Terra Firma

Droids nest

Eli ran through different scenarios in his mind, he needed to come up with something quickly.

The vehicle stopped abruptly making them both hit the metal bars behind them with force. Eli tried to stop Luna from being injured almost wrapping himself around her. she was still out cold.

seconds later the droids were opening the back door and dragging them both out. Eli was taken away from Luna, separated. A large hatch appeared from the ground as they stepped onto it, it moved down under the ground. This must have been the droid hideout. They came to a large long tunnel painted white with lights running down for what looked like miles.

The lady with the green eyes wanted to see Eli in private.

The droids pushed Eli into one of the doors that seem to come out of nowhere. He stumbled into a very large room trying to regain his balance as he took everything in.  He took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves as his eyes met the green glow of the lady.

"Welcome back 6" Eli tried to stay calm and not give anything away. He noticed the other droids were stiff and calm so he wanted to act as nothing had happened; That Luna had just fixed him and let him go.

"I'm glad to be back" His voice was a little shaky as he corrected it quickly trying to sound robotic, straightening his posture as he spoke.

"Well... Sit down" She pointed at the chair next t her as she adjusted her hair that was tied up very neatly. When she spoke it wasn't robotic at all it was human. Eli knew she must be the queen bee in this droid nest, by the way, she commanded the droids around her.

"So are you going to tell me about your little adventure? finding the girl? " The lady spoke her word slowly and very clearly with almost a smirk on her face. Eli couldn't quite make out what her face was doing.

Eli paused, he didn't want to say the wrong thing, he had no idea what his mission was supposed to be apart from when Luna had wiped him and it had said his program had been to program and command remaining humans.

He fiddled with his fingers behind his back nervously so she couldn't see it. "Yes. I had been shot by a human I had been hunting down and then  I was left for dead by the other droids I was with. The girl came and she helped me"

Her green eyes studied him as he spoke like she was trying to get deep inside his mind. She crossed her legs and nodded.

"The girl helped you?" Eli sucked air into his lungs a little too quickly trying not to cough "Yes. She stopped the bleeding and removed the bullet" He wished he could remember this ladies name.

"The bunker?" She narrowed her eyes

" Yes, that's correct. That's where she fixed me" She walked over to a small table and poured herself a strong drink then sat back down again in her chair.

"And you helped her escape from capture"

Eli thought about her question trying to find the best answer he could on the spot. "Yes. She messed with my mind and told me that the droids had shot me and were coming to finish me off. I wanted to escape. I wasn't sure who was good or bad"

She held the round glass to her thin lips and took a deep breath in smelling the liquid before pouring some into her mouth. She took her time to respond as Eli stood as still as he possibly could.

"I understand, I can imagine you were confused; the information was classified. It was a trap all set up for the girl. You did well. She was on our radar for a long while now as someone important we needed. I think you had better go to tech support and get checked out to make sure you are fully functioning. I can't seem to reach your interface, 6."

She pointed at the door as she took another sip of her drink "Well done 6, your assignment is complete and regular duties can commence"

Eli held his hands stiffly by the sides of his body and walked slowly toward the doors. She seemed to trust him to leave by himself. If only he could remember where anything was. Would he be in trouble if he went to tech support?

questions ran through his mind. why was Luna important? where were they keeping her? He needed to find some answers and quickly.

The door seemed to just slip away into thin air behind him and he was left in the large white maze of corridors and bright lights.

He walked quickly along the corridor listening to every noise that escaped from the rooms. Footsteps came from ahead. Eli paused and waited for the droid to walk past him. The droid stopped and smiled at Eli. He looked different like Eli "Hello 6! good to see you made it"

Eli paused and thought of something to say quickly "Thank you. It's so good to be back. I can't wait to just go and get some R&R"

"I bet, I heard you ran into a few problems. Walk with me, I am heading to the dorms" he almost let out a loud phew. Eli smiled at the droid and walked with him.

They walked along the corridor for what seemed a good mile, then up a level were the colours changed to grey. The droid talked only about his duties as they walked. They reached a door with a strange plug logo on the front and the droid waited, looking at Eli smiling "You will have to download first before you rest 6. How could you not remember? Did you get hit on the head or something?"

Download, that doesn't sound very good.

Eli could feel panic again as he slowly pressed the button by the door waiting to see what he would be walking into next.