I don't spot Chris and Robert again until I've jogged across the iTronics lobby and out into the street. I see them walking further into the center of town, the old man being dragged roughly by his son through the wide boulevard.
I follow them as quick as I can, ignoring the crowds that are tittering confusedly as they gather under on of the city's giant digital billboards.
"Andrea!"
I stop in my tracks at the sound of my husband's voice. I turn towards the crowd and see him striding towards me. He looks healthy, clean and safe, and I breathe a sigh of relief at seeing him.
"Austin!"
I can't say anything else. I walk quickly to him, and snuggle my face into his shoulder as he wraps me in an embrace. The digital lady has started talking again, and everyone on the street is riveted to her voice.
But I can't hear what she's saying. None of it matters anymore. I squeeze a tear from each eye and then swallow my emotions.
"Andrea, where have you been?" He mumbles into my hair, his voice cracking. "I was so worried."
"It's...I've been...it's long story." I look up at him.
I realize that I've left a mark of grime and sweat on his crisp white button-up shirt. I must look as if I've been through a war.
His hands close on either side of my face as he looks into my eyes. "Are you all right?"
"I will be. I just have to finish this." I start to pull away from him reluctantly.
He stops me with a firm hand on my shoulder. "Finish what?"
I involuntarily glance down the street to where Chris drags his father between the short stone building and the mirrored glass towers. Austin follows my gaze.
"Not this again, Andrea."
"I have to. That's his father."
"So what?"
"So he's bound to do something horrible. And I have to stop it before it happens."
"Why you?" He asks quietly.
"Because I -"
"Andrea, can't you see that everything's changed now. We don't have to worry about anything anymore. He can do whatever he wants. He can't touch us now. You don't have to go back to work, you don't have to be an iTronics executive anymore. We can do whatever we like. We can bring whoever we want here from Earth. Or we can go back. Or not. Don't you see that they've given us utopia?"
"I do see that, I know," I protest. "But he doesn't. That's the problem. He not willing to let go of everything else...and I have to catch up to him before something bad happens."
"And you're the only one who can do it?"
"I don't know. But I've got to do something. I have to try."
"Andrea, you can't. I can't lose you. Not again."
Suddenly, I have a thought. "Then come with me."
"What?"
"Come with me, Austin. Help me stop this."
#
When Austin and I finally catch sight of Chris again, we can see that he's headed to the Forum in the center of town. Modeled and named after one of the most famous meeting places on Earth, the New Roman Forum is a long, short building. It looked, like many of the buildings in New Rome, like an amusement park example of classical architecture. I felt as though if I walked up to one of the pillars and knocked on it, it would sound hollow.
Austin and I run toward the building and watch as Chris scurries through a small crowd of Anti-Robotists. One of them shouts at him and tosses a long, metallic object to him.
"Did you see that?" I call to Austin between panting breaths.
"Yes. It was a gun." He looks back at me. "Andrea, this is serious. Shouldn't we call the authorities?"
"Oh, and who would that be?" I ask back. "The bots?"
We see Chris enter the building from a side door. A moment later, we follow him in. Beyond the door is a a long set of winding hallways that eventually empty into a broad gallery space. The history of the human race, its various exploits that led to this point, are all gathered and placed under glass.
At the other end of the room is an exit. We hear a bang like a car backfiring and look at each other with surprise. We both run through the exit. We take a sharp turn into another hallway. As I round the corner behind Austin, I notice an android with a thick body and blank face at the end. It is slumped against the wall, a hole blasted into the side of its chassis.
I can see Chris' figure through the door. It leads to another wide space, and the front entrance of the Forum. I run after Austin and we both enter the foyer before I realize that Chris has the gun trained on the temple of his father.
"What are you doing, Chris?" I call to him. "This was never part of your plan."
"I'm improvising," he replies. "What else am I supposed to do? The plan is dead. How can I lead the Anti-Robotists now? The bots aren't under my control and they never were, were they?" He asks me accusingly.
"But it doesn't matter now. It's over," Austin calls to him. "There's no reason to fight anymore."
"Why is he here?" Chris calls, as if it weren't the most natural thing that I'd be by my husband's side. His eyes are filled with rage.
"Maybe you should just go, Austin."
"And leave you here with him? Are you crazy?"
I turn my attention back to Chris. This isn't the time to have a bickering match. "You don't have to do this. It's fine, Chris. Everything's fine now."
"Maybe for you. But what am I supposed to do? What is my life now? Everything I've accomplished, everything I fought for. None of that matters now. What am I supposed to do now that they can't already do? What's the point of life without the fight?"
"This is not the way," I bellow.
"Oh, really?" He inches backwards towards the main exit as he speaks.
"Put the gun down, Chris," I urge, trying to step forward in front of Austin. It wasn't a good idea to bring him with me.
"I always knew you'd be a traitor to the cause. Too used to the soft life. Too attached to a lazy way of living."
"You don't know what you're talking about," I spit in fury.
"No," his father gasps as they slink backwards. "You have to help me," he says as he looks at me. Terror fills his eyes.
Chris drags Robert out through the door. I run after them, head bowed.
In front of the Forum is a set of wide, shallow steps that lead to the plaza beyond. Out on the grand steps, Chris raises his gun once more to his father's temple.
There is no one else to save Robert but me.
No!" I cry as I rush forward.
A shot rings out, splitting the peace of the overcast day.
(Continued in Chapter 97...)