Unchipped: The Resort: (Book Five in the Unchipped Dystopian Sci-Fi Series)

by Taya DeVere

  Luna and Kaarina have disappeared into the basement. The two are obsessed with the capsules, the chipping helmets, the memory stick Margaret once gave them. Convinced that Laura Solomon’s mother will be able to help them, they’ve lost themselves in the CS-key programs. Diving into secret files and instructions—all while popping pain pills to keep their Unchipped brains from being hurt by the Chip technology.

  Carrying a tall stack of mugs, Micky opens the door that leads back into the hotel. At the same time, Yeti walks out, drying his hair with a white hotel towel. Micky says something to the man, flashes a smile, and disappears into the hotel. Yeti walks to the bar, opens the fridge, and takes out a bottle without a label. He pushes the cap between his teeth and pops it open.

  “That’s bad for your teeth, you know,” Bill says. He pushes the CS-key forward on the counter and leans his arms against the cool marble surface. “Not many dentists around here if you chip a tooth.”

  A grunt. That’s all he gets from the man. Yeti brings the bottle to his lips and gulps down half the beer. Then he leans against the fridge and stares into space.

  “Beautiful night, huh?” Bill says.

  “Hmm.”

  “I think I heard the horses in the barnyard. It’s cool how they’re coming back.”

  Another grunt.

  “Makes Kaarina real happy.”

  Yeti’s eyes meet Bill’s. His expression is blank as he stares. The scars around his face make the man seem older than he is. But in reality, Bill knows he’s not much older than Kaarina is. Yeti brings the bottle back to his lips, gulps down what’s left. Then he tosses the empty bottle into a metal bin, turns around, and picks out another beer. Teeth clank against the cap before he spits it out and takes a sip.

  “You two get along better these days?” Bill asks. He bites his lower lip and looks past Yeti’s serious eyes. He shouldn’t bring this up. It’s none of his business.

  “Yes.”

  “Good, good.” Just drop it, he thinks. Leave it alone. “Because back in the day, it was hard for you two to be in the same room with one another.”

  Yeti takes another sip, his eyes lingering on Bill.

  “It’s like she was pancakes,” Bill says. “And you ketchup.”

  Yeti’s stare is starting to burn Bill’s cheeks.

  “Didn’t really go well together—”

  “What’s your point, Yankee?”

  Bill moves his finger against the edge of the margarita glass. He shrugs, then grins. “When did it start, then?”

  “What?”

  “Oh, come on. I saw you at the graveyard. How long have you two been a thing?”

  Yeti grunts and shrugs. “Not long.” He takes a sip of beer and looks up at the horizon. The moon is out, shining on the concrete basin of the empty pool.

  “It was her who started it, wasn’t it?” Bill asks. When there’s no reply, he continues. “I always knew she liked you, you know. She’s just too stubborn to admit it. Micky said it first, back in California. It’s just funny how…” Bill stops talking as Yeti reaches for his margarita glass. He tosses the paper umbrella on the ground and empties the drink into his mouth. Bill smiles and sighs for his stolen drink. He reaches for the CS-key but doesn’t turn it around.

  “I take it that you don’t want to talk about it?”

  “No.”

  “Fine, fine. Just making small talk. Should have remembered you Finns are not big fans.”

  A grunt.

  Bill flips the CS-key around. After making sure Yeti can’t see the screen, he checks the travel auction tab. No new offers. He’s still winning. He flips the screen to face the counter again and looks back at Yeti. “Do you ever get homesick?”

  “What?”

  “Homesick. Do you ever wish you could go back to Finland?”

  Yeti sets down the margarita glass and tosses the empty beer bottle into the metal can. Then he turns around and takes two bottles out of the fridge, pops them open with his teeth. He places one of them next to the CS-key. “Let’s say I did,” he says. “What difference would it make?”

  Bill takes the beer bottle, sniffs it. He’s never been a beer drinker, not even back when he had the luxury of choosing between hundreds of brands and styles. He takes a sip anyway. “I think it matters. What you feel. What we all feel.”

  “Hm.”

  “I mean, why do the Chipped get to decide what kind of world we live in? Why are they the only ones who get to create cities and products and alternate realities?”

