by Eric Warren
“Yep, Staten Island submerged a few decades back. Along with parts of Jersey. But the Manhattanites didn’t care about them so they decided not to build the wall to help control those areas.”
“They built the sea walls too?” Arista asked.
“They’re the only ones with enough capital,” Jennings said. “It’s not the like the government could. It’s been broke for half a century now. Most major governments are.”
“What do you do for emergency services? Infrastructure?” Arista asked.
Jennings grinned. “It kind of blows my mind you don’t know any of this. But I guess if you’re…new to the area…it could be confusing.” He paused. “But you seem to have such a good grasp on things. You’re very confusing.”
“I’m just trying to understand,” Arista said, not deciphering his hints. He knew she wasn’t from here and yet he seemed to suspect more. Could it be possible he knew about the gates themselves? Or something similar? Maybe this world didn’t have gates, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have portals or some other similar technology. Perhaps the construction of instantaneous transport was ingrained into the human mind as much as something like farming was. It was always just going to develop.
“All the services people use, including this subway, are financed by the Manhattanites. At least for this area. They control everything from Nova Scotia all the way down to Norfolk. And as far west as Pittsburg. That’s where the Chicagoans take over.”
“But they won’t let you live on the island.”
Jennings shrugged. “You can live on the island all you want—as long as you have the cash. Small apartments there start in the high hundred-millions and only go up from there.”
“I see.” Arista glanced out the window, taking in what she could of Queens. She’d been so distracted by the glittering jewel in the distance she hadn’t even really looked. Many of the buildings were in disrepair, but there were shops and storefronts out here too. But there was garbage everywhere. And what looked like homeless people wandering the streets, rummaging through garbage cans. “Is this what it’s like out here?”
“Queens is pretty nice in comparison to some places I’ve been,” Jennings said.
“Do you have access to hospitals? Police? Food?”
“Sure, they’re just a lot slower and under-responsive. The best workers always get promoted to work on Manhattan,” he said.
“Is that what happened to you?”
He pursed his lips. “I used to work this area, until my…injury. But when I managed to bounce back like some miracle had cured me, they saw it fit to move me into a better post. Something like a thank you, I suppose. Not many people who get shot survive.”
“How did you hide it?” she asked, eyeing his abdomen.
“I used to have a fake piece of skin that blended well with my own. As long as no one tapped on it they were none the wiser. But I stopped wearing it a long time ago. Too much trouble and no one goes around lifting up my shirt for anything. Not anymore, that is.” He winked. “Oh, that’s probably lost on you, isn’t it? Never mind.”
It was lost on her and she wasn’t about to linger on it. “But don’t you have metal detectors, or scanners? Something to pick up bionic implants? You’re paranoid enough about them.” She turned to the window again as the train came to a slow stop.
“Ah, but that’s the genius of my guy. He found a way around the scanners. This is us,” Jennings said, standing. He led her out on the subway platform, the muggy air seeming to solidify around them. Jennings was quick down the stairs, his eyes darting back and forth and Arista had to wonder if they had anything to worry about out here. Humans were unpredictable in the best of times. When they got desperate…
“This way.” He turned the corner down Lefferts Boulevard.
A sharp scream pierced the night, causing Arista to jump. “What was that?”
“Not our problem, come on,” Jennings said, with more force in his voice. “We need to get inside.”
She followed along, swallowing the guilt that came with abandoning whomever was in trouble. But she couldn’t go around saving the day. Hopefully she would be back to her own world soon enough, where things made sense.
“Here,” Jennings said, ducking between a couple of three-story buildings down a dark driveway to another brick building in the back. For the first time Arista considered the possibility Jennings wasn’t there to help her at all. They hadn’t been alone until now; there had always been others around. But now…this could all be an elaborate ruse to get her to let her guard down. She removed her hand from the pocket and clenched it into a fist.
Jennings came up to the one door on this side of the building and performed a knock: four short taps, two long ones, three short. There was a click and he turned the handle. “After you,” he said.
“That’s okay.” Arista offered him a terse smile. “You go first.”
He nodded and ducked into the darkness. After taking two deep breaths in through her nose, Arista followed, fist ready.
ELEVEN
JENNINGS STAYED A GOOD FIVE FEET AHEAD OF HER in the darkened hallway, all his attention focused in front of him. He didn’t seem like he was going to jump Arista but then again, he’d gotten the drop on her in the subway. The man could disappear if he wanted to. Arista had no idea what she was walking into. She didn’t even know if she could trust Jennings, but at this point she didn’t see she had a lot of other choices. And she really hated needing to trust another human, even if he wasn’t from her own universe. After being betrayed by Sy, she thought she’d never trust another human again.
