Ascendant Unrest

by Matthew S. Cox

  “Soulless bunch of cock―” Pope eyed the girls. “Miserable bastards.”

  Maya squeezed her. “That’s horrible!”

  “I hate blueberries,” said Sarah. “They’re all bastards. Before you got here, I tried to tell one what Mr. Mason did to me, but he thought I was lying. Said he’d arrest me for bothering him if I didn’t go away.”

  “What did he do to you?” Maya gawked.

  Sarah gave her a blank look. “I told you already. Tricked me into his apartment for, uhh you know. He hit me when I tried to run away and he told everyone he caught me stealing to explain why I had a bruise on my face.” Her voice shrank to a tiny sound. “He didn’t do what he wanted to. I got away.”

  “Girl, you shoulda told me. I’da believed you.” Genna patted Sarah on the head.

  “Sorry. You were kinda scary after Sam was gone.” Sarah offered a cheesy smile. “Always felt like you wanted to kill everyone who looked at you.”

  Genna patted Sarah on the shoulder. “S’okay. At your age, I’d have been afraid of me too.”

  “All right,” said Maya. “I’ll make the video. Not all the Authority are assholes. Just the ones Vanessa bought.”

  Sarah blushed.

  Genna pulled Maya up a little and gave her a light swat on the rear end.

  Wincing, Maya rubbed the spot. “Really? The stuff Ascendant’s done and you’re mad I said a bad word?”

  “You’re nine. I’ll let a ‘shit’ go every now and then, but the rest of ’em are waitin’ for at least fourteen. An’ I don’t wanna hear no F-bombs outta you ’til you’re eighteen.”

  “Heh.” Pope chuckled. “My mother would still throw a fit if I swore, even now.”

  Maya narrowed her eyes at Genna. “You do realize that ‘don’t wanna hear no’ is a double-negative, which basically means you said you want to hear F-bombs.”

  “Smartass.” Genna hugged her a little too hard. When she let go enough to look her in the eye, tear trails ran down her face. “What all happened here?”

  “Mercenaries,” said Maya. “They broke in at night, but The Dad had an alarm on the door. They started shooting at each other. We tried to use the fire escape, but a little drone came after us, so we went in a window one floor down and, uhh, it was an emergency.”

  Genna nodded, glancing at Sarah.

  “I won’t tell anyone about it,” whispered Sarah.

  “It’s okay, baby.” Genna kissed Maya atop the head. “Your friend’s done a couple errands for the Brigade. She know what secrets are.”

  Relief stole all the strength from Maya’s muscles. She’s not mad! Cuddling closer, she continued telling the story of how they’d run into the dosers, the gang, gotten free food, and ‘borrowed’ a car to get out to Pope. “Did he tell you the rest?”

  “Yeah.” Genna shivered, eyeing the spots of white plaster.

  “They didn’t want to shoot us,” said Maya.

  Pope shoved off the wall and walked a few steps into the bedroom. “I think if they’d wanted to kill you, they could’ve sprayed at the wall. Both of ’em had night vision setups, and the drone controller had thermal as well.”

  “You still don’t know who?” asked Genna. “Other than mercs?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “Maybe Ascendant threw a little money at grabbing her, maybe it’s someone else hoping to cash in.”

  “Vanessa wouldn’t pay a ransom for me.” Maya absentmindedly rubbed her left ankle, scrunching up her face at the memory of the mildew-mold smell of the building where Genna’s group of mercs had taken her. “She wouldn’t waste money on kidnapping me. She wouldn’t even turn on the lights.”

  “Huh?” asked Sarah. “Turn on the lights?”

  “The place I used to live. It was always dark because she didn’t want to pay much for electricity. She said it would keep me safe by making bad people think I was a decoy android.”

  “Some people oughta not be allowed to have kids.” Genna rocked her.

  Sarah started to sniffle but quieted when Genna put an arm around her.

  “I thought Zeroice would be able to get the Xenodril formula so we can give it to other companies… but I guess if he could’ve taken it, he would have done it already and gotten rich.” Maya sighed. “I don’t think that plan’s going to work.”

  “Well, I still gotta talk to Barnes and them ’bout it. Sure it won’t be simple as you’re thinking, Zeroice walking right in and taking it, but the idea’s got some merit. Don’t give up yet. The Brigade’s got more resources than one lone hacker.”

