by Paul Teague
They’d got caught in an ambush and they weren’t ready. The creature had tasted blood and now it wanted more.
Combat
There was a spontaneous round of applause the moment Grace’s head was torn from her body and was sent rolling towards Joe’s feet.
Hannah had engineered that move – she intended to put her friends in as much peril as possible without killing them. It was a difficult thing to do. The beasts were programmed to hunt and kill, and it was impossible to control their every movement, so Joe and Lucy also had to fight for their own survival.
With each execution, Hannah felt a part of herself dying too. There was only so long she would be able to make these kills. She and Linwood worked together, and the other Gridders supported with code inserts and workarounds.
There had been a gasp in the room when Rick died – nobody had expected such an early death. It was a good one too, and there was an expectation among the other Gridders that the engagement levels would be soaring. This was accomplished gameplay.
When Marjani had been pounded to death, that had been done by Linwood, who’d seen his chance to take out another Justice Seeker, avoiding those in the green overalls, the traitors, Joe and Lucy.
But Hannah knew that each death was a human life lost. This was far from entertainment, it was a public execution. She’d cursed as one of the support Gridders isolated Lucy; it would look good in terms of gameplay, but she wanted her close to Joe at all times.
The severed head was a distraction – the more horrific the deaths of the other Gridders, the more she could make it appear as if her friends were in the thick of the action. If only she could keep Joe and Lucy alive until the next Mode, it would give Talya and Linwood more time to figure things out. The beasts couldn’t keep away from Joe and Lucy – they seemed incensed by their presence. That was not Hannah and Linwood’s doing.
Hannah thanked her lucky stars that she’d found Linwood, he was proving as good as his word. He was working well with her. They had to make kills, they couldn’t avoid it, but between them they’d managed to steer Joe and Lucy clear of danger. Only now another of the Gridders had opened a doorway right next to Joe. She knew it must be Joe, as the pixelated figure on her screen was male with green overalls.
The Gridders were getting carried away with the game, and there was no way she could control them. This was Linwood’s Mode to steer. He’d taken on Hannah as his second, but the other Gridders had to be deployed too, and they were the wild card in this.
On the main screen in the office, Hannah scrutinized the set-up of the scene. Joe’s companion had a low health rating; he’d lost a lot of blood, and he was badly wounded. Joe’s health was fair but his heart rate had gone up dramatically. His energy levels were severely depleted. She could see he was tiring. The creature’s adrenalin flow was high, and it would be difficult to beat, given that its opponents were severely weakened.
Could she distort the labyrinth once again, removing Joe from the imminent threat? That would look too obvious – in terms of audience engagement, this was a strong scenario.
She checked on the location of the other Justice Seekers. They were close by distance, but the tunnel networks meant they couldn’t reach each other. She considered opening up an exit, allowing the other team to join Joe and help him fight.
There were three other Justice Seekers on her screen. Lucy had to be the female, in green overalls. The serial killer was there too and the man from the Institute who’d run off at the beginning of the first fight. She had limited scope to help out, and the best bet seemed to be to steer the remaining pair towards Joe and his companion – the four of them should be able to kill the remaining creature.
Hannah moved her attention back to her console and began to enter the code to create a new environment. She’d make it look good, not too obvious, but she’d make sure they could find Joe.
She programmed in the data, then entered the activation command. Nothing happened. She ran a quick check to make sure nobody had locked the operation. No locks in place. The gameplay should have been hers.
Without wanting to draw attention to the problem, she sent Linwood a console-to-console text alert. He ran some checks and confirmed all was clear for Hannah’s update.
She tried the activation command again. It was blocked. She’d lost control of the environment. Somebody was interfering with The Justice Trial, and whoever they were they were not doing it via a Fortrillium console.
Resistance
Talya’s body convulsed violently, and immediately the memories of those final moments came back to her. She’d been attacked from behind, and something injected into her neck. She’d seen Centuria – had they abducted her?
She struggled to focus her mind through the haze left by the drugs but was unable to break through her disorientation. She was freezing – she was wrapped in a blanket, but couldn’t shake off the cold.
‘Welcome back, Talya,’ came a voice. It seemed friendly at least.
She blinked, trying to take in what was going on around her. There were Centuria, two of them, but without helmets. She’d never seen that before. In all her life in The City, she’d never seen the face of a Centuria.
‘I’m Leo and this is Jody. Don’t be alarmed, you’re safe here.’
Talya sat up straight, alert and ready to fight. She needed more information – the situation did not seem hostile.
‘It’s okay, Talya, you’re among friends. Let me explain what happened. You’ll need some time to recover from what we did to you. I’m sorry, there was no other way.’
Talya decided to listen. She didn’t think her legs would hold her to make an escape.
‘You’re in The Climbs,’ Leo continued. ‘We had to get you away from Fortrillium.’
Talya didn’t like the sound of that. She remembered the last things that had happened before she lost consciousness: she was due at a special session the next day. It had all been going wrong.
‘How is Lucy? Is she still alive?’
‘She’s okay, Talya. She’s still caught in The Grid, but she’s alive. Joe Parsons too, they’re both okay.’
