“I don’t understand,” Jack said as smoke began to rise up off the burning skyline of Machina. “We were supposed to have one more day.”
“Looks like the Rüstov have moved up their schedule,” Midknight said.
Sirens rang out across Empire City, and Jonas Smart’s voice started broadcasting:
“People of Empire City … hear me now, and hear me well. The time has come to take up arms against the Rüstov once more. We are under attack.”
The voice was coming from everywhere. Just like Obscuro’s announcement four days earlier, this message wasn’t just limited to the SmartNews channel or personal holo-screens. This broadcast was being projected all over the city: on the sides of buildings, on floating billboards, and on giant holo-screen projections that were being shot out of SmartNews image-casters. Jonas Smart’s rallying call echoed through all six boroughs as he spoke, and the words IMAGINE NATION EMERGENCY flashed over and over on the screen below him.
Another round of blasts punctured the Machina skyline like bullets fired from a gun, and the screens cut to images of Mechas rioting in Machina. Jack, Midknight, and Noteworthy watched the anarchy unfold on-screen. The Mechas were tearing their borough—and one another—apart. They were picking up HoverCars and smashing them down on the MagLev roads. They were pulling recharge stations out of the ground and throwing them through windows. Jack looked on, helpless, as healthy Mechas tried to control their infected brothers and sisters. It was a lost cause. The few healthy Mechas left standing were either greatly outnumbered or falling prey to the virus themselves. The Mechas shouted epithets in the Rüstov language as they wrecked buildings, vehicles, roadways, and whatever else they could get their hands on. The senseless destruction was horrifying—even more so because it showed the people of Empire City exactly what an army of infected Mechas was capable of, in the most graphic manner possible. The Mechas were out of control. Worse, they were being controlled … by the Rüstov. Jack watched the chaos play out on the holo-screen and heard it in the air seconds later, like thunder following flashes of lightning. The storm he’d spent the last year dreading was raining down at last.
“What is this?” Noteworthy asked. “What’s happening?”
Jack was about to explain, but Smart beat him to the punch. As the newsreel played on, the former Circle-man’s smooth, terrible voice laid over the images like a blanket of thorns. Noteworthy shushed Jack before he even got a word out. Midknight was fixated on the screen as well.
“These images are courtesy of the SmartNews Machina branch,” Smart announced. “They will be confirmed, and no doubt duplicated by other NewsNets coming late to this story, but no one else in Empire City is going to tell you what I am about to. No one else in Empire City knows what I know, save for a young boy who isn’t talking.”
The picture on the holo-screen cut to an image of Jonas Smart speaking directly into the camera. The live feed showing the riot in Machina continued to play in a small box in the corner of the screen. Smart was not about to cut away from that scene. Not for a second.
“Less than a week ago we were all shocked to learn that a member of the Clandestine Order had gone rogue,” Smart began. “So convinced was he of the Rüstov’s advantage over us that he began selling off secrets so that he could flee the planet before their next attack. I for one was not at all shocked to learn that the primary source of the rogue’s fears was a secret known only to Jack Blank.”
Midknight and Noteworthy both cast dubious looks at Jack and then quickly turned back to the screen.
“It is no secret that I have never trusted Jack, despite his actions on Wrekzaw Isle last year,” Smart went on. “I’ve gone through great pains to find out what he’s been hiding ever since he first arrived here. This afternoon, at great personal expense, I finally acquired that information from the Rogue Secreteer. It is for this reason that I can tell you with absolute certainty that the riot in Machina is not a simple case of malfunctioning Mechas or some supervillain plot. This is a Rüstov attack, and Jack Blank is part of it.”
Jack groaned and looked up at the sky. Everything he’d feared most was coming to pass. He paced the rooftop as Machina burned and his world fell apart.
