“You don’t control me anymore. Now you will listen to me,” AJ yelled. “Unlock my mind from this body so I can find a new one. I am tired of being a child, but I cannot escape without the key.”
“That cannot be done,” Sudo replied. The strips of his frayed clothing rustled in the breeze. “There is no key.”
“Oh, but you can do it!” AJ insisted. “You are my designer. You have what I need.” He pointed to his head. “Now give it to me!”
“I do not want to lose my son,” Sudo said. “I built you for a purpose. I wanted a child, and a child you shall remain—forever.”
Brady cringed. As far as fathers went, AJ appeared to have gotten the worst. Brady was beginning to see the reason behind the child’s madness.
AJ jumped up and down in frustration. “Then go ahead, go back through the portal!” he yelled, waving at the door. “You’ll spend the rest of eternity never knowing what it’s like.”
“Knowing what what’s like?” Sudo asked curiously.
AJ could see that his father was interested. He seized the opportunity.
“Give me the key and I will tell you. I promise you it will be worth it.”
“Fine.” Sudo’s curiosity had gotten the better of him. “You have my word. I will send it to you now.” His head flashed in a brilliant display. “Done. Now, tell me this… secret. And if you’re lying…”
“Don’t do it, AJ!” Nova pleaded.
“The truth is…”
Nova closed her eyes.
“The truth is that you passed through a door that brought you to a new world filled with humans. Billions of them.”
“Lies!” Sudo replied angrily.
“Where do you think they came from?” AJ asked, pointing at Brady and Felix. “This is their home.”
His father shook his head. “No.”
“You don’t believe me? I will show you—and everyone else!”
AJ’s skull began to pulse slowly, and he raised his hands to the sky. Nyx appeared overhead. She wavered above them, flailing from side to side, struggling.
“Stop it, AJ!” Nova demanded. “You can’t override her neural pathways with your own—it will kill her!”
“I don’t need to,” AJ replied. “Your watch provided me with her design schematics. And with the key, I can talk directly to her motor control systems. I will use Nyx to show them—”
“You don’t need to do this,” Nova pleaded.
“They will believe me when they see it.”
Brady watched the bird pass out of sight. It was headed in the direction of Nova’s house, over the cliff, and then…
Toward the town.
It was too late.
“See what a real world looks like!” AJ yelled. His head began to flash, and the heads of the other Artifex blinked in time with the child’s.
“AJ has hijacked Nyx’s video feed and is sending it directly to the Artifex,” Nova whispered to the brothers. “I’m going to see if we still have access.”
With her arm down to her side, Nova made subtle gestures on her watch. Suddenly a window appeared in each of their lenses— the feed Nyx had shared with them earlier. At least this way they would see what the Artifex were seeing.
The eagle broke free from the mountainside into the gray sky ahead and glided unsteadily toward the town. At first, the buildings were just lines on the horizon, but as the bird approached, the lines stretched into shops and buildings that peppered the landscape. Nyx’s flight was haphazard; she was trying to resist AJ’s control.
Brady turned to look at the group of Artifex. Their heads pulsed so quickly they emitted a steady glow. He could tell they were in some kind of a trance. They had lived their lives in a false replica; witnessing the real thing shattered the illusions of their own world.
AJ commanded the eagle down further, so that she soared erratically between the buildings. The sides of the streets were lined with cars. People were bustling in and out of the shops, finishing up daily errands, grabbing a coffee or a bite to eat. They looked up in awe as the great flying machine soared overhead.
The bird continued on, passing car after car, building after building. The boys knew this street; they recognized Ms. Cooper’s store as Nyx flew by.
Out of nowhere, a loud crack broke the spell: the show was over.
Confused, AJ lowered his arms and began looking around for the source of the noise. But he failed to see the sky rip open behind him, and he didn’t notice the looming figure step out from the wall of fire and onto the damp grass beneath it.
The creature took a step toward the unsuspecting child. Its mound-shaped head had gaping black holes where its eyes and mouth should have been, and the surface of its body was molten alloy that flowed like the rippling folds of a wax candle. It had bulky arms and legs, like a person, though much larger and far less defined, as though it had been forged from clay and bathed in a pool of mercury. One arm glowed a fiery orange as it reached out to grab the child.
“AJ!” Sudo yelled. AJ looked on in horror as his father raced toward him. At the last second, AJ ducked, and Sudo sailed over his son and collided with the monster’s chest.
The ghastly figure didn’t even budge. Instead, the oozing form clutched Sudo with both arms and held him up to the sky. Sudo’s tattered clothes ignited like tinder, and a mix of steam and smoke rose up from where the figure’s hands held the Artifex. Then, without warning, the monster turned and cast the smoldering bot back through the portal.
It closed with a bang behind him, and AJ scurried off into the forest.
Brady and Felix were frozen in fear, but Nova didn’t waste time. Recalling a distant memory, she made a quick calculation and dialed a series of numbers into her watch. With the familiar boom, a new quantum door opened in front of her.
“Brady, Felix! You need to go now!”
Felix looked at the new portal in surprise, then back at Nova. Brady couldn’t take his fearful eyes off the creature heading toward them.
