Servo 33:2
Servo 33:2
An hour seemed like an eternity. Dad stayed hidden in the short hall keeping an eye on the droid. When it finally made it to the mainframe door, he darted out and got right behind the blocky mechanism, following it inside. Good thinking, Otto. He texted as he made his way through the first room and into the second, larger one. We watched as he scanned the area for cameras. Yes, they were there all right. I wondered how long it would take before someone noticed him. Minutes? Maybe ten? I felt my breath coming short and chest tightening as I watched. Would he succeed? “Jonah?”“Yes, Dad?”“I love you.”My heart ached. Why did he say that now? Did he fear capture? Were we going to lose our father again? A knot formed in my throat. I was unable to speak.“Jonah? Did you hear me?”“Yes,” I croaked.“I want you to know that whatever happens, I will always love you, Rory, and Suz.”“Yes.”Otto and I watched as he opened a small port on his left forearm and deployed the interface probe. He approached the mainframe and inserted the golden tip of the probe into the port on the massive computer. On the right-hand corner of my tablet screen, I saw a red blinking dot. It was there just a few seconds and then vanished. “Phase one complete,” he said. “Now onto the lab files.”“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”“Accessing them now.”The red dot appeared again and then the screen went dark for a few moments. When I next saw what Dad was doing, he was leaving the room. “Check your hard drive on the tablet for a file labeled 3/21/55.”I did not say a word and brought up the files. “Yes, it’s there.”“Good. You have the answer. I cannot keep the file in my memory core in case they catch me.”“This is the only copy?”“Yes. Guard it with your life.”“I will.”He continued down a long hall and turned right. An imposing male security guard stood in his way.“Hey, what are you doing?” the guard said. “You don’t belong out here.”Dad stopped and didn’t say a word. I swear I felt my heart stop for a moment. The guard reached out and grasped the tag affixed to Dad’s chestplate. “You’re here for maintenance. How’d you get out of the receiving area?”“Good evening, Master Jonah, what would you like for dinner?” said Dad.We saw the guard’s left eyebrow raise. “Mmm, yeah, I’d say you got some sort of malfunction going on. Come with me.” He led Dad back to the room where he’d been offloaded and set him against a charging terminal, switching off his power.Our screen went dark, but we could still hear the man as he left the room. “Geez, who would want that old hunk of junk fixed?” The door closed and there was silence. Soon the screen flickered on and we saw Dad stand up. “Now to get out of here.” He went to the door for the loading dock and inspected it. “The building alarm is on. I wonder if I can bypass it?”“What would happen if you can’t?”“I’m sure there will be battle bots deployed quickly.” “That’s not good.”“Definitely not.” He went to the exterior door and rested his hand on the handle. “Have Suz and Rory come back yet?”“No, I expect them any moment.”“When they do, get a bot cab and go to the location I showed you.”“Above the compound?”“Yes, and wait for me.”“Right.”The hotel door opened and Suz wandered in followed by Rory.“What’s going on?” Suz asked. “Has he made it in?”Otto nodded. “In, uploaded the virus, downloaded a file, and now he’s trying to get out.”“We need to get a bot cab, fast,” I said, snatching my coat off the back of a chair. “He wants us to meet him on the hill above Servidyne.”“But we’ve only just got back,” she said in protest.“Dad said to get there quickly.”Rory held the door open as we dashed out. I tucked the tablet under my coat so no one would see it. We tumbled out onto the dark street and managed to hail a passing cab. The bot driver asked our destination. I froze, I didn’t know the exact address. “Address, please,” the bot repeated.“Umm, I don’t know the exact address, can you take coordinates?”“Yes.”I took out the tablet and quickly accessed the mapping program. The location was marked with a digital push-pin. “Okay, the coordinates are: 40 by 04’34.06” north.”“Thank you. Coordinates locked in. Your journey will take approximately thirty-five minutes.”I secretly hoped that thirty-five minutes wasn’t too long. Servidyne was housed on the acreage of an old air field. On the satellite map some of the runways still remained, but had been repurposed into roads leading to the massive warehouses and main building. There was a ten-foot-tall fence around the facility ringed with razor wire. I remember feeling like I was walking into a prison whenever I’d go to work with Dad. We were to rendezvous with him on the road to the southwest. That seemed to be the closest fence line from where he’d be exiting the building.We were about halfway there when Dad contacted me. “How much longer?”“About fifteen minutes I guess.”“I can’t do anything until I know you’re at the location.”“Have you figured out how to bypass the alarm?”“No. So I might have to make a break for it and run.”“What about the battle bots?”“They’ll probably chase me.”“And what if they catch you?”There was silence for a few moments. “I don’t know.”“Mr. Blackburn?” said Otto, “Can you play the crazy malfunctioning bot again?”“Not sure that will work with the battle bots. I bet they’ve been programmed to terminate anything moving at night.”“Oh, not good,” Rory added. “How can you get out of there?”“I’m going to try and stay close to the building for cover. Maybe the bots won’t see me.”“But what about the distance to the fence?” I asked.“That’s going to be a challenge.”“I love you, Daddy,” Suz piped up.“I love you too, Suz.” We were powerless to help him. I only hoped he would make it out in one piece.
