Citadel: The Concordant Sequence

by Matthew S. Cox

  “This goes all the way to the bottom, doesn’t it?”

  “Not all the way. It stops at the ground floor.”

  Kiera stared at Pet. “If you tell me that I have to climb forty-two stories of spaceship hull by sticking my fingers and toes in these tiny gaps, I’m going to laugh at you.”

  “No.” Pet rubbed against her cheek. “I would not have agreed to that either. Too dangerous. This way.”

  The cube floated off to the right, following the catwalk.

  Kiera tiptoed forward, clinging to the railing with both hands as her hair tossed about in random blasts of wind. She kept her stare on the cube ahead of her, not thinking that only a bouncing metal catwalk separated her from a forty-two story fall. A few frightening minutes later, Pet froze inches shy of going around where the catwalk turned a rightward corner. A hologram screen appeared with, ‘Robot! Crap.’ The screen blanked and displayed, ‘Double crap.’

  Kiera grinned despite being terrified. One robot I can deal with… no one can see us here.

  She pulled the laser pistol out of the satchel.

  ‘No! No! No!’ appeared on the screen while Pet twisted back and forth.

  She pointed at her eyes and tilted her head questioningly.

  Pet projected a holographic drawing that showed a security robot standing by the railing sixteen feet away from the corner. Kiera crept up, flattening herself against the wall an inch from the end. She decided to go low and dropped to her knees. Pet trembled.

  Kiera leaned one eye past the corner. The robot stood at the end of the catwalk, faced out over the shaft with its left side to her. Not trusting a real world robot to obey computer game ‘vision cones,’ she eased herself back out of sight. Minutes later, the clank of it shuffling around rose up and faded.

  Again, she peeked. The security android had turned to the right, putting its back to her.

  She flowed out from behind the corner on her knees, raised the laser pistol to sight on the back of its head, and held her breath. At the click of the trigger button, the android’s head burst into flames. She lowered her aim point to the upper chest and clicked the button three more times. A burning plastic-and-metal body tumbled over the railing and plummeted into the darkness, bumping the wall or other catwalks as it fell with a series of echoing bangs.

  “Backstab rules,” whispered Kiera.

  Pet zipped into her face. “You are so reckless! Please don’t scare me like that again.”

  “Sorry, but what else should I have done? I don’t think it would’ve moved. It doesn’t work shifts or ever need to go to the bathroom. It stands there forever.”

  The crashing from below ended with a louder whap that announced the android’s meeting with the ground.

  “Come on.” Pet glided ahead and ducked into another conduit behind where the robot had been standing. “Someone will be here soon to investigate why that unit went offline.”

  She ran on the bouncing grating to the opening and crawled in. The next maintenance passage led to a vertical shaft with a black-and-yellow striped ladder. Kiera jumped on and climbed down to the twelfth floor, where she collapsed on a small platform in front of another crawlspace entrance.

  “Need… minute… Thirty stories of ladder… jelly legs.” She helped herself to one of her water bottles.

  Pet hovered patiently beside her until she regained the ability/desire to move.

  Kiera pushed herself up to all fours. “Why does this feel like a video game?”

  “Maybe because robots built it?” asked Pet. “Their design called for installing components and providing a way for human workers and robots to access them. No live people made this place. They were all dead or frozen before the citadels were larger than bunkers. The design is based on computer efficiency, not being tolerant of human limitations.”

  “So where did the Exalted idiots come from?” asked Kiera, crawling on.

  “Each citadel had a large Cairn. Those Cairns opened once the citadel structure had been completed, years before the air bubble pushed away the clouds.”

  “Okay, so how did the tribes happen? More Cairns?” She took a right turn.

  Pet bobbed left and right while gliding along. “No one seems to really know. Some think there are people who found ways to survive Cloudfall in caves or old subways. Others believe the tribes to be the descendants of dissidents who fled the Citadels as soon as breathable air existed again.”

  “That’s dumb. Why would they go out there when it’s nice in here?”

  “You miss the sky, don’t you? You miss your friends, the way the villagers all protect and know each other?”

