Together Or Apart

Chapter 1

"You don't really believe them, do you?" Asked Lily nervously, sinking her teeth into a slice of toast,
"Hmphh..." Replied Cass lazily from across the table, "honestly... no."
The concept was worrying Lily; Cass remained unphased.
"How 'bout you, Mum?"
"To be perfectly honest, Lily, I find it pretty hard to believe that they've only just found the evidence, but really I think it's anyone's guess," She finished matter-of-factly, turning on her heel and walking over towards the table, "But anyway, why you so worried? You know the media, they've probably just..." she considered her opinion for a moment, "exaggerated the truth."
"Again," Cass butted in, smirking - her mother shooting a frustrated look in her direction.
"I guess so," Replied Lily uncertainly, forcing a smile, "but anyway, how's work?"
"We've got a few..." Her voice lowered, "issues... we need to check out." And after kissing them both goodbye, Miss McKelton walked briskly out of the room, locking the door behind her.

She walked away down the city streets and towards a cluster of skyscrapers. They were not clearly visible amongst the thick layer of smog but their ominous shadows towered down onto the pavements.

After several minutes, she finally reached what must have been the tallest of them all. She walked over to the pair of revolving doors and stepped inside, slightly squashed by the amount of people standing in the compartment. Miss McKelton proceeded on towards the elevator which stood at the far end of the spacious room, resting her thumb upon the fingerprint scanner. Almost immediately, the large double doors opened, to reveal a moderate-sized compartment. She stepped in quickly and sat down on one of several chairs.
"Miss McKelton, welcome again to the State Department of Obligation." Said the speaker monotonously,
"Level 5." She requested automatically, and instantly the empty lift began its ascent.

                            ***

Meanwhile, "For goodness sake!" Exclaimed Cass irritably, "Will you ever stop worrying? I can't put up with you stressing all day." She finished, tying her jet black hair up in a messy ponytail.
"But what if they are real?" Wondered Lily out loud.
"So you do believe it then!" Said Cass with annoyance.
"Well, yeah, I guess I do." Answered Lily, coming to realization that, indeed, she did.

The concept had been toying with her mind, haunting her thoughts. What if the media was right? What if the whole of the human race was at risk, on the verge of extinction? There was no evidence to support the theory, but none to prove that it was wrong.

Everyone had been informed of the precautions. Everyone knew what to do. How to destroy them.

                            ***

Leaflets that always read the same message agonized neighbourhoods from north to south with a horrifying story. Was the apocalypse coming, chasing it's victims closer to their deaths? How would the world end? These questions hung, still, in the air, threatening to torture its victims.

Radios and televisions recited all of the facts - implanting them in Lily's memory. Cass still refused to believe the story, however her confidence started to fade. Even she knew the rehearsed 'code of conduct'.

But could it all be real? How could there have been a leak in the system, only to be discovered now? It seemed surreal, but not surprising. The world was a mess, tearing itself apart.

Robots. Artificial Intelligence. They couldn't exist - could they? Could scientists be developing machines to defeat anything that stood in their way?

How to destroy the world was within their knowledge, geniuses with menace and black hearts.

There was only one way to destroy them. Power them down. To access their internal wiring was almost impossible, but not completely. It all stood in the fates of their 32 digits. The digits that could cost them freedom. But they could also cost them death.

They had all been developed with core digits, branded onto their skin from the beginning with lasers: never able to be removed. Their 32 digits were highly advanced technology, carefully coded to perfection. 1 digit wrong was the end, years of hard work for nothing and a project of genius no cleverer than the creator - an average human.

How could the information just have leaked out? Who would splutter out the secrets of an illegal business to the world?