by Clay Gilbert
“It’ll be all right, angel,” Eternity said then, hoping she wasn’t offended by the endearment. “You’re with us now.” CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Cortex Vortex was packed. The guard at the door smiled at Eternity and cast an appreciative glance at the red-haired girl with him. The arcade, situated as it was right in the middle of Crown Avenue’s asphalt jungle, had become a gatheringspot forthe Forgotten City’s youth since the Renovation, and had become even more popular since Eternity became leader. Eternity made his way past flashing light-panels beneath which holograms clashed in battle or staged simulated hovercycle races, past the braingames which had given the arcade its name—huge booths inside which one could become the game one played just by plugging into a set of electrodes—to the back of the room, where Brain’s office waited behind hydraulic doors of sliding glass.
The doors opened at Eternity’s approach, and Brain looked up, a smile lighting his face at the sight of his friend. “Eternity, man,” he said, clasping the other youth’s hand. “What’s up? Haven’t seen you since the meeting. Shadow came by here the other night from the Hall, and said you seemed really strange. Said you talked about war, and that vision of the Prophet’s. Said you thought it had to happen.” Brain paused, glancing again at the girl who’d come in with Eternity. She’d said nothing, only staying close to the young streetrider, an increasingly troubled look in her green eyes.
“Yeah,” Eternity said. “I had a rough night that night.” Brain noticed his friend’s eyes locking for a moment with those of the girl beside him.
“I think we’re going to have to call another meeting before long,” Eternity said. Brain motioned for Eternity to sit down. The girl seated herself, seeming a little uncomfortable with her surroundings, beside Eternity.
“So, man,” Brain said finally, “who’s the girl?” There was a moment of silence in the room, and then she answered Brain’s question herself, remembering her talk with Eternity the night before. “My name’s Angel.”
An uncertainty in her voice told Brain she hadn’t been in the Forgotten City for long, despite her non-Regulation appearance. Looking at her, he was forced to admit her name-choice was appropriate. She was dressed entirely in white—white cotton pants, a white blouse, and a white jacket. She wore a pair of weathered, brown, leather boots. She was slender, though not too thin, and fairly tall, even though she and Eternity didn’t stand quite equal in height. Her green eyes shone with an intensitythat startled Brain, all the more because she looked so young, so innocent— although he could tell that was far from the case. Her face was framed by a cloud of red hair that, as a clear evidence of a Regulation past, was only just beginning to touch her shoulders.
“How’d you get here, Angel?” Brain asked.
“They killed my parents. I blamed it on Eternity and the rest of you. I broke in to the Leaders’ Hall, but then he told me— ”
“You’re the one who stole the key,” Brain cut in. Angel nodded. “Yes, but Eternity told me the truth. He told me how no one ever died in the raids, about how they’re lying to everyone in the City. I want to help. I want to get rid of them.”
She hadn’t meant to say so much, but the words came too fast to be stopped. Now that the truth behind her parents’ deaths was clear to her, she had to come to terms with them anew, and this was something she couldn’t fully do, as she told Eternity the night before. She told him how she’d felt whenshe’d seen her parents’cold, dead eyes—the same eyes that still stared back at her in dreams.
“Don’t we all, Angel,” Brain said, sounding calm although her words chilled him. Then, in a lower voice, he added, “That’s what this game’s all about.”
The hum of the hovercycleand thewhineof the wind in their faces were the only sounds Eternity and Angel heard for most of their trip back to the Leaders’ Hall. Eternity rode in front, Angel pressed against him, her arms wrapped around his waist.
“You all right?” he asked her when they were more than halfway home and no words had yet passed between them. “Yeah, I’m okay. Iprobablyshouldn’t have said all that back there, I guess. It’s just that they never get caught, never get blamed. And they lie.”
Eternity stroked her cold fingers. “It won’t be that way forever.” * * * *
He thinks he’s a god.
That’s the reason he does this, Isaac thought. That’s why he rebels against them, sets himself above their law. That’s why he calls himself ‘Eternity’. What sacrilege.
