Waking Gods

by Sylvain Neuvel

  —How’d you get her back? Please tell me you didn’t fight three KGB agents.

  —I think they were mercs. And no. I paid the Haitian police to arrest them. That reminds me, we don’t have any money left.

  —Oh great. My wife spent all our savings on crooked cops.

  —Not all of it. I had to rent a car.

  [Whoa.]

  —Yep. Here we are! She looks bigger in person, doesn’t she? How’d you like to go inside, Eva?

  [Really?]

  Yep. For real. Let’s go for a ride.

  —Are you sure we can walk Themis away from here? We can’t fight with Eva on board.

  —Oh, we’re not walking … There are a few things I need to tell you too. By the way, how could you leave while I was missing?

  —I thought she was in danger.

  —And not me? I was stuck at the bottom of the ocean!

  —Really?

  —Yeah, but my point was—

  —I didn’t know what to do! All I did was watch other people trying to find you. I was in the way, I felt … Shit!

  —What?

  —The elevator doesn’t work—

  —I was afraid of that. I think the power went out like five minutes ago.

  —But the lights are on!

  —Yeah. I heard the generator kick in when I walked in the control room. I guess the elevator isn’t on it. You know what that means—

  —Can you do it?

  —We’re about to find out. Every time we go up the elevator, I look at that ladder and I think: “Who would be stupid enough to climb up that thing?”

  —Eva, the elevator doesn’t work, so we’ll have to climb up that big ladder. Vincent’ll go first. You follow him.

  —Why do I need to go first?

  —Trust me, Vincent. If you have someone’s feet too close to your head, you’ll wanna look down, and you don’t wanna look down.

  [I’m scared.]

  —That makes two of us, Eva.

  —Vincent’s afraid of heights. You’ll have to keep him calm. Go Vincent! We don’t have all day! OK, now it’s your turn Eva. Just keep your eyes on Vincent. I’ll be right behind you.

  —How high is the hatch again?

  —Think about something else. You said you were at the bottom of the ocean?

  —I’m not sure if talking about the time I thought I was going to die is the best thing to keep me from thinking about how I’m going to die.

  —Never mind then. Are your palms sweaty? Those bars can get slippery when they’re wet.

  —Ha! Ha! Very funny. Eva, how do you say asshole in Spanish?

  —Don’t answer that, Eva. He just wants some attention. Speaking of assholes, Vincent, you said Mr. Warm and Fuzzy filled you in?

  —Yeah he did. I think he felt bad you had to learn of all this from Ryan of all people.

  —Fuck him.

  —I told him you’d be mad.

  —I’m not mad. I just don’t wanna see him again. Ever.

  —Good. Glad I was wrong. I hate it when you’re angry.

  —You’re not? He lied to you too, you know.

  —He didn’t exactly … You know what? We’re being rude. Let’s talk about something else. Eva, I don’t know the first thing about you. Tell me something, anything.

  [I don’t—]

  Come on! It’ll keep your mind off that ladder. Never mind that, it’ll keep my mind off that ladder. I don’t know about you but I’m scared shitless, in a … really … manly way. Tell me something interesting.

  [Hmmm … Do you know who I was named after?]

  I’d say Eva Perón.

  —Eva’s from Puerto Rico, Vincent, not Argentina.

  [I was named after a robot.]

  —That is interesting.

  —Oh yeah. You have his attention now.

  [I was born on the day of the parade when the EDC was created. My parents were the biggest geeks ever, huge science-fiction fans. Themis was the greatest thing they’d ever seen. They wanted to name me after her, but they somehow thought everyone would start naming their kid Themis, so they named me after another big robot.]

  A robot?

  [Yes. Eva’s a common name in Spanish, but apparently, it’s also the name of a giant robot, from a Japanese anime they really liked. It’s old. I never saw it.]

  —Eva is for Evangelion? That is so cool!

  —Of course, Vincent knows all about it.

