The Beyond: Dystopian Survival Fiction (The Breeder Files Book 4)

by Eliza Green

  The Inventor straightened up. ‘There’s no evidence to say he’s left the city. It’s more possible the scanner disabled him as he attempted to hitch a ride on your connection.’

  Carissa swayed as she stood. She gripped the back of the chair. ‘You don’t understand what he’s capable of. He’s... obsessed with the Originals. He ordered extra testing on Dom... when the other nine didn’t want to. H-he pushed the boundaries of learning so he could understand human behaviour.’

  Vanessa said, ‘It’s still possible he never made it across and he was disabled.’

  Carissa marched over to 118-C, pulled her over to the chair and sat her down in it. ‘She’ll know.’

  118-C blinked. ‘But I don’t remember anything.’

  ‘We have Quintus’ frequency. We can use it to see what activities he had an interest in and what he ignored. The Collective talked about behaviour modifications. It was successful with Julius. I don’t know if the Ten had time to modify anyone else.’

  The Inventor shrugged at the medic. ‘It can’t hurt.’

  118-C allowed him to hook her up to the machine again.

  He squinted at the screen. ‘I can see his signature. He checked in when you visited one of the labs in the medical facility.’

  118-C nodded. ‘The labs are used for surgical procedures.’

  ‘Maybe he was removing information from Julius,’ said Charlie. ‘He spent months with Max and me. He amassed a lot of knowledge.’

  ‘Wait, there’s a snippet of transcript here,’ said the Inventor.

  ‘What does it say?’

  ‘He’s asking, “Is it done?” And you replied, “Yes.”’

  118-C frowned at the floor. ‘I don’t remember speaking with him.’

  Carissa worried the procedure hadn’t been completed on another Copy, but on someone closer to home. ‘His signature disappeared when the others passed into the Beyond. Only two people from that group could have been in surgery that day. Jerome or Alex.’

  The others stared at her.

  ‘What are you saying?’ asked the Inventor.

  ‘That Quintus successfully inserted a behaviour modification in either Jerome or Alex, and that he hijacked it.’ She pushed past 118-C on the chair. ‘We have to open the door to the Beyond, now!’

  The Inventor pulled her back. ‘Don’t work yourself up, miss. We can’t reach it, not while the Copies occupy the Great Hall.’

  Carissa stared at 118-C, who was busy looking at nothing. She’d thought she’d have at least one solution.

  Carissa shoved her shoulder. ‘How do we get past the Copies in the Great Hall without disabling them?’

  118-C lifted her gaze. ‘I don’t know.’

  Anger swelled in her chest. She marched to the exit, but didn’t leave. Quintus was her problem. He had contacted her while she was in the camp. Maybe if she’d spoken up earlier, Julius wouldn’t have had time to communicate from the camp back to the Collective. Maybe Max and Jason would still be alive and Alex and Jerome wouldn’t have been kidnapped.

  She stood by the entrance, looking out into the dark corridor that smelled of damp, and rested her head on the cool rock.

  A hand on her back spun her around.

  The Inventor leaned over her. ‘What is it, miss?’

  She looked up at him, her eyes wide. ‘It’s all my fault.’

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘If it wasn’t for me, you all could have exited into the Beyond.’

  The Inventor shook his head. ‘If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have made it that far, or we’d still be stuck down there with no way to get past the Copies.’

  ‘Quintus contacted me. He wanted me to help him.’ She sniffed. Biogel leaked out of her nose and eyes; she wiped it away with the back of her hand. ‘I made it possible for him to escape.’

  The old man shook her shoulder. ‘No, miss. Even if Alex and Jerome hadn’t been taken, it sounds like Quintus would have inserted the behaviour modification in someone else—someone we may have rescued and brought with us anyway.’

  She looked up at him. ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, really.’ He straightened up and looked back at the others. ‘We still need to figure out how to get past the door that leads into the Beyond. If we can’t, it won’t matter if we disable the Copies or not.’

  Thomas cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. ‘If the force field on the door is similar to the one that surrounded this city, I might be able to use the Atomiser to punch a hole in the field. Max used it to get inside Arcis. I’m assuming the energy and composition is the same.’

