“Dawn, are you ready?” Origen asked, casting a gaze of contempt at Adam just for good measure. While he was furious that the Council had listened to Dawn and allowed Adam into the Resistance, he had to admit, he was also curious as to whether or not Dawn was right about the man’s true identity.
Dawn nodded as a loud siren could be heard sounding out into Avalon.
“We’re calling the people,” she explained to Adam. “It’s time to go to war. We’ll discuss your specific assignments after I address the troops. If I’m right, marching on New Omaha is only the beginning of your work in the Resistance. Don’t leave my sight.”
Adam stood and removed his headset, tossing it to Alrisha. He was torn between several desires: his desire to tell the first real story of his life, his desire to live out the week—and his surprising, quickly growing desire for Dawn. As a journalist, being in the battle would be the ultimate experience of his life so far. This siege was the result of centuries of work. Dawn was correct, to leave the battle out of his Newsreel would be folly. He would need to march to New Omaha in order to capture the entire operation. But killing someone? That was a different matter, one he’d have to give more thought to, but later. Right now he could do nothing else but follow Dawn out of the room. He wanted to remain as close to her as possible.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Adam followed the crowd through the Control Center, down several hallways and out into the engineering cavern. Dawn and Origen stood purposefully in the center of the room, where all the vehicles and weapons of war stood ready. Adam remained at the periphery, blending in with the crowd.
Avalon’s inhabitants poured into the cavern like ants from various entryways and directions.
Dawn scaled a metal ladder leaning against an enormous, armed SpiderScout. She stood atop the machine, her legs shoulder-width apart, one hand on her hip, the other holding an ElectroShock gun. She was still wearing her black rain suit, yet she had undone her hair, which now fell around her face. Her green eyes were lit with an intensity Adam had never seen in any eHuman.
The people of Avalon stood at the base of the SpiderScout, their upturned faces gazing at their leader with the same awe that Adam felt. They worshipped her like a goddess of war, as she raised her gun above her head and called them to attention.
“People of Avalon,” she began, “The time has come to inform you of the next stage of our operation. Insurrection has now officially begun!”
The crowd began to cheer and whoop it up.
“Long have we lived in the shadow of a corrupt government, underground, like rats in a sewer, waiting for our chance to rise up and confront the tyranny! That time has come, my friends! Our time to extinguish the flames of control and corruption is now! We must unite, across the globe, to drive our enemy to ruin!
“You know who that enemy is. It’s the World Government, hell bent on unplugging us and killing our brothers and sisters as we speak! Millions in the Chinese Province are dead! Russia is beginning to suffer the same fate—and now New Omaha is on the chopping block. Why would the WG massacre these innocents? Because the people are waking up! They desire to join us! And in answer, the WG is taking their lives!
“No longer will the Resistance idly stand by! Today we launch Operation Insurrection! We will take New Omaha and cities across the globe from the Guardians and those who seek to manipulate us. We will release the citizens from the spell of Neuro and awaken the world to the treachery around them! Today we will empty Avalon and go out to create a new world, one where freedom of thought is ours again! A world where we can walk under the sun, forever powered by its life-giving source!
“Rise up with me, Avalon! Death might take us, but it will be a most glorious death! This is what we have been preparing for these hundreds of years! To the light of day we take our cause, our anger—and our power!"
As Dawn ended her speech, the crowd went wild. In their moment of passion they pledged themselves to the beautiful leader, cheering her and chanting, “Power! Power!” over and over again. Their admiration and dedication filled the cavern and poured out into the corridors, cascading through the halls of Avalon like a flood. In spite of himself, Adam was swept up in the emotions and began crying out, “Power!” with the crowd.
He feared what was about to come, but he couldn’t imagine it any other way. From now on, his destiny was with Dawn and the Resistance. Never, in all his long life, had Adam Winter seen such a powerful figure.
A tight grip on his shoulder forced him to turn away from her. Origen held him only inches from his own face. He’d noticed the way that Adam gazed upon Dawn in adoration. Thankfully for Origen, the time had finally come to deal with this intrusion in his life named Adam Winter.