“Today I learned about the Rüstov spyware virus—something you are seeing the effects of on your holo-screen now,” Smart announced. “Once again our enemies seek to use our fellow citizens as weapons against us, only this time the deadly virus they have brought to bear is aimed at our Mecha population. The spyware virus lets the Rüstov see what they see … hear what they hear. The Rüstov can even take control of the Mechas and use them toward whatever ends they see fit. I’m sure you can imagine what ends they have in mind. What you may find hard to imagine is that Jack Blank knew about this threat more than a year ago and said nothing.” Smart paused to let that fact sink in. “It’s true. Just like every other creature infected by the Rüstov, Jack Blank is bound in the service of our enemy. The emissary who brought Jack here, Jazen Knight, was infected as well. Last year he and Jack led a team of Rüstov Para-Soldiers into SmartTower to try to kill me.”
Jack spun around to look at the screen. “That’s not true!”
“It’s all true,” Smart continued, almost as if he were rebutting Jack’s outburst. “Jack Blank lied about the virus and covered it up. Then he and his Rüstov allies orchestrated a fake battle with Revile that he could win, so that he could endear himself to the people of the Imagine Nation. All the while he kept silent about the Rüstov’s true plans, allowing the spyware virus to flourish. And it has.”
“Because of your SmarterNet!” Jack shouted at the screen. He was seething. The parts of the story that Smart had right were bad enough, but he was jumping to conclusions to fill in the gaps, and twisting things to fit his version of history as he went along. He was also leaving out any part he’d played in creating this crisis, and he was smearing Jazen’s good name while he was at it. This was going even worse than Jack had expected, something he hadn’t thought was possible. Once again Jack was discovering new reasons to hate Jonas Smart.
“I warned you all, but no one listened. Telling the truth about this boy nearly cost me everything,” Smart said. “Tonight I am vindicated, but what has ignoring my counsel cost this city?” Smart shook his head sadly. “We have long known that our enemy is clever, cunning, and, above all, patient. Clearly, that patience has served them well, but we have not yet begun to fight. I am calling on every citizen of the Imagine Nation within the sound of my voice to rise up and go to Machina now. Just as when a person is infected by the Rüstov they are no more, these Mechas are no longer our fellow citizens. They are tools of the Rüstov. We need to destroy them! Our very lives depend on it!”
A mighty roar rose up from Varagog Village, loud enough to be heard across the rooftops of Cognito. It was the kind of noise that made Jack think of pitchfork-wielding mobs getting ready to chase down the Frankenstein monster. “That’s not good,” Midknight said.
“Remember!” Jonas Smart called out. “No one can resist a Rüstov infection. Only one person was ever thought to have succeeded in this—Jack Blank. After tonight it is plain to see he did no such thing. His treasonous act of covering up this virus has revealed him for what he truly is—a Rüstov sleeper agent. If you have any doubts left about that, allow me to dispel them by sharing with you his second, dark, dark secret, straight from the mouth of the Rogue Secreteer.”
Jack closed his eyes and braced himself. Here it comes, he thought. Smart was about to reveal the truth about him and Revile. In a few seconds it would all be over. His fall from grace would be complete. Jack knew that spelled doom for both him and the Mechas. No one would listen to what he had to say about the virus after this.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Blank is no ordinary Rüstov agent,” Smart said. “He is quite literally the greatest threat the Imagine Nation will ever face. Today he is merely Jack Blank, but tomorrow, unless we stop him, this boy is destined to become … lorem ipsum dolor.”<
br />
Jack opened his eyes and looked up at the screen in shock. Destined to become what?
On the screen Smart paused, looking to be every bit as confused as Jack. Unsure, he tried to go on. “Sit … amet?” he said tentatively. “Consectetur adipisicing elit?!!”
Smart realized what was happening and turned to look behind him, enraged. That was when Jack noticed that Lorem Ipsum was standing right next to Smart. She had been there the whole time. “Sed do eiusmod tempor!!!” Smart yelled at her. He looked back and forth between her and the camera, furious, embarrassed, and helpless. “Incididunt ut labore! Et dolore!!!” he railed. “MAGNA ALIQUA!”
Jack couldn’t believe his eyes—and ears. Smart couldn’t talk! Lorem Ipsum had touched him right before he’d been going to reveal the big secret. He was saved!
Jack felt like he’d just dodged a bullet that had been fired at him from point-blank range.
