SOMETHING WENT WRONG!

Mickey spoke in droid protocol, she tried again,

There was no reply from the two robots,

She went closer cautiously,

“cameras, close circuit” Ben said quietly inside his head cover,

Mickey gave him the thumbs up sign,

Ben nodded and watched her.

She stood still and spoke again, there was nothing,

“camera, red light, keep sharp” Ben whispered,

Mickey gave the thumbs up sign again,

noises were heard from somewhere in the level they were on,

Ben swung around and aimed his weapon, Mickey scanned the area,

“this area is out of bounds to non-authorised personnel, you are in a military managed zone, do not move and await to be arrested, failure to do this will result in forceful arrest and readjustment” a robotic announcement sounded off!

“oh Mickey, we have company, what do you have in mind, don’t fancy readjustment or whatever that means by the way” Ben spoke into his head cover quietly,

“I know, take cover this could get, will get messy, cover me, I am going to go to them and act a little bit funny” Mickey exclaimed and walked past Ben, she nodded as she past.

“model Delta 762 Alfa, you have been under surveillance, you are to surrender yourself and your human figure, there is no way forward for you, surrender now and the governors might be lenient, the Earth human is priority, surrender now” the same voice commanded!

Mickey spoke back in robot language,

There was a whooshing sound and Mickey was covered in a metallic net, she cowered down and stayed still,

“what you want me to do” Ben asked?

“nothing, let me take care of this Ben please” Mickey replied,

Ben watched and saw three robots come forward.

“let me see to this Ben now that’s enough before they get into our talk channel, you will know when I need help” Mickey said quietly,

“oh yes, look at you know, what a shame, you were to be an icon, no humanoid robot has ever been through what you have been through, the governors wanted to do so much with you, they tried, upgraded you and more and now this how you re-pay back and what you do to the system, where is the earth man” one of the robots asked?

Ben heard and wondered why they spoke in English, obviously to let him know what is going on he thought,

Ben heard a whooshing noise, he recognised the sound, a bolt from one of their weapons, Mickey cried out!

Ben sat there in the shadows, not too sure what to do, “Mr Earthman, Mr Benjamin Foster, born over five hundred years ago, my data base compares you to what you called dinosaurs, you cannot go any further, as you can see, you are in the place where all the not required anymore things get stored until melted down, your minder will be here soon, yes Delta 762 Alfa will be here, services no longer required, I believe you know this word, show yourself now and let’s not get into a difficult situation” one of the robots announced,

Ben strained his eyes, the visor on his head cover did its job, he could see Mickey pinned down by the metal net, she held her arm where she took a bolt of power from one of the robots who was holding her.

Ben noticed that above where the robots we standing there was a steel walkway, held up by some thin looking supports, the lighting in this area was poor,

One of the robots called for Ben again, Ben stayed quiet, another robot started to look around, there was a red beam of light from him flashing around the place,

Ben tapped Morse code on his head cover, he remembered talking about this a long time ago whilst Mickey was looking after him, she learnt it, she replied back, “roger that, hit targets hard” she said,

“ok then, you got me folks, by the way I am nearly frozen to death so I think you had better help me before I die and then you can explain that to your superiors” Ben shouted out!

There was a lot of talking from the three robots in their own protocol,

Ben took the shot, he fired again,

The supports holding the walkway fell apart and the walkway came down too, there was a big crash of broken metal, half the ceiling fell and the whole area was filled with dust, alarms sounded!

The three robots were somewhere under the broken twisted metal, Ben saw Mickey scramble out of the mess and fall over, Ben fired bolts of power into the metal mess, there was a few cries in robotic language, a bolt of power came out of the rubble and just missed Ben, another one hit the far wall, Ben turned and fire some more, there was no more firing,

“Mickey, you ok” Ben called out!

The rubble moved Ben,

Ben swung around and there was a robot knelt with his weapon pointing at Ben,

“there are more armed guards on their way to this location, surrender now sir if you please, let us not get into another complicated situation, I am instructed to arrest you and hold you alive, everything will be ok, this is just a big misunderstanding, you are not recovered yet from your long time in stasis, my weapon is set for stun mode, please don’t make me use it sir” the robot announced,

“so polite, game over pall” Ben replied and pushed the button on his weapon, nothing happened, Ben pushed the button again, “sir, your weapon has been deactivated” the robot exclaimed,

Ben went to move away, the robot fired, Ben took the bolt of power and slumped to the floor,

Mick saw what happened, a small laser gun came out of her shoulder and released a bolt of power, it hit the robot full on, he bounced backwards into the rubble, Mickey went forward and picked Ben up,

“come on you, time to get out of here soldier man” she growled!

She carried Ben towards the ceiled exit, Mickey put Ben down and went to work on the hatch, there was a keypad, she pressed a few buttons, “access denied” came a recorded voice, “ok then, let’s do this the hard way” she said to herself,

Mickey tapped away at the keypad and didn’t get any ware.

