by Wells, JB
Kieran charged out from behind the barrels and threw the Incher in the face of one soldiers, the infected screamed and stumbled backwards into the circle, his fate mimicking that of Cadet Mullins. With the Recov in his other hand Kieran hit it hard in the stomach of the other shocked soldier. Richard dropped down to his knees while the Recov worked its way through the ogre. The pained soldier placed its hand on Kieran’s shoulder to steady itself, its body slowly vanishing into pixels. Before it disappeared, its face changed to that of the taken that had been trapped within, it was Jack Blaine from school. For a moment Jack smiled at Kieran with relief and then the whole infected soldier faded into smoke.
Kieran was stunned, he had seen Jack and returned him. The odds of returning someone he knew were minimal, but to return Jack was something else.
Richard was still on the floor like a quivering wreck. Kieran took the key from the body of the infected soldier that was sent for re-infection. He placed the key against the cell door of TakeDown, and the bars disappeared.
“Rich, have you seen the Hunters?”
Richard didn’t answer. He was just a shaking wreck.
Emily approached and gave Kieran a fleeting Thank-you smile, and then her stern exterior reappeared. She knelt down and pulled Richard to his feet. “Your friends were taken to see Pied-Piper.”
“Where?”
“Up there,” she pointed to the stairs.
Kieran had no idea how relentless Adam would be in his task of ultimate control. It would seem the quest was not over yet. There were still hundreds of cadets waiting to be released.
Emily began talking with her Guider, she turned to her team, “We need to get to an ammo drop, there’s been another attack.”
“They were readying the troops when you saved me.” Kieran looked away from Emily and called to Chloe, “Can you show me the movement in Sector Z.”
“Confirmed, details on screen.”
A map appeared, hundreds of yellow dots were scattered on his visor. They were slowly moving into formation.
“Chloe, transfer to cadet 214.”
“Confirmed 191.”
“Huh, Sector Z?” Emily questioned looking at her screen.
“Something big is happening around here, the refresh rate is going too quick. Can you assemble and cut them off?”
“There must be what,” she scanned the room, “two hundred cadets in here. I reckon we can cut them off at the Overpass in Sector E. The Overpass links this sector to the Warzone and Sector E runs underneath. If we make it to the OP we can call back up from the Warzone in Sector R.” Emily started to arrange her team. “What about you, Kealey?”
“I have to save my team.”
Kieran approached Cadet Ayon, he pressed the cells open. “Thank you for your help.”
“Thank you, my friend.” Ayon smiled and shook Kieran’s hand.
“Can you release the other cells, and then get out of here. Magnus will get you back to your portal.”
“We will head to the OP and help. My commander is sending teams there now.” Ayon informed him.
“Good luck.” Kieran passed over the key and stood at the bottom step to keep watch.
“What about the points?” Ayon stared speechless at the shiny key that fit his gloved palm perfectly.
“You deserve them. Without your Recov we wouldn’t be here now.”
“Thank you and good luck my friend.” Ayon called, quietly running to open the doors.
The cadets were rallied out with Emily using her quietest shout trying to get order. “There is a portal just outside of here, we can get ammo. We’re heading to the overpass to stop them from moving forwards. Let’s move, move, move!”
The final cadets were filing out of the Dungeon portal, and Kieran followed behind making sure they were all gone. When the last three were about to transition they looked at him and smiled with thanks. Just as they placed their helmets on, their faces changed to one of horror. Kieran turned to see what had scared them so badly, but the screaming whistle noise was back in his ears, filling his head. The next thing he saw was the stone floor approaching, fast.
32
Kieran slowly came too, his head ached and his body was tingling. His ears were humming with the sounds of a thousand voices calling to him, the voices blending into one and sounding like the tides of the sea.
“He’s waking up, give him some space.”
“No, we should take his helmet off!”
“Ziggy, he corrupted him and it’ll take a little while for him to come out of it.”
“Yes, Isabelle, but you said to give him space.”
