Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  “That’s smart,” said Vik. “Choosing this place.”

  “Let me guess. You extracted it out of Clifford while pretending to be a patsy in Verati’s operations,” said Victor.

  “In hindsight, yeah, that’s pretty much how the conversation went,” said Vik. “Why are you blaming me? You started all this.”

  The guard came back inside and handed a blowtorch to Victor. Vik gulped as Victor played with it, pointing it close to Vik’s eyes.

  “I thought we were having a conversation like mature adults,” said Vik.

  “We will,” said Victor. “I’ll ask you some questions. If you lie or pass some snide remark, I’ll let you have it. Deal?”

  “Do I get to ask questions too?” asked Vik.

  A guard approached Vik and ripped open his shirt’s buttons. Victor aimed the blowtorch at Vik’s bare chest and made a hole in his flesh. It was only a couple of seconds, but it felt like a century.

  Vik screamed and cried in agony.

  Sarah turned her face away. She wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him, but she couldn’t see him suffer. There were still residual feelings in her heart concerning Jay.

  “Let’s start again,” said Victor. “Ready?”

  Vik nodded slightly as much as he could move his head.

  “Great. Where is Josh?” asked Victor.

  “Josh is everywhere. ‘Make him omnipresent’ was the first line in your memo you were so anxious for me to read,” said Vik.

  Victor sliced the blowtorch across Vik’s oblique muscles.

  “Aaaaaah!” Vik screamed in pain. He almost passed out, but he wasn’t allowed to. A guard kept splashing water on Vik’s face. The water felt cold and hot at the same time.

  “I’m telling the truth,” uttered Vik. He was barely comprehensible, almost whispering. Sarah couldn’t hear the conversation clearly anymore, only some words. She had to guess the rest.

  “I believe you. This one was for your unnecessary remark,” said Victor.

  Vik was in pain. His face couldn’t hide the agony.

  “Next question. How do I find Josh?” asked Victor.

  “Why do you want to find Josh?” said Vik. “You can’t control it without the chips.”

  Victor again ignited the blowtorch, but Vik yelled, “No...No…No...It’s important.”

  Victor turned it off.

  “Where are the chips?” asked Victor.

  “I don’t know. I lost mine years ago. I don’t know where Anthony’s chip is,” said Vik.

  After another round of pain and screams, Vik modified his answer.

  “Now. I gave the one I had, to a woman,” said Vik. “Vic...Vic...Vicky. I swear.”

  Victor observed Vik’s face to see if he was lying. He didn’t think he was.

  “You’re telling the truth,” said Victor.

  “I am. Maybe Anthony hid the real one somewhere. I searched for it everywhere, but I couldn’t find it. So, I created a fake one and inserted a tracker,” said Vik.

  “Why?” asked Victor.

  “So that I could find this place. It was my insurance in case I didn’t find her in TS – 17. Someone found the tracker and traced it back to my server,” said Vik.

  “Marie. How did Josh find this place?” asked Victor.

  “I put the IP in the open blockchain, and left a message for Josh,” said Vik. “It must have tracked your organization through your proxies.”

  “I see,” said Victor. “Why?”

  “Why do you think? I couldn’t beat an army alone,” said Vik.

  “So, you wanted to create chaos, because it served your interests,” said Victor.

  “You’re the one to say,” said Vik.

  Victor again lit up the blowtorch.

  “Do whatever you want. It wouldn’t change the truth,” said Vik. “You blame me because it’s easier. Otherwise, you’ll need to come to terms with the reality that you killed your daughter and granddaughter. You took Katie off my arms that night, and she died the next day. It’s because of you.”

  This revelation was news to Sarah. She wanted to know more about it, but Victor knew he had to twist Vik’s words. He didn’t want to lose Sarah’s loyalty.

  “I protected her from your enemies. The enemies that you didn’t have to create. Everything was working fine until you got ambitious and hung us out to dry. You brought it on yourself. On your family. On my family. I protected them for so long, yet you destroyed everything in less than two years,” said Victor.