An hour seemed like an eternity. Dad stayed hidden in the short hall keeping an eye on the droid. When it finally made it to the mainframe door, he darted out and got right behind the blocky mechanism, following it inside. Good thinking, Otto. He texted as he made his way through the first room and into the second, larger one. We watched as he scanned the area for cameras. Yes, they were there all right. I wondered how long it would take before someone noticed him. Minutes? Maybe ten? I felt my breath coming short and chest tightening as I watched. Would he succeed? “Jonah?”“Yes, Dad?”“I love you.”My heart ached. Why did he say that now? Did he fear capture? Were we going to lose our father again? A knot formed in my throat. I was unable to speak.“Jonah? Did you hear me?”“Yes,” I croaked.“I want you to know that whatever happens, I will always love you, Rory, and Suz.”“Yes.”Otto and I watched as he opened a small port on his left forearm and deployed the interface probe. He approached the mainframe and inserted the golden tip of the probe into the port on the massive computer. On the right-hand corner of my tablet screen, I saw a red blinking dot. It was there just a few seconds and then vanished. “Phase one complete,” he said. “Now onto the lab files.”“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”“Accessing them now.”The red dot appeared again and then the screen went dark for a few moments. When I next saw what Dad was doing, he was leaving the room. “Check your hard drive on the tablet for a file labeled 3/21/55.”I did not say a word and brought up the files. “Yes, it’s there.”“Good. You have the answer. I cannot keep the file in my memory core in case they catch me.”“This is the only copy?”“Yes. Guard it with your life.”“I will.”He continued down a long hall and turned right. An imposing male security guard stood in his way.“Hey, what are you doing?” the guard said. “You don’t belong out here.”Dad stopped and didn’t say a word. I swear I felt my heart stop for a moment. The guard reached out and grasped the tag affixed to Dad’s chestplate. “You’re here for maintenance. How’d you get out of the receiving area?”“Good evening, Master Jonah, what would you like for dinner?” said Dad.We saw the guard’s left eyebrow raise. “Mmm, yeah, I’d say you got some sort of malfunction going on. Come with me.” He led Dad back to the room where he’d been offloaded and set him against a charging terminal, switching off his power.Our screen went dark, but we could still hear the man as he left the room. “Geez, who would want that old hunk of junk fixed?” The door closed and there was silence. Soon the screen flickered on and we saw Dad stand up. “Now to get out of here.” He went to the door for the loading dock and inspected it. “The building alarm is on. I wonder if I can bypass it?”“What would happen if you can’t?”“I’m sure there will be battle bots deployed quickly.” “That’s not good.”“Definitely not.” He went to the exterior door and rested his hand on the handle. “Have Suz and Rory come back yet?”“No, I expect them any moment.”“When they do, get a bot cab and go to the location I showed you.”“Above the compound?”“Yes, and wait for me.”“Right.”The hotel door opened and Suz wandered in followed by Rory.“What’s going on?” Suz asked. “Has he made it in?”Otto nodded. “In, uploaded the virus, downloaded a file, and now he’s trying to get out.”“We need to get a bot cab, fast,” I said, snatching my coat off the back of a chair. “He wants us to meet him on the hill above Servidyne.”“But we’ve only just got back,” she said in protest.“Dad said to get there quickly.”Rory held the door open as we dashed out. I tucked the tablet under my coat so no one would see it. We tumbled out onto the dark street and managed to hail a passing cab. The bot driver asked our destination. I froze, I didn’t know the exact address. “Address, please,” the bot repeated.“Umm, I don’t know the exact address, can you take coordinates?”“Yes.”I took out the tablet and quickly accessed the mapping program. The location was marked with a digital push-pin. “Okay, the coordinates are: 40 by 04’34.06” north.”“Thank you. Coordinates locked in. Your journey will take approximately thirty-five minutes.”I secretly hoped that thirty-five minutes wasn’t too long. Servidyne was housed on the acreage of an old air field. On the satellite map some of the runways still remained, but had been repurposed into roads leading to the massive warehouses and main building. There was a ten-foot-tall fence around the facility ringed with razor wire. I remember feeling like I was walking into a prison whenever I’d go to work with Dad. We were to rendezvous with him on the road to the southwest. That seemed to be the closest fence line from where he’d be exiting the building.We were about halfway there when Dad contacted me. “How much longer?”“About fifteen minutes I guess.”“I can’t do anything until I know you’re at the location.”“Have you figured out how to bypass the alarm?”“No. So I might have to make a break for it and run.”“What about the battle bots?”“They’ll probably chase me.”“And what if they catch you?”There was silence for a few moments. “I don’t know.”“Mr. Blackburn?” said Otto, “Can you play the crazy malfunctioning bot again?”“Not sure that will work with the battle bots. I bet they’ve been programmed to terminate anything moving at night.”“Oh, not good,” Rory added. “How can you get out of there?”“I’m going to try and stay close to the building for cover. Maybe the bots won’t see me.”“But what about the distance to the fence?” I asked.“That’s going to be a challenge.”“I love you, Daddy,” Suz piped up.“I love you too, Suz.” We were powerless to help him. I only hoped he would make it out in one piece.
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