by Rob Vlock
Janet laughed. “No, no. The wheelchair is a prop. I use it to help with the monkeys’ training so they get used to working with wheelchair-bound people. But . . . I can’t believe it’s really you! Mitsuo and his sister, Yuki, are going to be so excited. Ever since I’ve fostered them, I’ve wanted to treat them to something really special. You should go right up and surprise them. They’re on the third floor. Oscar can show you where it is. They’ll just flip!”
“Thank you, Ms. Ito.” Dix gently pried her arms from around his neck. “I’m excited to meet them too.”
“Oscar, guests . . . kids’ room,” she instructed the monkey, speaking slowly and clearly.
With a happy eek eek, Oscar took Dixon’s hand and led the way up the stairs.
The second floor of the house was filled with toys, boxes, and other items that must have been used to train the monkeys. Not to mention the nearly overpowering stench of monkey.
There were seven of them on the second floor, each pretty much identical to Oscar. Maybe two feet tall and covered with brown fur, they had pale faces with tufts of hair that sat atop their heads like fuzzy little hats.
They had been playing noisily as we climbed the stairs. But as we emerged onto the second floor, they froze and fell silent. Seven pairs of big, brown, too-human eyes locked onto us and tracked our progress down the hall.
Dix grinned at the creatures and waved excitedly.
My skin prickled with unease. There was something unsettling about being watched by creatures that were so close to being human but weren’t actually human.
I tore my gaze away from them and hurried to the stairs that led up to the top floor. Oscar led us down a short hallway to a closed door. He reached up, twisted the doorknob, and pushed the door open.
We walked into a room that looked pretty much like any kids’ room. Books, dirty clothes, and empty food wrappers covered the floor. Two unmade beds were pushed up against opposite walls. Two matching desks sat side by side facing a pair of windows.
And that’s where we found a boy and a girl—Mitsuo and Yuki Tanaka.
They were sitting with their backs to us. The boy, Mitsuo, was hunched over a computer keyboard, while Yuki just stared intently out the window.
I cleared my throat. “Um, hi! Yuki? Mitsuo? My name is Sven. These are my friends. And we—”
“Shhh!” the boy hissed. “I’m busy!”
I tried again. “I know you’re busy, but this is really important. The whole world is—”
“Don’t care,” he snapped, not even sparing a glance in our direction. “Shut up. Kthanksbye.”
“But we need your help!” Alicia demanded. Then she added in a very un-Alicia-like way, “Please.”
Mitsuo slammed his fist down on his desk. “If you don’t leave right—”
“Mi,” the girl interrupted without turning from the window. “Don’t be rude.”
“Fine, I can go AFK for precisely three minutes.” Mitsuo spun around to face us, brushing his straight black hair out of his eyes. “What do you want? Go.”
Three minutes wasn’t a lot of time to explain to someone that they were a Synthetic programmed to wipe out everyone on the planet.
I tried to find a way to broach the subject. “Um . . . you see . . . uh . . . you’re not what you think you are. You’re . . . um . . . really not human kids. Well, not . . . you know . . . the kind of normal human kid that most normal human kids are . . . not that I’m saying you’re abnormal, of course . . . it’s just—”
“Is this about us being androids?” Mitsuo snapped. “Old news. Tell me something I don’t know. Ticktock, now you have two minutes.”
CHAPTER 37.0:
< value= [Things Are Totally Horked] >
“WH-WH-WHAT?” I STUTTERED. “YOU KNOW about that?”
Mitsuo rolled his eyes at me. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s kind of obvious.”
“Hold on!” Dix gaped at him. “Are you saying you’ve always known? You never thought you were human?”
The boy laughed. “Geez, you guys aren’t so bright, are you?”
“Mi, be nice,” Yuki said, finally spinning around to face us. She reached out a fluttering hand to touch her brother’s shoulder. “They’re like us.”
It was then I realized she hadn’t been looking out the window. She hadn’t been looking at anything at all. Her eyes were pure white. No iris. No pupil. She was blind.
