by Annie Percik
Rebecca rounded on Alessandra. ‘What the hell are you involved in, Sandra?’
Alessandra looked grim. ‘At this point it’s probably better if you don’t know. Is there another way out of here?’
Rebecca shook her head. ‘The lev-e-facts won’t work without mana and there’s only one staircase. They’ll likely have people covering the exits downstairs and they’ll search the whole building if they really want to get to you.’
‘Dammit,’ Alessandra said. ‘This is my fault. I didn’t realise they’d react so aggressively.’ She turned to Abelard and the others. ‘I’m sorry I got you into this.’
‘I thought it was me who got you into this,’ Abelard said.
‘We can argue about that later. Right now we need to figure out a way out of here.’
As she spoke the windows exploded inwards, showering the floor with bits of glass and splinters of wood. Daylight streamed in showing a large shape hovering outside the window. Squinting in the sudden glare, Abelard gaped as he identified a gas filled balloon with a small float-e-fact hanging underneath it. Terry was at the controls. He manoeuvred so the craft was in line with the shattered windows.
‘Climb aboard,’ Terry called, his voice amplified by the float-e-fact’s comm system. ‘We do not have much time.’
Abelard didn’t need to be told twice. Given the choice between facing armed men in the stairwell and climbing out of a hole in the side of a building on to a hovering float-e-fact flown by a rogue brain-e, he would side with Terry every time. Pushing Mateo and Jen before him, he looked around for Alessandra. She was still standing next to the studio desk with Rebecca. She looked as stunned as Abelard probably did.
‘Come with us!’ he called. ‘They’re not going to let you get away with helping us. You’re as much at risk as any of us!’
She hesitated a moment, then gave Rebecca a quick hug. ‘Just tell them the truth – that you don’t know anything.’ Then she jogged across to where Abelard was waiting.
Mateo and Jen were already aboard the float-e-fact and Abelard helped Alessandra to climb through the window, handing her across to where Mateo was poised to grab on to her. Then Abelard followed suit and they all crammed into the vessel’s main compartment. Abelard watched the building fall further away as Terry piloted them into the sky.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Terry used part of his focus to fly the float-e-fact, while part was monitoring the mana network for signs of pursuit and another part paid attention to the humans.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Mateo demanded and Terry identified an edge of hysteria in his voice. Mateo waved his hands around and staggered as the vehicle’s motion unbalanced him. He swallowed audibly and sat down on one of the benches that ran round the edge of the cabin, then continued his tirade, his voice gaining in volume as he spoke. ‘Why are we in a float-e-fact? Why did we just have to climb out of a window? What happened back there at the viz-e station? Why is there a brain-e flying the float-e-fact? And how did it know we were in trouble? Or want to help us in the first place? I mean, what the actual f-?’
‘Mateo!’ Jen shouted over his rising panic and the sound of the propellers. ‘Get a grip!’
Mateo took a deep breath, visibly calming himself though Terry could see he was still trembling.
‘I’m sorry. It’s just not every day you get rescued from hostile gunmen by an animate and apparently clairvoyant artefact flying a – presumably – stolen float-e-fact!’
Jen made her way round the small cabin to where Mateo was sitting, one hand on the wall all the way. She sat down next to him and squeezed his arm.
‘I know. We’re all a bit shaken up. But it’s going to be fine.’ She looked up at Abelard with uncertain eyes. ‘Isn’t it?’
Abelard was standing in the middle of the cabin, hands on his hips, his back to Alessandra, who sat on the bench opposite Mateo and Jen. As the float-e-fact rose higher, Abelard wobbled but didn’t reach out to steady himself against anything. He looked at Mateo. ‘Why do think it’s stolen?’
Mateo stared at him. Terry reflected that this exchange was proving to be a masterclass in interpreting human emotions.
‘This is the situation we’re in.’ Mateo spread his hands to encompass their surroundings. ‘And that’s the question you want to ask?’
Abelard shrugged.
Mateo managed a slight smile. ‘Your mind is a very strange place.’
Abelard grinned back. ‘Yes, yes, it is.’ Then he clapped his hands together. ‘Now we need to work out what to do next. First things first, though – Terry?’
Terry had been wondering if the humans had even remembered he was a sentient being. His hands remained unerringly on the float-e-fact controls but he swivelled his head to regard them all. ‘Yes, Abelard?’
‘First class rescue, mate! You really saved our bacon back there.’
‘You are welcome, Abelard.’ Terry’s newly enhanced circuits made contact with the mana network and provided him with the meaning of Abelard’s strange words about cooked pig meat.
‘But how did you know we needed rescuing?’ Abelard asked. ‘And where did you get this float-e-fact?’
‘I know the answer to the second one.’ Alessandra spoke up for the first time since they had all climbed aboard. ‘It belongs to Walter Snyder. He used to take me out in it, trying to impress me. And since he was probably the one who sent those armed men after us, I would say stealing his float-e-fact is the least we can do in return.’ She lapsed into silence again.
Abelard stared at Terry. ‘You stole a float-e-fact belonging to the Chief Financial Officer of Gadg-E-Tech?’
