Release Me From Heaven (Release Me From Hell Series)

Chapter 3: (System 107: Number 89/Vaeshi) Askin, The Only Elite

          Humans. I knew that they were all flesh and bone, and I heard that despite the strength of them, they would snap if gripped too tightly. I was summoned on short notice. I wouldn't suddenly disband from Askin's duties, but I came home to a strange surprise. Humans. Two of them sleeping on one of Askin's side furnitures that hadn't been packed up yet. Askin said nothing to me about them. He just asked me to prepare.
          And I did. I set the table and started cleaning. Night had come before I knew it, and the humans sleeping suddenly became an afterthought. I went into shutdown mode without any real thought.
          Unlike other machines, I could dream. I had always thought this way my Elite power, but it could happen to anyone. I dream quite vividly, though. That might have been the fear my body was returning in the dead of night. I had many fears that I didn't need to come to light. In my dreams, they all surrounded me like insects trying to bite into my metal. The dream was a machine with hair barely falling to her shoulders. Her eyes were... alien, her body all full of curves I had never seen a System to have. Her hands reached outward to a darkness.
            Two large yellow eyes stared back.
           She shouted. "What is your name and numbers?"
            With a slow and menacing growl, the voice that belonged to those eyes spoke. "I DO NOT HAVE TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH. THE WORLD IS BUILT UPON LIES MADE BY FOOLS. I WILL BE A FOOL." A large, rusted metal hand crashed down next to her. "503, 503, 503, 503, 503, 503..." The voice continued to mumble.
            And the other hand crashed onto her body, killing her instantly.

            I woke without taking any mind to what the dream was. Maybe it was about the Factory shutting down, but I had no logs of anyone with 503 in their numbers that had ran the Factory. But... maybe it wasn't. I threw the thought away as I ran to the door with a bot's grace. Someone was here. The door I so despised creaked open to reveal seven machines wearing clothes that didn't fit any of them right. I bowed without sound, and they all bowed in return before carrying their own conversations back tot he meeting room.
            No other bots came. That's right. They didn't want anything being reported back to the Factory. But I was here, and I followed.
            "Humans? Askin, are you mad?"
             The two girls came running out of the meeting room with food on their faces and smiles. Anav, the younger, crashed onto a couch in a laugh, and Alieka, the older, put a hand over her mouth as she noticed all of the Elites staring.
             "Don't worry," I heard Askin say. "Vaeshi, can you watch them while we have our meeting?"
             My back was erect. "Yes, sir Askin."
             The door slammed shut as the Elites all began their Council. And I stared forward. Into the children.
             Again, I did not quite understand humans. They made us, but they blocked most of us off until they needed us again. These two were no different. They asked for Askin's help when they had nowhere to go, but I didn't agree to it. I hid a grimace.
             "You're Vaeshi, right?" Alieka asked. Her eyes had such a fire to them. It was scary.
I nodded. "System 107, Number 89."
             "Can we go to the balcony?"
             "I suppose."
              I started walking and heard a trotting slowly start behind me. The balcony had these large windows. To open one would bring in all the cold air, but Anav swung one door open to feel it. Strange. If a human was of flesh and blood, wouldn't they always want to be warm? They weren't even wearing coats. But, in the end, I followed them into the cold air, and I shut the door. It was a pretty sight, especially the large, black building of the Factory that cascaded smoke over Matum.
              There wasn't any smoke today.
              "So, Vaeshi, what do you know about System 11, Number 503?"
               503?
               He was the thing with the yellow eyes.
               "Yes, I..." I coughed for a second. "I have received those memories. Askin told me that the Factory has shut down because of it."
                "Yeah," Alieka sighed. "I suppose you also heard about the machines that went crazy."
                I did. Though I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. My mind was spinning back to that dream I had, and I kept thinking of the numbers. Was this the evil that Nomedd spoke of? The numbers, the shutdown...
                "Alieka, look!" Anav shouted.
                  There was a glint in the sky above the Factory, like a star too bright to be with its sibling stars. For a second, I thought it would crash into the black bricks. It glowed and glowed brighter still until its center burst into streams of light across Matum. I gripped onto Alieka and Anav tightly, turning my back to it. If a power was to come to make me an Elite, now would have been the time. But nothing happened. A crash happened, and I lifted my head to see the light in the garden of wilted roses.
                   "What the heck was that?" Alieka exclaimed.
                    My grip on them loosened. "Stay here. It would be ill-advised to put you two in danger."
                   Alieka held onto Anav, and they stepped out into the hall and watched me. I swiftly walked my way to the garden. The garden had all kinds of genetically engineered roses that bloomed in the Spring, but now they all held the same wilted yellow. There were other flowers, too, but all that shined was the unnatural light that crashed down in the center. I approached the light.
                   It was like a ball, full of particles that seemed to shine upwards. This was from the Factory. It could not be trusted. However much I tried, I had approached it with no carefulness whatsoever. My metal hand grasped it tightly. It began to glow brighter until it had taken refuge of my reactor core. No. Oh no, was it going to corrupt me? I could not take the chance of being re-built. I threw the light onto the ground, but it wouldn't leave.
                    "Don't worry."
                     I turned my head. A System 136 with hollow eyes began to slowly appear from behind one of the bushes. Nomedd.
                     "It's something the Factory sends out to the Elites when they have specific information they want them to know," Nomedd said. "They normally send it during the night, but it's a state of emergency."
                       The light in my reactor reached up to my eyes, and a small message box appeared. This was for Askin. He needed to see this, not me.
                        "Read it. You have no choice," Nomedd demanded.
                          I had a choice. It wasn't right to read a high-level document like this. It wasn't right that I even had it in the first place. But my hand reached out the message that blinked there, and it all came forward.