Mitsuo scowled. “What are you talking about? No one’s like us!”
“They are, brother.” She stared sightlessly ahead. “These two are Seven and Six Omicron. The dog is Four. And the little one is Five.”
“It’s Ivy, thank you very much,” Ivy snapped.
“I’m sorry,” Yuki said gently. “I’m being rude. We’ve never met anyone like us before. I apologize for reading you.”
I blinked at her. “What do you mean?”
Yuki paused before speaking. “You think I’m blind. Well, that’s partly true. I can’t see shapes and colors. Or people’s faces. I’ve never seen a flower. But I can see. Just not the same way you do. I see circuitry and wire. Programming and code. When I’m close to a device, I see everything that makes it function. And if Mitsuo gives me the code, I can control it. Whether it’s a toaster or a computer or an ATM . . . or an android like you. So, to answer your question, I can read your names in your coding. I can read all about you.”
“So that’s why you’ve always known what you were,” Alicia said. “You could read it in yourself.”
Yuki nodded. “We always thought we were the only ones like us.” She smiled. “But it’s good to know we’re not alone.”
“Perhaps we should discuss why we’re here,” Sam suggested.
Mitsuo glared at him. “Why are you here? We’re busy.”
“Yeah, we know.” Will sat down on one of the beds. “You’re the ones who took down the Internet. And the whole country’s electrical grid.”
“You’re welcome,” Mitsuo replied with a smug grin.
Sam raised his eyebrows. “I must admit, it’s impressive. I assume you infiltrated the Internet backbone through a core router at a central node and shut it down.”
“Don’t insult me,” Mitsuo snorted. “A central node? Sure, that could take down part of the Internet. For a little while. But that’s like trying to swim up a waterfall. That’s how a noob who wants to get caught might do it. Not me. Look.”
He pointed out the window to the cell tower that we had noticed from the street. “You know how many smartphones there are in the world? More than two billion! They’re all over the place! Everywhere! Which means you crack into them and you have two billion decentralized micronodes that can feed whatever you want back into any network on Earth from two billion constantly moving places.”
Whatever he was talking about was totally over my head. But Sam nodded knowingly. “That’s pretty smart. But how could you possibly get into two billion encrypted smartphones worldwide?”
“That’s where I come in,” Yuki told him. “My brother didn’t access those phones. I did. He wrote the code that brought down the Internet and the electric grid. But I provided the key to unlocking all those phones to put that code into play. We’re a team.”
“Bravo.” Alicia leaned in close to him and spoke in a soft but threatening voice. “Now undo it. Bring the Internet back. The power grid. Everything. Fix it all. Right now.”
“Fix it?” Mitsuo cried. “What are you talking about? I am fixing it! Because it was all already broken. The whole system! Arbitrary power in the hands of a dishonest government, backed by their armies and their laws, which can be selectively ignored by those who have money or connections while the rest of us are trodden underfoot! We all need to be free! Free from their shackles, their laws! Free from the economy that’s designed to keep us enslaved by the almighty dollar. It all has to be torn down!”
I flinched at the intensity of his words. “You’re talking about anarchy.”
“Call it anarchy if you
want. I call it equality! Justice! Freedom! What we’re doing is making things right!”
“What you’re doing,” Alicia growled, “is destroying civilization.”
“Yeah, right. Civilization! You mean imprisonment. How can we be free if we have to live within a system that gives the corrupt few unchecked power over the many?”
“These guys are nuts,” 808 whispered in my ear. “I mean, can you imagine a world where money is worthless? What would you use to buy frozen yogurt? Madness!”
Alicia slid her knife out of its sheath. “I’m going to say it one more time. Then things are going to get messy. Put everything back to the way it was.”
“If you’re trying to scare me, it won’t work. Hurt me and nobody will be able to unwind my code. It’d take a whole army of computer experts months, maybe years, to get things back to normal. What do you think will happen to the world while you wait? No power. No Internet. Transportation is totally horked. So do what you want. I’ve already won.”
