6 Digit Passcode

by Collins, Abigail

  Before Tetra’s body has even stilled on the floor, Rin is at my side. Her fingers are small and nimble, and it takes almost no time at all for her to untie the straps holding my arms and legs to the table; I rub my wrists, feeling the torn, swollen skin against my palms, and sit up. The room starts to spin, and I close my eyes until my nausea dissipates and my head stops pounding.

  Rin pulls a long piece of white cloth out of a pack attached at her waist and winds it around my neck, dropping the ends along the cuts on my collarbone and securing them with tape. I look down and see blood dripping down the entire length of my shirt, already oozing through the fresh bandages and along the sides of my neck. I normally don’t mind the sight of my own blood, but this time I feel dizzier the longer I look at it.

  “Can you stand?” Rin asks me, stepping back and holding her hands out to me. “We don’t have a lot of time, and they will notice soon that you two are missing.”

  I nod at her and swing my legs over the edge of the table, my feet just barely touching the floor. It takes me a couple of tries, and I have to lean on Rin for support once my weight is on my both of my feet, but I am eventually able to stand on my own. Holden watches me from the doorway, and I’m surprised that he doesn’t offer to help, but the look in his eyes tells me that I’m better off not asking him why.

  “How… how’d you get in here?” I ask, catching my breath. “There are guards everywhere!”

  It’s a strange sensation – standing without feeling. It’s like I’m weightless, floating on the ground, but every step I take leaves me unbalanced.

  Rin pulls a thin, red chip out of the front pocket of her dress and holds it up for me to see.

  “A guard from outside of the wall,” she answers before I can ask where it’s from. “They use them as identification to get inside. And since there are so many other children here, I aroused no suspicion walking through camp.”

  “And Holden?” I incline my head towards my friend, who’s still holding his gun like he expects he’s going to have to shoot someone again.

  “I sought him out. I saw him and your other friend in the memories your microchip has stored for you, and I thought you would enjoy bringing them with you.”

  I wonder if Rin thought that I maybe wouldn’t come with her if I had to leave Holden and Dori behind. Then I think about Holden, who knew what he was signing up for when he came here – who wanted to be in this place, to become one of those things. I don’t want to take away his dream by dragging him along with me; if he leaves these gates, he may never walk again. But I also know that the path he chose is not what he thought it was. If he could see Dori right now, he would never wish the same fate on himself.

  “But I couldn’t trace your other friend. My systems do not detect any data from his microchip.” She looks at me, and I can tell from her expression that she knows what happened to Dori; she just doesn’t want Holden to know. “I am so sorry. But we can come back for him at another time if you’d like. Right now, our priority is getting you two out of here. Do you think you can walk on your own?”

  “I… I’m not sure.” I take a tentative step and nearly trip, throwing my hands out in front of my body to keep my balance. “I don’t know. I don’t think I can.”

  Rin puts her arm out to help me stabilize myself, but before I can lean my weight on her shoulders Holden pushes his wheelchair towards me and awkwardly spins it around at my side.

  “Hold on to the handles,” he says, facing away from me. “And put your feet up on the bar in the back. I can still push if you can hold on.”

  “Thank you,” I say, pulling myself up onto the back of the chair as best I can; it’s hard to keep my hands around the handlebars, but if I lean forward slightly and put most of my weight on my torso, I can stay upright without too much difficulty.

  Holden doesn’t respond.

  Rin picks Tetra and Sir’s guns up off of the ground where they fell and hands one to me; I tuck it into the waistband of my pants without saying anything, and she keeps the other held tightly against her side. Holden’s rifle is still in his lap, and I catch him glancing down at it every few seconds as if to make sure it’s still there.

  “Everyone else is in the training rooms,” Rin says as she guides us out the door and down the hallway. “They intercepted just enough of my message to you to know I was planning on coming to get you later tonight. They aren’t expecting me for at least a few more hours, and they were hoping to have converted you by then.”

  A shiver runs down my spine. If Rin hadn’t come when she did, I would be turning into a monster right now.

  There is an elevator down one of the adjacent hallways, which is how I assume Holden got up to this level in the first place. We squeeze into the cramped room and the doors slide shut behind us; I breathe a sigh of relief that is echoed by both of my companions. I can’t believe we’ve made it this far without being caught. We might actually have a chance of escaping.

  But then the elevator stops on the main floor and opens its doors, and my heart sinks.

  “Dori, you’re here!” Holden exclaims, and the excitement in his voice makes my chest ache even more. “Where have you been? No, never mind, we’ll talk about it later. Right now we need to get out of here.”

  “I’m not going,” Dori says softly. “I’m not going to let you leave.”

  He widens his stance until he’s blocking our only exit. I can see the door leading outside just across the room, and if I wasn’t still dizzy and disoriented from the drugs I was given, I would take a chance and run for it.

  “Dori?” Holden asks, leaning forward in his chair to get as close to Dori as possible. “What’s going on? Are you-”

  And then he sees it. His entire demeanor changes the moment his eyes land on the spot of red peeking out from underneath the fringe of Dori’s hair. His shoulders slump, and I can see him physically fighting with his own emotions.