She took a tool from her belt and played around with the keypad,

Mickey pulled the keypad from its housing,

She cut a few wires and twisted some more together, Mickey put the multi tool into the open box, sparks flew out and the lights in the area flickered,

There was a hiss of air and a clunk of metal unlocking,

“please adhere to full instructions when entering the pressurised chamber, this is a fully restricted area, when inside the chamber both entry and exits must be fully locked, there will be” “ye ye ye, ok my friend, I understand” Mickey growled at the robot voice, she turned the round handle and opened the round hatch door,

Pressurised air came out, “ok Mr, here we go, need to check you suit is air tight after that fracas back there” Mickey said to herself,

She checked Ben over and made a few adjustments to his suit, “ok pall, in we go then, good luck to us both” Mickey exclaimed, she climbed into the chamber with Ben in her arms,

Mickey closed the door just in time, she heard more robots communicating to her,

The door was secured,

There were thumping noises on the other side of the ceiled door, Mickey tapped the control panel,

“caution, you are about to enter non climatized area, correct procedure and suits must be worn, please listen to the next instructions before you proceed” a robot voice sounded!

Mickey did her tricks, tricks she was still getting used to herself from the upgrade she had and some more, gratitude from the governors for what she had done and what information she held that was wanted, Mickey used her tool and hurried up the process,

A robotic voice spoke away for a good few minutes as the chamber pressurised,

Ben opened his eyes, Mickey had put him on the floor,

“something went wrong I presume” Ben asked?

“no Ben, nearly did and still can, they are trying to stop us getting to the mine, the pressurisation is in process, we have a few minutes and then we can open the other hatch” Mickey exclaimed,

There was pounding on the other side of the door, a welding noise could be heard, “if they break through now the whole chamber will implode, they must know this” Mickey said and shouted back in robotic protocol,

She put her robotic hand into a socket on the key press and talked away, Ben could tell she was arguing in robotic,

“they say they have orders to bring us back, you alive me, well whatever, they don’t realize what they are doing out there, rookies and old robots, sent to do the dirty work, we need some luck” Mickey exclaimed and pushed some buttons on the key pad,

A green light came on followed by verbal instructions,

Mickey checked Bens suit, “ok then, here we go, there will be pressure and your ears will pop, different atmosphere out there, you might feel dizzy and nauseous, I don’t know what we will find out there, let me get out first and assess the situation, get prepared Ben” Mick ordered!

“roger that amigo” Ben replied and watched Mickey turn the steel wheel on the door to release it”

There was a whoosh of air for a good minute, Ben couldn’t see anything, he sat there and said a few Hail Mary’s,

and a few more, “you must explain that phrase to me when we get out of here if you please” Mickey announced,

“will do honey if I can see again, what is this, can’t see anything, getting warm in here, finding it a bit hard to breath too” Ben shouted out!

Mickey pushed the round steel door open and climbed through, Ben sat there thinking a lot of wonky stuff, he threw a few comments out!

“all taken in, teach me later, come on Ben, get your ass out here, we need to seal the door, I have a few ideas, will mess up the controls from inside, leave one of my gas cylinders, set the chamber to return cycle and they will have a big shock when they open the door, game over” Mickey expressed!

Mickey helped Ben out of the chamber, “you ok” she asked?

She did what she wanted to do to the chamber and closed the door, she ceiled it tight with a tool she took from her belt pouch,

“feeling a bit wonky but I’m ok, so know what, it’s freezing here and looks a bit spooky, oh by the way I was born in Wales so I should be used to the mines and that” Ben announced,

Mickey looked at Ben,

She raised her visor, “another one of your Earth man soldier old school as you say comments that I will learn from you, stand still, I want to check your suite if you please” Mickey replied,

Ben did as he was told,

“ok my friend, let’s do this, there should be a droid here waiting for us, maybe we took too long to get through here, I am not too sure at the moment, the main thing is that we are out of the hands of the governors and into another world, should I say, out of the frying pan and into the fire, I saw this as one of your comments on my data base” Mickey exclaimed,

“into the fire, I thought we just went through the fire, what next, well on the bright side of things, I do feel better, breathing is ok, so what next boss” Ben commented?

Mickey looked about, she scanned the area for any sign of life or movement from a droid, she looked at Ben and shook her head, “nothing” she said softly,

The area shook, there was a rumbling noise from somewhere far off,

“and what may I ask was that” Ben asked?

He stood up and moved his arms and legs around,

Ben sneezed, his visor lifted, he started to cough and held his throat, he went to his knees, Mickey went to him, she touched a button inside his head cover and his visor came back,

“you breath in too much of the air, well not air down here and you will be ill, or dead, your cheek muscles will activate certain things inside you cover, be careful, rest a minute then we move off” Mickey instructed,

Ben knelt there and shook his head,

“another question, when I wake up will I lose the thought of something went wrong I hope” Ben announced,

“something always goes wrong Ben, let’s try and make the wrong into a right shall we” Mickey replied,

“roger that mate, you lead the way, I’m on your six” Ben replied and followed on,

“of course, you are, that’s where your eyes are most of the time Ben, oh yes I am flattered by the way” Mickey announced, Ben winked and nodded.

