It was midnight; time to find out what Chas was hiding and hopefully find out about the compassion command once and for all.
Somehow, Noella was able to secure a police cruiser that would allow her to stay near the labs unnoticed. I did not even bother questioning her on how she got it and she did not volunteer the information.
“Remember that we can communicate through your phone. If you get stuck, let me know and I will see what I can do from my laptop,” she reminded me.
I confirmed that I was in agreement and she drove off to a more secure location to hide.
My internal processor was spinning rapidly, which indicated that I was nervous. Although I fully trusted Noella’s hacking ability; I also knew that there was a lot that could go wrong.
I approached the doors to the lab. Noella used a command from her laptop to make sure they were unlocked. One door swung open as I approached.
I entered the lobby, the least secure area of the lab. Noella took care of any security measure here from her laptop, but I knew that the toughest security was to come.
Chas’s lab was in the basement of the science building; accessible only by an elevator.
To get to the elevator, I had to pass two live security bots and three security cameras. The bots were programmed to fire at anyone who approached within a few seconds. This is where Noella’s hacking skills would be tested the most.
I recalled what Noella said about programming my phone to take out the bots and cameras in the order that I would approach them.
Without hesitation, I pressed the numbers that would short out the bot and shut down the first security camera.
The bot shorted out as soon as I pushed the correct button…
And the first security camera shut down seconds later.
It was safe for me to enter the hallway, but I had to use caution in case the second security bot discovered what had happened to the first.
I looked at the first bot carefully to make sure that its system was fully down before I began to tiptoe past.
As slowly as I could, I started toward the next section of the hallway.
Luck was on my side. The second bot also had its back turned, so it did not notice that the first bot had shorted out.
I had to be extremely careful here, because there were two security cameras set up.
Again, my phone was out and I pressed the third button…
The bot shorted out, but I still had the two cameras to contend with.
From the police cruiser, Noella scrambled the signal on the cameras just long enough that they would not detect me. But I had to act fast.
I pressed the forth button on my phone and the camera was down.
Aware of the second camera facing my back, I pressed the fifth button on my phone, hoping that Noella’s was able to successfully scramble it. If she was not, I knew that Chas would be on his way.
There were no alarms going off, so I took it as a good sign.
However, Noella informed me that if the third camera detected my movements, the elevator would not give me access and I would be stuck in the hallway. If the elevator opened, I knew that I was home free.
I pressed the elevator call button and used the access code that Noella gave me. It opened and I smiled as I stepped inside. Noella was a genius.
The elevator traveled downward and I knew that when the doors opened, I would be inside Chas’ lab for the first time ever.
It opened and I stepped inside, but something immediately caught my attention and my system paused with fear.
Because Chas did not want anyone to have access to his labs when he was not there, Noella told me that there were no security cameras or bots in his lab. However, as I peeked around the corner, I could clearly see a bot standing across the way.
It did not move and did not seem to detect me, but I was afraid to move on in case it was set up to fire just like the others.
Noella did not tell me anything about using the sixth button on my phone, so I did not press it.
I called her up on the walkie talkie instead. “Noella…I can see another bot in his lab…”I whispered as quietly as I could.
“What? There are no more bots…at least I am not picking anything up.”
“What should I do?”
“I think it is safe to go on. My laptop is not detecting anything.”
Noella had gotten me this far, so I had to trust her. I would move on.
I stepped around the corner and discovered some type of machine that may have been designed to use on humans. I recalled what Chas once said about reprogramming the human mind. My guess was that this was the machine that he was developing for that purpose.
I walked on and got my first close up view of Chas’ inner lab; the area where I was hoping to gain access to his computer.
A few more steps and I was directly in front of the bot that I saw from across the way. I could now see that it was not a security bot, but some type of new bot prototype.
Judging from the schematics on the near-by work station, it appeared that Chas and his scientists were trying to come up with a new form of bots. I also saw notes on how this new bot could possibly be used as a weapon against humans, including the ones on earth.
The idea was very disturbing…a weapon against all of human kind. This was something that I had to definitely put a stop to…
…but first I had to get into Chas’ inner lab. I approached Chas’ access panel and pulled out my phone.
I paused and closed my eyes for a moment. This was it…once I accessed Chas’ computer, there would be no turning back. I would finally know the truth…the whole truth of what Chas has been planning.
I discarded the betrayal responses that I was getting and contacted Noella on the walkie talkie. “I am in front of the access panel…”
“Are you ready to go in?” She asked detecting hesitation in my voice.
“I am ready, but I cannot help but feel like I am betraying my bot mate,” I said.
“A bot mate that tried to infect you with a virus,” Noella reminded me.
“Give me the code,” I said shortly…slightly angered at her words of truth.
Chas’ lab and all its inner secrets awaited me to press a few numbers.
I pressed them and I was inside.
I walked toward Chas’ computer.
I took a quick look around his desk for any notebooks or data pads that would reveal anything that I needed to know.
A few harmless looking experiments and gadgets captured my attention briefly, but it looked as if Chas was very careful to keep his more important info in his computer.
One last call to Noella and I had the password to Chas’ lab computer. I sat and stared at the empty screen for a few moments…
…then I turned it on and typed in the password.
