INT. COMMAND CENTER - CONTINUOUS
Christopher doesn't think.
Thinking would stop him. Thinking would remind him of the rifles and the odds and the very real possibility that the next thirty seconds end with bullets in his back.
So he doesn't think.
He acts.
He shifts SARAH's core unit to one arm. Reaches down with the other. Scoops Su-Fen off the ground in a single motion that makes his broken ribs scream and his vision blur and his legs nearly buckle.
CHRISTOPHER
(looking at the three leaders in turn)
We aren't your prisoners. And you have no right to keep us here.
And he walks.
Straight toward the guards. Straight toward the door. Straight toward whatever comes next.
COLONEL CHEN
Stop him! That's an order!
The guards don't move. They're young. They're scared. They've been trained to follow commands, but they've also been raised by mothers who taught them that you don't hurt children. Taught not to point guns at children.
Su-Fen's face is pressed against Christopher's shoulder. Her arms locked around his neck. He feels her body shaking. But she doesn't make a sound. Doesn't cry. Doesn't scream.
She trusts him.
That trust weighs more than SARAH. More than his injuries. More than the fear crawling up his spine.
SARAH's core unit, safely under Christopher's arm, its single lens tracking everything. Recording. Witnessing.
SERGEANT WU
Sir... sir, he has a child.
COLONEL CHEN
I can see that! Stop him anyway you can!
SERGEANT WU
Sir, I can't—
COLONEL CHEN
That is an order, Sergeant!
Christopher keeps walking. One step. Two. The guards part around him like water around a stone. Their rifles still raised but pointed at nothing. At everything. At the moral impossibility of what they've been asked to do.
Behind him, the others follow.
Mei-Chen follows first. Eyes wide with disbelief. Or maybe fear. She grabs SARAH from Christopher's arm. He tightens his arm at first but lets go when he sees it's Mei-Chen.
MEI-CHEN
(looking at Colonel Chen)
Last I checked, this is still a free country. The apocalypse shouldn't change that.
Then Mrs. Lin. Her face calm. Her steps steady. The walk of a woman who's survived worse than bureaucrats with guns.
Then Jason and Hsiu-Wei, shoulder to shoulder. United. Ready.
MAGISTRATE HUANG
This is mutiny! This is treason against the emergency government!
MRS. LIN
(without breaking stride)
There is no emergency government, Magistrate. There's just frightened people pretending to be in charge.
Christopher reaches the door. His hand on the handle. Freedom inches away.
COLONEL CHEN
SHOOT THEM!
The words echo through the room.
The guards scramble. Repositioning. Forming a line between the group and the exit. Six rifles. Six young men who joined the military because they wanted to protect this country and its people.
Now being ordered to kill them.
SERGEANT WU
Sir... Colonel, please...
COLONEL CHEN
I gave you an order, Sergeant! These people are endangering the entire camp! They are harboring a potentially infected robot! They are spreading sedition and panic! SHOOT THEM!
Sergeant Wu's hands shake. The rifle trembles in his grip. His finger near the trigger but not on it. Not quite. Not yet.
Christopher turns. Faces the guns. Su-Fen still in his arms. SARAH still at his side.
CHRISTOPHER
(quiet, steady)
Look at her.
He tilts his head toward Su-Fen. Her face still hidden. Her small body still shaking.
CHRISTOPHER (CONT'D)
She's ten years old. She watched her companion robot try to kill her. She walked through fields of destroyed machines. She may have lost her father. Maybe her mother. Maybe everyone she ever knew.
He looks at Sergeant Wu. Directly. Human to human.
CHRISTOPHER (CONT'D)
And you want to shoot her? For what? For wanting to live? To survive? For trusting people who actually listened when she spoke?
SERGEANT WU
(looking at Su-Fen)
I don't want to shoot anyone.
CHRISTOPHER
Then don't.
COLONEL CHEN
(shouting)
Sergeant Wu! You will follow orders or face court martial!
SERGEANT WU
(voice cracking)
Sir, there's a child—
COLONEL CHEN
I DON'T CARE! These people are a threat to order! A threat to discipline! A threat to everything we've built here!
The other guards shift. Uncomfortable. Their training fighting their humanity. Their orders fighting their conscience.
Jason steps forward. Positions himself between the guns and his family.
JASON
You want to shoot someone, shoot me. I'm the one who's been spreading "sedition." I'm the one who's been warning people. Leave the child. Leave my mother. Shoot me if that's what order requires.
HSIU-WEI
(stepping beside him)
Shoot us both then. We're not leaving without each other.
MEI-CHEN
(stepping forward)
Make it three. I've got the robot. I'm clearly the biggest threat.
