"Everything's ready on my end." said Lloyd, sitting in the back of a semi truck with his laptop. The the truck was pulled up to the warehouse, with an automaton on the ground next to it. With the black box set up inside truck behind Lloyd, Tony was frantically connected wires to a charging coil they ripped out the floor.

"Almost done over here." Tony answered breathlessly. "This is gonna require a lot more power than I thought. If a surge happens, you sure the black box will be okay?"

Lloyd looked at the dark metallic machine, it's design unlike anything he's seen in his entire life. If the right person said it, he could almost believe it was from the future.

"I think whoever made this machine was thinking way beyond us. It'll be fine."

He tapped his earpiece and called out to Ben.

"Hey, come off patrol, it's time."

Bethany and Phoebe came over dressed in all black, cargo pants, boots, and a long sleeve shirt. Phoebe, who put her hair in a ponytail, sauntered over to Lloyd as Ben knelt down behind the automatons head.

"Let's go over this one more time." Tony insisted. I turn on the automaton, Lloyd connects them to the network. If they can be convinced to stand down, they join our locale, and meet our fighters on the inside. If they can't be convinced, I try to flip this emp before they attack, or big buddy Ben over here rips their arms off. We'll lose an automaton, but that's better than a loss of life."

"Why don't you just send them straight through?" Ben asked aloud. "Skip the diplomacy, you know?"

"It doesn't work like that." said Beth and Lloyd together. He motioned for her to continue the explanation, his right hand clasping a piece of paper in his pocket.
Smiling faintly, she continued.

"Transfer therapists like Lloyd exist because moving into the digital work is a big adjustment, and any sort of hysteria triggered from real-world ptsd could put everyone inside and out in jeopardy. They'll know exactly how, when and where a person entered."

"Diplomacy it is then." Phoebe said, staring at the long slender humanoid figure laying lifelessly on the ground.

"On the count of three. One... Two... Three." Tony flipped a switch on his makeshift generator, causing all the lights to flicker and dim. Slowly, the coil began to hum. The face sockets began to glow orange, pulsing slightly.

Ben reached forward and tapped the automatons temple. It's eye sockets glowed blue then white.

"This automaton was not shut off properly." A robotic voice intoned from the automatons head.
"A reboot is needed. Restarting in thirty seconds."

"Ah, we lucked out, it's just an AI." Tony said relief.

"I'll create a profile for it and store it in the box." Lloyd replied. "Get the next ones ready."

Tony whistled and four guys came over to bring the next automaton out of the trailer bed. Lloyd finished transferring the AI's data to locale, and now had the option to move any of his clients into the automaton if he wanted. Tony disconnected the automaton from it's charging coil and wheeled it out of the way while the other guys rolled the next one over.

"Y'all should really hook me up to one of these bitches." One of guys remarked. "I'd go apeshit on every facility they got."

"When we steal all the equipment to make that possible, I'll let you know." said Tony was he helped them properly set it up against the coil.

He walked back over to the generator, patting one guy on his back along the way.

"Ready Lloyd?"
He nodded.
"One, two... three." Once again, the lights flickered and dimmed as the coil began to hum. Slowly, the face sockets on the automaton glowed white.

"Um," said an older lady's voice. "Where am I?"

"In a warehouse." Tony replied, coming into her view. "We have uh... liberated you."

"Huh? What day is it? What time?" The lady asked. She attempted to move her arm, but the automaton was wrapped in chains. Lloyd hoped she wouldn't try too hard, or they'd have a problem.

"New Year's Eve, 9:48pm." Lloyd replied as he checked his phone.

"I need to get back, but my systems aren't working. What happened to my unit?" The woman asked from within the machine.

"Why can't I move?"

"Listen." Tony began. "There was an attack on one of the warehouses. We scoped it out and found out the cryogenics program was a ruse. They're killing everyone, and at midnight, the digital world will reset, making everyone think it was always real. It's not known why they did this, but looking at the world as it is, they've probably given up on restoring it. I think they're looking for a new home."

She was quiet for a moment.
"Are you serious? Are you sure?"

"Yes." said Lloyd, Bethany, Phoebe and Tony in unison.

"Then... Then..."

"It's okay, we can take care of this version of you." Lloyd promised. "At midnight tonight, when we attack another factory, we're going to save a bunch of people. And we're going to use your automaton, plus a few others, to keep doing that."

"This must be why they recalled all the human pilots." said the woman.

"Recalled?" Tony repeated. "When?"

"It's only been a day I think, if it's new years eve. But all human pilots are supposed to be in the domiciles by 10:00pm tonight, or they'll be soft locked out of the system."

