Artificial Exile Read online

  Malok briefly turned around, happy to see them. “Glad you are still alive! The Iorine guns are slowing them down, but we will run out of ammo soon, I am afraid,” he told them.

  “We may have another idea,” Jaina told him. “We need to get a shuttle, fill it with Iorine, and detonate it over them. It may disable them completely, if we can pull it off.”

  Malok took a moment to process the proposal, walking around them as he did so. After a few moments, he replied, “Who is going to fly the shuttle? The auto mode sends the shuttle into the warp gate above the planet to transfer it to Earth. Someone would need to fly it manually.”

  “Can’t we re-program its flight plan?” Bek asked.

  “It is programed on Earth, and I am only guessing that there is a manual mode. You know they are made in the AI factories; they don’t facilitate humans. There is no remote access,” Malok answered.

  “We have to go inside a shuttle and see what is possible,” Jaina told him. “Do you have any other plan?”

  “You are the only ones with a different plan…other than just waiting to die,” Malok told them. “If we were able to commandeer a shuttle, how do you propose detonating it?”

  “Don’t you have access to explosives? What about the ones that were in the base of the government tower and the water storage area?” Bek asked him nervously.

  “The explosives in the water storage were fake. We knew it would be the end of the people here if we placed real ones and detonated them. Yes, we did place some real explosives around the entrance of the tower, but they weren’t enough to bring it down on the city. It was a bluff: we wouldn’t risk so many lives. But there should be enough explosives leftover to destroy a shuttle. They’d have to be placed inside somehow.”

  “I see. Well, as I see it, that’s the best chance we’ve got then,” Bek told him. Malok went over to Denec, who was nearby, to tell him the plan.

  “They won’t stop advancing, and I don’t have any other ideas,” Denec told Malok. “Let me go with Abel, Bek and Jaina. I can help; I was a pilot. If there is a way to change the shuttle’s flight plan, I am the best bet you have for figuring something out quickly.”

  “Okay, go with them. We will hold on for as long as we can here and then fall back,” Malok told him.

  “I’ll do my best with the shuttles,” Denec told Malok, and they saluted each other. “Come on, let’s find a vehicle,” Denec instructed Bek, Abel, and Jaina. The four of them headed down to the street. Coming out of the entrance, they could see that the AI army was approaching.

  “Let’s move back,” Abel told them, and they headed to the streets in the back while the fighting continued.

  “Our forces will need to move farther back soon,” Denec told them while looking around for a vehicle.

  In a nearby street, they found a lightly crashed vehicle that wasn’t being used.

  “Maybe it still works, and they abandoned it because they didn’t have time to pull it back,” Abel said hopefully as they went toward it. The vehicle was a small cargo transporter with two seats in the front and a flat storage area in the back.

  “Push it back from the wall,” Denec told them, and all four tried pushing it away from where it had hit on one side. Slowly, they managed to free it. Denec tried to open the door; it was already unlocked. “They left it and ran, it seems. Get in,” he said as he took the driver’s seat. Bek and Abel climbed in the loading area behind the driver’s cabin, and Jaina joined Denec in the front.

  “Ready,” Bek told him. He and Abel grabbed onto the cabin while Denec started the vehicle and headed toward the square in the center of the city. As they were leaving, they heard the rogues shouting to everyone, “Move one block back!”

  “They are retreating to the next block already,” Bek told to Abel. “I hope they can last a bit longer.” The small transport vehicle moved as fast as possible through the abandoned streets. There were no people to be seen now; the only sounds they heard were of the fighting taking place behind them, which quieted as they headed toward the city center. Since there was no other traffic in the streets, it didn’t take long for them to reach the square. Denec drove the transport toward the entrance of the damaged tower.

  “Get out and follow me. I know where the explosives are placed,” he told them hastily. Bek, along with Abel, jumped down to follow Denec and Jaina as they got up the lobby stairs inside the base of the tower. “The explosives are near the entrance. To be visible from the outside, we put them on the pillars facing the entrance. They are not armed. Just remove them from the pillars, but be careful,” he said while he went to the first pillar and began undoing the tape that held the explosives in place.

  Bek went to the one closer to him. Abel and Jaina went to the remaining pillars farther inside. The explosives were in a square box with a detonator on them, but they looked like they were not activated. Bek started slowly removing the tape holding one explosive, and kept a good hold on it as it was loosened. Denec came to inspect the device Bek held, also holding one of his own. “Everything looks in order,” he told Bek. Jaina, with Abel, brought the rest for Denec to check. “They look exactly like they did when we left them. Let’s get them loaded into the truck,” he told them as they all headed outside.

  They went to the rear of the transport vehicle and placed all four explosives in the back. Entering the vehicle once more, they left the square, heading toward the city limits, and to the export center near the factories. The roads and buildings were eerily empty in this part of the city now as well, but after a while, they began to see people running toward the outskirts of the city. The number of people they passed gradually increased the farther they got from the square. They waved to the people to follow them and to continue going in that direction.

