EHuman Dawn

by Nicole Sallak Anderson

  The people in the room stood and applauded Adam. He’d done his job—yet for Adam himself, the moment was torture. Images of Sophia, Elijah, Prometheus, and Edgar Prince ran on repeat within his mind. He felt as though he was going to shut down right then and there. Fighting the urge to flee from the room, he turned to Dawn.

  “Please,” he begged her, using their private TeleSpeak link, “Get me the hell out of here.”

  Dawn immediately turned the meeting over to Origen and excused herself and Adam. As soon as the pair exited the room, Adam began to run with all his might towards the nearest door. He didn’t know where he was going. He simply needed to get away. All his systems were on overload. He reached the front doors to the Capitol building and without thinking, thrust them open and flung himself outside—into the most public place in the city.

  Adam gazed at the queues of eHumans forming in grassy mall before the building. The haze of the hot July sun beat down mercilessly on their plasticine heads. They were agitated, but not by the impossible midwestern summer heat and humidity. A siege had just taken place in their city. Each of them wanted to know what the hell was going on. It was the least private place in the universe. And yet, the commotion seemed to calm him. Adam turned to look at Dawn and shrugged.

  “Well,” he said, “We knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

  She nodded, overwhelmed by the frustration of the people before her and her need to shield Adam from their hostilities. He didn’t seem stable at the moment. Her vision of today’s victory had been very different. Yes, she knew that the people were unaware of their peril, but some small part of her had longed for a savior’s welcome—the people greeting her as their leader and with applause. Instead, they herded before her, grumbling and groaning about having to be parted from their latest Virtual Programming show.

  From his vantage point on the Capitol building steps, it also appeared to Adam that the population didn’t seem pleased with this major intrusion into their otherwise pleasant lives.

  At that moment, a familiar face caught his eye.

  Jill.

  She immediately shoved her way through the crowd and up the capitol stairs, a mixture of anger and relief on her face.

  “Adam!” she cried as she approached him, grabbing him forcefully and shaking him, “Where the hell have you been? You left, out of the blue, with just a message on the EC? I thought you were out on an assignment! You said you might not come back! Now you’re here! What the hell is going on?”

  Adam shrugged her hands from his body and smoothed his shirt nervously. In the excitement of the past few days, he’d forgotten all about her, and every other person he’d ever known in the city.

  “I was out on a story,” he began, wondering how he could explain what he’d experienced to her. It seemed like an eternity had passed since he’d left the apartment and set out on his journey with Dawn. “And my investigations led me to the Resistance, which led me right back to New Omaha.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Jill demanded, “Are you back for good?”

  At that moment she noticed Dawn protectively reach out and take Adam’s hand into her own. Immediately she sensed Dawn’s claim on her former lover. Jealousy quickly replaced any feelings of concern she’d had for the man.

  “Adam, who is this woman?” Jill demanded. For some reason her face seemed familiar.

  “Jill, this is Dawn, the leader of the Resistance. Dawn, this is Jill, one of my former housemates,” Adam replied, feeling incredibly more uncomfortable with every second the two women spent in one another’s company.

  “Housemate?” Dawn asked, knowing full well that the woman before her had a much more intimate claim on Adam than merely sharing a dwelling.

  “Leader of the Resistance?” Jill asked incredulously. She was no fool, and she knew Adam all too well. The pieces of the puzzle began to fit together within her mind.

  “You’re the woman from the harem!” Jill accused, “The other night. When Adam and I were about to engage in, well—you interrupted us!”

  Shame began to course through Adam’s entire being. The incident had been embarrassing enough, but given his attraction and desire for Dawn, and his newfound history with her, he wanted to forget that their first contact had been in a Pleasure Zone App. Worse yet, he could see where Jill’s thoughts were going, but there was nothing in his power to stop the envious woman’s tirade.

