Our Manufactured Reality

Chapter 11: Hope in R.E.P.

"Harper...  Harper, wake up,"  Charlie's voice called out into the void of sleep.

"Charlie..."  I opened my eyes reluctantly, expecting us to get up and start walking.  Only, I was greeted with a different sight.  The sun had not even risen yet.  In fact, the stars were still out and it felt as though I'd only been asleep for a few hours. "Why are we-  What is it?"  I sat up, realizing there were limited reasons he would wake me up at this hour.

"I think I hear someone,"  He whispered attentively, hinting at a spot behind the bushes.

Footsteps came from the shrubbery, and together we inched toward it.  The noise became louder as we neared it, and just as my vision was about to clear the brush I braced myself for an attack.

"Shh!"  A dark figure sprang-up from behind the bushes with a finger to his lips; I jumped back, "Don't wake him!"  He continued to whisper.

"Who are you?"  I asked.

"Oh.  Sorry.  I'm the scout sent to follow you guys."  The only other human we'd seen nervously adjusted his hat.

"What do you mean 'scout?'"  I stepped through the hedge.

"Oh.  Right.  Um..."

"And why did you say 'don't wake him?'  Don't wake who?"  Charlie intervened.

"Are you guys serious?"  He raised his eyebrows. "The- the robot?  Okay, nevermind, just follow me."  Our visitor jumped up and started walking in the direction we'd come.

"What?  Wait!  We can't just follow you,"  I announced.

"It's not that far.  Come on!"  He waved us over and continued hiking.

I glanced at Charlie, annoyed.  He just shrugged and waited for me to cave.  I dropped my face into a "why not?" expression and we followed the strange figure.

"Where are you taking us?"  I prodded after ten minutes of hiking.

"To my..."  He searched for the right word, "...home."  I rolled eyes and stretched my face with annoyance.  Charlie snickered and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"What?"  He laughed again. "You're hilarious like this,"  He grinned and I couldn't help but smile back.

Almost ten more minutes passed before the journey seemed to be dying down.  Our guide slowed, and turned around.

"We're here."  He said as I looked around.  Nothing but more trees and bushes.

"Where is here?"  I questioned.

"Oh.  Not here."  He stretched out his hands toward a few feet ahead. "Through there."

"What?"  There was nothing ahead of us.  Not even a tree.

"Okay.  Just watch."  The man I thought of as crazy stepped forward, and suddenly was gone.

"What?"  I looked at Charlie and we both ran forward to the place he'd been.  Then, I felt a hand on my arm, and was pulled into an unknown expanse.

"Welcome."  Another man stood before us and my mouth dropped open.  Around us now was a huge camp.  Dozens of tens and people flooded the area, and I was too amazed to respond.

"Yeah,"  He continued, "Don't worry, you're not crazy.  We use a cloaking device to conceal this place from the robots...  I'm Corey by the way.  I founded R.E.P."  He extended his hand and I shook it, still full of questions.

"Wh-  How did you-"  I gathered myself. "What is this place...?  What's R.E.P?"

"Well, surely you know of us..."  He was taken aback. "R.E.P... the Robot Extinction Program?  The last known surviving humans?"