by Ben Horton
Cameron was as breathless with excitement as he was from the exercise. Regardless of all the cruel things that had been done to him, he couldn’t help but start to see the possibilities – and explanations.
‘So that’s how Marie deflected everything I threw at her last night!’ A sudden thought deflated him. ‘But wait, she already knew how to do all that. And she sure as hell had an edge over me. What else can she do that I can’t?’
Rora gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder. ‘Don’t sweat it. Listen, the thing you have to bear in mind is that Fry will have told his pet all about its abilities. He’ll have trained it, and made sure it was aware of all its capabilities.’ She flopped down on an exercise mat. ‘Anyway, you’re the same model, so it makes sense that the two of you will have mostly the same abilities. Similar enhancements. You’ll just have to learn to use yours on your own. And practice is the best way to do that.’
‘Great,’ said Cameron. Still, he did feel encouraged.
With a faint whine of servos, he sat down beside Rora, but she was up again almost immediately and heading for the door. ‘I need a shower,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘Be time for the meeting soon.’
‘All right. See you there, I guess.’
Cameron felt a twinge of disappointment that she hadn’t stopped to talk. But he shrugged it off. As much as he probably needed a shower himself, he settled down to explore more aspects of his visual display.
It was kind of like navigating a powerful computer system when you had no idea what it was for: exciting and unnerving at the same time. Of course, there was no keyboard to tap, no mouse to click – and no Help menu. Instead, to activate a particular function or access a file, Cameron had to focus his attention on an icon or area of the display, and then the best way he could describe it was to ‘think at it’.
Experimenting like that, within a few minutes Cameron had discovered that the system was called a Head-Up Display, and boasted a number of cool features. He quickly found the Taser activator that would allow him to operate the weapon whenever he wanted, rather than having to wait for it to trigger automatically in an emergency. There was also interfacing software that would allow him to connect with a wide range of computer networks through ports in the fingers of his mechanical arm. He even had a built-in mobile phone, although the HUD unsurprisingly revealed a signal strength of zero here below ground.
Finally, with a wry smile, Cameron found a satellite navigation system. Life was full of simple ironies like that, he supposed. Among all his other weird and wonderful ‘enhancements’, he had a system that could fix his position on the globe to within a metre, but couldn’t begin to tell him his place in the world.
The meeting took place in the common room. Most of the tables had been pushed back to the walls, and all the chairs – simple plastic ones and big old armchairs alike – had been arranged in rows facing one end, like a rather eccentric classroom. Around thirty kids had gathered, some of them still chatting before taking their seats.
There were some with furry faces, a couple with leathery hides who resembled pigs, one whose entire face had been replaced with a tinted visor, plenty with mechanical limbs, some with armour plating. There was even one girl who was positively reptilian, with a flickering tongue and a scaly skin that shifted colours. Cameron didn’t feel like looking too closely at any of them, and hoped they weren’t looking at him either.
He could sense the tension in the room as Rora led him up one side of the rows of chairs towards a table that had been positioned at the front, where the teacher’s desk would have been. As if he was something she was about to show off to class.
Biting his tongue, Cameron said nothing, keeping his head down so that his eyes didn’t have to focus on individual ‘monsters’ as he passed them. He knew their stares would be filled with the same mix of accusation and fear that he had seen in them the night before.
He took a seat and gazed hard at the table in front of him.
‘Hi, everybody,’ said Rora. ‘Some of you saw him come in yesterday, but I’d like you all to meet Cameron properly. He’s going to be a valuable member of the Republic.’ She offered Cameron an encouraging smile that made him want to squirm with embarrassment.
Without waiting for an invitation, someone jumped to their feet. Cameron glanced up.
Dark hair, dark expression. Slater.
Cameron remembered him clearly from last night. If he remembered Cameron, he didn’t show it. He didn’t even look at him, but spoke to Rora instead.
‘Before we get to the personal introductions, how do we even know he’s safe? Huh?’