“Come with me,” Origen said gruffly to Adam, “Dawn has called a private meeting.”
“Why?” Adam demanded, forcefully shrugging off Origen’s grip.
“Because, it’s time we discover who you really are, Adam Winter—once and for all.”
Adam was a man of imagination and inquisition. After all, investigating mystery was a part of his livelihood as a reporter. So he followed Origen, not because he felt called to obey the Resistance Leader, but because his curiosity, once again, got the better of him.
It was time for Adam to take a trip down memory lane.
As Origen walked the empty hall with Adam Winter at his side, he hoped with all his might that the man’s database contained no memories in connection with the Dawn Project, or the Resistance. Adam Winter couldn’t be the one they were looking for.
Origen ushered him into a small room that contained a terminal with a keyboard, large EC suspended from the ceiling, and a plug in the wall. Cane and Alrisha stood in front the EC. Origen crossed the room to stand beside them, leaving Adam alone by the door. The contrast between Origen’s white dreadlocks, Cane’s long, metallic red hair, and Alrisha’s purple skin was stunning. They stood in silence, obviously waiting for Dawn, who had not yet appeared. Adam wondered what was taking her so long.
“Why are we here?” he stammered, “And where’s Dawn?”
The room remained uncomfortably quiet. Eventually, Origen spoke.
“When we brought you to Avalon, we held a Council Meeting to discuss your admission into the Resistance,” he began, his contemptuous drawl accentuating each word, “Dawn shared critical information with us that, if true, might make you less...disposable.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Adam demanded.
At that moment, Dawn entered the room. The heels of her elegant, sturdy, black shoes clicked and clacked against the granite floor as she strode across the room to stand next to her colleagues. The door closed behind her with a slight thud. Her golden hair was plaited and twisted up atop her head. Gone was the goddess of war. She now looked commanding in a rather military and orderly way.
“I have reason to believe that your memory files may contain data vital to defeating the WG,” she said, simply.
“That’s insane!” Adam said, “I was a machinist before the Great Shift. I highly doubt that there’s anything important in my database, Dawn. I’d never even heard of you or the Resistance until a week ago, when you forced your way into my life!”
Dawn winced at his words, and Adam instantly regretted his outburst.
“Just get on with it,” Origen growled, “I’m tired of wondering if this fool is really the one we’ve been looking for all these years!”
“The one you’ve been looking for? Dawn, what is he talking about?” Adam pleaded.
“It’s slightly complicated,” Dawn began. In spite of the somber mood in the room, a small light of excitement shown in her eyes. “It involves taking a trip into the past. Remember Dr. Neville? Due to the mounting evidence of complete memory loss after a Jump, Guardian Networks management decided Dr. Neville would be the last person to Jump. No one at Guardian Networks wanted to risk losing any of the information in Dr. Neville’s brain. So he agreed to remain behind and continue working i
n the flesh until the project was secure enough for him to Jump.
“Unfortunately, the government mandated murder of those who didn’t choose the eHuman form. The subsequent totalitarian rise of the WG forced Dr. Neville to go underground and found the Resistance. Our organization didn’t have Jump technology at that time. Eventually, the inevitable happened. Dr. Neville died.”
“I don’t see what this has to do with me,” Adam interrupted. All the mystery was making him uncomfortable.
“It was unfortunate that Dr. Neville didn’t get to Jump,” Dawn continued, ignoring Adam’s admonishment, “He was the only person in the Resistance who truly knew what life was like before the Great Shift. Most of the history archived on our servers comes from his knowledge. Just before he died, he told me he had one more thing to share. He said the information was crucial to our success.”
Dawn paused and looked intensely at Adam. Her gaze sent chills down his metal spine.
“You already know that before the Great Shift I was a young woman named Sophia Castalogna,” Dawn continued, never taking her eyes from Adam, “During my sophomore year of college, I met a young man named Elijah Prince and fell in love with him.”
“Prince?” Adam asked.
