Neon Helix

by Nik Whittaker

  “I know where you’re heading Ava, I won’t let you stop the transmission.”

  “You can’t stop us now,” Ava replied, quickening her pace.

  Mollie, in shock about the whole situation, kept pace with Ava, her pistol kept in hand. As they approached a large door, they heard footsteps behind them.

  Four security guards appeared from the path they had just taken. Mollie tried the door.

  “Locked!” She kicked it.

  In unison, the guards all spoke together.

  “There’s nowhere to go now, just surrender and it will be easier all round,” they said, in Yuri’s voice.

  “I should be able to override the lock, but I’ll need time,” Ava said, examining the door.

  Mollie raised the gun and pointed it at the guards.

  “I’ll give you as long as I can,” she said, before taking a shot.

  The bullet hit one of the guards directly in the head, a shower of sparks and metal rained from the wound.

  “Take your shots, they won’t help you,” the voices echoed.

  Ava had pulled a wire from her forearm and had attached it to a small connector on the door's keypad. Her eyes were glazed over, moving at unnatural angles and speeds.

  “Stay back!” Mollie shouted, punctuating her words with more bullets.

  Despite the impacts, the bodies continued walking towards her.

  “Mollie Dolittle, orphaned at just 2 years old. Fended for herself on the streets of the Underpass for several years, before being taken in by JJ and became his ward and sidekick. Do you think the people you are helping know of your condition and how they would treat you if they did?”

  Mollie fired two shots before she paused at Yuri’s words.

  “What do you mean? How do you know about me?”

  “I have access to the entire digital library of humankind, there is little I do not know.”

  Only one guard remained standing, bullet holes in his shirt showed little signs of slowing him.

  “I know who you are Mollie, and I can tell you everything if you just stop Ava. If you don’t, then I won’t be able to explain,” Yuri pointed at Ava, who was still in a trance of trying to break through the door.

  “I…How can I trust you?” Mollie asked, her hand wavering.

  “You can’t, though have I done anything wrong to you? Or even to Prime? I’ve simply been trying to help people, ” Yuri’s voice had softened, quietened.

  Behind them, the door slid open slowly, Ava was coming back to the real world as it did.

  “I’m through Mollie! Let’s go.”

  Behind Ava, Mollie could see a large computer terminal, a monolith in the centre of the cold room. It could only be the mainframe for the building.

  “Mollie, I know who your parents are and why you were left at that orphanage, just help me and all the knowledge is yours,” Yuri said.

  Mollie raised the gun, pointing it towards Yuri.

  “All the answers to your life are yours Mollie, just one shot away.”

  Mollie slowly turned the gun towards Ava.

  “What are you doing? We need to stop Yuri!” Ava shouted.

  Mollie closed one eye to take aim, and fired.

  CHAPTER 42

  Jacob

  Jacob was lying on the floor when he regained consciousness, he felt the back of his head and a pain shot through his skull, but there was no wetness of blood.

  He looked up and saw Julian sitting up on the table, talking to Owens and the woman who had attacked him.

  “The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get the nanobots activated,” Owens said.

  “Let’s hope it works. Thanks for the rescue Ally,” Julian said.

  Jacob lifted his head further to get a better look. He tried to piece together the information he was hearing, filling in the blanks of what Julian was referring to.

  “Ally Henshaw?” He said out loud.

  The three turned to look at him.

  “You know me?” Ally said, walking over to Jacob, staff raised.

  “Yes, yes, we both do, don’t we Owens?”

  Ally turned to look back at Owens, who was walking round the table closer to her.

  “Is it really her Jacob?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Ally Henshaw, Peter’s lost sister, you can see the genetic resemblance in the cheekbones,” Jacob was slowly getting to his feet, hands stretched up in surrender.

  “Where is he? I saw you with him earlier!” Ally questioned.

  “He’s searching for a friend of ours, or rather one of your half brothers I suppose you could say,” Jacob smiled.

