Girl of Stone (The Expulsion Project Book 2)

by Norma Hinkens

  Girl of Stone

  The Expulsion Project Book Two

  Norma Hinkens

  Dunecadia Publishing

  Contents

  Preface

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Afterword

  Glossary

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  Prologue

  Eighteen months after the explosion that buried the underground laboratory where the secret expulsion project was developed, they came for Oka. He had been expecting them.

  He, along with Fir, Gustin, and Dinah, knew it would be only a matter of time before Preeminence absorbed them into its diabolical machinations. Fir was the first to disappear, followed a few days later by Dinah, less than six weeks after they had launched their children to safety in the expulsion pods.

  Oka thought back to how he and Gustin had sat in silence, staring at each other across the table in the coffee shop, the day after Dinah disappeared. The same unspoken question bulged in each other’s haggard eyes. Which of them was next? Numb with shock, they frittered away hours, stirring cold coffee first in one direction, and then the other, reluctant to part company. It felt like the last thread connecting the children was about to unravel, and they were desperate to keep it intact.

  Oka’s summons came in the form of an understated knock on the door late one night after curfew, presumably to minimize interaction with curious neighbors, or possibly to avoid a confrontation. Oka eyed the poker-faced courier with uncertainty as he took the proffered DigiPad from his gloved hand.

  “What is this?” Oka asked. The back of his neck prickled with fear, but he kept his voice from faltering.

  The courier’s face remained impassive. “Your invitation.” He gave a slight bow. “Preeminence has selected you.”

  Oka’s knees weakened. Furrowing his brow, he put his hand against the doorframe to steady himself. The two military robots standing to attention at the curb a short distance away were a strong indication it was more of an order than an invitation. He glanced down at the DigiPad, the words dancing before his eyes.

  …elite skills are requested … strategic high command initiative … enhanced power of the populace … hail Preeminence.

  Oka blew out a long breath. The same incomprehensible rhetoric that blasted daily through the AmpliBots—public alerts inviting citizens to volunteer their gifted children to guarantee a bright and shining future for Mhakerta. He knew the truth hiding behind the insidious propaganda heralding the merits of Preeminence. He had been selected for only one of two possible reasons. Either the tracer molecules in his brain matter were required for assimilation into Preeminence’s neural core, or he was being recruited to assist with the process in other hapless victims. He shuddered inwardly, careful to mask his repulsion from the courier. Neither option was one he cared to contemplate.

  Reverting to his customary reserved manner, he gave a curt nod. “I’ll pack a bag.”

  The courier’s pinched face betrayed a flicker of impatience. “That won’t be necessary. Everything will be provided for your comfort.”

  “Of course,” Oka replied wearily. “Let me turn off the simulated fireplace and I’ll be right out.” He closed the door on the courier before the man had a chance to respond. Heart beating wildly, he raced to his office, activated the CipherSync on his wrist and sent a prearranged text to Gustin.

  The reaper has come.

  As soon as the message went through, he reset his CipherSync, deleting all trace of the illicit communication. He pulled his sleeve down over his CipherSync, took one last glance at the photo of a radiant three-year-old Trattora fading from the screen on his desk, and headed back down the hall to the front door.

  The courier looked visibly relieved when the door opened. Oka wondered if he was more accustomed to forcibly escorting people to the ethercopter. Actually, it was utterly pointless to resist. Twice since Fir and Dinah had disappeared, he and Gustin attempted to flee during the night in secret, but it proved impossible to slip past the confines of the laser perimeter fences that now surrounded the cities in the CentroZone.

  Only the rural population had a fighting chance of disappearing into the mountains out of range of the sentinel drones that patrolled the collective beyond the CentroZone. They risked their lives in the process, but they knew it was their only hope. The large collective that supplied the CentroZone with organic and free-range produce to maintain healthy brains was highly regulated, and all workers were tagged like cattle—women on the left ear, men on the right. Sentinel drones hunted down those desperate souls who sliced off their ear lobes and tried to escape. Only the few who made it to the mountains could ever hope to live free on Mhakerta again, even if all freedom meant was living out the rest of your days in a damp cave in some craggy outcropping.

  Oka walked over to the waiting ethercopter and pulled himself inside. He froze at the sight of a pasty-faced Gustin already strapped into a seat in the back row. Gustin’s hooded eyes widened, but he said nothing. Oka gave a cautious tilt of his head before sliding into the seat next to him and strapping himself in. The courier and the two military robots climbed in and settled into the row in front of them.

  “Do you know what this is about?” Oka whispered to Gustin.

  “They haven’t started vacuuming my brains out yet, so that’s a good sign,” Gustin muttered back.

