by Tracy Korn
"No, I just got the impression she was trying to sabotage us or something. What are you trying to say?" I ask what Arco already seems to know from the way his brows draw together.
"Are you all right?" Ellis interrupts, joining our little circle. He seems out of breath. There's also sweat on his upper lip as a wave of anxiety hits me.
"Are you all right?" I ask, studying him. He nods, then shakes his head.
"I don't believe it. He's my best friend," Ellis says.
"Will someone tell us what's happening?" Myra asks, struggling to keep her voice steady.
"Liddick is the captain, and that ghost hologram person is the last Glyph," Vox says way too casually.
"You completely ate it with that swan dive," Avis says, starting to laugh until Vox pins him to the wall with her snake eye stare. His face immediately resets to neutral as his eyes hit the floor.
"Everyone just calm down." Tark raises his voice above the commotion. Liam and my dad look like they want to kill someone, but Tark's face is expressionless as he takes a deep breath. "There is evidence enough to suggest that Mr. Wright has been compromised…I don't want to believe it any more than you do, but there's no other explanation for the script he changed with his storyboarder credential, or the characters he created," Tark says.
"What characters?" Myra asks.
"We reverse engineered the structure of Lieutenants Ridley and Cathcart, and also Dr. Greene—their origin codes are memory based, like the firewall codes in the Glyphs."
"So, they're…personalized?" Myra asks, confused.
"They think that since Liddick has the storyboarder credential, he created those characters to turn people against Jazwyn and Arco in case they were to become a threat in the future. Rheen is painted like the doting mother, so they think she's the one who recruited him," Liam says, crossing his arms over his chest, almost like he's trying to hold himself back from tackling Tark himself. Arwyn puts a hand on his shoulder, evidently getting the same impression.
Ellis shakes his head. "He would never do that, especially not to Jazz."
"We don't know what his circumstances are now, Mr. Raj. People are capable of almost anything under the right conditions," Tark says. "Regardless, we need to find the last Glyph before he destroys it. If that happens, everything we've done here over the last few days will have been for nothing."
"And what about Liddick? How do we get him out of there?" I ask, still not believing that he'd betray us like Tark thinks he has, but he just shakes his head at me. Oh, no way, I think. Is he saying we're going to abandon him? "You can't just leave him in there…" I say. "Calyx, tell him!"
She looks up from her console at me sympathetically, pulling her eyebrows together and biting the silver ring in her bottom lip.
"Jazwyn, we've run every scenario…he has no motivation to write the script he's written about genetically modifying that culture."
"He did not want to hurt people," I insist, remembering how surprised he was when he found out about the explosion Lieutenant Ridley caused.
"We don't have his side of the story—we can't assume anything yet," Lyden says, moving behind the console with Calyx and Eco to study the code projection.
"Dad, say something." I take a step toward him, and he looks up at me from whatever he was watching on the floor.
"We can only see if he tries to go after the last Glyph," he finally answers. "Yes, he entered the network through our hack. Yes, he accessed our cine queue and seems to be writing some questionable things, but as I've said, Skull, I don't believe he's trying to sabotage The Seam's mission. It's what my gut is telling me, even though I don't have evidence to support it."
"I'm sorry…we just can't risk—"
"Take off my bioprint mask. Let me go in as me," I interrupt. "Give me the last biochip. I'll explain to him what's happening out here…I'll ask him to hand over the Glyph. Then you'll see he's not a traitor."
"Jazz, you can't go in there unmasked. Gaia is looking for us…we're flagged, remember? They'll know you're on the Grid and they'll—" Arco stops abruptly like he's deciding something, then shakes his head. "No, it's just too risky."
"It's not your decision, Arco. It's mine," I say, trying not to sound too clipped because I know he just wants to protect me, but this is the only way to get to the truth. I turn back to Tark. "Send me in at the climax of the cine…at the highest point of tension. You said that's where the Glyph would most likely be, right? Send me in, then pull me out. I won't need a lot of time if Liddick can see me as me."
