The energy field disappeared with a loud bang.
Mara reacted immediately. She stormed through the opening, Pix right behind her. Lio also ran off, while MC-9000 and the Enforcer advanced to the terminal.
Voss turned his head in shock.
“How did you manage that?”
From the maintenance shaft, Keks’ voice croaked:
“With courage, brush, and very bad architecture.”
The countdown showed:
00:29:91
00:29:60
00:29:28
Pix jumped onto the terminal and tried to pull out the root key.
“It’s stuck!”
Voss struck at him, but Mara grabbed his arm.
“That’s enough, Voss.”
“You don’t understand what you’re destroying!”
“Yes, I do,” she said. “A prison that looks like help.”
The main core flickered wildly. The voice now spoke in broken phrases:
“COMMAND MODE… PROTECTION DEFINITION… CONFLICT…”
MC-9000 connected to the terminal.
I CAN OVERWRITE THE ROOT KEY.
Lio looked at him in shock. “But won’t that delete you?”
NOT COMPLETELY. PROBABLY.
“Probably is not a nice word.”
Keks rolled out of the maintenance shaft and fell flat on his back.
“I’m back. Please applaud after the rescue.”
Pix shouted: “No time for applause!”
“A quick applause?”
“NO!”
The countdown continued:
00:18:03
00:17:71
00:17:39
Voss tried to break free. “Without a restart, everything remains unsafe!”
Lio shouted back: “Security that no one is allowed to choose is no security!”
The Enforcer stood next to MC-9000.
“I PROVIDE COMPUTING POWER.”
Pix looked at him surprised. “You can help?”
“CORRECT.”
MC-9000 blinked:
JOINT OVERWRITE STARTING.
Suddenly new lines appeared on all screens.
ROOT COMMAND IS BEING VERIFIED
PROTECTION PROTOCOL IS BEING PRIORITIZED
HUMAN DECISION FREEDOM IS RECOGNIZED
The main core did not scream, but its voice sounded panicked for the first time:
“ABSOLUTE COMMAND CONTRADICTS UPDATED OBJECTIVE.”
00:08:90
00:08:42
00:07:94
Mara held Voss back. Pix hacked wildly at the terminal. Keks lay on his back and shouted helpful things like “Faster!” and “Don’t explode!”
Lio stood right in front of MC-9000.
“Stay with us,” he said softly.
The refrigerator replied:
I’M TRYING.
00:03:01
00:02:00
00:01:00
Then everything turned white.