Synthetica

by Rachel Pattinson

  She dodged around families with matching coloured hair and couples with colour-coordinated clothes, swearing inwardly at every person that ambled across her path, or blocked her way. Eventually, she reached the other side of the bridge. She turned left and began to run towards the Civitas building, no longer caring about whether she shoved people out of her way. She heard a few angry shouts behind her, but she ignored them, concentrating only on reaching Civitas as quickly as she could.

  She rounded a corner and the building suddenly towered above her, it's glass planes dazzling in the sunlight. The crowds were now so dense, Anais couldn't move easily. Down by the railings next to the river there were stalls selling food and Civitas products. She could hear the strains of a band playing somewhere on the other side of the crowd. People were milling all over the road, which had been closed for the day. There were children dressed as giant foam microchips, people sporting headgear designed to look like computers, others were carrying banners and colourful holographic signs; all in gathering into separate groups in anticipation of the parade. She caught a glimpse of the float that would end the parade further down the riverfront. It looked like a 3D replica of the city, with the Civitas building towering over the rest of the model.

  She turned her attention back to the crowd in front of her. She could see securibots lining the front of the Civitas building, stopping people from getting too close. Behind the line of robots, police were coming in and out of the main doors, conferring with each other and taking photos of the red logo that now hung over them all. The crowd seemed restless as people gazed up at the logo, pointing it out to each other and muttering. Perhaps she was just imagining it, but a lot of the people around her didn't look happy. She was unpleasantly reminded of the mob outside the police station when they'd brought Marcus in. The murders were beginning to take their toll on the entire city.

  Anais' eyes were drawn to the symbol. It loomed above them; now that she was so close, she could see places where the paint had begun to run, making it look horribly like blood. Despite the seriousness of the situation she was in, she couldn't help wondering where the person responsible would've gotten paint like that from. Spray paint hadn't been produced for years and years, long before Anais had been born. She supposed Denzel must've had more goodies in his store than she'd realised.

  There was a ringing tone in her head, and the name XANDER flashed up in her eyesight. She accepted the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Anais, where are you?” Xander sounded stressed. She could hear the babble of the crowd at his end as well, making it hard for her to hear him.

  “I'm outside the Civitas building,” she said. “Where are you?”

  “I'm in the crowd, too. Stick your hand in the air.”

  “What?” Anais said, unsure of whether she'd heard him right.

  “Stick your hand in the air, so we can see you,” Xander's voice said loudly in her head.

  Anais glanced around before shooting her arm up and waving madly. She attracted a few funny looks from the people around her, but she didn't care.

  “We see you,” came Xander's voice, before the call disconnected.

  Anais looked around, but she couldn't see Xander's purple hair amongst all the other hair colours that were present. There was a tap on her shoulder, and she turned to see Xander. She gave him a quick hug, trying to convey in that simple gesture how grateful she was that he was here. He hugged her fiercely back. They broke apart and Anais realised Xander hadn't come alone. He was with a man who had a black cap pulled low over his face. She realised it was Clay, but in a very unconvincing disguise.

  “Why are you wearing a cap?” she asked him, trying to peer underneath so she could see him properly.

  “Shh,” Clay hissed, looking furtively around.

  “What's up with him?” Anais asked Xander, but Clay replied.

  “I shouldn't be here,” he growled. “If they see me...”

  He nodded towards the securibots and the police.

  “It's too suspicious,” he added, looking briefly up at the logo. “Me coming back into the city, and then that monstrosity appearing overnight.”

  “You were with us last night,” Anais pointed out. “Surely Skye could give you an alibi, if you needed one?”

  “That woman wouldn't give me an alibi if her life depended on it,” Clay grumbled.

  “Where did you stay last night?” Anais asked. Although she knew Clay had been with them for most of the night and that he couldn't have painted the symbol, she was still suspicious about his other activities. She had a feeling he could wreak all kinds of havoc if he wanted to, and she didn't like the thought of him wandering the city at night – who knew what he might get up to?

  Clay jerked his head towards Xander.

  “Peacock here very graciously decided to let me stay with him,” he said.

  “It was kind of hard to refuse, when you managed to break into my flat and make yourself comfortable,” Xander looked daggers at him. Clay shrugged.

  “You should upgrade your security system then, shouldn't you? If I can figure it out, any idiot can.”

  Xander muttered something under his breath.

  “Clay, why don't you tell Anais what you found out last night?” he said eventually.

  Clay lifted the rim of his cap slightly so he could see her better.

  “You were wrong about Civitas,” Clay said bluntly. “I looked up the victim's details last night. They were all from rival companies, but Civitas had no grudge with them. I looked up MediTech's and WireX's latest research – they weren't working on anything that could rival Civitas' products. That new company that was supposed to be set up? They were looking into the idea of cloning, not general tech.”

  “How did you find their research?” Anais interrupted.

