by Mark Lingane
“New blood?”
The explosions rocked the city. Fireworks rained over the celebrations as survivors banded together in rowdy parties, made even better by the free beer lying in puddles. The shouts and cheers echoed through the doorways and alleys floating on resuscitated optimism. In the city center Gavin was held aloft, bounced on the hands of invigorated denizens. A thrown-together band scratched out classic melodies, and Melanie danced!! until Gavin was returned to her, sliding off the shoulders and into her embrace.
But here, the doors were locked, subduing the sounds of merriment. The congressional meeting commenced.
The huge oval desk, used only in times of desperation, or for the inter-office table-tennis competition, was surrounded by the city’s dignitaries. Isabelle had made an entrance, wearing full armor. Her hair was down and flowing over her shoulders, cascading over the polished steel and leather. Nikola tried to remember what his mouth was for as she sat next to him. There had been moments of shouting. There had been moments of quiet and reflection over those they had lost. There had been passionate debate about the future. There had been reminiscing about the past. But, ultimately, it came down to one thing.
“We are going to strike back. We have the cyborgs on the back foot. This is what your precious war tomes say. We need to press the advantage.” Thrown was standing up, stabbing his finger toward the assembled group.
“But don’t you think they’ll be ready and waiting like last time?” Nikola said. “I have my concerns and suspicions over how they knew we were coming. If we’ve underestimated them, and they have further forces on the way, then we’re done for.
“That’s why we should strike now.”
Nikola sighed. He turned to Isabelle. “Captain, you can provide a fresh outside perspective. What do you think?”
She thought for a few moments then replied. “Thrown is ri—”
“You see?” Thrown raised his hand in her direction.
Everyone muttered. Most nodded.
“But only if we had the people, which clearly we don’t,” Isabelle cautioned. “We’re too weak to do anything at the moment, other than rebuild. My recommendation would be to scour the surrounding lands and see who we can band together. The farmers are the strongest and most resilient men you’ll find in or out of the force. We should send out scouts to round up a sizeable force, which will strike back in a month or two. In the meantime, we fortify the city and rebuild some kind of semblance of city life.”
Nikola nodded. “Reason has spoken. I’m glad you haven’t lost your tactical skill, Captain. Thrown, you have your instructions. Please organize the recruitment party. We’ll need some place for these farmers to stay, so arrange additional temporary accommodation. You may go.”
Thrown scowled as he left.
Barton stood and brought his cane down on the table. “I wish to discuss item two on the agenda.”
“There is no item two.”
“The new mayor.”
“Not now, Barton. Not today.”
“You cannot keep ignoring the fact that the most senior official of the city is dead. We need a replacement. People need a leader. After the frivolities of the whathaveyou,” he said, indicating the dull laughter and music from beyond the doors, “are over and the headaches gone, they will want answers. We need to be ready to lead.”
“Fine, but it is not today. I’ll speak with Number Two about arranging a meeting.”
“We are meeting now.”
“No.”
The two men stared at each other. Eventually Barton backed down and stormed off toward the exit. Sensing the meeting was over, the various dignitaries followed. Nikola watched them shuffle out the door, but signaled for Isabelle to stay behind.
“What does Number Two think?” Isabelle asked.
“I’ll catch up with Number Two later and get a briefing. We take everything one step at a time.”
“Do you think Thrown was happy with the outcome?” Isabelle asked.
“I think so, but he won’t show it. He’s getting his battle, so he’ll be happy about that.”
Isabelle sat in the head chair and looked out the window to the distant mountains. She leaned on an elbow and sighed. “It’s been a tough year.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. I never knew.”
“Alex was a good man. I do miss him, but I need to remind myself that it was duty.”
“Did you love him?” he asked hesitantly.
“I think so. It hurt when he died. We were together over ten years. That kind of time together has an impact.”
“Let’s hope it hasn’t been in vain.”
Isabelle focused her attention on Nikola. “Does Sebastian know?”
“No. And hopefully he never will. But if the cyborgs capture him, and they’ve been getting closer, then they will tell him about the past. Of that, I’m sure.”
“What will happen then?” She examined her hands. They were heavily tanned from her time spent traveling to the city. She rubbed her thumb over the sun damage, stretching the skin.
“He’ll probably destroy us for lying to him.”
“Then I’m worried.”
“So am I.”
She raised her eyes and glared at him. “But he’s not your child.”
Isaac slowly opened the door and peered into Nikola’s office. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. You’re missing out on all the fun.”
“Good. I’m writing a letter,” Sebastian replied.
Isaac stepped into the small room. His head was bandaged and his arm in a cast. A small fire flickered in the corner. “Is that wise? What’s it about?”
“I’m going to tell Gavin that he didn’t defeat the dragon, or the cyborg. He doesn’t have the power. It was me.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Everyone thinks it was him. It’s not fair. Why should he get the glory when all he did was turn up?”
“Sometimes being there is what matters the most. That’s what my mom said to my dad at the birth of my sister. Then she smacked him across his face. These things never go as you expect or hope. Look, if you send this you will regret it.”
