Artificial Mates - Chapter 149

We walked passed the room in which I was sleeping and on my way out I grabbed my bag. Going through one of the doors on the left we went straight to stairs leading to the first bas.e.m.e.nt. It was a dim room with consoles in the middle and screens took most of the walls. In one corner stood a table on which they had placed Olga, next to two giant pods with a glass lid. It looked like the ones we had back at the apartment.

“Quick, we need to put her in,” Grant pointed to the pods. He placed the bag he was carrying on the console and went to help Alter with the task. The other members sat on the floor on the other corner. Demos and Nicolai helped closed the vault-like door. It clicked with a chilling sound. I looked up at them.

“Does that mean we are locked inside?” Demos nodded.

“It also means they won’t be able to get in,” added Nicolai with a frown. Nicolai went to the console and switch it on. Grant came back from securing Olga into the pod. The logo on the water system came on all the screens simultaneously.

“Hello,” said the AI. “Welcome to the water system facility. Please standby as I run diagnostics,” said the voice on the screen. I stared in puzzlement. Taking cautious steps I stopped behind Grant. He was drumming on the keyboard. He took out Jil’s box that he retrieved from our house before he left and plugged it to the console. But the lights flickered and the whole room when black.

“What’s happening?” I asked trying to peer in the darkness.

“Calm down,” I heard Grant make an irritating sound and got off his chair, pushing me aside in the process. “The whole system crashed. Damn it, ” I could hear him rushed to the side of the room. “We need to access the turbines in the lower part of the building. They run with the current of the river. I knew we had to test it before going online. Olga said that she had too little time to fix the eventual bugs,” a light switched on, enough to push away the darkness. Grant was kneeling on the ground unscrewing a panel. Demos came to help him with the other screws.

“If we can’t get this place running we are doom. She will die before we do,” he looked up at me. “I need to fix the system, it runs the ventilation. If it’s really fried we’ll just replace it with Jil she will be able to keep Altas at bay,” he talked while working on the last screw. Demos pulled the panel aside and we peeked below. It was another pitch-black hole. Alter turned the light to the ladder that went down the pit. Grant climbed below without hesitation.

“Shit!” he whispered as we heard water splashed.

“What going on, down there?” asked Demos peeking into the hole. There was silence a couple of minutes then he answered.

“Water,” he paused. “It flooded the lower level where the turbines are. We need to pump the water out. Come down to give me a hand,” Demos hopped into the opening and disappeared below. Minutes later, we heard a muffled sound behind the vault door. We all stopped and listened. When we heard a second time, Nicolai rushed down also to help them. I’ve worked on the designs of the water system. I’ve seen the plans and knew my way fairly well around it. I kneeled by the panel listening to the boys as they worked, praying that whatever thing was outside the door would stay there. Minutes ticked and the air in the room became hotter and thinner.

“Guys?” I called, the room below has gone silent. The light came on so abruptly it hurts. The artificial clapped and cheered. Elma came next to me.

“Are you feeling ok?” she asked in a concerned tone. My head was spinning, still, I nodded with a smile. She helped me to my feet. The air was getting hotter, it didn’t seem to affect the others. The sound on the other side of the door was louder now. We would hear loud banging on the heavy door.

“They won’t be able to get in, right?” I looked up at Elma. She averted her eyes. They were all scared. Olympia kneeled next to the opening.

“Nicolai, they are trying to breach the door. Whatever you are doing, go faster,” she yelled into the darkness. Grant appeared up the ladder, minutes later, soaked in thick oily water. He pulled his shirt over his head and wiped his face with the dirty garment.

“Can someone lend me something,” He opened his fly and pulled his pants down then kicked his shoes. I was shocked, he just got undressed in front of everyone mindless of all the eyes staring at him. One of the members took off his shirt, leaving him with his undershirt. He handed the large blue worker’s front buttoned shirt to Grant who slipped in it without a second thought. He was wearing only his black boxer and the shirt a little too large for him.

“Liliane,” he called. I was red as a beetroot when everyone turned to me. He was the one in his boxer and I was the one blushing. Liliane gets a grip. This is a life and death situation. Get rid of the embarrassment, for god sake. “I’ll need your help with this,” he sat in front of the console looking away. Elma helped me sit in the chair next to him. Jil’s box was still plugged into the console. He switched the console on, I took shallow breaths. The air had a weird taste. “You worked on this with Olga, you know how to switch on the ventilation. I’ll work on system, as quick as I repair it you rush to the maintenance module and switch the fans on, ok?” he explained with his fingers working at a staggering speed on the keyboard. I nodded then noticed he wasn’t looking.

