Upgraded

by Gideon Mills

  Eventually, they went back to the elevators to take them to the fourth level. Marcus’s heart raced as they went up. It wasn’t as dangerous as the fifth level of New Detroit.

  Marcus had found it rather amusing talking to both Amita and Sam about the levels. On the street level that they grew up on, they had no idea how many levels the city had or what life was like at all on the upper levels. They had thought it was much like the lower levels but cleaner.

  In some ways, they were right. Just the people on the upper levels didn’t realize they were being oppressed. In some ways, the Streeters or Thousanders, both names used to put them down, had it better, since they knew they were oppressed. That might sound funny, but that was the way Marcus saw it. Since they knew they were being enslaved, they might one day have a chance to break from that hold.

  The people on the upper levels had no clue. By the time they might realize that something was wrong, it would be way too late. It nearly was too late already. The Resistance needed to enlighten the people, to show them the horrors that Keres had done. All she had done in the name of making the world better. In reality, she wanted power and all the influence in the world to mold it around her.

  Marcus shoved all thoughts aside as Ihor pulled up to a building that was once owned by the Mara Corp but now sat empty. Marcus tried to remember what it had been used for but couldn’t place it.

  “This was the old facility they used for the testing,” Ihor said.

  That would be why Marcus couldn’t place it. To the public, it most likely had some mundane use that people didn’t give a second thought about. Marcus had passed this building a thousand times in his life with no idea what was happening inside. He clenched his fist in anger. This building and its former use made his blood boil.

  “You sure that is a good place to live?” Nickolas asked. The man was more than just a fighter. Talking to him showed a profound intellect. If he were given a chance, Marcus was sure he could lead the Resistance. Not that Jonathan wasn’t a good leader. Both men showed intelligence and cunning, but they had hearts, and they cared. That was the critical difference between them and Keres. They cared.

  “I do.” Ihor pulled out his tablet. It was the most secure tablet in the New Republic, even harder to hack than Keres’s. Marcus had tried to the first few days and had failed miserably.

  Not to say that he would be able to break into Keres’s device, because he wouldn’t, but Ihor’s was insane. The defense on the tablet had given Marcus a headache.

  As they stood out in front of the building, a car drove by, one that frightened Marcus. On the side, it said Security Force. Marcus did his best not to react, but not responding was difficult. Being one of the most wanted men in the city, or the New Republic for that matter, made it arduous.

  “Act natural,” Ihor said. “Let’s go in, and check it out.”

  Marcus followed the men into the building. For the most part, it was devoid of life and power.

  “Won’t they notice when the power comes back on?” Marcus was sure that would be spotted by the Mara Corp.

  “Nope,” Ihor said. “We’ll only have power in the basement, and I have a backdoor to the power grid.”

  That shouldn’t have surprised Marcus, but it did. His old buddy was both the same as he had been in college but also different, and that was frightening. Ihor was a true hacktivist. Marcus felt ashamed that he wasn’t.

  It was time to up his game and help out more. Ihor shouldn’t have to do it all. Both had the same college degree and background.

  They roamed inside for twenty minutes or so. Ihor was right. In the basement, they would be secure, so long as no one learned of it. Then, they would be trapped. That was the only thing that scared Marcus, being stuck in the basement with no way out.

  “Is there an emergency exit in the basement?”

  Ihor smiled. “A hatch that leads to the level below.”

  “That’s a long drop,” Marcus said.

  “It isn’t just open and jump.”

  Nickolas laughed. “It better not be.”

  The men left the building and went back to their hidden motorcycles. As they walked to the bikes, two Security Force members strode at them.

  “See,” a voice said. “I told you. It’s the men Keres wants.”

  Nickolas and Marcus turned to the men. Both were trained to fight hand-to-hand. Marcus had learned Pankration. He was decent in his training. He had been good enough to stand his own against a dozen Security Force members before they overwhelmed him and captured him.

  This time, that wouldn’t happen. It was a fair fight. Ihor would get the bikes ready, while they took these two men out.

  Marcus took the one on the left. Sprinting at him, Marcus closed the gap before the man could react. A punch on the man’s armor reverberated through the Security Force member. Marcus had to remember that he could use both hands now.

  Keeping that in mind, as the man doubled over, Marcus used the elbow of the new arm. As his strike impacted the helmet, it cracked. Whatever the new arm was made of, it was stronger than the other arm and the helmet.

  The man dropped to the ground and moaned. Thankfully, Marcus hadn’t killed him. That would have been bad. Nickolas battled the other, trading blows in equal force.

  The Security Force member didn’t hear Marcus sneak up behind him. Marcus used his new arm to attack and swept out the legs. Before he connected, a blade extended out his arm and sliced the leg. The man dropped to the ground, his modified right leg severed. Oil and bits lay on the ground.

  “Time to go,” Ihor said from the bikes.

  They raced back to the hideout. Ihor cursed the whole way back. Their hoped-for new place was no longer safe to use. The Security Force would be keeping an eye on it for the foreseeable future.

