Birth of a Ghost
In the otherwise verdant main continent of Mobius, an expanse of
junk-ridden wasteland laid testament to the horror that had terrorized the
planet two milennia ago. The ruins of the technological city once known as
Robotropolis sprawled across the plain, its remaining jagged metal spires
clawing at the blue sky. There was nothing organic to break the line of
flat expanse; plants refused to grow there, and would continue to do so for
years to come. The current population of Mobius, having no extant records
of the great rebellion that had liberated them two thousand years ago,
treated the site as a cursed, haunted place. Only the very foolish thought
to venture near it.
Teenagers, as everyone knows, tend to be very foolish.
"I dunno about this, Cody."
"C'mon, Max, what's there to be afraid of? You don't believe all the
mumbo-jumbo about this place being haunted, do you?"
"My mom said that this used to be full of evil robots and stuff, an'
their ghosts guard it from people..."
"Don't be stupid. Robots don't have ghosts! They aren't alive!
Besides, even if there WERE robots here, they're all broken down and stuff
now."
The speakers were two young boys, one a puppy on the verge of adult-
hood, the other a young rat. In the manner of young creatures everywhere,
they had decided to go exploring the one place that they shouldn't. Max,
possessing a good deal more instinct for danger than his canine buddy, was
trying to shake the feeling that something was watching them.
In this case, he was wrong. Everything in the old city's tunnels was
shut down, and had been for years. There was nothing there to watch as the
boys made their way into the huge chamber that had once been the throne room
for a technocratic despot.
"Wow," breathed Cody, bounding to the center, "Robo's chair! Gee,
Max, can you just imagine what it musta been like in here?"
"Cody, I don't think you should--"
The puppy, unheeding, threw himself into the metal throne. It gave a
metallic groan at the mistreatment, its complaint echoing through the empty
chamber. Max winced, but Cody, excited over his discovery, paid no attention.
"We should get a souvenir or something, to prove we've been down here,"
he announced, hopping out of the throne and inspecting the marvelously
preserved computer consoles.
"Cody, I really think we ought to--"
"C'mon, Max, nothing's going to happen," the canine incorrectly assured
his comrade, "Now help me find something cool to show off. I want something
that'll beat the pants off of Karl and that new car of his..."
Max shook himself, trying to dislodge his instincts. Of course nothing
could happen- if something WERE going to happen, it would've done so centuries
ago. He looked around on the floor, careful not to touch anything. Cody was
poking around at the numerous consoles.
"Hey, what's this?" the puppy pushed on a disc curiously. With an
arthritic whirr, it disappeared into a slot in the console. "Shoot! Hey, Max,
help me get this out of there."
Normally, this would be the point where lights suddenly click on, com-
puters boot up, and the machinery that had been inactive for centuries whirs
stiffly to life. Max, at least, was expecting this. However, the fact remains
that Robotropolis had been without power for two thousand years, and machines
need power. As the rat stared around him, slightly disappointed, his friend
rummaged around on the floor for a lever to pry open the console. His questing
paw wrapped around a likely-looking tool.
At this point, Max's instinct was REALLY fighting him, his urge to run
battling loyalty to his friend. He knew Cody's boundless curiosity, the boy's
interest in how and why things happen, and he noticed that the intended crowbar
looked a LOT like it would fit into a certain slot right there by where the disc
had been. To his horror, he caught himself counting under his breath.
"three... two..."
"Hey, I wonder what happens if I do this?"
"Cody, wait!"
The improvised crowbar slid into the slot with an ominous click. Dis-
appointingly, there were no appreciable effects, although to Max's adrenaline-
heightened senses it seemed like the air had taken on a new quality. Cody
turned around.
"What?"
"Umm..." Max glanced around, unwilling to admit nervousness to his
friend. His eyes siezed on a bit of rubble. "Don't worry about that, here's
something cooler!" He held up the remains of what resembled a robotic chicken.
"Hey, wow! That'll knock the socks off of everyone in town for sure!"
Cody took the bird-bot and turned it around, admiring it from all angles.
"Okay, let's go."
That was when Max noticed the screen.
It had a crack reaching across it; several neighboring screens had been
busted completely. It wasn't large, just a component of a video wall. But it
was ON.
"Oh no..."
Fascinated, Cody sidled up to it, the souvenir in his hands forgotten.
He reached up and wiped some dust off of it with his jacket sleeve. "There's
something written on here..."
The screen said:
ACTIVATED
CHECKING SYSTEMS
...
SEARCH BOOT SYS
...
ERROR BOOT SYS NOT FOUND
SEARCH BACKUP SYS
...
BACKUP SYS FOUND
RUN
As Cody stood entranced by the electronic equivalent to yawning,
stretching, blinking, and trying to remember whether one has anywhere to be
or if one can go back to sleep, Max grabbed his arm and took the screen's last
line to be some advice. Unfortunately, the two didn't get far- with a metallic
screech, the only unblocked entrance disappeared as a door slid closed.
NOW all the lights in the room blinked on, and machinery that had been
inactive for centuries whirred stiffly to life. All the monitor screens that
hadn't been smashed flared up. As the two boys stood blinking in the sudden
luminesence, the computer continued its routine, metaphorically brushing its
teeth, looking for matching socks, getting toast on its tie, et cetera.
"Wh- what do we do now?!" demanded Max.
"Mom's gonna be really mad if she finds out about this," Cody mused, eyes
on the screens.
"Cody, if we don't get out of here your mom's not going to find out ANY-
THING! WHY did I let you talk me into this?!" Max scrambled around the room,
hoping beyond hope that there was some other way out.
ERROR LACK DATA
SEARCH DATABANK
...
DATABANK FOUND
DOWNLOAD DATA
DOWNLOADING
.....
"Cody! I think I found another way out!" The puppy's head whipped
around. Max pointed to a trapdoor in the ceiling. "I think we can use the
chair to reach it..." The two immediately clambered onto the chair.
BOOTUP COMPLETE
LOAD WRAITH
"It's still too low!"
"Here, try standing on my shoulders. Climb up, then pull me up, okay?"
The screen went blank. Cody looked around as Max scrambled up into the
ceiling.
"Cody, what are you doing?!"
"The screen's turned off."
"Everything else is still on! Get up here!"
"Hold on, lemme get the bird."
"WHAT?! Think for a minute! We gotta get out of here!"
"I want proof that we've been down here, Max." Cody scooped the robot up
and handed it to the rat then, with Max's help, climbed into the door. They dashed
off, fleeing the heart of Robotropolis. Neither boy paid much attention to where
he was going; they were more worried about what they were running FROM.
Suddenly, Cody cried out and collapsed. Max skidded to a halt, and dashed
back to check on his friend. "Cody? CODY! What happened? Get up!" Panic nudged
the rat's voice up an octave.
Something creaked behind him. With the deliberate care of one who knows
he's about to see something truly horrifying, Max turned. The bird-bot was moving.
One glowing red eye regarded him banefully.
Rust fell off of the metallic avian as it creaked forward.
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