by Pond, Simone
She headed deeper into the forest, where she had parked the hovercraft three months earlier. It had been kept dormant and hidden, out of respect for the natives’ ban on technology. Also, she didn’t want to risk getting tracked. But that morning, the longing for something familiar had swelled in her heart, and she needed to feel connected to her life again. Checking her personal messages offline would help take the sting out of being homesick, even though she didn’t know where home was any more.
The hovercraft was buried within the bushes and it took a few minutes to weed through the branches. Sitting inside the craft, she reached under the seat and took out her digi-pad. Excited to reconnect, she hurried to activate it. The device booted up and sprang to life with a symphony of chimes. She quickly downloaded the messages to view offline. The files were organized by date and level of urgency. The first one was a hologram from her father, General Joseph Strader, delivered July 27, 2346.
The hologram illuminated the inside the hovercraft. Tears sprang into Grace’s eyes as she reached out to touch her father’s arm, but her fingers slipped through the 3D rendering, making her miss him more.
“Grace, please tell me the news I’ve just received isn’t true. I’m specifically referring to you stealing a hovercraft and leaving the Seattle CC with Christian. I’m having trouble believing you’d actually pull a stunt like this. Do you understand the extent of your consequences? Not only for stealing the craft, but also for taking the child. He doesn’t belong to you.”
She paused the message. How could her father say Christian didn’t belong to her? He belonged to Grace the first time she picked him up and their eyes locked. There was a connection, regardless if the council members agreed. Christian loved Grace. And she could provide a safe and loving environment, despite her age. Wasn’t that enough? But pleading her case to a hologram wasn’t going to change anything. After a few moments, she resumed the message.
“I’m not saying he can’t belong to you. I’m just saying there are rules, and yes, they apply to you. If you want to fight for him, running away isn’t the right approach. You’re not winning any favors with the council. I hope you’ll reconsider your decision and return to the city center to face your charges. Contact me as soon as you have received this message.”
Grace sat back, pondering her father’s words. It was going to be a long day.
3
Ava spent her “time” inside the white space thinking about her family. She wanted to remember what mattered most and stay connected to her life in the real world. Morray was a master manipulator, so the less interaction with him the better. She remained on her side, facing in the opposite direction, and he left her alone.
Her favorite memories were always of Grace. The most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Smart and gifted, her daughter wouldn’t back down from anything. Not even her own mother. Ava smiled at Grace’s stubbornness. She reminded Ava of her own youth; Grace didn’t break all the rules, just the ones that made little sense. Ava clung to the hope of returning to the real world and telling her daughter how much she loved and respected her.
Grace represented hope, as well as freedom. The first child naturally conceived by a city center resident proved that things could change. Finally, people were free to leave the city, they could choose their professions, or fall in love, instead of being assigned a partner match. It was the dawn of a new era. For the last seventeen years, society wasn’t held captive by Morray’s strict and oppressive system. Ava promised she’d never let him go back to reclaim what didn’t belong to him.
Being locked inside the desolate prison seemed utterly hopeless at moments, but in a strange way, she was keeping her promise. With Morray in close proximity, he couldn’t cause harm to the outside world. She trusted something would change, and she’d find a way out, leaving him behind in this eternal prison. Ava had learned to depend on faith over the years.
Morray’s laughter poked into her thoughts.
“What now?” she asked.
“I just recalled a most pleasant memory.” Light flickered in his dim gray eyes.
“Oh, you actually have pleasant memories?” she mocked.
“Quite a few.”
“Interesting that you can just block out the horrible, ungodly crimes you committed.”
Morray lowered his head. Was he actually ashamed and remorseful for his actions? This was a side of Morray she had never seen. He wiped a tear from his cheek. A tear? No way. This was just another attempt at manipulating Ava; he had perfected the art.
“Oh, come on. I’m not buying this act. Don’t you have something better to do? Like, I don’t know, plot how you’re going to find a way out of here and reclaim victory over the masses?”
“I can see why you’d think that. I haven’t exactly shown remorse for my crimes. But sitting in this purgatory is forcing me to look at my past sins. I’m not proud of what I did. I tried to go back and make at least one thing right, but that didn’t work.”
Ava remembered why they were stuck inside the mainframe in the first place. He forced her to go into his archive files and retrieve Phoenix, so Dickson could upload his identity matrix into a new biometric body. Morray wanted to start fresh with a fake version of his son, who had been dead for over three hundred years.
“It didn’t work because you can’t go back in time and fix what’s already been done. It happened. All of it. And now you have to sit with yourself and relive every awful moment.” She smiled, tilting her head to the side.
He straightened his suit. “You seem quite content about that.”
“You’re damn right. Let’s not forget, you had every intention to hand me over to one of your elites when I turned eighteen. And you had no problem with Dickson uploading that person’s consciousness into my body,” Ava growled. “If I hadn’t escaped with Joseph, my consciousness would be nothing. I would’ve been vaporized.”
