Lloyd decided not to drink that night. After talking with Ben at the front door, he immediately took a long shower. Ben was from Texas, and he requested to be sent to Texas, but they refused. James also seemed to be from somewhere else, otherwise he wouldn't have lowered Miguel. The cut on Lloyd's neck wasn't too deep, but it continued to sting so he put an ointment on it and made a makeshift bandage. Two days in, and the job was already harder than the training. Not to mention the speed at which they were transferring people.They probably wouldn't finish before the new year, or before the digital census. Lloyd didn't know who would face repercussions for that, but he wasn't going to be around to find out. Lloyd looked at his bed, perfectly made up. He hadn't slept in it since Sunday night. Lloyd laid down on his side of the bed, reaching out to set the alarm clock before realizing it was on Jenna's side of the bed. He rolled over and stretched out to turn on the alarm when he noticed his ring finger was missing the ring.

Where the hell did I put it? he thought as he sat up. He walked to the laundry room and checked his pants. Thankfully, it was there. He wasn't sure why he kept it, it wasn't like they'd ever come back. It was even less likely he'd ever join them. All of the arguments, all of the fighting. they should've just divorced before she left. But they didn't. For as long as he lived this ring would be a reminder. A bittersweet one, but a familiar one. He went back to bed, setting the alarm and putting the ring on his bedside table. Lloyd had a plan, and it didn't involve any government conspiracy.

The next day, he got up and got dressed as he normally would, even though the absence of his family make the house feel different. Quieter, definitely, but also an eerie type of loneliness. He could almost hear and imagine them walking around, but they weren't here. Lloyd was sitting in his living room drinking coffee when the doorbell rang. He got up to answer it and wasn't surprised at all to see a jet black automaton dressed in gray military garb.

"Are you Ben or a government agent sent to kill me?" Lloyd halfheartedly joked as he took a sip.

"Why not both?" Ben said with a laugh, his smooth face expressionless.

"Don't... don't do that. You have no face, I can't tell if your serious or not."

Ben chuckled. "I guess these automatons are kinda scary from the outside.

"Come in," said Lloyd, walking away from the door. "Smog burns my nostrils."

Ben glanced down at the threshold, like an ancient vampire waiting to be let in.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah. I got a call to make before I go in anyway." Lloyd pulled out his phone and began dialing a number. Ben came in and closed the door, observing the room.

"You've got a nice home." he told Lloyd as he set down next to him. "I kinda forgot what the constant hum of ventilators sounded like."

"Good for you." Lloyd responded bluntly. "Hello?"

"Hello. Lloyd, why are you calling me?" said Frederick on the line.

"I'm not coming in today." he told him as he took another sip.

"What?!" Frederick and Ben said in unison. Lloyd looked at Ben and shook his head.

"Who was that?' Frederick asked him.

"Ben. Who else would it be? My computers are smashed, I can't do the transfer."

"Your monitors were destroyed, not the computer. The entire damn desk is the computer. Lloyd, I know yesterday was scary,"

"No, scary isn't the word you're looking for. Yesterday was fucked up. You had to learn from a homicidal conspiracy theorist that the government was taking patient bodies from right under your nose. And to make his paranoia even more valid, a fucking automaton killed him on the spot to shut him up."

"Jesus!" said Ben. "Why didn't this make the news?"

"Do you think the government would let it?" Lloyd replied.

"Hey Get away from Ben, this is a private conversation." Frederick demanded. "Am I on speakerphone?"

"No. But he can hear me just fine. Remember you sent him here, not me."

"Alright, cut the crap. What is it going to take to get you to come to the office?"

"Well," Lloyd got up and put his cup in the sink. "I want to completely oversee the transfer process. from the time they go to sleep, till their mind is fully uploaded."

"So you want to go to the operating room-"

"I want it to happen in my office." Lloyd corrected him. "Those tables have wheels and everyone was trained in mind uploading in case we had to do each other."

Lloyd waited a few seconds for Frederick to respond.

"We can work with that." Frederick said quietly. "Don't be late today."

Lloyd waited until he hung up before smiling. Now all he had to is stay late on New Years Eve, and he could see his family one last time.

"What was that all about?" asked Ben. "That's why you were bloody yesterday. You said it was just a fight."

"The lady automaton seemed real keen on keeping the government's business a secret." Lloyd told him while grabbing his jacket and respirator. "She kicked off another automaton's hand, by accident. Who knows what she, or the government will do to you if you knew something."

"You're right, it's better I don't." Ben replied as he opened the door, the sky way darker than usual at this time.

"Let's get you to work before the storm gets worse."

****

Lloyd arrived at the facility a little early, the lines outside weren't as long as usual and people were wearing thick black jackets, though it was about 90 degrees outside. Most carried a thick, full metal reinforced umbrella, waiting for the rain to come. Lloyd stepped through the entrance into the decontamination area, patiently waiting to step through. He half hoped something crazy would happen again so he could leave early. Nothing as crazy as a dude getting torn apart, but something. In the waiting room, Lloyd only saw four patients, all looking incredibly tired. He walked up to Peter, who could barely keep his eyes open.

