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Chapter 4
Markus faintly heard voices telling him to wake up. They sounded so familiar but he didn’t care, he was just too tired. A smooth hand tapped his cheek, and he blinked his eyes open before mumbling, “Just five more minutes, Dad,” and shifting his head to rest on his other arm. The faint voices said something he didn’t catch. Then a sharp pain entered his mind as he felt a hand slap him roughly, the nails scratching his cheek. He hissed in pain and opened his eyes, gasping in surprise. He felt something begin to drip down his cheek, and made the attempt to wipe it away. He found he couldn’t move his arms, which were raised above his head. Looking up, he strained his neck to the side and saw his hands handcuffed together, with the black strip connecting them wrapped around a pipe.
“Look at that, sleeping beauty’s awake.” A man’s voice said sarcastically.
Markus then noticed he wasn’t alone. Looking forward, he saw that he was sharing a room with three other people. He was in what appeared to be a small storage closet on the same floor as the cooling system. Light brown boxes of various sizes were stacked around the room. The other three people were scattered around, one standing near him, one sitting on a box, and the last one standing near the door.
The person closest to him was a short, stocky, middle-aged woman with dark hair and several scars on her square, mannish face. Her hair was cropped short, and she was wearing a black jacket with the same patch as the man from before. Actually the outfit was the same except instead of pants; she had on a long, businesslike skirt. A submachine gun was holstered on her belt, and Markus could see the stock of a gun strapped to her back.
The man sitting on the box looked familiar, and then Markus realized he was the man who knocked him out. His long dark hair and untrimmed beard hid most of his face, which looked down at the floor. The long rod was sheathed in his belt, and Markus could make out the handle of another weapon on his other side. Looking closer, Markus could also see that his coat had thick leather padding on his chest, arms and legs.
Finally, the man leaning against the door was tall, dark skinned, muscular, bald, and dressed in the same fashion, but his coat lacked the leather. His patch on the shoulder was rimmed with gold, and had silver stars in the corner. He also wore a pair of small, bottle cap sunglasses, even though they were inside.
The dark man looked over at the door, then sighed and walked over to Markus. Kneeling down, he stared at Markus, who tried to meet his gaze but soon dropped his head. A minute passed in silence, and then the man broke the silence by asking,
“So tell me kid. What are you doing here repairing the system?”
His voice was deep and intimidating, the sound of a strong man who could easily snap a neck if he felt like it. Markus continued looking down as he answered, not wanting to meet the gaze of the man.
“I…uh…I was…She told me I needed to…”
“Who’s ‘She’?” The man interrupted.
“Uh…G.R.A.N, the…um,” Markus clenched his eyes shut as he tried to remember what G.R.A.N said. “The L.A.I that lives here.”
“You said L.A.I?” The dark man turned and looked over at the bearded man sitting on the box. “Mason, weren’t all A.I’s decommissioned before the Day?”
Mason looked up and nodded, saying, “Yea, President Pope Anderson declared them unholy, saying we weren’t supposed to do our god’s job. But it’s possible that one was missed. Something locked us in here.”
Erick nodded and turned back to Markus. Without warning, he punched Markus across the face. Markus’ head whipped over with the force of the blow, and he groaned in pain. His face was grabbed by Erick, who lifted Markus’ head up and gripped it so Markus was looking at him.
“Are you lying to me about the A.I? It’s not just some old lady on the intercom?”
Markus grimaced in pain as he tried to talk through Erick gripping his chin and face. “I’m not lying, I swear. I just did what I was told to do when I woke up here. I was in one of the cyro-chambers, it opened, and I fell out and somehow activated the facility. She’s here, I’m telling the truth.”
Erick stared for a moment, then let go of Markus and stood up. Sighing, he looked at the two in the room and asked, “What do you think?”
The woman thought briefly for a second before answering, “I think he’s lying. You know you can’t trust a street rat. Kids will try anything to get you where they can rob and kill you.”
Mason answered next, “No, no I don’t think he’s lying. Or at least he thinks he isn’t. I don’t know about the A.I, but look at him. He’s far too clean and pale to be a street rat. Not only that, but listen to him. He doesn’t talk like a street rat, doesn’t have the slang and idiocy they do. Besides Sheila, you just want to shoot him like you want to shoot everything else.”
Shelia stepped threateningly towards Mason, saying “I want to shoot everything because everything wants to kill me. Or have you been living under a rock for the last 35 years?”
Erick growled and said “That’s enough. Both of you quit it.”
The two people looked at Erick, then sighed and looked away. Erick knelt down in front of Markus again and looked at him through the sunglasses.
“Tell you what kid. Prove that your A.I exists, get it to let us out, and we’ll let you go.” Erick offered, his voice taking on a kinder tone.
Markus looked up at him with a hopeful gaze, then sighed and called out,
“Hey G.R.A.N, Are you there?”
