The smoke completely disappears, every particle of it eaten alive by the ferocious army of nanobots. I tap the cube once, a wave of blue light washing over it as I hastily zip up the bag. I stand frozen in shock. There are at least a dozen bodies on the ground within the immediate area around me, most already dead from large pieces of metal stabbing through their bodies, and the others with blood oozing out of them, hanging on to life by a single thread. The pilots of the aircraft are seated in the cockpit full of mangled wires and charred chunks of metal; their bodies are burnt beyond recognition.
The Chimera Cube could have saved all of them if administered in time.
Somehow, this thing could have even stopped the plane from crashing (this one might be a stretch, but I don’t doubt it’s possible).
But I didn’t react fast enough.
I failed.
I failed once again.
And now all I have to show for it is the smoke that cleared up in a disturbingly fast amount of time that will only cause suspicion and having failed to save the lives of those already dead.
A wave of guilt crashes over me, the one thing I tried to prevent by helping that mother and her baby. As you can tell, I have never been a selfless person. It’s not that I am some selfish bastard, but usually I operate by the style of covering my own ass first before running back into the flames to save others. It’s the style that my father taught me for years, the style that built him his empire. One where you secure your own needs first before helping to secure the needs of others. My only need is to keep the Chimera Cube secret, my only need is carrying on my father’s legacy, and in turn that of Isaac Savery, to ensure the work of the greatest genius to ever live is put to good use. My only need is ensuring that I am the only one with the power to use this technology and in turn to save the world.
Normally, I would hide the Chimera Cube and focus on the logical side of things. Make it all a numbers game, just how my dad did with Life Pods, and bet that in the long run, keeping this secret safe will save ten times the amount of people it will kill in the moment.
But I selfishly don’t want to feel the guilt.
I don’t want to see another person die knowing that I could have saved them—if I let that happen, I won’t be able to live with myself.
I love the feeling of power and control.
And knowing that I could save a life at the snap of a finger is a power I can’t resist using, no matter the consequences. I wanted to see the mother’s smile. I wanted her happiness to help fill a void inside me—I wanted it to numb the pain that I am feeling about all the things in my life that this damn cube can’t save.
But now the Chinese military is here, and they are coming for me. My instincts don’t have anything for me to do.
Two soldiers with masks to filter out toxic fumes and red body-fitting gear jump out from the side of a large red military vehicle and grab on to my arms. I hold the straps of my backpack, making sure that none of them even come close to trying to touch it. Within seconds I am ushered away from the chaos and thrown into the back of a large hummer-like vehicle with a rack of lights on the front, and seating in the back that can fit at least a dozen people.
As soon as the doors close, my ears experience the sound of silence for the first time since the gunfire and explosions began in Noah’s penthouse.
There is no telling how many people have died in this amount of time. All I know is that there is one person I care about more than any of the others.
“Where’s Jake?” I stare around at the group of young men and women all wearing the identical red uniform of the imperial army. “Where is he?” I bang against the door, trying to barge my way out of here so that I can save him.
Chances are that he made it to safety—after all, he was only feet away from the broken-into liquor store. But in tragedies, you don’t take chances—not when it comes to someone’s life.
And I’m the only one who can save him.
No one responds.
They all stare at me blankly. I can’t tell if this is because of the language barrier, ignorance, or direction from their superiors, but I go apeshit.
“Someone tell me where he is! Don’t just hold me captive in this place and not save him! Find him and get him before he dies!” My voice reverberates off the black metal interior of the car. I haven’t even managed to sit down yet, instead I stand in the middle of the two rows of seats, my entire body vibrating with the anger coursing through me.
In truth, every bit of anger is directed at my own self.
I’m the one who failed to save him, even though I did push him out of the way of the car. And I’m the one who failed to get us out of this mess in a different way, one that would involve less death and less destruction.
The second I finally really look around at the expressions of the soldiers, my mindset shifts. Before, I was stuck thinking that this was all about me. Yet there is a different expression on all their faces as they glance at me. One that is not angry, even more of a brotherly one. They know I’m not the enemy, they aren’t even scared of me.
They came here to save me.
Everyone here knows that this is way bigger than me. That what happened today is just the beginning of the long, dark times ahead.
This is war.
Chapter 9
Over forty people are dead.
I know that is another number.
I started off by telling you another statistic about another tragedy on another day that seemed normal until it wasn’t.
At least it seemed normal for most of the people involved. For me, normal doesn’t exist anymore. Now I have the weight of the world on my shoulders, or at least it feels this way, and as much joy as the challenge brings me in a fucked-up way, and the necessity to push myself past the limit and create an entirely new barrier for myself exhilarates me, I am still disgusted. I am still devastated.
Over forty people are dead.
Shit, I said it again.
I’m really getting caught up on this number, and I hate math. But at the end of the day, forty innocent people died, and those forty deaths are going to lead to millions more.
