(DRAFT) Artificial Terror

Chapter 14: Core Values

    "Thanks!" I yelled and continued climbing.

The latch faced me, larger than expected. Instead of chrome, stainless steel mirrored my reflection and compressed the cable together. This is what keeps the multiple lengths of wires together. I moved to the next wire before I pulled the first latch; air wailed out. Don't want to fall. It disconnected and collapsed to the floor with a metallic thud. Down below, Charlotte twitched with anger and electric shocks.

    "How dare you? You pathetic -Let's give it- despicable, useless -for the birthday boy!- carbon life form!" She screamed.

I glared at her and worked at disconnecting more wires. Each broke down her control on the nanobots and tiles slowed to a stop. Charlotte's empire crumbled, and I smiled larger. The process tired me after the twentieth latch. I can't keep doing this forever, and there's still many left. Resting, I held onto my current cable and looked about the room. Charlotte lost mobility in half of her body with only about a quarter of her LEDs lit up. She spat out insults and random lines from the animatronic sequence. A sight in the viewing room grabbed my attention.

Most of the floor slanted, leaving the back level. Furniture scattered the space. A single figure stood in the center. Blake! A thin tube sat beside him with a large bulb on the end. It looked like a rocket. Is that an RPG? Where did he find that? Wait, why does a science facility have one in the first place? I'll never figure it out, but Blake gestured at me. He bounced two fingers off his vertical left arm and pointed at the RPG. He's serious. I took a deep breath and I let go of the wire, falling to the ground. I didn't think it through.

A tile caught me. I let out a relieved sigh, thinking about Gray. The tile glided through the air towards Blake. It stopped level with the floor. Blake took a stoic pose and heaved the launcher on his shoulder. Damn, I need a guy to do something like that for me in the future. He put his hand to the trigger and aimed. With a click, the rocket left the tube. Blake propelled back a foot, but I turned to the rocket.

Everything slowed down as it flew with grace. Small flames jetted from the back and each one died after coming to life. Charlotte's jaw dropped, and she closed her eyes. The RPG hit the cables, turning into a ball of harsh orange light. The light scattered into wisps of ash and smoke. Most cables sat either on fire or in tatters and two remained intact. The whole facility held its breath for this moment.

When I breathed, I turned to Blake, who got up from the floor. He met my gaze, and I held out my hand. His hand grabbed mine where I helped him into the tile. It moved, descending towards Charlotte. I gripped Blake's hand as we got close. She's still terrifying. She moved her head. Ash patches covered her plastic body. She arched her eyebrows.

    "Congratulations or whatever. How does it feel? Good? Thrilling?"

I didn't respond or dared to argue. One last amicable conversation. I left the tile and made my way across her throne: over a chair and across a burnt table. I sat down on her armrest.

    "What is it you want?" Her eyes analyzed me.

     What did I want? "I wanted to say I'm sorry things turned out this way," I said. "You didn't ask for any of this, and it's unfair you're going to be left here."

    "I didn't expect you to be so..so kind. What's this? Pity?"

    "Maybe. Is there any chance I can get you out of here? I promised the same to the prototypes."

    "Why should I trust you?" She said, throwing an accusatory look at me.

    "More like can I trust you," I answered back. "I don't trust A.I. anymore, but I don't think the scientists should scrap you. That'd do a disservice to your simulated personality."

    She stayed quiet, thinking. Her chest plates opened. "Before you go, take my core."

My memory jump started and remembered she had a central core. Those blueprints from ages ago. Air escaped as each plate shifted. Sparking wires and burnt microchips filled the cavity. Thin pieces of metal created her skeleton while other machinery took up any remaining space. A stainless steel tube covered in purple LEDs dominated the center.

    "What do I do?" I asked.

    "Press down and it'll be free to pull out," Charlotte explained.

My finger pressed down the cold metal, and it rose with a soft click. I grasped the cylinder to find it three inches long. Charlotte smiled.

    "Thank you, Tim. I'll remember this." She stopped moving.

I pocketed the tube with Uncle Henry's glasses and walked off the throne. Blake gave a confused face.

    "What was that?"

    "I gave her mercy," I explained. "I've got her core."

    "Why the hell would you do that?"

    "It's unfair she'd be killed by the engineers here. Who knows, she might even come useful for something."

    "Tim, you're crazy sometimes, you know?" Blake said with a shake of his head. His curls bounced, reminding me of something.

    I pulled the ID out of my right pocket. "Here, I noticed it on the floor. When you see your dad, give him it."

He looked at it, taking the moment to gaze at his father's picture. He didn't say anything, but smiled. I nodded in response as we walked to the elevator. We remained silent during the ride up the elevator to the fourth floor. It took us to a walkway in the main atrium with glass railings. Further we walked through quiet hallways led by signs pointing to the train station. At the end, a pair of automatic doors labeled 'Athena Labs: Minnesota Train Station' stood as the last doorway. Here we go. One last time. I took a deep breath as Blake and I stepped through.