Contribute (Holo, #2)

by Kristy Acevedo

  Visions of Earth’s green grass and blue sky cloud my vision. “So we can go back home.”

  “Eventually, perhaps,” says one of the scientists. “If we can figure out how to set coordinates and connect to our present day Earth. Right now, controlling it is a guessing game.”

  “Ha, so you admit that Earth is still there.”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Professor Marciani says. “But yes, eventually, this vertex could provide proof once we test out coordinates.”

  Another scientists announces, “Stand back. In five, four, three, two, one . . .”

  And there, in full glory, was a magenta, metallic, swirling vertex among the moss and overgrown stone tunnels. Technology alive again among ruins. I’ve never been so happy to see one.

  “Why is it purple?” Dominick asks. “I thought it would be blue.”

  “Not sure how the colors work,” Professor Marciani admits. “Need to work on that.”

  “So we could technically just go back and stop people from ever coming here,” I say. “And then none of this would’ve ever happened.” I think of all the time travel films where they go back and rewrite history.

  The other scientists chuckle under their breaths as they jot down information.

  “I told you, we can’t go back in time,” Dominick says. “It doesn’t work that way.”

  I refuse to believe that. Crazy lady did it, and she’s standing right next to me in the future. “Why not?”

  Professor Marciani steps in. “Maybe I can be of help here. After studying vertex technology on Earth and here what I’m allowed to access at the hololibrary, according to the vances we cannot and have not traveled in time. We can only travel successfully to another universe’s present. Parallel universes are each in their own stream of time. Those streams are not equal. Some universes are further along their stream than others. One universe may be ahead of another in technological or cultural advancement, so going to their present will feel like time travel to the future. Some streams do not develop as rapidly; traveling to their present will feel like traveling to the past.

  “It’s why we are having so much trouble learning to control the navigation of the vertexes. To attempt travel to a universe’s past, to a time stream that has already begun degrading, would have dire results. I’d imagine we would experience the past as it collapses around us. We would lose coherent chronobonding. We’d die a horrible death. I believe it’s how the universe protects itself from chronotampering.”

  That’s what happened to Katherine. She did it, got me to come here, and it scrambled her brain and killed her. The magenta vertex twists and pulls at the air around us, and I still believe there has to be another way. As Katherine takes a reading, it crackles and folds into itself. A sense of déjà vu washes over me as I see Katherine stand in the fading magenta haze.

  “Let’s call it a day,” Professor Marciani says. “Good work.”

  Dominick and I remove our goggles and help gather tools to return to headquarters. We make the trek to the Geotroupe camp first to grab dinner. As we walk through the ancient city, I wonder if Doctor A. ever looked into what happened to the hologram in the HME.

  “Katherine, did Doctor A. tell you that I witnessed a biohologram having a nervous breakdown.”

  Katherine wipes the sweat from her forehead, her goggles around her neck. “He mentioned something about it.”

  Another scientist asks for details, so I tell the group everything I saw and heard.

  “Earth water and metals,” Professor Marciani repeats. “Nanoholocom units require precious metals to function. Perhaps . . .” He twists his knobby hair in deep thought.

  Another scientists jumps in. “Perhaps the river is a safe passage to somewhere. We haven’t even researched the water supply.”

  As Professor Marciani and the scientists continue their debate, I pull Katherine and Dominick aside.

  “There’s something else. It’s minor.”

  “Shoot.”

  “It said, ‘I.’”

  “And?”

  “And they usually say ‘we.’”

  She thinks it over. “Probably another glitch in the human-hologram upload, however it works. It sounds like its emotional memory surfaced. Minor compared to what you’ve told us about it exhibiting pain.”

  “Yes, but the same thing happened once to SIDEKICK, my hologuide.”

  “Actually, that happened to mine a couple times,” Dominick says. “I thought she had just . . .” His face turns red when I elbow him for the reminder of his holo-version of me.

  Katherine’s eyes move back and forth across the table, comparing, calculating. “After the Umbra meeting tonight, let’s meet at your LU. I’d like to run a few tests on your hologuide.”

