Chapter 6
The tunnel let out in a dark alley. I could see the work bridges. They weren't that far away, maybe a mile or two.
"Are we safe?" Asked Sauli.
"I think so," I replied.
"Where's Ann?" I looked down at the ground and shut my eyes tightly.
"She's…. She's gone Sauli." Sauli came over to me and rubbed my back.
"It's ok," he said, "We will always remember her." I looked at Sauli. He was smiling at me. I smiled back. He managed to make me feel much better. Suddenly, we heard a voice.
"Halt!" A dark figure in an advanced looking armor approached us. It pointed a long weapon at us with electrical sparks coming out the end. "State your business here, work droids!" I pushed Sauli behind me to protect him and stood my ground.
"We were just on our way to the work bridges."
"Liars!" Cried the armored droid. "Prepared to be neutralized!" I closed my eyes and turned away as the weapon came closer to my face. Suddenly, the sparks disappeared. The armored droid looked down at the book in my hand. "Where did you get that?" It asked.
"This?" I asked as I raised the book up. "I…got it from…um…."
"Did you get that from a droid that goes by Ann?"
"Yes," I replied.
"I see…" said the armored droid. The droid lowered its weapon and rested it against the wall. The droid took off its helmet, revealing it to be a female. "Well," she said, "any friend of Ann's is a friend of mine." She outstretched her hand for me to shake it. "My name is Kat. Katatronic Android Tech unit. And you are?"
"Adam," I said, shaking her hand. "And this is Sauli, my partner."
"Pleasure to meet you both," she said. "Now, what are you guys really doing out here?"
"We just came out of this tunnel," I said, gesturing towards the tunnel. "Ann told us to come down here. You must be the ally she mentioned."
"Yes," replied Kat, "that's me. Ann must really trust you two for her to lead you to me."
"Trusted…" whispered Sauli from behind me.
"What does he mean by that?" Asked Kat. I sighed loudly.
"Ann…is gone. Before we escaped down the tunnel, I saw Ann pierce her body with a sharp object. She's not coming back." Kat frowned and then turned away from us.
"She was a good droid," said Kat, "Really dedicated to the cause. May she be remembered for her bravery."
"What exactly is the your 'cause'?" asked Sauli, still hiding behind me. Kat turned back around to face us.
"It's not safe to talk here," she said, "I'll take you to my quarters. We'll be able to speak safely there, but you have to exactly as I say. Got it?" Sauli and I nodded our heads yes. "Good," said Kat. She put her helmet back on and picked up her weapon. "Both of you stand in front of me." We did as we were told. She pointed the weapon at our backs. "Place your hands behind your back."
"Why?" Asked Sauli.
"Just do it." We did as we were told once more. "Now," she said, "we have to make this look believable."
"Make what look believable?" I asked.
"You guys are going to pretend that you're my prisoners. That way, I can take you to my quarters without being noticed."
"Ok," I said, "Sounds good to me."
"How do we know you're not really taking us prisoner?" Asked Sauli suspiciously.
"You don't," said Kat, "but you're just going to have to trust me. Now move." We walked in the direction that Kat told us. We went by the bridges, past the infirmary, and through the sleeping quarters area, until finally a large door stood in our way.
"Halt," came the voice of another armored droid. "What is your business here?"
"I found these two shirking their duties. I'm taking them in for questioning." The armored droid revealed its red eyes and scanned Sauli and I.
"Very well," it said. "Proceed." It opened the door blocking our way and Kat nudged our backs with her weapon.
"Move prisoners!" She shouted. She leaned in close to my ear. "Turn left at this intersection. My quarters are right there." I did as I was told and stopped in front of a large blue door. Kat typed in her pass code and the door flew open. "Get in side," she said, "Quickly, before anyone sees." Sauli and I rushed into her quarters and Kat shut the door behind us. "Welcome to my humble home!" She said.
Kat's quarters were very different than mine. Her room was much larger than my own. Her bed was larger than my own and a beautiful chandelier lit up her room.