“And how do you suppose we take his helmet off, huh? I mean our hands are tied with these stupid things.”
“Will you two stop arguing!” Dexter had grown tired and his voice boomed around the room.
“Wh…what happened?” Kieran’s vision was blurry; he just about managed to sit himself up, though his body felt like it’d been through the tumble dryer. He looked at his friends and they were looking back at him. They had gathered into a circle around him, and Kieran caught sight of their hands bound together in their laps.
“Where are we?” He asked but he just saw fear in their eyes as they hung their heads.
“So glad you could join us.” Adam called from the other side of the room. His friends instantly looked away from Kieran and they hung their heads.
Kieran pulled his arm up to remove his visor but his hands were bound. Adam clicked his fingers, and like magic Kieran’s helmet vanished from his head and appeared on the floor next to him.
“You’re in my world now.”
The room was grand, covered in thick red drapes and a throne sat in front of a large floor to ceiling window. Extravagant chandeliers hung from the arched ceiling and massive portraits covered every inch of wall space. Kieran observed each picture and realised they were that of Adam’s family. Pictures of a happy family throughout the years leading up to the current year surrounded the room. Kieran couldn’t work it out, his parents died when he was young.
“They were made from my memory, like I said this is my world. I can create what I want when I want it.” Adam was sitting on his throne wearing the same dirty green and grey scratched armour. It was armour that had seen many wars, and it bore scars from many battles but none of them were strong enough to defeat him. A creature, one of his many creations, barrelled into the room. It had the face of a goat, the build of a bear and many legs like a centipede.
“What is that?” Dexter chuckled, he was facing the ground and he bit his lip to suppress the urge to laugh hard.
“Sire, Sire.”
“What is it, Gimsbub?” Adam removed his helmet. Kieran gasped, he was not at all what he was expecting to see. On the throne sat a young man with a very weathered face. Adam was twenty-one in the real world, but he stopped aging at seventeen when he was lost in Plantranet. His hair was dark, long and dishevelled and his face was unshaven with the slight formation of stubble around his chin. For all the dirt and scars he had, his eyes were a piercing and almost hypnotic blue. “Well?”
Gimsbub leant in and whispered something.
“Now?”
“Yes, Sire.” The faithful servant bowed and backed away.
“I apologise,” Adam stood, his armour creaking and chinking as he wearily pulled himself from the chair. He moved as if he was tired, a sure sign that his power was depleting too fast. “It would appear that there is an attack being led on my army.” Adam’s shoulders dropped and he shook his head regretfully. “This will take no more than a few minutes for me to correct. I had hoped that Alpha One would have learnt by now, you can’t just delete me or reboot my system. I suppose I should be grateful, his reckless act will feed my need for power.” Adam chuckled, “Ironic, they keep trying to stop me but they just help me.”
Kieran looked at his friends. They were all still looking at the floor.
“I wouldn’t even bother running. I do grow tired of the chase game. You r
un and I chase yadda, yadda. In here I don’t have to chase you, I know where you are and I can get you whenever I need to. This,” he gestured his finger between them both, “has been fun though, it did entertain me from the, oh so dull, daily routine of building an army. Here’s a little something to help you decide if running is a good idea or not.” Adam clicked his fingers again and left the room. In the far corner of the room a large golden container had appeared. Something was inside, turning slowly but it wasn’t fully there as it flickered like a hologram. At the bottom of the container a download bar counted up very slowly, it said seventy one percent.
“How did you get here?” Kieran asked, his head buzzing with sound.
Isabelle kept her head down and looked at the floor. “We were in Sector B when Thistle informed us it was a trap. We were diverted back to help you, but he trapped us all. A portal opened up, our guiders led us through it, but it was him, not the guiders. The portal led us straight to the cells.”
“Where are Seb and the others?” Kieran looked around the room.
“Turned.” Owen’s voice was shaking. “We watched as he turned each and every one of them with his monsters. But we weren’t alone,” he gestured to the far wall where two figures hung.
“Who…”
“Seal and Ex.”
