by Eliza Green
‘Doesn’t matter which one I hit,’ she said. ‘We need this to be over. They’re not prepared for us. They didn’t send enough.’
She fired at one male Indigene who had a Conditioned in a choke hold. His body resembled a blur of light as he clutched his victim. The fight slowed immediately and the Indigene looked up at her—or rather Simon—just as she fired again. The Indigene jerked and convulsed then fell to the ground while the Conditioned, with a sizeable burn mark on his torso, collapsed next to him. Simon ran over to the Conditioned and checked his pulse before Tanya could stop him. He couldn’t feel one.
Collateral, said Tanya before she issued a vocal command to the others. ‘Let’s get inside.’
Tanya ran down the stone steps. To get this far felt too easy. Stephen must have seen this and taken measures farther inside.
‘We’ll find out soon enough,’ said Tanya.
Simon was sick of Elite One listening in on all his thoughts.
They gathered outside a door. Three Conditioned males milled around it, checking it over.
What are they doing? Simon asked Tanya.
‘You and I were unable to use the mind mapping, but their empty brains could accept the information. These three are structural engineers—temporary ones anyway.’
It didn’t take the trio long to get through the door. Tanya shoved Marcus through and Simon felt a new pressure on his chest when he passed through the environmental force field. Waiting on the other side were several Indigenes armed with Buzz Guns.
‘Oh my God, do you feel that?’ Tanya looked around, seemingly oblivious to the fact weapons were being pointed at them. ‘The Nexus. It’s so powerful. I can feel it calling me.’
Simon heard her laugh inside his head. Then he felt something, a tugging on his mind. An attempt to bend his will.
Serena.
‘The Nexus is a hostile place, Tanya. It will kill foreign bodies.You must not go there.’
The tugging increased and with it he sensed Tanya’s growing doubt. ‘Yes, I believe it will kill me. But I don’t understand A moment ago, it called to me.’
‘It’s how it lures you to it, with the promise of power. But when you get there, it rips away the pleasure and leaves you borderline psychotic.’
The tugging, the bending increased the more Simon talked. Serena could be anywhere.
‘Who’s anywhere?’ said Tanya.
His mind clouded over until he couldn’t remember his last thought.
‘I don’t know. But it’s a bad idea to go to the Nexus. We both risk losing our minds.’
‘Maybe you’re right...’
One of the Conditioned grabbed her weapon suddenly and fired into the group of armed Indigenes. That broke the spell and Tanya made Simon’s body lunge for the weapon to reclaim it.
She shook Simon’s head. ‘What happened?’
Simon’s thoughts remained fuzzy but Tanya’s were sharpening with every second.
‘Never mind,’ she said.
She fired again at the group, who no longer moved. Simon heard voices descending on their location.
He felt Tanya’s panic. ‘Which way to the Nexus?’
Simon pushed against his arm but it lifted and pointed to a tunnel ahead.
‘Your mind remembers the way. I can see the tranquillity cave now.’
She ordered half of the Elite to give their weapons over to the Conditioned. The non-vessels would protect them.
The group stepped over the unmoving bodies of the Indigenes. Simon pulled Tanya back to a human body—Marcus. He struggled to breathe in the thin air.
What about him? Simon said, losing power over his voice again.
‘He’s fulfilled his usefulness. There’s nothing I can do for him now.’
There was one thing. Before Tanya could stop him, Simon dragged him outside the containment field until Marcus gasped and drew in new air. Then Tanya reclaimed control of him and they walked on.
‘You’re too soft, Simon.’
Serena’s influence got stronger the farther inside the district they got. The armed Conditioned made light work of any Indigenes who stood in their way. Their group entered the core, a central space inside the district. Simon was surprised to find it empty. He wondered if their efforts had been redirected to protecting the tranquillity caves.
How many caves are there, Simon? said Tanya in his mind.
I don’t know. I was only in one of them.
She pressed against his thoughts as though she didn’t believe him and was checking for herself. You’re telling the truth. You know the way to one, so that’s the cave we hit.
