by Paul Teague
That had shocked Jacob. There were none of Hunter’s threats and veiled menace, the President just came straight out with it: ‘Mess with me and you’re dead.’ At least there was no small print to worry about.
‘You need to decide now, Mr Carley. You can work with me and survive, or within six years your family and everything around you will be gone.’
That got Jacob’s attention.
‘Why is that, sir? Are you able to tell me more?’
‘Everything I say to you in this car, including everything I have said already, is confidential. If you ever breathe a word of it, I will first kill your brother. Linwood, isn’t it?’
That made Jacob shiver. The President of The City knew his brother’s name. That wasn’t good. He nodded in reply, trying to conceal his feelings of terror.
‘After that your mother will die. Once you’ve had sufficient time to endure that pain, your father will follow. I will kill your family first, I will let you live with that pain, then I will kill you. Do you understand?’
Jacob got it, he didn’t need any more detail. His only choice seemed to be to walk away and keep his mouth shut or work with the President and keep his mouth shut. Was the President even giving him a choice? He thought not, but he had to be careful with his decision, he needed to think of his family.
The President had suggested a time in the future that they might be at risk. This intrigued Jacob, and he decided to push his luck in spite of his fear.
‘You suggested that something is happening in the next six years, sir. Am I permitted to know what that is?’
‘You’re not!’ came the angry reply. ‘You just need to understand, Mr Carley, that if you don’t work with me, your family will perish anyway. I will not be telling you the reason for that at any time. You will simply do as I ask, and there will be no questions from you or explanations. Is that clear enough for you?’
Jacob didn’t know what to say next. Six years was a long time, a lot could change. Was it worth the risk? If he rejected the President’s offer, would his family suffer anyway?
Like so many people before him, Jacob didn’t really have any choice in the matter. When faced with the death of loved ones, what could anybody do? You had to take whichever gamble kept them alive longer, even if that was going to be just a day. You had to keep taking your chances, avoid getting involved until the last possible moment, then follow the course of action which kept the most people alive for the longest time.
You tended not to make many of your own choices in The City, events chose you. In his ignorance, Jacob had practised to take part in – and win – the Gridder Games. That had been his mistake. He had done so because he enjoyed gaming and he sought the approval of his friends. He had never expected it to have the terrible consequences that it did. That simple action had resulted in him becoming a sanctioned murderer and having a private conversation in the President’s car which could place the lives of his family in immediate peril.
‘Do you guarantee that my family will be safe if I work with you? Safe from Damien Hunter?’
‘I guarantee you nothing, Mr Carley, only that your family will die anyway if you don’t work with me. I’m offering you a chance, it will be the only chance you get.’
Jacob hesitated. He thought of Linwood, how he wanted him to grow up safe and healthy on Silk Road. He considered his mum and dad who’d striven so hard to give their sons the best life they could in The City. He wanted to protect them. He knew he’d have to accept the President’s deal.
‘I accept your offer, sir. I will agree to work with you if it will help to protect my family.’
‘Very well, Mr Carley, or should I refer to you as Reevil96? You will not be able to see your family again until this is over. You’re going to disappear from The City tonight. Your new mission begins immediately. We will need to begin by placing an implant into your brain …’
The Third Mode
Damien Hunter’s sneering face looked directly at them. If he hadn’t been a hologram, all of the remaining Justice Seekers would have set about him there and then.
Clay and Julia came running up, out of breath. They’d seen that the next Mode was about to begin and knew the importance of being together as a group when it started. They immediately took in what had happened, though they couldn’t see the cause of the bloody scene that awaited them.
‘What the hell happened here?’ Clay gasped, shocked at Chris and Ross’s hacked bodies.
‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. So it is in our city that any person who breaks the law shall find justice in The Grid. It has been our way since the plague years. It has kept our city safe and fair for almost one hundred years.’
‘Stick it, Hunter!’ Clay shouted. ‘What happened here?’
Hannah was the only Justice Seeker who had any knowledge of Schälen, and she only knew him as a swaggering pixelated image. Max, Jena and Mitchell had seen him on the screens, though they had paid very little attention to him. It was Ross and Chris, the two dead men, who’d known him from the beginning of the trial.’
‘It was Schälen,’ Hannah began, still choked by what had happened. ‘They sent three more of him to attack us. Mitchell finished them off. He saved me.’
‘Six Justice Seekers remain in The Grid today. If any find justice there, they will walk away with their freedom. This is how our society preserves truth and honesty.’
‘I said to stick it, Hunter!’ Clay shouted again.
‘Look, whatever happened here, you all need to focus, okay? I know you’re tired, I know you just want to sleep. But it’s starting again, this is the beginning of the next Mode. Grab a weapon and stand in a circle, back-to-back.’
Once more, Clay gave the directions which had already helped to preserve lives. The group had at least gained some new weapons. Those who were holding the new blades brought in by Schälen were able to keep them. Those that were being carried by the three clones had disappeared. They were reasonably well-armed, but who knew what would be coming at them next?
The Law Lords came into view. There were only five of them this time. Clay noticed that Talya was no longer there, or the one called Sivil who’d drawn the Modes at the beginning of the trial.
