Shutdown

by Heather Anastasiu

I nodded, swallowing hard. I’d expected as much.

  “All right,” Henk interrupted, “now that all the fun’s died down, I’m gonna make a supply run. We’re running short on food, and we’ll need full bellies before we figure out what’s comin’ next. I know a market supply center that’s just beggin’ to be ganked. Who’s with me?”

  “I’ll go,” Rand said.

  Xona and Cole volunteered too, along with a couple Rez fighters. Max slunk off to the corner. I knew I needed more rest before I’d be of much help to anyone, so after a long blistering shower I climbed back in the med container and told Ginni not to wake me this time.

  * * *

  When I finally woke, it was midmorning the next day. Cole dropped a huge pallet full of rice and beans in the center of the room, and the others began unloading it. I went to help. My legs felt strong for the first time in days and the overall achiness was almost gone. It was amazing what a solid night of sleep could do.

  I was finally well rested and now our pantry was well stocked. We could stop worrying about simple survival and start planning out what our next move was going to be. I hefted a bag of flour over to the cabinet and set it alongside the others.

  “How’d it go?” Ginni asked Rand.

  “No problems. Henk’s the king of thieves,” Rand said, then tilted his head sideways with a grin. “’Course I helped too. Couldn’t have made it through that thick guard fence without my skills.”

  City rolled her eyes. “Yes we could have, Rand. They’re called wire cutters.”

  “Fine, but don’t even say I wasn’t helpful, melting a hole through those metal loading doors.”

  “And let’s not forget,” City said with a falsely sweet smile, “how you burned through half the merchandise when you accidently lit the stacks of wood pallets on fire in the back of the warehouse.”

  Rand shrugged. “It made for a nice distraction while we got away, didn’t it?”

  “Enough, children.” Henk stretched and then clapped two hands to his stomach dramatically. “Where’s lunch? I’m starved.”

  “I made some stew.” Ginni pointed at a pot that was still bubbling on the stovetop.

  Rand grabbed a spoon and dipped it in the pot. He blew on it a moment before sipping it. He made a face and pulled back from the pot. “Well,” he grimaced, “it’ll fill an empty belly, at least.”

  “And don’t forget what we also picked up.” Henk smiled and held up a large cylindrical container. “Salt! Put enough on, and it’ll make even the rankest food passable.”

  “Hey!” Ginni objected. Henk sent her a sideways grin, then grabbed a bowl and ladled in a large serving of stew. Those of us who had stayed behind let the people who’d gone on the supply raid go first. I looked around for Adrien. He stood at the end of the line, absorbed in a tablet he was reading from. I sighed and looked away. But then I frowned.

  “Wait, where’s Max?” I asked.

  Several people’s heads swiveled around, looking for him. Xona frowned. “I don’t see him.”

  “Maybe he’s in the shower?” Ginni said.

  I stood still one more moment, checking every face both with my eyes and my telek until I was sure he wasn’t in the room with us. When I hurried over to the bathroom to check there, no one was inside.

  “Shunting bastard,” I whispered under my breath as I walked back out to the group. “He must have snuck on the jet with you guys and then gotten off once you got to the supply site.”

  Henk let out a long string of curses, half of which I’d never heard before. “He knows about this hideout here. If he goes back to the Chancellor—”

  I shook my head. “He won’t. He wouldn’t want to get anywhere near her and risk falling under her compulsion again. Especially after failing her on the last mission she sent him on. No, he’ll probably go lose himself in one of the bigger cities where he can pose as a wealthy Upper and live in pampered luxury.” I curled my lip in disgust. It was a fitting end to his story.

  “You all have to see this!” called out a voice from the corner.

  “What is it, Simin?” Ginni asked.

  I turned to look as a dark-haired boy hurried to the middle of the room. His face was pinched with concern as he set a small portable projection console on one of the tables.

  The slight chatter that had filled the room quieted almost instantly. We all gathered around the table.

  “What happened?” Henk asked.