  —Yeah! It’s awesome! But ours is bigger.

  —Eva, I think you have a fan now.

  —I … We have it on DVD, you know.

  —Oh, do we?

  —Yep.

  —OK! OK! If Eva’s never seen it, we can watch it together … He’s smiling, isn’t he?

  [Yes. So are you.]

  I guess I am—

  —Well, it’s not as cool as being named after a giant robot, but I was also named after a TV character.

  —Really? Who?

  —Ron Perlman, with makeup. My mom told me once how much she liked watching Beauty and the Beast while she was pregnant with me. It was in French, of course, and whoever dubbed Linda Hamilton had a really phony accent, but my mom loved it when she called the Beast by name. Oh Vincent! That’s where she got the name.

  —How come you never told me that?

  —I kinda forgot, to be honest.

  —Your parents named you after the Beast. That’s strange.

  —Oh, I said that’s where my mom got the name. I’m sure she never told my dad. He never would have gone along with that. Though I can’t imagine my father spending much time looking for baby names. She was probably on her own for this.

  [Hey, guys? There’s white stuff storming into the room below us.]

  Shit!

  —That’s what I thought. Vincent, can you pick up the pace a little?

  —I’m going as fast as I can. How fast is the room filling with gas?

  —Well, it’s higher than it was a second ago. I’d say fast. Eva, try to go a little—

  [AHHHH!]

  It’s OK. I got you.

  [Are you OK?]

  I’m fine. Your shoe almost tore my ear off, but I’ll live.

  —Is everyone all right? I don’t want to look down.

  —We’re fine, Vincent! Keep climbing! Go Eva! Go! I’ll catch you if you fall.

  [Kara?]

  Yes.

  [You should take my place. I’ll go behind you.]

  We’re almost there, Eva. Vincent, a couple more and that’s it.

  —I’m at the top. I can’t reach the hatch.

  —It’s a couple feet away. You have to hold on with one hand.

  —I can’t!

  —Sure you can! Hold on with your left hand and stretch your right arm.

  —I can’t reach it.

  —You have to look, Vincent. Hurry! There! Just a bit to the right. You got it. Now climb down one step and grab the ledge.

  —I’m scared!

  —You got this! Let go of your left hand and push with your legs. Hard! Yes! You got it! Climb in and I’ll give you Eva! … Eva, I want you to lean against the shaft. Put your legs on that bar here and let me climb between you and the ladder. See, I got you. Vincent, we’re running out of time, I’m gonna hold her with my right arm and give her to you. You have to grab her.

  —Hurry, the smoke’s right below you.

  —I know! Are you ready? Ready Eva? Go! Grab her! Grab her! Do you have her?

  —Yes! Come on Eva! Get inside.

  —There’s no time, Vincent. Close the hatch behind her.

  —Kara, don’t be stupid! Come on Eva, pull yourself in. I have to get past you to get Kara. Hold on, Kara! I’m coming.

  —There’s no time.

&
nbsp; —Yes there is! Just one sec!

  —You’re a father now. Take care of her.

  —No DON’T!

  —I love you.

  —Don’t close the hatch! KARA! NO!

  [Stop.]

  KARAAA! Eva, move out of the way!

  [No. Don’t.]

  I said MOVE!

  [We’ll die if you open that door.]

  That’s your mother out there!

  [I know. But she’s gone now. ]

  PART FOUR

  NEXT OF KIN

  FILE NO. 1591

  PERSONAL JOURNAL ENTRY—VINCENT COUTURE, CONSULTANT, EARTH DEFENSE CORPS

  Don’t be stupid.

  That’s the last thing I told Kara, the last thing I said to my wife. I didn’t say I love you, I told her she was an idiot. It doesn’t make sense … That’s not how it was supposed to go. She’s not supposed to be dead. I … All I had to do was to get inside Themis a second sooner, climb a little faster. That’s not how it was supposed to happen … I swore I would never let anyone down because I wasn’t strong enough. But I was afraid, and I wasn’t fast enough, and now she’s dead. She knew. She knew before we started climbing. That’s why she went last.

