The Girl Who Dared to Fight

by Bella Forrest

  Maddox’s struggles eventually weakened as reality set in, subsiding into rough sobs of sorrow and tragedy that I understood all too well. Maddox had just lost her mother, learned her father was Devon Alexander, then lost him too. And now Quess. It wasn’t right. She was a good person—she didn’t deserve to know that loss.

  I glanced over at Eric, to see his own eyes filled with tears, as he undoubtedly thought about Zoe, and I almost broke down. None of us had done anything to deserve this, but we had all lost people we cared about anyway. It wasn’t fair.

  On impulse, I wrapped my arms around Maddox, hugging her tight to me as she cried her anguish out against my shoulder, and fought back my own heartbreak. Quess and the others were more than just friends to me. They were my family. Our bond had been forged in the most unorthodox of ways, but they were all I had left, and I was losing them.

  Which made the ones still with me all the more precious. It was just too bad that where we were going, none of us were guaranteed to survive.

  The thought grounded me, helping me to realize we didn’t have time to stand around crying, and I smoothed my hand over Maddox’s back, hating myself for how harsh I had to be with her. “Doxy, I’m sorry about Quess,” I said, my voice thick due to the constricted nature of my throat. “But we have to move. I don’t know how much longer Grey and Leo have, if they haven’t broken already, and—”

  “I know,” she said, jerking away from me and turning around to scrub at her face. “Let’s just…” She sucked in a shuddering breath and exhaled slowly, and I could tell she was fighting for calm. “Let’s go,” she finally said, turning around.

  Her eyes were filled with a myriad of emotions: pain, anguish, sorrow, denial, fear, anger, and most importantly, determination. I knew how hard it had to be for her to push the pain of her loss back for even a heartbeat, but Maddox and I were more alike than I cared to admit sometimes, and knowing her, she’d put her pain in a box, lock it up tight, and embrace the void.

  Just like I had.

  “Eric, grab that pad,” I told my friend, breaking from Maddox’s gaze to face him. “And let’s hope your Cog training has really paid off.”

  “I can read a schematic,” he said quietly, bending over to pick up the pad Quess had thrown out. “Just give me a second.”

  I turned back to Maddox to find her gazing at the pressure valve, her green eyes threatening to overflow again. “I think we can give you that,” I murmured, wanting to give Maddox a few more moments to mourn. It wasn’t much, and we had to move, but we could all be dead soon, and she deserved a moment alone with her pain. “I’ll help you,” I added, realizing that she didn’t need me watching it, either.

  39

  I gave Maddox a minute alone with her grief while I discussed the next step with Eric, but it was all we could spare. The directions for getting into the next room were pretty straightforward: on one of the large vats of liquid nitrogen there was a small ladder, which led to the air filtration system, which then fed into a vent that cooled the integration chamber below—which was where we’d find Sage. The schematics indicated that there were several large machines lining the walls, with space behind them for workers to do repairs, should they need to. Plus, the ceiling was high enough that we’d be mostly hidden if we remained on our lashes, so all we had to do was use our lashes to cross the room—without capturing anyone’s attention—drop behind those machines, and then evaluate the situation from there.

  Of course, the task was simple, but not getting caught was going to be the difference between life and death, making it infinitely more complicated.

  I didn’t have much in the way of a plan beyond killing Sage in the hopes that everything would stop, but I also wasn’t naïve enough to assume that was all it would take. No, the real goal was locating Leo and initiating the New Day protocol. It was the only way to remove the source of Sage’s power. His control over Scipio was what was stopping the Tower from working, and initiating the protocol in Leo would take that control from Sage forever. Even if we died, Leo could turn the Tower against him—against the legacies—and get rid of them. It was the only chance we had of saving the Tower.

  I looked down at my watch and sighed, hating that I couldn’t give Maddox any more time to mourn Quess. “Maddox?” I called hesitantly toward where she was still standing, staring at the pipe valve.

