by Drew Cordell
“So the Mids are just as lifeless as the Slums and a few million Enforcers are missing?” I asked in disbelief.
Adrihel nodded. “That about sums it up.”
“We’re making our final approach to Olympus; strap up,” the pilot said as the ship slowed.
Taking our seats, we strapped in and prepared for the climb through the barrier between the Mids and Olympus. The ship rotated and executed a vertical climb at high speed, piercing through the tunnel and flooding us in brilliant sunlight when we entered Olympus. I had to squint against the daylight piercing through the small window beside my seat. It had been over three years since I’d seen the sun, since I’d been exposed to anything other than the artificial lights in the Guild Hall.
“What about all the robot guards? Where are they?” I asked.
Adrihel pulled the underbolt on his rifle’s grenade launcher, ejecting a spent grenade cartridge and loading a new one. “I’ve shut them all down on executive order, and we manually removed their battery packs. All the other houses know exactly what’s going on. I’ve been transparent with them as the information became available to me, and they’re all on board for shutting down the Omniscience Engine.”
“I’m worried about those millions of missing Enforcers showing up. The plan is simple, and it should work, but I for one have a hard time believing that the Omniscience Engine will just shut down,” Marwin said.
“If it doesn’t, then we’ll tear the damn thing apart by hand,” Adrihel fumed. “I’ve already called the meeting at the Omniscience Engine facility. We’re shutting it down now. Keep those weapons handy just in case. Are you okay, Marwin?” Adrihel asked.
Marwin nodded. He had pulled some medical supplies from his pack and was treating the wound on his chest. Marwin had removed his armored vest, and I could see the shirt underneath was stained with a ring of blood where the round had hit. He tore at the fabric to reveal a nasty bruise, blue and purple with small cuts in the center. His chest was angry and red around the hit, but other than the bruising, it didn’t look too bad.
“I’ll be fine. I just want to get some gel on this before it really starts hurting.” He coated the spot with Nanogel and replaced his vest.
There was no way to tell exactly how many HKs had converged on our location; I could only hope Shield Squad could take them all out or safely evacuate without losing everyone. Enforcers were one thing, but if even a fraction of the missing Enforcers were converted into HKs, then we were in trouble.
I was also beginning to doubt this plan would work, and if Infinitum did send an army, then there wouldn’t be anything we could do. Since the Slums and the Mids were gone, it seemed logical Olympus was next to go. Since we were planning to shut down the Omniscience Engine, Infinitum was running out of time to make a move.
The pilot made the final approach, landing the ship on a platform connected to the Absolute Knowledge project’s building. There were other ships from the other houses here already, and armed, human guards were patrolling the landing pad, carrying rifles and wearing armored suits. Adrihel’s ship landed, the hydraulic landing pads sinking down under the weight of the ship before pressing up. The pilot pressed a button on his console, and the ramp deployed.
I stopped Colton as we were descending the ship’s ramp. “How well do you trust this pilot?” I asked over the drone of the engines.
Adrihel smiled. “I trust him with my life. Anderson is the best of the best.”
“Could I leave something on your ship just to be safe?” I asked.
Adrihel looked confused, but nodded regardless. Running back on the ship, I pulled the box from my father and tucked it in between two of the seats. If something went wrong, I couldn’t give the Omniscience Engine a chance to steal the box. It wouldn’t be looking for it on Adrihel’s ship. There were guards out here protecting the landing platform and ships, and I doubted the Omniscience Engine knew the box existed at all.
I returned to the others, and Adrihel smiled. “Let’s end this,” he said.
29 ASCENDANCE
Adrihel led us into the compound, his guards trailing behind with their weapons ready. There weren’t any robots in the facility as we moved toward the vault housing the main controls to the Absolute Knowledge project. Clearing the circular vault door, we entered the main room where the central console continued to swirl in brilliant blue light. The liquid metal structure overhead was turning, pivoting and adding information to the Paragon Thought joints of the structure. The other Barons and Baronesses were waiting in the center of the room, watching us enter with wide eyes. It had been years since they’d seen us and, unsurprisingly, they all looked the same.