  THE COMBINED UMBRA and Geotroupes meeting outside QN25 headquarters is rowdy. I pull a thick blade of plum green grass from the ground and flip it in my fingers.

  Dominick mumbles, “May your contribution lead to freedom.”

  “Or your lack of contribution lead to chaos,” Rita says.

  I watch as more and more people gather around us. Without looking at their bandwidths, I can tell who contributed and who had to work based on the exhausted and angry look on some faces.

  “I’m not going back tomorrow, and I’m never contributing,” Rita says, “I’m officially Geotroupe and off the network so they can’t force me to work.”

  “I don’t want to contribute, but I don’t know how long I can take it. My mind will start spiraling at some point, and then what?”

  “Hide out with me,” Rita says.

  “I dunno. I’m afraid of the consequences if our bandwidths are accidentally reactivated.”

  “I wish I hadn’t contributed,” Dominick says. “It doesn’t seem right that the two of you have to deal with this while I sit here, eat, and play games.”

  “Can’t argue with that,” Rita says. “It isn’t right. But you didn’t create the system.”

  “No, but I’m benefiting from it while you’re getting punished by it. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

  “We need to find a loophole,” I say. “A real way out of the situation. One they can’t punish us for. I’d much rather stay here and help than stand around like an idiot while the hours of my life tick away.”

  Katherine approaches us. “Mississippi, have you seen your brother?”

  “I think he’s still with Marcus.”

  “He’s supposed to be here, to convince people to contribute. Never mind, I’ll have to run the meeting with Jackson, Beruk, and George Rogers.”

  “The astronaut?” Rita asks. “I love him!”

  We watch Beruk step up onto a raised stone area near the front of the building and hold up his hand to quiet the crowd. Jackson emerges from inside headquarters with George Rogers, and Katherine takes off to meet them.

  “It’s him,” Rita says. “I can’t believe he’s here. Why does Katherine call you Mississippi?”

  “Remember my fake name?”

  “Ha, River.” Dominick cracks up laughing.

  The crowd settles in. Hannah joins Rita’s side, and Kendra and Nolan stand next to me. Marie and Eugene join the Umbra leaders on the raised area for a show of Geotroupe support. I don’t see Doctor A. He really was shaken up after Marcus went to the HME facility. I hope he’s okay.

  Jackson speaks first, using a rolled piece of white bark as a handmade megaphone to carry his voice over the crowd. “We are here to ask everyone to consider contributing your death to help our cause. We all have questions, and we want answers. Help us expose the truth about Solbiluna-8.”

  The crowd isn’t having it, especially the Geotroupes. Even I’m not having it. I don’t want to contribute even though the alternative tasks they assign are the most mindless, muscle draining, waste-of-my-only-life chores.

  George Rogers intervenes, voice loud and proud. “I’ve been sent here by the United States Secretary of State from the SN10 region headquarters to reassure you
that your efforts and information have been vital to the Umbra cause. You don’t have to worry. If we confirm that Earth still exists, we will take over the meritocracy and return home before your contribution will even matter.”

  Even that doesn’t work. We know true freedom. We don’t like being told what to do, even politely, even by an American hero. We like choices that are real, not illusions. People shout back at them in protest.

  “You sound like the meritocracy,” someone yells. “More promises that I don’t trust.”

  “Please,” Katherine says and holds out her hands. “We need your cooperation. It’s the only way to buy enough time without the vances seeing us as a target.”

  How else can we stall?

  I flip through my mind for something to use against the vances. Something from my journal . . .

  Meritocracy meetings . . .

  Meritocracy testing . . .

  Doctor A. being obsolete in the future . . .

  Knowledge being obsolete in the future . . .

  Two thoughts merge in my mind and something clicks.

  I try to run through the crowd, and Dominick immediately follows me.

  “I almost lost you once. I don’t plan on doing it again.”

  “But I have an idea. I have an idea,” I yell louder. The crowd is so loud, no one hears me.

  Rita whistles a high-pitched, ear smashing sound. Everyone turns in our direction. I drown in a sea of eyes.