“keep your visor down, listen to my instructions and be ready for anything, we should have been met down here, the underworld, outcasts from the colony, the ones who didn’t except the rules from the governors, the ones who didn’t fit, didn’t meet the standards, the mines is where they dwell, only place for them, security is off the books down here, as long as the mines are mined, the ore is put through the refinery, the ore is used to fuel the air generators working and keep the inner zone with clean air, the rest of the areas get the not so clean stuff, the ones who can’t pay the taxes, the lower classes, yes up here things are still the same as Earth so I have discovered, maybe one day people will actually realise what they do to each other” Mickey announced and walked off.

Ben followed on with his eyes wide open thinking very hard and still thinking this whole thing was a nightmare.

A beam of light shone onto them both, Mickey took a defensive stance and so did Ben, a droid came appeared from the shadows, it spoke erratically in his own language, Mickey spoke back,

“our contact, he got lost down here, will take us to the mines supervisor, I have been informed we can trust him, he wants our knowledge too, like the governors do, well Ben I didn’t expect anything different, everyone is out to make a buck” Mickey exclaimed,

“hang on a god damn second there, please explain” Ben growled!

Mickey explained a few things to Ben as quick and brief as she could, she also told him about the contraband materials that flows around the mines inhabitants,

“ok then mate, you lead on then, this contraband stuff sounds interesting, I think I am waking up so I am” Ben replied,

“easy there tiger, you may be in for a shock down here, just you keep close to me and let me do the talking, you have a speech malfunction, just talk with your arms I will do the rest, we follow the droid, this is a new game to me so let’s play by my rules for the time being” Mickey said,

“roger that amigo” Ben replied and followed on.

The droid went off, Mickey and Ben followed on behind.

The droid chatted away to himself and to Mickey, Mickey spoke back to him, “well of course I can speak the human language of Earth, forgive me sir, I am nervous, getting lost down here, this area is not my area, the maps in my data of this area are not too clear, not many come down here to this place, the exit from the inner world some talk of it, the last way out, was meant to be secret some time ago, not any more, well anyway, you two got through safe and sound so that’s good I think, follow me please” the droid exclaimed and wondered off.

Mickey looked back at Ben, she nodded and gave the thumbs up sign to him,

He nodded back and followed on.

The droid stopped, it seemed to be talking to itself, Mickey spoke in droid protocol,

The droid spoke back, he moved around and bumped into the side of the wall,

“and this little one used to be a clerk, some back office with small time clerks doing their dodgy financial calculations for the governors, money counter, currency launderers I think you know of back 500 years ago, now pushed to the mines or be, well, game over should I say” Mickey expressed,

Ben stood there and stared at the droid, “can I just say one thing, well this is another fine mess you’ve gotten me into mate”.

Mickey laughed,

Mickey spoke with a raised voice to the droid, he bounced around and moved off,

Mickey and Ben followed on, Mickey took the tint off from her visor, she looked hard at Ben, he understood and followed on,

Bright lights came on from way off down the tunnel, the droid chatted away to Mickey,

“time for you to show off Ben, remember one thing, the only reason we are still around is because of our knowledge, the old days, we have been there, our knowledge is history, we are history, sell yourself, all your slang language, Banta as you call it, don’t know who exactly we are to meet and what is too happen, just know one thing, we are better off down here than up there”.

Ben nodded and checked his weapon,

Something brushed against Bens legs, he turned and aimed, “what the hell was that, we got rats down here or something” Ben called out!

“easy tiger, it’s a canine dog, a preferred animal down here, not allowed in the inner zone, no animals up there, governors rules, three hundred years ago according to my data animals, pets as you call it caused a viral disease, many died, down here there are different rules, he is also doing a job, checking you out, as you must know, dogs have a very good sense of smell, checking you out because you smell different to the rest of us” Mickey exclaimed,

“roger that, here boy, common then, a dog in a robot suit, unbelievable”

The dog sniffed around Ben and moaned, he brushed against Bens legs, Ben stroked the dog, it scampered off down the tunnel towards the bright lights.

“good boy, love dogs, so what now” he asked?

“I will tell you what now Earth man” a voice spoke out from the shadows,

Ben and Mickey looked sharply with their weapons,

a robot stepped out,

“you won’t be needing those things and in any case, they are disarmed by the way” said the robot in very posh English,

“My my, aren’t you well-spoken there Sir, is there any chance of a cup of tea if you please” announced.

“it could be arranged, ja deerling, earl grey or twinning’s” the robot replied,

“PG tips mate if it wouldn’t be a bother” Ben added,

The robot came closer, he spoke in Robot dialect,

Mickey spoke back,

The robot walked forward and stopped in front of Ben,

He put his hand out in a shake hands gesture, Ben put his hand out and gripped the metal hand,

The metal hand gripped Bens hand, Ben gripped back,

“easy tiger, with your hand for sure you will break me” Ben announced through his teeth,

The robots hand loosened off and turned into silicon,

“that’s a neat trick, must come in handy when you have some spare time on your hands and feeling a little bit lonesome” Ben exclaimed, he did a gesture with his hand,

The hand grip tightened,

Ben gripped back,

“ok, ok, a little bit of humour obviously doesn’t work up here, down here, where ever we are, easy pal” Ben growled, he tried to pull his hand away,

Mickey spoke in robot dialect,

The robot spoke back and let go of Bens hand,

Ben looked at Mickey, the robot spoke to himself or somebody else,

“ok then troops, so what now then, had a really long journey, could murder a brew” Ben exclaimed.