Lorem laughed as Smart ranted and raved, speaking nothing but unintelligible gibberish. “That’s what they all say,” she snickered, gloating. She pulled her hair out of her face and looked into the camera. “Jack, if you’re out there listening, I’m sorry about before. Like I said, I had my own plans.” Smart grabbed Lorem Ipsum and shook her, but the ever-nimble girl twisted free, laughing as she squirmed out of his grasp. “I know my father,” she said. “I knew the only thing that would drive him crazier than not being able to find out the truth about you would be finding it out and not being able to tell anyone.”
She grinned as Smart lunged at her in a pathetic last-ditch attempt to do something. Anything. She dodged him, and he knocked into the camera. It rolled back into a wide shot that revealed Jonas Smart on his knees, defeated. “That’s for locking me up in prison, Daddy,” Lorem said to him. She turned back to the camera and stuck her face close up in front of the lens. “Your secret’s safe with me, Jack.” She gave a mocking, see-you-later kind of salute, and added, “This is Lorem Ipsum from High-town, signing off. Good night and good luck, Empire City.” Another explosion rang out in Machina. “Something tells me you’re gonna need it.”
Lorem reached toward the camera and turned it off. Screens all across Empire City turned to static. Jack still couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t dead yet. There was still time. He had to put it to good use before it was too late. He had just been given a second chance. A last chance. He couldn’t afford to waste it. It was time to stop the virus and prove which side he was on, once and for all.
“The SmarterNet,” Jack said, taking charge. “That’s what’s accelerating the virus. It’s spreading across Machina now, but it’s going to go global. We have to shut it down.”
“We?” Noteworthy sneered. “There is no we,” he said, brandishing his energy glave. “I should kill you where you stand, you filthy interloper.”
Jack didn’t back down an inch. He was feeling confident, like something had just shifted and he was now riding a wave of good luck.
“Noteworthy, you step to me with that thing and you’re gonna regret it. I’ll use my powers to blow up every machine in this building before I let you stop me from doing what I have to do. I’ve got nothing left to lose. I don’t even care anymore.” It was a bluff, but it made Noteworthy think twice. Long enough for Midknight to step in.
“Let’s everybody calm down,” Midknight said. “Clarkston, you know better than to take anything Smart says at face value. Jack’s big secret—whatever it is—isn’t the spyware virus. He told me all about that two nights ago in Gravenmurk Glen.”
“You knew about this?” Noteworthy asked, flabbergasted. “How could you keep something like that from—”
“My question is, what was Smart going to say before Lorem put a stop to it?” Midknight asked Jack, ignoring Noteworthy.
“Never mind that,” Jack said. “We don’t have time for me to catch you guys up on every last thing. We have to find the Inner Circle and tell them what’s going on. We’re the only ones who really know.”
“Some of us know more than others,” Noteworthy replied. “We’re not going anywhere until you tell us what Smart was going to say.”
“It’s got nothing to do with this!” Jack said. “The Rüstov are about to get their hooks into every single machine in the world if we don’t stop them.”
“Thanks to you,” Noteworthy said.
“And thanks to Smart,” Jack shot back. “No one else knows that, though. Think about it, Circleman … unless you want Jonas Smart to be the big hero here, you’ve got to act fast. Right now you’ve got thousands of Rüstov-controlled Mechas rioting next to your borough. How long until that violence spills over that wall that Virtua built? As far as your people are concerned, the only person who was going to do anything to protect Hightown is Jonas Smart. He just got sidelined by Lorem Ipsum. You better pick up the ball and run with it, or come next election, you’re going to find yourself out of a job.”
Noteworthy seemed to be trying his best to find a reason to disagree with Jack, but it was hard to argue with his logic. Jack knew the Circleman would see things his way. Appealing to Noteworthy’s good nature and sense of duty was a waste of time, but appealing to his self-interest and ambition? That was a surefire lock.
“Midknight, I need to get to Hightown,” Noteworthy said. “Now.”
Midknight stifled a bitter laugh and brought down the Knightwing’s entrance ramp. “Get in. Both of you,” he said. “Incidentally, I think you’ve got quite a future in politics, Jack.”
