“No, he’s right. I’m sorry. You’ve just survived two murder attempts. I just want to get to the bottom of this, if whoever killed Julian is still out there-”
“They are,” Bella said. “The woman in the warehouse, Persephone. I saw her do it. She stopped Reilly, or is it Prime, from saving him.”
“Do you have any proof? Anything we could use to help Prime and clear his name?” Quartzig asked, looking over Bella’s augmentations.
“I’d need to check the recordings from my cameras,“ she said, tapping her temple. “I was beaten up and shot at the time, so I can’t be sure anything was functioning correctly. Once we get to the Silverstone, you’re welcome to look through the data.”
“Thank you,” Quartzig nodded.
“So, you guys are friends of Prime?” Bella asked, leaning back into the seat of the cab.
“We are, though he’s been off the grid for a while,” Ally said with a sigh.
“He was worried about you,” Bella looked Ally in the eye. “He thought he was protecting you by staying away. Protecting you from this Persephone woman. Do you have any idea who is she?”
“She’s...” Ally paused, taking a moment to collect her thoughts, “she’s a clone of Prime or rather a clone of Peter Henshaw.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Salem interrupted again. “You’re telling me that Prime and Persephone are fucking clones?!”
“Yes. CyBio cloned Peter Henshaw several years ago. Prime being the first of them, Persephone came after, I don’t know exactly when, but she was created by one of the company’s founders, Jacob Winters sometime after he’d been fired from CyBio,” Quartzig filled in,
“CyBio?” Salem could feel something inside his head when he’d heard the name, something he couldn’t put his finger on.
“We thought all the clones were killed in the Fall, along with Henshaw himself, but it seems that one, Persephone, survived.”
“And now what? She’s going around killing all Prime’s friends? What about all the other people she killed? What did they have to do with anything?” Salem looked at the others, searching for answers.
“That we don’t know,” Ally sighed.
“Great, and what does Keller have to do with any of it?” Salem asked.
“Keller? He’s involved?” Bella looked at Salem, her eyes widening.
“We think Persephone and Keller may be working together. That’s why we were worried that you might be in danger,” Ally said. “Apparently, you two have some history with him?”
“We’ve crossed paths with him before,” Bella replied, “when he and some other Sliders were using tech to hack into the minds of regular folk, we thought we’d stopped him. You think Sam was involved?” she asked, glancing back at Salem.
“Wait,” Salem put his hands in the air. “Samuel Underwood ? was murdered by the Prime Killer, which we now understand to be Persephone.
“Who’s Sam?” Ally asked as she and Quartzig looked at Salem blankly.
“Sam had been forced to work with Keller and the Sliders, creating a relay system where the prisoners in Blackwater could remotely hack into the minds of people on the Boulevard using a small augmentation, creating human puppets they could control,” Bella explained. “We managed to get him to help us stop Keller, and we destroyed the tech before he came to work at Silverstone. We hoped we could protect him from any repercussions from the Sliders. A few days ago, he was found murdered, the Prime Killer’s signature carved into his chest.”
“There are way too many fucking threads here,” Salem hissed.
“We saw Keller, well, Keller in another person’s body, which is making way more sense now than it did before. “Ally said. “He’d massacred a whole clinic in Mega.”
“Shit! If they’ve got the tech back and taking over people again-” Bella began.
“And Persephone is working with them,” Ally added.
“Then we’re in the middle of a great big clusterfuck!” Salem cursed, as the cab arrived at the Silverstone building, and they stepped out. Bella led them through the revolving door into the building’s reception.
Kirsty looked up as the group piled through the front doors.
“Everything okay, Bella?” She asked, raising her eyebrows and looking over her glasses.
“That’s a difficult question to answer, I’m afraid, Karen. I’m going to be busy for the foreseeable. Make sure Mr Silverstone is aware, and get Drake in charge of building security until further notice, please,” Bella replied.
“Got it, are these people…?” Karen’s eyes flicked to look at the others.
“They’re with me,” Bella smiled, resulting in a nod from Karen.
“Understood,” she returned the smile.
Bella led them to the elevator and punched the button to take them to her apartment on the building's top level.
*
“So what do we do?” Ally said, taking a sip of the wine that Salem had poured for everyone while he had kept the bottle. They were sat around the minimalist living area of Bella’s apartment near the top floor of the Silverstone building. A couple of grey sofas and a rug were all that covered the ceramic tiled floor. It looked like she wasn’t home much from its lack of use.
“Well, first of all, here’s the data from the warehouse,” Bella passed Quartzig a data stick. She’d changed and was now in her more comfortable black jeans and a tank top.
“Thank you,” Quartzig took the stick and passed it over his forearm, where a small connector formed as he plugged the stick in.
“What the fuck!!” Salem leapt back at the sight of Quartzig’s nanostructure reforming.
“My apologies. My body is made up of nanobots which allow me to alter my form at will. It seems to be a little disturbing for humans to comprehend,” he smiled.
“No, shit!” Salem said, taking a swig of wine from the bottle.
“Hopefully, we can find something on there to help clear Prime of Julian’s death. Other than that, I’m not sure what our next steps should be?” Ally sighed.