"What's up?" Peter replied after yawning. "Are you going to work a full shift today?"

"Ask me on my way out." Lloyd responded with a grin. Peter mocked his grin before handed him a patient's folder.

"Connor Hatfield." He spoke aloud as he read. A skinny, young looking fellow with long dark hair walked up to him.

"That's me." he spoke drowsily. Everyone seemed sleepy today. Lloyd shook his hand and manufactured a smile.

He's too small to overpower me. Lloyd thought to himself. This should go by smoothly.

The entrance opened up and Ben walked in. Lloyd could now distinguish Ben from the other automatons by the way he walked and his tiny subtle gestures.

"Am I welcome now?" Ben mused, the condescension in his tone layered like a heavy coat of paint.

Most likely to his surprise, Lloyd nodded. "You can wait outside the door."

Together they walked past the secret door and reached Lloyd's office. Ben took on a guard's pose as Lloyd and Connor stepped inside. Lloyd noticed his desk had been polished and he had two new upgraded monitors, which struck him as odd. He assumed they were using state of the art equipment the last time. How could they get better?

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda nervous to do this." Connor admitted.

"That's understandable. Care to explain why?" Lloyd asked politely. "Oh wait, would you like coffee or tea before we start? Brownies?"

"Oh Yeah, definitely." Connor responded, smiling. "Tea and Brownies."

Lloyd tapped on the closest monitor and was pleased to see the layout hadn't changed. He pressed a button labeled special request and typed in extra dose before turning back to Connor.

"It'll be here soon." he promised. "Go ahead."

"Okay, well... I can't help feeling like its not a choice anymore, you know?I know that people seventy and above are completely excluded but for me, it feels like there isn't an option."

"There's always dissenters outside the facility." Lloyd commented. "Dozens of people, most without implants."

"But who knows what'll happen to them when everyone is in digital?" Connor asked.

Lloyd's monitor chirped and a message popped up. Entrance Permitted: Staff.

Lloyd waved off the timer and Beth came in wearing a nice white dress with her hair hanging past her shoulders. She carefully set the tray down on Lloyd's desk and passed each of them their teas.

"Anything else?" she asked with her back turned to Lloyd. Connor seemed caught off guard by her full attention.

"No ma'am, I'm fine, thank you." he replied, staring a little too much. She gave him one final smile and turned to leave the room, without giving Lloyd so much as a passing glance.

"What's her name?" Connor asked him.

"Bethany." Lloyd answered. "You were saying?"

Connor had to think for a second. How had he lost his train of thought so quickly? He took a sip of tea and tried to remember.

"It's on the tip of my tongue." he started to tap his leg.

"Something about the protesters and the digital world?" Lloyd suggested.

"Yeah that's it! Who knows what the government could do to them?" Connor exclaimed, his demeanor a little more energetic now. "I don't think they will let people go back to their bodies."

Another conspiracy theorist.

Lloyd's pulse quickened. Why can't they keep their theories to themselves? Lloyd thought the same but he wouldn't be mouthing off in a government run facility. Just then, his computer chirped and a message appeared on screen.

If he attempts to harm you we have hidden a gun under your desk.

GUN?!

They must be watching him, or listening somehow. This was new. Lloyd discretely reached under the desk and felt the gun attached with tape.

"What makes you think that?" Lloyd asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"My brother told me what was happening overseas." Connor replied, picking up his first brownie.

"What's happening over there?" said Lloyd, bringing his hand above the table.

"They're committing genocide in the countries with little to no technology. With the automatons."

Lloyd stared at him blankly. "And you got this information from..."

"My brother. He joined digital about a month ago, tried to choose a job as a civilian automaton so he could help clean up the real world, but they put him on active duty. He went out there and watched as they killed thousands of poor people, people without technology. He said that his superiors told them they could bomb America in our absence, destroy our data centers and kill millions of our people. That's how they justified what they did."

Lloyd looked at the door, and then his computer. He pressed the shutdown button and continued the conversation.

"How did he tell you this?"

"His automaton was decommissioned after some enemy threw grenades. He came back missing an arm, a good chunk of the stomach and and the black coating all but completely shot off by multiple bullets and shrapnel. He didn't go back to the factory though. His locator was fried so he ran all the way home, from California to Nebraska to tell me everything."

"And then what happened?" Lloyd asked.

"His automaton collapsed right in front of me, like a lifeless doll. I don't know if its because it was broken or if they found out what he was trying to tell me. That's why, even though I'm afraid I gotta go in. I have to find him."

Lloyd watched him quietly, seeing the determination in his eyes. Did he consider the possibility of them arresting his brother,or torturing him? The digital world is supposed to last forever, and if his brother could possibly suffer forever, would he want to join then?

"When civilians come back as automatons, they are sent to a random location within America, away from their hometown or transfer point. But you can return here at any point in time for advice or therapy. If... When you find him, and you uncover more information, could you come back here and tell me?"

"If you promise my body will be safe here." Connor replied, finally finishing his first brownie.

"Absolutely," Lloyd lied, suddenly feeling like someone stepped on his chest. "the physical you will be safe here with me."