Transcendent (9781311909442)

by Halstead, Jason

  Mig nodded. “I heard about them when I served but never saw one. At least nothing like that. We had some early prototypes but they were slow and broke down a lot.”

  “Well, these didn’t look slow,” Krys pointed out. “One almost squashed me in the woods!”

  “Bigger they are, the harder they fall,” Mig grunted. “Trick is figuring out how to knock one down!”

  “Let me guess, that’s why we’re training?” Krys ventured.

  Mig chuckled. “Just like my Lily, smart as a whip.”

  Krys shook his head. “Nobody’s that smart, Mr. Strain. Lily’s something else.”

  Mig sighed and turned away. He cleared his throat and spoke in a brusque voice. “She is, son, but stop distracting me. Let’s see to figuring out some things we can do if one of them big tin cans is chasing us.”

  “Um, sir?”

  “Hmm?”

  Krys swallowed before pointing out, “You keep calling me, ‘son.’”

  Mig blinked as he stared down at him. “So I do. I meant no disrespect to your father. Just felt natural is all. Won’t happen again.”

  “No!” Krys blurted out. He winced and slowed down. “I mean, it’s okay. I, um, I think my dad would be okay with it.”

  “Is that right?”

  Krys nodded. “I am,” he added. “I mean, um, Lily told me about my mom and hers talking about us.”

  Mig chuckled and his eyes glistened. “So they did. Seemed to think the two of you were made for each other.”

  “Lily had dreams and plans for herself. Things she wanted to do.”

  “That she did. She was a dreamer.”

  “I never thought about it much. Lily did enough of that for both of us,” Krys admitted. “But she always had me in her dreams with her. She always made a place for me.”

  “Did that bug you?”

  Krys shook his head. “No. Matter of fact, when I thought about it, I never imagined a life without her in it.”

  Mig stepped up and pulled Krys in for a quick hug. He sniffed and turned away. “All right, quit stalling! We got some work to do if we’re going to be ready when the resistance starts up!”

  “Resistance?”

  “Don’t you worry; it won’t be long before somebody realizes what’s going on. Maybe the old ways weren’t the best but this new crap won’t last. People have a need to be responsible for themselves.”

  Krys wasn’t exactly sure what Mig was talking about but he nodded anyhow. It sounded good, at least, and Krys couldn’t imagine having something that he used and took care of, but it didn’t belong to him. He frowned. “All right, let’s train.”

  Mig grinned. “Imagine you got one of them robots chasing you—how are you going to get away?”

  Krys considered hiding under a fallen tree, but he’d been lucky he hadn’t been stepped on. “Maybe running away isn’t the answer?”

  Mig raised an eyebrow. “Bold. I like it. Keep talking, son, and let’s see how we can make this happen!”

  Chapter 11

  Lily emerged from her tiny bedroom and caught sight of Kami walking towards her. Lily smiled and raised her hand but not before Kami turned and ducked into her room. Lily hesitated, staring at the door that slid shut behind her, and then started to notice the other girls walking in the hallway who were staring at her.

  “Hey Lily, what’s up?”

  Lily spun and saw Treya, a fourteen-year-old who had been taken from a colony south of hers. She offered a smile and then glanced at Kami’s door again. “Nothing, I guess. I was just on my way to class.”

  “Great job on your tests,” Treya said. “Who knew a farmer’s kid could be so smart?”

  Lily frowned. “What’s that mean?”

  The other girl’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry, it was a joke.”

  “Oh, um, okay.” Lily blushed. “Guess I’m not so smart after all.”

  Treya smiled again and tucked her hair behind her ear. They all wore the same hairstyle now, with it cut to a length that was just below their jaw. Lily let hers fall where it wanted most of the time; she had better things to worry about than how her hair looked. “Don’t worry, we’re all new here. Besides, my family were fishermen; it’s not like I’ve got any room to talk!”