“We don’t have any time to wait. We’re all here, and we need to shut this down,” Adrihel said, walking to the center of the room where engineers prepared the shutdown program to execute. “We know what’s happening, what the Omniscience Engine has done, and it can’t continue. Today, we decide to rebuild a new society, free from the evil and corruption of this machine. The pursuit of Absolute Knowledge has twisted into something that cannot continue—something evil. This wasn’t what we signed up for, and millions are dead. If we don’t end this now, Olympus is next.”
The engineers next to Adrihel nodded to him. “Let’s end this evil and rebuild our society for the greater good of humanity. This project has gone too far, and we’ve lost sight of who we are. We’ve become dependent on a machine to make all of our decisions and to control every aspect of our lives. No longer can we stand idly by while a corrupted system kills us. Fellow Barons and Baronesses, join me and place your hand on the console.”
Baron Neris Gareth stepped forward and shook Adrihel’s hand. He moved and placed his palm on the screen of the console, and it confirmed his identity in the vote. The others formed a line, waiting to cast their vote. I gripped my rifle a little tighter, exchanging a nervous look with Mary while I waited for my turn. Other than the guards, she was the only one who wasn’t Olympus royalty among the group.
One by one the Barons and Baronesses stepped forward, placing their hands on the console and waiting for it to flash green. Baron Telson was in front of me, and it occurred to me he and I hadn’t been formally introduced. In fact, it was our attack that ruined his commencement ceremony in the first place.
Soon it was my turn, and I stepped up to the holographic console, placing my palm on the glowing screen. The display blurred and my identity was confirmed, the screen flashing green. My heart was pounding in my chest. The system was now only waiting for confirmation from the Supreme Leader. Adrihel stepped forward when the voice of a woman echoed from behind us.
“You’ve betrayed your people, your cause, and the country of New York,” the voice said.
Everyone turned to see a beautiful woman wearing a white dress with black trim. Her jet-black hair was pinned up above a slender face with high cheekbones, and her eyes glowed a golden orange, drawing attention from her ashen skin. The glow in her eyes was either cybernetic augmentation or she wasn’t human.
“Do you think they would support you in this treason if they knew what you’ve done?” she asked. “You’re clearly not fit to rule, and that’s why I, Evelyn Aeoxus, first of the Ascendants, will take over Olympus as Supreme Ruler and lead our country into an era of prosperity.”
Adrihel’s face burned red. “You’re too late. I’m the Supreme Leader, and I won’t let you stop this. You’re just another part of the Omniscience Engine.”
Colton pressed his hand on the screen, but it flashed red. “Biometric scan failed for Supreme Leader Evelyn Aeoxous,” the automated voice stated.
“Let’s show the others exactly what you did. How you killed the Slums and the Mids and betrayed your cause,” the woman said.
Adrihel’s guards raised their weapons and pointed them at the woman. My heart was racing in my chest as the tension built. I pulled my rifle from around my back and pointed it at the woman. She was still smiling and walking toward Adrihel, her high heels
clicking against the floor of the room.
“Shoot her,” Adrihel fumed. The guards didn’t move, and Adrihel ordered them again. “I command you to shoot her!”
“I’m sorry. We can’t do that,” one of the guards said.
All the guards shifted their weapons, and they were pointing them at Adrihel now. Mary, Marwin, and I turned our focus and pointed our weapons at the guards, but there were too many of them.
The woman walked forward to the console, moving past Adrihel and entering a command. Footage of Colton projected on the screens in the room. The video showed him issuing an executive command for the Slums and the Mids to be killed. Verified encryption keys flashed below, suggesting the footage was authentic and unaltered, but I knew it had to be a trick. This had to be the Omniscience Engine trying to stop the one safeguard built into it that would allow for deactivation of the network.
