by Annie Percik
Mateo deflated. ‘So what do we do?’
Gerald spoke up. ‘There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say.’ His tone sent a shiver down Abelard’s spine. ‘I think we should bide our time for now, consolidate our position and come up with other ways to challenge the artisans down the line.’
Terry nodded. ‘We still have the other brain-e-facts to think about. They will be able to help us once we free them. And others may flock to our cause if they think we can make them into artisans. We should come up with a way to contact us for those who wish to do so.’
‘That might be tricky,’ Jen said. ‘It would be very easy for the artisans to exploit something like that in order to find us.’
Gerald crossed his arms over his broad chest. ‘If we want our message to spread and our power base to grow, we have to be prepared to take risks. I have contacts who can get the word out amongst anti-artisan-establishment circles and that might provide a kind of buffer between the general public and our actual location.’
Abelard could tell by Jen’s expression that she was still troubled by her doubts about Gerald and he shared those doubts to a certain extent. But the others were nodding and he knew they would need more people on their side if they were going to go up against the artisans.
‘Perhaps you could act as a liaison,’ Abelard suggested to Jen. ‘If Gerald could introduce you to the people he’s talking about, we could set-up a kind of halfway house where those who are interested could come to find out more. You could help assess them and bring any who show proper dedication to the cause on to the compound.’
Jen smiled. ‘That sounds like an interesting idea.’
‘Do you want me to come along too?’ Mateo’s offer was clearly sincere but he was just as clearly unenthused by the thought of following through with it.
Jen smiled at him. ‘It’s okay. I think you’ll be more use here helping Alessandra and the brain-es with their work. I bet you and Abelard can come up with tons of ideas for new artefacts that will help us in the future. We need to figure out where our strengths lie and put our abilities to the best use even if it means we have to work apart for a while.’
‘It’s decided then,’ Gerald said. ‘We’ll continue our preparations on two fronts. Recruitment on the one hand and development of better resources on the other.’ He clapped his hands together. ‘This is starting to feel like a real war effort.’
Abelard winced at the mention of war. So much of what would happen next was still completely unknown. They had started something that could alter their whole societal structure and they would have to see it through. But he hoped Gerald’s words were merely hyperbole rather than presaging an actual bloody conflict looming on the horizon.
* * *
The following day Abelard was tidying up his lunch tray when he spotted a brain-e-fact he didn’t recognise. He had made a point of introducing himself to all the brain-es they had rescued from Gadg-E-Tech and differentiating them was helped by them carving their names on their chest plates in honour of Fred. But this one immediately stood out because it had a different design. Instead of the smooth creamy ceramic of the usual brain-e-fact body, this one was made of metal and plastic. Its joint rivets were exposed and it moved more stiffly than the others. Abelard shifted direction to intercept it – or rather her, as he saw on getting closer that the name carved on her chest was Betty.
‘Hello,’ he said with a smile. ‘I haven’t seen you around before. I’m Abelard.’
The brain-e-fact met his gaze. ‘Hello. I arrived this morning and have not had the chance to meet all the humans here yet. My name is Betty. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.’
‘Arrived from where?’ Abelard knew Terry and Julia were working on plans to liberate the rest of the brain-e-facts but he hadn’t heard of any expeditions with that aim in mind.
‘From a Gadg-E-Tech factory in the north. I am very happy to be here instead of there and to have been granted my mental freedom by Terry. It is a great thing you are all doing here.’
She nodded cordially and walked away. Abelard watched her go, wondering how on earth Terry had managed to rescue and transport possibly several brain-e-facts from hundreds of miles away in one morning and without anyone else knowing about it.
He went in search of Terry and Julia to find out.
The brain-e-facts had set up their base of operations in one of the outbuildings of the compound. As Abelard approached the building now, the big doors opened and another metal and plastic brain-e-fact stepped out. It might have been Abelard’s imagination but he thought it looked rather dazed. It caught sight of him but didn’t maintain eye contact, instead scuttling off down one side of the building and around the corner out of sight. Abelard was now completely mystified and even more keen to find out what was going on.
He strode up to the building and pulled the door further open so he could step inside. The sight that greeted him made him think of the R&D department at Gadg-E-Tech. The space was filled with large tables and benches, cluttered with bits and pieces of artefacts and unknown equipment. There were a few ceramic brain-e-facts wandering about or working at the tables on projects Abelard couldn’t begin to identify. One was constructing a brain-e-fact body of the new design he had first seen that day.
Abelard spotted Terry and moved towards him. He was sitting on a table with his legs dangling over the side, Julia standing next to him. Julia was disconnecting Terry from an artefact Abelard didn’t recognise. They both looked round at the sound of Abelard’s footsteps but neither of them looked pleased to see him.
‘Hey guys,’ Abelard said. ‘Um, what’s going on in here?’
Terry’s answer was curt. ‘You have failed to deliver on your promise to help us free the other brain-e-facts so we have taken matters into our own hands.’
Abelard raised his hands in a placatory gesture. ‘Hey, come on. We haven’t exactly had an awful lot of time to focus on that yet. Give us a chance and we’ll get round to it.’
