by Matt Ward
“Let’s stick together, Raek, and find Vynce. Pavel, you can walk with us. Come on.” With that, she turned and scanned the crowd.
We got home fine, but it took longer than usual. We were excited and nervous, and must have checked over our shoulders a dozen times. It had been a long time since anything like this had happened.
Accidents and occasional run-ins were one thing, but murder—cold-blooded murder—didn’t happen often. Even with the mixing in the cities, violence was rare thanks to extreme punishment. Out here though, there was nothing. Kiag was a small animote town, one of thousands. We knew everyone.
Outsiders were another story, hothead cynetics and emulates in particular. They’d grab a maglev, zoom a hundred or more kilometers and be here in thirty minutes or less to bother our women without consequence. At least that’s what parents said when they thought we weren’t listening.
I was deep in thought when Vynce punched me in the shoulder. “You listening, dude? What do you think?”
He must have been standing there all along. “I think we should help find Merie’s killers,” I said. “Those bastards can’t get away with this.”
Elly appeared in the doorway. Crap. “Shh.” If Elly heard, she’d rat us out.
“I want in,” she said, as if reading Vynce’s twin mind and knowing we were up to no good. “Merie is Vovi’s sister, and I want in. Vovi too. Tonight?” She scratched her button nose and twirled her golden-brown curls—her nervous tell.
No way. My jaw dropped. Vynce looked just as shocked.
“Yeah, tonight,” I answered for both of us. It felt good to be the impulsive daring one for a change. And Elly always looked out for me.
We talked timing before looking at each other. No one said a word. If we got caught, we’d be dead. Mom would kill us. She was a tornado when she went off, destroying everything in her path.
The afternoon dragged on. I couldn’t concentrate on my Political Theory homework. I should have done it last night, but forgot. Then again, it was propaganda BS, at least that’s what Vynce said. He’d heard that from one of his friend’s dads.
Mom called dinner. Sweet potato soup, again. Ugh. If we were mouseish, it wouldn’t be a problem, but the bland, earthy aroma was embedded in our biofabbed walls after countless nights of the tasteless medley. Always potatoes or soup or veggies, the cheap stuff. Meat was a rarity. In a world where half the population had cheap, high quality, lab-grown meat, you’d think we could afford some too. And we could, if it wasn’t for the town tariffs. Plus a hunting permit was out of the question, way too expensive, and Mom wouldn’t risk much poaching.
During dinner, Mom gave us the spiel—the be careful and don’t do anything stupid spiel—as we stared into our orangey, day-old soup. Somehow, I kept a straight face.
After eating, Mom left with the leftovers and we put our heads together before Elly went to make cocoa.
“Wow, cynetics. It’s happening,” Vynce murmured once she was out of earshot.
“I know. We probably won’t find ‘em though.” I hoped we didn’t. They must have gone home...
His eyes lit up. “We might though, we’d be heroes.”
I didn’t care about being a hero. “I just want to stop those guys, those pigs.”
A noise. I was supposed to be keeping lookout. I didn’t smell anything but sprinted outside to be sure.
It was dark out, pitch black. The Moon was a sliver of itself in the night sky. The cold night air gave me a rush, fur on the back of my neck rising as the wolf in me readied itself.
Mom took forever paying her condolences. They weren’t close, but that’s how Mom was. She helped everyone.
Fifteen minutes later, I headed in. Elly was at the table, two virtual screens open, typing fast. She was smart, always had been. Not much of an outdoorsy girl, but boy did she love her books, the exact opposite of her rebellious twin. While Vynce hated school, Elly had read all thirty physical books in the three closest libraries, even though they were boring governmental ones.
Two hours to kill. What could I do? I had to burn this nervous energy in the pit of my stomach.
The web. I hopped on our family’s one computer. It was an old clunker, 2050s or 2060s at best, and couldn’t handle the VR Neuroweb. Probably a good thing, might be too tempting.
Blinking twice and raising my eyebrows, it verified my secure sign in and decrypted my account.
What was I looking for?