“He’s right down here.” Jennings led her through another doorway which opened on a large empty space, a set of metal stairs leading down into the area. Directly in front of her were two one-story rooms, completely partitioned off with their own roofs and doors. They looked like offices of some kind. Beyond them were what looked to be mag-lev tracks embedded in the ground and a platform on either side. At the ends of the building were gates that could roll up and down to allow a train inside along the tracks. The place looked like it was a train repair depot. Or at least—it used to be.
Various tables and equipment were strewn around the room in different areas, but Arista could make out workstations. And there, with his back to them as he toiled over something on the table was the man Jennings had brought her to see.
“Good to see you again, Robert,” the man said, and as the words left his mouth Arista froze. The Device registered a spike in adrenaline and increased heart rate. This had all been a trap.
“What the fuck, Jennings?” she said, her voice cold and hard. She couldn’t decide whether to take him out first or just make a run for it.
He turned back to her, confusion painted on his face. “What’s wrong?”
The man glanced over his shoulder, confirming her worse suspicions. It was David. Her biological father.
How had he gotten here? Had he followed them through the gate? He must have faked his death; he’d been in on it with Echo from the beginning. The gate had never been designed to go into the past at all. Why go to the past when there was a perfectly good universe sitting right beside your own? Ripe for plundering. One that wouldn’t require you or anyone else you know to die.
“You lied to me,” she said, taking a step back on the stairs. “You said you’d shut the gate down. That you’d destroy it. I should have known.” She took another step back.
“Have we met before?” David asked. Now she got a good look at him she realized his appearance was different. He sported a five o-clock shadow that had been turned into something like an eleven o-clock shadow instead. And he wore glasses. His hair was messier, and a bit longer. It couldn’t have grown that fast in only a day.
“Arista, are you okay?” Jennings asked.
She glanced between them, trying to decide if she’d really been betrayed or not. “How long ago did he repair you?” she asked Jennings.
“You told her?” David asked
, his eyes wide.
“It’s fine,” Jennings said. “Just wait.” He turned back to Arista. “A little over five years ago.”
“And he’s been here this entire time?”
“I don’t know what you mean by here, but we see each other on occasion,” Jennings said.
That meant there were two possibilities. Either David was from this universe originally and made regular jumps to her universe, or this was a completely different David. Just like Echo had her counterpart on this side, it made sense David would too.
“Do you know someone named Jessika Thorne?” Arista asked. If David was here maybe her biological mother was too. And maybe even a version of herself.
David’s mouth turned into a frown as he creased his forehead. “I don’t believe so. Should I?”
“No. I guess not. I do recognize you but I thought it might be because of her.” Arista finished descending the stairs. “She was my mother.”
“Oh,” David said. “Where is she now?”
“She’s…lost,” Arista said.
“Your mother?” Jennings replied. “How can you have a mother?”
She looked at him like he was crazy. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“Yeah but not machines. Man, whoever programmed you did one hell of a job making you think you’re human.”
“W-I am human, what are you talking about?” she sputtered. David’s eyebrows went up above his glasses.
“No, you’re not,” Jennings said. “Admit it, come on! You already told me you weren’t. How else could you make those calculations so fast? And those maneuvers in the car? And the detachable arm? No one has detachable parts, especially not bionics.” He took a breath. “And you don’t know anything about anything! It’s like you were built yesterday!”
“Are you insane?” she asked him. “I am as human as you are! Or him,” she pointed to David. “Or anyone else! Jesus!”
“But…no, you’re not,” Jennings said. “You’re too…perfect.”
Arista hid her face in her hands. “Oh my god.”
“Excuse me, Arista is it?” David asked. She glanced up at him, her hands falling away. “Are you human? I happened to notice your hand there…” he pointed to her artificial limb.
“I’m ninety-two percent human,” she said, giving Jennings the evil eye. “No matter what anyone else says.”
“You’re a bionic.”
“Not exactly.” Jennings remained silent, only shooting quick glances at her.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Every time he spoke it was like nails on a chalkboard. His very voice was enough to piss her off. Just because this was a different universe didn’t mean he was any different. He could be the same self-serving, overly-ambitious man she’d met in her own world. And without her mother to temper him, who knew what he was capable of? She would need to be very careful. She needed to find Frees, then get the hell out of here.
“My arm was damaged a while back. Enough so that it needed to be amputated. But I received a replacement that works just like my regular arm. Except I can remove it at any time. A concept which seems to elude some people.” She huffed, staring at Jennings.
“Don’t believe it,” he said, his voice small.
“That’s fascinating,” David said. “How does the arm know how to interpret the signals you’re sending it? Do you have a port somewhere?” He rubbed his chin and leaned in closer to her hand.
She took a step back. Christ, he even smelled the same. “It links up to a…device I have. It makes the transition seamless.”
“May I see it?” he asked.
She eyed him cautiously. “Maybe later. After we find my friend.”
“Find your friend?”
Jennings finally looked up. “She’s looking for someone she came here with.” He seemed to be at a loss. “Said he was her husband. Which I thought was code for programmer or something.”