And it’s all because of me.
“Are you ready for this?” Jake pats my back, the expression in his eyes just as nervous as mine as we both sit backstage awaiting my name to be called. The Chinese government decided to call a last-minute Virtual Reality Charity Tournament for the victims of what was dubbed by the Chinese newspapers as the Beijing Bombing.
Even though technically it wasn’t a bomb, I have to admit that it makes for a catchy headline, and the explosion of the aircraft killed people and caused destruction all the same. The tragedy of the Beijing Bombing acted as the perfect distraction to the parts of the story that the Chinese government purposely left out of the media, like the fact that Jake and I both managed to survive after jumping out of a building with a parachute and hoverboard respectively (RIP hoverboard to the fires). And the fact that all the smoke mysteriously disappeared within minutes after the explosion only for it to return with the continued burning of the fires.
The lady whose daughter magically got saved by the Chimera Cube must think that I was a god or something, because with all the smoke it was impossible to recognize me. All she knows is that her daughter is healed, and all the country knows is that a tragic plane crash of a Chinese military jet ensued.
What they don’t know is that China and the United States are about to engage in war. All because the United States wants me back, and they are willing to do anything to ensure that they can kill me. In reality, one motivator is to exact revenge on me, but if they know that I have Isaac Savery’s secrets, that’s probably an even bigger motivator to come and find me.
It’s exactly why the news of the raid and subsequent attack on a Chinese military aircraft didn’t make the news in any Western media outlets.
The U.S. government wants everything to stay silent, meanwhile all I want to do is scream at the top of my lungs.
> “No. No, not at all. I still can’t get the images of last night out of my head.” I gulp, sweat running down the sides of my face as I peek out the crack in the side of the stage to see the thousands of people in the stadium.
We are currently in Beijing’s newly built esports stadium that has a glass roof and wraparound seating that can fit nearly ten thousand people. All the competitors in its various esports tournaments enter the stage from platforms underneath the stage that raise everyone up onto the crowd. Right now, I am standing on one of the platforms that will take me directly into the center of the stage where I will be in charge of moderating the tournament.
The players will be competing in a game run on Chimera’s suite of software with the Chimera logo of the mythological fire-breathing monster on their shirts.
“I can tell. You are sweating buckets, bro.” Jake hands me a towel to prevent the sweat from seeping into the borrowed suit I am wearing.
What Jake doesn’t know is that I’m not sweating because I am nervous to go up on stage in front of thousands of people after the U.S. government deployed their own military to capture me. I’m nervous because for the first time since my dad gave it to me, I don’t have the Chimera Cube.
I left the backpack with the laser gun, flashlight, patents, and Chimera Cube inside and put it in a locked safe that I buried beneath a compartment in a loose floorboard in the new apartment we are staying in. We are still living with Noah. The U.S. government kept him alive, not wanting to kill a private citizen in the conflict, and the Chinese military accidently bombed Noah’s apartment when trying to explode the United States military jets parked on the roof. Overnight, the Chinese government moved us to another apartment that is even nicer than Noah’s penthouse, in one of the dozens of empty buildings in Beijing, all in preparation for the continued population boom in the city that never came.
I know for a fact that the government will be searching all over that new apartment, doing anything they can to find that backpack. Knowing they are looking for it and not being able to stop them if they find it is one of the most stressful things I have ever had to endure. But I know that if I brought it to the stadium, it would be even worse. They would take it from Jake as soon as I went into the gaming portal to compete, and even if they can never find a way inside the backpack, they won’t ever give it back until I let them inside.
My only hope now is that I hid the safe produced by the Chimera Cube well enough at the crack of dawn this morning.
“I’ve been feeling weird ever since last night,” I say, hoping that he buys my bullshit. “I have been having hot flashes and then cold flashes, each time it switches when a new memory pops up. I have never seen so many people with severed limbs begging for their life.”
“That was hell,” Jake says flatly. Besides him, there is no one around the platform to listen to our conversation. The dozens of people working underneath the stadium to manage the event are all staring at their hologlasses or at computer screens in the corner, not paying the least bit of attention to us. “I thought you were dead. I thought you died. And I didn’t know what to do. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead too.”
“Well, if it wasn’t for me, you would still be in prison. I won’t take credit for saving your life,” I say, and then I think about all the things that wouldn’t be true in his life if it weren’t for my existence in it. No Syndicate of Truth, no torture, no guilt from having been manipulated to kill millions.
“Sometimes I miss shower time in there.” Jake looks down at the floor, pretending to be melancholy.
“On a serious note, you are just joking, right?”
“Yes, you know my fucked-up sense of humor. If it crosses the line, all the better for me.” Jake chuckles and grazes a hand over the unshaven hair on his face that is growing in a color between red and brown. “But yeah, in there everyone treated me with respect after I told them I killed five people but was there to serve unrelated crimes. They all started to think I was some sort of psychopath. Although I will admit the world has sucked a lot of the love out of me, I don’t think I will ever get to that point.”
