The Sentient Mimic (The Sentient Trilogy Book 2)

by Ian Williams

  Jason and Nessa each smiled and nodded in return, as Sandra walked for the door without Conrad. She was not going to allow him a spare second to gather his thoughts together. Everything was coming at him thick and fast. He only hoped he could absorb it all quick enough. He jogged after her and was quickly heading down the hallway with a click-clack of his shoes upon the floor.

  As he followed he considered the information he had just been force-fed. This second faction had been involved longer than his case had existed. They had searched for answers for much longer. So what had brought them in in the first place? If not the murders he was investigating, then it had to have been something equally as brutal.

  Maybe the Mayor did have the answers after all? Either way, he was going to find out.

  * * *

  “They’re trying again!” Graham said, his hands pushed hard against the rear of the protective shield. His fingers were burning now, as though someone was slowly trying to snap them off. After a few seconds of searing heat he had to remove them, before being forced to replace them straight after. At the rate the enemy were attacking, he would not be able to take it for much longer.

  With Kindness standing solidly right beside him, they still had the creatures behind the shield. But without the doorway opening they were one large and stationary target. They were losing the fight one head-on attack at a time. There was more than just one small area threatening to collapse now, but the entire thing. Already they had been forced to reseal it in three places.

  “Graham Denehey,” Kindness shouted above the crashing sounds around them. “You must help Alex open the doorway.”

  “What about you?”

  “I will hold this area, now go. We haven’t much time left.”

  Graham pulled his sore hands away from the barrier and was shocked to see them blackened from the heat. He could not feel them at all anymore either. With both hands held out in front of him, open to the air – as he often did after a burn in the real world – he leapt around the group of injured as he made his way to the front. The weaker the force field had become, the more they had been required to join in the fight. That currently meant their combined energy was also being drained like a leach sucked their life-force away.

  Past them, he found Alex still down on one knee, her head drooping from the strain. She again clamped her eyes shut. When he arrived next to her, he noticed something else too. Her face had begun to glow a tiny amount.

  “Alex?”

  “Yes Graham,” she replied, with a strangely digital sounding distortion to her voice.

  “Are you OK? You sound different.”

  “I am almost through.”

  He thought better of asking any more. Whatever was happening, it had no immediate effect on them or her. It was clear to Graham what was going on though; she was becoming herself again. The Sentient that hid inside had started to break free of the illusion. She did not appear to have the strength to uphold it and bring down the shield around the doorway at the same time.

  “How much longer?” He lowered himself to see her face as he asked.

  “Less than a minute longer. We need to be prepared to leave the instant it is down.”

  “I’ll tell the others. Make sure you’re first through, OK? Promise me?”

  A slow nod was all she gave him to confirm. She then returned to her work, her expression demonstrating exactly how engrossed by the task she had become. Every time she moved her head to the side, the glow intensified a little more. It was still far from the same brightness as a normal Sentient, but it was not going to be long before that changed.

  The short trip back to Kindness should have been one with a good message, the first in a while too. Graham felt positive again about their chances. With the doorway’s barrier about to come down, it was expected that their next concern would be to get everyone through without any more losses. So far their escape had claimed nearly a quarter of the Sentients that had remained.

  Unfortunately, that was not to be.

  Graham had made it to Kindness’ side as the loudest bang so far raced past him, along with a gust of fast moving air. It buffeted his back while he tried his best to remain standing. Neither won outright in the end. His left leg buckled beneath him and brought him halfway to the floor, where he stayed and looked around in confusion. Where had the explosion come from?

  “The doorway is open, look!” Stephen called at the top of his voice.

  Alex had actually managed it. Graham watched in astonishment as the shimmering surface surrounding the exit dissolved into the air. Their escape route was open and beckoning them through.

  But to the side of it, he spotted the same was true of their barrier as well. There was a large hole in the side.

  One of the creatures slowly hovered in through the gap. Graham launched himself to his feet and aimed straight for it. The others had already started to race through the doorway and were disappearing into the swirling matter beyond. They were seeing their enemy to their side, like a growling and deadly doorman about to close the door on the rest of them.

  “Stephen, get them all through, now,” he ordered as the intense fear quickly got the better of him.

  He could not wait for an answer and instead lunged into the side of the small portion of the shield still active around the side wall. With all the remaining strength available to him, he forced his flashing anger into the field in one last push. It began to close with an unexpected and immense speed, working the hole together like a bandage of pure energy.

  The creature had made it part of the way through already and quickly became trapped in his quick-fix seal. It thrashed about while he tried squeezing it as hard as he could, as though it were a nut he tried to crack open. Eventually he could feel it giving way. The shield was cutting through it and closing. When the creature finally stopped its death-throws, he was left with a large piece of it fizzing and hissing in front of him.

  Now it was just left for the rest of them to make it through. To guarantee they all did, he chose to stay in position to shore up the barrier for as long as he could.

  “Go, go, go,” he ordered of each Sentient speeding by.

