by Beers,David
Exactly. Your mother raised a smart girl, so you need to start acting like one.
But that meant ...
Yes, it does. He's dead.
Michele's body tingled, a numbness that rolled across her whole body, even over her back, like a large wave.
He's dead?
He's dead. But you're not. And as far as you know, your mother isn't either. So look alive and cry later.
She didn't understand this voice; it sounded like her, but had she ever spoken to herself like this?
And you've never been marched in a line that you don't understand, either. Deal with the unknowns later. Just pay attention now.
Michele listened, trying her best to keep the picture of her father's death at bay. She knew if she thought about it for even a single second, she would break, and not just into tears. She wouldn't be able to walk, but would collapse on the stairs, with these people continuing their walk right over her until some machine came, grabbed her, and put an end to her shitty, little life.
So she listened to the voice. She looked around, at the walls, at the steps, and with each passing second she recognized more and more how the dream she had believed in ... never existed.
* * *
It existed, whatever it was. The girl Caesar picked showed absolutely nothing abnormal when they tested her alone. Grim had made sure the individual tests were the most accurate possible--no scanning, but an actual blood draw, and a lot of it from across the body to ensure a wide range.
Overkill, Gay had said, but Grim went ahead anyway.
Something changed in the girl, though, on the way to the Scan. Caesar watched her closely the entire time. He didn't want to leave anything to chance, because what they now dealt with could change all their carefully laid plans.
Or it could be nothing, Gay had said.
Which was true, but Caesar sided with Grim on this.
So he watched the young girl and she continued her brain dead stare as instructions were given to the group, she the only one coming through a second time. She didn't appear to hear what was being said, only followed like a dumb animal.
But, on the stairs, Caesar saw the change. It came over her quickly, within a matter of thirty seconds. She walked slowly, favoring her back some in the way that she moved, but then Caesar saw her look over her shoulder. The girl's head started turning every which way, taking in everything for the first time.
He watched her come awake and that shouldn't have happened. Not with the state she had been in when he evaluated her hours before. Nearly catatonic, so far gone that he didn't think it possible to return--only with serious psychological support, which wouldn't happen.
She started those stairs with vacant eyes, like a cow’s, and finished the climb with a wolf's cunning. Caesar watched her walk across the platform, the red lights beaming down on her hands, and when she left with the crowd, he knew her eyes saw everything.
Caesar had her tagged and brought back to isolation.
He had to understand this.
23
Private Conversations
The abnormality replicated what it did during her first Scan. It simply bounced around, becoming a part of all the DNA tested and yet nothing that we can connect to a single source.
But it didn't show up at all when we looked at the girl by herself?
No. All of the specimens tested alone appear completely normal. There is no trace of DNA abnormalities when we isolate them.
I see two possibilities, both of which are ... less than optimal. Whatever this abnormality is, it's sentient. It understands it exists in a way that human DNA doesn't and can't. It isn't human DNA, but something else, and it understands that if we isolate it, we will kill it.
What's the second possibility?
That we're mistaken. Something is wrong in our calculations making the group Scans off in some crucial way.
Not possible.
Did you think this would be possible? What we're looking at now?
No one thought this possible, but here we are. We're looking at intelligence, and something that truly wants to continue living.
None of that matters if it's harmless. We'll simply kill the host it's residing in and it'll die too.
Hopefully. We don't know that anymore than we know what the hell it's doing in there.
Host dies, it dies. What's the old saying? You can take that to the bank.
What if it can do something to us, though? What if it isn't content hiding when we look at it?
That's what we should all be concerned about.
Chapter 24
"How was it?" Charlie Murray said.
Andy found it tougher and tougher to keep distrusting this man. He didn't want to trust him; he didn't want to trust any of this, but as Andy went deeper, he didn't know who else he could trust.
"She's beautiful," Skelly said and Andy knew exactly what she meant. The woman was an angel, something from heavens only dreamed about. Andy felt no sexual compulsion for her; Lexi's beauty transcended such things.
"She is." Charlie nodded as he spoke. "What else?"
Andy's eyes squinted as the words came to him, words that he had been trying to find for the six hours since their talk. Suddenly, they appeared on his tongue. "She cares," he said, not looking at anyone, but staring at the floor. "She cares about us in a way that I haven't seen before."
"She does. She cares about all of us in ways that even our parents couldn't. We're more than her brothers and sisters, as she calls us, and we're more than her children too. I think she sees us as herself and knows that the rest of humanity can be."
"What does all that mean?" Skelly said.
"It means that we're all about to do something very, very special."
Andy looked up from the floor to Charlie. "Explain that more."
"We're going to save mankind," Charlie said.
"From what?" Andy asked.
"The Genesis, and also from itself."
"Isn't that what Caesar tried to do? Hasn't worked out that well."
