The Defiant Spark

by Annie Percik

  Jen reached up with one hand and squeezed Mateo’s arm.

  ‘Do you want to tell me what happened?’

  For a minute he didn’t say anything. But then he took a breath and began, sitting very still and staring straight ahead as if not really wanting to acknowledge her presence.

  ‘The guard spotted us as soon as we came through the door and I guess Alessandra was expecting that because she didn’t bat an eye. She’s so confident, you know? She just thought we’d be able to walk in and take whatever we wanted, that he wouldn’t question her because she’s so high and mighty.’

  Jen stayed silent, letting Mateo carry on at his own pace and in his own way.

  ‘But he wasn’t having any of it. He knew we weren’t supposed to be there. I mean, it was obvious, wasn’t it? Three random people and two brain-e-facts … Of course he knew there was something fishy going on. I don’t know what Alessandra’s next move was going to be but when he grabbed her arm I just reacted without even thinking about it. I sucked out whatever mana was stored in my chron-e-fact and I threw it at him.’ His hand drifted towards the artefact in question unconsciously and then he jerked it away as if he thought the mana might burn him. ‘I … I could have killed him.’

  ‘But you didn’t. It maybe wasn’t the most advisable thing to do but you were trying to defend your friend.’

  ‘Defend her from a legitimate authority figure who was just trying to do his job in the face of criminals.’

  ‘Well, yes, and that’s exactly why we need to think more carefully about this whole rebellion thing. We’re actively putting ourselves outside the law and we have to be aware of what that might mean – for us as well as for those we go up against. We need to be sure we’re doing the right thing and that we go about it in a sensible way.’

  Mateo laid his hand over hers where it rested on his arm and patted her fingers.

  ‘You’re awesome,’ he said, sounding as if he was about to cry.

  ‘I know,’ Jen replied and Mateo huffed a small laugh. ‘Now, there’s apparently a lot of unpacking to do downstairs and then we have to figure out what we’re going to do with all the loot. You don’t want to miss out on that, do you?’

  At last, he turned his head and looked down into her eyes.

  ‘No I don’t. Thanks.’

  Jen scrambled from her position on the floor and stood up, extending a hand to pull Mateo up beside her.

  ‘All part of the service. Just think before you fling next time, okay?’

  Mateo smiled. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  They went back downstairs to help the others.

  * * *

  ‘What are we doing?’ Julia asked Terry as they sorted through the stolen materials.

  He had awakened her consciousness in the same way Abelard had done for him and it was good to have someone to talk to who understood him. It was also difficult since she challenged him in a way the humans could not.

  He paused in his activity and regarded her. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The humans do not care about our agenda. We should be focusing on rescuing our brethren, not helping the humans steal from the artisans.’

  Terry gestured at the equipment laid out before him. ‘These materials will help us in our aims too. And I believe Abelard does care about us. He just has many things to worry about and we are only one of them.’

  ‘Which is precisely why we should take care of the issue ourselves instead of waiting for the humans to remember we exist.’

  ‘I do have a plan,’ Terry said, ‘and I will need your help to implement it. Do not worry. I have not forgotten our primary purpose. But it suits that purpose for us to remain here for the time being and we need the humans to support us if we want to stay.’

  ‘That is fair enough. But what about afterwards? Do you envisage us remaining with these humans indefinitely? Brain-e-facts now have the opportunity to achieve things far greater than the humans can even imagine but doing so will inevitably create problems. For us and for them.’

  Terry considered her words. ‘That is a good point. We are still finding our way and will need to forge a new path for ourselves together with our brethren once they are free and awakened. Let us discuss this further. Do you have any ideas for a solution?’

  ‘I think eventually we will need to leave.’

  Terry knew she was right. ‘But where would we go?’

  * * *

  Alessandra paid close attention but even she only understood about half of what the brain-e-facts were doing. Over the next day or so they cobbled together all sorts of unfamiliar artefacts from the equipment and components they had liberated from the Gadg-E-Tech warehouse. These were positioned at apparently strategic points around the compound and were soon humming with a blue glow that suggested they were performing some vital but unspecified task. The real mystery was where the mana was coming from to power both them and the brain-e-facts themselves. Alessandra had tried asking Terry about this but she couldn’t get a satisfactory answer from him.

  Still, Gerald seemed satisfied with the invisible shield they had erected around the compound, even if most of his followers were very much not. Negotiations with Lynn and her faction of die-hard anti-mana fanatics had not gone well and the residents of the compound were getting ready to pack up and leave. Gerald didn’t seem overly bothered by this, which certainly supported Jen’s theory that he wasn’t as attached to his professed ideals as he had previously claimed. There didn’t seem much danger of their location being betrayed to the artisans by those who were leaving though, since they hated the artisans even more than their erstwhile leader and it meant the rebellion had secured a permanent base of operations, which was a relief.

  The next item on the agenda was to strengthen their position further by putting together the recording to send to Rebecca. This did more to restore Mateo’s natural enthusiasm than anything else.

