Chrysalis

by Brendan Reichs

  She knelt, spreading the muck at her feet with both hands.

  A manhole appeared. My eyes widened as she pried off the lid.

  There was a tunnel underneath it, with rusty metal rungs descending into darkness.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered.

  “Not God,” Cyrus answered. “Chrysalis.”

  18

  NOAH

  I stared at the barrier of thick, tarnished steel.

  Breathless. Heart pounding. Limbs tingling with electricity yet freezing cold.

  My thoughts swam in an endless circle.

  There’s a door in this cave. Someone else built it. There’s a door in this cave. Someone else built it. There’s a door in this cave . . .

  Sounds of struggle behind me broke through the loop. I turned to see Ethan dragging Green Eyes to her feet, absorbing several well-placed kicks to his abdomen in the process. Tack was rubbing his forehead like he wanted to take the skin off it. Whatever he’d expected to find in here, this wasn’t it.

  “What is this place?” Ethan demanded, shaking the girl by her shoulders. “Where does it go?”

  She gritted her teeth, tried to kick him again where it counts. He shifted in time and shoved her against the stone wall. The girl grunted but didn’t cry out, watching us instead with loathing in her eyes.

  “No more playing dumb.” Tack’s chest heaved as he pointed at her. “We all heard you speak a second ago, so we know you understand us. Tell us what’s going on. Now.”

  Green Eyes went still. Her glare slid from Tack, to Ethan, and then to me before dropping to the ground. Her shoulders sagged. When she looked up again, the fight seemed to have left her. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now,” she muttered.

  Tack threw up his hands. “Finally!”

  Ethan was staring a hole through the girl’s head. “What’s your name?”

  She considered for a moment, then said, “Rose.”

  Rose. The name fit. She was pretty, but with thorns. Stop thinking like an idiot.

  “Nice to meet you, Rose.” Tack aimed his finger at the steel door. “What the hell is that?”

  Rose’s left foot began to tap. “I don’t know. I got lost running away from you guys and came in here to hide.”

  “Ridiculous,” Ethan spat, folding his arms. “Do you think we’re morons?”

  “You don’t want me to answer that.”

  I held up a hand before Ethan could go nuclear. “Rose, you came straight here. We watched the whole time. I assume that means you can open the door. Is this where our friends were taken?”

  Rose looked away. I sighed. She clearly wasn’t going to help.

  Tack walked over to the portal and slid his hands along its sides. “This door has a keycard slot,” he announced to the room.

  I turned to Rose. “We need the card. I don’t want to search you against your will, but that’s what happens next unless you tell me where it is.”

  Her bottom lip began to tremble. “You don’t understand. They’ll kill me if I let you in.”

  Tack’s cheek twitched. “Did it occur to you that we might kill you if you don’t cooperate?”

  Rose shrank against the wall. “I . . . I just . . .” She twisted away, burying her face in her bound hands as her whole body began to quiver.

  I took a step forward. “Hey, listen. We—”

  Rose spun, her boot flying up to connect with my chin. I fell back with my hands over my mouth as she dropped her shoulder and drove it into Ethan’s stomach. He tumbled sideways and she shot past him, intent on running straight over Tack.

  But he was ready. Tack sidestepped and caught her with an elbow to the temple. Rose collapsed to the ground. Then Ethan and I were up, and all three of us basically sat on her.

  “Stop kicking me all the time!” I shouted, aware of how silly it sounded but long past caring. My head hurt like a mother. Beside me, Ethan was struggling to regain his wind as he grappled with Rose’s legs.

  Tack was giggling hysterically as he pinned her shoulders. “Man, this girl is vicious.”

  Rose fought for a moment longer, then gave up with a shriek. She went limp, and we cautiously released her, on guard for another assault. But Rose seemed to have finally run out of gas. Tack knelt and began searching her. She made no move to resist. He removed an unadorned rectangle of gleaming white plastic from her pocket.

  Rose watched him hand it to me. “You won’t like what you find,” she whispered.

