Chapter 3: 4 hour Journey

A small cramped white space filled with mesh containers with artificial hives of bees and large bags of powdered milk. The walls are painted white and reflect the very bright led lights on the ceiling. Out of all the places I have been this container is the brightest I have ever seen, it takes me a while to finally open my eyes but I eventually get comfortable with it." how long will it take for us to get there." I ask silicon
"4 hours" Silicon Answers "so let's relax before things start kicking off" she finds a pile of powdered milk bags to sit on. 
4 hours in a cramped room with them, the idea alone makes me anxious. I find a powdered milk bag and sit on it. Next to me are the artificial bee hives and buzzing inside them are synthetic bees. Any animal that isn't human had gone instinct, which included most plants too. Thanks to genetics we were able to clone most plants and animals for food. Same with milk, animals that made milk had gone extinct so what was left is powdered substitutes for milk. These bees are only meant to produce honey and nothing else. The bees move around the hive but they don't seem to move naturally. They are very synchronized like machines, waiting to do what they are told. They're wings don't make that much noise, which is good for us because this container would be ear blisteringly loud with how many bees are in here. 
Lieutenant opens a bag he brought from the storage unit and pulls out a Zeus rifle "for you" he tosses on to me. He grabs another one and looks at Silicon "you know how to use this right."
"I have done VR simulations on this gun," Silicon said annoyed. 
he turns to me for confirmation "I never played those games so I wouldn't know" All I know about those games is what I saw Silicon play. She is good at them and she has played VR games that simulate firearms in a realistic way, But to say if she is able to keep up with us is a good question. She barely made it to the container, forcing us to carry her here. She would be a liability, unfortunately, she is the only one capable of actually hacking the resort's network so we need to bring her along. Besides, the gun we brought is designed for inexperienced shooters, it should help compensate for her shortcomings. 
Lieutenant turns back to Silicon "eh, close enough" shrugs, and tosses the gun to her. 
She almost misses but somehow was able to catch it. She struggles to pull the sharing handle to load the gun. 
"hay" I attempt to get everyone's attention "I know I told Sili how I met Lieutenant but I don't think she told me how you two met." 
They both look at each other, then Silicon turns to me. "After you told me about him I made an effort to keep an eye on him. One thing led to another and now he owes me a favor." 
"she got me out of an unreasonable situation. "
"So what was the story," I ask him"
"I was doing this job robbing a factory owner but it turned out it was a setup. I get over there and meet like 20 guys armed to the teeth. I was pinned down in the corner when suddenly I get a phone call, she said to me to run to the door in front of me and follow the light. before I could answer bam lights shut off so I booked it to the nearest door then low and behold a row of ceiling lamps turned on to reveal an exit. I rush over there and escaped, it was only when I got to safety that I found out it was Silicon" She probably found out by tapping the communications of his employer and then found out he was being set up. She has actually done this to me a couple of times. Some of those times were her own jobs that she didn't properly screen first. I am not one to hold grudges though, and she always got me out of those situations. 
Lieutenant adds "actually there's something I want to ask. What's the deal with you two anyways, and why do you call him Clay-Doh" 
"His family owed a favor to mine" Silicon replied "After they sold their bodies they would look after me when they were gone. So we got to hang out a lot during that time." 
I add "After my parent died, I and Sili helped each other out scrapping together what we can."
"cool" replied Lieutenant reacting nonchalantly "You didn't answer why you call him Clay-Doh"
"Kagestu is a toy company, my family sold my name to them as advertisement space for their new brand of Clay toys. My full name is Kagetsu Clay-Doh." 
"Okay, now I get it," Lieutenant says in an understanding tone. "you parents must have been great. How did they go?"
"My parents died during a workplace accident, a machine exploded killing them both. Seeing that I was the only one left in the family the factory they worked at gave me the bill for the machine that was destroyed during the accident. That's when I started doing odd jobs to pay it back. I was able to pay it back but the pay was better than going back to the factory. So I kept doing it."
"that must have sucked, never really knew my family through"
"Now that I think about it, this is the longest we have ever talked casually." I say to him "what's your deal anyways."
"My parents wanted the best for me so they sold me off to a security firm that lent out free formal education to whoever joins. Of course, I trained and learned with other kids whose parents wanted the same thing. I never got to see them, I was too young to remember their faces. Anyways they did give me a formal education but, it wouldn't have gotten me anywhere. So I left that group and went solo for more than a decade. And here I am now."
Looking at him we wouldn't expect him to be the educated type. "wait a minute, you got a formal education, up to what grade?" 
"Up to grade 12," he answered. we all look shocked. "oh my god, Clay-Doh you dropped out of the company school at grade 4, he's twice more educated than you."
I feel a sudden grim in my heart after realizing that this jarhead is, on paper, smarter than me. "well that's just unsettling." a few moments of silence, and the container is filled with a soft giggle from all of us. 

"Detecting joy-full sounds" a robotic voice with a hint of an accent suddenly broke the tone of the room.
"what the hell is that" Lieutenant readies his gun yelling at us. 
"Hello, you must be the new guest." on the wall panel there is a small LED-lit blue triangle. "hello I am Keith, Mirage Oasis resort AI. If you need any help navigating the resort or you want to know all our amenities, you may ask me."
We all look at Silicon "I have no idea, he's probably like a help desk bot or something. to low on the totem poll to have any access to anything." 
I look at Keith on the wall. "um. Keith, who controls the resort and how can we get there."
Lieutenant pulls my arm "are you kidding me what if that pulls an alarm system or something?" 
Keith Replies "The entire resort is managed by the CEO Stan Works whose office is on the top floor, his hours are 9 am to 5 pm Mondays to Fridays. unfortunately, he is not taking any appointments."
"well that makes things a lot easier," I say to the group
Lieutenant yells out to Keith "what's security like?"
"Mirage Oasis Security is made entirely of androids, under special request all and peace of mind for our guests all androids do not have the tools to use lethal force on any residence." 
"well, that's a good thing. what weapons do they have.?"
"Mirage Oasis Security is made entirely of androids, under special request all and peace of mind for our guests all androids do not have the tools to use lethal force on any residence." 
"you just said that"
"due to security reasons, this is all we can say" Kieth replies
"worth a shot"
"Keith" Silicon yelled out "What's happening today."
"Today Mirage Oasis starts construction on a new honey harvesting plant. It will feature a lovely garden and many synthetic honey bees. It will also open our new menu for honey-based confections." 
"Are new facilities common?"
"No, but refurbishing old sections and turning them into something new is not uncommon. Actually, we had a massive overhaul of our facility just in a couple of years." 
"Hmm, This might be useful," said Silicon smirking.
We continue questioning Keith. He talks about all the amenities of the resort like a storyteller talking about the good old times, the only difference is that he's not a good storyteller and it felt more like a corporate seminar. Still hearing Keith talk about it has made me excited, my heart pumping in anticipation. 

A shake in the container, and the doors open to mirage Oasis. And two security bots walk in.