Synthetica

by Rachel Pattinson

  “Why didn't you make a run for it?” Clay hissed in her ear.

  “Think about it,” she hissed back. “Did you see how many police cabs there were out there? There was no way we'd be able to get away from here unnoticed. We're going to have to wait them out.”

  From outside the room there came a bang and the sound of footsteps, and they fell silent. Through a gap in one of the crates, Anais could still see the glass door and the corridor beyond. Her blood turned to ice as Nox and another police officer appeared on the other side of the glass. Nox opened the door slowly, shining his torch into the closet. Anais immediately pressed herself as tightly as she could against the wall, trying her best not to breathe. She wouldn't have been surprised if Nox had heard her heart instead, it was beating so loudly.

  Slowly, the two flashlights surveyed the small room.

  “Come on, Quentin,” said an unfamiliar voice. “There's nothing here. Let's check the others.”

  One of the torches disappeared, but the other remained, going over each and every surface painfully slowly. Anais knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was Nox's. She could just imagine the cold, calculating look on his handsome face as he searched the room. Just go, Anais thought desperately as the sweat trickled down her forehead, please, just leave.

  She shifted her foot ever so slightly, almost jumping in fright as it came into contact with something soft. Why is Clay on the floor? she thought to herself, before remembering Clay was standing right beside her. Trying not to move her head, her eyes flicked downwards and a strong hand clamped down on her mouth before she could scream.

  Clay's face was inches from her own. He shook his head almost imperceptibly at her. His eyes, just as wide as hers were, told Anais that he'd also seen what she had.

  Her heart racing, Anais stood as still as she could as the torch continued it's agonising sweep of the tiny closet. Her whole body was shaking, but Clay's hand on her mouth stopped the scream that was threatening to erupt.

  After a long, long moment, the torch clicked off. Anais peered through the gap in the crate in front of her to see Nox giving the closet one final look, before stepping back outside and closing the door behind him. Clay's hand on her arm kept her in place for an extra few moments, until they were sure he was gone.

  As soon as Clay released the pressure on her arm, Anais sprang away from the wall, bile rising her throat as she stared at the body on the floor.

  “What – what -” she managed to choke out, but she couldn't form any more coherent words.

  Clay crouched down by the body and, covering his hand with his sleeve, gently pushed the dead man's head to the left. Anais' stomach roiled as she saw the bloody gash on his neck, right where his ID chip used to be. Clay looked up, and she saw her own fear mirrored in his eyes.

  “I don't know,” he whispered. “I don't know.”

  He moved swiftly, dancing from shadow to shadow. The wind was colder now, as night began to fade away into morning.

  His blood was humming in his veins; the adrenaline making him feel exhilarated, alive. He had completed the first part of his preparations - now it was time for the second.

  The building in front of him seemed squat and ugly in the moonlight, especially after the towering mass of the Civitas building. But the factory was larger than it seemed. He gripped the handle of his bag more securely, being careful not to disturb the contents too much. He glanced at the time on his wristwatch. It was almost time.

  He counted down the final few seconds. When the long hand reached the number twelve, he ran across the road and into the shadows of the building.

  For a society that was supposed to be so technologically advanced, he almost couldn't believe he could break into a factory with a simple device of his own making. They could at least make it difficult for him.

  The security system went down in seconds. He wrenched the door open and stepped into the darkness beyond. Time to plant a few more fireworks of his own.

  Eighteen

  Anais opened her eyes, disorientated.

  It took her a moment to remember where she was. She was in her own bed, in her own room, the covers wrapped tightly around her. The morning light was shining through the slats in her blinds. She felt well rested, as though she had needed a good night's sleep, but she also had a growing sense of unease...something had happened yesterday. Something that made her stomach contract with guilt and alarm. She blinked sleepily and checked her RetCom for the time. It was already after ten. She sat bolt upright, as everything came crashing back.

  It had been Dalla's funeral. They had broken into Civitas with the help of Clay Winterbourne. Skye had caught them. They'd found the SLP program files. She'd found a dead body in a supply closet.

  For a second, Anais seriously thought she was going to throw up. The body had been bad enough – being the second one she'd seen up close in the space of a week – but there was also the matter of the SLPs. The malicious code hidden in the program. Today, thousands of those SLPs were going on sale; tens of thousands of people were at risk from being becoming murderers or being murdered.

  She started to untangle herself from the covers but stopped, wondering why she was still fully dressed in her funeral outfit. Then it came back to her; she'd paced her room for hours, until the sky had begun to turn pink. She'd managed to get a message to Xander, telling him about the body in the supply room, and that she had got home okay. She didn't know where Clay had gone. She'd had a feeling her parents might have had something to say if they found out she was harbouring a fugitive in their flat. Xander had told her that him and Skye were attempting to find out the extent of the damage that had been caused by whoever had hacked into Civitas' server, but it was hard - whoever had designed the malicious code had also managed not to leave a single trace behind.

