Killswitch

by Victoria Buck

  “When I get a chance I’ll see if I can get it in through my own programs.”

  “I can access general information about church music,” Chase said.

  “You mean, like hymns? You can learn a lot from those old songs,” Molly said.

  Mel lifted her brow. “Eliminating religion from the cyber world is a work in progress. Maybe it was an oversight. But Molly’s right. There’s a lot of church history in the old songs too.”

  The three left the small meeting room and joined dozens in the command center. Chase brushed by his mother and squeezed her shoulder. She appeared to be working on a new room arrangement. The added residents meant a few would have to share a room. Beds were being moved to accommodate, and those with larger rooms were asked to give up their space for the sake of those who’d be living with roommates. Of course, no one complained. How long could these people live like this before somebody started to gripe?

  “Chase,” Mom said. “Switch ran by here mumbling about how ‘that robot’ wasn’t going to accuse him of…something. The two of you having a problem?”

  The battle might start sooner rather than later. Chase sat beside her. “We think there might be someone down here, or up top, feeding information to the Feds. Some bad stuff happened last night. I’m sure Amos will fill in the whole group sometime later today.”

  “What’s that got to do with Switchblade ranting about you? Does he think you had something to do with it?”

  “He might have suggested it, and I might have suggested the same about him.”

  “Well, I don’t believe it,” she said. “Not about either of you.”

  “We both got a little hot under the collar. Somebody is responsible for what happened last night.”

  “What was it?”

  Chase peered over his shoulder and then leaned in close. “The families of those kids who came under were killed.”

  Tears filled her eyes and her hand covered her mouth.

  “Mom, don’t say anything.”

  “Where are those poor babies?”

  “In their quarters with the ministers.”

  “We’ll need to be here for them. All of us. We’re their family now.”

  Chase nodded. “You’re a good mom. Always were.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll go find Switchblade and apologize.”

  He left her for the largest area of dorms. Passing his own room, he headed for the door with the switchblade carved on it. What were those artists thinking when they transformed the cavern into an underground campus with enough bedrooms for a hundred people? Apocalypse—that was the word Switchblade had used. Not so far from the truth. The world was falling apart and Chase was hiding in a bunker. A massive, elaborate hiding place never used by the people who built it. Almost seemed like God planned it in advance for the Underground Church.

  He knocked on Switchblade’s door, softer this time. He didn’t mean to insinuate the man might be a mole. A thug, yes. And arrogant. Not very likable. But his dedication to these people was obvious.

  Switchblade didn’t open the door. Chase turned up his hearing enhancer. No sound inside the room. Surely the guy wouldn’t go up after Amos told him it was forbidden.

  “What am I thinking?” Chase said. “Of course he’d go up.”

  The dark tunnel that led to the back exit was past the dorm area. Chase slipped through unnoticed, climbed the rickety stairs, and headed that direction. A hundred yards in, long before the hidden panel, he found Switchblade sitting in the dark on the cold floor.

  “Did you go up?” Chase asked.

  “What’re you doing here, you freak? You traitor.” He lifted himself up and powered a small laserlight.

  “Look, I didn’t mean—”

  Switchblade let the light drop to the ground and jumped Chase, pushing him backward until they were both on the ground. The big man roared as he balled his fist and punched Chase in the left temple.

  But the man was no match for a transhuman.

  Chase flipped him over and pinned him tight, pushing his shoulder into the floor and pressed down hard on his throat. “You may be bigger, but you aren’t stronger. And don’t forget it. This thing inside seems determined to keep me alive. If you threaten me, I can’t be held responsible for what might happen.” Chase stood and brushed his hands down his sleeves. “Now get up and let me apologize,” he yelled.

  15

  Switchblade stumbled as he grabbed the laserlight off the floor. He eased up in front of Chase, cleared his throat, and rubbed his neck.

  “Did I hurt you?” Chase asked.