"Wow!" I said. "Your room is amazing!" Kat smiled.
"What? This old thing?" I smiled back at her.
"Where is your monitor?" Sauli asked. "Don't you have one like all the other work droids?"
"Oh no," Kat said, "I'm not a work droid. I'm a S.G.U."
"A S.G.U.?!" I said shocked. "You're a Superior Guard Unit!"
"That's what S.G.U. stands for!" She said.
"Why are you associating with us?" I asked.
"Excuse me," said Sauli, "but what's so great about an S.G.U.?" Kat sat down on her bed.
"Superior Guard Unit's work a little bit differently than the work droids. Our job is to protect The Superior and make sure everything goes as she wishes."
"That's amazing," I said in awe. Kat looked down. A frown was on her face.
"No," she said, "no it's not."
"Why not?" Asked Sauli, as he and I sat next to her on the bed.
"Sometimes," she said, "in order to make sure everything goes as The Superior wishes, drastic measures must be ensued. I've seen droids be beaten, abused, tortured, and much worse only to keep The Superior happy. She is not as wonderful as she makes the droids believe. She's corrupted with a deep lust for power and, for what she calls, order. For years she has had S.G.U.s hunt down revolutionaries who have plotted her downfall. When they find one, well let's just say they'd be better off deactivated. The captured revolutionaries are either ripped apart, piece by piece, or emptied of all their memory and turned into a mindless servant."
"That's awful," I said.
"Wait," said Sauli, "how do you know all this?" Kat sighed and hid her face in her hands.
"Because," she said, "I'm The Superior's…" The rest of what she said was muffled and hard to understand.
"You're The Superior's what?" Asked Sauli. Kat removed her hands from her face and then sighed once more.
"I'm The Superior's right-hand unit. I am, or more like was, in charge of hunting down all the revolutionaries and destroying them." Sauli stood up and slowly headed for the door.
"Adam," he said, "Let's get out of here."
"Why?" I asked Sauli. "What's wrong?" Sauli grabbed my arm and began pulling me towards the door.
"I don't think we should trust her," whispered Sauli, "Remember what Ann said? Trust no one but each other. Plus, she works for The Superior! How do we know she won't get us deactivated?" I turned and looked at Kat. She seemed like a nice droid, but maybe Sauli was right. Maybe she couldn't be trusted.
"Okay," I said, "Maybe you have a point." I looked once more at Kat. She looked troubled and she was holding something. It looked like a pendant of some sort, similar to the one that hung from my neck. "Hey," I said walking towards her. "What do you have there?" She looked up at me. Her eyes had water leaking from them. "You're face is leaking!" I said in surprise. "Are you malfunctioning?" She smirked and let out a light laugh.
"I'm not malfunctioning," she said, wiping her face with her hand. "I'm crying. My eyes are leaking tears."
"Crying?" I said confused. "Why are you doing that?"
"It's what humans used to do when they exhibited severe sadness." She sniffled and wiped her face once more.
"Why are you crying? Are you experiencing severe sadness?" She nodded her head and clenched the pendant tighter.
"This pendant was given to me by Ann," she said finally. "She said it would be a symbol of our alliance against The Superior. However, now it is just a reminder of the horrible things I've done to androids like her. A reminder that the only ally I had in this cruel world is gone for good. Now I'm alone in this fight." Kat's eyes began dripping more tears. She dropped the pendant on her bed and covered her face as she cried. I sat on the bed next to her and Sauli sat on the other side beside her. I began to gently rub her back.
"You're not alone Kat." I said. "Sauli and I will be your allies. The three of us will find a way." She uncovered her face and looked at Sauli and me.
"Really?" She said sniffling. Sauli and I nodded and smiled. She wrapped her arms around the both of us and pulled us close to her. I believed we were experiencing what Ann called a "hug". It was nice. Kat stood up, wiped her eyes, and picked up her weapon. She pointed the long weapon towards me, and then flipped it so the handle was facing my direction. "Adam and Sauli," she said, "Welcome to the resistance."