  Julian had got to his feet, unsteadily.

  “Can we discuss this upstairs? I’d really like to get these nanobots active and my tech back please,” his voice was almost a whisper from his lack of strength.

  “Nanobots? What are you talking about?” Jacob queried.

  “Sorry Jacob, but we’ve bypassed your virus with some nanotech, which should purge it before it can spread,” Owens helped Julian walk.

  “No! No no no. That can’t be!” He lurched forwards but Ally was ready and spun him on the spot and twisted his arm behind him.

  “You’re only still alive to help Owens get his body back and to help me find Peter, be grateful you still have a use and purpose,” she hissed.

  They moved out the door and headed up the stairs. Owens helping Julian and Ally, escorting Jacob.

  “How do you know Peter?” She asked Jacob.

  “Oh, he was very important to us, our initial studies revolved around him. I would be very surprised if he even remembered you.”

  Ally tightened the pressure on Jacob's arm, making him wince.

  “Where is he?”

  “As I said, he’s searching for someone,” Jacob answered.

  “There’s no easy explanation Ally, he’s searching for his clone,” Owens said, tiring of Jacobs' enigmatic phrasing.

  “Not just any clone, Clone Prime,” Jacob said proudly. “An exact copy of Peter, from a time before he became who he is today. Before the madness.”

  “You’re telling me, that Peter Henshaw, who I managed to help evade prison, is Ally’s brother, and we’ve all ended up here, together, now?” Julian said, putting the situation together in his mind.

  No one spoke for a moment, the chances of all four lives crossing seemed impossible.

  “Quite the coincidence,” Jacob finally said, as they reached the church level and walked towards the doors.

  “Once we’re through the doors, the nanobots should receive the signal from CyberBio headquarters,” Owens changed the topic. “Which should then trigger the code to purge the virus from your body.”

  “How did you get Nanobots?” Jacob asked, he could hardly believe he had lost his work.

  “Yuri, he gave them to Julian before he got here,” Owens replied.

  “Yuri?!” Jacob shouted, “I thought he would have been deactivated when you died!”

  “He has full control of CyberBio following my death Jacob, we changed the contract after you left. He had proved himself multiple times as being capable.”

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Jacob said quietly.

  They stepped into the street outside, Julian took a moment to let his body react, waiting for the signals to activate.

  “I…I can feel the transmitter activating. But there's nothing happening.”

  “The toxin might have purged too much? Removed the transmitter aug?” Ally said.

  “Impossible,” Owens said. “The coding from Jacob and my adjustments were perfect, it would have remained intact.”

  “Agreed,” Jacob replied.

  “It’s definitely active,” Julian said, “There’s just no incoming transmission.:

  “Is the toxin transmitting?” Ally asked, worry in her voice.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t think so,” Julian replied.

  “It’s set to wait until it establishes maximum connection. BitVillage is far too spa
rse on the tech connections available for it to activate,” Owens said.

  “The plan was to take you to the centre of the Boulevard where the immediate connections would be incredibly high,” Jacob said, he felt no use in hiding the plans now.

  “If the transmitter is working, it must be that the signal isn’t coming through from CyBio to activate the nanobots.”

  “So we head there?” Ally said.

  “We won’t get far, not with the security installed,” Owens said, “Biometrics and Cybernetic scans are tight, trust me, I built them.”

  “Can’t you bypass them seeing as it’s your company?” Julian asked.

  “Not like this,” he indicated to the body he was in, “It won’t recognise me. I need my body back.”

  They turned to Jacob, who knew he had no choice.

  “The hotel, it’s where all the clones are kept,” he said.

  “Let’s get moving, we don’t know when the toxin will trigger, so the sooner the better,” Julian said.

  “Agreed,” Ally was getting a car called to their position.

  CHAPTER 43

  Peter

  Peter was sat in the passenger seat of the car with Tombs, his eyes snapped open.