  “You have the floor,” she whispers.

  Too many angry heads and faces stare at me at once. My throat betrays me. “There’s an alternative,” I mumble.

  “I can’t hear you,” a woman off to one side complains.

  Dominick nudges my shoulder.

  “I . . . uh . . . there’s an alternative.”

  “You already said that,” a voice behind me taunts.

  I face Rita and Dominick to pretend they’re the only two people I’m addressing. I take a deep breath and let my voice carry through the crowd.

  “You know how the meritocracy is all about being fair. Well, remember how they said every three years there’s testing for new council members? And that anyone can enter? And only the best in each field become part of the meritocracy?”

  Jackson interrupts me. “Are you saying we should infiltrate by passing their tests and getting on their council?”

  “No, I . . .”

  “The next testing cycle is months away. We don’t have that kind of time,” Beruk says.

  The crowd gets impatient and starts murmuring. Aggravation takes over my fear. “No, listen! You don’t get it. We need to protest.”

  “Protest what?” Rita asks, perking up.

  “The unfair testing requirements. The tests are based on 2359 knowledge in all specialty areas. There is no way for people from Earth to catch up with their knowledge in our lifetimes. It’s systematically rigged. We will never have ruling power even though they claim it’s fair. We need to refuse to contribute our deaths to their system until they change the testing requirements. That should buy us time.”

  This time, no one speaks. Katherine breaks the silence. “I will take it from your silence that Alex’s plan sounds more appealing.”

  The crowd cheers. I think that’s the first time she’s ever called me Alex.

  George Rogers speaks. “Let’s try it. I’ll contact the Secretary of State and spread word to other groups.”

  Dominick puts his hand on my lower back. “You’re a genius.”

  I want to hide from the attention.

  When the meeting ends, Dominick and I walk back to the LU community so I can meet Katherine. Once she arrives, he takes off to spend time with his mom and brother.

  I open SIDEKICK’s program for Katherine, and she pulls up several holoscreens at once.

  “How did you come up with the testing idea?” she asks.

  “It popped into my head since I wrote about the meritocracy’s testing requirements in my journal.” As soon as the word journal slips from my mouth, I want to retrieve it. “Even Doctor A. wouldn’t pass their light and sound based medical tests, and he’s the best doctor I know from Earth.”

  Katherine swipes and taps like a conductor in an orchestra. “Humm, this is interesting.”

  “What is?”

  “Nothing. Just an idea of my own. Not sure if it will work.”

  The first two CVBE lights on bandwidth go off. Jackson and George Rogers are on my COM and VID. Katherine stops working so I can exit SIDEKICK’s program and answer the call.

  “Alex,” Jackson says on my holoscreen. “Glad we caught you. George Rogers has a message for you. George?”

  “Alex, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” George Rogers says and waves. “I just spoke with the Secretary of State, and he’ll be sending a short speech for you to deliver for the meritocracy.”

  He must mean Katherine. He’s looking straight at me.

  “Me? Hell, no!”

  Katherine chuckles.

  “Who else, young lady? It’s your idea, and we’ve agreed that you won’t come across like a powerful rebel. The meritocracy won’t see you as a threat. You’re still a kid.”

  “I can’t give a speech to the meritocracy. I can’t even give a speech in front of my English class.”

  “You just did,” Jackson says. “This is non-negotiable. The Secretary of State is the head of the entire Umbra operation.”

  “Katherine can do it.”

  George Rogers points at me through the VID. “I witnessed you turn this crowd when I couldn’t do it. I understand you are the girl who flew through a vertex to tell us the truth. They need to learn to trust you. It’s a win-win. You will be the messenger.”

  CHAPTER 20

  DAY 37

  WORK UNITS HAVE BEEN SCHEDULED FROM SUNRISE TO SUNFALL FOR THIRTY CONSECUTIVE HOURS. CONTACT YOUR HOLOGUIDE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND ACCOMMODATIONS.