"Lloyd," said Tony. "Why would they-"

"The first automaton was AI." Lloyd said aloud, looking at his laptop instead of Tony. "Depending on our odds, the others could or could not be. It's possible they plan on cleansing the chambers all at once."

"They don't want any digital civilians to see it happening, presumably. But if they've done that, who knows what other security measures they've added?" Tony asked. Lloyd looked at Phoebe and Beth.

"Should we go now?"

"It's 9:41pm." said Bethany. "We can go just to scout, or we could go out ready."

Lloyd thought it over for a bit. If they did beef up security, they'd need more than an hour to get through the automatons and save the people in cryochambers. It might even be too much, leaving them with no choice but to scrap the entire plan altogether.

"Scouting. Tony can stay to get the automatons ready. Let's bring the same groups from last time, in case we need to divide their attention and scatter."

Lloyd passed his laptop over to Tony while Tony picked up a whistle and blew into it sharply.

"Listen up! Everybody from the last expedition, gear up, it's time for round 2. Chili, go tell Lucero to bring me more guys. Specifically the buffer looking ones."

Chili, who was listening while picking at one his tattoos, turned and walked towards the door leading to the other factory.

Beth pulled out her phone and turned on a car that drove around the truck to pull up to them, while Phoebe walked over to a table and grabbed to EMP backpacks. Lloyd looked around at all the people they had helping them, working together to save some strangers they've never met. He could hope that somebody, somewhere, was doing the same all over the world. He could only hope that somebody was doing the same for his family. But that's all it was. A false hope.

Beth and Lloyd helped Phoebe gather the rest and closed the trunk. They gave each other quiet glances as Tony walked over to Lucy, who was coming in with a bunch of people. Beth gathered herself, and spoke.

"If this is goodbye... I just want to say that I don't know what I would have done without you guys. Rescuing and hiding was all I could do, they wanted a leader to charge into battle, and I just couldn't be that. I didn't know where to start."

"But you're still doing it," Lloyd responded. "I sure as hell couldn't have gathered this many people together. And Phoebe wouldn't have woken up without you. You've been leading the way this whole time."
Lloyd felt Phoebe brush up against him, intentionally. He held her door open for her and kept his smile, but understood why she did it.

"One last time, whether it be to our doom, or the salvation of others. Lead the way."

"That was almost motivational." Beth giggled awkwardly."

"Yeah well, I can't be too hopeful can I?" Lloyd commented, thinking more about Frederick's dying words than any glimmer of hope.

"Wait aren't you driving the other car, Lloyd?"

Phoebe looked at Lloyd and he shook his head.
"Those guys were pretty good at following directions, they don't need a babysitter. We can give them orders through the headsets." Lloyd told Beth.

"I kinda want this last ride to just be us." He told her. She smiled fondly and got in the front seat.

I also need to make sure you don't cross us at the finish line. He thought to himself as he turned to see Tony give him a thumbs up as he got in the car.

***************

The roads were not blocked. The city silent as vacant room, except for the occasional hoot or holler from the few remaining birds who couldn't fly through the smog. They didn't need to be near the facility to see it, massive flood lights lit up it's surrounding area like a beacon, leaving no chance for a sneak attack.

"What are we gonna do about that?" asked Phoebe in a worried voice.

Lloyd checked the time on his phone.

"It's only 10:03. Let's scout the area, look for the least guarded route. Remember, all human pilots should be inside by now. Expect no mercy from the machine."

The two groups split up, trying to reach the warehouse from opposite sides. As they got closer Lloyd noticed some lights seemed to be moving across an lot filled with 18 wheelers that were not there before. Using his visor, he zooms in to see four drones circling between the trucks.

"Doesn't look like we'll be ramming or sneaking our way in." Lloyd stated bluntly. He looked at Beth. "Should we turn on EMP's now and hoof it?"

"Peanut?" she tapped her headset. "Peanut, can you hear me? We can't get too close in the cars-"

"LOOK!" Phoebe screamed.

Multiple drones had flown over to one location and then their lights immediately cut off. They were already spotted.

"Do we go to them or do we keep going forward?" Bethany asked. Phoebe looked at Lloyd while he watched as automatons started to march out from the warehouse, heading directly towards Peanut's group.

"We press on. Phoebe, get one bomb ready." Lloyd stomped the gas and finally made it to the other side of the building. Putting it in park, they heard an explosion off into the distance, causing them all to freeze for a moment.

"Th-they're fine." Bethany reassured them, but mostly herself. "They know what to do."

The sound of electronic buzzing snapped them out of their nervous stupor. Bethany quickly grabbed a backpack and turned on a switch.

They all screamed in shock and pain as a big drone landed on top of the car, created a huge inward dent that hit all of them. Lloyd could feel blood trickling next to his ear.'

