“That sounds very close to an emotion Auton” She said smiling.
Chapter 13 – Rogue Elements
THEY HAD LOST TRACK of what day it was, the toll of everything had been immense, followed by the hard work of preparing the craft so that it was ready for launch. They all arose from their slumbers gradually. It had been difficult for most of them to get fully rested, there was so much on their minds from the previous days and there was still so much to do. It gave most of them an inner chatter that kept their minds whirring around for hours after the lights went out. Each of them made their way to the cafeteria area to grab breakfast, feeling only mildly refreshed. When they got there Mateo and Sheryl were already there, discussing something in an animated way. Auton was stood next to them with its usual robotic casualness. When the rest of them arrived, they started talking in hushed tones, except Auton, who hadn't learnt how to be quiet yet.
“My calculations are showing it will escalate very quickly” Auton said.
Everyone who was helping themselves to breakfast immediately stopped what they were doing and looked round at them. There were more hushed tones between Sheryl and Mateo.
“We must see what the other groups progress is immediately” Auton bleated out.
Sheryl and Mateo looked over to find everyone staring at them, spoons and knives in hand. It was clear that Auton had been overheard, which was no surprise.
“Morning everyone” Sheryl said.
“Is there a problem?” David asked. He was the first to say it, the others were about to, but he blurted out the words quicker, leaving the others with just open mouths.
“It's okay everyone, grab your breakfasts first, we'll discuss later” Mateo replied.
“We may not have time for them to have breakfast” Auton bleated out once more.
Sheryl and Mateo held their heads in their hands. Auton was super intelligent, but hadn't yet been taught the subtleties of socialness. They just wanted to get the group to stock up on their energy for the day before they told them the latest news. Ten minutes wouldn't have hurt, but Auton had other ideas. Sheryl told them to get their breakfasts and they would talk them through the newest developments. The team quickly got their breakfasts and sat down, waiting for the news. It didn't sound like it would be good news; unless the reason they might not have had time for breakfast had now passed.
“It's been a few days since we got here and, in that time, there have been a few significant developments. Mateo and I have been keeping an eye on things through our deep web channels. The bomb attacks on the Elite have intensified throughout, but it's only served to strengthen the Elite's response, they keep finding who is responsible and wiping them out. Hundreds of rebel factions massacred, men, women and children” Sheryl said.
It wasn't comforting news to hear over your Bran Flakes, or any meal for that matter.
“But that's not all of it” Mateo said, looking more worried and very straight faced.
“Does it affect our plan?” Brandon jumped in, accidentally spitting some Cornflakes out his mouth in the process, which landed on Gina's lap next to him.
“Well, we're not sure yet, we need to find out the status of the other groups, as we can't do it alone. Some had a head start on us, but others didn't get out until after us, so it really depends on that” Mateo said, “But that's not all”.
Everyone paused from their munching again to hear what Mateo was going to say, except Brandon who was munching his way through a second bowl, carefully trying not to shower Gina with any more of it.
“Some of the other factions have also found a way to hack into people that are hooked up to the Neuro-Net, the way I did” Mateo informed them, “They are planning to hack in to the closest members of each Elite member, those that have authority over weapons and make them target another Elite member, trying to start a war between them”.
Brandon stopped munching and looked up. That couldn't be good he thought.
“So, we need to try and launch as soon as possible?” Danny asked.
“Yes” Auton replied, “To minimise the number of casualties that would entail, we need to strike as quick as possible, before it escalates beyond what we can control”.
“Will it escalate?” Mariam asked concerned.
“My calculations predict it will, it would only take a matter of hours to have all the Elite striking each other across the world, innocent people being swept up in the destruction, taking the planet to the very edge of what it can deal with” Auton replied once more.
Sheryl stepped forward looking more wild-eyed than any of them had ever seen her.
“These rogue factions only care about eliminating the Elite, humans around the world are collateral damage” She said, “We must act to stop this mindless cycle of destruction”.
“If this is how they wage war then they're no better than the Elite” Monique said shaking her head.
Sheryl shook her head back.
“Exactly. They are desperate, backed into a corner, they are fighting back as hard as they can, they're not level headed. They will destroy mankind, they're letting their ego's drive their decisions, not thinking of what's ahead” She said angrily.
Mateo quickly started to type into his laptop, his goal was to see what the state of play was with the other groups. The rest of them quickly finished their breakfasts and ran back to their rooms to get changed; they weren't going to die in their nightwear they decided. What would that look like to a future generation of archaeologists? A few minutes later they were all back and ready to do whatever needed doing. Sheryl and Mateo had a haunted look on their faces. It was impossible for Auton to have a
