Sealing Death (12 page)

The Truth About Idyll

      Shoot! An open-minded one! Yornoroak liked the girl's appearance, but if he didn't get rid of her curiosity, well...

      "Idyll is perfect because it just is! Let's leave it at that, for now, and get you all settled in." Yornoroak replied to the question, "The kids will get put in school, and the adults will get assigned. I'm just assuming you are going to stay because, well, no one leaves!" Julius chuckled and had one of his minions escort the group out. Once they were out of earshot, he pressed a red button and whispered, "Ten arrivals, at least four disposables."

      The minion had gotten them in their flying car and told Mac where to take them. Mac nodded and flew them all to the court. "Time to get assigned!" Mac beeped excitedly. They were led inside a giant court house and immediately put into separate rooms.

      Cassie was sat down at a desk and handed a booklet. It read, 'Determination Test' across the top. The robot in the room with her clicked to life. "Welcome to Idyll! The perfect place!" it beeped, "You are Cassandra Smith. You will be taking the Determination Test to determine if you are perfect enough to proceed. Please open to page one of the booklet and start the exam." Cassie wondered why all of the robots were British, even though Yornoroak wasn't even close. Nevertheless, she opened the exam and read the first page.

      Stella sat down in a chair and was given a booklet titled, 'Determination Test'. Another British Idyll bot chirped, "Welcome to Idyll! The perfect place!" Stella reached for the test and picked it up. "You are Stella Sanders. You will be taking the Determination Test to determine if you are perfect enough to proceed." it continued, "Please open to page one of the booklet and start the exam."

      Charlie had been put in yet another room with a bot, and the test. The bot powered up. "You are Charles Myers." it began the speech. Charlie grabbed the book and flipped through it. Holy! He never took a test this big before, nor did he want to, but something told him his life depended on it. He opened the book and began taking the test. The bot scanned him every so often and rambled off a series of numbers. "This test is so easy!" Charlie announced loudly, to which the bot shushed.

      As you'd expect, Will got the same treatment. The bot turned on, gave its speech, and instructed Will to begin. "What do you mean, to proceed?" Will asked, "What happens if I fail?" The bot chuckled. "You won't fail. You have royal heritage." the robot assured, "Now please open to page one of the booklet."

      Vander and Vanessa were put in a nursery room while their parents were taken care of. "We are in big trouble." Vander whispered to his sister. "I know doof!" she scorned, "We find out things at the same time, remember!"

      Just then, a robot came in and chirped, "Movie time!" It gathered all of the children in one spot, turned off the lights, and turned on a TV. "How to live in Idyll!" a man on the TV announced, "Watch closely, children, you wouldn't want to mess up!"

      The adults, Betty, Braddock, James, and Susan, were all sent to a dark room with a few other people. "We are about to get our jobs!" a woman chirped. Susan noticed they were different from the people outside. They looked normal, as in not perfect.

      "I'm James Smith!" James introduced, shaking someone's hand. "I am Henry." the man responded, "I hope I get a good job. I hear the offices are nice." Betty cut in, "Well, we aren't staying, so don't worry about us interfering!" The lady who first spoke asked, "What do you mean? No one leaves here! It's PERFECT!" "Helen's right." someone said, "Once you are here, you usually don't leave."

      "Why did you say 'usually' Dave?" Helen pressed, "Who did you know that left?" Dave crossed his arms. "My brother left some time ago." he explained, "He went to work one day, and never came back. They said he took a Realm Jumper and ran, but I can't imagine why."

      Braddock perked up. "A Realm Jumper?" he questioned. That could be very useful. "Yeah," Dave sighed, "There's tons of talk about them, but no one seems to know where to find any." Mr. Braddock relaxed. Shoot!

      As they talked, the room lurched and they heard an engine noise. James flew to the door, but it was locked. He looked at his wife and yelped, "We're trapped!"

      Cassie scanned through the questions. "Who has the right to make choices?" she read. The options were Julius Yornoroak, the court, your leaders, and the citizens. "These questions are all like this!" she realized. Cassie went through and circled the answers she knew were right for her. "The citizens." she whispered.

      Stella whizzed straight through. It was so simple! All her life, she got whatever she wanted, because of her parents. She figured that since she never really made her own choices, that her parents were to thank! Stella never used to think that, but she had learned to appreciate things more since the portal opened the first time. "Choices?" Stella thought aloud, "The leaders, duh!"

      Charlie was already done. He had faith that he passed, so he stood up and handed the packet to the robot. A small tray popped out of the bot's front, and in went the booklet. "Please sit down while you are being reviewed." it ordered, scanning him again. Charlie plopped down, with that strange feeling that the scans were more invasive than they looked.

      Will finished his test and slid it in the bot's tray. "Can I go now?" he interrogated, "And where are my friends?" The robot's eyes flashed and it honked, "Please sit down while you are being reviewed." The bot scanned him a few times as he sat back down, and after he was sitting. It babbled a list of numbers and beeped, "William Rindenton, you look VERY promising." Will felt like his privacy was invaded, and even more so when the bot kept scanning him and wouldn't stop.

      Vander and Vanessa watched the video. "In order to make Idyll stay perfect, we need you to listen to orders, and NEVER question anything." the narrator repeated, "Keep yourself healthy, or consequences will be severe." They caught a glimpse of a truck pulling a cart behind it to a shed in the middle of nowhere. Then people were unloaded and shoved inside, and screams were heard. Vander grabbed his sister tight and they both lost sight.

