Immersed

by Jenetta Penner

  I help Meyer pull him from the back of the pod, and after he hoists the soldier over his shoulder, I sprint ahead to Gabrielle's bunker.

  We're here, I think to Ben.

  A sense of relief from him rushes over me.

  At the door, I'm met by Aron and Sanda. Aron's jaw is tense, his brow furrowed. "Where have you been? Ben knows, but he wouldn't tell anyone."

  "My mom is going nuts," Sanda adds. "You took a huge risk, Avlyn."

  I cross my arms over my body and stare her straight in the eye. "Sorry, but I'm not the only one to do that recently."

  Sanda pinches her lips together. She's one to talk of risky behavior. The whole reason she was captured in Elore was because of a choice to graffiti a wall with an Affinity rebellion message.

  "I'm aware my choices got good people killed," Sanda says. "I have to live with that every day. You and I both know it's no fun."

  She and I lock eyes while Aron watches on. The statement stabs me in the gut with the reminder of Lena's capture, which resulted in her death.

  Aron steps outside and attempts to help Meyer bring in the injured soldier. "Who's this?" he asks.

  Meyer answers in a low tone. I'm unable to make out what he says, though I'm confident it involved a few choice words.

  "Let's hope nobody dies this time," I say to Sanda.

  She lowers her eyes.

  "Have your mom get the lab ready. We have to get this guy hooked into her system."

  Sanda gives me a tentative look, but nods and sprints down the corridor toward the lab. Into the open door, Meyer heaves in the dead weight of the soldier. Aron follows.

  "Where do you want him?" Meyer asks me.

  "Lab." I flatten to the wall and let Meyer pass, then tail him down. On the way, I spot Ben seated at the table in the eating area. His face is still white and dark circles paint the area below his eyes.

  I hang on the door frame, my heart aching to see him well. "Come with me."

  He shakes his head, letting out a sigh. "Avlyn, we need to go. This is important to you, but you're not thinking clearly. You're putting everyone at risk. You're making decisions with your emotions, not your head."

  "But I have thought this through logically. Not healing you puts everyone at risk." I check the time on my handheld. "We have about thirty minutes. I can do this. We can do this. Now come on."

  Reluctantly, Ben stands and tails me.

  In the lab, we're greeted with a sour-faced Gabrielle. "The four of you should be gone. I've secured a place for you to lay low, but if you leave too late, I can't guarantee your safety."

  I square my shoulders and plant my feet. "Gabrielle, you can't guarantee anyone's safety."

  Instead of lecturing me further, she twists Meyer's way as he dumps the soldier onto the table.

  "Get him paired with your system," I say. "I accessed his nanobots in the field. Although it's tainted with Manning's control mechanism, I believe the upgraded system will heal the abnormality in Ben's brain."

  "Avlyn—" Gabrielle starts.

  "We need to take a physical sample, and then transplant a small amount of the upgraded tech into Ben after we strip them of Manning's control. I can guide the fusion." I turn to Aron. "The nanos are not much different from microscopic drones. I'd like you to monitor their health and the progress on screen."

  Aron looks to Gabrielle for approval, his eyes wide.

  "Avlyn," Gabrielle says, "this is all well and good and sounds plausible, but it's too risky. This is the kind of thing to do under much less stress. Where I'm sending you, there will be resources. I'll get the sample and send it with you. Otherwise, you might convert Ben into some sort of killing machine like the DPF."

  Her last words stop me in my tracks. All my energy and excitement drains away. My original plan and Gabrielle's change snake in my brain, my hands balling at my sides in frustration. Ben needs to be healed now, my mind insists, but I know she's also right. We can't afford to make a mistake.

  "Agreed." My eyes move to the soldier on the table, still immobilized from Meyer's stun. Blood is flowing from his wounds. I have no need for my EP to tell me his life signs are continuing to fail, despite his upgraded tech. It doesn't make sense. "Either way, I can go in and fully disable Manning's control, then get you the sample."

