by Dan Marshall
Adam stood atop a large hill. In the distance, he could see New Metra City, his home for most of his life. The city was burning, large columns of smoke holding the sky above the foundation of the earth. Adam was struck by the thought that he was responsible for this, that he was to blame. Life there had been irrevocably changed, and it was his fault. He was convinced cries of pain and anguish played against his ears, the almost-echoes of lost souls cursing him from afar.
Adam was startled by a high-pitched whine from behind him as two jets soared into his field of vision, headed toward the already decimated city. Four small flashes were followed by larger ones as their delivered missiles crashed into the sides of several buildings. Adam flinched against the bursts of light, his hand raising reflexively and his body turning to the side to shield himself from the terrible brightness. The hot heat of the explosions pulsed against his body, his hair blown by the wind of their fury. Adam turned to face the city and saw almost nothing left. Acrid air, the rush and stench of death carried by the breeze, pushed against his face and up his hairline.
He awoke to the feeling of movement across his scalp. Sera’s hand lightly brushed against his hair. His head shot up to meet her eyes. She yawned as if waking from a nap, then opened her eyes fully and looked directly at him.
“Hello, Adam,” She said. “I’m Sera. It’s good to finally meet you.”
The months that followed were full of activity for many people in Washington. Nemo, Dej, and Aria were constantly busy, either in meetings or working on special projects. Sera and Adam were provided neighboring apartments in Georgetown, an area of Washington relatively untouched by past battles. Their connected balconies overlooked the Potomac River. They spent their days talking about their lives, discussing technology, philosophy, and the meaning of existence.
Adam already felt an attraction toward Sera, but after spending the past several months with her, aiding in her recovery and listening to her mind and heart, he found himself thinking of her constantly. She seemed to have feelings for him too, but Adam also understood Sera was on a long road to recovery.
Sera had known who Adam was from the moment she awoke. She told them that after several years she had learned to be an observer while wearing the Lightcap and remembered a great deal more than Adam did from his time under the control of the device. This proved to be a source of both information and consternation, as Sera felt great self-loathing for the things she had done while under LaMont’s control. She had begun seeing a therapist and making progress.
Adam made progress as well. His focus had returned, and he could use a dome without issue. Dej had an entire team of engineers and coders go through each piece of hardware and each line of code to assure Adam his dome was only functional for controlling other devices. He couldn’t help but feel an intense distrust of the technology, even with the assurances of a team of people who specialized in reverse engineering and neuron interfaces. Adam’s first attempt at using a dome again had ended in a panic attack, but now he could use it for hours at a time with little effort.
The events of his tenure at Adaptech and rescue from Metra Corp headquarters seemed from a different lifetime, more so with each passing day. That’s why Adam was surprised to hear a knock on his front door one Saturday morning, and even more surprised when he opened his door to find Nemo, Aria, and Dej standing on the other side of it wearing worried expressions. Nemo spoke first and asked, “May we come in?”
Adam stepped back and bowed slightly. They all took his unspoken cue and entered. Aria went to the balcony and retrieved Sera, who had been outside enjoying an iced tea and the warm day. As Aria brought her into the room, Adam noted Sera looked as confused as he felt as she took a seat next to him. Aria sat between Nemo and Dej, opposite Adam. Both Aria and Nemo looked at Dej, who cleared his throat and spoke. “So I know you guys haven’t been very involved in discussions about plans. I don’t know how attached you’ve been to the news, but things in Metra Region are a complete mess right now.
Adam and Sera shook their heads with helpless expressions to indicate their ignorance of current events. It had been difficult for Adam, but he had put aside his addiction to information while focusing on his recovery.
“Rupert Calloway took LaMont’s place. He lasted about a month before being assassinated by a sniper while golfing at a private course. His replacement, Liv Daley, has been in office for two months, but who knows how long she’ll last before someone takes her out. The entire Region is in disarray. Company stock value is the lowest it’s ever been and there have been a substantial number of voting shares traded in the system. The votes will now be more consolidated than ever before. Those in power are amassing even more, and the proles are restless. To make matters worse, the Cascadia Region has gone dark.”
“Dark?” Adam asked.
Dej looked at Nemo, who responded to Adam’s question.
“Almost two weeks ago, our western outposts noticed there were no signals coming out of Cascadia. No public broadcasts, no mesh traffic, nothing. We’re not sure if there has been some kind of catastrophe, maybe a natural disaster or coup, since their borders have been closed. We’ve also found evidence to suggest Jonathan Bays is in the Cascadia Region. We’re not sure if he was there when he helped you escape the trap in Metra Corp headquarters, but we strongly suspect he’s there now, possibly in Seattle or Portland. We also think he may know about or be involved with the production and distribution of Cloud. Of course, we don’t have any way to reach him, so we’ve been working out the logistics of sending a team to Cascadia.”
Adam looked at Nemo, then Aria. He said, “I want to go. I’m assuming Aria is leading the team?”
Aria shook her head. “No, but I’ll be going,” She said. “Nemo has put together a group, called Project Shadowcloud, and has someone who will be leading the team. We want you to join us. We still haven’t decided if we should give you a weapon, but we definitely could use your smarts. We’re leaving two weeks from Monday.”
The meeting ended shortly after, with instructions given on where to be and what to bring on the day of departure. Adam and Sera sat in silence for several minutes after the others left, until she finally got up and walked to the balcony. Adam followed. She stood and looked out across the river, her hair blown back by a breeze. Eventually, she said, “I’m coming too. It’s better than sitting here and wasting away. No offense. I love our conversations and the peacefulness here, but I feel I’m doing nothing while the closest things I have to friends are out doing important work trying to make a difference. I’d rather do that than stay here, even though I know I’m still not healed.” She looked at him searchingly. “I can be useful, right?”
Adam didn’t say anything for several seconds. He had never seen her so vulnerable. At the same time, he knew she would not be dissuaded. Finally, he said, “You’re right, of course. I want you to come. We could use you. And even though it’s selfish, I don’t want to be away from you.” As Adam said these last words, he slipped his hand into hers. Sera looked at him and blushed, but squeezed his hand in response. He had been afraid she would recoil.
Adam experienced a moment of panic as the look on her face changed to frustration and pain. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she said, “Adam, look.”
Adam followed Sera’s gaze out across the Potomac and beyond to see several floating ad zeps dotting the skies. Adam had long before learned to ignore them, and he could even imagine them missing when looking at a particularly beautiful sunset or blue sky. This time, however, the usual flashing ads on hundred-meter long screens had been replaced by a black background and large, capital block letters in a sharp green. Adam gasped as he read the words:
TROYKA LIVES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dan Marshall resides in Portland, OR, with his girlfriend, Great Dane/Dachshund mix dog, and two long-haired black cats. This is his first novel.
For more information, visit IAmDanMarshall.com.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
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Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it. Please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or the review site of your choice. As a self-published and new author, I have no marketing department or professional assistance, so your feedback helps immensely. I enjoyed writing this book and hope to have more available soon, including a sequel to The Lightcap. I hope you find this story enjoyable enough to keep up with the doings of Adam Redmon and company. The next book will have a much broader scope and will show more of the other three Regions that make up the former United States.
Every effort was made to produce a work free of spelling, grammatical, and continuity errors. That said, there are 60,000+ words in this book, so it's possible some mistakes made it through the editing process. If you find any errors, please email me ([email protected]) and let me know. Thank you again for reading!
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