by Zac Strong
Jason swings a hatchet for my head and misses. The crazy old man dodges my attack and takes off running, jumping through a porthole. He lands, rolls, and sprints quickly up a dune, struggling to maintain balance.
My sword ready, I hit the sand right behind him.
He slips, falling up a dune.
I walk towards this monster, towering over him as he continues to crawl. He’s helpless. Desperate.
My weapon slaps his away disarming him with sparks.
He stops struggling, doesn’t even make a sound. With his cold, dark eyes he just stares at me, understanding his fate.
The tip of my blade pushes through his skull. Bright red blood drips from the tip of my steel onto the warm sand.
Heading back out of this hellhole after cutting Cyrus free I walk past the half-working computer again, but something stops me this time, drawing me to it. Moving the thick silver wire, I click the screen illuminated with big red words THE DELTA PROJECT: Life From A Different Perspective.
Scrolling through the long lists of names, I spot her.
Kallista 34.
My heart burst into a million pieces.
Kalli’s still in there. Jacee lied to me.
Chapter 10
A fresh sun peaks between the crystalline buildings that stretch far into the morning sky. It finds my eyes through the half-cocked blinds. From the 113th floor, I can perfectly see the world around me for miles. It’s absolutely beautiful. The black sand-covered hills encompassing the city glow brighter than even the passing billboards plastered with Archer Lethe’s anniversary clip looping at every rotation of our building on every screen in sight. They’re still trying to push the illusion of order, like everything is fine.
My alarm flashes on the surface of the window, obscuring my near-perfect view. A buzzing tone softly compliments the message I set. The alarm isn’t convincing enough though. Mid-stretch with arms and legs fully extended in the empty bed I try to ignore it, hoping for the slim chance to fall back asleep, but it’s no use. The persistent little pixels manifest on any digital surface my focus directs its attentio-
Something catches my ear.
The faint sounds of running water clashes with my sudden paranoia. It’s coming from the rear of my flat.
I reach for a tablet that’s been collecting dust on my nightstand for weeks. My legs refuse, but I force them down the loft stairs and towards the washroom across the hall. Inching step by step, the sound grows louder.
Hidden within the uproar of what I’m now certain to be my shower, my ears pull from the air a gentle melody belonging to the voice of a woman.
My grip tightens as I approach the washroom door. I can feel the perspiration collecting over my brow. My heart beats my chest faster. My lungs sprint towards hyperventilation.
The intruder’s humming continues to combat the sound of the pouring shower, completely oblivious to my existence just meters away.
My hand slowly finds the door’s metallic handle. It turns carefully without making the slightest of sounds. A cloud of warm mist rushes past me desperately trying to escape as I step closer towards the shower.
Through the fog, the silhouette of a woman still humming her song stands under the water. Who is this woman? Why is she in my home?
I lift my hand towards the shower wall, pausing just before the tips of my fingers make contact.
The obliqueness of the glass wall abruptly fades as the pixelated hex pattern disappears in a chain reaction, pixel by pixel until all that remains is the naked body of a woman still humming, shrouded only in the nebulousness of mist.
“You’re still here?”
Selene steps out of the shower into view.
My eyes take her in completely. Last night flashes across my brain, every inch of her smooth skin, how she tastes, every detail I ever needed to know about her finds its way back into my memory with one glance.
She steps out from the shower and drops to her knees before me. Pulling down my briefs, she looks up at me with the most innocent, yet devious smile I’ve ever seen. “I made myself at home. Hope you don’t mind, E,” she says right before taking me entirely into her mouth. No hands.
If there was ever any thought of caution or hesitance left within me it’s now vanquished, replaced by nothing more than raw lust and an undying desire for release.
My eyes fall on the tablet. The screen is lit with Lethe literature entitled, The Psychology of the Human Machine. It rests on the washroom’s floor where it was dropped. The condensation on the mirror slowly trickles down to the metallic frame, pausing only to gain enough courage to descend into its destiny. The violet curls cascading down her back bounce shamelessly beneath my torso. Their cool, wet touch on my inner thigh sends electricity down to my toes.
Her pace quickens as I feel the inner me take control. The real me. My hand clutches her dampened head, as it guides her back and forth with no regard to mannerisms or chivalry. In this moment, nothing else exists.
After she finishes what should be considered nothing less than art, my beautiful intruder gathers her things, dresses herself, and leaves without saying a word. Can there be a more perfect woman?
In my best attempt to keep a routine, I light a cigarette, push the coffee icon on the bioprinter, and ask the Oracle to turn on the morning news.
The empty wall in front of the loveseat springs to life illuminating an augmented three-dimensional display. A billion color pixels arrange themselves to form an image of a respectable-looking man in a suit, informing me of the latest current events in Olympia. Behind him, a picture of a deceased protestor, another death by Lethe. I wonder if Oriyen had any part of this one.
They’re claiming the protestor was a threat to public safety. Of course, they are. They always do. Dead people suck at defending themselves against slander.
That strange feeling comes creeping back. The one that forces me to put my entire life into perspective. Even with all the technology and tools we have at our disposal, death is always near. I’m honestly surprised I’ve made it this long.
