by Mark Lingane
They both looked down into the tunnel. Isaac closed his eyes and jumped.
Sebastian looked after him. It was a long way down to wherever it went. There hadn’t been any screams of absolute agony. But neither had anyone shouted up saying everything was okay and there was a nice comfy mattress at the bottom. He paced back and forth. Sweat ran down his face. He was certain this was a bad idea. But @summer was down there, and it was tearing him in two that they were separated.
He stood on the edge and looked down. He was going to jump. He got his head around the idea. He took a deep breath and jumped.
Then he told himself that this time he would do it for real.
He took another deep breath and jumped.
It was no good. His body wasn’t listening to what his head was saying. He needed to catch it by surprise. He took a deep …
He screamed for the first few seconds as his mind tried to come to terms with what had happened. It was letting him know in no uncertain terms that this was the most stupid thing he had done in his whole life and it was going to kill him. Fear wrapped around him as certain death screamed towards him.
As soon as his body had prepared to accept the inevitable, the tunnel leveled out and he slowed.
@summer was standing next to Isaac. “Let’s do it again!” she said. Excitement propelled her up and down on the spot.
“No!” Sebastian said. He stood up shakily and propped himself against the wall, then sat down on the platform he had arrived on.
“That was way cool,” Isaac said. “Later,” he told @summer, “we’ll do it later.”
Sebastian’s head was spinning. “Where are we?”
“We’re in the residential zone. People bring their trash here to recycle.” @summer pointed to the great metal furnaces.
Sebastian became aware of the immense heat bucketing off them. He wiped his hand over his forehead, sweeping the sweat away.
“Let’s go,” said @summer.
Sebastian staggered back to his feet and followed the other two.
@summer looked around the open doorway. She signaled for the boys to follow her. They crowded behind her and stepped into a dark alleyway, enjoying the cool air.
“Where are we going?” Isaac asked.
“I hope we’re going to meet Melanie and Gavin at the core. To get there we have to go through the residential zone, through the medical zone, through the recreational zone and into the military zone, which is protected by many people. There are cameras and lots of people who want to report anything suspicious they see.”
Sebastian sighed. “Is this because we didn’t get through the service gates in the dragon factory in time?” He gave Isaac a dark look.
“I have insufficient information to answer. Let’s go.” She glanced down the gray alleyway.
“Are we underground? Because it’s daylight,” Isaac said.
“Pretty freaky isn’t it?” Sebastian said. “It’s a nice temperature, though. And there’s a cool breeze.”
They looked over the scene that had opened out in front of them. Each tall building had a brightly painted front. Large displays sprang out of the ground with colorful images of drinks, food and other things Isaac and Sebastian had never seen before.
“What’s a digital watch?” Sebastian asked.
“It allows you to tell the time,” @summer said.
“We’ve got those.” He pulled the fob watch from his pocket and flicked it open. “It nearly says the same time as those digital watches.”
“They also monitor your heart rate and how much energy you’re using, perform calculations, send messages, listen to music, tell you where you are in the world, and call anyone else who has one.”
He looked down at the fob watch. “Nearly the same.”
“The trees are very green,” Isaac said.
“They’ll turn white when it’s night time.”
Isaac had a close look at one nearby. He stroked his hand over the surface. A trail of lights flashed where his hand touched, before resolving back into their original vivid brown.
Sounds from the competing displays rolled over the trio, overwhelming the two boys. @summer walked on, unperturbed by the constant barrage of sound and colored lights. The central park was huge. It had various sails spotted around the paths, where people were enjoying the shade and respite from the warm fake-sun. There was even a monolithic fountain in the center, standing silent and dry.
@summer stopped in her tracks. She reached behind to grab the boys without taking her eyes off her target. They turned to see what had taken her complete attention.
They were horrified to see Melanie falling from the sky. It looked like she had fallen from a dark square above her that had been cut into the sky. The dark square closed, leaving Melanie plummeting to the ground like she had been thrown from the clouds.
“What do we do?” Sebastian shouted.
“We save her,” @summer said. “We have five seconds.”
Five …
@summer sprinted across the park. She leapt across the paths and ducked around the fountain, all the while keeping her eyes on the falling figure. She jumped into the middle of a pack of cyborgs wearing brightly colored clothes running along the path. In the middle of the group of joggers was a young blond cyborg female.
Four …
A camera took a photograph of the trio tearing through the park.
@summer leapt out of the group and onto a pole tethering one end of a large sail. A knife shot out of her forearm and she slashed through the ropes holding it up.
Three …
She leapt down with the end of the sail in her hand. She looked up at the rapidly approaching Melanie and estimated the impact of the downward trajectory. She quickly scanned the area then raced over to a nearby streetlight.
Two …
She wrapped the corner of the sail around the pole, tightening it and pulling the end down over itself. She placed her leg against the streetlight and braced.
One …
51
MELANIE FELL INTO the sail, which stretched as it absorbed her weight. @summer felt the weight, held it for a moment as the inertia expended, then released it and Melanie hit the ground. @summer rolled the dazed Melanie off the sail.
