Mechanical Gods (lgbtq+)

Chapter Thirty-Six: Mainframe

     Toby opened the door materializing in front of him. The door creaked open, revealing another room bathed in darkness. Toby was the first to enter. The others hesitated, standing around inches away as they peered inside.

     "What's in there?" asked Sam.

     "A way out," Toby answered meekly.

     "But what's in there? Knowing Iago, he has tricks--"

     "We won't know that until we delve deeper into this room," Toby shrugged. "Don't ask me. I can't read Iago's thoughts. It's the only way out. A short-cut. Or would you rather play Iago's games until its too late and he comes back?"

     Sam shuddered, but he didn't say anything.

     "He has a point. We have no choice but to follow him," Aiden said.

     "Easy for you to say. How do we know we can trust him?" Sam whispered, but it was loud enough for the other Android to hear.

     "You can trust me. I mean you no harm. We have similar goals. If Iago continues with his crusade, he'll get to Gideon Reese sooner, and I'll be too late to save him. Besides, if we talk about who we should not trust, it should be him," Toby pointed at Aiden.

     "Me?"

     "Yes. Iago's using your memories as a weapon. Whatever he left inside this room will no doubt come from your databank. We are in your unit, your body, after all. We have no right to tamper with it and what it can do except for you."

     Aiden nodded. He stepped into the dark room and turned to the others. "What are you waiting for?"

     Spot and Sam regarded each other with concerned looks, but not long after, it was Spot who stepped close to the door. Sam followed a second later with a loud huff. "We're going on a death march anyway," grumbled Sam.

     Once everyone was inside, the door closed behind them.

     Darkness returned, but the dark gloom was different. Instead of seeing through pitch-black, Aiden could see through the darkness as clear as day, though not with his night vision but an unknown light source illuminating the area around them. The floor was black as black could be, and the light never reflected off of its surface. It was as if Aiden and the others were standing mid-air. The darkness stretched as far as he could see.

     "Toby, explain to us where we are," Aiden said.

     "To be technical, we are approaching the core system of the facility where you and I tethered to like a lifeline. Now, it is Iago who occupies the space. Surely, if he is as smart as he is, his scripts are sprinkled around the system, intensifying its hold on them against any counter-attacks and hacks."

     "--Which would take time to scrub off," Spot interjected.

     "Yes. But we can override the system manually. Shut it off and delete Iago at once in the facility's system."

     "Along with his murderous dog," Sam grumbled.

     Toby paused. "Nevertheless, we'll force the two of them back to this unit. And I can occupy the system they left behind by using the backdoor that only Gideon Reese and I know. Unfortunately, he needed me functional to do that."

     "And we'll stop this bloodshed," Aiden said.

     "Yes. We'll stop all of that. Though, with this unit being used to do that, physical stresses might incur."

     Aiden thought of that for a moment, nodding, "If its what it takes to save the others, then, I am fine with that."

     "Noble, but naive. Though, I can understand the decision," Toby smiled. "If this works, we have an advantage against Iago."