Deliver Us Huis

I walked calmly into the room where Petrus sat, staring at the screen.

“How’s it going?” I asked.

“Fairly well,” Petrus said, eyes still glued to the screen, “I’ve had to enter no other commands, the operation has gone as planned and three trucks have already been filled, and are coming this way.”

“Excellent. Any sight of other people?”

“None, they’ve been flying above regular traffic, and they touch down in a very secluded place. We’re having no trouble. How are things on the roof?”

“No trouble, but that is to be expected. We’ve checked the area enough. Everything is ready for when the first hover truck arrives.”

“Great,” Petrus said, “From my observations the truck will be up there any minute.”

“Will you go to make sure it has a safe landing?” I asked, as firmly as I could.

Petrus looked up in surprise. “Why?”

“You yourself said there are no problems here, but someone needs to keep an eye on things up there.”

“Shouldn’t you?” Petrus asked, “After all, someone who knows what to do needs to watch the screens in case something does go wrong.”

“Good thing I know what to do.” I said, “And from the looks of things the truck will be up there in less than two minutes. You’d better go up there to make sure everything will be alright.”

Petrus looked reluctantly at the screen, then shrugged. “Sure Tel, if you think that’s the best plan. Just don’t…. destroy anything, and call me if you need help.”

And with that he was gone. Moments later I saw him appear in the roof Anthrolem’s vison’s.

I gave a sigh of relief. This was much better. Now I was behind the controls, now I felt...no I was...the leader of this operation.

I had let Petrus control things for way too long. I had almost forgotten. This was my plan, this was going to be my reign.

At least I had remembered in time. I could only imagine what would happen if I let things go farther. It would be a co-reign, where he did all the work, and I was just the figurehead.

I shook my head, and focused on the screen. If anything went wrong I needed to be watching. I looked at the various screens, each showing flickering images of each Anthrollems view.

A few of the screens showed where the Anthrolems were loading the packages at the warehouse. Others showed where the hover trucks were driving, but the screen that interested me most was the Anthrolems just now arriving at the rooftop.

I could catch glimpses of Petrus as he sat on the rooftop, watching the proceedings. He looked slightly disgruntled. I almost typed in a command for an Anthrolem to go get a closer look, but I refrained. What if I messed up it’s programming and the mission was a failure just because I wanted to see if Petrus was upset?

So I refrained, and kept myself contented with the small glimpses I got whenever the Anthrolems turned. I also made sure to keep an eye on the Anthrolems loading packages. Whenever a new driver pulled up I looked at their screen at the surroundings. All was quiet.

I watched on and on as the Anthrolems endlessly worked. Soon more and more were on the roof, their routes finished, all packages were taken in quickly, and placed on the correct floors.

Soon there were only fifteen truckloads left to go, then fourteen, then thirteen. Ever punctual the Anthrollems marched on and on, loading a great amount of supplies into the trucks.

I was amazed at the amount of supplies we had gotten. Surely it was enough for us to make hundreds more Anthrolems. Maybe this was the last raid we would have to go on. That would make me feel better. I didn’t like the thought that my rule was instituted through deceit.

“How’s it going?” came a voice behind me.

I looked behind me to see Petrus.

“It’s all going well,” I said, “A total of,” I checked the screen, “Thirty trucks that have received their packages.”

“Alright,” he nodded, “And have there been any problems?”

“None that I can’t handle,” I said, turning back to the screen.

I heard him walk up behind me and look at the screen over my shoulder.

“It’s nearing 4:00” Petrus said, “We need to speed the operation up before the earliest risers start going off to work. Send the rest all together.”

I ignored him, unwilling to take orders.

“Tel, you need to reprogram the remaining Anthrolems.”

“Would you like to rephrase that?” I asked.

“Tel,” Petrus said, clearly irritated.

“You need to stop ordering me around,” I said, turning around, my eyes blazing, “I think you forget, this is my plan, you’re just here to help.”

Petrus threw his hands up in the air, “Fine, will you please reprogram the Anthrolems?”

“Excellent suggestion.” I said, and turned back to the screen.

‘Squads 33-42 begin route’

“Thank you,” Petrus said.

I heard him walk off, and suddenly I felt bad. It wasn’t his fault I hadn’t known how to control the Anthrolems. I didn’t have to be rude about it.

I watched the screens as the nine other trucks started off. I wondered if I should somehow alert the other Anthrolems of the slight change in plans.

How would I even do that? And would it be necessary?

I opted for just letting them figure it out. I mean, their AI capabilities were supposed to rival my own brain power. They should be fine.

I checked the countdown clock on the side of the screen. It said all instructions should be finished in an hour and five minutes.

I watched the screens intently. It was vital that all these instructions were carried out without interruption. I silently willed the figures to move as fast as possible, though I didn’t dare type in any commands for them to go faster. I wouldn’t ruin this mission because of my impatience.

And so the minutes crawled by, until the final nine trucks pulled up to the warehouse. The Anthrollems worked together to load the trucks.

Then they started loading into the trucks, and they all made their departure, leaving the warehouse behind. I quickly brought up the Class B’s screen. I typed in the target, and checked to make sure there were no obstructions in the Class B’s way. Everything was clear so I went ahead and let it fire.

Again I saw the viewfinder zoom in on the building, the round suddenly coming into view, and then the building exploded.

I typed in the command for the Class B to come in, and then checked the screens of the other Anthrolems. All of them were in their hover trucks, safely above the regular flow of traffic.

The other Anthrolem screens showed the materials being steadily packed into place. I was amazed at the amount we had, and still we had nine more trucks coming.

I wondered what was happening at the explosion site. I wanted to bring the Class B out again, but I couldn’t risk it getting spotted. We were risking enough as it was.

I watched the progression of the nine trucks, steadily heading this way. It was slightly nerve wracking watching their progression towards us. We were so close, if only we could get out of there scott[ free.

I sat there a few moments, fingers nervously tapping. I couldn’t handle watching the Anthrolems tracking dots any longer.

“Petrus!”

Within moments Petrus appeared, “Yeah?”

“Watch the screens please, I’m going to go see the Anthrolems in.”

Petrus nodded, “Alright.”

I walked up the stairs to the roof. All materials had been loaded in, now there was two dozen Anthrolems waiting on the roof, the rest of them waiting down stairs.

I stood at the edge of the roof, looking over the concrete barrier, down to the street far below. It was very early in the morning now, and just a few speeders went back and forth down below.

I wasn’t worried about their drivers looking up to see the hover trucks coming in. People didn’t look to see what they didn’t expect to see. And even if they did see the shadowy figures, it could easily be brushed away, out of their thoughts. They didn’t expect to see any trouble, so they didn’t even when it was right in front of them.

I looked out in the darkness, waiting to catch the first glimpse of a hover truck. Soon there came one, then another, then another. I stepped back and watched them land on the roof , one after another.

Once they were all accounted for I turned and went back down the stairs.

We had what we needed, the night had been a success.