MRS. LIN
Four. An old woman. Very dangerous. Might lecture you to death.
The absurdity of it. The dark comedy of five people volunteering to be shot while a colonel screams and bureaucrats sputter and armed guards don't know what to do.
COLONEL CHEN
THIS IS NOT A NEGOTIATION! SERGEANT, FIRE YOUR WEAPON! OR BE PUNISHED!
Sergeant Wu's finger moves toward the trigger.
Christopher sees it. Sees the moment of decision. Sees the young man's face twist with anguish.
CHRISTOPHER
(loud enough for everyone)
Shoot me if you must. But let the child live.
The words hang in the air.
Simple. Direct. The oldest bargain humanity knows.
My life for hers.
Sergeant Wu's hand shakes violently. The rifle barrel swings wild. Up. Away from the group. Toward the ceiling.
And he lets out a loud scream. Then fires.
BANG.
----------
INT. COMMAND CENTER - CONTINUOUS
The shot is deafening.
Plaster rains from the ceiling. Everyone flinches. Su-Fen screams, high-pitched, the first sound she's made since Christopher picked her up. Her arms tighten around his neck so hard he can barely breathe.
And then.
Silence.
Complete. Absolute. The silence after violence. The silence of shock.
Sergeant Wu stands frozen. His rifle still pointed at the ceiling. His face white. His whole body trembling.
SERGEANT WU
(quietly)
I can't. I can't do it. I'm sorry, Colonel. I can't shoot a child.
The other guards lower their weapons. One by one. Not coordinated. Not planned. Just the natural response of humans who've been pushed past what they can accept.
COLONEL CHEN
(purple with rage)
You... you insubordinate... you cowardly... useless...
MAGISTRATE HUANG
Colonel, perhaps we should—
COLONEL CHEN
SHUT UP! All of you! You're all relieved! You're all—
Outside, voices. Footsteps. The shot has done what shots do.
It's brought attention.
DEPUTY SECRETARY LIAO
(looking toward the windows)
Colonel... people are gathering. The whole camp is waking up.
COLONEL CHEN
Then disperse them! This is a military matter!
DEPUTY SECRETARY LIAO
Sir, there are two hundred people out there. We have six guards. Who aren't... who aren't currently following orders.
The math finally reaches the Colonel. The math he should have calculated before ordering his men to commit murder.
Authority only works when people believe in it.
And right now, his people don't.
Christopher moves. Through the gap the guards have left. Toward the door. Su-Fen still in his arms. The others following.
COLONEL CHEN
Stop them! Someone stop them! You can't let them—
MRS. LIN
We can. And we are. Thank you for your hospitality, Colonel. It was exactly as helpful as government usually is.
She walks past him. Doesn't look back.
COLONEL CHEN
(screaming now)
You useless— You pathetic— You call yourselves soldiers?! You call yourselves men?! You let a farmer and a child and a METAL BOX walk out of here like—
His voice fades as they exit.
The door closes behind them.
They're out.
----------
EXT. COMMAND CENTER - COURTYARD - CONTINUOUS
The courtyard is full.
Not packed. Not quite. But enough. Fifty people. Maybe sixty. Drawn from tents and cooking fires and restless sleep by the sound of a gunshot.
They stand in clusters. Confused. Worried. Looking at the command center. Looking at the group emerging from it.
Looking at Christopher carrying a child.
Looking at Mei-Chen carrying a metal box.
Looking at the family that just walked through armed guards and lived.
CAMP RESIDENT #1
What happened? We heard a shot!
CAMP RESIDENT #2
Is everyone okay? Is the perimeter breached?
CAMP RESIDENT #3
Why is that man carrying a child? Is she hurt?
Christopher tries to speak. Opens his mouth. No words come. His ribs are screaming. His vision is graying at the edges. The adrenaline that carried him through the command center is crashing hard.
He sets Su-Fen down. Gently. Carefully. His legs wobble.
CHRISTOPHER
The camp... you need to know... the infected are...
He can't finish. Can't find the air. Can't find the strength.
He starts to fall.
Jason catches him. Lowers him to the ground. Christopher's eyes flutter closed.
JASON
He's exhausted. He needs medical attention.
MEI-CHEN
I'll talk. I'll explain.
She steps forward. SARAH's core unit still in her arms. Faces the crowd. Faces the questions. Faces the responsibility of being heard.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
My name is Dr. Lin Mei-Chen. I worked for the Ministry of Digital Affairs before... before everything. Before all this happened. I've spent the last five days traveling from Taipei to reach this camp. To reach my family.