Leianna Richwald stepped forward once again. Clay was growing accustomed to her grim face getting the bloodshed underway.
‘You six stand charged with crimes against The City. If you find justice in The Grid, you shall walk free.’
Hunter finished off the speech. Clay knew what was coming this time.
‘Justice Seekers, find your justice!’
‘Get ready!’ Clay shouted.
The group braced themselves for whatever Fortrillium was about to throw at them next. They weren’t ready to fight, Clay was aware of that. They’d had no time to recover from losing Chris and Ross – their deaths had struck everybody hard. There was just silence and darkness.
Had the environment changed? Clay listened, trying to stay sharp and be ready for what came next. Then a light came on in the darkness. It was from a flashlight. A voice followed.
‘Clay?’
It was Joe.
‘Joe, is that you?’
Clay held up his weapon, he was ready for a trick. They’d recreated Schälen already, he wondered if they were now going to have to have to fight Joe and perhaps Lucy.
‘Hannah? Is that you?’
It was Lucy’s voice.
‘Lucy?’
The lighting around them was gradually restored, this time to give the appearance of dusk. Everything was the same as it had been before. The group was still based at the large concrete block where they’d first become separated.
Clay guessed that this was the real Joe and Lucy. When everybody had enough light to see, Joe rushed at Jena and Lucy rushed towards Hannah. They all embraced, overwhelmed to be reunited. Joe moved from Jena to Mitchell to Hannah. There were tears of joy, a rare thing in The Grid.
Clay remained wary throughout,
suspecting a trap or a deception. Joe explained to Jena that Matt was still alive, he’d just left him, but that they had work to do before they could be reunited.
‘I knew there had to be something,’ Max said, ‘but I never imagined it would go to a whole new place.’
‘It’s amazing down there,’ Joe continued. ‘But we’re in serious trouble, we’ve been sent here on a mission. We need to locate President Del—’
Joe almost finished his sentence before the drones came. There were six of them hovering silently overhead, emitting an almost inaudible buzz. Max saw them first, but it was too late for him. One of the drones fired a needle into his neck and he stood completely motionless. He simply stopped where he was.
‘Max? Max? Are you okay?’
Joe shook his arm, there was no response. Without warning, the entire cityscape changed. It spun around them, then reconfigured. It was The Climbs, exactly as Joe knew it. A drone shot out a needle and this time it lodged directly into Mitchell’s neck.
‘Run!’ shouted Clay. ‘Spread out, there’s one for each of us. Take cover, try to destroy them before they get you!’
Joe began to run with Jena.
‘Go alone!’ Clay yelled at him. ‘They’re hunting us, we need to separate!’
‘Meet back here, Mum!’ Joe shouted. ‘Take this!’
He handed Jena a weapon. Lucy had done the same for Hannah. Mitchell and Max were paralysed, standing completely still where they’d been caught.
Joe ran down the street, he knew this place well. The drones were aiming for their necks – whatever they were doing, they had a specific target. As the four Justice Seekers began to run, so the drones split off, each one tracking a different target.
Joe needed to find some cover. The drone was right on his tail, he had to find a place where he could turn and shoot. He drew a hand weapon, ready to make his move. He turned down a long street, running as fast as he could. All the time the drone was on him waiting for its moment.
When he thought he’d drawn far enough ahead, Joe turned to shoot. The drone flew over his head and circled, targeting his neck. It shot its needle, but Joe was ready for it. He rolled on the ground, the needle missed him and lodged in the earth. Did they have more than one needle to shoot?
He got his answer straight away. The drone circled him again and shot. Another miss, the thing was persistent, that was for sure.
Joe moved to the right, bluffing the device, then darted off to the left. It gained him vital seconds to take cover under a concrete canopy which ran along the nearest tower block. He turned his back to the wall, neck protected, held out his weapon and fired.
The drone exploded and the debris fell to the floor. Joe sheathed his gun and began to walk over to it. As he did so, a new device materialized behind him and immediately released its needle. It flew directly into Joe’s neck, instantly stopping him dead in his tracks. Mode 3 had begun.
Chapter Nine
Preparations
Philip Schaelles longed to see his daughter again. It would be time soon. He cursed the day the plague had struck the planet. His own father had told him stories about how life had once been. He’d never shared those with Teanna – it seemed unfair to give her a glimpse of a world she would never know. It was a world he’d never known too, he’d been born at Centrum.
As a boy, he’d loved it when Edward had reminisced about his life before the pandemic broke out. He’d describe things Philip could only imagine. His father was a man of science, but to hear tales of aeroplanes, ships, thriving cities and a life of free choice, it was the stuff of dreams. But as he’d grown up, he’d come to understand that the old life was over. He could dream all he wanted about the world that had been inhabited by his father, but it was gone, they had to accept that.
Before Edward died, Philip had asked him not to share these stories with Teanna. He felt it would do more harm than good. The men had argued about that and the atmosphere had been tense for some time, but in the end Edward had agreed. As it turned out, he never got to see his granddaughter anyway. He was found dead in the Cryo-Labs before she was born. Philip was pleased they’d made their peace before his father’s death, agreeing to put aside their differences and work together, dwelling not on the past but trying instead to create a new future. That future would come soon enough, along with the return of his beloved daughter. When Delman returned, the final pieces would finally be put in place.