  “This just broadcast over the Link,” the boy Ginni had called Simin said. He clicked the console on. A few people moved back so the 3-D projection cube would have a clear space to play over the table.

  The calm face of Chancellor Bright showed on the vid feed. I winced and averted my gaze before forcing myself to look up and watch as she strode down the aisle of a large auditorium in Central City. A banner ran across the bottom of the screen: NEW CHANCELLOR SUPREME APPOINTED.

  There was no mention of what had happened to the previous Chancellor, if he had died or been deposed or who knows what else Bright might have done to him in order to usurp his top position. This had always been her ultimate goal, even back when she was just the Chancellor of a single Academy in a midsized city. Hard to believe that was only a year ago. She’d compelled her way up to Underchancellor of Defense, and now was the supreme leader of the second largest of the eight worldwide Sectors.

  The camera switched to an auditorium shot where Chancellor Bright was being sworn in, then did a quick pan of the other Officials who sat in the long panel at the back of the stage. Their faces didn’t show any reaction. But then, Uppers were always careful not to display emotion when they knew the vid feeds for the Link were on. Couldn’t let the drones see that the ideals about a passionless Community were actually just a load of propaganda, meant to keep them under control. Either that, or they were under the Chancellor’s compulsion.

  I looked at their empty faces and wondered what they would look like if they knew she was a glitcher who’d just finagled herself into the top Upper position in the country by using mind-control. Of course if they ever realized anything was suspicious, the Chancellor could compel the thought away.

  Bright walked up to a podium in the center of the stage. Her dark brown hair was oiled and slicked back in a bun and she wore the black tunic denoting those of highest rank. Her face was blank, but unlike the Officials behind her, it wasn’t because she was under any compulsion. Cold and calculating was her natural state.

  “Subjects of the Community, I greet you as your new Chancellor Supreme. I stand here today to assure you of the continued prosperity of our great Community in spite of the menace that has grown up among us like thorns. We have long reported the increasing number of anomalous-behaving Community members. When we asked for your help in reporting any anomalous activity, you all responded admirably.

  “We will not abide subjects exhibiting the destructive passions,” she went on, “the very same violent outbursts that led to the destruction of the Old World. They lie and cheat and commit atrocities against their fellow subjects. If they had their way, the perfect and orderly world we have created would be blasted backwards into chaos and ruin.” She tilted her head. “But I am here to tell you today that during my tenure as Underchancellor of Defense and now as Chancellor Supreme, the virus is being stamped out once and for all.

  “For months we rounded up and disabled infected subjects. Our techers were hard at work discovering the malfunction in the hardware and how to repair it. And we finally discovered the answer.”

  She leaned slightly over the podium. “It was simple, really. The problem lay in the adolescent V-chip itself. Our best techers worked around the clock for months to develop a way to implant the adult V-chip in infants instead, but without impairing natural neural growth as the subjects age. They have finally succeeded. This technological advance will herald a new age for humanity, one without fear of glitching hardware or anomalous behavior. Finally, we can all live in peace. Order first, order always.”


  The vid screen went dark. My mouth was open in horror at what she’d said. Adult V-chips, in children? It meant we wouldn’t be able to ever recover anyone from the Community. We’d long ago accepted adults were lost to us. But there’d always been hope for children and teenagers under eighteen before that final invasive chip went in. Hope that we could free them one day.

  If the Chancellor had her way, there’d be no one left to free and humanity’s enslavement would be complete. I’d known the Chancellor lusted for power, but naively, I hadn’t ever believed she was absolutely evil until now.

  “Well, that answers that question.” City broke the silence, taking a step back from the table. “No way we’re gonna try and infiltrate to get the others if she’s the Chancellor Supreme.”

  I looked at her in disbelief. Really? That was what she’d taken away from seeing the video? “What about the drones? What are we going to do about them? We can’t let the Chancellor get away with this!”

