The Shining Wall

by Melissa Ferguson

  ‘Android one is down and not responding,’ BIS said.

  The female lowered the weapon to her side and lobbed something at the door of the hub.

  The room vibrated with a concussive blast. The lights dimmed for a moment. The vending machines clanged against each other, tilting like Demis after a med procedure, before coming to rest in their original positions. All but one. Shuqba vaulted over the edge of the table and out of the way as the nutrient water machine, heavy with liquid-filled sachets, crashed down on the end of the table. The table tipped up and glass flew through the air. A shard slashed Shuqba’s earlobe. The pain resharpened her focus: Alida was in the hub and in danger.

  ‘A handheld incendiary device has breached the front door. Another individual with hearing protection is attempting to disable power.’

  All available intel insisted Demi-Citizens didn’t have access to hearing protection powerful enough to withstand the hub’s sonic defences. Recent experience had taught Shuqba not to put all her faith in anything her superiors claimed.

  ‘Can you stop them, BIS? Send the other android?’ Shuqba pressed the cuff of her shirtsleeve to her bleeding ear.

  ‘An alert from headquarters states all ten LeaderCorp Hubs have been attacked. An immediate evacuation has been ordered.’

  ‘Evacuation? Surely there’s something we can do?’ The hub was her responsibility. She didn’t want to give it up so easily.

  ‘Confirming with headquarters.’ BIS fell silent. Shuqba scrolled through the views from the outside cameras on the OmniScreen. ‘Officer Shuqba. The order from headquarters is firm. You must evacuate.’

  Shuqba’s first priority was retrieving Alida from the bathroom. She opened the staffroom door and launched forward into a barrage of weaponised sound. The breach in the hub’s front door had damaged auditory protections. Shuqba felt herself collapsing and pitched backwards into the staffroom, pulling the door closed behind her. The thick door cut off the sound. She grabbed two sets of ear protectors from the emergency kit and fitted one to her head.

  Back in the hallway, part of the front door was mangled out of shape. Black scorch marks covered the ceiling, floor and walls around the breach.

  Alida lay in a heap on the floor outside the bathroom, her hands over her ears. There were no visible injuries to her person. Shuqba allowed herself a moment’s relief and fitted the second set of hearing protectors to Alida’s head. Alida grabbed hold of her, saying something inaudible and touching Shuqba’s torn and bloody ear. Shuqba smiled to reassure her and pulled her to her feet. They ran through the waste room, past the large oval nanodisassembler tanks towards the garage.

  The second android was already sitting in the driver’s seat of the ten-seater transport van with the engine running. Shuqba pulled open the rear door and she and Alida boarded. The roller door leading to the outside of the hub glided upwards. Alida glanced around anxiously.

  The van was shielded against sound. Shuqba pulled off her hearing protectors and indicated for Alida to do the same.

  ‘Are you injured? Do you have any pain?’

  ‘No, no. I’m okay. Spinning out a smidge.’

  ‘Don’t worry. This van can withstand nine-millimetre bullets and small explosions. It’s likely they used everything they had to blast the hub door. We’re safe now.’ Shuqba hoped she was right. She hoped the attackers would be too busy with the hub to pursue them.

  ‘I’m just so sick of all this shit. Every day it’s something else.’ Alida grimaced and rubbed her ears. ‘Jeez, my ears are ringing for real.’

  The roller door stopped about three-quarters of the way up and the lights in the garage went out.

  ‘Hub power has been disconnected,’ the android said.

  ‘Let’s get out of here then,’ said Shuqba.

  ‘The height of the space beneath the roller door is only 3.27 metres. The van is 3.3 metres high. We will not fit.’

  ‘Well, open it manually.’ Shuqba peered through the windscreen over the android’s shoulder.

  ‘Due to security concerns manual controls have not been fitted on hub exit doors.’

  Shuqba groaned. Typical LeaderCorp, more concerned about the safety of its assets than its employees.

  ‘Well, drive through it then.’

  ‘The van and the roller door will be damaged if we proceed.’

  ‘We’ll be damaged if we stay. Your priority is to protect Sapiens and Security Force Officers. So proceed.’

  ‘Consulting headquarters.’