But, he wondered, why did They protect him? Why did they conceal the rebels’ hiding place? Whywouldn’t Theylet him see, when he’d been so faithful?
Eternity. Isaac had seen the screencasts—had heard what they said— even seen the footage, for Their sake! And he had seen him. And he’d thought: This one is dangerous.
The one called Ace had been smooth—as smooth as a snake—but he’d been careless, and beneath his façade, he’d been afraid. Now he was dead, but Eternitylived, and he was different. He was careful, conducted no raids. And there was something undefinable in his eyes. Isaac burned inside.
He has to die. In Your Names, he prayed. Thy will be done. * * * *
Can there ever be peace, Eternitywondered, when people on opposite sides of a question both believe they’re right? It’d been two months since he’d told everyone they were going to wait, that if there was going to be war between the Two-in-One like the Prophet said, it wasn’t going to be the Forgotten City that started it, and things had been quiet, mostly. Quiet enough that he’d had time to think about the future for the first time in a while.
Even if the peace held, the Forgotten City couldn’t just stay frozen in time forever. There would be change. There’d be new people who’d hear about them somehow, and come looking like he had, and there’d be children.
Maybe even my own, one day.
“Okay, I’m ready. We’ve got about thirty minutes ‘til we’re supposed to meet Ari.” Eternity looked up at the sound of Angel’s voice from the corridor outside the council room and brokeinto a smile. She was wearing a light cotton dress dyed hyacinth-blue. They’d picked it up in one of the new shops that seemed to be springing up like wildflowers along Crown Avenue these days, this one filled with handmade clothes and jewelry. It was run by a girl only a couple of years older than Angel. She said her name was Ariadne, and that her parents lived over in Oldtimer Town. When he realized that his parents hadn’t had the chance to meet Angel yet, it seemed only natural the three of them would go together.
The changes, Eternity had to admit, were already happening. Things that had just been customs passed down by word of mouth and simple understanding, like the name-changing— or name choosing—undergone by newcomers to the Forgotten City were beginning to be marked by rituals or small celebrations.
IShadow hadtold him about that. “Itnever happened in Ace’s day, that’s for sure. People were too busy worrying to make a big deal out of a name choice. But it’s kinda nice that we have the time to notice, now.”
Riding into Oldtimer Town, feeling the wind against his face and the warmth of Angel’s body against his, Eternity hoped to himself that there would always be time for them to notice such small graces—that the Providers wouldn’t find a way to steal away even the little peace they’d found.
* * * * “Isn’t it a small world?” Ariadne’s mother—a tall woman with dark hair and olive skin who called herself Artemis— said to Eternity’s mother, who’d taken the name Storm in one of the Renaming ceremonies last month. “We’ve known each other for acouple of months now, and you’ve never met my daughter, and now your son and his new girlfriend meet her and bring her around all on their own.”
“Angel, do, please, sit down,” Storm told the red-haired girl, who’d just come back from inside the small house where Eternity’s parents lived.
Angel filled Storm’s glass from the pitcher of tea she was carrying, then poured some for the three others seated at the table. It was the third time she’d gone to get something for
them in the last hour. Angel liked Eternity’s parents; his mother, especially. She reminded Angel of her own mother in many ways.
Maybe that’s why I want so much for her to like me, too. She sat down next to Eternity, and the way he clasped her hand in his told her he knew exactly what she was feeling. “How do you like it here, Storm?” Angel asked. “I was scared when I first came here,” Storm said. “I know you know how that feels. It was easier for me, I think, with Eternity already here. It was easier for both of us,” she added, patting her husband’s hand. “Honestly, it scared me a little that someplace like this could even exist.”
Angel smiled, remembering. “I know.”
“I can’t imagine being anywhere else now, though.”
Angel and Eternity both caught sight of Sentinel at the same time. The familiar figure striding toward them at a pace twice as fast as was his usual custom.
I wonder what’s happened, Angel thought. His shop’s nearly a mile’s walk from here.
* * * * When Sentinel finished talking, Eternity felt the brief peace of only an hour before slipping away again.