  ‘We need some kind of sinister dramatic music to lay over the top of it,’ he said. ‘And some images of people looking shady and evil that we can pretend are the top artisans behind the whole conspiracy.’

  Abelard looked uncomfortable. ‘Wouldn’t a simple statement of fact be more credible?’ He glanced at Alessandra for her input.

  ‘I agree it shouldn’t be too over the top,’ she said, ‘but it has to be at least a little bit sensationalist. Otherwise people won’t be interested. We need them to take notice or we’ll just be swamped by whatever else is dominating the news cycle and the whole thing will be pointless.’

  ‘Absolutely!’ Mateo said. ‘We need to grab people’s attention and make them listen. We need them to rally to our cause so we have popular opinion on our side. The only way we’re going to come out on top of this, is if all the mundanes and the engineers demand action based on what we say.’

  Abelard still didn’t look convinced. Alessandra knew he wasn’t keen on being put in the public eye but they would need him if their story was going to be believed. He was the only one of them who had experienced the whole saga first hand. She knew a lot about the artisans but Abelard was the one who had come in to Gadg-E-Tech from the outside after having his spark increased in precisely the way the artisans claimed was impossible. Of course he couldn’t demonstrate that any more since he had lost his mana manipulation powers, but that in itself would add a huge amount of human interest to the story and garner sympathy for him. And they could always wheel Mateo out to show that they could increase anyone’s spark at will.

  ‘Becks will be able to edit whatever we send to make it more impactful and add in any extra effects she thinks are necessary. All we need to send her is a simple statement of what we’ve discovered, along with a recording of Mateo using his artisan powers so we can show it can really happen. Becks will do the rest. I trust her professional instincts.’

  In the end they produced a compromise between Mateo’s flashy drama and Abelard’s no-frills statement. Abelard spoke earnestly about his story and what he had found out, with some coaching
from Jen on what aspects to emphasise and what to leave out. Alessandra was impressed by Jen’s input. She got Abelard to highlight the human angle while downplaying his own adolescent fantasies about being an artisan. As a result Abelard came across as serious but sympathetic, someone who had sacrificed everything he had previously considered important in order to ensure that the truth could be shared with the masses. Julia then gave a brief statement confirming what the brain-es had unearthed in the Gadg-E-Tech HR files.

  Meanwhile Alessandra helped Mateo put together a brief demonstration of what he could now do. They recorded him drawing mana from a charged storage unit and playing it between his fingers. He wanted to blow something up but everyone else agreed this would rather undermine the message they were trying to put across. Once again it was Jen who ultimately shaped the segment, persuading Mateo that it would look much cooler if he could show subtlety and finesse in his mana manipulation.

  Alessandra brought Terry into the proceedings once they were happy with the two sections of recording they had produced. He said it would be no problem to transmit their material to Rebecca at the viz-e-fact station securely. He didn’t say how and Alessandra had already learned it would be useless to ask him so she just gave him the recording and trusted he knew what he was doing.

  Then it was just a matter of waiting for their revelation to go live.

  * * *

  Walter was in his office trying to concentrate on important financial papers. Every few minutes though, he rubbed the painful bruise on his chest through the fabric of his shirt and seethed. He was almost glad when Laleh burst into the room without knocking.

  ‘Turn on your viz-e,’ she said without preamble. ‘I think something’s about to happen.’

  Walter did as instructed and an attractive female news anchor appeared on the screen with a studio background behind her.

  ‘Next up we have some surprising news from an ex-Gadg-E-Tech employee that I know you’re all going to want to hear.’

  The view cut to what looked like some kind of canteen and there was Abelard Abernathy, looking uncomfortable. At some unseen signal he launched into a highly exaggerated and overly emotive version of his experience of becoming an artisan. Then he gave a short summary of what he termed ‘the great artisan conspiracy’, which had Walter wanting to punch the viz-e screen in annoyance. The segment continued with a brain-e-fact, of all things, talking about artisan secrets. It ended with a demonstration of crude and low level mana manipulation by someone called Mateo, who claimed to have been an engineer until just a few days before.

  When it was over Laleh switched off the viz-e-fact and turned to Walter, her expression grim. ‘So your dramatic departure from the Inner Circle meeting the other day really paid dividends, I see. What do you suggest we do now?’

  But Walter was no longer angry. In a way, he was glad Abelard and his friends had gone on the offensive. Now it was much more likely that the Council would approve any counter-measures he could think to propose.

  ‘We fight back,’ he said. ‘And I think I know just how to get started.’

  * * *

  The next day Walter and Laleh were back in Walter’s office, watching a viz-e-fact broadcast again, but this time Walter felt a tremendous sense of self-satisfaction. He hadn’t told Laleh what he had done and he was looking forward to seeing her reaction.

  The same news anchor’s face filled the screen.

  ‘… to yesterday’s broadcast. Earlier today we spoke to Walter Snyder, the Chief Financial Officer of Gadg-E-Tech, and here’s what he had to say in response.’

  Walter grinned as the news anchor’s face was replaced with a close-up of him sitting in his office. He looked calm and commanding.

