The main access ramp lowers.
Calista goes to step off the Ocelot, but stops. “Father?”
A man stands alone at the bottom of the ramp. His eyes are hollow and his frame is solid. He’s tall, but I can’t tell if that is from him or the mechanisms where his arms and legs should be. If you asked me whether this was a man and I didn’t know better, I probably would have said the figure standing in front of me was a suit of armor. His uniform matches Calista’s in all but the patches along the left arm. His sleeves are rolled up, and despite all the metal, I can still read his expression clearly. He looks pensive. So, this is the Maverick. “You’re late.”
Captain Ridley walks towards him. “I didn’t realize I was following a schedule.”
“You are always following a schedule, Calista. It’s the only reason you’re not below with the inmates.” He then turns his attention to Sasha. “You must be Niklaus’ ward.”
Sasha hesitates before following Callista down the ramp. “Yes, and you’re... you’re the Maverick.”
He nods. “In the flesh.”
Captain Ridley motions towards my cube. “I assume Henry filled you in.”
He sighs. “Yes, he did. I’ve sent a message to Suo, but haven’t heard back yet. This is worrisome.” He then looks to me. “But at least we have a witness to testify.”
“Testify?” My voice cracks as I speak. I clear my throat. “I don’t think I can be of much help.”
The Maverick smiles. “Everyone says that, but people are more perceptive than they give themselves credit for.” He then turns towards the main tower. “Henry should be here soon. Maybe get the young lady to a more comfortable container, then I would like him debriefed right away.”
She nods. “Is the Minister still here?”
The Maverick nods. “Of course, he’s just taking his sweet time.”
We step away from the ship and begin a leisurely stroll towards the main building. Across the way, a man exits the large metal doors with two guards on either side of him. I’ve never seen him before, but I can tell by the way Captain Ridley is shaking her head and by the sudden spring in Sasha’s step that this is someone they have both encountered before.
Within seconds, the spring becomes a light run, and I’m along for the ride because there isn’t anything I can do about it.
Sasha embraces the man. His robes are black, and I can’t tell if he just has a dramatic personality or if the garment holds some kind of significance.
“Minister.” Captain Ridley’s voice is cold.
They lock eyes for a brief second before the man turns back to Sasha. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
His accent is thick; maybe he’s from South America. “Perfect.”
“Nice of you to join us, Niklaus.” The Maverick doesn’t make eye contact. It’s as if something is distracting him.
The Minister smiles and adjusts his glasses. “Elias, you didn’t mention you invited more to the party.”
I look up at Sasha. “What party?”
She shrugs. “Might be a good idea not to take everything he says seriously.”
So dramatic.
In this moment I realize that I’m looking at two families—each with their own dynamic. Sasha and the Minister are giddy. Both of them are quick to exchange stories. Sasha is still a teenager and yet she is off on her own. I wonder how it happened, but I don’t feel comfortable asking her.
Calista and the Maverick barely say two words to each other. Their communication is kept to the essentials. Even then, I can tell that their relationship is deeper than just respect. It’s in the way they look at each other—as if they hold a mutual understanding of how the world is.
And where does that leave me? Alone again? I’m getting tired of feeling this way. I’m just an accessory to be toted around at someone else’s leisure.
“Hey, let’s get you out of that cage.” Calista approaches and extends her hand.
Sasha nods and passes me to her.
The Captain studies the cube. She’s looking for something specific. We start walking towards the main building. The Maverick, the Minister, and Sasha stay behind.
“Hold tight.”
Before I have a chance to say anything, Calista takes the cube into her right palm and presses it into her left arm. The cube begins to crack and I start to panic.
“Hey, what are you—”
Then nothing.
It all goes black.
I can’t see or feel what is happening. I’m just standing in darkness. I reach out in front of me, but the space is empty. After a while, there is a familiar sensation, and then light.
So much light.
19
THE CAUSTIC MEMORY
"IT'S PROBABLY NOT THE BEST IN THERE. Just wait a moment. This thing isn’t built for viewing data.” I can hear Calista, but I can’t see her. There’s something about the depth of her voice; it’s hollow in tone, as if she’s speaking from the end of an extremely long hallway. “I suppose I could try calibrating the comm unit.”
“Where am I?” I ask, but she doesn’t answer. Maybe she can’t hear me.
I stand in the dark while sounds of footsteps and breathing echo. The ground beneath me feels solid, but I still can’t see a thing.
Then, in that moment, a slight tremor builds below. The sensation is similar to standing on the platform at the station watching the train depart for RigMire. An audible blip emerges from the left, and then in an instant the lights come on and I recognize that I am back in cyberspace. All that’s missing is the chair, the table and Ms. Cato. It’s all very familiar.
“Hey, how’s that?” Calista’s voice echoes as I scan my surroundings. The walls are white with the faint impressions of cutouts—like stairs or doorways.
I look behind me and see big brown eyes staring at me through what looks like a wall-sized window. The eyes move backwards and I see the Captain’s face framed along with what looks like a server room behind her.