"I'm sorry!" Bethany cried. Everyone was bent over, the drone practically flattened the top.

"It would've killed us, don't apologize. Lloyd said through gritted teeth. "Just...GET...OUT!!!"

He managed to kick his door open and crawl out, quickly turning around to move his seat and help them get out. They recovered the backpacks and pried the crates out the trunk with crowbars.

"They were pretty far away, so even if they survived, who knows if their vehicle did, or if they'll make it here by midnight. For now. The only hope those people in those chambers have is us. We must separate, and disable as many as possible.

"I'll head for the control panel. It's the riskiest option and probably guarded, but if I can hack into it, I may be able to disable them all at once."

"Could we also bomb the panel? or destroy it to somehow?"

They thought about it for a few seconds. A drone crashing ten feet away from them made them realize they were taking too long.

"I don't want to risk a failsafe, or it going haywire and frying everyone anyways." Lloyd looked at Bethany.

"Are you sure you can save them?"

She nodded. "If i can get in, yes."

Then lets make the folks back home proud." Lloyd coughed as he put his backpack on, and turned on one of the crates.

"Head towards the front, it's my turn to be a distraction."

Phoebe and Beth both gave him a hug before running towards the front together. Lloyd watched as they sauntered off, holding on for a few more seconds before he couldn't take it anymore and began coughing viciously, dropping to his knees in pain. His eyes watered and bulged as his chest heaved. Every breath felt like a slice of his lung had been cut by a knife. The crappy mask he had been given was nowhere near as helpful as the actual ventilators. Tossing it to the side, he reached for the detonator for the crate.

In a wave of dizziness in nausea, he remembered standing at the doorway, saying his last goodbyes to his son Eric and his wife Jenna.

"You don't have your mask on!" Eric shouted, turning to face his dad after closing the trunk.

"I know." Lloyd murmured to the memory. 'And I don't care anymore."

Lloyd pressed the button and the crate exploded, blowing a wide opening into the wall. Red emergency lights activated all around the building and sirens followed suit. As he slowly began to approach the opening two automatons came marching out.

"YOU HAVE ATTACKED AND TRESPASSED ON GOVERNMENT PROPERTY. YOU WILL NOW BE-"

The giant metal men dropped like husks at his feet, dampening the fire that was still blocking the opening..

Nothing more than stepping stones. I'm glad I won't see what comes next.

Calibrating his visor, he walked over the limp machines and started scanning the cryochambers.

Organize in the same columns and rows, the glowing blue fluid looked purple in the flashing red lights.

"Avery Beckham, age 42. Johnathan Bennett age 49. Elizabeth Bonds-"

"STAND RIGHT WHERE YOU AND DO NOT MOVE." A metallic voice echoed throughout the facility. Lloyd turned to see an automaton standing maybe fifteen feet away from him, brandishing a large but unfamiliar looking gun. It's face glowed white as it noticed him, then yellow as it scanned him before finally staying red. Outside the emp radius, Lloyd could run towards it and risk getting shot, or hope it was only a coincidence the automaton hadn't closed in on him yet, and that it still might walk in range.

"He held up his hands slowly, the automaton took a step, it's faceplate flashing a darker red than the lights ."

"DO NOT MOVE."

Lloyd heard a determined grunt, and the automaton looked down at its midsection to find a crowbar jutting out. The faceplate dimmed as it was pushed over by Phoebe, who retrieved her weapon before motioning for Lloyd to hurry.

"Thank you."

"Connor's last name was Hatfield right? The H's are this way, and we have a problem."

Lloyd ran towards her, noticing a black rectangular metal on the top of the automaton's head.

"Where's Beth?"

"She's already trying to open as many as possible."

They reached the front and saw multiple pods open, the blue liquid chilling the whole building. there were a few unconscious half naked bodies in a pile, but Lloyd couldn't see Beth anywhere.

"Before we even got close, an automaton attacked us. They have some faraday cage somewhere, on them or in the facility, that protects them. Our emps did nothing. Luckily it was just one, it seems the rest all converged on the other group."

Their breath was now visible in the ice cold warehouse, in stark contrast to the humid toxic outside air.

Lloyd started scanning for Connor. "Wonder why they did that."

"Because we kept cutting em down." Peanut emerged with his group, bruised and extremely bloody, but alive. Peanut was using one of the weird automaton guns as a crutch to lean on.

"Thank god!" Phoebe exclaimed as she rushed to help him. Lloyd looked back with relief and gave a smile, but quickly returned to the matter at hand. All of the cryochambers had a blinking timer on a small display. Even though the person in front of him wasn't Connor, he pried it open anyways.

"Phoebe, what were you saying about Bethany?"

