The First Intruder

"What the hell are you doing?!" Lloyd gasped. "What is that?"

"A wooden knife. Slipped right past security." Miguel replied, grinning like the devil. " Now where's the damn cryochambers?"

"Why the hell do you need to know?" said Lloyd, still resisting. Miguel pressed the knife harder against his neck.

"This ain't metal but it can still slit your throat. Be still!" he demanded. "I need to see for myself."

"Computer!" Lloyd shouted, much to Miguel's confusion. "Nineteen!"

"Contacting Emergency Services." said the computer, and one monitor begin to show a red timer.

"You sneaky shit!" Miguel punched Lloyd in the throat and roundhouse kicked the flashing monitor causing it to instantly go black. He punched the other monitor and ripped the first off its hinges as Lloyd choked and gasped. Lloyd tried to make a break for the door but Miguel caught him again, pushing the knife deep enough to draw blood.

"Take me to the cryochambers. No games." Miguel demanded.

"Alright, alright. Let me open the door." Lloyd conceded. The lights dimmed as they walked out the room. The hallway was empty. Lloyd assumed everyone was busy. He could yell, but his throat would probably get sliced open if he did. They walked down the middle hall, no sign of anyone else. It opened into a wider area, still empty but with doorways on either side leading back into the other halls, while a door just like the black glass floor was at the end of the hall. Lloyd raised his ID up to the scanner, but both the scanner and his ID glowed red.

"Man I don't even have access." Lloyd stammered, still feeling the pressure of the blade on his throat. "Now what? You aren't getting out of here, they don't expect patients to walk back out the front door."

"DAMN IT!" he shouted, still keeping a vice-like grip on Lloyd. "Who would have access to this area?"

"I would." said Frederick standing by the doorway leading to the break room. He held his hands up but he had two automatons with him. Their stance both scared and relieved him at the same time.

"Let's just talk, okay? Easy and nice. You want to get in there,okay cool, but tell me why." Frederick slowly stepped forward, trying to comply with Miguel's demand. The moment the automatons took half a step Miguel recoiled and tightened his grip on Lloyd.

"Call those things off!" Miguel commanded. Frederick looked and gave them a small nod, signaling for them to stand down.

"What's wrong with this psychopath?" One of the replied. It was a guy, but it wasn't Ben.

"Oh, I'm a psychopath? Please. No, you're the psychopaths, trusting the fucking government with your bodies, your lives. You're idiots!"

"Hold up, hold up, James, not another word." said Frederick. "Damn near the entire world is joining the digital state. There's nothing more suspicious about ours than anyone else's."

"Is that so?" Miguel replied sarcastically. "Then open the damn door."

Frederick walked over to the scanner and held his ID up to it. After they both glowed green, the door opened, revealing an elevator with a grey interior.

"After you." said Frederick. "But they're coming too, for security, of course."

Miguel glared at the automatons for a second before answering. "Fine. They need to see this too."

Miguel kept his hand on Lloyd's shoulder but lowered the knife from his throat. The three of them entered the elevator, scooting into one corner as the automatons bent down to get in. The elevator only had one button, yet it still had a scanner above that. Frederick scanned his ID and pressed the button. The ride was quick and silent, opening up into a huge underground factory filed with rows of hundreds to thousands of cryogenic chambers. They stepped out of the elevator and walked up to the chambers, all on standby. Four were missing.

"Aha! See?" said Miguel. "Why are there four missing?"

"Probably in the operating room." Frederick suggested.

"Bull crap." Miguel snapped. "Ya'll were open yesterday. What happened to the bodies of those clients?"

"They..." Frederick started, but trailed off. "They wouldn't be in the operating room, they'd be in here."

"You don't even know?!"

Lloyd elbowed Miguel in the face and jumped away from him.

"Get him!" screamed Lloyd. The automatons jumped into action, one scooping Miguel up in the blink of an eye and slamming him into the wall.

"Wait...wait, WAIT!" he screamed, already choking on blood. "When they give you automaton positions, they send you far away from your own city. Why is that?" The automaton had him pinned against the wall, high in the air.

"Only facility in town, only one person has access to this room, and he doesn't know where his patient's bodies are. Is that not suspicious?! How many patients have you had?"

Lloyd looked at Frederick, who actually looked worried. "We had two yesterday" he replied. "Before psychotic protesters like you shut us down."

"And two today," Frederick added. "Because you were late."

"So think about it," said Miguel breathlessly. "Where the hell did those two bodies go?"

The automaton holding him must've contemplated this, because it gradually began to lower Miguel, revealing a troubling splotch of blood on the wall where he hit his head.

"Thanks," he breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm telling you, the government's up to some shady sh-"

Before anyone could react, the other automaton dashed forward, its arms and legs extending maybe five feet longer, and punted Miguel like a football right out of the first one's hand,. The kick destroying the first bot's hand, split Miguel in half, and showered the factory in Miguel's blood. Lloyd and Frederick screamed in horror as they quickly backed away, blood spattering on their clothes like rain droplets.