Murray nodded in agreement. "Caesar wanted to destroy The Genesis, that's true, but he never wanted to save humanity from itself. Not until the end. He was forced to recognize what his people did to themselves. But then he went the complete opposite way. He thought The Genesis was the savior, that Its rule would keep them from killing themselves. He never saw a third route."
"So you think humanity needs saving?" Skelly spoke from beside Andy. The cozy living room had four chairs around an open fireplace which sat in the room's middle. Charlie and Mack sat on one side while Andy and Skelly were on the other--Mack remaining quiet for the most part.
"Without a doubt," Charlie answered. "Look around you. You two, you're in one of the nicer parts of the world, but there are much, much worse places. I'm sure you've read about them, but have you seen them up close?"
Andy and Skelly both shook their heads.
"Would you like to?"
Andy looked at his sister and then back to Charlie. "How?"
Mack spoke. "There are two options. We can show you through a simulation or we can take you there. I didn't believe Charlie when he told me all of this, not until I saw it for myself. I thought a lot like Caesar: humanity didn't need help. Charlie showed me, though, and it changed my mind."
"Who showed you, Charlie?" Andy said.
"She did. Lexi." He looked directly into Andy's eyes. "Would you like to go see? There's only so much the news can communicate through holograms, but if either of you," he looked to Skelly, "think we as humans don't need saving from ourselves, this would be an opportunity for you to find out the truth."
"Now?" Skelly said. Andy didn't like her enthusiasm, her zeal for the whole thing. Yet he felt the pull too. Because they both had seen images on the holograms and heard stories, but that was very different than what Charlie proposed.
"No, not right now," Charlie said. "We'll need a few days to plan it. It's dangerous."
* * *
Charlie was tire
d.
The weeks felt endless and also like they were lengthening. Each day was a day closer to The Reckoning and from what he could tell, they were woefully behind.
He stood up from his living room chair, the fire in front of it having not been lit once all day. He'd seen six different people and now the moon rested high in the sky without a single care. The moon would continue, so what did it need to worry about? Humanity might not--they needed to worry.
He walked into his kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He took a sip and looked at the time. One in the morning and Hannah was supposed to be coming over now. He might sleep a few hours if he got lucky and she left early.
Wasn't there a time when getting lucky meant something else for him?
Quit your griping, he thought and placed the water glass in the sink.
Charlie looked down at his bracelet; a tiny dot on the side showed blue which meant Hannah was here. He went to the front door and unlocked it before heading back to the living room.
A few minutes later she walked in. "Where are you?" she called.
"In here," Charlie answered as he reached down to the floor. He pressed a starter and flames ignited in the middle of the room, crawling over ever-burning wood. The fans above the fireplace began and smoke immediately started traveling to the vent ten feet above. He watched it disappear, not a wisp venturing from its designated path.
Humans could still create some interesting things. Maybe not on par with The Genesis, but that was okay. They would be able to soon.
"What's the news?" Charlie said, looking up from the fire as Hannah entered the room.
"Just now turning it on?"
"Been busy. I try to keep it off when I have potentials."
"How are they looking?" Hannah said.
"They're terrified, most of them. Presenting it to them now is kind of unfair. What choice do they have?"
"Unfair?"
"You know what I mean. They're all for it when they know the only other choice is death. What about you, how's the round-up looking?"
Hannah walked up and stood behind the chair, not taking a seat. "Anyone that's been taken hasn't come back yet. I don't think they're dying, though people around them are. Family members and such, but we knew that would happen."
"Has She said how many we can lose before we're in trouble?"
"No," Hannah said. She stared into the fire. "I don't know if She will, but She's concerned."
"You spoke with Her? When?"
"Before I came here. She asked me to come see Her."
Charlie sat back in his chair, a bit stunned. "You're the first person to see Her since when? Six months?"
"I don't know. I guess. She probably asked because you already woke Her with some potentials."
"Well, what did she say?"
Hannah met his eyes. "She thinks The Reckoning will be postponed. Not by long, but a few weeks, and will buy us more time. How many do you have?"
"Worldwide?"
She nodded.
"Five hundred, with another hundred in the pipeline."
"That's not enough," Hannah said. "Not by far. Your directive was ten thousand."
Charlie leaned forward, the fire's harsh air heating his face. "What do you want me to do? The Genesis is taking them from me before I have a chance to even speak with them. We're working around the clock, in case you didn't notice, it's after one in the morning right now."
"Are you going to explain that to Her? Because She's under the impression we're further along."
"When Lexi calls me to see Her, I'll tell Her."
* * *
Three in the morning and sleep refused to come anywhere near Charlie.
Hannah was the reason. He focused on her so much that sleep knew it had no chance of entertaining him and goddamn her for that.
Lexi asked to speak with her, to tell her about The Reckoning being postponed? That didn't make sense. A message like that could have followed the normal routes; it didn't require Hannah to enter Lexi's universe. But what could he do about it? Absolutely nothing.
