by Pond, Simone
“You ready?” Morray asked.
He reached for Ava’s hand with a veneer of confidence, but a childlike fear flickered in his eyes. She took his hand, praying she would be protected from Morray and whatever they were walking into.
“On three,” she said.
“On three,” he agreed.
“One, two …” She paused. “Are you sure about this?”
“Not entirely. But I trust your instincts. If you think this is the right thing to do, I’m following your lead. I don’t like to admit it, but you do make the right choices.” He seemed sincere, but what did it matter? Morray wasn’t to be trusted ever again.
But Ava trusted her instincts and something told her that walking through that door would eventually lead her to freedom. “Okay, ready? One, two, three––”
Into the silver door they walked, one step at a time. The tip of Morray’s black shoe immersed with the silver door, creating vibrations and waves like a rippling lake. She stepped forward, her boot merged, sending harsh electrical pulses through her body, causing her to freeze as if being electrocuted. Morray forged ahead into the painful electricity, pulling Ava along. After they passed through the door, they funneled into a twisting spiral of light. Bright colors filled the tunnel and streamed like glowing ribbons of fire. Morray clung tightly to Ava’s arm as they whipped through the continuum.
“Take us home!” she yelled, trying to control the mainframe by using voice command. But she wasn’t sure where that would take them. Morray didn’t have a home in which to return.
They continued speeding through the tunnel.
“Destination: HOME!” She tried again.
The light began to shift into images of trees. Enormous green pines surrounded by bodies of water. Woods … Dirt … Mud … Rain … Sheets of it falling from the sky … A fire pit with flames growing up toward the clouds … These images quickly morphed into rows and rows of incubators in an inception lab. Ava couldn’t make sense of anything. Flashes of light danced through the tunnel, and then everything slowed down, as if the ride had reached its end. The tunnel shifted to black and they were suspended in darkness. A far worse fate. Fear and panic crept in.
“What the hell is this, Dickson?” Morray shouted.
“We just want to go home. Have mercy. Destination: HOME!” she yelled one last time.
Speckles of light began to spread across the blackness like millions of stars. From each one came a ray of light. The stars began to attach to one another like a spider’s web. The connecting webs of light transformed into a room, a room that Ava knew very well.
“Oh, this is perfect.” Ava sighed.
Morray released his death grip from Ava’s hand and walked around the room, laughing to himself.
“Well done, Dickson. Well done,” he said.
Ava didn’t see what was so funny. She cringed at the sight of the king-size bed piled high with feather comforters and the chiffon canopy hanging overhead. Of all places to end up, why back in the Queen’s chambers? A beam of light sparkled from one of the massive crystal chandeliers, almost as if John Dickson were winking.
“Not what I meant when I said home.” She plunked down on the lounger next to the windows, feeling defeated, but at the same time relieved. The view of the ocean in the distance was better than staring at a canvas of white.
“I couldn’t be more pleased.” Morray stared out across the Los Angeles basin.
“Why do I keep ending up in this retched Royal Palace?”
Morray turned toward Ava. “Because it’s where you belong.”
“It was a rhetorical question.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her throbbing temples.
“Though, I am curious why he sent us back to this location. Is he trying to send a message? Has he relocated us back into the original program? You know the one.”
“You mean the one where you had me going back into your archive files to dig up your son, Phoenix, and somehow convince him to come with me? The horrible one that failed and got us into this mess?”
Morray chuckled as he meandered around the room, opening up drawers and cabinets. “It would’ve gone off swimmingly if your pesky daughter hadn’t gotten involved. It was a simple mission: You go in, retrieve Phoenix, and Dickson uploads his identity matrix into his new biological body. Done. The biometric shell was extraordinary. The resemblance to Phoenix was uncanny.”
“I’m sure it was. But what I’ve never understood is why the two of you didn’t put your abilities to better use. Such a waste of brains and technology. It’s ironic, don’t you think? Now there’s a body without a conscious and a conscious without a body.”
Morray ignored her comment and continued searching around the room. She heard a loud pop and looked over her shoulder to find Morray holding a bottle of champagne.
“This just keeps getting better,” she grumbled.
Morray poured two tall glasses of champagne and presented one to Ava. She shook her head.
“Oh, why not? We’re celebrating. Besides, none of this real, enjoy yourself for once.” He pressed the glass into her unwilling hand.
“You keep saying that, but all of this feels very real.” The tiny bubbles floated to the top, trapping at the rim, then she dumped the champagne onto the floor.
“Not very ladylike.” Morray drank down the champagne and poured himself another.
Looking around the room, Ava wondered if there were other provisions. It’d be nice to change out of the grungy clothes she had been wearing. She meandered about the chambers, poking her head into the cabinets and drawers. Morray remained by the window, daydreaming, or plotting. Ava wasn’t sure. She came to a door that opened to a walk-in closet with rows of shimmering gowns and shelves of fancy shoes.