  Vik didn’t know how to respond to that. Victor wasn’t entirely wrong. Sarah knew that too. Victor looked at the mirror for a second before turning back to face Vik.

  “But we can still salvage this. Work with me, and I’ll get you the thing you want most in this world,” said Victor.

  Vik was confused.

  “You know what I want,” said Vik. “I can’t have it.”

  “But what if you could?” asked Victor.

  “I don’t want your stupid Apollos and Alphas,” said Vik. “What are they supposed to be, anyway? Some kind of undead army?”

  “The Emulations Project is about something bigger. It’s humanity’s chance of survival. A fresh start after the apocalypse,” said Victor.

  “It’s a bunch of stupid human like robots that don’t even have any superpowers,” said Vik. “I mean, even as an army, they’re useless.”

  “Clearly, you don’t know anything about it,” said Victor. “By the way, they do have ‘superpowers’.”

  “How is a super angry robot going to help humanity?” said Vik. “You’re delirious. Anthony tricked you into funding research for creating an army for his ‘New World Order’ dream.”

  “Emulations evolve at a much faster pace than humans. When fully evolved, each Emulation would be able to lift a crane with one hand while punching a hole in a building with his other,” said Victor. “Intelligence. Strength. Innovation. All the results have been promising. Or should I say, were promising before you destroyed everything.”

  Vik was confused. He didn’t know if Olivia had lied to him, or she was unaware about it.

  “So, what now?” asked Vik. “Clearly, I’m the bad guy. Why am I still alive? Just get it over with.”

  “I might,” said Victor. “You still have one more purpose to fulfil in this war. You know what Josh is capable of.”

  Vik chuckled, then started laughing incessantly.

  “Oh…Oh..are you the good guy, now?” said Vik. “Save the speech, Victor. The only reason you want to find Josh is that you want to control it. And use him to create a dynasty like you always talked about. Your 50 years. The Emulations Project is nothing but a ploy to realize that dream. A new species created to control all the other species.”

  Victor looked at Vik with a blank expression. Vik didn’t blink. A few seconds later, Victor smirked. “You really do have a gift.”

  He turned around and started to leave before Vik interrupted.

  “A man was tumbling in the middle of a desert, dying from thirst, when he saw a merchant travelling through. He ambushed the merchant, to steal his water. He choked the merchant, trying to kill him. About to die, the merchant told him that he would reveal a secret if he was allowed to live. The man spared the merchant’s life. In return, the merchant told the man that he could have the water, but the man would die if he consumes it. The merchant left. The man was astounded. Either he could die in the next minute or hope to stumble upon another merchant before he died from thirst and hunger. The man kept the water bottle with him as he tottered down the non-existent path in the desert, hoping to trade it to a naïve person. Until one day, he was overpowered by someone else. The man was forced to make the same deal with the assailant as the merchant made with him,” said Vik. “A year later, the merchant found 20 dead remains in the desert, last of whom still had the water bottle. Not a drop of it had been used. The merchant rejoiced having cheated death and in celebration, opened the water bottle and sprayed the water on his face, consuming
a few drops of it. He died a minute later.”

  “Why drink the water when he knew it was poisoned?” asked Victor, inquisitive.

  “It wasn’t. A year ago,” said Vik.

  “So what? You think I’m the merchant, and you’re the water in that bottle. If I keep you locked away for a long time, I’ll sign my death sentence. Is that it?” said Victor as he smirked.

  Vik shook his head.

  “What? You’re the man who believed the merchant’s lie?” asked Victor, curious to solve this puzzle.

  Vik again shook his head.