I looked at the gleam in his eye. Did he even know that he was just a tool the Ticks were using to wipe out humanity?
Alicia hefted the knife in her hand and stepped toward the boy. “I’ll get you to put things right! Even if I have to persuade you one bloody chunk at a time.”
“Stop.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “He’s right. He’s already won.”
Mitsuo smiled. “I’m glad you finally get it.”
“Oh, I do,” I told him. “You’ve done a great job. Your overseer must be very pleased.”
Mi shook his head. “Overseer?”
“Sure. All Omicrons have overseers. They make sure we carry out our instructions properly. I had Dr. Shallix. Dixon had Roz. Ivy had Bing. Before we got rid of them. So who’s yours?”
“We don’t have one,” he replied with a tilt of his head.
I laughed. “Of course you do. That’s how it works. If you deviate from your programming, they step in and—”
“My programming?” Mitsuo said, his face reddening. “I’m doing what I’m doing because it’s right, not because someone . . . programmed me to do it.”
“Okay, you can believe that little fantasy if you want. You might think you’re acting on your own free will to take down a corrupt system, but the truth is, you’re just doing what they told you to do. The Ticks. The ones who created us. We’re just tools they’re using to take over the planet.”
Mitsuo’s hands clenched into fists. “Not true!”
Dixon stepped to my side. “It is, man. He’s telling the truth.”
Even 808 jumped in. “He ain’t lyin’, kid. I was part of an overseer. Well, they made me live in the little toe and I didn’t get to do much, but take it from me, it’s all true.”
“You definitely have an overseer.” I turned to Yuki. “Let me ask you, is Janet Ito a Tick? Or her husband? Maybe they’re your overseers.”
Yuki shook her head. “They’re human. I can’t read them.” A worried expression crossed her face. “But . . .”
“But what?” I asked.
“But me,” a voice said behind us.
I looked toward the doorway to find its source.
It was Oscar.
CHAPTER 38.0:
< value= [This Is Worse Than Planet of the Apes] >
IT TOOK A MOMENT FOR my brain to click into gear. Monkeys didn’t usually talk. And his voice was so deep, it was hard to believe it came from an animal that barely reached my kneecap.
“Oh my . . . oh my . . . oh my gosh!” Dix gushed. “He can talk! That’s so awesome! Look, guys, Oscar can talk!”
I didn’t think it was so awesome. But then again, I had seen Planet of the Apes a few months earlier, and it totally freaked me out.
Dix kneeled down and grinned at Oscar. “Hey there, little fella,” he cooed.
Instead of answering, Oscar raised his arms toward Dix’s face. As I watched, the monkey’s fingers fused into two huge ragged claws that looked like they should have been scuttling across the floor of silent seas—not attached to the end of a primate. Brown and hard, they were clad in the kind of thick, unforgiving armor that protected a lobster. And they were much larger than you would have expected monkey claws to be.
WHOOSH SNAP!
One of Oscar’s claws arced down toward Dix’s face, the serrated edges slamming together with such force, it sounded like someone had set off a firecracker.
Okay, so it wasn’t just Planet of the Apes. This was definitely not cool!
Dix, who had been leaning in, was luckily spared the full effect of the attack. The side of the pincer connected with his cheekbone and sent him sprawling on the floor.
“He’s a Tick!” Alicia screamed. She dove for her backpack.
“I believe the plural would be more accurate,” Oscar said with a sneer.
Right on cue, the other seven monkeys appeared. Each had a pair of deadly-looking claws. They moved with frightening speed, using their prehensile tails to make up for the agility lost to their cross-species redesign.
Yuki stood up tentatively. “What’s happening? Is that . . . ?”
“It’s your dumb monkey,” Ivy informed her. “Only he’s not really a monkey. He’s a Tick! They’re all Ticks!”
“Indeed,” Oscar admitted. “We replaced the organic simians here in the Itos’ domicile just as you and your brother were fostered. Our job was to ensure you carried out your mission at the appropriate time. You performed admirably. Until these humans and Synthetic traitors decided to interfere. We cannot let them get in the way of your mission.”