  I barked a bitter laugh. “Oh, I’m one hundred percent sure you’re right about that.”

  I walked to the keypad, took a deep breath, and swiped the card. The door unlocked with the hiss of a pneumatic seal breaking. Ahead of me a metal-walled corridor curved out of sight. No windows. No doors.

  What in the world? I stepped over the threshold. The air was chilly and processed. Air-conditioned, I thought with surprise. Tack and Ethan entered the passage behind me, marching Rose between them like police officers. She was fidgety, rubbing her cheek against her shoulder.

  “Last chance to explain,” I said.

  “Release my hands and I’ll show you.”

  “Not a chance,” Tack said, while Ethan snorted.

  I shrugged unhappily. “Sorry. You keep beating us up. You understand.”

  The ghost of a smile appeared but fled just as quickly. “Then you’re on your own, boys. I’ll say it again: you’re not going to like this at all.”

  The corridor curled to our right, angling upward in a long ramp. I started counting paces but quit after fifty. We did at least two full revolutions, perhaps three. I assumed we were climbing inside the rocky spire but couldn’t be sure.

  Finally, the corridor flattened and widened. A bay window appeared in one wall, overlooking the forest below. The sun was high in the sky, which was clear for once. I could see all the way to the ocean.

  We paused to stare.

  “Who built this?” I whispered.

  Rose’s face reddened. For a moment I thought she might answer, but she remained silent.

  I spotted a second door a dozen yards farther along, where the corridor ended. I nodded to the others and we approached. The card worked again, this time accessing a room filled with banks of high-tech computer equipment. Monitors on the wall displayed surveillance feeds, including one of the Outpost. With a jolt I realized that some of the screens showed views of Fire Lake Island, including Home Town. There were no people in sight in the village.

  “What’s going on here?” Ethan breathed.

  I felt sick and scared, like a hamster spotting a snake outside its cage. “They’re . . . monitoring us. Whoever these people are. They’re watching everything we do.”

  Tack stared at Rose in openmouthed bafflement. “Why’d you leave us out in the cold?” His voice rose, then nearly broke. “We’ve been living in the wilderness for half a year. You could’ve taken us in. Given us food. Shelter. A place to stay warm. But you left us in camps to study like . . . like . . . lab rats!”

  Rose refused to meet his eyes. “You still don’t understand.”

  I stepped forward and gently lifted her chin, forcing her eyes to meet mine. She didn’t pull away.

  “Show us, Rose. No more games.”

  She held my gaze, green daggers piercing through my defenses. “Fine. Follow me.”

  She crossed the room and nodded impatiently at the next door. I swiped the card. The corridor beyond was blindingly white on all sides, with spotless tiles and seamless plastic walls. “How big is this facility?” I asked in wonderment. “Are we still inside the mountain?”

  “Just follow me.”

  We crossed other hallways at regular intervals, but Rose didn’t slow, and we didn’t encounter anyone else. Reaching a set of sealed double doors on our left, Rose took a deep breath. She looked at me, and I couldn’t decode
her expression. “Last chance. Are you sure you don’t want to run back to your cabins? You still can, you know. I won’t stop you.”

  I shook my head, though my hands had begun to tremble. “Same card opens this one?”

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Ethan stepped close and whispered into Rose’s ear. “If anything magically pops out from behind this door, I won’t let you escape.” He removed his gun and racked the slide. “Understand?”

  She pulled away from him with a look of revulsion. “No one will be in the Observatory at this time of day. You have my word.”

  “The Observatory?” Tack hissed, but Rose’s mouth formed a thin line and she said nothing more.

  “Okay then.” I ran the card. The doors sighed open.

  Beyond was a small amphitheater with tiered benches descending toward a giant featureless wall. Everything was a stark, gleaming white. When the doors slid shut behind us, silence filled the room like a living thing.

  “Well?” Ethan said impatiently. “What is this, a classroom or something?”

  Rose smirked. “No. But you are about to learn a lesson. There’s a switch on the wall.”

