Hoping against hope that the cables would hold the weight of both of them, she swung herself over the edge and began shimmying down, quickly catching up to Brenner.
“Evelyn!” she shrieked. “It's gonna break!”
“Just keep going,” She called back. “Faster!” She looked up towards the window. The sound of blasters being discharged had stopped. They had only descended about thirty feet. Just as she was about to turn away something came hurtling out of the window. It was one of the Taken: a woman, who fell silently past them, barely a yard away. Evelyn saw her face as she fell, made out the determined set to her jaw, the lack of fear. She had chosen death, rather than allow the Mind to use her body again. Then the other three Taken fell past them too. They must have jumped together. Evelyn heard the woman hit the ground first, a dull thud, followed by three more.
“Oh my God!” Brenner cried, hugging their makeshift rope and looking down. “Oh my God!”
“Brenner, you've got to keep moving,” Evelyn said through gritted teeth.
“It's so far!”
“I thought I told you not to look down!”
“I didn't mean to!”
“Brenner ...”
Brenner didn't reply, but to Evelyn's immense relief she began moving again. Evelyn was reasonably sure Ciso wouldn't detach the cables – she had not yet gotten what she wanted from Evelyn – but then the cable lurched violently upwards, eliciting a shriek from Brenner, and Evelyn's spirits fell. Ciso was reeling them in.
“Brenner, change of plans. You're going to hold on to me. I'm coming to you now. Okay, wrap your arms and legs around me and hang on for your life.”
Brenner carefully obeyed the instructions, and there was another lurch upwards. Evelyn glanced down and saw that the cable ended about ten feet off the ground. She didn't know if they could make it, but she had to try.
She let go of the cable with her legs, taking the weight of both of them in her arms. She hadn't noticed before, but she was strong – more than strong enough to hold them both. Then she began to descend, dropping one hand below the other, walking down with her arms, letting gravity do the work. It was quick. They covered thirty feet before the next upward lurch came. Evelyn kept going, until suddenly there was no more cable. She dangled at the end, looking down past her feet to the ground below, where the bodies of the fallen Taken lay. It was at least fifteen feet. She might make it, but it was too far for Brenner.
“Brenner, I need you to climb down me.”
“What?”
“Climb down me. Hang from my feet and drop. Quickly, before it pulls us even higher!”
“What about you?”
“Just do it!”
“Okay, okay.” Brenner began sliding down Evelyn's torso, gripping her waist, then her knees, then her ankles.
“Now!” she shouted, feeling the beginning of another upward lurch, and Brenner let go.
Now dangling alone, Evelyn looked down to see Brenner on the ground, groaning. She was alive, that was all that mattered, but now she was suspended twenty feet off the ground. She wasn't sure her body could survive the impact... It was then she noticed the people of the Colony. They were emerging from the shacks nearby the Tall Hut, tens of them, and they gathered beneath her, forming two lines. One woman with grizzly gray hair seemed to be directing them. They interlocked their arms, forming a hammock between them, and stood below Evelyn, looking up at her.
“Let go!” the old woman shouted up to her.
Feeling the beginning of another upward tug, Evelyn let go. She tried to twist as she fell, so that when she landed she was lying flat. The strong arms of the people of the Colony caught her, and they laid her onto her feet, backing away to form a circle around she and Brenner.
“Are you okay?” Evelyn asked her friend.
“I think I twisted an ankle, but I'll be fine.” Brenner looked around at the people who were watching them in amazement.
“We need to go, Brenner,” Evelyn said, hoping these people wouldn't try to stop them. She noticed that several were wearing the gray uniforms of the Taken, though their eyes all seemed clear. She helped Brenner up, and the circle of people parted to let them through.
“Who are you?” asked the old woman who had directed the others to Evelyn's rescue. “Where did you come from?”