I take a deep breath. “Where am I?”
She points down at her left arm. “You were here, but I’ve transferred you into one of the observation drones. You should be able to move it.” She sounds hesitant.
I continue taking in my environment. “I don’t suppose you know how, do you?”
She sighs. “This is all new to me. I use technology, but I’m not the most qualified when it comes to describing how it works.”
I press the rook in my palm and look down at the keyboard. Then I press buttons—all the buttons until one moves the drone forward. It’s pure trial and error. I have no idea what I’m doing.
“Cal, do you have a minute?” A woman in a long coat and braces around her legs appears in the doorway. It’s like she’s wearing an exo-skeleton that connects at her belt.
The Captain nods. “Yeah, of course.”
The woman in the coat walks into the room and looks directly at me. “What’s this? Didn’t take you as one for science projects.”
Calista shrugs. “Piper, this is Octavia; Octavia, this is Piper. Just trying to get her a little bit of freedom.”
Octavia leans in really close to the drone. Her face takes up almost the whole window. “You’re trying to tell me there’s a person in there?”
I mash a few buttons until the drone jerks forward. “Oh dear.”
Octavia quickly moves backwards. “Shit.”
Calista shrugs. “There’s a person in there—deconstructed.”
She looks back towards me. “Seriously?”
The Captain nods. “I know. Never a dull moment. What did you need?”
She pauses. “I’m heading back to Hereford.”
“Oh.”
She nods. “I just wanted to thank you for checking in on me while I was recovering. I really do wish I could’ve been more help.”
Some silences are natural—pauses between ideas. This one feels awkward. Octavia offers her hand and Calista shakes it. Both women smile
and then with a slight nod, Octavia takes her leave.
The Captain sighs and turns back to me. “How are you doing in there?”
I keep pressing buttons. “It’s like learning to drive again.” The machine jerks forward again. “Fuck.”
Calista nods and leans against one of the desks. “What kind of vehicles are in MagHaven?”
“Single-seat vehicles mostly—retrofitted from old petrol cars.” I let the keyboard disappear and turn away from the window. I don’t know if she can see me or my frustration, but it’s there.
“Suo was always really good with repurposing materials. That’s one of the reasons business is still booming out here.” She sighs. “Look, I’m not going to pretend to understand what it is you’re going through—it’s just not my style. I like being direct, so here it is: I don’t know what to do with you, or your AI house, for that matter. According to the Maverick’s law, I need to destroy it, but that’s a side matter. You’re in limbo—a human with rights but no way to exercise them.”
I find myself looking back through the window. “What are you saying?”
She pauses. “I suppose what I’m asking is… how do you want to live the rest of your life?” This conversation feels familiar. It’s reminiscent of the one my father was having with Ms. Cato except this time I’m a part of the dialogue. “I could take you back to RigMire if that’s what you want, but I have no idea what that process would look like or if I’m even able for that matter. I deal in people not machinery. When I start messing with the other side, people always get hurt.”
“I... I don’t think I can go back. It’s complicated.”
She smiles. “Life always is, but complicated is just a step. There will be another one after.”
I nod and reopen my keyboard. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to run, but had no patience for the art of walking. Everything I’ve done has been on a timetable I’ve accelerated when maybe I should have embraced the slow moments. Perhaps it’s all just a game and what I need is to develop the controls. What is it that Robbie said? In the virtual world, he could do anything.
“Captain Ridley.” A man appears in the doorway. I remember him from the call she made in MagHaven.
“Major.”
He walks two steps in and then looks back and forth between us. “The Maverick has requested a word.” She goes to move. “With both of you.”
She nods and turns to me. “Your choice, my arm or the drone?”
As much as I would like to become a miraculous expert at operating this thing, it’s going to take some learning. I close my keyboard and move closer to the window.
“I’ll take the lift.”
20
THE CAPTAIN'S FATHER
"CALISTA TELLS ME THAT YOU'VE BEEN TO RIGMIRE. Did anything seem strange or out of place?” The Maverick sits behind a large open desk with several monitors in front of him. His workspace is all business. There isn’t so much as a picture frame on the walls surrounding him.
I don’t know how to answer that question. Everything was strange to me there. I never knew it was a digital city that disintegrated your flesh upon entry. “I mean, yes?”
The man named Henry stands off to the side with his arms crossed. “You don’t sound confident.”
If someone ever told me that I would be speaking to people as a projection from within a mechanical prosthetic, I’d have asked them how much they had been drinking. Yet here we are. “Ever since I was little, we were told that it was our duty to become citizens—to obey the algorithm which granted us a place amongst the elite. I didn’t know we’d have to give up our bodies to enter.”
The Maverick sighs. “Yes, I’m aware that RigMire and Motano have their own sets of entry requirements. We’ve long had an understanding.”
Calista nods. “We uphold the law and the cities manage themselves.”