  “You left to follow this woman!” Jill accused Adam, now standing right in front of his face, “You lied when you said it was about work. How long have you been seeing her? Did Miranda know? Ugh, I always knew you were deceitful!”

  She turned to Dawn now and glared at her.

  “Be careful!” Jill advised, “Adam’s insatiable. No number of partners can satisfy him!”

  Dawn stared at her without expression. Jill’s words stung—Dawn had followed Adam long enough on the network to know that the woman spoke the truth. But she’d never let it bother her. Even now, Dawn still wasn’t sure that his romantic past mattered. She’d had long held the habit of living in the present. Besides, she hadn’t just risked her life and gone through war to listen to a jealous tantrum.

  “Trust me, I know who Adam is,” Dawn replied coolly, “And I’m sorry to inform you, but he’s not coming home. His place is within the Resistance now. As for you, I suggest you get an energy pack, plug in, and await further instruction. We need everyone to be on board if we wish to remain in control of this city.”

  At her command, a Resistance member approached, carrying an energy pack.

  “You want me to wear this?” Jill whined as Dawn placed the contraption into her hands.

  “Yes, and plug into it in order to recharge,” she told her.

  “Why? Why can’t I just use Neuro?”

  “Because we’ve taken Neuro offline,” Dawn answered with a false patience. “We don’t want the WG to program you in any way that will make life harder for you or us.”

  “But why would they program me? I don’t understand. This is all so confusing. Everything was fine until you people came in killing everyone. It’s the Resistance we should be afraid of! How could you betray us like this?”

  Adam stared at her. From her perspective, she was right. Jill had no idea of the truth. She was just as in the dark as he’d been only days prior.

  “It’s your choice,” he answered her. “The WG was going to unplug New Omaha and many other eHuman cities from the Energy Grid. In order to stop mass slaughter, the Global Resistance took over the city. All our power is now run locally. We can assure you that you won’t be unplugged. We hope to secure the network so that you can use it again soon. In the meantime, we suggest you wear this energy pack, which will completely explain the situation in detail, as well as keep your Chi-Regulator charged.”

  She looked at him with such ignorance and defiance that Adam suddenly had the urge to smack her. Instead, as if reading his mind, she smacked him.

  “Go to hell, Adam Winter,” she hissed, turning on her heels and storming away through the crowd.

  Adam watched her as she made her way, shoving eHumans to the side while struggling to put some distance between them. To his relief, she paused for a moment to put on the energy pack. Then she turned, glaring at him defiantly from across the field for an instant, before disappearing into the masses.

  Adam was shocked. He hadn’t really understood Jill’s feeling for him. It had always been a game to him. All of his sexual encounters online had been a game. It was that way for everyone, or so he thought. Life in Neuro wasn’t real, so why did anyone take it seriously?

  Or perhaps encounters on Neuro were more real than he’d understood? It must have seemed real to Jill, for her to have acted the way she just did. The entire encounter stunned him. Who was he? Adam Winter, the Newsreel reporter seemed dead to him. Like another lifetime. He no longer desired other women. He no longer needed the Pleasure Zone Apps. He now had Dawn, the Resistance, and his own destiny to pursue. Jill, Miranda, New Omah
a, Anthony— they all seemed like distant memories to him.

  He turned to Dawn and instantly felt ashamed. He was completely unworthy of her. She’d lived her life impeccably, saving the world, while he’d spent the past two hundred years in a virtual party, indulging in every pleasure, oblivious to his true purpose for even entering the eHuman world. While she’d been searching for him, he’d been playing games.

  “Dawn,” he began, but she just shook her head.

  “Follow me,” she whispered, taking his hand once more and leading him back inside of the Capitol building and away from the crowd.

  He didn’t resist her.

  She brought him to a small room and ushered him into it, closing the door behind them. It was nothing more than a closet, a place where decommissioned eHuman bodies used to be stored.

