This new revelation came as a shock to all of them. While Androids possessed a high level of artificial intelligence and showed brilliant problem-solving abilities, they weren't very creative. So far, the Prime Android had taken control of all the manmade machines on the surface and even hacked into most of the unprotected AI assistants, but she had never designed something new until now.
Creating new machines for special purposes was a purely human attribute. No Android had ever displayed such potential for scientific experimentation and creativity. This meant that the Prime Android was learning things from the humans, which made her far more dangerous than before.
Dr. Stacey knew she had to relay this information to the other supervisors, so she decided to call an emergency meeting. It was a dicey move since Kevin's midnight escapade would no longer remain a secret, but they all agreed the researchers needed to know what was going on outside.
"Set up a holo-con. Select contacts: Dr. Edna Weber, Dr. Zhao Wang, and...Tyler Brown," Dr. Stacey spoke into her Zen watch and pressed the confirm option.
Suzy and her mom were about to leave with Kevin when suddenly the lights started flickering, and the lab's main door powered down. After a few seconds, all lights automatically turned off, and the AMRP shut down.
"Oh dear, this can't be good," Cassandra sighed, surveying the lab. All the electrical equipment in the room had stopped working, except for the assistant bots. She waited for the power to turn back on, but even after 5 minutes, nothing happened. "The backup generators should've kicked in by now."
"Maybe one of the connections snapped," Kevin said.
"We don't have any power lines inside the labs." Suzy was quick to correct him. "This entire research facility is powered by a modified version of the Tesla Coil—Zeus 1.03. The electricity isn't transmitted through copper wires, but via magnetic fields in the air. All electronic devices which don't have any batteries or internal power supply units, draw power directly from Zeus."
"There could be some local magnetic interference," Cassandra intervened. "I do have a lot of prototype devices in this lab which generate very strong magnetic fields."
"No, it's not your equipment," Dr. Stacey cut in. "I just contacted Edna. She says the whole research facility has lost power. Even the elevators aren't working."
"We should ask the Security Chief to send in a team to investigate," Suzy suggested.
There was a maintenance corridor running from the security subsection D-3 which led to Zeus. The lab technicians had last been there a year ago when the central power coil was upgraded to provide uninterrupted power 24/7.
Dr. Stacey immediately sent a video call request to Tyler.
A holographic projection of Tyler's face appeared over her communication bracelet as the call was accepted. The Security Chief looked worried.
"The power's down. I'm gonna send a technician up there. I want you to send an escort to accompany him," Dr. Stacey instructed.
"Dr. Zhao already sent someone. My boys are with him. They are inside the maintenance corridor now. Don't worry; we'll get the power back and running in no time."
Just then, the sound of gunfire was heard in the background. Cassandra and Suzy rushed to Dr. Stacey's side.
"Tyler, what's going on out there?" Cassandra asked.
The Security Chief disabled the video and switched to voice only. "Shots have been fired inside the maintenance corridor. I'll talk to you later!" he blurted out hurriedly before disconnecting the call.
Hearing Tyler's words, Kevin became restless. His first thought was that another group of drones had breached the maintenance corridor. "I need to go up there. They need my help."
Before anyone could stop him, Kevin rushed to the door and pulled it open with his bare fists. He marched out of the R&D without giving anyone a chance to call him back. Suzy went after him.
There was an emergency express elevator outside the R&D lab which traveled directly to security tunnel D-3. Since it had an additional backup power supply unit attached to it, the power cut hadn't put it out of commission. Kevin rushed inside, but before he could press the button, Suzy barged in.
"I'm coming with you!"
Kevin had no time to argue so he allowed her to tag along. When the elevator arrived in sub-section D-3, Tyler was getting ready to head into the maintenance corridor with his men.
"I'll handle this!" Kevin shouted from behind, startling Tyler.
The Security Chief turned around, shining his rifle's flashlight on Kevin and Suzy. After a bit of initial hesitation, he ordered his men to stand down and guard the corridor entrance.
"Did your team make it out of there?" Suzy asked.
"No, they didn't. And I can't reach them on their communication channels. We tried contacting the technician too, but even he's not responding. The firing stopped just a few seconds ago. I don't know what they ran into," Tyler replied.
"It's probably those damn Tracker Drones again!" Kevin bellowed, clenching his fist. "I'm going in. Ask your men to guard the entrance."
"Hold up!" Suzy pulled out a smart glow stick from her coat pocket and handed it to Kevin. "The power's out. You're gonna need this. Be careful in there. We don't know what attacked them."
"I will," Kevin said, before walking up to the open hatch attached to the wall in front. The guards moved away and took positions on either side of the opening.
The maintenance corridor was a wide tunnel with tiled walls and a slightly arched ceiling. An electromagnetic cart track ran down its entire length. This was used for carrying heavy equipment in and out of the tunnel.
It was dark all around. Kevin could barely make out what was right in front. Before heading deeper into the tunnel, he twisted the glow stick, triggering a chemical reaction that gave off a bright green glow. It wasn't as bright as a flashlight but covered a much wider area. Kevin could now clearly see his immediate surroundings.
Strangely enough, Kevin didn't hear any noises inside the tunnel. The Tracker Drones always announced their arrival with their distinctive beeping sounds and even the Neutralizer wasn't a very stealthy machine. He was about to call out for the missing survivors when he heard a muffled cry. It came from the other side.
Quickening his pace, Kevin headed towards the darkness. On his way, he passed the flatbed magnetic transport cart and a glowing red sign hanging from the ceiling, indicating the maximum clearance height. With the glow stick in hand, he hurried towards the source of the sound. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to see next.
As Kevin crossed the corridor's halfway mark, his eyes made out someone crawling on the ground. "Who's there?"
"Aghh..."
The pained cry came from the lab technician they'd sent in there. He was crawling on the ground, begging for help, his white lab coat stained red with his own blood. Kevin rushed to his side and crouched down to assess his condition. There were multiple bullet wounds on his chest and he was bleeding all over the place.
"I'm gonna get you out of here. Just hold—"
Kevin's words were pushed back into his throat as his eyes fell on the corpses of the two security guards from Tyler's team. Both of them had been riddled with bullets.
Holding up the technician's head, Kevin asked, "What happened here? Who did this to you?"
The technician parted his bloodied lips and pointed at something. "The...wall," he whispered with his dying breath.