Cryo-Man (Cryo-Man series, #1) (20 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

             
Regardless of my situation in the real world, my dream world still revolves around a single memory… the same chase of the laughing boy… the same realization of my impending death… the same shaky cell phone call to CIFPOL… the same worry about the box…

             
Except now when I wake up, I know that the boy is my son, Henry; I know the reason why I died; I know the urgency in calling CIFPOL; I know the importance of the Heaven Box to my family, even if I don’t know exactly what I’ll find inside. As the systems in my robotic body regain power, I know many answers to the mysteries of my dreams. More importantly, the GPS connected to my brain holds the coordinates of the Heaven Box and the path I must follow to help unlock my past and my family.

             
I hear the sound of voices nearby, loud enough to recognize as human but not loud enough to make out any words. My eyes open to darkness. At first, I still think it’s night. But streams of light enter through cracks in the debris wall and I remember where I’ve hidden. I slowly turn my head in the tight space and see the face of a robot just inches in front of me. The sight is startling and I recoil, not that there’s much room to move. I remind myself that this wall is made of all
kinds
of junk, twisted robot remains included.

Then the robot’s eye winks at me. Freaked out, I’m suddenly overwhelmed with claustrophobia and begin pushing my way to get out of the debris. Something at the back of my head becomes snagged. I tell myself I no longer have a glass dome to protect the wires running into my skull. The controlled coordination needed to find a stuck wire – combined with my uncontrolled panic – makes this a tricky situation. I think of nothing but freeing myself and getting the hell out of here. It’s not until I hear human voices getting closer that I realize how much noise I’m making.

              “Did you hear that?” asks one of the humans, the voice muffled but much closer than the last time I heard it.

             
I freeze and the debris wall stops swaying around me. When I steal another peek at the robot’s face, I see the eye still blinking; it’s obviously some sort of malfunction from being destroyed.

             
“Did I hear
what
?” another human voice asks.

             
“Thought I heard something moving in the wall. Does it look like it moved?”

             
I turn my neck slowly toward the voices, careful not move any of my other parts that might make the damn whirring noise. I try to check how close the humans have come to my hiding spot. The wall is thick enough so I can’t see through to the other side; I hope that means they can’t see through to me. Only a few streams of light filter in from the city side of the wall but when that light becomes blocked by the shadow of movement, I know I could be in trouble.

The human guards stop moving a few feet from me. I imagine them searching the wall closely. If they spot any part of my body, would they even recognize it being different from the rest of the wall?

“My God, it
does
look like it shifted,” the other guard says, his voice now laden with fear. I’m about to bust my way out, consequences to my wires be damned. “But the damn thing is made of junk, it’s
always
moving. Probably lucky it hasn’t collapsed into the river by now.”

The guard chuckles and one of the shadows moves on. The other looms larger though, coming so close that I hear the man’s heavy breathing.

“You really didn’t hear nothing?” the guard asks.

“Course I heard something,” the other guard says, his voice growing more distant as he walks away. “But we
always
hear noise. Doesn’t mean it’s trouble.”

“But the robot from last night,” the guard says. “It was seen escaping around this area.”

“And you think it’s still
here
? Doing what, playing hide and seek?” the other guard chuckles. “It’s been hours since the chase, that thing is long gone. Hopefully, it’s at the bottom of the river.”

“Wouldn’t we have heard if it went down there?”

“You’re probably right about that, but I’m sure it got out another way. Let’s hurry up and finish the sweep of this area. I don’t like patrolling the city fringes during the day. I don’t want to give the robots a reason to start taking shots at us.”

“Maybe last night’s robot was different. I heard it was part human, that it was part of an experiment of human/robot hybrids. Maybe someone out there is combining our kind with theirs to try ending the war,” the nearby guard says.

“And that’s what you want? To be turned into one of them?” the other guard snorts, his voice growing angrier. “Put a bullet through my skull before you let that happen to
me
.”

The guard’s shadow finally moves as he walks away to join his partner.

“But it didn’t kill anyone, not even when it had the chance to kill the k– ”

“I don’t want to hear you talk like that,” the other guard snaps. “You kids are all the same, thinking there’s hope for peace out there, for a better future. I was young and dumb once, too. Thought peace could actually happen beyond the city, beyond this wall. But it ain’t happening: not in my life, not in your life, not in the lives of any kid you might have,
if
you find a female foolish enough to partner up with you.”

Silence hangs in the air. I wonder if they walked away but I don’t hear the light shuffle of footsteps. When the meaner guard speaks again, his voice doesn’t have the same annoyed edge.

“Look, I know it’s hard for you to understand how brutal this war has been. The last time the robots attacked without mercy, you were tucked away downtown, playing with other kids in the safety of the high-rises. But just because the fighting died down over the years doesn’t mean the robots will always stay this weak, this low on numbers. You saw last night’s robot as a sign of peace; I see it as a new model coming here to lower our defenses and do reconnaissance on the city. They’re trying to learn how to fight us without overwhelming us with sheer numbers. That robot might be more dangerous than any we’ve ever seen.”

“Why wouldn’t it have killed the king then?” the younger guard wonders. “It had the chance, even tossed him over the side of a building before catching him. It broke into the queen’s apartment but didn’t hurt her or the kids either. I heard that Prince Ward even stood face to face with it and wasn’t afraid. And he’s just a little kid.”

The older guard snorts again. “That kid knows nothing, he’s barely ever left that building. When I was his age, I was already doing patrols around the city.”