  Holden may have wanted to be here – wanted to join the Digits to get a new body and a second chance at life – but he never wanted any of this for Dori. More than he wanted to walk again, I think, he wanted Dori to be safe. I can’t even imagine how he must feel now knowing that he couldn’t do just that.

  “I’m doing great, Holden. Better than ever.” Dori grins and leans over Holden’s chair until their noses are nearly touching. “And it’s all thanks to you.”

  Holden swallows thickly and puts his hand on Dori’s arm. “Come with us. Please.”

  “Why would I do that? I have everything I need right here. And all of the pain – everything I felt when you were in the accident, when I learned that you did it on purpose – is gone. You can’t hurt me anymore, Holden. If you stay here, with me, we can be together, and we can never hurt each other again.”

  Holden blinks up at Dori, confused. “You can’t… feel pain?”

  “I can’t feel anything. Illness, injuries, emotions… They’re all gone. But everything else is so much clearer now. My thoughts all make perfect sense, my body is stronger than it’s ever been, and I’m not afraid of anything anymore. I was terrified when I followed you here – I still remember everything I was feeling then. But you told me that this life would be better for you, and it turns out you’re right.”

  I can’t see Holden’s face very well from my position on the back of his chair, but I can hear his breath hitch and his voice waver.

  “I know I hurt you, Dori,” Holden says softly. “And I don’t think there’s anything I can do to make it up to you. But I love you, and I don’t want to ever forget what that feels like.”

  Dori tilts his head to one side like he’s trying to remember something, and for a moment I think maybe Holden has actually managed to connect with him. But then he laughs, and it’s so bitter and dry that it makes me cringe.

  “You love me? Don’t you remember who it was who wanted to be here so badly in the first place? What did you think they were going to do to you? Did you honestly think they were going to let you keep your human
emotions when they were training you to be a war machine?”

  I hear Holden sniffle, and I’m glad I can’t see his face.

  “I… I don’t know what I believed. I just wanted them to fix my legs. I thought maybe… maybe they would just leave it at that. I just wanted to fix my mistake. I wanted to be someone you could feel proud to be with.”

  His voice is so soft that I doubt Dori would be able to hear it if his ears weren’t less than an arm’s length away from Holden’s mouth.

  Dori pulls back and draws his gun out of its holster at his waist. He glances quickly between his weapon and Holden’s pleading eyes, and I can see actual hesitation on his face. The fact that he hasn’t shot any of us by now means he must be feeling something, and the way he’s looking at Holden confirms it.

  “I was proud,” he says, rolling the barrel of his gun between his fingers. “I didn’t care that your parents hated me, or that you didn’t have a home or a job. I didn’t care that you couldn’t walk. I cared about you. And look what that did to me.”

  Something dull pokes me in the back and I whip around to see Rin, holding one index finger to her lips to quiet me and the other hovering over my spine. I clamp my mouth shut and nod, and Rin silently motions for me to come closer to her. I’m still not sure if my body has recovered enough for me to walk yet, but the look on Rin’s face is urgent, and I feel like I’ve already intruded on Holden and Dori’s personal confrontation too much.

  Putting one foot on the floor at a time, I step off of the bar and let go of the chair’s handles. I feel dizzy, but not so much that I can’t stand, and my body is supporting its own weight much better now; I feel heavier and slower, so I know that the medicine Tetra must be wearing off.

  Rin grabs my arm and pulls me towards her; I nearly trip, but she catches me and tugs on the collar of my shirt until I’m bowed down low enough for her to whisper in my ear without anyone else possibly hearing.

  “We’ve got to get out of here while he is distracted,” she mouths into the shell of my ear. “Get to the door as fast as you can and I will guard you.”

  “But… what about Holden?” I ask, flitting my eyes over to see Dori still struggling to keep his gun lowered.

  “His choice has already been made. It is too late to help him now.”

  I want to argue, but before I can a gunshot rips through the air and captures my attention. I turn around just in time to see the bullet connect with Dori’s leg, sinking into his calf and smoking as it burns through whatever synthetic material his skin is made out of. He doesn’t even flinch.

  “You may not be able to feel that,” Holden says, “but you can still see it. And you can remember what it’s supposed to feel like, right? You’re right here with me, talking about the memories you used to love, and you’re telling me that you don’t feel anything?”

  “Now,” Rin whispers from behind me. I stand still, frozen in place, watching Dori’s hands shaking as he raises his gun.

  “Dori, you’re still in there somewhere – I know you are. We can still get out of here.” The desperation in Holden’s voice rises alongside Dori’s gun. “We can find someone who can fix my legs and your mind, and we can have the life we always wanted together. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

  “Yes,” Dori says flatly. “But it’s impossible.”

  “Now!”

  Rin pushes against my back hard and links arms with me, pulling me along with her as she runs to the door. I try to turn around, telling her that we have to help Holden – and Dori, if we can – but she’s a lot stronger than she looks, and I’m too weak to fight her right now.

  “Please, Rin, stop! We can’t just leave him in there! He’ll – ”

  I never get to finish my sentence. As soon as my hand touches the back of the door, a gunshot cuts off my voice and stops me. Just before the door closes behind us I see a spray of red across the floor and down the walls, and I know that Digits do not bleed.