  ‘Forget headquarters, I’m the SFO here. I say proceed.’

  ‘Headquarters has confirmed I should proceed. Calculating velocity required for extraction of van from garage.’

  Shuqba threw her hands up in the air and sat beside Alida. She had absolutely no power. There was no point even calling her an SFO. Alida squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.

  The van accelerated, striking the bottom of the roller door. The tooth-grinding sound of metal on metal filled the van. The roller door buckled and scraped all the way along the roof until they were clear.

  The android took the side street and Shuqba assessed the crowd storming the hub. A plume of smoke came from somewhere in the east, possibly another besieged hub.

  ‘Who are they and what’s this all about?’ Shuqba said without expecting an answer. Access to hub supplies and equipment to sell seemed most likely. Although such a coordinated attack on all the hubs seemed beyond simple theft.

  ‘They’re Rewilders and anti-tekkers,’ Alida said. ‘Didn’t you see? Some of them have different clothes, clothes not printed at a hub.’

  ‘Of course.’ She hadn’t been paying enough attention. There’d been so many warnings. The protests and Commander Rayne’s concerns. She hadn’t taken them seriously enough. She hadn’t thought there were that many of them or that they’d be able to access such powerful weapons.

  They left the hub behind. The streets were full of fearful, bewildered Demis.

  ‘Where are we taking Demi-Citizen Alida?’ the android asked.

  Shuqba hadn’t thought that far ahead. ‘She can’t stay out here, it’s too dangerous. Contact headquarters and ask for permission to bring Alida into the city. Tell them she’s a LeaderCorp employee in danger and deserves our protection.’

  ‘Yes, Officer.’

  The city was gleaming in the morning light. LeaderCorp’s precious jewel, safe behind a wall manned by trigger-happy androids. The view had not yet been marred by the dust and smoke filling the Demi-Settlements.

  Alida leaned her head against the window. ‘They’ll never let me into the city. Just drop me off anywhere here.’

  Alida was right but Shuqba didn’t want her to be. ‘Let’s wait and see what the android says.’

  ‘Permission to bring Demi-Citizen Alida into City 1 has been denied.’

  Shuqba shook her head. She didn’t want her out in the chaos. When she thought Alida might have been injured in the blast Shuqba had felt a moment of terror. There was no confusion about duty or protocol or the right thing to do when it came to Alida. She wanted to protect her.

  Alida smiled. She looked so tired. ‘It’s okay.’ She called out to the android. ‘Let me out here. We’re near the market.’

  The van stopped. Alida hugged Shuqba. ‘Don’t stress about me. I’m gonna grab my stuff and head to my hidey-hole in the burbs. It’s the same old messy Demi shit. It’ll blow over.’

  The door slid open and Alida jogged away from the van.

  CHAPTER 32

  ‘It’s nothing like the forest near the academy,’ said Commander Rayne.

  Over their heads holographic birds flitted through the soft blue sky. Although they were two levels below the streets of the city, it was bright as day in Undercity Park.

  ‘I attempted to identify some of the birds the first couple of times I visited. Uploaded pictures to birder forums. I felt very foolish when someone explained they were some artist’s impression of what birds should look like and not based
on any actual species.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Shuqba didn’t feel the ease walking with the commander that she once had. And this fake wildlife gave her no sense of peace.

  ‘All the hubs have been infiltrated,’ Commander Rayne said. ‘Freel claims Rewilders and anti-tekker sympathisers are trying to wrest control of the Demi-Settlements from him. They’ve indiscriminately slaughtered Demis as well as destroying hubs. His people have repelled them into the burbs for now. He’s requesting SF assistance.’

  They stopped to watch a group of Citizens canoeing across the velvety blue lake. Robotic ducks and swans floated through the reeds near the shore.

  ‘How do we proceed?’ Retaking the hubs would require delicate handling. SFOs flooding the Demi-Settlements and using brute force would only strengthen the Demis’ distrust and hatred of LeaderCorp and lead to more casualties.

  ‘We don’t. I forwarded Freel’s request on to my superiors but they were unmoved. The Demis have gotten too unruly. Senior LeaderCorp officials want to take action against them.’