The camera took a photograph of the park. One of the sails had failed. The central park agency registered a maintenance request and the maintenance staff was sent out repair the sail so everyone could enjoy relaxing in the shade on this pleasant afternoon. A message was issued to the nearby cyborgs to inform them of this, apologizing for any inconvenience.
The cyborgs strolling around the park checked their watches, which all beeped simultaneously.
The boys helped @summer lift Melanie up. She was light. Sebastian knew that meant she had fired a lot of bullets.
@summer hurriedly led them to the nearest building, ducking behind various displays, pausing for a moment before continuing. The building’s front was a vivid orange, with strokes of white sweeping across the face. A picture two stories high of a young cyborg jumping in the air adorned the side of the building. @summer went to the front door and slid her finger in a pattern over a small black plate positioned next to the door.
The door slid open and they hurried into the foyer. There was a huge display of a water tank full of colorful fish swimming back and forth. The floor was made up of tiles that lit up when trodden on. @summer stopped at the first door on her right and swiped another pattern on the small black plate. The door slid open and she beckoned them in.
“How come you know all of these codes?” Sebastian asked.
“They’re all the same.”
“But that means anyone could go into anyone else’s place.”
“We wouldn’t do that. We trust each other, respect each other.”
Sebastian looked around the tiny room. “If I laid down, my head and feet would touch the walls.”
“It’s as big as it needs to be. No more. No less.”
They maneuvered the d
azed Melanie over to the bright yellow sofa and manhandled her down. She was staring straight ahead, still in shock.
Sebastian looked around. “One sofa, currently occupied by Melanie, and one small table. No other chairs. One big display with animals and pictures and so on and that’s it.”
“What more do you need?”
“Books? Where are the books?”
“All books are on the irisPro.” She indicated an object that looked like a larger tinyIris on the small black table next to the sofa.
Melanie seemed to become aware of her alien surroundings. She stood up but instantly stumbled and fell to her knees. “They killed him,” she cried.
“Who?” Sebastian knew who she meant.
She couldn’t speak, too lost in her grief.
His heart sank. He didn’t want to mention his name but he did. “Gavin?”
She struggled to nod. “He was right next to me and they killed him.” Tears flowed down her face and she fought for breath.
“What happened?”
“We were attacked by this, this big green fungus monster. He saved me. Then as soon as we were out, they shot him with this huge gun, with a blue …” She gasped for air as another train of grief ran over her. “And they killed him.”
“Ah,” @summer said. She looked hesitant. “It might be different from the way it appears.”
“What?” They all turned to look at her.
“He might not be dead,” she said quietly.
Melanie sprang up, lunged at @summer and pushed her against the wall, her arm across @summer’s throat. “This is no time to be making insensitive statements.” Tears still flowed down her face.
“Medical technology is advanced.advanced, as is weapons technology.”
“But he looked dead. He was dead. I felt the pain of it when it hit my shoulder.”
@summer nodded. “Yes, it is painful, because it targets the mind and pain centers. He might have looked dead, but he would have been in shock and gone into an electro-coma. It was a neuron gun. They’re often used to capture difficult insurgents. They’ll resuscitate him once he’s in the military wing of the hospital. He’s in pain.pain.pain, but he’s alive.” She gave Melanie a weak smile.
Melanie released @summer and staggered back. Her head spun around and she toppled over. Sebastian caught her and laid her down on the sofa again. He looked at the others. There was nothing they could do except wait.
When Melanie regained consciousness Sebastian and Isaac had both removed their armor and were wearing dark gray jackets with hoods pulled up over their heads.
“Yo!” Isaac said.
“You’ll have to excuse him,” Sebastian said. “He’s been watching those telescreens and listening to music and”—he looked over to @summer to confirm the pronunciation—“vid-e-os. And it’s amazing. There are moving images of animals and amazing places. And girls in underwear, for some reason. And music. The music! It makes your body want to jump up and down.”
Melanie’s face was pale as a sheet. Her lips were parched and her mind was unable to deal with the world at the moment.
“Can we get her a drink of water?” Sebastian asked.
@summer disappeared into another small room. Sebastian followed. The room was black, with each surface shiny and reflective. There were a few items he recognized, such as the sink, but most of it was sleek, silver and teasing him to reach out and touch. He reached out and @summer slapped his hand.
“Don’t touch anything in here,” she said.
“Why? Will it detect that somehow I’m not the resident and send a message to central command?”
“No, you’ll leave fingerprints and make it look messy.” She ran her hand over a display set into the wall. It sprang to life and listed several numbers. “The ration of water has been depleted for this residence.”
“Ration?”
She turned back to him. “Each residence dispenses a maximum capacity of half a liter of water per person per day.”
“How much is that?”
@summer pressed a button and a section of the wall slid away, revealing a row of small metal containers. She took one out and handed it to Sebastian. His hand wrapped around the small container and it extended marginally beyond his fingers. He would have considered it half a good drink after a morning reading with Albert.