Henry reaches into his pocket and pulls out what looks to be a cigarette case. “Miss Sloan, we’ve got a lot of people missing. Granted, they disappeared off company land, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s impossible to vanish without a trace.”
Calista shrugs. “It is if you get toasted on entry.”
I pause. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. I stowed away on the train, made it to the station and there was nothing. Then I got zapped and it’s like I was in a fantasy world. People appearing and disappearing is like second nature there. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was magic.”
Calista chuckles. “I suppose science can be seen as magic with the right perspective.”
The Maverick looks at his daughter and I feel her tensing up. “It’s possible they followed your example. If you were allowed entry, then maybe they were as well.”
Henry steps towards the Maverick. “Thousands of people? I can see one being a mistake, but not that many. We could always ask the Minister’s ward if she’d lend a hand. It would make a lot of this much easier—”
“No.” The Maverick hits his desk. “I will not owe Niklaus more favours than I have to.”
Calista sighs. “Then we do this the tedious way. I can take the Ocelot and be there in a few hours.”
Henry flips open and then promptly closes his cigarette case. “We, Captain Ridley. I think it would be best if I accompanied you.”
“That’s not—”
“Yes.” The Maverick starts typing into the keyboard in front of him. “Captain, you are second in this operation. The Major has rank. Support role only, understood?”
She doesn’t say anything.
“Calista?” Her name lingers in the air for a long moment. Henry flicks open his cigarette case and the Maverick hasn’t looked up from his screen.
“Understood.” She doesn’t attempt to make eye contact with him.
The screens flash, and it looks like something else has grabbed the Maverick’s attention. He stares at the data in silence as both Henry and Calista make their way towards the door.
“We leave in ten. Do you need to re-supply?” He tucks his cigarette case into his jacket pocket.
The Captain shakes her head. “That’s a stupid question, Henry.”
He raises his hands in self-defense. “I’d tell you to calm down, but I know exactly where that has gotten me before.”
She walks past him. “We’ll be ready. Don’t worry.”
“We?”
She nods and points to her arm. “Piper’s here too.”
He pauses. “Is that wise? Civilians shouldn’t be—”
“Please, tell me where you would like me to drop her off. She doesn’t exactly have anywhere to go right now.”
And there it is again, people making decisions for me when I’m right there in the room. The projector lens in Calista’s arm is like a porthole, and I’m as close to it as possible. It’s like I’m watching a movie, except these events are real and they’re unfolding in real time.
“Are we going to have a problem?” Henry’s words are clear with a hint of a threat in his tone.
Calista continues walking. “We always have a problem, Henry. You know that.”
A strange surge shoots through the room inside Calista’s arm as I back away from the porthole lens. Blue sparks begin traveling across the walls. One shoots right past me and I fall backwards onto the ground.
“What the hell was that?” I go to stand but stop as a ball of energy no bigger than a small dog forms from the sparks in the walls.
I find myself staring into two big eyes. The energy creature looks rather cute, actually.
“Piper? You still ok in there?” Calista speaks and the lifeform darts into the wall.
I stand and cautiously move back to the porthole lens. “Umm... yeah. I think so.”
She brings her arm up and looks down towards me. “Good. I’ve summoned the Ocelot. I’ll see if I can make life in there a little more bearable, but it might need to wait until I find an engineer.” The little spark ball reappears behind me. “The ship’s systems are engaged.”
The ball rushes forward and hits me back to the ground. I look up and continue staring into those eyes. There’s a slight pressure on my chest. The sparks gently nudge against my chin. It looks almost... happy?
“Are you alive?” I reach up to touch it, but the ball disappears just as fast as it had hit me.
“Doors.” Calista’s voice echoes along with the sound of sliding metal. “I’ll see if I can create a space for both you and your AI house. I imagine it’s a little lonely in there.”
To be honest, I hadn’t thought about it that much. Then I feel the sparks against my hand. They don’t hurt. If anything, they feel comforting.
21
THE DELTA CONNECTION
I SUPPOSE THIS COULD BE HOME. Everything is just so empty—a clean slate, and with the right tools I could make something of it. If only I could figure out how to work this stupid keyboard.
Robbie is here as well, but he hasn’t said anything since Calista dropped me off into the Ocelot’s computer. My understanding is that the blankness is empty storage. I haven’t seen what full blocks of data look like yet, but I imagine them to be the exact opposite—towers of colour.
“Ms. Sloan, we should go over the plan again if you have a moment.” Henry’s voice is partially static until he clears his throat.
I nod to no one in particular and walk towards the large window—a screen, actually. I know I’m looking out through a monitor, but to preserve any sense of normalcy I’m choosing to call it a window. “We’re heading back to RigMire, where you and the Captain are going to begin your investigation.”
He nods. “And?”
Calista looks over her shoulder from the pilot’s chair. “And I still think this is a bad idea.”
The Major sighs. “Ignore her.”
Robbie looks over and goes to say something, but decides against it.
“I might have to go back in.” I sigh.
He nods. “It’s all dependent on what we find.”
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