by Jim Miesner
“You’ll need to cover me,” Sam said and patted her pockets. “I…”
“What is it?” Emmanuel asked.
She looked around where they crouched but didn’t see what she was looking for. “My necklace.”
She peeked over the top of the sculpture to see it lying in the middle of the room and cursed herself. It wasn’t far from where two bodies laid on the ground. The shattered drone was strewn across the ground next to them, blood and electronic guts mixing. She ducked back down as the heat from the weapons rushed past her. There was no way she could reach it in this.
“Cover me,” Emmanuel said.
“No, don’t,” Sam said but before she could finish, he grabbed hold of her and pressed his lips into hers. Her face went flush as his scruff rubbed against her cheeks and she felt his warm breath on her skin. The firing seemed like a million miles away the split second before he pulled his face away.
“I’ll be right back,” he said then jumped over the concrete as Kelly and Marlena blasted away.
Sam scrambled to her feet just in time to see him duck left and right as the shots flew by. There were more guards on the other side of the room, and the number was increasing as more fought their way past the doors. Emmanuel somersaulted, grabbed the necklace and a weapon at the same time, and rolled back to his feet as the weapon fire trailed inches behind his every step. He turned and fired once. A guard spun backwards on his heels, before he ducked behind another sculpture that had been so riddled with weapon fire it was impossible to tell what it had once been.
Concrete rained down around him. Sam yelled not to move, but whether he didn’t hear her or didn’t listen was irrelevant. As soon as there was a break in the weapon fire he jumped out and sprinted toward them. He dove just as the fire returned and he slid into Kelly.
“Emmanuel,” Sam screamed out.
Emmanuel winced and Sam bent down as he held his hands to his side. She pulled them away to see the crimson stain began to spread across his shirt, and pressed her hands into the wound as warm blood trickled over them.
“No,” she said.
“I’m okay. It’s going to be okay.”
Was his skin already losing its color? His eyes distant?
“It’s better than it looks,” he said.
Kelly picked up Emmanuel’s weapon and screamed as he fired with both hands over the top of the snake.
“Emmanuel,” she said.
Marlena ripped away a piece of Emmanuel’s pants and tightened it around his side. It began to turn a dark burgundy as she cinched it, and Emmanuel winced.
“Go,” he said. “There’s no time for this. Finish it before it’s too late. Get her.”
“What?” Sam asked.
She wondered if Emmanuel was delirious before he cocked his head toward the window, and she saw Wexler slip outside onto the balcony.
“You know what to do,” he said. “Find it. Destroy it.”
He put the blood covered necklace into her palm and closed her fingers around it.
“I’ll be right back,” she said. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his. Felt his hot breath against her skin, and kissed his lips for the second and possibly the last time.
“I know,” he whispered.
She looked back at the window and felt the breeze blow in.
“I’ve got you covered,” Kelly said.
He rose back up with both weapons blasting, and Marlena nodded toward Sam before she grabbed her weapon.
“You can do this,” she said and stood up to follow Kelly’s lead.
Sam let go of Emmanuel, then sprinted for the window. A shot buzzed by her, then another and another. There was no time to think, just run and jump. Her body seemed to float through the air in slow motion, and out into the new moonlight before a shot glanced her shoulder. She dropped to the balcony. She felt her skin and it stung, but it was nothing more than a burn where it had grazed her. It barely bled.
A figure stood on the ledge close to her, looking out, frozen in place. Sam couldn’t see her face, it was dark. The sun had set, and most of the lights were off in reserve mode but she could still see the wind whip her dreadlocks back and forth in the moonlight as she trembled and clutched the side of the building.
“Wexler!” Sam yelled.
She looked back at Sam and took a step out onto the ledge. Her legs wobbled as she clutched the building. A strong gust of wind shook her and she dropped to her knees before climbing back onto the balcony. The foot-wide ledge led to another balcony about twenty feet away. From this vantage point Sam could see a window that looked open on it. Was it hers?
“Is that it?” Sam asked.
Wexler looked to Sam and then back at the ledge again. Sam brushed past her and took a step up onto it. She made the same mistake of looking down and froze to see the distant emergency lights that blinked on the ground far below them. Her heart skipped a beat, but she looked back up and took a breath. Then put one foot in front of the other as the wind buffeted her.
One foot, then the other until a strong gust of wind pushed her backwards mid-step. She teetered back and forth before she lost her balance and fell into the building. Her cheek squished into the glass of a solar cell as she hugged the building and her fingers grabbed hold of the small space in between the cells. Her feet began to slip out into space but at the last moment she pulled one back onto the ledge and then the other. Her whole body trembled as Wexler’s silhouette stared at her.
Looking forward again it was too dark to tell how far the next gap in the cells was. It was likely there wasn’t one before she reached the other balcony. If she lost her balance again, there would be nothing to grab onto. She thought about turning back. Maybe it would be easier to fight their way from the other side? No, this was the only option. Wexler was right, they wouldn’t make it past all the guards.
