Alliance (7 page)

I raise my hand to unleash finger
lightning bolts at the elves, but one of the elves vanishes before
I can do so. My scanners search the hall for the missing elf, but I
cannot find him anywhere, although his friend is still running at
me and is almost within range of hitting me with his weapon.

So I fire my finger lightning bolts, but
the elf jumps over them and lands in front of me. He swings his
staff at my head, which I catch with no issue.

“
That was a pathetic
move on your part,” I say, holding back his staff with ease. “I can
sense that you are trying your best, but I am afraid your best is
not enough.”

Oddly, the elf smirks. “Get 'im,
Garga!”

I have no idea who 'Garga' is until I hear
something whistling through the air at me.

Before I can identify the source of that
whistling, something thick and solid slams into the left side of my
head. The blow—while not painful, as I cannot feel pain—completely
disrupts my sensors and sends me staggering to the left, letting go
of the first elf's staff as I do so.

WARNING! Damage to optics extensive.
Activating auto-repair features.

I shake my head, however, because I have
no time to let my auto-repair features work. These two elves
require my fullest attention, so I must put deactivate the
auto-repair features until I can find a more convenient time to use
them.

Besides, my optics appear to be working
fine because I can see the two elves surrounding me, holding their
staffs before them like they intend to beat me to a pulp with them.
Still, my vision is not entirely clear; my left optic is choppy,
forcing me to rely on my right optic more than I usually do.

“
Stupid machine,” says
the first elf. “We saw you assault the guard. We're not going to
let you walk without first getting permission from the Head, which
we know you don't have, so don't even pretend that you
do.”

“
I never would have
pretended,” I say. “After all, we J bots are incapable of lying or
deception. All I want to know is where I am and how to get out of
here.”

“
Not until the Head says
so,” says the second elf, the one named Garga, who has a higher
voice than his friend. “Until then, you have to stay where you're
supposed to: In that little room, strapped like a rat.”

These two elves clearly believe they can
defeat me, but they just as clearly do not know the full extent of
my powers and abilities. They may be able to dodge my finger
lightning bolts, but finger lightning bolts are not the only tricks
up my sleeve.

I tap my chest, causing an electrical
barrier to extend three feet from my body. The barrier strikes the
two elves and knocks them out immediately. They fall to the floor,
their staffs clattering by their sides, and as soon as they do, I
deactivate my electrical barrier. The two elves' bodies smoke
slightly from being burnt by my electricity, but scanners indicate
that they are still alive, albeit unlikely to awake anytime
soon.

But even though they are both out cold,
that does not solve my problem, because I still do not know where I
am. I doubt, however, I will get much of an opportunity to find
out, because if these two know I am here, then it is highly likely
that the rest of the Foundation knows of my escape as well.

Which way should I go? I do not know
because I do not have any information or even a map on the general
layout of this place. Nor can I rely on satellites in orbit to
provide me with any information, because Dela does not have any
artificial satellites, much less artificial satellites connected to
the Database.

Standard protocol for J bots in this type
of situation is to head in the direction of Xeeon, where the
Database is kept. Unfortunately, I cannot even follow standard
protocol in this situation because of the lack of connection to the
Database on Dela, which does not even exist here.

What I need is information, and quickly.
These two elves, obviously agents of the Foundation, will likely be
able to tell me what I need to know, but I must interrogate them
quickly, because I do not know how long I have until other
Foundation agents come by to check up on me.

I kneel over the elf known as Garga. His
eyes are rolled into the back of his head, but I slap him across
the face in an effort to awaken him quickly.

It works, because Garga shakes his head
and says, “What the—” before I put a hand over his mouth and
tighten my grip.

“
Do not try to scream,”
I say, keeping my audio level low to avoid awaking his ally, while
also pinning Garga to the floor with my knee. “Or teleport. I only
want information on this place. Is that understandable?”

Garga glares at me, which tells me that I
need to be more explicit in my request.

“
Listen here,” I say,
leaning a little closer in, an intimidation technique I learned
over my years of interrogating captured criminals. “If you do not
answer my questions about the Foundation, I will do far worse to
you than simply electrocute you. Do you understand?”

He keeps glaring at me, but he does nod
slightly. I notice him reaching for his staff, so I fire my lasers
at his staff before he can so much as touch it. The laser knocks
his staff out of his reach, causing him to curse, although his
curse is unintelligible due to my hand covering his mouth.

“
I suggest you do not
try and attack me while I am not looking,” I say. “Because that
will end quite badly for you, I promise.”

Garga still does not look happy, but he
has no more weapons to reach for, so I say, “Now, will you
cooperate or will you not?”

My facial recognition technology says that
Garga looks like he would rather kill himself than cooperate with
me, but then he nods again. I take my hand off his mouth, but rest
it on his throat to keep him pinned so he does not think he can
escape.

“
Dumb machine,” Garga
spits at me; quite literally, he spits saliva at me, although I do
not care. “Stupid robot. Idiotic clicker.”

“
I did not ask for you
to insult me,” I say, “as that is not a good method of cooperation.
Instead, I would like to know the location of the nearest exit, as
well as the location of the building itself.”

“
Can't tell you any of
that,” Garga says. “The Head doesn't want you knowing anything she
hasn't approved of you to know.”

“
I do not care,” I say.
I tighten my grip around his neck; not enough to choke him, but
enough to make him think twice about refusing to tell me what I
need to know. “All I wish to know is where I am and how to get out
of here. Hardly what I call an unreasonable demand.”

“
Doesn't matter if your
demand is 'unreasonable' or not,” says Garga. “What matters is that
the Head says you aren't allowed to know, so you aren't allowed
to—”

I slap him across the face again. “I do
not care. How many times must I say that before you understand it?
Must I speak in Elvish Delan before you will understand what I
want?”