“Well, if Keller and Persephone are working together, and they’re using Sam’s ARCHs tech-” Salem began.
“Archs?” Bella asked.
“Augmented Remote Cortex Hacks,” he replied.
“Since when were they called that?” Bella asked.
“Since now, I just came up with it? I…I think?” Salem said, scrunched his face up, trying to work out if he knew or heard the information before or had he just created the name himself. The feeling of something inside his mind that was just out of reach tickled his brain, just as it had when CyBio was mentioned.
“Are you alright, Salem?” Ally was watching his eyes.
Salem looked at her, meeting her gaze. There was something he couldn’t remember. It was on the peripheral of his thoughts like an itch inside his skull. He strained to remember it, to bring it to the forefront of his mind when a pain shot through his brain, a thunderstorm of electricity cracking across his nerves like a headache that filled his senses.
“I…I think…” Was all he managed to say as his mind closed down and his body collapsed on the floor.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Mollie
It took Mollie several moments to accept what she was seeing in front of her in Vladamir’s dining hall.
Sat at the end of the long centre table was a man she had thought she would never see again.
“Ah, good evening Mollie, and Ava, such a pleasure to see you again.”
“Jacob?” Ava walked past Mollie towards the man.
“In the flesh, though I imagine that is somewhat of a surprise to you both,” Jacob stood up and faced Ava as she approached.
“We thought you died in the fall?”
“I nearly did, when I was left in a medical pod whilst the rest of you made your escape,” any hint of resentment was masked by his open smile.
“We…wanted to get you out too, but your injuries…” Mollie argued, making her way closer. She was remembering h
ow she had asked about leaving Jacob, about if they could save him.
“Yes, they were severe wounds, but luckily the CyBio pods do work wonders,” Jacob smiled, raising his hands as though showing off his recovery.
“We didn’t have time to come back for you. We barely made it out ourselves,” Ava replied.
“Don’t worry. I hold no grudge against either of you. In fact, what I hear from Vladamir is that we may have a more pressing issue at hand.”
“Persephone,” Ava nodded.
Vladamir, who had been stood watching the reunion, stepped forwards.
“Indeed, the issue of the prodigal daughter,” he took a seat and indicated for the others to do the same and poured glasses of red wine for them all.
“You know who she is?” Mollie said as she took a seat and started picking at the food on the table, suddenly aware of how hungry she was.
“We do. We’ve been watching her for a while now,” Jacob said. “I must say I am surprised that you and your friends didn’t try to stop poor Prime being sent to Blackwater,”
Mollie shifted position in her seat, “we weren’t sure that he wasn’t the killer. We didn’t know about Persephone.”
“We are working to free him now. What I want to know is how are you involved in this?” Ava eyed Jacob.
Jacobs took a moment before replying, maintaining eye contact with Ava.
“I understand your suspicions, Ava, though I should remind you that it was I who brought Owens back after his death, and if it weren’t for Persephone, he would still be with us. As I said, we have been watching the events on the Boulevard from the Underpass. I was curious to see what Persephone’s plans were once I discovered she had also survived the fall. I was curious whether it was simply one of my clones gone rogue, or if Peter had somehow returned in the body, or some damaged version of his psyche. It was clear the latter was the case once I confirmed it was her who was carelessly murdering people on the Boulevard. Peter would never have been so overt, but her plans have something of his calculating methods.”
“Plans?” Ava asked.
“You haven’t worked it out yet, have you? The initial murders of several gang leaders across each of the districts of the Boulevard?”
“We thought Prime was trying to clean up the crime? Reduce the Slider’s control across the Boulevard,” Mollie replied, though her mind was racing.
“But now you know it was Persephone and not Prime who was killing them. What does that tell you?”
“That Persephone was taking out the competition?” Mollie answered, slowly seeing the bigger picture. “She’s trying to place herself in a position of power? Bringing the Sliders together under one umbrella!”
“Exactly!”
“For what purpose? Peter wasn’t one for domination of that scale?” Ava asked.
“Correct, he wanted knowledge above all else. This is not Peter, though. This is Persephone. I’m not completely sure on what parts of him remain and what parts are her yet, though I have my theories.”
“Regardless of the theories why and why not, if we don’t do something about this soon, then the whole Boulevard could be under her control,” Vladamir brought the conversation back to the matter at hand.
“So, what do we do? She was heading to the Boulevard with Doctor Koenig,” Mollie asked.
“Koenig? They were going together?” Jacob’s tone was suddenly urgent.
“Yes, he was carrying a few packages,” Ava replied.
“If she’s taking him with her, then they must be starting their final stages soon. Koenig would never leave the Underpass without a good reason,” Jacob glanced at Vladamir.
“Not after what happened,” Vladamir nodded.
“What happened? You are all going to need to explain the things you aren’t telling me!” Mollie shouted, looking across them all, Ava included.
“Soon, Mollie, we will, but right now, we must get moving. If Persephone is planning on taking over the Boulevard, we need to be there to stop her!” Vladamir placed a hand on Mollie’s shoulder.
