Robots Never Dream

Into the Fire

Duncan stood there for a moment, shocked that this was all finally happening. He looked at them all. They were huddled in the corner of the elevator, some just waking from sleeping on the few blankets and backpacks they had. The others were at the door with stone knives at the ready. One of those was Markus.

Markus was taller than the rest of the children and had a temper to match, and ever since they had left for the surface he declared himself the leader of the group. Nobody was big enough or willing to challenge him, so the declaration stood.

He looked at Duncan, his knuckles white as he over gripped the handle of his crude stone knife.

“Who er' you??” he said, fear in his voice.

“I'm here to help. I've been waiting for you. All of you. My name is...” He wasn't able to finish because Markus cut him off.

“Liar!” He yelled. “You're lying!” He hurriedly brushed a clump of matted black hair from his eyes. The boy was visibly dehydrated, and as Duncan looked around at the others he realized that they were all in pretty rough shape.

Just then a girl stepped forward and stood next to Markus. She was almost his height with long blonde hair that was in desperate need of a good wash. She, along with the other 5 girls, was wearing a long, dirty white dress and a pair of oversized leather boots.

She looked at Markus, “Markus, he is human...” She looked back at Duncan, then at Markus again. “What if he's one of the others?”

Markus looked at her, then back at the stranger. “What's your name, stranger?”

“My name is Duncan Orestone, and I am the sole survivor of the 5th Exploration Team. I have been waiting for you, all of you, for 40 years.” He fought back the tears that threatened from behind his eyes and took a deep breath. This was the first time he had seen humans since the night his last friend died all those years ago.

“Juda, get up here with that list!” Markus yelled over his shoulder.

A short, slender girl with black hair cropped around her shoulders approached from behind with a piece of yellowed parchment paper. She followed a list of names downward with her pale fingertip and stopped near the middle.

“Here it is Markus. Duncan Orestone. I don't think he's lyin'.” The girl said, looking up at Duncan.

“What do you think, Orie?” Markus said, looking at the blonde girl next to him.

She looked at Duncan. Duncan looked at her. She was definitely older than most of the others. So were the other two, Markus and Juda, and as he looked around he noticed that almost all of them were teenagers. Only a few appeared to be 12, which was the age the entire group should've been. It was part of the Exploration Standard Protocol. That much he remembered. Puzzled, but lacking the time for questions, he decided to wait before pressing the issue. Clearly, something was wrong below the surface if they were sending teenagers top side.

“I'm not sure, but his name is on the list, and we were told that there was gonna be a chance of survivors. I think he's legit.” She walked forward and extended her hand in greeting. Markus tried to grab her but she pushed him away and kept advancing until she met with Duncan.

The two shook hands. Considering it was the first time he had touched another human in almost 40 years, he did a good job of hiding his anxiety.

“They might buy your s**t, stranger, but I ain't so easy fooled. How the hell are you the only one survived up here? It just don't make no sense.” Markus spat, kicking at the sand and rocks that filled the elevator entryway.

“Markus, you can either trust me, or you can find out for yourself. I will tell you everything you need to know. But we have to go, now.” Duncan shifted his weight, suddenly aware of some unknown danger. A sense of urgency rushed over him. A feeling that'd saved him many times before. It was the Orb, whatever it was, warning him of some unseen threat from the shadows.

A voice came from the hallway, it was T.A.I. “Mr. Duncan, we have a threat approaching from the north. Long-range scanners display 15 humanoids. Matching the ones we encountered earlier. How would you like to proceed?”

“How much time before they're here?” He yelled back.

“T-minus 2 hours 27 minutes 32 seconds. They keep a steady pace of 25mph and are heavily armed as well.”

Duncan cursed and spit on the ground. “OK, time to go. I have water and food for all of you. Enough to get us through the day. If we leave now, we'll be at camp by nightfall. I have clothes and more food and supplies waiting for us there. Are any of you injured?”

“No, we are all fine.” Orie replied, glancing at the others.

“Listen, old man.” Markus said sharply, stepping forward, his hand still gripping the hilt of his stone blade. “We ain't going nowhere with you. Now you just run the frack along and leave us alone. Even if you was Duncan Orestone, why'd we give a mole's ass? All 'at means is you didn't save your last group, so why'd we be any different?”

The last statement stung and Duncan almost lost his composure, but instead, he stepped in close to the young man's face and smiled, “Boy, you are seven different ways from dyin' a horrible death out here. One of them ways being how you got that knife pointed.” He looked down at the crude blade pointed toward his belly, then back into the unsure eyes of Markus Steamson.

“Now the way I see it is you got two options.” Duncan was practically nose to nose with Markus, bent over slightly to make eye contact. Out of his peripheral, he could see Oriella and Juda rounding up the smaller children and leading them off the elevator with their bags and supplies. “Option one. You can drop the tough guy act and listen. You're safe with me and I'm DONE arguing about it. Grab your pack and come with us.”

