.
‘Destroyed? We can’t do that. There must be a way.’
The bot pointed to a dial. ‘This is an exchanger. We can regulate the current to both the mound and the Urban.’
‘What are the risks?’
‘Few, if we keep the current between the two sites.’
‘Can you ensure that happens, above all else? Many humans may die if not.’ I was playing the ‘robots can’t harm humans’ card, but had no idea if that guff really worked in reality.
The bot nodded.
‘Then go for it.’
The machine nodded again. Who would have thought a machine could nod. It could probably shrug like a native too. It moved towards me and I shrank back. It stopped.
‘I need to get to the control panel,’ it said.
‘Of course.’ I moved aside.
While it worked through a series of checks I looked again at the plugin to my communicator, now attached to the bot’s ring. It had originally been developed by Vanora’s technicians but was given to me by Pa. I always assumed the plugin was a recent development, solely for the purpose of the prison break, but the connection to the bot must have been designed decades ago. Vanora’s technicians had worked with this bot and had access to its codes.
It stood beside me now. ‘We must wait until the levels have reached critical,’ it said.
My comms buzzed again ‘two hours to surge’. ‘What does this mean?’ I asked the bot.
‘I do not know.’
‘Will you have it working before then?’
‘Yes.’ Then it froze into position, silent and obviously waiting.
I decided to not stress about the message – for now. ‘So what’s it like being a robot?’ I slapped my forehead for being such a dolt to ask.
‘It is fine.’
‘Don’t you get bored?’
‘No,’ and then it looked at me. ‘The others were company, then they were murdered.’ It almost gathered emotion for the word murder.
‘Are you the only bot here?’
It hesitated, only for a split second, but it was definitely a hesitation.
‘Yes,’ it said. Can robots lie? ‘The levels are almost right. If I turn on all the perimeter lights and all the lights in here then the darkness will become polluted.’
I thought about the Military Base Dawdle said was close by, but it was daylight and I had a couple of hours before I had to work out that solution.
‘Go for it.’
It began with a low hum and a few lights flickered around the panel, then all the panel lights lit up. Some green, some amber, some red. The hum grew in volume.
‘How long will it take?’ I blurted out and realised I’d been holding my breath.
‘Thirty minutes maybe. It has been many decades since these turbines have been working at full strength.’
The bot clicked more buttons then stopped. Its shoulders dropped. Its arms went limp.
‘What is it? What’s wrong?’
‘We wait until the levels are correct. You have time to pass,’ it said. ‘Take a walk. It will do you good.’ Fair enough.
I walked down the steps through the reactor hall and out into the boiling day. The sky was blinding blue, something I’d never get used to after the permanent grey skies of Lesser Esperaneo. A few lights flickered around the perimeter fence and I wondered if the others would take this as the signal to return. Lavender scent wafted across the plain to me and as usual I thought of Ma. What would she have thought of all this mess? Pa said she was in on the revolution and I couldn’t help wonder what part she would have played. A warrior like Ishbel or a ruler (huh) like Vanora. It was pointless speculation because she wasn’t coming back anyway.
I’d just retreated back in from the searing heat and was enjoying the skin tingle as the cool air hit me when my comms buzzed. More instructions no doubt. I lifted my comms arm into the shadow, away from the glare slashing through the door. It was Pa. I clicked him on. I’d expected him to be at Black Rock but the background was unfamiliar.
‘Sorlie, son.’ My heart flipped, he never called me son. His voice was soft. He looked worn out. His eyes were panda’d and there was a tightness around his mouth when he tried to smile.
‘What’s wrong?’ I said. ‘I thought we weren’t to be in contact.’
He held up his hand.
‘Nothing is wrong, nothing. I have good news. No, make that great news.’ He settled himself back. ‘The virus you and Reinya dropped in Beckham City is beginning to bite.’
‘Not killing people? You promised it was for something else.’ I could hear my voice rise in panic.
‘No, no, the people are fine. Look.’ The screen switched to a scene of the main square in Beckham City; the one Reinya and I had walked through, except this time it was deserted. There was a cordoned-off section where it looked like the ground had caved in, as if an earthquake had hit. The view changed to the outer walls. One of the ports had collapsed and the walls around it were crumbling. Even as I watched part of the wall tumbled to the ground, throwing up a great plume of stoor. People stood by looking bewildered. Their city was disintegrating around their feet. The scene switched back to Pa.
‘What’s happening?’
‘The virus is attacking the concrete and the underlying foundations of the city are collapsing. In a matter of months all that will be left of Beckham City will be a pile of rubble. And not one person will be killed if they all evacuate this quarter. Once the sewers go there will be a risk of disease, but they know that and should leave.’
‘Become refugees, you mean.’
‘Yes,’ he beamed. He was so pleased. ‘And this is all we need.’ He held up the vial. ‘I have already communicated my demands to the State leaders in the Capital. They know if they don’t surrender power we will drop this on them.