She sighed and nodded, before taking a long drink of wine.
“C’mon then, where are we headed?”
Chapter Forty
Xander
It hadn’t taken long for Xander to be on his way towards Blackwater Prison. The Judges wanted things done quickly.
After leaving the T.A.N.K, Duggan had already received the authorisation, and transport had been arranged to take Xander directly from the precinct to the bridge. Due to the nature of the visit, only a handful of people were told about the trip. The last thing the Judges needed was doubt on their verdicts being leaked.
Xander peered into the pods that would take him across to Blackwater island, the same pods as the ones used to transfer prisoners across the bridge, though he would be free to move around inside.
“This is a bit snug,” Xander said as he ducked into the pod. The smooth metal surface was reflecting the light outside.
“They aren’t exactly made for comfort, or civilians for that matter,” Duggan said, leaning into the pod to look around.
“Clearly. So, what happens once I get there?”
“The landing guard has been informed of your arrival. He greets the prisoners before sending them down the hatch to the actual prison.”
“The hatch?”
“Yeah, they added an anti-grav chute to deliver the prisoners into the heart of the prison. Saves having to take them along the access route and reduces the risk of escapes and the need for guards along the path down to the prison.”
“Sounds…ethical.”
“The chute was the quick fix to it when the corps cut funding. It’s safe enough, apparently” Duggan shrugged, Xander knew he had no sympathy for the incarcerated, and Xander couldn’t really say he felt any different.
“I hope I have better options?”
“Of course, the landing guard will take you to the access route entry, though it’s not been used for a while.”
“When was the last time someone actually visited the prison?” Xander asked.
“Erm, you know I really couldn’t say. The security drones have been running the place for as long as I can remember,” Duggan replied.
“What about the landing guard?”
“He’s not left the island for, what, at least twenty years,” Duggan scratched his chin, “we send him food packages and other supplies through the pods once a week.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“Nope, he was the last human guard at the prison when the drones took over. He was meant to come back across after they had a bedding-in period. Apparently, the guy decided he wanted to stay and be the last human face the prisoners saw before being locked up or something.”
“Jeez, twenty years alone on Blackwater Island, with just prisoners for company.”
“He’s got his quirks. I spoke to him, must have been a year or so back when we were sending a whole group of Sliders through. Seemed like a nice enough guy, just...different.”
A klaxon sounded, indicating the route was open for the pod to make its journey.
“That’s it, the barriers are all up, and the bridge is open,” Duggan backed out of the pod.
The bridge was protected by an electric field that ran along the metal, the voltage high enough to kill anything that touched it. Only once the power was lowered could anything pass along safely, and then twenty-foot metal barriers blocked the bridge on either side needed to be opened one at a time as the pod travelled across. The bridge’s armed gun turrets didn’t attack the pod but watched for unauthorised heat signatures that appeared on the cold metal, a security measure Blackwater Island's bird population had learnt the hard way.
“Well then, let's go see the inmates,” Xander smiled nervously as he sat on the chair in the centre of the pod.
“Good luck,” Duggan said as he pulled the doors closed, plunging Xander into darkness for a second before a single light lit up the chamber.
“Here we go,
Alex,” Xander whispered to himself, wondering if he could light a cigarette in the pod. He thought it probably wasn’t a good idea, but took out his cigarette case out from inside his jacket, removed a stick, and rolled it around his fingers for comfort.
The pod shuddered and began to move forward. Duggan had told him it took ten minutes to cross the bridge, but without windows, he had no idea where he was.
*
Xander’s body lurched forward as the pod came to a sudden halt, causing his unlit cigarette to tumble to the floor.
“Damnit!”
Xander leaned forwards from his seat and swept up the stick as the door beside him clicked with the releasing of its locks and hissed open. Leaning back into the chair, he turned towards the door to see a man holding a rifle aimed at his face.
“Welcome to Hell!” the voice rasped out, a smile on his lips.
“You must be the welcoming party?” Xander replied, realising Duggan hadn’t told him the guard’s name.
“Could be,” the man spat to his side, a brown treacle-like liquid that Xander presumed was from chewing tobacco. “Or I could be one of the prisoners who managed to escape and is looking for his ride out of here,” the man grinned.
“If that’s the case, your chariot awaits,” Xander raised his hands and motioned to the pod around him.
The man watched Xander closely, his sunken eyes scanning his face.
“Or, if you are the guard, you could share a smoke with me, and let me stretch my legs?” Xander offered the man the cigarette.
The man’s face burst into a broad smile, and he lowered his rifle so it hung across his chest.
“Well, why didn’t you say so, sir! Of course, I’m the landing guard, name of Conrad!” He reached out and took the cigarette from Xander with a nod and offered his free hand to help him out of the pod. Xander took the hand and stepped out into the cold air of Blackwater Island.
“Have to take precautions, you know, it’s not every day that we have visitors over here. Well, not ones who aren’t planning a lifetime stay,” the man chuckled to himself as Xander lit the cigarette and pulled another one out for himself.
Neon Blood (Neon Helix Universe Book 3) Page 17