  “Okay.” Maya smiled.

  A small chance offered a lot more hope than no chance.

  14

  The Spark

  Bizarre dreams filled Maya's head in which she rode an Authority drone like a flying horse while Sarah sat behind her, zapping bad drones out of the sky using a magic wand. Far below on the ground, Vanessa ran away from them, summoning wave after wave of blueberries to kill them. The dream had a video-game quality, with little balls of energy instead of bullets and people disappearing instead of dropping dead.

  Great discomfort in her bladder dragged Maya to consciousness in the middle of the night. She squirmed, stuffed in a sleeping bag with Sarah on the floor of Genna’s room. The bed hadn’t been big enough for all three of them, and she couldn’t make her friend stay on the floor alone. Sleeping in her day clothes felt weird, but she didn’t quite trust her safety to change into a nightdress. For comfort, she’d taken her sneakers off but left them in arms’ reach. If something happened again to make her flee in the middle of the night, dammit, she would at least carry them out the door.

  A little wriggling got her out of the bag without waking Sarah. She grasped the edge of the bed to stand and froze when she realized Genna wasn’t in it. Murmuring voices filled in the silence created by her shock. Biting her lip at the need to pee, she padded into the hallway and forced herself to go past the bathroom.

  Genna and Pope sat on the couch, talking about their respective times in Korea during the war. He mumbled in Korean while mimicking dropping something and running away, which got Genna laughing so hard she almost failed to keep quiet.

  Momentarily forgetting the urgency that had awakened her, Maya crept to the end of the corridor and hid at the corner, watching them.

  “Poor bastard never went near another e-grill after that.” He chuckled. “Damn, got the oddest craving for a Hite.”

  Genna gagged. “Seriously? You drank that stuff?”

  “Haven’t had a beer since I got back.”

  She shot him a playful look. “Maybe you oughta stop livin’ in a cave.”

  “Didn’t use to think there’s much left to bother giving a fuck about. ’Til I ran into that li’l girl of yours.” Pope grinned. “She’s gonna be a handful in a few years.”

  Genna sighed, a trace of sadness in her eyes. “In a way, it kinda makes karmic sense. That bitch took Sam away, so I got Maya. Only, it don’t feel like revenge. For one thing, that kid didn’t deserve her life, and another, that woman don’ miss her. Ain’t really revenge. Just did it for her, ya know.”

  “Yeah.” Pope put his hand atop hers on the sofa cushion between them. “Lot of us came back from the war with a hardened nugget of coal in here.” He knocked on his chest with his other hand. “That kid’s got a way of turnin’ things back.”

  “Hah.” Genna rolled her eyes. “My ass was full charcoal for a while there. Maya slapped me upside the head.” She sighed before smiling at him. “Suppose she had that effect on you too.”

  “For a little thing, she’s got nerve. First time I saw her, she’s ready to go storm the Sanc all by herself. Figured her just a kid with rage issues. I shoulda damn stayed with her but, bein’ the grumpy old bastard I am, I actually let her go inta the Spread on her own. Figured she’d get disappointed pretty quick and come wandering back. Couldn’t sleep. By the time I unfucked my head, she’s zooming off in the air on a goddamned drone.” He shook his head. “I for sur
e thought I killed her by not stopping her.”

  Maya bounced on her toes, desperate to pee but she had to keep listening.

  “That kid…” Genna shook her head. “She ain’t my blood but it don’t feel no different. That why you’re still here? Figure you didn’t wanna make that mistake again?”

  “Something like that.” Pope smiled.

  “Something?” Genna raised an eyebrow.

  Pope leaned back, thumb to his chin while looking at her as though he admired some piece of artwork. He said something in Korean that made her blush and flash a playful grin.

  They’re going to kiss!

  “Before you answer that in English,” said Pope, “we have an audience.”

  Maya gasped.

  Genna leaned forward, staring at her.

  “Sorry. Sorry. Sorry,” whispered Maya. “Gotta pee. Heard voices. I’m going back to bed now.”