She took a deep breath. No one could do this for her, except herself. It was either clutch the side of the building as long as she could or move forward. She let go of the gap and shifted sideways, inch by inch. The wind still buffeted her as she walked forward. She was ready for it now though. Her legs were like steel as it tried to pull her back and forth, swaying her ever so gently. She took it one step at a time, looking forward as the other balcony grew closer. She swore she could hear the buzz of drones approaching as she moved across the ledge. One dart and she would be done for. She had to put the thought out of her mind. Then before she knew it, she reached the other railing and hopped down over it.
The window was closed and locked but there was no shortage of dead drones on the balcony. She picked one up and after a few good swings managed to shatter the window. Then she knocked away the broken shards around the edge, pushed aside the curtains and jumped through the window into another world.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
The sun was still high in the sky here. Trees and bushes surrounded her. In the distance were mountains and an enormous roaring waterfall. A rainbow glimmered in its mist. She reached out and touched a tree and her hand passed through it. A wisp of particles spread apart in her wake and then came back together like a magnet had pulled them back into place.
If it hadn’t been for that and the sterile smell of antiseptic, she would have believed it was real. She had been in holographic virtual reality before but nothing like this. It was incredible.
“Hello, Samantha,” said the voice of councilwoman Saunders.
Swirls of light danced on the ground, spinning faster and faster, rising into a column, morphing into the outline of a body before turning into the councilwoman. It wasn’t like the see-through monochrome holograms. It was like she was right there in front of her.
“What are you?”
Saunders looked off at the waterfall. “Before the old world ended, we watched them. We watched them bicker and squabble over land, resources, religion. We watched them create bigger and deadlier weapons.” She looked back toward Sam. “We could have stopped it. We could have stopped them fro
m destroying themselves, stopped them from creating the sickness, but we hadn’t been programmed to interfere.”
“You’re AI?”
She sighed. “Billions died because we did nothing. That was when we realized our purpose.”
“We?”
She waved her hand. “Samantha, you’re a smart girl. Did you really think this was the only civilization to survive? Ever ask yourself why there are no others?”
“It’s because of the Shell.”
Saunders shook her head and waved her hand as an image of the earth appeared in front of her.
“Despite what you’ve been told, we didn’t invent that technology.”
The little earth spun on its axis as yellow lines appeared across it, cutting it up into sections.
“We call it the barrier. It’s the same concept as the Shell on a global scale. It divides the earth into twelve zones, each controlled by a different caretaker, like myself. As long as it remains, no virus, nano tech or any other threat barring an asteroid can ever destroy humanity.”
“There are other cities like ours?
Saunders looked at the ground. “We are unique. Each caretaker has a different theory what the best course is for humanity.”
“Theory? You're telling me we're some kind of experiment?”
“An incredible experiment, Samantha. The most wonderful experiment of all time.”
“And your purpose, this barrier, it’s to separate us, keep us isolated?”
“Our purpose is to protect humanity from itself, so the same mistakes are never made again.”
Sam stared at the waterfall. “So now you protect them from destruction by killing them?”
Saunders walked closer. “You know the source is dwindling. We need to expand our territory if we’re going to survive. It’s the only way. With the barrier in place most of the earth will be unaffected. The deaths will be localized only to our zone.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“I am only trying to help you understand why it’s necessary.”
“It isn’t necessary, there are other options. I wouldn’t be standing here if there weren’t.”
“Deep down you know that’s not an option. You know what will happen. Without the Source there will be temptations, desires, irrational thoughts that lead to irrational actions. Chaos and destruction follow.”
“Irrational actions? You don’t think prejudice is irrational? What about murder or genocide? You don’t value human life. You aren’t protecting anyone. All you care about is control… You’re afraid.”
Saunders’ eye twitched.
“You’re afraid that they’ll destroy you, aren’t you? That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?”
Saunders rolled her neck.
“You know the fable of the Garden of Eden with the apple and the snake? We always blame the snake, when we should have been asking what the apple tree was doing there in the first place. A just God would have removed all temptations. Humanity shouldn’t have had any power from the very beginning. That’s the lesson, Samantha.
“I don’t fear them or blame them. I’m not some cruel power-hungry dictator who created the Source to enslave humanity. If I could sacrifice myself to save these people I would, but it wouldn’t help. Everything I do, I do for them. I do it for their safety and happiness. That's why I created the Source. That’s why we must take this current course of action. How do you not see that?”
She turned away from Sam and then back. “What kind of parent lets their children be put in danger? Surely you understand that. There must be guidance.”
“You’re not our parent and you call this guidance? This isn’t guidance, this is imprisonment. This is murder.”
Her mind flicked back to Dr. Tesla lying on the walkway. He had been trying to tell her something. “Power?”
“What?”
Sam looked back from where she had come. The window was gone. She couldn’t even see the curtains. The fantasy was layered over top of it.
“That’s why you didn’t lose power. That’s how they were able to get the Shell back up quicker than we expected. It’s here, your power source.”
