by Eliza Green
That’s what got you into trouble in the first place, Carissa.
She hadn’t meant to seek him out a second time. The first time had happened so fast, and nobody had been as surprised as her to hear his voice. She’d followed the Inventor’s command and not connected to the city. This was just one time—and the other. He had to forgive her.
Her betrayal made her hands shake. Her breaths shortened to fine painful points. But unlike the city, there would be no diagnosis of her condition by a concerned Inventor to make sure she was okay.
More soldiers climbed up to the flat roof that gave them a view over the compound wall. The activity piqued her curiosity. She wanted to see what they did. While Rover’s company calmed her, his imposing size would make it difficult to sneak up on the operation. Carissa commanded Rover to return to the storage shed. He protested with a sad whine, but did what she asked.
Nobody paid her any mind as she approached the scene, and if they did, it was fleeting; too much was happening on the flat roof. Carissa squeezed through the commotion and made it inside the house. On the first floor and out on the flat roof, Jason and Thomas stood next to three soldiers. They held a box-shaped gun with a soldered barrel on the front.
Max was there too. He didn’t notice her spying on them.
‘The orb knows where we are,’ said Max to the pair.
‘How?’ said Jason.
Max shook his head. ‘Doesn’t matter. We need to disable that thing with the Disruptor gun.’
Carissa had seen this gun in action. Both Jason and Max had used it to gain access through the force field surrounding Arcis. One of the orbs had been recording but Quintus, too busy talking to the participants on the first floor, had not seen the footage. It had disrupted the force field. Then Max had used the same gun to absorb the energy of the field, weakening it.
Thomas pointed in the distance and said, ‘There!’
Carissa couldn’t see much, not with all the soldiers in the way.
Jason fired a shot from the gun and cursed. ‘It’s not behaving like the last one. It’s too fast.’
‘Try again,’ Max said.
Through a small gap, she saw Jason steady the gun on his shoulder.
He fired, but cursed again. ‘I can’t hit my mark. Crap, it’s halfway over the top of the magnetic barrier!’
Commotion followed. Soldiers pushed Carissa out of the way to get to the flat roof.
Carissa ran down the stairs, almost tripping a couple of times. Outside, she saw the orb, similar to the one she used to play with. It zipped over the top of the compound wall and flew at speed around the camp.
‘Jason. Stop that thing,’ shouted Max.
Both men climbed down the side of the property, gun in hand. They chased the orb around. Soldiers fired into the air, but the orb dodged every attempt to be caught.
An idea occurred to Carissa. She didn’t know if her command might work. Heart in mouth, she held her hand out, palm facing up. While everyone ignored her, she whistled.
The orb changed position and flew towards her. A slack-jawed Max and shocked soldiers watched as the orb landed on Carissa’s hand with a thud.
Her hand shook as she extended it to Jason. ‘Shoot it now.’
She closed her eyes, expecting the Disruptor to disable her too. She braced for impact, but felt someone slap the orb out of her hand and push her away. Carissa stumbled back. Her eyes shot open as Jason fired at the orb lying on the ground.
Max blinked at her. ‘How did you do that?’
19
Carissa
All eyes were on her, and she didn’t understand why. Calling the orb to her was a natural act.
Max shook off his shock and strode over to her. ‘I asked you how you commanded that thing.’
Carissa didn’t know how to explain. She just could. To her relief, the Inventor was close by.
He said to Max, ‘Maybe we should talk somewhere more private.’
Carissa looked around at the sea of surprised faces. She hugged her middle, not liking the attention on her. This felt like the Business District in Praesidium, a place where Originals could run their businesses and Copies visited on occasion. But not too often; a Copy only attracted hateful stares.
‘Fine, the workshop. I don’t want to let that thing out of my sight.’
Max nodded at Jason and Thomas, prompting Jason to pick up the orb. Max followed the pair back to the workshop.
A fearful Carissa looked up at the Inventor, who pushed her on. ‘We need to explain, Carissa. They don’t understand you yet.’