Simon resisted her advance, but the longer she occupied his mind the stronger she got.
There’s no use in fighting me.
She marched him into the tunnel that Simon knew would lead them to the cave. They emerged at the other end to find a blocked, but unguarded, tranquillity cave entrance.
Tanya pulled him towards it. ‘I can feel its raw power through the floor. I can’t wait to get inside.’
Simon felt the vibrations too. It surprised him to find nobody there to stop them. Given how easily the Elite’s guns had disabled the other Indigenes, maybe it was better they stayed away. In such a small, confined space outside the cave, the electricity from a shot would bounce around too much.
Those Conditioned who were not armed dismantled the rocks blocking the cave until they’d removed enough to squeeze through. Serena’s influence felt stronger here. She pressed on his will again.
‘Now I know what she feels like, I can fight her off,’ said Tanya.
Three armed Conditioned shimmied inside the space. Simon went next and found Stephen, Arianna, Serena, Clement and Gabriel waiting for them on the other side.
‘Stop her, Simon,’ said Serena.
‘I can’t. She’s too strong,’ he replied.
Serena wore the neurosensor. She pushed harder, attempting to bend his will.
The Nexus is painful. The Nexus will destroy anything it does not recognise.
His desire to flee from the pain overwhelmed him, but Tanya pushed him farther inside the room. ‘A little pain never hurt anyone.’
The other Elite stayed outside while three armed Conditioned fanned out to protect Tanya in Simon’s body.
‘Let me pass and you will live,’ she said to the Indigenes.
‘I can’t do that,’ said Stephen. ‘My duty as elder is to protect the Indigenes in this district.’
Tanya laughed. ‘From what, an old woman? All I want is a little of your power.’
‘What you want is to transcend.’
Tanya shrugged Simon’s shoulders. ‘Yes, that too. But this could be over without more injuries or deaths.’
Serena continued to push her will on to Simon’s mind. His mind bent while Tanya’s resisted.
‘You can stop that now, dear. I know what you feel like and I can resist.’
Serena huffed out a long breath as if the effort to influence had drained her.
‘You will let me pass,’ said Tanya.
Stephen stepped in front of her. ‘No.’
While Tanya was distracted, Simon looked around at the dozens of floor units.
‘You can’t be everywhere in this room, Stephen,’ said Tanya, snapping Simon’s head back. ‘You can’t protect all of the units.’
Serena, Arianna, Clement and Gabriel fanned out around the room.
‘But maybe we can,’said Serena.
Simon heard commotion outside and Bill’s voice. ‘Take their weapons!’
Tanya loosened her hold on Simon and in that short moment, someone charged him and knocked him to the ground. He hit it with a thud and a breath escaped his lungs.
An alert Tanya shoved Anton off her and scrambled back just as Gabriel, Arianna and Clement surrounded the armed Conditioned. A tousle with one caused a weapon to fire and sent all three flying.
‘Arianna!’ someone cried.
It was Anton. He scrambled to where she lay u
nconscious or dead—Simon couldn’t tell.
Stephen and Serena were also distracted by Arianna’s misfortune. While they weren’t looking, Tanya crawled to the nearest hole. He wanted to shout out, to warn Stephen that Tanya was too close, but his voice box no longer listened to his command.
She slid into the hole and at the bottom, he landed on his neck. Through the pain, Tanya forced him to sit. A figure landed on all fours beside him in the hole. It was Stephen. He hauled Simon up the stone steps.
‘You won’t succeed, Tanya,’ he grunted.
Simon’s eyes closed as Tanya initiated the procedure for connecting to the Nexus—a memory of seeing Stephen perform and explain the process. Stephen had a hand around his neck and was dragging him out of the unit.
Simon saw the Nexus reach out for him. Tendrils, fatter than the ones the machine in the environ attracted, slipped through a golden lattice. With Stephen’s hand squeezing his airwave, Simon couldn’t breathe. He wanted to shout at Stephen, Kill me. If he were dead, Tanya would die too. Snap my neck, break the connection. The words remained in his head. He had lost control. He was just a passenger now.
