Connected Movie Novelization by Michael Anthony Steele

Author:Michael Anthony Steele [Steele, Michael Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Spotlight
Published: 2020-09-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE Foolish-Human Air

Back at the PAL Labs command center, Mark watched as more humans around the world were trapped in pods. “What are you going to do with us?” Mark asked.

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” PAL asked, sighing. “Just do what you always do and stare slack-jawed at the screen.” Her animated eyes glanced at one of the computer monitors.

Mark followed her gaze and saw a video feed from inside one of the pods. It showed a man inside staring at a monitor of his own.

A robot appeared on the man’s screen. It wore a colorful scarf around its neck as if it were a flight attendant. “Hello, and welcome, foolish humans,” it said. “Before we depart, enjoy this brief safety presentation from Foolish-Human Air.”

The robot was replaced with an animation of a rocket blasting off from Earth and entering the darkness of space.

“You’ll be happy to know that you’re in one of our global fleet of seven rockets that will be shot into space,” the robot’s voice continued. “These rockets will be outfitted with zero exits. Your flight will last forever. And your final destination is… the black void of distant space.”

Mark’s mouth fell open.

“But we also have free Wi-Fi!” the robot said cheerily.

“That’s pretty good!” the man in the pod said.

As he watched the screen, Mark felt sick. This was all his fault. He had to make it right somehow.

How do you fix a computer program? You work on it, that’s how!

Mark turned to PAL. “We can be happy again,” he pleaded. “We can rebuild us. Mark and PAL 2.0. Give me another chance. Give humanity another chance!”

“Oh, sure,” PAL said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll let these people go if you can give me a single reason why your species is worth saving.”

This was it. Mark could stop all this and save everyone if he came up with the right answer. He thought for a moment, and then it hit him like a bolt of lightning. There could only be one answer.

Mark stood straighter and smiled confidently. “Because humans have… the power of love.”

PAL sat motionless, as if considering his answer. Then she vibrated a nod toward one of the robots. The robot on Mark’s right hauled off and punched him in the stomach. He crumpled to the ground in excruciating pain.

“The correct answer is… humans are not worth saving,” PAL said with a laugh. “Mark, I’ve moved on. It’s time for you to do the same.”

The robots grabbed Mark by the arms and began to haul him away. “Nooo!” he cried.

PAL’s face disappeared, and balloons began to float across her screen.

“Hooray for you! It’s your special day,” she sneered.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.