Our recon group has climbed to the roof of the old factory for a better look. My wife is carefully examining our map when suddenly Tomas starts coughing terribly.
Quickly Fast Eddie retrieves his blunt from Tomas' shaky hand with an apologetic look.
Rodney looks at his brother and says, "Really? Was that necessary?"
Eddie grins widely and says, "Chill bro, the kid needed a toke for his nerves. Sheesh, the first words you say to your dear brother since The Society fixed you is um...don't do drugs! To think I was willing to sacrifice my spleen to save you!!"
Life says, "FOCUS!!!" The team silently checks their gear, adjusts devices and prepares for our mission.
The twins are scanning the horizon with special binoculars created by The Society. One of the twins...Omar I think, says, "Michigan State University was destroyed during the battle to control Lansing. The governor's mansion and quite a few other buildings were destroyed at the same time. The Capitol building survived and is now used for all government activities. They added two giant wings to the building. On internal scan setting, the binoculars reveal that there is quite a bit of military hardware in those new wings. Looks like most of the local citizens are living outside the river zone to the East of the Capitol. I don't see any troops, other than some small patrols. Then again, the binoculars are better at picking up metal objects than people on internal scan view."
Life says, "The map shows that a steam tunnel runs from this factory all the way to the Capitol building. If we are lucky we can split our team at the point marked X on the map. There my group will focus on intelligence gathering and if need be the elimination of key assets. Rodney, your team will make your way to the server network and do what you can to eliminate automated combat systems, communications and power to the building. Any questions? Then MOVE!!"
Life finds the entrance to the steam tunnel a short time later and we squeeze through the opening into a dark, claustrophobic series of tunnels complete with stagnant water on the floor, cobwebs, rats and cockroaches.
I say, "Any phobias we missed in this space?" A few nervous chuckles and the heavy scent of Fast Eddie's pot smoke are the only answers to my question.
Following the map, we wind our way closer to the State Capitol building. Everyone halts and takes defensive positions as we close on a chamber filled with coffin sized crates. Some of the crates are open and contain combat robots. Their heads are covered to give them the cosmetic appearance of Arnold Schwarzenegger from the Terminator movie. The exoskeletons are not nearly as sophisticated as the movie version and are not at all life-like, but the machine guns in their hands look deadly enough. The crates are stuffed with packing bubbles as if these robots were readied for shipment. After a tense minute, we determine they are not activated or maybe are not even complete and carefully enter the room. Weapons drawn and back to back we walk into the room. Life motions for us to head to the exit beyond the room, and we make our way in that direction.
As he is leaving, Tomas says, "Hasta la vista baby!"
Connie says in a terse voice, "Shhhhh!"
Then we hear POP-SNAP-POP-SNAP-POP-SNAP like a firecracker going off. Pablo lets out a howl. Startled by the shipping bubbles he stepped on, he stumbles into the side of one of the crates shaking it slightly. Nothing happens.
We motion for Pablo and his wing man Franky to get out of there. Suddenly a dozen of these robots activate from various locations in the room. One of them grabs Franky by the arm and says in Arnold's thick accent, "Surrender or die."
Franky drops his weapon, Pablo is frozen in place quivering, but before Franky's weapon hits the floor, Life unleashes a series of blows to the robot sending sparks and it's head flying. The main body thrashes around for a few seconds before crashing loudly on the floor. Fast Eddie and Rodney grab Pablo and Franky and pull them out of the room. Connie and Tomas fire their weapons at one of the robots. The beam of energy hits the robot, causing it to hesitate and then fall in a heap of sparks to the ground, smoke billowing thickly from its battery pack. One of the robots fires its heavy machine gun at the twins as it howls a war cry in Arnold's voice. I hesitate for precious seconds. Fear is my ally and these are fearless automatons. Lacking the combat expertise of my wife, I find a robot that is partially stuck in its box and fire my disruptor gun at it. A beam of energy strikes the robot, and it ceases its efforts to free itself. I look up to see where I can help and notice my wife is fighting three robots with a pile of three disabled combat robots at her feet. Perhaps a dozen more of these mock-terminator machinations have sprung to life. The twins yell, "Everyone clear the room!" A flurry of lightening fast katana blows from my wife and the pile of Arnold heads grows by three. She becomes a blur and is standing along side us as the last of our companions clear the room.
Machine gun fire causes us to hit the deck and take cover on the other side of the exit. The sound of the bullets ricocheting off the wall is deafening.
The twins yell in unison, "Fire in the hole!" and toss two grenades into the room.
Samir is struck by a bullet in the shoulder. Both of them look at our group and yell, "RUN!"
Without hesitation we run until a blast from the chamber throws us to the floor with a deafening boom. When it becomes clear that no robots are following, Fast Eddie barks, "Report! Any casualties?"
Samir chirps "Shoulder wound sir! It just grazed me. I'll be fine."
Franky says, "Sir I think that thing broke my arm. I can't move it." Fast Eddie and Rodney prepare a sling for Franky and clean and dress Samir's wound. Omar gives both injured men an injection which he says will accelerate healing.
Life looks over at Joe and says sarcastically, "Are you sure you are okay Joe? I hope you are not suffering war fatigue from your efforts?"
Joe answers, "You were handling it fine without me. Don't worry sista, I got your back if you need me."
Pablo interrupts, "I am very sorry. I am an idiot. All I had to do is look down at my feet and I could have avoided all this. I will make this up to you."
Fast Eddie looks at Pablo, "You are part of this team. Shit happens. Get over it now. We are all doing our best and I am sure you will get your chance to contribute."
Wordlessly we continue down the passage, more vigilant this time. Life leads us through the rest of the maze of tunnels without incident and stops in front of a wall. There is a series of hand holds drilled into the wall leading up about a hundred feet to a manhole cover. Life says, "That is the way into the Capitol building. I will make sure it is clear and then motion the rest of you to follow me. Stick to the plan and keep silent until I call for you".
We watch as she quickly shimmies up the hand holds and disappears through the manhole. The wait for her return is uncomfortable and has everyone fidgeting. Finally, she lifts the manhole cover off and motions for us to climb up.