She nodded, trusting him, and followed Max. They entered the workshop where Jason and Thomas set the orb down on the workbench crowded with monitors of various sizes at the back of the room.
The workshop felt tight and stuffy with all five of them in the small space.
‘Check that thing is inert, and if it was sending a signal back to anywhere,’ said Max to the pair.
‘On it,’ said Thomas.
Max turned round and folded his arms. ‘What the hell happened out there?’
The Inventor explained something Carissa could not.
‘The machines in Presidium run on the same frequency. It’s how Carissa was able to break us out of the city. She peeled back a seam between two force field points enough for us to escape.’
Max frowned. ‘So you’re saying she can talk to the machines?’
‘Not all of them. She can command the orb. The whistle she used operates on the same command frequency as the orbs. She calls; it has to obey.’
That was news to Carissa. She’d always thought she and the orb had shared a special bond. It disappointed her to learn that, with the right command, anyone could control it.
But Max’s brightening expression lightened her mood. ‘I’m seeing an opportunity here. Can we replicate the sound to command new orbs that attempt to gain access to the compound?’
‘That could work,’ said Thomas, looking up from his workstation. ‘We could place it in a spot outside the valley and anti-magnetic field. It would draw any orbs to it there.’
Max looked happier at that suggestion. ‘How long would they stay inactive?’
The Inventor shrugged. ‘As long as the whistle played. The orbs need interaction. Without it, they will stray. But there’s one other thing that could make this a short-lived experiment.’
‘What?’ said Max.
‘The Collective can alter the command whenever it likes. Carissa is no longer connected to the city, so she wouldn’t have access to the new commands.’
‘Well, it’s better than nothing.’ Max turned to Carissa. ‘What will the city send next?’
Carissa had no idea. She thought back to the build for Essention and what Quintus had ordered the Inventor to send out. ‘Digging machines.’
‘That’s what they sent when they broke up Essention,’ said Jason with a shake of his head.
The Inventor also shook his head. ‘We’re talking about building and dismantling urbanos. This will be an attack on us, so while they’ll send machines to break down walls, weaponised Guardians and Copies will come too. I guarantee it.’
Max turned to Jason and Thomas. ‘What’s the verdict on that thing?’
Thomas said, ‘It’s inactive, thanks to her help.’
He gave Carissa a friendly smile that warmed her heart. Despite the actions that had gotten her into this mess, for the first time she felt useful. But Thomas’ next words made her blood run cold.
‘But it may have transmitted coordinates back. It got over the barrier and was high up enough to do it.’
Quintus’ threat to punish the escapees dominated her thoughts. She stood stiffly.
‘So we prepare,’ said Max with a tight nod. ‘That’s all we can do.’
‘Can Carissa leave?’ said the Inventor.
‘No.’ Max fixed his hardened stare on her. ‘Thomas and Jason need to record her command, to play it through a speaker so we can control new orbs.’
/> ‘I can give you that,’ said the Inventor. ‘You don’t need her for this.’
‘No!’ All faces turned to Carissa. ‘It’s my fault the orb came. I spoke to Quintus. I need to take responsibility. Let me help.’
Thomas lifted his brows at Max. ‘The work would go faster with her here.’
Max hesitated. ‘Okay, but Jacob, you stay with her.’
The Inventor nodded.
Carissa walked over to the workbench seeing the orb open on the table. It hurt to discover her friend in the city had been nothing more than a machine programmed to listen to her. Just another piece of tech to dismantle. Another scout on a mission to destroy.
And it had come for her.
The Inventor led her away from the table. Gripping her shoulder tight, he asked, ‘What exactly did Quintus say, miss?’
It hurt too much to keep it in. She looked up into his watery gaze and blurted out everything.
20
Anya
Anya watched from the entrance to the workshop as Jason and Thomas got to work. Jason handled the basic equipment around him like someone with a passion for this stuff. Her brother’s limited experience with Praesidium’s hand-me-downs at home in Brookfield had served him well. She watched as he shook off his old life filled with childish hobbies and created a new one where he mattered to those around him.