“This conversation isn’t over, boy,” Noteworthy said on his way into the Knightwing. “Not by a long shot.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Jack said. He climbed on board and closed the ramp behind him.
Midknight took his ship over the rioting borough of Machina on the way to Hightown. Jack, Midknight, and Noteworthy looked out in horror as waves of infected Mechas ran wild in the streets, smashing their home to bits. They were pulling down street signs and knocking down monuments. They were jamming steel girders into roadside data ports and starting electrical fires. Uninfected Mechas were running for their lives. They reached up at the Knightwing, calling out and waving their arms, desperate to be saved.
“We have to help them,” Jack said, looking down at the trapped Mechas.
“No,” Noteworthy told Midknight. “Keep going. They’ll just take us down with them.”
Midknight frowned. “He’s right, Jack,” the old hero said. “There’s too many of them. We’re no good to anyone if we’re dead. We need a plan here.”
Then, without any warning, every light in Machina went out all at once. A great whirring noise followed, like the sound of ten thousand power generators winding down simultaneously. Jack watched every Mecha on the street drop to the ground like they were puppets whose strings had been cut. The entire mechanized borough was suddenly as quiet as the grave, which for some unfortunate Mechas, it already was.
“What’s going on?” Jack asked.
“You’re asking me?” Noteworthy scoffed.
“Let’s ask them,” Midknight said, pointing up at the Hightown-Machina border, where Stendeval could be seen floating in the air next to Virtua. As Midknight brought his ship closer, an orange-white flash lit up the sky, and the rest of the Inner Circle appeared. They floated gently down to the ground surrounded by Stendeval’s red energy particles. Midknight brought the Knightwing in across from them, setting it down on a plaza right next to the newly erected Machina-Hightown wall. A crowd of Hightowners was forming nearby.
“Midknight. Clarkston,” Stendeval said as they exited the ship. “Please join us. We’re going to need you both if we’ve any hope of stopping this madness before it spreads any farther. Jack, I’m glad to find you safe and in good hands.”
“Be glad he’s not in mine,” Hovarth said. “You should know I’m very disappointed in you, boy. This disaster is your fault!”
“Not just mine,” Jack said. “Jonas Smart has to share the blame in this too.”
“What are you talk
ing about?” Virtua asked.
“It’s the SmarterNet,” Jack said. “Smart built it to connect every machine in the world because he wanted a new spy network. That’s what’s spreading the virus so fast. Smart’s machine sped this thing out of control.”
“Is this true?” Hovarth asked Midknight and Noteworthy.
Midknight motioned with his hands. “We can’t say for sure, but it makes sense,” he replied.
“I’m afraid this information comes too late,” Virtua told Jack. “The method of infection no longer matters. My people are already being taken over by the Rüstov. The virus is spreading too fast for us to deal with the infected individually.”
“What happened to the lights?” Midknight asked. “Did the virus shut down Machina?”
“No, that was me,” Virtua replied. “This morning, based on Jack’s work on the virus, I created a software update that all Mechas were required to download and install. It’s a tracking program that scans all systems for computer code similar to what you provided me with. As soon as more than twenty-five percent of Mechas register that code, glitches, or any other aberrant behavior, a full-scale shutdown and reboot gets triggered. This affects every Mecha in Empire City, including me, so play close attention. Projo can broadcast my image only another few minutes before I shut down too. This is not a solution. I have only bought us time.”
“Time for what?” asked Chi. “What do you want us to do?”
“The reboot is only temporary,” Virtua replied. “We have ninety minutes at best. Hopefully it will be enough time for you to secure my borough and every Mecha in it so that we are not a danger to ourselves or others.”
“Secure every inch of Machina?” Noteworthy said. “You’re talking about tens of thousands of Mechas. What if we can’t do it in time?”
Virtua turned to Stendeval. “Do you have enough reserve energy for an EMP?” she asked him.
Stendeval locked eyes with Virtua. He knew full well what she was asking. So did Jack. So did everybody. Stendeval nodded solemnly.
The Secret War Page 24
