The pain in her enormous eyes is as agonized as when she admitted the truth to us at the portal. “Sam, I am sorry,” she whispers. “For this. For everything.”
“Shhh,” I mumble. “I never doubted you.” And I realize it’s true. Even when I lay on the ground with her claw stabbed through my flesh, there was never a moment where I thought that she’d betrayed us. That she was ending the job her people started. I lean in and kiss her smooth cheek as a massive chunk of wood sails past us. “Trust you… Saved us.”
Her smile is so grateful that it almost undoes me. How much has this weighed on her since we were torn apart by Astra’s portal? “Thank you. I–”
“Sam, heals incoming!” Mika yells.
“What about the Shepherd?”
“Astra’s taking care of him, too,” she says as she comes to stand next to Syl and I. She rests a hand on my chest and points. “Watch.”
The next time the enormous blade punches forward, it’s suddenly halted in an explosion of blue lightning and brilliant sparks. A shield of energy pulses in midair, brilliant where it’s impacted by the Shepherd’s blade and fading in a ring. It’s like something out of Star Trek.
As my leg knits together, I can’t help but whoop. “Yeah! Magic shield, bitch!”
“Elise left a few tricks,” Astra says, never looking up from her computers. “I never understood why some of them were here til now.” Her fingers still stab in an incredibly complex series of keystrokes that are too fast for me to follow, but she goes on. “I don’t know if she predicted this, or something worse. Maybe my death. Maybe that Aspirants would shelter here. I don’t… I don’t understand it.”
I wince as the hole in my leg closes. The lights above us pulse as powerfully as I’ve ever seen. At this rate, I’ll be able to stand in less than a minute. But the pain of healing is almost worse than the injury itself. No wonder the Citadel does this slowly, normally… As shards of bone I didn’t know were displaced tear backward through bits of my flesh, I can’t help but moan, sobbing against Syl’s chest.
But through the pain, I manage to speak. “Makes sense… Actually. Escape routes… Safe… Oh God.” I cough. “Safe rooms… I think… I think Elise expected this.”
“That I’d be attacked by the Shepherd?” Astra pauses as a bellow of fury like a fax machine had a baby with a lion provides brutal accompaniment to her words. “That’s against the rules. It doesn’t make sense.”
“No,” Mika grins, already following me. Because of course she is. She’s so damned brilliant. “That you’d join us, Astra. That someday, this place would be inaccessible to you. That you’d join the party.” She laughs in delight.
“But why not program her to do so immediately?” Syl asks. “Why allow so many Aspirants to die before Sam? What makes him special?” She glances down at me. “No offense meant.”
“Because she had to make the decision on her own.” Mika starts as the shield of light explodes into view again and again.
“It’ll hold,” Astra says absently, still typing. “What did you mean?”
“Helping us because you’re programmed to leaves no room for passion. For love or spontaneity,” Mika says, so excited her words practically tumble over each other. “Coming to this decision on your own took courage. You had to leap,” she says, not realizing how she echoes my words from earlier. “Would you have even known how to do that if it was part of some program?”
I don’t mind letting her say what I’d already realized. She’s adorable as she pieces the information together, and I don’t feel much like talking as my leg repairs itself.
Astra’s fingers are finally still above the keys. “Elise saved us all.”
“Goddamned right,” Mika says.
“You can let me down,” I groan, not sure if I believe it.
Syl lowers my gingerly, and putting weight on my still healing leg sucks, but I don’t fall flat on my face which allows me at least a bit of dignity. I glance up, immediately wish I hadn’t. “That’s really creepy.”
The Shepherd stands on the other side of the broken wall. With the energy shield invisible it’s like he like he’s in the room with us. Watching. Waiting. “When we leave…”
“He will follow,” Astra says, exhausted. “Though I still don’t understand how he found us so–”
“Preeeeeyyyyy….” The word falls over us like a blanket of electrical static, hissing from the other side of the wall.
From the Shepherd.
“Ah,” Mika whispers like she’s just wet herself, “since when does it speak?”