“Yes, Adam. Elijah was the son of Edgar. Edgar Prince.”
Adam was shocked. Dawn knew Edgar Prince?
“The Princes were the high tech dynasty of that age. Edgar Prince not only owned Guardian Networks, but also several publishing firms, recording labels, and mining rights to various minerals such as salt, diamonds and oil. Because of their wealth and power, the Princes didn’t have to act like ordinary people. A Prince male could sleep with whomever he wanted— but Elijah wasn’t allowed to give his heart to a regular, common girl like me.”
“So…what happened?” Adam’s reporter’s curiosity was beginning to take hold.
“We were in love. It was mutual. Regardless of Edgar’s disapproval, Elijah and I were determined to continue our affair.”
“Dawn, please. I don’t see how your love affair from ages ago has anything to do with gaining control of Neuro,” Adam said. Was listening to Dawn confess her love for this Elijah making him uncomfortable? He glanced at Origen and could tell by the look in the man’s yellow eyes that it made him uncomfortable as well.
Dawn walked toward the plug in the wall. She turned to face Adam and stepped backwards, plugging herself in.
“Let’s begin with the day Dawn was born,” she said.
The EC crackled to life and a beautiful girl came into focus on the screen. She sat in an oversized chair. Her messy brown hair fell into her blue eyes as she nervously tried to flick it out of her face with her delicate hands. She was hauntingly familiar to Adam. Tears streamed down her freckled face, leaving trails from her eyes to her red lips.
“eHumans can’t cry,” Adam whispered to himself. He was gazing upon a human of the flesh. He stared at her in awe. He couldn’t recall having seen one before.
“Go on, Sophia,” a deep voice called from out of view, “We’re recording.”
“You’ll save the file in…my eHuman body?” she asked innocently.
“Yes. Say what you need to. I promise, I’ll get the file into your database. It will be encrypted. Only you will have the key. You’ll always remember who you were,” the male voice reassured her.
The girl drew in a huge breath and then began to speak.
“Elijah,” she cried, “If you’re seeing this, I’ve been successful. We’ve found each other in the eHuman world! I don’t have long to speak. Dr. Neville needs time to download this video into the memory file of my new eHuman body before I Jump—which is in just one hour. Oh my God!”
The girl stopped speaking and began to cry. The video cut off for a moment, beginning again once she has regained control.
“Elijah,” she continued, her voice filled with a deep sadness, “When you and I first met, it was love at first sight. You know as much as I do that your father was against us from the start. What I didn’t tell you is that Edgar threatened me the day you brought me to your estate to meet him. He told me I was to end the relationship—or else he would find me and end it himself.
“Oh, Elijah! I just ignored him. I didn’t want to tell you. I know you love your father. But our days were numbered. One night I was followed home from the library. Men threatened to kill me and all my family if I didn’t break up with you. I went to your apartment the next day. I was so frightened, Elijah. I was going to let you know what had happened—but instead of you I found your father. Edgar made it plain. He knew you. He knew as long as I was alive, you’d pursue me. He offered me two choices, Elijah. This is one. The other was death for me and my family.
“What could I do? Your father’s assistants brought me to Stanford. They didn’t mistreat me, except for the cruelest thing of all, my love. He wouldn’t let me say goodbye to you. Stanford hasn’t been all bad, Elijah. I’m treated well. In some ways working as a test subject on this project has been very rewarding. But I’ve missed you and my family every moment of every day.
“Three years into the project it was decided that I was to become Dawn—the first eHuman. I admit I was excited, Elijah! To be immortal is a dream beyond belief. In many ways this opportunity makes me feel powerful and important. I’m going to help bring eternal peace and prosperity to the world!”
The young girl—Sophia—paused, a faraway look in her eyes. Adam felt a deep sadness as he realized just how different the eHuman world had turned out. Sophia did bring peace and prosperity, but at a price. Adam glanced at Dawn and for the first time really felt the guilt she carried every moment of her overly long life.
