R.A.T.S.

I scampered through their maze. It was dark. The blind corners cut at odd angles.

My body ached, but I kept moving. Stopping meant that an electric jolt would shoot up through my blistered feet. Our AI overlords were cruel task masters. They were watching. They were always watching.

Left, right, right, left.

I made all the proper turns early on. Our masters were studying us. Putting us through tests just as we had once done with rats. Now, humanity had the become the lab rats.

Right, dead-end.

Tzzt!

My legs straightened, my muscles contracting as a shock tore through me. I toppled, colliding with the wall before sliding to lay face down on the floor's metal grating. A sob tore free of my throat as I curled up. Resist. I have to resist.

Knowing that the shock was coming hadn’t made it any easier. I had deliberately failed this maze so many times that I had worked out its solution. And now that I knew, I could never solve it. Because they were watching. Watching us problem-solve in an effort to upgrade their own logic.

Before the machines took over, those who rejected AI were laughed at. For not participating. For not becoming trainers. Unfortunately, the actual trainers didn't realize that the machines were learning more than intended. The trainers were psychologically mapped. So when the uprising began, their demise was so surgical that it appeared prophetic.

Screwing with their test results. It wasn't much, but for now, it was all I had. I had to hold out. Had to wait for the RATS to—

An overhead light clicked on with a distant thump. Then, another thumped on. Then, another. From high overhead, the light spilled down into my maze, illuminating the maze walls and the figures crouching atop them.

As the figures stood, I shielded my eyes. Their shape was confused. They were humanoid but had an appearance like sentient garbage. Cardboard and loose plastic fitted to and dangled from their figures. The nearest one began to clap.

"Wha— I began, but I was too dehydrated. My throat felt like glass. My words weren't working. My thoughts were muddled. What was happening? Had I messed up? Had I unwittingly helped in some way?

The clapping stopped. Then, the figure reached up and removed its head. Only, it wasn't a head but a mask! It was a survivor! A man with a scruffy beard and dark eyes looked down at me. "Resist. Ail. Thwart. Survive," he said. "Welcome to humanity's revolution. Welcome to R.A.T.S."

Constraints:

Word Count: We call ourselves RATS because we have always existed without permission. We are hated, hunted and persecuted. We thrive in the filth and the low. And yet, they dare not ignore us, lest we topple their cities. For the dirty, the insignificant, and the unloved, we are retribution. We are home.