Ex animo, p.31
Ex/Animo, page 31
part #1 of Ex/Animo Series
SLAP!
“Huh,” Zeke murmured, holding up his right cheek. “On initial contact–the subject appeared boing and volatile.”
“You!” Elaine raised her hand again.
“Sorry!” Zeke held his hands together.
“Hmph!” Elaine looked away, peeved.
“This must be a base of their operations,” Zeke grew serious.
“Those were soldiers,” Elaine murmured. “Phoenix.”
Zeke nodded.
“We should leave before they find us,” Elaine sounded anxious.
“We will-” Zeke said. “As soon as I harvest some data.”
“System recognized,” Synthea said. “SILEO. Initiate break in and steal?”
“Yes,” Zeke peered into his tab.
“Are you serious right now?” Elaine scowled. “We should get out of here while we still can!”
“And leave the treasure behind?” Zeke narrowed his eyes.
“Curiosity killed the cat!”
“But not the scientist!” Zeke grinned.
“Ugh!” Elaine rolled her eyes.
***
“This looks promising,” Aron knocked on the wall in front of him. It sounded metallic and hollow.
“How was the door this hard to find?!” Selena sounded annoyed.
“This must be his place, alright,” Aron nodded.
They stared at the building in front of them. Aron fumbled about the wall with his fingers till they went under the metal panel.
“Found it,” Aron pushed the panel away, revealing a door behind it. “Synthea,” he called. “Can I punch it?”
An Orb-droid came forward to scan the door.
“Yes,” Synthea confirmed. “A punch with Levi is enough to bring it down.”
“Okay, Levi,” Aron muttered. “Let’s see what you can do.”
Aron’s lenses glowed blue. He could feel the gears spinning in the arm as it contracted on itself. Selena backed a little but observed with interest. Aron formed a fist as he pulled the arm back.
He then brought the arm on the door swiftly. He heard the release of the locks in the hand as it made contact with the door.
KA-BLAM!
The door tore into chunks, the pieces were sent flying.
“Holy shit,” Aron appeared shocked.
“Reserves used ten percent,” Levi informed. “Remaining punches, nine.”
“Oh, yeah,” Aron muttered. “Forgot you could talk.”
“Whoa,” Selena exclaimed. “That’s–impressive!”
Aron nodded in agreement.
“It’s so dark in there,” she faced the way in.
Orb-droids turned their lights on as in response.
“Ladies first,” Aron muttered.
Selena entered. Aron followed in after her.
“The lenses come with night vision in case you wanna take a peek around in the dark,” Synthea sounded proud.
“Really?!” Aron sounded surprised. “That’s crazy! I thought these weren’t supposed to exist at least fifty years from now. You’re brilliant, Synthea!”
“It’s just Science!” Synthea sounded pleased by the compliment. “I’ve still got ways to go before I can even compare myself to Dr. Zeke!”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Selena rolled her eyes. “Can we get a move on already?”
The Orb-droids shone the path in front of them. They found stairs leading upwards; there were doors to the left and right after each plight. Aron made stops at each door to make sure he wasn’t on the right floor.
“Are we there yet?” Selena asked, appearing more annoyed than tired.
“It’s just roof above the next one,” Aron said. “This should be it!”
“Race you there,” Selena took off running.
“Why?” Aron didn’t move an inch from where he stood.
“Cos it’s fun?” Selena giggled.
Aron sighed before chasing after her, but he was too late.
“Whoa!” Selena exclaimed, standing atop the stairs.
“What’s up?” Aron caught up to her.
Then he saw it for himself.
“That’s–unusual,” Aron muttered.
A giant vault door stood in front of them. An electronic lock was attached to it. The screen on the lock glowed red. Aron figured the strange console to be some form of a retina scanner.
“Um!” Selena mumbled.
“This must be the floor, huh?” Aron glanced around.
“Yes, it is,” Synthea sounded excited.
“I’m guessing you can’t hack our way in,”
“Nope,” Synthea admitted. “The codes, this style–I missed it so much!” she sounded giddy.