In my peripheral, the computer screen on the other side of the room animates. Stepping closer I recognize the Delta Project sequencer on the screen. There’s an experience already downloaded. I don’t recall loading that. It’s waiting for me to plug in.
What the fuck? Who’s doing this?
Is this Kronos?
I should call Oriyen. This must be what he was talking about.
No… I want to see this. I need to see this.
Forcing my anxious hands to the silver cord attached to my computer, I guide it into the network port in my arm. There’s no way to predict what I’m about to see on the other side.
I take a deep breath…
and release.
Chapter 11
We reach the entrance of the cave not long after dusk. Sweat stings my eyes, my lungs are on fire and I don’t even remember how I got here. I’m not sure if it’s the pain or the mindwipes.
Cyrus is talking with the guards.
I collapse in the sand trying to catch my breath and process this all.
After a few minutes, I hear Xander’s voice, “What’s going on out here. What’s happened?” His words seem anxious. This is the first time I’ve seen him scared.
My eyes are met with his look of confusion.
“They’re all dead. It’s just me and Cyrus left.” I whimper violently still trying to catch my breath.
Xander turns to the guards and orders them to gather the newcomers. They hastily comply and disappear into the cave.
“It’s okay, just breathe. Tell me exactly what happened out there,” says Xander.
“I-I don’t know what happened… One second everything was fine and the next.. the next I wake up tied to a pole, and they were dead. They’re fucking cannibals! They were eating our men right in front of me.” I burst into tears all over again.
He absorbs every one of my words before helping me inside the cover of the cave entrance.
“You’re safe now.”
Leon emerges already geared up and armed with his spear as he makes his way outside to Xander. The look on his face would haunt any man’s dreams. He was right.
I rise and step out from the sanctity of the gates to join them. “You’re a good man, Palin,” says Xander turning towards me.
“How do you know?” He’s only known me for a few weeks. He blindly takes me into his home, allows me to eat from his
table, sleep under his protection. How the fuck does he know what kind of man I am? I don’t even know what type of man I am.
He puts a warm hand on my shoulder and pauses. In the most forgiving voice I’ve ever heard, he says to me, “I know a man by the type of world he wants to leave behind.” He looks at me in the eyes, pauses a moment, and asks, “What type of world do you want to leave behind?”
His words linger in my mind for a few minutes before I answer him. I want it to be true.
Lifting my head, I stare back into his fearless eyes and reply, “I want to live in a world without liars. I don’t want to hide in a cave for the rest of my life like some coward either. I want to fight for what is right, even if that means I don’t make it back. This is our world, and it’s about god damn time we do something about it!”
The crowd gathered by the entrance burst into applause from the gate behind me as I feel a bolt of lightning electrify me. There is a newfound sense of emotion in the air. We’re pissed off and blood-hungry. Right now, I feel invincible, like nothing can stop me. I feel reborn.
One of Jason’s men sprints past us into the desolate desert sensing the mistake of his leader.
“Leon, wait!” shouts Xander.
It’s too late.
The runner’s fate is met with the tip of Leon’s spear pinning him lifeless to the ground as thousands of volts of purple electricity surge through his lifeless corpse.
“You killed him!” yells Xander.
“They’re damn cannibals! They killed our men! I’m not gonna let one of ‘em live to see another fuckin’ day!” roars Leon.
“These people shouldn’t be responsible for the actions of someone else! If you kill these men and women, you’re no better than they are,” Xander pleas.
The rest of Jason’s people aren’t far behind. They exit the cave and line up as the guards ordered them to.
Look at them. They must know what happened in Argo. The sheer panic on their face tells me everything I need to know. Their eyes find one of their own facedown with Leon’s spear sticking out of his back. Immediately they grow uneasy.
A deadly stillness lingers in the air. The moon shines bright enough to see the hatred in Leon’s eyes.
“This isn’t the way,” says Xander seconds before Leon rips the gun from one of the guard’s hands and blasts Medea in the head beside him. The wife of Jason falls lifeless to the sand.
Chaos ensues.
All the men and women from Argo begin to scramble wildly trying to flee from their dismay.
Leon mows them down unmercifully. One by one they fall scattered in the desert sand until only we are left standing.
Gunpowder and smoke consume the air around us. A hint of fog floats a few meters from the ground. All is quiet.
Despite everyone’s mixed emotions, I’m actually with Leon on this. Fuck these motherfuckers. It’s either us or them.. and these days it’s too risky to chance it. Two of our men would still be alive if it weren’t for us saving them. People can’t be trusted.
Another one of Jason’s men takes off running towards Leon from the entrance, knife in hand. Probably hiding, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
Leon’s back is turned. No one else sees him.
He leaps, knife above his head behind Leon.
I tackle him in the air landing with the tip of my sword through his abdomen.
His knife lands edge down in the sand beside him.
Something grips me as I slowly reach for it.
It can’t be.
This.. this isn’t possible.
I pull a black-bladed knife from the sand. Its handle is wrapped with a blue, blood-stained rope. The omega symbol, red, smeared with blood. Kalli’s knife.