  She hurried to the bathroom, trying to fend off the giggles. He’s gotta be psychic. How did he know I was there? He didn’t even look! After some much needed relief, she tiptoed to the bedroom and crawled back into the sleeping bag. Sarah offered so little reaction to the disturbance that Maya hovered a hand by her mouth to make sure the girl still breathed. Satisfied her friend remained alive, she closed her eyes.

  The next day dragged on in boredom. They sat around for a while before Sarah got up and started cleaning, complaining that not doing anything kept her worrying too much about her father. Maya decided to help while Genna and Pope discussed the situation with the current unrest in the Sanc. She filled him in on how bad it had been in Philly. It seemed the discontent among the population had finally spread to Baltimore despite Vanessa’s attempts to undermine it. Hearing that even Citizens believed her made Maya’s heart swell with hope. Of course, Ascendant’s release of Fade hurt everyone, not only the poor.

  Late in the afternoon, Genna ducked out to get food, leaving Pope to watch them. Maya didn’t worry too much since the men who’d shot up Sarah’s apartment didn’t know Genna from a rock. She returned in a little under an hour. Maya poked her head out of the bathroom, where she’d been wiping down the sink. The scratch of Sarah scouring the bathtub continued behind her. Between the two of them, they’d gotten most of the black gunk off the tiles.

  Genna stopped by the archway to the kitchen, a cloth bag hanging from her grip, and grinned at her. “You two tryin’ ta tell me somethin’?”

  “No, we’re just bored. Sarah gets sad if she’s bored, so she’s teaching me how to clean. Can we go to the Sanc yet?”

  “Not yet, baby. Still a mess. I’m gonna have a chat with Barnes after dinner. We might be able to take an alternate route in.”

  “What’s that?” Pope walked up to Genna.

  “Food. Gotta cook it.”

  He smiled. “Want some help?”

  Genna blinked. “You cook?”

  “Mostly rat these days, but I ain’t afraid of a stove.”

  Maya grinned at the way they looked at each other and returned to her sink cleaning. Soon, the smell of garlic overcame the cheap green disinfectant solution they’d been using on everything from windows to the toilet. The girls ran out of places to scrub not long after and flopped next to each other on the bed to rest.

  “I thought all the apartments were the same. It’s weird you’ve only got one bedroom,” said Sarah. “Ugh, my fingers are all wrinkly.”

  “Cleaning was your idea.” Maya grinned at the ceiling. “I thought it was weird that our patio is attached to the bedroom and not the living room like your place.”

  Sarah threaded her fingers behind her head. “Yeah, that is weird.”

  “Wonder why.” Maya yawned. “Wanna play the card game?”

  Sarah shrugged. “I dunno. They’re in my room.”

  “I can get them if you don’t wanna go in there.”

  “It’s not that. I’m not afraid of going back there. I’m just… ugh. That would require walking.” She laughed. “I’m tired.”

  “I repeat.” Maya raised an arm, pointing skyward. “It was your idea to clean everything.”

  “Girls?” said Genna. “C’mon an’ eat.”

  Maya got up and plodded to the door. When she noticed Sarah hadn’t moved, she marched back to the bed, grabbed her by the arm with both hands, and pulled her seated. Laughing, Sarah got to her feet and followed to the kitchen. Pope and Genna sat across from each other at the square table. The girls took the remaining two seats, where steaming plates of spaghetti covered in red sauce waited for them.

  “Ooh!” Maya jumped into her chair.

  “What is it?” Sarah tilted her head.

  “Spaghetti,” said Maya. “I love it!”

  “You’ve had this before?” Sarah sniffed at it. Seeming pleased, she picked up her fork.

  Maya attacked her plate. “Yeah. I used to get delivery a lot.”

  “Delivery?” Sarah gave a forkful a test lick. “Oh, it is good.”

  “Umm.” Maya felt a sudden sense of embarrassment at her former privileged life. “In the Sanc, there’s these restaurants that bring food to your home. You can order over the AuthNet and either a person or a drone shows up with the food in like half an hour.”

  Sarah didn’t react much more than a nod of ‘oh okay’ while she chewed.

  Genna’s spaghetti put Pizza Galaxy to shame. The reason sat somewhere between it not being made in vast quantities, not sitting around until ordered, and her mother cooking it. She fought the urge to inhale it like a tiny woodchipper.

  “Hmm. Guess it’s okay then,” said Genna.

  “Mmm!” Maya nodded.

