Alive
A fan fiction in progress by
Bryan Harrison
Part 4
Hallways opened and closed as they raced through the hospital. The quiet man was not so quiet anymore. He was calling out directions. "Here… Wait… Now… Left…Right…" and soon David could see a cleared space ahead and words emblazoned along the wall:
Dock 7 - No Private or Delivery Parking.
They stopped in the large loading bay. It was empty and looked like it had not been used very recently. Jeff walked to an input terminal in the wall and pressed on something. The large bay doors hissed to life and slowly opened. The quiet man finally let Danvid stand on his own. They waited.
"Where is he?" Jeff asked, his face finally displaying a hint of impatience.
"On his way," the quiet man said. David was wondering who they could be talking about when the man turned, his face stern. "Take him. He yours now," he said, holding out the toy bear.
The Teddy looked at David expectantly, but David turned away and crossed his arms. There was only one Teddy that he called a friend. He didn't want a substitute. "No!" he said resolutely. But the quiet man would not accept this answer. He grabbed David by the shoulders and, with a graceful ease pried his arms apart and shoved the bear against his chest. "You'll need him," the man explained quickly.
David was about to object but a loud voice came over the speaker system. "Security to Dock Seven! Security to Dock Seven." This was not coded into the digital tongue. This was a command for Orga men, men who would be carrying weapons.
"They found us!" The quiet man said. Jeff grunted an acknowledgement but showed no other emotion.
David finally understood now that they were taking him without the hospital's permission. He jumped to make a dash for the door but Jeff's grip was too strong. "Let me go!" he yelled, kicking at the man with his foot. But the strikes had no effect and neither man seemed very concerned with his protests.
"Play nice!" the toy bear suggested in a stern voice. David attempted to fling the thing away but it clung to his arm with a grip that was pure Mecha. The men ignored the scuffle going on below their field of vision. They stood unmoving, staring at the bay doors. Waiting. Then there was a hiss like steam escaping and the doors started closing. David's heart jumped with excitement. Someone else was closing them from somewhere else in the system, locking the escape route! But just as fast his excitement was lost as a hovering cruiser zipped in-between the huge bay doors. The safety mechanism detected the sudden obstruction and the doors froze in place.
Jeff was suddenly moving again, across the floor of the empty loading dock towards the cruiser that hummed as it hovered a few feet over the floor. The alarms were blazing and David could finally hear pressure release doors opening and closing behind him. Hurry, David thought. But the cruiser had already door whooshed open and a man was crawling out. David saw the man's face and screamed.
"Angelo!"
The Mecha nurse smiled down on him. "Hurry now, David. They're coming for you." He said and turned to face the man called Jeff. He stepped away from the cruiser and motioned for Jeff to take the wheel. But the man stepped back and David watched in amazement as his face started to melt and twist, slowly morphing into another face.
"I can't take him. They're too close." The man who he had thought was Jeff said, as his features set back into place. His face was now identical to the quiet man who had accompanied him. They both stood impassively. Mecha! David now understood. That is how they'd understood the hospitals voice, how they'd known where they were going, how'd they'd been able to tell one Angelo from another, and how they'd been able to change plans with Angelo at the last moment.
"But I can't leave the premises!" Angelo exclaimed. "You said you would go all the way!"
The twin Mecha looked at each other and then began to move away. "That was before the danger," they said in unison as they walked. "If this boy is as important as you say, it will be worth the price. We have to go now." And they did, disappearing outside the doors into a parking lot filled with cruisers of all sizes and shapes.
Angelo had no time to think. The door to the bay was hissing open and dark clad shapes were moving quickly onto the large platform. "Get in David," he commanded, jumping back into the drivers seat. David saw a face among the men. It was the man who preferred to be called Jeff, the real one, and he looked very angry, pissed is how his Orga brother would have said it. David saw the man spot them, saw him pointing, shouting orders at the men with him. David could not hear what he said from this distance, but he could easily guess what it must be. He jumped into the craft and Angelo shut the doors and started backing out. Something smashed against the cruisers glass dome, but it was repelled and whistled away.
"They're shooting at us!" Angelo pointed out needlessly. And they were instantly off, moving quickly away from the bay and onto the main exit ramp. The sky was dark and brooding and the cruisers dome was already covered with rain that was wiped off by an invisible repellant.. "They won't be far behind, David," Angelo said."I wasn't supposed to be taking you. It was supposed to be the Twins!" he complained. But then his face set into a determined expression that David couldn't read.
"Who are they," David asked as Angelo banked into a row of cruisers where they might not be easily noticed. The vehicles were lined up at an entrance to the freeway, waiting for an open space to move into traffic.
