Alliance by Timothy L. Cerepaka Page A

to: In that little room, strapped like a rat.”
    These two elves clearly believe they can
defeat me, but they just as clearly do not know the full extent of
my powers and abilities. They may be able to dodge my finger
lightning bolts, but finger lightning bolts are not the only tricks
up my sleeve.
    I tap my chest, causing an electrical
barrier to extend three feet from my body. The barrier strikes the
two elves and knocks them out immediately. They fall to the floor,
their staffs clattering by their sides, and as soon as they do, I
deactivate my electrical barrier. The two elves' bodies smoke
slightly from being burnt by my electricity, but scanners indicate
that they are still alive, albeit unlikely to awake anytime
soon.
    But even though they are both out cold,
that does not solve my problem, because I still do not know where I
am. I doubt, however, I will get much of an opportunity to find
out, because if these two know I am here, then it is highly likely
that the rest of the Foundation knows of my escape as well.
    Which way should I go? I do not know
because I do not have any information or even a map on the general
layout of this place. Nor can I rely on satellites in orbit to
provide me with any information, because Dela does not have any
artificial satellites, much less artificial satellites connected to
the Database.
    Standard protocol for J bots in this type
of situation is to head in the direction of Xeeon, where the
Database is kept. Unfortunately, I cannot even follow standard
protocol in this situation because of the lack of connection to the
Database on Dela, which does not even exist here.
    What I need is information, and quickly.
These two elves, obviously agents of the Foundation, will likely be
able to tell me what I need to know, but I must interrogate them
quickly, because I do not know how long I have until other
Foundation agents come by to check up on me.
    I kneel over the elf known as Garga. His
eyes are rolled into the back of his head, but I slap him across
the face in an effort to awaken him quickly.
    It works, because Garga shakes his head
and says, “What the—” before I put a hand over his mouth and
tighten my grip.
    “ Do not try to scream,”
I say, keeping my audio level low to avoid awaking his ally, while
also pinning Garga to the floor with my knee. “Or teleport. I only
want information on this place. Is that understandable?”
    Garga glares at me, which tells me that I
need to be more explicit in my request.
    “ Listen here,” I say,
leaning a little closer in, an intimidation technique I learned
over my years of interrogating captured criminals. “If you do not
answer my questions about the Foundation, I will do far worse to
you than simply electrocute you. Do you understand?”
    He keeps glaring at me, but he does nod
slightly. I notice him reaching for his staff, so I fire my lasers
at his staff before he can so much as touch it. The laser knocks
his staff out of his reach, causing him to curse, although his
curse is unintelligible due to my hand covering his mouth.
    “ I suggest you do not
try and attack me while I am not looking,” I say. “Because that
will end quite badly for you, I promise.”
    Garga still does not look happy, but he
has no more weapons to reach for, so I say, “Now, will you
cooperate or will you not?”
    My facial recognition technology says that
Garga looks like he would rather kill himself than cooperate with
me, but then he nods again. I take my hand off his mouth, but rest
it on his throat to keep him pinned so he does not think he can
escape.
    “ Dumb machine,” Garga
spits at me; quite literally, he spits saliva at me, although I do
not care. “Stupid robot. Idiotic clicker.”
    “ I did not ask for you
to insult me,” I say, “as that is not a good method of cooperation.
Instead, I would like to know the location of the nearest exit, as
well as the location of the building itself.”
    “ Can't tell you any of
that,” Garga says.