Conduit

Ch. 16

I couldn't wipe the grin off my face as I followed Logan back out onto the creation floor. I knew what he was doing. It was obvious. This was a subtle flirtation with a hint of admiration. Or wasn't it the same thing? To find out that he was the creator of one of the most popular underground magazines for technicians; the ones that featured me on at least three covers. I hadn't given my consent, but I was flattered when I saw them. Had he been stalking me? Looking at me from afar.

I was curious and I knew one of these was going to need an answer.

But today wasn't that day.

"Have you alerted upstairs?" a woman's frantic voice carried from the front of the level. I made sure to tuck my data drive far into the pockets of my pants as I scanned our surroundings.

Every technician bounced from one station to the next. They shared tablets, murmuring hastily to one another. Some even pulled out their cell phones to make calls. With my brows pinched together, I tried to figure out exactly what was going on. And then the woman I heard originally hurried down the middle row.

Her hands stretched out as she saw me. "You're Elijah Garret, right? Lyons' new head technician?"

Had I already been given a title? That was news to me. "Um." I held her hands. "I'm Elijah, yeah. What's going on?"

"The android bases—" Still holding my hand, she turned and looked at everyone on the floor. It gave me the chance to glance at her name tag clipped to her lab jacket. Penelope was what it said.

She looked back at me. "The android bases are trying to break out of their casings."

I looked ahead. The metal skeletons were trembling in their hexagon spaces. Some tugged at their wires as if attempting to rip themselves free from the metal straps keeping them in place. Their mouths moved, and their eyes frantically looked around, but there were no noises or sounds, other than the creaking of steel rubbing against steel.

"They can't talk." I looked at Penelope, still holding her hand, even squeezing. "When did this start?"

Was this because of the android attacks? That was yesterday, unless there was another one happening right now. If that was the case, this fake update wouldn't do a thing; not that it would begin with.

"A few minutes ago," she said, then she pressed against me with a screech. An android skeleton ripped itself from its base and fell to the floor. Its assigned technician, rather than help it, scooted back and ran.

No, don't run. Don't be afraid. They need us!

"A few minutes ago," I paused and glanced at Logan. His chest rose and fell with urgency, with panic. He knew something. This was because he turned off the computers, wasn't it?

Letting go of Penelope, I grabbed Logan's elbow. He faced me, still with the same worried expression on his face. "What did we do?" I hissed.

"Um," Logan stammered for a second as he tried to pull away from me, "I, uh, shut down those safe walls."

"Okay." I grabbed his arms and made him face me. "I thought that would block Katherine from seeing what I was doing! What did it do?"

Logan's mouth pulled back as he cringed. Penelope's gaze bounced between us but once another android broke free she took off. I heard her pounding, running steps within the mayhem. People were trying to leave. They left their assigned androids. The poor skeletons struggled to get up on all fours before crashing back to the floor. The sound of metal hitting the tile violently echoed in the air.

I shook Logan. "What did we do!" I shouted. "What is happening!"

Logan bit his lip, hard, as he scanned the Creation floor. Then he grabbed me back with wide eyes. "I shut down all safe walls," he panicked, "nothing is stopping their minds from talking to each other. If there's a signal, they're getting it."