“But I changed my mind, remember? I wanted you to live on as my eternal queen. To help me run the Los Angeles City Center. We could’ve ruled together, and not just in Los Angeles, but over the other city centers in my kingdom.” He lifted his strong chin and grinned slightly; too handsome for his own good.
“Honestly, that sounds worse than being vaporized.”
“If you would have just cooperated, we could have worked together to make things right again. I needed you.”
“Did you really think I would stand chained to your side for eternity, condoning your atrocious acts? You bred and killed off humans for centuries. Did you think I could overlook that? You wanted me to help you clean up that mess? Where to start?”
Morray removed the silk handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his brow.
“For someone who isn’t in an actual body, you’re sure having an actual physical reaction.” Ava chuckled at his obvious discomfort. Now maybe she could return to her memories.
She closed her eyes and pictured Joseph. Her dear and loving husband. That first moment they met inside the city center had been engraved on her soul. Though he was an Outsider and considered a terrorist, Joseph was the one to answer the questions picking away at her since she was a child. She had always sensed something was inherently wrong inside the city center. The others teased her, saying she had a glitch, but she knew better. When Joseph gave her Lillian’s journal, exposing the truth, there was no going back to the city of lies. If he hadn’t shown up that day––just one week before graduation––she would’ve gone through with the ceremony, been crowned Queen, and then wiped from existence.
“It’s funny, in a twisted sort of way,” Ava said.
“That you ended up exactly where you never wanted to be? Regardless of your efforts to prevent that from happening?”
“Something like that.”
“Trust me, my dear. This isn’t what I had in mind by making you my eternal queen.”
There was no denying his perceptiveness. Ava had remarkable intuition, but Morray surpassed her abilities by eons. After all, he’d been st
udying and designing humans for centuries. He knew what made them tick.
He smiled, almost kindly, and her hatred for the man loosened its grip. Of course, this wasn’t what he wanted––who would want this fate? In the void, with no release date.
She turned away, not wanting to share any more thoughts with Morray. As she tried to recount memories, visions of Morray’s past flashed across her mind. All those years searching his archive files in the mainframe meshed together with her memories. She had scanned centuries of his life, but it would always be Morray’s teen years that had made the deepest impression. There was a time of innocence and idealism, when he had only wanted to be loved and approved by his father, which proved to be an impossible task. His psychopathic father, Professor Morray, designed the Repatterning program and didn’t want anything to do with his son. Maybe it was the act of sending him away to live in an underground bunker that turned William Morray sour. His father’s betrayal crushed any seedlings of good before they had a chance to take root.
Ava stopped herself. Was she really making excuses for Morray? He had gotten into her head again. Being vulnerable even for a second made her an easy target. She’d have to turn up the vigilance dial. There was no sympathizing with the devil. Morray was a grown man when he made his choices; he could’ve gone a different route. Instead, he made the same bad choices over and over.
“I didn’t want it to turn out the way it did,” he said.
She laughed, well aware of what he was doing. “Oh, Morray. Stop before you start to believe yourself. Don’t forget, I’ve seen your past––up close.”
“You only know what you saw from my archive files. You have no way of knowing what was in my heart. You only saw my actions. My insanity.”
That was true. The searches never revealed an emotional connection. She had only witnessed the events that cobbled together Morray’s life, from his lonely boyhood all the way through his leadership days. She didn’t know about his pain. It must have been overwhelming for him to commit such heinous acts. But still …
“Regardless of what you were going through, I still find it impossible to forgive you,” she said.
“Imagine that multiplied by the thousands. I could live a million more centuries, trying to make things right, and I’d never forgive myself.”
Taking the handkerchief from his pocket, he wiped his watery eyes. Ava had never seen Morray in such a sensitive state and it made her uncomfortable. She looked away.
“Where’s Dickson with an injection when you need him?” he joked.
“No escaping this time.”
“I suppose not.”
Ava allowed him to walk away. He had earned the privilege to wallow in his misery.
4
Grace made her way back to the village as the last rays of sun dusted across the sky. Reviewing her messages had taken all afternoon, leaving her a bit maudlin and longing for more. She hadn’t realized how much she missed Lucas, or how selfish she had been. In his earlier messages, he talked about how he couldn’t wait for the assignment to end so he could get back to her, but as time went on and Grace hadn’t replied, his attitude changed. In his final attempt to reach her, he kept his shoulders stiff and chin up, but sadness and confusion clouded his eyes. She felt horrible for leaving without any explanation, and wanted to send a note saying how much she loved him. Telling him how much she dreamed of being together, like the days before he shipped off. She wondered if they’d ever experience that again, or if she had done too much damage. As much as she wanted to contact him, it’d be too risky. Their relationship would have to wait.
The sky had shifted to a murky gray. At the village entrance, a group of natives surrounded the gate with their weapons aimed, as though ready for an attack. Everyone seemed to be on high alert. They acknowledged Grace with slight nods and lowered their weapons. Most of the natives hadn’t been very welcoming, but they tolerated Grace since she was Cari’s guest. Sometimes she felt like an outsider.