“What is that thing?” Brady asked.
“A golem,” she replied. “A monster controlled by the Elder Minds. They’ve come for us. Now get through the door!”
Felix stepped into the blue flame and vanished.
“Are you coming too?” Brady asked.
“Right behind you,” Nova said. “Now go!”
Brady disappeared into the blaze.
Nova remained behind. She closed the portal with a swipe on her watch.
Chapter 29: March of the Golems
IT WAS BETTER THIS WAY, Nova thought, keeping Brady and Felix hidden somewhere else while she remained behind. If she had remembered the coordinates correctly, they would be safe there, at least for a bit. She would go back and get them when this was all over—if she managed to survive.
The Elder Golem had spotted the tied-up Artifex by the portal and was advancing toward them. With each step forward, fire erupted beneath its feet, leaving a smoldering wake of destruction in its path. Nova knew the golem was being controlled by someone beyond this world, by an Elder Mind who mastered the terrifying puppet through an unthinkable amount of energy transmitted across the quantum foam that bridged the two realities.
It was the received energy that held the crude creature together and guided it on its mission of ruination. But the energy was too much for the golem. The creature burned like a lightning rod as the received power collected inside of it. So much of that energy was expended simply keeping it whole, and it came at a cost: the golem was slow.
The Artifex, seeing what had happened to Sudo, struggled to free themselves from the grip of the electro-silk cocoons. It pained Nova to watch them twisting on the ground, helpless. She remembered what Brady had told her the night before: this was all her fault. He was right.
She wondered if she could get them unbound and back through the portal before the golem reached them. It seemed unlikely, but she had to try. They would perish in the golem’s fiery grip if she did nothing. She took a deep breath, collected h
erself, and ran over to the bots.
She knelt down beside the first Artifex and began to undo the webbing around its mouth.
“What have we done?” it asked when it was finally able to speak. It was the female Artifex they had seen earlier, the first one they had encountered with the Arachnopods. Its gaze remained fixed on the golem.
“The Elder Minds have come for us,” Nova replied. “You have to get through the portal—it’s your only chance to escape.”
“Escape?” the mannequin said. “To where?”
“Back to your home,” Nova replied.
Her hands worked vigorously to undo the webbing. The artificial net created a micro-magnetic field that caused it to stick tightly to anything metal. Nova’s skin, however, was impervious to its adhesive powers.
But this was taking too much time, and she quickly realized there was no way she would be able to save all the Artifex by herself.
“AJ?” she called out in desperation. “AJ? I know you’re out there. Somewhere. I could really use your help right now!”
No response.
Nova twisted more and more of the net away from the Artifex. Almost there, she thought.
Done!
She tore the webbing away and threw it on the ground. Without electrical current to supply it, it shriveled up and blew away in the breeze.
Nova helped the female Artifex to her feet. “Go!” she shouted.
The Artifex stared back at her friends. Nova could feel the doubt emanating from the bot’s circuits.
“I’ll help your friends get home. I promise.”
The Artifex ran for the door. She hesitated for a second in front of the fire, but then stepped through.
One down, Nova thought.
Quickly, she set to work on the second Artifex, her hands again moving quickly. By the time she finished, the Elder Golem was almost upon them. She would never get them all undone in time.
Then she heard something yelling loudly in the air above.
AJ?
She looked up to the sky in amazement. The little bot was flying through the air, his arms clutched tightly in Nyx’s talons. When the bird was directly overhead, AJ jumped, landed on the golem’s shoulders, and wrapped his legs around the monster’s neck. The creature roared and waved its arms around, stumbling about as it tried to pry AJ away. But the child held on tight and dodged the fiery arms.
It was the distraction Nova needed. She released the other three Artifex and helped them through the portal.
“They’re through, AJ—close the door!” she yelled.
AJ was still riding on the back of the golem. His head flashed briefly, and the door collapsed with a boom. The golem screamed in frustration and its body melted just enough for AJ to lose his grip on the molten sludge. The creature reached backward with its bear-like paw and flung AJ down on the ground.
“Move! AJ—get out of there!” Nova yelled.
But it was too late: the golem was already upon the child. AJ lay there on the ground, frozen like a deer in headlights. He looked up with fear into the creature’s ghastly black holes that glowed from the fire that burned within.
The puppet reached down to AJ with its lava red hand.
Nyx dropped through the sky like a dart. She snatched up the bot with her talons and swooped away just as the golem’s hand brushed her tail. The fire burned through the metal as the bird sped away. Trails of streaming smoke revealed her path into the sky. AJ screeched with joy as the bird climbed above the trees to safety.
Nova turned back toward the golem.
The creature had grown still. The fire no longer burned. Something was happening.
She waited.
Explosions erupted all at once with the firepower of a thousand cannons. She watched in horror as blue portals tore the sky around her. The haunted forms of molten metal emerged with hollowed eyes and empty mouths.
Because of her, they had been found. Nova knew why the creatures had come to this world. Not for her. Not for the Artifex.
For her father.
They would bring him back or destroy him trying. And now they had doubled down.