  “The water didn’t kill the merchant, no more than it killed those twenty men,” said Vik. “I’m the water bottle, Victor, while for all these years, you considered me as a man you recruited to see through your ambitions. Think about it. You used me to hold and protect the valuable stuff while you wrestled the desert storms. You even traded me to Clifford to save your own skin, hoping that I would stay loyal. Then one day, you returned to get your stuff back thinking you had won. But you haven’t won which pisses you off a little. But let me tell you a secret, something that you know but don’t have the guts to admit. You’re not pissed because you’re the merchant who died, rather you realized you are the man who believed the merchant’s lie. You got conned by people you thought you controlled. You lost because you failed to recognize me, my true nature. Just like you’re failing at this very moment. For once, be the man who drinks the water, Victor. You can’t outrun your death.”

  “Are you sure you aren’t a Daulton? You have the same flair for story-telling like my granddaughter. Shame, we are on different sides,” said Victor. “Together, we could’ve ruled the world.”

  “I did, for a while. It was intoxicating,” said Vik. “Then, I woke up.”

  Victor turned around when he reached the door.

  “Would you have done anything differently?” asked Victor. “If you get a chance for a do-over.”

  “No,” said Vik after pausing for a few seconds. “And that’s what scares me. Knowing all the lives that were lost, I would still do what I did.”

  “I know. People like us can’t do two things. Change who we are and make mistakes,” said Victor.

  Vik didn’t disagree.

  As Victor Daulton left the room, Vik stared at the door in silence. Victor had made a terrible mistake. He had divulged the truth about Katie while preaching a lie.

  Sarah heard that last conversation with utmost clarity. Vik didn’t save her family, even in a hypothetical scenario, a meaningless conversation.

  As Victor entered the corridor, Clay had arrived from Sierra. Victor didn’t have to ask. He could see the horror on Clay’s face. “Maia?”

  Clay shook his head. “Couldn’t find her.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Sarah, who had joined the conversation. Clay nodded.

  They heard sounds of gunshots being fired echoing in the hallway. Clay immediately ran towards the exit to look, while Victor and Sarah were escorted to safety.

  Chapter 41: Salvation

  Eric and the rest had stopped looking for the exit. Buildings were crumbling around them, while they could still see fireballs in the sky dropping every other minute. They had taken refuge near a crater, hoping that the fire lightning won’t strike twice at the same spot. The view was as mesmerizing as frightening. Every other minute, the ground shook. They couldn’t decide what was louder – people’s screams every time a fireball appeared in the sky or the sound of its impact. One was loud, while the other was chilling.

  They kept sitting in the car.

  An hour later, no more fireballs could be seen. Nothing was left to destroy anyways.

  “It’s over, I think,” said Emma.

  All of them got out of the car. There were tears in her eyes when she saw the aftermath. The sight was strikingly similar to 1/1, but yet this one was more devastating. 1/1 was a man-made disaster, while this was natural, she thought. She was wrong on both counts, of course.

  “What do we do now?” asked Joey. “I don’t even know where we should go.”

  “It’s going to get difficult to breathe,” said Kate. “We need to move.”

  “What time is it?” asked Emma.

  “It’s 9: 30,” said Eric. “Why?”

  “The sky disagrees,” remarked Emma.

  “Yeah,” sighed Kate. “It’s red. Like a sunset.”

  “We should keep looking,” said Emma.

  “Yeah, let’s go,” said Eric. “There are only so many places that we haven’t looked.”

  They got in the car and resumed their search for the other side of Sierra. The view was hazy; the sight was frightening. They could see bodies lying under the debris. Not everyone could’ve outrun that high-rise, no matter how far away it looked. But they didn’t look at them through the eyes of its creator. For them, they were just buildings. Blocks of concrete that weren’t supposed to be there. The people that it killed mattered more. Only a few miles, the creator wanted to weep, as he had lost his child.

  Wandering, through fields, roads, and craters, Eric drove whichever area looked unexplored. He feared he was driving around in circles, or perhaps all the roads had been destroyed completely. The trauma was too much for them to bear. The destruction was overwhelming. They all felt in their hearts that perhaps Vik had perished like so many others, but neither of them wanted to say it out loud. Until one moment, when Kate saw something move from the corner of her eyes. Like a blink.

  “Stop! Turn left,” said Kate.

  “Why?” asked Eric.

