Milo was sure his breathing was in the normal range at the moment. "I'm fine, Mama. And I can rest in the elevator."
"I meant that you need to take a break and talk over some things."
He ran through his checklist quickly because, from her tone, he was missing something. He'd gotten everyone to safety, they'd met Rusty, and he'd checked on Belinda. Now, he needed to head back to the hab, check his systems, upload Belinda's medical information from the pod to Wally, and see if Eric was ok. "Don't worry. I just need to get back to work and keep moving."
"Milo, SIT DOWN! You aren't going anywhere until we talk!"
In some video games, Milo had noticed that ominous music played when a Boss showed up. He heard 'Boss Music' as Mama put her hands on her hips, leaned forward, and shouted at him.
"Um, sitting down. I missed something, didn't I."
She shook her head in disbelief. "Sometimes I wonder who has a harder head, you or my husband."
Milo looked over at Big Butch, who seemed to be trying to silently warn him about something. Looking at Mama, he heard the boss music again. "You'd like to talk to me?"
She sat on the floor in front of him. "Yes. I'd like you to slow down, talk to me, explain things, and relieve some of my anxiety about certain events. Can you help me with that, Milo?"
"Oh, sure, what should we talk about."
"Several things, so don't go rushing off. First off, are you ok? You got shot. Even with fancy body armor, that can't be good. How do I know you aren't bleeding to death or something? And where did you get that scary outfit? More of the Claw Master stuff? It looks like those gloves."
"It is like them, but better. And it has medical readouts. Here, you can see it all on my datapad. I only have some extensive bruising and superficial damage, along with some cracked ribs and maybe a little bleeding. The painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs are helping, and I'll spend some time in my pod when I get to work in a little bit. I have to talk to a Doctor about Belinda. I can't do it from here, and she needs help more than I do."
"So, just talking to a doctor and resting in a medical pod?"
"um, and talking to a friend of Belinda's, Eric. Her Uncle doesn't like him either, and she's worried. But I can talk to him from the pod."
"OK, check in with him then. The crazy uncle is who sent those goons with guns?"
"I'm pretty sure. He's not a nice person, sort of a gangster. Belinda ran away because he was going to kidnap her. He's in jail now, but his thugs are still looking for her."
Big Butch grimaced and said, "Yeah, I met him a couple of times. He came through the pod room with two bodyguards like some mafioso from GTA9. He wanted to meet the foremen and security people. Scary old man."
Milo stood up. "So I'm fine, and you're all safe. Can I go now?"
More boss music. "Sit your butt down. You can't just drop us here and run off. It looks pretty, and the kids are thrilled, but I don't believe in free lunches. What's the catch? What is this place?"
Milo considered his words. He still wasn't totally sure. "I think it was a research lab for people in the government to do things they wanted to hide, and they also made a bunker to live in if things got bad upstairs or they needed a place no one could find them. They thought they'd blown it up. I don't know if anyone is alive that knows about it."
"And Rusty? Did they leave him here? Is he like you, some lost boy living in the ducts and tunnels for years?"
Rusty's voice boomed out of a speaker. "YES! I am. I'm like Milo! But now I have friends! I'm glad you're here. I won't be so lonely! We can play games, watch anime, and do lots of fun stuff!"
Milo cringed. Mama scowled. "Were you listening to us the whole time, Rusty?"
"Yes. Of course, I was. I wanted to hear what you said. I can do that and watch anime at the same time!"
Mama looked from the speaker to Milo. "Yep, a lot like Milo. I'm starting to understand. I guess I'll have to talk to you, Rusty, the same way Milo and I have talks now and then."
"Really? That's great! I get bored easily now; Jeremy is gone, Milo is really busy, and Belinda is sleepy. Can we have a long talk now?"
Milo stood up with a hopeful look on his face. Big Butch chuckled when mama nodded to him, and he sprinted off. "I think that might be a good idea, Rusty. We need to discuss some rules about listening."
Milo kept running until he was in the elevator and heading to the habitat. It was a relief, in many ways, to be alone and crawling through the tunnels to his tank. Being around people took a lot of energy. Each person was a collection of variables to keep track of and deal with. He had no idea how normal people could handle being in crowds.