  Kiera slowed as Pet ducked down a left turn. As silly as it felt, she did miss her crappy little bedroom and ramshackle house. Despite its technology, being here made her feel like hamster in a cage. “I guess. But… they have medicine here. Maybe it’s a nice place to visit, but humans weren’t made to live in boxes. You’re right though. I still even miss Ashleigh, even though she wasn’t real.”

  Pet cuddled against her cheek for a moment. “Maybe, but I think you just like not having to go to school.”

  Kiera laughed. “Yeah. But I did sixth-grade like ten times so I deserve a break.”

  “Good excuse.” Pet giggled.

  She came to a stop at an opening into another component room with no hatch to hide behind. A red-haired man slumped over a desk, snoring. The vent cover she felt certain Pet wanted her to enter sat fifteen feet away in a straight line across the room. If she kept quiet, she could crawl right past the front of his desk and disappear into the other duct. She bit her lip and eased the vent cover open, hoping the man stayed asleep.

  A buzz came from above when she’d gotten about halfway. Kiera bit back a shriek of fright and pressed herself against the front of the desk, staring across dingy grey carpet at the room’s only door. Two bookshelves stocked with three-ring binders and DVD cases stood on either side of the exit. Voices murmured in the distant hallway.

  “Huh? What?” asked the man. “Oh, right. Yeah. System was chuggin’ on the data for those reports. Packet traffic analysis for the entire northeast, all eighty-one floors over six months. It’s gonna take a while.”

  Kiera put both hands over her chest, trying to keep her heart from bursting out. The man made a series of “mm-hmms” and “yeahs,” likely into a phone.

  She almost threw up when a shadow fell over the door in front of her. Kiera glanced at the crawlspace, debating going for it, but the door opened before she had the chance. A twenty-something woman with black hair stuck her head in, mouth open to speak, but froze at the sight of her lying on the floor in front of the desk.

  Paralyzed with dread, Kiera stared up at her.

  “I didn’t know you had a daughter, Eric,” said the woman.

  “One sec, I’m on the phone. Williams is riding me about the quarterly traffic report… yeah yeah, I’m working on it. I can’t give it to you any faster than the damn computer will spit out the data. Unless you want me to just make up numbers.”

  The woman cringed, gave Kiera a little wave, and backed out.

  Eric slammed something on the desk and yelled, “Moron.”

  Crap. Crap. She bit her knuckle. I’m dead.

  Fluttering key taps continued for a few minutes while Kiera squeezed herself against the desk, staring at the door and asking the Sky Spirits to keep people away.

  “Coffee time. Hell with this stupid progress bar.” The man stood.

  Kiera rolled flat on her stomach, shimmying under the desk as he stomped around it and stormed off without looking back. She caught a glimpse of him in the hallway a second before the door closed, and clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at his red hair and beard.

  She thought I was his kid! Crap, I got lucky.

  Pet zipped over to the vent. Kiera didn’t bother standing, crawling across the room into the duct before anyone else showed up. The passage varied in size from sections she could walk while stooped over in to
narrows that forced her to crawl, as well as a few shafts so cramped she had to flatten out and pull herself forward one arm’s length at a time. Navigating the Citadel by its ventilation system may have been safe from cameras, but it took forever to get anywhere. Almost three hours after leaving Tessa Zhou’s restaurant, she slithered out of a duct into a larger chamber where four telephone-booth sized machines spanned from floor to ceiling. All thrummed and vibrated. The air tasted like metal, cold enough to get her shivering in seconds.

  “Over here.” Pet glided to the middle part of the left side.

  A blast of arctic wind streaming out from the center of the four machines almost knocked her over when she walked past the gap.

  “Okay… there is such a thing as too much air conditioning.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, studying the wall. “What am I looking for?”

  “You know as much as I do, except for not having an integral map function.”