“no murdering today if you please” Mickey expressed!

“please follow me, transport will pick us up, short ride, contraband tea for you Sir and whatever else takes your fancy, yes down here you will experience, see, eat, drink things that come in dreams from your world I believe” the robot announced,

“I’m a Welshman mate, the valleys, sheep, wellington boots, Brains bitter, magic mushrooms, I am not easily shocked” Ben exclaimed,

The robot looked at Mickey, Mickey stared back at the robot,

They spoke in robot dialect, Ben stood there watching,

Ben started to shuffle around, he hummed a tune to himself, “rocking all over the world, well i like it, I like I like it I laal aa la like it”

“I don’t recognise this type of dialect, data base says musical, band group from a decade ago” the robot announced,

“correct, like five hundred years ago by the way, so what kind of music do you have up here, or down here, wherever we are” Ben expressed!

“there is no music like you remember, we have different tones that can calm your mood down, you will see” the little robot droid acclaimed,

There was a vehicle parked up, the front lights dimmed, the three of them walked closer.

“it’s a black cab, fecking hell, a black cab up here, he are mate, Clapham common please driver” Ben joked, the back door opened,

The droid went in, Mickey climbed in followed by Ben,

“ok well not so much a cab from the inside, “yes I understand cab, taxi service, we do not have that facility here, the upper classes can teleport around certain areas, still on trial and expensive, I remember when I was up there, now look where I am now, the mines, where the ones who don’t fit up to the level that’s required, you will get used to it, I did in the end” the droid chatted on about,

“did you say teleport, like beam me up Scottie, tele pod to another tele pod, the film the Fly was a good example” Ben announced,

“much to learn from you human, master will be so amused with you” the droid spoke, he changed his dialect and the door closed, the taxi moved off,

“a hovering black cab, no driver, loving it, got any of those calm you down pills” Ben asked?

Mickey shook her head, her visor lifted,

“oxygen is breathable in here Ben, take your visor up, I want to see your eyes and face” Mickey exclaimed, Ben moved his cheek about and his visor lifted,

he was getting used to the head cover, different movements from your face worked the workings of the helmet,

“getting the hang of this slowly, still stinks though, really wish you hadn’t of told me what you pulled out of it before you fitted it to me by the way” Ben announced,

The three of them chatted whilst the vehicle they were in transported them through the mines,

The vehicle stopped, robotic beeps came from the taxi speaker system, the droid spoke back and so did Mickey,

Ben sat there, “don’t mind me, you just carry on” he growled!

Mickey gave him a stern look,

“check point ahead, wasn’t supposed to be here, wasn’t planned, I remember you talking about the IRA you fought against, this is a little bit like them, check your weapon”.

The droid spoke away nervously, half English, half robot,

“I am in so much trouble, melted down for sure after this mistake, drones, the outcasts from the mines, you can’t get any lower than that, mutant robots, humanoids, droids, black market, we are doomed, ransomed if we are lucky” the robot droid exclaimed,

“ok troops, from what you’ve told me and I’ve told you, they will not be expecting much, a lost taxi maybe, when we get closer we go straight through, get theses weapons activated by the way you, can this thing be driven by us, we need to go through with power when the time comes to it, weapons full auto, they will be off guard and wont expect it, our only chance” Ben ordered.

“I can disable the remote computer, I will command it to increase speed when necessary, are you sure this is your best solution to this, I have heard you were in the military when you were on Earth, my data base explains, your weapons are live now” the droid said and went to work on the control panel at the front of the cab,

A robotic voice from outside shouted!

“we have to move forward and get ready to be checked, we are out of our zone and well, they will neutralize us when they realize what they have come across” the droid announced whilst he was busy messing with the vehicles control system,

“your call I think the term is” Mickey announced, Ben nodded his head.

“the vehicle is under my instructions” the droid announced,

“roger that, when I tell you foot down you give this thing all the power you can, keep your little head down, there is going to be fireworks for sure when they realize what is going on, ok mate” Ben announced,

“affirmative” the droid replied,

The robot voice from outside shouted out!

“they want us to move forward to be scanned” Mickey exclaimed,

“Ok then, move us forward, wait for my call and do what you must do ok” Ben announced,

“I am picking up six drones, different shapes and sizes, different types of weapons, ready when you are soldier” Mickey expressed.