  “No. Hah, you got some ego thinking you could.” He straightened his collar and flexed his arms. “Don’t tell me I didn’t hurt you?”

  Chase rubbed the side of his head. “The human part stings a little.”

  “Yeah. Sorry.”

  “You have a way of making that word sound pitifully sorrowless.”

  “You could’ve strangled me with that hold. I can’t believe a little guy like you has all that power.”

  “I’m a perfectly normal-sized man,” Chase said. “You’re a giant.” He headed back toward the compound and Switchblade followed. “You don’t want to know what happened to the last guy who threatened me, and he was an armed cop. Of course, he had a NP in his ear. I didn’t mean to kill him.”

  “You killed a cop? What’s an NP?”

  “Neuroprosthesis. WR is planting the device in people to control them. The exoself blew up the thing. Killed the guy instantly.”

  “Got new respect for you, Charlie. Cop killer—who’d a thought?”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose. He had just killed somebody I cared about—a man you remind me of, as a matter of fact. I would have been next. So the exoself took care of the problem.” Chase stopped and faced Switchblade. “Seems odd a Bible-carrying believer would respect a cop killer.”

  “By respect, I mean I will think twice about messing with you again.” He stretched his shoulder and let out a groan. “This pain in my arm will make me think twice too.”

  “I’m sorry about that. And about what I said earlier. I don’t think you’d do anything to endanger these people.”

  “Yeah, well I started it. I’m sorry too.”

  This time, the apology seemed genuine. “Can you do something for me?”

  “Hey, I didn’t say we were gonna get all buddy-buddy.” Switchblade clicked the laser off as they approached the staircase. Light from below filled the tunnel. “What do you want from me?”

  “I can take being called Charlie. My dad called me that. But if you call me robot again I’m going to—”

  Switchblade lifted his hands. “No more robot.”

  “Thank you.”

  “One other thing we gotta work out,” Switchblade said. “Melody is a free agent as far as I can tell. You want her, you gotta get around me. No beating each other up or anything. We’ll just see who has the power when it comes to winning that girl over.”

  “Game on. The exoself doesn’t know anything about women.” Chase smiled as they reached the stairs. “But I do.”

  “Hah, you think?” Switchblade rubbed the back of his neck. “Explain something to me. I don’t get why you call it the exoself if it’s inside you. Don’t make sense.”

  “Yeah, I know. But I didn’t make this stuff up. ‘Exoself’ is defined as systems used in cooperation with a human being, extending mind and body to provide information and support monitoring. They hooked me up to the cyber world to use me. But Robert—my doctor—was able to program a disconnect and give me control of the exoself.”

  “So nobody can monitor you. But if you got disconnected, how do pick up on all that WR crap?”

  “I wish I understood. Robert told me I wouldn’t be able to access government programs anymore. But now I can plug right in, even more than I could before. The exoself found a way to do it without getting caught.” Chase rubbed his head and raked his fingers through his hair. “Part of the transhuman experience, I guess.”


  “I still keep thinking you’re going to pull on some kind of techno warfare armor suit. You know? Exoself.” Switchblade gaped down at his jeans and black t-shirt. Then he gave Chase a once over. “We look like we’ve been brawling.”

  “We have been.”

  “That wasn’t no brawl. You ain’t never been in fight. Not a real one.”

  “Whatever you want to call it, we’d better get cleaned up,” Chase said. He slowed the pace. “What’s your real name? Why is it that information about you is so limited?”

  “Only person here who knows my past is Amos, and even he don’t know my real name. That life is over. Just like this conversation.” Switchblade strutted ahead.

  Once inside the bunker, they managed to get to the bathroom near their dorms without being seen. Switchblade washed and then went to his room for a clean shirt. Chase stripped down and showered. As he stepped out, a towel around his waist, he saw her. She flickered in front of the sink, facing him with her back to the mirror, which offered no reflection of her black hair or what Chase remembered as the low scoop of her red dress.