“It seems we’ve got a new threat to worry about,” Sentinel had told them. “I’ve got an old transceiver—what I’ve heard used to be called radios back in the world before the Providers—back in my shop, and tonight I picked up a newscast from the City. There’s a young man—says his name is Isaac—and he’s calling himself the Providers’ prophet. He’s calling for war, and from what I heard tonight, the Providers approve of him. At least whoever writes the newscasts seems to.”
Eternity looked grave. “Did they have any clips of this Isaac speaking directly?” “Yes,” Sentinel said, “and it wasn’t pleasant. Ifthe Providers are letting him share space with them on the broadcasts, it’s likely he carries the weight he claims to.”
Eternity nodded. “Maybe, but maybe not. Maybe he’s just a puppet, or a decoy. You say he’s young—well, maybe they’re trying to scare us. We’ll keep our eyes open, but let’s try and keep calm about this for now.”
* * * * The calm didn’t last long. A week later, Brain let Eternity know he had something to show him. “I’ll come to you,” Brain said. “I’ll be there at noon.”
When Brain arrived, he found Eternity, Angel and Shadow already assembled around the large, round table of weathered, dark wood that occupied the largest portion of the room they had all come to call the Council Room. The table faced a great glass wall, and Brain touched a button on it as he passed, so that it sprang to life. He slid a small, darkgreen micro-drive into a slot on the glass wall. “The Undergrounders captured this broadcast today in a signal from the City. It’s him. It’s Isaac. I don’t think we can just ignore him.” Brain paused, looking across at Eternity. “Take a look at this—but of course, the decision on what’s to be done is up to you.”
The broadcast began with Isaac standing in front of a glass wall in one of the screencast studios that gave the Block its name—very much like, Eternity noted, the ones from which Angel had made her own broadcasts, whenher name had still been Emily, and her mind, like Isaac’s, had belonged to the Providers.
“Good evening, citizens!” His voice was bright and even cheerful, but his face was grave. “Tonight, I am here to warn you that our Cityis in danger. Not a danger from Beyond our borders, but within our own walls. We don’t know who they are, but there is reason to believe that even this very place from which I speak to you shelters those who are unfaithful to the will of our Providers. And so it is with regret and also fear that I tell you that Their voices have led me to leave my position here, and to go where I may do the most good, and most clearly hear Their voices. I warn you all to be cautious, for every pair of eyes you see may shield an enemy’s gaze; every voice you hear may be that of a traitor. I cannot say more, but know this—our enemy is no longer merely somewhere beyond the City’s walls. Our enemy is among us. We must hunt that enemy down wherever it hides, whether it be at the borders of our City or within the walls of our own homes. We will hunt down our enemy. And we will wipe them from memory. Be vigilant. Be careful. And live well.”
No one said anything for the first moments after the glass wall fell silent. Then Shadow spoke up, his voice amplified by the walls of the Council Room and the silence around them, “Well, that sounds like a nightmare to me.”
Uneasy laughter rippled around the table, and everyone smiled at Shadow and each other. It had been just what was needed. Then Eternity held up his hand for silence.
“What it comes down to,” Eternity said, “is that this guy Isaac thinks wiping us out is some kind of holy crusade, and it’s hard to know how to fight that. We’ve tried staying out of his way—staying out of Their way—and just living our own lives here, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to let that happen.”
“He’s never going to let it happen. He won’t leave us alone,” Angel said, looking over at Eternity, seated next to her. “Then I’ve got to go into the Cityagain, to tryand find him,” Eternity said. “We’re all in danger until I do, but it’s just gonna be me.”
“What the hell good’s that gonna do, man?” Shadow asked. “You gonna kill him?” “That wouldn’t be my first choice,” Eternity said. “I want to see if I can find where he’s operating from. If he’s on his own, it might be easier to discredit him—maybe even reason with him.”
“No way,” Angel said. “You’re not going by yourself. I’ll go with you.”
“She’s right, man,” Shadow said. “We were lucky the last time. It’s gotten worse, and you need someone to watch your back. Brain and I could go, too.”