Kieran jumped up and ran to them. They were suspended by chains, their arms and legs all bound to the wall. Officer seal looked asleep but Ex was bruised and his face was bloody from trying to fight his way free.
“Seal?” Kieran whispered. He gently shook her and she awoke.
“Kieran, what…what are you doing here?” she coughed. Glancing at her arms she saw they were bolstered and she couldn’t move. He eyes darted around the room, “Are you all okay?”
They nodded solemnly.
“Ex?” she whispered and rattled at her chains trying to free herself. “Exeter?” She shouted and he stirred. He was disorientated and he thrashed around.
“Where is he,” he growled and pulled his arms and legs, concentrating hard to try and break free.
“What is that?” Seal asked looking at the pod.
Kieran started towards it, his mind racing with ways they could get out. “We can get out of here. Ziggy, in my belt is a Recov, take it and use it to get you all out.” Owen placed his hand in the pocket and pulled out the vial, he held it tightly in his grasp. Kieran stood and walked towards the pod.
“No Kiwi, you heard him. He will find us, we can’t get out.” Isabelle followed him to the container, her hands bound in front of her as she pleaded with him. She stopped suddenly. “No!”
Kieran held Isabelle as she started to cry at what she had seen. Dexter and Owen joined them as they stared at the person slowly downloading. It was Alfie Best.
“Cyberus, if you can hear me, we need help!” Kieran called and held Isabelle tighter, she was becoming inconsolable. He caught Seal and Ex exchanging glances, they already suspected it was Alfie.
“I knew it. I said it was him!” Dexter gloated.
“How has he got Alfie, he’s not even linked up is he?” Kieran circled the pod and watched as a sleeping Alfie was slowly trapped in Adams castle.
“This was one of my rather more clever tricks.” Adam had appeared at the side of them, he admired his handy work with pride. Isabelle, Dexter and Owen had backed away but Kieran wasn’t scared. “It was simple really; I amplified the effect of Transition. The more time Alfie spent in here the better he felt, and when he left it didn’t take long for his energy to drain. I call it Displacement. His energy levels were displaced so he suffered from his attacks so much more frequently. A simple virus uploaded internally and every transition made him more and more ill. It didn’t take long for the old hag, Satchell, to realise that he appeared to get better when he was linked up. So they put him in the chair, and I began to download him to where I need him.” Adam leant down to the load bar, a cruel smile spread across his face. “He’s been in the chair for hours today, and he’s nearly here.”
“They have no idea,” Isabelle whispered in shock.
“I think they might now,” Kieran whispered and looked back at Ex and Olivia as they pretended to still be asleep.
“Back to your places!” Adam pointed at Isabelle, Owen and Dexter. They slid back to the place on the floor where Kieran had first seen them. “You’re with me.” Adam walked towards his throne and Kieran felt himself drifting behind.
Kieran’s arm plate vibrated and Adam dropped him back to the floor. “What is this? You can’t get communication in here.” Adam snatched Kieran’s arm forward, he stared at the plate and laughed.
‘Deposit in ammo pouch’ scrolled across the screen. Kieran gasped, Cyberus had heard him but it was no use. Kieran’s hands were still tied, Adam was already routing through his pockets.
“You thought this would stop me?” He laughed and held the Recov up to the light. “You thought you could get close enough to use it?” Adam laughed and let the vial go. The tiny ray of hope smashed into the stonework and the Recov leaked out onto the floor. The billions of recovery bots from within began eating their way through his programming, leaving a black empty hole in their wake. There was nothing in the blackness, just an abyss.
Kieran noted the time ripple running through the black, it was flowing fast like a blade on a helicopter, it turned and returned a few seconds later.
“I invented this place,” Adam was growing angry, his blue eyes glowing. “I know everything that goes on. It may take minutes, hours, weeks or even months but I will reprogram what you destroy.” Adam moved around the black hole looking into it. He laughed with disgust and moved towards the large window behind his chair.