  Vanessa said, ‘You think it’s possible?’

  Thomas nodded to 118-C. ‘If she’s still connected, she may have access to the security files and the frequency the field uses.’

  118-C said, ‘Of course. I’ll help whatever way I can.’

  At least they had a partial plan.

  ‘But that still doesn’t solve our problem with the guards in the Great Hall,’ said Charlie. ‘Carissa said the hack wouldn’t work a second time.’

  Carissa twisted her hands together. She flicked her gaze towards 118-C. ‘I have another idea, one that will ensure the Collective or Quintus can never return to this city.’ All eyes settled on Carissa, except for 118-C’s. ‘We can disable the Copies permanently.’

  ‘Is that even possible?’ asked Charlie.

  Carissa nodded. ‘An electromagnetic pulse. It will kill all connections. It’s built into our security protocol in case we’re ever taken over. A blast of energy will shut everything down, including the network.’

  An angry Charlie stepped forward. ‘Why didn’t you say anything before? We’ve been stuck down here without a plan.’

  118-C said, ‘Because it kills the Copies, too.’ She glanced at Carissa. ‘All of us.’

  27

  Carissa

  ‘Hold on, let’s talk about this for a moment.’ The Inventor fanned his hands. ‘How do we disable the Copies without hurting Carissa or 118-C?’

  Carissa’s pulse pounded in her throat. ‘We don’t.’

  The old man strode to the other side of the room. She heard Rover whining through the hole in the retractable roof. He must have heard the raised voices.

  The Inventor turned and walked back, fists on hips. ‘No, this isn’t happening.’ He looked at Thomas. ‘Can’t we try the hack again? All we need is for them to be disorientated long enough for us to slip past.’

  118-C’s next answer turned the biogel in Carissa’s veins to ice. ‘My system sensed the hack. There’s already a patch in place for the breach. It wouldn’t work a second time.’

  Carissa clutched to thin hope, but there was only one permanent solution. ‘The EMP is the only option left, Jacob.’

  The Inventor bent down to her. ‘I hear you, miss, but it’s not the human way to sacrifice others to save ourselves.’

  That was the opposite of what Quintus had taught her: sacrifice was sometimes necessary.

  She stared into his pale blue eyes. ‘You’re not sacrificing me; I’m volunteering. Anya went first through the machine on the ninth floor of Arcis to save Jason and Max. Max gave his life to save others. Warren tried to save Jason.’

  The Inventor’s lips thinned. ‘I don’t want you to die, miss.’

  She managed a smile, despite the wobble in her lower lip. ‘I need to do this. Quintus used me to get to you. I need to make this right.’

  ‘It wasn’t your fault.’

  ‘I know.’ She wiped her expression clean and looked at 118-C. ‘Are you in or out?’

  The Copy, who once would have had superiority over her, nodded. ‘In.’

  Carissa looked at the others: Vanessa, who had always been kind to her; Thomas, who spoke to her like they were equals; Charlie, who had protected Anya and was a friend to Dom and Sheila. She would miss them all.

  ‘Okay, we need to find something that will deliver an EMP blast, and a place to receive it.’

  Thomas
pointed up through the gaping hole. ‘The tag machines—they’re connected to the network. We could deliver a surge to the machine, fry the connection.’

  Why did the ideas with the most carnage always deliver the best solution?

  ‘Okay, that’s one problem sorted.’

  A possible solution to the EMP carrier came to mind. She looked at 118-C and pointed to the chair. ‘We need the frequency, the one that controls the energy of the barrier. If we can activate it, we may be able to redirect a surge to the nearest tag station.’

  This was the Inventor’s space, but today he was unusually quiet. Charlie and Vanessa looked on like a couple of spectators.

  With a shake of his head, Charlie moved to stand next to Thomas. ‘What can I do?’

  ‘Nothing for now. We just need the frequency.’

  ‘What about using one of the Copies?’ 118-C said from the chair. ‘Dump an electrical charge into the system to create a feedback loop inside the Copy. It should max out the charge and fry the system.’

