Stairway to Somewhere

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"Was that Frederick's plan, or yours?" Lloyd asked. Him and Phoebe took off their masks to enjoy the air. The purifier in the distance was now emitting steam.

"Huh? Why would that be Frederick's plan?" Bethany asked, puzzled.

"I... I don't know." Lloyd admitted. "After the first accident, me and him started working together secretly, under the radar. He wanted to save my patient. I want to make sure my family will be safe in the new world. He's been very cryptic, but so far it's lead us to here."

"Oh, I knew you had a conscience! Come here!" Bethany leapt up and hugged Lloyd, much to his dismay.

"Okay, okay, you can stop." Lloyd told her, half-heartedly patting her on the back.

"I don't care that you made Phoebe wake up early. If anything, you helped me discover more about the digital world. I'm actually grateful. But why exactly did you do it?"

Bethany sat back down on her crate, scooting it closer to them.

"I'm sure you agree that the digital world is fake, right? It's full of a world that compared to now looks like a fairytale, like the garden of Eden. But it's not enough. You might have seen me talking to some girls when you arrived. If you looked around, we have alot more women here than we have dudes. Why do you think that is?"

Lloyd looked at Phoebe, who was smiling, waiting for him to answer.

"Uhhh... The guys are more likely to attack the automatons and get killed?" He suggested.

Bethany rolled her eyes. "No. It's because women can't have children in the digital world. They can replicate the skies, the oceans and the land, but not the womb. Even if they tried the child would just be computer code without a soul, and once humanity actually leaves the digital world-"

"If it ever leaves." said Phoebe.

"The child would be stuck there, or it would cease to exist. We don't fully know the government's endgame with the digital world, we don't even know if these purifiers will complete their task.  That's why I've been helping women. That's why I told Phoebe to join."

Lloyd watched as the hole in the toxic cloud grew smaller. They had only minutes before the air would settle, and they would struggle to breathe again. The smell was already getting stronger.

"I didn't think about it like that." said Lloyd. "I always thought a digital world should be whatever your heart desires, no job, just freedom and pleasure. I remember the day my son was born. He..." Lloyd's voice trailed off. "I'm sorry."

Phoebe reached and put her hand on his shoulder as two flashing lights flickered on the building behind Bethany.

"It's okay." Phoebe said gently as Lloyd stood up to see. "You don't have to talk about it."

"Beth, what's happening?" Lloyd pointed to the lights.

"The fucking bots." She hissed. "We need to go back down, now."

They quickly ran to the door and down the steps. Lloyd noticed the music had stopped too. Entering the main area they found people hastily picking up random weapons and guns, checking their ammo. One man and one woman stood in the center with one hand each in the air, and the mobile purifier robots stood in a circle surrounding them.

"Please for the love of God, don't be idiots." Bethany said in a hushed whisper.

"They seem prepared to me." Lloyd thought aloud, causing Phoebe to shove and shush him.

"Not these guys." Bethany continued to speak in a low voice.

"The ones outside."

She quickly scanned the room, looking for her new acolytes. Crouching behind Tony, he locked eyes with her and pointed downward. Bethany pointed towards the door near the stairway that led to the other side of the warehouse.