by Ian Williams
“Jack, talk to me?” Phoenix said with a light tap of his cheek.
Once his arms could move, the rest of him quickly followed. After a few kicks and swings of his arms in confusion he then appeared to reset.
“Jack?”
“What the fuck did you do to me?” Jack replied. His voice remained the same as before, but he wielded it differently to Luke. This was definitely a human talking to them now.
“Thank God you’re OK.” Phoenix pulled him up to crush him with a tight hug.
“Hey, take it easy, I’m in pain here.”
“Sorry.” She let him go again with an equal amount of force.
“My head is bloody killing me. What the crap happened?”
Rhys placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder before speaking. “We’ll explain later, buddy. For now we need to check you over. Let me call upstairs to Matt, he should have a med-kit.”
The stress slowly dissipated as the three of them stayed huddled together. Phoenix could feel herself breathing freely for the first time in hours. Her chest had become uncomfortably tight from the immense pressure the situation had placed upon her. Now it could cause her no pain. She had gotten over it.
With his arm reaching out in front of him, Rhys initiated a call to his friend. The poor sod had been left upstairs with only the enemy Sentients for company. They probably had little to chat about.
“Matt, come in.”
He answered a second later. “Hey, you guys alright down there?”
Phoenix stood and let Rhys describe recent events to Matt. She had a message to send while he did that, which made her giddy just thinking about. There was some good news she had to share with Elliot and the others.
Using her own wrist computer, she logged into the messaging service she had told Elliot to check periodically. Her last message had been hours ago, they were all probably shitting themselves with worry.
“Hey, Elliot,” she said into the video recording. She could hardly contain her excitement. “I’ll be quick. I’ve found Graham!” Saying it nearly ruined her composure. “He’s still at Sanctuary, somewhere buried beneath. Get some people and dig him out. Use whatever you can find, but make sure it’s big enough to reach him underground.”
Rhys interrupted from beside Jack. “What?” He was speaking to Matt through his wrist screen still.
“I’ve got to go. Get him out of there, Elliot. I’ll be back soon,” she said, turning to Rhys the moment she ended the recording. “What’s going on?”
Matt spoke with an unexpected tone of concern to his voice. “Maybe you could explain what the fuck is going on outside? Did you do something? I’m going nuts up here.”
“What is it?” Phoenix asked, after pulling Rhys’ wrist device around to face her.
“I think you’d better see for yourself,” Matt replied, cutting the connection soon after.
She looked to Rhys, who replied before she could ask him.
“Go,” he said. “I’ll stay with Jack.”
* * *
She set a rapid pace up the many stairs to the same floor as Matt. All the while she tried to guess what he had been so worried about. Something was happening outside and none of them downstairs had any clue. She was half expecting something pointlessly irrelevant. It would not have been the first time Matt had messed her around.
There’ll be trouble if this isn’t important, she thought as she mounted the landing of the fifteenth floor. From there, it was a quick jog down the hall to where Matt, the Driller man and his friend had been left.
“Matt, you here?” she called.
He replied straight away, only he was no longer in the same place anymore. He had moved to the room around the corner, where Luke had made his leap to freedom. She could feel the night time breeze flowing through this floor, a chill she had little to no time to ready herself for. A shiver raced up her spine when she entered the room.
“Phoenix, look.” Matt was at the window, where his reason for concern suddenly became abundantly clear to her.
Looking out across the cityscape, she could see all the way to the tallest building in the centre, the New City Hall. It just was not as pretty as she had been expecting in the moment before she looked out. She approached the shattered window, where Matt stood, as the complete scene came into view. Below the sky the city still glistened and twinkled, but above it appeared an entirely different situation; it was anything but natural looking.
“What is that?” she asked, following a purple and glowing line streaking across the sky. It shot past much faster than sound could. When it finally caught up, the noise was tremendous. A deep and threatening hum burst through the air, sending a glass shaking vibration through their building. Then, after the first streak had vanished behind, it was followed by another, and another. Each new line raced by and reinforced the last. Only a few of them had gone by before the sky had become entirely purple, which appeared the new and more permanent shade above their heads.
“It’s coming from the relays, look.” Matt pointed, bringing her attention to the many beams of light shooting up into the sky. It was clear they were the source of the energy field’s power, but where had the thing originated from?
Swallowing hard, Phoenix ran a sweaty finger over the surface of the glass in front of her, and watched as it stopped where the newly formed domed shape reached its peak over the centre of the city. She had a good estimation of the place it had started.
“The tip is above the Mayor’s building. That’s where it came from,” she said, thinking aloud.
“What?”
Ignoring her friend’s question allowed her a chance to consider what to do next. From up there, they were not getting the full picture, she realised. There had to be more going on at ground level.
“Can we tune in to the TV from up here?” she asked Matt, offering her wrist computer to him.
