Clockwork Looking Glass (Heart of Bronze Book 1)

by Michael Rigg

  He didn't correct himself, but I could see in his eyes that he was thinking the same thing. In his eyes I saw his heart break. He will always think of me as Alice in Wonderland, the woman who fell through the looking glass into his world.

  And I would always think of myself as Ray's widow, always secretly wishing we'd left the NSA and pursued other dreams.

  I wouldn't even know where to begin in a world like this. I wasn't part of this. Sky cars and blimps and a never-ending American Civil War where ghouls and witches roamed the countryside. I might have stood a chance had they not given me back my memories. It seemed whoever these beings were, their sole purpose was to torture me.

  I slowly shook my head as Bryce looked into my eyes.

  He held me tighter and kissed me on the cheek. I reached up and guided his chin until our lips met, and I kissed him one last time. "I'll never forget you."

  He smiled and quirked an eyebrow at the darkness around us. "I think you will."

  "I'll try not to this time."

  Bryce took a deep shaky breath and addressed the darkness. "If she does this, will I at least remember her?"

  "All realities will change," Adam said through a yawn. "All times will change," Jeanette said. "Nothing remains the same."

  I reached up to my neck, then under my hair to unclasp the chain to the bronze heart Bryce had given me. "Here. Take it. Something to remember me by."

  He shook his head. "No. No, I can't. You keep it."

  I smirked. "Bryce, you saw how I come out on the other side. I won't be wearing it anymore. I won't be wearing anything."

  We looked at each other with the bronze heart dangling between us, then I took his hand and lowered the chain into his palm before curling his fingers over it. I tip-toed up to him and kissed him again. "Something to remember me by... at least for the next few seconds."

  "I love you."

  I smiled in response. Then I took one last look around the dark room, sensing the greedy dark eyes of “Adam” and “Jeanette” on me. I turned and stepped up to the edge of the silvery pool like a diver at the Olympics.

  Bryce reached out and touched my arm. He smiled at me with lips clamped tight to hold back his feelings. He blinked and nodded. "Remember." His voice cracked. "Think hard about where you want to be. Maybe it'll work."

  I nodded slightly. "Relatively speaking, I was close the last time."

  He raised his hand and waved goodbye. It was the saddest, weakest, most heart-rending gesture I had ever seen. Bryce's heart was torn open in front of me, but so was my own. I'd lost my husband, my life.

  I shrugged. "Ray and I had always talked about having children. I always wanted a boy."

  Bryce suddenly smiled. "You can name him Lucien."

  I laughed and another tear found its way out. If I was going to do this, I'd have to do it now. "Thank you, Bryce, for saving me. For bringing me back.”

  He nodded and raised his hand. “I won't let them make me forget you.”

  “See you in the next world."

  Then I closed my eyes, and stepped into the mirror.

  EPILOGUE, “Monuments of the Citadel”

  September 11, 2025

  My sister called out to me. “Bryce!”

  I always hated how drafty the halls of the Thinking Machines were. In all the years I've been coming here with my father, it was always a wonder that I never caught my death of cold. I stood at one of the tall panels that allowed access to the main corridor that divided ADAM and EVE. It was an enormous brass-lined panel set in polished oak with a number of switches and lighted tubes. Each switch corresponded to a different tube of light by a different switch. The trick to memorizing the code was in the geometry of switches and lights.

  I was half-way through the second sequence when I heard heels clicking on the floor behind me.

  "Bryce, we're going to be late."

  I glanced over my shoulder to where my sister stood impatiently in the chilly marble corridor. "In a moment, Adeline. I need to consult with ADAM on a matter of delicate importance."

  "It's freezin' in here!"

  "Don't whine, Adel. It is very unbecoming. Besides, I feel the same and want to be done just as quickly as you."

  "But we'll miss President McFerran's speech."

  It was another ploy to light a fire under my behind, but I wasn't about to fall prey to Adeline Landry's machinations yet again. "As the former Lady's military adviser, I believe I have certain dispensations when it comes to keeping time with President McFerran. She will forgive our tardiness."

  "Yours maybe," Adeline huffed, "but not mine."

