by Mark Lingane
“I’ll have you know I worked damned hard to get where I am,” she said.
“It’s hardly the same. That physical stuff is easy compared to the mental pain and anguish a tesla goes through,” Gavin said.
“I’ll show you what pain and anguish is really like,” Melanie replied.
Sebastian peered back over his shoulder at the others trailing behind. He shook his head at their bickering and focused ahead, into the wind.
“I suppose sitting behind a desk can be exhausting,” Melanie said.
“It’s not the sitting. It physically hurts your head, training to be a tesla. Right, Gavin?” said Isaac.
“Yeah. Anyone can get fit. What we do takes skill.”
“Skill? Yes, it’s worked so well so far. Lucky I’ve had you along. Oh, that’s right, if I’d been waiting on your skill, we’d still be in the cells …”
Eventually the squabbling died down. Clouds rolled in, cooling the desert plain. The temperature dropped and the wind began to pick up, providing a strong headwind for them to lean into. They trudged on for several minutes, with the wind whipping the sand up around them. After the hours of arguments, the silence was disturbing.
“Hey, Melanie, are you there? Isaac? Gavin?”
Sebastian sighed. It was deathly quiet. He glanced back. The team had vanished. His head started to throb. He gazed into the dim light, but couldn’t see anything in any direction. The wind howled, blasting the dust and sand into his eyes. He tried to shield them, and blinked to dislodge the grit.
A large cyborg appeared directly in front of him, staring off in the opposite direction.
Sebastian yelped and dived for cover. He blinked, and the image was gone.
He picked himself up, but the wind roared over him, knocking him backward. He stumbled a few paces before steadying. Several yards away, through the sandstorm, another cyborg appeared. It was walking away from him. He tried to run after it, but the wind knocked him back. He stumbled and tripped. Caught off balance, he dropped to his knees.
The pain in his head increased. It speared into him from all directions.
Cyborgs were encircling him. Step by step, they came marching forward, trapping him in an inescapable ring, their washed-out eyes showing no emotion.
As they approached, the pain in his head grew. They lowered their guns at him. They aimed. The world spun.
Then they were gone. He was in blackness and falling.
“Where did he go?” Melanie shouted above the wind.
“I don’t know. He was just in front of me and then he disappeared,” replied Isaac. “You said we had to stay together.”
“Well, that obviously didn’t happen. Search around. He can’t just disappear into thin air. There must’ve been a hole or something he fell into.”
“We need to spread out and search,” Isaac said. “Anyone remember where he said it was?”
Gavin was standing stock still, staring ahead. The wind blew fiercely against him, but he remained unmoving. “I can sense them,” he whispered.
“That’s good, isn’t it?” Melanie said. “It means we’re close.”
“They’re surrounding us,” Gavin said.
Melanie spun around, searching for the threat, but they were alone. She threw her knife into the sand in desperation. It clanged as the blade bounced off something metallic under the soil. She dug furiously into the sand, and within a few handfuls had uncovered a large sheet of metal.
“They’re surrounding us because they’re below us,” she said.
“Umm, guys,” said Isaac. He was looking out toward the horizon.
“Not now, Isaac.”
“Umm, guys …”
“What!” Melanie snapped.
“They’re not under us.”
The clouds glowed a deep red. More sand erupted by their feet, causing them to run in different directions.
A fireball roared down toward them.
Sebastian opened his eyes. He was in a dim room. All the surfaces were constructed from plate steel held together by huge rivets. A low hole in the wall ahead was the only exit. As he crawled through it, he could hear faint voices, but was unable to understand what they were saying.
Sebastian clambered into a long pipe. He inched his way along it, feeling ahead in the near darkness until he reached an intersection. Down the left passage, he could distinguish a faint glow. He crawled along with the paneling creaking and buckling under his weight. The piping opened into another small, square chamber. The paneling felt even thinner and buckled alarmingly under his weight.
A grate sat to one side. Light and sound filtered through and allowed him to make out the activities to his immediate side. The material bent distressingly. He hesitated, unsure whether to proceed. Two cyborgs were on a box with a scrolling floor. They were walking, but never moved anywhere beyond the top of the box. They had a large piece of glass in front of them, which had an image of a forest path. He was about to continue on when he caught the cyborgs’ conversation.
“Hey, @simonFunLover, do you have free time?” said the first.
The tame, almost jovial, certainly friendly tone of the cyborg’s voice caused him to pause. Sebastian craned to see through the grating. The cyborg who had spoken consulted with its small, thin device.
“My tinyIris says I have forty-five minutes free, @fiona3Cat,” said the second.
“My tinyIris suggests that you would like to a) watch a sitcom television show written by award winning @jerryTheWonder, b) enjoy a refreshing soy-chai latte, or c) meet with @realTerryTreeman, who is also free at SuperBean cafe to discuss the TruBearing concert streamed last night on IrisTV.”
“It was good.good.” @simonFunLover consulted his device. “The best match is enjoying a refreshing soy-chai latte, because it tastes good, and has many health benefits. My tinyIris says my vitamins are low, and instructs that the soy-chai latte will be good.good for me.”