There was no answer, no kind voice filling the air. Shelia looked at Erick and raised an eyebrow. Markus, a bit of panic creeping into his voice, called out again.
“G.R.A.N. um…I really need you here. Uh…” Markus looked at Erick and smiled weakly. Erick snorted, stood up and turned away. Markus saw him reach inside his coat, and then Erick quickly turned around and brought a small automatic pistol to his forehead. Snarling, Erick shoved the gun into Markus and growled,
“Listen you little rat, I do not like playing games. So you are going to tell us how to open this door or I swear I will shoot you right now.”
“I…I don’t…I can’t…” Markus sputtered, fear clogging his mind. He clenched his eyes shut to try and block the tears that began to cloud his vision.
“Now you stop that right now young man. Leave my Dearie alone.” An old, disapproving voice filled the air, startling the three people. Erick took the gun away from Markus and began aiming it around, trying to find where her voice was coming from.
“Who’s there?” Erick shoutezd.
G.R.A.N chuckled and said, “Oh, put that away, silly. I’m not really here. Now why don’t we all just calm down and talk this out. Can we do that?”
Erick snarled and put the pistol away. He took a minute to calm himself, and then asked, “Are you the A.I this kid was talking about?”
“I’m actually a L.A.I but yes, I’m G.R.A.N. I wish we could meet on more pleasurable circumstances Mr.…”
Erick nodded and replied, “My name is Erick, and my associates are Shelia and Mason.” Shelia nodded, Mason waved in the general direction of the door. Erick continued, “What does G.R.A.N stand for?”
“I’m the Generated Revival Assistant Nurse for this facility. I run everything. What are you doing here Mr. Erick?” G.R.A.N replied.
Erick shifted his weight to his other foot and said,
“Well, I’m here to access what any and all files this facility has on medical procedures, people, places, and anything else I deem necessary.”
“Oh well I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. You don’t have the clearance.” G.R.A.N responded cheerfully.
Erick blinked in surprise. “Clearance? What do you mean clearance?”
“Only the medical personal that have the correct passwords are allowed to access my files.” G.R.A.N said.
Erick gritted his teeth and growled, “I’m an agent for the State’s Holy Church, I’m entitled to view anything I deem necessary.”
G.R.A.N’s voice grew just slightly mocking as she answered, “I’m sure you are. However, you aren’t putting in the passwords. So I’m afraid I can’t let you access the locked files.”
Erick’s voice grew angrier as he demanded, “Then give me the passwords to access your locked files.”
There was silence as they waited for G.R.A.N’s response. After a few moments, her voice filled the air as she taunted,
“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t find those passwords. They just don’t seem to be in the system. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”
Erick let out a cry of anger as he grabbed one of the boxes and threw it on the floor. It burst open on impacts, sending piles of sterile bandages flying everywhere. He seethed in anger for a minute, then pulled out his pistol again and aimed it at Markus. He shouted to G.R.A.N,
“If you don’t let us out of this room and give us those files, I’ll kill him right now. "
“Kill him and you’ll never leave this room.” G.R.A.N shot back.
Erick clenched the gun tightly, making his knuckles go white as he stared at the wall in defiance. After a few moments, Mason stood up and walked over to Erick. Putting his hand on his shoulder, he whispered
“Listen, We can’t access the facility right now. Let’s concentrate on getting out of here, and then we’ll come back with an advanced hacker panel, alright.”
Erick turned and looked at Mason, who met his gaze steadily. After a few moments, Erick sighed and said, “Okay.”
Looking over at the wall where he estimated G.R.A.N’s voice was coming from, he said. “How about you let us go. We’ll keep him alive, we won’t try to access the panels, and in return you’ll open the doors and let us get out of here.”
G.R.A.N was silent for a moment before replying, “How do I know I can trust you? You’ve threatened to kill him twice now.”
Erick snorted, “Because if I kill him you’ll just lock us somewhere and let us starve to death.”
G.R.A.N was quiet again. After a few moments, the door to the room hissed open. Erick grinned and turned to Shelia, saying, “Bring the kid with us.”
G.R.A.N’s voice protested, “That was not in the deal young man. Why are you taking him?”
Erick chuckled softly, “Because if I don’t, then there is no guarantee I’ll get out of here safely. Trust me, once we get outside, I’ll let him go and he can run back in here.”
Shelia nodded and walked over to Markus. Pulling a key out of her jacket pocket, she pushed into one of his handcuffs and turned it. The black strip detached from that handcuff, and Markus let his hands fall. He rolled his shoulders gratefully for a few seconds before being grabbed by Shelia and dragged to his feet. He was shoved up against the wall, and the handcuffs were once again cuffed together behind his back. She grabbed the back of his neck and walked him forward, following the other two, which had already left the room. All four of them walked upwards through the facility, following the bright yellow strip that G.R.A.N had thoughtfully provided. The group made their way up the empty staircase and into the first floor. Navigating through the hallway that Markus had entered earlier, they made their way into the lobby and out the front door.
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