The Cyber Age

Chapter 14: The Interrogation

Braden's eyes glowed with utter fear as he read those words.

Timothy VanBuran
Wanted

The last word made his stomach sink.
Wanted.
Was Tim really . . . The bad guy?
Could he be?
Was it remotely possible?
Kendall, Brent, and Tristan registered the look as well. They were absolutely appalled at the discovery.
Then it hit them. Was RuPERT ever a robo-tyrant? It didn't seem like it. Not the way he had acted.
So if RuPERT was never evil, then what was that "cure"? What did it actually do? Was it supposed to make him evil?
They didn't know.
"What are all of your names?" Said Jared. They all stated their names. "Braden Vyne." Said Braden.
"Kendall Brooks." Said Kendall.
"Brent Collins." Said Brent.
"Tristan Vyne." Said Tristan.
Jared put his head in his hands. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" Asked Jared. They all felt a wave of embarrassment. "No." Said Braden. "You just deactivated RuPERT. You deactivated the RuPERT! The robotic governor of the earth. All other six continents have their own surveillance cameras in there, to keep an eye on him. And when they see what you've done! Oh ho! You do realize that RuPERT's going to be transferred from D.C, don't you? Probably to China, or Russia. I dont know. I'm just an investigator. But what I do know is this. You are in loads of trouble." Said Jared.

Jared led the four of them through the crowd of people. They all yelled curses and insults at them. "What've have you stupid teens done!" Said one of them. "You freaking fools!" Said another.
Jared took them to a police car. It looked like the ones in the old days, except it wasn't black. It was stainless steal surfaced, and the emergency lights were retractable. Jared showed them to the back seat. Jared then got into the drivers seat, and placed his thumb on the steering wheel. The car started. Cool! Fingerprint activated!
"RuPERT, take me to the DCPD station." Said Jared. The car did t respond. "Shoot. I forgot." Said Jared, staring at Braden with a guilt stare. "Guess I'm going into manual drive." Said Jared. He then pressed a button labeled Manual Override, and started driving away from the scene.

They walked down a long, low-lit hallway of the DCPD. Jared opened a door, and signaled for Braden to come in. "You'll all get a turn. This ones first." Said Jared, pointing at Braden.
Braden entered the room.
It was also low-lit, with a white fold-up
table in the middle. There were to collapsible chairs on both sides of the table.
Jared shut the door.
"Take a seat." Said Jared. Braden did as told. He chose the one on the left, and Jared took the one on the right.
"Let's begin. Please state your name, occupation, and date of birth. " Said Jared.
"Ok. My name is Braden Vyne. I have no occupation, and my date of birth is April 11, 2000. " Braden replied.
"I would normally call my lawyer, but he's been dead for about four hundred years." Said Braden. "What do you mean?" Asked Jared. "So it all started in 2016. I got into a car crash with my mom. I was in a coma, and I don't know how Timothy got a hold me, but I awoke in a capsule. I opened the door, and was greeted by a warm, friendly man who said his name was Timothy. He had told me that RuPERT was the cyber king, and that someone downloaded a virus, and that in order to get rid of the virus, we had to physically put a drive into his head. After that, I trained for a year. In simulators that were able to communicate with my mind through this," Said Braden, showing Jared his cyber hand. "I see. Continue." Said Jared. "So I did sixty-one simulations in all. The last one was a group test to test our ability to work as a team. Anyway, Tim sent us here through teleportation with a flash-drive. We fought RuPERT, put the flash drive into his head, and here we are. Finding out that a was working for a frickin' psychopath." Said Braden. "Oh, Braden, you have the wrong idea. Mister VanBuran isn't hardly a psychopath. He was the exact opposite. You see, in World War III, He was Colonel VanBuran for Germany. He fought against the U.S. with a robot designed by his master, RuPERT the First. So if anything, he is not a psychopath. He is a national criminal for coming to the states illegally and bombing the White House during World War V. What made it worse was that it was unauthorized by Germany, so it was technically terrorism. But like I said, he is not a psychopath. If anything, his master was a psychopath." Said Jared. "Uh huh. Who was his master?" Asked Braden. Jared's eyes went from happily interrogating, to scared to death. "We don't like to talk about that maniac." Said Jared in a hushed voice. "Well, who is he?" Braden repeated. "His name was Rupert Valcuncint, and he did not serve in the German military. Every thing he did was unauthorized. He was a marvelous inventor; he created RuPERT. But he was far from there where his mental state was concerned. . ." Said Jared. "I see." Said Braden. "Well, I suppose that will be all from you, Braden. Thank you for your amazing cooperation. Half the people we interrogate are tape-mouthed." Said Jared. "You're dismissed. You'll find your friends out there in a waiting room. Take a seat out there, and please tell Miss Brooks that she's up." Said Jared. "Ok. Thank you Officer Jared." Said Braden, as he walked out and headed to the waiting room which was parallel from the door to the interrogation room. "You're up, Kendall." Said Braden, as he sat down. Kendall got up, and went into the interrogation room.

Braden fell asleep. When he woke up, he realized it had been only thirty minutes. Kendall wasn't in there anymore. She sat right next to him.  "You weren't out that long, just incase you were wondering." Said Kendall. Braden nodded in acknowledgment. "Whose turn is it?" Asked Braden "Brent. Tristan's after him." Kendall replied.
Minutes were like hours.
He wants out of this police station. At least they didn't know that Tim was evil, though. That he had held them against their will. If they had known, they'd be in big trouble.
Big trouble.
It was then that it happened.
Braden's chair vibrated. As if a giant creature has just stomped.
It reminded him of the Jurassic Park water glass. How it shook when that
T-Rex was coming. But this was different. Not much, though.
Mostly because no one had been drinking water in that room.
Then it hit again. But this time, it was slightly more vibrating. Then again, slightly more than the last time.
It then started consecutively, and the vibration shock progressively grew.
Braden exchanged a look of fear with Kendall. Then he got up.
And left the waiting area.
Braden walked down the hall. An officer warned him to stop, but he kept going. When Braden reached the door, another vibration hit. But this one was different. This one was huge, as if the giant creature was standing a few yards away. Then Braden opened the door, to find the creature. Only it was no creature. It was RuPERT.
The he had remodeled himself to look the way he did in the simulators. With the abs and the skull face.
"Greetings, Mister Vyne." Said RuPERT in a loud, deep, intimidating voice. People were running and screaming. RuPERT's next words sent a chill down Braden's spine.
"Wanna play?"