“They’re just pushing through it, killing themselves…” Conrad whispered as a laser grid burst into light beside the now damaged fence and cut through the next wave of attackers, leaving a pile of dismembered limbs on the ground.
“They’re innocent people, with madmen controlling them who don’t care about the lives their ending,” Xander said. “Apparently, there’s a fail-safe? A way to destroy the bridge?”
“There is! It’s at the side of the bridge,” Conrad pointed at a camera showing what appeared to be a small room adjoined to the side of the bridge. “But if we do that, there’s no way you’re getting back to the mainland.” Conrad looked at Xander.
“And how many people it will take with it?” he said, looking at the crowd that had managed to break past the lasers by sheer force. “There’s got to be another way!” Xander shouted, looking at the screens. The crowd were moving closer to the centre of the bridge; their manic faces twisted in screams. A face amongst the masses caught Xander’s eye.
“No, it can’t be...” he leaned closer to the monitor. There was no mistaking it. Ally was making her way over the bridge, climbing across the dead and dying bodies she was pushing forward. His mind raced, trying to think of some other means of ending the slaughter.
“Wait, their minds are being controlled by the criminals wanting to escape, the prisoners. The only alternative to stopping them on the bridge, is to destroy the prison and kill all the psychopaths in here instead!” Xander said, turning to Conrad.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Ally
Ally was struggling to comprehend what was happening to her. At first, it felt like she was falling away from her consciousness and dropped into a vast ocean. Once she’d adjusted to the change in her perspective, she could still see the world outside, only now it was at a distance, like looking through a fog. Panic began to set in as she could see Quartzig, Bella, and Salem, all watching her with confused looks on their faces.
“You wouldn’t want to damage this poor girl’s body, now would you?” She heard the words, heard her own voice speaking them, but she wasn’t in control of it.
“I’ll see you around. I have a breakout to organise.” Ally could only watch as her body turned and moved away from the others and began to push her way through the rioting crowds. People all around were fighting each other, destroying property, looting the shops along the Boulevard. Lights flickered before extinguishing, leaving behind a darkness that was broken only by the rising glow of fires and explosions.
“Can you hear me?” her voice said out loud.
Despite the crowds, Ally saw no-one the voice was referring to.
‘Are you speaking to me?’ Ally tried to speak, but the sound just seemed to echo around her.
“Yes, Miss Sinclair, I am. I’m sure you don’t remember me, but we have met once before, although it was in rather different circumstances and bodies,” the voice chuckled.
Ally’s thoughts ran wild. The tone of the voice, the laugh, although coming from her voice, sounded familiar, then the truth hit her.
“Keller…” she whispered, though the sound still echoed out.
“Well done,” Keller said, “I was so glad it was you who I managed to get closer to at the clinic. I was worried that you would leave me with the robot, and I doubt the serum would have worked on him.”
‘Quartzig? What serum?’ Ally was trying her best to continue the conversation, despite the nauseous feeling that she felt from the idea of this killer controlling her body.
“Ah, you haven’t worked it out yet?” Keller laughed again.
‘What are you talking about?’
“Back at the clinic, when you were helping the poor woman out of the carnage, do you recall a small scratch?”
Ally didn’t reply, but she remembered the woman had scratched her hand. She hadn’t even thought about it since. Keller raised a hand in front of their face so that Ally could see the small red mark.
“Yes, you remember now. Well, you see, that innocent scratch contained a minute injection, small at the time, but with great consequences,” Keller continued. “The dosage inside was small enough to go unnoticed, but working its way into your blood. Slowly making its way into your cerebral cortex.”
‘The ARCH technology.’ Ally felt the pieces begin to fit together.
“Ah, so you have worked some of it out,” Keller replied. Having made their way through the city, Ally could see Blackwater Bridge ahead of them.
“The ARCH technology allows us to link minds with others. Originally it was a rather cumbersome hardware, a disc that needed to be attached to the host before transmission. After we began working with Persephone, and with some improvements by Doctor Koenig, we managed to minimise the technology to a point it could be injected. I don’t pretend to understand the precise science, but here we are, living proof that it works.”
As they stood at the end of the bridge, they could see the large metal fencing that rose above them, the hum of electricity running through it. A crowd of people, an army of civilians, paused as though they were waiting for something.
‘All these people…’
“Infected over the last few months. Once the serum was created, we began to infiltrate clinics across the Boulevard. It’s amazing how many people go to get their augmentations repaired or adjusted on a daily basis. During their visits, they received a dose of the serum, slowly spreading the technology among the population in preparation for today.”
Ally watched in horror as if by some silent call, hundreds of people began to scale the fence. Instantly there was a loud crackle, and sparks filled the air, followed by the heavy smell of burning flesh coupled with the sounds of screaming. The bodies that touched the fence convulsed before being thrown from the electrified metal.
‘Oh my god…’ Ally felt sick.
“The only way to take down the bridge is with sheer numbers,” Keller said.