  ‘What kind of action?’ Shuqba kept her expression neutral.

  ‘They haven’t specified, however, the days of appeasing the Demis have passed. LeaderCorp doesn’t like its gestures of goodwill to be shat upon. I also expect there aren’t the financial incentives to justify helping them any longer.’

  ‘They’ll reopen the rations departments of the hubs though. Won’t they?’

  Shuqba thought about all the Demi-Citizens of her hub – the old people, the children, even the teenagers. Especially the people who looked her in the eye and said hello and treated her like a human being.

  Nearby a group of small children, some of them adopted Neos, played in a field of white flowers. A group of Neo nannies, identifiable by their dandelion yellow uniforms, chatted on a nearby bench.

  ‘Not at this stage. The Rewilders are becoming more militant. LeaderCorp can’t afford disorder on the home front while it’s waging a number of foreign wars.’

  ‘But Rewilders and Demis are different. The Demis are opposing the Rewilders.’

  ‘I am aware. Nevertheless, it’s too hard to tell them apart, especially now that anti-tekker factions within the Demi-Citizens are aligning with the Rewilders.’

  They strolled into a grove of eucalyptus. The perfume of the leaves reminded Shuqba of the forest around the academy. How idealistic she’d been. How she’d believed that by serving LeaderCorp she’d have a role in maintaining and strengthening the great empire that had created her.

  The leaves cast strange multi-pronged shadows. Up above, a robotic koala clung to a branch, unaware and unable to comprehend that the animal it was modelled on was extinct.

  ‘A lot of Demis rely on rations from the hubs. Without water and rubbish recycling it will soon be completely unliveable out there,’ Shuqba said, controlling the note of pleading desperation in her voice.

  ‘You may be right. However, LeaderCorp’s not willing to invest any more time or resources in this sector of the population.’

  Shuqba couldn’t say why she was surprised. LeaderCorp didn’t care about people. Everything was a transaction to them. If the cost exceeded their benefit, there was no point.

  ‘We’ve been put on alert to move when LeaderCorp decides on a course of action. They may require us to raze the whole Demi-Settlements.’

  Shuqba stood slack-jawed. She couldn’t believe Commander Rayne could relay such inhumane information so calmly. The commander had been her mentor, the one who’d made her believe LeaderCorp was wise and benevolent. The one who’d insisted that the progress LeaderCorp made, with help from the Security Forces, benefited all inside their borders, not just the rich and powerful. Shuqba had seen no evidence of the so-called trickle-down effect around City 1. It was all a lie. Yet the commander had done right by Shuqba. Many times. Perhaps Shuqba was a kind of pet for her, a yes-man to bolster her ego and offer no challenge. Perhaps helping Shuqba allowed Commander Rayne to deny her own prejudices.

  ‘In the meantime I’ve reassigned you to a post in the city. You’ll be on evening shift tonight.’ The commander stooped to pick up a basketball accidentally thrown into the bushes by a player on a nearby court.

  ‘Thank you, Commander.’ She could barely look her in the eye. She could see too clearly now.

  ‘You did well out there yesterday. I’m proud of you. Now I must get back to headquarters.’ The commander strode away, lobbing the ball back to the basketballers as she went.

  CHAPTER 33

  The factories outside the city walls were closed for now. Food factory labourers came in and out of the dorm all day: sitting on their beds, ribbing each other, treating the dorm like a sports field, stomping around, slamming doors and yakking on and on about the dramas in the Demi-slums. Ferrassie put her pillow over her head. Why couldn’t they all fuck off? Every sound stabbed her in the head. She didn’t care about LC’s dramas. She wasn’t going to live long enough for any of that bullcrap to affect her. She understood why the slummies were pissed off though. She wished she could blow something up and show LC what she thought of them too.

  Amud kept coming over. Without a job to go to he had nothing to do except fuss over her. She pretended she was out of it. His sooky mug only made her feel worse.

  Her body felt full of sludge. If she kept completely still she could live out the rest of her days in the cocoon of her bed. Except she was freezing. Someone must’ve turned up the air conditioning. She drifted off to sleep, shivering.

