Catching Ivy

by Eliza Tilton

  Damion.

  Dr. Hecks eyes me. “And you showed such promise.”

  THIRTY-ONE

  ~Damion~

  Red lights flash and a screeching alarm blasts overhead. The door at the end of the hall starts closing. I squeeze my body through the dwindling crack right before it locks down.

  “Talk to me, Eric.”

  “Damn it. She’s in the lab. I can’t see her anymore. Uh, make a left. I’ll talk you through a back way into the lab. I can see the guards at the door, but I can’t see what’s going on inside.”

  I make a left and duck down the hall just as a group of kids run past. I lean against the wall and bow my head as two guards chase them around the corner. They slip by, and I’m thankful I left the uniform on.

  Eric’s voice crackles in my ear, “Next door on the right, straight to the back.”

  As soon as I hear the last of the footsteps fade away in the other direction, I bolt for the room. The door opens soundlessly, and as my eyes adjust to the gloom, I realize I’m in a storage room lined with shelves and cabinets overpacked with medical supplies. “I’m in.” I lock the door behind me. “Now what?”

  “At the third cabinet on the right, feel for an indention in the frame and press in.”

  I edge my way into the room, nudging the accumulated junk aside with my foot, and search the cabinet seams until my fingers graze over a barely noticeable indention. I open the cabinet and the back panel swings open. Stifling my surprise, I take a tentative step inside the dark space.

  “You’re almost there,” Eric commends. “Head all the way down the corridor to the last door. You’ll end up inside a similar cabinet, located in the lab.”

  There’s just enough room for me to walk upright. Lights flicker above me with wires running along the ceiling. This must be a maintenance area.

  LED lights flash on and off as I run around the curving passageway. There are other turn offs that lead to a myriad of different rooms. Approaching the end of the hallway, I can just barely see the outline of a door.

  Sweat slides down my face and my shirt is plastered to my back. I lean against the steel wall, listening, but all I hear are unintelligible murmurs. I can’t tell who’s speaking.

  Sensing my hesitation, Eric reports, “Once you step through, I won’t be able to see you. The feed is cut off from there.”

  “Understood,” I reply, comprehending the unspoken meaning behind his words. “Keep an eye on Jims.”

  “I will.”

  I press a button on the wall next to the door and it slides into the other wall, disappearing. The voices are clear now.

  “What do you want with me?”

  Ivy.

  “To heal you, of course.”

  Who is she talking to?

  “Lies!”

  I carefully ease my way into another metal cabinet, just like the one before, and remove the stun gun from the inside pocket of my uniform.

  “Eric has been filling your head with nonsense, I see.”

  “There’s nanotech in my brain, Doc,” Ivy seethes. “You did something to me.”

  I realize she must be talking to Dr. Hecks. I creak open the cabinet door and ease my head out. I’m at the far end of the room. A colossal wall of screens and computer tables surround a chair—a chair that looks like something straight out of a science fiction vid. They’re standing on opposite sides with the chair between them, but the doctor has his back to me.

  “You poor child,” he answers soothingly, as if talking to a frightened animal. “You know so little about our technology and the beauty we create. Do you have any idea how special your brain is?”

  “Special? Was Bethany special?” Ivy has her hands on her hips and glares at Dr. Hecks so hard, I wonder if she’s going to jump over that chair and punch him.

  “Bethany was a tragic accident.” Dr. Hecks steps around the chair and Ivy shifts right, maintaining the distance between them.

  “She was my friend,” Ivy growls, “and you murdered her.”

  “No, child, we didn’t murder anyone. She had growths on her brain, like you, but where you absorbed the technology, hers expelled it.”

  One foot in front of the other, I move, stun gun pointed, waiting until the right moment. Neither of them see me, and it’s my only advantage.

  She shakes her head. “I don’t believe you. I saw your plans for LUCID. Eric told me what you plan to do. Stealing people’s thoughts?” Her face cringes with disgust.