  He had just emerged from a full connection to Prime, an exhilarating experience. He was now slightly more concerned about the plans Yuri had set in motion.

  When he had first activated the systems in him brain, he had felt a surge of information flow into his mind. Like a flood of transmissions all hitting him at once. He had forgotten how many clones there had been. All the voices speaking to him at the same time, all the visuals flashing before his eyes and the sounds echoing inside his ears.

  Taking a deep breath, he filtered them out. When they had first been created one at a time, the signals came one at a time. He could assimilate each Clones signal as it was born. That’s not to say it was easy, it was the start of what broke his mind; multiple people living inside his own mind.

  Regardless, he had learned how to separate them until he could switch from one to another whenever he desired, or stop them completely.

  Peter took a moment to adjust being back in his own body.

  “Hey you, ok there Peter?” Tombs asked.

  Peter was thinking about what Yuri had said, trying to control the population. All that knowledge at his disposal, it would be wasted on an AI just doing its fundamental programming of protecting the human race. His mind raced with the possibilities of the power.

  “We need to go to CyBio,” Peter replied. “Now!”

  Tombs dialled into the cars’ GPS and altered the course of the journey.

  “Why are we heading there?” Tombs asked, once he’d done the adjustment.

  “Yuri is planning something big, and if we don’t stop him, I’m not sure who will,” Peter couldn’t trust Tombs enough to explain his real plan. There was no reason that the same technology he’d been using to integrate other minds with his own, couldn’t also be adapted to include that of Yuris’ central cortex. By doing that, he would have the thoughts of every person Yuri had infected.

  Peter closed his eyes again and tried to reconnect to Prime to see where he was heading, this time, he got nothing though.

  The car continued its journey, with the two travelling in silence until they neared the CyBio building. Just as the car pulled up outside, Tombs turned to look at Peter.

  “You won’t stop me,” he said, before a fist flew to Peter’s head.

  Before he could react, the impact caused Peter’s head to bounce off the window next to him. The impact caused a small crack in the glass and Peter’s vision blurred for a few moments.

  Another fist swung towards Peter, but this time he ducked as it sailed over him and ricocheted off the seat. Peter forced an elbow into Tombs’ stomach, knocking the wind from him briefly.

  “Yuri?” Peter shouted.

  “In a manner of speaking,” Tombs replied, as he did, his face morphed into the visage of Yuri.

  “You replaced Tombs? For how long?”

  “Long enough. I had to make sure I kept a close eye on Jacob and his plans,” Yuri grabbed Peter by the throat, the pressure made it difficult for him to breathe.

  Peter threw his arm down against Yuri's elbow, forcing the grip to loosen slightly.

  “Why have you not stopped his virus?” Peter asked, knowing it would prevent the infection Yuri had planned.

  “Who says I didn’t? A plan is already in motion Peter, it won’t be long now.”

  Peter scrambled for the car door handle as he kicked at Yuri to keep him back.

  Rolling out of the car, onto the wet Tarmac outside the CyBio building.

  Yuri jumped out of the car above Peter and delivered a kick to his head, luckily Peter turned in time to reduce the impact but he could still taste blood forming in his mouth.

  “I won’t let you impede this Peter,” he shouted, as he reached down to pull him to his feet. “I know you of all people will appreciate what it is I’m trying to accomplish.”

  Peter swung a fist as he was pulled up, the blow hitting Yuri’s temple, with little effect. Whilst he had held his own fighting Yuri using Prime’s body in his own, he felt the pain more directly.

  “As soon as I have purged Jacobs’ virus, then my nanobots will be free to take over.”

  Blocking another fist from Peter, Yuri returned the favour hitting Peter directly in the face, he felt the bone of his nose crunch under the force.

  “I am sorry, Peter.”

  Peter closed his eyes, he had no idea how he could hope to escape the coming pain.