“But this evening,” Sophia continued, “only hours before the Jump, you came to me Elijah. You rushed into my room, surprised to see that the test subject was me. You tried to convince me to escape. I’m so sorry, Elijah—I hesitated. I hesitated, Elijah! It’s terrible. I’m so ashamed. But I want to be Dawn, I do. And while I tried to tell you this...” the girl stopped and began to cry again.
“It’s okay, Sophia,” Dr. Neville could be heard saying, “It isn’t your fault.”
“But if I had gone with Elijah right away, we’d still be together!” she screamed.
“No, Sophia. The university guards would have caught up with you,” the doctor explained, trying to soothe the distraught girl.
“Elijah,” she cried, looking out into the camera, and as a result seemed to search Adam’s own eyes, “I’m sorry. Forgive me, please. I wanted to leave with you. But guards came. They tore us apart. They held me and dragged you away. I don’t know where they’ve taken you! I don’t even know if you’re alive! I hope with all my heart your family name will keep you safe. And now I sit here, counting down the moments until I leave this body.
“I don’t know if I’ll survive the Jump, Elijah. But if I do, I promise: I’ll do everything in my power to find you. Thanks to Dr. Neville, I’ll remember this moment forever, no matter what happens to me as an eHuman. I’ll remember how much you mean to me. Thank you for coming to me, Elijah. Thank you for our last kiss. I’ll love you for all time—even as an eHuman. Nothing can make me forget you!”
The video ended and the EC went dark. Adam felt a stab of pain at the sudden departure of the girl’s face. He turned to see Dawn unplugging herself from the wall.
“I became Dawn that morning,” she said, her voice hoarse and cracked, “Twenty-one years later, just before Dr. Neville died, he gave me the encryption key. He’d used Scattering, which made the memory location where the file was stored look empty and random, but protected from being erased or written over. The Guardians never found it.
“Before his death, Dr. Neville gave me a mission. He told me to find Elijah Prince within Neuro and bring him to the Resistance—the same key he gave me would unlock a video planted in Elijah. His video would complete my story and unite the two of us in the eHuman world.
“Dr. Neville said what he programmed into Elijah’s d
atabase is the answer to defeating Neuro. To protect Elijah and me, Dr. Neville didn’t know the secret human identity Elijah used when he Jumped. He also didn’t know the identity he took as an eHuman. The only clues Dr. Neville could give me were that Elijah would choose a position in the eHuman world that would give him the chance to expose his father—and that Elijah wouldn’t Jump into a new eHuman body until the information stored in him was delivered to the Resistance. In order to accomplish this important task, Dr. Neville put a lock inside of Elijah’s eHuman personality program that would prevent him from ever having the desire to Jump into a new eHuman body. That would preserve the video, and the code that is essential to gaining control of Neuro.”
Dawn paused. This was so much harder than she had anticipated. The perplexed look upon Adam’s face didn’t make it any easier. He stared at her like she were crazy.
“Do you think I’m Elijah?” Adam asked, “That’s insane! What would give you that idea?”
Dawn didn’t know how to answer, Adam’s agitation had caught her off guard. Alrisha took the opportunity to excitedly share her own thoughts.
“We’re getting to that!” Alrisha cried out, “After Dr. Neville’s death, Dawn confided in me. I began working on a data mining algorithm that might find Elijah amongst the billions of eHumans within Neuro. A primary condition was to search for those without a Jump history. That was over one hundred years ago.
“Back then, the list was long. People were still enamored with themselves and their immortality. Given all the other work we had to do to found the Resistance, and the fact that we didn’t have anything else to go on, I abandoned the search actively. Instead, I just let the algorithm run on my server in the background. About ten years ago, the algorithm alerted me; it had a list that seemed reasonable to parse.
“The name Phillip Kingsley was one of the few thousand potential candidates on the list. I thought the last name Kingsley might be a play on Prince. Even more interesting was the fact that Phillip had Jumped only once, and that was into the eHuman named Adam Winter, who just happened to be a popular Newsreel host in New Omaha—the closest eHuman city to Avalon!”
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