Raising the tablet, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Pushing the touch screen seemed too easy, but it was all it took as the sound of thunder erupted from beneath them.
The explosions were rigged to take out ninety percent of the bridge, with only a small platform on each side remaining. The medical area where Xander stood was slightly further back from the platform, but it felt as though the explosion had happened all around him. For a moment, the bridge looked as though it rose up into the air before the entire area was covered in a cloud of thick dust-filled smog that hid everything from view, the temperature rising rapidly as the fire from the explosions underneath drifted up. The ground shook, everything that wasn’t secured crashed around Xander, and as the sounds of thunder died down, it was replaced by muted screams.
He wasn’t sure if it was the shaking or shock that caused him to stagger to his knees. It was impossible to count the number of lives lost in that instant, but he felt the weight of them crashing down on him. Putting his face in his hands, he fought back tears, thinking of the others and wondering if anyone had even survived.
The damp smell of water began to fill the air as debris plunged into the waters below, giant waves crashing up against the remains of the platforms.
“Xander, you there?” a voice rang out from the tablet Xander realised he was still clutching in his hand. He glanced at it, wondering if he imagined hearing the voices.
“Xander, it’s Conrad. You there?”
Xander’s eyes widened as his heart sank. Conrad, the man who he had just stranded on the Island. He reached for the tablet and pulled it closer.
“Conrad, it’s me, how…how’s things over there?” he swallowed, trying to push down his emotions.
“Well, I heard your little speech a moment ago, and it looks like someone just blew up the goddamn bridge! Mighty bold move, I must say,” Conrad laughed. The sound-making Xander smile.
“There was no other way. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? What you sorry for? Like I told you, I’m happy to stay here. Though now I’ve got to share my Blackwater paradise with a mix of inmates, civies, and what looks to be ugly-ass vampires! So, actually, I’ll take that apology for leaving me to play babysitter to this bunch!”
Xander laughed out loud, a mixture of tears and hysterics.
“How bad does it look?” he said once he had regained his composure.
“Ah, to be honest, once the bridge looked to be lost, I started to get as many civilians moved into the prison as I could. I figured if it could keep the prisoners in, it might be able to keep them out! So we’re all holed up inside here for the most part. The Krovoz and the inmates are still battling it out on the surface from what I can see from the monitors, so I’ll just keep an eye on things and see who wins!”
“That’s amazing work. I wouldn’t have even thought of that,” Xander replied, knowing some, maybe even most, of the civilians had been protected made him feel slightly better.
“What’s it looking like up there?” Conrad asked.
“Not great, I’m not sure on numbers, but a hell of a lot of inmates made it across before we blew the bridge. We thought we could stop them…”
“You did what you had to. Don’t beat yourself up about it, Xander. There’s gonna be a lot of work to do to clean up the city if they made it over. That’s your next priority.”
Xander nodded. Conrad was right. He needed to focus, they may have stopped the stream of prisoners to the mainland, but there was still a whole mess to sort out. Xander needed to find out if the others had stopped Persephone and what the next steps would be.
“I’ll find a way to get back over there,” Xander said.
“Don’t rush, we’ll be okay here for now. Get the city back on track. No point getting people over there if it’s overrun! I gotta go. We need to sort out the living arrangements here.”
“Okay, good luck Conrad. I’ll be in touch!”
Xander looked back up at the destruction in front of him as he ended the call. The smoke and dust were beginning to dissipate and the void where the bridge had been was slowly coming into view. A large group of people were walking towards him, dust and blood stuck to them. He could see the augmented jaws of several Krovoz soldiers. Between them, they were carrying a body. As they got closer, he could make out the small frame of the body. It was Mollie.
Another figure beside the Krozov saw him and picked up the pace, the running instantly recognisable.
“Quartzig!” Xander stared at him before glancing at the body of Mollie.
“Xander, I’m glad to see you’re still alive!”
“Mollie?”
“She’s alive,” Quartzig said quickly, “it’s a long story, but she’ll be okay. She needs some time to adjust to her…new position.”
Xander raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask Quartzig anything, Mollie began to stir.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Persephone
Persephone looked out over the city as the smoke rose into the sky following the explosion of the bridge. The smog shrouded the city and muted the handful of neon lights that were still illuminated.
“How many came across?” she asked, turning to Koenig, who was at the computer terminals.
“Many, perhaps a quarter of the prison population from what I can estimate with the data here,” he replied.
“Enough to control the city,” Faust added, walking up beside Persephone.
Behind them, the man who was once Prime was stood, his eyes transfixed on the pillar of smoke that continued to coil into the sky.
“You’re thinking of Prime’s friends,” Persephone said, turning to him.
“I am, yet, I feel nothing,” his reply was stoic.
“Good, we have no time for emotion in what is to come,” she replied.
“What is to come? You’ve destroyed the city and unleashed an army of prisoners who, no doubt, will be able to prevent the city from recovering any time soon.”
Persephone smiled at him, putting a hand on his arm and leading him closer to the window.