“It doesn’t.” Astra’s face is blanched white, terrified.
“Yeah, but it did.”
“Succummmmb…” Another stab. Another explosion of light. “The only reason you exiiiisst… Is to diiiieeee…”
“We should leave,” I say, heart trying to climb my throat.
“Y… Yeah,” Astra says, stabbing a few more keys with shaking fingers. “But how–”
“We should discuss this at a safer location.” Syl looks like the only person in the room who isn’t ready to jump out the closest window. “And avoid speaking of whatever plan I am sure you two concocted before we arrived.”
“Right. Astra?”
“Almost done. When we leave, we’ll only have moments before… Before he follows. Be ready to run.”
I flex my still aching leg. Perfect.
I take Mika’s hand in mind. She squeezes gratefully, grabs my hair and kisses me. When she pulls away, there’s so much in her eyes… So much she wants to say.
“Sorry,” I whisper against her cheek. “This isn’t exactly the reunion I’d imagined.”
She laughs and opens her mouth to sass me, but is interrupted by a whoosh as a black doorway twists open beside us.
“It’s not far. Don’t stop,” Astra says. “Together.”
Electric, hissing laughter chases us into the dark.
9
Chamber 773.229
Aspirant #1
Room Timer: ERROR
DEVIATION DETECTED
COUNTERMEASURES DEPLOYED
We appear in an empty city.
Actually, city might be underselling… Whatever this place is.
Building tower over us, so tall they’re lost in wreathes of gray cloud that hang far above. They’re completely featureless, with no doors or windows to mark their gunmetal surfaces. In fact, I can’t even tell if they are buildings. They definitely resemble skyscrapers, an impression buoyed by the sidewalks at their feet and the perfect street we’ve stumbled through the portal onto. But for all I know, they’re giant computer servers, city sized robots, or something equally terrifying. They stretch along the black street as far as the eye can see, hulking sentinels overseeing the activity below.
Or if there was any activity. There’s no sound, no people, no vehicles in this oppressive metropolis. There’s nothing at all.
“What is this place?” Mika asks, standing a lot closer to me than she needs to. “This is mega creepy.”
“Unused trial,” Astra says, turning full circle. “Like I said before, there are thousands of possible permutations created for each Aspirant. Some half formed, their data waiting to be purged when the Aspirant it was created for dies.” She takes my hand and tugs. “We have to move.”
“Where are we going?” I search for some kind of goal, something to set one building apart from the next.
“The exit. It’s not far. But it won’t take long for the Shepherd to track us.” She swallows, glances back to the rapidly dwindling spot where we popped into the trial. “I might be wrong. I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“What do you mean?” My bare feet slap against cold pavement as we pass through a deserted intersection.
She glances to me, shakes her head. “He shouldn’t have been able to find us so quickly. Shouldn’t have been able to speak. In all my time here with him as my opposite, I’ve never… He’s never done that. It shouldn’t be possible.”
/>
“Why not?” Mika huffs. “You’re an AI, and you’ve broken from your programming. Isn’t he one, too? Could he have done the same?”
“He is a much simpler process. Not like me.” Astra chews her lip. “But, yes… That’s possible.” She shakes her head, looking both ways as we pass beyond another tower and into a marginally brighter area. “But that still doesn’t make sense. This is the reset Citadel. He would have reverted with it. He’s new.”
“Like a terrifying, deadly baby,” Mika says, forcing a smile.
But that means… “Is there another Astra here, then? If you’re… She’s… Part of this place, wouldn’t that have reverted, too?”
Astra stumbles. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
We run on, each lost in our own thoughts. Syl lopes ahead, darting in quick bursts as she scouts. Barely any light penetrates the unending clouds above us, and her normally glittering scales are muted, giving her the appearance of a living shadow.
Mika keeps pace easily, barely breathing hard. “Not bad for an indoor girl,” I tease.
