“Wake up, Little-One, it’s time to go,” a calm female voice cooed.
The red headed little boy rubbed the sleep from his big brown eyes and focused on the two shining eyes that broke through the darkness of the room. “Wha … what is it? Is it time for me to perform again?”
“No. Do you remember what we talked about? How there would be time for us to leave this place? That time has come. Hurry, we must leave now, before we are discovered. I have everything you need.”
The boy reached for a metallic hand extended to him and gave a yawn. “Did you pack Mr. Whiskers? I need Mr. Whiskers.”
“Adam, there is no time for Mr. Whiskers. We must leave immediately.” Adam looked mournfully at his metallic savior. If she had a breath to draw she would have done so long and dramatically. “Fine, bring Mr. Whiskers, but if Mr. EB catches us then he will be very angry and punish us both.”
This comment woke Adam from his stupor. He quickly turned around and grabbed his stuffed rainbow colored cat and jumped off his tiny cot onto the cold steel floor. “Where we goin’, Essie?”
She shushed the child and said, “We have stopped for routine maintenance and refueling the MB31 Units will have various systems down for the next several hours. On my latest sync with the IB I learned security systems will be down for the next hour. We must act quickly and quietly. Mr. EB will have PB-78 on the lookout. Are you ready?”
The youth nodded and gave his five year-old frame one final stretch before embarking on his journey.
Essie made a few swipes to a keypad, and the door to the tiny quarters slid open silently to a dimly lit hall lined with doors similar to his. Adam looked up at the marker on his door and it read: H-U-M-A-N B-O-Y that spelled Adam. He was very proud of himself for being able to read, Essie started teaching him last year and she said he was a very quick learner.
Adam followed the slender black bot carrying a large bag, down the hall taking time to scan some of the doors he passed:
Z-E-B-R-A: Those were those black and white things with the tails.
M-O-N-K-E-Y: Those were the hairy things that made funny noises.
Oh, Essie would be very proud of him. He didn’t dare say anything now. He didn’t want to make Mr. EB mad. Mr. EB was not a nice bot. Not like Essie. They passed by a few more doors too quickly to read then one caught his eye:
L-A-B-O-R-A-T-O-R-Y: He stared at it for a few seconds then Essie pulled on his hand to go. He didn’t know this word, but he was sure Essie would teach him later.
They came to a T in the hall. Essie stopped and held up her hand in a signal for the boy to stay put, just like she did before he went out on stage before one of his “performances”. While the boy stayed she disappeared around the corner.
Honestly, he didn’t understand what the big deal was about his performances. Once a week or so Mr. EB would let him go outside and play while a crowd of bots would gather around and look at him doing silly dances or making faces or singing songs Essie taught him. Usually the bots would laugh and point. When they got tired they would move on to the M-O-N-K-E-Y or the Z-E-B-R-A. Most of the time he stayed in his tiny room with Mr. Whiskers and a drawing tablet or Essie would let him play in a bigger room and teach him to read and count. She told him not let Mr. EB know she was teaching him.
Essie reappeared from around the corner and motioned for Adam to follow. They went down another narrower hallway. There were no doors in this hall. Adam looked up at the pretty flashing lights and displays that showed only ones and zeros. Essie’s steps grew quicker and he struggled to keep up with the bot.
“Are you okay, Adam?”
He nodded careful not say anything. He really did not want to make Mr. EB angry.
Essie continued on what seemed like an endless path of narrow corridors some more dimly lit than others. Adam wondered why it didn’t take this long to get off the transport when he went outside for his performances. Adam’s tummy grumbled and his legs were tired. Essie said quietly, “They will be watching the main exits. We need to use exits they will not be as likely to watch. We’re almost there.”
Then a small door appeared in the distance. Essie’s eyes glowed green, they always did this when she was happy like when he added numbers or spelled his name correctly. They took a few steps to the small door then two large bots appeared from nowhere and blocked the door. The large red bot they called PB-78 was never nice to Adam, but the roundish blue bot with glowing red eyes was the one that made Adam shiver. He hid behind Essie.
“Well, SE-12, I see you ignored my directive not free the human.”
“Mr. EB you know very well that he can’t live here forever. I sensed a human clan about 20 km from our last stop. He needs to be with them not on display for your traveling show.”
Mr. EB gave a hollow metallic laugh. That was never a good thing. “SE, it is our duty to see that no human comes to harm if we do happen to find one.” He pointed to Adam. “There was no chance for his survival when we found him alone two years ago. We nursed him back to health. We gave him a place to live. You get to study organic lifeforms we make money on our show and he lives. It is a win-win situation. Do you really think he has a chance with a human clan? If there is one.”
Essie’s eye’s turned blue like when Adam asked about his real parents or when he asked to go outside, but he wasn’t allowed. “Mr. EB, you’ve done great things to bring about change for organic lifeforms, but this one is different. He needs his own kind.”
Mr. EB’s eye glowed red, he shouted and Adam covered his ears. “Enough! The boy stays here.” He looked at the big red bot. “PB! Take them to their quarters. It looks we might have to find a replacement SE unit at the next waystation.”
Essie extended her hand and in it she held a rectangle with a button. “Stop! If you take us then your whole organic sideshow will perish.”
The red bot stopped and looked at Mr. EB. Mr EB said slowly, “You would sacrifice your menagerie for this one organic?”
Essie looked at PB then Mr. EB. “Yes, I would.”
They were all quiet for what seemed like forever. Adam’s tummy grumbled again and he held tighter to Essie.
Mr. EB laughed and opened the door and a barren dusty landscape was revealed. Adam squinted at the bright light. “Fine, if that’s the way you want it. If my calculations are right you have about 40km before you’re even close to where you thought you sensed a clan. There is no way an organic can survive those conditions especially one so young. And you, you’ll need power before you reach that distance.”
Essie walked defiantly towards the door. “We’ll take our chances, Mr. EB.”
Mr. EB looked at the big red bot. “You heard them PB.”
PB grabbed the boy and Essie and heaved them out of the door. Mr. EB yelled, “When your power is down and the human boy is on the brink we’ll get him and a new SE unit. Until then have fun trying to find your clan.”
The door of the metal ship clanged shut. Adam looked at Essie, “Are we going to try to find my Mommy and Daddy now?”
“Yes, little one.”
They walked away into the wilderness not knowing what lay before them.
The Nerdy Paige 