He seemed confused at first, then thought it through himself. “Of course,” he said, as he tinkered with her device for a short while. “There, try it.”
It was almost immediately after switching it on that she could see the real state of things. The news was already reporting from the streets, where people were standing around with their heads arched to the heavens.
“Let me again reiterate,” the news reporter said, a hand to his ear as he spoke. “We don’t yet know what is causing it, but there appears to be a field of some kind currently blocking the centre of the city off to the outside world. We’ve heard of areas caught between the energy-field and understand that it has a repelling effect to anyone trying to cross it.”
“My God. This is madness.” Matt watched the screen over Phoenix’s shoulder.
“There’re also reports of armed gangs out on the streets too. I believe the police are locked in some form of battle with these individuals in various parts of the city. There’s no indication that what’s going on is connected to them, but I think you’ll agree it’s highly likely that it is. If you can, you should find safety.”
The video stuttered suddenly as a small explosion occurred behind. The reporter spun on the spot. A line of men and women, all wearing black fatigues and armed to the teeth, then appeared. They fired above the heads of those on the street. After bringing everyone to a standstill, they stood in place and waited for something.
Phoenix could contain her fear no longer. They all had the same black boxes on the sides of their heads. They were all Sentients!
“Get the others up here, now,” she said, turning to Matt. She sent a stern look to usher him into action. He acted instantly.
“I’m on it,” he replied. Except he only reached the doorway before the video report cut out and a hiss of static interrupted. When it cleared, an ominous voice called out to them.
“Citizens of New Chelmsford,” it said.
“Who’s that?” Matt asked from the other end of the room.
Phoenix brought the screen up to her eyes again and stared into it. There was no clear face between the distortions,
only the vaguest hint of one. An outline was all she could see inside the monochrome picture. Still she had a fairly good idea of who this person was going to be.
“This is your reckoning; the storm before your final judgement,” the ghostly face continued. “Your crimes will be wiped clean, but the cost will be high. Give yourselves to me and I will spare your pain. I am your saviour… I am Isaac!”
“Oh, that can’t be good.” Matt began to walk up and down the room. “What do we do now?”
There was only one option left, from what she could see. The war Luke had told her would soon come had finally landed at their feet. She knew the enemy, had seen him take form from thin air at Sanctuary eighteen months before; now she knew his power. All that those trapped inside his energy field could do, was retaliate.
“Now,” she said, her eyes focused squarely on the New City Hall building in the distance. “Now, we fight back.”
Epilogue
End of the road
The puzzle maze had barely changed since Graham’s last visit. As a result he remembered the layout almost perfectly. He was confident he could create a map for the Sentients he brought there, just from his own memory. They would find the place more than big enough to keep them safely hidden within. If Isaac’s forces found it, they would be stuck outside for a very long time. Even then, with so many complicated routes open to any intruders, it would take them forever to find their way around the place.
Despite this monumental success, Graham had something else on his mind for the time being. After finding his way back into the maze and firmly locking the entrance behind the last of the Sentients, his attention turned to Alex. He had carried her the rest of the way and could now feel his arms weakening. They had made it to safety, now he was at last able to set her down somewhere comfortable.
The first place he found was a bench in the partial garden scene from his childhood home. In the background, the Sentients had begun to congregate around the small fountain in the centre of the area. They had obviously never seen such a thing before and were understandably curious. So while they made themselves at home and were finally able to tend to the injured, Graham sat beside the bench with Alex’s hand in his.
Kindness had followed Graham ahead to the entrance of the puzzle maze and was there to step in the instant Alex’s limp body was placed. She had stopped responding completely and rested far too peacefully for Graham’s liking.
“Please,” he said, “you have to do something.”
With a hand placed upon the sparkling outline of Alex’s large wound, Kindness began to try. His effort was visible by the dimming of his own body’s glow. Just this once Graham wished there was a face to go with his new friend, or anything else that he could use to judge his progress. The silence was hurting his insides a little more with each second that ticked by.
“What’s wrong with her?” Graham found himself asking.
“She has been impaled through her energy core.”
“So, what does that mean? You can repair the damage, can’t you? I saw you help the others earlier.”
Kindness remained quiet for a second or two, then removed his hand after his glow returned to full strength. “I am sorry, Graham Denehey. There is nothing I can do.”
“What? No, you have to do something.”
“Graham, she is dying.” After his diagnosis Kindness stood and stepped back. He waited for Graham to join him, again in total silence.
But there was barely even the smallest part of Graham that wanted to do so. He could not bring himself to leave her, not like that. Staying in place and kneeling by her side, he let Kindness wander away to begin helping those he could. Once alone he burst into tears and became a mumbling mess upon the floor. Taking her hand and squeezing it as hard as he could, still could not wake her. There was nothing he could do, except wait.
