Contribute (Holo, #2)

by Kristy Acevedo

  Someone in the crowd pushes me from behind. A teenage boy pummels me on the side of my face. My eyes blur with pain and tears. The BME takes him down before Dominick gets a chance. Another man hits Dominick, and someone pushes me into Rita. More BME intervention.

  Hologuides appear and chant in unison, “The BME has been automatically activated. Please remain calm and orderly as we deal with the infraction.”

  The rest of the crowd slowly backs away. Cocooned around us are those who tried to harm us. We are linked to the BME consequences, linked to negativity, linked to their oppression. I am the enemy of the people, the source of their new hunger, the catalyst of the problem, the thing holding them back from utopia. And I brought my friends with me.

  CHAPTER 22

  DAY 39

  GLOBAL HAPPINESS DECREASES BY 71% AFTER RATION RESTRICTIONS

  THE MERITOCRACY IS WORKING HARD TO DESIGN NEW TESTS THAT SUIT ALL MEMBERS OF SOLBILUNA-8. WE REQUIRE INPUT FROM EARTH REFUGEES WITH THE CREATION OF RELEVANT TOPICS AND QUESTIONS. WHILE WE APPRECIATE THE FLOOD OF RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS, WE CANNOT GRANT ADDITIONAL RATIONS AND HOLOSPACE TIME UNTIL A FAIR, PLANETARY COMPROMISE CAN BE MADE REGARDING THIS ISSUE.

  PEOPLE GROW IMPATIENT and angrier at one meal and one material ration a day, and less Holospace time. The Umbra and Geotroupes try to convince them that I am not the cause of their distress. That the holograms caused all of it on Earth. They aren’t listening. Many of them recontributed in defiance only to have the meritocracy deny the return of their rations and Holospace time until we compromise.

  Benji puts me on lockdown in the sixth floor of Umbra headquarters for my safety. Rita, Dominick, his mother, and his little brother also join us for protection. Just in case.

  No more PSF for me. No more Skylucent. How did I become the face of the enemy?

  I risked everything and came here to deliver the truth. No one even cares. What kind of world is that? What does that say about us, that we can abandon a planet through kidnapping and not even bat an eyelash in complaint?

  I don’t want to do this anymore.

  In the middle of another sleepless night, I write in my journal.

  We are taught by philosophers that truth is universal. Truth as fact. Can’t be questioned because it simply is, like part of existence. But truths become subjective. One person’s truth isn’t another’s. I never understood this before.

  My truth is I came here for selfish reasons. I wanted my friends back. I couldn’t let the holograms win.

  The truth is that doesn’t matter.

  My truth is that humans should want to return to Earth, to their home.

  The truth is many humans don’t want to return to Earth, even after learning the truth about the comet hoax.

  My truth is that humans should be wary about contributing their deaths to an unknown world.

  The truth is that many humans are willing to contribute if they get to live a carefree life, regardless of unseen consequences.

  The opposing views pull at my insides like teetering scales of justice.

  At least I have Dominick and Rita with me. I spend the day with them, or with Katherine tinkering with SIDEKICK’s program, and write in my journal at night. It’s boring being a captive in your own rebellion. I leave my cot and wander around headquarters at night wearing the gel blanket that Doctor A. created to cool my body. My body sweats constantly from too much anxiety. I’m probably dehydrated from the lack of water. I pretend not to notice the odorous cloud rising from my body until Penelope hands me some futurist stone that stops armpit odor for days when you rub it against your skin. Strangely enough, it works.

  Dominick and I attend their meetings, listen in on their research, and I record data. Using the same technology the clickers use to locate each other, Beruk was able to trace and locate a signal from a possible area where the vances are being secretly house. It appears to be a cliff, but on further inspection scientists think they have a holographic cloak disguising them, like when the holographic tree was a cover for the spaceship. They want to reveal their location, hack into their mainframe, and get some answers.

  “We need to cut the power to the area,” Benji says. “Simple and effective.”

  “The problem is the nanoholocoms are embedded into everything without wiring,” Katherine says. “The sheer numbers alone are impossible to disable. We’ve only been able to disable rooms so far. Nothing large scale.”

