Chapter Thirty Five
The two service bots had grabbed us with their brass mechanical hands and stormed out of the chapel. I looked at the Empress as we left, waving and smiling as she bit into her turkey leg.
I closed my eyes, willing the robots to explode like I had done in the Tascaque, but I found that I was using up too much energy. Those bots were too massive, and the amount of energy required to dismantle them would most likely kill me in the process.
In short, I couldn’t fight against those gigantic robots as they passed through the door of the chapel.
We crossed the open courtyard to the tall tower, the windows to the Empress’s headquarters at the very top. We approached the base of the cylindrical building and walked around it to the back. I was about to ask what the hell we were doing when I caught sight of a small, wooden door.
“Open it,” the service bot that held Ellie’s arm demanded. She walked up obediently and turned the gold knob.
The door opened into a pitch-black staircase that winded down far below the earth. The Service bots pushed us forward. The one escorting Ellie took a torch mounted at the left of the doorway before entering.
The stairway seemed to wind down forever – it must’ve been at least twenty minutes before we reached the end. The light from the lone torch wasn’t enough to cast away the darkness that occupied the dungeon. The air was rank and smelled of blood and urine, and when the Service Bots pushed us forward I could make out rows of steel-barred cells. Only one of them was occupied, and though it was extremely dim, I could make out the frightened faces of the Anti-Lucids and their Acquaintances. When I scanned the group I noticed one individual that I didn’t recognize. He was probably in his mid-twenties, and was by far in the worst condition; he was malnourished, his arms nothing but skinny noodles, his hair was sticking out in all directions, and his dull eyes suggested that he had become blind in the constant pitch-black room.
I heard Ellie gasp beside me. I gave her a quizzical look when a smile spread on her face. The bots scanned some monitor on the barred door with a card; it beeped in response, the cell door opening in response. The pair of Service-Bots pushed us in and quickly shut the door.
They then left, taking the torch with them. When the last glint of light exited the room, I felt like I could breathe again.
“Is everybody okay?” I heard Ellie’s concerned voice emit from the darkness.
Some of the kids groaned, but other than that, she received no response.
“That Empress . . .” I sat down and hugged my knees. I backed up to the wall. “I can’t believe this.”
“I know,” Ellie said. After a brief period of silence, she spoke again. “What’re we gonna do?”
I felt myself shrug. “What can we do?” The harsh reality of our situation hit me hard. What will happen if I don’t wake up in the next three days? Will the doctors think I’m dead? In other words, I was practically timed. I needed to escape that cell and go to the center of my dream. But how . . . ?
“You’re the Lucid,” Ellie replied. “The least you can do is create some light.”
I felt myself shaking my head. “I’m not the creator,” I said sarcastically. “I’m just the Empress’s puppet.” I felt someone touch my hand. I jumped in response.