Grayson, one of the younger boys who followed Cari around the village, ran over. “Cari’s lookin’ for you.”
“What’s going on?”
“You brought trouble,” the boy said.
Her heart dropped and she ran to Adyar’s to make sure Christian was okay. She burst into the warm cabin just as Adyar was placing Christian down to sleep. The rotund woman never moved faster than a turtle, but now she nervously paced around the kitchen area. Adyar had seen many moons pass over the village, so nothing much got to her.
“What’s going on?” Grace asked.
Adyar’s intense eyes were heavier than usual. “The blue bird has returned.”
At first, Grace thought she was talking about an actual bird, but remembered that’s what the natives called the hovercrafts, because of the glowing blue lights.
“What do you mean returned?”
“It landed in the forest just before the sun went down. No contact yet, but you should take Christian and hide.” Adyar touched Grace’s cheek with her pudgy fingers.
Checking her messages must have sent out a notification to the Seattle City Center, alerting them of her location. She picked up Christian and held him close. Where else was there to hide? No matter where she went, Faraday’s shadow would always be hanging over her head. She didn’t want to live in that prison, like her mother with Morray. The cycle had to be broken.
“I can’t hide. I’ve been hiding long enough,” she told Adyar.
“What about the boy?”
“Just stay here with him while I go deal with it.” Grace handed Christian to Adyar and left the cabin.
The amount of warriors gathered by the entrance had increased. They now stood in a barricade three lines deep. Their spears and bows aimed at the forest, prepared to ward off any intruders. The natives would suffer the most causalities if a battle ensued. This was her fault and she needed to take responsibility.
As she pushed through the barricade, someone yanked her arm. Grace turned around to find Cari. “Did you do this?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. I might’ve accidentally triggered a tracker.” Grace held Cari’s shoulders, hoping to calm her down.
“You need to fix it before anyone enters our village.” Cari shoved a torch in Grace’s hand.
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”
“Any blood is on your hands.” Cari stood before the tribe; the proud warrior would do whatever it took to protect her people. Grayson stood next to her, attempting to look fierce.
Grace headed toward the trees, keeping the torch lifted. Standing at the edge of the forest, she shouted, “Whoever’s out there, you might as well show yourself. We don’t want a battle. It’s me you came for, leave them out of it.”
A beam of light trickled through the shadows, making its way to Grace. Her heartbeat picked up, but she took deep breaths to stay calm and centered. She tried to recall her combat techniques from her sword fighting days. The lessons her father had instilled. Focus and breathe. Avoid all distractions. Keep your eyes on your opponent. The memories came back fast, filling her with power. She hadn’t lost her fearlessness; it was only on temporary hold. Too bad her sword was back at the cottage, inside the Seattle City Center. In her haste to leave with Christian, she had forgotten to take her prized possession––a present from her father on her tenth birthday. Her mother resented the sword because it took Grace away from her studies. She hadn’t realized how much she missed the thing.
The beam of light got closer and she looked down, making sure not to look directly into it. Footsteps crunched forward through the dried leaves. Whoever was coming was alone. She relaxed her shoulders a bit.
“Can we just get this over with?” she yelled.
“When did you get so impatient?” Joseph stepped out of the forest, grinning at his daughter.
Grace ran, jumping into his arms. She cried into his shoulder, mumbling words neither could decipher.
“I’ve always been impatient.” She pushed off, releasing his ar
ms, and smiled.
He motioned to the barricade of natives. “Better tell your friends we’re good.”
Grace waved. “It’s my father. You can stand down.”
Cari ignored the command and walked over, Grayson trailing at her heels. “I don’t take orders from guests in my village.”
“Look, it’s my father. We’re fine. Right, Dad?”
“I’ve come to speak to Grace, nothing more,” he told Cari.
“You alone?” She kept her eyes fixed on Joseph.
“I’m alone. Nobody else knows I’m here. I came as soon as the tracker on Grace’s digi-pad notified me.”
“You had a tracker installed on my digi-pad?” Grace punched her father’s arm.
“Actually, I had Lucas install it before we left for the East Coast.”
Grace shook her head. “That’s so lame. I thought Mom was the one who didn’t trust me. Not you.”
“You lost that privilege when you left the academy to hunt down your mother. Remember that little stunt? Almost got yourself trapped inside the mainframe.”
Grace would never forget the most horrible thing that had ever happened in her life: risking everything to save her mother, only to lose her to Morray.
Cari patted Grace’s arm. “I’m goin’ back, but I’ll be close.” The warrior went back to her people, the boy trailing behind with quick steps.
Once they were out of earshot, Grace asked, “Why are you here, Dad?”
“I think you know why I’m here.”
“I can’t go back just yet. Faraday wants to send Christian to the academy and put him in a training program. He’s practically a baby. Thirteen months is just too young and I can’t allow it.”
“It’s not your call.”
“I don’t care. It’s wrong. And really messed up.”
“I know you’re a fan of doing things your way, but if you don’t go through the proper channels, you’re risking your life and his. As well as your friends out here.”