Why Me? [ONC 2021]

14. The Video

I didn't wait for the elevator. It would take too long. Running down the stairs would certainly be easier. And much faster. It definitely would confuse any autocops that may be waiting on the ground floor. I may even be able to slip out of the back door if they were waiting for me by the elevator.

By the time I reached the fifteenth floor, I started to get breathless. So much so that I had to stop at the fourteenth or I was going to fall down the rest of these stairs. Stopping on the landing I gulped in the air. There were dots and stars in my vision; I was not fit enough to be doing this.

In between breaths I heard the echo of a door somewhere below me open and then close. This was followed by the echoes of a tell-tale electronic chattering whir. That told me an autocop had entered the stair well, and it was communicating with base, or possibly a partner. It might be concerned on why it was not getting a reply. They sometimes worked in pairs.

Immediately I pressed myself against the wall, away from the railings of the stairs. I needed a different plan.

The door to the fourteenth floor looked inviting, and the only sensible route to take right now. Opening it cautiously, I peered down the corridor both ways. No autocops. I went through and looked for the janitor's cupboard; each floor had them. It was straight across from me.

They were never locked. Who of the residents would need what was inside? A ratty old mop and a rusting bucket were all that was in here, aside from dust and a disturbing number of cobwebs.

It was small, but large enough to let me sit down on the floor and fully close the door. There was no light in here, but that was fine. My tablet would give me enough light.

Once I had settled down, I picked up my tablet and again plugged in the memory stick. There was no sound this time, thankfully. With no ear piercing sound being triggered, I was able to have a look at what files were stored on the stick.

I navigated to the file system and found two folders and a single file. The file, called 'Alarm', was an app, and I could see it was already running. Guessing this was the thing that caused the screech earlier, I stopped the app. I didn't want the autocops, or anyone else, to know where I was by it going off again.

I couldn't tell why the app had started earlier but not this time. I guess it must automatically be triggered to start if the memory stick is plugged into a device and an automaton, such as an autocop, was detected nearby. Fortunately, none were obviously near enough now or the alarm would be sounding at the moment. It was nice to know if I wanted to evade the autocops in the near future.

With a little reprieve from 'the chase', I looked at the two folders. One was labelled 'Docs', and the other was 'Vid'. Not being much into reading, I looked at 'Vid' first.

Inside the folder was a single video file called 'Gordon'. Immediately my interest was piqued, but I had to be careful. Assuming the video would have sound as well as visuals, I looked in my pockets for some earphones. I found an old wired set, only the left earpiece properly worked, but it would do.

With the earphones in place, I started the video. The right earpiece crackled, so I removed it from my ear. The sound was annoying.

The image on the video was flipped ninety degrees left, and it looked like the camera was pointed at the ceiling. In the background I could hear someone talking, but not clearly enough to be understood. As the video continued, the audio cleaned up.

"No, put that down. Put it down! Silly dog," said my mother. It was definitely her voice. There was another, a man, "Good. Thank you. Who's a good boy?"

My mother's voice went quiet as she moved away from the mic, then it became clear again.

"Sit!" she said, and then she was visible on screen. "Oh, the image is wrong. One sec," she reached forward and the whole image was replaced with her palm. The image then went dark as her hand covered the lens.