Scene 5: Torslunda Marshes

Yumin could feel her face burn, turning a deep red at the cheeks. All this was about… robot procreation? Mark’s death?

"W.. wh…" she’s a little speechless.

"How does Mark come into all of this?" she pipes up!

The Shaman nods at Mikael. "That is the offer she came to us with. I turned her down because I did not trust her motives and I was worried what might happen if we delve into these matters. And most of my family accepted my decision. But Jane did not agree and she gathered some others who were on her side and they left our group to join Dr. Liv at the bunker. I have not spoken to any of them since but we have seen a group of them, though we barely recognized them. They looked horrible, mangled and - to use a human expression - sick. They were the ones who killed Mark and brought his body into the field where the police later found it. He was our friend and so we honored him as best we could, by decorating his body with what we could find around."

He shakes his head sadly, then says to Yumin: "I don't know why they killed Mark. He was our friend, but we also know he was Dr. Liv's friend. If, as you say, Dr. Liv was kidnapped and he witnessed it, then maybe the Clan murdered him to hide their crime."

"We've paid a visit to the Center and there's all the signs of a struggle within." Sabine speaks up. "So, this Dr. Liv has been taken. We also found her torture chamber in the basement, where she'd been experimenting on poor animals and created something—this hybrid machine/animal? Whatever she created there was taken as well and now all Stenhamra is suffering from nightmares, daymares, and escalating pains associated with a painful childbirth. It needs to end."

"Shaman, this bunker you mention, where is it?"

The Shaman looks perturbed by these news, especially the nightmares. "I don't know about Dr. Liv's basement but I know that the Totem Clan now lives in an old bunker far to the East of Sånga-Säby, just north of the prison, Svartsjöanstalten. It is called KAB... something. If Dr. Liv has managed to create this Machine Fetus, that is where it will be."

"Ahhh! KAB-III." Sabine fills in the rest. "That's where those crates came from that were in the basement." She connects the dots. "How would one go about stopping these terrible nightmares and phantom pains from continuing to affect the townspeople? Is it the fetus that's causing this or Dr. Liv?" She asks.

"Okay...Okay." Mikael nods his head as he tries to piece everything together. "So what do we know?" He scans the rooms and looks at his friends. "We know that a group of robots fled here from Russia. We know that Mark found them and made friends of them, and that he was wrapped up with Dr. Liv. Maybe Mark was the one that told her about the robots out here in the Marsh? Then Dr. Liv gets the idea that maybe she could do something to give some life to these robots and offers that to them. Most declined," he gestures to the Shaman, "but some accept and split off. They kidnap Dr. Liv to force her to work these experiments for them, but Mark sees the whole thing go down at her house. They kill him to keep him quiet, and take Dr. Liv to KAB-III, this bunker. Then..." he trails off, unsure. "Does that sound right so far? We know the, uh, phantom birth stuff, all the feelings people have been having, started up around then. But why?"

The shaman shakes his head. "I don't know anything about nightmares and pains. You are the first who told me about this, as we haven't spoken to any humans since Mark's death." He shrugs his shoulders in a slightly exaggerated way and then says: "But I am sure it must have to do with the Machine Fetus. I just don't know how exactly."

"We must stop it somehow." Sabine states the obvious. "The whole town is getting sick and starting to act really strange and its getting worse by the day. I don't think we have another viable choice. We've got to go this bunker and put an end to this before its too late and other people start dying."

"I… I saw the radio she was working on. I think I could figure that side of things… how to turn it off, or stop it, if I could get close enough. But… the other robots… they’ve already killed someone. Theyll do it again, to protect this thing."

"Agreed," Mikael says firmly. "We have to do something about this, but its not going to be safe, or easy." He looks at Yumin and nods, "We have to get Yumin to that device so she can turn it off...destroy it, whatever might be case." Looking around to the others, "Do we have any kind of weapons, or anything, that might help against robots?"

Sabine points out Eric's hockey stick. "Well...that's a start I guess."

"We should be going if we are going to get to this bunker today." She stands up and shows Shaman the sketch she has done of it. "I don't want Kajsa, or anyone else, suffering from this any longer."

"Yeah," Mikael says, "Let's end this, if we can."

He watches the Shaman's reaction to Sabine's drawing and allows the robot enjoy it before asking, "Shaman, these others, they killed Mark. They might try to do the same to us. Is there anything you can tell us that might make it safer for us to get in there and shut down the fetus? Any special way we can defend ourselves or, if we need to, turn off the other robots?"

The Shaman looks at Sabine's drawing for a long time. He doesn't smile but that's because his face doesn't have the necessary mechanisms for it. "I like it," he says. "Can I keep it?"

"I do not know any details about the Machine Fetus," he then replies to Mikael. "I don't know what it looks like or how to destroy it. But if the Totem Clan have kidnapped Dr. Liv, she might be in the bunker as well and you can ask her. As for my lost children, I do not wish to see them harmed. While I wish you success in what you are doing, I won't tell you how to best kill a robot. Too many of my kind have been murdered by humans already."
There is no aggression in his voice as he says this but his already hard Russian accent sound a bit harder at those last words as well and you decide it's better not to press the matter.

When you say your goodbyes, the Shaman is as friendly as before and points you to the shortest way back to town. The three robots you saw playing with the animals before are still arround and watch you curiously as you depart, but they don't speak to you and keep their distance.

Sabne nods and smiles. She carefully removes the page and hands it to Shaman. "It would be an honor Shaman and thanks for your time and help."