  33

  A talk

  The next morning, Amita sat in her apartment. It was the weekend, which had been a foreign concept to her when she had lived on the street level. Now that Amita didn’t have to work every day, she actually got time to herself and had the freedom to explore the city if she wanted to. Before, Amita would work twelve-hour days and be dead tired.

  It pained her, but she wanted to go out and see Marcus. Seeing him wasn’t possible. Amita didn’t know where they were anymore. The Resistance constantly changed locations. Marcus didn’t tell her, and she didn’t let him know she knew. He was trying to keep Amita from being worried, and that was sweet, so she let him think she didn’t notice.

  Marcus was trying to be noble, and that was worth something. Albeit, it was a bit annoying. That didn’t matter. All that did was that he was safe. That they stayed safe, and so did she.

  Amita wanted to be with them, to stay with them. Marcus and Ihor had talked her into going back to work. Back to the life that she had been living before the attack. Not that Amita had lived it for that long. If she could stay here long enough, maybe Keres would make a mistake, or Amita could learn something.

  If Amita was Keres’s daughter, Marcus’s mom figured her being here would draw Keres out. Amita had disagreed but had lost the vote. Not that she had ever stood a chance. Everyone had thought it would be a great idea for her to be here. Everyone except Sam.

  Amita was to be the inside person, so she could learn what she could. Sounded great in theory, but in actuality, it sucked. She’d learned nothing and had been separated from the people she loved. A lose-lose. She was not a fan of the plan up to this point.

  Her phone rang. It was an encrypted number. Amita answered on the second ring. “Hello.”

  “Hello, dear,” a smooth, caring voice said. It was Marcus’s mother, Cynthia. “You okay?”

  Amita nodded and smiled at herself. Cynthia couldn’t see her do that. “I am. Just missing everyone.”

  “I’m sure you are. We’ve been busy.”

  “Oh.” Amita wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “How so?”

  “Marcus, Ihor, and Nickolas went out to scout a new home. They fought two
Security Force members.”

  Amita nearly dropped the phone. “Are they okay? Should I come? Do they need to be saved?”

  “Breathe, Amita.”

  Amita took a deep breath in and exhaled. “Okay.”

  “They are fine. Perfect. Marcus learned some of what his mods can do. They got out untouched.”

  “Good.”

  Hearing that he’d been seen by the Security Force scared Amita. Her heart raced, and her body was still shaking. Relaxing would take a moment, but it would happen since he was safe. Losing him frightened her, more than she cared to admit.

  “The worst was that we lost the new hideout.”

  Amita closed her eyes and let calm wash over her. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. We will be fine.”

  Amita hoped Cynthia was right. Amita needed them to be safe and sound. Removing Keres was the key to it all. The sooner, the better, so they could be together. She hated being so far away from Marcus.

  She missed Sam too and even Cynthia, Ihor, and Nickolas. Maybe even Jonathan. Who was Amita kidding? She missed them all. Each and every one of them had helped her in some way, though Marcus was the one she needed, desired.

  A knock sounded on her door. Amita jumped, and her heart skipped a beat. No one visited her, ever, besides Marcus, and he couldn’t. The visitor startled her, and even more so when Amita peeked through the peephole.

  “I’m going to have to let you go,” she said. “Keres Mara is here.”

  34

  Unable to help

  Marcus walked into the room just as his mother was getting off the phone. She had a look of shock and horror on her face.

  “What?” he asked.

  His mother took a deep breath in. “I was on the phone with Amita. I was just about to ask about William,” she said. “When she hung up since Keres was there.”

  Marcus couldn’t believe what he just heard. Keres was Amita’s mother, but she had never acted like it before. She treated her like dirt, and that angered Marcus. It hurt him that his own mother had played a role in it, but that was why Cynthia was helping them now.

  “We have to go help her.”

  “Help who?” Sam appeared next to Marcus, almost out of thin air. She had been doing that a lot recently. How she managed, Marcus didn’t know. But it might be useful in the future.

  “Amita,” Marcus said. “Keres is there right now.”

  Sam and Marcus both turned and started toward the door.

  “Stop!”

  Both were frozen in place. Marcus’s blood was boiling. This could be the beginning of the end. Amita might not be alive much longer, or she could end up in the same place he’d been not that long ago.

  “We have to help her,” Marcus said. Just then his cat soul walked by him. They had saved him while Marcus was being tortured. Marcus was thankful to have the cat around.

  “We have to trust her,” Cynthia said. “We have to accept her fate. Keres is bigger than all of us. We have to take risks, and Amita knew that.”

  Marcus took a deep breath in. It was easy for his mother to say that since she didn’t love Amita like he did.

  “She’s right,” another voice said. Marcus looked over to see Ihor standing in the corner. “We can’t risk the rest of us. Amita is one person. We all care about her. She helped spur our new plan and path, but we must trust this.”

