Arlo had discovered the field when quite young. He remembered that as a boy he had always liked to explore the complex. His mom had given him a map, and on it, he marked off each tower he had visited. By the age of twelve, he had worked through all four quarters. There was only one area that he had not explored to his satisfaction, the core.
But that area was off-limits, to humans anyway. The Ems had taken up residence there when they had contracted with the complex's government to manage the complex. Arlo had heard that the Ems needed to be tightly packed to perform their duties, at the speed they operated, minimizing communication times between Ems was critical for efficiency. It was said that there was no room for humans in the Em area and that only specialized robots could make their way in the kilometers and kilometers of cables and equipment so as to maintain the hardware the emulations ran on. But twelve-year-old Arlo didn't believe it.
He would have to plan his “assault” on the Em area carefully. From his tower, it would take a couple of hours to walk there. His friend Pauli would go with him.
Arlo and Pauli researched the history of the complex. They came up with a plan to break into the Em core.
Setting out early one morning, they arrived at the core before noon. Around the square that made up the Em core were three old skyscrapers left over from the city era. These had been the tallest buildings of their time. To make them even taller, they had been reinforced with an exoskeleton, and upper floors had been added. Faster high-speed elevators and new stairs had been added at the same time, but if what Arlo and Pauli thought was true, inside at least one of the old buildings would be an intact stairwell from the original design. It would provide emergency access to the city's old subway system, and that stairwell would lead them to the core.
“There it is,” said Pauli. As they approached the first old building.
“Okay, let's go,” said Arlo.
They went into the building and to the location where they expected to find the old elevators. Looking around the area, they could find no elevators and no entrance to a stairwell.
“Let's go,” said Arlo. “The next building is just a couple of blocks south.”
As before, they went to the area off the lobby where they expected the old elevators would have been located. The old elevators were still there, and they were operational.
“This is it,” said Pauli too loudly.
“Shhh, quiet,” said Arlo. “We don't want to attract attention.”
Pauli's face reddened a bit.
As before, they looked around the elevator area for a stairwell entrance but found nothing.
They searched the third building also without luck.
Back on the street, Pauli said, “I don't understand it. According to our research, we should have found the stairwell in one of those buildings.”
“I know,” said Arlo. “Let's take a break and get some lunch; maybe we missed something.”
They stopped at a deli to get a sandwich and think about what they should do next.
“Okay,” said Arlo. “Assuming our research and conclusion were correct, we missed something.”
“How do we know our conclusion is correct?”
“Well, if it isn't, it doesn't matter right now. We can review the research when we get back home. But right now I don't want to give up.”
Pauli shook his head in agreement. They both ate silently for a few minutes.
Arlo stopped eating suddenly. “I've got an idea, come on.”
Pauli hurried after Arlo, trying to run and finish his sandwich at the same time.
They arrived back at the second old building, the one with the elevators intact.
Rushing inside and up to the elevators, Arlo punched the up button. He was holding the door open as Pauli slid to a stop.
“Come on,” said Arlo, “I've got an idea.”
At first, Arlo was unsure about which floor to choose, but finally decided on the second. He figured he might as well start his search on the lowest floor and hope.
Getting off on the second floor, they walked around the elevator core to the back side and found nothing.
“What is it?” asked Pauli. “What are we doing?”
“Come on,” said Arlo. “Let's try the third floor.”
It wasn't until the fourth floor that Arlo found what he was looking for, a door marked 'Maintenance – Do Not Enter'. It was locked. But that wouldn't be a problem. As Pauli watched for building occupants, Arlo set his Annie to work. The Annie quickly linked to the lock's wireless and began a code-breaking assault. Arlo had trained the Annie on his virtual reality system at home for this eventuality. After a few minutes, click-pop. The Annie had deciphered the key; the door was open.
Was it possible that no one had tried the door before? Maybe, thought Arlo, as most people did not have the same adventurous spirit. So it was quite possible he and Pauli were the first.
They pushed the door further open; it was the stairwell. The way up was blocked, but the way down was open. Arlo started to get excited as he descended.
“This is it, Pauli. We've found the way in, I know it.”
After walking down several flights without finding another way out, they emerged through the only available door onto a platform.
“Just as we thought,” said Pauli. “The old subway.”
The old subway was no longer used but was maintained for purposes other than those for which it was originally designed. They heard a rumble in the distance and moved back into the shadows. It was a two-car train, obviously automated. It came from the direction of the complex's periphery, and it was headed into the core. Arlo was sure.
He jumped off the platform.
“Come on, Pauli,” he turned back to say. “We go in the direction of the train. Be careful, remember that third rail is electrified.”
Jumping down to the roadbed, Pauli started running after Arlo in the direction the train was taking. It wasn't long until they came upon a gate across the tracks. Apparently, it activated automatically when a train approached. They would have to wait.
Within half an hour, the gate started to slide back; both of them scurried through as they heard a train approaching. They hid in the shadows against the tunnel wall until the train had passed. The gate closed. They were in the Em core.
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