As it turned out, we had worried for nothing. To my surprise, when I returned, my parents were still not in our room. In a way, just a little bit, I was even disappointed that I wouldn't get the chance to show off my acting skills and deliver the rehearsed speech I'd been repeating over and over in my head as I walked back to the room. But it was all for the best. At least now, nothing should threaten our plan.
I lay down in bed and tried to fall asleep, but sleep was nowhere to be found. My mind was flooded with all sorts of thoughts and speculations about what might be on that recording.
An android in a bunker? Very strange. What kind of experiments are being conducted here?
Curiosity and, at the same time, anxiety gnawed at me from the inside. I couldn’t manage to get any decent sleep that night. At some point, I heard my parents quietly return to the room and, unaware of anything, they went straight to bed. I must have briefly dozed off towards the end, but the alarm soon went off.
I spent the entire day feeling drowsy, and, as luck would have it, time dragged on so slowly. My body felt tired, but the anticipation of uncovering an incredible mystery kept me from even napping a bit when I tried to rest during lunch. On top of that, Albert kept flaunting his mysterious, smug smile in front of Anna and me, hinting that he knew more than we did.
What a rascal! He stayed out late, nearly got us into big trouble, and now he’s walking around all smug. We’re curious too, you know…
But eventually, the day passed, and the agonizing wait came to an end. Night had fallen. I was terrified of falling asleep and missing everything. I would never forgive myself if that happened. My parents had long been peacefully snoring, and I quietly and cautiously counted down the minutes on my watch.
It's time!
Very slowly and carefully, I slipped out of bed and tiptoed towards the door. I had to be as cautious as possible. Failure was not an option! After successfully covering the distance between the bed and the door, I braced myself for the hardest part—slipping out of the room without waking my parents. Even though I had pulled off this trick many times before, the tension and nervousness didn't fade, as if my entire future depended on this success. I prepared to quietly open the door, when suddenly I heard a rustling sound from my parents’ bed and froze on the spot, holding my breath. Sweat beaded on my forehead.
Did they notice me? Is this the end? the thoughts raced through my mind like lightning. But the rustling quickly faded, and my father’s long snore followed. I exhaled in relief and slipped out of the room.
The others were already in the entertainment room when I arrived. Anna was fiddling with the wires near the TV, connecting the camera, while Albert sat waiting on the couch opposite, swinging his legs.
"Oh, there’s Emma!" he exclaimed happily. "I was starting to think I’d have to go and wake you up."
"Come on, I wasn’t that late."
"Done!" Anna said proudly, finishing up the setup. We exchanged glances, our eyes alight with anticipation, and quickly made ourselves comfortable on the couch, ready for the show.
"What are you all doing here?" a familiar sleepy voice suddenly sounded.
We seemed to flinch simultaneously, turning our heads in sync towards the entrance. In the doorway stood Isabella, yawning and squinting from the light. Anna let out an annoyed click of her tongue.
Just what we needed!
Although Isabella wasn’t a bad person in general, she sure loved to gossip, which made her a potential threat to spill our secret. On top of that, she and Anna had a rather complicated relationship. For some reason, Isabella constantly followed her around, which annoyed Anna to no end. And no attempts to make her understand that her behavior was bothersome had worked. Isabella was relentless.
"Is this some sort of secret meeting?" she perked up. It seemed her sleepiness vanished instantly, her eyes lighting up with burning curiosity.
"Yes, it is," Anna said irritably, "and you weren’t invited."
"Can I join? Oh, please, please, please!" Isabella begged, completely ignoring Anna’s rudeness.
We exchanged uneasy glances. The desire to tell her off was clear in Anna's eyes, while Albert shook his head cautiously, as if trying to signal that the video was definitely not for her eyes. To be honest, I didn’t want any outsiders present either, but what other options did we have?
"Guys, listen," I whispered, "if we turn her down, she’ll definitely rat us out..."
"But Emma, that video… it’s… maybe it’s better if we don’t?"
"Emma’s right. As much as we don’t want to, if we kick her out now, this will probably be our last meeting. And worst-case scenario, she could 'accidentally' call one of the adults right now."
After some more deliberation, we made our choice.
"Fine, you can stay," Anna said begrudgingly.
"Yay! Thank you, thank you!" Isabella responded excitedly.
"Just, please, don’t tell anyone about our little secret meeting or what you’re about to see. It’s a secret gathering, after all," I warned.
"Of course, of course! I’ll be as silent as a fish."
She happily ran over to us and squeezed herself onto the couch between Anna and me. My friend sighed in frustration, rolling her eyes before grabbing the remote and starting the video.
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The picture wasn’t perfect. After all, Albert had to position the camera in such a way that it could capture at least something through the slats of the ventilation grate. Still, you could see a small scientific space filled with various computing devices. In the center was a table with a humanoid figure lying on it, completely covered by a white sheet. Multiple cables ran from the figure to different pieces of equipment.
That’s the android… the thought immediately flashed through my mind. It wasn’t hard to guess, considering Albert’s spoilers from the previous night.
"It’s about to start," he commented eagerly.
"Is this some kind of movie?" Isabella asked, looking confused with a slightly baffled smile.
"Yeah, just watch and be quiet," Anna hissed. Isabella shuffled a bit in her seat and focused on the screen.
Finally, the door to the room in the video opened, and a group of people in white lab coats entered. Some of them sat down by the instruments, while the lead researchers approached the table.