  There were a million things Adam wanted to say, but shame kept him quiet. How could he ever justify himself before Dawn? He expected her to yell at him, but instead, she put her hands on his face, sending a gentle, pleasant current through his cheeks.

  “You need pleasure to live, Adam,” she said, her voice barely a whisper, her eyes intense and filled with a deep desire of her own, “And there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  The pulse from her hands began to throb throughout his body. He trembled at her touch, still unable to speak.

  “Passion is part of your nature,” she continued, bringing her face closer to his, “It makes you attractive. Don’t ever be ashamed of who you are.”

  Adam’s eyes widened as she drew even closer to him, her lips just inches from his own.

  “I also need pleasure, Adam, and I can only imagine how we once indulged in a myriad of delights together, before Edgar separated us.”

  She paused once more. Hesitated really. It was time to make her move.

  “I’ve waited two hundred years to taste that pleasure once more,” she confessed—and then she covered his mouth with her own.

  As Adam’s lips gently found hers, the two of them experienced something beyond desire. They found a bliss of a different sort: the bliss of two souls bound together by infinity, finding each other at last, against all odds.

  There are many reasons for the Lux to exist in a body. To kiss a beloved for the first time is certainly one of the best.

  Adam and Dawn melded together, passing out of time and space to where nothing but light exists, tasting the essence of the other and beholding themselves at the same time. Neither of them knew how long they remained locked in their embrace. Only the harsh voice of Origen could break their moment of magic.

  “Come to the Council at once. Alrisha has an update,” the leader TeleSpoke to each of them, unaware of the romantic encounter.

  Adam pulled away from Dawn and smiled at her. Nothing, not even Origen, could taint his mood.

  “At your service, Master,” he replied sarcastically, high on Dawn’s affections. She laughed and grabbed him, pulling him in for one more kiss, her hands traveling the length of his spine, causing pleasure to dance down every one of Adam’s circuits.

  “I really need to get that pleasure circuit upgrade for my hands,” he whispered to her privately.

  Adam’s rude reply, followed by silence from the pair, irritated Origen. But rather than give a retort, Origen simply dropped the connection. Like it or not, Adam Winter was here to stay. Unless he didn’t survive his next assignment.

  Origen gazed at the others in the Council room, who were quietly convened around the wooden table, waiting for Dawn and Adam to return. He smiled as he thought about the dangers the MICE Tower presented to Adam.

  “The hero is about to have his day,” Origen thought to himself, “We’ll see how well he pulls this one off.”

  CHAPTER NINTEEN

  “One hundred and sixty-seven cities have been successfully secured,” Dawn reported to the eager Council.

  “And what of the others?” Origen asked, a note of disappointment in his voice. To have success in so many cities was a blessing—yet it also meant that Resistance lives had been lost in the other thirty-three cities.

  “No word from the failed attacks,” Dawn replied, fighting to keep a cool head in spite of her sadness. “We’ve lost all contact with those regiments. We assume they’re all captured—and dead.”

  “What’s our fatality count?” Origen asked.

  “The number hasn’t been officially calculated,” she answered, “We’re working on it. But each of those failed sieges had at least three hundred members infiltrate the cities in order to begin takeover as soon as Typhon began its execution. What happened to them is unclear. They never reported back once they entered the city. We assume the additional troops waiting outside attacked at our signal, but found the WG ready and waiting for them.”

  “We have no idea what happened?” Origen exclaimed, “Not one of them messaged to us or sent out an SOS?”

  Dawn shook her head, “None. Their connections went dead shortly after they stormed the cities.”

  “So the infiltration failed, leaving our second line of attack to walk right into the hands of the WG. What about the third line of attack, our machines such as the SpiderScouts, transporters and drones?” Origen inquired.

  “Nothing. We can’t find them,” Dawn replied.

  “That’s impossible!” Cane declared from his place at Dawn’s side, his fire-red hair accenting the fear in his face, “What would make thousands of soldiers, along with our heavy artillery, disappear?”