Talya was relieved at that. Her last thoughts had been about how she’d let her daughter down by her outburst. She’d given Damien Hunter all he needed to block her. She’d just handed him the rope with which to hang her.
Jody began to speak, on Leo’s nod – he’d sensed Talya was going to need lots of reassurance.
‘We’re sorry we did what we did, Talya, but we had to bring you over from Silk Road undetected. We had to knock you out and take your heartbeat down to zero to pass the scanners.’
‘You’ve been dead for four minutes,’ Leo interjected. ‘It was the only way we could do it.’
Talya’s mind was a confusion of questions and disorientation, and she was unable to comprehend what they were telling her.
‘It’s all coming to an end, Talya. Damien Hunter would have finished you off tomorrow,’ Jody picked up in the silence. ‘It was only a matter of time – there’s no way you’d have passed through the review process.’
‘She’s right, you know. Hunter had it in for you.’
Talya recognized the voice, but it was out of place. If they were in The Climbs, why did she hear that voice? She looked towards its source. It was Law Lord Brad Sivil.
‘I know I’m the last person you’d expect to see here, Talya, but you have to listen to these people. Whatever you think, we’re not the enemy here.’
Talya wasn’t so sure about that. She tried to tense her legs again, but they still wouldn’t have been able to take her weight. She decided to listen and find out more. She was in their hands for the time being, her body was incapable of resistance.
Jody carried on speaking.
‘I know it’s a lot to take in, Talya, but this is where The City’s resistance movement is based. You’re safe here. Your Gen-ID chip is jammed. Fortrillium can’t find you now.’
‘I’m so sorry about your daughte
r,’ said Law Lord Sivil, ‘but really, Talya, you didn’t help yourself with Hunter. The man has to be handled.’
‘And is that what you were doing, Law Lord Sivil?’ Talya snapped, but Sivil seemed different now, he was altogether more conciliatory.
‘We all have our roles to play in this, Talya. I played mine well – you had no idea I was part of this.’
‘So what is this?’ she asked, moving her gaze between the three faces in front of her. Her focus was beginning to return. There was activity all around her: medical supplies, food and weaponry.
‘This is how Fortrillium will be brought down, Talya,’ Jody answered. ‘There are many of us in the Centuria who have been planning this for some years now. It was colleagues of ours who brought you through security. President Delman is up to something. We think an important change is about to take place, but we don’t know what it is yet.’
‘You’ve brought things to a head,’ Sivil picked up. ‘Now is the time for us to strike. The attention your daughter’s trial has garnered makes this the perfect time to bring down Hunter and Delman.’
‘One of our own people was arrested earlier today,’ Leo continued. ‘They’ll torture her and threaten her family. We have to assume they know about us already. We must strike fast.’
‘So what am I doing here?’
‘Hunter was going to destroy you along with your daughter. The Law Lords have all been briefed – you would not have made it through tomorrow’s review.’
Talya looked at Sivil. She’d thought he was an enemy, but she was unsure now.
‘I tipped off Leo and Jody after you left Fortrillium, and they brought you here undercover. Nobody knows you’re here. As far as Damien Hunter is concerned, you will not be traceable.’
‘But what about Lucy, you fools? He’ll use her to get to me. He’ll flush me out and I’ll have to come forward.’
‘Talya, your daughter is dead anyway unless we begin to fight. She was dead the minute she walked into The Grid. That’s what Hunter wants.’
Talya knew Leo was right. But Lucy had people working to keep her alive – maybe they didn’t know about Wiz, Mitchell and Hannah yet.
‘Where do I fit into all this?’ she asked. It had dawned on her that they’d just gone through a lot of effort to get her out of Silk Road safely.
‘You’re a very influential person these days, Talya,’ said Sivil. ‘People trust you, on Silk Road and in The Climbs.’
Jody and Leo nodded. Talya knew she had influence, they were right about that. It hadn’t kept Lucy out of The Grid, however.
‘We need a figure to galvanize the rebels, Talya. They need somebody to follow and inspire them when the fightback begins. That person is you.’
Chapter Eleven
Evacuation
If Wiz had been able to buy more time for himself, he would have been able to monitor the live message being broadcast from beyond The City’s walls. Its recipient was inside The City, seated at a wooden desk in the President’s office.
Delman had been perusing The Pact once again. It weighed heavily on his mind. He was sure Hunter was on to him, but so far Mitchell was indicating that nothing was wrong. He didn’t trust the little weasel at all, but he was his best source of information.
Teanna Schaelles was troubling him too. She’d been loyal for many years, but she kept pushing and pushing him about the past. If only she’d let it go. He needed to take Teanna with him – she was his security. Her father would do whatever he demanded so long as his daughter was safe. If she didn’t return with him, who knew how he’d react?
There was not long to go until Catharsis, only hours until a plan that was a half a century in the making would come together. He’d be out of that wretched place and would be able to put some things right at last. But he had to leave with Teanna. Would she cause trouble when it was time to go?
He read through the final lines of The Pact once again. It would begin at 08:00 hours. He’d make his exit as soon as possible, but not too early. He needed to time it right to keep Hunter off the scent.