Standing proudly he surveyed his land. He looked out onto his creations. Adam waved his hand, and Kieran’s body flew to the window. Kieran couldn’t fight it, he had no power. “You think you can come in here and return me? I am the creator. I’m the Alpha in here. I am god!”
Kieran could see fields of fire in the distance, the river of lava that flowed down the volcano and formed into rock causing the mountainous range to grow. There were Psyphons flying past the windows, they were firing on things that he couldn’t see. Cadets were battling in the fields, on the volcano and all around. His army was strong and growing.
“I created all of this,” Adam hissed, he had become too angry. “I gave you more credit then you were due.” He flicked his hand. Kieran found himself being pinned against the wall by a brutal force.
Owen went to stand, his bound hands still hiding the Recov. Kieran saw his movement and gave a ‘no’ with a simple eye movement. Owen stilled and returned back to his previous position.
“Do you think I’m alone in all of this?” Adam was still observing his beautiful creation.
Kieran didn’t answer, the pressure of the force holding him against the wall had started to crack his armour. His arm plate vibrated and sent out warning bleeps as his energy levels drained away. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Isabelle doing something to Owen’s chains. She hadn’t looked at Adam through fear but she continued to work with her head down. Kieran didn’t look at them as he didn’t want to attract Adam’s attention.
“Well?”
Kieran shrugged.
“Your ignorance is refreshing,” Adam left the window and started to circle the hole that had stopped growing. It was as big as a child’s paddling pool. Isabelle stopped working on Owen’s chains and they sat still. “I’m not alone, far from it.”
Kieran glanced up and looked over Adam’s shoulder where he could see Isabelle finally looking up. She was shocked by the revelation that Adam was working with other people in the real world.
“There are people, many of them, that want to be a part of what I can make a reality.”
“This,” Kieran motioned his head around the room, “will never be reality.”
Adam stalked towards Kieran, his head was tilted and his rat tail hair covered his luminous eyes. With a conceited smile, he
approached and stopped only a hair’s breadth away. “You have no idea, my poor helpless little friend.”
Kieran struggled, his body ached and his head hurt. “Just stop now, give yourself in.”
Adam’s pulsating eyes drifted off into a world of wonder, “A world of people, all controlled by me and doing exactly as I tell them. Anyone who tries to stop me will just be reprogrammed in here, and turned like everyone else. With today’s technology do you think it would be hard for me to do it? It was so easy taking the thousands I have already.” Adam came back from his fantasy and he smiled wickedly, “The Queen, Prime ministers, Presidents, Royalty from around the world all under my command. Generals, governments and armies, all leading the world in a new way of life. My way. A world ruled by one.” Adam placed one hand on the wall next to Kieran’s head. Kieran choked, the force holding him still was pressing stronger and crushing his chest. His shield had given up and his armour was nothing but a useless costume that offered no protection. “Everybody wants to be top dog, ruler of everything. Can you imagine what it’s like holding the power of the world in your hands? Just look at what I have done, I am a ruler and I can make it possible for all those around.”
“That’s crazy!” Isabelle shrieked from behind.
Adam lifted his hand, with the motion Isabelle was lifted off the ground and her body was thrown around like a rag doll. All Kieran could do was watch on in horror.
“Put her down!” Dexter screamed and charged.
“No,” Kieran croaked through the sensation of his chest being restricted. “Please don’t hurt her.”
“No…Please.” Adam mocked in a pretend cry as he released Isabelle. Adam had no need to turn and see them, he held such immense power that everything in Plantranet bowed to him. Isabelle cried out as she hit the floor, Dexter was running towards Adam. Kieran’s eyes pleaded with Adam not to hurt him and the same wry smile appeared on Adam’s face. He lifted his hand again and Dexter was hoisted into mid-air. His legs and arms flailed around as his body danced in the air. “I’m growing tired of this.” Adam flicked his hand, and behind him Dexter smashed into the thick stone pillar that held up the ceiling. With little effort Dexter’s force had turned it to pixels.