The little droid robot kept the taxi moving forward, they passed two tall robots with camouflage paint on them stood and watched them pass, one of them spoke away and pointed a them, the taxi move forward some more, another vehicle pulled away and disappeared round a corner, it was their turn now, there was another three robots, military looking standing in the middle of the tunnel, one of them beckoned the vehicle ahead, “keep her going steady” ben announced,

They were about twenty metres from the barricade that was put in the tunnel,

“ok, give her full power mate, keep her going no matter what we hit” Ben exclaimed and aimed his weapon, Mickey did the same, the taxi flew towards the barricade,

Someone was shouting through a loud speaker, also someone spoke through the taxi’s speakers, Mickey replied in in robot protocol, they bashed through the barricade, Ben and Mickey fired through the windscreen and side windows, the glass was tough to get through but the two of them did in the end, power surges came back at the taxi, shattered plastic glass windows, what was left of them, Mickey and Ben fired back, the taxi bounced off the side of the tunnel and careered on, a robot flew over the side of the taxi and disappeared, the back of the taxi was hit a few times and made some very not so good noises,

“we have lost the rear stabilizers, keep her going as long as you can” Mickey ordered!

There was a lot of steam coming from the taxis front, it started to slow down, Mickey spoke out to the droid who was up front in control, mickey and Ben fired out of the back window, Mickey took a bolt of power in her shoulder and fell backwards, Ben fired as much as he could with his weapon, it stopped, “what the feck now” he growled to himself,

There was a red light where a green light used to be, he looked at Mickey, she threw him her weapon after she played with the controls,

“full power Ben, it’s on auto lock, just hold it steady” she enounced,

Ben nodded and fired back out of the rear window, the taxi shook as it was hit again,

Mickey called out to the droid who was up front.

The taxi got hit again, Ben aimed the weapon at the roof, broken plastic glass from the remainder of what was left of the rear taxi window, he kept firing, the taxi bumped around and came to violent halt, Ben fell backwards, he landed next to Mickeys feet, she was half way into the front of the cab, trying to find out what had happened to the droid,

“you ok up there, think we’re in the shit by the way” Ben growled out!

The back of the taxi took another hit, “ok in here, keep firing Ben, they must not get hold of us” Mickey shouted!

Ben clawed his way up and checked the weapon, he pressed the button and aimed the bolts of power out of the back of the taxi and down the tunnel where they had come from,

Ben saw the red light starting to flash on the weapon, he knew it was nearly out of power and in need of a recharge, he aimed at the roof of the tunnel again, someone cried out from somewhere, Ben held onto the weapon as it started to jump a bit strangely, the bolts of power came less, Mickey had pulled herself out from the front and saw Ben struggling with her weapon,

“push in the catch underneath Ben, hold it hard, aim good, there is only two missiles left” Mickey exclaimed,

Ben went to his knee, he looked at Mickey,

she pointed to the underneath of the weapon, Ben found the catch, he rose back up and clicked it upwards, the weapon jerked and fired off a missile, it went straight into the roof of the mine, the mine shook, thick black dust filed the air, Ben fired again blindly and sat down, the mine shook again,

“well I’m out pall, got any more gadgets I can use, it has a flame thrower and other stuff, the power is too low, here send this out there” Micky said and handed him a hand grenade looking object, twist the top, listen for a click, twist back and throw as hard as you can, then I suggest you get down” Mickey slurred in pain,

Ben did what she said and lobed the grenade as hard as he could, he ducked down in the back of the taxi, Mickey pulled him to her and covered him with her own body, there was a bright flash of light followed by a boom, the whole mine shook, the back of the taxi what was left of it came off, Mickey held onto Ben as hard as she could without crushing him, she took the power of the explosion to her armoured back and led on top of Ben,

Ben started to cough, “easy girl, your squashing me nuts, you ok” Ben asked?

He shook Mickey and pulled her off of him, “Mickey” Ben called out!

It was hard to see with all the

mine dust in the air,

Ben shook Mickey again,

“I am fine thank you Ben, I think”

Mickey looked around, a light from the side of her helmet came on, she looked about, “I am picking up some signs of humanoid life just about, we have a thick wall of the roof between us and them, well done Ben, good idea, just hope we can get out of here soon, I am in need of attention, loosing oil from too many parts, all other parts seem ok, need to check you over before we move, any broken seals need to be sealed, how is your breathing by the way” Mickey asked?

“all ok, just can’t see a thing, and you weigh a tonne by the way, thank god, you protected me mate, what the hell did you give me then” Ben announced,

“thermal disruptor high intensity fuse” to be used as a last resort” Mickey replied,

Ben started to laugh, Mickey put her hand out and patted him on the shoulder, “we need to get moving, I just checked my data base, there are many more other tunnels to come round if they are switched on” Mickey exclaimed,” well after that bashing I think we have the advantage, after you buddy” Ben replied, Mickey got up, she pulled Ben to his feet, they climbed out of the wrecked taxi,

“little droid is finished, took too many power bolts from the front, kept us going though, saved us for sure, right these weapons will take a while to recharge, stay close, you should be able to see now, come on” Mickey ordered softly and stepped off.

They walked for a good half hour,

“you ok” Mickey asked?