They were both men of science. Edward had passed on his unique skills to his son and they’d accomplished great things between them in spite of the wrecked world they’d been forced to inhabit. Edward had bequeathed a heavy burden from beyond the grave. It had come when Teanna was only three months old, and the information in that message had changed Philip’s world in an instant. His father had placed responsibility for the future of humanity in his son’s hands.
Philip looked at the dials on his console, analysing the data and looking for problems. It looked good – the host body was in excellent condition, the brain had been kept alive and was ready for the transfer. If only there had been a world out there to admire what they’d achieved between them. He didn’t like what he was doing, but he trusted his father and he had to believe in him now. It seemed unethical to meet Delman’s demands, but if Edward’s story were even partially true, there was nothing else he could do. Delman had to survive, he had to get what he needed.
Edward Schaelles had been a highly respected scientist before the plague. He’d been celebrated all over the world at a time when countries were connected by a global network which permitted instant communication. That world had been gone for a hundred years. Nobody knew what was out there now or if the rest of the planet had even survived. Philip had loved hearing the stories of the old world. As a child, anything had seemed possible and he couldn’t understand how science couldn’t come up with a solution to the problem.
Humans had cured all sorts of diseases. Why not this one? Why had this particular pandemic beaten all of the best minds? He and his father had made remarkable breakthroughs in Cryo technology. Why could they still not find a cure for the disease?
He knew he had a tendency to take flights of fancy, it was something that happened to him increasingly as he got older. He missed his own father and he missed Teanna desperately.
Philip looked at the body in the glass container. He hoped it would all be worth it in the end. He’d learned from his father that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the sake of scientific progress. But taking one man’s life to save another? That was a hard concept to reconcile, but he’d done so, many years ago now.
Josh Delman would be one of the lives saved. He had appeared from nowhere six years previously, arriving undetected in the quietness of the night and making terrible demands. Philip knew who he was, of course. His father had warned him. And he knew there was no resisting his requests. Humanity depended on Delman countering Morgan’s treacherous actions. But the price he paid was high, Delman had demanded his own daughter as security. And he’d forced him at gunpoint to place that terrible device in her head to ensure her safe exit.
He wondered who the man was in the Cryo-Tank. He knew his name, but he knew nothing of his life. Did he have a family? Was he loved? Philip didn’t know. He didn’t get to know his lab rats individually, he had to focus on the science. Delman could save them all. The loss of one life would help them all to survive, there was nothing more important than that.
He wondered if the man in the tank was aware of what was going on. Did he dream of escape? His brain patterns were certainly active, they had to be for the transference to take place. Delman had been colluding on this for many years, ever since he’d made his first deal with Edward. Philip and his father had sorted out the science and it was up to Delman to deliver on his part of the deal. When he finally crossed over, the body that Delman was inhabiting would be old. It had already survived Cryo-Freezing once before, and chronologically it was over 130 years old, physically over eighty. Morgan�
�s body would be discarded after the transference and Delman would take over the form of the younger man, using his brain as a host for his own thoughts, feelings and memories. Delman would live on in anonymity, free from the curses of his past. It was just collateral damage that the man’s consciousness would have to die to protect Delman’s new identity.
It would be less than a day. Whatever this man’s thoughts and memories were, he had very few hours to enjoy them. Once Delman arrived, the transfer would need to take place quickly. It was the only way he’d get Teanna back alive. That was his part of the deal, the conclusion of his father’s and his own work. Humanity depended on it.
As Philip Schaelles adjusted the dials, checked the configurations and monitored the results, he took a moment to look back at his files and remind himself of the name of the test subject. He’d become so accustomed to thinking of him only in terms of the science that he had to remind himself sometimes of the most basic details.
He scrolled up to the top of the file and read through the personal data section. Now he remembered. He was getting forgetful, he should have known that. He was a forty-seven-year-old male, an Immune, and in excellent physical condition. And his name was Tom Slater.
The First Visit
For Josh Delman, it was to be the third time he’d been in The Grid. It never scared him any the less. It was a terrifying place to be and he dreaded it. The first time he’d entered the deadly arena, he was running for his life in the unfamiliar body of President James Morgan and he had no choice but to walk through the valley of death. Once they found Edward Schaelles’ corpse, they’d come after him. It would be a murder hunt, there was no refuge for him in Centrum.
He was a younger man then with a fit and athletic physique. He was strong, like so many of the Justice Seekers who survived until the end. He hadn’t known what he would be walking into. He’d made his escape through The TriPlex and taken the elevator as the only possible way out. He knew they would never follow him there. It was forbidden, impossible. Had he been in his original body it would have been impossible for him too, but he was borrowing the body of another person. It gave him all the access that he needed: Morgan had had a special implant fitted right at the beginning of the project to build the Sectors and he could go wherever he wanted. He was an Immune too. He could access everything; he was the only one who could.