As more people continued to climb, the power that ran through the fence was visibly faltering, the wiring beginning to turn red from the constant flow of power. The mass of people grasping the metal was too much for it to take. A moment later, the large generator at the side of the bridge erupted in flames as it lost control, the humming of electricity fading.
Ally had been watching the events unfold, but as she understood more about what had happened, she began to concentrate on her own body. The serum Keller had injected her with was technology-based, latching onto her body, becoming part of it. Keller didn’t know that her DNA was not normal, created in CyBio’s laboratories, her TDNA was different. Admittedly, what that actually meant was something she was still trying to uncover, but she knew that if there was any chance of breaking the ARCHs connection, her TDNA might be the solution.
“I think it’s safe enough for us to continue to the next area,” Keller said, watching the fence fall as it was ripped down by the masses. The laser grid had already been disabled by the crowds attacking the sensors while others were being cut apart. Walking onto the bridge, they could see more people ahead of them falling as gun turrets emerged from the ground, their bullets tearing through the people's bodies.
‘How can they do this? They are killing themselves!’ Ally shouted.
“The people in the bodies are just there for the ride. As soon as they take too much damage, they can disconnect and find a new host. It’s like a video game, and you’d be surprised how many civilians are infected just waiting to be respawning into,” Keller chuckled again.
Ally tried to shake the thought of all the people who were dying, losing control of their bodies and only to regain it as they took their last breaths, so many deaths. Thoughts of Julian crossed her mind, how she would never see him again. She hadn’t had time to really mourn, to process how their lives were ripped apart just as they were beginning to connect. She remembered when she saw him for the first time at the Valkyrie, back when things were simpler and all that had happened to them since. If she let Keller continue, then they would w
in. That wasn’t about to happen.
Ally took a deep breath and concentrated. She could sense her blood running through her veins, sense the flow and pulse of it as it moved through her. Back at the CyBio building, Yuri had said her TDNA was the perfect combination of technology and DNA. Concentrating harder, she could feel the anomaly of the serum inside her, an unwanted technology that had attached itself to her brain like a parasite.
Keller paused, frozen still on the bridge. Ally knew he was sensing something was wrong.
“What are you doing?”
Ally ignored him, focusing harder on the foreign bodies inside her. Her own immune system was kicking into higher gear, her cells adapting to the technology, locating the infection and preparing to fight it.
“Do you think you can stop this?” Keller shouted in defiance as he dropped to his knees.
Ally’s vision was flicking back and forth as the signal Keller was using to control her was beginning to fade. Her blood surrounding, absorbing, and destroying the ARCH technology within her.
“Get the fuck out of my body!” Ally shouted.
The connection severed.
Ally was back in her own body, on her knees at the centre of the bridge. The saltwater air filled her lungs as she breathed in deeply, taking in the bliss of feeling all her own senses again. Then the sound and smells of the massacre around became real. The smell of iron from blood overtook the saltwater, and the screams of death filled her ears. Looking around her, she saw the bullets from the turrets pummelling into bodies, the looks on the faces of the innocent people returning to their bodies with a mixture of pain, shock and confusion. A fine mist of blood peppered her skin as another body was ripped apart beside her. She couldn’t stop the attack. She had no control of what was happening, couldn’t stop the people from their attack and dying. She paused, but maybe she could help them get across the bridge, help take down the defences and prevent as many deaths as she could.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Peter
Peter was still laying in the bed when the explosion had rocked the prison.
What the hell was that? Prime asked as swirls of dust floated around the cell.
“Hell if I know,” Peter replied, getting to his feet.
It sounded like- before Prime could finish, another explosion rumbled above them. A large crack split the ceiling like a lightning bolt before several chunks of stone were dislodged and crashed onto the bed beside them.
“We need to get out of this cell!” Peter said, moving towards the forcefield, hoping the damage had deactivated it. A raised hand towards the space and the heat of a beam tickling his palm indicated otherwise.
Rushed footsteps echoed along the floor outside the cell announced Keller's arrival, his face twisted in anger.
“That bitch!” he spat as he stood before the cell.
“Who?” Peter asked as Keller swiped a card against the cell’s lock. An audible hiss indicated the field’s deactivation.
“Alison fucking Sinclair!”
Ally?!
“What has she done?” Peter replied, stepping slowly out of the prison.
“Come on, we need to get out of here, I don’t know what’s happening topside, but it doesn’t sound good!” Keller shouted, walking away.
“What happened to taking over the civilians? I expected a mass breakout?” Peter quickly stepped in line with Keller.
“The Sinclair girl, she managed to counteract the serum somehow. It shouldn’t have been possible!”
“The serum? You used a serum to control the people and used it to take over Alison?”
“I did until she broke the connection somehow!”
“This serum, it was a tech-based liquid?” Peter was putting the pieces together in his head.
“Sure, Doctor Koenig or something developed it,” Keller waved a hand. Clearly, he wasn’t a part of the technical aspects of the plan.
Koenig? He’s involved with this too? Do you think it was her TDNA? Prime was catching up.
“Any idea’s what’s causing the explosions?” Peter asked, wanting to change the subject while he considered the information.
