Sentience

Assertion

Arik started to ask, "You're not actually-"

Jayden swiftly sat up and looked at his friends' faces, then at Hugo. He tilted his head to the side, "What is happening?"

Lila made a gesture for all of them to follow her into the cabin; all of them did.

All of her friends looked at her expectantly.

Lila lowered her normally powerful voice to make sure nobody else was listening in on their conversation, "Of course not," She assured, "But I need you to act like I'm going to."

Jayden tilted his head.

Lila explained to Jayden, "We were reactivated by Arik and Diesel when the guards were called away by Diesel," She continued, "And I have just threatened to kill Hugo if they try to keep us from escaping."

Jayden considered this, "But what will we do with Hugo once we escape," He elaborated, "If we do release him, he will continue with his plans to destroy humanity. He may also recapture us as well."

Sukoyaka went over their options, then looked down at Hugo, "He's the leader of this group," He said, "He has to be useful for something other than a bargaining chip."

"Yeah," Diesel agreed, "But how?"

Jayden answered her, "As you have stated before, Sukoyaka, he is in authority of everyone here, so he must know what they plan to do."

Lila looked down at Hugo, who she was holding up at the moment, and sat him down in one of the wooden kitchen chairs. She found the rope that once restrained her, and tied Hugo's hands behind him to the chair. Then she tied his feet together - She refused to take any chances with their lives.

"I think we should keep watch," Arik said.

"No problem," Diesel nodded as she walked to the fireplace. She stepped into it, and then started to shimmy up it. Once she got to the top, she poked her small head out, her magenta eyes were now able to observe everything that happened.

Arik planted himself in front of the window.

Lila took off Hugo's hat, and pried open a hidden panel on the back of his head. She accessed her multitool subroutine and the top part of her index and middle fingers lifted up to reveal two different-sized screwdrivers, a small ratchet set, a pintool, and a tiny pair of folding scissors. In her middle finger was an adjustable sharpener and mini stapler. She retracted all of them except for the pintool, which she brought forward. Lila looked at the maintenance interface; there was a flashing red light next to another, smaller panel labeled "Shock Delivery System." She began to repair it.

"Lila," Jayden noticed what she was doing, "You are attempting to repair his Shock Delivery System. May I ask why?"

She replied, still fixing the circuit, "We might not be able to get anything out of him without it."

"You could at least try it the other way first," Sukoyaka countered.

"I agree," Jayden said.

"All right," Lila agreed, "I'll try that first, for you. But if that doesn't work though, we use shocks."

Sukoyaka asked, "And if that doesn't work?"

Lila looked up, "I honestly don't know..."