Jealousy gripped her hard. Her brother was growing with experience and she was stuck in the past. It felt not only as if the last three months had never happened, but that Anya had somehow missed her own awakening.
The Copy sat tentatively in a chair in front of the workshop table where Jason and Thomas both sat. Thomas held a recording device up to Carissa’s mouth and instructed her to whistle. She did and Thomas captured it before telling Max that they could play it through one of the bullhorns.
Max nodded. ‘We need to get the teams ready.’
He left the workshop, almost colliding with Anya. His eyes widened in surprise at seeing her.
Worried she might not get another chance to speak to him, she blurted out, ‘I want to join one of the teams. I know how to shoot.’
Max blinked. ‘Sorry, what?’
‘I have attack experience. I want to train with the others again.’
Max shook his head, which annoyed Anya.
‘Vanessa needs you more than I do. Despite your lack of recollection, she still maintains you know something, and I think she’s right. It’s becoming clear to me you might be the only person who knows where the Beyond is located. The only one with access to the coordinates.’ He tapped the side of his head.
She had tried to remember the past without Vanessa breathing down her neck, but the drama with Alex coupled with her missing memories had occupied most of her thoughts. And the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to understand the reasons behind Warren’s attack; she didn’t need the fear of it to cripple her.
‘I can help Vanessa and train.’
‘No, Anya. I can’t risk your life out there. You’re too valuable to our efforts.’
‘I’m not lying. I really don’t remember. Why doesn’t anyone believe me?’
Max shook his head as though she had disappointed him. ‘I expected better from a Macklin. Your parents were leaders and revered in rebel circles.’
His limited view point irritated her. ‘Well, maybe Grace should have taught me to be more like her. You didn’t know her. She wasn’t an easy person to be around.’
‘She was just protecting you.’ He glared at her. ‘No more delays. I’m ordering you to see Vanessa, now.’
Max walked off, leaving a livid Anya to stew in her anger. Given her current mood, seeing Vanessa was the last thing she wanted to do. Carissa left the workshop next and gave her a glance as she headed down the alley to the storage shed at the end. That must be where they kept the mechanical wolf. She could think of no other place big enough to store it.
A memory flashed in her mind of wolves similar to the one named Rover. A supervisor, in Arcis? Yeah, that was it. Their metal chests used to rise and fall as though the machines could breathe on their own. Their claws, sharp and long, would scrape the tiled floor. Their yellow eyes would track the participants’ movements. Her recollection of them was clear; who or what else she’d shared the space with remained vague.
Anya entered the workshop; it contained fewer people now. Jason and Jacob continued to examine the orb while Thomas replayed Carissa’s whistle. She waited by the door, hoping to be of some use in here.
Thomas concentrated on a screen she couldn’t see, probably showing data from either the recording or the orb. Jacob stood over his shoulder and pointed at something on it. Jason was hunched over the open orb with a scanner in his hand, using it to record data.
Anya took two steps forward. Her movement caught Jason’s attention.
He looked up and gave her a half smile. ‘Hey. A bit of drama out there.’
‘Yeah.’ Anya stuffed her hands into her pockets. She stepped closer to the idle orb. ‘You seem to know what you’re doing.’
‘Yeah, me and Thomas caught an orb while we were in Foxrush. We were able to disable it. It looks to be the same design as that one.’
She liked seeing her brother happy. She just wished her own life would sort itself out.
Jason appeared to pick up on her mood. ‘What’s wrong, Anya?’
She didn’t know where to start, but she began with the most pressing issue. ‘I feel like a coma patient who’s just woken up to find the world has carried on without me. You all know each other, and I know nobody here.’
‘You know me,’ said Jason. ‘And I’m the best person to know around here, better than Thomas.’
