I pressed the button, and suddenly, the seamless surface of the table opened up and out came a computer I had never seen. It was on and working. The screen was made of pink translucent crystal, and the keyboard matched perfectly.

Geneva's journal housed so much information about stuff like this that I whipped it out and started looking for any mention of computers hidden by secret buttons. It seemed like there wasn't after flipping through a bunch of pages. Closer to the section that I previously read about these government hospitals, she mentioned their old technology: They were always vindictive fucks, and the way they operated showed that. Always hiding and scheming to keep the public from guessing what's gonna happen next. I've been to one Old World military base, and there was so much shit there. Something I found the most interesting was these computers that were in the process of being distributed to other facilities, but the document here says only to maximum security buildings. Supposedly, they were non-hackable all-in-one machines made from Flora Crystalline, the most robust nonmetallic material. Research showed the crystal's properties could ward off any unsolicited users, whatever that means. I will keep searching, but this page is getting bookmarked; I'm coming back to it later.

I padded through a couple more pages but found nothing more.

So, this computer was meant for a maximum-security facility, but from what I could tell, this was just some clinical hospital in the middle of a neighborhood; why would they need one of these?

My curiosity got the best of me, and I pressed a button on the keyboard. The screen changed to display a message: The system has detected disruptions or malfunctions in The Mother. Please reset this device to reboot The Mother.

I poked around the screen and tried to find a way to reboot it, but it took me a few seconds before I realized there was a small button on the corner of the keyboard that was meant to shut it off. It was going smoothly, and the reboot took seconds, but once it was completed, as if the room suddenly came to life, bright lights from above began flashing, and ear-splitting sirens blared.

"What the fuck!" I yelled, covering my ears, but the piercing shriek of the alarm seeped right through.

The computer's screen flashed a giant warning sign and a countdown, signaling that something terrible would happen if I didn't act quickly.

As I looked around the room, trying to see past the flashes and noise, I realized there was another ID scanner I hadn't noticed on the wall. It had probably emerged at the same time the alarms did.

I took a card from the stack in my bag and pressed it to the reader.

The scanner turned red and made a clicking noise again, and like the computer, another contraption emerged from the table, instructing me to put my arm in it, facing upward.

I listened, just wanting the noise to stop, and laid my arm in, and all in one second, a clamp came down, and I felt a hot burning sensation take over my entire arm. I got impaled with something, but when I did, the alarms and flashing lights calmed, going to nothing but solid light and a painfully silent room.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked myself, looking at the fresh wound in my arm, "Why would you just listen to the creepy machine telling you to stick your arm into it? What the fuck Alvina."

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I pulled the severed skin apart to see the beginnings of something metallic embedded in my forearm.

Great.

This had better be helpful, or I was going to be pissed.

Now that I had gotten this chip in my arm, the computer had been reset and logged in. I tapped around on the screen and was able to access and read a lot of the Old World medical journals, probably more than I'd ever need, but eventually, I found a file regarding the basement and basement access reconstruction. I skimmed through it and gathered that a plan was set in motion and completed right before the Swallowing to reinforce and upgrade the basement door to ensure anybody who wasn't supposed to be there wouldn't be. All old and new employees must come to The Mother room, which I assumed was where I was, and receive a Door Access Key or DAK. After receiving the DAK, a Door Access Key Utility Unit, or DAKUU, would be assigned to the DAK's code and allow access into the basement.

After reading it, I sighed, "Of course. Now I have to find the utility unit."

I could not say I have had this much of a critical thinking intensive scavenging mission. I was using my brain more than I usually did, and boy, was I just about over it. But all things considered, I couldn't be. This wasn't about me; it never was.

Just as I stood up from my seat, the reader clicked on the other side of the door. I heard shuffling and groaning, "Gah dammit, let me in, you stupid—" I stood in shock as a small, maybe two-foot, robot on a single wheel tumbled into the room, "These fucken doors made out of such heavy ass materials. If people knew how to fucken design, I would've been the big heavy metally fuck, but no, I'm stuck in this two-foot aluminum BABY BODY."

The little robot, who would probably dislike being called that, continued ranting about the door's composition until he finally realized I was also in the room.

"Oh, great. You heard all that? Well, this place is a dump between you and me, so does it really matter who's made of what? Probably not because I'm worth a crap ton more than that door over there!" The last bit of its sentence was aimed toward the inanimate object. I was so amazed, I wasn't even sure what to say or how to talk to it; I hadn't had Old World technology work this well before, "Nice, not only am I small, but the human I'm bonded to has the mind of a goldfish. Lucky me!"

I shook my head, gathering my words, "No, no, I'm sorry. I just haven't ever seen anything like you my whole life."

The robot rolled around in a circle, "Well, stop your gawking; it's making me blush," his little robot hands go up to his nonexistent cheeks. "No, but in all seriousness, what do you mean? DAK utility bots are commonplace in government buildings now! The rollout started in 2074 and should've continued." He gasped. "Maybe at some point, they'll realize their wrongdoings and decide to give us bots an upgrade package, if you know what I'm talking about. Wink, wink."

His programming was set to work in the Old World environment. Was this what the Old World was commonly like?

I kneeled; that way, I wasn't towering over him, "I'm sorry," I paused for a moment as I realized he didn't have a name.

"Daku, you can just call me Daku," He said.

I smiled softly, but it went away as I explained the situation, "Well, Daku, I'm sorry to break it to you, but the year is 2226, and no upgrade is coming."

The robot scoffed, rolling around the room, "2226?!" He laughed, "You must think I'm a fool to fall for that! Now, cmon, I assume you want me to do what I'm designed for?"

He seemed opinionated, and I didn't want to risk wasting more time arguing with him, so I nodded and opened the door for him. "Wow, we should've been doing this from the beginning!" As he rolled down the hall, he said, "I'll meet you on the first floor; I can't take the stairs." I watched him as his screen projected a red scanner over the wall. Just as the table was doing before, it seamlessly opened and closed behind him, looking like there was never an opening in the first place.

I continued my way downstairs, and as I turned down the hall to approach the massive door, I saw the robot waiting for me.

After the last few hours of being here, trying to figure everything out, getting implanted with a chip, and being insulted by a robot, I sure hope this will be worth it.