Release Me From Heaven (Release Me From Hell Series)

Chapter 2: (System 86: Number 5/Askin) Breath Of Ice

          "And this.. System 11 has nothing to do with the human murders?"
As many times as I asked it, Yentira had to reassure me that I was thinking straight. So maybe a few bolts were loose in my head, but I definitely had the right idea. Why, all of a sudden, had there been a machine's memories leaked? Clearly, it was intentional. Yentira seemed to shrug it off, though, saying I shouldn't worry about anything happening in Matum anymore.
            Right, I was leaving soon.
          "Don't think too long on who this machine is or how he may affect America. Worry about Japan."
             I nodded. "I'm leaving everything behind here, but I'm serious about taking Vaeshi."
            Yentira scratched behind her large elf ears. "Do it in secret, then. I'm sure if you're right about her, then she'll be fine here."
            I knew Vaeshi was an Elite. It was hard not to see it in her eyes when she disappeared from the chains of the house, but that could mean nothing all the same.
           "I have to go. I'm being summoned by the Factory," Yentira said. "We'll talk later, yeah?"
            I nodded, escaping my computer screen to stand and approach the balcony. Below the balcony was a view of my garden of dead plants as the cold air had choked them. I stared at the wilted roses for a moment too long before thinking of the Elite council I proposed. Apparently, the memories weren't widely received, and none of the others managed to actually understand what I was talking about. Maybe I would forget it when they came, make it easier. Vaeshi would appreciate it if I forgot it, too. She was as uninterested as she was a machine, clearly lost in the footage I managed to show her.
            The balcony creaked as I stepped away into my house once more. I didn't want to stay home. It was an empty, hollow shell of metal and wires, practically a bigger version of what I imagined my own insides looking like. It... bothered me. I snatched my key to my house and trekked down my staircase. I would travel to the human part of the district, where Elites like I were allowed to roam without any laws against us.
             Humans were fickle creatures. They created us to use us without any sort of repercussions, failing ultimately when the first Elite had its own ideas about living. How it happened was a phenomenon I couldn't find in the Factory's data. I just knew the name of it.
            Evitol.
            No. Elite never aspired to be like Evitol. He was an idealist, an activist of rights that were never going to be met. And he killed humans. Some Elites jokingly called this new murderer Evitol, since the clean-cut murders were practically machine.
             Maybe I would find something out.
           "Sir Askin!" a little bot greeted as he saw me approach my car. "Where are we headed today?" My driver. He had no emotion to him.
             "Head to the high school."
            I got into my car and leaned into the seat as I waited to reach my destination.

            Strange. The high school was all black with candles out front. A memorial, maybe? My driver dropped me off at the front entrance, so I managed to get a closer look at the humans who all cried in the cold. They were freezing, and the clouds were rolling in. The candles were leading up to an array of pictures of young children. Dead children. Victims. Some of the humans managed to see, holding each other closer as they noticed my pigmented skin was metal. I had bolts in my neck, wires running through me.
            "Elite Askin?" one of the children said, running with a burning candle in their hands.
            "I am Askin, yes," I told them. "Did you need something?"
            "Can you stay here to protect us in case anything bad happens?"
             Another girl came up and grabbed her wrist. "Anav! You can't just ask an Elite to do that!" Her eyes were wild, staring down at the younger girl as they exchanged glances at me. "Elites are busy! They're not like Tevea at home, you know!"
            So they were sisters. I closed my eyes for a minute, only to sigh in a dramatic nature.
           "Why do you expect anything bad to happen at the school? Are you not protected by the Factory?" I asked.
            The older sister looked up at me with a calmer, more dignified stare. "Have you not heard? The Factory has shut down."
          "When did that happen? I was unaware that the very big thing that controls Matum could do that."
            The younger sister, Anav, spoke up. "A video was sent out, kind of like a virus, I guess. A lot of the bots got infected with it, even the one that controls the Factory. The machines started having... feelings."
            Iskil Madoeken.
           Madoeken.
          Oh my god.
           "Was this video a log of memories from a machine called System 11, Number 503? Iskil Madoeken?" I asked.
            They stood straight. The older sister answered. "Yeah. A few thousand year's worth. Why?"
             "Exactly how much do you humans know of Iskil Madoeken?"
            "He's a machine from before WoE. It's not like the video was leaked or anything. They're pretty good at keeping that locked in, Mr. Askin."
             I nodded. "Iskil Madoeken is... Well, Iskilla Madoeken did some pretty shady things when creating Matum. It wouldn't surprise me if Iskil was her's before the war. I can tell, however, this wasn't his ploy."
           If Yentira believed Iskil Madoeken wasn't involved, then I had to believe he didn't know about Matum. About home.
           I held out a hand. "I will stay here. If the Factory won't protect you, I will attempt my best."
           "That's something else, Mr. Askin," Anav said. "The virus hit humans too. All of these photos are people who died because of their machines."
           And then I saw it. In my vision was a small screen, playing a video of someone's perspective. Huh.

           I sat at the memorial, learning the names of the shivering children all around. Despite my tasks to keep them protected, they had guns. Sure, it was illegal, but I had no reason to stop them. I was watching something in the corner of my eye, anyway, a feed of someone's memory that I did not know. But you could hear their thoughts.
          "Someone is vicious today."
          That was Iskil. A live feed? Who would have a live feed of their life on display for everyone to see? I muted the feed and began to look through my own feed. This was a large hack if I had ever seen one. By who? There was enough mistakes that it was human, but exactly how was I tapped into?
            "Mr. Askin?"
            I ignored it for now, seeing as there were other problems I had to deal with.
            "Alieka," I said, returning my kind gesture.
            She sat next to me, staring into the clouds. "You don't suppose this is all just going to end happily, do you? The Factory will open and the machines will be fixed?"
            "I hope that to be. I will go the Factory tomorrow to find out exactly what needs to be done. You and your sister may accompany me to my estate, since your parents are no longer with us."
            "Would you care, Mr. Askin?" she asked.
             "The Factory can do nothing when it's shut down. You can't stay on the streets. They're unsafe."
               She nodded.
              Got it. The hack was from someone in Matum, a shack in between houses it seemed. I recited the address to memory, realizing that the memorial was starting to end. My car was still parked there, my driver waiting. He wasn't virused. No one in the house was virused, not even Vaeshi. I sent a message to Yen about what happened, not exactly hoping for a reply. That council tomorrow was going to be vague. They couldn't know. They didn't have to. It wouldn't be the first time I lied, and I was certain this was a big conspiracy.
              But I was leaving in six weeks to Japan. What happens here shouldn't matter. I sighed, guiding the human girls to my car as I thought of these facts.
I would still do what needed to be done now, and that was to get home.
           "Take us home," I said. "And send Vaeshi a message to return immediately." I said I wasn't going to involve her anymore.
            She was an Elite.
            She could put this to her own investigation.