10 Minute Tales

Mar 26

The three of them ran. They got out of the building easily enough, but they could tell others were coming.

"Talk to me, Queenson." Abe huffed, running quickly. "What have you learnt?"

"More than I care to know. One, he's self-updating, he changed what it is to be human."

"Say what?" Aurora frowned, running effortlessly. "That's all sorts of illegal, right?"

"He must have snuck it in during a maintenance log. Nobody ever reads that crap." Queenson stuttered, jumping over a fence into the park. It was empty for now, but people were closing in. They turned towards the one free alleyway, a gradual ramp down.

"So what's the new definition?"

"Mostly the same, just that humans strive for perfection now. Far as he's concerned, that means going aug."

"Understandable. Augmented body parts are enhanced compared to their default version - tougher, stronger, able to access abilities..."

"Keep running." Queenson huffed. They were descending into the underbelly by now, the light from above slowly filtering out.

"Anything else worth knowing?"

"He's figuring out how to lie, he tried to lie to me about Alyssa - said she went with Sentinel willingly."

"And you doubt it?"

"I don't doubt he has her, but I doubt it was her choice. We need to figure out where she is before he can harm her."

"So what's going on with these guys?" Aurora asked, gesturing to the augs behind her. Thankfully, none were in the undercity.

"Haven't figured that out yet. All I know is they're under Sentinel's instruction for now."

"Got it." Aurora turned right. "This way's faster."

"You have learnt the area?" Abe asked, grunting quietly.

"An A.I.'s nothing but a brain. We are really good at learning."

"Naturally." he acknowledged, following Aurora. Queenson was right behind, stumbling slightly over the piles of trash littering the area. Behind, the thundering echoes of the uniform march of the enraptured civilians, pressing closer slowly. He noticed they were faster, though.

"Sentinel's getting used to controlling this many at once." he warned the other two. "The sooner we set out, the better."

"Got it." Aurora replied, speeding up. The other two were barely able to keep up, but they were soon approaching the large glass dome. It wouldn't be long now. They just needed to get out of the biodome.