The hallway was empty.

  Nighttime…

  The missing guards was odd though. Were they happy with the results of the tests? Was she no longer deemed a threat? Travis still had to be bouncing around her brain though, that she was sure of, even if she hadn’t seen any sign of him, like the old man did. She looked along the corridor and started walking towards a sign that hung from the ceiling and appeared to indicate where the restroom was.

  She passed one door, its blind was down, but a flickering blue light seeped through the gaps. Someone was watching television. She kept on walking getting to a junction, where the nurses’ station was. There was no one there, which even for whatever early hour of the morning it was, she thought was unusual. A ripple of anxiety ran through her, but she pushed it away. Taking a leak was more important. She looked down the right of the curved counter and spotted what she needed, then walked towards it at an increased speed. Being thankful to finally arrive at the door with the female symbol on she pushed it open and walked inside, through the small hallway and into a…

  Alexis fell back towards the wall she had just past. There was no small space with cubicles and basins in front of her, but a different type of room usually found in a hospital’s basement. The morgue. Nor was this any normal resting place for the dead, for it seemed incredibly large and was full of rows of gurneys, each one carrying the weight of an oily black body-bag.

  Must have taken a wrong turn… The drugs they gave me… not thinking straight…

  She turned around and tried the door she came through, but it remained stubbornly closed.

  Do morgues have locks on the outside? Maybe it fell—

  A noise of crumpling plastic came from somewhere behind her. She sighed.

  This is not a horror movie. This is real life.

  She tried the door handle again, jostling it up and down. “Come on,” she said impatiently. She sighed again and began to turn around. There was probably another door, she would just try that one—

  She yelped. The bags were open. The heads and torsos of cadavers were displayed through the open bags.

  Makes no sense…

  She kept to the edge of the room, keeping her back to the wall and clattered into trays of saws and medieval looking tools. This time she would be watching the dead. If something strange would happen she could see it and react.

  But then it did.

  “Return to the white room agent Adams…” The words came from all of the dead at the same time in a chorus that vibrated through her mind.

  She gave up watching and in a panic ran along the back of the room, looking for a way out.

  “You let them in. You let him inside you. You let them in. You let him inside you. You let them—” An endless loop as loud as a symphony boomed inside her skull.

  “Leave me alone!” She sunk to the ground as the words grated on her soul, and buried her head between her knees.

  “Alexis…” The voice was different to the droning filling her brain. It was singular, young. “Look up Alexis.”

  “No, no…”

  “They’re not real. These voices. He’s just trying to scare you. Look up.”

  She opened her eyes and raised her head. About ten feet from her was a young man she recognized from old photos and newer video. Travis Wilson stood on the opposite side of the room, right in front of another door, but the chanting continued, so loud she could hardly string two thoughts together.

  “Walk to me. They can’t hurt you.”

  “No… I can’t… it hurts…” Tears streamed down her face. She looked down at a pool of her own urine.

  “He’s not here Alexis…”

  “Then why can I hear him! He’s inside my brain!”

  “No. Only I am. This is just an echo… force him out Alexis. Calm your thoughts. Focus on me.”

  She did as asked, but the effort almost felt too much. Slowly her thoughts became her own and the cacophony started to dim. She got to her feet and walked forward, keeping to the left of the room until she was on the other side. Travis was just a few feet from her, the door behind him partially open.

  “Look,” he said, gesturing behind her.

  She turned around to a room of completely sealed body bags. “Is this real?”

  “No… you are dreaming.”

  “How did he get into my head. Are AI controlled drones in the hospital?”

  “Not exactly… there are those that are infected with trace amounts of nanites. Individually the numbers are not large enough to control the host. But they can network… and produce just enough power to act as a relay, so the AI can communicate with you…”

  “Will this be how it always is?”

  Travis smiled. “With my help, you can learn to block him.” He took a step forward and held out an open hand. “We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Travis Wilson.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Mike was allowed free rein across the medical complex apart from the one room he wanted to be inside of, Alexis’s. Denise told him that they wanted to be as sure as they could that the AI couldn’t control her like it had done. Either way she would never be allowed near sensitive material or individuals ever again. And he couldn’t blame them for that. The AI had made her complicit in mass murder. Another reason, if needed to hate what Folsom and his other cofounder had created in that compound.

  He stood outside a side entrance to the main hospital building and scanned the parking lots and fields beyond, all of which were full of makeshift canvass homes and people. It reminded him of the scene in Roswell. A wave of people trying to escape the AI storm.

  A door opened behind him followed by a cough that he instantly recognized. He looked around to an elderly German man who was looking for his cigarettes. He had no idea Meyer had escaped.

  The scientist looked up at him, momentarily surprised, then frowned and continued looking for his tobacco sticks, finally finding them. “They haven’t arrested you again then.” He lit a cigarette and puffed, his expression changing to satisfaction before returning to the usual grizzled one.