  Ferrassie’s bladder finally pulled her from bed in the late afternoon. Her singlet and undies were damp with sweat, all her muscles ached and her throat was dry and scratchy. She kept her eyes locked on the bathroom door as she stumbled forward. One step after the other, ignoring the Neos playing keepings off with a workboot. She lowered herself onto the loo seat, closing her eyes against the bright lights. She massaged her temples and forehead for some relief from her headache. The loo bowl looked full of rust when she finished. She was dehydrated. That’s why she felt so crap.

  She drank some water from the tap. The bathroom was empty, except for a cleaning bot scooting around the shower stalls. She staggered into the first shower and scanned her clone tattoo for her hot water ration. Water pounded her stiff, sore neck. White specks swarmed before her eyes and the world tilted and wavered. She placed her hand on the wall and crouched. Every muscle in her body wanted to dissolve into a puddle and slide down the drain. The water cut out and she slowly stood, waiting for her head to stop spinning. She had another drink of water from the tap. Nothing seemed to ease her sore throat.

  Some useless memory of proper behaviour prevented her crawling back through the dorm. She kept one supporting hand against the wall and stepped gingerly.

  Amud sat on the end of her bed waiting for her. She lowered herself slowly down. The throbbing in her head ramped up as gravity pulled her blood in a different direction.

  ‘How are you doing? Can I get you something to eat?’

  ‘I don’t feel so great, Mud.’ She couldn’t fool herself anymore. ‘I think I might’ve caught a virus from Lars.’

  Amud looked away, clenching his jaw. Probably imagining what kind of contact would be required for Ferrassie to catch something from Lars.

  ‘I wish you’d listened to me and Shuqba and gotten your immune injections.’

  ‘Let’s not spend our last day together punching on.’ Ferrassie put her hand over his.

  Amud closed his eyes and the veins in his throat bulged as he held back sobs.

  ‘I wish there was something we could do,’ he finally said. ‘I feel so helpless. Lars is a Citizen – he could’ve at least had a go at helping you.’

  ‘He did have a go.’ Ferrassie swallowed painfully.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘He was trying to get in touch with a colony of free-Neos. Said he could sneak me out of the city.’

  ‘Free-Neos?’ Amud drew down his brow ridge. ‘I think I saw something about them on one of
the Neo forums. From what I’ve heard they don’t trust any Sapiens. I doubt they’d deal with him. I could try?’

  ‘There’s not much time left, Mud.’ Ferrassie struggled to keep her eyes open. The air around her became thick as water. It filled her ears and dulled all sound.

  Amud stroked her forehead. ‘Get some rest.’

  CHAPTER 34

  Alida lugged a plastic skin of cloudy river water, swirled with slicks of grease and tiny specks of who-knew-what. She waved ash and smoke and the stench of burning meat away from her face. Charred lumps of metal, plastic and other things she wasn’t eager to identify dotted the Demi-Settlements. Small fires still burnt here and there.

  Thirst had forced her out of her sturdy bluestone hide-out in the burbs. Her lips were cracking and her throat was parched. All the water she’d found out there had almost made her spew just looking at it.

  She joined a queue of Demis lugging their own containers of icky liquids and checked her MindLine messages while she waited. She’d had zero news about Graycie, and Zaneela still hadn’t replied after three days. She suspected even the plastic-faces safe behind the wall were spinning out about the mess in the Demi-Settlements. Or maybe Zaneela and co had changed their minds or found another sucker to be their baby factory. Why couldn’t they put her out of her misery and let her know? Alida itched to fling off another message, but she didn’t want to come across as a stereotypical aggressive Demi.

  There was one message from Shuqba. They’d been in touch on and off since it had all gone down. Shuqba didn’t seem to know anything except that the Rewilders had been repelled by Freel and his goons. Alida opened Shuqba’s latest message.

  Hi again. I still don’t have any concrete information for you, but it seems LeaderCorp has no plans to rebuild the hubs or provide any further help or services to the Demi-Settlements. There’s also a rumour they’re planning a mass action against Demi-Citizens. I was hoping to learn more about this, however, it’s on a need to know basis. Stay out of the Demi-Settlements if you can. Keep in touch and let me know you’re safe. Shuqba.