  She'd finally collapsed on her bed in the early hours of the morning, too tired to bother undressing. She didn't know whether it was the effects of a lack of sleep, grief or anxiety, but she felt as though her head was full of cotton wool. Whichever way she looked at it, she didn't know how to stop the SLPs from going on sale. The knot that had formed in her stomach the previous night clenched again, making her feel queasy.

  There was nothing else they could do but hope they could somehow prevent them from being sold at the parade. Judging from Xander's messages, Skye was still determined to try and keep the whole story under wraps from the public, but in all honesty, Anais couldn't see how they could do that. If thousands of lives were at risk, she would much rather tell the whole city to be on their guard, than stand by and watch as thousands more died. Skye didn't seem to understand this moral reasoning.

  The message icon was blinking in her vision, informing her she had 20 new messages. With a slight pang, she realised she'd half expected them to be from Dalla, but they weren't. Dalla's name would never flash up in her vision again. She quickly pushed the thought out of her mind before it could overwhelm her. Just a bit longer, she told herself firmly, we're nearly there. It's nearly over.

  She began to read the messages as she opened her bedroom door and went into the bathroom. Many of them were from her parents, asking where she was, was she okay, had she seen the news? But there were also a few from ID numbers she didn't recognise.

  Meet at Civitas building ASAP. Skye.

  Anais rolled her eyes. She replied to Skye, telling her she'd be there as soon as possible.

  The other unrecognised ID number turned out to be from Officer Hughes. Anais almost walked into the doorframe in shock.

  Anais. You missed our appointment. We need to talk. It's urgent. Can you come to the station as soon as possible this morning? Officer Alice Hughes.

  Anais swore loudly.

  She'd completely forgotten about meeting Officer Hughes after Dalla's fun
eral. She vaguely remembered receiving a message while she'd been at Clay's house, but she'd deleted it. A cold trickle ran down her spine as she reread Hughes' message. This was to do with last night, she knew it. Nox had no doubt been jumping to conclusions again. It wouldn't surprise her if he'd issued a warrant for her arrest.

  It wasn't until she got out of the shower that one of her parent's messages finally made it's way to her brain: Have you seen the news?

  She ran to her bedroom and threw on some clean clothes. She practically sprinted down the hall and turned on the HV set, praying that there hadn't been any more murders.

  There hadn't. Instead, something far stranger had happened. Anais sank down onto the sofa, keeping her eyes on the hologram in front of her.

  The hologram was a close-up of the Civitas building, just above the main entrance. Someone had embellished the existing Civitas logo. The giant silver 'C' had been painted red, only, the person had used the paint to join up the sides in the 'C', to create a circle. There were two dots in the makeshift circle, with a curved jagged line underneath them. Two diagonal slashes overlapped underneath. With a jolt, Anais realised it was a mockery of a skull and crossbones. Just as she wondering who would do such a thing, she became aware of the newsreader's voice speaking and she belatedly tuned in to the actual story.

  “...vandalism is believed to have taken place late last night, though at the moment, the police have no clues as to who may have committed the crime. With crowds already gathering for Civitas' parade, due to be held this afternoon, the police are asking the public not to get too close to the building so they can continue their investigation.”

  The hologram showed a picture at odds with the advice the police were giving. Large crowds had already congregated outside Civitas' HQ and were pointing up at the eerie sign, jostling each other for a closer look.

  But that wasn't all. As she stared at the logo, Anais couldn't help thinking she'd seen it somewhere before. She stared at the hologram. There was something remarkably familiar about that symbol. It hovered on the edge of her memory, but try as she might, she couldn't place it. And then it all snapped into place.

  She'd seen that symbol before. The strange man she'd accidentally bumped into at the market had had that logo sewn onto his black jacket, only, she'd been so freaked out by his attitude, she hadn't looked at it too closely. And the man that they'd chased from Denzel's shop...now that she thought about, he'd been wearing the exact same black jacket. She'd just been too full of grief and adrenaline at the time to realise it.

  “Oh,” Anais gasped, as the truth dawned on her. It was the same man. Her head swam with the implications of this thought. The man in Denzel's shop...he'd killed Denzel with an SLP. He knew how they worked. And now he was vandalising the Civitas building. With a sickening jolt, Anais realised that if he'd been at the building last night then he was also the one responsible for the security guard's death. She'd met the murderer before and she'd just never known it. This was the man who was responsible for all those deaths. For Dalla's death. And if he had his way, he'd be responsible for thousands more today.

  Without bothering to turn off the HV set, Anais flew to the front door. She had to get to the parade and tell Xander, Clay and Skye what she knew.

  “Anais! Anais, is that you?”

  Anais stopped short as her mum's voice called out. She turned to see Mrs Finch emerging from the bedroom.

  “Thank goodness,” Mrs Finch gasped. She ran and scooped Anais up in her arms, taking her daughter by surprise.

  “I was so worried about you, after yesterday,” her mum said into Anais' hair. “You didn't answer our messages after the funeral. Then I heard the news about those poor souls being murdered and I thought – I thought something might have happened to you too.”

  The knot in Anais' stomach tightened.

  “I'm so sorry mum,” she said, hugging her mum fiercely back. “I wasn't thinking straight.”