“You don’t think you will?”
“You know what I mean. You would be lying if you said that all this shit we have been through hasn’t taken a lot out of you.”
“It’s nearly taken my life,” I say. “It’s taken my all. I know exactly what you mean. After a while, you grow desensitized to it all, and not because you don’t want to feel it. It’s because you can’t.”
“It makes me question everything about life.” Jake says. “Makes me really wonder why I do the things I do. Because at the end of the day, it’s not just about living to see another day. It’s about more than that, and I am still trying to figure that part out.”
“I think I have that figured out.” I make eye contact with him for the first time in our conversation, the action a truly lost art in a world where most people’s eyes are glued to some version of augmented reality on their hologlasses. “Well, not figured out. I have two things driving me forward, two internal forces that will either be on a collision course with each other or the world.”
“Are you gonna say them, or just leave us in suspense?” Jake’s eyes dramatically widen as he looks at me right in my eyes, the entire interaction feeling too vulnerable and intimate, yet that uncomfortable feeling is something I crave.
“On one hand, I want to carry on my father’s legacy, carry on the true goodness in his heart by alleviating the pain from everyone in this world who is suffering. I want to make sure that no one has to go through any experience that remotely resembles our life since this disaster has started. But at the same time, I want power. Ungodly amounts of power. I want to win this big race in the world for wealth, influence, and strength, and then release that upon every person who has tried to end me, release it on the Syndicate, to make them feel ten buckets of pain for every drop they poured on me.”
“That is great,” Jake responds almost ecstatically to what I say. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one with mildly concerning thoughts popping into my mind.”
“Like what?” I say, and he doesn’t immediately respond, so I ask again. “What kinds of thoughts?”
“Well, I want to carry on my father’s legacy too.”
“What do you mean by that?” I narrow my eyebrows at him, my mind instantly thinking about the Chimera Cube. I will defend that thing like my freaking baby.
Jake nods, his gaze shifting from me to the black paint that coats the wooden walls underneath the stage. The tension in his face seems to subside as he sighs. “For every lost moment I didn’t get to have with him. For every time that I didn’t get to hug my mom, I want to find a way to get it all back. And obviously I can’t bring him back from the dead, but maybe I can connect with my mom one day. And maybe I can find a way to make the most of my life, so that I can feel like I was worthy of the love that I wanted for my entire life but never got.”’
“I’m sorry if I played a role in any of that.” I look up at the clock. Less than sixty seconds until the game starts. I don’t care about getting into a calm mindset before I speak. It will be the first time an American moderates a massive public event in China in years. For the crowd, that will be enough excitement. And after knowing the damage that I indirectly caused upon this city, all I want to give them is a reason to have hope.
“It’s okay. We were young kids at the time. I think we were still kids even a few months ago. But everything is different now. We can only use the past to try and make our futures better, I don’t have any hard feelings about it. All that we have been through has forced us to become men, and I don’t know what a man is, how to define one, especially nowadays when the biological definition is utterly meaningless. I can probably call myself a pigeon tomorrow. But for now we are men.”
“That’s not how that works.” I shake my head, thinking about all the people that would want to choke Jake for even making a joke like that. “I think being a man is
simple. It’s having the strength to endure pain, knowing that it will bring you and the people you love joy in the long run. Which speaking of, it’s about time I endure some pain of my own. This time in the form of public humiliation. It’s one thing to speak in front of ten people but ten-thousand is an entirely different animal.”
“Yep, twenty seconds.” Jake hastily steps back from the platform. He didn’t realize it was so late until now. “I still don’t even get why you’re here, which is the only reason why I’m here too.” Jake looks around, making sure no one from the government is listening in. “It’s so dangerous to be in a public place with a bunch of young people from the rén after last night. They know that the government is lying to them about the Beijing Bombing. You have no clue what they are going to try and do in return.”
I eye the clock, ten seconds now. “I wanted to take this risk. I mean, Li probably wouldn’t have given me an option, but I didn’t want to fight it. I know I’m young, but my dad’s death has so far given me one piece of knowledge. My legacy is what will let me live a fulfilling life.”
“What even is your legacy?” Jake spits out as the clock continues to wind down. In seconds, the hatch will open up at the bottom of the stage and the cheers of the crowd will drown out any of my words.
“Deciding what kind of person you want to be, and letting nothing stop you from becoming it.” I say the words, but most of them are silenced by the time they reach Jake’s ears from the explosive yelling from the thousands of people in the crowd.
Jake waves goodbye to me, with one hand by his ear signaling he didn’t get my message. I wave back and nod in return. There’s nothing I can do to get him to hear me now. As the platform raises my body up through the bottom of the pit to the gaming portal directly above me, my thoughts aren’t even focused on the crowd. All I can think about is how I finally know the person that I want to be.
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