‘Slater—’ began Rora.
But he wasn’t giving her a chance.
‘He could still be under Fry’s control. He could be working for him. But here you are, parading him in front of us like a long-lost brother. You’ve even given him a full tour of the place. Nice one, Rora. Have you lost your marbles?’
‘Are you finished?’ Rora eyed him severely. ‘I’ve seen what he can do. With his capabilities, we’ll be able to strike back at Fry in ways we couldn’t have dreamed of before. Fry’s loss is our gain. It’s always been that way.’
‘But it’s not the same,’ barked Slater gruffly. ‘Fry threw us away. But he kept him, didn’t he?’ He jabbed an angry finger towards Cameron, still not even sparing him a glance. ‘Why do you think that might be?’
Several of the monsters in the audience exchanged concerned looks.
Rora bristled.
‘If he was a spy or a saboteur, don’t you think he’d have done something to us by now?’
‘Yeah – because that’s the way spies always work.’ Slater shook his head and gave a snort of derision. ‘Get a grip, Rora. How do we know Fry didn’t want us to spring him from the lab? We take him in, and then he takes us down, one by one. He isn’t a Reject. He needs to be vetted. Tinker needs to check him over, have a poke around inside and look at his programming. We need to be a hundred per cent sure! A hundred per cent!’
There was a loud chorus of assent from several monsters and the room erupted in a rowdy debate. It seemed as if everyone wanted to voice their own opinion but precious few wanted to listen.
Cameron couldn’t believe his ears. His new sound filter didn’t do anything to shut out ignorance and prejudice. Some of the monsters supporting Slater’s rabble-rousing speech looked more human than Cameron did. The idiots were rejecting him as though – what? – he wasn’t a real monster because he wasn’t a Reject? Couldn’t they see what he looked like? He was more of a mess than them! Whatever this republic was about, the entry requirements were all twisted and back to front.
He’d heard the saying about how your ears burned when people were talking about you. Now every part of him burned: he was stuck there, forced to listen silently to Slater’s snide insinuations.
‘Cameron’s exactly what we need!’ Rora hollered above the din. ‘He could be everything we were hoping for. A special weapon in our fight against Fry. Let’s not lose sight of that, people!’
He could be useful, in other words. In some ways, hearing that was the worst of all. With Rora it was always about what he could do for them, not the other way round. Cameron’s blood was boiling. He didn’t need this, and he didn’t need them.
He slammed his fist down on the table. With a harsh splintering noise, it broke into pieces. A shocked silence fell. Several of the monsters had leaped to their feet, fear in their eyes.
Cameron had their attention now, and he didn’t give them time to get over that initial shock.
‘I’m not just some weapon! I’m a person! And the fact that none of you seems to get that tells me all I need to know! Who says I want to be part of your stupid republic anyway?’
They were all quiet now, staring at him angrily. Rora shot him a glance that clearly said, Shut up. But their anger was nothing compared to his, and Rora’s look only fanned the flames. Cameron could feel the heat in what was left of his face.
�
��So you got me out of that lab. Well, I guess I owe you thanks for that. But that’s all I owe you! It doesn’t mean I have to do what you say. I can look after myself. I’ve still got friends.’
Cameron turned and stomped off, crunching the remains of the table underfoot. He was at the door when he heard Rora calling his name over a sudden hubbub, and the patter of her light steps running after him. He didn’t care. He marched through.
‘Hey!’ she shouted. ‘Even if you’re lucky and your friends still recognize you, you’ll be putting them in danger as well as yourself! Hey!’
For all he cared, she could shout her throat raw.
Cameron didn’t look back.
chapter eleven
a friendly face
As much as he tried to ignore it, Rora’s warning still rang in Cameron’s ears. And he didn’t think that had anything to do with his enhanced hearing. Rather, it was down to the disaster that had unfolded when he tried to contact his family.