  She stuck out her tongue. “It’s a wall.” She felt around seams and poked her finger at recessed screws, hunting for a switch to open a hidden passage. Her chip must’ve triggered a sensor somewhere, as a faint beep sounded after a few seconds. Kiera stepped back as a door-sized panel swung inward. The enormous chamber beyond, at least double the size of her VR classrooms, held numerous vent ducts and two giant air handler machines. A little past the center, a group of men and women in dirty blue clothes congregated, mumbling among themselves.

  Kiera stepped in. The door closed itself behind her with a quiet clank. Though soft, the noise attracted attention. All six people stared at her in stunned silence. An e-cigarette dangled from the lip of one dark-skinned man. She raised a hand to wave, but they all went for laser pistols.

  With a shriek, Kiera dove behind the nearby air handler and yanked her weapon from the satchel, holding it in both hands. Butt on the ground, her back to the metal, she shivered.

  The group mumbled quite a few nasty words.

  “Hands up. Come out,” said a man. “Drop the gun.”

  “You first,” said Kiera.

  A moment passed in silence.

  “Kill ’em and let’s get out of here,” said a man.

  Kiera squeezed the rubberized pistol grip. “I don’t wanna shoot anyone.”

  Another man laughed. “Good. I don’t want to be shot.”

  “How did you find us?” yelled a woman.

  “Shh. Keep it down,” whisper-shouted someone.

  “Tessa sent me. She said you could help me.”

  A woman cleared her throat. “Wait… everyone calm down. Sounds like a damn kid, too. Put the stingers away.”

  “Little bugger’s armed,” said a man.

  “So are you.” Kiera thought about peeking, but chickened out. “Please don’t shoot me.”

  “Weapons down,” said the same woman, louder.

  Grumbling and whispering followed.

  “Zhou said she was gonna send someone who can help us. What’s a little kid doing here?” asked a soft-voiced man.

  “Well,” said the ‘weapons down’ woman, “why don’t we ask her?”

  “We didn’t last this long trusting random people who stumble right into our supposedly secure base of operations,” said Mr. ‘Kill ’em.’

  “The administrator is a giant douche,” said Kiera. “Someone needs to punch him in his stupid face.”

  Quiet footsteps got closer. “It’s all right, sweetie. If any of these idiots point a gun at you, it’s going into a body cavity.”

  Heart racing, Kiera risked a peek at the approaching person. The woman appeared to be in her later twenties or early thirties with a short―almost nonexistent―afro and large brown eyes. As soon as their stares met, the woman’s expression of curiosity became pitying.

  “Relax you guys. She’s terrified. Come on out, sweetie. And ‘put it down’ goes for you, too.”

  Kiera leaned farther to the side, peering past the woman at the others. All had replaced their weapons on their belts, save a man with shaggy, brown hair who still held it, but pointed the barrel at the floor.

  “All right.” She stuck the laser in the satchel and stood, gripping the strap where it met the canvas bag at her hip in both hands.

  “Aww, look at her,” said an Asian guy, the owner of the soft voice. “She’s so small. The heck is Tessa doing?”

  “C’mon.” The woman put a hand on Kiera’s shoulder and guided her to the back end of the room where long folding tables held a mess of computers and other electronics. “There’s gotta be somethin’ to this kid for Tess to send her our way.”

  An Indian woman also in her thirties dragged a metal chair over.

  With everyone staring at her, Kiera took the seat, satchel in her lap, and felt like a prisoner about to face a firing squad.

  “Is this what we’ve come down to?” asked the shaggy-haired man. The voice matched Mr. ‘just kill her.’ “Relying on children?”

  “Cool it, Rand.” The woman who coaxed her out from her hiding place appeared to be in charge. She nudged a metal box closer and sat, eye-level with her. “Why don’t you tell us what made that old bat send you here?”

  “Are you Second Dawn?” asked Kiera.

  Rand almost pointed his gun at her. “Some kinda questions you shouldn’t ask in your position.”

  “Rand!” The dark-skinned woman glared back at him. “Knock it off.”

  An older teen girl with long, straight black hair stared at her with sad, blue eyes. “Yeah, Rand. She’s just a little girl.”