Ben nodded and followed on,

There were some lights up ahead,

Mickey gave a movement from her hand, Ben understood and took cover, Mickey scanned the area,

“they are blocking me, or something is blocking me, I will try and talk to whatever is ahead of us” Mickey exclaimed,

Mickey spoke into her helmet in different dialects, it seemed like she was getting cross,

She looked back at Ben and did the thumbs up sign,

“it’s ok Ben, this is the checkpoint into the mines, we were in the wrong place, renegades run the outer tunnels, the ones that are no longer of any usage, underground alliance in the mines has been looking for us”

“Ben come on, this area is unsafe, bad air, bad things out here” Mickey announced,

Ben got up and walked forward, he held his weapon aimed ahead of him,” that will not work, it’s been turned off, we have been scanned and recognised, come Ben” Mickey exclaimed,

The two of them were let through a thick steel door that was hardly visible after Mickey spoke to someone, there was a large soldier like robot stood behind a screen, the main outer door was sealed closed and so was another door,

“we are going to be decontaminated, steam cleaned of any parasite from the mine we might have picked up, will take a while”,

“just stand still and let it happen, we will be scanned again for any other things that they don’t want in the live mines” Mickey announced,

“ye could do with a shower after you sticking me inside this suit after dragging what you did out of it thank you very much, bring it on, I look forward to a cup of tea” Ben commented,

Jets of steam covered them both, a droid moved around inspecting for any leaks in their suits, lights flashed on and odd and blue laser light scanned them,

“reminds me of a rave club I went to once, just need some acid tabs and rave out” Ben commented,

“be quiet Ben” Mickey whispered through her intercom,

“roger that” Ben replied.

Mickey spoke away in robotic dialect to someone,

“Ben we are nearly done here, nothing has been picked up, well actually something medical was picked upon you that I was already wear of that, droid informs me you need attention in this area for the future apart from that we are both ok, well and here I go again, full of good news and not some, I will have to go into rehab, took some nasty hits out there saving you, you will be monitored for a while, when we are both fit we will meet the supervisor, he runs the mines, I have heard he is a nice person, humanoid, ex-soldier, naughty boy and well now he runs the mines, as long as the ore gets to the upper level and turned to power then the governors are happy and leave the mines alone” Mickey explained.

“so I am going back to observation, just like when I first got up here, back to square one, feel like an object to be studied when it is safe to do so, ye, wow, something went wrong again, ok, whatever, we got this far, hopefully I might get the cup of tea the droid said was possible to have down here” Ben announced,

“easy Ben, this is protocol, procedure has to be followed, especially down here, this place is tight, only the ones who have upset the governors get put down here or even worse, the place where we found your suit, not all bad apples are sour, there is more trust down here between each other than up in with the inner, upper zones, everyone is out to make a buck, stab you in the back when you are not watching” Mickey announced,

“I got you babe, you are picking up the way I talk very nicely by the way, so I will see you soon then” Ben said softly feeling a little bit deflated,

The two of them stood there in silence while they waited for the decontamination to finish.

They both looked at each other, their visors were down but they saw the expressions on each other’s faces,

Ben nodded and followed a robot out of the chamber, Mickey was led through another door,

Ben was shown to a chair, there was no wheels, it hovered, “sit please, we have some way to go sir” another robot announced that came out of another door, the other robot spoke in their own language and walked away,

Ben sat in the chair and looked about, “by any chance do you have any of those relaxing pills I could have, feeling very stressed here” Ben exclaimed,

“no medication until you have been further examined sir” the robot, humanoid exclaimed and followed the chair ben was in moving down the corridor, Ben talked to himself inside his head cover,

“my earth language is good by the way, you cursing like a little baby there, yes your cover will remain in place until I or another colleague is advised to remove it sir, just you relax there, I got some better stuff you can have to relax you, just chill out, the mine supervisor has got you under his wing now, better than the governors my friend” the humanoid orderly exclaimed and followed ben in the chair,

“suddenly I feel a little bit better, feel like I’m in some sci fi film, just waiting for some storm troopers to come round the corner, where’s Chewbacca and Han solo, C3PO, Artoo Deetoo” Ben announced,

The robot laughed, ye I know those movies, totally contraband material, but down here we can mostly get anything we want or need, your cup of tea awaits you and anything else if you pay for it” the robot added,

“ok, I’m getting you know, let’s get to where I am to go, get me settled in and we can have a chat” Ben replied,

“right on brother” the humanoid robot exclaimed and tapped Ben on the shoulder,

“this is your room for a while, the door will secured, your safety of course, some bodies are nosy, there will be nurses to do checks and observations on you, we have to look after you, the governors will be surely upset with your escape to our side, a great loss for them and a great win for us, it’s all propaganda, political ethics between us and them, they need us down here for the fuel for the power, without us there will be no them, that’s why we are left alone, from time to time they will send investigation teams into the mines, they never return of course, we will look after you sir don’t you worry” the robot announced and walked to the door, “I’ll fetch a cup of tea for you and something extra to help you relax” he added and left,

The door looked behind him,

“here we go again then pal” ben said to himself.