“What’s wrong with ‘em?”
“Not sure. Maybe he’s dehydrated, or something.”
“I bet he still has a bit of that Lethe poison in ‘em.”
Their muffled words creep into my ears, jerking me back to reality. My eyes open to Xander and Leon standing over me. The
sun blinds me as I try to lasso my equilibrium. With my head still spinning to the point I start to taste acid in the back of my throat, my eyes somehow manage to find Kalli’s knife lying in the sand next to me. How did this get into the hands of the cannibals? One of them must have scavenged it from the dump after Lethe cleaned out our apartment. Now it’s found its way all of the way back to me.
“How long was I out for?” I ask, wiping the sand and sweat from my face as I try to claw myself back to normal.
“Only for a few. Your face turned ‘bout ten different whites and you were out,” laughs Leon as he hands me his open canteen. “You good though? You hit pretty hard.”
“Yeah.” I reply, “I’m good. Just my past reminding me of something I need to take care of.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” interjects Xander. His voice, concerned, but more so offended.
Clutching the handle, I rise to my feet. “This knife right here belonged to the love of my life, well, my first love. I’ve known her ever since I was last reborn. She was perfect in every possible way. They took her from me, trapped her in their servers. I have to go back and free her and the countless others trapped inside Lethe’s machines.”
One of the younger guys interrupts excitedly from the remains of a fallen cannibal. “Guys!! You’re going to want to see this!”
Xander nods at Leon and curiosity leads us over to him.
Standing over a dead man still bleeding from a hole in his neck is the young soldier holding a belt with four metal balls attached to it. Long-handled levers connect at the top of the black metal spheres.
“Grenades!” shouts Leon excitedly. He snatches the belt from the kid’s hands and tosses them to Xander after meticulously observing their every detail. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the mountain this excited.
Xander walks a step closer to me, slings the belt across his shoulder, and takes the knife from my trembling hand. I see my wrath reflecting in his eyes.
He carefully inspects the knife for a moment before lifting his head, “I believe this is meant to be.” He nods in agreement with himself. “What are the odds of this knife making it back to you like this? What are the odds of you being in that particular infirmary in the specific city at the same time we were? Out of all the caves in the Outlands, you find yourself in ours. This is your purpose in life, Palin. Every moment has led to this one.”
Leon quickly rises to his feet and interjects, “Yeah, I’m callin’ bullshit. What’s the purpose of having a purpose if ya don’t know ya purpose ‘til after it’s too late? Don’t make a lick of sense to me. Plus, moments lead to other moments with or without purpose.”
“It’s not too late. It’s all part of the plan the universe has in store for us. The probability of everything that’s happened is far too great to occur by mere chance,” argues Xander passionately. “This knife is proof.”
“The probability of me being born at the exact second, minute, hour, day, and year that I was born opposed to the near-infinite other possible combination of outcomes is so small it blows my frickin’ mind, yet here I am,” says Leon smugly.
Their bickering is getting to me. The love of my life is trapped inside some digital prison while they argue about odds and probability.
“Enough!” I shout. “I don’t care about what is more probable. I don’t care about what my purpose in life is. If you ask me, it’s all pretty absurd. The universe itself is a cold, unreasonable
place. There is no
clarity. It doesn’t give a fuck about your feelings or your longing for purpose in life. The only thing I care about right now is freeing Kalli and bringing Lethe to its knees for doing this to her. Destiny or no destiny. Are you with me or not?”
Xander and Leon’s eyes meet.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” speaks Xander after a brief moment of contemplation. “You, me, and Leon will sneak into 34, take out a few droids and blow their servers. It’ll be a quick in and out.”
“I’m going too,” asserts Cyrus. “You saved my life. I owe it to you, Palin.”
This is really happening. Everything begins flying by me faster. I’m stuck in slow motion, locked inside my head, focused on what I must do. I may die soon. I understand this more than anyone. It isn’t something I can ignore any longer. This struggle will be nothing compared to the torment she must be going through, perhaps a fate worse than death. How many countless others are locked inside their machines? At least thousands of innocent people, with us as their only hope.
“Are you out of your mind?” screeches Jacee as she ambushes me at the gate. Her face, tight with anger. She is more upset than I’ve ever seen her before. “They just told me what you’re trying to do! That’s suicide!”
“You lied to me,” I reply coldly.
“I lied because I needed you! I didn’t want you killing yourself again for no reason. If they have her, she’s gone, Palin.”
“This is a quick in and out. They won’t even know we’re there. If something happens, well, that’s a risk I’m willing to take. If I were in her shoes, she’d do the same for me; and if you were the one trapped in some slave computer, I would risk my life for you too. This is not a debate. This is not a choice I can make. This is happening. This is our shot to make this world a better place. It’s about more than us now. You have to understand.”
“What’s wrong with the way things are!? Why can’t we grow old together here? You have it made here with me, Palin. You never have to worry about anything ever again. Please… I’m begging you. Stay.”
She almost makes me want to, but I know what I must do. I made a promise.