“We're here to help,” Evelyn said. “And we'll be back.” She turned away and began hobbling with Brenner towards the trees. They had only gone about twenty paces when they heard it: the sound of a million bees in swarm. Evelyn looked back to see what looked like a black waterfall pouring from the broken window in the Tall Hut to crash down upon the people clustered below it. Several screamed and tried to run, but the Black Mist was too quick. It entered their noses, their mouths, their ears, and one by one they all turned and began chasing after Evelyn and Brenner, their bodies no longer theirs to control. The entire Colony was being possessed by Ciso.
“Run!” Evelyn urged Brenner, but her twisted ankle prevented her from going very fast at all. The crowd was gaining on them.
“They're going to catch us,” Evelyn spoke the thought out loud. There was nothing more she could do. She could carry Brenner, but if she did she doubted she would be fast enough to outrun the villagers. As she prepared to fight them off, she saw Matthew. Amid all the action she had clean forgotten about him. He was running at the stampeding villagers from the left, and he began shouting at them, waving his hands. They turned, distracted for a second, and Evelyn and Brenner were able to reach the trees. But as they stepped into the tree line Evelyn glanced back. Matthew had changed tack, and was now running after them, but one of the Taken caught up to him and tackled him to the ground. Then more were upon him, and they hoisted him up.
“He will die, Evelyn.” The words were spoken by over a hundred voices at once. “If you want to save him, come back to me. We need to finish what we started.”
Evelyn knew she was beaten. She had managed to save Brenner, but it would all be for nothing if she lost Matthew now. He should have listened to her! He should have gone with the others!
“Okay!” she shouted. “I'll come.”
“Evelyn, no!” Matthew shouted. “Run!”
She stepped from the trees. “Let him go,” she said. Would it work? Once she gave herself up Ciso could just kill Matthew anyway …
She had to try.
She took another step closer, and noticed movement at the edge of the trees some distance to her right. Kenji, Clove, and Bob had arrived.
“What are you doing here?” Evelyn shouted. “Get back!” But it was too late. Already a group of the Taken was running at them. There was nothing Evelyn could do but look on in horror as all of her friends were captured.
She turned to Brenner, who only looked back at her in fight. “I don't know what to do,” Evelyn said.
A strange expression of calm descended over Brenner’s face then, and she said, “You've done everything you can, Evelyn. I … I think I know why you didn't bleed, before, and I want you to know that I don't care. I don't care if you're not … human; you're still one of the best people I know.”
“But not good enough.” Evelyn turned back to the Taken, who were advancing now.
“I told you, Evelyn” chorused the entire Colony. “There's no way out.”
And it seemed it was true. Evelyn's mind raced, trying to think of a way to ensure that her friends would be allowed to live, but she could think of none. Ciso was going to capture her, and then she was going to kill them all, and there was nothing Evelyn could do about it. It was all her fault, too; this had been her plan.
“I couldn't save you ...” she murmured.
“It's okay, Evelyn,” Brenner said. “Everybody dies eventually.”
“Yes, but we were supposed to live.” She began walking forward, towards the mob of Taken, not entirely sure what she was doing. “Let them go!” she shouted. “It's me you want! Let my friends go!” And to her surprise, the Taken obeyed. In fact, they had all stopped m
oving, and now held completely still. A strange silence hung over the Colony as Matthew, Kenji, Clove, and Bob gingerly backed away, not sure if this was some trick. Then they turned and ran to Evelyn. The Taken made no effort to pursue them.
“What's happened to them?” Brenner murmured.
“I don't know,” Kenji said, “and I don't care. Let's get the hell out of here. Whoa, what the Bloom is that?” He gazed skyward at a whooshing sound, where a strange object was descending from the heavens.
“It looks like … an elevator?” Clove said.
And indeed, a large box-shaped structure was plunging down towards them. It appeared to be hanging from a cable that vanished up into the sky. As they stared at the box in fascination, there was a strange movement in the air, sensed rather than seen, and a split second later they were all knocked from their feet as the sound of the detonation blasted their eardrums.