‘But what about the people – the inhabitants?’
‘They’ll be OK. Refugees for a while, yes, but we’ve already set up a camp for them. It’ll be fine in the end.’
‘But they’ll starve.’ I remembered the deprivation already present in the camp outside Beckham City. There was no extra capacity.
‘No.’ He was still smiling. ‘The natives will look after them. Sorlie, remember your epic speech. The natives will work together, they now have hope. It’s all been planned. The Blue Pearl are on the ground. There aren’t that many inhabitants of Beckham City.’
‘This is wrong,’ I said.
‘It is a small sacrifice to gain the Capital.’
‘The Capital? Is it really that easy?’
‘Yes. The High Heid yins are worried. I’m on my way there now. We couldn’t get a Transport delivered from Freedom so the Noiri have volunteered to take me. I should be there in a couple of days.’ He seemed distracted. I saw a shadow pass his face.
‘Is it safe? Are you OK? Who’s with you? Scud? How are your wounds?’
Pa held up his hand to stop my babbling. He was still smiling.
’Sorlie, I’m fine. Scud remained on Black Rock with Kenneth assisting him. I’ve stopped off at Steadie to be medicated for my journey.’
My heart began to thump. ‘Harkin,’ I said.
He nodded. ‘Harkin is here, she does a grand job. I’m trying to persuade her to come with me.’ My stomach flipped at the sound o
f her name. The screen moved from his face, around the tent. I heard Pa call Harkin’s name and there she was, sitting in a corner, sorting her healer’s bag. She looked up and her eyes stared directly into the comms because she knew he was talking to me.
‘Hello, Sorlie, how’s tricks?’ she said with barely a trace of a smile, but it was there in her eyes. Something she couldn’t hide. My heart thumped so hard it felt as though it would lodge in my throat. My face whooshed hot. Jupe sake, I was supposed to be a warrior, yet here I was buckling at the knees. I swallowed hard before I answered.
‘All good here. Reiyna is out with Dawdle,’ but before I had a chance to say more the image whipped from her, back to Pa and, much as I loved having him return to me, I wanted to see Harkin.
‘How are things going with your mission?’
‘We’ve had a setback. Jake murdered the engineer who was supposed to start the reactor.’
‘Jake?’ His face puzzled.
‘Remember Jake, my wrestling partner?’
‘Oh yes, I do. His parents were denounced.’
‘He blames you…and me. He’s been trying to kill me.’
‘Sorlie, no! Are you OK?’
‘Yes, don’t worry. We detained him but not before he murdered the guards and engineer. There’s a bot helping me.’
‘I’m sorry, Sorlie. This situation has made murderers out of many innocent people.’ What the snaf was that supposed to mean? ‘It was never going to be easy,’ he continued. ‘But Jake’s parents, well, things like that happen all the time. They’re in Bieberville.’
‘So he said.’
‘Tell him once we’ve taken over, we’ll try everything to get them back.’
I bit my lip, suspecting it was too late for Jake.
‘Dawdle and Reinya have taken Jake outside.’ No point going into details.
Pa nodded. ‘Yes, well Dawdle’s a good man. But tell me. The setback?’
‘It’s OK. The robot can work the manual,’ I said. ‘My plugin.’
‘Vanora’s plugin? The one I passed to you last year?’ Pa puzzled then smiled. ‘Of course. I’m sure it’ll soon have things up and running. And then you’ll see. We can go about repairing Esperaneo and soon I will be well enough to lead from the front. The Switch-On will help me.’
This sent a chill through me. It wasn’t about him. What about those poor refugees who might starve if there wasn’t enough native food to go round?
‘Has Ishbel arrived yet?’
‘Ishbel? No. Is she coming?’
‘She is near. I don’t know what I would have done without you two.’ He smiled his pained smile again. ‘It will soon be over, Sorlie, and then we can build. Trust me, trust Ishbel.’
I saw Harkin’s hand on his shoulder. He was far from well and she would be urging him to rest. He sort of dropped his shoulder so her hand disappeared from the screen. He sat forward and frowned.
‘But tell me, son, how quickly before things are running? And about the plugin. Quick! The power in my comms is running down,’ he said. And as he swung it towards Harkin I had one last glimpse of her hunkered beside him, her face full of concern and then the scene went blank. I didn’t trust Pa. Suddenly this mission seemed all about him. The realisation left me with a horrible knot in my stomach. But worse than that was his obvious worry over the plugin. He didn’t know it had another use. Was Vanora up to her old tricks again? Could this be a trap? I looked at the clock ticking on my comms. Was this her doing?
As I climbed the stairs to the control room my head felt like mush. The robot was inactive again and it asked me to sit. After a few minutes a blast reverberated somewhere in the hall followed by a muffled roar.
‘That doesn’t sound good,’ I said, not really knowing what I was talking about.
