Chapter 6: Mirage

We blockade the door with a cabinet and our bodies. We can hear the Androids trying to pry open the door, but only after a few minutes do we hear nothing but the sound of the androids leaving. 
The room we entered was a massive rectangular studio bedroom. The architecture of the room is very white and very blocky. On one end of the room is a large window with a view of the artificial beach. On the other side are us and the barricaded door. On each side are paintings, one depicts many people chained to a wall looking at shadows, and the other shows a man coming out of a case into a barren desert. In between the door and window is a bed and a T.V. 
I look out the window and see the beach. It is a small boxed room, the walls are made from giant screens to look like the sky which looks convincing. The beach is covered in white sand, but it does not pass the water, instead, you can see the machinery that makes the artificial waves and tide. All together this resort to me feels almost like a letdown. You stay in an empty white room and your view is a poor excuse for a beach. The videos shown make this place look so much better. But being here, I feel a massive wave of disappointment.  Although compared to the planet, this is Nirvana. Just not the grand paradise I expected. 
"Silicon, What were thinking," said Lieutenant screaming at Silicon. 
"Well, I'm sorry that I'm not a psychopath that shoots blindly into a crowd of civilians" Silicon Responded, yelling equally loud
"You should have just left her behind," I tell her
"Am I the closes to a humanitarian here?" 
"Shut up" Said Lieutenant rubbing his head "it doesn't matter anymore, we got to get out of here"
"what no" yelled Silicon "We knew the risk of getting in, after facing it are you seriously giving up now."
"The entire security force is on us now," I tell her
"We knew that staying stealthy was unlikely that's why we brought some firepower. We knew what we are getting into, we are so damn close to everything."
She is right, we knew exactly what we were going in for. Something about this place and its denizens seems wrong.
"Everyone shut up and help me stop the bleeding" Said Silicon, as I look down I then notice something about the person. They were shot in the neck most likely hitting an artery but there is no blood. Just a dark hole, looking inside you can see a hint of metal. 
"Or not" Said Silicon "does anyone have a knife?"
"What was that about being a humanitarian" Said lieutenant handing her a folding knife he got from his pocket
"Shut up" she puts the knife in the hole and carves vertically along the face. More and more we see metal, we see that the skin is just a synthetic rubbery substance. 
Pulling all of it away reveals that everything is mechanical except for the brain that we see almost pulsating inside a translucent plastic skull cap. The eyes are made of glass and move so slightly but violently. the teeth look plastic and the mouth moves using gears and motors.
That explains why they were acting so strangely and how they didn't react to anything we did. But that leaves the question of what are they. If they were robots why do they need brains? Where is all the guest? 
"What the hell is going on?" Said Lieutenant, I guess we all had the same reaction.
"It's a cyborg" Responded Silicon "I've seen people implant technology into their bodies but not on a scale like this." She turns the head to examine the back of the head. pealing the skin reveals A black box to where the tip of the spine should be. "It's not even connected to the brain. Why is it not connected to the brain? Oh my god, It is connected to a wireless transceiver. The person is still conscious but has no way to control the body. The transceiver must be getting commands from somewhere to perform a task."
"To where?" I ask
"The only system here is the Mirage Oasis Network, and the only person who controls that is Stan Works" 
"Are you suggesting he did this to his guest?" 
"As terrible as it sounds, it's exactly what I'm suggesting. but there is still a question. Why do this? Maybe he wanted to completely control people to create his paradise. If that's the case why leave the brain?" 
"Okay, were bugging out of this mission" Said Lieutenant 
"What are you talking about" Yelled Silicon "Sure this is weird, but this changes nothing."
"Are you serious, come on this is not normal. We are out of our league here, we need to get out." Lieutenant turned to me "come on this is not something you want to deal with."

"As much as this bothers me, this doesn't change anything. I say we keep moving to the prize."

"you can do whatever you want, I'm bugging out" Suddenly as Lieutenant finishes, the large windows slide open on their own. We Look as out into the fake digital horizon. 

"You seem unwell, please come with us to the medical bay" Suddenly a security droid jumps in, then another, then another. 
"Dammit," the Lieutenant starts opening fire. I and Silicon go for the door and try to move the Cabinet. It's surprisingly heavy even with the two of us. Seems Lieutenant just goes to show Lieutenants' strength.
"A little Help here" Yelled Silicon
"Screw you all" Lieutenant desperately fires at all the androids, ignoring us. 
We manage to get the cabinet out of the way and open the door. I look back and see Lieutenant getting grabbed and dragged to the window. 
I grab Silicon and start running.