  Gabrielle locks her eyes onto mine and I can almost see the thoughts running through her head. "I think we have time for that." She retrieves the wiring to patch the soldier into her system and attaches it to his head. As she does, he struggle for a breath.

  Gabrielle turns to our group, scanning each one of us. "Meyer, go ready the pods up top. Sanda, if you have nothing left to prepare, go help him."

  Meyer glances my way and wordlessly holds my gaze for a second. "Good luck," he finally says. He gestures Sanda toward the door and they both leave.

  "Aron," Gabrielle says, "Avlyn was right. I could use your assistance monitoring the nanobots to get this done faster."

  Aron grabs a rolling chair from behind him and sits at the viewer.

  "Initiate the program," Gabrielle says to him as she finishes adjusting the disks affixed to the soldier's head. She then hands one to me, and I stick the disk to my temple. "Are you ready, Avlyn?"

  I move closer to the table and scan the man's face. Why is the tech failing even though it shouldn't be? I hover my hands above the soldier's chest until Gabrielle tells me to touch him. I look at Ben, standing to the side, drawing in the whole scene. The unease coming from him shivers down my spine.

  "Ready," I say.

  Gabrielle zips to her chair. Her fingers fly over the touch screen, activating the same program she used to test Ben and me.

  "Three ... Two …"

  When she hits one, I thrust my hands onto the soldier's chest and command the data to surface. Immersing, everything goes blank, but I'm immediately hit with a wave of pain, resistance.

  "Get out of my head!" a voice screeches.

  I scream and throw my hands to my ears, but it's no use.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Eight

  The voice tells me to leave over and over. Instead, I plant myself. Overwhelming fear consumes me, but it's not mine. It's the soldier's, and for some reason, I'm experiencing this person's emotions the same way I feel Ben's. Because of it, I know he's not telling me to go. It's the tech he's fighting.

  "I'm not here to harm you. I can help."

  Silence.

  I command his nanos to return while I still have the chance. Three of them shimmer into view and hover in the space, as they did the last time I immersed. I call for the tech, and one of them floats to my side.

  "I want to heal you," I repeat to the soldier, focusing on the nano. Slowly, I lower my hands to the pearly body.

  "You—can't help me—too late," the soldier's disembodied voice finally struggles to say, making me flinch.

  I look from the nano, keeping my hands on its frame. "I think I can, but I need full access to your tech. Then I'll monitor for a malfunction."

  The voice groans. "There is—a mal—function."

  "Where is it?"

  Vibration worms its way into my fingers and up my arms.

  "Who are you?" he asks, avoiding the question.

  A shock of nervousness speeds into my gut. I can't tell the soldier who I am. What if it triggers a reaction?

  "A friend. Someone who believes what they did to you is unacceptable."

  "They made—me—into a machine," he says after a stretch of silence. "I don't want to be a machine—and that's why I'm broken."

  "Yes, I know your nanos are malfunctioning. They're not healing you. I can fix it if you let me."

  The vibration grows stronger, and the burning heat of frustration comes with it. The emotions are mixed: anger, sadness, loss.

  I lift my hands from the nano. "I understand you're frustrated, but we don't have much time for me to explain. Please stop fighting and give me access."

  "It's you who doesn't understand," the voice booms
. "It's not my tech that's faulty—it's me. I'm preventing it from healing my body. It's the only way to retain part of my humanity."

  "I'm confused."

  The voice groans. "After I was drafted, they installed this new tech. I could sense it taking hold, snaking its way through my body and brain. They intended for us to forget everything. For a while, it worked. I couldn't remember who I was. But—but I knew I was somebody—had something, someone to live for. I found what I had hidden in my shoe. I guess they didn't find it when they brought me in because they couldn't detect it. It was so simple, so childish. It should have been nothing, but it wasn't."

  My chest tightens as the memory of the paper with the stick people family. The heart comes to mind. "The drawing."

  "Yes." The voice raises in pitch and becomes more excited. "How did you know?"

  "I found it in your pocket … before you tried to choke me."

  "I'm sorry for that. Are you injured?" he asks.

  I touch my neck. "I guess not."