  Dr. Hecks sighs, a long-suffering exhalation. “It’s strange how people are so eager to let you in, once you can provide them with a fantasy, desires they wouldn’t normally explore in the real world. BORAS provides sanctuary from the monotony of life. We can only improve upon our designs, and their thoughts will allow us passage.”

  The two circle the chair until Ivy is off to my right and Dr. Hecks is to the left, both on opposite ends of the chair.

  “No one will buy your VRR’s or vids once they know the truth,” I voice confidently, stepping out of hiding with the stun gun aimed at his back.

  Ivy’s gaze whirls toward me. “Damion? What are you doing here?”

  “It’s fine,” I offer comfortingly. “After today, BORAS is over.”

  Dr. Hecks turns around to face me and laughs. “Isn’t this sweet? You brought your friend. Curious how you two found each other. One could say I am the ultimate matchmaker.”

  I step sideways, making my way to Ivy, and keep my eyes trained on Dr. Hecks. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Ivy runs to my side and I push her behind me, blocking her from the maniacal glint in the doctor’s eye. He reminds me of old bones covered by someone who doesn’t fit in their own skin, like he was three hundred pounds and lost it too fast.

  “There’s nothing you can do to stop the future,” Dr. Hecks cackles.

  Aiming the gun, I grit my teeth. “No, but people will learn the truth, and once they know, BORAS will be over.”

  The grin on Dr. Hecks’ face fades. “Do you really think the world will care?” H tsks. “You expect far too much from humanity, young Damion. We are a depraved society, searching for any means of escape from our wretched lives.”

  Ivy explodes, “Because of you, Bethany is dead! All those years, we followed your instructions and believed your lies. I thought you cared.” She shoves past me, ready to charge at the doctor. I can’t keep the gun on him and go after her.

  I shuffle to the left, my aim never straying from the mad doctor’s chest.

  “Ivy,” he croons, “you are my masterpiece. The genetic marker in you makes you the perfect conduit; a beautiful, living, breathing machine.”

  I don’t like the way he’s leering at her. Taking two big steps, I position myself back in front of her and shove her behind me with my left arm.

  “What are you talking about?” Ivy grips the back of my shirt and her fingers tremble.

  “Sweet child. Do you still not understand?”

  Just then, the screens flash around us and my watch buzzes.

  Uploaded!

  A smile stretches across my face. “I guess we’ll see what humanity has to say, won’t we?”

  Dr. Heck’s gaze moves to the screens behind me. For a moment, he seems lost in the data scrolling around the net. “What have you done?” his voice wavers.

  “Humanity will make their own decision.” I smile wider, basking in his defeat.

  “My research!” He dashes to the computer and frantically hits the keys.

  “Don’t try anything,” I warn. “It’s over!”

  “It has only just begun.” He pushes a sequence into the computer and the scrolling data shifts to lines of perfectly formed code. A purple word illuminates: LUCID.

  “Ahh!” Ivy grabs her head and drops to her knees, screaming and writhing on the floor.

 
I drop beside her, rubbing my free hand over her head, her back. “What is it?”

  She screams and blood trickles from the corners of her eyes.

  “What have you done to her?” I swivel bewildered eyes and glare at Dr. Hecks. The gun shakes in my grasp.

  He stands strong, holding his chin high, with a grin that turns my stomach. “Damion, meet LUCID.”

  My heart stops as I look back at Ivy, just in time to see her hazel eyes turn purple.

  THIRTY-TWO

  ~Damion~

  I drop the gun and pull Ivy into my arms. “Ivy? Can you hear me?” I ask frantically.

  Her body shakes with tremors and her eyes flutter open and closed, revealing the bright purple of her irises.

  “Ivy, please. Please.”

  A crash sounds from something falling in the back of the room. I glance around and realize Dr. Hecks is gone, and a lab kid with glasses and bright red hair is standing in his place.

