Total System Failure

by James Hightower

  “This guy must some huge success,” Alec commented.

  Tara flicked hair from her face. His guardian must’ve just noticed her ragged appearance. Staring at her golden reflection, she rubbed a smudge of dirt from her cheek. Alec almost laughed as another smudge replaced the old one. Almost. He probably looked no better.

  The elevator binged opened and they entered. Paintings decorated the walls. One in particular caught his attention, a familiar piece by a contemporary artist from Arctic City. Excitement raced through him, followed by lurching disappointment. One could lose themselves for hours in the painting’s layered complexity. The painting was rumored to reveal your inner character after hours of analyzing. He’d always wanted to see what he saw, but now that he stood in the painting, he didn’t have the time.

  Down the hallway, Tara was already pounding on the door. With a final regretful glance at the painting, he went to join her.

  The door swung open. An unshaved man wearing a blue velvet track suit and matching slippers stood in the opening. Curly black hair framed a confused face. The man smiled politely, but as he took in their soiled appearance, his expression slid into a frown.

  “May I help you?”

  “Marlo, we need your help.”

  The man, Marlo raised an eyebrow. “Do I know you?” The door shut a fraction.

  “I’m Tara,” his guardian said. “I was…created by Catherine. I know it’s been about two years since we’ve talked, but—”

  “Right,” Marlo cut in, face suddenly stern. “Look, my fiancé is on the way. Come back in a couple of hours and I’ll help you.”

  “We don’t have two hours,” Tara protested. “It’ll take fifteen minutes. Maximum.”

  The elevator dinged in the distance. Clicking heels approached. Marlo paled. “Inside,” he hissed, yanking them through the door.

  But it was too late. Marlo’s fiancé appeared in all her Prada-imbued glory. She clutched a purse large enough to steal small kitchen appliances. A Starbucks cup trembled at the sight of them. Purple eyes widened.

  “Oh my! Are these workers, Marlo?”

  Alec hated her instantly.

  “Yeah,” the man said, darting a warning glance in their direction. “I don’t know how they got clearance up here.”

  “Have you alerted security?” She leaned back as though afraid one of them might touch her. “Oh, they’re filthy! Are you sure these people work here?”

  “Actually, I’m a friend of Marlo’s,” Tara interrupted. She extended a hand. “My name’s Tara.”

  Marlo’s fiancé stared at the hand as though she’d held a dead rat. Her face contorted.

  “Your friend?” the woman screeched. “Is this that scientist floozy you used to work with? Is this your kid, too?”

  “Honey, it’s not like that—” Marlo raised a hand to pacify the woman.

  The woman stomped off, each click of the heel growing louder as she disappeared down the hallway. Marlo leveled a death stare at them before racing after her.

  “Honey, no, listen let me explain….”

  Tara watched them for a moment, then shrugged. His guardian waved him deeper inside the apartment.

  His skin tingled from the sudden warmth. The apartment was so full of ornaments and decorations that it made Alec’s head spin. It reminded him of Domo’s room on steroids. Just as he lowered himself onto a red leather sofa, Marlo burst back into the room.

  “You’re both bugging crazy,” Marlo shouted. “You might’ve just ruined my marriage!”

  “She’s not your type anyway,” Tara said, sitting down next to him. Did he smell as bad as she did?

  “I don’t even—” the man’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “I’m guessing Katherine sent you?”

  “Katherine’s dead,” Tara said.

  Alec flinched at the two words. Marlo’s eyes found him. “And I guess you’re her…son?”

  Alec nodded, mouth too dry to say anything.

  “What do you need me to do?” the man asked a note of resignation in his voice.

  “The boy has some data we need you to look at,” Tara said. She turned to him with an expectant look.

  Well time to find out if he was correct. Alec sighed and unhooked the necklace and extended his palm. Marlo bent over to inspected it. Several heartbeats later, the man straightened and left without saying anything. Confused, Alec stared after him but in seconds, Marlo returned carrying a plain black box. A hole was cut from the top. He placed the box in front of him.

  “If I know Cathy, then this should crack the encryption.”

  Alec dropped the necklace into the hole. Instantly, a column of white light burst from the hole. His heart pulsed with glow. Then, a halo-sphere materialized between them. Data points sparkled like diamonds, numerous as grains of sand on a beach.

  “Amazing,” Marlo breathed, gaze fastened to the holo-sphere. Light danced across his stunned face. “This is code from the Super AI.”

  Chapter 12

  Marlo went to work on the code like a toddler on his favorite candy. Alec could only watch in amazement.

  After several long minutes, the man said, “There’s a location embedded in the code.”

  Alec shook his head. The man must truly be brilliant. For him, the code might as well be from some alien civilization. A three-dimensional map branched out from the holo-sphere. He recognized the rectangular grids cutting through the three circles instantly.

  “Arctic City,” Alec said. Was that his imagination or was his heart beating just a little bit faster?