  The voice sighs. "I'm glad you weren't hurt. I don't want to hurt anyone. It's why I crashed my ship."

  "You crashed the ship?" I say.

  "I—" The voice pauses and struggles to get out the next words.

  "Why did you crash your pod?"

  "I refuse to do what they designed me to do."

  I remove my hands and step away from the floating nano. "And what did they program you to do?"

  The voice goes quiet for a disturbing moment. "I can't say."

  "Why not?" I ask. "To stop Manning, we have to know."

  "If I reveal information deemed sensitive in my mission, it will begin the self-destruct sequence." The voice becomes agitated, as if he's fighting some of his programming. "With you inside my head, I'm unsure what will happen."

  A wave of pain washes over me and I can feel his brain waves waffling between what's true and the lies fed to him his entire life in Elore. His emotions struggle to suppress the tech. At this point, I don't know what it would do to me either, and we don't have the time to risk it.

  "Where did the drawing come from?" I ask to distract him.

  "I can't … remember." The voice softens, no longer agitated. "That part was taken from me."

  Suddenly, I grasp the problem. This soldier has a glitch, one caused by seeing his child's drawing. It didn't fully return his memory, but it made him question his new program. Because Manning truly doesn't appreciate the importance of love, he didn't factor it into the equation when he created it.

  If I heal this man, repair the glitch, the patch will overwrite the emotions he still has, and if it doesn't work, he'll probably manually self-destruct anyway. Either way, he's going to die, and to get what I need, I have to destroy the single thing left that's keeping him human.

  "I don't know if I can do anything for you."

  The voice releases a paltry laugh. "That's what I've been trying to say—but there is part of you I trust. I'm not sure what it is—I know you want to help. I also know you're here for personal reasons. A human you're close to requires the tech running through my body."

  His word takes me aback. It's not only me that can sense this soldier's emotions. He senses mine.

  Guilt swirls in my middle. This man is no more or less important than Ben. He has a life, a son that is still alive, and I'm here to take from him.

  "You're right," I admit. "There are several reasons, one of which is to understand this new tech. My brother's nanos are not compatible with his brain anymore. It's a complicated story, but it's killing him."

  "And you—l-love him?"

  The voice says the word love as if it's foreign, and for this man, it is. Love is rarely spoken of in Elore. Any love he felt was hidden, covered up. If guardians would have found the drawing of the heart, he, as well as his son, would have been disposed of immediately. Naomi was already dead. There are plenty more Level Ones to replace them.

  "Yes, he's my twin. For thirteen years, I thought he was dead."

  The soldier relaxes, and the space around me turns a pale green. Calm bathes me like the waves of the ocean lapping over a sandy beach.

  "Take what you lack. I will allow the nanos to continue, but doing that means my body will again become a weapon. Without a doubt, I will attempt to harm you or anyone else who gets in my way. I will hold it off as long as I can, but once you get what you need, destroying the tech inside me will be necessary."

  My stomach clenches. "But that will kill you. The damage is too great."

  The voice is silent for what seems like an eternity. I know it's not.

  "In the end, I'm going to die anyway. I won't survive. At least this way you might have information to assist your brother, and maybe more."

  How can I be party to this man sacrificing himself for someone he doesn't know? To give up the possibility of returning to the family drawn on the paper folded in his pocket?

  But this is so much bigger. With the capability to heal Ben, we might be able to use our ability to free the people of Elore, to free his son.

  "Okay," I whisper, dampening my own emotions because that's not what's important right now.

  "I know your struggle," the soldier's voice says. "Please, do what is necessary."

  Hot tears sting my eyes, but they hold fast. Slowly, I re-approach the nano and hover my hands over it. "Are you ready?"

  "Not really," the voice says, "but yes. Please, do good."

  "I plan to."

  As if repelled, my hands refuse to touch the tech, but I shut my eyes and relax, lowering my hands until they reach the surface. Electricity buzzes through me and memories that are not my own swarm my brain.