  A frown appears on Yeti’s face. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, what if we were to do the same? But without them?”

  “We are doing it, Bill. That’s why you designed the resort and made a plan to become self-sufficient. Live off the land. That’s why you ordered the supply.”

  Bill’s eyes flicker to the CS-key. He clears his throat but doesn’t say anything.

  “You did send the order in, right?”

  Bill takes a gulp of beer, buying himself time.

  “Bill? Tell me you made the order.”

  He sets down the bottle and looks up. He forces a smile. “Of course I did. It’s just that the shipping takes longer than we thought. That’s all.”

  “How long?”

  “Not the usual three days.” Bill can’t stop himself from blinking rapidly. “More like six or seven days. Maybe longer.”

  A grunt. Yeti finishes his beer, tosses the bottle, and turns to leave. “Whatever. As long as you sent it in. For a moment there, I thought you were jumping ship.” Yeti stops by the counter, standing an inch too close to Bill. “But we both know you wouldn’t do that, would you, Bill? Sacrifice hundreds of lives, our new freedom… just because one night, you got a bit weepy and homesick?”

  Bill holds his breath. Yeti’s right. Of course, he’s right.

  “Right, Bill?”

  Bill leans back on his barstool to gain distance from the mountain of a man. “Right. Right! Of course I made the order. Don’t be silly. Why the hell wouldn’t I?”

  Yeti’s dark green eyes investigate his face. After a moment that seems like a small eternity, the man grunts and takes a step back. His footsteps echo in Bill’s ears long after he’s walked back to his room to wait for Kaarina to return from the basement.

  Bill empties his lungs, breathing out his relief. Then he flips the CS-key around and checks the tab.

  No new auction offers. He’s still winning.

  ***

  “Morning, sunshine!” Micky greets Bill from the resort’s kitchen. Two kids run past him, nearly making Micky drop the wooden tray he’s holding. “Hey, watch it!” he yells and then murmurs, “You crazy minions…”

  Bill walks over and grabs two pieces of toast from the tray. Then he sits down at the kitchen table. He looks around the cafeteria; most of the kids have already finished their breakfast. Yeti and Markus sit at one of the long tables, quiet, sharing a pot of hot coffee. The Chipped and Unchipped Finns pick up their plates, forming a neat line by the kitchen counter to leave their dishes.

  “Kiitos!” they yell at Micky, who grins and waves at them happily. “De nada!”

  “Why don’t you just speak English, so everyone can understand?”

  “It means you’re welcome.”

  Bill rolls his eyes at Micky. “My Spanish is shitty, but not that shitty, Micky.”

  “And kiitos means thank you.”

  Another eyeroll. “I’m also capable of putting two and two together.”

  Micky walks over and gently slaps Bill on the back of his head with a kitchen towel. “Bad night? You were talking in your sleep again.”

  “Yeah? In Spanish or in Finnish?”

  Micky laughs and pinches Bill’s cheek again. Then he heads straight to the dirty dishes by the kitchen counter and starts collecting them for washing. For him, things haven’t changed that much since they lived at the mansion.

  “Do you ever wish Maria was here?”

  Bill’s question surpri
ses himself more than Micky. Plates balanced against his wrist, Micky stops to think. A quick frown shadows his face until he continues to clean up after breakfast. “You know I do, Beau. I’d love to have her here with us. Why do you ask?”

  Bill bites into his toast. He shouldn’t have brought it up. Not with Micky. His heart might be pure gold, but for him to keep a secret would be like Yeti suddenly enjoying small talk.

  “Ava already have breakfast?” Bill asks.

  “Nope. Won’t come out of her room. Markus left a tray outside her door.”

  Great. A moping teenager is the last thing they need right now.

  “And Kaarina? Luna?”

  Micky tosses the towel over his shoulder and closes the industrial dishwasher. The machine starts humming. “Haven’t seen them since the meeting.”

  Could they still be in the basement? Bill shoves the rest of the toast into his mouth and gets up. He walks to the cafeteria side and looks around. “Any coffee left?”