“But he didn’t do anything.”
“It doesn’t matter. Everyone thinks he did. If you say otherwise, you’ll look like a big bunch of sour grapes. Show me what you’ve written.”
“No. It tells the truth. That’s all you need to know,” Sebastian said.
Isaac lunged for the sheets of paper and whipped them out of Sebastian’s surprised grasp.
“Hey, give that back.”
His eyes flicked over the uneven scrawl. “This is terrible.”
“English was never my strong subject.”
“No. The sentiment. It’s full of hateful words and vague generalizations. And you spelled ‘insubstantial’ wrong. And ‘misanthropic.’ And your name. It makes you look bitter and small-minded.”
“But Melanie thinks it was him.”
“So? She’s happy. Isn’t that more important?”
“But she’s my friend.”
“Then treat her like one. Let it go.” He handed back the letter. “The choice is yours.”
Sebastian sighed and gazed at the manifold pages. He closed his eyes and crumpled the paper against his chest. The seconds ticked by as he held the screwed up ball in his hand, clenching his eyes. His shoulders sagged and he stared into the glowing embers, then threw the sheets in. The edges curled as they browned, but he could feel the boundaries of his regret itching. He felt frustrated and hollow.
“It’s the right choice,” Isaac said.
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
“It will tomorrow.”
Sebastian turned to leave; Isaac patted him on the back. “Think of it this way,” he said, as the two left the room. “He’s probably enemy number one now. Would you prefer it be you?”
Sebastian’s laugh was near-hysterical. Isaac gave him a look of concern and the door shut on them as they wandered back to the school. Within the library, th
e pages burned then crumbled over the coals, dissipating in the heat.
@redFive guzzled the drops of water, barely more than half a test-tube. The cyborg nurse reprimanded him for his greed. They both knew that too much water would send his system into a potentially fatal shock. She read the vital statistics. His chemical mix was dangerously low. She had managed to stabilize @redFive, but the electromagnetic shock would have lasting consequences, both mentally and physically. The readouts displayed a picture of a cup of water.
The nurse swiped her security pass against a reader set flush against the wall. A panel slid aside, revealing a silver tap and a numeric keypad. She typed a four-digit number then pressed the water button. Nothing came out. She pressed it again, and waited. Her gleaming white suit was covered in green and red stains. The medical room replicated the mess. So many fellow cyborgs had returned, only to die at the fury of Iris, or the self-destruction of the nanobots as their critical levels became unsalvageable. Eventually a splash of water trickled out. She emptied it down his throat and the cup symbol disappeared.
“You rest,” she said. “You safe.”
She placed her hand on his chest. Hundreds of tiny creatures, black squares with legs on each side, crawled out from beneath her sleeve. They scuttled up his body, pouring into the dagger wound. The hole filled as the creatures reconstituted the tissue. The readouts continued to improve. The monitors blacked out, surprising the nurse. A new image appeared—a blue iris surrounded by purple rings.
“Sorry. You no rest. Iris call you.”
As she leaned forward, a small metallic arm folded out from her back. She clamped down on @redFive’s shoulders and locked her arms. He struggled, but couldn’t break the grip. A large needle slid out from the arm and lowered toward his head. The needle injected into his eye and he screamed in pain. The readings appeared significantly higher, bouncing out of the red and peaking at the top of the chart.
The nurse released the warrior cyborg, allowing him to stand up. She indicated the exit, which slid open. @redFive supported himself along the wall as he struggled along the corridors. His SMART objectives flashed on his tinyIris display. Fail was flashing next to each one. The cost of missing the goals set by Iris were well documented and demonstrated as the offending bodies were strung up in the center of the Hive.
The entrance to ‘Hive Imperial General Headquarters’ slid open as he approached. @redFive took his place in the center of the room, and awaited his sentence.
The lights in the far banks of metal cabinets continued to flash as the endless computations ran and reran. The face of Sebastian was displayed on each of the monitors. The stalk of twisting lightning thrashed more violently than ever.
The black box descended out of the roof and rotated toward him. On the front was the image of a blue iris surrounded by purple rings.
“Were we betrayed?” Iris said.
“It went to plan. What you said. But it no end right.”
“If he has betrayed us after our agreement, I will rain agony upon him for eternity.”
“Forgive me. I fail.”
“Why? Why and how are you failing?”
“No answer. Every time, some magic happen. Your plan no work. Now resources stretch thin. We no got water. No water bring sickness, weakness, bad.bad thinking.”
Iris went quiet as it bounced slowly in front of the cyborg’s face.
“@redFive, where is the child, the warrior boy?”
“Iris, many challenges in catching him. The steam place is weak. We can take it for water. Then we got boy.”
“For water! This is not about water.”
“But we fight long.long, lose much for water.”
“It’s never been about water, you fool. We live on an underground aquifer.”
“I no understand.”
The camera circled, rising and falling as it floated around him. “You think you’d fight for water if I simply flooded you with it all?”