  Another set of clicking footsteps approached. I was about to be out-numbered. "Come on, brother. You already spent an hour with EVE. How much longer is this gonna take?"

  I stopped and turned to Savannah. It was hard to believe she was our younger sister. Now a young woman with curly golden tresses, she looked more like a Lady of Grace than a simple teenaged stable master. "More than likely another hour. Why don't you and Adel take a stroll outside in the monuments?"

  "The monuments?" Savannah said as she shifted her weight to one hip and crossed her arms over her chest.

  "At least pay your brother Clayton a visit."

  "We laid flowers on him just last month," Savannah whined.

  It was hard enough having to lay my older brother to rest after he took a bullet while fighting the Imperials on Wall Street. The fact that Savannah and he did not get along was a constant rub, particularly after the man's untimely death. Not only was Clay a damn fine soldier, he was one of Lady McFerran's favorites and would have been elected to her cabinet had he survived the final battle of the last war.

  "Come on," Adeline whispered to her sister as I returned to the agitating business of setting the unlocking code, "We'll go see Clay."

  As they moved on, I turned and caught Adeline's eye. I gave her an appreciative smile and nod. "It won't be as long. I promise."

  "Better not be, General Landry," Adeline smirked back. "You know how I hate wearing gowns." I chuckled and gave my sisters a wink, "But the two of you look divine."

  Savannah turned and flared her nostrils at me just before they disappeared around a corner. I turned back to the panel and input the final two numbers. The enormous stone door next to the panel rumbled open and an even colder blast of air wafted out at me.

  A dark-eyed, silver-haired attendant wearing a fleece jacket looked at me and offered to help me into a similar covering. I waved off the jacket. In over 165 years the fashions of gentlemen in the profession of soldiery had not changed. My long wool frock coat of Republic blue and decorated with the pomp and brassworks of my rank kept me warm in all climes.

  I nodded to other machine attendants as I made my way down the corridor and turned toward the wide hall that entered ADAM's innards. The paper on which I'd scratched notes from EVE was clutched in my left hand, and I could feel my knuckles whitening as I gripped it with enough pressure to crush its molecules. I just didn't want to risk losing it in a pocket or dropping it where a draft of cycled air would whisk it away. I'd hate to spend another hour pulling this intelligence from EVE.

  "General Landry," a young machine attendant nodded and pulled aside a red velvet curtain on one of the many booths. "It is good to see you back, sir."

  I smiled and offered the young silver haired woman a nod. I stopped to converse with her a moment out of respect. The machine attendants were often thought of as no more than servants, but without them ADAM and EVE would die. "How are you this fine morning, Jeanette?"

  Her dark eyes smiled. "I'm well, sir. Well. How is the weather today?"

  Unfortunately, the attendants worked fourteen to twenty-hour shifts with very few breaks. All of them were housed within the enormous blockhouse where the machines were kept safe. They were rarely able to see the light of day. That's why so many, like Jeanette, were so pale, their skin almost translucent. "I don't think you'd care for it. It's up near eighty-five today and the sun is hot as bla
zes."

  She turned her ghostly gaze toward the curtain, the hall, the doors beyond and the doors beyond those. There was a sadness in her eyes, or curiosity, I couldn't be sure which. "Why don't you head on out and enjoy a smoke break for a spell.” I winked. “Enjoy that gruelin' weather?"

  The young woman's eyes brightened slightly. "I don't know if I should, General." I offered her a wry smile. "I promise not to tell, Jeanette. You're one of my favorites here." I flashed her a wink. Attendant Jeanette half curtsied and stepped away from the alcove. "I think I'll just go see for myself how warm it is outside."

  I pursed my lips and nodded. "Give my man a nod if you see him outside and let him know I'll be along presently."

  "How is Lucien these days?"

  "Fat as ever," I chuckled, "But you can ask him yourself."

  "Thank you, sir."

  I waited until the attendant was out through a side access door.