      They saw their mom and dad in the same type of cart, as well as Betty and Mr. Braddock. There were others too, but it was too dark to make out their features. The truck was heading for the same shed in the video!

      The twins pushed each other away. They needed to save their parents!

      James was able to crack the side of the wall and saw the landscape rush by. They were definitely moving, but to where? "This can't be good!" Betty warned.

      Helen spoke up. "What do you mean, not good?" she squeaked, "Everything here is perfect!" Braddock huffed. Henry looked out the hole too. "Maybe they are taking us to our jobs?" he whimpered hopefully. "How do they keep everything, everyone even, so perfect?" Braddock mumbled loud enough for the others to hear, "They throw out those who aren't!"

      Everyone fell around as the truck went over a bump. "You're right!" Dave yipped, "We're doomed!"

      Cassie had turned in her test and was waiting for the results. "Cassandra Smith," the bot began, "You have gotten 100% of the questions WRONG!"

      Stella waited impatiently for her grade. Suddenly the bot buzzed, "Congratulations! You have passed the test! You are ready to move on to part two of your determination! Please stand up." Stella obeyed and stood. The bot's eyes shone brightly and it scanned her, up and down, rambling a list of numbers. Then it popped out a few letters. "That's strange!" it beeped, "Scan returned low levels of heat in the heart and cerebral cord. I should rescan."

      "No need!" Stella insisted, feeling invaded, "I have ice powers. See!" She freezes the table top and the robot went crazy. "Not allowed! Not perfect! Not perfect!" it clanked, "Sending data. Determining fate!"

      "Charles Myers." the Idyll bot began, "You have failed the test. You will be disposed of immediately!"

      "William Rindenton," his bot whirled, "You passed the test, just like I knew you would!" Will smiled and the bot scanned him. "My name is Tia, and you are registering H-O-T with me!" it flirted, "We should get together sometime. I'm the upgraded version of the Idyll bot. I have the love application."

      Will smirked. He was flattered and all, but he was taken. And he doesn't date robots. When Tia scanned him again, he wondered WHAT that scanner was scanning anyway. He crossed his arms uncomfortably.

      Vander and Vanessa crawled to the door, but were stopped by the nanny bot. "Where are you two going?" the bot snipped, "You need to watch the movie!" Vander grabbed Vanessa’s hand and blasted the bot away. Then they blasted the door down and flew down the hall, smashing through the wall and out of the building.

      The truck stopped outside of a shed. The door flew open and giant robots yanked the adults out, one per hand. Despite their struggles, they couldn't escape the bots' grips. Susan looked up and saw her twins flying towards them. "Get Cassie!" she yelled, "We'll be fine!" Vander and Vanessa reluctantly obeyed, and flew away, as their parents were thrown inside the shed.

      "You have failed the test!" the bot explained, "But lucky for you, Mr. Yornoroak himself has given orders to proceed you anyway. Please stand up." Cassie bounced up and pushed her chair back. "Now what?" she posed. The bot said nothing, but scanned her twice over, babbling off a list of numbers, letters, and shapes. While Cassie felt like the scanner scanned more than just what she was wearing. "This isn't right!" the Idyll bot chirped, "Something went wrong! I'll have to notify Yornoroak!"

      Out of nowhere, the door blasted open, smashing into the robot. "Cassie!" Vanessa yelled, "Mommy and Daddy are in big trouble!" Cassie didn't wait for them to explain, she just followed them.

      As they flew through the hall, they found Stella running from a half frozen robot. "Cassie!" she called, "The bot is angry!" Cassie blasted the bot down and grabbed Stella. "Parents." Cassie yipped. Stella understood with just that word.

      "Wait, Charles Myers." the bot put in, "Just received word to progress you as well. Your perfect blue eyes have saved your life. Congratulations!" Charlie sighed. His grandma had always told them his eyes would be useful, but he never thought they'd be this useful!

      "Go outside." the bot ordered, "Your bot guide is waiting." Charlie opened the door and saw Mac. Then something flew by and grabbed them both. "What!" he screamed. He looked up and saw Cassie with Stella on her back, flying through the halls of the court. Cassie tossed him to the twins, as well as Mac.

      Tia scanned Will again, and he had no choice but to just sit there. "Can I go now?" he asked. "Can I go with you?" Tia flirted. The bot's eyes turned from blue to red, and Will dashed out of the room, only to be swooped up by his girlfriend. The human one.

      Tia hovered out to the hall and pouted as her crush flew away. "Report a breech." she droned, "Lock down, red alert!"

      The adults looked around. They were on a conveyor belt that was heading down a long tunnel. At the end was a bright light. "That doesn't look like jobs!" Henry screamed. They looked down and saw their feet were strapped down and the conveyor sped up. "Since you are at your end, I figured you'd want to know what was happening." Yornoroak's voice sounded, "Thanks to my amazing technology, I have found a way to melt down imperfect humans and change them into metal to build my Idyll bots! That means ALL of my Idyll bots are 100% organic! Now you know!" The recording cut out leaving only the faint hum of the doom conveyor as the group rode to the flaming pot of all-organic metal.

      "They were put in that shed!" Vanessa yelled. Cassie held out her hand and the entire building lifted up off of the ground. Cassie threw it to the side and saw a giant hole. "They must be in there!" Charlie hollered. Cassie jumped in and everyone followed.

      "No!" Yornoroak yelled after hearing the news, "They are going to ruin everything!" Julius slammed his fist on his red button and shouted, "All units converge on the humanium factory! Bring me them all!"