“You really thought I was a machine?” Arista hissed.
“Nine-thousand, four hundred, fifty-two times five-hundred, sixty-five!” he said.
“I’m not your parlor trick,” she yelled. “I can do that because of my device. It aides me in complex calculations.”
“I’d like to see that too. In fact—” David began when a door off to the right flew open, revealing a young girl a couple of inches shorter than Arista with silver hair done up in a ponytail. She had wide-set brown eyes and wore jeans with a torn plaid button-down overtop a printed t-shirt Arista didn’t recognize. She couldn’t be more than sixteen or seventeen.
“Guests?” she said, practically giddy. “You didn’t say we were having guests!” She smoothed her hair back and wiped underneath her eyes. “I didn’t have a chance to get ready.”
David turned back to them. “This is my daughter, Bloom,” he said.
It took Arista a moment to process what he’d said. Daughter?
“Blu, Dad.”
“Right. Sorry,” he said with a smile on his face. “Blu, this is Robert and Arista.”
“Hi!” she said, extending her hand to Jennings, then to Arista. As Arista reached out with her artificial hand, not thinking until it was too late, Blu’s eyes went wide. “Whoa! Oh man, oh man, oh man! What are the odds?” She practically jumped from foot to foot while holding her hands at her chest, completely focused on Arista’s outstretched hand. “That’s amazing! How strong is it? Did it hurt? How long have you had it? Can you crush a steel pipe? Can you break someone’s bones? What’s it m—”
“Blu, don’t be rude,” David said, prompting a raised eyebrow from Arista. He was one to talk. He’d acted similarly in the other universe—or at least his counterpart had.
“Sorry,” she said. “It’s really exciting. I don’t get to meet many people like, well, like you.”
Arista couldn’t help but like Blu immediately. She had sort of an innocent happiness about her that only a kid could have. It wasn’t so long ago Arista had been her age, though she’d been more worried about finding food for the next month than meeting someone with an artificial implant.
“I have an implant too,” Jennings said, preparing to untuck his shirt.
“Keep your shirt on, Jennings,” Arista said, turning back to him. “No one wants to see.”
He looked deflated as he tucked his shirt back in, muttering under his breath.
“Blu, I repaired Robert a long time ago. You probably don’t remember.”
“Oh,” she said, squinting at him. “Yeah, sorry. I’m not the best with faces.”
“It’s okay,” Jennings said. “I should get going. I want to get back home before it’s too late. I have another shift tomorrow.”
Arista turned to him. “We’re going already? What about my friend?”
“No, I’m going already. You can stay here. Like I said, David is great at finding people. He’ll help you look for him.” Jennings turned to climb the staircase.
Arista caught back up with him. “I’m not staying here. I can’t.”
“Why not? David’s got an extra bedroom and I think you can take care of yourself.” His eyes flickered down to her arm.
“It’s not about that. I’m…not comfortable here,” she whispered.
“Well, you can’t stay with me. My wife would pitch a fit.” He took a breath. “Hey, sorry about the whole, thinking-you-were-a-machine thing. I thought I’d met one for the first time. David here works on AI’s. I thought you could help each other.”
“Does he now?” Arista eyed the man who had returned to his workbench. Blu remained where she’d left her, watching Arista intently.
“There’s this group of us. Not many. Who believe AI’s are our future. That they never should have been shut down and outlawed. They are the next step in our evolution.”
Arista considered him for a moment. “That’s…I don’t know about that. Maybe.”
“You are a very confusing person. But you can trust David. He knows you’re one of us now. He’ll help you.”
“I just don’t
know,” Arista said, trying not to look at him again. Could she really trust him? After everything the other David had put her through? He’d held her at gunpoint. Threatened her life if she didn’t allow him to finish his project. Then he’d tried to sabotage the gate so he could go through while Frees was distracted. It was only when he was left with no other choices did he decide to shut down the gate. And he hadn’t even been able to do that before he’d been shot.
“Trust me,” Jennings said. “You don’t want to be out on the streets at night. And I already know you don’t have any money. No ID, no commerce, right? Personally, this is the best option I see.”
She finally nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’ll come back later, maybe tomorrow if I can swing it.”
She stared at the floor. “Thanks. For your help earlier.”
“Forget about it.” He smiled and made his way up the stairs, disappearing through the doorway.
“Does this mean you’re staying?” Blu asked.
“If it’s okay with you, I mean…if it’s not an imposition.”
“None at all!” David waved from the workbench. “Get settled. We can talk later.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Any friend of Robert’s is a friend of mine. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, finding it hard to produce genuine gratitude.
“Here, come with me, I’ll show you your room,” Blu said, taking her artificial hand in her own and pulling her along.
“I’m not really tired yet,” Arista said, even though she was actually exhausted. She didn’t want to wait. Frees was out there and the sooner they started the search the sooner she would feel better.