Eternity shook his head. “Too dangerous. Shadow, you’ve been shot once already, and we need Brain here—” “That leaves me,” Angel said, “and I’m going.”
“I can’t risk you getting hurt,” Eternity said.
“Tough. I should take the same risks you take. Don’t try to tell me I can’t handle it.”
“Sounds like she’s made her mind up, man,” Shadow said with a grin. “All right,” Eternity said. “I don’t like it, but all right.” “When are you gonna go?” Shadow asked.
“Tomorrow night,” Eternity said.
* * * * As his cycle cleared the Wall, Eternity saw the Black City below, looming like an omen, dark and unavoidable. This whole thing’s between you and me. It’s always been that way, all my life.
It seemed to him a dark magnet, a demonic lodestone destined to draw him back time and again until it ended his life—or until he ended its power over him. He knew he’d return again, until the day when—a future he knew to be truth—he’d face the Providers at the Towers. Their own black temples. It had to be. Like aprogram made of lives and years instead of binary code and bytes of memory, it was a sequence that could have no other outcome. And from those Towers, either he would emerge alive, or the Providers would remain the sole power in the City, an event that would not only mean his own end, but the end of the rebellion.
Or would it? Ace had died. He’d had power and loyalty. Why had he been unable to turn the wheel in freedom’s favor? Whatever the reason, he’d failed, and yet the Forgotten City hadn’t collapsed beneath the weight of his loss. The Oldtimers had taken over for a time, and then he, himself had assumed leadership. Perhaps, if he were to fail, another would take his place. Perhaps Ace, too, had heard the Prophet’s tales. Perhaps he, too, had dreamed a war behind troubled eyes.
“You okay back there?” Eternity asked Angel. He could feel her hands clutching his waist, the warmth of her breath against his neck, and her lips pressed against his neck in a soft kiss, for the merest of moments, in answer.
“I’m a little nervous, but I’m all right. I just wish we knew what the hell we were heading into.” “Well, you’ve probably got more idea than I do,” he said. “True. And I do have an idea.”
“Let’s hear it, then.”
* * * * *
Studio Block. Eternityhad never seen it, but he knew this was where Angel had worked, behind the scenes an
d in front of the screens as one of the newspeople on the nightlyscreencasts. From what he’d learned from Ace, some of that news was manufactured, shot right here on side-streets and backlots in the Block.
If the war had shaken up the City, it wasn’t very apparent from the look of Studio Block. The streets surrounding the studio buildings were silent and swept clean.
“So,” Eternity said, looking back at Angel as he hovered the cycle in the darkness outside what she’d told him was the main production building. “This friend of yours. She works in there?”
“She used to. They have an Information Coordinator at a station in the front of the building to make sure the right word gets to the right people at the right time, and schedules don’t overlap. Skylar was the Coordinator when I left. Hopefully, she still is.”
“And why exactly do you think she’s going to want to help us?”
Angel smiled, reached out, and ran her hand through Eternity’s hair. “Don’t look so worried. You’re not the only one who can plan things. I’m going to avoid telling her the truth if Ican— it’s sad, but it’s safer for everybody if I don’t. But if I have to, I think we’ll still be okay. The newsperson who was killed after I left? That was Skylar’s sister, Phoebe. I’m pretty sure Skylar’s got some doubts about what’s really going on around here.”
“All right.” “Coordinator,” Angel spoke into the voceiver on her wrist. She’d gotten it on the job at the Block, and it was still tuned to the studio’s frequencies. “Coordinator, come in.”
“Who is this?” the voice on the other end said, although Angel knew Skylar had recognized her.
“I’m looking for Isaac. I have information about the ones who killed Phoebe.”
None of that was a lie, Angel thought, even if it didn’t mean quite what Skylar would expect. “Isaac doesn’t work in the Block anymore,” Skylar said, sounding like she wasn’t sure whether she should be saying anything or not. Then, her voice regained the calm with which she might address a screencast audience. “He has been greatly favored by the Providers. He is in Govsec, preaching Their word outside the Towers.” The façade broke once more. “I thought you were dead.”