The Life of Gaia

CHAPTER 21: Refuge Robotique

People who were on the street walking around at the time of the explosion quickly realized that something serious had happened. A terrified crowd of workers still in their work clothes ran out of the Vintage Usine, and everyone present lifted their eyes to watch a thick column of gray smoke billowing from an unspecified point on the building's upper floors. The sentries at first tried to stop someone, but soon joined the others outside to figure out what was going on. A buzz of speculation, concern, and suggestions for rescue invaded the entire city, which meanwhile waited to see if the explosions would continue.

After a few minutes of waiting, when people had now organized themselves on how to move if it was necessary to take cover, a sharp beeping pervaded the air, cutting through the scene like a phantom blade. Across the surface of the factory, wall slabs trembled and retracted; then, out of the spaces left empty slid large upside-down cones that terminated in music speakers, and which observers recognized as the Usine's speaker system. Someone had just activated them after years of non-use. A few seconds passed before the signal cut out, dispersing through the air like a dart shot blindly.

A cough was the first thing to come from the other side; then it was the turn of a cold, almost artificial voice, but one that sounded strangely familiar to the senior citizens. It took them a while to understand why: that was the youthful voice of Veir IV, the factory manager, who had not been seen in public for more than a decade.

<<Hello, citizens. You may recognize my voice: I am your director. I have an important announcement to make, so please pay attention.>> Another cough made the speakers hum. Those present listened in disbelief. <<For several years I had been prey to a lethal disease that promised to end my life any day now. However, I did not give up, and so I sent my most trusted men to find a way to save me. Fortunately for me, they found it: the Rebirthing Processus Technique, a means that allowed man to join with the machine, to transfer his mind and soul into it. A few hours ago, after a long process of finding the necessary parts for this project to succeed, I had my plan put into action. Unfortunately, it did not go as I had hoped, because a man I considered a friend revealed his true nature at the least appropriate time: Helix, my now-former right-hand man and the one responsible for the boys' disappearances over the past few months.>> Several desperate mothers burst into tears, and with them their husbands. Someone shouted an insult without getting a response. <<Well, whoever brings me that live worm -- whether it is mutilated or not does not matter -- will have his life saved. Everyone else...will have to face the consequences of the individual's decisions on the community. Good day, and goodbye.>>

The crowd shouted in despair, and many people fled through the city's alleys; several others, however, stood still in their seats, looking suspiciously at the now-defunct speakers. One hoped that it had been a malfunction, that the announcement had been misinterpreted, or the result of a prank: how else to interpret the words spoken by that mysterious voice?

Alexis, who had been there listening in disbelief to Veir's announcement, wondered if all this was real. His clothes had become wrinkled while running, someone had bumped him on the nose and a trickle of blood ran down to his dry mouth. His legs were so sore that staying upright proved to be a greater effort than expected: he and all the other workers were squeezed into the flight of stairs, forced to walk thirty-five floors in a building that could collapse at any moment. He was too tired to fully understand what the director had said, but the hairs on the back of his neck still stood up at the tone in which those words had been spoken: a cruel, ruthless, heartless tone.

A few seconds after the conclusion of the message, a strangled scream made those present jump with fright; the sentries who had come out of the Usine threw themselves on the ground and writhed like crazy, with their bright eyes flashing abnormally and their limbs folding in on themselves. Alexis was wise enough to start running at that point, but not everyone was as intuitive as him.