“Show me the news.” Nine glowing screens appeared filling my view. The story at the top right caught my eye and expanded, others floating to the side.
Animote Rebels Involved in Firefight with DNS.
Interesting. Did they have video?
‘This is Grahme Yipel reporting live from Faelig. Today, the Department of National Security (DNS) raided the apartment of a group of known animote terrorists. While details are sketchy, officials report the terrorists were targeting several large schools and hospitals. The damage would have been catastrophic.’
The camera panned to a small apartment filled with munitions and explosives, even a couple bulky anti-aircraft guns. ‘An anonymous tip allowed officers to apprehend the suspects before the attack. We won’t be seeing these traitors any time soon, other than the execution... And we have a short message from Minister Fury himself.’
It cut to a lofty wood-paneled office, a statuesque hard-eyed man with charismatic intensity sitting at a mahogany desk. He radiated power and there was something familiar about his abyss-black eyes. It gave me the creeps.
He stood, now even more imposing. ‘Remember, helping or harboring possible fugitives is a capital crime punishable by death. If you see or hear anything suspicious, contact your local DNS office. It is our job to keep you safe.’ His icy stare engulfed the camera and Grahme jumped back in, signing off after a foreboding silence.
I was skeptical of reports like these. We’d seen enough banned dystopian films—thanks to Mr. C—and read enough contraband sci-fi to know propaganda, violence, and government control went hand in hand. Either way, most of the story was bogus. The rebels—at least how they’d always been described to me—would never hurt kids. Bombing a school, no way. Sure, children might be injured blowing up government buildings or a police station, but a school? I didn’t buy it.
That led to a rabbit hole.
Vynce tapped my shoulder, scaring the daylights out of me. “I’m ready, I’m ready.” I gave him an angry look to hide my fright and took a few deep breaths. That was one thing about a real computer versus a band connection; the sound field. Somehow, focused sound waves shielded you from all but the loudest of outside noises. Great for concentration and flow.
He smirked and nudged me in the ribs. “Good. Hope you put your big boy panties on.”
I rolled my eyes. He liked to play tough, but I could take him. That was new. Before I’d turned sixteen, I’d been a lot smaller. Vynce had always won when we brawled. But I’d gained ten centimeters and five or ten kilos the last twelve months. Now we were both about 185, although he was a dork and would stand on his tiptoes to say he was taller.
Everything was ready. Plates were cleaned, dishes washed, and Vynce had stopped watching his Zone Five reality show—some survival thing elites loved where animotes competed for a job in Caen.
I listened for Mom’s rhythmic breathing. She was out cold. “We’re good. Let’s go.”
We headed out.
It felt like the night I’d found Bruce and I had a bad feeling about this. “Where’s Vovi?” I asked.
“We’re meeting by the school,” Elly said. “She thought it would be safer, behind the old field.”
Smart. Wooded enough to avoid attention but not so thick with pines we couldn’t find each other.
We took one last look at each other before setting off, creeping down the winding, unplanned street. It was quiet, dead quiet. No one was out and all but a few homes were dark. It was one of those nights. No one wanted to be out.
Toward town, t
hings picked up, adults coming back from a long day searching. A noise made me jump into the bushes, pulling Elly and Vynce with me. Thirty seconds later, Mr. Ilt and Professor Fitz’s voices appeared, walking back from the Black Forest.
“...makes me so mad!” Mr. Ilt barked. “Those bastards, how’d we not find ‘em? Think they took a lev back already?”
“Patience, Merck, we’ll get ‘em. I’m as angry as you. We all are. It could have been anyone. We’ll give ‘em what they deserve. Besides, maglevs only come once a day.”
Professor Fitz’s voice shocked me, got me excited too. Was my Science History teacher a secret badass? Wouldn’t have guessed that. They passed us and he said, “So, we covered the northeast up to the Furnace, and Roge and Frank checked the northwest beyond the crypt. I heard someone did most of the southeast. Just leaves the southwest for tomorrow, and making sure they don’t backtrack.”
They agreed to meet at sun up and headed off in opposite directions.