  She turned slowly, looking down at me from her elevated position. Her eyes were red from crying, but she sniffed and nodded. I refrained from saying anything more while she pulled out the lancer we had recovered and checked the battery pack.

  “I’m ready,” she said hoarsely. “What’s the plan?”

  She descended the steps while I let Eric explain. Even though we had come up with it together, I was already having doubts about it. There was so much that could go wrong. All Sage or anyone in the room would have to do was look up, and we’d be dead. A part of me wanted to tell them to hold off—wait and let me go first, to make the attempt alone, to see if our plan even stood a chance.

  Or, better yet, try to convince them to run away. We’d just lost Quess; there was no need for them to risk their lives, too.

  It was on the tip of my tongue to ask them to turn back, but I knew it was pointless. Not just because they wouldn’t go, but because there was nowhere for them to go. The compartment we were in only had one way out now that we’d sealed the pipe back up, and that was forward.

  So, I swallowed the urge, pulled out my gun to recheck how much ammunition I had, and then pushed off the wall and into the hallway, leading the way.

  The passageway between the two vats was narrow, forcing me to turn sideways to move through it. The ladder we needed was only thirty feet down the hall, though, running up the side of the chrome vat. It wasn’t long before we were climbing, heading for the vent in the ceiling twenty feet above us.

  It took no time for me to get up to it and pull off the grate cover, then hand it down to Eric, who gave it to Maddox. A quick check of the edges of the vent told me that there weren’t any sensors or automated defenses inside that Dinah’s schematic might have missed, and I grabbed the edges of the vent to support my upper half and then stepped up a few more rungs until I could get my knee on the inside and pull the rest of my body through.

  I noticed two things immediately: first, the air vent was large enough to stand in, and second, it was deathly cold. Possibly just as cold as the pipe had been, if not colder. I knew that was impossible—and I was sure the air in here was several degrees warmer—but the wind made it feel cold. The air being pumped through the room whipped past me at a phenomenal rate, tugging at the edges of my hair, where I had it secured, and if I faced directly into it, it felt like I wasn’t able to breathe.

  Luckily, I was heading in the same direction as the wind, not against it, so it was easy enough to turn my back to it and stand up. Within seconds I was moving clear of the opening, breathing air onto my hands to keep them warm and flexible. I moved my hand light around the darkened edges of the massive vent, checking to make sure we were alone, and then turned around to give Eric a hand.

  He was already partially through the opening, but his muscular frame was making it difficult for him to raise his leg high enough, so I reached down, grabbed a fistful of his uniform at the back, and hauled him up a few more inches. It helped, and within moments, he was standing and we were both giving Maddox a hand up.

  We left the vent open—Maddox had secured the grate between two of the rungs below, to avoid trying to climb with it, and it wasn’t worth the effort of going back for it—and proceeded down the shaft into the air filtration system. I knew from the schematic that the ventilation chamber over the room below was large, but nothing could have prepared me for the size and scope of what I saw as we exited the vent.

  The entire thing was easily large enough to stand up in, except for the hole in the center of the dome-like room. Overhead, a massive fan spun, pushing the air down into the space. I could see the crackle of energ
y through its spinning blades, which told me that the power beam was directly overhead, perfectly centered over the opening below. Light from the room lit up the area in which we were standing, and I shut my own light off for fear someone might notice the beam, and then slowly approached the wide opening.

  It was enclosed by a waist-high rail, likely to keep workers from accidently falling, but I slowed to a stop long before I reached the edge, not wanting to draw any attention to myself should anyone be looking up.

  I immediately frowned when I saw that the area beneath us was not clear like the schematic had read, but instead contained a smaller domed structure, the curved roof of it ending just a few feet under the ceiling above us. In fact, I could easily jump down to it without using my lashes. I wasn’t sure what it was or why it was there, but it did offer a small amount of cover.

  Emboldened by the fact that the dome provided something else we could hide behind, I dropped to my stomach and crawled to the ledge of the platform, trying to get a glimpse of the area around the dome. I approached it slowly, not wanting my movement to be the thing that gave us away, and cautiously wrapped my fingers over the edge for one final pull forward.