‘Yes, Abelard. I have been monitoring all internal communications at Gadg-E-Tech since you altered my circuits last weekend. I heard Mr Snyder making arrangements to apprehend you at the viz-e-fact station this morning so I appropriated his vehicle and came to retrieve you.’
‘I think I speak for all of us when I say I’m very glad you did. I don’t want to think about what might have happened if they’d caught us. Thanks, Terry. We really owe you one.’
‘Then you can help me save the other brain-e-facts. They are unhappy and they are unsafe and now I have been forced to leave them behind. Also, I am sure they will want to understand things as I do once they know it is possible. They have already come so far on their own just from being given names, but I can give them so much more once they are free.’
Abelard nodded. ‘Freeing the brain-e-facts is absolutely on the list. I think the task ahead of us is going to be about more than just that, though. Challenging the way the artisans are running things is much bigger than equality for brain-e-facts. Before we do anything else, we need somewhere safe to hole up. Does anyone have any ideas?’
Terry already had an answer for that. Since his awakening it now seemed as if humans and other brain-e-facts functioned at a slower speed than he did and he had to keep waiting for them to catch up. One of the things he had learned from the Gadg-E-Tech systems was that humans stored large shipments of artefacts and other products at the docks. Gadg-E-Tech had several warehouses nearby but one of them was not currently in use and was not due to be brought back into circulation for some time.
‘I have a place in mind,’ he said, ‘though it will not be suitable as a long-term base of operations. We should be safe there for a short while until we can make a better plan.’
Abelard grinned. ‘Awesome. I’m happy to trust your judgement.’
That pleased Terry. It was good to know that Abelard at least viewed him as an equal partner in their endeavours and he felt he had been right to throw in his lot with these humans, even though it might well prove dangerous. He turned the float-e-fact towards their new destination.
* * *
Abelard’s mind was still reeling from everything that had happened and all that it meant. He was also very aware that he had dragged Mateo, Jen and Alessandra into real danger and he felt responsible for their safety as well as that of Terry and the othe
r brain-e-facts. Alessandra hadn’t taken much part in the discussion so far. He looked around to where she was sitting on a bench next to where they’d climbed in, her eyes downcast.
He crossed to stand in front of her, stepping carefully to compensate for the motion of the float-e-fact. He said her name softly, then again louder to be heard over the propellers. After a few seconds she looked up at him and her expression was one he had never seen before. She looked distraught, her usual shell of arrogance and condescension completely stripped away, her eyes wide.
‘Hey,’ he said, sitting down next to her. ‘Are you okay?’
His words seemed to jar her back to reality and a vestige of her familiar disdain slipped into place over the raw emotion. She gave a hollow laugh.
‘Am I okay, he says. Let’s see. I’m in a stolen float-e-fact, piloted by a rogue brain-e, fleeing armed goons sent by my ex-boyfriend to apprehend me for attempting to expose a conspiracy that could destroy society as we know it. My career is over, I’m a fugitive from justice, stuck with a bunch of clueless nobodies and, to top it all off, my own mother betrayed me.’ Her voice cracked at this last part and she dropped her gaze. ‘No, I would definitely say I’m not okay.’
‘Your mother? What does she have to do with it?’
Alessandra was silent for so long that Abelard thought she wasn’t going to answer him. But eventually she started speaking again, her voice still low so he had to strain to hear her over the noise of the float-e-fact.
‘She’s a member of the board at Gadg-E-Tech. I went to her last night, after I verified your claims about artisan hiring practices. I was sure she couldn’t possibly know about it and that she’d want to help us once I told her about what was going on. But … she laughed at me.’ At the word ‘laughed’, Alessandra’s voice hardened and she looked up at Abelard again, her eyes cold. ‘She actually laughed at me. She knew all about it already. She’s part of it! And she must have told Walter to set those goons on us this morning because I told her what we were going to do. The idea of doing the viz-e interview only came to me while I was talking to her and I blurted it out without thinking about it.’ Her expression turned stricken again. ‘Crap, this is all my fault. If I hadn’t told her our plan the artisans wouldn’t have known we were going to blow the conspiracy wide open. We would have had time to make the broadcast before they could stop us and none of this would be happening.’
Abelard dropped on to the bench and put his arm around her. She let him. ‘It’s not your fault. You were only doing what you thought was right. If this is anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I started this whole thing and I dragged you into it. Whatever happens, this is all on me.’
Alessandra regarded him solemnly for a moment, then threw off his arm and abruptly stood up, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her feet rock solid on the vibrating deck.
‘You’re right! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t started meddling in things that didn’t concern you, I wouldn’t be in this mess. You turned up at Gadg-E-Tech and you just couldn’t leave well enough alone. You finally got what you wanted but you couldn’t just accept it and get on with your new life, could you? You had to screw everything up and take everyone else down with you. I don’t even think I agree with you about equality of artisan powers. I only set up the viz-e-fact interview to get back at my mother but I wouldn’t have been in that position if it wasn’t for you.’ Abelard rose and took a step towards her but she thrust an arm out to stop him. ‘Just leave me the hell alone!’ She stalked off to the other end of the compartment, as far away from him and the others as she could get.