I’d been so intent listening, I hadn’t noticed the other adults leave. All at once, we were alone.
“Ready guys?” I asked.
We were, sort of… but it was getting cold on the frozen earth anyway, so we hurried off.
At the field, a snap pulled me from my reverie. It was Vovi, I could smell her. Reptiles had an interesting scent, a bit scaly... wet… I don’t know, like snake’s skin? She was here, somewhere.
She activated her band’s field beam, illuminating the clearing and signaling us. We did the same, and all checked again to make sure we’d deactivated GPS. Didn’t need Mom finding out.
Vovi was bundled in three fluffy layers, and her face had an eerie greenish glint in the light. “I was worried you wouldn’t come.”
“What are friends for?” Elly hugged the short girl. “Besides, it’s not like we’re going to catch ‘em, just find ‘em so the adults can, right? That’s not so bad,” she added, as if trying to convince herself.
“We should get going,” I said.
Vynce nodded, and told Vovi what we’d overheard. “They didn’t search the southwest yet,” he said. “We should start there.”
“And stick together,” I added.
Walking to the start of the forest, I couldn’t shake the feeling this was an awful idea. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. “Keep your light fields off until we’re further in,” I said. “Someone might notice otherwise.”
“We should have weapons out too,” Elly said in a hushed voice, her eyes jumping at every little noise. “You never know.”
We grabbed our knives while the girls unhooked staves for a few practice swings. Everyone looked as terrified as I felt, but no one said anything.
Once we’d worked out the jitters, we set out.
We’d been walking ten or fifteen minutes when there was a crash. I didn’t jump this time, but the girls did. After we recovered, we looked at each other as if to say are we really doing this? When we didn’t hear or smell anything, we continued, but not before spreading out to cover more ground. The wind howled an eerie whooshing. My stomach was in knots. My gut sensed danger.
What were we doing?
5
A Bright Light
“Vynce?” I turned. Nothing. No lights, nobody. It was graveyard silent.
Crap! What happened? Did the cynetics get them? My mind raced. How had I gotten lost?
Once I’d calmed, it hit me. I was so focused, I’d gotten distracted. We must have wandered apart. And the forest grew darker and more sinister with each passing step.
There was a huge fallen tree maybe five minutes back—three meters in diameter, hundreds of meters long. It was old. Maybe they’d went left while I’d gone right. That made sense, right? I retraced my steps, searching the ground.
A dark, ominous fear set in, growing more terrible with each passing minute. Cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck and I had to clench the knife in my hand to keep from shaking.
A yell. It sounded like Elly, or maybe Vovi. Where? I ran, heart pounding.
“Ahhh!” she yelled again, sounding more animal than human.
Elly? I tripped over a moss-covered log, stumbling before regaining my balance, and pushing my legs harder.
“Help!” someone cried. A muffled thud. Silence.
Elly was in trouble, I knew it. Shit. Something was wrong. Fear and anger boiled inside of me. Where was she?
A gap in the trees revealed two mysterious figures illuminated by creepy moonlight. They were bent over something and as the wind changed, I smelled her.
There was a body on the ground, a bloodstained face. It was Elly. The figure touched her. They’d killed my sister and were going to... I was going to be sick.
Something inside me broke. I exploded. Everything was red, a nexus of pain and hate. I stabbed the first. He shrieked in surprise and rage, eyes ballooning as his cries split the still night.
Grabbing his throat, I lifted him into the air, crushing, squeezing, ripping—doing everything in my power to kill him. My fingers tore through his reinforced skin. My hand tingled, glowing. What the—?
A burst of light shot out, like a flash or a laser. His head disappeared, obliterated by the blast, blood congealing in a burnt crisp.
The other cynetic who’d been attacking my sister turned, pale face filled with horror, his mouth aghast. Something in my eye registered a message firing away. What was that? Like an AR headset, but inside me. Throwing myself at the second cynetic, my fist connected with his gooey left eye. Again and again and again. I punched and stabbed and clawed until I collapsed, crying and exhausted, on the pine-strewn floor.
Darkness.