  Micky nods at the kitchen counter, where what’s left of the breakfast he’s served remains. Bill picks out a thermos and three plastic cups. Then he walks to the lobby, sets the coffee down, and tries the basement door. Locked. Yellow light pierces through the gap between the door and the floor. He knocks on the door, clears his throat. “Kay? Open up, Kay.”

  Nothing happens. They’re most likely staying as far as they can from the staircase’s yellow light. They’re also most likely ignoring him so that they can focus on the task at hand without anyone bombarding them with questions. Bill taps for Kaarina, then Luna. Hey, quit hoarding the Chipped hellhole. Why do you guys get to have all the fun? No answer. Bill leans his forehead against the basement door. They’re not supposed to go down there. Not until they’ve learned more about the capsules and the technology that goes with them.

  Guys?

  Nothing.

  I have coffee.

  The door clicks and unlocks itself. Bill takes a few deep breaths before stepping into the yellow light.

  ***

  The tinted glass feels hard against Bill’s forehead. He stares at a woman with slick, black hair that twirls around her naked body like a poisonous river. She looks Asian. She also looks angry, even in her unconscious state.

  “Wouldn’t you be angry? Stuffed inside one of those things?” It’s Micky, tapping Bill from upstairs. He’s still in the kitchen, slicing tomatoes for a tray full of sourdough bread, lettuce, cucumbers, and canned soy-meat.

  Quit spying on me, Micky.

  Kaarina walks over and nods at the capsule. “Eerie stuff, right?” She taps the glass with her fingernail. “Her name is Meixiu Tang. She’s been in there for over three years.”

  Bill takes a step back but keeps his gaze on the woman wearing a helmet with wires attached. “Her hair. How come it’s not shaved like the rest of them?”

  Kaarina shrugs. “The files don’t give that kind of information. Luna’s only found out their identities, origins, some notes on their work with the program, and the day of capsuling.”

  Bill nods at the capsule next to Meixiu Tang’s. “And this guy?”

  “Basile Keller. Used to rule the United Inland.” Kaarina walks past Basile Keller, continues to the next capsule. “This here is Timofei Grisin. A former head of the Happiness-Program in City of Russia.”

  “Who’s in charge now?”

  “We don’t know.”

  Bill walks to the last of the four stasis capsules. A seventy-something-year-old woman with short blonde hair rests in it, sleeping peacefully with a tranquil look on her face. “And this is Momma Solomon.”

  “Not quite.” Kaarina joins Bill beside the capsule. “Her name is Marjaana Salonen, but the file describes her as Mrs. Salonen. The owner and founder of Pharma Salonen, later known as Solomon Foundation.”

  Bill leans in closer to investigate the deep wrinkles on Mrs. Salonen’s face. “The company that invented the Happiness-Program.”

  “That’s the one.”

  “So she started all this?” Bill knocks on the tinted glass. “She’s to blame that we’re at war?”

  They both stare at the woman in silence. Further down the room, Luna sits on a metal counter, her fingers tapping on a glowing purple CS-key. An untouched mug of cold coffee rests next to her on the table. A deep frown on her face, the Serbian woman curses every now and then. Her eyes flicker among the multiple screens spread all around her.

  Bill nudges Kaarina gently on the shoulder and nods toward Luna. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine.” Kaarina shrugs and crosses her arms on her chest. “I mean, she has a temper for sure. And she can’t stand people interrupting her work.”

  “That’s a lot of responsibility for one person. Can’t we help her?”

  “Not a good idea.”

  “I mean, I’m no programmer,” Bill says, “but I’m okay with computers. I should at least offer my help—”

  Kaarina grabs Bill’s arm before he has time to take another step closer to Luna and the metal counter. “Trust me. Interrupt her, and she’ll rip you into little pieces.”

  Bill stops and faces Kaarina. “Jesus on a bike. Was she raised by wolves?”

  Kaarina smiles and stares at her friend, completely lost inside a world of malware, coding, and secret files. “I’d say it’s the other way around.”

  Just then, Luna lets out a strange squeal. She sits up on the counter, her hands momentarily frozen above the keyboards and screens. “Jebote!” she yells. Then she leans over the purple light, hands tapping even faster than before.

  Kaarina and Bill exchange a look.

  Did she find something? Bill taps and asks Kaarina.