  “Exactly why it don’t make no sense.” Rand turned away, pacing around.

  “I’m Nata,” said the woman in charge. “Why don’t we start with your name?”

  “Kiera.”

  “Hello, Kiera.” Nata smiled. “Guys?”

  “I’m Pash,” said the teen.

  The woman who’d brought her the chair nodded in greeting. “Preeti.”

  “Ford.” A blond man with slate-grey eyes folded his arms.

  “Min,” said the Chinese man.

  “Well ain’t this a damn reunion,” grumbled Rand.

  Kiera clutched the satchel to her chest. “You guys are Second Dawn… you’re not like gonna sacrifice me or anything, are you?”

  Nata laughed. “Is that what he’s saying about us now? No… Our goal is not one of destruction.”

  “You want to turn the citadels on.” Kiera relaxed a little. “I knew they were lying about you.”

  The others calmed as well, standing less rigid. A few even smiled.

  “We have been trying to hack into the system for years so we can start the process.” Nata shook her head. “We haven’t had much luck.”

  Kiera shook her head. “You won’t. There’s no connection. Only one terminal works, but if you’re hackers… can you help me? The administrator’s taken my parents. I need to get them out.”

  “Oh, that figures.” Rand threw his hands up in frustration. “The old woman’s gone soft. Kid’s not here to help us, she’s here beggin’ for help. Like we don’t have enough to do.”

  Pet, hovering behind Kiera’s ear, spoke low so only she could hear. “Now would be a good time to unleash your powers of cuteness.”

  “Pleeease…” Kiera perked up, eyes wide. “I don’t have anyone else to take care of me, and he’s going to kill them.”

  The Second Dawn people, standing in a horseshoe around her, stared.

  Kiera shrank in on herself, and tried again in a tiny voice. “Please?”

  39

  Citadel Corporation

  Kiera sat still in the chair while the Second Dawn group clustered over by the table of computers, muttering over what to do about her. Rand didn’t want to let her leave, fearing she’d blow their cover and ruin everything they’d worked for over the last twenty years. Fortunately, the rest showed more sympathy. Min rambled on about various automated scripts he’d set loose in the system, as well as the odds of infiltrating a police subnet and taking control of security cameras, pacifica
tion modules, and cell doors. Ford and Preeti, while sympathetic, didn’t think ‘the Dawn’ could spare the time or resources.

  Pash brought Kiera a bottle of water and sat on the box nearby. “I’m sorry about your parents. You must be frightened.”

  “Yeah. Thanks.” Kiera drank a few mouthfuls. “I promise I won’t tell anyone about you guys.”

  “It’s okay. Don’t pay any attention to Rand. He’s our pet paranoid. He wouldn’t trust a baby in a crib.”

  “I heard that. And those babies are shifty.” Rand pointed two fingers at his eyes. “Gotta watch them.”

  Kiera chuckled.

  “You look so sad.” Pash brushed Kiera’s hair out of her face.

  “Yeah, well. I am.” She sighed. “Lost one set of parents that I don’t even really remember… woke up in a nightmare world. Didn’t even have any clothes. Got kidnapped by bandits, escaped, adopted by my new parents… and now they’re gone.”

  Pash hugged her. “Aww. It’s awful to have such scary dreams.”

  She thinks I’m making it up.

  “…so if the kid’s right about one terminal, we have to get to the Concordant Sequence if we’re going to do anything.” Min scowled.

  “What?” Kiera perked up. “Min? Did you say Concordant Sequence?”

  Everyone looked at her.

  “Uhh, yeah. Why?” He quirked an eyebrow.

  “That’s so weird. I used to have a video game called that.” She frowned. “But I guess it wasn’t real. Just virtual reality.”

  Nata swooped over. “What? Virtual reality? What are you talking about? How do you even know about the Sequence? That’s about the toppest top secret thing in the whole Citadel.”

  “Umm.” Kiera fidgeted under six sets of staring eyes. “You’re probably not going to believe me.”

  “Spill it,” said Rand. “Or we’ll strap you down and tickle until you talk.”