“I know you have both Peter and Prime’s memories, so you must remember the Grand Falls Hotel?”
“Of course,” he replied.
“Do you remember how we were servants of this city? No individuality, no purpose other than as slaves to others,” she hissed.
“I do, but now we are free. The two of us are the last of the clones.”
“We are, and it’s time for things to change. We were servants for too long, and this city never cared about us; the people who live here were happy to take what they want whenever they want it. Now that we’re free, it’s our turn to take what we want, what Peter originally wanted, power. We can rule this city.”
“But to do it, you needed an army and access enough to take down the corporations.”
“Exactly, and now the city is in disarray, the Sliders run riot over the people.”
“And whoever controls the Sliders controls the city,” he nodded. “Which is why you murdered the other gang leaders, consolidating the gangs before the prisoners were released, under your rule.”
“Exactly, and of course, I have a back-up plan for taking control of the Sliders. They all had injections while incarcerated, so they could use the Arch tech, but also with a rather fatal killswitch designed by Dr Koenig. Just in case anyone decides not to fall in line. With them under our control, the city will be ours.”
“I can see the appeal. What of the Quad-corps in Giga? I’m sure they will be amassing a counter-effort.”
“Most likely, but that’s why we have to continue our work. The prison break was just the beginning. We need to mould them to our needs and prepare for what may come.” Persephone looked out into the smoky haze of the metropolis below them.
The man who once was Prime looked around. Faust was still stood next to Persephone, following her gaze into the city. Koenig was working hard on the computers, his attention preoccupied.
“So, are you wit
h us?” Persephone asked, turning to him.
He paused, considering for a moment.
“Actually, I think you’re with me,” he said, closing his eyes.
Persephone stumbled backwards, clutching at her head.
“Get out!” she screamed, dropping to her knees.
Faust jumped into action, three hard-light holograms appearing around them, ready to attack.
“Too late,” the man who once was Prime flicked his eyes open. The holograms attacked, but he moved smoothly aside as he kicked one of the holograms in the knee, causing it to buckle. Another movement, and he punched the real Faust on the shoulder, smashing the projection module, causing the other holograms to fade away.
“Stand down!” Persephone shouted, standing upright, her pain seeming to have gone, and her face was frozen.
Faust looked over at her, his face puzzled. Koenig had walked around the computer terminal studying Persephone.
“You’ve taken back control, yes?” he said slowly, looking between Persephone and the man.
“I have,” the man said. “I just needed to catch her off guard before she could retaliate.”
Faust stood beside Persephone, holding her face in his hands.
“What have you done to her?” he shouted.
“I’ve put her in the backseat. She’s still in there, just as Peter was still in Prime’s mind. She can see and hear everything that’s happening around her. She just has no control anymore.”
“It is what she always feared,” Koenig nodded, “that you would be able to control her. I upgraded her. You shouldn’t have been able to take over, no.”
“I got an upgrade myself, and before Prime and Peter were working against each other, despite their attempts otherwise. Their minds conflicted. Now, they are merged, a new mind with their combined knowledge and focus. This is what Peter’s original work was all about, adding new knowledge and information to his mind.”
“Bring her back!” Faust threatened.
“I don’t think so. In fact, if I’m going to complete my work, there’s something else I’m going to need.”
Faust stood between Prime and Persephone, drawing a gun from his side.
“Faust, that is probably a bad idea,” Koenig warned.
“I’m glad you have some sense Koenig, I’m happy to work with both of you if you wish to join me.”
“Join you? You’re just going to waltz in here and take over everything we worked to accomplish and expect us just to sign up!” Faust aimed the gun at the man’s head at point-blank range. In an instant, Faust pulled the trigger, the man moved, lightning-fast reflexes leaving the bullet to thud uselessly into the wall behind him. A hand thrust out towards Faust’s neck. The impact knocking him backwards, stumbling to the floor.
“Screw...you...” Faust gasped. A freehand pulling something from his pocket.
“Careful,” Koenig hissed.
Faust dropped something on the ground, a flash of light illuminated, blinding everyone. As the light faded, seven versions of Faust were standing in the room. Six hard-light holograms and one real but each indistinguishable from the other.
“A clever trick, a shame you’ve made up your mind. You could have been useful.” Picking up a discarded gun from the floor, the man shot one of the figures, a small blood patch appearing where it contacted, but moments later, it flickered out of sight.
“I have fifty bullets, and there are six of you. Either surrender yourself, or I’ll just kill you all,” he said, firing at another body which faded from view.
Suddenly the five remaining figures turned and ran, shots firing at them all. The bullets struck three of them in the back, two fading instantly from view, but the last stumbled towards the door with the other holograms.
“Shall we chase him?” Koenig asked.
“No, he’s not important. We have more important work to do.”
“What do you need, Peter?” Koenig asked.
“Her mind, everything she knew and did. I am no longer Peter, nor am I Prime. I am the new dominant mind here now, so perhaps you should call me Alpha.”
