Made Useful

4. Finding Harry

Everything had gotten out of hand too quickly. Harper was rushing to activate the other cauldrons, Ivor was down, and Petra was faced with the most difficult choice thus far.

Lukas on the left, Jesse on the right. She only had enough time to save one of them. 

For a moment, she hesitated. And the decision was made for her.

Lukas lunged at her, forcing her to kick him back through the water stream. Screaming, he convulsed with electricity, before the chip flew off the back of his head. "Petra? Oh Notch, that was awful..."

"Petra?" Ivor's voice was fear-stricken. "We have a situation here!"

She spun around to find Harper struggling against Jesse. "Hang on, Harper, I'm coming!"

Too late. Jesse already had Harper slung over his shoulder, climbing onto a spider to escape. Harper threw the bucket and a rose at Petra. "Use the headset, Petra! And don't forget the last cauldron. And one more thing! Get the roses to Harry!"

"Who's Harry?"

But Harper was gone.

"Petra!" Ivor was hauling Lukas to his feet. "What are we going to do?"

"I need to fill the last cauldron!"

"Well then, do it quick!"

Grabbing the bucket, she poured it into the cauldron, a curtain of water cutting of the entrance from the tunnel. With one last glance at the approaching spiders, she dashed forward, scooping up the rose and ducking through the water. The spiders hissed angrily, pacing at the edge of the waterfall. Gasping for breath, Petra slammed the doors shut.

She pressed her back against the wood and buried her face in her hands. Never had she felt so drained. Not even while suffering from Withersickness.

Ivor took a step towards her. "Harper and Jesse...?"

Petra looked at him and shook her head. 

"No, I--" Lukas sighed. "That's awful. Look, I don't know if it helps at all but I remember something from while I was...part of PAMA that I think was important...it was tall, glowing, red lights...its like..."

He put a hand to his head. "Its like a fuzzy dream...and I can try to remember more if you want, but its making my headache even worse. It was so weird, like being connected to everyone else's brains at the same time...but its all kind of a jumble now."

"Hey, Lukas, you've done enough. After that, just take it easy for a minute," Petra offered him her hand. "Come on."

He smiled weakly. "Thanks, Petra."

"Okay, Harper said to find her headset thing. we have to do that fast before PAMA downloads Harper's mind!"

"Why is this Harper so important?" Lukas asked.

Petra hesitated before saying, "Harper built PAMA. She's the only one who knows how to shut it down, before it takes everything over."

"That's a pretty good reason to rescue someone."

"We shut down PAMA, save Harper's people...and hopefully that can help Jesse too."

Lukas and Ivor nodded before following Petra into what she assumed was the lab. "Honestly, this looks kind of neat. Anyway, Harper gave me this rose before she was hauled off. Said to give it to 'Harry'..."

Lukas raised an eyebrow. "And that would help us find the 'headset' 5hing?"

"That's what she said."

"Petra, are you sure Harper is still in her right mind?" He asked. "I mean, if someone is alone for a really long time, their brain changes--and not for the better."

"Yeah, I'm not entirely sure she still has her cheese on the cracker," Petra crossed her arms. "But we should cut her some slack. I guess."

Ivor spoke up. "Especially since we need her help to save everyone who's been chipped by PAMA."

"Look, we need to focus," Petra interjected. "Let's find out who 'Harry' is and why he wants flowers."

Everyone nodded, spreading out into the lab. She scanned her surroundings, feeling frustration bubble up in her throat again. They didn't have time to search this whole lab.

"Hey, Petra," Ivor called. "Listen to this--'Prototype Autonomous Management Agent'. That's what 'PAMA' stands for," he looked over to a painting of a younger Harper and a much smaller PAMA. "They looked so happy..."

"Yeah," Petra crossed her arms. "Have you figured out who Harry is?"

"Oh. No."

"Well, stay focused!"

Ivor held his hands up in surrender, wandering off to a different part of the lab while Petra investigated a nearby greeter. "An ice block, huh?"

She pulled the ice out of the frame, watching a nearby Redstone circuit go dark. "Oh, okay...so the right item in the frame makes the circuit work."

She replaced the ice, looking at a nearby jukebox. After a moment or the, she kicked the button, releasing a female voice. "Hello, Harper! Its Margret, so good to see you! Hope you've been well."

Petra shook her head, preparing to leave when 'Margret' added, "You've got to melt that ice around your heart and forgive yourself. You're not the one to blame."

Petra crossed her arms as she walked over to another greeter. "Definitely lost the cheese somewhere."

The next greeter's frame was empty, prompting her to kick the jukebox button. "Hey, Harper! It is wonderful yo see you! You've always been like a bright beacon--a torch--of hope to this world's citizens. Brighter than all the world's Redstone! You made all our lives better."

Ivor stood nearby with a raised eyebrow. Petra shrugged. "Not sure who it is, but it isn't Harry."

Ivor nodded, turning back to the bookshelf while she crossed the lab to check on Lukas. Who was, somehow unsurprisingly enough, writing. "Hey there, Lukas."

"Oh, Petra, hi," he immediately set his book aside. "Look, thanks for saving me back there. I just wanted to ask...you and Jesse are tighter knit than any of us. I know how close you two are. Why save me over him?"

Petra bit the inside of her cheek, hesitating, while Lukas continued, "Even if you weren't so close, from a logical standpoint, he's more useful to the team than I am. He somehow manages to get us out of every single scrape we've ever been in."

"Okay, you want the absolute truth? I hesitated. You reached me first. I had no choice," seeing the look on his face, she quickly added, "You're close to me too, Lukas, please know that."

"But not how Jesse is close to you," he nodded. "I get it. You don't have to explain yourself, Petra. I would go for the person I cared about the most too," he picked up his book again. "I'll let you get back to it."

She sucked in a breath as she turned away, with the sinking feeling that she had messed up. Unsure of what to do now, she marched over to a nearby chest. "Redstone, a stick, TNT, and an empty bucket. They have to be here for a reason..." She shut the chest, pocketing the items. "Right?"

I'm starting to sound like Jesse, she thought to herself. Always talking to myself about what I'm doing. Shaking her head, she reminded herself that they were running out of time, jogging over to the next greeter. Without bothering to listen to the jukebox, she stuck in the flower in the empty frame. One of the glass veins in the floor lit up, causing her to shout, "Found Harry!"

"Excellent!" Ivor replied. "Do you know what to do next?"

She grinned as she approached Harper's crafting table. "I might have an idea."

She quickly crafted a Redstone torch, running back to the second greeter to place it in the frame. Another circuit lit up, an armor stand with a strange helmet-like item emerging from the floor. Without waiting for the others, she marched up to it, sticking it on her head. The sound of something powering-on hit her ears.

Next thing she heard was Ivor yelling, "What's going on, Petra? What do you see?"

It took her a moment to respond. "I think I'm controlling one of the zombies connected to PAMA."