  Then Yuri released him, the nanobots that made up Tombs dismantled themselves and fell to the ground, the small metallic cubes soaking in the rain. Peter fell to the floor, initially in shock, before his senses came back and he knew he needed to take this advantage of his luck. If Yuri succeeded in his plan, then even Peter would be under his control.

  He got to his feet and entered the CyBio building, none of the usual security was present, something was wrong in the building. The whole place a ghost town, no people or lights activated. He felt unnerved and decided that he should be more prepared and ready for any situation he might encounter.

  He sat, cross-legged on the floor in the main reception of the CyBio building and closed his eyes and concentrated, this would hurt.

  CHAPTER 44

  Julian

  Julian, Ally, Owens and Jacob got out of the car outside the hotel, it was still nighttime and the hotel was quiet.

  “Where to?” Owens asked Jacob.

  “Follow me,” he said, reluctantly.

  Julian and Ally walked behind them, he was still slightly unsteady on his feet and she put her arm round him to hold him upright.

  “You doing ok?” She asked him.

  “Just about,” he replied. “Not to sound ungrateful, but why did you come to the church?”

  “It’s…a long story,” she began. “Quartzig sent me, but I was looking for Peter.”

  Julian looked at her, shocked, as a hundred thoughts ran through his mind.

  “My parents lost him to CyBio when we were kids, he was taken into the company and experimented on. I don’t really remember him, but he might know more about me. About who I am.”

  Jacob and Owens had heard the conversation and turned to them.

  “He was more than that, he was like a son to us, we took him on and he became a full member of the team. I promise you, we treated him like one of us,” Jacob said, and despite their differences, Owens nodded in agreement.

  “Regardless, I need to find him and talk to him,” Ally said.

  They had entered the hotel and Jacob lead them through the back, past the changing rooms and into the large warehouse. Julian and Ally looked round in amazement as they looked into the chambers of bodies, which stretched as far as they could see.

  “Are these-” Julian started to ask.

  “Clones? Yes, they are,” Jacob interrupted. “All, well most, are C
lones with subtle genetic markers altered from Peter, to create physical differences but all have the same root sequences. I’m sure if we look hard enough, we could find one that matches you Ally.”

  Ally stopped and peered into one of the chambers as they passed, peering in, she could just make out the form of a body inside. The arms and torso of a human figure, she strained to see its face, morbid curiosity seeping into her conscience. Without warning, the arms of the body rose and placed its hand on the glass directly in front of her face. She let out a small cry and jumped back as the chamber door opened and the body of a young man stepped out, barely acknowledging the group stood before it. He turned and walked down towards the changing room.

  “They are set up to wake and receive programming for their day’s work,” Jacob explained. “They only work for as long as their bodies are comfortable to do so, before returning for rest and rehabilitation.” He said, as if this made the whole thing perfectly acceptable.

  “But they have no choice?” Ally asked, a strange connection to the clones was forming, to the beings which were ultimately siblings on some biological level.

  “Should they? They are nothing more than copies of an original? Would you say a photocopy of a masterpiece of art has the same merit as the original?” Jacob spoke with complete confidence.

  “These are real people though, not paint on a canvas!” Ally shouted back.

  “Whilst I’d love to argue philosophy with you, I believe we have more pressing matters to attend,” Jacob had seen the look Owens had on his face, he was getting eager to return back to his body and CyBio.

  “Come on Ally, we’ll deal with this later,” Julian said, trying to convince himself as much as Ally.

  They continued until they reached a section of the warehouse, where five more elaborate chambers sat laying horizontally and were almost twice the size of the others.

  “Number two is the chamber we need,” Jacob pointed at the second in the line.

  “How long will this take?” Owens asked, peering into the chamber.

  “Only a few minutes,” Jacob said, as he typed the keys on a pad attached to the top of the chamber.

  Owens looked further into the chamber and froze when from inside, he locked eyes with a body which resembled his real one, not the fake body he was stuck inside currently.