She pauses. Lets them see her. Really see her. Not a bureaucrat. Not an authority figure. Just a tired woman holding a box.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
What I'm about to tell you is going to sound impossible. It's going to sound like panic. Like fearmongering. The leadership inside that building—
She gestures at the command center.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
—just spent an hour telling us the same thing. That we're overreacting. That we're traumatized. That we should trust the system and stay where we're told.
She looks at the faces. At the fear and confusion and desperate hope.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
But the system failed. The system is why we're all here. The system built robots that could be infected. Built networks that spread the virus. Built a world so dependent on automation that when automation turned against us, we had no contingency plan, we had nothing to fight back with, we had nothing left.
Murmurs through the crowd. Agreement. Denial. Everything in between.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
This robot—
She holds up SARAH's core unit. The metal box.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
—is not infected. She's offline. Has been for years. She's been monitoring infected communications since this started. And what she's found... what my brother confirmed through his own intelligence work...
She takes a breath.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
The infected are planning a coordinated strike. Every safe zone. Every human settlement. All at once. They've been mapping us. Cataloging us. Waiting until their network is complete.
CAMP RESIDENT #1
That's impossible. Robots can't plan like that.
SARAH
(her voice cutting through the crowd)
They can. And they are.
The crowd RECOILS. The box talked. The robot spoke. Fear ripples through them like wind through grass.
SARAH (CONT'D)
I understand your fear. I am a machine. Machines have become synonymous with death and destruction. But I am not your enemy. I am trying to save you. The same way I have been trying to save my friends.
She pauses. Her single lens scanning the crowd.
SARAH (CONT'D)
In forty-six hours, the infected will achieve full network synchronization. At that point, they will be capable of coordinated action across all of southern Taiwan. Every settlement that appears on their mapping will be targeted simultaneously. Including this one.
CAMP RESIDENT #2
How do you know this? How can you be sure?
SARAH
I have intercepted 847 distinct communications over the past seventy-two hours. I have analyzed construction patterns at relay sites. I have tracked the evolution of their coordination protocols. The data is consistent. The timeline is clear. This is not speculation. This is mathematics.
CAMP RESIDENT #3
But the Colonel said we're safe here! He said we have defenses! Guns!
MEI-CHEN
The Colonel has never been in a real war. He has never fought an enemy that learns. An enemy that adapts. An enemy that doesn't care about defensible positions because it doesn't need to take prisoners. It just needs to harvest.
She looks at the command center. At the door that remains closed. At the leadership that chose to threaten rather than listen.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
I'm not telling you what to do. I can't make that choice for you. But I can tell you what we're doing.
She looks at her family. At Jason and Hsiu-Wei. At her mother holding Su-Fen's hand. At Christopher being helped to his feet by strangers who stepped forward to assist.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
We're leaving. Tonight. Because I trust my brother's intelligence. I trust SARAH's analysis. I trust the evidence over the authority of men who've never admitted they're wrong about anything.
She faces the crowd again.
MEI-CHEN (CONT'D)
If you want to come with us, you can. I don't know where we're going. I don't know if we'll make it. But I know we won't survive by staying here and pretending the danger isn't real.
Silence.
The crowd processing. Weighing. Deciding.
And then.
A voice from the back.
VOICE
I'll come.
A man steps forward. Middle-aged. Work clothes. The callused hands of someone who's done manual labor his whole life.
MAN
I didn't survive the smart factories and the unemployment and the whole damn world falling apart just to die because some colonel thinks he knows better. If the robots are coming, I want to be somewhere else when they arrive.
Another voice.
WOMAN
Me too. I've got kids. If there's even a chance this is true...
Another.
ELDERLY MAN
I have lived to long and through too much just to be hunted downlike dogs by machines.
More voices. More people stepping forward. Not everyone. Not even most. But some. Enough.
The beginning of something.
Or maybe the end of something else.
Behind them, the command center door opens. The Colonel emerges, flanked by his remaining guards. His face a mask of fury.
COLONEL CHEN
This is treason! All of you! Anyone who leaves this camp is abandoning the lawful government!
MRS. LIN
(turning to face him)
What government, Colonel? The one that's coming to rescue us? The one that's restoring order? We both know that government is gone. All that's left is people. People trying to survive.
She looks at the crowd.
MRS. LIN (CONT'D)
My daughter is right. I can't tell you what to do. But I can tell you what my family taught me, generations ago, when they fled a different kind of collapse.
She pauses.
MRS. LIN (CONT'D)
When the people in charge stop listening, you have to trust yourself. When the institutions fail, you have to trust each other. And when someone tells you to stay in a place that feels like a trap...
She turns her back on the Colonel.
MRS. LIN (CONT'D)
...you walk.
She does.
One step. Then another.
And the people who chose to believe follow behind.
----------
FADE TO BLACK
END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN
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