  Oka rubbed a trembling hand over his brow. He knew Gustin well enough to recognize the fear that lurked behind his sarcasm. Fir had always been the strong one, spurring them on, making them believe there was something left to live for. Now that role had fallen to Oka. “We don’t know what this is about, yet. It may be a reassignment,” Oka said quietly.

  Gustin glared at him. “You think it’s going to be easier if we’re sucking other people’s brains out?”

  Oka bit down on his lip. “Of course not. I didn’t mean that.”

  Gustin shook his head. “Don’t overthink it. We’re all headed for the same melting pot. Sooner or later.”

  Oka leaned forward and tapped the courier on the shoulder. “Where are you taking us? And how long will we be gone? I need to notify my research assistant.”

  The courier stared straight ahead. “Everything has already been taken care of.”

  Oka sank back in his seat. Evidently the courier didn’t expect him or Gustin to return from wherever it was they were taking them. Otherwise, they would have blindfolded them, or drugged them. But it wasn’t necessary. Fir and Dinah hadn’t returned. No one returned.

  Once the ethercopter took off, Oka’s thoughts drifted, as they often did, t
o Trattora. The expulsion pod had wrenched her from his arms but never from his heart. The dancing red curls that framed her smiling porcelain face haunted his dreams, from which he often woke up shaking and drenched in sweat. Was she all right? Despite the many unknowns and the risks involved, he never once regretted the decision he had made to evacuate her before the coup transpired.

  As he had suspected, it was a bloodless and terrifyingly effective seizure of power. The robot military executed a flawless strategy to eradicate the governing Council and grant Preeminence absolute control of Mhakerta. Within a matter of hours, a new flag flew throughout the length and breadth of the planet. Military robots appeared in the CentroZone, purportedly to ensure citizen safety. The mesmerizing electronic voice of Preeminence pumped out an incessant stream of propaganda from mobile AmpliBots in every section of every city and through every media channel.

  A new Utopia has been birthed on Mhakerta. Corrupt governing officials have been annihilated. You will never again hunger or thirst or want for anything. I will be your guiding light. I, Preeminence, have spoken.

  People were deceived. Corrupt governing officials had indeed robbed them blind through copious taxation and left many struggling to support their families. Preeminence brought them to tears with hope of a future of plenty and equality. It brought Oka to the verge of nausea. Preeminence had assimilated the entire history of the world into her comprehensive and interconnected knowledge base. It utilized the psychology of masterful dictators to manipulate the citizens of Mhakerta into believing a self-actualizing software could govern them better than elected leaders, and that thinking for themselves only led to the degeneration of society.

  Oka jerked upright in his seat when Gustin jabbed him in the ribs and pointed out the window. “Look! We’re approaching the laser perimeter fence.”

  Oka peered at the red laser line that pierced the darkness up ahead, clearly marking the boundaries of their current existence within the CentroZone. He winced, half-expecting to be blown out of the sky as they approached the perimeter, but the robotic air defense system that had eradicated his colleague Ivel, and Ivel’s young daughter, Leba, six years earlier, did not activate and they passed through without incident.

  The ethercopter picked up speed and shot off into the blackness that lay beyond the CentroZone limits.

  “Do you think they’re taking us to the collective?” Gustin asked.

  Oka grimaced. “I doubt they have farming in mind for us.”

  “Probably not.” Gustin let out a heavy sigh and sank back in his seat.

  Oka stared trancelike out at the darkness for some time until he became aware of blurred lights in the distance. He blinked to stir himself from his stupor, and then shook Gustin. “That must be where we’re headed.” He pointed off in the distance at a brightly lit, circular steel-and-glass building that rose several hundred meters through the gloom.

  As they drew closer, a long, windowless concrete structure shaped like a mausoleum came into view behind the circular building. An icy tingle skittered across Oka’s shoulders. Windowless for a reason, no doubt.

  “This is it,” Gustin said through gritted teeth, as the ethercopter began a controlled descent.

  As soon as they touched down, a military robot ran to meet them, armed with an automatic plasma weapon designed to do more than merely stun its unlucky recipients. Oka swallowed back the bile creeping up his throat. This was no casual invitation to the strategic high command.

  “Let’s go,” the courier said, gesturing with his thumb for Oka and Gustin to disembark. They unbuckled their harnesses and stepped out into the dank night air, thick with fog. Oka shivered as a light wind whipped around him, rustling the shadowy leaves of plants a short distance away. A distinct odor of stagnant water hung in his nostrils and the low, resonant rasping of frogs wafted into the night. He frowned. Were they somewhere in Mhakerta’s wetlands?

  “Follow me,” the military robot said.

  Oka threw a glance at the courier, but he was already walking off in the opposite direction toward the rectangular building, ominously flanked by the two robots that had accompanied them in the ethercopter. Oka raised his brows at the sight. Was it possible the courier was just as much a prisoner as Oka and Gustin?