  Lily fell in beside her and tried to keep up with the people waving and greeting her as she walked with Treya towards her classroom. Their conversation was limited by interruptions and when Lily arrived at her class, she realized they hadn’t really said anything useful at all. Some talk about what they liked and what the future might hold, but nothing about what they’d left behind. She walked into her class and took her seat, feeling like something was missing.

  “Hey, Lil,” Trix greeted her from the seat behind her.

  “Hi,” Lily responded on autopilot.

  “Uh oh, what’s wrong?”

  Lily’s breath caught in her throat. She glanced at the instructor who was waiting for class to start. She couldn’t talk about her missing family and friends; they’d been told repeatedly to look to the future of humanity, not to the past. The past was where mistakes were made. “Just worried about Kami,” she said instead of facing her own troubles. “I tried to catch her in the hall but she ignored me and shut herself in her room.”

  “Oh. Well, she’s been kind of feeling bad lately. First, um, you know, what happened, and then she didn’t do so good on her tests.”

  “So? That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be her friend,” Lily said.

  Trix sighed. “You’re special, Lily.”

  “Stop it! I am not.”

  “Come on, Lil, look at what you did! You’re like a genius or something.”

  “No I’m not.”

  “Then how did you do so good? I know you’re hearing the same rumors I am—you’re rated the highest on the station—on all the stations—because you’re only fourteen.”

  “So what,” Lily argued. “A lot can change.”

  Trix ignored her protests. “How did you learn all that stuff? Those tests were hard!”

  “I don’t know. Krys’s mom made learning fun for us. That and the rest of it I figured out. I didn’t get everything right. I mean, there was a lot of stuff I guessed or just didn’t know. Maybe I just got lucky?”

  Trix rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure you did. Lucky every time. I don’t think so.”

  Lily slumped in her chair. “I don’t want to be different.”

  “Hey, even if you are a freak, it’s cool. I’ll still be your friend.”

  Lily snorted. “Great.”

  “Hey!”

  “No! I didn’t mean anything bad! I meant the part about being a freak.”

  “I was just teasing.”

  Lily nodded and sighed. She opened her mouth when the teacher, Instructor Doleen, signaled for the door to shut and stood up to begin class. Lily spun around in her seat and focused on the teacher. They’d only been in class a few days so far but the lessons weren’t nearly as much fun as they had been with Krys’s mom. Although having Krys there with her to help her take her mind off things had helped, too.

  “Young misses, before we begin I have a request for Miss Lily Strain to head to the administration office when class is over. Any questions?”

  Lily sat upright and glanced around to see everyone staring at her. She felt her cheeks warm.

  “Miss Strain?”

  “Sorry, ma’am,” Lily stammered. “No ma’am, no questions.”

  “Good, then let’s move on to where we left off yesterday with advanced geometry.”

  Lily sank back in her seat and let her mind wander. Geometry was easy. Advanced geometry, according to Instructor Doleen, was what Lily had learned a couple of years ago while playing in the fields with her classmates. What really twisted her mind up for the remainder of the two-hour class was what kind of trouble she’d gotten herself in that required a trip to the administrative offices.

  “Miss Strain?”

  Lily jerked her head up. She’d been staring at
the back of Candiss’s neck. Candiss turned, as everyone else did, to look at her. Lily ignored them and saw the display the instructor had drawn the complex shape on. “It depends,” she answered, barely remembering what Instructor Doleen had asked.

  “No, it’s a simple question,” the instructor disagreed. “How many planes are there in this structure?”

  “If it’s just a two-dimensional image, then there’s one,” she began.