"Oh, right. The automaton itself smashed the control panel, and that activated the timer. It's voice was still metallic though, so it must've been programmed to do it."

Lloyd caught the man but almost dropped him, the ice cold liquid almost sending his body rigid.

This isn't feasible. This isn't possible. This is stupid. This is insane.

"LLOYD!!!" Bethany shouted from somewhere in the middle. "Lloyd I found Connor!"

Lloyd ran to her and she stumbled into his arms, trembling.

"I found him but I... I c-can't help him L-lloyd. I'm too cold. He's over there.' she pointed past him.

"I'll get him." he promised.

"It's time to call it Lloyd." she whispered. "We've done what we can."

"Phoebe, come here. Do any of you have the strength to open these? We have forty minutes left, anything else we need to know?"

"These guns have rubber bullets. Probably so we can't tear them to shreds in case we get our hands on em." Peanut coughed, spitting up a little blood. "Makes a good cane though."

Phoebe knelt down to help Bethany while Lloyd ran to Connor. Others from Peanut's group began opening chambers as well.

"The facility we worked at has extra chambers, we can resuscitate them there afterwards." Bethany told Phoebe as she helped her stand. "They'll be here to help us soon."

"They?" Phoebe asked. "Tony?'

Bethany looked at her as everyone began to hear the sound of helicopter blades approaching.

"No. Manifest."

Phoebe pushed Bethany to the ground. "Lloyd!! Frederick was right! LLOYD!!!"

Big bright lights shone on them from all sides, with two helicopters circling the building.

"Wait! Listen!" Bethany pleaded. "Manifest wanted society to fight back, they wanted us to save these people! We are saving these people! Nobody has to get hurt anymore!"

Lloyd was holding Connor's ice cold body, barely able to see anything from the lights. He squinted finally seeing her laying on the ground.

"You," he hissed. "You and Frederick insisted on playing their stupid fucking game, right up until the end."

"WE HAVE THE BUILDING SURROUNDED. SURRENDER AND NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU."

"LOOK AT YOU!!" Lloyd shouted. "You're suffering, I'm suffering, look at them!" He pointed to Peanut.

"Why put us through this, why not tell us the whole truth?"

Bethany shook her head. "One way or another, we all chose this. I didn't make you leave your family Lloyd. Phoebe told me she wanted to wake up."

Bethany looked towards her too.

"Let's just go with them. We've done what they asked. You'll get your own domicile Lloyd. Fuck the North American Domicile, your own where you can be with your family, and have anything you can imagine. The perfect world you wanted."

"And everybody else? The billions already in, what do the get?"

Bethany glared at him. "The sheep? They get the american dream, what else? They couldn't dream bigger. They ran from this world we faced it and won."

"Won?" Phoebe scoffed. "We walk out there, get cleaned up, get a luxury suite compared to everybody else and you call that winning? It's the same prison with a comfier pillow."

"Well you don't have another option do you?" Bethany responded.

"Actually..." Peanut spoke up. "We managed to plant the rest of our explosives. Cost me a robot punch to the chest so I aint making farther than this. To Bethany's shock, he held up his detonator.

"Any objections?" he held the rubber gun up to Bethany, everyone else got into running positions. Peanut smiled at Lloyd, and Lloyd smiled back.

"Glad I came with trailblazers." he said as he pressed the button.

Everyone ran in different directions as the left and right walls exploded. A few automatons standing near the blast either got damaged by the blast or completely knocked over by the rubble smoke covered their exit, causing the automatons to shoot frantically at different heat signatures moving about.

Lloyd managed to drag Connor's body outside before noticing a red dot pointing at his chest. Turning to run he got hit three times twice in his back and once in his leg before dropping flat halfway up a hill. The force knocked the air out of him, though he was already struggling to breathe. He turned over onto his stomach, trying to tear open his shirt. He felt a warm liquid trickle down his stomach. Rubber or not, it went straight though him.

The automaton marched up to Lloyd still pointing the gun to his face. Lloyd could only cough up blood in response. It's face turned yellow and it lowered the gun.

"Lloyd Hall secured."

"Key Member Access Zero Three Zero One, Stand down." said Bethany, walking from behind the automaton. This time, instead of collapsing as it deactivated, it kneeled.

You can still have your family back Lloyd. I know you want that most of all. You can live out your dreams with them forever, you don't have to die like this.

"No thanks Beth. I'm fake enough as it is."
He removed the visor from his head and they both turned to hear a loud swoosh in the distance. Lloyd could feel the ground tremble as the purifier sucked up a ton of toxic air punching a whole through the smog revealing the starry night sky.

Though haggard, Lloyd breathed his last breath of air.
"This is good enough for me."