My Mutant System

6. Control

“INFINITY!” shouted Neo.

Of a sudden, all those empty eyes glitched. Shining-red lights blink from their robot eyes as if the code just reactivated their system. Everyone started to grasp their breath. Many of them looked terrified, but the remaining looked calmed down.

Neo just watched what was happening in front of him and stayed silent. He felt relief when he saw Tony back to normal, breathing easily while his eyes found him, then smiled.

However, although everyone there had received their consciousness back, they didn’t move from their line as if they were still under the control of the program or something. Neo looked at Corine. His expression clearly hid many questions.

“What was that for? The code?” Neo realized that the code Corine’s gave was somehow activating the HumanBot as if they were under his control. Knowing that fact, Neo once again felt that Corine was just using him and the HumanBot.

“An army should work properly. Somebody should give them an order. And that somebody would be you, Neo.” She replied.

“By robbing their freedom? No, I am not going to do that.”

“Well, if you don’t like it. Just don’t use it.” Corine stayed calm. She moved closer to Neo to add, “You can use it in case of an emergency.”

“No. I will never used my friends.” Neo hissed.

Corine gave him a smile he didn’t like before moving forward to face the HumanBot. Ignoring Neo.

“Good morning, my precious Infinity Force!” Corine used an implanted microphone to make her voice louder, and everyone could hear it clearly. She ignored the gaze that Neo gave beside her.

“Good morning, Professor!” Everyone replied. It shocked Neo, who could remember clearly that none of HumanBot liked The Creators, especially their leader, Corine. But, how they responded to her call made Neo feel more curious. They definitely were under control.

“I am happy to announce that the latest upgrade to your body and system went smoothly. Well done, everyone. Thank you for participating in.”

Neo raised his eyebrows. He didn’t know what was going on right now. All he could do was just patiently wait.

“Today is a big day. Because we are one step closer to getting back to the ground.” Corine talked slowly while maintaining her chin up. All eyes were on her right now.

“As you know, all of you have been created for one and only mission. Defeat the Greenish on the ground so that we could live there once again, our home sweet home. The Ground of the Planet Earth.”

Neo grasped his breath. He looked around and saw everyone change their expression after hearing the speech. However, none of them talk as if their mouth were shut. And it was true. Corine, who controlled everything in their system, was now shutting them up until she could finish her speech without any unnecessary interference.

“With the upgrade and a little gift, I hope you can progress well in the upcoming training serial.” Corine smiled and then clapped her hands twice. And thus, just like a magic, she turned off the controller in the HumanBot system, and everyone started to talk to one another.

The hall suddenly turned noisy.

With his enhanced hearing, Neo could hear every conversation inside the hall. He didn’t even have to try.

“That’s crazy. Was the Greenish real? I never saw one of them.”

“I thought that it was just a scam.”

“My mother told me that The Greenish doesn’t exist. It was just the story to scare kids and make them sleep before nine.”

“Go to the ground? I don’t even know if we have another place except the underground.”

“Is that necessary? I’m scared. Can I just stay here like forever?”

Neo’s eyes accidentally saw those beautiful hazel eyes that belonged to Hope. The girl kept silent, her mouth was slightly opened, and her eyes locked to Neo’s.

“Neo … do you hear me?” she whispered, and of course, her soft voice could be heard easily by Neo. Although there was more than a fifteen-meter distance between them.

“Yes.” He replied.

“N-e-o … it’s strange. Do we even have that name on the list?”

At first, Neo thought the beautiful girl he adored was trying to talk with him. But now, she shook her head, and what’s come from her lips was just a sentence Neo couldn’t understand. It was like the girl was just talking to herself, to her mind.  But still, Neo was curious why she mentioned his name.

“SILENCE!” shouted Corine.

Everyone shut their mouth and got back to the perfect position in their line. Their eyes were now focused only on Corine. It was really fast, but however, only Neo didn’t experience it as if he was the exception of that controlling system

Neo honestly hated it when he realized that Corine had something that could control all of his friends. It made the HumanBot look like a Bot and not a human. Besides, no humans love to be controlled like that.

“I forgot to announce to you one more important thing.” Corine suddenly grabbed Neo’s shoulder and pulled him closer to her.

“My son, Neo, he would be your leader. From now on, his words hold power. The power of Infinity Force.” She smiled while giving a nod to Neo and asked him to walk forward.

Neo didn’t understand, but his feet were moving as if they were no longer in his control.

“Everyone, your powerful leader. Give him respect!”

Tuck! Tuck! Tuck!

Neo’s eyes widened when all 99 HumanBot in front of him were kneeling on the ground while facing the floor. None of them raised their face to see Neo by eyes like a minute ago. The view that he got made him feel anxious. Neo looked behind, and Corine was still smiling. But Neo realized that he never liked her smile, although that woman was his mother.

“What did you do?” Neo hissed, he didn’t like the thing that Corine had done to all of the HumanBot. It was really clear that The HumanBot was no longer free. Everything was controlled. And the fact that they were also human-made Neo frustrated even more.

“Stop it. It doesn’t necessary.” He added.

Corine ignored his unexpected reaction. She smiled, then moved closer to him to whisper. “I made you a leader. You should be grateful.”

Neo couldn’t hold it anymore. His anger suddenly raised, and the mocking smile on Corine’s face made him even angrier. He moved his right hand, and planned to push that woman away from his side, but suddenly … his hand stopped at an inch before touching her shoulder.

Still trying, Neo pushed her hand stronger till those blue-greenish veins could be seen clearly on the surface of his skin. He was trying hard only to touch Corine’s shoulder but failed. His hand was still there as if an invisible object was protecting Corine.

“Are you trying to hurt me?” Corine could easily move her face closer to Neo. And strangely, Neo could no longer pull her face away. He could not move any inch. All of his body was rejecting his order.

“Well, you can’t. Not without my permission.” She added in a whisper that she made sure that only Neo could hear that.

“And now, let the first training section begins.”