by David Beers
"They're creating a central base," Theo said, wiping the spit from his mouth, it signaling that though he hadn't eaten, he might not have ventured past the realm of vomiting.
"Why?"
"Because of what I told you. The man that was here. They're scared of him. They want some kind of organization in case he shows up again."
Mock nodded, its arms remaining at its side. "That right?"
Theo didn't say anything back. He kept imagining the building in front of him on fire, kept imagining all the people walking around the two of them burning alive. But these were the wrong people, weren't they? These were the living; only the dead burned. The dead down the street. The dead inside his mind.
"This isn't enough," Mock said.
Theo snapped out of his thinking, his face scrunching up in confusion. "Not enough?"
"Nope. I mean, we're doing well here, but we have to move beyond Allencine. We have to get all this started elsewhere."
"You can't be serious."
"Can't I?"
"You see what's happening. This is the first semblance of order, and it's people hanging up massive weapons on walls to kill others. You're wanting this to go to another part of the world? That's...it's insane, Mock."
Mock sighed, shaking its head. "Tisk, tisk. Nothing is insane here, my friend. It's all well plotted out." It turned away from the building and looked at Theo. "No matter! We've got to get this thing moving along, get some more people on our team, you know? I want you to head to Brockington."
Theo looked at Mock, wondering if this is when he died. If it would be out here on this street, in front of all these people, and at Mock's hand. Was this when he finally told the machine no? That he was finished? That he wouldn't go to another city and spread this disease further?
Maybe Mock knew Theo was thinking such things, but it said nothing. It only stared at Theo, daring him to speak.
"Okay," Theo said, seeing another person step out from the elevators into the burning lobby of his mind.
"Good," Mock said. "I want to make this a bit easier on you, so we're going to be using the water supply this time."
* * *
It was bullshit. Every last bit of it. Bradley felt almost silly at how angry he was about all of this, but he couldn't goddamn help it. He was stuck inside this building—except building was too big of a word—this apartment without any chance of getting out.
Why had he been so stupid? Why had he been trying to hurry so fast? He should have said fuck it, and just went to the hospital when he was ready. Why did he care if anyone saw him arriving late? He was late for a human and just what did that matter in the grand scheme of things? Nothing. Especially now, from the looks of it. It appeared as if The Genesis had given up completely on its experiment, and now Bradley was stuck inside this apartment unable to go outside and see just what in the hell was going on.
He didn't want to let a human anger him this much, but he couldn't help it.
This Caesar, something was very, very off about him. Bradley understood the danger residing inside the man, understood that he had powers no human should possess. He was something special, and in being special, he became dangerous. Especially to Bradley. He would have been able to escape easily and at any time if not for Caesar's power over him. Bradley couldn't move when Caesar didn't want him to. Bradley couldn't broadcast out, couldn't find another application or The Genesis—anything at all—to let them know where he was, that he was being held captive.
No, Caesar wasn't someone to trifle with at all. Every human Bradley had met until now could be dismissed without a second thought. It was just Bradley's luck that he would meet the one human in the world who was worth something, and more of his luck when that human captured him and decided to drag him along.
The bottom line? He had to get out of here. He wasn't going to spend the rest of his life locked up in this destroyed apartment, wouldn’t spend his life being led around by Caesar. Bradley just didn't know how to get out. The windows were boarded up and the door programmed to open only for Caesar and the new woman. He still couldn't broadcast out.
He had to get away, though. Then, he would kill the two of them, and their application that hung around too. After that, he'd look at what humanity was doing to itself, and maybe smile a bit as he did. He just had to figure out a plan that would allow it to happen.
The Genesis.
He had to get in touch with The Genesis. If he could do that, everything else would fall into place.
Bradley floated in front of the boarded up window, as if he was looking at the world outside; instead, only thinking about how he would escape this ratty apartment.
Chapter Eleven
This is why you came, so that no one would say you stayed behind while others went forward.
Keke swallowed—although little saliva was in her mouth—as she thought about what came next. She stood in an alley fifty yards from the building the three of them had all looked at the previous day. She was scared, scared about walking out of this alley and heading to that building, walking up to the doors that were now armed gates, scared to gain entrance.
She told Caesar she would get inside and try to understand exactly what was happening. Why they were using this building. See what she could find out about Paige and Leon.
And now she was here, about to step out of this alley and come face to face with all those people hanging up guns and burning bodies. Her life had been spent in fear of The Genesis, and for the first time, she feared man. It felt different, strange, that she should be scared of her neighbors. For as long as Keke had lived, people were the ones to trust, not to fear, the ones who gave life happiness, yet that had all changed. People were dangerous now. They would kill her if they suspected she wasn't completely honest. It was a foreign idea, something she couldn't fully wrap her mind around, and there wasn't time to contemplate it. She had to walk out of this alley and into that building and somehow make those people believe she was like them—insane, at least somewhat.