  Beruk steps in. “According to the SN10 Umbra intelligence reports, the environmental controls are located on several space stations in orbit. The Umbra also has a few vance ships in our possession, but they can’t figure out how to fly them.”

  “DOT could fly the ships,” Professor Marciani says.

  “What’s DOT?” I ask.

  “You mean, who is DOT,” Katherine says, grinning. “DOT is the secret weapon I’ve been working on.”

  She gestures to the hologuide next to her. A generic kind. Gray uniform. I’m not impressed.

  “I thought this region had no holographic technology?” Dominick asks.

  “It doesn’t. DOT is a rogue biohologram.” She points to a device strapped to its leg. See this box? It contains her own nanoholocom mini-system that I developed. It lets her travel anywhere after she uploads in the nanoholocom region. I’ve been reprogramming her.”

  “To be what? A mobile, hologram killing machine?” Why is it that inventors always create the thing that will destroy them?

  “No, a spy for us. She can access information from the nanoholocom network without it knowing. And she would know how to fly a ship.”

  “So it’s a hack?” Dominick asks.

  “Precisely. It’s working, too. Talk to her.”

  “Hello, DOT. My name is Dominick.”

  “Hello, Dominick. My name is DOT.”

  “DOT could serve several purposes. Just give us a little more time. We may also be able to send her through our experimental vertex as a test. She could potentially let Earth know we are safe and attempting to return.”

  “That is,” Professor Marciani adds, “if we can establish and navigate into the proper parallel time stream.”

  Maybe parents might at least get to hear we’re safe. Well, as safe as can be right now. If they’re safe.

  I watch DOT blink obliviously. She might be the ultimate hologram since she’s not tethered to the network or another human. I worry about how she views human life.

  Beruk pushes up his sleeves and exposes his hairy arms. “I say we plan a coordinated attack. Have the other Umbra use DOT to fly the ships and temporarily disable the environmental controls over that region. We wait at the signal area that I pinpointed, and when the time is right, we go in.”

  “Wait,” I say, “if you bring down the HDP system, that region won’t have access to food.”

  “That’s what the Geotroupes are for,” Benji says. “They can provide temporary food.”

  “What about the HME? Won’t that go offline, too?” I ask.

  “Yes, but we have people like the doctor around for medical needs. We can do this. We lived on Earth without a massive safeguard to our every move. It’s the same thing.”

  “I guess. Won’t the BME electrocute us for rebelling?”

  “When we are offline, it won’t work either.”

  “Wait, but that means weapons and explosions will work?”

  “That’s the plan. If we take away all the holographic containment fields in that area, we’ll gain the advantage.”

  Destroy a society for a cause. But how do you know if you are fighting on the right side of justice? Doesn’t everyone think their side is the right side? What if your contribution is just reinforcing corruption?

  When others disperse, Katherine lingers, tinkering with DOT’s programming on a holoscreen above the box on its leg.

  “I’m sorry, but it’s creepy,” I blurt out.

  “What if I work on her programming? Give her more personality. Would that help?”

  This is like w
hen Data on Star Trek gets a personality and feelings chip. No thank you. Which reminds me . . .

  “It would help more knowing that she had a STOP button. Like a giant override, delete program, or autodestruct.” In case she’s secretly a double agent.

  “Like Data’s off button?” Dominick says.

  “You read my mind.”

  “Good idea,” Katherine says. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  You fight invisibility with a sword of words and code. And always make sure your hologram allies have safeguards so they can’t turn on you.

  MY IDEA WORKED better than I imagined. The meritocracy struggles with the testing plans. Without bandwidth CVBE access, I have to get information secondhand, which is driving me crazy. From what I gather, Earth refugees and meritocracy members keep arguing on the CVBE about the philosophy behind having a ruling meritocracy on Solbiluna-8. They believe the brightest minds in 1001 areas should rule. If they created new testing subjects for us, it will technically dumb down their society since they are more advanced, no question, thus they would no longer technically be considered a meritocracy. And yet, if they don’t comply, they will admit that on a fundamental level, the entire planet is based on an unfair government policy that puts us as the inferior group for an obscene number of generations. Even more, if they agree and gather new testing material, won’t the test makers have an advantage once again?