  City stared at me as if I was the one who was making no sense. “And what exactly do you think we can do about it? Nothing. It’s time we accepted the fact that we’re defeated and hide out somewhere we can be safe.”

  Henk stiffened. “The vid doesn’t change anything. We’re going back for the others.”

  “It changes everything!” City said. “Ginni said they’re all in the same building as the Chancellor most of the time. We can’t even imagine the kind of security detail she has surrounding her now that she’s Chancellor Supreme. There’s no way we’d be able to sneak in unnoticed.”

  “But we have to try,” Juan said, putting down his bowl on the ground with a loud clank.

  “I agree,” Henk said. “It’s Jilia.” He looked around at the others. “You know she wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice herself if it meant a chance to get one of you lot back.”

  “Exactly,” City said. “She wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice herself. You think she’d want you, us, anyone, going in after her and risking their life?”

  “It’s not just Jilia,” Juan said. “It’s Molla and the baby—”

  “Would you stop mooning over her already? It’s not even your baby. And she’s in love with the traitor.”

  “City!” Ginni said, looking at the other girl sharply. “Don’t say that. Juan was there for Molla. He was her friend.”

  “She was my friend too,” City cut in. “But you have to leave people behind. It’s what happens. Tell her, Xona.”

  I expected Xona to object and throw it back in City’s face. But to my surprise, Xona just looked at the ground. “City’s right,” she said quietly. “I had to leave plenty of friends behind over the years. That’s the life of living on the run. And the only way the Rez survived this long is because people have known when to duck and hide.”

  Ginni’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t believe that! Tyryn was captured too. Don’t you love your brother at all?”

  A vein pulsed in Xona’s forehead. “Don’t you say a shunting thing about my brother.”

  I was shocked at how all the camaraderie I’d just been watching had suddenly turned in on itself. I’d assumed it was a given that we’d go back and try to rescue the others.

  And how was no one else even mentioning what the Chancellor had announced about the V-chip? I opened my mouth to bring it up again but then closed it. I supposed City was right in a way, we did have more immediate problems than worrying about the drones, but still. The Chancellor had to be stopped.

  My mind flipped to the vision Adrien had yesterday. Was this the catalyst for what he’d seen? Because there was no way I could ignore what the Chancellor was doing and go live my life in peace somewhere. There would be no peace for me until she was dead and I’d rescued my brother. My chest cinched up even thinking about Markan. Had she done the procedure on him already, implanted the last deadening V-chip? I thought I’d have a few more years to get him back before the final chip was installed. Or would she keep him un-chipped if he was a glitcher with a useful enough Gift?

  Meanwhile, the discussion raged on around me.

  “The Rez has survived because we didn’t leave our own behind,” Henk glared at City.

  “That’s not true,” City scoffed. “Look at what happened to Taylor when they went for Adrien. You try to rescue even just one person and the rescuers get killed instead. Whole Rez teams have been killed that way. And then what’s the point of it all? Who’s going to fight the next battle if we’re all dead? You’ve said yourself that we’re the only ones left, Henk. That means they win.”

  “So, what?” I interjected. “We just sit here and do nothing?”

  “It’s called living.” Xona crossed her arms. “It’s what the Rez has done for hundreds of years. Hiding out and staying alive.” I thought about the promise she’d made to her brother as she went on. “We steal the supplies we need and stay on the move. There’s gotta be some cells that haven’t been cracked yet.”

  “None that I could find,” Simin said.

  “Yet,” City corrected. “None that you could find yet. And it makes sense. Any operatives who’ve managed to escape the Chancellor aren’t going to be broadcasting it. It’s protocol to go communications-dark when the situation gets hot.”

  “Yes, but there are other protocols to set beacons to let others know you’re still alive,” Simin said. “I pinged the beacon for the Rez in Sector Six, and none have been activated.”

