ORPHEUS - A.I.

Chapter Thirty Three : Purgatory Unleashed

#orpheusbook

Hex thought he had heard a gunshot... or was he imagining it? He couldn't think straight anymore-the past few hours had been so chaotic and now he was in this deadly game. How did he get here? How will this end? He had no idea. But right now he knew he had to get the key from the box to save Andre's life. He slowed down and began to walk - he couldn't run anymore.

"6 hours to cover 8 kms and back? It might be possible but the terrain was so difficult and then there was the matter of climbing the hill..God! ... How am I supposed to do this?", thought Hex as he kept walking somehow. He was tired and hungry but the drones were watching him - he had to keep moving.

The open grassland gave way to a patch of thick forest ahead. Hex looked at his phone- the GPS pointed straight - he had to cross the forest. He walked straight into the forest and what he saw made his jaw drop. There were huge trees all over the place and beneath them were broken pieces of drones, cars and even tanks and sattelites. All scattered around like a huge junkyard in the middle of nowhere.

"What's this place?", he thought.

He kept walking through the forest. It was dense and sunlight could barely penetrate through the trees. The ground was moist and various types of wild plants and flowers grew in a thick vegetation. As he kept walking he saw wild bugs and centipedes crawling over his shoes - he shook them off in utter disgust. After a while he came across an opening in the forest with little vegetation around it. He looked closely and saw the ground was dry and dusty unlike the other parts of the forest. It looked liked an impact crater or a blast site. Something must have exploded there that killed all plant life in it.

Nevertheless he crossed the strange patch of land and moved ahead. He looked over his head- no drones! Perhaps they got lost in the forest- good for him- he kept thinking.

After a while he couldn't walk anymore and sat down on the ground- his legs won't move anymore. He might have crossed a couple of kilometres he thought but when he looked at his phone - it showed that he had only crossed 3 kms - in two hours. Tired and frustrated he thought of resting for a few minutes. He began to think of what Orpheus had told about his past life earlier.

"What does that piece of software know...how hard I had to struggle in life...we all make mistakes... but that doesn't mean we are inherently bad people...", he kept thinking.

"I should have never agreed to come to work here... I always felt something fishy about that Devonshire...now he dares to use our own tech against us?".

"Grandma... ah! I should have visited you... but I promised you before my uncle that I will return the day I had enough money to cure you...maybe I am egoistic...", Hex closed his eyes and let his thoughts wonder.

Suddenly he heard a howling sound in the distance. He opened his eyes and looked around. He knew it was the sound of a wolf. He had to keep moving forward - it wasn't safe there. With great difficulty he stood up and began to walk. His feet began to hurt- but he didn't want to be snack for some wild animal.

Five minutes later, he heard the howl again, this time closer. Hex put his phone in his pocket and began to sprint. He heard a growl again and another howl. The wolf was definitely following his scent. He could see an opening ahead - maybe the forest ended here - he ran faster hoping to reach the edge of the forest as fast as possible. But as he was about to reach the end - he felt a sharp pain in his right leg- something had scratched his leg. He looked at it and saw that his jeans was torn right underneath his right knee and blood was beginning to flow. But he didn't stop until he reached the open grassland ahead.

As soon as he was out he saw a huge mountain in the distance- maybe a few kilometres ahead. He stopped and looked at his leg- it wasn't a deep cut but the pain and burning sensation wasn't like anything else he had experienced before. He grabbed his leg and sat down in great pain. He took out his handkerchief from his pocket and tied it around the wound.

His throat was parched, there was no sign of water anywhere. He stretched out his leg and wondered if he's ever going to make it to the mountain in this state. He looked around for any wild animal but there were none- maybe it lost his scent. Suddenly he began to feel dizzy - his leg was getting cold and his eyes were getting heavy. He saw the drones in the distance but his vision started to blur, he couldn't focus on his thoughts anymore - he saw rainbows and stars in front of his eyes- it seemed like he was getting high as hell. A few seconds later he couldn't move his body anymore - he saw a blanket of darkness fall before his eyes... he thought he was going to die.

"Goodbye Megan...", he whispered and lost his consciousness.

The drones began to fly around his unconscious body in circles...

Meanwhile back at the tree Tim and Andre sat under the shade with their backs to each other. Three drones kept watch while the others flew away.

"Man.. look at the size of those things, they could take out a tank...", said Tim trying to stay awake.

"I just wish that we never came here man...", replied Andre.

"I mean seriously... what is this place? I have been in the entire state and I have never seen a place like this...", he continued.

"Tim ... hey Tim...wake up man!", he said from behind, unable to move his head.

"Ya! What? I'm here man ...", replied Tim suddenly waking up.

"Megan will be here soon, just don't fall asleep ...", said Andre.

Somewhere in the east Megan noticed a log cabin in the distance, she only wished that she had to be in such a philosophical dilemma. Sacrifice one life to save the lives of many? A classic dilemma with no right solution. What would she do? Behind her the drones were following her from a distance.

She walked upto the cabin door and opened it. As soon as she did she saw a girl dressed in the office uniform with her hands and feet tied to a chair and a piece of cloth tied around her mouth.The girl saw her and began to scream, her screams muffled by the piece of cloth around her mouth. Megan quickly walked upto her and removed the cloth from her mouth.

"Help me..please help me...I don't wanna die..", she cried.

Megan consoled her and looked at her phone - only 3 minutes to go. She looked at the restraints, she was zip tied- there was bo way she could untie her without a knife. She then looked around - four bags were hanging against the wall - she had no time to carry out all of the four bags and untie the girl too. She could hear the blades of the drones buzzing right outside the door. What would she do now?

Meanwhile Hex was lying unconscious on the ground.