Cuento en Ingles ganador de premio Alberto Etxeberria.

Future

Lyde looked around, and she only saw chaos. Robots, LOTS of robots had taken the power of the world. GAIA, their leader (an artificial intelligence robot), who was supposed to protect humans, was broken. Her code was corrupted by a virus. With her initial programing damaged, nobody could stop the robot army that emerged from the depths of the ocean and ruined everything in their path. That day, they were marching through Lyde’s village. Lyde, a girl only fourteen years old, had to run away and find her own path through the chaos and ruins.

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In the tower Velemongh, a scientist came into a dark room.

-I-I-Ii I have i-it si-sir…

-Give me the chip- Answered a robotic voice from the other side of the room.

-Well, the programing feels right. -The robot voice went on, -Did you test it?

-Y-ye-y-yes, I-I did. It works-s. -The scientist replied trembling.

-Good. Make me a hundred more.

The scientist panicked.

-I-I can’t do it alone…

-So, get more people, but do it. -The robotic voice roared angrily. -Will you do it?

-Ye-es, I wi-will. -the scientist replied obediently.

-That’s what I thought. -The robotic voice said. - Dismissed. -The scientist ran out of the room.

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Lyde was running. She ran and ran away from her village. She ran nearer and nearer to the limits of the little town, but as she approached the border, a drone appeared. A spy drone.

Spy drones are made for seeking humans that had escaped the village during the eradication. These drones were made to eliminate humans. Permanently.

Lyde saw the drone and panicked, as she saw her doom come nearer. The drone was barely 10 meters away, near enough to attack her with its lasers. And just when she thought that she wouldn’t make it to the other side of the limits, an arm pulled her behind a boulder.

-Be careful! -It was a boy. -You could have died!!!-

Lyde just nodded.

A girl that was next to the boy said:

-Don’t worry, you are safe now. But you should keep an eye on those drones. By the way, I’m Oukry.

-And I am Fred. -Said the boy. Lyde nodded. She took a look over her shoulder and saw the drone going away.

-I think we should go now… -Lyde said cautiously. -Now that there are no drones around. –

Oukry smiled. -Yes, we should go.

Fred lifted a sewer cover and jumped inside. So did Oukry and after her, Lyde jumped in too. She fell in a tunnel, right behind Oukry.

-Come on! -Fred shouted, running to the left side of the tunnel. Oukry also followed Fred. As they ran, Oukry said:

-I am going to the tower of Velemongh, where the AI (artificial intelligence) Gaia was last seen. I must fix her soon, before it’s too late. What are you going to do?

-I, don’t know.

-Oh. And where are you from?

-I am from the village up there, or I was, until the robots destroyed it… Where are you from?

Oukry answered stiffly:

-I was a scientist from the Velemongh tower. One of the 10 scientists that programed the AI Gaia.

Fred stopped running for a second and shouted:

-Hey! Come on slowpokes! If you go that slow the rest of the way, we will never get there!

Oukry smiled, and ran as fast as lightning past Fred, who also started running again.

The race ended at the end of the tunnel, where there was only a mere wall. A simple, normal, and boring grey wall.

-I won! -Oukry said laughing. -I won.

• Fine, fine you won, but remember I won last time. -Fred replied jealously.

-Yes, last time. After losing 56 times! –

-Oukry! It was not 56 times! -Fred replied, unable to accept it. -It was 55 times. –

-As if that changed anything…

Oukry turned back to face the wall. She got closer towards that boring blank wall. She looked at the floor, and she put her hands under a boulder placed delicately on the wall. She lifted the boulder and placed it next to where it had been. As she did that, she revealed a small cave-like entrance.

Oukry signaled them to follow her in. The cave was grim and very small. But when the passageway-cave thingy finished, they appeared in a big stunning room. It looked comfortable and warm. But also, at the end of the room, you could see nothing. The light didn’t reach that far. And in the darkness, a shadow was slithering around.

-Be careful! -Lyde shouted pointing at the shadows. -There is something there!

-Oh, don’t worry, -Oukry said laughing. -It’s just Loup. He is strange, no wonder you thought he was a monster!

And as if Loup had heard, he came out of the shadows. He was and old man and had a white beard.

-Oh, -Fred said, -He lost most off his ability of hearing, he won’t understand any of us. Right Loup?

-Who said pizza? Is that a pizza? -Loup said from the other side of the room.

-You will get used to it. -Oukry said to Lyde, smiling.

-And cookies? This is my lucky day! -The old man said happily.

-Or mostly, get used to it, I suppose… - Oukry laughed.   They prepared some equipment that they would need for their trip to the tower Velemongh. Or that’s what Fred said. Oukry explained as she prepared her backpack and hung it over her shoulder.

-You remember Gaia? I kind of made her. And she somehow broke herself. Now, I must get to the towers grounds and get in their network. That way, I can fix her, but we will have to get really near the tower for that… -Oukry bit her lower lip. The old man, Loup, asked:

-Where are you going?

-We are going to Velemongh. We will be back soon! -Fred jumped out of the door and went to the sewer system. Oukry followed him shouting something of the kind. Lyde followed them leaving Loup behind, who said:

-Well, at least leave me the cookies! –

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They ran through the sewers for three hours.