  “Yeah,” said Sarah. “It’s a lot better than cheese sandwiches.”

  “So are my boot soles,” muttered Pope.

  Genna glanced at him.

  “Than those damn VA cheese sandwiches.” He chuckled.

  Sarah shot him a hurt look. “I kinda like them.”

  “Oh, you poor, poor child.” He patted her on the head.

  A little while later, Maya sat back, feeling stuffed. “That was awesome.”

  Genna grinned. “I’ll clean this up when I get back. You two did enough cleanin’ already.”

  “Back?” Maya sat up straight. “You’re leaving again?”

  Genna stretched across the table and clasped her hand. “Ain’t gonna be gone long. Meeting with Barnes and them. Jack’s gonna stay right here with you.”

  “Jack?” Maya couldn’t help but grin. “Okay.”

  Pope chuckled as Genna pursed her lips and couldn’t seem to look at him.

  A small knock came from the door.

  Maya got up.

  “Wait.” Pope raised a hand. “Let me.”

  He stalked out of the kitchen, drawing the combat knife from his belt and holding it behind his back. Genna moved to the kitchen arch, watching left down the hall toward the bedroom. She pulled a handgun from her thigh holster and raised it at the bedroom.

  Braced against the wall by the front door, Pope eased it open an inch. A second later, he relaxed and took a step back, keeping the knife hidden.

  Pick, in his tattered knee-length khaki shorts, waved. “Hi. Is Maya here?”

  “You hurt, boy?” asked Pope.

  “No. It’s sauce.” He rubbed at a blotch on his bare chest. “Naida made burritos.”

  Genna holstered her sidearm and walked out into the living room. “Hello, Ruben. What’s up?”

  “Hi, Miss Genna.” Pick waved. “Book’s gonna read stories tonight. Can Maya go?”

  Pope tucked his knife back in its sheath and gave Genna a raised eyebrow.

  “’Nother ol’ vet. Lives on the ninth floor. Bunch of headware. He’s got like a thousand e-books in his skull. Reads the tame ones to the kids sometimes.” She beckoned Maya with a wave. “Up to her. Long as you kids stay inside the building.”

  “I can go with her,” said Pope.

  Maya looked at Sarah. “Want to?”

  She replied with a halfhearted shru
g.

  “A story will help you stop worrying for a little bit. Mom’s going to talk to Barnes like right now to see if they can sneak you in to visit your dad.”

  “Okay.” Sarah pushed herself upright and collected plates.

  Pick bounced from leg to leg in the hall. “Come on, he’s gonna start soon.”

  “We’re coming.” Maya waited for Sarah to put the dishes in the sink and walked with her to the door.

  Pope followed without his rifle, which he’d probably left in the bedroom closet. Pick raced off to the fire stairs. Maya knew her way to the room where they all gathered to play with the plastic spaceships and other action figures, so she didn’t bother running to keep up with him. She walked up two flights to the ninth story, smiling to herself that her sneakers would protect her from the squishy carpet. At the door, she stopped short, gawking at a bare concrete hallway blotched with black and green stains. The stink of mold remained noticeable but no longer overpowering. “Wow.”

  “What?” asked Sarah. Before Maya could answer, she emerged from the door and stared at the discoloration. “Oh wow. The rug’s gone. And eww.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Smells like outside,” said Pope.

  “There’s a big-ass hole in the wall,” said Sarah, holding her arms out. “Whenever it rains, the whole ninth floor gets wet.”

  Unfamiliar men’s voices emanated from the doorway to the story room, slowing Maya’s approach to a cautious creep. One emitted a frustrated sigh.

  “I’m just sayin’ you shouldn’t be having kids around here for at least two weeks ’til we finish. And there’s a good chance we’ll be fixing the walls so all this space is going to go back to being three apartments.”

  Maya poked her head in the doorway.

  Book stood by the concrete ‘table’ near the room’s center with a pair of men in white jumpsuits and yellow hardhats. Three other men in similar outfits explored the edge where the enormous hole yawned out to the world. Anton, Marcus, Emily, and Pick sat on the floor near the interior wall, recovering the toys from a pile of swept dust.

  “Damn,” muttered Pope. “You’re right. That is a big-ass hole. Amazing the upper floor hasn’t fallen in.”