Lloyd went to the next morning, arriving in front of a line of only six people, all of whom were wearing masks. They where harder to see than usual, because of the weather. The temperature had dropped considerably since last night, and Lloyd realized he forgot to check the news.

"No automatons today?" He asked the one in front.

"They've been patrolling the city non stop since last night." A slightly muffled older voice replied. The guy had on a big jacket and had an umbrella at his hip."Someone damaged some of the machines, and they're searching for him."

Searching? He thought. They killed him instantly.
"Well that sucks. But at least there aren't protestors out here badgering y'all."
Lloyd checked his watch.

"We start in about twenty minutes," he looked up at the sky. "You probably won't need that umbrella."

"Yeah but others with later appointments might, so I'll leave it out here just in case."

Lloyd nodded quietly and walked through into the decontamination area. After a few moments, he took off his mask, opened his eyes, and stepped inside.

"And I'm not trying to name names, I'm just saying that we gotta speed if up all across the board." Frederick was preaching to the therapist staff, whom he had lined up in the waiting room.

"I've already had this talk with the other sections-oh look who decided to crawl into work. Join the line, I'm almost done."

Lloyd sauntered on over to the right side next to Pete, so immediately handed him a paper.
"Your first one's an old client. This is not going well." Pete snickered.

"But like I've been saying, you greet them you feed them, they wake up and it's over. Usher their asses on out, get your new client in."

"What about the part were we ease them into the transition and help them with the process?" William inquired sarcastically.

"Give them a rain check on that. Tell them to come back, it don't matter. Just get them in, and get them out. Let's go."

He clapped his hands and everyone dispersed with a wide range of grumbles.

"Lloyd, come here, let's go to your office." Frederick was smiling his fake cheesy grin, Lloyd knew he was upset about something.

"Okay so, they can do it from your office. The headset's already wireless, it's just the uh, installment that required another room. Afterwards they'll pick up sleeping beauty and you're on to the next one. Capisce?"

Lloyd nodded. "Good enough for me."

"That's good. Now get rid of that Hatfield asshole quick so you can get to new cases. I've already had to start subletting equipment."

Hatfield? Lloyd thought as he looked down at the papers. Wasn't he the guy?

Lloyd pressed his fob against the signal and entered his office, quickly putting the paper down. He took off his jacket and turned on his monitors. On the left he swiped up and pinged the office.

"Front Office, Pete speaking."

"Hey Pete can you lock entry to my office for the next half hour at least? I'm dealing with a patient in local and don't want distractions."

Just then the computer chirped, and a message appeared:

Entrance Permitted: Staff

"Sure can do. Starting now."
After the timer went down Bethany appeared, today wearing a a dark red pantsuit with black nails. She pushed a tray of got coffee, sugars, creams, and the bowl of brownies.

"Thanks Beth, but my first patient is already inside, so I won't need the food yet."

"Do you want me to bring it back later? I could, if it's a problem."

"It's fine, you're good. I'll just drink both cups off coffee, you make it the best anyways."
They both gave each other small smiles as she backed out of the room.

"Man..." Pete began.

"Stop." Lloyd interrupted.

"Bro that outfit. I know you're married but you can't act like you're blind. I wonder what she does at the raves."

"Raves?" Lloyd asked. "Who the hell is having raves?"

"The younger people, do you even watch the news? Secret raves in stadiums and clubs. I couldn't go though, they'd crush me. Alright I gotta go."

Lloyd rolled his eyes and pressed the button at the top of his desk, causing the white projector to rise from its edge. Two projectors hit the screen, one on other side, so the startup faced him correctly he paced across the office. After hearing a little ding, he returned to his seat. The screen read: Assume Normal Position to Initiate Local.

Lloyd sat in an upright position and after a quiet moment, the screen chirped again this time showing almost a mirror image of the rest of the room except for the young Connor Hatfield, who was sitting with perfect posture like a mannequin, still and lifeless. A blinking red dot appeared at the bottom of the screen, and Connor sprang to life.