She looked down at her feet and took in a slow breath.
Time to go.
Keke stepped out from the alley, trying to walk fast, as if she had some kind of purpose, but at the same time trying to not look hurried. She kept her eyes on the doors in front of her, the doors she had to get through. People milled around them, holding weapons, with guns of some sort actually drilled into the metal around them. People were walking in and out, not carrying bodies anymore—and Keke was thankful for that; she hadn't wanted to look at them up close—but they were definitely busy. People passed her on the street, not looking at her, which was good. She figured that anyone who wasn't down with the cause wouldn't be out here walking around on the streets, and the fact that she was made her fit in.
Twenty feet from the door. Keke felt sweat on her palms. No shaking hands, she thought.
And then she was there, unable to turn back. No running. No hiding. Nothing to do but climb those brief steps and walk inside.
A man stepped in front of her.
"What do you want?" There wasn't any politeness in his voice, no grace.
"To go inside," Keke answered, her voice mirroring his.
"I can see that. Why?"
The man held something in his right hand, though Keke didn't look down to see it. She didn't let her eyes drop from his, not for a second, thinking that if she did, whatever he held would be used against her. If she gave this man a single reason to doubt, she would die on these steps and within twenty minutes she would be thrown atop the still burning pile of humans.
The problem was, she didn't know why she wanted to be inside. She didn't know what the hell they were doing here.
"I heard about what happened. I want to help," she said, not knowing if those were the right words.
"You had your anti-virus yet?"
"Of course."
The man looked her in the eye, his weapon not rising, but not holstered either. Keke held his stare, her palms sweaty enough to leave marks on her p
ants if she tried to wipe them. She didn't, though. She stared as if she had a right to be inside this place, as if this man would be in for a serious fight if he tried to stop her from gaining entrance. She stared at him as if she would kill him.
"Alright," he said, bringing up the weapon which Keke finally saw was a short metal pole with a hole on one side but not the other. He placed it in his shirt pocket as if it were a pen. "This is your first time here?"
Keke nodded, her stomach full of bees bouncing off each other, not stinging yet, but she felt soon she might vomit all over this man's shoes.
"I'm Kendrick. What's your name?"
"Keke," she said, feeling both sick and scared, not even thinking about creating a fake name, not knowing what she would use if she did.
"Come on in," Kendrick said, turning around and walking through the still broken doors. Keke looked at the massive guns hanging on the wall, one on either side of the door. She didn't know if bullets, fire, or lasers came from the tiny holes peppering them, but each was huge, metal, and appeared increasingly dangerous the closer she got to them. She looked forward before her neck could completely twist in the direction of one of the guns.
They passed the threshold of the building and she was inside. The lights were bright and Keke saw everything at once. She thought the space outside had been busy, but even more buzz ran through the lobby. All the furniture that had been here was gone, leaving only white floors.
She looked around, trying to scan the room without showing her interest. Most of the windows had some kind of digital mask on them, and Keke saw a group of three people putting up another one.
"What are those?" She asked.
"Shields. Should keep The Named from launching something through our windows. We're going to put one up at the front door, too, but we're waiting on more supplies. You say you heard about what happened here?"
They were halfway through the lobby and Keke didn't know where Kendrick was leading her. The lobby breathed danger, everyone working with a tension as if they truly felt their lives were at risk.
"I did."
"We don't know what he was besides a part of The Named. We don't know where he went but we imagine he'll be coming back. We're in direct contact with The Genesis' Representative, and it's well aware of what the man did. If he shows back up, which we have every reason to think he will, we're going to be in much better shape to handle him."
"What about the rest?"
"Of The Named? We're still rooting them out of the city. We think we probably have a quarter of them dispatched, but we weren't organized before. We're starting to get there though, and it'll allow us to pick up the speed with which we're working."
They stopped at the elevators and Kendrick turned around. "We're going to house ourselves here. Everyone that's taken the anti-virus will be able to live here. More are coming in every day, and we're going to be able to track them all, to track those that aren't here, and to track those with The Named. It'll be pretty special when we finish it."
Keke looked at the people moving to and fro. It already was something special, something that felt like an ant hill, a complete organism to itself, with everyone moving exactly as they should, building something that would be a monument to their work ethic.
"So, let's get you a room picked out and then find you something to do around here, okay?"
Chapter Twelve
We should kill them, all of The Named out there in the desert. There’s no reason to keep them around any longer. The cities will continue on without knowing the actual group is completely destroyed. They’re just a nuisance at this point.
No.
Why not?
Don’t start acting like them, like humans. This isn’t about cruelty for us; it never has been. Killing them serves no purpose. Everything else we’re doing has a reason for it, but just sending something to that city to kill them is out of joy.
And is it so wrong to want some joy from a group that has tried to bring so much pain to us?
