Machines of Eden (9 page)

“
I fully
understand
,” Eve
replied
.
“
All will be explained, as I
said.”

“
But only if I go
to
Level Two
,
right? You’re trying to corner me
.”

“
Why are you so being so
hostile to me? I don’t mean to belabor the point, but your behavior
is both counterproductive and stubborn. If I had known you would
try to exit that way, I would have warned you about the security
units stationed there.”

“
Who stationed them there,
Eve?”

She didn’t
answer.

Just outside the doors
there was an elevator in one wall and a short hatchway that the
railcar had disappeared down.
John
cautiously walked over and kicked it, but the hatch doors were
solid.

“
I can make Level Two much
more comfortable for you
than
this
,” said Eve. “Once our business has
been negotiated. Refreshment, rest, music
.
I have it all down
here.”

John’s
sunburn itched
as
the air conditioning
dried
the sweat on his body.
I could use a shower and a drink.

But I don't trust her, and
I won't be manipulated.

The
hatch
way couldn’t be
forced open, but the elevator doors were another
story.
The display above them showed that
the elevator was still down below, waiting for him to call it.
Instead of pushing the button to bring it up, he
used his ratchet’s screwdriver end to force the
plate off of the button panel.

“
Adam, that
is not safe
.
Please
call the elevator
and step inside.”

“
Explain the bot
attacks,”
John
said quietly, without looking up.

“
I’m sorry. You were
mumbling
.”

“
Explain the bot attacks!”
he yelled.

“
I have already apologized
for that, and there's no need for you to get excited.”

“
Eve
.”

“
Yes, Adam?”

“
Tell me about the bots.
Tell me about this island. Tell me everything.
Until
I know more
, I’m staying away from Level Two
.
That's my ultimatum. I was nearly shot to pieces out there,
and
you seem to be running the only
control center in the area.
There is no
way I'm coming to you until I have the information I
need.”

His hands were busy with
the panel; two wires were free now, and he was fiddling with a
third.

Eve’s
voice was several degrees colder. “Further tampering with the
elevator wiring will not be tolerated, Adam.”

Yeah?
John
connected the third wire to the
first.
A long beep sounded. He pushed the
button to call the elevator, then
turned
to the doors and started forcing them open.

“
This is the last warning,
Adam.”

John got the doors open and
a put a leg through to hold them there. The shaft in front of him
ended just above, but descended four more stories.

“
Getting
inside
the elevator
would put me completely at your mercy, Eve,” he said. “I’m going to
find my own way out of this place.” He watched as the elevator
approached.

“
Very well, Adam. I regret
this, but you leave me little choice.”

A low hiss from the ceiling
vents indicated the release of gas into the hallway, and the blast
doors slid shut behind him, locking him in.

“
Don't
worry
,” Eve said
.
“
This gas
will not cause permanent harm. I'll ensure
that
you are reawakened
safely.”

John
jerked up his shirt and breathed through it. “Everything
you’ve told me so far is a lie, Eve. And I don't like it when
computers lie to me.”

“
You’re so sure I’m a
computer?”

“
Lying humans are
worse.”

“
I am incapable of lying,
Adam. Breathe deeply. The sooner you pass out, the sooner I can
take care of you.”

John
felt light-headed. Putting out a hand to steady himself
against the
doors
, he
waited until the elevator
reached the top. It immediately started down again, the result of
his sabotage. As the elevator car’s roof lowered past his legs, he
lunged through the doors and
threw himself
onto the top of the elevator.

“
Talk to you later, Eve,”
he called through his shirt as the elevator doors closed above
him.

Now to find a way out of
this shaft that Eve won’t expect.

He held tightly to a metal
beam
on top of the elevator
and looked over the edge
as the it moved past the fourth floor
.
Three more
stories downward
, the shaft ended in
gloom
. He took a deep breath
in the cool darkness
,
feeling the gas-fog leave his brain
.

Then the elevator jerked to
a halt in between floors.

He was trapped in the
shaft.

“
Adam, I need you to exit
the
shaft
. This
charade is beneath you. I know you are feeling upset, but I assure
you I can make everything better… in Level Two.” Her muffled voice
rose from the elevator’s intercom
, inside
the car beneath him
.

No
thanks
.

John
wriggled over to the other edge of the elevator. There was no
way down; he was still
two and a half
stories
from the bottom of the shaft. He
could see a barely visible mist beginning to coalesce inside the
shaft, and every whiff made his head swim.

Where’s it coming from?
Doesn’t matter, I have to get out, and fast.

They taught you to
hyperventilate if you had time, fill the lungs with clean air so
you could hold your breath long enough to clear the area. That
worked if you had enough warning, or if you could get away. An
elevator shaft was the wrong place to be.
And she knows that.

“
Despite appearances, it
is not my intent to harm you. I will stop releasing the gas if you
verbally acknowledge your intent to obey me.”