  “Not yet.”

  Meyer walked forward to stand alongside Mike, taking another draw then exhaling. “They got bigger problems. The governmental institutions are breaking down agent Richter. All of course in keeping with the AI’s plan. It is an expert in game theory, and the humans are so far… not.”

  Mike looked at the older man. “You think we can beat it?”

  Meyer studied Mike before replying. “Perhaps…”

  “How?” It was an honest question, because Mike was beginning to think it was an impossible task.

  “You.”

  Mike almost scoffed. “Me?” He let out a breath which took form as white mist in the chilling air, then looked back to the thousands trying to gain access to the hospital grounds. “I think events have gone beyond what an FBI special agent can pull off.”

  “Your son… well the thing that thinks it is your son, Travis, might be our only hope against the AI, and you are the most important link to him. It is a machine that thinks it’s human, and as long as that continues, then… there is a small chance we might be able to turn the situation around… a—” he coughed. “— Small chance. In this instance, fighting fire with fire might be the solution.”

  Mike resisted looking back at him. Had he heard what the AI had said to him in the CIC?

  Meyer looked out at the forlorn masses, and waved a finger. “This is just the beginning. It is happening everywhere, all over this and the other countries!” He coughed again, this time doubling over. Mike looked at him concerned, but the old man gathered his exposure and stood, placing a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “Make sure to keep agent Adams happy. A lot depends on your relationship.” He turned and walked back towards the door.

  Mike looked back at him with a smile. “Have you ever thought about giving up smoking?”

  The old man smiled. “Never,” then pulled open the door and walked inside.

  *****

  It had just turned dark and finally Mike was told he could see Alexis. He ran along corridors filled with people and up stairs until he reached the ‘tropical diseases’ wing of the building, and its single patient. After passing through several checkpoints, with the guards checking with their CO’s he made it into the nurse station, and opposite it, looked through a large glass window of an ICU. Alexis, standing on the other side, smiled and gave a meek wave in return. A guard stood at the door, but Mike’s eyes were on her. She looked better than when he last saw her, not as burdened by what had happened, and her previous clothes had been replaced with denim pants, and a shirt.

  “How are you?” he said.

  “Tired, but… okay, considering I was near death… or at least that’s what the doctors have told me. That my heart stopped, but the nanites in my system kick started me back into the world.”

  He hesitated in asking what he wanted too. “Have you…”

  “Seen your son?”

  “Yes?”

  “I have, but only in a dream…” she looked around the room. “Not while conscious…”

  “What did he say to you in your dream?”

  “It was more a matter of him helping me deal… with what happened. He told me Elias was sick, and that it gave him some comfort to be able to do his duty once more… He went out on his terms. You got to respect that. I shall forever be thankful for what he did for me… getting that thing out of my head.” Her words were laced with bitterness.

  “So will I…”

  She took a step closer to the glass, and the soldier glanced at her then resumed his position. “Umm… I’m still me… you know that right? With what happened…”

  “Of course you’re you!” He hoped his smile masked his doubts, questions which his subconscious kept throwing at his conscious mind, but that he refused to answer. He took a step forward so that they were only a foot apart despite the glass panel in the way. “Travis is their only hope. They can’t keep you isolated forever. They will need to start listening to what he has to say at some point.”

  She nodded and smiled. “He looks like you.”

  Now his happy response was real. “He does? The last time I saw him… it was hard to tell…”

  “I remember.”

  “Has he mentioned anything about—”

  A distant boom rang out, somewhere in the surrounding hills, and the soldier’s radio crackled then burst into life. “We’re being attacked! Get Crescent to the rendezvous location! Over.”

  The soldier unslung his rifle. “Get back!” he shouted at Mike then unlocked the door, leaning inside. “Get your shoes on and grab your jacket. We have to leave now!”

  Another boom rang out. “I can help!” said Mike to the soldier as Alexis did as asked, quickly pushing her feet into the sneakers that had been provided. The sergeant looked unsure. “I was given clearance to see her,” Mike continued. “Let me help you!”

  “Fine!” said the soldier. “But keep your distance from her. No touching!”

  Mike nodded and Alexis emerged from the room, giving a brief smile at seeing him without a barrier between them.

  “Got Crescent,” said the sergeant into his radio. “On route to rendezvous location now. Over.” He looked at them both. “Stay close to me.”

  They nodded and he set off along the corridor, them following, then moved into a narrow stairwell, descending. The clatter of their shoes and boots were the only noise inside the confined space as they moved to the ground floor level, and then lower. Mike guessed they were heading back to the basement. They stopped outside the door to the garage and the soldier turned around, raising his hand. “Wait for me to make sure it’s clear. Got that?”

  They nodded and he pulled open the door slowly, then all the way on seeing another soldier standing near a humvee on the other side of the large open area. “We’re running to the other side. Move now!” he shouted and all three moved quickly across the twenty yards to the vehicle, which was covered in a form of black tiles.