  He pulled his towel tight with one hand and reached for his pants with the other. “I know this is some kind of trick you’re playing with the exoself. But be warned, it doesn’t play games. I consider you popping in and out of here a threat. The exoself doesn’t like it when people threaten me.”

  “What do you think it can do to me, darling? I’m not really here. I’m in my bed in recovery at the Helgen. Robert did a marvelous job with the transplant, and I feel completely healed, though a bit weak,” Kerstin said. “Thank you for sending me here. Robert obliged in giving me one of his lab-grown kidneys. Though I’m surprised he didn’t kill me during the operation.” She smiled. “It was that young doctor, Jack Bentley. Do you remember him, Chase?”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s the one who chipped me. Now I can enter the exoself and talk to you. I can’t see you though. Can you see me, darling? Jack said that if the exoself allowed you to see me, I would appear as you remembered me.” Her lips curled into a sly grin. “What am I wearing?”

  Chase dropped the towel and pulled on his pants. “An orange jumpsuit. Like the kind they give prisoners.”

  She laughed. “I’m not breaking any laws. You’re the criminal. You’ve stolen WR property and you’re using it against us. I can shut you down, Chase. I’ve done it before.”

  “So go ahead.”

  The code flashed across the red dress and up her long neck. “Where are you, Chase? You went off on some stupid hunt for those throwbacks with their Bibles, and for that awful girl, Melanie.”

  “Your brain’s chipped and you still can’t remember her name.”

  “Her name is irrelevant. Did you find her?”

  “I’m not telling you anything.”

  Inside him, sparks flew, as though the exoself was trying various codes to end this.

  Kerstin flickered and faded. She didn’t go away. “I’ll find you, darling. It’s only a matter of time before the exoself tells me where you are. The numbers are lining up as we speak. And when I’m fully connected to your processors…”

  “What?”

  “Then I’ll know where you’re hiding. You won’t be able to escape without the exoself.”

  “The exoself is mine, Kerstin. No one controls it but me.”

  “I told you I can turn you off. I can disable the exoself.”

  “No. You can’t.”

  “You have a killswitch.”

  “This thing is capable of more than the programmers designed. It will protect itself and me along with it.”

  “Tell me what it’s done. Has it killed someone? Rescued someone?”

  All she had to do was check the reports to know how much trouble the little town of Herouxville had seen in the past two days. She’d make the connection. “Get out of my head, you—”

  “Watch what you say, darling. You want to fit in, don’t you?” She laughed.

  The ghostlike glimmer changed to code and then Kerstin vanished. The exoself seemed to relax, if that were possible. But not Chase. He paced as he searched the cyber world for news of mind-interfacing advancements. For reports of Kerstin’s surgery. For anything to stop this from happening again.

  “Help me.” He slapped his palms against the wall and lifted his face to the ceiling. “Get me out of this.”

  16

  Chase skipped lunch. Mealtime was mandatory but no one showed up to reprimand him. Maybe his name would get posted on a list and he’d get excommunicated, or whatever these people did to rule breakers. He had to get out of this bunker before Kerstin tracked his location.

  But he couldn’t go. The believers needed him. And he couldn’t leave Mel.

  Kerstin got her brain chipped—now she was in his head. But how? Technology changed by the hour. By the minute. But Chase didn’t understand even the basics of transhumanism, much less the latest giant steps in forced evolution.

  Kerstin could shut him down.

  He had a killswitch.

  Maybe, with a little knowledge, he could shut her down.

  One thing he knew for sure, the WR had found a way to reconnect with the exoself, even if on a rudimentary level. Did Robert know? Was he trying to prevent what the others were attempting?

  “What am I supposed to do?” He had to tell someone. “No. I can’t tell anyone.”

  A knock on the door made him jump off the bed, and he pulled the door open.

  Mel smiled, but a worry line formed between her eyebrows. She held another blasted orange in her hand.

  “You missed lunch.” She tilted her head to peek into his room. “Are you all right?”