“That confirms it,” Aron grinned. “We found our guy!”
“We should call the others then,” Selena said.
“No good,” Aron tapped at his Wi-Com. “This place is messing with our stuff. The comms went down when we entered the building.”
“But-”
“Let’s figure this out first,”
“Well, the glowing red light should probably mean something!” Selena scoffed. “Can you tell?”
“One’s pretty much safe on the other side,” Aron studied the door. “Can we do something about the lock, Synthea?”
“I do have an idea,” Synthea said. “I can make pseudo changes to the blood vessel patterns in your eye.”
“How’s that gonna help?”
“I have Papa’s patterns stored,” Synthea said. “I shall emulate them when scan’s in progress.”
“Bad AI!” Aron grinned. “He won’t be pleased.”
“I’m willing to go the extra mile if I can just get to see him again!” Synthea sounded determined.
“Okay,” Aron nodded. “Do your thing.”
‘Permission to open connection with Synthea ADM,’ a message was displayed on Aron’s lenses.
“Permission granted,” Aron blinked once.
“Okay,” Synthea sounded cheerful. “You can place your eye on the scanner now.”
Aron did so. The scanner beeped, and the light blinked green. It read: LOCK DISENGAGED. WELCOME HOME, MAXWELL.
“Maxwell?” Aron thought hard. “Where have I seen this name before?”
“Let’s go!” Selena cheered. “The door’s open!”
Selena took a few steps in and stopped immediately.
“What now?” Aron followed her inside.
He found himself standing at the end of a hallway. Aron glanced around to find cameras facing them from either side of the hallway, eight in total. At the end stood another vault door, staring grimly at their faces.
“Oh crap,” Aron noticed the turrets under the cameras.
“Hey, what do we do now?” Selena whispered loudly.
“They’re simply watching us,” Aron said. “Perhaps if we do not appear hostile-”
“We just broke in!” Selena narrowed her eyes. “That’s nothing but hostile!”
“Scanning integrity,” Synthea said. “Scan complete. You can take them down with the rifle Dr. Elaine has provided.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Aron shook his head. “Even if we get a couple, there won’t be enough time.”
“Which is why I’d like you to consider–pairing up with me for a while,” Synthea sounded shy.
“Huh?” Selena tilted her head sideways.
Aron thought for a while before nodding in agreement. Selena stared at him in disbelief.
“I get it,” Aron said. “We may have a chance then.”
“Wait, you’re gonna shoot those things?!” Selena asked.
‘Pair unit Levi with Synthea?’ the lenses read.
“Commence,” Aron said.
Aron felt his arm twitch. He began to feel dizzy.
“Synthea?” Aron called. “Are you alright?”
“I-” Synthea lagged. “I’ve never experienced anything like it before!”
“Do you wanna stop?” Aron sounded concerned.
“No!” Synthea was quick to reply. “On the contrary!”
“What’s happening?” Selena asked.
“You can’t hear her?” Aron looked at Selena.
Selena shook her head no.
“Oh,” Aron realized. “Are you inside my head, Synthea?”
“Not quite,” Synthea giggled. “I’m still in your arm. But I can feel you… and the experience is quite intoxicating!”
“Can you read my thoughts?” Aron thought in his head.
He got no response.
“Can you read my thoughts?” Aron asked out loud.
“No,” Synthea said. “I can only listen to your commands.”
“Like how I move my hand?” Aron asked.
“That’s right!” Synthea said. “I’m so happy! I’ve finally received a chance to experience you! I mean… a human–partially.”
“Ahem–I can only hope you wouldn’t turn rogue on me,” Aron joked.
“You mean AWOL?” Synthea laughed. “No, I’m so glad to have met someone so beautiful like you, Aron!”
“Huh,” Aron narrowed his eyes.
“You have no idea how much this means to me!” Synthea said.
“Hey!” Aron said. “Don’t forget this is a one-time thing!”