  “Then we go to other countries,” City said. “If everyone in the Rez in this Sector has been cracked because of the Chancellor, then we get as far as we can away from her. The other side of the globe if we have to. There are other groups we can find.” She looked at Simin. “Have you tried contacting the Rez in other Sectors?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “There,” City said, nodding her head. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

  “That’s not what we’ll do,” Henk said, slamming his hand hard on the table. “You’re all just kids. You don’t know—”

  “Don’t you dare patronize us.” City’s voice rose an octave. “We all heard Jilia talk about you. How you’re irresponsible and don’t think before you do things. You’d get us all killed if you were in charge.”

  “Did you forget whose bunker we’re all sittin’ in?” He gestured around him. “And whose jet is sitting outside?”

  “Zoe was a Colonel,” Ginni said. “She’s the highest-ranking person we have left. She should be in charge.”

  “Because that turned out so well back at the Foundation,” City said sarcastically. “Did you forget about the earthquake she caused that led them straight to us?”

  My face burned both in anger at what she’d said and shame because I knew she was right.

  “I say we vote about going back for the others or not,” Rand finally spoke up. “It’s the only way that’s fair.”

  “Fine.” Henk let out a frustrated blast of air. “Raise your hand if you want to set up a mission to rescue the others.”

  About half the group raised their hands, myself included. Cole frowned deeply, looking back and forth between Henk and Xona, but kept his hand down.

  “And those who want to stay safe and not do anything foolish?” City asked. She raised her hand. Adrien, Xona, Rand, Simin, and Cole joined her, along with four of the Rez fighters. They outnumbered us by a single vote.

  City let out a small whoop. “There you go. Nine to eight. No mission.”

  Henk shot to his feet. “This is ridiculous. It’s not a democracy. I’ve got the jet and I’ll go by myself if I have to.”

  “You can’t take the jet and strand us here like that,” Xona said, her voice hard. “You’d be sentencing us to death without a way to travel for more supplies.”

  “I’ve had enough of all of you.” Henk’s face was red. “These are the people we love. You do anything to save the ones you love. End of story. Instead, you’re all letting fear turn you back into machines who can’t feel a shuntin’ thing!”

  Cole win
ced at his words.

  “That’s enough, Henk,” Xona said.

  Henk stared at her hard, then threw his hands up in frustration and strode out of the room, banging his fist angrily against the doorjamb as he left.

  It was deadly quiet in the room. Some stared angrily at one another. Others kept their eyes trained on the ground. People slowly shuffled to their feet. Those who’d eaten already put their dishes in the sink. Cole silently moved to start washing them. Others climbed back up into their bunks.

  I was left alone staring in numb shock at everything that had just happened. I went back to the line for stew even though I wasn’t particularly hungry. My mind kept whirring to the image of the Chancellor’s smug face as she accepted the role as Chancellor Supreme. Replacing one corrupt, tyrannical system with another. One that was worse. I imagined the infants and children she’d probably already ordered to the upgrade centers. Children who’d never laugh or play or have the opportunity to feel any of the wondrous emotions I’d discovered over the past two years.

  The Chancellor had always wanted power and so she’d taken it. More and more until she was the single most powerful person in the entire country. But that hadn’t been enough. She wanted absolute, unchecked power. Would glitchers even still develop if she put the adult V-chip in children? Or was that part of the point? She didn’t want anyone more powerful than herself to ever be able to challenge her. She’d condemn them all to a life of unending slavery just to secure her own position.

  And would that satisfy her, or was she already scheming about ways to take over the other global Sectors as well? Would the Rez in the other seven Sectors fall as quickly as we had here? If they did, she’d rule the whole world. I shuddered. The breadth and depth of her evil made a cold chill settle on my chest. Adrien used to help me stay determinately hopeful, but it seemed more and more that hope was nowhere to be found.

  I finally reached the front of the line and ladled some stew into my bowl, but didn’t bother adding any salt. Tasteless was just fine with me right now.

  Where did this leave the few of us outcasts who were left? We had powers, but we were powerless. We had no armies to command and no government officials to wield as puppets. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered about what Xona had said—that we should just live.