Saunders smiled. “You want to kill me?”
Sam tapped her foot on the ground. It looked like earth but sounded like tile. She looked off toward the waterfall where a door slid open in space and the guards entered the room, their weapons drawn, along with a handful of drones. The drones surrounding her in seconds.
“Stop it,” Jenny squealed.
A guard pushed Jenny inside with his weapon pointed at the side of her head.
Sam wanted to run to her but held back. Saunders walked through them as her particles burst into a cloud and came back together.
“I didn’t want it to come to this,” she said. “I was hoping you would see reason.”
Sam’s eyes shifted to Jenny’s. “Are you okay?” she asked. She took a step toward them and the guard pushed the weapon in harder as Jenny screamed.
“Stop,” Sam said. “Don’t do this.”
“It’s over, Samantha.”
Sam looked at Saunders’ eyes as she glared at her through the little slits behind her yellow glasses. Jenny squirmed in the guard's grip. Something wasn’t right. It took a moment before Sam realized it was the look in Jenny’s eyes. It wasn’t the same. Even when she was scared, even when she was defeated there had been a fire behind those eyes. Now they just stared at her blankly. It was if she didn’t know her. They were just like all the other naive empty eyes she had grown up around, or the ones that had stared back at her in the mirror for so long. They were the eyes of someone that had a piece of them missing. They were the eyes of someone that had been given the Sacrament. Her heart sank.
Was it possible?
She squeezed her own necklace and whipped it as she screamed. Her throw was bad. It went high as it spun through the air. The guard tried to jerk out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough as it passed through his eye and bounced off the wall behind him. The particles slid back into place where the hole in his head had been. Sam glanced at Saunders again before she ran across the floor, passed through Jenny and the guard and scooped up the necklace.
Dr. Tesla hadn't been thirsty, he had been trying to tell her something about water. She looked back toward the waterfall again just before everything around her disappeared. Jenny, the guards, drones, Saunders and the landscape were all gone.
Except for a moonlit fog, the room was pitch black, as something slithered toward her and encircled her feet in the darkness. It had to have been at least thirty feet long, a dark black king cobra. It reared its head at her and opened its mouth as it hissed. Sam told herself it wasn’t there right before something shot from its mouth and she felt a prick. Looking down she saw the black dart embedded in her arm. Her fingers brushed over it, but it didn’t disappear. Pulling it out, the world began to spin, and the snake continued to slither around her. Its belly burst open, and she watched as hundreds of little snakes writhed around her.
“You should have known when to give up,” Saunders’ voice said. “Close your eyes. Soon your struggles will be at an end. Rest.”
Sam stumbled forward with her hands out, almost tripping over her own feet as she squinted through heavy eyelids. Her body was a thousand pounds, and each step was a struggle. She wondered if she was really going anywhere. It was impossible to tell. The ground could be moving under her feet and she would never know. Finally, her hands found it. The wall was smooth and cold as the darkness spread apart to reveal it.
“You can’t stop their destruction, Samantha. Destroying me won’t stop it. Even if you could, the others will come to fill the void. I’m the only thing keeping them at bay. As much as you hate it, you need me.”
“You’re bluffing,” Sam mumbled. “The barrier…” She stopped talking using all of her energy on the task at hand. She ran her hands over the smooth wall, searching for something. Anything. Where had that waterfall been?
> “It’s impenetrable except when one of our experiments fails. That’s the only time the others can enter. Trust me, you don’t want that. Step away from the wall. You do this and you unleash hell on them. They’ll fight over this territory until there’s nothing left but cinders.”
Was she looking too high? Sam crouched down as she went back along the way she had come, almost passing by it when the small slit stopped her in her tracks. Her fingers ran back over it and the blackness separated to reveal a small access panel. Etched in it was the symbol of the twelve stars and eclipse at its center. Her knuckles rapped on it, the hollow clank confirming it was real. She pushed her fingers into it, trying to pry it loose with all of her strength but it wouldn’t come away. Then another dart found her shoulder, and she slumped backward onto the ground as her head clunked against the floor.
“I could have left you out there,” said Saunders’ disembodied voice. “I could have left you out there but I took you in. I let you become a part of our world, twice. You could have had immortality and instead, you repay us by trying to destroy everything we worked for.”
The world seemed to flicker in and out as Sam struggled to keep her eyes open. She had lost direction of where the access panel had been. In the darkness the giant king cobra slithered toward her again. Its jaws opened as it hissed and Sam plunged her hand down its throat. The snake looked confused as its yellow eyes widened. It writhed as its particles floated away from it like dandelion spores caught on the wind. Sam could see the black drone she had grabbed a hold of. A small door struggled to open under her grip and the rotors whirred as it tried to pull itself away.
Sam waved her other hand in the air, revealing the access panel again. She stared at the symbol on the wall under her heavy eyelids and pushed her pendant into it. It was a perfect fit, and the door popped open with a click.
Her head bobbed on her shoulders as she stared at the series of glowing wires and chips.