  Vanessa looked unconvinced. ‘Do the Copies have enough amps to blow the city’s entire grid?’

  So did the Inventor. ‘An army of them might, as long as they dump it simultaneously, but it’s too risky. We should consider Carissa’s idea about the barrier.’

  118-C sat back in the chair while the Inventor fixed the wired discs to her connection points. Carissa stayed by his shoulder, searching the on-screen data for the latest frequency code for the barrier. While she did, she wondered what dying felt like. All her short life she’d wanted to be human. And humans sacrificed themselves for their friends. In the test on the seventh floor of Arcis, Quintus had asked Anya to choose one person to die: Jason or Dom. She’d said neither and picked herself.

  Anya’s selfless act inspired Carissa now.

  ‘I’ve located the security file,’ said the Inventor.

  Carissa checked the numbers on screen. ‘Three different codes were used in the last three days.’ She pointed to the last one on the list. ‘This one should get us access.’

  Vanessa frowned. ‘If we have the frequency, can’t we just reverse the command for the Copies’ sentry mode in the Great Hall?’

  Carissa wished it were possible. ‘The Collective’s commands are isolated on a separate network. Quintus didn’t trust the Copies.’

  Vanessa snorted. ‘Figures.’

  Thomas jotted down the code on his hand. ‘If I can align the Atomiser Gun with the frequency code, it might also work on the force field protecting the door to the Beyond.’

  ‘It’s all connected, so it’s possible,’ said Charlie with a nod.

  ‘Come on,’ said Carissa. ‘First thing we need to do is reactivate the barrier. Then we need to shoot at it.’

  Thomas picked up one of the Electro Guns. ‘Will this work?’

  ‘It has a range of about half a kilometre, so no. The barrier is about twice that high up.’

  Thomas put the gun down and picked up the Disruptor that Dom had left him. ‘This has twice that again.’

  ‘Where do we reactivate the barrier from?’ asked Vanessa.

  ‘The tag station should work.’ Carissa pointed at the diagnostic machine. ‘But we’ll need that to issue the command.’

  118-C, Vanessa and Thomas dragged the machine up the stairs and to the nearest tag station. The panel was still off from when they’d inserted the hack. With the diagnostic machine connected, it didn’t take Carissa long to find the controls for the barrier. She keyed in the frequency and typed in ‘yes’ when asked if she’d like to reactivate it. A shimmering, translucent barrier slid up the sides of the outer zone and over, meeting in the middle overhead.

  ‘It’s up.’

  She squinted against the new brightness. It gave the city an artificial look that she hated.

  ‘What now, miss?’ said the Inventor.

  ‘When Thomas blasts it, we need to force the energy to loop back on itself. We’ll need to disable the safety protocols first. With them in place, the barrier will only absorb any energy burst. It must be allowed to build up to create a surge that will hopefully strike the tag station.’

  She keyed in a new command and looked up. The electricity in the barrier bounced around, unrestrained.

  ‘No better time than now, I suppose,’ said the Inventor.

  He glanced back at Rover and his mate. Both were sitting and watching, their mouths closed, their heads slightly cocked at the sky.

  ‘What will happen to them?’ asked Vanessa.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said the Inventor. His gaze found Carissa briefly. ‘They might not survive it.’

  Thomas stepped back and drew energy from the tag machine into the Disruptor gun. It shook with new power.

  He pointed it up and muttered, ‘I hope this works,’ before releasing a pulse of energy into the sky.

  The blast hit the barrier and created pockets of unstable energy. A strike of lightning shot down from above and pierced the ground.

  ‘Stand back!’ warned Thomas.

  They took shelter closer to the Learning Centre—the tallest building in Praesidium. If a bolt struck, it should hit the building first. Uncontrollable bolts of energy snapped down from the skin of the barrier, striking at random. Then one hit the machine. A crackle from the machine plus a reduction in the brightness drew Carissa’s eyes up. The barrier was retreating. A loud pop from the tag machine followed. Smoke billowed out from the panel.

  118-C dropped to the ground like a stone. A deep whining came from Rover. Carissa and the Inventor looked back. Rover’s mate was down and he was nuzzling her leg.