"Emma, Albert, those are your parents!" Isabella exclaimed, pointing at the screen.
"Quiet!" Anna snapped at her, and Isabella quickly fell silent, making gestures to show she’d keep her mouth shut.
Holding my breath, I watched to see what would happen next. Albert’s father pulled off the white sheet, revealing the white metallic body of the robot, covered in cables. It was about the height of an average adult, and its minimalist anthropomorphic design with smooth, rounded elements didn’t suggest any combat capabilities or anything like that. At least, not visually. It looked more like it was intended for peaceful purposes. A combat robot wouldn’t have been assembled with so much attention to appearance and resemblance to a human.
"Power it up and start the diagnostics," my father commanded.
The staff immediately got to work, and things began to heat up. Someone pulled a lever on one of the devices, and in a moment, a small green light lit up on the robot’s faceplate. Soon after, command lines started flashing on its visual display, though, unfortunately, they couldn’t be made out on the recording. This continued for about five minutes, until one of my father’s colleagues announced that all systems were normal.
"Excellent. Initiate the procedure to bring it out of hibernation. Set access level to the control elements at 10%. Audio input and output devices only."
"Understood, Professor Grayson. It will be done."
"They’re about to activate the android and start talking to it..." I commented, mesmerized by what was happening. I’d heard a lot about my parents’ work, but I had never seen it with my own eyes before. These images felt sacred to me, as if forbidden knowledge was being revealed before me. Although I had never been particularly interested in robots and everything related to them, now I couldn’t take my eyes off what was happening. My entire attention was glued to the screen.
"It’s ready," said one of the staff members, and then everyone fell silent, waiting.
"Hello, Sam. How are you feeling?" my father asked calmly.
My friends and I froze, as if the event was happening right here, right now, and we were participants in the experiment. We didn’t make a sound, afraid to miss even the smallest detail.
"Henry, is that you?" the android suddenly replied. It lay motionless, with only the small blinking green light and the sound from the speakers indicating it was functioning.
"Yes, Sam, it’s me. We’re conducting the third stage."
The android went quiet for a minute, as if thinking over its response.
"Third stage. That’s good news. So, everything is going according to plan?" the robot said, almost emotionless.
"Correct. We’re actually ahead of schedule. Sam, can you tell us about your current state?"
"Yes, of course. I am surrounded by darkness. I feel calm. My thoughts are clear and organized. There is nothing around me, just sound and my own self. I feel like a bodiless spirit. It’s as if I don’t exist, yet I do. It’s like a dream, but I know that what’s happening is real. There are no pleasant or unpleasant sensations. I would describe my condition as neutral."
"Psychological and emotional state is within normal parameters," my mother said intently, sitting at one of the monitoring devices.
"Good. We can move on to the next step. Activate the visual components. We’ll keep the emotion simulation at the same level. Sam, be prepared as well."
"All preparations are complete. Initiating activation."
A moment later, two more sensors lit up on the android, most likely indicating the activation of its cameras, the android’s eyes, for image acquisition. My father leaned over the android’s face, blocking our view of its head.
"Well, Sam? Can you see me?"
"Yes. It’s nice to see you again, Henry."
"All indicators are normal. No deviations from the calculated data have been detected," one of the staff members said with satisfaction.
"This is a success!" came a voice from another corner, outside the camera’s view.
"I’m glad the experiment is going well," the android said in a monotone voice. "I can’t wait for you to activate the image generation system to visualize thought patterns."
"Don’t worry, Sam. We’ll get to that stage soon."
The scientists started chatting excitedly with each other, congratulating one another and celebrating the successful progress. Meanwhile, my father was still standing over the android. I couldn’t see his face, but I bet he was serious and focused at that moment, unlike the other colleagues.
"Henry," Sam suddenly said, "since we’re following this plan, does that mean things are bad outside?"
My father whispered something back, but the recording didn’t capture what he said.
"Well, that’s unfortunate," the android replied with regret in its voice. "Does that mean you’ll be joining me soon?"
"Yes, it looks like that’s how it will be."
As soon as he said that, everything stopped, and the room fell silent. It was clear from their faces that the previously joyful mood had instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of gloom.
"We need to run a couple more tests and then we’ll wrap up for today," my father commanded, addressing the others.
A chill ran down my spine, and a bad feeling settled over me. Sam’s last words wouldn’t leave my mind. What did he mean by "you’ll be joining me"? It was eerie.
"Emma," Albert suddenly addressed me. His voice sounded cold and unnatural. I instantly turned toward him and found him staring at me, but there was no emotion on his face. "You remember that day, don’t you?"
I was at a loss for words and didn’t know how to respond. To be honest, I didn’t even understand the meaning of his question. I turned to the other side, where Anna and Isabella were sitting, and to my horror, I saw them also staring at me. Their gazes were just as cold and lifeless as Albert’s.
What the hell is going on? I thought, panicking.
"You haven’t forgotten us, have you? How we spent time together, how we watched this recording together?" Isabella asked.
The atmosphere was tense, and I noticed that the light had grown colder, and my friends’ faces had become pale. Suddenly, the image on the TV disappeared, and the screen started flashing a menacing red light. I was horrified to realize that my body felt heavy, as if it was chained to the couch, preventing me from moving.
"It’s time for you to wake up, Emma," Anna said. "Just please, don’t forget about us."
"Don’t forget about us," Albert and Isabella repeated in unison. Their voices seemed to merge into one and echoed loudly in my head.
Then everything around me dissolved into a bright light.