him out of the dark. He slammed himself hard onto the ground as another two bullets flew overhead, before wriggling quickly to the next bush. He glanced up briefly and could see at least half a dozen Drones running in his direction. The bush behind him danced and shook as they fired mercilessly at where he'd been. He crawled to the next. Another glance up and he knew he would have to move much faster if he was to get anywhere safe before they arrived.
He crawled to one more bush and then with his focus only on the tall sheets of glass and gleaming white walls up ahead, bolted towards the Atrium. He was halfway there before the lights picked him out again and the bullets only began to get close to him as he made his last few strides into the temporary safety of the building. Once inside, he made straight for the corridor he had come from, not bothering to duck now, just going for speed. He had a head start and he knew that once he was in the corridors, with the cameras out and no bots in his blood, his pursuers would have to split up and slow down to search for him. Mo, however, knew exactly where he was going and sped through Sync rooms and corridors back to Disposal 10.
When he burst back into the room Mo felt a strange sense of coming home. He'd never felt this before in these spaces. Normally he would enter the room with only a habitual glare at the clock to mark the start of another shift, perhaps kicking the furniture roughly out of the way or lobbing his shift bag unceremoniously to the far corner counter. But today, today the room was like a secluded hideaway he could scurry back to, a plastic and anti-bac burrow that for now felt familiar and safe.
Mo planted his hands on the counter and dropped his head, dragging air into his chest and waiting for the panic of adrenalin to ebb. He thought again of the children, tiny figures clustering like puppies and surrounded by a knotted and twisted blanket of death. Then he thought of the boy, drifting away from him in slow motion, his perfect smile fading to helpless confusion as the dark swallowed him.
The distant pop of gunfire lifted him out of his memories and back into his current situation. He reached into the cupboard under the worktop and pulled out his shift bag, took a few gulps from the water bottle he kept there, before refilling it at the tap and shoving it back inside. He scanned the inside but there was no food. He reached back under the counter and pulled out Maddie's bag. Inside was a water bottle and two nutrition bars. He reached in and grabbed them and was about to transfer both into his bag when he paused, he stared at them intently for a few moments, before chucking one of them back into her bag and bundling it under the counter. What if she was still alive somewhere? What if she came looking for them, a silent figure seeking out mouthfuls of survival? He had to leave one.
Mo slung his bag across his chest, shifting it slightly to sit better on the muscles in his shoulders. After hooking the trolley straps back around his waist he glanced slowly around the room, taking in the distinctive light, the stillness, the kit waiting clean and ready for its next body. He felt like he was saying goodbye, like life was poised on the cusp of some monumental shift. Just briefly, he caught a fleeting memory of the excitement he had felt on his first day at Prime/Code, a feeling that a glorious and heroic future was about to unfold before him. It was a sensation that had come to him only a few times before and only in his younger life, but he felt it again now. He indulged it for a moment, feeling it tingle under his skin and when it passed, turned calmly towards the hatch and smiled at his predicament, before climbing silently back into his dark and airless sanctuary.
Sarah Goes to the Farm
The Vac was cool and clean, a gleaming probe gliding effortlessly through the tubes that traced arteries above, below and around the Metropolis and out to Echo Farm.
He crawled to one more bush and then with his focus only on the tall sheets of glass and gleaming white walls up ahead, bolted towards the Atrium. He was halfway there before the lights picked him out again and the bullets only began to get close to him as he made his last few strides into the temporary safety of the building. Once inside, he made straight for the corridor he had come from, not bothering to duck now, just going for speed. He had a head start and he knew that once he was in the corridors, with the cameras out and no bots in his blood, his pursuers would have to split up and slow down to search for him. Mo, however, knew exactly where he was going and sped through Sync rooms and corridors back to Disposal 10.
When he burst back into the room Mo felt a strange sense of coming home. He'd never felt this before in these spaces. Normally he would enter the room with only a habitual glare at the clock to mark the start of another shift, perhaps kicking the furniture roughly out of the way or lobbing his shift bag unceremoniously to the far corner counter. But today, today the room was like a secluded hideaway he could scurry back to, a plastic and anti-bac burrow that for now felt familiar and safe.
Mo planted his hands on the counter and dropped his head, dragging air into his chest and waiting for the panic of adrenalin to ebb. He thought again of the children, tiny figures clustering like puppies and surrounded by a knotted and twisted blanket of death. Then he thought of the boy, drifting away from him in slow motion, his perfect smile fading to helpless confusion as the dark swallowed him.
The distant pop of gunfire lifted him out of his memories and back into his current situation. He reached into the cupboard under the worktop and pulled out his shift bag, took a few gulps from the water bottle he kept there, before refilling it at the tap and shoving it back inside. He scanned the inside but there was no food. He reached back under the counter and pulled out Maddie's bag. Inside was a water bottle and two nutrition bars. He reached in and grabbed them and was about to transfer both into his bag when he paused, he stared at them intently for a few moments, before chucking one of them back into her bag and bundling it under the counter. What if she was still alive somewhere? What if she came looking for them, a silent figure seeking out mouthfuls of survival? He had to leave one.
Mo slung his bag across his chest, shifting it slightly to sit better on the muscles in his shoulders. After hooking the trolley straps back around his waist he glanced slowly around the room, taking in the distinctive light, the stillness, the kit waiting clean and ready for its next body. He felt like he was saying goodbye, like life was poised on the cusp of some monumental shift. Just briefly, he caught a fleeting memory of the excitement he had felt on his first day at Prime/Code, a feeling that a glorious and heroic future was about to unfold before him. It was a sensation that had come to him only a few times before and only in his younger life, but he felt it again now. He indulged it for a moment, feeling it tingle under his skin and when it passed, turned calmly towards the hatch and smiled at his predicament, before climbing silently back into his dark and airless sanctuary.
Sarah Goes to the Farm
The Vac was cool and clean, a gleaming probe gliding effortlessly through the tubes that traced arteries above, below and around the Metropolis and out to Echo Farm.
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