"I've known that boy for six years," Azeris says, coming through the ring of consoles with his arm around Zoe. "He gave me a reason again after I thought I lost everything," he adds, looking down at her. "Never met anybody more loyal…and he loves that girl. Ain't no way he'd be the cause of any harm to her." Azeris nods to me, and heat explodes into sharp prickles down my back and up my throat. My heart starts pounding so hard I think it will crash through my ribs, so I take a deep breath and blow it out.
"Let me try to bring him back. Me…" I finally manage to say, looking Tark in the eyes just like I did when he tried to stare me down after the barbarian virtuo-cine in his class back at Gaia. I'm not backing down…I won't be intimidated.
"I'm going with her," Arco says, taking my hand, then leaning over to whisper into my hair. "I can't just watch you risk everything…I can't just stand by and do nothing. At least let me go with you."
I turn to face him. He's raising his eyebrows, genuinely asking me for this. I sigh, and he smiles, letting out the breath he was apparently holding.
"I still haven't turned anything into a dragon," Vox says. "Are you going to show me how to do that or what?" she adds, raising her chin at Eco. He laughs under his breath, the lights in his cheekbones flashing blue and white.
I laugh, too, feeling all the words I want to say get stuck in my tightening throat as Fraya passes the circle of consoles with Jax, then climbs into her chair as Myra and Lyden climb back into theirs, too.
"We're going back in with her," Fraya says. Tark shakes his head, but finally shrugs.
"Queue it back up," he says to the tech as he walks behind another console.
I turn back to Arco, speechless. He moves his hands over my face and looks at me hard, his hazel eyes lighting.
"Ready to go save the world?" he whispers. I swallow and nod again in reply. He leans in and kisses me this time, then strokes my cheek. "Then let's go save the world."
CHAPTER 47
Reset Register
Liddick
I can't get the image of Jazz out of my head, standing there just watching me. She called out to Vox…not Diaz, Vox. And I know I heard what I heard: You're in there, aren't you? It was Vox's voice. Could the programmers get her voice from my memories? What would be the point of it? She said, You're in there, aren't you? That has nothing to do with the propaganda in this stupid cine. It has nothing to do with the storyline at all. There's no agenda whatsoever to that…
"What's raking your coals?" Ridley asks as we follow Farrow deeper into the Hidden City, where the streets are darker and all the little white house structures have disappeared.
"Just a lot on my mind," I say.
"Like selling me out?"
I look straight into her eyes and decide that no, she's nothing like Jazz. How else does Ridley think we're going to get to talk to the Council Leader? This is win-win…she gets to sabotage this mission, and I get to flip the reset switch. Why is this hard? I can't say any of this with Farrow right in front of us, though, so she's just going to have to think I'm betraying her. I don't care…she doesn't even exist…why am I even thinking about this?
"You're taking us to the port-call room, right?" I ask Farrow, who is just a few steps ahead of us. He turns and looks down his long nose at me, then glances at Ridley, but doesn't answer. Something is wrong. "What's the status of the parmide repairs?" I say quickly over the comms, loud enough so Farrow can hear me.
"About 50% complete, si
r," Dr. Greene says.
"Hold right there. Resume on my command."
"Sir?"
"You heard me. Stop reconstruction of that wall. Resume on my command."
"Uh, yes, sir."
I stop walking. Farrow turns to face me, and I look up, studying his long, thin, chalky face. His wild, icy eyes are narrowed under his white brows like he knows something I don't, but he doesn't have any cards. I'm the one with something he wants, and I'm done playing games. I want out of this cine. I want to find Jazz.
"So, are we going to that port-call room, or what?"
"What is of such interest to you there?" Farrow asks, and Ridley nods.
"Yeah, what are you so bent about in that room?"
"Be quiet," I tell her. "And that's between the Councilman and me, Farrow. So you can take me there right now and deliver her to your superiors—she's the one responsible for blowing the hole in your wall in the first place…"
"Folger!" Ridley interrupts, trying to pull out of my grip, but I hold on tighter.