  I shouldn’t have been there to begin with. I should have been with her. I was the one who … I told her a million times how much I wanted children. She thought I couldn’t go, so she went after our child. What did I do? Nothing. I found out and I stayed behind. I didn’t go help my wife. I didn’t go find my daughter. They said they were sending someone, and I said … OK! I’m a coward. I’m a fraud.

  Certainly not a dad. What a joke! I’m nothing. Parents are supposed to protect their children. I can’t do that. I couldn’t protect my wife. I never could. She was the one protecting me. That kid ran out of parents the moment Kara closed that hatch. Crazy thing is, I would have opened it again. I would have opened that hatch without hesitation, and we’d all be dead. I would have killed my wife and my daughter on the same day. But Eva stopped me. She’s ten and she saved me.

  I don’t know how I convinced myself I could do this. In my mind, it was so …

  It was about me. I’d hold my baby girl and be filled with pride seeing how safe she felt in my arms. I would show her the things I knew about the world, and she’d listen, wide-eyed and smiling. I’d be there for her when she needed me, and it would feel good to be there for her. And I’d never yell, and I’d listen, and I’d feel great about seeing how happy she was. I’d be a great dad. We’d be a great family, like the Tremblays across the street when I was eight years old. Their kid was my age, and he played baseball, and he was good at it. His parents never fought—or so I thought—and they were always smiling. We weren’t friends, but I went over for a few hours one summer. He had a pool. We ate KFC in the middle of the afternoon. I wanted to be him. I wanted his family. Maybe that’s what I’ve been chasing the whole time.

  Kara knew what it would be like. She knew what it would take, and she knew I wasn’t ready. She’d have been better off with Ryan. I hate that asshole more than anyone in the world, but maybe that’s why. He wouldn’t have climbed slow and he wouldn’t have climbed first. He’d have carried them both if he had to.

  Now the world is ending and somehow I’ve managed to make that about me too. Millions of people are dead, so my grief isn’t that special. But I’ve killed the one person who was needed to save the world. Themis can’t fight anymore. She’s a paperweight now. I do my best to avoid going outside. I can’t stand to look at her. I can’t bear the thought of walking into that sphere and seeing Kara’s gear hanging from the ceiling. I always had my back to her in there but I could feel her presence behind me. I would follow her voice, her breathing. There’s no Themis without Kara.

  I’m useless here now. I can’t help Rose. I can’t help Eva. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.

  FILE NO. 1593

  DISCOURSE TO THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY—BRIGADIER GENERAL EUGENE GOVENDER, COMMANDER, EARTH DEFENSE CORPS

  Location: UN Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland

  Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, members of the General Assembly, ladies and gentlemen. I am here today … I am here today to tell you … Ah, to hell with my notes!

  I was asked to provide a summary of our current situation, but you already know we’re in deep shit. We’re up to our eyeballs in it. There are thirteen alien robots on Earth. All of them have the ability to transport themselves anywhere on the planet in a nanosecond. They can also release a gaseous substance that kills, almost instantly, 99.95 percent of the human population in a twenty-mile radius, all in a matter of minutes. I should point out it only kills humans; cats, birds, bugs, they’re all fine. Each robot has done so twice in the last five days, except for the one in Madrid, which didn’t get a chance. As of now, London, Tokyo, Jakarta, Delhi, Cairo, Calcutta, Paris, Mexico City, São Paulo, Johannesburg—I need to catch my breath—Beijing, Seoul, Mumbai, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Karachi, Bangalore, Shenzhen, Santiago, Kinshasa, Riyadh, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, and New York are all ghost towns. Moscow is in ruins, with a population of zero. Madrid is now a crater.