Ben looked around the white walled room,

There were some monitors fixed to the wall, a bed with side rails, a side shelf, small cupboard, he noticed another door which led to a small bathroom shower wet room, he sat on the bed, he led back on the bed feeling exhausted, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

“Mr Ben sir, if you please, I have to do your checks, I know you are tired after going through what you went through, very brave, so I have a cup of tea for you and a tablet to make you relax”,

“let me do my checks and I will let you relax till later on” the female humanoid nurse exclaimed,

Ben opened his eyes and nodded his head, “yes maam” he replied as she checked him over,

She was quite good looking, she wore a tight metal cover over her body, her hands were normal and so was her head, “can I ask you something nurse” Ben said,

“of course, you can” the nurse replied,

“what is with this humanoid thing, why half human, half robot or whatever percentage you are human body to robot, cyborg, whatever you call yourself, it has been explained to me I think, can’t remember, I mean you are so pretty, fit body, yet you have aluminium covering your body”

The humanoid nurse stared at ben, she tapped some buttons on a keypad next to a monitor, she looked about the room,

“well let me give you this and you drink your tea, I will tell you what I am allowed to tell you, Ben took the pill, he drank his tea and took the tablet, he felt instantly relaxed and heavy on the bed,

“so, when Earth was in its final stages of decay, they called it, the ozone layer had burnt a hole as predicted and radiation leaked into the atmosphere, very little at first, no one knew for quite some time,

So the moon had already been explored and space stations built, wars broke out, experiment colonies, robots and droids were sent up to see if the whole plan was to work”

“Planet Mars was to be the new earth, the top government officials from all the worlds countries had agreed on”,

“Things went wrong, people started to get sick, radiation poisoning, rays from the sun too much, panic started, everyone wanted to go to the moon, Mars was the first stop and then onto Mars, Mars was in its early stages of testing that we could survive on it, there was people on there but still in the testing stages”,

“Wars started as there was not enough transport for everyone, the time wasn’t right yet, it was too early to go to Mars, the moon got overloaded and chaos broke out, whoever was left on Earth didn’t have much chance of survival, earth was at war with itself”,

No police, no military, no law and order of any kind, people started to turn into things, too much radiation, bad medicine from the black market, oxygen levels were not good, prisons turned into castles for the inmates to fight from, Earth, the world was now a decaying war zone, the Moon was over populated because of the rushed evacuation from Earth, corruption started to evolve when the command structure started to break down, military command took over in the end and put a stop to another world destruction, things started to calm down, however, some diseased people from Earth got through the system and again an epidemic broke out, sick people, half the colony Into quarantine, Mars was ready to be occupied under a new government, handpicked”,

Only the perfect ones went to Mars and the ones who got cured, turned into humanoids, the healthy parts of the bodies mixed with machine, it was their choice, humanoid transformation or stay on the Moon,

So after some time, the sick cured ones had children of their own, not all of course, depending on what parts of your body was infected, anyway, the new born picked up defects from their parents, so they too had the choice to be turned into humanoids of be put down, it is hereditary, humanoids only worked in the lower levels on Mars, droids and robots worked with the upper classes on the upper levels, the rich, famous, the governors and others”,

“If you didn’t meet the standard you were either decommissioned or sent to the mine, I think that’s enough for now don’t you think” the nurse announced,

Ben was fast asleep on the bed,

The nurse giggled and carried on with her checks,

Ben woke feeling groggy, he looked around, ben got out of bed and went to the bathroom, he had a pee and stood there looking into the mirror, “what went wrong my friend, what went wrong” Ben whispered, opened the slide door on a cabinet on the wall above the sink, there was tooth tablets, no tooth paste here or brushes, there was some eye drops, Ben noticed a small tablet sitting there, he recognised it from the one the nurse had given him earlier on, “yes baby” he said and picked it up, he put it under his waist band of the trousers he was wearing, it was then that he realized that he was completely changed from what he was wearing, no aluminium shell suit, he was now wearing soft grey top and bottoms, he checked his private parts, there was no underwear, he smelt clean and fresh, he had been shaved, cleaned and manicured, “am I in a five star hotel or what, oh waiter, room service if you please, six pack of lagers, packet of fags and I’ll let you know what next, probably a massage with extras, why not, the pill Ben had taken was taken effect, he walked back to his bed and sat down, he led back and fell asleep feeling very content with himself.

Ben woke to feel him being moved around, he felt a bit groggy, “what now, hey I didn’t meant to do it” Ben slurred out.

“nothing is wrong Ben, need to get you out of here, like you said, out of the frying pan and into the fire, it’s a bit of a fix up, falsa, we need to get out of here, I have friends, other ones, trust worthy, relations to me somehow, long story, you are just to be a Guiney pig here, used in a proper gander war between the mines and the governors, use you as a deal, I was used too, double crossed as you would say, come on now” Mickey said sternly, Ben focussed and smiled, “yo mate, good to see you by the way, being looked after just fine here” Ben slurred, “I can see that, high as a kite, keep you calm and out of mischief, pull yourself together and follow me, we don’t have much time” Mickey added, she pulled him off the bed, “come on soldier, Ben, we need to go” Mickey ordered!