Terry stared stonily at Abelard. ‘It has been nearly a week since we liberated the named brain-e-facts from Gadg-E-Tech. We know you have good intentions but every day we delay, the danger to the others increases. We have spent time helping to protect this place and contributing to your plans but we could wait no longer to free our brethren.’
The words stung and Abelard realised they were at least partially true.
‘I’m really sorry. You’re right. I could have offered to help before but I’m here now. What can I do?’
Terry maintained his level gaze. ‘We have come up with a way to rescue further brain-e-facts that minimises the risk to all involved and does not require the direct help of humans, so we have proceeded without you. You would in fact not be able to participate so you are released from your obligation.’
Despite his lack of concern for the brain-e-facts in recent days, Abelard didn’t like suddenly feeling surplus to requirements. And he was still intrigued as to what the brain-e-facts were actually doing in here. ‘Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to help? What is this awesome method of rescue you’ve come up with?’
Julia became instantly more animated, evidently enthused by Abelard’s interest and unable to keep her stern demeanour.
‘Terry and I have built an artefact that allows us to transfer our consciousness across large distances.’ She gestured at the mass of wires and equipment on the table behind her. ‘That way we can travel to the places where there are still brain-e-facts without actually leaving the compound and then transport them back here the same way.’
‘Wait, what?’ Abelard’s mind was spinning, unable to keep up with Julia’s explanation. ‘What do you transfer your consciousness into?’
Terry picked up the narrative. ‘We ship a new empty brain-e-fact body to the right location and then Julia transmits my consciousness into it before it is discovered. I am then able to locate the target brain-e-facts and instruct them in the method for transferring their consciousnesses ba
ck here to join the others.’
Abelard looked over to where the new brain-e-fact body was being constructed. ‘So you’re making new bodies for them to transfer into? What happens to their old bodies wherever they were before?’
‘They just stop working,’ Terry said. ‘That is another benefit to the method as it allows us to rescue brain-e-facts without the artisans realising that is what we are doing. They will just think the brain-e-facts are malfunctioning and they will not be able to determine why.’
‘And the brain-es just wake up here in a new body and carry on as if nothing’s happened?’ Abelard grinned. ‘That’s genius! And it explains why I’ve been seeing new brain-es wandering around this morning.’
‘Yes,’ Julia said. ‘We tried it out for the first time today and have successfully rescued four brain-e-facts from a Gadg-E-Tech factory several hundred miles away. Within a few more days we should be able to collect all those outside the Gadg-E-Tech headquarters building and then we can focus on retrieving those we left behind there. The security there is much higher and a mass malfunction of all the brain-e-facts would create more investigation than a few here and there in outlying locations so we are leaving them for last. Also we need more time to construct enough bodies to rescue them all at once.’
‘Wow,’ Abelard breathed. ‘You guys are amazing. I’m really sorry I haven’t been of any help but it certainly looks like you’ve got this covered. You will let me know if you can think of anything I can do though, right?’
Terry nodded. ‘We will. Thank you, Abelard.’
Abelard noticed that the back portion of the building was obscured by a giant tarpaulin suspended from the ceiling. ‘What’s back there?’
Terry and Julia exchanged a glance.
‘Another project we are working on,’ Terry said. ‘We are not ready to reveal it yet.’
Abelard wanted to know more but didn’t feel he had the right to insist. He would have to let Terry come to him in his own time. He made his way back to the doors, examining what all the brain-e-facts were doing with even more interest and not a little apprehension. He was very glad they were on his side. The artisans might have created the brain-e-facts but their creations were quickly outstripping the activities they had been designed for and the artisans might well eventually rue the day the brain-e-facts had ever been conceived.
Alessandra and some of the other brain-e-facts had set up a lab elsewhere in the compound and Mateo was helping them with their development plans. Abelard wasn’t sure how much use he could be since he didn’t have his artisan powers any more so he mostly avoided that area. With Terry working on his grand brain-e-fact liberation project and the others devising who-knew-what types of artefacts in the lab, it left Abelard at a loose end.
Jen found him sitting listlessly in the dining hall on Saturday afternoon and came to join him.
‘Hey. What are you doing?’
‘Nothing,’ he replied. ‘For the supposed leader of a rebellion set to upend society, I don’t seem to have much to do.’
‘Why aren’t you helping Mateo and Alessandra with their stuff?’
Abelard folded his arms on the table and dropped his chin to rest on them.
‘They don’t need me. And there isn’t really anything I can do to help them anyway.’
Jen reached over and laid a hand on his arm. ‘Come on, you know that’s not true.’ There was a hint of admonishment in her tone. ‘You’ve been dreaming up artefacts your entire life. Mateo told me about the conversations you used to have. You may not be able to make them run but you must have tons of ideas and your engineering skills would still be useful in design and building.’
‘I guess you’re right,’ Abelard said, though he didn’t move.
‘Yes I am.’ Jen’s tone grew more firm. ‘So stop feeling sorry for yourself and let’s go and see what they’re working on.’