  The face of a newborn. A son. The immediate test of his Intelligence Potential. Level One. Relief. The child stays. A private embrace of his spouse. Naomi Jensen. White-blonde hair. Her smile. Her smile.

  The images swirl and meld into one another and become a part of me, then they're gone. Ripped away. Dark sadness swallows me whole. I drown the feeling and focus.

  "Download DPF program."

  A surge flows through me as if I were hit by a streak of lightning, but instead of releasing, I lean into it, forcing the download. Now that he's not resisting the update, I'm fighting the soldier's programming.

  The soldier's emotions deplete as he grows weaker and the tech fights to consume him. The energy traveling my veins saps away as the upgrade fights me, but I push harder to take what might save my brother, the Citizens of Elore, maybe even this man's family. A scream exits my throat as the integrity of the space begins to collapse in a flurry of sparks.

  Download complete flashes in my consciousness.

  "Get the sample now, Gabrielle!" I shout.

  "Got it," Gabrielle's voice says in my comm.

  "Abort program," I command the nanos, configuring a virus in my mind to destroy it. I drive forward to release the bug into the nano, but it lurches and pulls. Slowly, it inches backward, and then without warning its tentacles thrust out toward me.

  I throw my hands into the air, willing it to stop. The tech struggles, but I wave my hand to the side and the tech crashes to the earth and explodes. The other two are en route, and I whip around with a flick of my hand, commanding them to smash into each other.

  A wave of dizziness overwhelms me, making my thoughts weak, hazy. Something compels me to stay. The sensation creeps from my feet up the rest of my body as if it demands me to freeze.

  Remembering why I'm here, I shake the fog from my head and free from the nano's deadly influence. Again, I form the virus, and this time visualize it taking over. The world cracks apart. Code flings through the space like white-hot shrapnel.

  "End!" I shriek as everything goes dark.

  I throw open my eyes and suck in a gasp. In front of me is the body of the soldier. He's motionless. Gabrielle and Ben seize me from behind and rip my hands from the man.

  "He's gone!" Gabrielle yells. "Did you get it?"

  My knees give way and I nearly collapse to the lab
floor, but Gabrielle catches me. Ben helps me to my feet.

  "Got it," I whisper, looking at Ben, unable to speak any louder. "He gave his life so I could have the DPF program. I know its weakness. It's love.

  Ben stares at me. "What do you mean?"

  "This man's love for his family severed the connection between him and the nanos controlling his brain. Flooding the programming with emotions shuts it down. I know how to fix the problem. Patch me into Elore's mainframe."

  Gabrielle shakes her head. "No way, Avlyn. Your body is weak. Your vitals nearly stopped at one point. Dealing with one soldier was difficult enough for you, and on top of that there is no time. I got the sample. Take it and make a plan. Meyer's ready, and you have to go."

  "If I do this now, I can end the invasion," I insist.

  Ben grabs my shoulders. "The DPF is only a portion of the problem. Doing this now is jumping the gun. Accept the data and let's go."

  "At least let me upgrade your nanos," I say to Ben.

  He shakes his head. "That will need to wait, too."

  Chapter

  Twenty-Nine

  Ben grabs my arm. "Let's go."

  Gabrielle thrusts a tiny data drive and the blood sample, containing the upgraded nanos from the now-dead soldier, into my hands. "I downloaded the information we gathered concerning you and Ben onto this. It also includes the instructions for how to enter the Underground, where to go online and who to trust in there if, for some reason, you're unable to contact me."

  "Wait." I pull from Ben, shoving the sample and drive into a hidden pocket at my waist. "You're not coming?"

  She laughs. "There's no room in your pod for me, and I belong here. You'll be secure where I'm sending you. A contact from Affinity will be in touch."

  "Affinity? You said they wouldn't know where we were." I glance at Ben, but he doesn't respond.

  "Avlyn, I went over your head and made the decision. You need to trust Ruiz." She gestures for us to go and Ben and I hustle into the hall. On the way to the surface, I retrieve a few articles of clothing from my room and stuff them into a bag. We burst from the bunker and spot Meyer, Aron, and Sanda loading the pod.