  He was overjoyed to see them all vanishing from view through the doorway. They had made it, the escape was working. As the last rushed past, he looked to Kindness, who had begun to make preparations to bring down the barrier. They shared a knowing glance. With the enemy attack continuing unabated, there was no time for them all to break free of the shield and reform. The Sentients floating around the force field were not set to escape along with the others. Kindness was going to stay until the very last moment, before leaving his brave soldiers behind.

  Graham smiled and then stepped backwards into the spinning exit. His last view of the evil world Isaac had created was wiped out in seconds, replaced immediately afterwards with a pure white light.

  Relief was a welcome – and fashionably late – guest to the party. The world beyond the last slowly formed around him. Turning round, he saw the others waiting for further instructions. They looked to him, their featureless faces still able to impart the unease they all felt. Why they were standing around when the end of their journey resided somewhere nearby was beyond him. He guessed Alex was finding it difficult to find it again. That would be another unexpected problem they could just do without.

  Kindness appeared behind him. He watched as no-one else followed. The last of the Sentient fighters had no doubt faced a swift end as soon as the enemy had been let in. Now they were to do what they could to slow down the creatures. But from Graham’s side, they could lock the doorway with another barrier, this time one small and massively powerful. The enemy would be kept back for much longer this time, while they found the tunnel.

  He worked his way through the dense crowd as he searched for Alex somewhere at the front. This world was one he strangely recognised from before. It was a sweeping landscape of white hills and snow topped trees. This path took them to the puzzle maze alright. Only they still n
eeded the exact tunnel to reach it. Alex knew where it was.

  Spotting Stephen kneeling down with his back to the group had Graham speeding up and storming through the beings in his way. Stephen was leaning over something he held in his arms. Or was it someone?

  “No! Alex,” he said, a sudden shudder as a coldness swept across his body.

  Stephen held Alex against his chest, his arms wrapped around her tightly. He looked up to Graham and gave him a slow nod. She was injured, that much was devastatingly clear, but exactly how bad remained undetermined.

  “I tried to stop it,” Stephen said.

  There were no words on Graham’s tongue, just despair. A deep wound through her centre flickered with a static charge where the enemy had struck. The sight of her lying there, her eyes damp and glaring, made him fall to his knees beside them. He could not imagine her not existing anymore, it was simply not possible to him. It made little sense to him to think any other way. He refused to accept she was dying, despite the fact she had been run through.

  “What are you doing?” Stephen asked as Graham hauled her up into his arms and rested her head gently against his shoulder. Her arms and legs hung loose and motionless.

  “I’m getting her to safety,” Graham replied, before walking ahead of the group. He then began to whisper to Alex as he carried her. “Hey, Alex, honey. I need you to do one more thing for me, then we can patch you up.”

  She could not raise her head to answer. Instead she tried to speak with her face almost nestled against Graham’s neck, which made her words muffled and weak.

  “What do you need me to do?” she murmured, the words almost lost to a background hiss of static in her voice.

  “Can you open the tunnel to the puzzle maze for me? Once we’re there, Kindness will be able to help you. Is that OK?” He hated having to ask her to do anything else, but they had no choice, they had to end their journey finally. The only way they were going to do that was with Alex’s help.

  “I will try, Graham.” Her voice wavered slightly before she then added, “I am glad I met you.”

  “Hey, don’t you dare talk like that, you hear me? I’m going to get you help.”

  With one hand still hanging by her side, she slowly lifted the other and waved it out in front of them. Then, and without even looking, she opened a small tunnel that ran off to the side of their current route. After the exit had appeared, she immediately became floppy, like a child-sized rag-doll.

  Feeling Alex suddenly lose consciousness made Graham call back to Stephen in a panic. “Get Kindness here now!” he yelled.

  Chapter 26

  Switchover

  11:50pm, Friday: ten minutes until Switchover

  “He’s all yours,” Sandra said, before turning and walking away again. She delivered Conrad to interview room two, where the interrogation of the Mayor had already started.

  Derek stood before the one-way mirror, his arms crossed and a stern look upon his face. He kept his eyes locked onto the proceedings beyond the glass, and only acknowledged another’s presence with a flick of his head.

  “What’s going on in there?” Conrad asked. From his view of the room, he could see it matched the exact same as the interview rooms in his own station. In the middle was a steel table with electronically locking cuffs built in to its flat surface. Either side of the table were metal chairs, each of which were bolted to the ground. He had seen enough of these kinds of chats go wrong to appreciate the need for the extra-secure furniture. Although he did not expect anything of the sort from the Mayor, who sat with his arms clamped to the table.

  Derek intensified his glare into the room, then spoke with a renewed degree of severity. “We’re poking the nest, trying to rattle the Queen free.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “He knows what we’re after. Only after increasing the pressure will we see the real him. The image of a broken and desperate man is nothing more than a facade. Beneath, there is the head of a vast hive of evil. We just need the right amount of force to bring it out of him.”

  Conrad stood beside Derek and tried to see the same of his Mayor. Unfortunately, all he could see in return was exactly what resided at the surface. He saw no sign of anything else.