When I regained consciousness, I remembered Elly. She was lying there where I’d last seen her. No... I put my shaking fingers under her clammy jaw. There had to be a pulse.
I tried and tried but couldn’t feel anything. The overlay thing happened again—blue numbers showing her body temperature and heart rate. The heartbeat said zero. She wasn’t breathing. Come on, Elly. Mouth to mouth… I tried CPR.
No… The tears came.
Clenching my fist, I tried the electricity thing again. I had to save her, anything. It didn’t work. Nothing happened. I failed. Was she really gone?
I collapsed, and retched raw pain, stomach burning.
When I rose, I noticed the bodies littered around me. There was blood everywhere, my clothes, my hands, everything.
What did I do? I shivered. How did I kill a cynetic? That’s, that’s not possible... It didn’t make sense. That blast, I’d seen holos... Cynetics could do that. But not me, I was an animote. I was wolfish... Like Mom and Vynce and Elly.
No, Elly! Words died on my lips. My sister... I should check her pulse again. It was pointless, she was dead. But I had to be sure. I had to.
She’d done everything for me...
My body shook. Nothing. I was going to be sick again.
I should go home, find Vynce and Vovi, make sure they are okay. And Mom. How was I going to tell Mom?
I ran. Faster and faster, faster than ever. The trees and scenery whipped past. I didn’t notice or care, rage and grief driving me.
When I got home, Mom and Vynce were sitting outside with bags under their bloodshot eyes.
“Raek, baby!” Mom launched from her chair, eyes frantic. “Where were you? I was so worried.” Her arms crushed me. “Vynce told me everything. You idiots. I told you not to.” She looked around, eyes filled with rabid fear softening to relief. “Elly? Where is Elly?” She grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. “Where is my Elly? Wasn’t she with you? Tell me she was with you?” Mom was quivering, barely holding herself together.
“Mom, I’m sorry.” I couldn’t get the words out. What could I say? “It’s all my fault. Elly, Elly’s dead. I couldn’t save her.” I swallowed hard, fighting back tears.
“Dead? What do you mean dead?” She noticed the blood on my hands, recoiling.
Miserable, I nodded, not saying a word.
A
shrieking, blood-curling wail escaped her lips. She collapsed, sobbing. I stood there, shocked. Tears came.
Ms. Ivey peeked her tiny head out the window, saw Mom on the ground and sprinted over. My old English teacher never moved so fast. “What happened?” She bent to check on Mom. “Is everything okay?”
I blacked out.
6
On The Hunt
“Shhhh.” A faint scraping. My arms, my legs, everything felt funny, a strange, inescapable heaviness.
Mom’s voice. “Doc, is he going to be okay? What happened?”
“He’ll be fine. He just…” The words faded away.
It was so comfy, so warm and cozy. My eyes opened a second later. I was in bed, but in the living room, and Mom was passed out in her favorite chair. Vynce was asleep on the couch in the corner, bundled tight as the brown wool blanket rose and fell.
Tapping my head to wake myself, the AR overlay thing happened again. I jumped out of bed, clenching my fists. My body, my clothes, everything, was drenched in sweat. There were numbers above Vynce, electric blue readouts of body temperature and heart rate, like I had superpowers. I almost choked.
This is just a dream, this is just a dream. A few deep breaths. I should do the mindfulness thing Grandma had taught me. If anything could awaken me from this nightmare, it was that... Maybe I was dreaming. I’d wake up and Elly would be here.
Everything would be fine.
After what felt like hours, I opened my eyes. Please... The clock on the wall said it’d been five minutes. Shit. They were all still here. I was still here. Except no Elly. Nothing changed. Another surge of pain.
The weird numbers were still there too, floating above their faces. I tapped the side of my head and the displays disappeared. That was good to know, as long as no one else could see them. Shoot, what if they could? I’d be shot.
In the corner, Vynce stirred, blinking as he let out a yawn. “Raek!” He jumped, mouth agape. “Are you okay? You passed out. What happened?” he added, lowering his voice when he realized Mom was asleep.