“How many of these make half a liter?”
“One.”
He stared at the container. He turned it around in his hand. Its thin sides easily flexed under his touch.
“One? For the whole day?”
She nodded.
“And everyone has only one?”
She nodded again.
“How do you survive?”
“We’ve adapted. But it’s had its consequences. Our life expectancy is low. Muscles fatigue easily. It’s hard to grow food so not much of it’s fresh. But we have good.good places selling fast and tasty food.”
“Are there vegetables or salad?”
“Nothing healthy in sight. Or hidden.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“You can have a meat patty in a sesame-seed bun.”
“What’s a meat patty?”
“Meat scraps and sinew are spun in a centrifuge and washed with ammonium hydroxide. Would you like dimethylpolysiloxane, TBHQ, sodium acid pyrophosphate, and hydrogenated soybean oil with that?”
“And it’s good?”
“Yes. Until you swallow. Then it’s not so good. You can get some at the large yellow letter M found on every street corner, next to the coffee houses. Where they recommend that you have a varied and nutritious diet.”
“M?”
“It stands for meals.”
“I think I’ll pass on the meat scraps and sinew.”
There was a cry from the living room. They returned to see Melanie sitting up with some of her former ferociousness restored.
“I’m going to the hospital,” she said. “If there’s a chance Gavin is alive then I’m going to get him.”
“And if he isn’t?”
“Then I’m going to blow the whole place up.” She folded her arms and stared at the opposite wall.
“The hospital’s on the way to the core,” @summer said. “Getting the good.good looking boy with whooshy hair is the right thing to do.” She looked at Melanie. Even though Sebastian had removed the gun-machines, she still had her reflective armor. “But change your clothes. They’re too shiny and easy to spot.”
“Lose the armor? In hostile territory?” Melanie said.
“She’s right,” Sebastian said. “How are we going to sneak across the entire hive without being seen?”
“Whatever, I just want to get to the hospital.”
“And leave your gun-machines behind,” @summer said. “No weapons are allowed in the residential zone.”
“No way.”
“You have to remove them.”
The two girls stared at each other, the silence almost solid between them.
“Would they fit in a bag or a suitcase or something?” Isaac said.
“I could live with that,” Melanie said.
52
THEY LEFT THE residence and stepped into the street. @summer still looked the same. Isaac and Sebastian had kept the gray hoodies and found some dark pants to put over their own battered ones. Melanie had found a dark green hoodie. She also had it up covering her face.
“How do we avoid the cameras?” asked Sebastian.
“It’s easy,” @summer said. “They photograph in a pattern. If we time it correctly we’ll pass unseen. When you’re told to ignore them you don’t notice the pattern. Are we ready?” She stared up at the nearby camera. A barely perceptible light flashed and she waved everyone along.
They walked along in single file, with Melanie at the rear dragging the suitcase she’d taken from the apartment. The noise of the displays rolled over them once again, selling them everything from new digital watches, food, robotic pets, the latest tinyIris device, a larg
er tinyIris for use around the residential enclosures, and many other shiny objects.
“The pictures of the food are making me hungry,” Isaac said. “Everyone looks so happy eating the food from this M place.”
@summer paused at a crossroads. She was staring intently at a camera on the other side of the path.
Isaac sniffed the air and his stomach growled. Opposite them was a store with large windows looking out onto the street. Inside, a dozen cyborgs were sitting down, feeding strange brown objects into their mouths. Above the store was a large yellow letter M.
“What are they putting in their mouths?” Isaac asked.
“Burgers,” said @summer.
“Do we need food?”
“We always need food,” Sebastian said.
“Do we go to M?”
“I’m not sure that what M serves is classified as food, the way @summer describes it.”
“They don’t look very happy eating it. Not like the people on the big telescreens.”
“Stay focused,” Melanie hissed.
@summer took off at a brisk pace across the path. They followed an outer path through another large park, occasionally pausing at crossroads. They made it to the other side of the residential zone and crossed over into the utility area, made obvious by the large signs. In the heart of it was a large gray building. Half of the front was painted white with a large red cross emblazoned in the top corner. They looked up at the dark windows set deep in the grey wall.
@summer walked around to the side. The small alleyway was buzzing with activity. Cyborgs were loading medical supplies. Some equipment was being put on a large platform with big wheels. @summer walked into the heart of the activity. The cyborgs paid her no attention. She waved for the others to follow. They started hesitantly but the cyborgs simply walked around them, avoiding them.
“Why are they ignoring us?” Sebastian asked @summer.
“They have other, more important instructions. They’ll focus on their primary directive unless they’re given a new, higher priority. This is to our advantage for the moment.”
Dozens of bodies were being moved out through a large set of doors. Teams of people loaded the bodies, wrapped up in plastic bags, into a large metal box. The cyborgs dropping the bodies into the metal box simply threw the bodies down on top of each other.