The Dark District

A few moments later, there was a bright flash, followed by a low beeping noise. Slowly, the simulation disappeared and the actual interior of the simulation lab re-appeared. This was immediately followed by a pop-up screen opening mid-air.

// Combat Training score: 70/100

Developer Mode 1 unlocked!

The user can now craft custom weapon modules!

Developer Mode 2 unlocked!

The user can now craft custom defense modules!

Combine multiple modules to create a new one. //

Kevin was super hyped to see this notification. Unlocking the ability to design weapon and defense modules opened a whole new world of possibilities. He could now craft unique modules to suit his various needs by tinkering with several different types of modules.

This new feature would allow him to experiment with different things and perhaps craft something more powerful than all the other existing modules. He wished he had some modules on him to test it out, but unfortunately, he had already equipped his previously acquired Local Hacking Module.

Kevin wasn't too put off by the fact that he couldn't craft something immediately. He was planning to go to the surface that night, and that would be the perfect opportunity to destroy some machines and get his hands on some brand new modules.

After a while, the door of the simulation lab opened behind him, and Suzy greeted him with a smile. The pop-up display was still there for her to see. "Not bad, Kev. 70/100 is a pretty good score on the first attempt."

Kevin smiled back and stepped outside. There were a lot of questions in his mind, and he was glad that Suzy was still waiting there. The first thing which came to his mind was the developer mode. If gaining combat experience was a way to unlock it, he should have been able to do it right after his fight with the drones.

Darting his eyes towards the pop-up screen, he asked, "Why wasn't I able to unlock developer mode after my first fight in the tunnel?"

"Developer mode is a hidden feature of your interface. To unlock it, you needed to submit yourself to a test. When you were fighting those drones outside, the lab's AI wasn't there to analyze your combat behavior. But when you passed this combat simulation inside this room, the AI was able to collect data and analyze your behavioral patterns. Since you passed with flying colors, it unlocked the special feature for you," Suzy explained.

"That makes sense." Kevin nodded. "But why were there humans in the simulation? I'm gonna be fighting machines on the surface."

"The humans were added to this training to test your response and see if you'd kill them or try to find some other way to overpower them. Like I said, the lab's AI doesn't just analyze your combat skills, but also your behavior and choices."

"It sounds like you people are still having a hard time trusting me." Kevin didn't seem too pleased to know that his morality was being questioned by an AI.

"It's really not like that, Kev. This is just a behavioral assessment to prepare you for critical situations."

Kevin didn't pay any attention to Suzy's justification. It wasn't hard for him to tell that people didn't really trust him. It reminded him of Cassandra's words.

On his way back to the elevator, Kevin asked Suzy a few more questions about the simulation lab. He was quite intrigued by the whole arrangement. What was most impressive was the fact that the lab hadn't been damaged in any way even though Kevin had fired live ammunition.

Suzy revealed to him that the lab's interior had a special shielding device which activated just at the start of combat simulations. It protected all the internal LED screens and panels by absorbing all damage caused by conventional firearms and laser weapons.

Kevin would have liked to try another combat instance, but Suzy told him to rest for now. The level 2 combat instance that she had programmed was a long one and required quite a bit of exploring. With his current power supply, he would run out of power halfway through the simulation.

As they walked down the corridor, Suzy pulled up a holo-display of the security tunnel subsection D-1. It had been re-armed with automated turrets, and the walls had been repaired.

The breached tunnel doors through which the drones had entered, had been replaced by much stronger titanium doors, and more sandbag barriers had been set up in the tunnel.

"Looks like the defenses are all set," Kevin remarked. "Tyler seems like a nice guy. I'd rather have him guarding Subcity than that prick Shane."

"Tyler is in charge of general security, but he mostly just watches the tunnels and deals with security issues in the Research District. Shane doesn't let him interfere with the Residential District." Suzy zoomed in on the security tunnel feed and held it in front of Kevin. "I'm not concerned with Shane at the moment. We have a bigger issue on our hands."

"You're still trying to find out how the drones got here?" Kevin asked.

"I have a wild theory, but I'm pretty sure no one would believe me."

"I'm all ears."

Suzy didn't want anyone to overhear her, so she didn't reveal anything right away. Instead, she led Kevin to a utility elevator hidden behind a wall on the left. With one press of its neon green button, she confirmed the choice of sub-surface level 3.

Two levels below the main labs lay the living quarters for the lab personnel. Unlike the living quarters in the Residential District, the one here wasn't made of cramped capsules stacked on top of each other.

There was a wide central passage illuminated by circular LED lights affixed to the ceiling at regular intervals. On either side of the passage, stood 8 steely grey doors with miniature cameras mounted on top of the door frames. Each of them opened with a fingerprint scan and had neither a handle nor a knob.