  I stepped into my booth and closed the curtain behind me. Then I took a seat in the padded leather chair and reached out for the bulky brass head set that covered the top of my head and ears. Through the ear cups I could hear ADAM's breathing, the distant hiss and whine of far away steam turbines, the crackle of glass tubes and the skittering clicks of brass keys on punch paper. I unfolded the paper in my left hand and set it to the right of the machine controls before me, then I pulled the activation lever.

  "Good morning, ADAM. This is General Bryce Landry of the Presidential Guard, former vice president of Landry Holdings."

  A voice whispered back, an young man's voice that carried the tone of power and authority... and a bit of familiarity. I imagined somewhere deep within the heart of the machine was a man who translated the punches and clicks of the old Thinking Machine into words I could understand. "Good morning, General Landry. How do you feel today?"

  "I am well, ADAM. Thank you for asking."

  "To what do I owe this honor? It is my understanding that most of your dealings are with my sister."

  I smiled at the thought of a machine thinking it had a sibling, but I knew what it meant. "EVE has served me well with advice of a military nature, but she has given me pause, sir."

  "Explain pause."

  I glanced to the paper. "We have enjoyed peace since the formation of the Republic nearly ten years ago. The people have voted Lydia McFerran into her second term of office. New corporations have formed across the Republic. The Overwatch has been deployed as Borderwatch for any threats from overseas."

  "There will be no threats from overseas."

  I stopped, my jaw hanging open. I wondered how ADAM knew such things so quickly and with such affirmation. "Indeed, ADAM." I lifted the paper and re-read what EVE had told me. "As you know, my father is ailing and my sisters are preparing to take the reins of our corporate merger with Thorne Industries."

  "Adeline and Savannah Landry will become the chief executive and financial officers of Landry, Thorne and Landry."

  I smiled. "I thought Landry, Landry and Thorne had a better—"

  "EVE's calculations are law. Landry, Thorne and Landry."

  I smiled, my attempt at humor lost on the centuries-old behemoth. "Very good, sir. Um..." My smile faded when I consulted the paper yet again. "EVE told me something that has given me concern. Her expertise has always been one of a military jurisdiction yet she made inferences to future issues involving the corporations of the east coast."

  I heard clicking and humming from deep within the machine. "Explain concern."

  "Yes, ADAM. Um... EVE mentioned," I read directly from my notes, "Landry Holdings will maintain a mark of the presidential seal despite the formation of the Landry, Thorne and Landry Corporation."

  Clicks. Hums. "Indeed."

  "So it's true that Adeline is to maintain a separate corporate holding outside of our joint efforts with Bradford Thorne?"

  "Indeed."

  "May I ask why?"

  "You may ask."

  I sat back and blinked. "Why?"

  Clicks. Hums. "EVE has calculated an 81 percent chance that Bradford Thorne will attempt a hostile takeover with an advancement made in the Landry, Thorne and Landry laboratories."

  "Laboratories?"

  "A segment of the corporation devoted to the study of infectious diseases, contagion, blood-borne viruses and magic."

  "What?"

  "A segment of the corporation devoted to—"

  "No no, I heard you." I swallowed hard. "Why will Landry, Thorne and Landry invest time in such an endeavor?"

  "To stave off the rise of the ghoul population in the undercities."

  My mind flashed back to the final battle of the last Civil War and rumors that Bradford Thorne had taken in an intelligent ghoul to fight at his behest. The monster had been killed, and since that time, no one had seen nor heard of another ghoul. Awareness of the monstrosity even drove open witches back from public view. I had even lost track of my old friend Pandora not long after I received word of Clayton's fall.

  I stopped and sat back. I rubbed the whiskers of my goatee, pulling on them as I thought this through. It was good that ADAM and EVE predicted that Landry, Thorne and Landry would work toward such a goal, but that one was needed at all sent a chill through my blood.

  After a long pause in which I was deeply lost in thought, ADAM spoke. "General Landry."

  "Hm."

  "Your time is precious. The president requires your presence at a meeting of—"

  "Yes, yes," I said as I quickly gathered my thoughts. "Tell me, ADAM, will the ghouls be a threat?"

  "They will not."

  Something in those three words chilled me even deeper. It was as if ADAM knew the ghouls themselves wouldn't be a threat but that something related to them would be. "Will Thorne be a threat?"