  Soon, they arrived at the edge of the city. A line of people had formed, heading toward the factory area, where a huge amount of Iorine was present. It was far away from the city, and close to the export center. “Move! Go toward the factories!” They pointed to the line of people, and they started heading in the same direction, outside the city. The line was long, and they saw vehicles coming back to get people and help move them forward. They were moving along the human line when suddenly, a loud noise came from inside the city. It sounded like buildings were collapsing. Everyone turned around and saw clouds of smoke rising. The firing stopped for a while, and then resumed.

  “The heavy tanks and mechs seem to be entering the city. I hope the rogues moved back in time,” Denec told them.

  “We should continue toward the export center; it’s our only chance,” Bek said to him. They resumed their travel along with the line of people. Visually tracing the human line that was heading toward the factories, they saw the export center in the distance. The center featured a launch pad and a loading area for the power cells that were to be fitted into the shuttles’ loading bays. The cells were filled with energy produced in the factories. There was also a parking area for the stationary shuttles.

  “Here we are,” Denec told them as they approached the center. No one looked to be guarding the entrance: it seemed that the guards had either gone to fight the robots, or fled. They drove through the open gate, and in front of them, stretched a vast area filled with parked cargo shuttles. The launch pad was at one end of the export center; on either side they could see shuttles that had been in the process of being loaded. However, the area was now completely deserted, and everything was still.

  “We need to go to the launch pad and take one of the shuttles that was ready to leave,” Jaina told them, as Denec continued driving. Approaching the launch pad, they saw a cargo shuttle parked in the landing area that looked like it was ready to take off. “It seems ready for exporting,” Jaina told them. Denec stopped the vehicle close by, and they all got out and approached it. As the robots needed to transport lots of energy to Earth, and also send water back to Cennan, the shuttles were huge. Their dual configuration made the loading bays flexible enough to transport both substances;
either water containers or power cells could be fitted into the shuttle’s loading bay.

  “This one was obviously ready to transport power cells,” Denec told them while inspecting it. “It should be ready to fly.”

  “Yes, but we need it to be filled with Iorine,” Bek replied.

  “We will remove the power cells and put in empty water containers,” Denec said to him. “The containers will need to be filled with Iorine. Once inside the containers, the Iorine won’t interfere with the shuttle, enabling it to fly.”

  “Iorine is processed in the factories farther from here,” Bek said. “We need to find a way to fly it as close to the factories as possible.”

  “Let’s find the control panel to unload the power cells first,” Denec said to them while going to the area that managed loading. “Look for empty water containers and bring them to the loading site,” he said. He found the control panel, and quickly checked the controls there. The shuttle was indeed ready to launch, but they needed to undo the loading process. Denec sat in front of the control panel and viewed the loading area in front of him. He then initiated the process of unloading the power cells. The shuttle opened in the rear, and a huge door came down slowly. From there, the six big power cells came from the back in a line. He then went to operate the loader, grabbing them one by one and moving them to the storage area. “You found any empty water containers?” he shouted as he was progressing with the removal of the power cells.

  “Yes, there are five here,” Abel shouted back. He was operating a small, movable loading crane they used to move around the empty water containers in the loading area. “We will be moving them close to the shuttle soon.”

  “Move them now!” Denec told them as he removed another power cell and put it to the side with the loader. He had soon removed all the power cells, and then he left the control panel. He walked closer to the cargo shuttle now that the loading bay was empty. Bek and Abel approached him after bringing the first empty container. “We need to see how we are going to fly it,” Denec told them. “I am going inside.” Denec entered from the rear door into the loading bay, which was now empty. The cargo shuttles had been made by the AI, so they didn’t have any pilot seats, but Denec knew that humans here were able to work on them—fix problems and repair problematic shuttles. So, there must be some way to maneuver them around here, he thought as he progressed inside toward the front of the shuttle. He didn’t see a panel moving forward, but after reaching the end of the loading bay, he searched on a metal wall and found a panel labelled “Maintenance”. This must be it, he thought, as he was sure that humans maintained the shuttles here on Cennan, and the robots performed that task back on Earth. He removed the cover from the metal wall and revealed a screen that could be used by a technician working on the shuttle to test power, and perform other tests. He spent time going through the options.

  Bek approached him. “We have placed the empty containers outside the shuttle,” he said in a rush. “Can you fly it?” he asked.

  “From what I’ve gathered by messing around in here, it’s possible. Open the hatch below us. It looks like I can access it,” Denec replied. Bek crouched down and turned the handles on the maintenance hatch on the metal floor. An entrance was revealed below that allowed technicians to access the shuttle.

  “It should provide some visual to have orientation while flying,” Denec told him. “We should load the empty containers and fly as close as possible to the factories to fill it with Iorine,” he continued as they both exited the shuttle from the back. Denec went to the control panel and carefully started loading the empty water containers into the rear of the shuttle. He completed the process faster than unloading the power cells. After he had finished, Bek and Abel closed the rear shuttle door. Denec ran back and approached them. “I will try to fly it to the factories. Get back some distance and then follow me with the vehicle when I head in the direction of the factories,” he said. Denec then went underneath the shuttle and entered from the hatch, but left it open. After all, he needed to see where he was flying, and the flight didn’t involve leaving Cennan. He approached the maintenance panel and turned on the shuttle. He pushed power to the vertical boosters, and Bek, along with the others, hurried away from the shuttle just as it was starting to lift off. They went farther away, and saw the shuttle climbing steadily. It then turned, going in the direction of the factories. It stopped part way for a while, then resumed again. Slowly, it started moving steadily toward the factories.