As she crumpled to the ground, Evelyn's head was filled with a high-pitched ringing, and through her blurred vision she thought she saw the box touch down on the ground before them, and several figures emerge. She felt hands beneath her arms.
She was being dragged along the ground.
She couldn't move.
Her head lolled, and she looked up at the figure dragging her. It looked like a ghost; all white. She couldn't see it clearly. Her sight was distorted, like everything she saw was on the screen of a television with weak signal. Suddenly she was plunged into white light, and she felt her arms released. She lay there, waiting for her vision to clear, for strength to come back to her limbs. She sensed movement around her. Then, quite suddenly, her vision went black and she knew nothing.
20
She awoke in a world of stars. They carpeted the almost-black sky, twinkling like a billion Christmas lights, and they seemed close, like she could reach out and scoop up a handful of them. She saw a constellation she recognized: Orion, the hunter. There was his bow, and there was his belt. But no, there seemed to be a star missing. How strange … it was so similar.
Voices drew her attention. There were several, and they seemed to be reaching her through a thick fog. She tore her eyes away from the enchanting starry sky and rolled her head. She was in a room, a white room. There were beds in the room. As her eyes focused on the occupants of the beds, the fog in her head continued to clear and their voices grew louder.
“What do you mean she's not human?” one of them asked, she thought it sounded like Matthew. They were talking about her.
A voice she did not recognize replied, “She's an AI, designed to perfectly replicate human form and behavior. She's incredible, really. Damien truly was a genius ahead of his time. For instance, he built her with a fully functioning digestive system using NAMs similar to the ones that kept you alive on the journey, that actually generates energy and waste. She sleeps and dreams as you do. She can fear and laugh and love. She feels pain, gets tired, knows loneliness. She is, in a sense, everything you are and more.” Evelyn struggled to make out the speaker. He seemed to be standing near the back of the room.
“I … I don't believe you,” Matthew said. “She's human, she's real!”
“She certainly is real. As for her humanity: it's hardly any different to yours, except on a biological level. She's been programmed with a set of emotional inclinations and responses, core beliefs, likes and dislikes, much in the way you have. The only difference between you and her is your programming is a result of your life and experiences and hers was done by Damien Reyner. And that's not all he gave her. The thing that makes Evelyn so remarkable, the reason she is so important, is what Damien gave her before he died.” Evelyn saw the man's head turn towards her. “Ah, she's awake.”
As he walked towards her she saw him clearly for the first time and realized she'd seen him before, on InDi, though his image had been blurred then. And there was something strange attached to the base of his head now: some kind of device about the size of her two fists.
“How are you feeling, Evelyn? Your system suffered more than the others from the EMP we discharged over Colony 23, for which I apologize.”
“You're … you're Matthew's father,” she rasped.
The man smiled. “Yes, yes that's right.”
“But … you should be dead.”
“I'm sure there's much about this that makes no sense to you, to all of you,” he turned to include the others. “I'll try to explain as best I can, but it's a long story, as you might imagine. We've got over ten thousand years to cover! You must all be hungry. Why don't we go and eat together and I will tell you of Earth's history.”
Evelyn pushed herself up, not knowing how to reply. She was indeed hungry. Starving, in fact, but this all seemed so surreal she wasn't sure if she could trust her own senses.
She looked at the others. They were all watching her strangely, but it was Matthew's expression that struck her the most. His face wore a mixture of confusion, betrayal, and, she thought, disappointment.
“Is it true?” he asked softly. “That you're not … human?” His eyes begged her to say no. She couldn't meet them, and he shook his head. “I … I trusted you. We all did. You let us believe Seren was the AI. We killed her! But it was you all along.”
“I didn't know, Matthew!” she burst. “I thought I was human. I only found out when I was in the Tall Hut and the Mind – Ciso – tried to … she tried to take something from me. We were connected for a moment, and I saw into her memories. I saw how Reyner made me.”
He continued to look at her in disgust.
