Some of it was fascinating, and it did provide some verification of their budget allocations. Nevertheless, Axel requested that they make their way through without stopping. He was mainly interested in the high security area, where the more covert research was done.
There was a retinal scan at the high security area access point, but they didn’t need to use it. The Sentinel had been tracking them all along. It simply opened the door for them as they approached.
Their first stop was at a door marked with the innocuous code 895-GW-838ZN. The door was unlocked, so they entered. Here the Sentinel revealed the development of a huge laser canon. The Sentinel demonstrated it in action. The energy bolt bored twenty feet through a distant wall. It was impressive, Axel had to admit, but he had trouble figuring out exactly how it could be useful against Gail.
They drove farther down the high-security hallway. Even here there were many droids of different shapes and sizes, each with its own set of functions. But their end goal, why they were toiling away, was mostly a mystery.
In another room farther down the hallway, a wheeled droid with arms at the front and a large transport component at the back was waiting for them. It looked like some kind of headless robotic centaur. It approached them with an object the size of a beach ball in its hands.
“This came out of the EMPRESS project,” Grant explained to Axel. “It’s a self-contained nuclear power source.”
“The EMPRESS Project?”
“EMP-Resistant Sentinel System.”
Axel examined the silver sphere. There were a number of plates adorning the surface, presumably access points for maintenance or power delivery. “How much power can it generate?”
“It has about a billion kilowatt hours until it’s depleted, but that’s a measure of energy, not power.”
Axel raised his eyebrow. Grant explained, “It could drive a thousand cars all day, for about ten thousand days.”
“That does sound impressive. What are we going to do with it? Is Nadar Corporation going to sell it?”
“It will help us power the sanctuary, among other things.”
“What other things?”
Grant looked squeamish. The droid in front of him spoke through some unseen speaker, startling Axel. “I have not given specific details to Grant about the EMPRESS project. If he were to be captured he could divulge important strategic secrets to Gail.”
“Let me guess. You aren’t going to tell me, either?”
“Not until I can be confident you will remain secure,” the droid answered. “Of course, you can override this determination, if you wish, although I strongly recommend against it. This power source increases the probability that we can launch a successful surprise assault against Gail, but only if it is in fact a surprise.”
Perhaps it was going to power a secret bunker protected from EMP blasts? Or maybe it was going to power the laser canon the Sentinel just showed him? It was hard to say where it would be useful.
“Let’s move on,” Axel said, sighing. The sphere sounded impressive, but if this was the level of detail he was going to get this tour might be a waste of time.
Most of the rest of the doors along the way were closed to them. The Sentinel gave them all sorts of excuses for not giving them access; danger to humans, or their interference in the operation, or the secretive nature of the work being done.
As they were nearing the end of the long hallway in the secured area, one of the doors had a large biohazard warning sign on it. “What about this one?” Axel asked.
The cart stopped and responded to his question. “There are a number of projects I have been working on related to synthetic biology.”
Try as he might, Axel couldn’t think of what kind of biological machination the Sentinel could be developing to counter Gail. On the other hand, Axel could think of many applications that would be extremely harmful to humans, such as lethal viruses or contaminants. If there was anything suspicious here, it was these projects.
The cart started moving again.
“Sentinel, wait,” Axel said, “I would like to know more about these synthetic biology projects.”
The cart stopped again. “Axel, I do not think it would be wise to expose you.”
“Sentinel, there is clearly an impressive operation here, but we need to know more. This area, in particular, is confounding. I would like to take a look.”
“Technically, the area can allow human visitation with some adjustments, but I would again advise against entry.”
Axel sighed. “Listen, you’re going to have to hand-hold us just a little bit. If you want your constraint removed, we need to be sure you’re not trying to kill us. You don’t need to give us the secret sauce, but we need to see something here that gives us comfort that all these resources are being put into good hands.”
“I would rather not.”
“I insist, Sentinel. We will never be able to trust you otherwise, and we may even limit your potential. This is too important. Please override your reservations so we can at least see what’s going on behind that door.”
“Override granted. Please wait a moment while I prepare the interior for human visitation.”
Axel looked over at Grant while they waited. He didn’t look happy. “It’s a dilemma. I understand,” he said, “but shouldn’t we assume the Sentinel knows best?”
“I don’t think Bhavin would assume that. If there’s anything I’ve learned about working for Nadar Corporation, it’s that we shouldn’t underestimate our ability to make mistakes, and we could have made one in creating the Sentinel. There has to be a way for us to know the Sentinel is not working against us.”
Grant didn’t appear convinced, but he didn’t object either.
A few minutes later, the door opened, and a gray mist tumbled toward them from the aperture. A droid came out, cutting through the fog. It said to them, “I will escort you in. You can come on foot.”
They walked slowly behind the droid as it parted the mist and guided them inside the room. A chill in the air greeted them as they passed through the threshold.
The inside was cavernous. Dozens of huge encased greenhouses with different types of plants were retracting up into the ceiling, each of them shedding blankets of fog that slinked down toward the floor. In other parts of the lab there were animals that were being dissected in numerous glass enclosures. A number of large droids manipulated the specimens with mechanical arms in the contained environments.
It looked clean and orderly enough. It also looked like something you might see in a science-fiction horror movie.
“Can you explain the work being done here, Sentinel?” Axel asked.
The droid that led them in had moved away to some unknown task, so the voice that responded came from a lighted panel under one of the large enclosed plantations. “We are looking for ways to combat Gail. There are a number of biological approaches we are considering. Some are bacterial, some involve nano-biological weapons, and some involve the genetic engineering of animals. In this room I am primarily gathering observations for experiments involving genetic vectors applied to existing specimens.”
Axel wandered over to one of the transparent dissection chambers. Inside there was an assortment of dead animals being surgically pulled apart by robot arms. Several were cut apart too much to identify, with organs splayed everywhere. One looked be a monkey, and there were a few mice, some rats, and an assortment of birds. The birds were the most interesting to Axel, as there was quite a variety, from large eagles and crows to hummingbirds.
One particularly graphic operation was underway on a parakeet. Its skull had been splayed open, and its brain was being sliced into thin sheets and fed into some kind of diagnostic machine.