Happily Never After

by Kirsten Duvall (ed)

  The girl pouted and let the girdle belt wrap around her middle and connected the sanitation pack. She slid the glasses into place and reached for the keypad, but Grandmother batted her hand away.

  “I don’t trust you,” the old woman said and entered the lesson code, pulling the jack cord out of the socket once the machine released it. She keyed an alarm on her wrist brace. “I’ll be back when this goes off. Now plug yourself in.”

  The girl took the cord from her grandmother’s hand and plugged it into her temple jack. The image was slow in coming, but she was in one of the older imagers. She closed her eyes and when she opened them, Grandmother was gone and she was in the standard white-walled classroom, lined with boring white desks and no semblance of reality.

  “She keyed the wrong program,” the girl grumbled when she looked around. The last lesson she had attended was a science based program, she should be in a lab setting, not this sterile cell. There were several other students with her, but they were not her classmates. In fact she did not recognize anyone except the preloaded instructor, Unit 6, an androgynous being that had been coded to have all the pleasing features that would nurture young minds.

  “Juliet Donavan,” stated Unit 6 when she finished the boot up process. Usually the voice of the instructor was one of the Educators, this one was set to the melodic default. “You have missed three credits worth of material and must relaunch where you left off. Fortunately, another rotation is on the same schedule as you are and authorization has been granted for you to join them. Upon leaving the program it is advised that you thank the Educators for this opportunity.”

  Juliet smiled sweetly at the digital personification of the Educators. “Of course, Unit 6.”

  Unit 6 inclined its head. “Those in this rotation have been selected for Defense and Surveying. You have been recoded and will be joining them from now on. This is an accelerated rotation.”

  “Now hold on! I’m Botany and Agriculture!” objected Juliet.

  Unit 6 tilted its head to the side while it processed the information and downloaded orders from the Educators. When it spoke again, Juliet shuddered as the gruff voice of Educator Mahigan came out of its genderless face. “Your lack of dedication has forced the Educators to reassign you. Your scores in the physical performance and your inquisitiveness in regards to what is beyond the wall, has proven you better suited for this task.”

  “I know nothing of Defense!”

  Unit 6 returned to its melodic voice. “Irrelevant. The decision has been made. A formal complaint can be filed upon completion of the rotation.”

  “Completion?”

  “Yes, there will be no daily breaks in this rotation. The student will remain within the image ducts for the duration. Your family has been notified of the change. Now please take your seat, we have lost time.” Unit 6 turned away from her and made its way to the front of the room.

  Juliet looked around. She was the only one still standing; the rest of the students had taken their seats. Most did not acknowledge her, keeping the blank expression often seen on those who wore the mark of De/Su. There were a few bewildered expressions on those who kept looking at their signature stripes in confusion. There was only one person Juliet recognized and that girl did not looked pleased with the program either as she plucked at the stripes on her arm

  She looked down at her own uniform and saw that her blue Bo/Ag stripes had been rewritten to the green and brown. Before she slumped into her chair she noticed one boy staring at her. He inclined his head at her before turning his attention back to Unit 6.

  “You are all high level tested individuals,” Unit 6 started when she finally took her seat. This time the voice was one Juliet did not recognize. Then again, she had only taken one defense class at the insistence of her father. “That is why you have been selected. Some of you are not familiar with Defense and Surveying and even if you are De/Su, you do not know me.” Unit 6 glitched and was replaced with a tall uniformed man. Unlike most instructors, he claimed a faulted image with a scar running across his cheek, it was never easy to tell if he had coded himself that way to appear more menacing, or didn’t know how to code a perfected image. “I am Commander Vilks of Fortress.” An audible breath could be heard from several of the stone-faced students and Vilks allowed a half smile the other half unable to come due to the scar. “I see that some of you do know the name.”

  “Sir,” a broad shouldered boy in the front of the room stood. “I don’t recognize you, but I know Fortress and I can tell you, it doesn’t exist.”

  “What?!” gasped the girl Juliet had recognized. “Are you daft? Or do they not tell you where you are when they take you to the barracks as babes?”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about Miss, I’m jacked in on Independence, part of Uchdryd,” the soldier replied.

  “Uchdryd? What is that? Some sewer level? Have you been so long down below you have forgot what the sun is?” asked the girl.

  The boy straightened. “Uchdryd is the floating city. Burditt and I are jacked in on the main barge, Independence.” He turned to the boy who had nodded at Juliet. “Do you recognize any of them, Burditt?”

  The other boy shrugged. “No, Sergeant, but I think if you sit down and let Commander Vilks speak, we may get to know a hell of a lot more about what’s going on.

  The commander nodded. “There are fourteen sanctuaries throughout the world and all think they are the only one. Only a select few now this and now you can count yourself among them.”

  “Preposterous!” The girl shouted. “The records state there are no survivors outside the wall.”

  The commander sat on the corner of the instructor’s desk. “Faith Seher, I presume?”

  She nodded.

  Vilks folded his arms across his chest. “I hate to tell you this, Faith, but the Historical database isn’t all encompassing. Some files are held back for the safety of the populace, but you know that. After all, you weren’t chosen for your Library/History stripes.”