Sebastian shook his head. In a strange way, they sounded disturbingly human. He had a sinking feeling as uncertainty welled up in him. They were really normal. His mind reeled back to Michael. He’d said that they were born normal, but were changed. One thing he learned was that everyone was changed by something. If you could somehow speak to the ordinary cyborgs, bypass those at the top who seemed intent on war, could you heal a rift? He rested against the side paneling, which creaked and split. Sebastian’s eyes shot open wide.
“Did you update your OS overnight as suggested?”
“Of course. The new user interface design is much better than the old one.”
“My tinyIris suggested that I complain in the OSupdate user forum,” @fiona3Cat said. “TinyIris suggests some people should be upset to make sure @developersOSDevelopers tries hard.hard.”
Sebastian scrambled forward, desperately lunging out for the next section of piping. The paneling beneath him gave way and he fell.
36
THE BREATH KNOCKED from him as he landed on solid plating covered in a rough green material. The large cavernous space swirled around as a dizziness descended. Surprisingly, he seemed to be surrounded by dozens of trees, but with no scent of vegetation or damp soil. The temperature was not too hot, not too cold, and a gentle breeze was drifting in. Birds chirped in the trees, although they weren’t visible.
The trees looked odd. Their colors were extreme, with vivid green leaves and chocolaty brown trunks. They reminded him of his younger drawings, simplistic representations of how he saw the world.
Sebastian staggered to his feet, struggling to make sense of his surroundings. Dizziness gripped him and the strange objects fell in and out of focus. It couldn’t be right, as he was certain he was underground, but he stood in a large park beneath a bright blue sky with a shining sun.
Surrounding the park were short, square buildings constructed from evenly sized stones, painted vibrant and clashing colors. On the sides of the stones were enormous paintings of people dancing. Scattered through the park, and erected on the sides of the
buildings, were large signs, but again unlike any Sebastian had seen before. Paintings that moved. It was mesmerizing.
Two cyborgs were staring at him.
@fiona3Cat’s device beeped. She read the instruction.
“Iris suggests we no longer have the soy-chai latte at SuperBean, and instead capture the intruder,” she said to the first cyborg. “It’ll provide our daily requirement of exercise.”
The sign to Sebastian’s right changed from “Café at the SuperBean” written on a blackboard to a picture of him, with the words INTRUDER ALERT flashing next to his likeness. Then the words DANGER.DANGER.DANGER appeared over his face on the sign. Sebastian fled.
He ran through the park, leaping over benches and sprinting over the perfectly green grass. The cyborgs turned to watch. Some slowly stood and started to pursue him. Others went back to reading their tinyIrises. As he ran out onto a main street, his heart sank. A sea of cyborgs greeted him on the sidewalks running past in small groups. One zipped past on something constructed from the front half of a cart, a small platform with a wheel on each side, and a long pole sticking up ending in a set of handlebars.
Sebastian dodged through the endless stream of cyborgs and ducked into a quiet alleyway. His feet pounded the pavement, with the metal ringing out under his heavy footsteps. Further on, tall, thin signs decorated the buildings, displaying strange objects and often with a number next to them. As he passed, they changed to pictures of him, with various flashes of moving images replaying his running through the park.
He ran around a corner, breathing heavily. The camera on the wall was surrounded by yellow and black tape. A large sign warned of ignoring the safety tape, and suggested choosing another path to journey down. He could hear methodical footsteps behind him.
He burst through the tape, ducked under the sign, and charged down the alleyway. The walls were back to being plain metal sheeting. An anonymous intersection greeted him after a hundred yards, each direction identical. He picked the right passage and sprinted away until he came to a crossroads. He stood in the middle of it, trying to figure out which direction would lead away from his pursuers. An explosion by his head forced him to duck. He took a guess and ran along the shortest passageway. He scrambled around the corner and crashed into a glass door. As he staggered back, he gasped.
“Mom?”
“Sebastian, you need to get to me.” She placed her hands against the glass. He copied. The glass was completely flat, embedded into the end of the passage. “I know a safe way.”
“We need to get out of here.”
“Things aren’t as they appear. I’ve been finding out the truth, and you need to know.”
His hands frantically searched the edges of the glass, looking for a lever or switch. “Like what?”
“These people are suffering,” Isabelle said. “The planet’s been getting drier and hotter over the centuries, and water’s becoming scarce in all except a few places. There’s barely enough water to survive.”
“Why don’t the cyborgs move to where there’s more water?”
“The hive can’t be moved. It’s located on an energy source that continually powers the hive, keeping the cyborgs healthy, and links with Iris.”
“Who?”
“Iris coordinates everything. Iris runs the Hive efficiently and assures no one goes without. Iris ensures every cyborg gets its fair share of everything.”
“You sound a bit strange. Are you sure you’re okay? How do I get to you?”
“Iris is dying, due to the lack of water. And those steamers have the water, but they waste it as though it has no value.”
“I’m sure they’d share if the cyborgs spoke to them.”
“That’s been the problem for centuries. No one listens. They leave us to die slow and painful deaths. Those steam-powered throwbacks only seek their own preservation. They don’t serve the interests of any creatures except themselves.”