"Or…I can just let that hole stay open. The Hostile Zone is closing in; you knew that, right, Farrow? They should be only about a mile out by now."
Farrow's eyes go wide, almost as wide as Ridley's. I look away from her because she really does look like Jazz, but she's not Jazz. She's not even real.
"Folger, we were together on this," Ridley says, almost whispering, which feels like a spike right through the middle of my chest. I freeze for a second.
Don't tweak…she's just a character in a cine. Find the switch and get this over with, I think, pressing my teeth together.
"That wasn't me," I say, and it's true. My first memory of Ridley is nearly getting blown up with her. If Folger was her co-conspirator in betraying these people like she was insinuating back there with the crew, that happened before my boots were hitting the ground. There's nothing to feel guilty about here. Press on, I think.
Farrow studies my face again, and I try to keep my expression neutral. I'm the one with the power; he doesn't have a choice.
"All right," he finally says, then wraps his long, bony fingers around Ridley's arm. She winces, then tries to jerk out of his grip. I bite down harder to keep from reacting.
"Folger! You can't do this! Why!?"
I don't look at her because I know if I do, it will be all over. Farrow will see me crack and the power will shift again. I have to look like I don't care…and I don't, damnit. This is a cine. I don't care about this woman; she's not even real!
"So, what's it going to be, Farrow? You going to be a hero for your people, or are you going to let them get torn apart by savages?" I say, knowing he has no idea those savages are already unconscious and being treated by the surgeon crews from the ship.
"There's no one coming!" Ridley yells, and I close my eyes in a long blink, kicking myself for even thinking this …it must have made it part of the script—stupid storyboarder credential!
"Ridley, stow it! That's an order!" I yell, but it doesn't do any good.
"The surgeon crews are already deployed. The Hostile Zone is neutralized…they're already under treatment!" she follows, still struggling to get free of Farrow's grip.
His eyes dart to mine, and I know I have to talk fast: "She still blew the hole in your wall. Who do you think authorized the surgeon crews, Farrow? That was me. And all I have to do is make one call to stop them—one call to reverse the process…to reverse your treatment, and that of the entire protected population. Are you hearing me, Farrow? Take me to that port-call room!" I yell at him. I yell through him, and in a second, the map icon appears in the corner of my vision with a glowing arrow path in front of me.
I blink, and in that blink, Ridley finally manages to pull out of Farrow's grip. She starts running directly along the arrow path…how can she see that? Can she see that? I think? I take off after her as fast as I can, but it all seems like slow motion with Farrow just a few footsteps behind me.
Different holographic room layouts flash into my vision, and I swipe them away so I can keep my eyes on the glowing arrow path. Ridley must be able to see it because she follows it even when we come to a fork in the path, which has turned into a tunnel at some point. We veer left, and I feel Farrow's sharp fingers digging into my arm. I pick up my pace, and it falls away just as I nearly trip across the threshold at the end of the glowing arrow path. The Councilman is sitting behind a desk, wearing the same tan tunic he wore in the port-cloud call. Farrow moves to stand next to him in the hub.
"Liddick!" I hear, then see Jazz and Vox rush over the threshold with Hart, Fraya, and Myra in their wake.
"Stop!" I shout, pointing to them as I move toward the real Farrow, who's standing in the port-call hub not far from the desk. I pull out the neural baton that appears in my belt, and everything in my head that was racing a million miles an hour stops abruptly and crashes inside my skull. I raise the neural baton to the real Farrow, then catch my breath. "Where is it?" I say…but he just shakes his gaunt, oblong face at me. I kick the port-call hub, and the projection of him next to the Councilman disappears.
"Where is what?" the Councilman hisses. "You said you were here to help us."
"I'm here to help me," I shout at him, trying to keep everything straight. That's not Jazz. That's not any of them. But she just said my name…was that real?
"Folger, just do it! End this whole thing already so we can go home!" Ridley yells.
