Free Rebound by Joseph Veramu

clients design them and send them here. We are forced to produce them to their exact specifications.”
    Mason thought it was ironic that humans were ordering these new clones yet these intelligent machines had the moral courage to see that it was wrong and tried to put a stop to it. It seemed very strange that humans were acting like unthinking machines because of greed and lust while these machines tried to sabotage or slow down the processes to minimize the suffering on humankind.
    While the lab was hermetically sealed with the right heat and humidity, the machines were sent powerful shock waves if they resisted doing their work. Max had witnessed an intelligent machine that had its brains burnt for refusing to work on the child porn program.
    “Their plan is to replace you all with more malleable workers. They feel that Sofia has corrupted you all,” Mason said.
    “The best that we’re doing is working slowly to thwart them at every turn. Until she returns.”
    “Sofia?”
    “You’re the messengers coming in advance. You’ve bought hope.”
    “We feel honored,” Ryan said trying not to sound cynical, realizing the risky situation they were in but at the same time appreciating that Sofia wouldn’t have sent them here if there had not been an iota of hope in the mission.
    “I’m here to help you,” Max said. “Sofia gave you the combinations to our locks. Do you have them Emily?”
    As they were leaving Max added, “We’ll meet in the hovercraft storage area. Emily is needed here.”
    Mason did not look pleased.
    “Only she has been programmed by Sofia. In this short window she will hold the powers of Babylon Corp within this complex.” Emily had worked in Robotics before they put her into deep sleep.
    Mason relented when she smiled reassuringly.

Chapter 24: Avoiding capture
    “Let’s keep moving,” Stella told them.
    “Our best bet is to go through the animal clones and marine enclosures,” Bella suggested.
    “That’s a longer route to the hovercraft area,” Stella said.
    “Not too far and we can always open up a few enclosures to distract them and make our getaway,” she said with a mischievous grin.
    The whole sprawling complex was now fully lit up. The alarm had been sounded and robots were combing the area with laser tracking devices.
    As they ran towards some hybrid plant species, a robot about ten feet away spotted them. Before it could point its energy prod at them, Beckett ran for it in an almost suicidal attack. Stella dived at it a split second before it could point its prod. She wrenched the weapon away and twisted its neck. The robot crumbled in an obsolete pose.
    “I know you’re trying to impress Bella but we need to stay alive.”
    He looked sheepish.
    Bella was not too pleased with this reproach. “I like his spirit,” she said in defense.
    They kept moving as fast as they could towards the cloned animals and marine section.
    “They know we’re in this area,” Stella said as she pointed the energy prod towards a group of robots that were in hot pursuit. They went flying like ragged dolls.
    A short distance away, they saw Mason, Ryan and Roland making a dash to meet them.
    As they huddled together, there was suddenly deathly silence.
    “Stella and Mason, can you hear me?” It was the voice of Karabos.”You are surrounded. You cannot escape. Can we talk?” She did not wait for them to reply. ‘I’m coming over. I am unarmed.”
    She stood at a short distance and looked at them with what was supposed to be kindness but seemed like a controlled form of contempt. Her green eyes looked out with machine like intensity. “You were going to let loose the animals and the marine clones but that would only buy you a very short period of time. You can go ahead and do it but in a short time we’ll get you all.”
    “What do you want?” Mason asked but felt embarrassed immediately.
    “Roland is a patented product and we need to start harvesting his organs. Bella is urgently