  “Constantly. She does that.”

  Screams out loud and then continues like nothing happened?

  “Mhm. I’ve been listening to it all night. It’s killing me.”

  They walk over to the metal counter. At the same time, a distant knock on the basement door reaches their ears. Micky’s voice appears in Bill’s head. “Open up, amigos. Or I’ll feed these sandwiches to the beasts outside.” Kaarina and Luna look up at Bill and then the door. Micky’s tapping them all. Luna refocuses on the CS-key and puts on a set of noise-canceling headphones. It takes Bill a moment to recognize them.

  “Hey, are those my—”

  “Yes. And just leave it alone, please,” Kaarina says and starts walking toward the yellow stairs. Micky’s knuckles now rap repeatedly on the door.

  “I’m telling you, the beasts are getting close.”

  “I thought you were against giving the dogs people food,” Kaarina says, tapping Micky back.

  “I was talking about the kids. Now open up.”

  While Kaarina heads up to let Micky in, Bill sidesteps to get a look at Luna’s screens. The purple light sends sharp pain through his skull. Green numbers and letters flash on the screen. New windows open and close. Luna seems to be in a trance.

  Micky’s voice gets closer. Kaarina laughs at something he’s saying, her mouth full of sandwich. They stop next to the counter. “Hey, Beau! Hi, Lulu!”

  Luna doesn’t greet Micky back. Bill gestures for him to leave the hacker to her work. “She’s busy, Micky. And she hates that nickname, by the way.”

  Micky sets the tray next to the computers by the counter Luna’s sitting on. “Don’t shoot the mailman.”

  “The messenger,” Kaarina corrects Micky.

  “What?”

  They both wave him off at the same time. Micky grabs a sandwich and steps closer to Luna. Tilting his head, his mouth full, he leans closer to see the open laptop next to the glowing purple CS-key. “Whab all thib?” Crumbs land on the keyboard. Luna’s hand jerks suddenly, and Micky’s snack goes flying.

  “What the hell?”

  Luna’s eyes haven’t left the CS-key screen. Then, she freezes again. Bill takes a peek at the screen but can’t make sense of what he’s seeing.

  “What Lu?” he asks. “You found something, didn’t you?”

>   She keeps staring at the screen, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Kaarina puts half of a sandwich back on the tray and reaches for Luna’s headphones. Luna dodges Kaarina’s hand, keeps her eyes on the screen. Kaarina waves her hands in front of her.

  “For the love of dog, would you take off your headset?”

  “You mean my headset?” Bill says.

  “Shut up, Bill.”

  Luna looks up from the screen, grinning. Finally, she takes off the headphones and hands them to Bill. “Sorry, I borrowed them last time I used your CS-key. Must have put them in my bag and…”

  “Never mind the damn gadget,” Kaarina says. “What did you find? Do you know how to use the capsules now?”

  Luna’s smile deepens. “Nope. That’s not it.”

  “Did you figure out if the founders are good guys or bad guys?” Micky asks.

  Luna shakes her head. “Not the slightest idea.”

  “Secret passageway then?”

  “Nope.”

  “Christ on a crutch,” Bill says, fingering the headphones nervously. “You clearly figured something out, so spit it out before Micky’s head explodes.”

  Luna sits taller on the counter. Carefully, she flips the CS-key around to get a break from its piercing light. “Well, first of all,” she says. “We already suspect that Margaret’s memory stick will open the capsules. But looking into her work led me to more information about the Chipped technology in general.” Luna reaches for a sandwich and stuffs half of it into her face. Mouth full, she continues, “Secomb….” She stops to take a sip of cold coffee. “Second of all, the Chipped believe they are working for the greater good. That they’re the good guys. In their reality, that makes us the bad guys. So, who are we to decide whether the capsule-people are saints or devils?”

  Kaarina buries her face in her hands. “Luna, we’ve been up all night. I’m too tired for riddles. And you already said there’s no secret tunnel or whatever Micky here thinks it is you’re hiding from us, so for the love of—”

  “I found a power switch.”

  They all stare at her. Luna takes another bite of her sandwich, chews it while the grin on her face gets even madder.

  Bill steps closer and sets the headphones down on the counter. “A what now?”