  “Get in the vehicle. We are going to follow him,” Bek told the others. They climbed into the vehicle, following behind the shuttle as it slowly glided above the orange ground of Cennan. They drove along next to the line of people going to the factories. Some were stopping to take a look at the shuttle gliding close by, but Bek continued following it at a steady pace. They moved along the line when the factory area started to appear in front of them. Iorine puddles were formed in the area, and bigger lakes were in the distance. While approaching the factory closest to them, they observed the cargo shuttle starting to shake.

  “There is a lot of interference in the area; he can’t go farther,” Abel told Bek. Sure enough, they soon saw the shuttle reduce speed, and land slowly on the ground. Bek drove up to the shuttle and Denec emerged from the hatch. “I don’t think I’m going to get any closer,” Denec said.

  “The factory is close enough. We can push wagons with Iorine to the shuttle, and load it in,” Bek replied while looking at the area that was full of people arriving from the city. Their numbers even spread farther away, among the Iorine lakes. Bek climbed on top of their vehicle and faced the crowds. “People of Cennan, we need your help. The AI army isn’t stopping. We don’t have much time. Help us load this shuttle!” he urged the people who had gathered around them in front of the factory. People stayed put, just watching him for a while, but soon, everyone realized they had no choice and they rushed into the factory. “Some of you should come here to the shuttle. We need to bring the empty containers outside,” he told them. Bek got down and went to the rear of the shuttle. He opened the cargo door, and when it came down, Abel and other people from the area who had come to help dragged the first water container outside. “Continue with the rest,” Bek told them, and he headed toward the factory. “Abel, follow me,” and they both went inside.

  The factory was not functioning, but many wagons were filled, and waiting to be processed into energy. He went to the one closest to the entrance, and along with Abel, they started pushing it outside. They were joined by people helping them, and this made moving the heavy wagon much easier. “Get more wagons and follow us,” he told the people entering the factory, and by pushing the first one, they managed to bring it outside, close to the empty water containers.

  Denec was there with all of them unloaded. “We should put the explosives on top of the containers from the outside. We have four sets of explosives, so only four containers need to be filled.”

  Bek nodded in agreement, and they pushed the Iorine-filled cart to the side of the first container. “Everyone lift!” he told them, and Denec, along with other people, came to help lift it and push it to the side, so that the Iorine started to drain inside the empty container from the side port. The container slowly started filling with Iorine, and then they let the empty wagon down as another one was coming from the factory.

  “Bring more!” Denec said to the people helping as the crowd around them grew bigger. Loud explosions could be heard from the city as more wagons came loaded with Iorine for the containers. They filled the rest as fast as they could. They were heavy, but they had help now, making their work faster. “Okay, all four are filled as much as possible. Lift me up to the top to position the explosives,” Denec instructed them when they were finished filling the fourth one.

  They were tired, but Bek and Abel lifted Denec up, and gave him the first explosive. He placed it on top of the container, slowly placed tape to hold it, and then armed it. He got the detonator from it and jumped to t
he next Iorine-filled container. He continued placing the explosives as he looked toward the city in the distance, where the fighting continued and smoke was seen as more buildings collapsed. When he had finished placing all four sets of explosives, he grabbed all the detonators and jumped down.

  “Have you figured a way to guide the shuttle into the city?” Jaina asked him when he got down.

  Denec didn’t reply. He simply shook her hand. “Yours is the only plan that we have. I hope it saves the people here,” he told her, and then he shook hands with Bek and, lastly, Abel. “You fought well with us. We are determined to fight the robots to the end—to liberate all of us,” he said. Denec then turned slowly away from them, and passed through the crowd as he readied himself to board the shuttle.

  “Load the Iorine containers into the shuttle!” Bek told everyone around them, and the people there rushed to push the four heavy containers back into the cargo hold. He and Jaina walked toward Denec, who was preparing to command the shuttle.

  “I didn’t know we couldn’t find a way to safely fly the shuttle,” Jaina told Denec.

  “With the situation we are in, we don’t even have time to check for other ways. It’s the only way the city might survive this attack,” Denec replied to her, reassuring her. “I have to do this. I have to fly it,” he said, taking a look toward the city, then eyeing the ground and calculating how to navigate while looking down from the hatch. “Denec, I …,” Bek went over to him. “I didn’t believe in fighting the robots. But now I see that it is the only way. Humanity can’t be just a resource to be used.”

  “I realized you didn’t care much,” Denec said to him with a small smile on his face. “But this isn’t our planet: it is our prison…And we need to be free,” he told Bek, patting him on the back.

  “All is loaded now, Mr. Denec,” Abel came to them and reported.