Across the Wildlands (Book One: The Wildlands)

Episode Six- The A.I

The apartments felt like they were closer before. Though, maybe things just seemed further away when danger was close behind.

Alex used every ounce of control to not look behind her. She could only imagine the horde of Patrolmen at their heels—aiming guns that had appeared from thin air. Like a pack of hungry wolves, chasing their prey down.

There was no one behind them, and they made it to the apartments without bringing any attention to their escape.

Cicero was the first to open the door to the lobby. Cold air washed over them, a welcome relief from the statically charged air outside. They crowded in and let the door close behind them.

"No one's supposed to be back yet. Didn't you hear the surrendered positions alert?"

Everyone spun around at the familiarly annoying, shrill voice. A bubble from a piece of pink chewing gum popped loudly, followed by the sound of metal against metal.

"Uh-oh," Alex managed out before being pushed to the ground.

She hit the carpeted ground in time to hear the whoosh of a knife pass above her head. The blade lodged itself in the wall behind them. Alex whipped her head around and saw the girl they'd passed leaving the apartments launch herself over the desk she had been sitting behind.

The girl threw her arm back before launching another blade in their direction. Cicero was quick to catch the knife mid air, his reflexes as a Keeper adept for such a fight. He dropped the weapon to the ground and looked with a rather irritated expression toward the attacker. 

Alex climbed to her feet and darted for cover by the donation bags. Ace followed close behind her. They kept low enough to avoid any stray knives thrown in their direction. Though Ace's own weapons were stashed amongst the donation pile, neither were foolish enough to step into a fight the Keepers could finish easily enough without them interfering.

Not that I could help much, Alex thought, frowning.

"I'm programmed to eliminate anyone that doesn't listen to the Patrolmen. It seems I was right to be suspicious of you earlier. Am I correct in assuming you four are acting so idiotically for a reason?" The girl gave a small chuckle. "You think you're clever, don't you? Hiding the signal of the nanites somehow."

"Only Ace thinks he's clever. The rest of us know that trying to be clever gets you in trouble," Rollo retorted. She stepped back with one foot, readying herself for a fight.

"They created you with an A.I system, right? Artificial intelligence gives you the ability to think rationally. Surely you know that what you're doing, what the Achilles is doing, isn't right," Cicero tried to reason.

A laugh echoed through the lobby. "Maybe I do, but I don't quite care. I'm made of metal and wires, not flesh and bone like the rest of you. Mankind deserves what it's gotten, and I'll be here long after you all rot away."

"Ugh, what an awful girl," Alex groaned. She was squatting behind the corner of a wall, Ace beside her, and the two watched with anticipation.

"She's hardly a girl," Ace said. "Not even human, and I'm glad she's not. Could you imagine her having children?"

Alex looked with a raised brow at him, but ultimately gave a nod in agreement. More people like her, like the Achilles, would be rather awful.

The sound of metal on metal screeched out again. Alex looked curiously at the source of the noise and noted a knife dropping into each of the girl's hands. The weapons had appeared from some kind of compartment in her forearms.

Another knife flew at Rollo and Cicero, who both dodged the blade easily. It was apparent trying to throw the weapon would be useless, so she resorted to running full force at them. Cicero stepped back, clearly being well aware of the fact he was not the better fighter of the two. Rollo crossed over between the oncoming force and Cicero.

Alex dug her fingernails into the wall, watching closely as the knife fell out of the girl's right hand only to be caught by her left. She was trying to outwit her opponent and use Rollo's one arm to her advantage.

Rollo was just as quick thinking. As the knife swung around, Rollo ducked beneath the approaching arm and stepped to the right. She was on her opponent's left side, well away from the swing of the blade, and landed a punch.

It was as if two equal forces were meeting. Rollo hardly flinched as her well-aimed hit had barely any effect. Again, the knife dropped, and the girl caught it with her right hand. She gave a wide arc and came around with the knife. Rollo blocked her easily and returned with a strong front kick directly to her abdomen. Having awkwardly turned to land a hit, Rollo was able to knock the girl off balance. She landed heavily on her back, and the knife clattered from her hand.

Rollo barely gave time for her adversary to hit the ground before she picked the knife up and drove it deep into the girl's neck. The blade pierced into the floor. Though nauseating to watch, the girl wasn't actually a girl—as Ace had said. There was no blood or graphic death. In fact, the A.I was still blinking, although paralyzed since the blade had torn through vital wiring.

"Being made of wires and metal isn't so great, huh?" Rollo said, ripping the knife out from where it had lodged.

Turning the girl's head to the side, Rollo used the edge of the blade to peel back a layer of synthetic skin on her neck. Alex and Ace walked over in time to see Rollo pull out a small microchip. As soon as she withdrew the chip, the girl's eyes turned to an unsettling pure white color.

"That holds everything she recorded, huh?" Ace questioned.

Rollo nodded her head in response and stood up. "Everything she heard and saw."

"And everything she was," Alex added. She couldn't help but see the microchip as a life—thoughts and emotions darting around in its confines.

"Yeah, but let's face it. The girl was a real bitch." Ace plucked the microchip from Rollo's hand and peered closely at it. "She was given the ability to think, and she lined right up with those assholes. You'd think given what we're all going through here, she would try to help or something."

"I take it she won't be the first, A.I or human, we meet that feels the way she did. I just hope there's more optimistics out in the world. Where are we going, now?" Alex asked, gaze prying away from the microchip.

There weren't a lot of options for them to choose from. If they stayed, they faced being discovered by the Patrolmen. The dead A.I would give them even more reasons to be suspicious. If they left, supposed Avoiders were waiting outside the city, and beyond that was simply the unknown world.

"We're getting out of here, like we agreed to before. We'll figure it out along the way," Rollo replied. She walked over and grabbed her bag from the pile, tucking the microchip into one of the bag's pockets. "While they're busy by the music hall, we can slip past any guards left at the gates."

"Are you sure?" Alex doubted their ability to get by undetected.

Rollo shrugged her shoulders at the uncertainty and motioned for everyone else to grab their belongings.

"We'll be fine," Cicero directed his assurance to Alex. "We always are."

--