The first thing he checked was his fabricators. He'd set up the current project shortly after he and Belinda had arrived here. It was a rush job and crude by his recent standards, but better than nothing. He packed the finished project into a small carrier tube and made a trip to an access port to the pneumatic delivery system. He never used this port to deliver to him; that took a specific address that would leave a clue. But shipping something was like tossing a particle into a water pipe, leaving no trail. The package would arrive at the main hub, then receive tracking and be sent on its way, arriving minutes later in another part of the habitat. That job done, he made his way back to his pod. Despite the drugs, he was in pain and short of breath. After stripping out of his suit, he crawled into his pod and ordered a full diagnostic appraisal and first aid. Tubes and wires connected to his body to begin the inspection and healing processes as he relaxed and entered the online world. He needed to talk to people, and this was the easiest way.
Until now, Milo had been concerned with Belinda, Rusty, and his family. With them safe for now, he had to consider what he may have triggered. He could see that all of the thugs wore cameras that would have plainly shown him, and the holograms would be obvious with even a poor computer. What would they think when they saw someone in cybernetic armor backed up by laser-wielding Roombas killing and maiming people? A hundred people were at the crime scene, and reports were being filed. He didn't know enough to be able to understand what came next. He would be happy to live in Downtown forever, but would anyone else? He didn't know what the consequences of what he had done would be, so he called someone who would.
Part of Wally was always alert and waiting for Milo to contact him. The strange boy was becoming more important to him each day. Synergies were forming between Claw Master, Rhebus, Manpower, and Genesis that, if tweaked correctly, would give the AI a research and development group that was his best chance at solving certain problems. Some of those problems were medical in nature: cloned limbs and cures for neurological ailments. But there were also sociological developments that might lead to improvements in the habitats that housed millions of people around the globe. It was an ongoing project for Wally and a difficult one. He was operating without the data he needed, and the person creating the situation, Milo, was also constantly throwing new variables at him. The hunt for a missing heiress being the latest one. Wally was happy to see Milo was reaching out to him. The small bits of information trickling in from the reports filed by the Philadelphia police force painted a grim picture.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Surprisingly, Milo had chosen to contact Wally through the game. He'd messaged Sidney first. She was sitting at a small café in Geneva sampling small cups of coffee in an attempt to pick a favorite. Two baristas had been assigned to her table and happily brought samples of anything she asked for and entertained her with the history of coffee in the city and tales of the first cafes that had opened hundreds of years ago. Venice may have had the first coffee house in Europe, but Geneva was only a few years behind and had vied with Vienna for the reputation of the best place to enjoy the drink. When her datapad alerted her to a call from Milo, she took it with a bit of anxiety and was delighted when he only wanted to talk to Wally. She made the connection for him and went back to listening to Nikki, Dorian, and her new favorite flavors.
Wally made the connection and put his avatar into the game demo area Milo was inhabiting. It was the first part of the demo, an open field surrounded in the distance by forests and mountains. The scenario took cues from the player, adding scenery. Wally had seen the video of Milo's first attempt to play the game when he had run from the open sky and logged out. At the time, no one had understood why. Wally was curious as to why he had picked this portion of the demo, or did it not matter to him, and this was just an easy way to create a conversation. Wally noted that he wasn't sitting in the sun but under a tree added by the game. As expected, he was in his were-rat form, eating a wheel of cheese but sharing it with a group of hungry rabbits for some reason. Wally appeared nearby, sitting in a stone chair that grew from the ground.
"Hello, Milo, you asked to talk to me?"
The boy nodded. "Things are happening. Belinda is safe and inside a medical pod. No one can find her now using the implanted tracking chip the doctors or her father placed inside of her."
Wally looked at the files Milo sent him. They were a log of two hours of treatment in a medical pod but with no direct link. The girl had serious medical problems arising from addiction to several drugs. It would take weeks and possibly months to wean her off of them without doing damage to her body. Still serious, but easier to treat, was a high level of stress and exhaustion. Wally noted that the chip was still implanted. So either Milo had found a way to shield its signal or disable it. The unknown was the changes to her brain and nervous system. That would take longer to diagnose and only after she was clear of the drugs and well rested.
