Toys

Chapter 47

I spent the remainder of that evening in the lab with my father, learning the basics of the communications code and the other systems that the human resistance used. The real truth was that I just wanted to spend time with him, possibly get to know him better. Obviously, I hadn’t known before who he was.

After several hours, Dad stretched and pushed his work chair back wearily.

“I’m going to get a little rest, Hays,” he said. “I’m getting to be an old fart, and after all, I’m only human.” He smiled at his little joke. But so did I.

“I’ll stay here. I’m not all that sleepy.” In fact, I was antsy-I wanted to do something to help the humans, especially my mom and dad.

As he was leaving, my father said, “There’s something else you should think about. Toys might seem like harmless fun to you, as they do to most people, but they can be sinister and very dangerous. I’m not exaggerating for effect. These toys are not what they seem.”

“How’s that? They’re just harmless entertainment.”

“No, they’re not. The Elites have been pushing them out into society because they want them to be like a drug-or a cult religion. The very best toys take you away from the real world so you don’t have to deal with it. Elites do have some human qualities, including a modicum of compassion. Most of them would be a lot more concerned about what happens to us if they didn’t spend so much time in toyland. But the leaders want it that way. It’s part of their plan to keep total control. Even over other Elites.”

He leaned over and kissed the top of my head, the way he’d done at bedtime when I was a little boy. It was very touching, and I fought with myself not to get sentimental and gooey.

“I love you, son,” he said simply.

I didn’t say anything back to him. I just couldn’t. I guess I was still too close to my Elite life.

I watched him trudge away, and it reminded me of what a heavy burden he and my mother had carried all these years-the endless, thankless work they’d done while living in secrecy and in fear of being caught, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the Elites moved to exterminate “the human menace.”

Which now included me.

At heart though, I couldn’t help believing that there was nothing I could do to make a difference-human resistance was futile. The Elite population might still be relatively small, but their military and weaponry were so sophisticated that they could eliminate most of the world’s humans in a succession of swift strikes. Then they’d swarm over the globe with their cruel efficiency, finishing off the survivors.

At least the quandary gave me something to think about-other than the ruin of the perfect life I’d taken for granted and never really understood worth a damn.

I was still sitting in the lab an hour later when my acute hearing picked up sounds outside that didn’t belong.

I held my breath, concentrating, trying to figure the noises out.

Someone was approaching-someones. I counted forty-seven of them-moving stealthily from the bay toward the house, and now fanning out to surround it.

I jumped out of my chair and sprinted for the stairs-just as an alarm siren started blaring throughout the house.

“It’s Elites-they’re attacking!” I shouted. “They’re everywhere!”