“alright you, so what now then, all this rushing around, me in my night clothes and that” Ben slurred again,

“not too worry about that, just follow me, keep close too” Mickey exclaimed,

Mickey opened the door and held it, “come on soldier” she ordered!

Ben walked past her, the door closed and Mickey walked up the corridor, there was two robots sat on the floor, another one further up, “what happened to them, no need to answer that, let’s get me out of here then mate” Ben announced,

Mickey pushed some buttons on a key pad next to a door, there was a hiss of air and the door opened,

Mickey pulled Ben forward and pushed him through the door,

“easy tiger” he growled,

“get into that suit please, I’ll help you know” Mickey exclaimed,

Ben started to put the dark aluminium suit on, “here we go again” he said to himself,

Mickey closed the door and helped him into the suit, she made sure all the seals were sealed, she put his head cover on and checked the air, “ok mate, works the same as the other suit you wore, lift the visor” Mickey said, Ben wiggled his cheek muscle, his visor raised,

Mickey lent down to him, one more thing to do mate, she came closer and kissed Ben on the mouth, she pulled away,

“six portions of that please and one to go” Ben exclaimed,

Mickey laughed, always the comedian, always make me laugh, for five hundred years, how can I fail not to love you Ben, my Ben, my friend, ok then, we go through another few doors, I’ve disabled cameras and doors, I stuck a virus in the computer system so we have a bit of time, let’s go” Mickey growled!

“roger that, lead the way amigo” Ben replied,

Mickey nodded to him, she tapped buttons on another door keypad,

There was a clunking noise and the door opened, sirens noises rang out!

Robot language came through speakers on the walls,

“come on Ben” Mickey announced,

“right behind your sexy ass” Ben replied, she looked back at him,

“my metal ass” Mickey replied,

“whatever, just do whatever you have on your mind and get me out of here if you please” Ben answered back,

“working on it, come on, another security door to go through yet, it should be manned” Mickey exclaimed,

“roger that” Ben replied.

Mickey stopped suddenly, she went to her knee, Ben cowered behind her, her shoulder laser appeared and she fired off a few bolts of power,

The side of the corridor smashed to bits, debris covered the two of them, Mickey fired again,

The whole tunnel was in darkness, Mickey activated her spot lights, she pushed off the rubble from them,

“on your feet soldier, we need to get out of here, this place isn’t safe” Mickey exclaimed, she pushed more of the fallen tunnel off of Ben,

“well this dream I still hope I am in just gets better all the time, the only time things make sense is when I’ve had some of those calm you down pills, going to need plenty when this is over, good god, give us a hand here” Ben growled!

Mickey pulled off the last bits of rubble from Ben, “up you get and keep up with me if you please” Mickey ordered!

“roger that amigo” Ben replied and followed on,

The only light was from Mickey’s spot lights,

” keep that visor down, dust down is toxic” Mickey added and moved on.

Ben shook his head and followed on,

A beam of light lit the two of them up, someone, something spoke in robot language,

“come on Ben” Mickey announced,

Ben stumbled behind Mickey,

The two of them clambered into the open side door of a futuristic vehicle, a big looking robot closed the door, he spoke to Mickey briefly before they got in, Mickey spoke back, the large robot tapped Mickey on the shoulder and nodded his head, he got in and the vehicle moved off, Mickey and the large robot spoke together for a bit,

“oh, you don’t mind me, you two just carry on there, I’m having a whale of a time so I am” Ben exclaimed and sat back in the chair.

“stop your moaning, we got away didn’t we, later you can have your cup of tea, some relaxing pills and some other stuff that might, will open your eyes” Mickey expressed,

Her visor raised and she winked at him, Ben raised his, he winked back, “oh yes, better air to breath in” he commented,

“yes enjoy, no more visors, put yours down now, let’s get theses helmets off then” Mickey announced,

The vehicle moved off, it took a few sharp turns and stopped at what looked like a rock face, the driver spoke in robot language, “need to put theses goggles on you, this place is top secret, I have also to wear them, the two of them put on the goggles, Mickey spoke back to the driver who want really a driver, just a guard.

The vehicle moved off,

They travelled a good ten more minutes, few times they slowed right down and the sounds of the side of the vehicle scraping was heard, the vehicle shook around as well,

Ben could see bright lights flashing beyond his goggles, “we are being scanned before we enter the draft” Mickey said softly, “so how do you know all this, I thought you were from my era sort of, ish, ok then obviously not, I remember you saying you took over from another minder robot who was watching over me, so come on then talk to me, oh and by the way I need to take a pee very soon” Ben announced,

Mickey again told him in brief what was going on and what more she knew of where they are going and she wasn’t too sure herself, just had information from plugging into communication points around the place searching data basses when they were at the hospital and other holding stations previous,

The vehicle stopped, the robot in the front spoke out in his own language, “welcome to the draft Mr Ben, there are certain rules down here you must adhere too for your own safety and comfort and to ensure your stay here is to your liking, once in most never leave here, we have our own workers to keep the breathable air flowing down here, that’s why we call it the draft, Mickey I am sure once she has all the required data will lead you on the right path sir” the robot exclaimed.

Mickey nodded and winked at Ben.