“No,” Sedom called back, waving her hand behind her. The city stood two miles below the surface. If the Marisheio did manage to break through their main defenses, the orbs would take care of any intruders.
A small, head-sized blue orb passed over Sedom's head, paused to scan her then moved on. A few moments later, another blue orb passed over, stopped, scanned Sedom, then moved on. Not until the third orb passed over her did Sedom bother to look to see what was happening.
Above her, several hundred orbs circled around the city, scanning for anything that moved. Sedom paused, turning back to look down the road she came from. A shriek echoed across the vacant buildings and straight into Sedom's ears.
“Cidele!” Sedom called back, running to find her friend.
In the middle of the street, where they had parted, Sedom stopped to look for her friend. The streets were again empty; there was no sign of Cidele. Above, the orbs began to circle around an area one street over. Although tired from her time in the forest, Sedom pushed her legs towards the circling orbs.
Ahead she could see two orbs hovering a foot above the ground. Instead of their normal blue color, both were glowing reddish-orange. Beneath them, Cidele sat hunched over, holding her knees and keeping her head down.
“State your name!” ordered an orb. The orb circled Cidele, forcing her to remain.
Her panicked eyes turned to Sedom. “What’s going on, Sedom?” Cidele asked between tight lips.
“Say nothing,” Sedom exhaled. Both orbs turned to Sedom. One scanned her, then the other. “Cidele is not an intruder.” She pointed to her friend. “I have given her security clearance tal'mako ensanti,” she ordered the orbs.
The orbs turned back to Cidele and scanned her again. “Security not valid,” relayed the orb on the left. “Restate level three security clearance.”
“Damn,” Sedom grumbled. “Can't find good help these days,” she thought for a moment, trying to remember the code she assigned for Cidele for secondary security measures. As she spoke the code the orbs’ internal lights flashed to blue.
“Valid entry,” spoke the orb on the right.
“How many have security clearance?” Sedom asked to make certain that none of her other friends would be pestered by the orbs.
“Seven,” both orbs spoke together.
“Good,” Sedom returned, inhaling deeply. Two other orbs flew by her, both red. “Wait… how many people are currently within the city confines?”
“Eight,” the orb replied.
Sedom's face contorted in thought as she counted in her head how many people there were supposed to be inside Gathow. By her calculations, there should have been only seven. “Eight? Clarify.”
Cidele nodded, her voice wavering as she spoke. “Oh, Noral’s friend arrived a little while ago. We tried to tell you, but we didn’t know where you were.”
The two orbs flew away, allowing Cidele to calm. Sedom’s eyes drifted to the ceiling. All around them the orbs swarmed like insects, every one of them glowing red and ready for battle.
“He couldn’t have chosen a better time to arrive. Don’t worry, the orbs won’t harass you again,” Sedom said reassuringly as she helped her frightened friend to stand.
“Are you sure?” Cidele gulped, her eyes peeled to the ceiling above them. Sedom nodded. “Why are they flying like that? They look angry.”
Sedom thought about Cidele's words. Can machines look angry? She brushed the thought aside to focus on more pressing matters.
“Marisheio are attacking the next city. The orbs are on alert.” Sedom explained as an orb buzzed passed them. It paused, scanned them both, and then continued.
Sedom waved down another orb. The orb flew down and hovered above Sedom. “Chadon, state request,” the orb hummed.
“Capture, do not destroy invaders unless authorized by me. The last man to enter Gathow is under restricted access,” Sedom ordered.
“Order accepted,” the orb announced.
“Nice to know you can do that.” Cidele attempted to stand, but her knees buckled and her body fell against the wall of the old building.
Sedom grabbed her before she hit the ground. “I know. I wish I would have thought of that earlier. Let's get you back to the others.”
“They’re at... at father's place,” she said. Her skin was pale and ghost-like and her eyes constantly shifting from one orb to another as they whizzed by them.
When they reached her father’s quarters, Sedom didn't bother knocking. She opened the door and guided Cidele inside. “Lolum,” she called out for her father.
Two men, Noral and Lolum, stood from their seats around the kitchen table. Noral, a husky older Mandicien man with salt and pepper hair, hurried over to Cidele. “Child, are you hurt?” he asked as he helped her sit on the beige sofa.
The aged Lolum nearly leaped over the table to get to his daughter's side. He forced Noral aside so he could sit next to her. “What happened?” he asked, his stone eyes beating red directly at Sedom as he held his daughter’s hand. “Sortec!” he demanded an answer, the veins within his thin white skin pulsating on his forehead.
“I'm fine,” Cidele spoke in a croaking whisper.
Sedom stepped back from the group, her hands raised in defense. The attitude Lolum was showing was outside his character and she wanted nothing to do with it.
“The orbs didn't register her, so they started to attack,” Sedom explained. “I stopped them in time. For some reason, I forgot to enter her information into the computer.”
“What?” Lolum yelled. “Sedom, that was damn stupid of you. What if you weren't there to save her? My daughter might have died, thanks to you!”
“Father,” Cidele called back. “It's okay. I'm fine.”
Lolum ignored his daughter's words. His face deepened to a crimson color as he spoke. “Need I remind you you're why we're down here?” Lolum continued with his rant.
Sedom turned away from