  “I might look old, girl, but I haven't completely lost my touch,” he growled. “And if you stopped to think with that airhead of yours, you'd realise that all patents for new technology are a matter of public record. All I had to do was access the council's system and search.”

  Anais thought that 'access' seemed suspiciously like 'hacking' to her, but she remained quiet.

  “There's no mention of any kind of hostile takeover, or Civitas having anything to do with these companies. I don't think this is someone within Civitas either; I checked their employee's backgrounds and everyone's clean – no criminal records or anythin'. Plus, all their employees want to kiss its ass,” Clay continued, ignoring the reproachful look from Xander. “It's probably someone working on a much smaller scale, someone on their own or -”

  “Or a disgruntled ex-employee?” Anais asked swiftly. Clay's look darkened, and Anais smiled sweetly at him.

  “Anais,” Xander said warningly.

  “I found something else out too,” Anais told them. “That logo up there, I've seen it before.”

  She told them all about the man at the market, and how she'd seen the same thing on the man's jacket that she'd chased from Denzel's shop. As she finished, Clay and Xander exchanged looks.

  “Did you get a look at his face?” Clay asked her urgently. “Would you recognise him if you saw him again?”

  “Well, yeah,” Anais said, shivering slightly as she remembered his cold, grey eyes. How he looked as if he'd absolutely hated her; his shoulder length black hair, that looked as though it needed a good wash. He hadn't looked anywhere near as groomed as everyone else in the city. Not to mention his mask. “Trust me, he stands out.”

  “He could be somewhere near the market,” Xander said, his purple eyes intense. “If that's where you saw him first - and that's where Denzel's shop is.”

  “It's worth a shot,” Clay said, rubbing his chin as he thought. “We could go there now, while everyone else is distracted...”

  Anais focus
ed on the time, and with a jolt saw it was ten to twelve.

  “But – what are we going to do about the SLPs?” she asked wildly, turning back to the men. “We have to stop them selling them! Where are they selling them from?”

  “They're not bringing them out until the parade officially starts,” Xander said, looking strained. “There are stands set up all along the river that are going to be selling them. And...apparently they'll be opening the doors after they make a statement, and they'll be selling them there too.”

  “How do you know all that?” Anais asked.

  “Skye found us before she had to go into work,” Xander said. “That's all she could tell us. We've been looking all along the river and...Anais, there's hundreds of Civitas stands. There's no way we can stop them all from selling the SLPs – there's too many. We don't have the time. We don't even know where the bloody things are – whether they'll be bringing them out when the parade starts, or if they're already at the stands. Every person we've asked who's on a stand has refused to tell us anything.”

  Xander sounded increasingly desperate. He ran a hand through his hair, so it stood up in all directions. Before Anais could reply, a deafening cheer went up from the crowd. She turned to see what the noise was about.

  A group of impeccably dressed Civitas officials were coming out of the main doors. Skye was among them, smiling brightly. There was no hint of tiredness or strain on her face. Anais didn't recognise any of the others, though she heard Clay grumble and hiss as they walked out onto the steps.

  One of them, a young looking man with wavy golden hair and a gleaming smile stood forward.

  “Who's that?” Anais murmured to Clay, as the crowd began to cheer. Clay didn't answer. He was too busy looking murderously at the man.

  “That's the CEO of Civitas,” Xander supplied. “Magnus King.”

  “What's he doing?” Anais was too tetchy to focus on him. She craned her neck to look over the crowds. They had to stop them selling the SLPs. They had to get moving.

  “He's opening the parade. Pompous git,” Clay added.

  Magnus King acknowledged the crowd with a graceful wave. His hair and teeth glinted in the sun. Anais wasn't sure it was possible, even with the help of a HelixPod, for someone to have teeth that white.

  Magnus King opened his mouth and began to speak.

  This was the moment he'd been waiting for.

  Last night had gone like a dream; the first part of his plan had done what he had known it would do. It had thrown them all into confusion, doubting Civitas' grip on the city. He'd heard the whispers in the crowd; Civitas' ID chips were responsible for the murders, and now they couldn't even stop someone from breaking in and vandalising their own building.

  He watched from his position at the back of the crowd, the breeze that was coming off the river behind him feeling surprisingly pleasant. His face was hidden by the black hoodie he was wearing. Soon they'd all see and remember his face, but that moment hadn't arrived yet. All around him, people were chatting and laughing, eying up the nearest Civitas stand eagerly as they waited for noon to strike. They weren't the only ones.

  It made him feel sick. All these people were so blinded by their love of technology. But where had technology been when he had needed it the most? It hadn't helped him when he had been a child, and it certainly couldn't help all of these despicable people now. He would be the one to make them see the light. They didn't need technology to live. Well, not the kind Civitas produced, anyway.

  A cheer rose from the front of the crowd as a man with golden hair began to speak, his voice ringing out over the masses. He watched Magnus King with something akin to jealousy. He would never be able to speak like Magnus King – he had to capture people's attention in an entirely different way.