  Chapter twenty-six

  The door creaks shut behind us, and I immediately push Rin away from me. I stagger a few feet, then collapse onto the grass, my lungs heaving and my entire body shaking.

  “What were you doing?” I spit out. “We could have saved him! We could have saved both of them!”

  Rin walks towards me slowly but purposefully, with a serious expression on her face that doesn’t at all suit her childlike appearance. She pulls me up by my elbow, her strength surprising me even though I know that all Digits are stronger than humans by design, and drags me along behind her as she makes her way towards the entrance to the gates around the compound. I struggle against her until she lets go of my arm, but she still keeps uncomfortably close to me. If it weren’t for my knowledge that Dori will come after us next if we stay here, I wouldn’t go with her, but I don’t think I really have any other options right now.

  “No, we couldn’t have. Holden was not planning on leaving; not once he saw Dorian. And Dorian had no intention of letting us all escape. Death was inevitable.”

  “So you knew Holden was going to die and you just let it happen? You let him be your sacrifice, without even trying to think of a way to save him?”

  “It is not that simple,” Rin says, sighing and quickening her pace; in my tired, disoriented state, I can barely keep up with her. “I did not know for certain that Dorian was going to be intercepting us. But yes, I did not believe that your friend would be able to leave with us.”

  We reach the front of the gate before I can respond. I am filled with emotions – anger at Rin for lying to me, sadness at Holden’s death and Dori’s destruction, and confusion over everything that has happened to me since I arrived here – but they are all replaced with a singular sensation of dread when I see that the only exit door is blocked by at least half a dozen armed Digits, with all of their guns aimed at me and Rin.

  I chance a side-long glance at Rin, but she’s staring straight ahead and doesn’t acknowledge me. She doesn’t look frightened, or even surprised – there is a cold determination in her eyes, and her hand has already found its way to the handle of the gun at her waist.

  Just as she pulls out her weapon and begins firing it at the barrage of enemies before us, the door to the gate swings open behind them and a fresh wave of bullets pours in through it.

  As shots ring out from behind them, the guard facing us begins firing in tandem. I manage to dodge the first bullet that flies haphazardly towards me, but the second one clips the side of my thigh as it passes me. Rin is hit twice, but she reacts no more than she did the first time I saw her injured. I recognize most of the Digits firing against us; some of them are security guards I’ve passed on my way to and from my cabin, and others are supervisors I’ve seen only once or twice hanging around outside of the Main Lab during training.

  They are all trained guards – excellent marksmen. But they are blindsided by the attack from behind the gate, and barely have enough time to raise their guns before they are each struck in the back and sent toppling over. I don’t know if they’re dead or just injured – or if Digits can even die – but none of them so much as twitch as Rin leads me over their strewn-out bodies and back to the outside world.

  I take a deep, shuddering breath as I pass through the iron gates. The air out here is the same as it is in there, but it feels different somehow. Cleaner, maybe. Purer.

  I suck in several breaths greedily, filling my lungs until they feel like they’re going to burst. My knees give out and I fall forward, catching myself with the palms of my hands and keeping my body bent towards the ground until the dizziness passes. This time, Rin lets me heave and shake without interrupting me, though I almost wish she would.

  After the final shot explodes in the air, the two Digits closest to the edge of the wall push the gate closed; it crushes the foot of a fallen soldier with a disgusting cracking sound, and one of the Digits on our side of the wall steps forward and kicks it out of the way.

  There is no blood on the ground – no injured wails or sca
ttered carnage. The only physical proof that a fight even took place here are the bodies splayed out on either side of the wall, some with broken appendages or bits of artificial skin torn away in places. I look around and see that four of Rin’s allies are dead – or whatever it is that happens when a Digit is destroyed – and six others remain standing.

  Now that the fighting is over, all eyes are on me. I’m being watched, scrutinized, judged by all of these strangers who just slaughtered what could either have been my enemies or my only allies; I’m glad to be outside of the compound, of course, but my head is swimming with thoughts of what might happen next. These people will expect me to go with them, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

  “We will discuss everything later,” Rin says, as though she somehow knows what I was just thinking. “But for now, we need to leave. It’s not safe for us to stay here.”

  I know she’s right, but as we board the small train-car waiting for us just down the road, I can’t help but wonder if there’s any place that’s safe for me to be right now.

  ***

  “Try not to flinch, okay? You’ll feel a little pinch, but it’s important that you don’t move. I’ve got to get to just the right spot if you want this to work.”

  I nod and bow my head, balling my hands into fists on my lap in anticipation. I remember how much it hurt when Tesla put the microchip inside of my neck – I imagine taking it out will feel just as bad.

  Rin introduced me to her companions almost immediately after we boarded the train, though I still don’t remember a couple of names, and some of them are easy to confuse with others. There are three women and three men among the surviving soldiers, and the fact that there are more females in my company calms me somewhat. They all seem kind, and their faces are gentle, but I know better than to be deceived by looks. Tesla, for example, has a beautiful body, but that’s the only thing about her that’s beautiful; inside, she’s hideous.