“And what's option two?” Markus said with anger.

Duncan sidestepped to the left, putting his body parallel to Markus' knife arm. In one fluid motion, he gripped the boy's wrist, twisted it upward, and pulled the knife free from Markus' hand. Duncan whipped it at the far wall and as his other arm went under Markus' chin he stepped in behind him and whispered “Option two is death, Markus. You ever died before?”

Markus shook his head as much as the grip would allow.

“Well, there's a lotta' ways to die out here, boy, and I'm the nicest.”

He let him go with a slight shove. “Make your choice.” He said, looking back. “It looks like the rest are ready to go.” Behind him were the other 11 children, each one carrying a pack or bundle of some sort, looking at the two of them with uneasy anticipation.

Markus knew he was no match for the stranger, so, reluctantly, he went to his pack and tossed it on his back. After dislodging his knife from the wall and returning it to his belt, he joined the rest of them and said, “I choose livin'.”

“Good. Now let's get outta here.” Duncan moved hastily to the far wall where he had tossed Markus' knife. “T.A.I.! Need your assistance, please.”

“Yes, Mr. Duncan.” Came TAI's voice from not too far away. The children looked around, unsure of what to expect and when he hovered into view they were surprised.

None of them had seen a Mech before, not one like this. In the Under Dome, they had some robots, but none that could talk. Most ran on ancient human tech. None were part of the Mechanized Race. Nobody in the human city even knew the Mech Race existed.

A few of the younger kids shied away, but for the most part, they seemed unafraid and curious.

One of them, a small skinny boy with dark skin and big brown eyes, walked up to the Mech and smiled.

“Hi, my name is Peter.” He stuck his hand out at T.A.I.

“Hello, Peter. I am... T.A.I.” He said, unable to shake the young boy’s hand. He continued forward past the children to where Duncan was standing, studying an old leather book.

“Is that a book, Mr. Duncan?” He inquired.

“Yes, it is T.A.I.” He replied, returning the item to his backpack. He turned to face TAI, “Now, I'm going to input some coordinates into your GPS. I need you to remain still.”

“Yes, Mr. Duncan. I will remain stationary. Where do the coordinates lead?” He asked.

“It’s a place we can all be safe for a while.” He talked as he opened a side panel on the S-1 framework, pushed a few buttons, and then shut it again. “Build up our strengths and supplies. Maybe even make a home.” Duncan pushed on a discolored stone and the wall slid aside with a loud scrape. “There we go.” He said with a smile.

“OK T.A.I., you first. Activate your lights and follow the tunnel. It only goes one way. South.”

Duncan looked at the children. “Kids, follow my friend T.A.I. I'll be right behind you. No matter what, just keep moving. I'll catch up. I promise.” He ushered the party into the hidden tunnel and yelled at T.A.I. one last time. “Keep them safe T.A.I. No matter what. Keep them safe.” He shut the stone door and as it latched felt the true weight of his task sink in.

How was he going to keep these children safe from the hell that awaited? Even now, in the very first minutes of their arrival on the surface, there was a threat that Duncan had to deal with. Not the worst situation he had been in, but a threat, nonetheless.

He went back up to the ground level of the old church and re-concealed the trap door. It was still early but the desert heat was already baking the sand around him, making every move more demanding than it should've been. He dropped his backpack to the ground at his feet and began withdrawing its contents.

Duncan learned the hard way more than once that it was always a wise idea to take an inventory of available materials and weapons before a battle. If, of course, you were given the time to do so. In this case, he had plenty of time to assess his options.

The first thing he pulled out was an old hand ax with a carbon-fiber handle and a stainless-steel head. It had the words 'SURVIVE' carved into the hilt. He placed it on the ground and pulled out the leather book that he had been reading earlier. After setting that aside, he withdrew a bag of gadgets and set them down on the sand. Each one had a lens mounted to a swivel bracket with an antenna about an inch long. These were motion sensors.

He again reached into the pack and this time used two hands to retrieve a large wooden box. He set it on the sand in front of him and knelt down to open the lid. It came off with a pop and inside were three vials filled with a neon green liquid. Duncan checked the stability of each vial, then replaced the lid and carefully set the box next to the bag of motion sensors.

A roll of wire, two small solar cells, and a tube of electrical putty were also set in the collection to his left, along with a 12”x8” LCD monitor, a set of headphones, and a few pieces of scrap aluminum.

Duncan had a plan, but how good it was he wouldn't know until the point of no return, which was coming in less than an hour now.

He returned all the other items to his backpack and threw them back over his shoulder. Then he scooped up the pile of remaining items, carefully grabbed the box of vials, and headed for the bell tower. If everything went according to his hastily concocted plan, then in less than two hours this church bell was going to ring for the first and last time in a long time.