“Yeah,” she says, giving me a halfhearted punch to the shoulder. “Fuck crossfit. Nothing like being forced to fight for your life to force that motivation.” She glances to Astra who’s lost in thought. “What’s the plan? Where are we going?”
Astra startles. “Sorry. We need to skip to the end of the Citadel, to the egress beacon.”
“Sounds pretty self-explanatory.” I squint, searching for Syl. “What then?”
“Then…” Astra pauses, adjusting her glasses as they slide down her nose. She looks behind us a moment, frowning.
“Astra? You okay?”
“Yes,” she turns, gives me what I’m sure she thinks is a reassuring smile.
“You’re not a very good liar yet.”
Her smile turns rueful. “True. I’m just not sure where… Where he is.”
Mika puts a hand on her shoulder, not an easy feat when you’re running at a brisk jog. “When that asshole turns up, we’ll be ready.”
I know what she’s doing. Astra’s confidence and fear are evident; her entire world’s been upended overnight, and now her counterpart’s changing, too. For me, for Mika and Syl, this is all business as usual at this point. But for the AI, it’s got to be frightening. In a moment like this, a little reassurance goes a long way.
“Yes,” Astra says, nodding. “Yes, you’re right.” She puts her hand over Mika’s.
“Now, what was that plan?”
“To get off the Citadel, of course. Get you to Homeworld.”
Sounds too easy. “And we just need to get to this egress beacon to make that happen?”
“Yes,” she says after the briefest hesitation. It’s an infinitesimal pause, but I’ve become a lot more observant since my life started depending on my ability to notice small shit I would have missed before this place.
I don’t think she’s hiding things from us. Which means her hesitation comes from fear. Which means this plan isn’t nearly as sewn up as she’s hoping.
Great.
I wish I’d had time to snag my clothes before that shadow asshole chased us from Astra’s study. The Citadel has a way of catching me without my clothes on when the shit hits the fan, which makes situations like this a lot more terrifying. At the same time, it doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it did the first time I woke up in that hallway. I’m starting to see why mastering a martial art is such a confidence boost in everyday life; there’s nothing like knowing you can kick ass when the crap goes south.
Still, my business district flopping around as we flee for our lives isn’t exactly dignified. And the way the girls bounce as they run is a lovely distraction with the worst timing. Everyone’s on edge, as scared of what’s ahead as they are of the Shepherd. I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed Astra’s pause.
Syl materializes. “Something is hap–”
Roaring. Electrical, from everywhere at once. The sound is intense, terrifying, and instantly recognizable.
The Shepherd.
“Go, go!” I yell, breaking into a full sprint. The girls need no encouragement from me and the buildings practically fly past us. It’s insane how fast our upgrades have made us.
But the roaring doesn’t ebb or flow, and we get no further from its source. It’s following us, somehow. In fact, it’s getting louder. I have to fight the urge to clap hands over my ears.
Astra stumbles, and I slow to catch her. But there’s no need. Before she hits the ground, her form shifts and two additional legs erupt from her torso, arresting her fall. For a moment she’s like some bizarre insect, four legged and tumbling forward before her rear legs whip back into her body hard enough to propel her, making up for the few seconds her pace slowed.
She gives me a crooked smile and a little shrug that seems to say: Sorry. That got weird.
My words won’t carry above the blast furnace of sound that still chases us, so I mirror her shrug and grin. Nothing wrong with weird. And she shifted so quickly; it’s hard not to feel a little safer knowing how badass her reaction time is.
The roar intensifies, and the air suddenly smells like an electrical burn. “Get ready!”
Before the girls can respond, the Shepherd’s blade tears reality in half.
Right in front of us.
Terror fueled instinct kicks in, and I shove Astra aside as I dive in the opposite direction. Black metal cuts downward between us, missing my leg by a hair, so close that I feel the breeze of its passage.
Chill pavement assaults my skin as I roll away before leaping up. I spin in place, ready to right or pull the girls away with my mind, but the Shepherd’s gone. A glowing tear, as long as my body, hangs in the air at the spot I leapt from. I catch the faintest glimpse of a black edge retracting into it before it seals with an electric sizzle.