“You lying bitch!” Adrihel roared, dashing forward and wrapping his huge hands around her neck. He lifted her in the air and started squeezing. The woman’s face started turning red, but she was smirking.
“Put her down, Colton!” I yelled, but it was already too late.
One of the guards fired his weapon, the heavy energy round hitting Adrihel’s leg and bouncing off his armor. The force was enough, and it caused him to sway, temporarily setting Evelyn down on the ground. Adrihel retained his grasp on her neck and reached out, trying to pull her hand onto the scanner to initiate the shutdown. The other Barons and Baronesses were screaming, but they hadn’t tried to flee the scene. I moved my finger to the trigger, but Marwin reached out and shoved my weapon down, doing the same with Mary’s. We were vastly outnumbered by the guards, and there was no way we’d win this fight. There was no cover in the room, and there were too many lives at stake. More of the human guards were moving to the only exit of the room, trapping us inside.
The second shot from the guard caught Adrihel in the forehead, burrowing through his skull and leaving a smoldering hole in its wake. Adrihel’s grasp on Evelyn loosened, and his body toppled over onto the floor.
The piercing screams of the others eventually subsided when the guards lowered their weapons, and Evelyn stepped forward to address us. I felt a firm nudge on my back as guards removed our weapons and herded us toward the center where Evelyn stood. We were shoved to our knees while the guards kept their guns trained on us.
“I apologize that this had to happen here—that we couldn’t be civilized in dealing with these trespasses against our beautiful country. Adrihel’s actions will forever scar the history of our nation, but under my leadership, I pledge to rebuild from the ashes, to build a society that can once again thrive and work toward our sacred goal of achieving Absolute Knowledge. Contrary to the lies Adrihel has told you, there is hope, and there is a way. Thanks to Baron Telson’s work in generating his second Paragon Thought last month, I am here.
“I am the first of the Ascendants, and rest assured we are not mechanical. We are entirely organic just like you. The Omniscience Engine is not evil as Adrihel led you to believe, and it has given life to me and my kind. The Ascendants are born as unique individuals, born from the project known as Mindshift. Our conscious is formed through the mixing of individuals uploaded to the Collective Thought; we are as unique as any one of you and, over time, the lines between humanity and the Ascendants will fade. Our two species are biocompatible with one another, and we will all repopulate the Mids and the Slums.”
“You can’t be serious!” Baron Tychus Orin shouted. “Mindshift is the technology that killed the Mids.”
“What makes you the Supreme Leader?” Jer Sylas demanded, his voice booming through the enclosed room.
Evelyn smiled. “Baron Orin, Baron Sylas, I understand this all comes as a shock, but I am completely serious and the laws of our country and the Omniscience Engine have deemed me the rightful Supreme Leader. The Ascendants will bring life where there is now only death. We will rebuild our society in a new era of transparency so Adrihel’s crimes can never be repeated. While the Omniscience Engine acted as the tool of his evil, the technology itself is benign. When used properly, it will lead our combined people to perfection. In this new era of our country, we will create the Council of Olympus in which all of you will have a say in every decision that impacts our country. The Omniscience Engine will be restructured with numerous safeguards so it can never be used this way again. Mindshift didn’t kill the Mids; Adrihel did.”
There were murmurs among the crowd, and I exchanged a nervous glance with Mary. This wasn’t right. I couldn’t believe Adrihel had anything to do with this; it had to be another trick.
“Unfortunately, Adrihel didn’t act alone. These three before you acted as his agents, the arbiters of death for the people of the Slums and the Mids—our people.”
Guards moved from the back of the room, moving someone else inside. The man had a black bag tied over his head, but I knew who it was. He was wearing a suit in my colors, ashen gray and bright orange. Bracken.
“This man, Bracken Rowe, is responsible for the transfer of confidential data that allowed Adrihel’s terrorists to destroy the Mids and the remaining survivors in the Slums. Since the other three are either direct royalty or under the protection of royalty, they will be tried separately and will be allowed to stay in their homes before their trial which will take place in three days. Mr. Rowe’s trial will be tomorrow, and all of you, along with the Omniscience Engine, will take part in judging him.”