“Okay, got it,” I answered in a weak voice. A loud bang on the door made me jumped in my seat. Grant paused and looked up. “People, get ready, those with guns stand by the door. Be ready to defend us,” I frowned as he kept working. Shit, this was real. I might die from suffocation or simply killed by murderous robots. I reached for the hem of Grant’s shirt with trembling hands.

“Focus, Liliane,” he lowered his voice. He gave me a weak smile and said in a gentler tone. “I know you can do this,” I let go and turned to my screen. Taking a deep breath I waited for him to give a signal. “I’m almost done. The initial AI was taken down by Atlas. It didn’t crash due to flaws. So I’m just replacing it with Jil’s but since Olga has upgraded her it’s a pain in the ass to work with her complicated scripts,” he got up so abruptly, I flinched. “Hey, grabbed me the extension cable—the red one, from the drawer and a knife,” he yelled at the guy standing next to the table near Olga’s pod. “Top drawer, quick!” he urged. Someone on the other side of the room handed him a shift blade knife. I watched in horror as he pressed the tip of the blade to his neck. He caught me staring and smiled.

“This is not your first time. Promised this doesn’t hurt,” Elma handed him the red cable which he plunged into his D23 port. “Please don’t freak out,” he smirked as he plunged the end to the console. His body went limp, slipping from his chair. I had to catch him so he wouldn’t fall down.

“Help me,” I called and two or three people rushed to my side. They helped place him into a sitting position and held him in place. The logo of the water system came back online, it rendered the diagnostics and the screens turned black with the main menu appearing on it.

“Liliane, Atlas he is lurking I’m going to pull up the shield then plug Jil in,” called a voice from the screen. I turned to my own screen, the air was so scarce that my vision was blurry. I blinked a couple of times. I browsed through the maintenance, scrolled down to the designated section where the fans were. My fingers trembled when I reached it. The screen flashed red and alerts went on.

“We are under attack!” shouted Grant from the screen. Images of the outside of the building flashed on the screens. The building was ransacked. The front door shattered. The fences were torn, they didn’t help keep our enemies out. From the different cameras, we spotted 8 very pissed robots. 5 were outside the door cutting through the metal with what looked like really bright blades.

“They’ve got a plasma cutter. We are doomed,” said Olympia as she backed away from the door.

“Hold your position,” shouted Demos getting out of the lower levels. He and Nicolai both looked like they had seen hell and back. He rushed to the console where Grant was seated.

“What—?” he turned to me as I clicked on the button to activate the fans. It used the same concept as inside a submarine, splitting the hydrogen and oxygen in the water with an electric current in which the bas.e.m.e.nt was submerged. The air came blasting in from the ventilation panels on both sides of the room. I gapped, inhaling as deeply as I could. Then coughed several times. Demos rubbed my back, just like Grant used to do to ease my racing heart.

“Demos! Help!” yelled Grant. The screens flashed red, codes pour over the screens. “Atlas…he is killing me. He became too strong,” I grabbed Grant’s cold hand.

“Please, fight,” I pleaded then turned to Demos who was taking a red cable from Emla. Nicolai pulled a chair for him.

“I’ll also plug in to fight Atlas,” Nicolai announced. Demos grabbed him by the collar.

“No, you stay here, keep her alive. Whatever happens, keep her alive,” the men exchanged nods. I leaned and kissed him as he cut to access his port. It was quick and desperate.

“Demos,” urged Grant. The screen blinked.

“Liliane, stay alive,” his eyes soften. “I will always love you,” was the last thing he said before his body fell back on the chair. I stared a little hollow, his kiss lingered over my lips. I turned to the door. Orange sparks flew from the floor. They were cutting through the metal. Nicolai rushed to it. I watched in slow motion was the event unfolded, detached. The sounds were dull, lights too bright. My watch vibrated and the bloody face of Dr. Churchhill appeared. I frowned at him. That traitor, what did he want with us?

“Liliane, listen to me. Wherever you are…listen to me, they are going to blow it up. Get somewhere down below. I don’t know if you are safe. Please—” the image freeze on the doctor’s terrifying face. The lights flickered. There was a silence. The robots pulled away. We could see them ran in all directions on the cameras. The next thing I know I was flying accross the room.