  “We have to go now.” Marlo peeked out the silk curtains. “Like right now.”

  Alec couldn’t agree more. He collected his mother’s necklace and put it around his neck. Information to world’s most sought-after entity dangling across his chest. The surreal-ness of the situation hit him like a blow to the stomach.

  “This is too important to leave to chance,” the man continued. “I’m seeing you to the Metro.”

  Minutes later, they huddled together on the other side of the fence. Marlo scanned the road and didn’t turn back to them until the taxi halted in front of them. He was ushered inside by the adults.

  “Get there fast and you get ten times normal rate,” the man said.

  “Right away, sir!” the taxi said with enthusiasm. “ETA, nineteen minutes.”

  For a long moment, the only sound in the taxi was from the traffic outside. The leather seat creaked as they rounded a corner.

  Marlo didn’t appear capable of keeping his hands still. The man fidgeted like a dog with fleas. Suddenly, the man spoke, “Cathy always had high hopes for you, but she always wanted you to have the free will to make your own decisions.”

  “Stick to cybersecurity,” Alec said, staring out the window. “You suck as a life coach.”

  Thick raindrops splattered against the window. One after another until the rain was coming down in thick, cascading sheets. It was as though the rain had released something inside him.

  “I never suspected anything,” Alec said. He traced the lines of his palms, feeling their gazes on him. “My mother lied to me about her entire life. It’s like I don’t even know who she really was.”

  The rain pounded against the roof of the taxi. “Everything was a lie.” Alec balled his hands into fists and did his best to hold back his tears.

  In the distance, the ‘M’ of the Metro station sparkled like katanas in the flat gray sky. Traffic increased until taillights snaked as far as the eye could see. Static burst from the taxi’s audio unit. “Traffic is always terrible in this weather,” a familiar voice said. Alec’s heart lurched in his chest. It was Agent Square. “In a few short minutes, I’ll prepare a drone to collect you.”

  A chill seeped down his spine as he met Tara fear-streaked face.

  Marlo, oblivious, alternated confused glances between them. “Who was that?” And when neither of them replied. “What happened?”

  The silver ‘M’ was too far. They would never make it on f
oot, but now they had no other choice. Alec rolled down the window.

  “Hey, you’re getting my seats wet!” the taxi complained.

  Alec brought climbed onto the roof of the drone. Within seconds, his shirt clung to his midsection. He could barely hear the drones honking over the deluge. He didn’t wait for the others, he ran and leapt, crashing onto a black drone in front of the taxi. Don’t look down.

  He jumped drone to drone. The crash of metal followed his footsteps.

  One drone, a silver Ford, saw him coming and swerved out of the way. He slid to a stop just in time to avoid leaping in thin air. He blinked rain from his eyes. The ‘M’ was still a kilometer away, at least. What now?

  A bang from behind. Tara, hair plastered to her face, looked like she could chew rocks. “What are you doing?” she cried out over the beating rain. “Jump! What are you waiting for?”

  Without another word, his guardian gathered Marlo on her shoulders, ran past Alec and leapt. He gaped after her. The pair thumped on the nearest drone and continued.

  Could he do that? Without Super Strength?

  Alec squared his shoulders against the downpour. An image of him slipping as he ran and falling to a horrendous death floated across his mind. He vaulted forward.

  At the edge, Super Strength activated. Just as his feet left ground. Rain spit in his face as he sailed through the air. He screamed, heart thumping like an enraged beast. He crashed into the drone and used his momentum to keep moving forward.

  Minutes later, the Metro station loomed over him, blotting out half the steely sky. Throngs of people streamed in and out of the entrance, the multitude of umbrellas like dull turtle shells. His heart sank.

  “We’ll never find Domo and Marcia,” he yelled over the rain.

  We cannot wait for them, Tara messaged.

  The pair buttonholed him through the teeming crowds as though afraid he might run off. As they muscled their way to the entrance, he sent frantic messages to his friends.

  Where are you? I’m at the entrance. We need to go. Take the first train to Arctic City. Hurry!

  Then, he was descending the escalators. Holograms paraded all around him, mostly advertisements. Their hawking roared in his ears. How could anyone think in this?

  At the bottom of the escalators, they went through security checks. Once they’d settled in line, Marlo said, “I already paid for your tickets. This is where our paths diverge.” He extended a palm. Still a bit dizzy from their wild rush to the station, Alec put his hand in the man’s palm. He murmured a thanks and stepped forward in queue.

  We will find you, Marcia messaged.

  He messaged back. At security now. Where are you?

  No response. Still, at least they hadn’t been captured. With just two people in front of him, he wondered if he could leave his friends. Would he ever see them again if he did? He stepped forward. It was his turn.

  The security check made him feel like an ant being observed by some ill-intentioned child.