‘Hey!’ said Thomas. He touched a hand to his heart. ‘I’m Thomas, in case you haven’t figured that out yet.’
Anya grinned.
‘And I’m Jacob. But Carissa likes to call me the Inventor,’ said the old man.
Anya frowned at the name. ‘Why does she call you that?’
‘It’s what the Copies called me in Praesidium. It was what I did there.’
Anya had seen none of the city while she’d been prisoner. ‘You invented things? Like what?’
Jacob shrugged. ‘Less inventions, more fixing things. Copies, machines—whatever broke, I guess.’
His admission gave Anya a glimmer of hope. ‘I don’t suppose you can fix me?’
Jacob laughed; the sound snatched her hope away. ‘I’m afraid I can’t fix humans, only tech. Like the stuff in young Dom Pavesi. He was sick and I fixed him.’
‘So I’m stuck like this, with no idea of what happened for the last three months?’
Jacob flashed her a look of pity, as did Jason and Thomas.
‘Give it time, Anya,’ said Jason. ‘You’ll remember again.’
She avoided their lingering gazes. ‘But it’s not happening fast enough.’
Jacob stepped out from behind the work desk and patted her on the arm. She allowed the gesture, designed to reassure her.
His weathered face drew near to hers. ‘I know it’s tough, but the memories are still there. The replication machine, it’s a complex piece of equipment. It repressed your memories enough to give you amnesia. But I don’t believe your memories are gone. You have to be patient.’
The old man’s explanation made Anya’s heart thrum faster. The replication machine. She stared at the Inventor. ‘Could you build one again? Reverse engineer it to liberate my memories?’
She was clutching at straws, but it was a better idea than none.
Jacob rubbed his chin, giving her a sliver of hope again, but then he shook his head. ‘I could try to build one, but I don’t have the materials.’
Anya refused to give up on the idea. ‘What about Carissa? Or the wolf you made? Do they carry the tech to make one?’
Her suggestion angered the old man. He narrowed his eyes. ‘I won’t dismantle my wolf or a Copy to give you back something you can live perfectly well without
.’
She wasn’t certain she could live without it. Anya’s hope deflated for a second time.
Jacob frowned suddenly. With a wag of his finger, he said, ‘But if I had the right parts to build the essence of the machine... We would only need the part capable of affecting your memories.’ He released a puff of air. ‘It’s a long shot and you must understand our priority in here is to protect this compound.’
‘Jacob, I need you over here,’ said Thomas.
‘Leave the idea with me.’ He shuffled over to the brown-haired boy, leaving Anya alone.
She left, her painful heart stuffed with more disappointment than it could handle. But she didn’t venture far, as another idea hit her. She walked towards the storage shed and entered the space to find the mechanical wolf lying on the floor and Carissa sat next to it. Her legs were curled under her and she was patting the creature.
The beast with the yellow eyes alerted to Anya’s presence and growled long and low. Carissa’s head snapped round. She clambered to her feet, startled.
‘Anya, I didn’t hear you come in. Have you been here before?’
‘First time.’ She smiled at the Copy and clasped her hands to the front, trying to look relaxed in the company of a supervisor from Arcis. To her relief, the wolf lost interest in her and lowered his head onto his spindly, metallic legs. ‘I came to check on you.’ She nodded behind her. ‘That was a lot to deal with out there.’
Carissa nodded, looking close to tears. ‘I shouldn’t have climbed up to the ledge. It was my fault this happened. I only want to help.’
‘And you are,’ she said coolly, not there to be a shoulder to cry on. ‘Listen, when you found me in the room with Alex, you had my Copy with you.’
With rounded eyes, Carissa nodded again.
‘She passed back just one memory to me.’
‘I remember. She was being wilful. I tried to make her listen...’
Anya waved her hand at the Copy. ‘I’m not angry. It was her choice. But you said that the memories were a part of her.’
Carissa nodded for the third time. ‘It happens at the replication stage. The machine imprinted your memories onto the Copy’s biogel.’