  “Sorry.” He moved aside and let her in. She reached behind him and stopped the door before he shut it completely. Stupid rules. “Thanks for the orange.” He took it from her and laid it on the small table.

  “You’re worried about Amos.”

  “Yeah. And the rest of you.” He turned to the wall and wished more than anything for a window to let in some light. Or allow a speedy escape. “I don’t know if I can do this, Melody.” He faced her. She was so beautiful, so trusting.

  She moved close to him and he embraced her.

  “We’re all unsure. We’ve been forced to live like fugitives. We’re in danger.” She cupped his face with her hand. “But we’re together and we rely on God.”

  He pulled away. “Then don’t rely on me. I know you planned this when you programmed me, but there’s so much inside me that neither of us understands. I’m afraid I’m not who you think I am. I’m not what you think I am.”

  “I think you’re a man who left everything to come here and help us. Maybe because God sent you or because you wanted to escape what they did to you. Either way, I’m glad. We’re all glad you’re here with us. The ones who seem untrusting will come around when they see how much we need you.”

  “I dreamed of this place, Mel. Well, not exactly. It was the painting upstairs, the one that hides the entrance. I saw it as though it were a real place. And I had to get here.”

  “Then it was God who sent you.” She rubbed the sleeve of his shirt.

  “But I did want out. I couldn’t stay with Synvue. You know me, Mel. I loved the fame, the money. The power. And it was stolen from me. And yet I still had it—fame and money and more power than I knew what to do with.”

  “Only it wasn’t really yours anymore.”

  Chase shook his head. “I wonder if our contestants ever felt that way—that their new lives didn’t belong to them at all.”

  “I don’t know. I know I couldn’t have done it much longer. The closer I got to God, the more I hated that life.”

  Chase moved away and sat on the bed. He reached over and picked up the orange, tossing in the air and catching it. More believer talk. He asked for no explanation. “The closer I got to being god-like, the more I hated my life.”

  She sat beside him. “I’m sorry for my part in changing you. I knew I was gett
ing close to answering God’s call to join the movement, to go underground, and I thought…” She lowered her gaze to the floor.

  He lifted her chin and brushed his fingers across her cheek. “You thought what?”

  “I was already working on the programs for the underground. And I thought if I hid them in your processors—in the exoself—that you’d come after me.”

  “Then the dreams, the overwhelming urge to get here, was all part of the program?”

  “No. Boss, I told you when you first arrived that I didn’t program you to want this. I just wanted you to know where I was. I wanted you to come looking for me if I disappeared.” She folded her arms. “I said it was for the good of the underground, but I did it for selfish reasons.”

  He put his arms around her. “So, you do have a selfish bone in your body.”

  “Do you hate me?”

  He laughed. “Do you hate me for wishing deep down inside that we were back in my dressing room sipping coffee and making fun of the queen and getting to know each other in the real world?”

  “I’ve never heard you call Kerstin the queen.” Mel grinned. “Everybody else did.”

  “I thought it plenty of times.”

  “If you hadn’t been…changed, would you still be with her?”

  “No. I was falling for someone else. You knew that, didn’t you?”

  “You’re a good man to send her to Fiender for a kidney, after all that she did to you.”

  “I don’t know about that. I think I should have just dropped her when she slipped off the top of that skyscraper.”

  Mel pulled back, her brown eyes growing huge. “What? Oh, boss, we have a lot of catching up to do.”

  “Answer my question.” He pulled her close.

  “What question?” She relaxed into his arms.

  “Did you know I was falling for you? Back in Chicago when we were just a gameshow host and his trusty assistant?” He reached for her soft hair and twisted a curl around his finger.

  “Oh.” She drew her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I had a feeling.”

  The door they’d left ajar swung open. Chase’s mother cleared her throat. “I’m sorry.” She nearly smiled, but a grim expression overtook her. “Son, I think they need you in the command center.”