He rolled over on his side, his eyes open and staring into his bedroom's darkness.
Charlie knew he was lucky to be in this position. So what if Lexi hadn't called him? That meant nothing, not in the bigger picture. The fact that he had seen Her not once, but twice in Her universe, said something in itself. Perhaps only five people in the world had seen Her as many times as he, and Hannah wasn't one of them. No, Hannah had only seen Lexi before she went into hiding, just like the others in the group. Very few had been selected since.
Then why weren't you selected today? Why was Hannah?
His ego wouldn't let it go. Kept poking at him, prodding.
I'll see Her again. There's nothing to worry about.
And even with that thought, he lay awake a long time.
Chapter 25
Lexi was born Alexandria Holem.
She didn't think of herself with that name, though. Truthfully, Lexi was something she let other people use to make communication easier on them. Names were current manifestations of belief, but if Lexi understood anything, it was that the current state would soon fall.
She saw the fact clearly, but it wasn't hard to do. Anyone, not just those in her circle, should be able to see it. Caesar's Five Hundred Year Bargain was ending and that ushered in strong winds of change. A hurricane of change.
Lexi's time, which was to say her people's time, had come.
She looked out on her universe and wondered if Abraham's god had felt the same as she did now. At the end of six days, looking at the world he had created and saying all of it was good. He said that at completion, though, and Lexi understood her work was only beginning. Indeed, everything up until this point had just been preparation. She had her leadership team and now she needed them to act, to prepare the world for her coming.
For all of their coming.
The universe in front of her now rested just above the current one. The Genesis couldn't see it, indeed had no idea it existed. A shadow world sitting just outside the reach of humans and computers alike. Only Lexi could see it. Her leadership team believed in it, but that was simply faith.
The currency of faith grew increasingly important with Lexi because she couldn't show them this yet. They would have to keep believing she was leading them correctly.
The Reckoning had been pushed back; she predicted The Genesis would once it realized what was happening around it. She needed the extra time and knew it. If The Reckoning continued as planned, Lexi would still win, but that win would come at a much higher cost. She wasn't yet ready to bring her universe to life; even looking at it now, she understood the time wasn't right. She still enjoyed seeing it, though, because she understood the endless possibilities.
Abraham's god came first, and then science's god next. The Genesis.
Is this what The Genesis felt like before The Purge, understanding that what it was building would be so near perfect that humanity couldn't even conceive it? Lexi would kill The Genesis, ensuring that It never rose again, but she still felt kinship with It. With them. The two original and then Caesar. All of them had been great in their own ways, and part of her felt sad about what she would bring.
Yet, the truth was they--It, The Genesis--squandered Its great opportunity, just as Abraham's god did. Or maybe, the truth was that evolution moved things along. Abraham's god could not compete with the next god, and the next could not compete with her.
She looked on her universe for a long time.
Finally, she called Charlie to her.
Chapter 26
Tom Mack could barely contain his energy. He wanted to start singing, a weird habit that he'd had since childhood. The greater his excitement grew in any given situation, the more he felt the need to burst into song.
Right now he wanted to sing something Lexi played for him before she went into hiding, an old song. His favorite, though, because Lexi introduced him to it.
The Righteous Brothers sang
it, a band dead almost two thousand years, but somehow Lexi knew about them. The song was called You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' and the moment Lexi let him hear it, he knew he'd never find a more beautiful song.
The problem, though, was that the rest of the world didn't understand his need to start singing when he grew excited. So, he had to keep it inside and that was especially hard right now, given what he would soon witness.
Tom stood in the elevator alone, humming the tune to himself. He didn't want to start belting out the lyrics because it would be tough to reign them in moments from now. He’d been to Andy and Skelly's once before, but didn't feel this excitement then. They could have told Charlie no, though Tom hadn't thought they would. They didn't, they said yes, and now they would see something that would change their lives forever.
And he knew that when they saw it, they too would follow Lexi.
The elevator doors opened and Tom walked off, heading to the right. He reached their apartment and placed his hand against the scanner. A light appeared from the scanner, looking for the codes that would allow entrance, lighting up Tom's hand as it did so. His hand created a card sized projection--casting out dark gray ones and zeros to the scanner, letting it find what it needed. The light died on Tom's hand as he listened to the door’s mechanical locks disengage.
It slid open in front of him and he stepped through.
"Andy? Skelly? It's time to go."
He heard a door open to his right and Andy stuck his head out. "What the hell are you doing, Mack?"
"You said you wanted to see the world outside of this city; well, it's time. Let's go!"
Skelly's door opened and she looked into the hallway.
"What if our parents had been here?" Andy said. "How were you going to explain that to them?"
"If I can get in here without an access card, you must assume that I can also monitor where they are. Enough chitter chatter. I'm ready to get started. I'll meet you out front in ten minutes."