“Up!” Syl shouts over the never-ending roar that fills our ears. Mika’s twisted with Astra fifteen feet away; the AI must have tangled with her when I shoved her. Syl takes Mika’s arm and tugs her up as Astra melts and reforms on her feet, wincing. Mika’s knees are bloody, and when she takes a step forward she winces in pain and limps.
Shit. I dash to them, taking her under the arm. “Didn’t mean to shove so hard,” I say at her ear.
“Are you apologizing for saving our lives?” She rolls her eyes before kissing my cheek. “Shut up and keep saving us, Sam.”
“Yes ma’am.” We set off again, Syl staying close now, Astra leading. “How much further?”
“There!” Astra shouts, pointing.
A half mile ahead, something juts from the middle of the road. A pillar of blue light, dim enough that I’m not surprised I didn’t notice it before. It fires straight up, lost in the cloud cover with the towers that silently watch us pass.
“You have a strange notion of ‘it’s not far,’ you know,” I pant.
Astra quirks her mouth. “Hey. I haven’t been mortal very long. Distance is relative when you can appear wherever you want.”
“Now you have to use your dumb regular feet like us normies,” Mika teases.
“I think I’m okay with that.” And you know what? I think she is. There’s no faux bravery in her words, no forced humor. She runs at our side, and despite the fact that we’re one surprise rift from decapitation, she smiles breathlessly.
This could work out. I shake my head. “You’re enjoying this.”
“I… I think I am.” She shakes her head. “Your fault,” she says, and her eyes dart low as she licks her lips.
“Yeah, he has that effect.” Mika pulls away from me, nodding her thanks. “I’m good.”
She’s still limping, but it hasn’t slowed her. “You sure? I could carry you.”
“Just try it, hero.” Mika’s fist lights with flame.
“Okay, okay!” I hold up my hands in surrender. “No touchy.”
“Well,” she says, flames dying, “maybe some touchy. If we survive.”
“That’s motivation enough for
me.”
“Me, too,” Astra says, eyeing Mika speculatively. “Especially as I know you’re open to more… peculiar tastes.”
“Pec–” Mika blinks. “Sam, did you tell her about…”
I cough. Suddenly, this conversation feels more dangerous than what’s chasing us. “She, uh… She saw it.”
“My role as overseer of the facility required that I paid the Aspirants proper attention at all times so that I might see to any needs that arose.” Astra shrugs unapologetically, which is a pretty big change considering she could barely talk about it when she admitted it earlier. She is getting more confident.
“So, you’re saying it was your… Job… To watch us…” Mika can’t help but laugh. “You’re so full of shit.”
Astra grins. “Maybe.”
I turn to Mika. “Also, since when can you throw fire? I thought you had to use your staff?”
“Must be one of those ‘the magic was in you all along’ things,” she says, grinning cheekily.
Syl reappears in a blur of scaling, hands to the pavement. She stops so suddenly her claws dig deep furrows in the asphalt. “I sense something. The Shepherd is close.”
My smile melts. It’s like I’ve been doused in freezing water. “Where?”
“I do not know.” She turns to Astra. “Why has he not attacked again?” She motions to the pillar, winking brighter in the gloom. We’re close. “This makes no tactical sense.”
Astra frowns. “I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s happened to him. How he can speak, or why he’s so… Aware… So early in the simulation.”
An idea… Something disturbing. “What if he–”
“Down!” Mika shrieks.
Reality tears, horizontally this time. As one, we drop flat, and I spin in time to see the Shepherd’s blade pass over us. We’re almost not quick enough, and as I hit the pavement bits of black and purple drift lazily downward. Mika’s hair.
Oh Jesus, no. If she… But no. She lays prone, one hand cupped over her ear. Her hair on that side of her head is almost gone, cut short by the Shepherd’s slice. But she’s good, slapping the ground to heave herself back up as she gasps stolen breaths.
Aspirant 2: A Sci-Fi Harem Adventure Page 11