  “Someone’s here,” said Kate. “I saw a car, I think.”

  Eric immediately turned left. Going through the buildings and their open yet destroyed floors, instead of around them, Eric sped towards the spot where Kate had pointed.

  Upon reaching, Eric couldn’t see anything but turned the car in the direction that the vehicle was supposed to be travelling. A few minutes later, Joey spotted the car and pointed it out to Eric.

  “Careful, we don’t want them to see us,” said Joey.

  “Why? Someone could be looking for help,” said Eric.

  “Joey’s right. We can’t help anyone,” said Emma. “Let’s keep our distance.”

  Eric agreed.

  They followed the car around. The car made quite a few stops at various buildings. They saw four men dressed in black, wearing handguns, and rifles get out of the car every time. They moved a few bodies, even entered a few buildings before exiting.

  “Looks like they’re searching for something,” said Kate.

  “Or someone,” said Eric. “That blonde guy is looking at all their faces, while the other three aren’t.”

  “Where did they come from?” asked Kate. “We’re nowhere near the entrance.”

  “Yeah, maybe they came from the compound,” said Emma.

  “Great. Let’s just follow them,” said Joey.

  “Finally, some luck,” said Emma.

  “You survived something lot worse an hour ago,” said Eric. “The only reason we’re talking right now is because we are lucky.”

  “Way to kill my mood,” said Emma.

  Eric turned around and gave a stern look to Emma. She looked outside the window to evade his gaze.

  They followed the other car for a couple of hours. It had started raining. Emma put her hand outside and grabbed a fist full of ashes.

  “It is literally raining ashes,” said Joey.

  Eric followed the car and realized it was heading towards an area that Eric had never been. A few minutes later, they left Sierra behind in their rearview mirror.

  Emma was ecstatic. So was Kate.

  “They’re heading towards that cliff,” said Eric.

  “This is it,” said Emma. “Stop the car.”

  “Yeah, we should get there on foot,” said Kate.

  Eric nodded. They ditched the car by the side of the road. They grabbed all the rifles and grenades they had brought with them and headed down the road. Around five minutes later,
Emma noticed the area.

  “I’ve seen this earlier. Come this way,” said Emma.

  She led them deeper into the woods. Kate, Joey, and Eric followed her blindly. A few minutes later, they climbed a small slope to get a better vantage point when they found the compound. The compound looked a lot bigger than Emma remembered.

  Emma took out the binoculars and started counting the guards that she could spot. Eric, Kate, and Joey took out theirs and spread around. The compound was surrounded by a rocky slope on 2 sides. The compound was still higher than the slope, but the slope was well hidden in the trees. Kate and Joey occupied different positions to get better vantage points.

  Eric told them to gather intel and meet after thirty minutes. Emma was focusing on the front side, while Kate and Joey had gone to the backside of the compound. Eric was looking at the side view.

  They came back after thirty minutes.

  “Okay, me first. I spotted 8 guards. 3 are on the roof. 5 in front of the gate,” said Emma.

  “I found 4 on the backside. It looks like a warehouse,” said Joey.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty dark inside. The rain isn’t helping either,” said Kate. “I can’t see anything.”

  “Warehouse?” asked Emma. “Maybe Vik’s there.”

  “Yeah, could be,” said Joey. “But I couldn’t see any door.”

  “There are at least 4 more guards inside,” said Eric.

  “Looks like there’s no power in the building. Maybe we can use that to our advantage,” said Emma.

  “We have to take out the guards in front of the building,” said Eric. “That’s the only way to get in the building.”

  “But as soon as we take them out, they’ll know,” said Joey.

  “Yeah,” said Emma.

  “Kate and I would head inside the building, while you and Joey cover us,” said Eric. “You two are better at long distance targets than Kate and I.”

  “Okay,” said Emma.

  “And if we don’t make it out, you have to leave,” said Kate.

  “No, we aren’t leaving you behind,” said Emma.

  “Joey!” said Kate, looking at him.