She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the three-paneled mirror. Her auburn hair was a matted mess and her usually sparkling eyes looked tired and weary.
“Thinking about changing?” Morray’s voice came from behind.
Ava jumped, looking at his reflection standing behind her. “Damn you, Morray! You scared me.”
He held up an elegant black gown. In his black suit, Morray looked like “Death” coming toward her. His eyes dripped with bad intentions. This was a game and the final goal would always be to win Ava.
She scowled into the mirror. “I’m not wearing any of these dresses. And for the record, no matter how long we’re stuck here––wherever this place is––I’ll never be with you.”
Morray continued walking to Ava, unaffected by her words. “You’ve always belonged to me. Since before your inception. I created you in my heart centuries before you came to be. I made you, Ava. And by that logic, you do belong to me.”
He reached around from behind, holding the dress up against her chest. The gown was made of ornate black jewels that glimmered under the lights, like reflections of stars twinkling on the ocean’s oily surface.
“This one brings out your eyes. Your eyes have always been my albatross. They haunt me when I’m asleep and awake.” He moved in closer and she could feel the heat of his breath on her neck.
“What are you doing? I’m not playing house with you, Morray.”
“Nobody’s asking you to. I’m simply suggesting we try to make the best out of this situation.”
“Let it go, Morray. Okay?” She pushed the dress out of the way, causing him to drop it. He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to remain in front of the mirror.
“Look at us. We make a fine pair. Don’t we? You know I’d do anything for you, Ava.”
“That’s not true.”
“Ask me anything and it’s yours,” he said.
“I’ve asked you repeatedly to please leave me be. Why can’t you just give up this obsession and let me go?”
He yanked her around to face him. Tears brimmed in his eyes, his cheeks quivered. “I’ll never let you go, Ava. I’ll fight for you until my death.”
Ava didn’t feel sorry for Morray, she knew better. “You’ll probably see th
at before you see me by your side.” She picked up the dress and hung it back up with the others. Morray backed off, staring at the ground in defeat.
She rummaged through the racks of dresses and shawls. “I just want to clean up and find something else to wear. This sweater has seen better days. Maybe something a little less extravagant than a gown of jewels.”
“Bottom drawer,” Morray mumbled.
“Huh?”
“There’s a bunch of leisure clothes in the bottom drawer of the dresser.”
“Leisure clothes?”
Morray walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pile of slacks and stylish cotton tees. Ava was grateful for the gesture.
“What about you? Is there anything in here you can wear?” she asked.
“I’m fine in my suit.”
“You seem a little stiff.” Ava smiled.
“Don’t worry about me.”
She picked out a pair of black slacks and a heather gray T-shirt, and headed to the master bathroom. On the way out, she turned back to Morray as he watched her reflection in the mirror.
“Thanks, William.” She hadn’t meant to use his first name. But it was too late to take back.
“I haven’t been called that in a long time. It sounds nice coming from you. Thank you, Ava.”
She waved it off casually, but her heart was pounding and her ears burned. She couldn’t let him back in. The line between them needed to remain intact. Turning, she hustled into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Her first moment of real privacy in a very long time. Instead of a shower, she turned on the jets for the whirlpool. Steam lifted up from the bubbles and she removed her ratty clothes, throwing them into the trash bin. Dimming the lights, she turned on some classical music and poured rose oil into the tub. She slowly inched into the hot water until it reached her chin. The water massaged her body and tickled her ears. The soothing sounds of the jets eased her into a meditative state. Being at the Royal Palace did have its perks, although she suspected they would come with a high price attached.
Memories of her real life lingered in the corners of her mind. She wanted to keep them fresh, but with every passing day, they faded into the background. What was reality versus her memories? If she didn’t make it back to the real world, could she endure Morray, living out her days a virtual non-existence?
Closing her eyes, the soft music carried her back to her most important memories. It always started with Joseph, standing behind the statue of Morray. The day she woke up. She remembered the first time she saw actual sunlight, the way the mountains and trees vibrated against the clear blue sky. And the glorious sparkling ocean that stretched on forever. Ava would never give up the hope of getting back to her real home.
13
Director Faraday stood confidently before the West Coast council members, his attire impeccable. The Director of the Silicon Valley Academy had altered his appearance to create a more polished image. Instead of his typical blue lab coat, he wore a tailored suit, and earlier that morning a team of Beautifiers cleaned him up. He stood before the table of twenty members, clean-shaven and sporting cropped silvery hair, which gave him a distinguished look––presidential and authoritative. He wanted to give the impression of someone with life experience, yet appeal to the younger crowd. The fresher faces of council were an easier sell, since they weren’t savvy enough to know the intricate tapestry of manipulation. They could be bought with a small price. The older members, who had been in office since the beginning of the new democracy, would be tougher to sell.