  Welcome to Earth.

  THE NEXT NIGHT, Benji allows me to attend a firepit party in the Geotroupes’ camp to celebrate Rita’s birthday. It’s weird needing my brother’s permission to go. Rita makes a bad joke that she doesn’t expect presents, only our presence.

  Everyone’s there, gathered around the turquoise fire for Eugene’s latest dessert. It’s like a miracle that they can concoct such amazing pastries using an open flame and little ingredients. Kendra and Nolan talk around the firepit while Nolan’s grandmother helps Penelope and Marie serve food.

  “I swear this is the best party I’ve ever had,” Rita says. “Remember my lame parties at my family restaurant?”

  “Remember when Tyson kissed you on the cheek and your parents sent him home?”

  “Oh my God, that was so embarrassing! Hey, where’s Hannah?”

  “She stayed at headquarters. She wasn’t feeling well. Doctor A. said he’d check on her again later. Eugene went to bring her food.”

  I watch Penelope join Doctor A. to eat. She straightens the top of his iridescent uniform for him, reminding me of Mom and Dad.

  “Check out the lovebirds,” Rita says.

  “Stop, no. Not even funny. That’s my grandmother.”

  “Age is only a number.”

  Off to the side, I see Marcus and Benji talking and laughing. It’s about time my brother relaxes. Benji puts his arm on his back and they kiss. It’s nice to see them have couple time. Seeing couples together makes me miss time with Dominick. We haven’t been alone together since we moved into headquarters under strict watch. Like being a prisoner in my own life. My body feels stir crazy.

  When Rita starts a conversation with Kendra and Nolan, I walk over to Dominick and whisper in his ear, “Follow me.”

  He doesn’t ask questions.

  We steal away from the party and sneak into the dark woods behind the camp. I draw him to me slowly, backing myself into a tall pale tree trunk that reminds me of a gigantic stalk of cauliflower. My back presses against the flaking trunk as he kisses me hard. I return the favor and reach my hand down for more.

  “Here?” he asks.

  “We have no privacy anywhere else.”

  Even in the darkness, Dominick’s eyes catch light, and his curiosity and hesitancy makes me want him even more. I kiss him back to show him I mean it, to show him I mean everything.

  I try not to think about the possible wild animals, hidden fungus, or tiny foreign mites that could crawl into crevices and put up camp.

  Time floats away from us, and we forget where we are and how we got here. We become one with nature. We lay on the soft bed of the forest floor, the vast stars above dancing along with our movement, the heady floral and moss fragrance better than man-made perfume.

  “I missed you,” I whisper.

  “I missed you, too.” He brushes one of my loose curls behind my ear.

  I fix my basic uniform. “Not knowing if I’d see you again, it changed me.”

  “Changed you how?”

  “I’m in this with you,” I say. “For the long haul. In good times and bad. If that’s okay.”

  “It’s more than okay.” He pokes me in the stomach. “It’s about time.”

  I dust off any remaining debris from my clothes. Something snaps and breaks in the woods behind us.

  “Did you hear something?” I ask.

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know,” I say and glance behind me at the dark woods. “I thought I—”

  A man steps from behind a tree and yanks a handful of my hair. My scalp burns. I flail and fight for freedom.

  “Ow, let go of me! Help!” I scream into the forest.

  He presses a sharp object against my neck. “Don’t make another sound or we’ll slit your throats.”

  Two other men have grabbed Dominick. As he struggles to fight them, they punch him in the stomach and bind his hands behind his back.

  My hands are bound so tightly, they go numb. I watch Dominick being blindfolded. Not by holograms. Not by the vances. By Earth humans. As they cover his eyes, he gives me one final look, worse than when he was in the hospital after the riot on Earth. His eyes convey the fragility of love and the terror of mortality. My heart sinks into the darkness of my own blindfold and gag.