  Mrs Finch pulled back and examined her daughter's face critically.

  “Where were you?”

  “I was with Xander.” It was true, but Anais still found herself avoiding Mrs Finch's gaze.

  “Anais? What happened?”

  Anais forced herself to look back into her mother's eyes. She could see all of her mother's worry reflected in there, and as much as she wanted to blurt everything out, she couldn't do it. She couldn't burden her parents with something as momentous as this. She'd managed to get mixed up in this mess, she'd have to get herself out of it. She wouldn't risk their lives for this, not after what had happened to Dalla.

  “Nothing,” she said, though her voice cracked. “Mum, promise me something. Stay away from the parade today.”

  “Why? Anais, what's wrong?” Mrs Finch's voice was sharp with worry. Anais grabbed her mum's hands and squeezed them.

  “Promise me,” she begged. “Don't go.”

  “Well, I was planning on looking in after my shift...though goodness knows if I'll get time now, with all this extra work they've been piling on. But Anais, surely you're not going? Don't you have to work double shifts, to make up for yesterday?”

  Anais' mouth dropped open. Now that her mum mentioned it, she had a vague recollection of Mr Mullins threatening her with extra shifts. But that paled in comparison to what might happen at the parade. She'd rather risk his wrath than be responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Anais shook her head.

  “There are some things that are more important than work, mum. I'm not going in today.”

  Mrs Finch looked as though she was about to have a heart attack.

  “Anais...surely you're not going to miss work for some silly parade? You haven't even been there a week. You'll be fired!”

  “I don't care!” Anais found herself shouting. “I don't care about the factory! I don't care what they'll say! Don't you get it? There are some things in life that are more important than some stupid job.”

  Unwanted tears blurred her vision. She tried to wipe them away, but more came to take their place. Tentatively, Mrs Finch reached out and took her daughter's hand.

  “Anais, sweetheart, I didn't mean to upset you. I know you're still hurting over Dalla's death, but sweetie, we've got to try and carry on. I know you're not best pleased at working in the factory, but -”

  “Mum, this isn't about the factory,” Anais said thickly. She wiped her eyes. “This is about something else. I would go to work if I could, but...I can't. I just can't. There's something I need to take care of first. Please trust me – I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have to.”

  “Doing what? Anais, you're scaring me,” Mrs Finch said. With an effort, Anais met her mum's worried gaze.

  “Mum, listen to me, you won't be safe at the parade. Stay at work and don't leave until after the parade is over. Tell dad too. I love you,” she reached up and planted a kiss on her mother's soft cheek. “I'll see you tonight.”

  She turned to go, but Mrs Finch grabbed her arm.

  “Anais! You can't say things like that! What is it? What's wrong? What's happening?”

  “I can't tell you, I don't know,” Anais lied, pulling free of her mum's grip. “I'll tell you tonight, I promise. Just – just stay away from the parade today.”

  And with that, she wrenched the front door open and ran. She could hear her mum's frantic shouts behind her, but she ignored them. She ran down the street and round the corner, only stopping when she was sure she'd put enough distance between herself and the flat that her mother wouldn't try and follow her. Her heart ached at the thought of deceiving her parents, but she had no other choice, not if she wanted to keep them safe. I'm so sorry mum, she thought as blinked away her tears, forgive me.

  *

  She caught the first vacant auto-cab she could see.

  The cabs passin
g her were filled with families and couples, taking the day off from work or school to enjoy the parade and the party afterwards. She finally managed to stop a dark green cab, and she got in.

  “Civitas,” she said breathlessly, and the cab glided away.

  She sent a message to Xander as she waited impatiently for the cab to reach her destination.

  Where are you now?

  Xander's reply came back almost instantly: Outside Civitas. It's chaos. Where are you?

  There was a bitter taste in Anais' mouth as she read his answer. If the crowd was in disarray now, would there be any way they'd be able to make people listen to them, if it came to that? Privately, Anais was still hoping they'd manage to intercept the SLPs somehow and stop them from being sold. She fired off a reply to Xander saying that she was on her way.

  She drummed her fingers impatiently, wishing that for once, Civitas could invent something useful – like a teleporter for instance.

  But as the cab drew nearer to the centre of the city, it began to slow down as it got caught up in parade day traffic. She kept peering out of the window but there was nowhere else for them to go; traffic jams stretched along all five lanes heading into the city centre. Eventually, after only moving a few metres in five minutes, the cool female voice spoke.

  “We are unable to reach your destination. Please disembark now. You will not be charged the full amount for this journey.”

  Anais flung open the door and got out. The cab had abandoned her on the main bridge over the river. On the other side, she could see the Civitas building towering over the skyscrapers around it. At this distance, she couldn't really see the logo but she imagined she could see a flash of red on the glass font. Auto-cabs were backed up all along the bridge; other people were beginning to get out of their cabs and walk towards the city. She began to walk hurriedly towards Civitas, turning into a jog, and then a run as she noticed the time on her RetCom. It was already 11.15. The SLPs were due to go on sale at noon when the parade began.