  Tack was closest. After examining the lever for several seconds, he shrugged and flipped it up. The front wall split in half and the two sections rolled apart, revealing a massive window beyond.

  I was smashed by a feeling of vertigo. My mind tried to hide under the carpet.

  “Holy crap,” Tack breathed.

  Ethan began shaking his head, unable to speak.

  “Told you,” Rose said with a satisfied smile.

  A jet-black expanse filled the window, dotted with tiny twinkling lights. It framed a bright blue orb covered in white swirls and orange and green splotches. A smaller gray sphere hung beside it, half lit by intense yellow radiance.

  I nearly emptied my stomach. Tears filled my eyes.

  I was staring down at Earth from far, far above it. Everything I knew dissolved like a sand castle at high tide.

  “Welcome to Chrysalis,” Rose said.

  Tack took a shaky step backward. “How . . . how can . . .”

  Ethan spun to face her, a panicked wildness in his eyes. “You better explain this, right now, or I’m—”

  An alarm screamed.

  Red lights began flashing in the ceiling.

  Rose hip-checked Ethan and bolted for the doors, ducking under my outstretched fingers. “Stop her!” I yelled, but she shoulder-bowled Tack aside and reached the top, pressing the exit button with her nose. Rose straightened with a last look back, and our eyes met. She winked, then ran out of the Observatory, her hands still tied behind her back.

  “For the love of God,” Ethan groaned. “We have to catch her again?”

  A computerized voice boomed into the chamber. “Attention. Containment breach, Terrarium platform seven. Containment breach, Terrarium platform seven.”

  I swallowed. “Pretty sure that’s us.”

  Tack’s face screwed up into a ball. “Terrarium? Seriously?”

  The outer doors remained stubbornly open. We heard booted feet pounding along the corridor and ducked behind a row of benches. “What should we do?” Tack whispered.

  Ethan shook his head, sweat dampening his forehead. “We don’t know anything about this . . . this goddamn space station we’re on!” He seemed unable to accept what his eyes had seen.

  More boots passed by outside as the doors mercifully slid shut. “They don’t seem to be coming in here,” I said. “Maybe we just lie low?”

  Ethan rolled his eyes at me. “That ginger psychopath will tell them exactly where we are any second.”

  Tack swore. I didn’t say anything, trying to make my thoughts line up. I knew we had to move—Ethan was right—but I didn’t know where to go. Any direction could lead straight to our enemies.

  The doors beeped. The keycard portal blinked to green.

  I met the others’ terrified glances, then we all flattened to the floor.

  Someone stepped inside the chamber. The doors closed.

  Only one, Ethan mouthed. I nodded, slowly shifting into a crouch.

  Ethan counted down on his fingers.

  Three. Two. One.

  I exploded off the floor and launched myself at a dark-clad figure.

  Stopped short as the muzzle of a gun nearly jabbed me in the eyeball.

  Tack and Ethan slammed into me from behind. Ethan swung his Glock up, then froze, his finger uncurling from the trigger as the stranger aimed directly at his forehead. Ethan’s gun dropped to the floor.

  Our assailant lowered his weapon, and I received my third stupendous shock of the last ten minutes.

  “No freaking way,” Tack murmured.

  Black Suit holstered his gun. He was actually wearing a gray jumpsuit, without sunglasses, but it was him. My childhood executioner dipped his head. “I thought you might be the ones in here. Come on, we don’t have much time.”

  My feet were glued to the floor. My brain felt like spaghetti.

  “You’re dead,” I said dumbly. “You stayed inside the Program.”

  He smiled dryly. “Min cut me loose at the end, remember? There was a regeneration pod in the command suite, so I decided to follow you guys out after all. Good thing I did, too.”

  Ethan pointed at Black Suit’s clothing. “You’re one of them!”

  “Yes and no, Ethan. This station is connected to Project Nemesis, but I’m not a part of it. I’m actually an uninvited guest, which is a snag for Chrysalis. Turns out I was a pawn in a much deeper game.”