  A few gasps greeted her answer. Her peers thought she was being difficult and were either excited or worried. She wasn’t and opened her mouth to explain but Instructor Doleen spoke first. “That is a fault of the display. You know perfectly well this is not a two-dimensional object. Miss Strain, I’m very disappointed in you. I think some additional work might help you focus better and—”

  “Instructor, I wasn’t finished,” Lily interrupted her. She ignored the rustling of her startled peers and pressed on. “Without seeing it fully, I can’t tell how many planes it has. Are there additional vertices hidden behind the ones that are visible? And what if the side not facing me changes while I can’t see it? The odds are unlikely, but it’s still a remote possibility. Additionally, if we magnify it to atomic levels, there will be a different landscape on the surface and within, allowing for an order of complexity I can’t begin to guess at. If we factor in—”

  “That’s enough!” the instructor barked. Lily snapped her lips shut while the instructor glared at her. “The correct answer is six sides. And you, young miss, are to escort yourself to the administrative offices immediately.”

  Lily felt her cheeks burning as she gathered her infopad and stood up. She glanced down at it and then started tapping on it with one hand. Instructor Doleen’s eyes narrowed as she stared at her. The uneven polyhedron on the display rotated and flipped over, gaining color on each side of the shape as it did so. It continued to rotate until the first side was back facing them, except it had changed by sporting an additional edge along the middle. It kept going, morphing as it twisted until the shape resembled a cat.

  “Miss Strain!” Instructor Doleen snapped at her. “That is enough!”

  Lily tapped her pad again. The cat tucked into itself and rolled over, shifting back into the original shape that everyone saw now bore a startling resemblance to a sleeping cat with its head and tail tucked against itself.

  “Office. Now!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Lily said and turned smartly on her heels to walk to the door of the classroom. She paused and glanced back at the glowering woman.

  “A cat, really?” the instructor huffed.

  “Sorry, Instructor Doleen,” Lily said. “My boyfriend used to tell me stories about a cat that could walk through walls.”

  Lily turned and slipped out the door before the face of her instructor could grow any redder.

  Chapter 12

  “Miss Strain, please have a seat.”

  Lily looked at the people gathered at the conference table and then moved to the only remaining chair at the far end. She sat down and forced herself to stop worrying her lip with her teeth. She lifted her head and brushed the strands of hair out of her eyes so she could see.

  “I understand there’s been a problem in one of your classes this morning?” Coordinator Jonas Sykes asked. She thought he would be sitting at the other end of the table but he wasn’t. Instead, a man she didn’t recognize with short spiked salt-and-pepper hair was sitting in the seat of honor.

  Lily opened her mouth to admit her guilt but the man opposite her spoke first. “That’s hardly important right now, Mr. Sykes. Especially given this young woman’s obvious gifts, we can overlook this indiscretion as long as it never occurs again.”

  Sykes stiffened and then nodded. “Of course. Do you agree to such a thing, Miss Strain?”

  Lily looked back and forth between them and then to the rest of the room. “I’m not in trouble?”

  The man opposite her smiled and then chuckled. “Far from it! You are living proof of the philosophy the human race must embrace.”

  Lily’s brow furrowed as she took in his words. She studied him, guessing at his age and how he held himself. “Are you the new president?”

  He laughed again. “I knew she would be delightful! Yes, Lily, I am. May I call you Lily?”

  Lily swallowed and nodded. “Um, yes, sir.”

  “That’s excellent. And to think, you were a farmer’s daughter on what everyone considers a throwaway world.”

  “My father raised vison,” Lily said. He was still a farmer, she supposed, but details were what made the difference when things mattered.

  “Of course,” President Ondalla said. “Lily, for the sake of our race we need people like you to show our citizens that we have a bright future. Do you understand that? Of course you do; you’re probably smarter than I am!”

  Lily smiled while glancing at the others. She had no clue what he was talking about but the gentle laughter from around the table made her feel it would be stupid to admit it.

  “That’s perfect. Nothing but the finest for you, young miss. The finest in education and opportunities from here on out. I understand your classes are a little slow for you? Not to worry!”

  “Yes,” Sykes said. He was the coordinator of the station’s reeducation efforts. “You’ll be elevated to classes with students more at your speed, the sixteen-year classes.”