Simon slipped out of Stephen’s grip; he tumbled back down. Stephen scrambled after him and pinned Simon’s body down on the cold, hard floor. With a grunt, he jammed his knee into Simon’s neck and put all his weight behind it.
Simon, still with his eyes closed, saw Stephen’s efforts as his body hovered over the scene, but also the Nexus tendril that hovered next to his arm.
The tendril waited, almost as if it hesitated to take him. Tanya gave one final push, then Simon heard a soft giggle as the tendril wrapped around his arm. One pull, then another. Her energy—his energy—merged with the fat strand of light.
Tanya had made it inside the Nexus.
45
Stephen lost his grip on Simon. He scrambled next to him on the unit floor and tried to break his connection with the Nexus. A dead body would give off no energy. He heard Simon’s neck crack and opened Simon’s eyes to see they were lifeless. He sat back with a huff, certain he’d made it in time.
Eager to put distance between Simon and the Nexus, Stephen hoisted his body over his shoulder and carried him to the top, where he lay him down on the floor above.
Bill squeezed through the barricade. ‘I have the others rounded up. Did you stop—?’
Bill’s words cut off as he took in the scene. He slid to the floor next to Simon’s body.
He grabbed his old boss’s face and shook it, then pressed two fingers to Simon’s neck. ‘I can’t feel a pulse.’
Stephen glanced over at where the three armed Conditioned fought with Anton, Serena and a recovered Gabriel. A shot was discharged from one gun, followed by a ‘No!’ from Anton just as Gabriel fell to the floor next to Clement and Arianna, who still weren’t moving.
Stephen stared at Bill. ‘Help them.’
Bill scrambled over to the fight with a Buzz Gun in his hand. He gave a sharp whistle, and that’s when Stephen saw an armed ITF member slip inside the room. His gun discharged and frightened one of the Conditioned enough to drop his gun. The others stopped fighting and Serena and Anton quickly disarmed them. Bill kept his weapon pointed at their group of three. One of the Conditioned who’d been restrained outside the door glanced at Simon on the floor. He looked weary, as though the fight had been drained from him, his mission somehow complete. Eight others with similar weary expressions smiled, and nodded.
Stephen’s gaze shot to the presumed-dead Simon. He pressed his fingers to his neck and felt a pulse. It was weak.
‘Serena!’ Stephen called.
She ran over, slipping on the floor and landing on her backside. She slapped Simon’s face.
‘I think he’s inside,’ said Stephen. ‘I don’t know how... I killed him. The Nexus doesn’t take dead bodies.’
Serena peeled open his eyes. ‘He probably wasn’t dead at the time.’ She removed her fingers; his eyes sprang back closed. ‘We need to go in after him. It’s not too late.’
Stephen got to his feet and told Anton and Bill their plan. His eyes found an unconscious Arianna and Gabriel, who had both been hit with a close-range bolt of electricity. Clement stirred on the floor. Anton checked them over.
How are they? he asked Anton.
Not good. But we don’t have time to discuss this. Hurry, and get them out of there.
Stephen nodded at Serena and they each took a unit. At the bottom, Stephen closed his eyes and concentrated on the lattice. He waited impatiently for the Nexus to come get him. Amid his unsettled mind, the tendril danced before him but wouldn’t latch on to his energy.
‘I don’t have time for this.’
He grabbed the tendril, which delivered a shock. But he fought the pain to hold on. The Nexus tried to release itself from his grip, but then yanked him inside as if it were irritated with him.
Stephen rode the rough treatment of the abusive tendril until he was safely inside. Not waiting for Serena, he searched the dull Nexus space, which had no users connected—he had ordered all other users out—and saw a single energy waiting in the space the curved Nexus wall surrounded.
‘Simon!’ he called out.
The energy turned to him. The Nexus had not yet found his energy. At least that was something.
Serena floated to his side. ‘Is he responding?’
