Chapter 22

"Where are they?" Elias rushed through the halls of the school, asking anyone he could find if they saw Kristie or Jae, or rather Jay. He wiped the sweat off his brow and looked at AI waiting at the door to the cryo room where he ran back check without any luck.

"Elias Takius, no running in the halls. This is your second warning," AI called out to him.

"But Kristie is missing."

"Do you want to search and make a missing person report?"

Elias gritted his teeth, not sure he could trust AI. "Yes."

"Full name, please."

"Kristie Reinhart."

"Searching."

Elias took a deep breath and looked out the window at their usual cityscape view. He couldn't ask for them to look for Jae, but was it even right to ask about Kristie?

"Kristie Reinhart is not missing. No report needed."

"You found her? Where is she? She's not answering her phone."

"I am sorry. You do not have clearance for that information."

"Excuse me? But I'm the one searching for her."

"That would break privacy laws. Please be on your way."

"What kind of..." Elias trailed off, not wanting to get into more trouble. "I am her best friend, and you know that. I spend every day with her; I should have the highest clearance possible when it comes to her."

"It does not work like that."

He could have sworn he asked before, and it gave him the information. What changed? "We have an agreement between the two of us that's recorded in our watches. If something happens, we are each other's emergency contact."

"Biometrics slightly elevated, but she is fine. No need for emergency contacts. Please proceed with your day."

"Arg." Elias rubbed his face and stopped himself from punching AI. It wouldn't do any good; it'd hurt his hand, and he'd get into a lot of trouble for purposely damaging an AI camera.

"Elias, is something wrong?" Brie passed by the hall and saw him in distress.

"Hmm? Brie? You remember Kristie, right?" Not many people seemed to know her by name.

"The friend you're always with? Yes, I remember her. We've talked a few times, actually. Why? What's wrong with her?"

"She's missing, and AI is refusing to tell me where she is."

"Oh, that's weird, but I guess it's a privacy issue." Brie shrugged. "Rules are rules. I'd ask if you tried calling her, but I assume you did?"

"Of course. How about our new recruit? Have you seen him?"

"Not since he left with you earlier. Is he missing, too? Any chance they're together?"

"Yes, Brie, but no one is answering, and they were supposed to wait for me before leaving."

"I can keep an eye out for them, but maybe they left."

Elias looked over at AI's red glowing circle, then marched up to Brie and leaned in close.

"What are you doing?"

"I think something happened to them, and AI is keeping it a secret," Elias whispered.

"Why would it do something silly like that?"

"That's what I want to know."

"I remember Kristie having all sorts of theories; maybe she's rubbing off on you."

Elias ran his hand through his hair. "I guess this is what it feels like to be her."

She awkwardly patted his shoulder. "You seem a bit worse for wear, so I'm going to assume your worry is causing anxiety. We should do something to help you calm down."

"Calm down? I can calm down when I've found my friends. Until then, I'm going to be like this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to figure out what's going on."

"I'll call if I see them."

"Thank you."

Brie forced a smile and continued on her way.

"Pst." Magnus called out to him from down the hall where he was watching their interaction.

"Magnus?"

He waved Elias over. "Let's talk outside."

Without another word, Elias followed Magnus until they were outside, away from the building, or any buildings. Magnus stopped walking when they were at a nearby park and looked around as Elias waited.

"I think it's safe to talk here." Magnus nodded and turned to Elias. "I'm not sure what it was I saw, but those two were taken."

"What? By who? Easy to believe Kristie was taken, but Jae? He's probably more trained than our current military or experts."

"Really?" Magnus' eyes widened. "Who is that fellow?"

"Never mind that. Tell me what happened."

"These two large men in black suits with sunglasses on had this weird device in their hands. It looked like a gun, not that I've seen one in person before, but it didn't make a noise when they pulled the trigger. I don't think it used bullets. It was hard to tell, but my guess would be some sort of needle shot out at them. They both dropped right after that happened, and the two men carried them away."

"That... What the hell?!"

"Shh! Don't attract attention." Magnus dragged him further into the park by the trees, where no one could see them. "I thought you, of all people, would be discreet."

"Wait, are you a doubter? I thought you loved AI."

"I've always been a doubter. More people are than you'd imagine, but no one wants to say it out loud and get into trouble. Also, no one wants to mess with our essentially stress-free lives. This is a utopia of sorts, but it's definitely lacking."

"Have you ever read the book?"

"No... I've heard about it, but wasn't sure it was around now."

"Anyway." Elias shook his head. "You're right in calling it a utopia, but it also has many of the same flaws. But that's not important right now. Where did these men take them? Did you recognize them? Any features to look for other than tall?"

"Actually." Magnus tapped on his watch and a projected image popped out of it. "I took a picture of them. It seemed too sketchy not to. And after your conversation with AI and Brie... I don't want to go around asking AI about it."

"They look identical. Are they twins?"

"That's what I was thinking, but I'm not sure. It seemed weird, but their movements were stiff." Magnus took a deep breath. "I don't want to believe it, but do you think AI has gone past robot pets and made itself a few foot soldiers?"

"I... I didn't think it could do anything to harm people, but it's been acting weird, so I can't help but wonder. If you're right, and AI made humanoid bodies despite the laws, why would it take them?" Is it because Jae is from the cryo pod? But why take Kristie?

"Why would anybody take them? Kidnappings don't happen in this society. We don't have crime."

Elias raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, in the city, unless you count black market deals."

"That we're aware of, anyway. Seems AI is committing crimes on its own."

"It's not like anyone here has a reason to do anything bad outside a bit of mischief; it's not worth it with how AI will punish and... reprogram you if it's bad enough. Besides, it's been on point for everything. Would it take people? What if it's been taking people this whole time, and no one noticed? Wait, did they do something bad enough to be sent for reprogramming?"

"No way. They haven't done anything. I need to find them and save them, somehow." Elias used his watch to try to trace Kristie again, but it didn't work.

"If AI took them, it would've scrambled all footage of them being taken that it should've saved, so there's no evidence. We're going to have to figure this out with our brains."

We?"

"Of course. I have to see this through."

"Why? You barely know them."

"Because if AI is out of control, it has to be brought to light. I understand how much it's done for us, but it might be overstretching more than we thought. It's time for humans to take back some control. Besides, who doesn't like a good mystery?"