This time would be different, he told himself. Firstly, he had to trust that not everything he did would turn into quite such a catastrophe. And secondly, he was determined to be more careful. This time, at least he had use of his in-built phone. What better time to put it to the test? Even if his family was out of bounds, he had other friends back up here in the real world.
Providing some of them had survived the explosion.
Cameron’s stomach did a back-flip at the thought. He hadn’t considered that. But surely not everyone could have been killed?
Walking along, head down, Cameron paced a little-used back lane behind a row of houses, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. It was grey and drizzling, with gloomy clouds overhead. The miserable weather was just right for his mood, but more importantly it kept people indoors. At the moment a few wheelie bins and some loose rubbish were all he had for company.
Summoning up the phone function on his HUD, he mentally tapped in Darren’s number. He knew it so well he didn’t even have to think – he’d dialled the number almost every day since they’d become friends at primary school. He just hoped that it wasn’t Darren’s mum who picked up the phone …
A couple of rings and Darren’s voice answered: ‘Hello?’
‘Hey, Darren! It’s Cameron.’
There was a pause.
‘Cameron?’ Another pause. ‘You’re having a laugh, right?’
‘No,’ said Cameron. ‘Seriously. It’s me. As I live and breathe.’
‘Live and breathe is right. I mean, God, Cam, they said you were dead.’
‘Yeah, well, whatever they said, it’s not true. Especially that part. You can tell it’s me, right?’
‘Yeah, yeah. I mean, I’d know your dulcet tones anywhere. So – what happened?’
Cameron glanced up and down the street. Still no signs of people. ‘Well, there was some mix-up with the hospital records. I was, um, badly hurt. But I got out … OK.’ He couldn’t bring himself to say ‘in one piece’. He needed to strike a balance between preparing Darren for the truth and not scaring him off. ‘To be honest, I look a bit of a mess though.’
‘Yeah, me and all,’ answered Darren. ‘But that’s par for the course just after I get up.’ He laughed, and Cameron smiled. It was good to hear his friend’s usual jokey voice. ‘Hey, listen,’ continued Darren, ‘let’s hook up. I wanna hear what happened to you.’
‘Yeah, all right,’ Cameron replied, relieved that Darren had been the first one to suggest a meeting.
‘Cool. Where are you?’
Mentally cursing himself for not having thought of a place in advance, Cameron thought quickly through a handful of options.
‘Uh, you remember that building site where we used to skateboard?’
‘What, out near the bypass?’
The place Cameron was thinking of was eventually going to be a new shopping centre or something. On Sundays, when there were no workmen around, there had been a whole lot of ramps and obstacles, ideal for stunts. Or for spectacular crashes at any rate. The site itself might be a little too public for what Cameron wanted, but the bypass would offer a bit of cover.
‘Yeah, meet me under the flyover there.’
‘All right. Give me an hour to make myself presentable.’ Darren laughed again, and Cameron laughed with him.
But at the same time he was thinking that he would need a heck of a lot more than an hour to do that himself.
The rain had eased off to a gentle spotting, and the clouds were looking a good deal less threatening by the time Darren came rolling into view on his board.
Cameron waited well under the shelter of the flyover all the same. It wouldn’t keep him hidden for long, but he felt like putting off the actual ‘unveiling’ until the last possible minute. He spent the last few seconds, as Darren scooted up, thinking about what he was going to say. He’d come up with a lot of good-sounding explanations in his head, but he wasn’t sure if they would come out right. Or even if he’d get the chance to finish. That all depended on Darren’s reaction.
Darren pulled up sharp a few metres off, and flipped the board into his hands with a kick. He looked around uncertainly. He seemed nervous.
Cameron took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows.
‘Hey, Darren.’
For what felt like an hour, Darren stared at Cameron.
‘A bit of a mess?’ he said finally. ‘God. That’s the understatement of the century, mate.’
Cameron moved forward, hands raised. Darren took an involuntary step back. His eyes were wide and he swallowed uncomfortably.