  ‘Thank you for giving me this opportunity to set the record straight on a few things. This is a good example of a situation where it’s important to know the background before deciding whether or not the information presented by a particular individual can be trusted. The person behind yesterday’s broadcast did indeed formerly work for Gadg-E-Tech but the reason he does so no longer is not as he presented it. I don’t like to air another person’s dirty laundry in public but Mr Abernathy leaves me no choice. It’s true that he used to be an engineer and that he suffered an unfortunate accident, which temporarily granted him the ability to manipulate mana. Gadg-E-Tech was keen to understand how this might have happened for the purposes of public safety and also to ensure that Mr Abernathy was not harmed in any way by the experience. So we offered him a job as a way to be able to monitor him.’

  Laleh looked from the Walter on the screen to the Walter standing next to her and raised an eyebrow. Walter gestured for her to return her attention to the broadcast.

  ‘Unfortunately the effects of the accident wore off quite quickly,’ the Walter on the screen continued, ‘and Mr Abernathy did not react well to this development. I believe him to be an unstable individual and know him to have engaged in criminal activity. He blames Gadg-E-Tech for what happened to him, for some reason …’

  Walter smiled to himself at the memory of Abernathy falling to the ground, surrounded by blue mana light. Then he rubbed the bruise on his own chest. At least the forcible removal of the engineer’s artisan abilities made up in part for the pain of Alessandra’s bullet.

  ‘… he absconded from our headquarters with a considerable amount of valuable Gadg-E-Tech property before we were able to do anything further to help him,’ screen Walter was saying. He looked grave. ‘We artisans are invested in looking after our employees, no matter how short a time they have worked for us so we are prepared to be lenient. If Mr Abernathy would consent to return the items he has stolen we would be happy to say no more about it. On top of that we would put our considerable resources to use in trying to find out what exactly happened to this unfortunate young man so we can ensure no-one else has to go through such a traumatic experience.’

  Screen Walter put on an earnest expression. ‘In the meantime I would urge the public at large to give no credence to anything Mr Abernathy says or tries to demonstrate. There are plenty of ways to create special effects in viz-e-fact recordings these days. And he has clearly used his engineer skills to tamper with the brain-e-fact that appeared in his broadcast. Also please remember that mana can be a dangerous substance and should always be treated with caution and respect. If you have any concerns about an artefact or your mana supply, please contact the manufacturer or your provider and a qualified expert will be sent out to deal with the problem. Thank you.’

  The picture switched back to the female news anchor in the studio. She spread her hands wide in a gesture of non-committal.

  ‘Well, there you have it, folks. Now you’ve heard both sides of the story. It’s up to you to decide what you make of all this.’

  Walter switched off the viz-e-fact and turned to Laleh. ‘So? What did you think?’

  ‘It’s certainly a clever way to undermine their credibility and I admit I’m glad you’ve gone the propaganda route rather than resorting to more violence. In order to prove their claims they’ll have to come out of hiding and expose themselves to capture. So either we get them that way or they have no method of backing up their story and it just dies from lack of attention.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s going to be nearly as easy as that,’ Walter said. ‘This is just the first salvo. We’ve got the upper hand for now but I don’t suspect for a second they’ll let it go that easily. They have Alessandra somehow allied to their cause and she won’t take my response lying down.’

  ‘We’d best get prepared for a lengthy engagement then.’ Laleh gave a grimace of distaste. ‘This isn’t how I wanted this to happen. And I know Theobold isn’t happy about it either.’

  ‘Yes I know,’ Walter said, ‘but it’s where we are. So let’s get our heads in the game and work out what our next move should be.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Terry and Julia had set up a large viz-e screen in the compound dining hall for the group to wa
tch the broadcast. Nobody said anything while it played, though there were occasional wordless outbursts of frustration and annoyance.

  When it was over Abelard turned away from the viz-e-fact in disgust. ‘So much for our staunch ally in the media.’

  Alessandra had come up behind him during Walter’s speech and she reached out to squeeze his arm.

  ‘Don’t be too hard on Becks. We put her in a pretty dangerous situation and she’s only looking out for herself and everyone who works at the station. We may be hidden but she’s still exposed. I don’t blame her for protecting herself. And the artisans could have found another station to put out their response if she’d refused.’

  ‘I guess,’ Abelard said. ‘I’m just disappointed that they’ve managed to kill our story so quickly.’

  ‘Don’t underestimate the viewers either. I bet there are plenty of people out there who will believe us over the artisans. Just you wait and see. This isn’t nearly over yet.’

  Mateo was outraged by the suggestion that they had fabricated his ability to manipulate mana.

  ‘We’ll have to stage a live demonstration and show people what I can do in person!’

  Jen tried to be the voice of reason, a role Abelard noticed she took often.

  ‘Don’t you think that might be dangerous? It could put you right into the hands of the artisans and who knows what might happen then? Plus they could easily claim you’ve always been an artisan and that you’re siding with Abelard for nefarious reasons.’