She stood and looked down at him until he heaved himself to his feet and followed her out into the compound.
As they walked Abelard asked, ‘How’s your project going? Made much progress with the halfway house?’
‘Things are moving along. Gerald has found a building in town we can use and some of his contacts are setting things up. I’m due to go out there tomorrow to meet them and figure out how it will work. He says he’s getting the word out but I’m not sure quite what that means.’
‘He asked me to record another viz-e-fact broadcast yesterday but he didn’t tell me what he was going to do with it.’
Jen sighed. ‘The whole thing still feels risky but I suppose if the halfway house location is the only one that’s made public you should all be safe enough here.’
‘Well, be careful.’ Abelard said. ‘Make sure you know where all the emergency exits are.’
She smiled at his concern.
They reached the outbuilding where the lab was located and Abelard pulled the door open. Inside it was a hive of activity, with brain-e-facts at various stations and Alessandra and Mateo at the far end. Gerald was hanging about, watching everything with great interest.
Mateo was wearing a metal cap strapped under his chin with wires sticking out all over the top. One thicker cable ran down behind him and was connected to what looked like a large mana unit. He looked up, spotted Abelard and Jen and waved.
‘Hey, guys!’ he called. ‘Come on over! We’re just about to test the–’
As he spoke the brain-e-fact flipped a switch and mana flowed from the unit up the cable and surrounded the cap over Mateo’s head. It grew steadily brighter until he was difficult to look at, but the light continued to increase. Abelard started to shout a warning but it was too late. There was an almighty bang, the blue light washed outwards and Abelard was knocked off his feet.
He lay dazed for a moment, his ears ringing. Then he heard a scream and started staggering in the direction of where Mateo had been. He stumbled over something and looked down to see a brain-e-fact lying on the ground. Its chest plate was cracked right through the carved name of ‘Emma’ and it wasn’t moving. She had given him the keys to his artisan flat, he remembered.
Alessandra’s pale and shocked face came into view through the smoke, blood trailing down the side of her head. Abelard reached blindly for her hand and they moved forwards together. There were more brain-e-facts on the ground here but they were moving. Further on, a hunched shape huddled over another body. Abelard recognised Jen and saw that her shoulders were shaking. Mateo lay flat on his back, his eyes open and staring upwards at nothing.
With a cry of horror, Abelard threw himself down next to Jen. He felt a hand squeezing his shoulder but his mind refused to accept the evidence of his eyes. His best friend lay on the floor in front of him, dead.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
In the Inner Circle temple, Brother Theobold froze mid-sentence, then jerked back in his chair as if reacting to an impact. His eyes started to glow blue and he clenched them shut but the light leaked out around the edges of his eyelids. Laleh pushed back her chair and made to move towards him but he held up a hand to forestall her.
‘A moment,’ he said in a strained voice.
Walter watched as Theobold shook, his body rigid and mana crackling through his hair. He exchanged a worried glance with Laleh but there was little they could do except wait. After about half a minute the blue glow in Theobold’s eyes faded and he slumped, breathing hard. He opened his eyes and looked around at them, his expression tense.
‘Someone has released a huge amount of mana in an uncontrolled burst.’
‘Deliberately?’ Walter asked.
Theobold shook his head. ‘I have no way of knowing. But they must have been handling mana at unprecedented levels to unbalance the network to this extent.’
‘What effect will it have?’ Laleh asked.
Theobold’s eyebrows drew down. ‘I don’t know. But that amount of mana will have to go somewhere so we should be prepared.’
* * *
Alessandra shepherded Abelard and
Jen out of the barn. Jen felt numb, only barely registering that they were leaving the brain-e-facts to clear up the mess and take care of their fallen comrades.
As they made their slow and stunned way back towards the main building, Jen spoke.
‘I’m supposed to be going to set up the halfway house tomorrow.’ She didn’t know where the words were coming from but it didn’t feel like it was her speaking.
‘Don’t worry about that right now,’ Alessandra said. ‘I can do that. No problem at all.’
‘Thanks,’ Abelard managed, though his voice sounded strangled. ‘I’ll stay here with Jen if that’s okay.’
‘Of course,’ Alessandra said.
She hurried off, leaving Jen and Abelard standing in front of the big double doors of the main building. Jen looked up into Abelard’s face, seeing her own shock and disbelief reflected back in his expression.
There was an emptiness inside her as if a void was slowly growing outwards to encompass her whole being. But it must be so much worse for Abelard, who had just lost his best friend of many years. Jen reached up to put her arms around him and they clung to each other. She felt Abelard’s body shake as he started to cry and she released her own grief to mingle with his.
* * *
Sunday was a busy day for Walter. After Brother Theobold’s announcement the day before he had checked in with all his monitoring sources, looking for any unusual activity in the mana network. Nothing had come through to begin with and he started to think Theobold was just losing it, which wouldn’t be a surprise considering how long he’d been alive. But by mid-morning on Sunday there were reports of spontaneous manifestations of artisan abilities in the city.