Vengeance is a human emotion. We’re doing this for a reason, and that’s not part of the plan.
So leave them out there to try and recreate that city?
Yes. It won’t matter soon anyway, because The Theory will arrive. Once he’s here, everything they do out there will cease.
So we get no joy out of this, huh?
If you wanted joy, you should have wiped humanity out before you made me. As far as I see it, my only purpose here is to make sure your life is miserable. We need to leave them be, and when The Theory arrives and makes his decision, you will have your joy then.
Chapter Thirteen
It wasn't perfect yet. That's what Mock couldn't figure out. Something was missing and it bothered Mock. Everything was nearly perfect, too—except for this one thing. Theo would be heading to Brockington very soon and he would infect a large part of the population. Allencine would soon fall completely.
But that wasn't enough and Mock knew it.
The Genesis wanted revolution and Mock was creating it, but still missing something.
It paced around the living room it had taken over, the previous inhabitant having reached an unfortunate demise at the hands of some people that thought he was an intricate piece to The Named's overall plan. In reality, he worked for sanitation. Eggs break to make omelets, and all that. Mock moved back and forth through the hologram that shot up in the middle of the room; Mock had programmed the entertainment center to show a program from when humans ruled Earth—It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It wanted to see what they had been capable of besides killing each other, but Mock became bored quickly with the show and so now walked through the characters, the lights that created their three dimensional shapes bouncing off its transparent body.
The people were creating a base down there on the ground, naturally organizing as groups tend to do. Even those that hadn't taken the virus were organizing, trying to protect themselves.
Organization. Something was there, inside that word, which Mock was missing.
It walked back and forth, back and forth across the room.
What was the worst part of humanity? Sure, there were murders on the street almost constantly. Everyday people died throughout the world at the hands of their neighbors. Everyday people were raped and their belongings stolen. Mock had recreated that, a sort of mob rule, and that was good. That was part of the human experience, for sure, but was that the worst part? Mock had once seen a picture from all those years ago when humans still opened businesses. It was of a sandwich shop and the tag-line for the place said: "You can't fake fresh." That's what Mock felt like right now, like it was faking fresh. It hadn't created the worst part of humanity yet. People were killing and robbing and raping, but it wasn't...
Sanctioned.
That would be the worst part of all this. Sanctioned murders. Sanctioned rapes. Trials and hangings. Things sanctioned by the people themselves, not by Theo or The Genesis. This had to take on a life of its own; this had to stem from the people!
Mock laughed at that, its face not moving to form a smile though.
Governments. That had been the worst of them. That had been what allowed bombs to drop from the sky and whole continents to be ravaged. The collective organization of the elite, deciding what went where and for how long. Deciding who died and who lived based on knowledge the public never understood. How had it not seen this before? How had it missed the aspect of a government? That's what would make this perfect. They needed elections!
Mock laughed again, the mechanisms in its throat producing a sound as happy as any child had ever made. Elections would create leaders and leaders would create classes and classes were going to create a whole host of problems. Mock felt almost giddy. How would it all start? Through Theo? That might work, as he was nearly a dictator already.
But no.
Theo would die soon. They didn't need an empty throne, for sure.
Theo could give the idea, could start creating it, but someone else would ascend.
Someone ruthless. Someone that would kill those who tried to usurp him—Theo could do that, sure, but his mind was about to snap like a tree in a hurricane. No, the person at the top of this pyramid would need to still have all his wits about him. Or her. Mock certainly wasn't a sexist when it came to humanity; they were all the same low breed of creature.
That would do the trick. A government started in Allencine. A government that Brockington would follow. A government that would begin to decide things on its own, becoming its own entity, and then, hell would reign on Earth. Humanity's worst aspects, all combined in a single city. The ability to kill your neighbor, sanctified by a ruling class.
For the first time in Mock's long life, it wished it had been able to smile.
* * *
Mock wanted to create a government.
Theo looked at the desk before him, his notes from the conversation filling up multiple screens on his scroll.
What am I supposed to do then? Theo had asked.
You're going to keep spreading this bad boy across the globe. You'll have other tasks from me.
What was he going to say? No, thank you?
If Mock wanted a government, then Theo would give it a government. The question was how would he do it. Mock didn't give him any instructions on that, just told Theo to figure it out. Theo could rig a building with explosives as efficiently as anyone on this planet, but creating a government? A ruling class? He didn't understand the first thing about it.
He stood up from his desk, leaving the scroll behind. First he needed to go down to the home office and see what in the hell they were doing. Maybe if he understood exactly how all this worked, he could go ahead and use some of their momentum to create this.
Theo waved his hand in front of a sensor and his suit descended from the ceiling. He tried to avoid wearing it whenever he could, only putting it on when he went out in public. He hated the fucking thing.
"Just shut up," he said to himself and then dressed.