A) System over ride

Chapter 1:

Electronic Mail

It was raining again in the slate grey city of Halburn. Usually a
crushing jumble of bodies, the streets were relatively empty, the
inhabitants taking shelter from the sudden down pour within the
reflective skyscrapers.
The rain thudded against the smooth glass pillars cascading down to the
grimy surfaces below. Bubbling rivers flowed along the pavement marking
trails through the city. Like so many others Adrienne Ledger had been
caught in the unexpected shower but unlike everyone else the rain did
not particularly effect her. She had an unusual like for bad weather
that could not be explained by either her friends or even
herself.
Her usually bouncy copper hair was plastered to her head and beaded
with glistening raindrops. She had slight features that gave her a
childish appearance though she was almost twenty years old. Her eyes
were a mixture of greens and golden flecks that sparkled with curiosity
and intelligence.
She wore the characteristic clothes of her generation; black denim
dungarees with rips in the knees, a green strap top and a heavy shirt
wrapped around her waist. She pushed herself along on her roller-blades
casually, as though it were a hot summer's day. A backpack hung from
her shoulders hugging her back. There was a strange augmented bracelet
on her right wrist. At a glance it looked like a watch. But on closer
inspection one would see that there were too many little buttons and
monitors for it too be anything as simple as a watch.
Slowly the rain began to subdue itself turning from fat drops into a
weak mist and then finally dissipating altogether. The sky cleared
allowing the sun to dry the city in its warming smile. Adrienne turned
her face skyward relishing in the comforting heat. Now she picked up
speed no longer threatened by the thick rivers that had traced streets.
She accelerated hard trying to make up for lost time before the streets
became crowded again. Already people were evacuating the buildings in
favour of the sunny afternoon.
She branched off the main streets heading down the less populated
alleys and side streets were tourists were fearful to tread. A gentle
breeze had picked up keeping the air at a comfortable temperature.
Adrienne who had lived all her life in the city made her way quickly
through the twisting streets avoiding the harder areas with relative
ease.
She turned into a small residential area skating quickly past the gangs
of youths that inhabited those less inviting parts of the city. It took
her only a few minutes before she came out into an ancient industrial
district that had been derelict for many years but had never been
demolished. The council had a lot more on their minds now than the
industrial districts Adrienne thought as she skimmed through a
puddle.
She was making towards a small warehouse cradled between a huge factory
and an old vehicle bay. Its paint had peeled off many years ago and it
was now a rusted hulk that domed out of the weedy tarmac barely
withstanding the elements.
Adrienne observed it with a degree of caution and made a note to start
looking for a new entrance. This one didn't look like it would manage
for much longer. She coasted over to an old corrugated iron door that
hung haphazardly from its hinges. She slipped past it into the empty
warehouse. Shafts of light pierced through the wholes in the roof like
spectral fingers probing the mechanical graveyard. The floor of the
warehouse was littered with ancient machinery that was caked in rust
and filth. Several of the behemoths had small plants growing from their
numerous protrusions.
It took Adrienne only a moment to adapt to the dim light before she
began to move across the warehouse. She left a small dust storm in her
wake disturbing the long sleeping dust particles into brief irritation
before settling back into their slumber.
To a casual observer it looked as though she was just a lone adolescent
exploring the curious intertor of an ancient building but really she
was moving purposefully towards the largest of the machines that
dominated the centre of the warehouse. It had once been used to make
molten iron that was later moulded into other machinery. Now it stood
silently, looming over its siblings with an air of arthritic
disgust.
Adrienne slowed to a halt at its side and knelt down as though to
adjust the straps of her roller blades but instead poked her head under
a gap between the machine and the floor. There had not appeared to be a
gap dim light had made it look like a shadow of the machine. She slid
below the rusted base of the machine disappearing in the dim
light.
In the tight space Adrienne probed the ground in front of her searching
for something, searching for&;#8230;got it. She grabbed a handle and
pulled it towards herself. A hole appeared before her its rusty
covering sliding into the steel warehouse floor.
It had been some years ago when she was only fourteen that Adrienne and
an old friend had found this "secret passage". They had discovered
later that it was a maintenance hatch to allow the technicians access
to the underbelly of the great machine before it had been
abandoned.
She pulled herself over the hole and then dropped into the darkness
below. She reached up and pushed the hatch door shut. She heard it snap
back into place before she was plunged into absolute darkness.
Adrienne waited patiently for the artificial lighting to come on. A
fluorescent light flickered into life cloaking the room in a harsh
white light. She blinked in the sudden brightness giving herself time
to adjust before she moved on again.
The room was small; its walls made of uncovered stone. They glistened
with condensation and were riddled with thin trails of moss. Iron rungs
were embedded in the wall behind her leading back up to the hatch.
Adrienne's breathe rose in white plumes of mist.
A painted wooden door lay before her. It was in surprisingly good
condition. Adrienne rolled over to it and tugged it open. The door was
heavier than it appeared moving slowly on its strong hinges. Beyond it
was a long stone corridor. A smell of mould and damp drifted up from
it. Adrienne rolled over the threshold closing the door silently behind
her.
The bright room was plunged into sudden darkness. All that was left was
silence.

*