“Do you think this is easy for me?” she asked, angry now. “Everything I thought I knew about myself doesn't make sense anymore: my memories, my … feelings ...” Their eyes met for a second, but now it was Matthew who looked away in shame.
“She's telling the truth, Matthew. Reyner took great pains to make sure Evelyn did not learn of her true origins. She's programmed to overlook anything that might contradict her notion of her own humanity.”
“Why?” Matthew asked. “Why would he make a machine that thinks it’s human?” His words stung Evelyn. Was that how he thought of her? As a machine?
“It's simple. In order for an AI to truly behave as a human, it must believe it is a human.”
“But why did Reyner send her with us? And why does she need to be so ... human-like?”
“He sent her to watch over and protect you. As for why he decided to make her so convincingly human, I doubt we will ever understand what went on in the mind of Damien Reyner, but part of me thinks it was his own pride that did it. He wanted to prove to himself that he could do it, create the perfect AI.” Miles Tucker turned to Evelyn and smiled. “And he certainly came very close. Now come, let us go and eat.” He turned and strode from the room.
None of the others budged. An awkward silence hung over them as they cast sidelong glances at Evelyn. It was Brenner who broke it. “Oh come on, are you guys serious? Evelyn's been looking out for all of us since we woke up in that shuttle. Who cares how she was made? There’s more to Evelyn than you think.” She looked at Evelyn. “You came for me. You saved me. Thank you.” Brenner stood up from her bed and walked over to Evelyn, offering her a hand.
Evelyn took it. “Thanks, Brenner,” she whispered.
Brenner smiled.
Evelyn's eyes went past her to Clove and Kenji, who had come to join them. They both nodded to her. Then they all turned and looked at Matthew.
“What?” he snapped.
“You owe Evelyn an apology,” Clove said.
He crossed his arms and looked away.
“Dude, no offense” Kenji said, “but you seriously need to get over yourself.” He winked at Evelyn. “We all know you've got the hots for Evelyn.”
“Kenji!” Brenner said, aghast. “Not helping.”
“Sorry! But it's true.”
And Evelyn finally realized why Matthew was acting like this. He was ashamed. They had almost kissed, in the forest outside Bob's cave, and he was ashamed of himself for having feelin
gs for her because she wasn't a real human. She also realized she couldn't blame him.
“Matthew,” she said. “I … I'm sorry I'm not what you thought.”
“Oh, Evelyn...” Clove placed a hand on her arm.
But it was Matthew's next words that gave Evelyn hope. He was staring at his knees as he spoke them. “No. No, I'm the one who should be sorry. They're all right. You've done nothing wrong. I … I'm just confused. All of this is just … well, it's crazy. A bit hard to take it all in, you know?” He glanced up at her with a weak smile.
She returned the smile, but she could tell his true feelings were in turmoil. Behind the smile his eyes still showed his disappointment.
Suddenly she looked around the room, remembering something she had thought of a moment ago. “Where's Bob?” she asked.
“He stayed behind,” Kenji replied. “After we cut the cables. He said he couldn't go back to the Colony. He was afraid of being Taken again. It's too bad; I bet he would have gotten a kick out of this place.”
“Speaking of which, do any of you know what or where this place is?”
Brenner glanced at Matthew. “Matthew's dad hasn't told us yet. We all woke up only a few minutes before you did, and most of that time was spent on the reunion of father and son.”
“I still can't believe it,” Matthew said, somewhat glumly. “I never thought I'd see him again. None of this makes any sense.”
“Cheer up, your old man's promised us an explanation,” Kenji said. “But more importantly, he’s promised us food. Come on, let's go and see if he’s as good as his word.”
“I hope Bob's okay,” Evelyn said as they walked from the room. She remembered what she had seen in Ciso's memory, about the other Colonies. And Matthew's father had spoken about Colony 23. That meant he knew what was happening there. They hadn't been able to stop Ciso or free the People, but maybe Matthew's dad could help them.
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