  She scoffed.

  “Each of you was selected for different reasons, but all of you have expressed interest in what may be beyond your homes,” Vilks straightened and turned to the wall behind him. A map loaded and fourteen points were marked on it. Most of them were stationary, but two of them moved, one slightly, the other erratically. “There are fourteen Sanctuaries throughout the world and all of them think they are the last one. Only a select few know the truth, not even all the Educators know what I am about to tell you. This is the first time that the De/Su units from each location are working together and the top minds of the Sanctuaries have been chosen to help us.”

  Juliet snorted through her nose.

  The commander turned to her. “Yes?”

  “Top minds? You expect me to believe I was chosen for top marks? Even I’ll admit I’m a slacker.”

  “You were chosen for your general curiosity. Your grandmother filed a report on your tendency toward distraction and we feel that ability to look beyond what is presented will be an asset in what we are about to face.”

  “And what is that?” the sergeant asked.

  Vilks gestured to the map and three lights blinked out. “These Sanctuaries recently went off the grid and two others have reported troubles.” Two of the lights began flashing. “They are finding breaches in their containment zones and gaps in their program data. Something from the outside is trying to get in.”

  Faith shook her head vehemently, causing a few strands of her golden curls to fall lose from their pins. “There’s nothing beyond the wall!”

  “Oh, Ms. Seher, there is. There are wolves at our door and you few selected are going to help keep them at bay, if not eradicate them,” replied the commander as he clapped his hands together, the program allowed the sound to echo through the room and the light glitched.

  Juliet found herself in another room with Faith, Burditt and two others. It was an infinity lab often used in the programing classes or science. Several stations were blocked
off from view by codewalls, but could easily be accessed with the proper codes. The map shone down with them; now three lights were flashing above them. She looked to the other four. “What happened?”

  Vilks appeared with an instructor Unit 6 who explained, “The class has been divided into work groups. This is yours.”

  “The lights. Why are three flashing?” one of the boys Juliet couldn’t identify inquired.

  “A new attack has begun. You must hurry. What information we have is in the consoles. Faith of Fortress and Matiu of Descent will be able to bypass any security issues you may encounter. Their hacking skills are the reason they are here after all.”

  The boy who had not spoken had already booted up the console and was busy at the controls. Faith joined him.

  “What is our purpose?” asked the first boy.

  “Delsin of Tower, you know what is allowed by the rules of the Sanctuaries. I look to you to keep everything ethical. Burditt of Uchdryd, you have a military way of thinking and will know proper procedure,” explained the instructor image.

  Vilks cleared his throat. “The 6 will be here to answer any questions you may have. It will also be in contact with the De/Su Commanders. If you have any concerns present them to the Unit,” he replied before blinking out of the program.

  They gathered around the console as Faith pulled up the information about the attacks. Images flashed across the walls. More lights began to flash on the map above them as they read through file after file.

  “The threat is organic,” Matiu said at length, leaning back in his chair. “Humanoid even, but clearly not of higher intelligence or they would have hacked all the systems quicker. The attack on the first Sanctuary took longer than the rest.”

  “I just don’t understand why.” grumbled Faith.

  “Location,” replied Juliet. “The first attack was in a more open than the rest.”

  Burditt shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. The Sanctuaries are inaccessible from outside threat. Fortress with its wall, Uchdryd by water, Tower rises sheer from the ground while Descent is underground.”

  “An asset when attacked from outside, but a weakness from within,” continued Juliet. “Which means things can infiltrate and eat away at the populace easily. With the open concept the first Sanctuary, the people could spread out and make it harder to attack.”

  “We have it!” Delsin exclaimed. “The wolves aren’t at the door, they’re already through it.”

  Juliet rocked back on her heels, pondering the possibilities.

  “If that’s the case, how can we find them?” asked Matiu.

  Unit 6 tilted its head. “Tower is under attack. Delsin, you are being called out of the program.”

  Delsin jerked and stared up at the map. Two of the flashing lights had blinked out and a new one had begun.

  Burditt frowned. “We’ll keep working here while you log out and attend to things at Tower.”

  Dalsin wrung his hands. “We seemed to be onto something,” he muttered before disappearing.

  “Well then,” Matiu said, “time to dig deeper. I can send Tower a message when we figure something out. Juliet, can you see if there’s something we can do for Delsin?”

  Juliet nodded and started reviewing the inventory of Tower to see what they might have that could be converted into a biological aerosol to use against an internal foe without hurting the general population. The cliff dwelling Sanctuary had an impressive stock and she began comparing it with her Botany curriculum.

  Faith smiled. “I’ll start running them ragged.” And the blonde began tapping away at the console in front of her.

  Unit 6 stared blankly ahead, but tilted its head indicating an incoming message. “The group has started into the loophole mechanics,” it stated before the room flickered.

  The four of them found themselves in a new simulation. Unit 6 was no longer with them and the infinity lab was gone. They were in a dark, stone room with a single console rising from the center of the room. The map still shone down on them, the flashing lights of the attacked Sanctuaries giving the only light source. No light came from the console.