Delman tapped an icon on his console and brought up the live feed from The Justice Trial. He’d need The Grid clear by then. If he was going to make a clean exit, it would be virtually impossible to do so undetected during a trial.
He counted up the survivors. There were still too many alive – at that rate the trial would still be going strong. He cursed Damien Hunter for the third time that day. The man was stringing it out, playing the drama on the screens. Well, Delman needed it to be finished, so he’d have to give it a little nudge along.
Josh Delman didn’t care what happened to Talya Slater’s daughter. His only concern was that Talya should do his bidding. She had been a strategic placement for him in the Law Lords, a way to frustrate Damien Hunter, but if her daughter died in The Grid that was no concern of his.
He would need to speak to his contact beyond the walls. Delman was as certain as he could be that Hunter wasn’t on to him. He was sure the line was still safe to use. He sent the encrypted code along the secure line and waited for the answer. He was there, he was reliable, he always responded straight away. What choice did he have, isolated like that?
Delman opened up his voice panel and began to speak.
‘I’m coming soon. Is everything ready?’
‘I'm ready and waiting for you, sir. It's all as we discussed.’
‘I need you to fix something for me. Have you been monitoring the trial?’
‘Yes, it’s an unusual one. I’m concerned about the new Gridder Janexx2. Her name is Hannah James.’
‘What of her?’
‘There’s something about her gameplay. Most of these Gridders grow up playing console games, but she’s different. It’s like she took an intensive class. She’s not been playing that long, but she behaves like she has. She’s studied all of the conventions, legacy and techniques thoroughly. I’m watching her closely, and I’ve begun to make small interventions.’
‘Well, don’t worry yourself too much. I want them all dead as soon as it can be achieved without creating any suspicion.’
‘What about Fortrillium, sir? If I interfere too much and too early, the Gridders will know something is wrong.’
‘Don’t worry about it. None of it will matter soon. I want The Grid clear for my exit and I don’t want any hitches.’
‘Understood, sir. I’ll intervene immediately. Do you have any preferences about who should survive until the end?’
‘No, kill the lot of them. Do it as and when you can. Just make sure it’s empty when I need to exit. There’s no room for mess ups – nothing will wait for Catharsis when it begins.’
Delman terminated the connection. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing more to discuss.
At a console in a location beyond The City’s walls, Reevil96 shut down his own connection. It was time to intervene in the trial once again. Only this time he wouldn’t just be killing the near victor in the final moments of Ascension. This time there would be no Justice Seekers left standing. He was going to have to kill them all if he was to secure his own freedom and save the lives of his family.
Schälen
Lucy had been shocked to find herself isolated once again. She’d only just been reunited with Joe, and now she was on her own once more, with no weapon and Schälen still on the loose.
Perhaps one of the creatures had got him? She doubted it – the man was like a cockroach. He’d probably be one of the last to die. She dared not call out. She was desperate to find her friends again, but she didn’t want to draw Schälen’s attention. The man was strong, she had no weapon, and her arm was so stiff she wasn’t sure what kind of a fight she’d be able to put up.
She cursed Fortrillium and The Grid – their lives were being toyed with for entertainment and dramatic tension. Justice had nothing to do with it. It was just a big game. Moments earlier, she’d been standing next to Joe, armed and able to defend herself. Now she was alone again and defenceless
, and if she ran into Schälen, it was not going to be a happy reunion.
Should she stay put and hide until someone friendly passed by? With the creatures still at large, she doubted that was a sensible idea – they’d smell her out. She was vulnerable to attack, from both the monsters and Schälen, and she needed to be able to defend herself. Her friends were in danger too. She couldn’t just hide away until it was all over. She’d left Joe and a wounded Ross in the middle of a terrible battle, and for all she knew they could be badly hurt or even dead.
Lucy knew she had to press on in the semi-darkness. There was no hiding now, it was kill or be killed. She took one of the flaming torches from its holder on the wall, so at least she’d have some limited defence if attacked. She resolved to follow the sounds of shouts and roars along the tunnels, hoping to reach the others.
Soon Lucy realized she was being herded. She would follow a sound only to have a tunnel closed off to her by a newly created wall which came crashing down in front of her. She was being guided to a specific location. It felt as if she was circling around in a spiral.
There was nothing she could do to outpace it. Whoever was controlling her movements in the tunnels knew exactly where they wanted her. Lucy followed the path, alert and primed for an attack.
The roars and shouts seemed further away, and she felt as if her next fight was going to be elsewhere, with a very different type of monster. A cold wind rushed up the long tunnel, its icy chill stopping her in her tracks, and extinguishing the torches lining the walls. Her only light was her own small flame, which she’d moved in front of her body for protection.
Footsteps. Slow and deliberate. Something metallic was being scraped along the walls of the labyrinth. She knew what it was before she even saw him.
First his shadow, and then the monster himself stepped into the small area of light cast by the flame of her torch. Schälen was in a state. The bloodied stump where his hand had once been was covered by a section of his overalls which he’d torn off in an effort to stop the blood flow. Even in the darkness it was clear that the bloody, improvised dressing was inadequate for the damage that had been done. His face was drained of colour and gaunt – he had lost a lot of blood.