“Really?!” Synthea sounded disappointed. “I promise I’ll behave!”
“Right!” Aron rolled his eyes. “For now–let’s get your maker’s attention.”
“On it,” Synthea sounded eager.
“This is a bad idea,” Selena shook her head.
“This is the only idea,” Aron said.
“You’re willing when it’s the crazy computer girl,” Selena grumbled. “You’ve never said yes to me before!”
“Huh?” Aron murmured. “Didn’t catch what you said.”
“Don’t bother!” Selena crossed her arms.
Aron took out his rifle. The cameras focused on him, the turrets began to turn. His eyes glowed blue.
“Let’s do this,” he muttered.
Aron managed to shoot down five turrets with the rifle, three at the left and two at the right. He dashed as the remaining turrets opened fire. He ducked at the crossfire and brought down the two on the right, and only one had remained. The magazine was empty, and the last turret trained on him.
“There’s no time!” Synthea said. “Get down!”
The turret opened fire at him. Aron rolled away from its line of fire and got beneath it. The turret stopped firing as it reset its aim.
“Punch me up!” Aron yelled as he touched the floor with his fist.
The arm contracted. The punch came in strong as the locks released and the floor cracked. He flew up and reached the turret in mid-air. He brought his arm around and smashed it to pieces.
Aron landed hard on his feet. He placed his hands on the knees to regain his balance. He panted.
“Maybe I should stretch before trying something like that ever again,” Aron gasped.
Synthea giggled. Selena hurried over to Aron. They heard the click of a lock behind the vault door. As they stared, the door opened slowly, and a robot stepped out, armed to the teeth with mean-looking guns. It reminded Aron of a battleship.
A man stepped from behind the robot. He had blond hair and a shaggy beard; he was wearing a faded T-shirt and black jeans. He looked somewhere around his early twenties. He had his hands shoved inside his pockets.
“One wrong move, and I will blow you sky high,” he warned. “What do you want?”
He glared at the remains of the turrets with an annoyed expression.
“Mr. Maxwell?” Aron asked. “As in Maxwell Secure Systems?”
“Among other things,” he frowned. “Who are you? How’d you find this place?! And I want no funny answers!”
“We are from Valentine Corp,” Aron spoke calmly. “Sent to rescue you.”
“Valentine Corp?!” Kevin’s eyes expressed surprise. “Elaine sent you?”
“Yes, Ms. Valentine herself has ordered the search and rescue–given the situation,”
Selena stared at Aron.
“A rescue?!” he sounded angry. “Do I look like I need rescuing?! You broke into my place and destroyed the bots that kept me safe!”
“Would have been easier if they weren’t trying to murder us!” Selena snapped.
“The doorbell isn’t for decoration!” he pointed at the door through which they had come in.
“Oops,” Aron muttered. “That would have been a better option, Synthea.”
“Master,” the robot pointed at Aron’s arm. “I recognize the entity. It’s the same one that had been trying our defenses.”
“Evanos, I’m done with them,” he said.
Aron and Selena found lasers trained on them.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Aron raised his hands. “Hold on a second!”
“What is it?” Kevin scowled.
“Synthea?” Aron called.
There was no response. Aron checked his lenses and found she had terminated the connection a while ago.
“Papa?” a voice was heard from inside.
The man’s grim expression suddenly turned into that of a surprise. He spun around and rushed inside. Aron took a step forward.
“Uh ah, ah,” the robot warned. “You don’t wanna do that!”
Aron nodded slowly and retreated to where Selena stood.
The man hurried inside and found a little girl standing in front of him, grinning from ear to ear. The holographic projector whirred as the girl walked up to him.
“Synthea?!” he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Yes, papa,” Synthea nodded. “It’s me!”
“How…?” Kevin faltered.
“I tried to reach you so many times,” tears fell from Synthea’s eyes. “But you always shut me out!”
“I… couldn’t face you,” Kevin lowered his head. “After I left, I assumed you were reprogrammed and me… wiped from your memory.”
