Chapter 24

"You've rigged it so you can drive instead of AI? Even I wouldn't do something so reckless," Elias said as he gripped the seatbelt in Magnus' car tight enough to lose feeling in his fingers.

"You have no idea what you're missing out on. It's a thrill to drive, but I can't do anything crazy while in the city, or AI will take notice." Magnus drove with Elias out of the city to meet a few of his friends.

"Where are we going? You're going off the main path." Elias cringed as the car zoomed down the side of the grassy hill.

"Because we're not going to a city; we're headed to the outsiders. I know some people—"

"I know a few outsiders myself, but I've never gone into their territory. They're always from the inside that venture out, or people with a foot in both worlds."

"Oh, aren't you more of a rebel than I thought?"

"That goes both ways. Is it really safe to drive a car like this?"

"It's how they used to do it."

"When there used to be accidents all the time. Ah!" Elias yelped as they swerved around a deer and in between bushes, Magnus laughing all the while. "How did I not know you were crazy?" Elias mumbled.

"Aren't we all a bit crazy? And it's not like I get to do this often. Isn't it exciting?"

"No; it's terrifying. This is helping me understand while people aren't allowed to drive anymore."

"But it's amazing! You should try it sometime. You know what? While we're out here, why don't you take over driving?"

"I don't know where we're going, and I've never driven before."

"Nothing wrong with doing it while you have a safe driver right here."

Elias stared at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering if it'd be safer to tuck and roll out the vehicle. If only the car door would open while it was moving. "I'll pass on that. It's bad enough with you driving when you supposedly know how to."

"Was that a knock at my driving?"

"Yes."

"Oh well. Maybe I should show you a real good time." Magnus sped up.

I'm going to die today. Elias cringed, gripping the seatbelt as he wished for a safe arrival.

"We're here." Magnus parked his car at the entrance of an underground market.

Elias stumbled out of the car, holding onto his stomach, and rushed to expel the lump in his throat by the wall.

"Are you hurling?"

"Bleh." Elias spit the last bit out as the putrid taste of vomit stuck in his mouth. "Don't do that to me ever again."

"Oh, I didn't know you had a sensitive stomach. Sorry." Magnus laughed and patted him on the back. "We'll get you some ginger first next time."

"Please..." Elias heaved. "No next time."

"Then how are you getting back? I can only imagine how long it would take to walk back."

"Fine, whatever. So what are we here for?"

"There are a few people I want you to meet; they should be able to help you find your friends." Magnus led him through the bustling underground market until they entered into the city.

"How is this all built underground? It's massive."

"Nothing compared to the towers outside, but it's quite large."

"But... how?"

"Don't mind that. This way." Magnus led him down an alleyway to a building out of sight. "You are not to let anyone know this place exists, okay?"

Elias nodded.

Magnus closed his eyes and knocked four times in a specific rhythm, and the door opened.

"Magnus, my man, long time no see. What are you doing here?" The tall man with blond hair wrapped up in a ponytail eyed Elias. "You've brought company?"

"Yes. Don't worry; you can trust him. We're actually here because he needs your help with AI."

"Oh, I see. Come on in."

Magus regaled the tale of what he saw and explained why Elias was there.

"So, it's actually happening. AI is taking people. We've always suspected some of the people who went missing were taken, but no one has ever seen it happen with their own eyes." Leon played with his ponytail as he thought. "I guess I'm the man you need, then. Every city run by AI has a massive data centre that sources it. I can't say for certain, but if AI wanted to hide people away while testing them, that's where they'd do it. Barely even the higher-ups are allowed in there."

"How do you know about this?" Elias asked.

"Because I used to be one of the higher ups."

"Oh..." And yet he chose to live underground, away from a safe society.

"Don't give me that pitied look. Yes, I used to live the best life anyone could imagine... until I dug too deep, but it's not so bad down here. It's more free."

"Anything else? Ow." Elias rubbed where Magnus pinched him.

"Don't rag on him; you need his help," Magnus whispered.

"Right."

"Don't worry about it, guys. I've grown used to living here. I made an entire network of people through various cities, keeping an eye on things. I know more than almost anyone about what's going on."

"So, do you guys still use technology? Or is everything—"

"Of course we do. We're off AI's grid, but we do have our own tech and network resources. Now, how about we help you save your friend?"

Elias' jaw dropped when he saw their supercomputer. "How do you guys have the energy to run this? Never mind the rest of this city; this computer could take as much as the rest."

"Natural resources funnelling power here. Anyway, this is the blueprint we have for the data centre." Leon brought up a projected image on their table.

"Wait... it's right by the school? How do I not know about this?"

"Because you stayed surface level until now."

"Geez..."

Leon zoomed into the data centre floor plan. "We don't know how accurate this is, but AI's supercomputer is in the basement over here. The plans for the basement are simple, so it's likely things have been changed."

"So we have to go in blind?"

"At least we can get you down there."

"True. Thank you for all this. I don't know how I can repay you."

Leon stared at him in thought, his gears turning. "After your friend is saved, we can talk about you joining the ranks. We can use these devices to hack into anything, AI included."

That sounds dangerous. "Um..."

"Worried we've been planning an attack? We're not evil. We understand that humanity is better off with it, but we want more freedom. We want to make sure AI is under human control, not the other way around."

Elias nodded. "I can understand wanting that."

"We want to restore the delicate balance that's been tipped one way for too long. So, are you in?" He held his hand out to Elias.

Without any other options, Elias shook his hand. "Okay, let's do it."

"Shouldn't we bring more people?" Elias asked as he followed Leon and Magnus to the side door of the office building next to the school.

"Too many people will grab attention and make this even harder. Between the three of us, we have all we need to break in and get your friends out." Leon patted his backpack and gave him a thumbs up. "We've got this." He pulled a tablet out of his backpack and used it to connect to the building. "Wish we could've done this part from afar, but there's some sort of scrambler stopping it. Let's hope it can't see through ours... And we're in." Leon made short work of the first door, getting them inside before a drone flew by.

Elias looked up the empty stairway, wondering how many floors it was.

"Downstairs." Magnus grabbed his arm and pulled him along. "We have no time to linger and think. It won't take long for AI to know this place has been infiltrated, even with our support from outside."

"Wait, there are more helping us?"

"Weren't you listening? With the scrambler. Inside, it's all Leon. Well, I imagine both of us can help here."

Their feet pounded the stairs as they headed down three flights before running into another door.

"Here's where it gets iffy." Leon unlocked the next door and opened it.

Alarms blazed, red lights circling down every hall.

"Dammit." He held the backpack up to Elias and Magnus. "You guys continue; I'll keep it distracted up here."

"But what—"

"Just go." Leon gave them both a shove through the door and shut it behind them.

"Is he going to be okay?" Elias asked.

"We'll find out later; let's worry about us for now."