@redFive went silent as the confession sunk in. “But many die. I no understand. Why you do this?”
“You bring me the boy or you will know the real meaning of pain.”
“We have little.little water. Please, give more. No enough for big skynet attack to get boy.”
“I. DON’T. CARE.”
@redFive reeled back from the deafening sentence.
“But Iris—”
“GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! —”
The camera thrust at him, forcing him to duck. His injury flared and the pain receptors went a deep red.
“—GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! —”
@redFive slammed the door on the screeching voice.
His tinyIris displayed a new message.
GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM—
30
OVER THE FOLLOWING days, Nikola and Isabelle walked the streets, issuing instructions, praising efforts, and comforting the wounded and bereaved. They met up with Sebastian each evening at a makeshift mess tent for a light dinner. The rain had been pouring for several hours and was beginning to make its way through the thick tent material. Several buckets had been scattered over the area, mainly to gather drinking water.
“Are you going to eat the rest of your sandwich?” Isabelle asked Nikola.
“I guess not.” Nikola started to hand it over, but she grabbed it from him and munched heavily into it. Unusually, he had his sleeves rolled up. Sebastian noticed his forearms had the same swirling patterns on them as were on his mother’s back.
“Mom!” Sebastian said. “We’re at home to Mr. Manners.”
“I’m hungry. I’ve been living off lizard blood, snake venom, and kangaroo poo for months.”
“Kangaroo poo?”
“Okay, maybe not that one, but I can tell you the first lot aren’t too pleasant.” She took another bite. “Oh, the glory of bread. Is there anything better?”
“A dry roof?” Sebastian hazarded, looking out at the expansive dark sky.
“When the war is over, life can get back to normal,” Nikola said.
“Will it ever be over?” Sebastian said.
“We’ll be counterstriking at some point. We think the cyborgs are weak now and we can end this for once and for all.”
“Oh, cool. Can I go?”
“No. Of course not.”
“But you’ll need a tesla to guide you, and there aren’t many left.”
“We’ll send Gavin.”
“Gavin! But he’s, well, he …” He reflected upon the letter he threw out. “Melanie will completely flip out.”
“Gavin’s seen the horrors of war. He is older. It’ll be less of a confrontation for him. He’s the best person for the task at hand.”
“But you can’t send him out. He won’t be able to survive them again.”
“He’s the best tesla we’ve got.”
“Really?” Sebastian said. “Then I think we’re in deep trouble. You know he isn’t the best.”
“Symbolically he’s the best, everyone thinks so.” Nikola cautiously glanced around and lowered his voice. “He’s the one we can afford to lose. Sometimes we have to hide away our most valuable things because their loss would be too much.”
“So you won’t send me because I’m too valuable? That’s not fair. I want to go.”
“But you can’t. You’re forbidden to go. You don’t know everything that’s going on or the implications if you get caught. We wouldn’t worry if anyone else in the entire world was captured by them, but you—you would change everything.”
“Why?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“That really isn’t fair.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be.”
Sebastian threw down his food and ran out into the rain. Nikola went to chase after him, but Isabelle placed a hand on his arm.
“Let him have the time to get his head around it. It’s a confusing time for him. We need to keep him close but give hi
m some space,” Isabelle said.
“You know that if he stays here the cyborgs will come. I don’t know how long we have. And when Thrown and the others catch on, it’ll be very hard to convince them.”
“We have to come up with some kind of plan.”
Sebastian wandered the streets. He should have been happy, he knew that, but something was sitting deep within him keeping him on edge. He wondered what Nikola and his mother were hiding from him. There must be somewhere in this place he could find information about himself. He knew he was important. Why wouldn’t they tell him why? What was the big secret?
Okay, he was a tesla, and a good one, but there were heaps of teslas. Or there had been. It seemed being a tesla got you chased out of town, or dead. He tried to put some of the pieces together. Nikola had said his mother had been here before. She was obviously in the army, but what happened for her to end up in Talinga on a farm? This city was all about recording and maintaining history. Surely they would have records. But where?
He turned around and greeting him was the Potenza tower. It contained the offices of Albert and Nikola. It was the tower of power. It had been battered by many attacks, but had stood against them all. It was a strong building. He wondered what was on those levels above Nikola’s office.
He needed an accomplice.
“Isaac!”
The boy was huddled in the medic building, or at least its remains. The nurse was checking how his arm was recovering. He was wearing his cap and talking in his “city-man” ways, causing the nurse to laugh.
Sebastian ran up to him and nearly gave him a hug, then realized it was both uncool and possibly excruciatingly painful. He went for a high five. Isaac responded, only to wince as his arm stung badly. The nurse gave them both a smile before leaving them alone.
“How are you doing?” Sebastian tried to sound upbeat.
“Oh, you know, major pain, fractured bones—”
“Yeah, great, great. Hey, you want to break into a top-secret place?”
“I don’t know. The doctor said I should take it easy with my arm and everything.” He waved it then winced as pain shot up his arm.
“What does the doctor know!”