Suzy walked down the passage and stopped in front of the door marked, '1.03.2.' She pressed her left hand against the scanning terminal and waited for the green light to confirm her identity.

// Lab resident: Suzy Wang.

Access granted.

Welcome back. //

The door opened automatically, sliding inside the right wall and a green light flashed on the doorway.

"Come on in." Suzy gestured for Kevin to enter as she stepped into her room. "Welcome to my place. Make yourself at home."

Kevin was amazed by how clean and organized Suzy's room was. It was almost twice as big as his room upstairs and contained a queen-sized bed levitating a couple of centimeters above the ground. The sheets on it were spotless white and it was decked with 8 sky blue pillows stacked on top of one another to form a little triangle.

The other pieces of furniture in her room were a white aluminum desk, a bright yellow bean bag with googly eyes, and a cylindrical stainless steel cupboard.

"Two chairs please," Suzy called out.

Immediately a couple of cushioned cubes popped up from under a panel on the floor.

'Not these weird chairs again,' Kevin thought as he tried to balance his butt on the wobbly floating cubes.

"Shut the door and soundproof walls," Suzy spoke again.

// Privacy protocols active.

Shutting the main door...

Soundproofing walls...

Would you like to dim the lights and play 20s love songs? //

"Nope! That will be all," Suzy blurted, embarrassed by the AI's interpretation of her actions.

"Yeah, AIs are weird," Kevin chirped awkwardly. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Right, I wanted to talk to you about the drones. I think I know how they got in the tunnels." Suzy pulled up her holo-display again and showed Kevin a blueprint of Subcity.

Kevin was a bit confused to see a total of 15 subsections instead of 12. Just behind the security tunnel D-1, there were 3 other sections that no one had told him about. "Is that a part of Subcity?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Suzy replied. "These 3 subsections make up the Dark District. The name may sound kind of mysterious, but it's nothing so special. The Dark District still runs on conventional sources of energy, which is why it doesn't have electricity for more than a couple of hours during the day, hence the moniker. It is home to some of the vilest scum in existence. I'm talking about rapists, murderers, junkies, arsonists, and even a few former colleagues who fell out with dad."

This piqued Kevin's interest, but he still couldn't understand how this was relevant info in this situation. "How is this connected to the drones breaching tunnel security?"

Suzy leaned closer to him and replied, "I don't think these drones were from the surface. I think this attack was orchestrated by the raiders living in the Dark District. They've been trying to get in for many months now. A few weeks ago they even tried to blow up the tunnel door with dynamite. Luckily, the turrets stopped them dead in their tracks."

"I thought all the machines were being controlled by an android. Why would the drones take instructions from humans?"

"It's true that the Prime Android controls the drones, but you already know they can be hacked. If those drones were from the surface, they would have already notified the Prime Android of our location. She would've sent in a much larger attack force to clear the subway system. But that didn't happen. Which means it was an isolated attack."

"Why don't you tell Tyler about this? He is the head of security after all."

"I'm pretty sure Tyler suspects as much as I do, but we don't have any proof. Most people over here think these were just rogue drones who suddenly wandered into the subway system. But we checked all the entrances. They are all sealed shut. There's no way they could have come from the surface."

Kevin thought about it for a while and then exclaimed, "Are these raiders fucking stupid? They should be rallying together to fight the machines, not trying to kill other humans!"

"Our ideologies don't match. And that's why they hate us," Suzy replied. "We still believe in morality, law and order, and the difference between good and bad. But these shitheads just want to throw all rules out the window and create a lawless society of psychopaths."

It sickened Kevin to even think that people could still keep fighting among themselves in the middle of an apocalypse. The chances for humanity's survival looked bleak.

Suzy placed an arm on Kevin's shoulder, bringing him back from the sea of thoughts. "Don't overthink it. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Just focus on training for now. We have bigger things to worry about."

Kevin stood up from his seat and looked at her. "I'm ready to go to the surface."

"No, you're not," Suzy replied, shaking her head. "When you go to the surface, you will be accompanied by a team. Going alone is suicide. We are currently designing a batch of exosuits for the resistance fighters. That'll help them even the odds a bit."

"How long till they're ready?"

"About a month or so."

Kevin didn't make any reply, but the annoyance was clear in his expression. He didn't have the patience to wait for a month. AISHA was still out there, and he was not going to rest easy till he'd found her. He was a cyborg now. He didn't need a team to support him.

Tonight, he was going to meet up with Cassandra and sneak out to the surface all by himself. He had to see the new world with his own eyes.