  Mike was surprised to see Cody standing near it. “What’s this?” he said, pointing to what was covering the humvee.

  “Some kind of stealth tech,” said Cody. He looked at the two agents, “both of you in the back,” then focused on Alexis. “You do anything weird. It’s going to be a problem.” She nodded and they climbed in as the soldier got in the driver’s seat, Cody taking the passengers.

  The engines roared, echoing off the concrete walls and the vehicle moved swiftly through the garage. Just as they started to ascend the ramp the sounds of battle flooded their senses. A man ran past them back into the garage, as the humvee lifted off the ground slightly then slammed back down into a rainstorm, muffled screams, people running in all directions and in the distance orange glows.

  “Take the agreed route!” said Cody to his driver. “Across the lot, then a hard right!”

  They weaved between tents, cars and people, each seemingly without a purpose and swung to the right into a road which rang alongside the hospital grounds. A series of explosions lit the night sky and downtown Denver against it.

  “Where are we going?” shouted Alexis.

  “Not your conc—”

  The humvee skidded to a stop. As the rain pounded the windscreen they all strained to see if the group of people standing directly on the road, lit by the headlights, would move.

  It’s him. Keep going…

  Alexis almost looked to her right, at Mike, but then realized it wasn’t him she was hearing mixed with her own thoughts. “It’s the AI! Drive through them!” she shouted.

  Cody and Mike both looked at her. The former then looked at the sergeant. “Floor it!” The humvee jolted forward then slowly gained speed. They all held on to what they could as they sped towards the statue like figures standing in the rain.

  “I hope you’re right!” shouted Cody as the humvee accelerated.

  A mere few feet before impact the group neatly parted. Cody looked in the side mirror to see the collection of individuals come back together, all watching the humvee disappear into the night.

  Mike tried to better see the scene outside through the rain soaked window, but the world was just a blur of smudged reds and yellows, with the occasional flair of bright light. He turned his attention to Cody. “What about the others? Cary, everyone else that came from the mountain?” He hoped they had got out.

  “The general and some scientists left earlier. Everyone else I couldn’t say.”

  Mike sensed the captain was keeping the whole picture to himself. He understood but was getting tired of others being in control. It didn’t seem to work out well when that happened. Headlights sped past moving in the opposite direction and he sat back. He went to hold Alexis’s hand, but resisted the urge.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The world outside the humvee’s window was so dark it appeared solid. Alexis had slipped in and out of sleep for the few hours since they left Denver, and barely talked to Mike or the soldiers. She had no idea where they were going, other than their destination was somewhere in Alaska. She couldn’t blame people for not trusting her, hell, she wasn’t sure if she trusted herself.

  She tried remembering back to the previous days from when Dyer took her, her escape attempt in Sulerosa, the journey to Tucson and the meeting with Folsom. What was real? She sighed.

  Such an idiot. I was surrounded by nanites in that small town. Of course I was infected. But…

  The ‘but’ was that she had no sensation of anything being in her mind. She had no memory of killing anyone. As far as she knew she went to sleep the night before in the small living space, and she thought was still there when she ‘awoke’ staring at Mike and a room full of bodies.

  There was a piece of metal… I found it in the desert…

  She instinctively reached into her jacket pocket and rummaged for it, but there was nothing there.

  I killed those people… it wasn’t me… but my hands did that… I’m a murd—

  “You’re not a murderer Alexis,” said Travis.

  As when he first communicated to her, she looked around her at a source for the sound of the voice and then quickly realized there wasn’t any outside of her skull.

  He continued. “You don’t need to speak. Just think, and I will hear you.”

  I’m not sure how comfortable I am with this…

  “After spending some time with Elias, I have come to understand that humans need their privacy—”

  Human? You don’t see yourself as human?

  “I… I’m something in-between… but I know you need time alone. I will respect that.”

  “Thank you.” The words left her mouth before she could pull them back. She looked at Mike who was leaned back with his eyes closed and the others but they did not respond.

  “This must be interesting for you, seeing you are a psychologist. You are breaking new frontiers!”

  Yeah… it’s a joy… She didn’t mean it to sound so sarcastic, but Travis picked up on it anyway.

  “I will leave you to your thoughts.”

  She wanted him to do so. Leave her for now and forever. Get out of her mind. But she also knew that would mean her death. Once an AI is inside you, there’s no going back. You are partners for life. No… wait. I didn’t mean to be rude. I appreciate what you did, saving my life. You and Elias. It’s just what happened…

  “The AI chose you because you stood the best chance of getting to the president and the joint chiefs. It used your relationship with my… father, and fooled you into thinking you were not infected when you were.”

  So I was infected in that small town?

  “Not immediately, but your escape attempt never happened. The AI had already absorbed the human known as Dyer by that time, and you were implanted with his consciousness from then on.”