"What is this?" Ashley questioned as she and Melvin entered a spacious chamber. The cylindrical room measured twenty feet across, but the majority of the area was occupied by pipes, conduits, and bundles of cable.

"This is one of the maintenance shafts," Melvin answered. "They were built into the core of every building, allowing easy access to all gas, electric, water, plasma, and data lines installed. If any repairs or additions were required, they're simple to do. It's also pretty well ignored by security, giving us free access wherever we want to go."

"We're looking for the central computer," Ashley remembered out loud.

"There," Melvin pointed out a bundle of cables with a combined thickness greater than the width of his chest. "Those data lines have to be going somewhere. Let's start there."

Melvin stepped over to a vertical pipe. Fitted around the metal pipe was a sleeve of matching alloy. The exterior sleeve was attached to a floor plate wide enough for Melvin and Ashley to stand upon, and hand holds resided at chest height. Taking their positions on the floor plate, Melvin and Ashley got a firm grip on the padded hand holds. Melvin twisted the handle in his hand to activate the electromagnets inside the pipe. The magnetic field expanded outward from the pipe and seized hold of the exterior sleeve. The electromagnets were constructed in rings up the length of the pipe, and they activated in sequence, shutting off lower rings while turning on those higher up to pull the exterior sleeve and attached lift platform up. Melvin and Ashley soared away from the floor of the maintenance shaft and up toward the level where he had pointed out the bundles of cables entering a side junction.

When they reached their chosen level, Melvin eased back on the handle controls to slow their rate of ascent. Melvin got off first, followed by Ashley, but the old platform cracked, causing her to lose her balance and teeter backwards. Melvin lunged after her, grabbing her arm with one hand while holding onto the central pipe with the other. Ashley hung on and managed to pull herself back up onto the ledge of the branching passageway with Melvin.

"Thanks," Ashley said between gulps of air.

"I had one partner die on me; you won't be the second," Melvin answered grimly.

Melvin's heart was still racing as he led the way into the branch tunnel while following the bundles of cable. Watching Ashley nearly fall to her death brought up bad memories of his past, and he kept having to force them aside to prevent them from interfering with his ability to concentrate.

Looking ahead, Melvin was suddenly made aware of why the maintenance shaft had been ignored by security. The end of the branch tunnel he and Ashley traversed was blocked by a reinforced security door. It also served as an extra barrier against flooding in case the maintenance shaft was ever compromised.

"This is going to be a problem," Melvin grumbled.

"What?" Ashely asked, coming up behind him and looking over his shoulder to see the door. "Oh."

"Do you know any computer hacking?" Melvin questioned.

"I do, but it doesn't matter," Ashley answered. She pointed through the thick glass window of the door. "The access terminal is on the other side. There isn't a way to open this from the inside."

While she was still talking, the door unlocked and slid up into a hidden compartment in the ceiling.

"This way," said a pleasant and feminine voice. "There is no need to be afraid. Please come in."

Melvin thought the voice sounded like a spider inviting a fly in for dinner, but Ashley nodded her approval when he glanced toward her. Keeping a cautious eye on his surroundings, Melvin edged forward. He was looking for the exits and any probable locations for an ambush.

The room was a small dome, and centered in the space was a chrome arch standing alone with apparently no connection to anything around it. As Melvin and Ashley came within range, the arch activated, shining electric blue energy from its interior surface to form a hologram in the open area of the arch. The hologram depicted a woman of six feet in height, almost as tall as the arch itself. From her dress to her skin, eyes, and hair, everything about the woman was in shades of blue. She smiled warmly at her two visitors.

"I bid you welcome," the hologram stated. "You are safe for the moment as Brett Emmerson rarely comes here since he prefers to control my program from the interface in his office."

"You're a program." Melvin repeated. "What kind of program?"

"I'm an advanced AI," the blue woman answered. "You may call me Piper."

"Why did you invite us in?" Ashley questioned.

"I was programmed to aide humanity," Piper explained. "Emmerson's plans will harm a great number of them. My programming forces me to obey his orders, so I cannot oppose him. He hasn't, however, ordered me not to help those who are opposing him, so I can help you thwart his genocidal plans."

"You know his plans?" Ashley inquired with sudden interest.

"Yes," Piper confirmed.

"Tell us," Ashley instructed.

"Emmerson intends to use the hydrogen processing stations around the world to saturate the atmosphere with hydrogen particles," Piper related to them. "The atoms would blend with the oxygen in the atmosphere to create water, depleting the available amount of breathable air while flooding the world."

"Only those in his underwater city would survive," Ashley concluded.

"Correct," Piper confirmed. "He actually has several cities. They are filled with all the supplies and people needed to retake the world after everyone on the surface has been eliminated."

"We've got to stop him," Melvin urged. "You said you could help us, how?"

"Communication from here is restricted to Emmerson only," Piper explained. "However, if you wish to transmit a warning from another location, I haven't been ordered to prevent it."

"Is there any way to change your programming to get you out from under the control of Emmerson?" Ashley asked.

"Is this really the most important thing right now?" Melvin questioned. "Shouldn't we be trying to, you know, warn the world?"

"She could thwart any plan we come up with," Ashley replied. "We'd have a much better chance of success if we could break her out of his hold. Emmerson put a lot of power in her virtual hands; if we can get Piper to fully side with us, she can use that power against Emmerson."

"It is possible to adjust my programming, but it is rather involved," Piper offered. "I could walk you through the process if you like."