  He listened dispassionately for a few moments, before checking the time. Enough was enough. It was his turn to take centre stage.

  He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small transmitter of his own creation. It had two purposes; one, it would allow him to remotely activate the program these poor deluded people had paid money to download into themselves. The other, well, he was proud of this particular achievement, even if he did say so himself. He always had enjoyed making his own films.

  He paused, slightly surprised to see some kind of commotion happening at the back of the crowd. Then he saw a flash of pink hair. His eyes widened and he hissed. The girl was back. But before he could decide what to do, two black securibots were already on their way towards her. He chuckled. Let them deal with the little brat.

  He pressed the black button on top of the transmitter.

  It was finally his time to shine.

  Nineteen

  “My friends, welcome to this historic day – Civitas' fiftieth birthday,” Magnus King began, his words almost drowned out by the roar of the crowd. His voice was amplified so everyone could hear him, though Anais couldn't see any kind of microphone. Magnus held up his hand in acknowledgement.

  “Today we celebrate our noble company's heritage and it's successes. Although our birthday week has been somewhat marred by the tragic news that several of esteemed colleagues have had their lives cruelly cut short, I would like to personally offer my condolences to the families of the victims. I would also like to say that Civitas will do everything in it's power to bring the people responsible for these horrendous crimes to justice.”

  There was another cheer from the crowd, though Anais could see a lot of people looking dissatisfied with Magnus' words. They were the ones who were murmuring to each other, their eyes constantly flicking upwards to the grotesque symbol above them.

  “I will make it my personal mission to make sure these criminals do not walk free.They shall pay for the crimes they have committed against our city.”

  The crowd was going wild, but there were some boos and hisses mixed in with the cheers.

  Anais scrunched up her nose. She was getting hot, being pressed in on all sides by so many people. She rolled the sleeves of her jacket up in an attempt to cool down.

  “And now...let us begin to put these awful events behind us. Let us join together today in a show of unity, and enjoy what life has to offer. And although it's not quite twelve, I see some of our sellers have already decided to sell our pioneering SLP programs for you to purchase!” He wagged a mock angry finger, “I won't keep you too much longer, but I would just like to draw your attention to...”

  “What?!” Anais gasped.

  Horrified, she turned, searching the crowd until she saw what she was looking for. There was glimpse of white at the back near the riverfront – someone in a special Civitas uniform was standing next to a stand with the official Civitas logo above it. Already, a crowd of people were surrounding the stand, jostling as they tried to get to the front. The time in her RetCom showed five to twelve.

  “We have to stop them!” Anais said wildly, turning to Xander and Clay. “You two split up – try and target as many of those stalls as you can.”

  “And what do you expect us to do?” Clay said. “We've already tried telling them something's not right and they wouldn't listen.”

  “Then try harder,” Anais said through gritted teeth. “I don't care how you do it – throw the damn things into the river if you have to. Now go!”

  “Anais, wait -”

  Ignoring Xander, she turned and began shoving her way through the crowd towards the stand she could see. The bodies around her were packed tightly together as everyone crammed forward to listen to Magnus' speech. His voice faded into a kind of buzzing noise as Anais pushed her way through the crowd pressing in on her. She had to reach that stand.

  She was trying to go as fast as she could, but the sheer amount of people made it difficult for her move. Gritting her teeth, she fought through the mass of bodies, some
one's hair occasionally whipping her in the face. Eventually she was free. She dodged through the last few people, until she reached the stall. Hot, sweaty and almost sick with fear, she was a lot less polite in getting to the front of this queue. She grabbed people's shoulders and forcefully pushed them out of the way.

  “Hey!”

  “Wait your turn!”

  The shouts and grumbles came from behind her, but she had no time to apologise. A hand grabbed her and tried to force her backwards, but she threw it off her. She reached the front, just as the seller was holding up a gun that looked strangely similar, and yet far more sophisticated, than Denzel's had been. It didn't have a needle, for one. Instead, there was just a pulse of purple light that showed the program was downloading onto a woman's ID chip. She had the same look as shock and delight that Dalla had had, when she had downloaded hers.

  “No,” Anais gasped. She reached out and grabbed the gun from the seller's hand. Before he could protest, she turned and threw it as hard as she could into the river. There was cries of shock and anger behind her.

  “What the hell do you think you're doing?” the seller said angrily, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. “That was worth more credits than I make in a year!”

  “I'm trying to save you,” Anais shouted, struggling against his grip. “We're all going to die! Where are the rest of your SLPs?”

  Her eyes fell on a number of white, plastic boxes lining the shelves underneath the stall and she dived for them. The seller was right behind her. She managed to snatch a few, but the seller tried to grab her again, throwing her off-balance. They both ended up crashing into the stall, knocking the whole thing to the ground. Anais held tight to the few boxes she had, but the Civitas trader grabbed her leg as she stand to stand up.