  MY MIDDLE FINGERNAIL bleeds as I pick at it. I suck the blood, hoping that I will wake up and realize it’s all been one sick dream. The taste of iron coats my tongue, and the reality of the situation seeps under my skin.

  I hide under the cooling blanket Doctor A. gave me. The past few days have been spent with me doing tedious contribution assignment tasks. Yesterday, I was sent to patrol the closest vertex guidepost. I had stand the whole time and direct people to the correct tunnel using a holographic grid. If I didn’t find the region quickly enough, the BME let me know it.

  Earth refugees with gold bandwidths traveled in packs throughout the day. Several laughed at me and my job. They found it even funnier when I got zapped for being slow. I swear sometimes the transport system sabotaged me on purpose. Again, just enough ridicule to make me want to contribute.

  Today, I’ve been chosen to speak at the meritocracy council meeting. How ironic that it took a holographic alien invasion and me jumping three hundred years into a parallel future to realize that my dream of becoming a defense lawyer and speaking on people’s behalf is actually one of my worst nightmares. How did I become the speaker for two fringe groups on another planet? Is it too much to ask for girl just to want to talk in courtroom? I should’ve kept my mouth shut. Contribution is looking better and better. A light lobotomy is sounding better and better.

  The door beeps, and I escape the cool blanket and let Rita inside.

  “You ready?” she asks.

  “No.” I crawl back under the gel blanket.

  “Come on, Alex. You’ve been imagining this forever. Arguing your point in front of a courtroom. You can do it. You were made for this. You just have to get into the zone. You must hope for the best instead of expecting the worse.”

  Hope is not a word that I understand anymore. Maybe ever. To hope is to fear.

  “Besides, I heard Benji telling Katherine that you can’t handle it.”

  “He said that?”

  “Yep.”

  I can’t tell if she’s lying, but it works anyway. Part of me wants to shove my success in Benji’s f
ace. But how can I show up and push through all that initial fear, the pounding heartbeat, the shallow breaths, the sweat, the heat, the silent opinions of the audience coming at me like a dense fog that my pores suck in and analyze and reevaluate, condemning me to failure and negativity?

  “But what if I freeze?”

  “I’ve seen you on the debate team tear people apart,” Rita says. “We just have to light a fire under you. You can’t be so afraid of failure and embarrassment that it controls you from taking any action. Especially action that could save us all.”

  “Wow, no pressure there.”

  “Or that makes Benji look like an idiot.”

  “Good point. That’s better.”

  DOMINICK, RITA, BENJI, and Beruk escort me in a magpod to the closest vertex guidepost. It’s the fastest way to get to the closest TriCenter where the meritocracy council meeting will be held. Dominick and Rita practice the speech from the Secretary of State over and over with me. My hands shake as I read it off the paper from my journal. I have it memorized but having the paper makes me feel safer.

  The modern vertex guidepost mirrors the one behind the Geotroupe camp. It looks like a high tech train station with doorways in sequence around a stone perimeter, except this one buzzes with electric energy. Holograms usher people into proper lines to travel to various locations across Solbiluna-8. When I see the swirling green vertexes, I’m grateful it’s not a blue one.

  We travel through a vertex to the TriCenter, a gorgeous triangular glass building, similar to the Louvre museum in Paris that I saw in a magazine once. It makes me want to throw rocks and demolish it. Around the Tricenter is a depressed city where concrete buildings and no windows populate the area. Beruk points out that those buildings hold the province’s HDP food and supply rations. Those buildings pale in comparison to the majestic TriCenter.

  Dominick, Rita, and Benji escort me inside while Beruk explores the area. Inside, everything is transparent. Even the walls. I’m not sure what the walls are for, then, since the weather is always perfect. What exactly are they walling out? Or walling in? Probably used to create a false sense of trust, keeping everything transparent while the truth is kept obscure. A live waterfall feature embellishes the lobby, a cascade of water across an entire wall, splashing over amber stones in a basin. I snag a polished stone and hold it as I walk forward to the meeting. It vanishes before I get there, just like I knew it would. They are way too picky about their water supply to waste it on decorations.