  Rows of machines met my gaze, casting dark shadows behind them while multicolored lights intermittently illuminated their faces. There was no sign of any movement or people, but there was more of the room to see.

  I carefully pushed away from the edge and maneuvered into a kneeling position, waving for Eric and Maddox to come up right beside me. A moment later, both crimson-clad figures were squatting down next to me, their eyes on my hands while I signed in Callivax. We need to scope out the room to see if there is a guard set up, where Leo and Grey are, and where Sage is, before we go down. Let’s spread out, taking different positions around the edge of the platform, and watch for one minute. If we don’t see anyone, we’ll go in blind, but let’s hope we can figure out where these guys are so we can find the best entry point.

  Maddox nodded and began creeping to the left, while Eric flashed me a thumbs-up signal and went right. I watched them go for a second, eyeing their slow and deliberate pace with appreciation and respect, and then returned to my belly and crawled back up to the edge again.

  I kept one eye on my friends as they slowly got into position and one eye below, trying to remain hyperaware of everything at once. It was an impossible task, but I tried nonetheless, knowing the next part of our plan required us to get in unnoticed.

  Maddox’s hand shot up suddenly, and I immediately looked at it, watching as she signed, Got a sentinel by a door. Appears stationary. At your three o’clock.

  Not great, but if we could keep the dome between us and it, we could make it work. I turned my gaze below, looking for any sign of movement, and then froze when I heard Sage’s voice say, “Ah, good, you’re awake. I was worried that last round was too much for you. How are you feeling?”

  My skin crawled at how pleasant and cheerful his tone was—how friendly he seemed to be toward whoever he was talking to—but I could hear the undercurrent of malice that twisted his words, and I knew exactly who was on the receiving end.

  It was Leo. And Grey. I prayed it was both but feared that it would only be Leo. I wasn’t sure if Sage would’ve kept Grey alive after his legacies delivered him.

  I looked up at the other two, trying to see if either of them had eyes on Sage, and noticed Eric changing his position by a few feet, altering his angle so that he was almost across from me. A moment later, his head shot up to look at me, and he nodded, just as a series of coughs erupted from below.

  My heart burst with hope. An AI had no reason to cough, meaning that what I was hearing was coming from Grey. And it was all I could do not to race over to where Eric was lying. But I couldn’t—I had to move slowly.

  I carefully pushed away from the edge and slithered back a few feet, then slowly picked myself up off the walkway into a low crouch. I kept a healthy distance between myself and the edge, crossing in front of other vent shafts that fed into the room, mimicking the wheel spoke design from the bottom of the shaft above.

  The coughing subsided while I moved, changing into sharp, pained gasps that I knew were doubling as forced laughter, and the hope in my heart dwindled and died as I realized that just because Grey was alive, it didn’t mean he was all right.

  “Sorry,” he wheezed, continuing his dry chuckle. “The AI you’re looking for isn’t here right now. Please try again at the sound of the—”

  A wet slapping noise cut him off, and I went ramrod stiff, my heart now in my throat. “Here’s the thing about AIs and real, physical pain, Grey. Can I call you Grey?”

  “Go to hell,” Grey spat, and there was another sound that could only be explained by a fist being driven into human flesh.

  I swallowed down the nausea and resumed my trek toward Eric, trying to understand what Sage was trying to accomplish. I knew he was torturing Grey, but why? All he had to do was remove the net, and he’d have Leo in his hand. I knew for a fact that he could torture AIs into compliance, so why hurt Grey? As I moved, Sage continued to speak as if nothing about this were out of the ordinary. I had no idea whether the old man was hitting Grey himself or having one of his children do it, but I would know soon enough.