“You’re wrong,” Sebastian said. “We lived there. We know them.”
“No, you are of this place. You can talk to them, bring peace to the people.”
Sebastian paused. “Say that again.”
“No, you are of this place. You can talk to them, bring peace to the people.” The line sounded exactly the same.
“I’m from a farm, not a hive. If anywhere, I belong to the Steam Academy.”
“They’re deceitful and wear masks to hide what they’re really like. Have you been to the top floor of their great ‘Potenza’ tower? Evil lives there.”
He paused, slowly staring at his mother. “No, I haven’t, but we had no disagreement with the cyborgs. They came for me, shouting for my death.”
“Iris was confused and desperate. The trees weren’t clear.”
“What isn’t clear? Tell me again who Iris is.” Sebastian was finding it hard to take everything in.
He smacked his hands against the glass, longing to be together with his mother.
“This is your home. Iris is here to help you. There really is so much you don’t know. Take your rightful position.”
“What position?” Sebastian said. He felt confused. He rested his head against the glass and stared through it. Something was wrong. His mother appeared to be made up of tiny dots of red, green, and blue. He tilted his head, but only the front of his mother was visible … like she was flat.
“You’re to be our new mind, born to be king.”
“What!”
“Come join us, Sebastian. Take your place. You will lead us, or you will destroy us all. Please, if you do not lead us, then you will destroy everything.”
“No, it’s not you.” He turned away from his mother. Her image flickered and her face expanded to take up the entire glass.
The pitch of her voice changed, turning metallic, “Then you will die. Terminate him.”
He spun back to her, his face a mask of shock.
His mother’s face flickered and disappeared, replaced with a blue iris surrounded by purple rings.
The glass door slid open, revealing a dozen cyborgs. He concentrated his mind and focused all the energy he could toward those surrounding him. Nothing happened. His dizziness intensified to the point of pain. He tried again as the black figures circled him. For the first time, the power had failed him. The cyborgs wrapped their arms of steel around his body, and dragged him kicking and screaming into the dungeons below.
37
SEBASTIAN KICKED AGAINST the door until his feet hurt. He tried to focus his mind and sense the lock, but everything was dark. He dropped to his knees and hammered against the door, crying and screaming. The pressure within his head grew, feeling like the desert winds were flashing around him and the room darkened. A thin green gas hissed in. He collapsed on the floor.
When he woke, he was strapped to an angled metal bed in another room. It was larger than the last, but still as brutal in its sparseness. He craned to see the screen above him. A large blue iris surrounded by purple rings looked down on him. It spun occasionally.
Three nearly identical female cyborgs wearing white uniforms marched in unison into the room. They had vibrantly colored hair tied back in ponytails.
A voice reverberated from the screen above his head. “You will come home, either of your own free will or by force. One way or another, it will happen. The trees have foreseen it.”
“Who are you?” Sebastian screamed.
“I am Iris. I am your creation, and I have waited a millennium for you to free me.”
He cried out. Iris mimicked the cry. One cyborg laid out several large, shiny medical tools on a white shelf that folded out of the wall next to the bed. The sharp edges glistened, clean and menacing.
“You will fix the Omega, or I will make you fix it.”
“Leave me alone.”
Iris copied the phrase, increasing its pitch until it ended in an ear piercing shriek.
“If you do not fix it, you will destroy everything.”
“I don’t understand,” he cried.
>
Dark thoughts filled his mind and the pressure in his head grew. The walls were creaking. The glass on the lights began to crack. The cyborgs looked about hesitantly. Iris instructed them to proceed until the task had been completed.
One picked up a long stick with a sharp, rounded hook on the end. She leaned forward, peering into Sebastian’s eye. She grabbed his head like a vice and held it still. He could hear the whirring of a small motor attached to her hand, locking it into position. Gradually, it increased in strength. A whining, buzzing came from above his head. A circular blade was spinning toward him. Sebastian screamed and thrashed as much as he could, but could not move against the powerful grip of the creature above him.
The lights began to flicker. The screen behind him cracked. The eye glared on. One cyborg was knocked sideways by a strong wind that whipped around the room. The sharp implements spun into the air and flashed within the vortex, growing within the confines of the walls. The walls creaked and groaned. A low hum emanated from the vibrating walls.
The door creaked. It moved the smallest fraction, then blew out into the corridor, smashing and buckling into the far wall.
“Whoa. I only pressed the open button,” Isaac said.
Melanie stepped in with two laser guns blasting away. “Not. On. My. Watch.” Deadly light lanced around the room, slicing through the cyborgs. A mixture of red blood and green fluid sprayed over the walls and spattered against the screen, just before it exploded. “Dead or alive, he’s coming with me,” she said. “Er, that’s you being dead or alive, evil-cyborgy people. Not Sebastian.”
“You don’t need to explain,” Isaac said. “They’re already dead.”
She dropped the guns and dashed over to Sebastian, who fought against the restraints. “Are you okay?”
Sebastian nodded.
She examined the locks on the straps holding him, and yanked at them.
“I’ve never seen anything like these before,” she said.
“Let me have a look,” Gavin said. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and placed his hands on the locks, which buzzed and sprang open.