  He made it through, relief loosening his shoulders and neck. He froze, sensing he was being watched. Scanning the rows of alcohol bottles on display at the duty-free shop, he couldn’t shake the feeling.

  Then, a tall blonde stepped out from behind the spirits. He recognized the tattoos on her arms instantly. Marcia’s proxy.

  “You made it!”

  Marcia folded her arms around him. Even Agent Square couldn’t wipe the grin off his face in that moment.

  “Do you have tickets?” he asked as they broke apart.

  The grizzly-bearded man joined them. Domo’s proxy. They were all together again. Relief hit him so hard his head swam.

  “Security won’t let you through without tickets,” Domo said. “But we only have fifteen minutes before Agent—”

  “Which means we don’t have time to waste,” Tara cut in. His guardian stood a bit off to the side. He wondered if the android felt lonely at all.

  Alec couldn’t stop grinning. It remained plastered on his face even as they weaved and raced through the crowds.

  “Wait!”

  A man behind them called. The familiar voice turned him around.

  Marlo, sweater stained with sweat and more of it rolling down his face, pushed his way towards them. The man looked panicked. “You’re being tracked! There is—”

  A thin line fountained from the man’s throat. Marlo fell to the floor, face first. Dark purple pooled around him. A woman screamed. Before he could react, his neck snapped back, and he crashed to the floor. Tara’s lean frame leaned on top of him, face inches away.

  “Have you been hit?” she shouted in his ear.

  “No, but Marlo—” For some reason, he found tears streaming down his face for a man he’d just met.

  Tara just shook her head. “Let’s go.”

  He didn’t see Domo and Marcia anywhere. A small crowd was forming around Marlo’s corpse. Alec scanned the crowd. The shooter could be anywhere. Tara knelt to one knee, gesturing for him to do the same. Together, they crawled like drunk monkeys amongst the shins of the other passengers.

  They were losing minutes fast. Only two minutes before the train left and they barely made any progress.

  “We’re not going to make it,” he yelled at Tara.

  “Get in front of me,” the woman said.

  She gripped his shoulder so hard her knuckles went white. He made a small noise in the back of his throat when he realized what she intended. No. He couldn't let her to sacrifice herself. Not after how he’d treated her. Through all their lunging and crawling, his mother’s necklace had tumbled out of his shirt and now dangled in front of him. Responsibility sparkled with that diamond.

  His mother would have wanted him to get to Arctic City.

  Tara’s breath pricked the back of his neck. “Go.” She shoved him forward. “We have to go now.”

  Chapter 13

  Alec darted between passengers, his guardian’s fingers digging into his shoulder. A series of platforms spanned all around them. Arctic City, platform twelve. Where in the cyberhell was platform twelve? A thousand thoughts all rose up at once, all telling him different answers.

  Less than a minute.

  Tara’s voice floated above the continuous roar. “This way!”

  He shoved his way to platform twelve. A whistle shrilly announced the train’s departure. Heart in his throat, he abandoned stealth and sprinted the rest of the way. Almost there. A second whistle. Just a few more steps.

  He spilled through the train door, just as they shut. Rainwater dripped in rhythm of his heart onto the lavish, mahogany carpet. For one wild moment, he thought Tara hadn’t made it. Then, the android sat up at his side.

  “Dear passenger, please sit in your assigned seat,” a pleasant female voice said. “Have a boring trip.”

  Alec stood on wobbly legs, leaned against Tara’s shoulder for support. They were in Car One. First class. That explained the carpet. The first-class passengers avoided his gaze as though the mere sight of them could transmit a deadly disease. He half-expected to see Domo to be lounging in one of the lush armchairs, but the grizzled man was nowhere to be seen.

  “Car Seven,” Tara breathed.

  What about Marcia and Domo? He sent them the car location and waited for a response.

  The train accelerated and leapt past the city center to the sprawling suburbs of Washington DC. They only had a few minutes until their deal with Agent Square was almost up. Was the android on the train already? As the neat rows of houses whisked by, Alec scanned the rows of passengers for anyone suspicious.

  When they arrived at Car Seven, he discovered two familiar faces already there. Domo and Marcia were standing, both obviously searching for him. Relief swelled in his chest. This meeting made their last reunion feel like a sham.

  “What the bugging hell happened back there?” Marcia demanded. She rushed forward and planted a kiss hard on his lips. “What happened?”

  Alec leaned away, surprised at the girl’s reaction. S
everal passengers turned to take in the spectacle. Best to keep a low profile. He nodded towards four empty seats and stumbled towards them.

  “Somebody was tracking us,” Tara said when they all sat down. “Still might be.”

  “But how?” Marcia asked, a bit too loud. She flinched.

  “Agent Square knew,” Alec said, voice shaking a bit. “He spoke to us in the taxi.”

  Tara told them what happened. His guardian left out the part about his mother’s necklace, but other than that, the story was a truth blow by blow account.