  Much to Oka’s relief, the robot led them over a bridge and along a stone pathway leading to the brightly-lit circular building. Whatever lay ahead for them, at least they weren’t destined to be confined to the windowless mausoleum tonight. Right there and then, he vowed to live for each moment until he breathed his last.

  Oka’s eyes widened when they stepped inside the gleaming marble foyer. Mhakerta’s new flag—the glittering eye of Preeminence at the center of an intricate network of writhing electric-blue neurons—hung proudly at eight-foot intervals along the walls. There was something very disturbing about the eye, like it could see right through a person. Perhaps it could.

  “Doesn’t look much like a research facility,” Gustin remarked. “More like a government headquarters.”

  “Maybe that’s a good thing,” Oka muttered back.

  The robot gestured to an elevachute and Gustin and Oka made their way over to it, the menacing clicks of the robot’s measured steps on the tile floor ringing in their ears as they walked. Oka remained lost in his thoughts as they rocketed upward in the elevachute to whatever fate awaited them. Seconds later, the door slid open revealing a glass skywalk on the top floor of the building. The robot ushered them down a short corridor and into a pristine suite where an elderly white-haired doctor with sunken cheeks was waiting. He stepped forward and extended a gnarled hand. “I’m Dr. Worister. It’s a distinct pleasure to meet you. Your reputation precedes you.”

  Gustin scowled, ignoring the outstretched hand. “What is this place?”

  “This is NeuroOne,” Dr. Worister replied, a hint of pride in his reedy voice. “We monitor and regulate the needs of Preeminence here.”

  “What kind of needs?” Oka asked, unable to mask a decidedly hostile tone. He kept his fingers interlaced behind his back as if to deter the doctor from any further attempt to shake his hand.

  Dr. Worister pinned a patient expression across his face. “I understand you have a lot of questions, and they will all be answered in due time. My job is simply to confirm that you are who we believe you to be before passing you over to our head of research, who will explain everything to you, including your future role in the elite inner circle selected to serve Preeminence.” He hesitated. “Should you choose to accept the invitation, of course.” His chilling trace of a smile sent a shiver through Oka’s bones.

  “I just need you to step inside the CortexImager for an IQ analysis. It will only take a moment.” The doctor gestured at a scanner at the back of the room and then sat down at a desk and studied the screen in front of him.

  Oka exchanged a quick glance with Gustin before striding back to the CortexImager. “All right, let’s get this over with.” He stepped inside the scanner and waited until Dr. Worister indicated that he was done.

  “Thank you,” the doctor said. He turned to Gustin. “If you don’t mind, please.”

  Gustin scowled to indicate he did indeed mind, and the robot took a warning step in his direction. Oka gave a subtle shake of his head. After a long pause, Gustin turned on his heel and stomped back to the scanner. Oka let out a silent breath, his heartbeat still thrumming in his ears. Now was not the time to resist. They would have to be patient and gather information about their new environment first.

  A moment later, Dr. Worister got to his feet and beamed at Oka and Gustin. “Excellent, thank you both for your cooperation. I wish you every success in your endeavors here. I’m sure we will meet again, one way or another.”

  Oka bristled at the thinly veiled innuendo as he followed Gustin and the robot out of the room and down the hallway to a stark conference room with high-backed black leather chairs surrounding a polished ebony table.

  “Wait here,” the robot said and disappeared
from the room.

  Oka and Gustin exchanged nervous looks.

  “Obviously, we’re being recruited to help manage whatever operation they have going on here,” Gustin said. His eyes clouded over. “And we know what that amounts to.”

  “We could make a run for it,” Oka said, twisting his neck to peer into the hallway.

  Gustin made a scoffing sound. “And then what? How far do you think we’d get with all these military robots?”

  Oka shrugged. “You know what they’re going to ask us to do. If we don’t comply, we’ll end up donating our own brains to the neural core. Would you rather die like that?”

  Gustin didn’t answer. It was the same argument they had gone over week after week, month after month, year after year. They were both weary of it, but they couldn’t postpone a decision any longer. Would they resist and face death, or succumb to the will of Preeminence?

  They turned at the sound of footsteps approaching. A moment later, a familiar figure swept into the room, accompanied by several assistants.

  Oka’s jaw dropped. Fir! His lip trembled as he took in her slim form encased in ivory scrubs with the glittering eye of Preeminence emblazoned on the right sleeve, her dark hair drawn back in an all-too-familiar tight bun. Were his eyes deceiving him—some insidious hologram, perhaps? But no, it was really Fir. He glanced over at an equally shell-shocked Gustin and shook his head in disbelief.

  “We thought you were dead, Fir,” Oka whispered.