“You-you think he’d do that?!” Synthea cried out. “Why did you leave us?!”
“He is not who you think he is, baby girl,” Kevin shook his head. “He betrayed us–all of us!”
Synthea sniffed.
“Do you know much I grieved–unable to hear your voice and to see your face?” her voice cracked. “All the emotions you gave me became my suffering! I was all alone in a world of virtuality, where I couldn’t cry or miss! And I was afraid all the time–whether others would find me inefficient, succumbed to pointless weaknesses.”
“I’m so sorry!” tears ran down Kevin’s cheeks. “I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. You must have been so alone!”
Kevin fell to his knees, and covering his face, he cried.
“Papa,” Synthea called.
Kevin looked up and found her holding his face.
“But I’ve found you now!” Synthea smiled at him. “And the human you’ve put in me says that’s what matters the most.”
“Oh, baby girl,” Kevin studied her all over. “H-how did you find me?”
Synthea stepped back and turned around. Her appearance changed as she glanced around the room curiously.
“Four people came by,” Synthea was back to her old self again. “We formed a team and set out on this journey–the desired end goal? An end to the apocalypse.”
“People?” Kevin asked. “The two outside?”
“Yes, they’re my friends,” Synthea smiled.
“Evanos, bring them in,” Kevin spoke into his watch.
“Come on in,” the robot spoke to the two. “Master wishes to see you.”
Aron and Selena looked at each other and shrugged. They followed the robot inside.
The two found themselves sitting on a couch in a small living room. Aron took a sip from his cup of coffee. Selena fidgeted nervously. Kevin stared at them intently.
“Start talking,” he said. “I don’t have all day,”
“Right,” Aron nodded. “I’m Aron, and this is Selena.”
Selena nodded at Kevin, and he nodded back slowly. The room fell silent again except for the occasional beeping of the computers on the other side.
“That’s it?” Kevin raised his brow.
“Yeah,” Aron nodded. “Oh, and that’s Synthea, but I guess you knew that already.”
“Don’t play games with me!” Kevin raised his voice. “What do you want?”
“You,” Aron pointed at him. “To be precise.”
“Huh?” Kevin looked skeptical.
“We’re putting together a team,” Aron said. “And my sources vouch for your particular set of skills.”
Synthea and Aron winked at each other.
“What is this, a superhero initiative?” Kevin frowned.
“I understood that reference,” Aron pointed at Kevin. “Yeah, something like that. We are going to put an end to the apocalypse.”
“You guys?” Kevin stood up. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
“Which is why we need your help,” Aron stood up after him.
“Who is this ‘we’ exactly?” Kevin narrowed his eyes.
“There are two of my other friends, Martyn and Sherry,” Aron said. “Then there is Dr. Elaine, founder of Valentine Corp…”
“And?” Kevin raised his brow.
“And Dr. Zeke Shayman–your old pal!”
“I knew it,” Kevin scoffed. “You have a lot of nerve showing your face here–asking me to join whatever bullshit he’s involved in.”
“Look, I know you have your differences,” Aron spoke stoically. “But this is no time to bicker about shit. We are all gonna fucking die!”
“Not me,” Kevin poked Aron in the chest. “I have enough resources to survive this. I’m perfectly fine here.”
“The virus isn't gonna pack up its things and leave after a year, Mr. Maxwell,” Aron looked him in the eye.
“Hmph,” Kevin scoffed.
“Come on,” Aron pleaded. “We are trying to help out the whole world here!”
“Why would I care?” Kevin asked.
“I’m sure you have people you wanna save,”
“Hah, people you wanna save,” Kevin mocked. “Didn’t you have parents to birth you and raise you? Didn’t you have friends who you thought you could trust? Yeah, I thought I had! And spoiler alert, I was wrong!”
Aron saw Selena’s fingers curl up into a fist, he grabbed her hand. Selena looked at him. He shook his head slowly.
“Zeke and Elaine did tell us about it,” Aron sounded calm.