James Jordan, the former Insider, really stood out. The man had been President of the Southern California Region for the last seventeen-plus years, and he was completely devoted to creating an honest and fair democracy. An honorable man, if you were into that sort of bleeding heart mentality, which Faraday was not. James Jordan had been aligned with Ava Rhodes Strader from the beginning. The two had formed a solid alliance after the walls had come down. They worked together during the transition period. Their work was well known throughout the West Coast Regions, and many other city centers modeled their approach. James and Ava had formed the West Coast Regional Council, and though Ava had left many years ago, James stayed on. His job was to continue building new and improved democracies throughout the west.
Faraday wasn’t thrilled when the Los Angeles walls came down. At the time, he had been running the Silicon Valley City Center. Morray had given him the position after he discovered Faraday’s penchant for technology and obsessive desire for social structure. He was the first city center dweller Morray freed from the fate of termination at the age of thirty-six. But the freedom came with one stipulation attached: Faraday had to promise to devote his life to Morray’s cause.
Faraday kept the Silicon Valley City Center running smoothly: Inceptions, Graduations, and Retirements every eighteen years. A loyal steward of Morray’s perfect system, his razor sharp focus and calculated methods made him a strong candidate for the elite squad. Acceptance into this group ensured the coveted gift of everlasting life. Faraday lived for the day he could leave behind his aging body and upload into a fresh shell.
But that never happened.
Ava Rhodes had gotten in the way. Her escape from the Los Angeles City Center changed the course of events for everyone. The insufferable woman thought she deserved freedom––that everyone was entitled to make their own choices. The traitor turned against Morray and instigated a terrorist attack, which caused the entire city to revolt and take down a system that had been in place for three hundred years. With Morray out of the picture, she worked with James to rebuild a new society in the Southern California Region. Soon the other city centers followed, crushing the legacy that Morray had worked so hard to build.
Fortunately for Faraday, he had engrained himself within the Silicon Valley City Center and they depended on him to keep things running after the walls came down. He had worked with the new President of the Northern California Region, a young go-getter named Linda Sullivan, to secure a position at the academy. It was a giant step down from running the entire center, but he was grateful he wasn’t sentenced to death like many other elites. However, he wasn’t voted into the West Coast Regional Council. He had made a solemn promise to himself that he would find a way back to a position of power. He didn’t know when, but he knew the opportunity would eventually present itself.
Finally, the time had come.
He had proven himself highly capable as Director of the Silicon Valley Academy, and believed he had earned the position of President of the Pacific Northwest. The untouched region would need someone with experience, and Faraday had that by the decades. He would get elected, and after he was in position, he’d plant the seeds for the future he envisioned. The city walls would be removed and the migration process would begin. As President, he could run things his way. He’d reintegrate the concept of societal structure and shift back to a controlled system of order. This would mean removing any and all obstacles from his path, as well as extinguishing the natives to expand his region and increase his power.
Reestablishing the system was only one part of the plan. He needed to retrieve Morray from the mainframe and get him back among the living. Without Morray, there would be no eternal life.
Earlier that morning, Faraday visited the nursery. He stood over Christian’s incubator, watching the child sleep. He quietly pulled up the access panel, typed a list of numbers, and waited for the system to boot up. Carefully, he placed Christian’s tiny hand onto the connector panel, syncing him to the mainframe. The system monitor lit up into a kaleidoscope of colorful coding. The first part of his plan flowed together like an orchestra. The child slept, oblivious to the magnitude of his role. The beautiful codes continued streaming, connecting Christian’s DNA coding to the network.
“Do you have any idea how important you are to my plan, little one?” He sneered. “Your DNA is astounding!”
Faraday marveled over Dickson’s level of genius––the man had designed
the baby with unique DNA coding that would unleash a flow of instructions and powerful information into the mainframe. As long as Christian was hooked into the network, he’d act as a delivery channel. And soon enough, Faraday would be able to locate Morray’s identity matrix.
Once Faraday resurrected Morray from the dead, the two would be unstoppable. They could reinstate the New Agenda, first by removing anyone who disagreed with their goals. They could start over with the way society was intended to be: monitored, measured, and controlled. He already had a body shell waiting for Morray’s return––the biometric body of Phoenix had been stored away in a safe location within the Administrative Building. Morray would be so pleased that Faraday was working to restore the system of balance, and as a reward, he would replace Faraday’s weathered body for a younger model. But first things first.
In order to execute his master plan, Faraday needed a few things to happen. First, he needed to win the council’s approval, then he needed to get rid of Grace by proving she was a threat, and once she was out of the way, he’d be granted rights to Christian, thus keeping the child continuously plugged into the mainframe until the return of Morray. A wicked smile split his face as he watched the child sleep.
He had already won the favor of some of the younger council members by making promises for opportunities and positions on his cabinet once he became president.
“If you stand behind me, I’ll make you second in command,” he told Councilwoman Conklin. The cold-hearted bitch brightened at the possibility of more power.
“Help me get into office and I promise you’ll have more influence than you ever dreamed,” he secretly shared with other members.
“Together we can do something important with this new uncharted territory,” he promised.