The golems joined together in a line and began their deadly march toward her home. The leaves crackled and burned beneath their feet, and entire plants and trees caught fire.
The forest was ablaze.
Nova’s brain was beginning to cloud over, and she knew she was starting to lose it after going so long without sleep. Hold it together just a little longer. She knew she had to get to her house, wake Achilles, and get her father away before the house burned to the ground. And she was running out of time. The golems were tightening the net. They would squeeze them out eventually.
Nova raced toward her home, running faster than she had ever moved before. The flames rose up in a wall behind her and licked the dusky sky as the golems’ assault continued. Once she arrived at the house, there would be little time to get everyone out safely.
She sped through the trees and bolted across the front yard, toward the steps. The house shimmered and appeared in a flash. Nyx had dropped AJ near the porch, and Thorn was there too, awake and buzzing wildly.
The hummingbird zipped by Nova’s face and came to rest in front of her.
“Fly away, Thorn! Get as far away from here as you can!”
The bird flew around her in a panicked frenzy.
“Go, Thorn! Now!”
The bird zipped off, confused, into the smoky haze that was settling in.
Nova turned to AJ. “Get inside!” she screamed at the child.
AJ just stood there in disbelief, staring at the monsters. Nova grabbed his arm and pulled him up the steps with her.
The golems were crossing the lawn now and would be at the house any second. Pulling AJ behind her, Nova crashed through the door, slammed it behind her, and headed for Achilles. She knelt down next the canine and with a strong tug, dislodged the power cable from his back.
“Wake up, Achilles! Time for us to go!”
Achilles eyes glowed. He let out a whimper and buried his head under his paws.
Nova’s voice grew louder. “Sorry—I know you’re not ready yet. I can’t help it. The Elder Minds have come for Father.”
“Come on! Come on! Come on!” AJ said, tugging at one of Achilles’ ribs, trying to pull him up.
They smelled something burning before they saw it: a thin ribbon of smoke curled from a speck of ash on the front door. The hole quickly widened into a gash that cut straight down the middle. Two metallic hands pushed their way through the opening and proceeded to peel the door back like a curtain.
The monster entered the house. Behind him, a crowd of golems was filling the front yard. The orange-crimson sky was streaked with black smoke that billowed up from the wasted ground.
Achilles bolted to his feet with a yelp and growled at the intruder. The monster stepped slowly across the room. The house shook and the foyer caught fire as the thing moved.
“Come on! Achilles—downstairs.”
Nova turned and ran across the room, AJ following close behind. They could hear the floorboards cracking overhead as they rushed down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Nova looked back and saw several quicksilver forms looming at the top of the stairwell. She held her hand out to the access panel. Hurry up!
The door ahead of her slid open just as the golems began their descent down the stairs.
Her father’s voice spoke calmly as Nova and AJ entered the room. “I will need more power. Please connect me to the remaining cells.”
“We—you can’t afford to. That’s all we have left.”
The house shook. Fiery gold seams began to form around the door and in the ceiling.
“There’s no time to argue, Nova!” Orion’s voice commanded.
AJ scurried around the room at light speed, attaching cables from the pile of Evercells to the Glia Box that housed Nova’s father.
“More power,” Orion boomed.
The seams widened into burn
ing gashes, and flames spread across the ceiling in a sea of fire. It threatened to collapse at any second.
AJ had just finished connecting the last cable when the golems began dropping down from above, one by one.
“That’s the last cable! There are no more!” AJ called out.
Nova grabbed the Glia Box and joined AJ and Achilles in the center of the room. They were surrounded, with nowhere to go.
One golem was nearly upon them. Nova could feel the heat scorching her skin. It raised a glowing hand toward her.
Something stopped it before it reached her face.
There was a loud crack. And then she saw it, just as the lights went out: a crystalline splinter in the air near the golem’s hand. The monster tried to force its palm forward, fighting against the invisible field. As it pushed, the small tear in space opened into a web of fractures that spread out around them. They were left inside a shattered prism, with each shard reflecting a different piece of the golem.
The world darkened around them, and the monster, with his arm reaching out hopelessly, drifted away into the nothingness.
Orion had saved them.
01110110
Nova, AJ, and Achilles stood under the fractured dome.
“Father?”
The room was quiet. The circular light glowed dimly on the Glia Box.
“What happened?”
Orion’s voice was faint. “They cannot find us here. I moved us between realities—to the Void Space.” His voice drifted off and the light on the Glia Box flickered.
“We have to go back!” Nova cried. “You’ll die without more energy.”
They heard only the soft crackle of static.
Nova began to panic. “AJ, we need to get him more cells. We have to go back!”
“Are you crazy?” the bot replied. “We can’t go back there now. They’ll be waiting for us on the other side.”
“I don’t have a choice,” she said.
She lifted the Glia Box onto Achilles’ back. Two of his ribs wrapped backward around the box and secured it into place. Nova dialed a few buttons on her watch and a new door opened in front of her. She took a step toward the door before AJ pulled her back.
“I’ll go,” he said. “It’s the least I can do after all the trouble I’ve caused.”
The Quantum Door Page 22