  “Move.”

  A hand on my shoulder and a sharp object pointed on my back. I hear breathing heavy and shallow. It doesn’t match my own rhythm. I wonder if it’s Dominick. As long as I can hear that breathing, I know he’s still alive.

  We’re like animals about to be slaughtered by humans from Earth I came to save. I focus on Dominick’s breathing to keep from panicking. He cannot die. He cannot die.

  I use my clicker to alert Benji. Please let him trust me this time.

  Can’t make a run for it or fight blindfolded and bound. Can’t argue my way out of a situation when I’ve been silenced. What would Dad do? Find an escape route or fight. Two options. I try not to allow my mind to focus on the third possibility. Dominick and I dismembered, stuffed into body bags, and buried in the skeleton forest until alien maggots eat us.

  I count footsteps and try to mentally map out the direction they are taking us. Dominick’s breathing gets louder. I hope he’s doing that on purpose so I can hear him. I don’t want him that scared.

  Time becomes measured by footsteps. Twenty. Thirty. Fifty. Eighty. It would be much easier if I could see a landmark. Anything. I stumble over what must be a fallen branch, and the brush in the area gets thicker against my calves the farther we travel. Ninety. One hundred. I listen to Dominick’s heavy breathing and focus my energy on checking to see if he sounds okay. If he’s okay, I’m okay. If he’s okay, I’m okay. The slope of the ground changes to an incline. I don’t remember the forest landscape having hills. My boots pull against the ground and stick in the wetter soil. What if they walk us off a cliff? Every step brings the possibility of falling to my death. If I could move the blindfold just a little . . .

  I make slight sobbing noises and rub my nose with my shoulder to push up against the blindfold. It doesn’t move. I try again and manage to create a tiny sliver of light under one eye. It’s something.

  “Knock it off.”

  That’s what I’m trying to do. I quickly use the other shoulder to wipe the other eye, creating a small space at the bottom.

  The forest floor doesn’t give me any clues to our location, but from the distance sounds of Skylucents on my left side, I think we’re walking parallel to the LU communities. They must be avoiding the BME and bandwidths to escape punishment.

  The f
loral and moss smells are replaced by the smell of a campfire. We come to a full stop.

  Stopping freaks me out. Traveling meant we were still safe.

  I see the edges of brown tarps flapping in the slight wind. Makeshift tents. Iridescent boots on the ground. We’re still out of range.

  “We got her.” Male voice. Deep, raspy tone.

  “You sure?” Male voice, higher pitched.

  “Yeah, positive. Told ya we’d get her.”

  “Who’s that?” Female voice. Ironically sounds like my mom.

  “The boyfriend. I’ve seen them together.”

  My gag is removed.

  “Are you Alexandra Lucas?” the female asks.

  I don’t respond. A hard object slams into the side of my head. Sharp pain shoots across my forehead. My nose drips uncontrollably. More scuffling, movement of boots. A thud. I can make out the shape of Dominick’s body when he hits the ground. They kick him repeatedly.

  “Stop! I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “Whatever, huh?” the higher pitched, male voice says off to one side.

  “Just let him go.”

  “No, he’s useful. Get him off the ground and bring them to the main tent,” the female says as she replaces my gag. “Stand guard. Don’t let them out of your sight. And if she gives you trouble, kill the other one.”

  CHAPTER 23

  DAY 42

  THE GUARD ORDERS Dominick to sit in one corner of the tent, me on the opposite side. It’s not like in the movies where they sit us back to back so we can untie each other. Even though the side of my forehead throbs, I know it’s not as bad as what happened to Dominick. Panic rises in me, a tide coming in during a hurricane. He needs Doctor A. or the HME. I remember Mom pushing me in a wheelchair to visit Dominick after the food riot on Earth. At the time I didn’t know he took the brunt of the pain so I wouldn’t get trampled. I thought that was the worst day of my life.

  This is worse.

  I rock back and forth. We’e going to die like this. I’ll never see my parents again. Never see Earth again. Never enjoy life as an adult. I click and click and click for Benji. Tears soak my blindfold.