The Last Red

Chapter 8: Kent

Have you ever woken up simply by lifting your eyelids in one smooth movement?

No fluttering, no stretching, no sounds.

Neither have I - up until now.

"Good morning, Kayla. It is day 7.299. How may I be of assistance?"

I choose to ignore her. She'll be out of my body soon enough anyway.

I tap the screen onto Recents, then touch 'Dispense purified oxygen mask'.

A nozzle appears from the top part of my tube, connected to a filtered mask and I place it over my mouth.

I close my eyes as I give my lungs one last boost, enjoying the perk of silence one gets when waking up earlier than Omnia is programmed to do so.

When I'm done, I pull on the mask as hard as I can with my right hand, holding the nozzle's end in the other, until the two pieces break loose.

"Huh, look at that..." I mumble with sly pride.

"Error detected in the oxygen mask department. Do you wish to report a bug?"

"Nope," I reply calmly, then press onto 'Repair oxygen compartment'.

Omnia unlocks the pod's upper compartment and I open it to remove a small container for oxygen storing.

I stuff it in a bag I made out of a few pairs of worn clothes.

Then I tap onto 'Dispense hand sanitizer' and 'Open safety deposit box' to place my eye covers and my wig. But there's a new addition to my treasured box - tanning pills.

Koben gave me a stash of two dozen yesterday and I cannot be happier about the fact I don't have to steal the essential oils from the Cosmetics department for my trip.

"Lower capsule to ground level," I command.

"Lowering of the pod commencing at once," Omnia announces.

Almost half a year will pass before I spend all the pills. But then, I'm afraid I'll have to go back to the old Mom's recipe - clay, minerals, and water.

The thought doesn't thrill me.

Then again, what in this world does?

Click.

Even the silent sound of my capsule landing can be heard now that the block inmates are all mostly asleep.

I jump out and head to the Robot Construction department.

My heart races as I walk to the most esteemed department in the entire Block. I've always known the day of my escape would come, but it took me years to figure out how to beat guard robots when they try to stop me from doing so.

Every month on my free day, for two years, I'd investigate what goes on in different IT departments, in hopes of finding a solution to how to disable a humanoid robot built of one-piece molten stainless steel of 5-millimeter thickness.

Until I realized the answer lays in the only non-IT department there is.

I knock on the Robot Construction door, quietly saying a prayer on the inside.

Most of my following free days in the remaining two years, I spent in here.

Ten seconds later, the door slides open and I meet a tall slender man with short dark hair.

"Kayla! I thought your day off was last week," Kent gives me a wide smile.

"It was. I just had an urgent matter to pursue," I walk in and strut towards the usual chair I occupy on my visits. "Aren't you glad to see me, late or not?"

He clicks his tongue. "You may be a week late, but I have never seen you earlier in my life," he laughs and I follow. I need to play it cool.

Kent has always had a tough time sleeping.

He's up every morning at 4, and in his office by 5. 

That's why I made sure I'm in here before his colleagues arrive.

"I was woken up by a pod neighbor," I lie, "and couldn't go back to sleep."

"Ah, now it makes sense," he walks towards a desk with pills and beverages. "The usual?" 

"Yes, please," I say as he fills a cup with water, then drops a pill inside, instantly turning the water green.

"Thanks," I say as he sets the cups in front of me, taking a seat at the table. "How have you been?"

"Truth is, last two days have been a nightmare," he takes a sip of his red liquid. "Kimberly and Keanu both went last week, so now I'm dealing with two rookies. You'll meet Kristina soon, she comes here by 6."

shit!

I glance at the writing on the wall, and it displays 5:40 am.

I did not predict this. I have to speed my plan up.

"Can't wait," I stretch my lips. "Show me what you've been working on before she comes and makes you a babysitter." 

He shakes his head, amused. "You've been dying to come in here, haven't you?"

For these past two years, I've been making sure he thinks I'm a robot fanatic. "You know meee," I stand up, chuckling.

He heads toward the construction room and as I circle around the table, I take a red pill out of my pocket, then quickly slip it into his drink, before following his lead.

I lower my head in shame. You were a good friend to me, Kent. You don't deserve this. 

He doesn't even know the only reason I started to visit him was to learn more about robot construction and find a way to disable one that's fully made.

I'd been torturing my head with no-good ideas, until one day it hit me: the thing that can definitely destroy a robot is the same thing that built it.

"Here it is," he says with pride, "our new baby."

My mouth drops open seeing a new prototype of a humanoid robot. "He's... twice our size."

"Yep," he nods satisfactory, "and twelve times as strong as an average human."

Damn. Lucky I'm escaping before they start roaming around the block.

"But they're not made for guarding," he says as if he could hear my thoughts. "Obviously, a technology this complicated and expensive will not be wasted on a field that's very well functioning already."

"Do you know what they'll be used for?"

"Sadly, no," he scratches his neck, "but I have a few guesses."

Those are guesses I'll never hear, I conclude as I glance to the wall. 5:46.

"I'll go fetch our drinks, my mouth's dry," I say and rush back to the main area. As I take our cups, I'm happy to see the pill in his melted.

"There you go," I hand it to him and gush mine down. I'm such a bad friend, but his stomach problem will be gone in a few hours, whereas I would be gone for good if I didn't do this.

"Do you think they're made for manual labor of some sort, given their lifting strength?" I ask as he gulps his cup empty - thank God.

"That's one of my guesses," he confirms, "but there could be so many different uses for robotic arm strength. Say, building Terra-warming Plants."

"Aren't there a thousand robots already who do that?"

"Obviously, but with stronger robots, they can use heavier materials and build bigger plants with more capacity. My guess is they'll be used for South and North. Bigger plants, so they don't have to build as many as down the equator."

Huh. Kent's definitely the smartest friend I've got.

"But there's other possibilities as well, like-," he puts a clenched fist to his mouth. "Oh-oh."

The pill started working.

"You'll have to excuse me," he says, rushing out.

"Are you okay?" I feel like s**t even asking it.

"Can you let yourself out? You know I can't leave anyone in here alone."

"Yeah, I'm right behind you!" I yell picking up my cloth bag off my chair, but as soon as he's out the door, I change direction and run back.

I know exactly where I'm going. 

I enter the steel cutting area and rush toward the smallest high-pressure water jet in the production room.

I wrap my hands around its head and tap onto the 'stop' button, then pull out the tube that feeds it with water mixed with abrasive materials.

I take out my empty oxygen storage container and unscrew its cover, filling it with water and abrasive minerals. Then I place the jet tube inside my bag.

Luckily this will be enough liquid to cut through the robots' circuits.

I screw the cover back on, then remove the water jet head of the thin bars and stuff it into my bag.

I rush out of the Robot Construction department, hiding the cutter in my now full bag.

"I know what you did!" someone grabs me from behind and throws me against the wall.

Kent.