"What?" He asked suspiciously.

"Uh, what?" Lloyd replied back. "You came back here to see me, right?"

"Yeah I know it's just, you came in so quietly, sat down and just looked at me. It was weird."

"I'll uh... I'll ask about that. So how you been? What's it like in there?"

"It's...uh. I don't want to praise it but uh yeah, it's kinda good actually. Well you know, just to be able to breathe, and see. Congestion though, that's a problem. Everybody wants to go somewhere, but you know, transportation isn't different."

"How are they dealing with it?" Lloyd asked.

Connor shrugged. "I'm still not sure yet. I looked for my brother, and still haven't found him. I tried to go to visit our Uncle in Kingston, and they said they were blocking all visitation to the Eurasian Domicile.

"Domicile?" Lloyd echoed.

"Yeah it's all zones now, each continent. There's a live counter on billboards in every city, showing people as they appear and counting down the time before the new year. I gotta be careful in here man. I don't like thinking about what they would do to me."

"You're fine." Lloyd promised Connor. "You're literally here with me. You'll be fine."

Connor seemed to relax. "You're probably right. I gotta stay focused. I've applied to the automaton program. Is there anybody you want me looking for?"

Lloyd thought for a second. "Not yet. I don't think my people are in yet. I'll let you know."

Connor got up and left, leaving only a few buzzing sounds left in the room until the screen read: Transmission Ended.

Lloyd mixed his coffee and took a sip as the monitor began to beep.

"Hall's office, accept call."

"Mr. Hall," Peter said with sly derision. "You're next patient, Phoebe Caulley, is ready."

"Send them down and ask Bethany to send a refill." Lloyd replied wistfully as he grabbed the second cup, mindlessly stirring the sugars in.

"She's on her way." Peter replied bluntly before quickly cutting off the speaker.

Lloyd took another sip and stared at the empty seat, waiting for the next client. He saw Kennedy's face. Miguel's. Connor's. He imagined his wife in that chair. Eric, sitting on the small couch at the back of the office, looks up with a worried expression.

"Daddy, is this going to hurt?"

"Not at all," Lloyd answered with his signature fake smile."You're just going to meditate a little like Yoda, take a small nap and wake up in a better world. It's easy."

"Then why won't you come with us?"

The scene fades from his eyes as the door clicks and opens. A woman in her mid thirties quietly enters the room, wearing a navy blue long coat, black jeans and a gray turtlneck. Her hair was dark brown with blonde highlights, pulled into a simple ponytail.

"Hello, I'm Phoebe, it's great to meet you."
He stood and smiled while his monitor beeped again.

Entrance Permitted: Staff

The door opened and Bethany arrived with a pitcher and two glasses.
"Oh, excuse me if I'm interrupting."

"You're fine," Lloyd said earnestly. "I asked for refills anyways."

"Are you excited?" Beth asked Phoebe.

"Yeah, a little. A lot actually. I know I'm kinda last minute, but I was waiting on someone who wouldn't join so I uh... I left."

Bethany smiled and touched Phoebe's shoulder. "I had the same problem. But some things are better to do alone, you know?"

Phoebe gave her a careful nod and Bethany gave Lloyd one last smile before leaving the room.

"Okay let's get started. Any reservations about going digital?" He plopped down into his seat and started typing aggressively. Pretending to type out her name, he grabbed a brownie and enunciated each letter.

"Feel free to take one or two, those are for the clients, not us. I just get a little hungry."

Phoebe gave a small chuckle and grabbed one. "Sure. And I don't really have any reservations. I suppose my biggest fear is, what if it goes down? Like, what if the entire internet goes down?"

Lloyd stopped typing and chewing. He looked over to her. "How the hell would that happen?"

"I have no clue. Maybe a massive EMP explosion. Or a giant storm, something that could wipe out power on a massive scale."