  The mechanized voice repeated. Black Suit winced. “I’ll explain everything when we’re safely hidden, but we have to go.”

  Tack stepped close and whispered in my ear. “What do you think, Noah? You know him best. Should we trust him?”

  I stared at the monster who’d hunted me throughout my childhood. His expression was grave, but he didn’t dodge my inspection. “I don’t think we have a choice,” I said, surprised by the calm in my voice. “If it’s a trap, we’re done anyway.”

  Black Suit nodded. “Correct. Now come on. I disconnected the sensors in this sector, but they’ll notice eventually.”

  He made to turn, but I grabbed him by the jumpsuit. “One thing.”

  “Okay, Noah. Name it.”

  “We’re going back for Min and the others. I’m not leaving them in that fishbowl.”

  Black Suit smiled, an expression so foreign to his countenance that I released him in surprise. “I promise, Noah. I’ve left my daughter in there until now only for her protection, but things are changing. We’ll get them all out.”

  I stepped back, relieved. “Then lead the way.”

  19

  MIN

  I peered through the doorway at a gleaming white corridor.

  Booted feet echoed down the hall. Cyrus quickly closed the door, holding a finger to his lips. I hadn’t seen anyone, but from the look on his face we didn’t want to be discovered. He’d sent his companions ahead to scout and was taking no chances. Which was good, because I was so shell-shocked I could barely keep upright.

  This place.

  This . . . facility.

  We’d descended the ladder inside the hatch to some kind of service tunnel, then followed it to this mechanical room. There the thirteen of us huddled—my friends and I quietly freaking out—while Cyrus waited for Parisa, Scott, and Jerica to return from their recon mission. If caught, he explained, they could claim to be on a regular errand. Nemesis Three apparently had permission to move freely.

  So we sat silently in the dark.

  In a mechanical room beneath our lake.

  In a complex built into the bedrock of Fire Lake Island.

  No wonder we couldn’t find or stop them. They’d been hiding below us the whole time. The idea ma
de me shudder. How long had this been going on?

  Cyrus backed away from the door and scratched his blond scalp. He’d been acting nervous since we’d entered the hatch, which made me anxious, too. A billion questions screamed inside my head, but I kept quiet as the footsteps carried away. Finally, he released a deep breath. I unleashed a torrent.

  “Where the hell are we?” I hissed. “How deep does this facility go? Do you live underground?”

  Sarah wedged up beside me. “Did you build this place after exiting your Program? How long ago did you regenerate?”

  Cyrus ran a hand over his face. “This is going to be difficult.”

  Derrick pushed forward as well, glaring at the stocky boy. “Spit it out, man.” He waved a hand at the humming machines all around us. “You’ve got our attention.”

  Cyrus sighed. “Very well. But please, don’t waste time questioning whether I’m telling you the truth. It’s going to be nearly impossible to believe, I know. I’ve been there. But you have to adapt quickly so we can move on.”

  An unsettled murmur traveled the group. Akio and Richie stiffened beside Casey, Leighton, and Spence. Charlie had a hand over his mouth. Everyone inched closer to hear.

  “You are aboard Chrysalis,” Cyrus explained. “You always have been, though you never knew it until this moment.” He paused, and I sensed his next words would be the hardest to hear. “We are not on Earth.”

  Dead silence. Cyrus nodded, looked impressed.

  “Chrysalis is an advanced space station in orbit around the planet. You, like my class previously, have been living in a place called the Terrarium—an astoundingly large artificial biome at the heart of the station. But it’s a false environment, like a cage for a snake, or a zoo enclosure if you prefer.”

  My brain froze. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t look at anyone but Cyrus. No one could.

  I think our quiet was starting to make Cyrus uncomfortable. “The Terrarium is controlled for day and night cycles, weather, tides, wildlife and plants, even . . . other things. It’s the greatest technological accomplishment in human history. I never knew it was false when I lived inside it, so don’t feel bad. It’s meticulously designed to make inhabitants think it’s a real world.”