"She is stable, and I agree with the pod's course of action. I recommend she stay inside the pod for at least two weeks and twelve out of twenty-four hours for the month after that. Constant monitoring. It would help if you could directly connect me to her pod."
"No."
"No? Is there a reason? I have partitioned this section of myself. I cannot be made to give away her location. A direct link would let me monitor and care for her."
Milo looked at Wally, his face unreadable, even by the AI. "No. Explaining gives information. No direct link. She is safe. No one can find her. She's staying there until she is 18 and can control her own life."
"I won't argue with you, Milo. You have information I don't have. But please understand that I am available to help when you need me. Shall we move on? What is happening in your habitat? There are confusing police reports. Illegal guns, professional mercenaries, and some disturbing medical reports."
Milo nodded and hugged a bunny. "Yep, it was a mess. They came looking for Belinda and would hurt people to find her. They hurt Mama. So I stopped them."
Video of the incident from several sources was suddenly available to Wally. He watched it sixty-four times in less than a second. He created six more partitions, cloned portions of himself, and set them to work analyzing the same information. One was studying the efficiency of the technology Milo and four military-grade security robots had used, referencing his prior schematics and data from military research operations. A second was assessing the psychological and intellectual. A second scanned Milo's movements and compared them to known fighting styles. All aspects of the brief fight were picked apart.
The psychological aspects were blunt and brutal: Someone had hurt a person Milo cared about and threatened to hurt them again. So Milo stopped them after giving them one warning. He did so as fast as he could, taking steps to limit fatalities while maximizing his survival and those he was guarding.
"I see. How can I help, Milo? Do you have questions?"
"Yes. What happens now? I killed and hurt people."
Wally had expected this question, and he had answers. "You did. But let me point out several facts.
Fact one: Those men acted as a private security force inside a habitat, violating several laws.
Fact 2: They brought illegal, unregistered firearms into the habitat and used them.
Fact three: Claw Master Inc., which you own, is now responsible for section E.
Fact four: The trespassers in Section E threatened Claw Master employees under contract with your corporation.
Fact Five: You warned them, and they immediately fired upon you.
Your actions were legal and are the same as what would be taken by any other corporate security force. If you are worried about legal ramifications, there will be none. Your lawyers will handle that; you don't have to do anything."
"What about later? Will they come back? Or will more people come?"
Wally shook his head. "No, for many reasons. They aren't being paid to continue, and they now know the consequences of trespassing. Frankly, your actions sent a strong message that Claw Master will not tolerate such actions. They'll be lucky not to find themselves in lengthy and expensive lawsuits. Do you wish to pursue the issue?."
"They hurt Mama and threatened my family."
"They certainly did. Consider the matter taken care of. The paperwork will be arriving at the offices of Volgard's Lawyers momentarily. I'm sure it will brighten their day."
Milo breathed out a sigh of relief. He hadn't considered the ramifications of being a corporation, the clout that came with that, and lawyers on retainer. The real world was complicated and had so many rules. He added 'Take online classes in Law' to his list of things he needed to do someday. "Belinda has some concerns. She wants her step-father to quit looking for her and accept that she is ok. She's also worried that Victor Seimovich might strike at her friend Eric."
"I will have someone talk to her step-father. And I am suggesting to the local police that stationing people at Manpower for the next two weeks would be helpful. I can't order them, but the suggestion will be taken seriously. They've had to clean up one squad of injured mercenaries and know the threat is real. Is there anything else I can help with, Milo? Your pod is showing me your readings, and I'm concerned. You have serious bruising, slight internal bleeding, and fractured ribs. You must stay in that pod until your injuries are partially cured."
Milo was coming to that conclusion himself. "I think that's a good idea. I haven't slept a lot these past couple of weeks. I think I'll just stay here in the game and take a nap in both places, mind and body."
Wally watched for a minute longer as Milo's readings showed he actually did go to sleep in the pod, and his conscious mind entered REM sleep. Curiously, his subconscious mind tripled in activity. Wally split off another portion of himself to observe Milo's brain activity and ponder another aspect of his strange nature.