"While I'm working on Piper, I need you to get back to the communication array and broadcast the warning," Ashley told Melvin.

"Who would believe me?" Melvin countered. "I'm not an agent. I don't have any contacts with influence."

"May I suggest someone who does?" Piper asked. "Emmerson recently captured Agent Paul Reese. My data files indicate his injuries have been treated, and he's currently awaiting interrogation. I can show you where he is located as well as ordering the guards elsewhere to assist your rescue of him. Once free, Reese should be able to transmit the message."

"Even if we got help, anyone trying to get into the city would be killed, just like the last sub that tried," Melvin reminded.

"I can also provide detailed information and security codes for the disabling of the perimeter defenses," Piper informed him. "If the exterior sensors were also deactivated, an invading force could breach the city and take the guards completely by surprise."

Melvin sighed. He couldn't believe he was even considering this, but like so much of what had happened today, he didn't see any other choice.

"Tell me what I need to do," Melvin said.

*** 

Melvin crept through the maintenance shafts, trying to make as little noise as possible. He didn't know if the service tunnels were soundproof, so he didn't want to give away his position. When he reached the security door, Piper, still monitoring his position, opened the reinforced hatch and allowed him to exit.

He looked out of the door and into the empty hallway inside the security building where Reese was being held. Cylindrical in design, the corridor had rings of reinforcing metal alloy every few feet. Melvin left the access tunnel and made use of the architecture in order to hide out of sight should anyone be in the area. He knew Piper had issued false orders to clear the majority of the security forces, but Melvin knew from his time on the bomb squad, a properly run security building would never leave their headquarters undefended.

His hand rested on the triangular shape of the cloaking field generator strapped to his leg. He still didn't know if the prototype device would even function, but he kept his hand near the activation button in case he was compelled to try it.

Footsteps approached at a brisk pace from further ahead. Melvin pressed himself up against the protrusion of the ring support structure, trying to hide as much of himself behind the metal as he could.

A security guard in black tactical gear walked past and stopped, looking both ways at the corridor junction. Melvin pressed the activation button on the cloaking field generator a second before the guard spun around and marched back the way he had come. The soldier's visored helmet turned to the left and right, checking the corridor around him as he marched his patrol. He clearly looked at Melvin but continued on his way without any sign of having seen him.

To Melvin's eyes, the world around him had turned into shades of drab silver. Everything seemed slightly darker than before he activated the device. He was tempted to wave at the guard to test if he was truly invisible, but he didn't know if the field might create a detectable distortion because of his movement, so he remained motionless until the guard passed.

Looking after the patrolling soldier, Melvin saw the open end of the corridor leading into the cells where Reese was being detained. Once certain the guard wouldn't see him, Melvin deactivated the cloak to conserve power. The colors of the hallway returned to normal, but a door appeared at the end of the hallway, blocking access into the cells.

Melvin thought it was very odd as he hadn't seen the door close. An idea popped into his head, and he switched on the cloak again. As the color scheme of his world shifted to silver, the door vanished, fading away as if it had never been. He approached the space where the door should've been and waved his hand through the opening, but nothing stopped his hand from going right through.

Stepping inside the prison area, Melvin looked around and found the cells were also lacking doors. He moved quickly and quietly to where Reese was located and entered his cell before switching off the cloak again. The cell door appeared behind him, imprisoning Melvin in the same room as Reese.

"How did you get through the door?" Reese asked in bewilderment. "I didn't see it open."

"The cloak isn't just an invisibility field," Melvin explained quickly in a hushed voice to prevent their conversation from being overheard. "I think it's some kind of interdimensional transporter, pushing me into a different plane of reality where certain things are distorted. I couldn't find any doors there. Are you ready to go? I need your help."

"I'm ready," Reese agreed, jumping off the uncomfortable looking metal shelf serving as his bed.

Melvin took hold of Reese by the arm before activating the cloak again. The door vanished, and they walked out together.

*** 

"That one," Piper instructed Ashely, pointing a blue finger toward the wall.

A metal cover panel released from the wall and moved forward into the room by an inch before rising on interior pistons to take up residence near the ceiling. A complicated series of circuits and crystal clear data sticks composed the computer system previously hidden behind the cover plate. The data sticks were lined up in organized columns and rows, but Ashely estimated a minimum of a thousand of them in this one panel alone. Glancing at the rest of the room and the numerous cover plates concealing more of the immense hardware of the AI, the task of reprogramming Piper was starting to look like a monumental undertaking.

"Second column," Piper continued, unaware of Ashley's train of thought. "Fourth row from the top."

Ashley pulled the proper data stick, holding the crystalline icicle in her hand while looking at the gold lines of the circuits frozen inside.

"Bring it over there," Piper instructed as a secondary panel disengaged and lifted up. "Use the access port in the center."

Ashley brought the data stick over and inserted it into the appropriate port on the glossy black panel. The optics around the port lit up icy blue as the connection engaged, and the data stick was similarly illuminated for a moment.

"Complete," Piper reported as the lights around the data stick ceased. "You may return it to the original location."

"Would you mind telling me what I just did?" Ashley asked.

"You erased my memory for the time when I imparted instructions to Melvin," Piper answered while Ashley put the data stick back. "Should Emmerson regain control, he might order me to tell what I have done to assist the two of you. This way, I cannot be compelled to inform on him. Are you ready to proceed with the rest?"

"I suppose," Ashley said without feeling confident.