Wait For the Signal

Alice

She had to keep running.

She had to.

It was her plan from the start, but now it was the only thing on her mind.

None of it was her fault, but that meant nothing to them. She was still a criminal.

Her breaths were soft in the dim forest, her surroundings being visible not by mercy of the moon, but by the lights of the Signals who were chasing her. The sounds of leaves crunching from behind were warnings. One such noise right in front froze her. She looked down.

A stick. A stick she had not seen, and broke. Fear set in as she heard the faint buzzing of the mechanical grim reapers turning towards her. As they got closer, she could hear their voices.

"Alice Burtinson! We know you are here! Surrender to The Crown now!"

The Signals were coming up quick. Alice knew she had to keep running, just for a while longer, but for a reason unknown even to herself, she couldn't.

"Come on!" she heard one of them yell, "Face your fears! A-and your crimes!"

At least Alice could feel confident some were just as meek as the people they were fooling.

She picked up and threw a rock as far away from herself as she could, and as the dull thud sounded she saw the lights dart towards it. She started walking away slowly, making sure not to step on anything else that would give her away. The Signals were busy trying to intimidate a rock.

"Hey! I think she's over here!"

"You messed up this time, Alice! We found you!"

The leader of the group walked towards the rock. The arm holding their flashlight started shaking before they angrily threw it at the ground, breaking it and leaving them with one less light.

"She's not here, you buffoons!" they yelled, "Unless our little Assassinating Alice is made out of stone, I would rather we keep the dignity of the Crime Division and look elsewhere. We represent The Crown!"

Oh my God, Alice thought, "I need to get out of here."

Alice cupped her hands over her mouth. She did not just do that. It was impossible. Was she really going to be caught because she couldn't keep her thoughts to herself?

As it would turn out, that's exactly what happened.

"She's over here!" The shines headed straight towards Alice, who could barely see their owner's silhouettes past the blinding white.

"Wait!" she pleaded.

"Save your worthless begging for the interrogation."

The Signal to their right turned to them, "Okay, Steven, first of all, The Crown banned interrogations with high-value targets after Escapist Ed. It was like, second semester stuff. Do I need to go over it again for you?"

Despite Steven Signal's rejection, the other Signal continued along, detailing how incredible Ed was for being able to get away from such professionals as The Crown's own Crime Department. Steven Signal was quickly losing patience.

"God, you never let me have this!" they fumed, "There's only one first impression and it needs to be perfect! Your brain must be melted for you to not understand that!"

"Okay!" The second Signal scoffed, "Have your moment then!" They stepped aside.

"Signals," started Alice, "I'm the human you want, right? Your supposed 'Assassinating Alice'?"

The three Signals nodded simultaneously.

Alice was taken aback a little by the gesture. They were still robots, even if they acted like people. She said, "I- Humans are the species that created you, so-"

Steven Signal cut Alice off with a stomp of their foot and yelled, "Gah! I've heard enough of this since philosophy one!"

"I'm just saying..." Alice backed up, hitting her back on a tree stump, "shouldn't you treat us with some minimum amount of respect? You wouldn't be here otherwise."

The Signal that scoffed pulled Steven Signal aside and whispered to them, "I actually think she makes an excellent point. According to Wrett-"

Steven Signal was quick to respond angrily, "She isn't! There are no morals here, she's killed members of her own kind!"

"Can't we just use the philosophers of their time, then? Being 'condemned to freedom', as Sartre said, we should respect-"

"Respect?" Steven Signal stepped closer to them, "How... in the whole wide world... can you respect a murderer?"

While the two Signals continued bickering, Alice turned her head over to the third one who was still watching her. She looked up towards them and asked, "What's your name?"

"Josh."

"Josh Signal, are they always like this?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Alice went to look at the two, still arguing. "How come?"

"Lots of reasons. I think they got sorted into the Crime Division by mistake. I mean, Steven is far too much of a perfectionist, and David? Well they're-"

Whipping their head around, David Signal ran up to Josh Signal.

"Excuse me?"

Josh Signal internally braced himself. "Three, two, one."

Just as predicted, David Signal almost talked their mouth off, "Do you have any idea how much I have to put up with being in the Crime Division? At least you wanted this! I've had to deal with locking up hundreds of humans for crimes I'm honestly not sure they committed! Have you seen the sleep I've been getting? Because I sure haven't!" They took a breath. "Your attitude isn't helping me, either!"

"Yeah yeah, I know. Being near the top of The Crown's government is so terrible. Cry me a river, David, I don't care."

David Signal looked appalled, "Are you serious? We're in the middle of a capture, we should at least finish it!"

Josh Signal contemplated for a moment. "By the way, how's that resignation letter going?"

"My resignation letter is coming along just fine, no thanks to you."

Steven Signal, who was watching the quarrel, cut in between the two and defused the situation gracefully.

"Signals, quiet."

They pointed at Alice, who was still lying on the ground, "We can't let this wanted criminal go, and whether or not she is guilty will be decided later," they turned to David Signal, "Alright? We have a job to do."

"Steven, I get it, but we have to admit there are problems with our system! Use your arrogant yet strategic mind, do you think any old Signal will care if she's guilty or not?"

Steven Signal emitted a groan. "Even if there are, which I don't believe so, coming with us would at least give her a chance for survival." They turned to Alice. "You try to run, at any point, and I will shoot you."

Alice gave in. She followed the Signals back to their van and got inside.

It's ten past midnight on May 27th, 2178, and Alice Burtinson's life has just changed forever.