"If we can get pictures from robots we put on the moon and mars, I think the internet will be just fine."
He grabbed his folder of papers and started sifting through the files subtly monitoring her behavior,

"Besides, humans struggle more with protecting life than they do machines. I want you to do something for me."

Phoebe wiped her mouth. "Sure."

"Lie down on that couch," said Lloyd, standing up to attach a baseball sized black box to the center of the ceiling. "And relax." He tapped a button and the lights began to dim.

"Now close your eyes. Imagine a place you'll go when you're inside, or a place that makes you happy."

Phoebe took a deep breath, exhaled and responded. "I got it, but its basic."

"Try me." Lloyd replied in a cool tone, preparing to record.

"Okay, well... a beach. But not just any beach. I see big storm clouds; there's a chilling breeze and I'm relaxing at a bar near the shore."

Lloyd ended the recording and after a brief pause the projector lit up the room, recreating her description to a t. Rectangular fans clicked and whirred as the jutted out from the corners of the room, all angling downward to face Phoebe. Speakers from the ground roared with crushing sounds of the oceans waves. Lloyd turned down the volume on the waves.

"Holy shit!" Pheobe exclaimed jumping upright. "I can barely see the room, I can barely see you- this is, this is-"

"Your future." Lloyd continued, picking up a brownie and walking slowly towards her. "This place, any place, its all within arm's reach. Take another brownie, relax and imagine the vibes, when you wake up, you'll be in it for real."

Phoebe took the brownie and started to lay back down. "Will you be joining?" she asks quietly.

"Gotta get my clients in first." Lloyd replied softly. He lowered the fan speeds decreased the brightness of the sky box and increased cloud size.

"Do you feel comfortable, Phoebe?"

No response. Lloyd peered over his monitor.

"Miss Caulley?"

She was sound asleep. Lloyd sighed and pushed a button, ending the projection and turning the lights back to normal.

Entrance Permitted: Staff

The door opened and to Lloyd's surprise, in came Bethany, alone wheeling in a gurney backwards.

"Do you need help? Where are the doctors and the nurses?" Lloyd asked, quickly getting up to assist.

"I'm fine." she giggled breathlessly "I got it. The doctors are all busy. Arthur's doing his by himself too now. Oh and Frederick wants you immediately to talk about a client."

Miguel he thought. He's still trying Miguel.

"Well uh, tell him I'm almost finished."

"No, he needs you now. It's why I'm here, he told me to finish up while you do something more important."

More important? Lloyd wondered. What does he want me to do?

"Okay thank you. and good luck with this, it's actually pretty simple."

Lloyd quickly left the room, pacing down the hall while Bethany continued to bring in a mobile computer stand. Lloyd wondered if she had to bring Arthur's equipment as well, considering the doctors were apparently so busy. He had half a mind to go check the waiting room, but he reached Frederick's office before he could act on it. Knocking on the door, Lloyd could see a figure standing up from the frosted glass window. Frederick opened the door looking puzzled.

"What?" he demanded.

"Miguel." Lloyd responded in a hushed tone. Frederick look down the hall to see two automatons exited the elevator. "Come in." he said quickly as he opened the door.

"With Miguel, I know there have been a few complications." Frederick logged into something on his computer.

"He's not acclimating," Lloyd began, wondering what he was looking at behind the screen. Multiple papers were scattered across his desk, lots of which had underlines and marks with red ink over them. "His last waking thought was in a state of panic, so every time you boot him up in local, it's the first thing on his mind. With two days left, I don't think he'll be ready by the census."

"Census?" Frederick scoffed. "Fuck the census. In fact its actually better if he gets uploaded after the census, he could appear too unstable, that looks bad on us. I've got a plan though. You'll visit him in local tonight."

Lloyd stared at him in bewilderment. "You're out of your damn mind."

"Relax! I'm not saying you have to come back up here. Actually, I'm giving you something." Reaching under his desk he pulled out a shiny black box the size of a shoebox.

"Blackout method. Disassemble this, put the sides in four corners of a room and stand in front of the center piece. He'll be able to physically feel you, though you obviously won't feel him. Get him to relax. Tell him if he wants real answers, he has to join the automaton program."