-We are here! -Shouted Fred.

They arrived at the end of the tunnel, where a giant door chained to the tunnel closed the way out. From the holes, you could see a bunch of robots guarding the entrance of the tunnel, but far enough for them to not notice them right away. Oukry took out some strange device and after clicking some button, she threw it out of the tunnel through a tiny hole. The device instantly exploded, taking out fifteen robots. Fred cut the chains that were holding the door in place and kicked it away. They jumped out of their hiding place and ran past the robots.   Fifteen meters away, a big rock peered out of the ground. Oukry put her computer on that same rock and started writing strange digits in binary code.

-I am hacking in their system, but there is some strange type of virus. Gaia is probably infected by it; I just need to get rid of the virus.

As she said that, a message in binary appeared on her screen:

01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101110 01100101 01110110 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110101 01110011 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110110 01101001 01110010 01110101 01110011 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110010 00101110 00001010 01000101 01010110 01001001 01001100 00101110

That means:

(You will never win against us; the virus will win the war.

EVIL.)

Evil: 01000101 01110110 01101001 01101100

Oukry kept on hacking, but the computer gave an error. Just then, about twenty robots came to their direction. Fred took a laser gun from the floor and started shooting. Lyde followed his lead.

Each time Oukry tried something the screen showed the word :01000101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 (Error) She couldn’t get it right! The virus was way too complex. It was too difficult even for her! Just then, she found a different code. It was Gaia! If she could fix that, they would win! She kept on typing different codes, ciphers and words, but nothing could unwrap Gaia from the net of viruses. It was impossible.

The robots came in waves of terror, and Fred could barely take out a bunch before more appeared.

-Oukry! -He shouted. -Be fast! There are too many robots. We won’t make it. –

Just when Lyde thought that they could just win the war, a robot got Oukry. Oukry shouted and kicked the robot. The robot didn’t move. Fred shouted:

-I can’t shoot the robot! I might hit you too! - Oukry nodded.

-Ok. What about a flip three thousand? -Oukry asked, as the robot tapped her mouth with its hand, so she couldn’t talk. Oukry did a strange kind of back flip, that kicked the robot far away. After that, Fred jumped over Oukry and shot the robot. The robot fell throwing sparks. Fred and Oukry were like a tornado of destruction.

Just then, a drone-robot-thingy launched a net, catching them both in. Oukry and Fred stumbled down to the floor, leaving only Lyde able to help.

Lyde didn’t waste a moment. She ran for the computer. Ten meters. Five meters. Two meters… She slid behind the boulder and snatched the computer from the rock. The computer gave ERROR 300451. She tapped the buttons, but she didn’t get it to work.

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In the tower Velemongh, Gaia, a robotic Artificial intelligence, walked towards the glass window. Her robotic hand touched the glass. She could see all that destruction, the war from up there. And she saw how the scientist, the scientist she had shouted at, walk towards the rebels: Fred and Oukry. Something was wrong. She should help the rebels, not control them as pets. She was going to get out of the room to help them, when the evil little virus came into her thoughts and blinded her again.

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Fred and Oukry saw how a scientist approached. They tried to escape the net, but a robot held them tightly. Oukry tried to kick the robot, but she couldn’t. She saw that the scientist put a tiny device on the back of Fred’s neck. A chip!!! Fred’s head rose, and he talked, saying the scariest words she ever heard.

-Lady Gaia will rule the world! Because Gaia sees all, Gaia knows all.

As she looked at Fred terrified, she saw how the scientist put her a chip too.  Oukry didn’t resist and she didn’t fight the darkness that took control of her.

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Lyde tried lots of things, she tried binary, that she had learnt at school, python, that her father had showed her. NOTHING worked. Just then, a robot appeared from behind the rock. Lyde was going to shoot the robot, but this one was different. She saw the perfectly crafted android-robot and instantly knew who it was.

-Gaia! -She said.

Gaia nodded. She got to the computer and asked with her robotic voice:

-May I help you?

Lyde nodded and Gaia started working on the computer. At least she new what she was doing…

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Oukry new she was under the control of the virus, that controlled her through the chip. But she didn’t try to get free thought… Soon enough, she felt how the viruses started having problems. Was Lyde doing that? Was she killing the virus? Something told her that she was wrong. Then who was killing the virus if not Lyde? She stopped thinking about that when she noticed that the virus had come back.   Lyde saw how Gaia killed the last viruses. Gaia stood up and walked to the open. There, she saw all the robots halting, stopping whatever they were doing.

-Move and clean up this mess that we’ve caused. -She said. And they did. The robots started cleaning.

The chip fell from Oukry’s neck. So did Fred’s. She stood up and looked towards the computer. And looked straight at Lyde and Gaia. Oukry smiled. They did it! She got rid of the net and ran towards them.

-You’ve done it! -She told Lyde. -You did it!!!

-But there is one thing left, -Said Lyde.

-And that is? –

Lyde smiled.

-We have to find out who made the virus, of course! -She laughed. -And visit Loup, who still wants his pizza…

They all laughed. Even Gaia.

-Lets go then. -Said Gaia, with her funny robotic voice and they all walked towards the ruins, towards all the answerers they would find in their mission.     ……………………………………………. THE END……………..………………………………..