Servo 27:2
Servo 27:2
We thought the treehouse would afford us some safety; that proved a falsehood. No sooner had we scaled the ladder and were tucked away inside, another battle bot showed up. It stopped perhaps forty feet from the tree. This time I was in a position I could watch from a crack in the wall. I saw it swiveling around scanning the area. Something told me that it knew we were there. The bot was paying particular attention to our hiding spot. None of us moved, not even a muscle. I felt my heart beating madly and willed it to calm, but to no avail. Terror was coursing through every vein and artery. The bot seemed to loiter an extraordinarily long time. I had to remind myself that it wasn’t a living, breathing being, and as such, didn’t have an attention span or any concept of time. If it wanted to, it could wait us out until we were forced to move. And then what?Finally it left. There was a collective sigh of relief in the tiny treehouse. I looked over to see Suz visibly shaken.“Suz?” I said.“What?”“How long have the battle bots been doing this?”“I…I dunno. I remember seeing one or two when we first got here. But now it seems like many more.”“And the news just says they’re deployed to protect property from thieves?” Dad asked.“That’s what Liza’s parents said.”Dad gestured. “Jonah, your tablet please.” I removed it from the backpack and turned it on for him. “What are you going to do?”“We can’t stay here, it’s not safe.”Rory piped up. “Are you going to get us a hotel room?”“I’ll try, but it’ll probably be Suz that has to book it.”“Why me?” she asked.“Well, I’m dead, and Jonah and Rory aren’t old enough. The registration computer will know their age as soon as they log into it.”“Oh, I see.”“There’s plenty of money loaded into the account, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” He accessed one of the local hotel booking sites. “This one is pretty close. I don’t want any of us caught out on the street with those bots roaming around.” Dad passed the tablet to Suz. “Book us for six nights, please.”I watched her fumble though getting a room. Truly my sister wasn’t as comfortable on a computer as myself, but in this case, I’d have to sit back and let her work. “Okay, booked for six nights, room three-two-three.”“Thank you,” Dad said, relieving her of the tablet. “Now to see if I can find out what’s going on.” He poked around trying to access the New Philadelphia news sites. “Odd, there’s not much news.”“Normally there’s lots,” I said, observing over his arm. “Why would they not be saying anything about the battle bots on the streets?”“Because they don’t want citizens to know the real reason behind their presence.” He handed the tablet to me.“Suz?”“What, Jonah?”“You said Otto disappeared not long after you got here?”“Yes. He went out one day and never came back.”“That didn’t worry you?”“Well, yes, I was worried, and we called around looking for him.”“Nothing?”“No. I figured he ran off with someone else.”I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound like Otto. I bet they caught him.”“Why would they do that?”“He’s an outsider. Otto doesn’t have an I.D. chip.”Suz looked at her hand. “That’s right, he doesn’t.”Dad stood, bonking his head on a rafter. Unthinking, he reached up and put his hand on his head as if to soothe the injury. “If they caught him, he’d be in the detention center.”“How would we get him out?” I asked.“You might be able to hack him out.”“Me?”“You were the one who hacked the government computer once, right?”“Umm…”“If I recall, I was very angry with you.”“Yes,” I squeaked.“This time, it’s a sanctioned hack. You’ll need to get into the Ministry of Enforcement and find out who the director is. Then hack his account and draft a letter from him for the release of Otto Arkman.”“That could take some time. I need to charge my tablet, it’s getting low.”Dad peered out the window. “The park is quiet, let’s get to the hotel. Once there, you can eat and we can start working on a plan to get into Servidyne.”“Why there?” Suz said.He pointed to his chest. “Because inside me is the way to stop all this madness.”“You really think there’s going to be another war?”“If history repeats itself…yes.” I felt a deep sense of dread fill my gut. War. Had this country not learned from the last one? Were they bent on utter destruction? Why? Surely no good can come from another epic conflict.
We thought the treehouse would afford us some safety; that proved a falsehood. No sooner had we scaled the ladder and were tucked away inside, another battle bot showed up. It stopped perhaps forty feet from the tree. This time I was in a position I could watch from a crack in the wall. I saw it swiveling around scanning the area. Something told me that it knew we were there. The bot was paying particular attention to our hiding spot. None of us moved, not even a muscle. I felt my heart beating madly and willed it to calm, but to no avail. Terror was coursing through every vein and artery. The bot seemed to loiter an extraordinarily long time. I had to remind myself that it wasn’t a living, breathing being, and as such, didn’t have an attention span or any concept of time. If it wanted to, it could wait us out until we were forced to move. And then what?Finally it left. There was a collective sigh of relief in the tiny treehouse. I looked over to see Suz visibly shaken.“Suz?” I said.“What?”“How long have the battle bots been doing this?”“I…I dunno. I remember seeing one or two when we first got here. But now it seems like many more.”“And the news just says they’re deployed to protect property from thieves?” Dad asked.“That’s what Liza’s parents said.”Dad gestured. “Jonah, your tablet please.” I removed it from the backpack and turned it on for him. “What are you going to do?”“We can’t stay here, it’s not safe.”Rory piped up. “Are you going to get us a hotel room?”“I’ll try, but it’ll probably be Suz that has to book it.”“Why me?” she asked.“Well, I’m dead, and Jonah and Rory aren’t old enough. The registration computer will know their age as soon as they log into it.”“Oh, I see.”“There’s plenty of money loaded into the account, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” He accessed one of the local hotel booking sites. “This one is pretty close. I don’t want any of us caught out on the street with those bots roaming around.” Dad passed the tablet to Suz. “Book us for six nights, please.”I watched her fumble though getting a room. Truly my sister wasn’t as comfortable on a computer as myself, but in this case, I’d have to sit back and let her work. “Okay, booked for six nights, room three-two-three.”“Thank you,” Dad said, relieving her of the tablet. “Now to see if I can find out what’s going on.” He poked around trying to access the New Philadelphia news sites. “Odd, there’s not much news.”“Normally there’s lots,” I said, observing over his arm. “Why would they not be saying anything about the battle bots on the streets?”“Because they don’t want citizens to know the real reason behind their presence.” He handed the tablet to me.“Suz?”“What, Jonah?”“You said Otto disappeared not long after you got here?”“Yes. He went out one day and never came back.”“That didn’t worry you?”“Well, yes, I was worried, and we called around looking for him.”“Nothing?”“No. I figured he ran off with someone else.”I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound like Otto. I bet they caught him.”“Why would they do that?”“He’s an outsider. Otto doesn’t have an I.D. chip.”Suz looked at her hand. “That’s right, he doesn’t.”Dad stood, bonking his head on a rafter. Unthinking, he reached up and put his hand on his head as if to soothe the injury. “If they caught him, he’d be in the detention center.”“How would we get him out?” I asked.“You might be able to hack him out.”“Me?”“You were the one who hacked the government computer once, right?”“Umm…”“If I recall, I was very angry with you.”“Yes,” I squeaked.“This time, it’s a sanctioned hack. You’ll need to get into the Ministry of Enforcement and find out who the director is. Then hack his account and draft a letter from him for the release of Otto Arkman.”“That could take some time. I need to charge my tablet, it’s getting low.”Dad peered out the window. “The park is quiet, let’s get to the hotel. Once there, you can eat and we can start working on a plan to get into Servidyne.”“Why there?” Suz said.He pointed to his chest. “Because inside me is the way to stop all this madness.”“You really think there’s going to be another war?”“If history repeats itself…yes.” I felt a deep sense of dread fill my gut. War. Had this country not learned from the last one? Were they bent on utter destruction? Why? Surely no good can come from another epic conflict.
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