  “Sixteen?” she whispered, stunned. Her test results placed her in the eighteenth-year bracket, but she couldn’t imagine being moved up two years, let alone four.

  President Ondalla leaned forward and asked, “I’m sorry, but why a cat?”

  Lily blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “The incident with Instructor Doleen?”

  Lily felt her cheeks heat up again. “Oh, um, it was just some stories a friend of mine used to share with me.”

  “A cat who walked through walls?”

  She nodded.

  “How old was this friend?”

  Lily picked her head up. “Same as me, fourteen.”

  “Absolutely amazing. Is he here with us?”

  Lily’s throat tightened up. Rather than squeaking, she shook her head.

  Coordinator Sykes cleared his throat. “Mr. President, we only have one other student from Miss Strain’s colony. A boy by the name of Krys. He tested above his age bracket as well, but only by two years.”

  “Krys!” Lily gasped.

  “A friend?”

  Lily blinked back the sudden tears in her eyes and nodded. She couldn’t speak. Just knowing that he was alive made the room spin around her.

  “Well, for the sake of your education, I’m afraid you’ve been separated indefinitely. Males and females are allowed in co-educational learning environments at the age of sixteen, but that’s quite awhile for your friend. By the time he reaches it, you’ll probably have moved on.”

  She shook her head and whispered, “Krys should have beat me.”

  “Pardon me?”

  She stiffened. “My friend, Krys. He would have outscored me. He’s smarter than I am. He worries a lot, though.”

  The president sighed. “Well, young miss, that’s interesting. Your performance is exemplary compared to everyone else’s, including his. A pity. I wonder if other young men and women from your village might have performed well. So many good minds lost to the treachery and greed of our past. Yet another reason we must strive to improve our way of life!”

  “Excuse me, sir, but have you heard those stories? About the cat?”

  President Ondalla’s smile faded. “I have. They offer some very dangerous concepts. Ideas that lead to betrayal and selfish disregard for our brothers and sisters. For the sake of all of us, and most especially yourself, I would encourage you to forget those stories you heard.”

  Lily’s eyes widened before she nodded and looked down. “Of course. My apologies!”

  “Curiosity is not a flaw, young miss. But it must be tempered with the wisdom to know that those with more experience are b
etter able to make informed decisions.”

  “I understand.”

  “I believe you do, young miss. You impress me again and again. Remember, there may be probabilities of things we are unaware of, but it is the things we are aware of that we should concern ourselves with. And the things that are aware of us.”

  Lily stared into the president’s intense gaze. What he said didn’t really make sense. Why wouldn’t she want to learn about the unknown things in her life? That’s how she learned! And what unknown things were there that knew about h—

  Lily’s nostrils flared as she thought of the soldiers and the biomechs. Had he just threatened her? Why would the most important and powerful man in the human race need to threaten her?

  Because she was being made an example of. She’d just agreed to let them parade her around and make an example of her. She’d seen Pita use her golden child status a few times. Pita was gone, though, so now it was her turn.

  “I understand,” Lily said. She would say and do anything if it meant she might find a way to see Krys again.

  The president clapped his hands together. “Excellent! Miss Strain, you are the future of the human race. Make us proud. Make me proud.”

  “I’ll do my best,” she promised.

  “I’m sure you will. Coordinator Sykes will arrange private tutors as necessary. You will also find yourself receiving visitors. Various coordinators will be contacting you to try to sway someone with your presence and abilities to follow in their footsteps.”

  “Sir?”

  “Your future is yours to choose, Lily. A career in science or politics, perhaps? Or maybe something more hands-on? Agriculture again? I’d think something more public facing would be best, but that’s up to you to choose.”

  “Oh! Um, okay. I did vow that I’d reach mastery level by the time I turned sixteen.”

  He chuckled while several others stared in shock at her. “Miss Strain, I applaud your efforts. I commend you, even. And now I implore you, make that happen. You’ll have an entire civilization behind you!”

  Chapter 13