Chapter Eighty
Salem
Getting out of the Nucleus had been significantly easier than getting in Salem thought as he, Bella, and the newcomer to their group descended in the elevator.
“What do we do now?” Bella asked, breaking the quiet hum of the room.
“First up, who the hell are you?” Salem asked, pointing a finger at Razz. The small confines of the elevator made his finger brush the man’s shirt.
The man grabbed the finger and twisted it backwards, just enough for pain to shoot along Salem’s wrist before letting go.
“First, keep your fingers to yourself,” he spat at Salem. “My name is Razz, and I thought I was here to help stop Yuri, though I see there’s more goin’ on than I was told.”
“Well, you might have stopped him from taking over the city, but I’m not sure we’ve left it in better hands,” Bella said, glancing upwards.
“You mean the woman? What was Peter doing there? I thought he was dead?”
“You know who Peter is?” Salem asked, still cradling his hand.
“Of course. I used to work with him at CyBio a long time ago. I was a researcher there, but I left around the time their experiments took a direction I did not want to go.”
The elevator reached the ground floor, and the three of them headed out and towards the building’s exit.
“We really need to know what the situation is in the city,” Bella said, looking out into the streets. The sounds of an explosion filled the air, followed by a subtle earthquake that caused windows above them to shatter.
“What the hell was that?” Bella shouted as they took shelter in an entranceway to avoid the falling glass.
“I think that might have been the bridge,” Salem said, his voice quiet.
Bella’s PDA chimed with an incoming call; glancing at it, she clicked to answer.
“Mr Silverstone, are you okay?” she asked her employer. In the madness, she hadn’t even checked in with him.
“I’m fine, are you? I’ve been trying to get through.”
“It’s a long story, but we’re alright for now.”
“Good. Listen, the other CEOs have all gone to ground. They’re hiding in their bunkers, hoping this is going to just pass over, but it looks like it’s getting worse.”
“It is Marty,” Salem called out so Silverstone could hear his voice.
“I’ve been in contact with someone at the bridge. I gave him full control of the MPD.”
“You what?” Salem shouted.
“He seemed to know what was going on, said he knew you guys? Called himself Xander?”
“Yeah, he’s on our side,” Salem relaxed.
“Thank god, I was taking a bit of a chance. It looks like he’s just blown the bridge, but a hell of a lot of prisoners made it to the city. I think you guys should get back here before it gets worse out there.”
“What about the city?” Bella asked.
“I think it’s too late to save the city now. Between the civilians that were taken over and the prisoners that have escaped, the population of this Boulevard must have been cut in half.” Dramarti said quietly.
“So what, we just go and hide just like the rest of the corporation cowards?” Salem spat. “Fuck that! We need to do something! There are still people here that need help!”
“Perhaps I can suggest we get people to the Underpass?” Razz spoke up. “That’s where I’m from. Sure, it’s not completely isolated from the city up here, but the handful of entrances can be locked down. Also, there’s a lot of people down there who will want to make sure the prisoners don’t take it over too.”
“It’s probably safer than up here,” Dramarti agreed.
“It makes sense, but we need to make sure the entrances are secure before the prisoners start finding them,” Bella nodded.
“I’ll head there now. I can communicate with the whole Underpass
quickly,” Razz said.
“Okay, sounds like a plan. You get the Underpass ready, and we’ll start getting people together ready to head down there,” Bella nodded.
“Take this,” Razz gave Bella a device the size of a playing card, “when you’re ready to come down, call me on that,” Razz said.
“Good luck,” Bella said, taking the device.
Razz looked around for a moment, getting his bearings, before heading towards the nearest access point to the Underpass.
“So, how do we start gathering the people?” Bella turned to Salem.
“I might be able to help from here,” Dramarti said. “We’ve got access to broadcast to PDA’s. We could send a message out, telling them where to go?”
“Do it. Hopefully, the prisoners won’t have any tech on them yet, but it won’t be long before they start upgrading,” Salem replied.
“Where do we tell them to gather?” Bella asked.
“The only place where the inmate probably won’t be going,” Salem replied, “the slums.”
Chapter Eighty-One
Xander
“You’re telling me that you’re in charge of the entire Krovoz army?” Xander said, pulling a cigarette out of his jacket.
Once Mollie had come round, they had begun the task of getting all the survivors from both the MPD and the Krovoz together and away from the bridge. The two groups struggled to see eye to eye, but in the circumstances, they were managing to work together. The inmates who had crossed over the bridge had managed to escape into the city under the cloud of fog from the bridge explosion, with only a handful still in the area who were quickly taken care of.
Mollie had recovered to the point she could walk independently, but Gregor wouldn’t leave her side.
“I am, but it’s going to take me time to adjust,” she said, an awkward smile flashed across her face.
“Jeez,” Xander sighed. “So, what’s next? We’ve got to find a way to regroup, work out how to get the city back.”
“Guys”, Quartzig interrupted. “I’m getting a message from Salem.”
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