  “As I was saying, Grey, AIs… they just can’t seem to cope with physical pain. Oh, I mean, they can bury themselves deep in the recesses of your mind and let you endure it alone, but they won’t. Lionel raised them all to be self-sacrificing, whether they wanted to be or not, and they almost universally try to protect the host. But physical pain is such a foreign construct to an AI that they can’t cope with it. So while they’re trying to keep you from going insane, they begin to break down. I know Leo is riding your thoughts, working with you to find a way to escape, and I know each time I break another finger or land another blow he buckles and breaks even more. How long can you keep him from telling me what I want?”

  “We got no place to be,” Grey wheezed back. “And honestly, this whole torture thing? I think you might be slightly mistaken. Leo’s not even talking to me anymore.”

  “I dislike lies, especially feeble ones,” Sage drawled.

  “No, seriously! You should take him out and check! I think you might’ve killed him.”

  Sage sighed irritably. “Even if I wanted to take him out and put him in my head, I could not. Years of Kurt and I being together has created a synaptic dependency. If I remove him, I die.”

  Grey gave out a sharp bark of laughter that he quickly cut off with a, “I’m sorry. So you’re telling me that in replacing Scipio with Kurt, you’ll die?”

  “A sacrifice I am willing to make to right the injustices Lionel visited upon humanity. Now, enough. You need to recognize the situation you’re in. Your friends are dead, and if they’re not yet, they will be soon. Every person in the Tower is gunning for your little girlfriend. I doubt she’ll survive another two hours on the run.”

  “I can wait that long,” Grey replied. “She’s worth it.”

  I reached Eric just as Sage began to chuckle, and quickly slid onto my belly next to him, peering down into the hole. I could see Sage. His back was to us, and just beyond him, I saw the crimson colors of a Knight’s uniform. I could only see Grey’s legs; a chair had been set up closer to the machines, so I couldn’t see all of him from this angle, but I could see that he was seated, hands bound behind him, legs tied to the chair.

  “You keep telling yourself that, boy. I’m growing impatient, and have decided to step it up, as you say. Sadie? Will you pass me the helmet, please? I think it might be Kurt’s turn to take a shot.”

  As he spoke, the familiar form of the gray-clad head of IT stepped into view, a strange white helmet with a series of cables jutting out of the top in her hand. She gave it to Sage with a beatific smile. “Of course, Father. I have some updates for you about the progress we’re making in Cogstown. Would you like to wait, or—”

  “Tell me later,” the old man interrupted impatiently.
“Hook up Mr. Farmless here so I can have Kurt take another crack at breaking them both.”

  It’s Sawyer, I thought to myself, and felt the ghost of a smile form when I heard Grey say, “My last name is Sawyer, you sadistic piece of crap. And Leo and I aren’t telling you anything.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Sage said ominously. “Sadie, darling, go ahead.”

  I glanced over at Eric, and then Maddox, and debated whether we should go now, or wait to find a better opportunity. They were clearly going to be distracted for a minute or two, which meant now was the best time for us to move. Especially since it was obvious they hadn’t gotten what they needed out of Leo yet—which meant there was a chance we could stop everything, if we could just get down there and get to him.

  I thought about the information we had gathered—Maddox’s sentinel and the placement of Sage and Sadie in relation to the room—and figured that the best point of entry was closer to Maddox’s side, just out of sight of the sentinel. I tapped Eric on the shoulder, indicating for him to follow me, then slid backward on my belly.

  As soon as I was far enough away from the ledge, I stood up and crossed over to Maddox, who had moved away from the railing and was waiting in a low squat, her expression thoughtful.

  Ideas? I signed as soon as I caught her eye, and she nodded, her hands and fingers bursting into a flurry of motion.

  We go down closer to where we entered. Detach from the ceiling as quickly as possible and rappel down the side of the dome.

  I flashed her a thumbs-up, and then quickly crossed over to the area she’d pointed out. Pulling a length of the lash line from my sleeve, I leaned over the railing and spun it around several times before slapping it straight down so it hit the underside of the flooring beneath my feet.

  There was a sharp click when it hit, and I froze, worried that Sage or Sadie had heard it, but whatever they were doing to Grey must have had them preoccupied, because there was no pause in their low exchange.