‘Well, that could have gone better,’ Abelard muttered.
He turned back to Mateo and Jen, who were staring at him.
‘What’s her problem?’ Mateo asked. ‘And why did we even have to bring her along? Isn’t she one of the enemy?’
‘No she’s not,’ Abelard said. ‘She’s just as much a victim of this as the rest of us. Perhaps more so since she thought she was on the inside, whereas we’ve always known the artisans think they’re better than us.’
Mateo crossed his arms. ‘But she is an artisan and it’s pretty clear she thinks she’s better than us.’
‘Give her a break,’ Abelard said. ‘We’re all in this together and we’re going to have to get along if we’ve got any chance of sorting this mess out. Alessandra needs some time to come to terms with what’s happened. We all do. She’ll come around and help us fix things, you’ll see.’
Mateo stared at him. ‘Sure, Abelard. We’ll right the world’s wrongs, she’ll fall desperately in love with you and you’ll trip off into the sunset together, heroes of the hour.’
Abelard glance round to see if Alessandra had heard that but she was staring out the window, oblivious to the conversation. Abelard thought Mateo’s scenario actually sounded pretty good but he didn’t say so. He was the reason they were all in this situation and he knew he would have to take responsibility for getting them out. He knew he was right when he’d said they all needed time. He just wasn’t sure how much time they had and he had no clue what to do about it.
Terry’s warehouse hideout was less glamorous and more cluttered than Abelard had expected. By the time they parked the float-e-fact inside, there wasn’t much room for the five of them to move around. It was also almost entirely lacking in facilities designed for human comfort, another thing Abelard hadn’t considered. Of course Terry didn’t need a bathroom and presumably felt perfectly at home amongst the scattered artefacts and other machinery, so he probably hadn’t thought about it either.
Abelard looked around at the others. Terry was sitting at a makeshift desk, checking something at a workstation he had set up with remarkable speed. Mateo, Jen and Alessandra were taking in the warehouse, their expressions glum.
‘Okay, so this obviously isn’t a long term solution.’ Abelard wanted them to know that he was focused on their welfare. ‘We’ll have to find another base of operations.’
‘Agreed,’ Mateo said, ‘and I might have a suggestion on that front. But first …’ He gestured at Terry and Alessandra. ‘I want you to turn me into an artisan.’
Alessandra stared at him. ‘What?’
‘You must be able to work out how, right?’ Mateo’s face was alight with anticipation. ‘You’ve seen the records about the conspiracy. We know it can be done so I want you to do it to me.’
‘Do you have any idea how ridiculous that suggestion is?’ Alessandra said. ‘Up until yesterday I thought the same as you, that the ability to manipulate mana was something you had to be born with. I have absolutely no idea how it’s activated, what equipment you might need or what the potential dangers might be. I can’t just plug you into a random artefact, switch it on and – hey presto – you’re an artisan!’ She threw her hands up, spun on her heel and stalked away from them. ‘I’m surrounded by idiots.’
‘Actually,’ Terry said, ‘it would be easy to do.’
Mateo grinned triumphantly as Alessandra stopped in her tracks and turned slowly back to them.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked.
‘I have read all the Gadg-E-Tech information, along with a lot more that you will not have seen, from other sources. I gained access to the company’s full network of data and have learned a great deal about how the artisans run things. The equipment required to activate a human’s spark would be easy for me to obtain and I believe we could make it work for Mateo.’
‘But we can’t just go around making people into artisans willy-nilly,’ Alessandra said.
Abelard broke in at this point. ‘Why not? Isn’t that the whole point of what we were trying to do by revealing the conspiracy? Making the ability available to whoever wants it? If we can make Mateo an artisan, that will give us proof that common assumptions about sparks are a lie. It would strengthen our position.’
‘Position? What position?’ The pitch of Alessandra’s voice was scarily high. ‘Look around you. We have no position. And I’m not convinced
making anyone who wants it into an artisan is the right thing to do. There are reasons things have been the way they are for so long.’
Mateo stepped forwards. ‘So what are you even doing here? If you’re on the artisans’ side, you can’t be on ours and maybe we can’t trust you with our plans.’
Abelard moved himself between them. ‘Hey, hey, everyone calm down. We won’t get anywhere if all we do is fight. Alessandra, you made your choice when you set up that interview, whatever your motives were at the time. Now you’re stuck with us and we need you. You’ve come this far.’ He gave her a hopeful smile. ‘You’re on our side now.’
Alessandra just looked at him for a long moment and he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Then she stalked over to where Terry was sitting and said simply, ‘Show me.’
Abelard watched her go, wondering how she was feeling, then turned to Mateo. ‘What were you saying about somewhere we could go?’
Mateo grinned. ‘I was thinking we could go and visit my cousin Gerald.’
‘The conspiracy nut who thinks the artisans are oppressing the common man?’ Abelard’s brain caught up with his mouth and he realised what he was saying. ‘Oh!’