Tears pooled in my eyes as the bag was torn off of Bracken’s face. He squinted against the light and looked around in a dazed stupor. His skin, which was normally vibrant, looked pale and sickly, and he was gaunt. He looked me in the eyes and managed a weak smile as if trying to reassure me everything was okay. Nothing was okay.
“Mr. Rowe will be held in detention before his trial. In the meantime, we will proceed to my manor so all of your questions can be addressed. We can rebuild our new society together.” Supreme Leader Aeoxous signaled to the guards, and they hauled Bracken away again.
“What’s going to happen to the rest of the Adrihels?” Baroness Jex Brae asked.
“While the rest of them are innocent of Colton’s crimes, they cannot stay here. Once the Mids have been rebuilt and repopulated, we will move them there. Until then, we will keep them comfortable in secondary housing in Olympus. The Adrihel manor is being renovated for me as we speak. I invite you to head over to my House while I talk with these three.”
“And the transparency you were just talking about?” Baroness Carly Aera demanded. “Lady Mary Dunn is a ward of my House, and I expect to be present in any conversation with her.”
“Baroness Aera, I understand your concern. I need to have a preliminary conversation with the three of them which will have no impact or bearing on their trial where our voices will be equal. Transparency and split power will be on official business only. Personal privacy is a right granted to us as citizens of Olympus, and it is a right I’m exercising now.”
Baroness Aera exchanged a worried glance with Mary, but moved along with the others as the guards escorted them away and toward the ships on the landing platform.
There were three guards in the room that I could see from my current vantage point, and they had their weapons trained on us. Mary and I still had functioning armor, but if they landed a headshot, our armor couldn’t protect us. Evelyn’s guards seemed disciplined, and I doubted we had a shot at taking them down. Even if we did, surely there were more guards in the compound, waiting to protect her. I hadn’t seen any other Ascendants, as she called them, or any of the millions of missing Enforcers. Our chances of escape here weren’t good, and we still didn’t know exactly what was happening.
The Omniscience Engine had countered our attempt to disable it, but there was no way of knowing exactly how much Evelyn Aeoxous knew, or even what she was. I suspected she was an android and not entirely organic like she claimed. She had to be communicating with the Omniscience Engine some
how, and there was no way this was going to end well for anyone. If she did rebuild the Mids and the Slums, things would be just as bad if not worse than before.
“Now, the Omniscience Engine has attempted to destroy your resistance numerous times, and for whatever reason, it hasn’t succeeded. Adrihel was part of your group, and without his voice in matters, I don’t believe you can win. With the compounded strength of the Omniscience Engine from Baron Telson’s second Paragon Thought, we will eliminate your organization. It’s no longer a question of if, but when.”
Marwin looked up and met her gaze. “We all know what you are. There will come a day when everything you’ve built comes crumbling down.”
Evelyn nodded at the guard behind Marwin, and he brought the butt of his rifle down on Marwin’s back, flattening him to the ground. Marwin wheezed, trying to pull in a breath and pushing himself back up to his knees with shaking arms. He spat blood on the ground in front of Evelyn.
“You three are in an interesting position. If you give up everything you know about your organization, you will keep your status of royalty here. I can also personally assure you will be pardoned of your crimes in the Mids and the Slums. You will be able to live satisfying, fulfilling lives while you embrace true progress toward perfection.”
Evelyn walked over to me and placed her hand under my chin. Her skin was soft and warm, not at all cold and icy like I expected. She pulled my chin up gently, and I met her crystalline eyes.
“You, Baron Ashton, have an extraordinary gift. Infinitum was an unfortunate glitch in the Omniscience Engine, but the new Paragon Thought has eliminated it for good. It can’t harm you or anyone else anymore if you help us. Adrihel wasn’t innocent as you believe, and there is no reason you three should die for his mistakes. I can show you everything he fabricated, all the lies, all the corruption.”