"What good does that do?" Lloyd asked,

"Gives him purpose, for a start. I don't know about you, but I still can't sleep after what happened. I wanted him to have a second chance to find happiness, peace."

"Then you should've left him dead." Lloyd retorted as he grabbed the box. "I'll do it, but if I show up with a hangover, I don't wanna hear shit."

Lloyd reached for the door, box tucked under his left arm, when Frederick stood up too.

"Lloyd, That's not the only thing you can use the black box for. Once you have a full avatar uploaded, you're basically not just in local, but the entire internet. You'll even be able to go to other domains, after the census ends. You can see your family again."

Lloyd looked at the box in his hands. "How much did this thing cost?"

Frederick smiled. "Let's just say, try not to break it."

***********

Lloyd arrived back to his room to find a very aggravated Beth, with Phoebe strapped up and unconscious.

"Your computer is locked." Bethany spoke up glumly.

"Oh, Damn, yeah. I guess I should've left you my fob. Everything else is done though right? Besides the upload?"

She nodded grabbing the woman's coat and the brownie tray. "I'll get this registered and put it in a locker.

Lloyd pulled the long black flash drive out of the computer and held it up to Phoebe's temple, waiting for the flashing blue light to stay constant. The black box took up alot of space on his table. he saw no seams or screws. Just a perfect black box.

If I showed up what would she say? Lloyd thought as he plugged the drive back into the computer. Eric would be happy. He stared at the Manifest Digital logo until Phoebe's face appeared in the corner. They would want me to stay.

Backup to Local Completed!

Lloyd clicked Phoebe's pop up and watched all the folders appear on the screen. He started to reach for the headset but changed his mind and put up the projector screen instead. Getting back into position he clicked run. The projector lit up and overlaid a replica of his office on to of his office, creating a dizzying effect,

"I should've used the headset." he muttered to himself as Phoebe slowly started to wake..

Wait! The Beach!

Lloyd immediately hit Pause Exercise and started typing a description into an area labeled, Change Scene. He hit generate scene, but it was completely different, so he hit randomize and tried a different one. it still wasn't right.

"You can't be serious, come on now. Please." he kept clicking trying to go recreate the beach scene.

"Why does everything keep changing? Phoebe groggily asked.

"I'm trying to find the scene we made earlier he responded still fixated on one of his monitors. "I'm sorry, but I'm almos-"

She..She spoke. Did I not press pause?! Lloyd quickly looked over and pressed the button on the other screen. What if I change the way I phrase it? He reworded the phrase and tried again. Once, twice, three times. Damn it!

"Can you please stop? I'm getting sick." Phoebe groaned.

"Okay, that's enough, you're starting to freak me out!"

Lloyd froze.

"Wait, who is that?" said both Phoebe's in unison. Lloyd ended transmission as the word PATIENT ANXIETY HIGH appeared on the screen. He pressed a button and the projector lowered while the lights brightened.

"That was me wasn't it? WASN'T IT?!! GET ME OUT OF THIS!!" Phoebe screamed.

""Phoebe listen, relax ok?" Lloyd approached her slowly. "Everything's fine. That was uh... an uh, test, of your virtual model, that's all."

"No the fuck it wasn't. That was me. ME!" Phoebe wrestled against her restraints. "The theories were true, we don't leave, of course we don't leave. GET ME OUT!"

"Phoebe please! You're overreacting, you woke up before the transfer even started, it was just a test model."

Phoebe thrashed even harder, screaming so loud Lloyd thought someone might her even though his room was sound proof.

"Don't lie." said Phoebe breathlessly, tears streaming down her face. "You heard my voice I could feel the fear in her words. That was me."

"Lloyd backed away silently, refusing to respond.

"Please," she begged. "Please let me go."

"Computer." he spoke clearly. "Two."

"Contacting Medical Services." said the computer, and the monitor on the left showed a black timer.

