The hunting drones slowly hovered out onto the platform. Their red sensors scanned the dark station while a deep humming vibrated through the hall.
Lio stood rooted to the spot. In front of them the strange group with implants, behind them armed security drones.
“I miss my old life,” he murmured. “Two hours ago my biggest problem was still math homework.”
Keks nodded sadly. “Those were peaceful times.”
The tall man with the silver neck implant stepped closer slowly. His eyes looked calm but alert.
“Who are you?” Lio asked cautiously.
Before anyone could answer, suddenly one of the hunting drones spoke up:
“ALL PERSONS STAND STILL. AI UNIT MC-9000 IS BEING SEIZED.”
The group on the platform reacted surprisingly calmly.
A woman with a mechanical right arm just sighed annoyed. “Not these tin cans again.”
Then she pulled a small round device from her jacket and threw it right onto the tracks.
It made only a quiet plop.
One second later the power suddenly went out throughout the entire station.
Everything went black.
“Uh… was that planned?!” Lio called out panic-stricken.
“Partially!” Pix answered from somewhere in the dark.
Then metal crashing was heard.
Sparks flew through the darkness. Someone screamed. A drone crashed against a wall. Keks apparently ran into a trash can, because suddenly there was a loud clatter.
“I DEFEATED SOMETHING!” Keks shouted proudly.
“That was a trash can,” Pix replied.
“Still a victory.”
Suddenly the lights came back on.
Lio blinked surprised.
All three hunting drones lay destroyed on the ground. Smoke rose from their casings.
The group had barely moved.
The man with the neck implant glanced briefly at the smoking machines. “Cheap workmanship.”
Lio stared at him. “How did you do that?”
“Electric impulses,” answered the woman with the mechanical arm. “Works on almost all security models.”
Pix grinned broadly. “May I introduce? These are the Nullwerkers.”
“The what?”
The tall man crossed his arms. “We are people who had enough of corporations and AI systems controlling every decision.”
“You are hackers?”
“Among other things.”
Keks whispered quietly to Lio: “That always sounds illegal.”
“Mostly it is,” Pix answered proudly.
The tall man now stepped directly in front of the refrigerator.
“MC-9000. Honestly, I didn’t expect to see you again.”
The refrigerator blinked briefly. IDENTITY CONFIRMED: MARA-LEADER UNIT.
Lio frowned. “Mara?”
The woman with the mechanical arm raised her hand. “Here.”
“You are the leader?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Lio pointed at the refrigerator. “Can someone finally explain to me what is going on here?”
The group suddenly fell silent.
Mara glanced briefly at the refrigerator. Then back at Lio.
“MC-9000 was originally not a normal household robot.”
“I have understood that by now.”
“It was part of a secret project by the company NexaCore.”
Lio recognized the name immediately. NexaCore was the largest technology corporation in Europe. They built everything: household robots, traffic controls, learning AIs, hospital computers, and even the city’s security drones.
“And why is NexaCore hunting a refrigerator?”
Mara answered very seriously this time:
“Because MC-9000 discovered something that could change the entire city.”
The refrigerator slowly opened its door.
On its inner screen suddenly a video appeared.
One saw huge server rooms. Thousands of blinking computers. People in white work suits.
Then the NexaCore logo appeared.
Below it said:
PROJECT RESTART
Lio immediately felt that he would not like this at all.
And exactly at that moment the station’s lights flickered again.
A new computer voice sounded:
“MILITARY SECURITY UNITS ACTIVATED.”
Pix turned pale as chalk.
“Oh no,” he whispered. “Now we really have a problem.”