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Chapter 7
In the dark underground of Daughter, Demi sat in a heap; her once
livid body lying limp as a rag while the shadowy figure worked at his
console. Although she was deactivated, she was not without
consciousness. Outwardly, she was helpless, but inside she was working
furiously to keep the evil man's programs from erasing her will. For
now, Demi was holding her own against the programs, but they were
becoming more and more complex by the second. Demi had to wonder how
anyone could create so many programs so effective at destruction. Demi
had to admit, she was up against a brilliant mind. One that might just
be able to overwhelm her.
She was close within her CPU now. Trying to put up firewalls against
the complex executions of the programs, but each one seemed to
disappear as soon as she thought she was safe. She silently hoped that
Wren would get here quickly. She knew that he would come looking for
her when she disappeared from Nurvus. Unless he had deleted the data
file as well. He could be... no. Wren was too smart for that. He had
been around three times as long as Demi had. Master Wren would know
not to be so careless. She mentally kicked herself for her own
carelessness in the matter. If she had only taken the time to explore
the file.
There was no use in tormenting herself with it, though. Her main task
was to keep the programs out, and that was just what she was going to
do. She only hoped she could hold out long enough.
*****
The dark man was working tirelessly on the little android sitting
lifeless by his workstation. All of his programs were being thwarted
by her efforts, but he was slowly gaining ground. He knew she wouldn't
be able to hold out forever, and when she crack, he would have her
bring back Daughter. After millennia of waiting, he would soon have
his revenge against the wretched Palman scum that defeated his master
creation and destroyed his friends. Once the android broke through the
coding of the block Wren had installed on the system, Daughter would
live again, and this time, nothing would be able to stop him from
making a home for his people. The people of Earth would live again on
a paradise in which they would want for nothing.
The man salivated over the idea. He renewed his assault on Demi's
will with an increased vehemence. Nothing would stand in his way; not
the Protectors, not the Great Light, not even Daughter. He would have
vengeance.
Chapter 8
Hahn and the others had finally arrived at the Machine Center after a
half hour. They quickly entered and headed for the control room.
There were technicians everywhere, all busy studying this machine or
that one. Ever since Demi had opened up the Machine Center for study,
there were always at least two teams working at any one time.
As soon as Hahn and his group walked into the room, a middle-aged man
with slightly graying hair came towards them.
"Principal Hahn," the man greeted him. "What a pleasant surprise.
What can we do for you?"
The man, Hahn remembered, was Professor Nash from the Academy. He had
been appointed to the position of leader of the Machine Center
excavation team after the project had begun. He was well known as
being one of the biggest sycophants at the Academy, and didn't try very
hard to hide it. Hahn didn't know the exact reasons for his getting
this position, but he guessed it had something to do with sucking-up to
his superiors.
"Nothing much," Hahn replied. "We're really just here to use one of
the machines in the Center." At this, Professor Nash's eyes lit up.
It was the perfect opportunity for him to brown-nose the Principal of
the Academy for his own gain.
"Of course, Principal," Nash said with his best feign of respect.
"Which vehicle can I get for you?"
"Actually," Hahn said, "none." This instantly took the luster out of
Nash's eyes. Hahn had never seen someone's expression change so
quickly before, or so dramatically.
"We're in need of the transportation device," Wren broke in.
Nash looked Wren up and down with impunity. Apparently the Professor
didn't think very highly of the android, or didn't think he could lead
to any raising of his own status.
"I've never seen or heard of a transport device before," Nash said,
the scorn obvious in his voice.
"It is located in section A01 of this Machine Center, and should be
fully operational," Wren replied with just the hint of a smile on his
face.
"Well, Principal," Nash addressed to Hahn, "feel free to use any of
the facilities here. If you need me, I'll just be working over on the
Hydrocoil."
"That's HydroFOIL," Wren corrected.
Looking like he had just been told to serve a Muskcat, he turned and
went back to his work.
As soon as the Professor was out of sight, Seno spoke up, "Ha, ha, ha!
You shorun stuck it to Nash good, Wren. That guy's been bustin the
humps of every fellah here. Bout time someone stuck him in his place!"
Wren tried to seem unemotional about it, but Hahn could definitely
recognize a smile at the edge of his lips, and for an android, that was
like a belly laugh.
*****
Hahn, Wren, Seno, and Gryz reached the transporter after working their
way through the long twisting corridors of the Machine Center. When
they finally reached the control center, Hahn saw technicians studying
all parts of the room. Wires lay exposed, as did various circuits and
fuses. Hahn had never seen such a mess before in all his life. He
wondered if the technicians would be able to put it all back in working
order when they were finished.
"Hey, Wren," Gryz inquired, "where's this teleportation system,
anyway?"
Hahn looked around the whole room, but didn't see anything that
resembled what he thought a teleporter would look like.
"You shouldn't be able to see it, Gryz," Wren told the Motavian. "The
device has been hidden by a holographic force field in order to protect
it."
"Protect it from what," Hahn asked.
"Well, when Demi opened the Machine Center to the Academy, she thought
that some of the students might get overzealous and break things by
accident. So, she decided to protect all the systems she couldn't
repair with the force fields. That way, the higher technology would
stay safe until humans could understand it enough to work with it
without breaking it."
"Sorta like a momma lockin the liquor up from the younguns," Seno
remarked.
"Er, uh, yes, I guess you could say that," Wren replied. To Hahn, it
seemed that the android was getting more comfortable around Seno, but
he still kept his distance from the man.
"Well," Hahn said, "lets deactivate the force field and transport to
Daughter. We need to save Demi."
Obeying Hahn, Wren went to the main control panel in the room and set
about punching in numbers and letters in a flurry of motion so fast
that Hahn began to get dizzy. After about five minutes of typing, Wren
confronted the group.
"I have some bad news, everyone," he said. "It seems that our
kidnapper has figured out about the teleportation system and blocked
access out of Daughter."
"Which means?" Gryz asked.
"Which means that we can get to Daughter, but once there, we can't get
out of it," Wren explained.
"That shouldn't be a problem," Hahn remarked. "We'll just pick up a
telepipe from the storage facilities here and be on our way."
"Good idea," Wren conceded.
In a few minutes they had retrieved a telepipe and were back at the
teleporter station. After another minute of furious typing, Wren spoke
up. "All right, the coordinates have been set. When I press this
button, the teleporter will activate and take us to the Daughter
facility. Be prepared, however. The facility will probably be filled
with robotic security and force fields. I should be able to deactivate
the internal fields, but I don't know how the codes have been changed.
We may be in for a one way trip."
The group suddenly became silent, and the room was deathly still.
Having shooed out the techs, they were the only ones left in there. It
was Gryz who was first to speak. "Well, I'm in. I'm going to save
Demi whether there are ten robots or ten thousand. I owe her that
much."
"I shore don't like ta back outa a fight," Seno commented. "What the
hey, I'm in too!"
Hahn was the last to speak. It took him a few seconds to consider all
that was at stake. He owed so much to Demi, and she was such a good
friend and ally, but Saya needed him for her. Then again, if Hahn did
nothing, the kidnapper might win and destroy all of Algo. It was a
chance he couldn't take.
"I guess I'm in," Hahn said. "I need to do this for Demi, for Saya,
and for all of Algo."
Bolstered by the statement, Hahn walked to take his place beside the
others at the teleporter.
"Okay, everyone, lets go save Demi," Wren said, and then pushed the
button.
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