Mia kept looking over her shoulder as she ran down the alley. Her arms cradled the squirming bundle of her six year old daughter, Alicia. Alicia was bundled in her mother’s coat to keep her dry. Meanwhile, Mia’s blouse was getting soaked by the drizzling rain. The rain did nothing to stop the sound of merriment drifting down from the rooftops, not the sound of exploding fireworks. Almost like any other New Years, but this one was far from normal.

“Mommy, why did we leave the cab?” Alicia asked, her voice muffled by the coat. She was struggling to get her face free so she could see her mother.

“Because the bad men are after us, and the cab stopped moving,” Mia answered between heavy breaths. Running while carrying her daughter was a bit more exercise than she was used to. “Be quiet, we can’t have them discovering us.”

Of course her daughter did not listen, she needed her curiosity sated. “What bad men?”

Mia’s step faltered a bit, when she stepped on a patch of ice, and she almost dropped Alicia. Stopping to rearrange her daughter, she thought about what she was going to say. However, she did not get more than a few seconds to think, when Alicia pointed and shouted, “Look Mommy, look!”

Looking over her shoulder, Mia saw a SecuriBot had entered the alley far behind her. Its built in lights made it stand out like a sore thumb in the night. Holding back a string of curses, Mia started running again. Away from the SecuriBot.

“Mommy, you’re going the wrong way,” Alicia protested, squirming wildly to get down.

“Stop it Alicia, the SecuriBot is one of the bad men!”

The squirming stopped, and Alicia’s scrunched up face peeked up at her. Confusion easily visible in her little girl’s face. “But Mommy, you’ve always said the police is your friend. And that they can help me if I’m in trouble.”

“Yes, but not this time. They’re the bad men right now, but only today,” Mia huffed.

“Mommy, I don’t understand.”

Growling in frustration, Mia said, “I just need you to be quiet for the moment. Until we get to Miss Elleby’s.”

“Are you mad at me Mommy?” Alicia asked, with tears in her eyes.

Realizing her gaffe, Mia quickly reassured, “No, not at you honey. Never at you. I’m just frustrated.”

Exiting the alley at a fast clip, she almost ran into a kid on a hoverboard.

“Watch it, bitch!” the hoverskater shouted as he struggled to keep his balance after swerving. Mia ignored him, and turned down the street, fearful of the approaching SecuriBot. She could hear the clank-clank of the bot’s steps getting closer and closer. Fortunately she was not too far from her destination.

Another few minutes and she was in front of the building she was aiming for. Having already set up an appointment, the door opened for her. She knew she would not leave the building as a free woman. A few steps beyond the door was the elevator, which she quickly entered. Pushing the button for the hundred and fourteenth floor, she watched as the SecuriBot entered the building, just as the elevator doors closed.

It was an old building, which meant it took a minute to get to the floor. Mia was out of the elevator in a flash, and turned right, heading for apartment 11419. She reached it, as she heard the characteristic clank-clank behind her. She started hammering on the door, and just a second later, the door opened.

The woman opening the door started to say, “I’ve bee—”

Mia interrupted her almost immediately after pressing a button on her wrist device. “I hereby assign guardianship of my daughter to Lillian Elleby.”

“Notary AI Three Four Ten A is filing a no—” the wrist device started informing Mia, but she ignored it and turned her attention to her daughter.

“Licia, darling. You’re going to stay with this nice l—” she started saying, with tears streaming down her cheeks as she handed over her daughter to the old lady, who ran an orphanage.

“Citizen, you’re being detained for tax delinquency,” the emotionless voice of the SecuriBot interrupted her, and put a hand on both of Mia’s upper arms. It then started citing a list of different laws.

“Mommy, what’s going on?” Alicia screamed, fear and confusion in her eyes, as she struggled to get out of the stranger’s arms.

“I need to go away for a bit, but don’t worry. I’ll see you again very soon. Mommy promises.” Mia tried to reach out and touch her daughter one last time. The steel-like grip of the SecuriBot prevented her from doing that. When the SecuriBot was done rattling off its list, it turned around and started carrying Mia away.

“Mommy!” Was the repeated cry that Alicia called out as the SecuriBot led Mia away. Mia struggled to turn enough around to catch a last glimpse of her daughter, but was unable. She had to resort to calling out comforting words and promises she did not believe herself.

When the elevator doors closed behind them, Mia broke down. No longer a need to be strong, her body lost all semblance of life and she started crying. She had done the best she could for her daughter now. It was better to grow up with a stranger, than in one of the government run facilities, where the children was overseen by AIs. A child needed real people around them while growing up.

Mia lost all interest in the world around her. She kept crying until she was empty. And just focused on memories of her happy daughter. It came as a surprise when the SecuriBot suddenly released her.

Caught off guard, she fell to the ground, landing on hands and knees. The emotionless voice of the SecuriBot behind her ordered, “Strip. Decontamination required. You have ten seconds to comply.”

Confused, Mia looked around, and found herself in a smallish room. Grey bare walls and floor. A closed door opposite the one the SecuriBot had carried her through. The only thing looking out of the ordinary were some showerhead like contraptions in the ceiling. There were also a lot of lamps, but only a few of the smaller ones were turned on, providing the small amount of light that were in the room.

“Five seconds,” the SecuriBot informed her. Which finally got her moving. Scrambling to get to her feet, she had just managed to start unbuttoning her blouse, when the SecuriBot stepped forward. Ignoring propriety, Mia ripped her blouse open, buttons flying everywhere. Quickly she shimmied out of the blouse, which made the SecuriBot stop. With as much haste as possible, Mia finished undressing. As soon as she had finished, the showerheads started releasing a torrent of foul chemical smelling water. Strong enough to make her gag.

After a few seconds the water stopped, and the previously turned off lamps turned on. Their light was blindingly bright, and in a few seconds the temperature in the room was unbearably hot. The lights were turned on for less than ten seconds, but in that time, she had become dry.

When they turned off again, she heard the door open. Once more the SecuriBot spoke, “Step through the door, and lie down in the med-pod.”

Her vision still had spots from the bright light, but she managed to find her way into the small room. A smaller version of the game pods she had seen in the news took up most of the room. She stopped just in front of it. Staring at it with dread. It would be her home for what might well could be the rest of her life. When she lay down, she might never wake up again.

“Lay down,” the SecuriBot said once more, and gave her a light shove. Trembling with fear, she lay down on the bed. The fear was so bad, she started to hyperventilate. It only got worse as the lid started to close. The last thing she heard, was the hiss as the pod was hermetically sealed.