Children of the Virus

2: Token Trouble

Toshiro stood at the edge of a deep void, its surface reflecting his late wife, Luna. He leaned towards her, his hand trembling, until their faces melded together. Gasping, he cried out, "Luna!"

A bright light pierced his vision, interrupting his dream, yet his eyes felt no strain as they were already open. Darkness vanished as he grew more aware of his surroundings. He was coming out of autowalk.

"Shut your mouth!" growled a gruff voice.

Feeling his legs walk with no input from his mind was disconcerting. His feet moved of their own accord as he panted through each stride. This was autowalk—always waking to find your body moving on its own.

"Luna!" he yelled with increased desperation.

As his senses sharpened, the autowalk relinquished its control over his body.

"If you don't shut up," a deeper voice warned, "Luna will be the last thing on your mind."

Toshiro marched down a dimly lit corridor, dreading the destination ahead: a room marked "Inspection." He turned to see hundreds of inmates behind him, suggesting he had been in line for hours.

"You better listen to them, Toshiro," said a familiar voice.

Toshiro refocused his eyes on the prisoner standing directly behind him. "Kenshin?"

The man laughed.

"How did I not see you?"

Kenshin shrugged. "How are you holding up?"

Toshiro considered the question as his stomach growled. "My hunger rating is 2/5, but my stomach does not seem to care about my hunger rating."

Kenshin smirked but then warned, "Let's be quiet. They're on edge after the riot."

Toshiro raised a brow. "The other inmates?" he asked.

"No, the bots."

Toshiro nodded in agreement. He had seen the robotic guards punish others: minds uploaded to the Internet and heads removed within seconds, no trial. They called it "compulsory rebirth."

It took thirty minutes for Toshiro to reach the first checkpoint, where an elderly man in a lab coat with a virtual nametag that read "Daniel" stood. Daniel measured Toshiro's weight and extracted his blood before testing the sugar tube port in his chest. After that, Toshiro signed off with his mind and noted the date: November 26, 2085.

Toshiro hesitated to leave the checkpoint, wondering what caused the uprising. He asked Daniel, "Do you know what started the riot?"

Daniel gave him a blank stare, then yelled, "Next in line!"

Toshiro groaned as he saw the backlog at the next checkpoint, knowing it meant another long wait.

After Kenshin had signed off at the health station, he tapped Toshiro on the shoulder. "You want to know how the riot started?"

"Yes! I have no idea what's going on."

Kenshin leaned forward and whispered, "You know how the Russian gang controls the lower level?"

"Right, the Vipers."

"Well, the Tigers—that's the Korean gang—they command the upper level but want to run both."

"I bet that thrilled the Vipers."

Kenshin nodded. "The Tigers exchanged words, then one with a knife started a fight that left several inmates dead before the bots could react." Kenshin pointed to the robot guards. "That's how it all began. Question is, where did the Tiger get a knife?"