"Stop acting like you know me! You don't know me!" I yell back, looking from her to Jazz, not sure how they're both standing there or why And why am I generating Hart and the others? Ridley's eyes widen, and she shakes her head.
"What's wrong with you, Folger?" she asks, quietly this time.
"Captain, what's happening down there? Should we resume construction of the parmide wall?" Greene says over the comms. I don't answer her. This is all coming apart…I shut my eyes tight to make everything stop for a second.
"Liddick! Listen to me!" I hear Jazz's voice again, and a line of ice runs down my back. The programmers are getting desperate…I must be close. I am close…Reset Register, I think, then scan the dark walls in this hole in the ground. The reset box begins glowing on the wall just a few feet away, and my breath catches Finally…finally…I think, then throw the cover open.
Liddick! Stop! my brother says in my head…my brother? He's a Reader? Lyden comes from nowhere and pushes past the others. He holds out both hands to me like I'm about to jump off a bridge or something.
"Get out of my head!" I shout, reaching for the lever inside the box. I look at him hard, but I can't control my focus, which goes in and out, changing from images of him to blue code. Lines of red text scroll, then disappear again. I can't hold my eyes still long enough to read it, but I know that red means the code has been encrypted…That's not Lyden. None of them are real. I reach for the lever again. "Go away! Get out of my head!" I shout at them again, but hear Jazz one more time.
Liddick, I know you're in there! I know it's you! She thinks. I turn to see her running into my arms, throwing hers around my neck and holding on tight. It's her…it's really her.
"Rip?" I say into her hair, hearing my voice crack. She nods, then pulls back, smiling with tears running down her face.
I want to believe it. It's the only thing I want to believe, but it's all a lie. I know it's a lie when Vox rushes toward the lever suddenly riding some kind of enormous green lizard with wings. I can only shake my head because it's too ridiculous even for her. No, they're all Glyphs. The programmers have already hijacked my thoughts, and now they must know I'm about to shut this propaganda split show down. I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot for believing you! I shout in my head to all these Glyphs, then grip the lever as hard as I can and pull.
CHAPTER 48
To Save the World
Jazz
I climb into my virtuo-cine chair last, then immediately sit up.
"Wait! What about the biochip to patch the last Glyph?" I ask.
"Since the Glyph
revealed itself to Ms. Dyer, her chip will have the best chance of grafting. Just get her close, Ms. Ripley," Tark says.
"Jazwyn…thank you," Liam says. The blond tips of his hair fall into his eyes when he nods to me, making the dark roots visible. He pushes them back, just like Liddick does.
"He'd do the same for me…for any of us," I say. Liam presses his lips into a line that is on its way to a smile until he presses it harder into place.
"What happens if this doesn't work?" Fraya asks. "I mean, what happens to Liddick?"
"We won't have any way to trace him unless we get that origin lock…but that will require physical contact for more than five seconds. 20, at least. Even then, that only gives us his launch point. When he disconnects from the Grid, he'll be a ghost again," Calyx answers.
"We'll find a way to track him Jazwyn. I promise you that," Liam says. "Just find him and let me do the rest."
"Let us do the rest." My dad grips Liam's shoulder as Azeris moves to his other side.
"Patch that Glyph first and foremost, do you understand? Without that, we're back at square one," Tark adds, sobering everyone to the task at hand.
"All right, you're going to be dropping at the climax of Transcendence, so be ready. Things may be abrupt," Calyx says just before a man's voice starts counting down.
"Ready for drop in three…two…"
I close my eyes, but instead of seeing dark, I see bright light that disappears as quickly as it comes. Lieutenant Cathcart is standing next to the now halfway repaired hole in the street with the desert on the other side. He looks totally bewildered.
"Where did the captain go?" I ask, already out of breath somehow.
"He's with Ridley…they were both following Farrow down that corridor," Cathcart says, then starts talking over the comms to the ship. "All right, please confirm, you have stopped parmide wall repair on the captain's order?"