"Rogue Morphing Bots," Angelo replied, "Friends of a friend who owed me a favor." But he stopped there and would explain no further. He had other things on his mind. The cruiser in front of them finally moved forward, onto the freeway and Angelo pressed the thrusters on the steering bar. They zipped into traffic, engine buzzing like an angry wasp, and shot into the fast lane. David tried to ask more questions: Where were they going? What would he do now? But Angelo ignored the inquiries.
"There are some clothes in the back, David. And a wristband. Put them on. Hurry now!" David looked into the back seat and saw the small pile of neatly folded clothing. He slipped out of his hospital gown and put them on as Angelo moved down an exit ramp and into an area that was covered with overgrown greenery. At the base of the exit he pulled the cruiser to the edge of the road and stopped. David tried to get his attention, but Angelo shushed him. The Mecha sat pensively for a moment, as if making a critical decision. Then without a word, he hovered onto the road and followed it into the forest.
"They've lost me," he said, as if to himself, and David saw something strange in the Mecha's eyes. It was a curious look; something like sadness.
"What's wrong Angelo," he said. But again, Angelo ignored his inquiry.
"Listen carefully, David," he said. "Things didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. But I told you I was not very good at making plans. If I'd had more time then maybe… maybe…" he stopped and seemed to gather himself. "That doesn't matter anymore," he said, thrusting his chin forward with an air of resolve. It was an odd gesture for a Mecha. "You're going to be on your own now. You must head west, toward the sunset, until you find a town. The wristband on your arm has updated maps of the entire state with current and last known residents listed. It's quite illegal data, especially for a little boy. So be careful. You just plug into any Data Kiosk you find and you can look for your family."
"But Angelo," David interrupted, "why don't you come with me? You can't go back now! They'll…"
"Listen to me!" Angelo yelled harshly. David was shocked by the outburst. The Mecha continued. "The wristband also contains false identities in case you are stopped. When you find a Kiosk make sure none of the identities trigger an Amber Alert. If one of them does, get away from that area quickly and delete that entry. There will be troopers coming to look for you. Now this is very important: Your new Teddy has a Security Snooper that allows him to download police alerts. Let him access the Kiosk and he can tell you what they know and what they are up to. But that too is very illegal so you must be careful when you use it. Do you understand?"
"Yes," David said meekly, wondering why his friend would not be coming with him. Angelo was quiet a moment, but David could tell that he should not ask any more questions.
"Things have changed, David," he said grimly. "And you're one of the reasons. Since your escape and many others that happened around the same time, there are new security measures to keep service Mecha like me from going rogue. The twins are older models. They don't have the new restrictions. As long as they are careful, they'll never get caught. But I was activated after the new legislation. And I …"
"What, Angelo? You what?" David asked after a moment of silence.
"I can't go far from my station," Angelo said finally. But he would explain nothing more.
They drove in quiet as the sky grew dark with ominous gray clouds. The rain had stopped but it was easy to tell the reprieve would not be long lived. Angelo slowed finally and pulled to the side of the road. He turned to face David and the boy saw again the oddly human expression on his Mecha face.
"I believe you, David. You given me more than you know. You've given me hope. But I can help you no further. You must go now. Go and find your family. Find your mother. Find your dreams.
"Never let them catch you, David. Never let them take away your dreams. Never…" But the Mecha nurse suddenly stopped and gazed on David with a strangely detached expression.
"Come with me, Angelo," David said. "I can take you to the Blue Fairy! I know where she lives! If you ask her, she can make you real too! Just like me! I know she will!"
Angelo said nothing.
"Come with me, Angelo!" David insisted. But Angelo just stared. His face was blank but his eyes full of a sadness that David did not comprehend. "Angelo?" he asked again. But Angelo was not responding. He would never respond again. David understood now what security measures his friend had been explaining, and what had been the price the Morphing Bot was talking about.
"We should go now, David." Teddy said in a logical voice. "A storm is coming."
"Angelo?" David said again. But he knew his friend was gone. His sadness was stronger than he'd ever known. Oh, this human condition! To what purpose this pain, this loss? He held back his tears, intuitively knowing that this was not the time or place for them.
"Goodbye," he whispered and pressed the release handle on the door. It whooshed open and David stepped out onto the mud-covered earth. The forest was alive beyond the edge of that road, and he was no longer impervious to the cold or the things that slithered and bit. But he had no choice now. He started on his way, but turned one last time.
"Thank you," he said with a break in his voice, waving, as he backed slowly into the forest, into what trials might lie beyond. But Angelo was no more than a mannequin now, gazing an eternal expression of surrender into the wet, gray world.
David turned, finally, and began his adventure, feeling the moist chill of the forest air on his new human skin as he stepped into an unpredictable future.
(cont...)