The City Machine

Along the travel cable Hogan moved in the form of crackling energy, whirling around its loops and bends, zig-zagging through the network of cables that crisscrossed the city machine until finally he arrived at travel code 0182-593, exiting the wire and reforming within a travel box.
But then, looking down at the cable, he saw the energy of the secret policeman who had been following him surge through the wire and so, taking out a small pair of nail scissors he cut the travel cable.
"Take that, copper", he said, seeing the sparks that were a dematerialized policeman escape from the wire into oblivion.
But then, as he was looking round, a startled Dr Jungerswidt came out of his laboratory.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?", spluttered the old man.
"I work for the Underground", said Hogan, pulling out a Tesla gun and pointing it at the doctor.
"The Underground", said Dr Jungerswidt, "Well what do you want with me?".
"You're Mordechai Jungerswidt aren't you", said Hogan, "Inventor of the city machine".
"Yes", said the old man.
"Well then you can tell me where the machine gets its power from", said Hogan.
"Gets its power?", asked Jungerswidt.
"Yes. Is it geothermal? Nuclear? Solar Powered?", asked Hogan, "You see when we find out how the machine is powered we can shut it down; shut it down permanetly and then they'll have to let us go outside".
"Oh I doubt if you can shut it down that easily", said the old doctor.
"Why?", said Hogan, "What powers it?".
"The cheapest fuel source there is", said Jungerswidt, "People".
"People", asked Hogan, shocked, "How?".
"The same way that you are teleported through the travel cable", said Jungerswidt, "The matter of human bodies, those that the higher echelon deem disposable, are converted into energy and then sent through cables only they are not travel  cables but power cables".
"How long has that been happening?", asked Hogan.
"20 or 30 years now", said Dr Jungerswidt, sighing, "You see when the higher echelon first decided to build a machine for people to live in, it was really supposed to help people, provide cheap housing and other amenities for ordinary people massproduced by the machine but, unfortunately, as the machine grew and grew exponentially it needed more and more power until finally, when it had grown to cover most of the planets surface, it had drained away all the Natural resources and then there was only one option left; use the human population itself to power the machine".
"And you let this happen", said Hogan, pressing the anode of his Tesla gun against the doctors heart, "You hid the truth from the people".
"I'm really a small fish to the higher echelon", said the Doctor, "If I had not they would just have got some other scientist to do it and had me erased just for knowing about it".
"Its what you deserve", said Hogan.
There was a bang at the door of the Doctors apartment.
"Who is that?", asked Hogan, worriedly.
"The secret police", said Jungerschwidt, "They spy on me constantly. My whole apartment is covered in their electronic ears".
Hogan moved the barrel of his Tesla gun to the doctor's right temple.
"Then I'll take you hostage", he said.
"Go ahead", said the Doctor smiling, "They don't care about me. They only keep me alive because they're afraid if I die in mysterious circumstances people will start asking questions".
Hogan heard a hissing sound and saw smoke pour in through a crack under the front door, knowing that it was the vapourized form of a secret policeman that would soon reform complete with machine gun.
"There must be a way out of here", said Hogan, taking off his jacket, rolling it up and pressing it under the door like a draught excluder.
"Only the moving fireescape outside my living room window", said Jungerswidt, "And I've no doubt they have men watching that aswell".
Hogan thought for a minute.
"Do you have a teleportal", he asked.
"Yes", said the doctor.
"A large screen one?", asked Hogan.
"Well 50 inches", said Jungerswidt.
"Take me to it", said Hogan, prodding at the Doctors head with his gun.
Jungerswidt turned and led him down a corridoor that opened up into a living room and, in a corner, Hogan saw a Teleportal tuned to a fast food station.
"Oh", said the doctor, bending down and reaching into the screen; grabbing hold of a wrapped up burger and a carton of fries, "I forgot I had ordered lunch".
Hogan shoved the doctor aside and got down on his knees infront of the teleportal then began to turn the tuning dial.
"What are you planning to do?", asked the Doctor, unwrapping and starting to eat his cheeseburger.
"The Underground has a pirate teleportal station, transmitting on a secret frequency", said Hogan, "We use it to hand out literature. When the revolution came we were going to use it to hand out guns".
But then, smiling, Hogan saw the face of one of his comrades from the Underground staring out of the screen.
He reached through the screen and they shook hands.
"Glad to see you Comrade Hogan", he said, "Did you meet with Doctor Jungerswidt?".
"I'm in his apartment right now", said Hogan, "But the police are outside"
"And theres no way out?", asked his comrade.
"No but then I remembered the story of Alice Through The Looking Glass", said Hogan, pushing his head through the screen.
Then Jungerswidt saw Hogan crawl through the screen like some bizarre, inverted mechanical birth.
The vapourized policeman now fully reformed walked up the coridoor towards the living room and Jungerswidt heard him cocking a machine gun.
"Are you coming doctor?", asked Hogan, reaching out of the screen up towards him.
"No there isn't time", said Jungerswidt, "And besides, you were right. I do deserve to be punished for my crimes. For what we've done to the people and the planet, someone has to pay".
As Hogan pulled his hand back inside the screen, the doctor grabbed hold of the teleportals plug and yanked it from its wall socket and, just as the secret police man aimed his gun at the screen and started to fire, the picture on it disappeared.
"Pity you didn't manage to bring the Doctor with you", said Hogan's comrade as the image on their teleportal went black aswell, "He would have been great help to our cause".
"Yes", said Hogan, "But I found out what powers the machine".
"Then we can blow up their generator", said his comrade, "Bring the city machine to a standstill".
"We won't need dynamite", said Hogan, "Once you hear it you'll realize, the truth is explosive enough".