  A pain started in Carissa’s head, in the area where she knew her NMC was located. It had repaired enough for her to feel the effects of the surge.

  She stumbled back, surprised to still be standing. She must be more separated from the system than she’d thought, unlike 118-C.

  The Inventor grabbed her. ‘Miss, are you okay?’

  She looked up at him and nodded. ‘We need to bring the medic with us.’

  ‘It’s not possible,’ said Vanessa. ‘She’s still one of them.’

  ‘She sacrificed herself for us. She comes!’

  The Inventor looked down at the deactivated medic. ‘If we make it to the Beyond, I might be able to fix her.’

  Had that idea occurred to him when Carissa had offered herself up as a sacrifice?

  He commanded Rover to lie down. Thomas, Vanessa and Charlie dragged 118-C over to him and hoisted her up on his back. Rover stood up, looking restless. He continued to whine for his dead mate.

  ‘Can he fit in the tunnels?’ asked Thomas.

  ‘We’ll make him fit,’ said the Inventor. ‘I’m not leaving him here. He won’t survive this place alone.’

  They crashed through the doors of the Learning Centre. A wave of sickness hit Carissa. She hid it with a cough.

  The Inventor eyed her. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’

  She managed a smile. ‘Yes.’

  They approached the Great Hall, where they discovered a hundred Copies in a heap on the floor.

  ‘Quickly, in case they’re not really out.’

  Their group picked their way across the bodies and made it to the hidden stairwell. Thomas and Vanessa pulled 118-C off Rover’s back; with her as a passenger, there was no way the wolf would fit. They carried 118-C down the stairs.

  Carissa’s head swam and everything went dark. She steadied herself against the rough wall. A gasp escaped her lips.

  ‘What is it, miss?’

  ‘I can’t see.’

  She groped for the walls, finding the cool rock first, followed by something warm and steady.

  ‘Take my arm.’

  Her breathing became more laboured with each step.

  ‘The wolf won’t fit,’ said Charlie.

  ‘Boy, make yourself smaller,’ the Inventor instructed.

  Rover whined behind her as Carissa made her way slowly down the steps.

  ‘It’s working,’ sai
d Charlie.

  Carissa concentrated on what was ahead. Her organic heart hammered her ribs. Something wasn’t right. A new pain ripped through her skull and brought her to her knees.

  ‘Miss! Hold on.’

  Someone lifted her up—the Inventor, she presumed—and carried her. He no longer smelled of grease and oil, but of lemon soap.

  ‘Thomas, get started on bypassing that damn force field.’

  ‘On it,’ shouted Thomas from below.

  Carissa heard sounds all around her. Her breaths shortened in the Inventor’s arms.

  In a whisper, she said, ‘Put me down, please?’

  The wolf whined behind her. Her feet found flat ground. Rover nudged her on with his nose. At least he’d made it here, wherever here was in the tunnel.

  ‘I can feel the barrier,’ said Thomas, sounding close.

  The air crackled as he fired at something. The Atomiser, she presumed, that would punch a hole in the defence wall.

  Carissa heard a clink clunk and a large door open.

  ‘That wasn’t me,’ said Thomas sounding panicked.

  Carissa’s heart pounded harder. They were coming for them. This time, her friends would make it.

  ‘How did you get the door open?’ said the Inventor.

  Another surge of electricity hit her NMC connector and made her hands shake.

  This was it. The end.

  ‘Goodbye, Jacob,’ she whispered.

  All noises drifted away.

  28

  Dom

  Agatha’s confession rocked Dom to the core. In a haze of numbness, he shuffled back to the dorm with Anya. She was biting her nails, looking as calm as he felt.

  He pulled her to a stop. ‘It’s not true. It can’t be.’

  She popped one finger out of her mouth. ‘I... don’t know.’

  His failure to lead returned to haunt him again. He’d insisted they find this place. Now, their group was separated and Agatha was feeding them a pack of lies to keep their people apart.

  He combed his fingers through the longer section of hair on the top of his head. Charlie had styled his hair a few days ago.

  His throat tightened. Charlie. And Vanessa. Both stuck in the Region dealing with who knew what.