The robot nodded but as if to itself which was really spooky. A grating noise kicked off next then an ear-bleeding screech.
‘The reactor has sparked,’ the bot said. ‘Soon all the turbines will turn.’ The bot smiled. It snafin smiled! ‘It worked. All these years I kept these turbines supple and now they flex their muscles and turn. It has worked.’ What? A bot has pride?
The turbine ground and screamed like a dragon waking from hibernation. Every light on the panel shone green and the whole place was illuminated in bright neon. Hot air gushed through vents in the floor. Sweat poured from my oxters. I ran down the stairs and out the front door. The perimeter was flooded with bright light – the daytime star shone brighter than all the stars in the night sky that would descend upon us in a couple of hours. This display was sure to bring Reinya and Dawdle back.
‘The Star of Hope,’ I whispered. Pa would be so proud. I searched behind me and across the lavender fields for any sign of Dawdle and Reinya returning. What I saw put an even bigger smile on my face. Walking towards me was Ishbel, and she was not alone. There was a lot to take in – it was happening.
I did it.
Ishbel
Ishbel could hear Skelf breathing, the rasping croak of a body not used to physical labour. She knew she should cut her communicator light off to preserve the life but somehow its small pin light shining her way ahead into the dark mound was a great comfort.
‘Can you hear it?’ Skelf almost shouted in her ear, exhaling his rank breath over her like an ominous cloud.
Penetrating Skelf’s rasps was a hum, faint with the occasional crackle, like something traveling along a ruined road and every second or so it would bump over a rut.
‘Where’s the control room?’ she whispered.
‘Time for that,’ he shouted again as if trying to prove a point. ‘We need to check all the connections.’
He hobbled towards a door and despite his labours he tugged it hard. It didn’t budge. ‘Bit stiff. I expected the building to have been maintained too.’
‘What do you mean, too?’
‘You don’t think this has been left alone all this time to rot, do you?’
‘Well, who—?’
‘Come.’ He tugged again and Ishbel moved to take his place, giving an almighty heave. She cried out in pain as her wounded hip protested. The door opened.
‘Well, thank you. I wasn’t designed for physical labour, as you can see.’
She wanted to hit him for the remark but stored her anger. When the door opened fully a whoosh of warm air bathed Ishbel’s face.
They walked into the darkness until Skelf clicked a wall switch. Lights flickered and died; others lit up random spaces, creating shadows. The room was the size of an aircraft hangar, almost twice as big as Vanora’s underground bunker, although it was tricky to work out the exact size because much of it was obscured by the banks of boxes. The boxes were organised in rows, floor to ceiling and wall to wall, with long narrow corridors separating each row. There seemed to be hundreds of thousands of boxes, blinking lights, red and green.
‘How many?’
Skelf whistled. ‘Too many to count.’ She didn’t need him to tell her what this was. Their existence was legendary.
‘It’s the server farm, isn’t it?’ Ishbel asked.
‘Too right it is. Well, one of them anyway.’ He stood with his hand on his hips. ‘Isn’t it gorgeous?’
‘What capacity does it have?’ She tried to sound knowledgeable as she recited old movie-casters.
‘This,’ he swiped his arm to take in the whole room, ‘is only a fraction of what there once was. Information, hun. Information, the key to everything.’
‘Is this the only one left? Did they really destroy the rest?’
He sighed. ‘When the machines chose to switch themselves off the governments in all three zones panicked. They felt if the machines could decide their own fate and shut themselves down, they could just as easily start up again. There had been predictions in the past about the machines’ ability to wipe out humankind. It was a cla
ssic knee jerk reaction – they destroyed the majority and all the information they contained. What if it got into the wrong hands? Terrorists, pirates. Paranoia. Idiotic government paranoia – the great destroyer. Didn’t understand, so they didn’t preserve it. It was an overreaction to a threat. They only kept what they needed for their own ends.’
‘But why not get you to help?’
‘I told you, we were too powerful.’
‘We?’
‘The TEX. You can’t have a super-rich class that the ruling governments can’t control.’
‘But the Privileged, isn’t that what they are?’
‘The Privileged,’ he spat the word as dirty. ‘A gene pool. Not exactly the best design for a ruling class is it? They may have money, and the right DNA as decided by someone, but they have no real power.’ He patted one of the boxes. ‘Not when these beauties started to take over. Why do you think I was banished to Bieberville? Why do you think they executed the other TEX?’
He stroked the nearest black box as if it were his lover and Ishbel could see a glint in his eye. She would have to play this one cute. When she remained silent he turned back to her.
‘You do realise that whoever controls this installation, controls the world.’
‘Yes, I see now why I’ve been sent on this mission by The Prince. But if it was dangerous once, won’t it be dangerous again?’
‘Not in the right hands, hun.’ But that crazy gleam told Ishbel maybe he wasn’t the right pair of hands. He rubbed those hands together now. ‘Right, first we must mobilise the troops.’
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