  “Please, Derek, I need answers. You’ve got to tell me why he’s so important. What could he possibly know about any of this?”

  “Do you enjoy your job, Conrad?”

  The question seemed completely irrelevant, yet he could not help but go along with it.

  “Sure, why?”

  “Because you are a dying breed, Conrad. We both are. We’ve watched as the world slowly chose to give up on itself, watched as technology reached a point where it threatened to replace us all, if not for our attempts to control it. I can’t help but ask myself if it is all our fault; maybe if we’d stood up and said ‘no’ to it all we would still be in charge.”

  “We are still in charge,” Conrad said, before questioning himself a moment later. “Aren’t we?”

  “No, Conrad, we are not. People like our Mayor, the ones determined to make drones out of us all, are the ones really in control. The very moment Simova stepped over the line and created the first AI we were all doomed. Was it worth it? Was my wife supposed to die because a few crazy people were angry it failed? It was nothing but a hellish curse upon the Earth, one I’m glad no longer exists. When these terrorists destroyed the relays, they destroyed lives.”

  “What happened to your wife?”

  Derek looked to him and smiled. “You’re a good person, Conrad. Not many care enough to ask. We’ve all suffered.” He placed both hands on the counter in front of the glass while he explained. “She was travelling across the country by Mag-Lev when the relays blew. The overload spread right through the lines, causing many to crash. Hers sped out of control before hitting another coming the other way. I went for weeks without knowing what happened. Then when I finally found out, I tried to find answers. I couldn’t find any. Everyone involved, all of the city’s police force, emergency services and politicians knew nothing.”

  “So you decided to find them yourself,” Conrad said, finishing the sentiment himself.

  “Exactly, and that is what you see here today. All of my anger, all of my hurt and pain, put into this one endeavour. I will not rest until I have the bastards in charge of it in my hands.”

  They both took comfort in silence, for a short while. Conrad could understand the betrayal Derek still felt after losing so much. Even though he had not lost his own wife, Gloria, in the same way, the suddenness had affected him similarly. They both chose to turn to work of some kind to help them heal.

  When the man conducting the interview left the room and joined them outside, Conrad remained quiet. He needed to let them work for now. His own chance for answers was fast approaching.

  “Please,” Mayor Crawley called to them through the open door. “I don’t know anything. You have to let me go, you have to. I can pay you for my freedom.”

  The interviewer slammed the door shut, then spoke. “Sir,” he said, with an attempted salute.

  “Anything?” Derek asked the bearded man.

  “Nothing, sir. He’s still denying his involvement.”

  “Fine, you can go.” Derek addressed Conrad unexpectedly. “Care to join me?”

  Before he could answer, Derek had already stepped into the interview room and was taking his seat. Conrad did not think about it for long, he followed soon after. As he took the corner and crossed the threshold, his mind raced with an almost endless list of questions he wanted to ask the Mayor.

  Once he took his place at the back of the room, the tension grew. He stood with his back leaning against the glass and arms crossed. Good cop or bad cop, Conrad was not entirely sure at that moment.

  “Hello Mayor Crawley, how are you feeling?” Derek asked.

  Disturbingly the Mayor chose not to look Derek in the eyes, but to stare directly at Conrad instead. “I’m very disappointed, Conrad. I had such
high hopes for you,” he said.

  Derek sent a sidelong look to Conrad standing behind. “Anything you’d like to say, before I begin?”

  “I have a question,” Mayor Crawley said, interrupting. The panic and fear in his voice only a moment earlier had suddenly vanished without a trace. Had they already dug beneath the mask?

  “Of course, go ahead.”

  “Does anyone have the time?”

  Conrad shot a perplexed look back at the Mayor. What was it with these people? They all spoke cryptically, never just saying what they thought.

  “The time, that’s what you want to ask?” Conrad said. “Sir, you’re being held against your will by these people, don’t you want to know why?”

  The question was ignored by both of Conrad’s companions.

  “My wrist device says 11:57, why do you ask?” Derek held his wrist computer out for the Mayor to see.

  “Three minutes to go, excellent.”

  “Three minutes until what? Dammit Mayor Crawley, stop messing about.” Conrad was quickly becoming the angry and frustrated cop, not the good or the bad.

  Mayor Crawley laughed to himself. “Do either of you like movies?”

  Conrad threw his arms up in the air in disbelief.

  “Well, you know that moment when the hero of the movie has been captured and the baddy is giving his big speech?” Mayor Crawley waited for a response. He got none. “And the enemy proudly tells him the entire plan? He always does so with just enough time left for the hero to stop it, doesn’t he? Well, that isn’t happening this time, I’m afraid. Time is very much up, Gentleman.”

  “Cut the bullshit, Mr Mayor,” Derek snapped. He then removed his wrist computer and activated its holographic projector. “Who is this man?”

  Suddenly the Mayor became like a sponge being wrung free of moisture; it came pouring out. Seeing Conrad on the other side had angered him greatly, making his every word one aimed directly at him. “Why, that’s Anthony Burgees.”

  “OK,” Derek said. “Can you explain how you know him?”