  You may also have heard rumors that we lost one of our pilots. The rumors are true. Captain Kara Resnik is dead. She died in New York two days ago. We’re working on a contingency plan, but it’s a long shot at best. That means, for now, we can’t use Themis for anything but transport. We can teleport her, but she can’t walk. And she can’t fight. Right now, she’s lying in the woods, covered with branches and a whole lot of camo netting.

  The alien robots are immune to … well, to everything we’ve got. Just ask India how effective their ground assault was. Russia dropped more firepower on Moscow than they did during World War II. It didn’t do anything. A nuke didn’t work. Let me say that again. A nuke didn’t work. Half of Europe will glow in the dark for the next decade or so, but the Madrid robot’s still standing. I told you people all of that the last time we met, but you didn’t listen. You got scared, and you did stupid things like scared people do. You need to stop that now. Stop fighting. You can’t win! They are better than us. Stronger. They have the upper hand.

  I see by your faces you were hoping for something a little more positive. There’s nothing rosy about the situation. There are over one hundred million dead—one hundred million. Probably a lot more coming. Civil liberties have been curtailed, everywhere. Most of the governments represented here have imposed some form of martial law. We’re losing lives. We’re losing our way of life. We’re losing, big-time.

  I lost someone … someone very close to me. He’s the reason I’m standing here today. He got me into this mess. I didn’t want this job. I didn’t want to be a general either, but I understand the army. This? I’m a soldier. The last thing I wanted was to deal with you people. But he thought that was a good thing, and he convinced me. For those of you who know who I’m talking about, you know how convincing he could be. To be honest with you, I was really counting on him to make everything better. He won’t. He’s dead. Lots of people are. I came this close to losing my whole family. I didn’t. I was lucky. I know some of you weren’t that lucky. You have my deepest sympathy. A lot of people are grieving today. There isn’t anything I could say that would make it … better.

  The only piece of good news I have is that they’ve stopped killing us for now. It’s been thirty-six hours. They stopped shooting out gas, all of them. They’re not moving around. They’re not doing anything.

  Why? I don’t have a goddamn clue. Maybe they’re waiting to see if we’ll nuke ourselves into oblivion. How long will it last? I don’t know that either.

  So … Why am I here? What do I want? Before I can answer that, we have to talk about the giant elephant in the room. Why should you listen to me? What good is the EDC without its only weapon? Well, I don’t know if we’re good for anything! I don’t know that anyone is. What I do know
, and what I told you before, is that if there’s a solution to the goddamn mess we’re in, it won’t be a military one, it’ll come from our science team. We don’t have a big robot we can use anymore, but we still have what matters most: smart people. Big brains! They’re working right now, in a cave, trying to save this world. Let them do their job.

  There might be a way to stop these things. There might be a way to neutralize that gas. Even if we can’t, roughly one out of every two thousand people survives it. They do more than survive. They’re completely immune to the alien gas. We have no idea why. I’d call them lucky, but most of them have had to watch their loved ones die in front of them. Still, if we can replicate whatever makes them … not die … Well, I’m sure all of you would like to have that pill.

  There’s a … security guard in the garage at the EDC; not sure what his name is. This morning, just before I left, he said: “You know, sir, they might just leave.” Seemed so goddamn naive. I felt like slapping him on the back of the head. It must have shown because he got all defensive, and he said: “They might!” You know what? He’s right! They might just leave! Truth is we know nothing about these people. We don’t know why they’re here. We don’t know what they’re thinking. We don’t know how they’re thinking and we might not understand it if we did. I’ll keep working on the assumption that they won’t because it would make no sense for them to pack their bags now. But it doesn’t have to make sense. If there’s one thing we should have learned by now, it’s that we’re not the greatest thing in the universe, certainly not the smartest. Seems logical there’d be a great many things in it we can’t comprehend.

  I do have hope. I believe there is a solution out there, waiting. There’s always a solution, at least that’s what I think. If we don’t survive this, it’s because we’ll have been too stupid, too selfish, too greedy to find it.