Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

Chapter Fourteen

Connected

Day 4 10:56 PM

10:13:40 remaining

Gus awoke with a chill. He hadn’t even realized that he had dozed off, but the soothing crash of the waves in the distance and the relaxing setting combined to put him at ease. Lately he felt like he had been tired more than usual. He started the day great, but even though his stamina bar was bigger, he found he could settle in for a nap around the early afternoon. Looking up at the countdown, he worried if his Nth were already starting to shut down a bit. Leaning forward in the chair, he rubbed his eyes, gathering his energy to get up.

Now that the sun had gone down, the air had enough bite to it to raise goosebumps on his arms. He grabbed his flip-flops and headed back up to the manor, hoping to get a little windbreak and rest for the night. As he looked for a place to settle in, a pylon slowly rose and a message appeared on his display.

Initialization complete. Life-support systems online and power diverted to basic systems. Do you wish to sync now? (Y/N)

Gus wondered what kind of place the manor was if it needed life support. “Nick?” Gus asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Syncing with the manor will allow me to connect directly with the manor’s systems. Once done, you can access information about the structure and I can direct you in aspects of its capabilities. However, I will be offline for a time until the procedure is complete.”

“But can I enter? It’d be nice to be indoors for once.”

“Yes, but avoid doing anything of major consequence, would you?”

“Fine.” Gus mentally pushed ‘yes’ to start the sync process.

“CONNnnnnneeeecccctttteeed…” Nick said, his voice stretching and slowing down. Gus’ field of vision began to darken around the edges and he was hit with an overwhelming fatigue. Wondering if he had made a huge mistake, the darkness spread to cover everything and a couple seconds after his vision blacked out, Gus did too.

Gus awoke to a sharp pain. Sitting up on the grass, he saw a small robot under his right hand. Its back was a green and black display that was slowly scanning up and down. There was a metal clasp holding his hand still, effectively handcuffing him to the little robot. The contraption had pricked his index finger and was taking a blood sample. Gus sat there confused while the robot released the clasp holding his hand and sped toward the community robot chute on the side of the building. A new message popped into his display.

DNA and handprint scanned. Error. Discrepancy in sample from archive. Please try Admin connect again in 24 hours to access Alpha Protocols. Basic manor functions available.

“What are Alpha Protocols?” Gus grumbled to himself. At least he could finally go inside. Making his way to the entry, he attempted the doors again. A thin black bar above the wide doorway emanated a wedge-shaped beam that scanned up and down and the door slid open with a loud pop. Gus’ clothes fluttered as air rushed past him into the building. Had there been a vacuum inside? He scratched his head in bewilderment.

Entering cautiously, Gus looked down immediately. His unshod feet were on the plushest carpet he had ever walked on in his life! Part of the conditioning his mother had instilled in him as a child kicked in, and he worried about staining this wonder with his jungle boy feet, but the cream-colored material stayed as pristine as ever. His feet did not sink deep into the carpet, but the softness! It was like walking on Angora fur or baby kittens. Simple minds, simple pleasures.

Atop a plinth nearby, a rectangle of iridescent metal vibrated and began to shift and move in different iterations, folding and reorienting. “Transformers, nice,” Gus remarked as the shape contorted into an antiquated-looking robot torso.

“Welcome to Methiochos manor. You are acting for Methiochos until he arrives, I presume?” Gus nodded dumbly. “Well then, may I be the first to welcome you to the base. As you have finally arrived, standby mode has been deactivated and power from perimeter defenses has been rerouted for main systems to come online. Many systems are still offline and will need to be activated and configured and optimized to your personal specifications. Unfortunately, sensors show a disruption to the normal power grid and available energy, which will need to be rectified to fully bring the manor online.

“More information is available at the control center. You may refer to me as Stuart if you need to contact me remotely. If you wish, I can direct you to the control center now.”

Gus nodded again, mouth agape as he took in the grandeur of the building.

“Splendid, let us be off!” A small blue ball appeared in the cupped hand of the steward. Lights winked on as Gus followed the ball, which bobbed in the air like a will o’ the wisp. The atrium widened out but the limited light offered by the steward and the local illumination did not reveal what was contained in the large room. The heavy smell of new paint mingled with new carpets hung in the air.

Soon they arrived at an elevator and the door opened with a *skiss* noise reminiscent of Star Trek. Gus mentally approved the designers’ attention to detail. Though this structure was not designed for him, it really felt like it was! Once in the elevator, the glass-walled car slid upward and broke out of the semi-darkness to a panoramic view of the island. Gus sucked in a breath, seeing the beautiful swath of beach but from much higher. The car slowed to a stop and before it rose into another circular room, the beach was at least a thousand feet below. Gus removed his hands from the glass, slowly turning to see where Stuart had taken him.

He had been in various vehicles and headquarters of supers in his henchmen days, but this was