A trickle of blood appears from the corner
of Garga's mouth. I have no intention of beating him senseless, but
as a J bot, I am authorized to use force during interrogations in
order to gain the intelligence I need. It is sometimes the only way
to learn what I need to know, especially in situations like
this.

“
Perhaps I should make
it simpler for you,” I say. “Instead of telling me where this place
is located, why don't you simply point me in the direction of the
nearest exit?”

I fully expect Garga to insult me again,
which would require me to become far less gentle and merciful in
order to get what I need.

Instead, Garga raises a hand and points a
shaky finger to the left end of the hallway. He doesn't meet my
eyes as he says, “Just go down that way. You'll find stairs going
up to the next floor. Keep following the stairs, and you'll
eventually find the exit.”

Garga appears to be telling the truth, so
I say, “All right. Thank you for your cooperation, Garga. This will
be very helpful in my escape. But unfortunately for you, I will
have to knock you out for now. Don't worry; it will only be a
little while, I promise.”

I slap Garga again, this time with far
more effort than before. The blow knocks him out and I stand up.
His friend has not moved a muscle since I knocked him out as well,
which is good because that is one less obstacle I will have to deal
with on my way out of this place.

I run toward the left end of the hallway,
which appears to be a heavy stone door, although where it leads to
I do not know. My guess is that it will open up to a staircase that
will lead me upward, as all clues support the theory that I am
somewhere underground. It is the only reason why this hallway and
the room I was in earlier do not have any windows, although they do
have ventilation systems that likely funnel air into these areas to
make them breathable to the organic Foundation members who work
down here.

When I reach the door, I push it open and
enter. I expect to find myself in a narrow stairwell, but instead,
I stumble into another room, this one much wider and open than the
one I had been kept in like a prisoner.

Like the hallway, this room has
cobblestone walls and floors, as well as a ceiling made out of that
same material. Glowing candles hang from the ceiling, which appear
to be the only sources of light in this room, shining as brightly
as the indoor lights of most Xeeonite buildings.

These candles show me a dozen
beings—probably Foundation agents, although due to their lack of
identification I do not know for certain—sitting around a table
talking amongst themselves. On the table itself are maps, skyras
rings, and pictures, which tells me that these agents are probably
discussing Foundation plans, whatever those are.

But if that is what they are talking
about, they are no longer doing so, because now every eye in the
room is on me. Many of them look at me in surprise, as if they had
not expected me to enter, but none of them move to get up and try
to grab me.

I turn to leave, but when I try to pull
open the door, I find that it refuses to budge. That is odd,
because I opened it just fine before. Brief analysis shows no
reason for this, except that this door appears to have been locked
by skyras, although the traces of skyras on the door are very faint
and barely noticeable.

Whatever the reason for this mystery, it
is not good. That means that I am now locked in this room with
these beings who may wish to harm me.

“
J997?” says a voice
behind me, one I recall from earlier, as it sounds exactly like the
voice of the man who had repaired me. “What are you doing up? How
did you get out of your room? Why didn't the guard stop
you?”

I turn around to face the Foundation
agents again. They are all still seated, but I can tell they are
willing to stand up and catch me if necessary. A cursory scan of
the room shows that there are no other exits or entrances here,
which means that I cannot escape unless I find out how to break
down this door behind me, which seems unlikely to happen.

Instead, I focus on the source of the
voice, which my scanners indicate came from the man sitting on the
far side of the table away from me. He is indeed the same man from
before, because I recognize his scarred face and tall, thin body.
He is wearing a simple, practical white coat, even though the room
is warm enough to make a coat unnecessary.

As for the others, I recognize none of
them except for Rozan—who looks similar to how he did before, only
now without the robes. He instead is wearing a dwarfish leather
jacket, while next to him sits Nacina, who looks exactly the same
as I remember her. Scanners indicate that Rozan is still as angry
as ever, as well as slightly confused, most likely by my presence.
I do not see Palos, which makes me wonder where she is, although
that is unimportant at the moment.

Seeing as I have nothing else to do and
nowhere else to go, I simply say, “To answer your question, I
escaped from the room you put me in by taking out the guards you
set up to keep me in there. And, while I know you did not ask, the
only reason I came in here is because one of those guards told me
this would take me out of the building. It appears that that guard
lied to me.”

“
Was it Garga?” says
Rozan with a scowl. “I bet it was Garga.”

“
Yes, it was,” I say.
“Why do you ask?”

“
Because that is exactly
the sort of thing Garga would do,” says Rozan. He gestures at the
door behind me. “Dump his responsibility onto us, rather than do
his freaking job. What an idiot.”

“
I wouldn't say it
turned out badly this time, however,” says Nacina. She gestures at
me. “After all, thanks to Garga's deception, we have now ensured
that J997 will not escape.”

I agree with Nacina. Looking back, it is
obvious that Garga fooled me. I should have thought more deeply
about how readily he 'helped' me. I should have interrogated him
better, been more skeptical, but it does not matter anymore. I am
stuck here, alone against a dozen of these Foundation agents, with
the only possible escape route locked behind me.

My sensors do show, however, that there is
a high concentration of skyras energy in this room. Most of the
skyras energy appears to be radiating from a lone individual
sitting at the table. I identify her as a witch, because she has
the skyras rings that all Delanian witches do, although I do not
know what magic she may be capable of.

“
Are you going to
apprehend me?” I ask the room at large, addressing no one in
particular, because I do not know who is in charge. “Or are you
going to destroy me? Either way, expect to face resistance from
me.”