This is a Test

Ch. 21

The facility fluctuated between frantic activity and mind-numbing lethargy. The servers rotated between English and Chinese every twelve hours, stopping Lia or the others from doing anything for half a day before causing a mad rush to get their jobs done before the switch back. Lia would control the servers, fiddling with stuff until she was forced to revert the systems to English so the rest could use them. This left her unable to function, so after each transition, she would storm off to her underground hideout to disappear for the duration.

Cashe developed a system despite the hardships. He had been able to show Lia where he needed the robots to continue carving the ice out. He provided a general area for them to work and when the computers were back in his control, he was able to refine and have the saws trim ice down to within millimeters on his measurements Cashe would be able to generate new parts, and when his time with the computers was over, he worked to install everything by hand.

Others were forced to accommodate as well. The Lab became nonfunctional during Lia's time on the computers, so Dante used his off-hours puttering in the Kitchen while Miranda attempted to assist Karina with her plants. Cashe noted that when the others were in their new off-hours, most slept more than eight hours and were absent from their work areas more often than not.

Even Lia seemed to be having issues. When Cashe went to inspect the process in the Tunnel, she was in there trying to make the robots work. He noticed they had jerky movements, and when one was inching forward, it bumped into her shoe. The sensors should have prevented this, as the machines were never supposed to move within a foot of humans. This meant there were serious problems with the system, and that there was no way for her to communicate what was going on to the rest. Cashe wondered if she would even reveal to them that she was failing. She had jumped when she finally saw him and stormed out right after, scowling and glaring in ways that would make Karina proud.

In the third day, Cashe entered the Garden with parts to find Karina and Miranda around the plant beds with Dante standing at a respectable distance away, but close enough to be part of the conversation. Cashe installed new walls in the Tunnel by hand for about an hour when Dante came in to interrupt. "Hey," he said. "Can you come out here for a bit? A technical question we want your opinion on."

The fact that any of them wanted his opinion on anything intrigued Cashe, so he followed the chemist to the others. He took a spot near Dante, as he seemed to have found a spot that Karina felt was not close enough for the men to immediately attack her. For her part, she sighed and began her demonstration. "Do you know anything about how the plant beds work? Their construction?"

"No," Cashe acknowledged. "My purview was the facility itself. I know that they require power due to the lighting and need to be installed near outlets, as well as needing piping attached from above for the water, but little more."

"The power is the issue. So you didn't know that electricity runs through the beds themselves to stimulate the roots?"

This was surprising. "I did not."

"It's been theorized for decades," Karina said, "but only more accepted now. Low voltage through the roots in the early weeks can increase growth from anywhere between twenty-five and fifty percent more."

"If you are talking about food production, that seems quite respectable. What is the issue?"

"With our forced downtime, I've had time to think. If we really have power issues at some point, I am trying to decide if we should be using the power for that or not. Farming has been done for millenia without it. I don't want to use up energy where it may cost us later." Karina waved her hand between Dante and Miranda. "We were trying to figure out whether it was worth it or not to continue to do so. Do we use electricity to get more food and more calories, or conserve to ensure we have lighting later? We need lighting, but can use root generation. So,..."

Cashe nodded, enjoying the idea of a puzzle. "Do you know exactly how much growth the electricity provided?"

"All my data is now gone." Her hands raised a bit. "However, I do think that there was at least a thirty-five percent increase in all the vegetables."

"So" Cashe hypothesized, "let's round that down to a thirty-three percent increase. That is saying that for every three of these that run with electricity, it is like four are operating without. Running the power through four would be a bigger draw, so I think it is well worth it. You said the early weeks? They do not need to run non-stop?"

"No, but that is part of what I was wondering. Before you were disconnecting everything that could send power out, but was not being used, like empty power outlets. My question is, even if they are off, could there be a power drain that we are not aware of? I don't want to have electricity leaking away bit by bit if we can't help it."

"Good thinking." He noticed surprise on her face, but ignored it. "Many of the beds are empty. I will check over the schematics if I still have access to them and see if there is a need to re-wire them so if they are leaching power away, we have a simplistic way to turn it off."

Cashe looked over their shoulder as the pantry door opened. Lia exited from the room, appearing angry, but confused. She was looking around as she headed to the others. She spouted a rabble of words that none could make out. The way she waved her hands around to the lights and downstairs, Cashe assumed there was a different power issue at the moment, which immediately became their issue as the building plunged them into darkness.

Cashe stepped forward as he reached for the plant beds to stabilize himself. The squawks from the others spoke to their disorientation as well. It didn't make sense. In the event of a true power outage, the reserve batteries should have kicked on. All tried to speak at once save for him as he listened, gaging what was happening.

The closest monitor to them flickered.

The conversation stopped as it displayed a wall of static, which shouldn't happen with a digital system. It went gray before glowing to a pure white. After a few seconds, the following message displayed:

THIS IS A TEST...

It flickered in and out before turning bold with an added word:

THIS IS ONLY A TEST.

The facility lit back up, and from behind, Cashe heard a noise. He turned to see the wall next to the Tunnel entrance open as a hidden door and two columns of black-clad helmeted people stomped out in heavy boots, each bearing a truncheon. On the shoulder of the closest as they approached bore the Anoptica logo.

At this point, the message changed.

Thank you for participating in Anoptica's simulation.

Your contributions have been recorded and are appreciated.

Have a great day! :)

Karina screamed and Cashe heard Miranda gasp loudly before Dante started screeching, "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!? WHAT THE FUCK?!? WHAT THE FUCK?!?", over and again. Cashe watched as the group paused but for one person, who approached him.

"Dr. Cashe," his voice broadcast through his tinted helmet as he waved towards the new doorway, "if you please."

"Of course," Cashe said with a nod and a relieved sigh. As he headed that way, the rest of the intruders marched forward again, slapping their batons into their free palms. As he walked off, Cashe heard Dante scream anew. Cashe stopped, considered, and turned back to look at the others, hopefully for the last time. Karina crumbled to the ground in a fit of hysterics, Miranda's mouth hung agape while Lia was frozen in shocked silence. Dante looked through the stormtroopers to catch Cashe's eye. "What the fuck, Cashe?"

At least Dante didn't end things by calling him Randy. Cashe shrugged. "They said it was a test. I don't know how many times they had to tell you."

Word Count: 1415

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Only three chapters to the end, hopefully released this week.