  "He will not."

  "Can you tell me—"

  "My apologies, General Landry, but your connection is severed."

  I heard a click, a high pitched whine, and the ear cups suctioned to the sides of my head went deaf. "ADAM? ADAM?"

  I sat there for a long time pondering this. ADAM and EVE had predicted turns and advancements very well, but they never came out and said what would happen. Any time a user got close to asking, as I just did, they'd shut us down. To simply offer their predictions, EVE once told me, would be to throw in a calculation that would introduce chaos to the mix. ADAM and EVE were born to form order out of chaos. They weren't born to form chaos. That was apparently the job of us lowly humans.

  I got up from my chair and stepped out into the hall. Jeanette was just returning from her stroll out into the daylight and greeted me with a wide smile.

  "You knew I'd be finished so quickly?"

  The attendant smiled and bowed. "Thank you for the opportunity to see the weather, General. It was quite lovely. My best wishes to your mother and father."

  “Thank you, Jeanette.”

  “It would be good to hear your father up and about again, treasure hunting and all.”

  I chuckled. “Landry Holdings has never been in the treasure hunting business, Jeanette. I'm afraid it's nothing but boring property acquisitions in places as cold as this or hot as blazes.”

  “Well, still.” The young woman smiled and nodded back toward the door. I caught a mischievous twinkle in her dark eyes. “I thank you for giving me the opportunity to see the sun today.”

  "Any time, my friend."

  "Your sisters await you in the monuments."

  I smiled. "Thank you, Jeanette." I dug into a pocket and gave the woman a tip. "I shall see you next week when I consult on Landry Holding's Alaska acquisitions."

  "Very good, sir."

  I made my way outside, past the rows of bronze plaques dedicated to the founders of ADAM and EVE. I always found it curious that one of them gleamed more than the others. There was something about the plaque of Raymond Simcoe that intrigued me, but I couldn't quite place what it was. It wasn't just that his was the shiniest of the monuments. It was something... deeper, like a
long forgotten memory.

  The stone garden of black monoliths was constructed by order of the Thinking Machines to commemorate the lives of those spent to see the Republic sewn together. The flat-topped pyramids covered several hundred acres surrounding the property and included nearly a million stones to honor every life lost in the formation of our great nation from the time the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter to the final shots in the air over the Atlantic Ocean.

  Back out in the welcome heat, I found Adeline and Savannah not far from the path that wound between the tall stone monoliths. I was glad I didn't have to walk the miles through the stones to locate them, but then again I really didn't think I was involved with ADAM and EVE all that long.

  They were standing with a woman dressed smartly in a white uniform. Double rows of silver buttons decorated her chest, epaulets gave her the rank of captain, and the gold stripe down her tight white uniform slacks designated her as a commander in the defense of the Hall of Thinking Machines. I had seen the woman before. She had always caught my eye due to my admitted fondness for redheads like our own President McFerran, though I of course couldn't pursue a relationship with Lydia, even back when she was a Lady. There were staunch rules about such things and, besides, she was happily married to President Silas Kennedy at the time, though I didn't know it until she took over his office.

  "Thank you, Addy," the woman said. Then she looked at me. Her emerald eyes seemed to glint with a hidden charm, or perhaps a wisdom beyond her years. I couldn't be certain which. Perhaps Savannah and Adeline were telling secrets on me. I made eye contact with the Captain on a few occasions before but we never spoke. In fact, I don't recall ever hearing her voice.

  Savannah turned at my approach. "Oh, good. The Great Consulter has returned." She bowed mockingly before stomping past me toward the lot where Lucien waited with the aerocar. I called out to her, "You behave. Don't you be messin' with Lucien now."

  She waved over her shoulder. "Just hurry on up."

  Smiling, I turned to Adeline and the Captain. Both were smiling at me. Adeline had a look on her face I had seen countless times before. Then it occurred to me... she was about to play Cupid. I gave her a sidelong warning glare, but she quickly turned and patted my shoulder before following after Savannah, leaving me with the Captain and a potentially embarrassing situation. I couldn't simply turn and follow her. Such a thing would be rude.