  “What happened?” the newcomer asks, a convincing look of concern stretched across his features.

  “Who are you?” I grip Ivy closer and pick up the stun gun to aim at the kid walking toward me with outstretched hands.

  Wary amusement flickers across his face as he answers, “Couldn’t tell by the hair?”

  I release my pent-up breath, noticing the same bright hue as Buzz’s hair. “Eric?”

  He nods and kneels next to us. “What happened to her?” He opens one of her eyes, flashing a light in it to check for pupil dilation.

  “He typed in a code, the word LUCID flashed on the screen, and then she collapsed and her eyes turned purple. He called her some type of conduit.”

  At that, Eric openly gawks at Ivy. Suddenly back to business, he instructs, “Help me get her in the chair, quickly.”

  I lift her limp body in my arms and carry her over to the metal chair. Eric presses his foot on a pedal underneath to raise it, and then presses another lever to lean it back. I lay her gently on the metal recliner as Eric produces a shiny steel ring and places it on the crown of her head.

  Reading the look of horror on my face, Eric hastens to explain, “I have to see inside.”

  “Inside her head?” I ask and follow on his heels as he approaches the wall of computers.

  He finally answers, but is unable to meet my eyes. “Yes. I knew the tech in her brain had something to do with LUCID, but I could never access all my father’s files. The research is light years ahead. He may have chosen her because of her ability to process information quickly. You can’t take human thoughts and program a machine to decipher them, but if you had a human who could process the data first, it could work.”

  His voice trails off and I look back at Ivy, my heart twisting with fear and guilt. This is my fault. I should’ve forced her to stay back at the cabin.

  The pull to touch her overcomes my sense of propriety and I move to her, part of me falling apart with each step. Her long hair hangs off the edge of the chair. I slip my fingers through the silky strands, pain rippling through me.

  I can’t lose you.

  Gia’s face. Ivy’s smile. They blend into a mirage of failures.

  But you’re not dead.

  Slow, steady breaths leave her pink lips.

  “He really did it.” Eric’s voice is a mix of awe and despair.

  “Did what?” I take Ivy’s hand in mine, still warm. A reminder she’s still in this world.

  With a series of button pushes, Eric displays an image of a glittering city on the large screen in the middle of the computer wall, dwarfed by a large tower in the center. “This is Absalom. People all over the world are logging in with the new visors. Do you see that tower? She’s in there, pulling all of their thoughts.”

  “Where is Absalom?” I ask shakily, trying to process the enormity of the situation.

  “It’s the social hub of LUCID; a virtual playground you can hang out in.”

  “So, what? Ivy’s in some sort of coma? Can’t we just unplug her?”

  He turns back to me, fear and indecision warring in his eyes. “I don’t know how.”

  The room spins. “No!” I explode. “She’s not going to be a vegetable. There has to be something we can do!”

  Eric pushes his wire-rimmed glasses up his nose. “In theory, if you plugged into Absalom and got to her, I could give you a virtual item, sort of like if you were playing a VR game, only this would be a virus. If you could somehow manage to disconnect her in there it might work, but it won’t be easy. I don’t know what’s in there or what kind of protection or encryption my father built.”

  I nod, weighing the options. “Can I die in there?”

  “I don’t think so,” Eric offers uncertainly. “Frankly, it would be too much of a lawsuit risk, and my father is smarter than that. But there is a very real chance you can blackout, be attacked by malicious code, or cripple your mind. I don’t know enough about it to be sure.”

  I run my hand across the softness of her cheek. “Send me in.”

  Without trying to talk me out of it, Eric runs to a nearby cabinet and grabs a visor. Finally meeting my eyes, he hands it over. “Be careful. The code will be on your belt on a drive. Find a patch of skin and push it into her, then run back to the entry point.”

  Not giving myself a chance to second-guess my actions, I sit on the floor, cross my legs, and place the visor on. A brief pinch into my skin, and then I’m gone.