“Your father was never king of River City, though.”

“The prince is too dumb to know what he should be frightened of,” the older guard continues. “I heard he was burned by the pulse that blew a hole in their wall. Probably melted his brain, if there was anything to melt in the first place.”

“Better not let the king hear you talk like that, he’ll throw you out of the city,” the younger guard says.

Their footsteps begin to shuffle off again.

“If he kicked me out, who’d he get to do this horrible patrol?” the older guard says, chuckling again.

Their voices no sooner fade into the distance when I reach back to untangle my wire. It’s snagged on something pretty tightly and I quickly panic at the thought of staying stuck. My movements grow clumsy and by the time I free myself, I’ve banged my elbow against the wall so hard that the junk starts to collapse. The broken robot continues to wink at me, as if telling me I’ll be part of the wall forever.

I protect my head with one arm and punch through collapsing debris with the other. I finally free myself and stop from being buried alive, but that’s the least of my problems now. With a huge section of wall suddenly collapsed, the guards have already turned back to me. The older one levels his gun and fires without warning.

The flying humans attacked me last night with regular guns; guards on the ground have no need to avoid using electrical pulse weapons. The bright blue ball of light speeds toward me. I instinctively leap atop the debris wall, causing more of it to crumble beneath my weight. I barely keep my balance as I run along the top. Behind me, the pulse smashes into the wall, causing even more of it to fall apart.

Though I’m trying to escape danger, I actually run closer to the pair of guards, who must think I’m purposely destroying their protective barrier. I can’t blame the young guard for also firing at me. The gun looks big in his hand and it’s no surprise his shot doesn’t come close to hitting me. The second blue pulse speeds well clear of the wall. Neither guard makes a move to retreat but I’m not about to attack them and get myself stuck in the city again.

I don’t know much about this new world but I’ve learned that these guns need time to recharge, which allows me to search the ground for any means of getting back across the river. But there’s no leftover boats here, no wooden debris, nothing that could support my weight. I have no other choice.

I wish I’d found a better bag to carry my CIFPOL folder, something to protect the fragile pages from the elements. It’s too late for that now. All I can do is make sure the bag is closed as much as possible and that it’s tied securely to my shoulder. I turn back to the guards just long enough to see the older one aiming his gun at me again. I don’t wait to see if he ever gets off another shot.

              I dive into the water. I try to emulate the motion of swimming but my metal body is too heavy and sinks immediately. At first I panic until I realize I can’t drown since I don’t need to breathe. The water turns darker as I sink to the bottom, though I can’t tell if that’s from the depth or how dirty it is. I’m still sure to keep my mouth closed tight.

             
When I finally hit bottom, I hear a muffled clang. I expected to touch down on soft silt but instead it feels like metal and lots of it. I keep my balance and walk forward, using the GPS in my mind to guide me. With each step, it’s the same clang of my metal feet against the metal bottom. I assume that large sections of the wall collapsed down here at some point.

             
I don’t know what kind of effect the electrical pulses could have if fired into the water but I don’t hang around to find out. I run and leap underwater. Having a solid river floor gives me better footing for movement. With the weight of my metallic body and the speed and strength I possess, I move better as a robot in this environment than I could as a human. Still, being underwater slows me significantly and I feel as clumsy in my heavy metal skin as I did during my first few steps as a robot.

             
Eventually I get a rhythm going, get the timing down as I run and jump beneath the surface. By the time my GPS tells me I’m halfway across the river, my panic about being in the pitch-black eases. I figure to reach the other side in a matter of minutes. The darkness is finally interrupted but it doesn’t come from above. As I leap and glide through the water, I spot a blinking red light well beneath me, I’m guessing on the river floor. I’m not sure what it could be but when I land atop more metal, I don’t remain grounded to find out. I take another leap, gliding over several more red lights. Is it some sort of illuminated path underwater to follow into – or in my case, out of – the city?

             
The next time I drift to the bottom, I land a few feet in front of another red light. It shines brightly enough for me to see the river floor littered with metal. From what I can tell, most of the debris are parts from destroyed robots. When I plant my feet among the metallic junk and leap again, I unwittingly kick some debris toward the blinking red light. I don’t give it a second thought until I hear a deep boom erupting from somewhere beneath.

             
The sound isn’t loud underwater but within seconds, shock waves from the explosion rush up toward me, the water blooming violently from below. My smooth glide through the river suddenly changes as I’m propelled straight up. My body flips and turns as debris pelts me from below. I feel a slight tugging sensation at the back of my head. Something hits me in the face. It’s the worst pain I’ve felt since my robotic transformation. I want to shield my face but my hands stay at the back of my head, protecting my wires. I can’t shake the fear of the wire controlling my movement being pulled out. The thought of being forever stuck at the bottom of the river – unable to move, unable to escape, unable to die – panics me.

             
Gravity takes over and my metal body begins to plunge back down. But the first explosion is followed by the detonation of what must be several more underwater mines. Jolt after jolt sends me careening through the river. The only way I can tell which direction I’m going is from the GPS in my mind. Amazingly, the mines are blowing me in the right direction.

Somehow I remain in one piece. No more red lights flash below and I finally settle to the bottom of the river. I stay in place for several long minutes, not moving a muscle – or a gear – until the churning water settles. I proceed cautiously, taking small steps instead of giant leaps the rest of the way. The water eventually lightens until I see the blue sky above me. I
should
feel better to be escaping the explosive river but when I move closer to the surface, I hear loud booms and see flashes of explosions
outside
the water as well.