What a sweetie.

Standing up,
John
jumped and caught
hold of a horizontal protrusion in the shaft wall and hung, looking
for another handhold. He couldn’t find one. The gas filtering down
around him was making him dizzy. He dropped back to the elevator
roof, which bounced slowly under his weight.

“
Eve, if I pass out and
fall off, you’ll lose me. Gassing me is a stupid move.”

“
I asked you politely,
several times. Frankly, I’m surprised and disappointed that it’s
come to this. I expected better from you.”

The gas continued
to
thicken
,
and
John
sat down
heavily, dully registering a shuffling noise echoing down the shaft
from above. More bots, maybe. He was trapped and they could easily
capture or kill, depending on intent. He couldn’t remember what Eve
had just said. It was hard to remember anything.

The elevator suddenly
lurched down a few centimeters and came to a jarring stop. The
cables gave a vibratory hum and there was a loud
chunk-ching
noise. He
gripped the roof with his hands as it dropped a whole meter,
pushing him to the brink of panic, but it stopped again. This time
there was a ratcheting
clickety-clickety
sound.

Screwed those wires up but
good.

“
Adam! Get out of the
elevator
shaft
!”

He felt a quick sense of
elation at the real alarm contained in her voice. Then he realized
that might not be good.
Did I take it too
far?

A thick rubber cable
snaked its way down and touched the elevator between
John’s
legs. He looked
up its length, trying to make the blurriness at the edges of his
vision go away. It was hanging out of a large, round vent about
five meters up the shaft that had been covered when
he’
d passed it. Now it was open and
someone had lowered a lifeline to him.
As
he watched, it shook a little.

“
You better climb.” A new
voice, nasal and male. “She’ll drop you soon. Just drop you.
Splat.”

John
climbed. Jumping as far up as he could and then pulling hand
over hand, trying not to swing from side to side too
much.

“
Adam! Adam!”

He gritted his teeth,
ignored her, focused on the climb. He didn’t have the upper body
strength to do this a second time.

“
Adam, please believe me
when I say that you are putting yourself in danger—let me help
you!” Her voice
faded
below
as he climbed
further from the elevator
.

When h
e reached the vent and threw out one hand to grab its ledge.
The vent pushed open and a gnarled, bare forearm and hand emerged.
With little choice, he grabbed it and hoisted himself up farther
until he could get a knee on the ledge.

The man inside the vent
leaned back and pulled on
John’s
arm, and he easily got up the rest of the way.
Crouching in the ventilation tunnel, he looked his rescuer over,
prepared for anything, arms loose and ready for hard contact. His
unarmed combat skills were a little rusty, but a cramped
ventilation tunnel evened the odds somewhat.

He faced a short man in
dirty coveralls, bony face framed by straggly gray-brown hair.
Squinted eyes peered at him as the man shuffled back a few steps.
The eyes were subtly wrong, a little too wild and unfocused, even
for a chance meeting in an elevator shaft.

“
Ya name?” the dirty man
blurted.

“
Nope. You
first.”

The head bobbed. “Ehh.
Hmm.”

“
I’ll come right to the
point,"
John
told
the man. "Thanks for the help, but if you’re on her payroll we’ve
got a little problem.” His hand reached back for the spanner in his
belt.

“
Nep. Nep. Hate her. She’s
a killer.”

“
Good. Lead on. I still
smell gas.”

Another head bob; no eye
contact. “Yep. Follow me. No gas where we’re going.”

His rescuer shuffled
quickly back up the
low
tunnel, looking behind him every few
seconds.
John
followed,
wondering if he was going
to regret following this strange, sad little man down his
hole
.
Curiouser
and curiouser
, laughed Sergeant
Wiley
.

The shaft was a cramped
stainless steel tunnel, forcing them to crawl on all fours. After a
few meters the man ahead of
him
dropped through a hole that had been cut in its
floor.
John
followed cautiously, finding himself in a
tiny
room that stank of metal and
grease, filled with boxes and spools of industrial cable. There was
a nest of filthy blankets in a corner, and two doorways leading to
darkened areas beyond.

“
This is home. If she
finds it, we both die.” The man considered what he had said
carefully, and then added, “So don’t tell her.”

“
Thanks again. She had me
settled
,” John said.

“
She settles everybody.” A
head bob. “Eventually.”

“
What’s your
handle?”

“
Nut.”

John’s mouth twitched at
the corners. “Is that b
ecause you’re
crazy, or because you like
dry
-roasted peanuts?”

A slow smile. “Both. Food?
Gotcha food?”

“
Fresh
out
. Sorry.
I’ll
bring some next time.”

“
There won’t be a next
time,”
Nut
sighed.

“
There’s always a next
time
,” John said.
“
Are you the only other person
here?”

“
Dunno. Were others. Maybe
one left. Maybe. Dunno.”