  I come to, dressed in head to toe black, standing in an empty steel room. Even though I know I’m not actually sweating, the hot sensation drips down my neck. This isn’t like meshing a vid. I’m in this. Me. A kid from the Court who’s barely left the penthouse in months.

  A gun rests on my hip, and I’m holding a USB drive with a pointy port.

  There’s no way to know how many people are plugged in, or which ones are merely programs whose main objective is to destroy any outsiders like me.

  I close my eyes and center my mind.

  Ivy needs me.

  Run straight to the tower.

  And don’t stop.

  I hit the button on the wall near the door. The door slides open, revealing an electric city thrumming with rainbows and lights, with every trippy visual you could imagine. Colors dance between skyscrapers and every aspect of the city vibrates with a pulse. When I step outside, the ground pulses green. It reacts to my steps by leaving splashes of scaling green around my feet. Water fountains sprout clear water while birds fly and sing melodies too beautiful to be real.

  Absalom.

  The city’s name shines in the sky, a massive hologram moving in the fake atmosphere. If this was a month ago I would happily lose myself in this place, but not now.

  Now, I know better.

  It’s a lie.

  All of it.

  A girl laughs to my left. Her mouth is open in a rictus smile as she twirls under a tree dripping flowers.

  Run.

  I bolt across the glittering pavement, rushing past the various people appearing out of nowhere. A boy pops in front of me and I veer around him, sliding across the ground. He doesn’t even yell at me for almost knocking him over. Another girl appears on my right, another on my left. Random people pop up everywhere.

  The main tower is roughly one thousand feet from where I am. As I get closer, I see floating crystal balls surrounding the building. I have no idea what they’re there for, but my gut clenches with uncertainty.

  Eric mentioned security, but not what kind or how to disable it.

  I duck behind one of the fountains, observing the action around the tower, waiting for someone to get close to one of those balls. The cherub in the fountain who’s spouting water turns its head and smiles at me.

  Creepy.

  I’m not about to risk exposure, but I know time is not my friend.

  I notice a guy walk
ing near the tower and decide to stay hidden and watch what he does. The balls nearest him glow as he approaches, and he’s stopped by an invisible wall. He reaches out a hand to touch the wall, but doesn’t get any farther in. The tower stays closed. After another try, the invisible wall stays in place. Bored, the man moves on.

  Great. How am I supposed to clear them?

  The cherub reaches out and touches my hair. Startled, I jerk away. “Stop,” I hiss at it. It giggles and smiles a stony, cold smirk.

  I need a way to get past those defensive balls, but I can’t see a way in.

  After cooling my heels another fifteen minutes and watching another person unsuccessfully try to pass the barrier, I realize I’m screwed.

  Water splashes the side of my face.

  The cherub is off its podium now and dancing merrily in the fountain. After a minute, it climbs back to its post and goes still.

  “Hey,” I whisper, and lean over to the eerie statue.

  Cherub smiles.

  “I’m going to enjoy this one.” I grab the cherub, who still has a weird smile plastered across its chiseled features, and run.

  For a stone statue, it certainly doesn’t feel like one. It feels more like a heavy rubber doll. Robot, maybe?

  When I’m ten feet from the tower, I vault the cherub to my left. Alerted by the disturbance, the balls close ranks and put up the impenetrable barrier. Taking full advantage of the distraction, I sprint forward and dash right behind the last sphere not facing me.

  I pass through the entrance and keep running, up the steps, into a glass lobby. There’s only one elevator in the empty room. Taking the elevator is too risky. If I get stuck, I’ll never make it to her.

  A single door is off to the right.

  Stairs.

  Taking two steps at a time, I run up the stairwell and don’t stop until I reach the top floor. I’m not a marathon runner, but I’m shocked that I’m not out of breath after running ten flights.

  I creak open the stairwell door, half expecting an army to come at me, but it’s silent. There’s a single hall with a massive glass walled room in the middle with Ivy floating in the center of it.