‘Listen, Darren. Stare all you want. You’ll probably need a whole lot of quality staring time to get used to it. And that’s fine. I’m still not used to it myself. But I need you to hear me out.’
Darren gave a slow nod. ‘OK.’
Carefully, skirting the names and details, Cameron took him through a brief outline of his story. How he’d woken up in the lab and been rescued by a strange girl. How he had discovered what had been done to him, and how he’d come looking for Darren.
His friend listened silently, his eyes widening at certain points, but he didn’t butt in and call Cameron a liar or – as was more likely – a nutter. For once, Cameron thought, maybe his new appearance was an advantage, helping to drive the reality home. It was hard to argue with a face like his.
Cameron got to the end of his tale. He paused for a moment, then followed it up with a request. ‘Thing is, mate, I need to know more about the accident.’
Darren grimaced. He took a breath, composing himself – probably still fighting his way past the initial shock of seeing Cameron. ‘You haven’t been following the news, then?’
‘No. With everything that’s happened, I’ve been a bit out of touch.’
‘You might wish you’d stayed that way.’ Darren sniffed. ‘It was bad. A huge explosion. They thought they’d have to evacuate the whole town until they realized that it wasn’t the reactor that had exploded, so no radiation. But loads of people were killed. Roger and Alan and Lisa, as well as you … and Marie.’ Darren bowed his head and shrugged, looking nervous and awkward. ‘I’m Sorry about that.’
Cameron hadn’t mentioned the fact that Marie wasn’t exactly dead. For a moment he wondered if he should now tell Darren what had happened to her. But Darren seemed to have taken the rest of the story well. If Cameron went back, he’d have to admit that he’d left stuff out, and he felt sure that would break the trust they were building. Besides, how could he explain it to Darren when he didn’t understand it himself? One thing at a time.
‘Anyway,’ continued Darren, ‘they’re not sure what caused the accident yet, but the Fry Foundation has been looking after the families of the victims. Arranging counselling, doctors and stuff.’
‘Really?’ Cameron tried not to sound too sceptical.
‘Yeah. Dr Fry has planned this big memorial service next Friday. The whole town’s going to be there. The Prime Minister is coming and everything.’
; Cameron frowned. ‘The Prime Minister’s coming here?’
‘Yeah, Fry’s invited him to give the eulogy.’
‘Unreal!’ Cameron couldn’t believe the hypocrisy. ‘It’s Dr Fry who made me like this. And it was him who was responsible for that so-called “accident” in the first place.’
Darren looked sideways at Cameron. ‘Come off it. What do you mean?’
Cameron braced himself. This was the make or break moment.
‘That girl who rescued me, she’s part of this … community. Fry’s been working for the government, creating monsters who are supposed to be brilliant soldiers. And all his Rejects – the ones who managed to get away – have grouped together into something they call the Monster Republic. But that’s not important,’ he carried on hastily, seeing Darren’s brow crease into a frown. ‘She was the one who told me all about Fry and his experiments.’
Cameron studied Darren’s face as he digested this bombshell. As he expected, Darren shook his head dubiously. ‘Come on. Everyone knows that Fry’s a good guy. He’s been helping the town out for years. Charity stuff and all that.’
‘All I know is what I was told. And what I know from the lab.’ Cameron gestured again at himself. ‘But you have to believe that there’s some truth in what I’m saying.’
‘Well, there might be something in it,’ conceded Darren. ‘But you can’t trust everything Rora says, can you?’
The penny that dropped right then must have weighed a ton. Cameron had been careful to avoid any specific details like names and places.
So how did Darren know who Rora was?
Cameron covered his surprise and confusion by glancing at his wrist as if he was checking a non-existent watch. ‘Well, I reckon I’ve given you plenty to think about for now, anyway,’ he said. ‘I’d better be going. Can’t hang around too much in daylight with a face like this.’ He gave a strained laugh that Darren didn’t join in with.