"NO NO No! Please!" Phoebe pleaded. "You're a doctor, right? You help people. Please help me, please. I wouldn't do this to you! Would you do this to your daughter?" She looked at the computer but couldn't see the timer from her angle.

Lloyd walked up to her carefully and she flinched, expecting a hit. Instead, he loosened the straps.

"Computer, Cancel."

"Canceling." it chirped back.

"I'm sorry this happened, think I have a plan. I'll pretend this session is difficult so they won't send me more patients. I'll hail you a ride and when it arrives, you run to it as fast as you can, okay? don't talk to a person or automaton, just make a beeline for the car okay?"

Phoebe wiped her face and nodded. Lloyd pulled out his phone to call the ride.

"I'm going to go see how many people are up front, to make sure it's safe. Just stay put for a second."

Lloyd exited through the door and then turned and locked it both ways from the touchpad. Now only he and Frederick could open the door. He tried to walk normal but could feel his arms and knees trembling .

Two Phoebe's. A local and an office one. A virtual one and a real one. A living one, and a copy.

"You feeling alright LLoyd?" Peter asked as he entered the waiting room. "You look a little flustered." The waiting room was entirely empty besides him.

"Just getting some air. Difficult patient, you know."

"Gotta be rough on em if you wanna get them outta here fast. But the automatons are lessening the workload at least."

"They are?" Lloyd asked. "Where are they?"

"There's only one out front, the rest are downstairs removing some cryochambers to take to another facility."

"Thanks." Lloyd replied, and turned around before hearing Peter's confused response. Unlocking his office door, he breathed a small sigh of relief.

She'll get out and nobody has to know, for now at least. I'll tell Peter she changed her mind last minute. I'll definitely speak to Frederick on it privately.

"Lucky for us, there's only one automaton out front. If you walk normally, but quickly, no one should-

"Ahhh!" Phoebe screamed as she slammed the black box against Lloyd's head, causing him to stumble forward and trip over the gurney. Head throbbing with pain and blinking away spots, he could feel her walk over him and she ran out the door. Lloyd got to his feet and his head spun, causing him to lean on his desk for support.

The automaton. he remembered. She can't end up like Miguel. Or the guy from the purification test.

He grabbed the gun from under his desk, feeling a bead of blood trickle down his forehead. Running to the waiting room, he noticed the door was still open. Peter wasn't in there; the phone was ringing incessantly. Lloyd rushed through the decontam area and out into the toxic air. Eyes burning, nostrils singed, he squinted at the cluster of people standing to the left, all surrounding the automaton. The car he ordered was on his right.

"LET HER GO!" a couple shouted.

"IT'S A FUCKING KILLING MACHINE!" said another.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" screamed Phoebe.

A buff tall in a burgundy grabbed an old woman's cane and swung at the automaton, creating a dent the size of the doorknob. Its faceplate began to glow red, and it let go of Phoebe's hand.

"Everybody RUN!!" Lloyd shouted, quickly getting interrupted by his own haggard cough.

The automaton punched one man square in the chest, crushing his ribcage instantly and the back of his skull from the impact it made hitting the wall. The guy holding the cane was picked up and tossed like a javelin flying headfirst into the windshield of the car. The indoor lights changed to green for a second before dimming as the car started to drive away.

Lloyd fired a single shot into the air, causing everybody to freeze. They all turned to look at him, including Peter who nervously readjusted his mask before walking back over to Lloyd's side.

"The robot is in autopilot." Lloyd told crowd.

DROP THE WEAPON AND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND

"If you see an automaton's face glow red, you run." Lloyd squinted and realized Phoebe was gone. The automaton slowly started to approach him, and Lloyd made up his mind. He emptied the clip into it's midsection, destroying its cpu. Dropping to the ground like a giant can of soup, the group watch its fizzling corpse in astonishment, though most of their faces were hidden by masks.

"Their heart... well brain is in the center of the midsection. not in the head. That's how you destroy these assholes.