                        Dear System 86: Number 5,

                        In light of recent events, I am here to inform you that the Factory will be up and running by this evening. We have some information on the virus that went across Matum last night, and it appears that it may continue for a few weeks. Not all of my bugs have been fixed yet, and I'm almost certain those less affected are continuing to deal with it. The virus came with System 11: Number 503's memories, but it was not originally meant to be there. Some hacker (clearly human) had managed to pull it to Matum to make machines go crazy. As you could tell, I am managing to feel some sort of emotion. This will be for a short time, but I thought it would be beneficial for you to know.

                        Sincerely,
                        System 46: Number 156

                         I stared at Nomedd. "There was a hacker?"
                          "I told you there was evil here," he sighed. "If I could tell you everything, I would, but you will find out that the fools who lie are the allies you need to put faith in."
                         "You saw my dream?"
                           Nomedd shrugged. "I know the truth you so desperately seek. I know everything about you."
                          "So, what? Are you one of those liars I need to put faith in?"
Nomedd tilted his head. "Have I lied?"
                           He hadn't. Nomedd was only holding information he didn't want me to hear all at once. My codex would be overloaded with so many things, and I wasn't sure I could take that. Nomedd knew everything.
                           How did I know that?
                           Nomedd turned away. "The weeks will pass by normally. You'll all forget about it, trust me. Even Alieka and Anav will move on. But you... I need you and Askin to remember."
Despite him talking to me, it sounded like he was mumbling to himself. Strange. Nomedd was strange.
                            "I'll return when you'll need me again," Nomedd sighed. "For now, protect your Elite, okay?"
                            "Vaeshi? Vaeshi, where did you go?"
                            I turned to see Askin yell from the balcony. Looking back, Nomedd was no longer there. He had disappeared.
                            "I'm in the garden!" I shouted.
                             Askin spotted me and smiled broadly. "Our guests are gone. You're free from them now. Come back, I have some things to tell you."
                              I began my descent back into the house.
                              I had things to tell him, too.