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Chapter 7

The Burrow, Level Eight

"Welcome to the Burrow!" a woman said to us with enthusiasm. She had greeted us as soon as Nino keyed open a heavy bulkhead door, waiting on the far side in an antechamber that looked more like an airlock than anything else. Her body was concealed under a long flowing robe of dark grey fabric, a narrow belt of braided electrical wire cinched around her waist. Beneath a hood of the same fabric, a lined face regarded us with keen interest as the door sealed itself behind us.

"David, this is Amanda King" Nino said by way of introduction. "She's the Matron who runs the Burrow and is the Speaker to God"

"Greetings, honoured Matron" I responded and gave a short bow from the waist since I had no idea what might be appropriate. "Thank you for allowing us into your home" When I stood upright again I could see her giving me an appraising look, her eyes glinting in the depths of her hood.

"He's unlike any Sentinel I have met before, Nino" she purred to my companion. "Is he running an emotion simulator?"

"No, Amanda, he is really like this" Nino replied. "David is a genuine AI in my opinion, although I don't understand how he was awakened"

"Maybe God will know the answer" the Matron pondered and gestured us to follow her with a lanquid wave of one pale hand. "The Tunneller knows all and will surely grant us an audience"

She opened another heavy door at the far end of the chamber, the mechanism opening with a hiss of displaced air as it revealed a much larger space beyond. Light and the sounds of gentle voices wafted over us, a scent of flowers and grass filling my olfactory sensors. Matron King beckoned us forwards so I went first, with Nino at my back, as we entered a paradise within the Deeps.

The chamber was immense, easily twice the length and height of the space that contained the town of Deep Below. Huge supporting arches of pale grey concrete rose from the distant walls, meeting far overhead where bright lights shone with a warming glow. Trees rose among flower beds and vegetable plots, birds dipping and chirping as they dashed between the greenery. Paths criss-crossed the vast space, with people in robes tending to the plants while mechanicals flew, rolled and walked amongst them, carrying tools and baskets to assist with the harvesting of food crops.

"This is incredible!" I gasped to the Matron. "How could such a place exist so far beneath the city?"

"God built it for us" Matron said and began walking along a tree-lined path towards a low, six-sided structure of white plascrete that squatted in the centre of the long chamber. The robed people we passed all paused in their work to offer greetings to Nino and myself, most reaching out a hand to touch the robes of the Matron as she swished past.

The workers appeared well fed and healthy, most with a tan on what flesh I could see and they represented a variety of human races. A few had obvious Enhancements such as metal arms or eyes and I saw one young woman with two cybernetic legs, striding like a long-legged bird between rows of leafy plants.

At the building the Matron halted and turned to ask Nino if she needed to replace her medical bag. During the brief stroll, the Doctor had told the Matron about the Skitterbug attack and the loss of the medical supplies she was bringing. Nino assured the Matron that she could give the Burrow's inhabitants their check-ups with the materials already on hand.

Inside the building it was laid out like an open plan dormitory, with bunk beds lined up on one wall, interspersed with tall lockers, and the other side a collection of tables, straight backed chairs and bookshelves filled with actual hard copy tomes. There were no entertainment consoles nor holo-screens that I could see, the walls adorned only with paintings and framed sketches done in charcoal and pencil.