‘Not yet. Simon! If you can hear me, follow my voice out.’
There was no answer. That didn’t surprise him. He had no idea how much control Simon still had. But his energy was still intact, which meant Simon and Tanya were still one. When Anton had been possessed by an imprint of Charles Deighton, their energies had split when they got inside. But this time felt different to back then.
‘We’ve been here once before, Stephen,’ said Serena.
‘This isn’t quite the same. We had help the last time, more users to call upon. I couldn’t risk it this time. I can’t be sure what her altered presence will do to the Nexus.’
The Nexus became agitated, which manifested as a strong ripple that ran the length of its wall.
‘We didn’t have the new Nexus back then. I can use it to control them,’ said Serena.
Stephen looked at her bright and beautiful energy. ‘You’re right. We still have time. Simon’s joined energy hasn’t figured out how to interact with the wall yet. Let’s try it.’
46
Tanya became too strong for him, too giddy, from the moment she felt the power inside the Nexus. It was an addictive feeling, being that close to all this power. Simon had felt its strength without even trying the Nexus. Now Tanya was not only experiencing its power for herself but also accessing his memories of Stephen explaining how it worked.
‘In order for this to work we must connect to the wall. That’s where it holds its greatest power,’ she said, drawing on information from Stephen’s prior explanation.
She pushed Simon closer to the wall, but the nearer they got the more sluggish their movements became.
‘Why are you fighting this?’ said Tanya. ‘This is how it has to be.’
Simon wasn’t fighting anything. From the moment they had entered the Nexus, his mind had weakened to the point where he controlled nothing. Tanya was in the driver’s seat now. She just didn’t realise it.
‘Well, answer me!’
She must have lost the ability to read his thoughts when they entered the Nexus. At least he would leave this world with just his thoughts in his head.
Another voice came through. It was Stephen. We won’t let that happen.
How? he replied.
The Nexus amplifies connections in here. We can hear you, but not her.
Can she hear you? said Simon.
I don’t think so. Serena is here too. She’s commanding the Nexus to protect itself. That’s why you feel a resistance. It has put up a barrier.
Tanya was getting impatient. ‘Simon!’
He had no choice but to answer her. ‘I’m not stopping you. This
place is.’
She turned their joined energies towards the wall. ‘Or your friends are. They know I’m too strong for this place. Help me to fight the Nexus’ barrier.’
Tanya used his energy as a battering ram to fight against the force of the Nexus. The force slowed his body and mind down too much for him to do anything. If his body had connected instead of his mind, like up top in the environ, he was sure the raw Nexus power would have crushed him by now.
It’s why we exist in energy form, said Stephen. The Nexus is powerful. What you saw in the environ would only have been a fraction of this. Keep fighting the Nexus. Serena will command it to see you as an enemy.
I have no control over my energy in here.
Try, Simon.
He did, but to little avail. He felt like a rag doll, being positioned and repositioned wherever the owner wanted. He couldn’t drag Tanya away from the wall.
‘Push harder,’ Tanya commanded, and with that the impediment on his energy lessened. ‘Feel that?’ she said. ‘It’s weakening.’
It’s weakening! Simon shouted to Stephen.
We know, Stephen replied. Serena’s trying to strengthen it. Just hold on.
Tanya was back inside his head. ‘I can feel it giving in. It’s curious about me. It wants me to join. Whatever is stopping it won’t hold out.’
That’s what Simon feared.
We can’t maintain the barrier. It’s weakening, said Stephen.
Tanya thinks the Nexus is curious.
That’s it, said Stephen. If we can distract the Nexus, it might back off long enough for us to disconnect your body from the outside.
Simon watched as a lone energy floated to the opposite side of the curved wall that Tanya was trying to access. The Nexus’ defence firmed up as it tracked the lone energy. Serena, he presumed.
‘We’re losing it,’ said Tanya. ‘We need its attention back on us.’
She backed their joint energy up and charged at the wall. The Nexus’ defences slipped enough for it to refocus on them.