  Matiu stepped forward and pressed the on button of the screen, as it flared to life three doors illuminated on the wall farthest from them. A keypad was beside each and a pictograph sign glowed down on the group.

  Burditt turned to Faith and Matiu. “What did you do?”

  Faith put her hands up in defense. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “It’s their protection software,” added Matiu.” We need to work it out and hope we can move on. Clearly Unit 6 was programed by our wolves.”

  “Three doors and four of us,” Juliet pointed out.

  “One of us becomes a sacrificial lamb,” replied Faith. “The portals will only recognize one cyber signature at a time.”

  Matiu keyed the databases on console. “We still have access from here, but it will be limited until the code is broken. Juliet, can you still work from here?”

  She nodded.

  “Doesn’t matter if she can. She has to go in,” stated Faith.

  “Why?”

  “Look at the doors. The insignias on top are a fortress and a ship and I think the last one is meant to be a tower. Without Dalsin we couldn’t access it, but Fortress has to be similar. Your cave will be nothing like it.”

  “You’re guessing,” scoffed Burditt.

  She nodded. “I am, but I’d be the most likely to figure out the codes with my hacking skills and history stripes.”

  “You know nothing about Tower.”

  “I’ve run circles around Director Atuc breaking into the databases, there’s no reason I can’t do this,” boasted Faith, setting her hands akimbo.

  Burditt stepped forward. “Okay, Matiu you’ll stay here and monitor what you can.” He stepped toward the door marked with the ship.

  Faith brushed past him and hit the buttons to open the Tower marked door without a look back. They caught a glimpse of the stock images of a countryside meadow. Faith stepped through and looked over her shoulder at them. “For better or worse,” she chimed before the door slid shut.

  Matiu fidgeted behind them. “Juliet, be careful. There’s going to be two path signatures from Fortress. It might mean that they can trace back to it. I should have gone in instead of Faith.”

  “She had a point, her Hist/Lib stripes might do her some good,” replied Burditt.

  “We don’t know what’s behind the doors.”

  A scream echoed through the room and the door that Faith had walked through disappeared.

  Burditt turned to Juliet. “If you get in trouble, I’ll try and find you.”

  He squared his shoulders and palmed the button. A harsh wind blew through the door as it opened and snow flurries danced across the floor. An animal howl echoed in the chamber, cut short as the door closed behind the boy.

  “One challenge at a time, soldier,” she whispered to the shut door and pressed the button to open hers.

  She stepped into a forest. She knelt and ran her hands over the warm, brown earth. What lay before her was like nothing she had seen outside of simulation. The tech creating the simulation was tightly coded. “Dirt?” she asked, turning to show the others, but the door had changed. She turned her attention back to the forest ahead. With each step she felt tingles against her skin as her simulation began to pixelate and transform. Her back arched and she dropped down to all fours and saw paws in the place of her hands.

  She looked up and the forest had changed to grey tones except for a flash of red that made its way through the trees. A growl started low in her throat, catching her by surprise and she began to lope through the trees, keeping back and watching the figure skip down a well worn path.

  She knew the story. Grandmother had told it to her when she was little. Somehow the old woman equated it to the dangers of leaving Fortress. If she were to be the wolf, then she would play it right. She veered away from the path and the red cloaked girl. Going farther into
the woods, a cottage came into view. It was a stock image, used in every database to show how wonderful life had been before the walls went up.

  Juliet wasn’t surprised that the woman raking the front yard had the appearance of her grandmother. Clearly, the program was tapped into her own psyche to create the challenge. She sneaked around the house, grabbing a sheet from the clothes line in her mouth as she passed. She forced her canine body onto its hind legs to wrap the sheet around her, trying to cover her floor. The program glitched and she stood in her own form as the sky flashed yellow.

  “That’s how it’s going to be then,” she whispered and made her way around the house, wrapping the sheet tighter around herself.

  The old woman stopped raking, looking up at Juliet. “Well, dear, I am surprised you have come so far.”

  “Do you know me?” Juliet asked.

  “You are my granddaughter,” came the woman’s reply and as she set the rake down. “But where are your clothes?”

  Juliet’s mind raced before settling on a response. “I snagged them on a branch and they unraveled beyond repaired. I borrowed your sheet to cover the rags.”

  The grandmother figure smiled and gestured to the cottage. “Let us get you something better.”

  As she stepped over the threshold, Juliet realized the transformation as her vision turned grey again. Before the old woman could react, Juliet turned back and knocked her over. Placing a large paw against the woman’s frail chest, she growled down at her.

  “You have come far reacting to the changes,” stated the grandmother, the voice shifting into the melody of the Units and shifting into the expressionless image. “You’ve broken another security level. Now what will you do?” the image asked as it pixalated and disappeared and the room flashed yellow.

  Juliet growled again and looked out the doorway. There was a flash of red through monochrome trees. She rushed to the closet and yanked a dressing gown off a hanger. Ducking her head down, Juliet slowly wormed her way into the garment. Folding her ears back she pushed out and shook her body to settle the gown into place and at the end of the shake she had been transformed into human form once more.