“There you go,” 808 piped up. “Kids, meet your overseers.”
“Oscar? But—but why couldn’t I read you?” Yuki stammered.
The monkey laughed. “We’d be pretty poor overseers if you knew we were overseeing you. Especially given your rebellion algorithms. We were extra careful to keep our defenses up around you, my dear Yuki. So you couldn’t access our programming. But enough about us. You and Mitsuo still have a chance to survive. We will let you live if you continue to carry out your mission and dismantle all human infrastructure as instructed.”
“Oh, so you mean just follow orders, is that it?” Mitsuo said with a sneer. “What do you think our answer is, maggotbox?”
“A shame.” Oscar shook his head. “I had been hoping you’d be eager to join those of us who are committed to furthering the Synthetic cause. But you sound less than enthusiastic at the prospect of—”
“Hey, catch!”
Alicia heaved a magnetic throwing star at Oscar. It whooshed across the room, a silver streak of pointy-toothed steel. But when it reached its target, the monkey raised a claw and snatched it out of the air.
Two neatly cut pieces of star clattered to the floor.
“You know, she really shouldn’t have said, ‘Hey, catch’ before she threw that,” 808 whispered in my ear. “Totally lost the element of surprise.”
“If you’ve finished playing around with your toys . . .” Oscar sighed. The eight monkeys advanced on us, claws raised.
Thor leapt in front of me and growled at them. As they closed in, he lunged forward, snapping his jaws on one of the small brown torsos. He shook the creature like a stuffed dog toy and flung it across the room. It hit the wall with a thud and landed on the floor in a heap.
It took only a second or two for the little Tick to get back to its feet and pick up where it had left off, charging forward with pincers clacking.
We were in trouble. Alicia’s knife attacks were useless against enemies with incomprehensibly fast reflexes. Every stab or slash was easily thwarted by an armored claw.
And she was the best among us at fighting. Will, Sam, Dix, Ivy, and I were basically hopeless. We ran this way and that trying to get away from our adversaries, but there were simply too many of them.
Ivy screamed as Oscar latched his pincer onto her wrist, scoring a bloody gouge in her flesh.
“No!” I snarled. “Leave her alone!”
I kicked at h
im as hard as I could, but he stepped aside and my foot only made contact with the empty air. The monkey grinned as I crashed to the floor.
Before I could even blink, his free claw shot out and closed around my throat.
“Filthy human,” he spat. “Prepare to die. Any—”
The room suddenly disappeared in an intense white flash that made my retinas burn and sting. My head felt as if someone had plugged a high-pressure water hose directly into my skull. There were no more monkeys. No Alicia. No Will. No Dix. Nothing. Just whiteness all around. Slowly, a shape materialized in front of me. It was Yuki. She peered at me with large brown eyes—not the solid white ones I had seen just minutes earlier.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from hers. They were so deep and knowing.
She must have noticed me staring, because she said, “You like them? I can try something else if you prefer.”
She blinked, and her eyes went from brown to purple.
“Or maybe this.”
She blinked again, and a pair of orange eyes were facing me.
“I . . . I think I like the first ones best,” I stammered.
“Me too,” she replied, changing her eyes back to brown.
I looked around. Everything was so white and seamless, I couldn’t tell if I was trapped in a tiny closet or a space that stretched on for miles in every direction. “What’s happening? What did you do to me?”
“Don’t worry,” she assured me. “Nothing bad. I just wanted to have a little chat. So I popped over for a visit.”
“Popped over? Where?”
Yuki laughed. “Into your brain. Or technically your CPU. I didn’t want us to be interrupted, so I shut down your sensory processing subroutine.”
I started to object, but she stopped me.
“Relax. You’ll be as good as new in a minute. I just wanted to get a proper look at you. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to poke around a little.”
“Hey, wait! What do you mean you’re going to poke . . .”
She winked out of existence before I could finish the sentence.