Mind Over Matter

Chapter 20

Carroll

"You can't be my sister,"

I said, "I'm a robot." "OK," she replies, "You used to be my sister." "So I wasn't always a robot," I said after a pause. "No," she replied, "You died a few years ago..." She started crying. "And I couldn't live with myself, for letting you die." she said through tears, "So I went to the AHDL, but they wouldn't let me..." "Let you do what?" I interrupted. "Build a robot, to put your memory in," she replied, "They said it was selfish, that you'd rather die than live as a cold machine. So I went to Area 51. They said it was 'a worthy experiment,' so they helped me under the condition that I joined them." Her tears were clearing up. She stopped crying. "We put your DNA in the robot, but before I could activate you, the AHDL busted in and stole you," she said. "And they were right," I said, "I'd rather die, than be a robot!" Her face turned expressionless. "But now," I said, "I am, and I'm going to protect the people who do what's right, even if it's from you!" "So I guess," she said, a little upset, "This is a bad time to tell you that I'm the head of Area 51, and to ask you to join me."

I was silent. I felt something inside. How could she? I felt angry. I had never felt that way before. She's the only thing from my past, and she's the enemy. I looked at her. She looked as upset as I was. "And what do you want me to join you in?" I asked, my voice shaky. "Ruling the world," she replied, "And putting an end to people like the AHDL." "I can't do that," I said. She pushed a button on her desk, and a door opened. "Then go," she said, her voice getting shaky. "Why are you doing this?" I asked. "Because I love my sister," she replied, about to cry, "And your all I have left of her, I don't want to hurt her again." I ran out of the room. I started running. I didn't really pay attention to where. I was to upset. My own sister did this to me, and now she's trying to destroy the very thing I live for. I couldn't believe it. How could she do this?

Mark

"So this is responsible for the tunnels," said Alex. "Yes," replied Shadow, "Using Mark and Casper's powers combined, the Ender's Box made the Warp Tunnels." "You took Casper's powers too?" I asked. "Just a fraction of them, he can still use his, but so can the Ender's Box," he replied. "So you took all of mine just to get rid of me," I asked. "Pretty much," he replied. "I have a hard time believing that this did that," said Alex, pointing at the machine. "You're right," said Shadow, "This is just a scale model. The real thing is much bigger. Let's show them, shall we Casper?" "Why not?" replied Casper, pushing a button next to a door at the other end of the room. The door opened. "This way gentlemen," said Shadow, escorting us to the door. We went through.

This thing was huge. I think it was like a cubic mile in volume. And the room it was in was even bigger. We could see the top of the Box. There were walkways on what looked like giant shelves with 7' spaces in between them, that went all the way around the Box. We were on one that was above the box. There was about a 8' gap between the walkway and the top of the box. Everything was metal, and there were a lot of wires and flashing lights on the Box. There was a walkway above us, and people walking on it. There were a lot of walkways below us. I couldn't see the bottom. Or the other end of the box. I noticed that a few feet away from us, there was a walkway that turned and went to a door that led into the Ender's Box.

"Hand me your guns," said Shadow, pointing one at us. We handed him ours. "Now," he said, "How would you like to see the inside?" We walked to the door. Shadow typed in a super long password. I don't know how he remembers it. The door opens, and we all walk through. We walked around inside for awhile. Inside, there was even more wires and lights. Every once and awhile you'd see a control panel. We came to a shaft, with a ladder. Shadow told us to climb down. We did so.

It went on forever. Shadow finally told us to stop at a passage. We walked through it, and came to a room with four control panels. There was a pillar with a big red button on it in the middle of the room. "Let me guess," said Alex, "That's the button that ends the world." "Very perceptive," Shadow said. "And you brought us here because..." I said, "Because if any of you try anything funny," he replied, "This button, gets pushed."

Then, Casper grabbed both of us, and next thing I know, we're back at the agency, and Casper disappears.

Carroll

I'm walking down a hallway, crying, when I see Casper appear out of nowhere. He grabs me, and next thing I know, I'm back at the agency, and he disappears. I see Alex and Mark. "What's the matter?" asked Alex. "Do you know who the head of Area 51 is?" I asked through tears. He sighed. "Yes," he said reluctantly. "Is she really my sister?" I asked through tears. I knew she was. She let me go. But I wanted to see if he'd tell me the truth. "Yes," he said, "And she built you." "Just so you know," I said, "I'm on your side, I would have rather died." "I should tell you," he said, then he paused. "I... erased your memory," he finally said. "I figured as much," I replied. "How did I die?" I asked. "Painfully," he replied, "That's why your memory was erased. It was... my fault. I tried to delete the memory of your death, but I accidentally deleted everything." "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked. "Because if I had," he replied, "We might have never been friends."

We contacted Samson. He was OK. We told him about the Ender's Box. That thing is weird. But scary. Samson said that it would probably be best we didn't do anything for now, but suggested that we go talk to the Lab.