“None, but I figured we should check on your friend on the way out of here, just in case.”
“Good thinking,” Peter replied. They moved along the corridor towards Xander’s cell, the forcefield was deactivated, and there was no sign of Xander.
“I guess that answers that question,” Peter said, steadying himself as another detonation rocked the walls.
“Time to leave,” Keller said, with a nervous glance at the ceiling where more cracks were forming.
“What about the other prisoners? They won’t know what’s happening here while remote accessing other bodies?”
“No, the system is set up that if the body they are inhabiting dies, they are instantly spawned into another to keep the attack consistent. Only I was given the ability to choose my destination, in case I needed to relocate and organise the crowds.
They reached the access route that led up to the surface and stepped through into the night air. Behind the door, they were greeted by Conrad standing on the steps along with a rifle aimed directly at them.
“Get back inside, Keller!” Conrad shouted, adjusting the rifle.
“Ah, Conrad, I forgot you were still up there! We never did get round to adjusting you to the new regime.”
“I figured you were in control of the prison, but as long as you were all locked away in there, I can’t say I gave a damn,” Conrad spat on the floor beside him. “But I can’t let you leave. That prison will be your tomb. Turn around, and get back inside or so help me I will kill you here and now!”
Conrad's eye was watering as he kept it wide-open and locked on Keller down the sight of the rifle.
“Oh, come now, Conrad, I’m sure we can come to some sort of arrangement,” Keller took a step forward. A shot rang out, and a bullet embedded into Keller’s chest with a thud, throwing him backwards and back through the door of the prison.
“I don’t know much about you, mister, but if you’re with him, you’re trouble, and even if you aren’t with him, I still need you to step back into that prison too.”
Another explosion rocked the stairs, causing Conrad to lose his footing for a moment. It was enough time for Peter to take the advantage. Rushing forward, he grabbed the barrel of the gun, ignoring the heat that burnt his palm, and pushed it upwards. Stepping forwards, he planted a foot onto the man’s chest and thrust him back while still gripping the rifle. Conrad tripped back on to the steps behind him, dropping his grip of the gun to break his fall. Peter swung the rifle round into his own hands and aimed it at Conrad, his foot pinning him to the ground.
Don’t kill him! He’s done nothing to you! Prime shouted.
Peter watched closely as the man struggled underfoot, curses and spittle erupting from his mouth.
“Fine,” Peter sighed, swinging the butt of the rifle round and smashing it into Conrad’s temple. The man stopped squirming as he lost consciousness.
Peter looked back. Keller was still lying on the floor but was starting to stir. Peter went over to him and helped him to his feet.
“Bulletproof vest,” Keller said, tapping his chest with a laugh, “one of the many perks of having access to the prison supplies.”
Peter pointed the gun at Keller, a smile on his lips.
“I really don’t care,” he said, dryly,” the only reason I’ve not put a hole in your brain is because I need you to take me to Persephone. If, for any reason, I doubt you can assist me with that, you become no longer necessary, and then I will kill you. Just something to bear in mind,” Peter pushed Keller towards the stairs with the barrel of the rifle.
“Okay, I can appreciate the honesty,” Keller said, taking the first few steps pausing only to give the unconscious body of Conrad a kick in the stomach.
At the top of the stairs, the sounds of the chaos became audible as Peter looked out towards the bridge. The crowds were s
till working their way across it. They were almost at the island now, just one electric fence between them and Blackwater.
“It’s a beautiful sight,” Keller said, smiling. “Once they have made it over, we’ll know they have destroyed the security defences and can just walk back to the mainland.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it!” a voice called out from beside them.
Xander was stood with several detonators strapped along a belt and a laser rifle pointed at them.
“You!” Keller hissed.
“What are you doing, Xander?” Peter asked calmly.
“Figured the only way to stop you psychos is to collapse the prison, with you inside. Conrad gave me all the information I needed to place explosives across the surface that should loosen enough land to cause a cave-in.”
“Smart, I have to admit, but that’s a lot of deaths on your conscious,” Prime replied.
“Have you seen the death over there? And the amount that will happen if you aren’t stopped? That’s a debt I’m willing to shoulder,” Xander said, flicking another detonator from his belt, triggering another explosion.
“I can’t let you kill him or me, Xander. I need to get to Persephone,” Peter said, stepping closer to Xander.
“Like I give a shit what you need, Peter. You should be dead already!”
“You don’t understand. Do you think if you kill those people, it will save those on the bridge? If the technology works the way I think it does, doing that will simply lock their minds in the bodies of those civilians. It won’t save anyone, but you will have doomed them to a prison in their own minds. I know that you understand how that would feel.”
Peter’s eyes locked with Xander’s. He could imagine that the memories of the cortex prison Xander had been imprisoned in by Yuri were flooding back to him, casting doubt on his actions.
“If you’re right…Dammit! I can’t risk that,” Xander whispered.
“You have no choice, there is no heroic feat to end this,” Keller smiled. “I think we’re leaving now.”
Neon Blood (Neon Helix Universe Book 3) Page 22