  “Perhaps they were vaporized?” Adam suddenly blurted out.

  “Vaporized? How?” Cane replied.

  “Nuclear warheads?” Adam answered, not sure why the idea had even come to him.

  “That’s the only technology that could obliterate an entire force, and only if the bomb was dropped directly on the machines,” Cane agreed, “But our intelligence indicates that the WG hasn’t developed any nuclear weaponry since the Great Shift. The threat of war between nations was eliminated by the WG’s ability to simply unplug a rogue country.”

  “They might not have developed new ones—but what about the nuclear warheads that covered the Earth before the Great Shift?” Dawn challenged.

  “Again, our intelligence would let us know if those were still in existence,” Cane answered, “I don’t believe the WG could build a nuclear force without us noticing.”

  “Well, the Resistance developed a global army without the WG noticing,” Adam suggested.

  “Something’s wrong here,” Origen cut in. His mind had been whirling with the strategic implications of the report. “Are the failed cities still online?”

  “They appear online on the closed Resistance Network,” Dawn answered.

  “How about on Neuro itself?” Origen asked.

  “We don’t know, we’ve cut off all access to Neuro until we have the MICE Towers under our control,” she answered.

  “And when will that be?” Origen demanded.

  “As soon as we plug Adam in, we’ll have an answer to that question,” Dawn replied.

  “Well, what are we waiting for? I need to know the status of those cities. I also need to know what happened there. We need people on the ground to investigate,” Origen replied with force.

  Dawn stared at him, considering all that had been said. She had a sinking suspicion that the WG did know more about the Resistance than was let on. Something about the entire operation seemed off. How could they walk into New Omaha without a glitch, yet in thirty-three other cities, every one of their members just vanished? And why hadn’t the WG responded yet to the attacks?

  “I agree, Origen,” Dawn answered out loud, “We need to send reconnaissance forces to those cities so we understand our situation better.”

  “You’re thinking we have walked into a trap?” she added via TeleSpeak, using the key that connected her and Origen.

  He nodded. The two might have drifted apart since the discovery of Adam Winter, but their minds were still on the same page.

  “I’ll tend to
that,” Origen answered the group, “But first, let’s discuss your role here, Adam. Alrisha, I understand you have a report for us?”

  “Yes Master Origen,” she jumped up from her place at the table, “We’ve gained access to the MICE Tower and are closing in on Evelyn Prince.”

  Adam rose from his seat as well.

  “Already?” he cried out. Finally, he’d have a part to play in the Resistance.

  “Yes, and even better, we’ve cracked the encryption keys. We now have access to the machine layer of the operating system. The time has come to plug you in.”

  “Excellent. Let’s get to work,” he answered, glancing down at Dawn, who wore an expression mixed with excitement and worry.

  “Are you sure it’s safe?” Dawn asked Alrisha, unable to hide her concern. She couldn’t fathom losing Adam now, not after what they’d just shared together

  “No, I’m not,” Alrisha replied, “It’s pretty intense in there. And we’re not exactly sure how to create a one-to-one convo between Adam and Evelyn. But we’re working on software that will hold off an attack while plugged in. I promise, we’ll do all we can to protect Adam. Unless the two communicate, I don’t think we’ll find the Trojan Horse in his database. It’s too well hidden. Dr. Neville made sure that even I couldn’t hack it.”

  “I have to plug in,” Adam reminded Dawn, “I’ve given my word to serve the Resistance, and I meant it.”

  “Fine, then get your ass to the Control Center,” Origen ordered. He couldn’t stomach yet another moment of Dawn’s concern. “The rest of us need to determine what the hell happened out there during the siege. I’ve got thousands of soldiers, as well as a ton of equipment, missing in action. Your safety is pretty low on my list.”

  Dawn cast a glare Origen’s way, yet refrained from retaliation. He was correct about their security issues. They had a problem on their hands that she needed to remedy.