With the pain came an overwhelming tiredness that caused his body to ache and his head to become heavy. Fighting it was pointless, a waste of energy that he possibly did not have left anyway. Instead, he let his head drop forward, until he could rest it against the bench. With his head between his arms and Alex’s hand gripped tightly, he found a moment of quietness to clear his messy mind.
His own daughter was safe somewhere in the real world, he knew that. But it failed to make what he was going through any easier. The being he was losing had become important to him in so many ways, ways that had entirely surprised him. This was the most human Sentient he had ever met, including Luke. She represented a glimmer of hope, a chance of forming a bridge between their races. They were not that different after all.
Understanding what drove these people and what life was for them, had dispelled everything he thought before. Where once he saw them as strange beings not much more advanced than bees, now he could see the intelligent society they had really formed. First-hand experience had changed his opinion forever.
Now, that most recognisable of human traits had been found too; compassion. Alex had shown that to him by breaking him out of the puzzle maze. Her only motivation for doing that had to be concern for another. She could have left him there without interacting at all, but she had chosen not to. She had stepped in and saved him instead.
He could not stand to think she was already gone. Not having the chance to at least thank her for what she had done, made him well up again. As he thought over the exact words he would use to show his gratitude, he found his throat closing up, like it was refusing to ever utter anything resembling a goodbye. However many times he tried to.
When he began to feel his arms ache, he decided it was time to let go of her hand. He raised his head, sniffed, and then placed her hands together on her stomach. It was not until he finished tidying her clothes up, that he noticed the wound had stopped sparkling. It now glowed with a steady and warm light instead. He moved back and watched as it spread throughout her body, until it completely covered her.
Then she opened her eyes.
“Alex!” he shouted, but stopped short of pulling her up for an embrace.
More and more, the light built in intensity. It was quickly beginning to blind him at such a close proximity. In reaction he had to stand and turn at a slight angle to her. Like trying to avoid looking at the sun directly, he hovered his hand a few inches in front of his face and toyed with the light. This allowed him to watch the transition from a safe distance.
“Thank you, Graham,” Alex said, her voice strong and booming, just like Kindness’. “Do not forget me.”
“No, please, don’t go, don’t leave me like this,” he replied while grimacing from the sudden influx of illumination. It was almost impossible for him to turn away completely, he did not want to miss anything.
“You have helped me find myself again. I only wish it could have been under better circumstances. You must do something for me, Graham.”
“Anything, you name it, Kiddo.”
“You must return to your family. Alex will be waiting there for you.”
She smiled as her features blurred and gradually disappeared from view, finally consumed by the brightness. All that was left was an outline, like that of the other Sentients. Every part of her that had once resembled Alex had gone.
“Alex, Alex, what’s happening,” Graham said.
A hand landed on Graham’s shoulder from behind him. It was Stephen.
“She has returned to her normal self again, Graham. This is the real Alex, the Sentient that was hiding beneath.”
As the light reached its peak, the room was suddenly flooded with reflections from all around. It then blinked out like someone had switched off the sun. When Graham and Stephen looked back at the bench, she was gone.
“I… I didn’t get to thank her,” Graham said.
“You didn’t need to, Graham. She knew. I must thank you myself.”
“For what?”
“I have been in her company for some time. Since that terrible day, when she lost her partner, she was in a state of denial and going from one
personality to another. Finding you in here and taking on your daughter’s image was the saving of her. You brought her back from a place of constant darkness. You saved her just as much as she saved you.”
Graham sat on the edge of the bench and stared at the spot where Alex was only moments earlier. He was sure he could still feel her presence, her life-force perhaps, where the body had been.
“What now then?” he asked.
Taking the other end of the bench, Stephen sat with his hands upon his knees. “We get you home,” he said. “This place will keep the remaining Sentients safe for now. But it is no place for a human mind to be trapped. You have to return to your own body, in the real world.”
“I need to find Luke to do that.”
“Indeed we do, Graham. Indeed we do.”
The strange smile upon Stephen’s face told of his eagerness to get started with their search. It was clear there was not a moment to spare. Returning him to his real body was all that mattered now. Every one of the Sentient beings left in their world was safely hidden, so there was nothing stopping them trying now.
If Luke had successfully re-entered his own world, then it was just a case of tracking him down and continuing on to the way out. Although that already seemed an impossible task to Graham. After everything that had happened, he was finding it hard to stay positive. The last thing he wanted was to get almost there, only for them to be stopped at the last moment.
So why was Stephen’s expression so infused with excitement?
“Look, Graham,” he said, gesturing to the group of Sentients sitting in circles about the grass.
When Graham looked, he suddenly understood it all. There, standing and smiling back at him from the other side of the area, was Luke. He had made it.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Graham said, his eyes wide and still slightly moist. “I’m going home.”
The End
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Many thanks for reading the second book in The Sentient Trilogy. I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the last book of the trilogy.