"What the hell was that for?!" screamed the automaton with his hand cut off. Lloyd recognized that voice because he spoke earlier. This was James.

"The federal government has begun collecting and relocating patients to safer locations until the new year has passed and the Digital World Census is completed." said a female voice emanating from the robot. "You are not entitled to any more information at this time."

"So Huxley's just going to take our patients and not say anything?!" Frederick replied.

"You aren't entitled to any more information at this time." she repeated.

"Don't give me that voice message shit, you're a human being damn it, talk like one!" Frederick snapped.

The female automaton didn't say anything else. Her arms and legs reduced back into themselves like an old radio antenna. James picked up the pieces of his broken hand.

"I ain't paying for this." he muttered.

"Frederick," Lloyd began. "What happens to the body after the transfer is complete?"

"The vitrification process, preparing them for cryogenic chambers." Seeing the look on Lloyd's face, he added, "And then they get put in the chambers. Nothing else happens. You know this. We briefed you all on the process during training."

"I want to see it in action then. Arthur and Will's patients are still being prepped, right?"

Frederick nodded.

"i'm going to go see them." said Lloyd, walking back to the elevator. His heart was pounding in his chest, the stench of blood flooding his nostrils. He lifted his trembling hand to press the button on the elevator, but it didn't open.

Frederick's shaking hand appeared behind him, placing his ID on the scanner.

"I'm going to call the National Guard." he said quietly.

And the four of them got in the elevator, the silence even louder than before. The ride back up seemed to take twice as long, and every second Lloyd kept seeing the image of Miguel getting split apart. When the door opened Lloyd was the first one out, walking straight towards the operating rooms.

"Lloyd wait, you don't have access." said Frederick, but Lloyd was too far ahead. He reached the doors of one room and noticed that unlike the offices, all of these had square windows near the top of the door. Looking inside Lloyd saw one of the big quarantine tanks laying horizontally instead of vertically. The same doctor that collected Kennedy was peering over at whoever was in the tank, then a nurse came into view but he quickly stepped out the way. Lloyd held his ID up to the scanner and when it turned red, he pounded on the door. The doctor and nurse both jumped and looked at the door, but didn't make any move to open it.

"Open the door!" he demanded.

"Lloyd calm down!" said Frederick, pulling him back. "Let them do their job, and do yours."

"Hell no, I need to know when the hell the government took those people's bodies, and why they didn't tell you, of all people."

"Just let me handle this, alright?" Frederick waved his ID. "You don't have access, I do. Let me investigate this."

Lloyd took a step back and took a deep breath. He watched as Frederick swiped his ID and the door opened.

"What's going on?"asked the doctor.

"Nothing, Doctor Crowley. Just a little welfare check and some questions." said Frederick as Lloyd stared at the tank. Inside was an old man, maybe the same guy Will struggled with yesterday.

"But you both have blood on your clothes." Doctor Crowley noted, pulling his mask up.

"On top of being very suspicious, this is also extremely unsanitary. Could you please-"

"He's already sealed in the damn box, don't give us that." Lloyd replied. "What happened to Kennedy Baker's body, and the other patient that was here yesterday?"

"I don't know about the other patient, but the custodians came to take the cryogenic chamber back to the lower level. That's all I know."

"I told you." said the female automaton from outside the doorway. "The government is relocating citizen's bodies to a safe location until after the new year. Agents will be sent here to collect your new patients today. Any questions you have may be answered by them."

Frederick looked at Lloyd, who was now glaring at the automaton.

"Lloyd, let's step back outside and let them finish." Frederick led him outside and closed the door.

"No one knows what happened to Miguel besides us, and know one needs to. We can not shut down today, okay? I want you to go home, get patched up, and relax. Come back tomorrow. I'll talk to the Guard, they don't need to interrogate all of us."

Lloyd looked around for a second before nodding. "I came in with a headache anyway."

Lloyd stared at Frederick, unsure if he was more concerned about his quota or the patients. He turned around and began to walk down the hallway, the cut on his neck throbbing more than he expected.

It's not that deep. He thought to himself. I'll be fine.

"Ben will be escorting you home too." Frederick called after him.

Lloyd stopped on a dime and turned around, looking at Frederick in disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

"There could be more people like Miguel out there." Frederick explained. "With better weapons."

Lloyd said nothing and walked away, leaving Frederick with the two automatons in the hall. There could be more people like Miguel. People that are suspicious of the government, trying to seek the truth. Lloyd didn't trust them either, but he wouldn't hold anyone hostage. He also wouldn't have assumed the quarantine tanks were missing, so why did Miguel?What or who got into his head? Lloyd walked through the hidden door, getting gasps of shock from the clients in the waiting room. Even Peter looked up from his desk in surprise.

"Llo- Doctor Hall, come here please." said Peter. Lloyd kept walking forward, ignoring him entirely.

"Are you alright?" he asked him."Where's Miguel?"

Peter came from around his desk and stopped Lloyd at the door.

"Give Will and Arthur my clients. Frederick is sending me home early today." he replied quietly.

"What happened to your patient?" Peter whispered.

"A better question is what's happening to all of them."