  As much as it pained him, Marcus knew they were right. That even if they did try, they wouldn’t get there in time. They just were too far away.

  “We need to come up with a new plan,” Marcus said.

  “Agreed,” his mother said.

  “William will help with that,” Ihor said. “He has better access if he is really willing to help.”

  Marcus didn’t like that much better than Amita being involved, but it was still something.

  35

  A scary talk

  Amita hung up without listening to Cynthia. Quickly, she smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress and ran her hand through her hair. As Amita realized what she was doing, she crinkled her face. This woman didn’t deserve her best.

  Swinging the door open, Amita asked, “What can I do for the great and almighty Keres Mara?”

  Amita couldn’t believe she just said that.

  Neither could Keres, as she stood there, stunned. “I see you do have some Mara in you,” Keres said once she recovered.

  Amita shrugged. “Wouldn’t know.”

  Without asking, Keres walked past Amita into her apartment. Amita was guessing Keres had paid for it, so it was really hers, and Amita couldn’t keep her out. Yet another reason Amita didn’t want to be here. Keres was in control of too many parts of Amita’s life. That needed to be rectified as soon as possible.

  “Amita,” Keres said. She examined the place to see if Amita had done anything with it. Amita had left the apartment alone. “You need to learn to trust me.”

  “Why?” For fun Amita scanned her to see if anything had changed.

  Keres Mara: CEO Mara Corp

  Stats:

  Intelligence: 10

  Strength: 9

  Cunning: 10

  Speed: 5

  Modification: classified

  No change at all. So much for motherly love.

  Keres smiled, one that Amita was sure she thought was friendly, even motherly. But the smile scared Amita and made her recoil from Keres slightly. The vile woman noticed and closed her eyes.

  “I’m sorry I left you in the dark the way I did. Letting you grow up the way I did.” Keres’s tone was light and almost sincere. If she had an actual ounce of sincerity in her body, Amita would be shocked. Keres’s voice was layered, and Amita heard Keres trying her best.

  A small part, a very small part of Amita wanted to listen, to see what her mother had to say. To embrace her and love her. To meet the woman who had given birth to Amita. Keres appeared to be trying to be friendly here.

  “Why did you?” Amita asked.

  Keres exhaled and paused before answering. “You have seen how ruthless the world is. How people try to harm me. Confuse you. Trick those around us. I never imagined that my own best friend Cynthia would turn against me.”

  Amita’s nostrils flared, and her fist clenched in anger. Keres Mara was trying to play the victim card in a world where she was in control. That was too much. Constraining Amita’s hatred and anger wasn’t easy.

  “You are the CEO of Mara Corp. You could have protected me.”

  Keres sighed. “I wasn’t when you were born.”

  “No, but you have been for a long time. I worked for your company. You knew I was there. You let Michael harass me. Let me hate my life. Let me fear for my life.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it. If you truly cared, you wouldn’t have let me rot there or waited to tell me.”

  “When?” she asked.

  “How about when I was in the hospital recovering? During my test? You had plenty of moments to talk to me, yet you didn’t.”

  “They didn’t seem right.”

  Amita rolled her eyes. This woman, who was capable of manipulating the leader of a country, the people of the nation, was trying to play weak and innocent. Amita didn’t believe it one bit.

  “I have a feeling you don’t typically wait for the perfect moment in much of anything. Not buying any of this.”

  “Listen!” Keres screamed. Amita had upset her. Keres wasn’t going to play any more games. That was refreshing. Some truth. “I am in charge here. You are just a little girl who doesn’t know anything.”

  “Doesn’t know anything. I’ll tell you what I know. You abandoned a baby. Kidnapped people. Experimented on people. Forced people into slavery. More than one kind of slavery. And if I had to guess, you’re trying to make the perfect little utopia in your mind.”

  “I am trying to bring the world to peace. To make the world and everyone in it happy.”

  Amita groaned. “With mind control?”

 
“If I must.”

  “The ends do not justify the means.”

  “So be it. You are a child. An uneducated kid who doesn’t know right from wrong.”

  “Uneducated? Whose fault is that, Mother? Do not try to blame me. You are not the victim. The people who live underneath you are.”

  “I see that I cannot open your eyes as I have done for so many others.”

  Amita’s teeth ground in her tightened jaw. Her mother was horrible and made her so angry that she wanted to scream. To shout at Keres and make her realize the horrors she had done. The pain Keres had caused the people in the city. The overwhelming hatred people had for the Mara Corp. The loneliness Amita had felt on the street level and the despair that had led so many to a life of drugs.

  Yet, Amita held her tongue. It would be wasted on Keres and her vision. If Keres had any humanity, it was buried deep and surrounded in an icebox of hate. No words she could say would diminish the odium which Keres lived in.

  “No, my eyes will not be open to your lies, your treachery. The filth you lay on the city. Unlike the people here, I’ve lived in the future. Your future. I’ll pass.”

  Keres closed the gap between them. She was inches from Amita as Keres’s body heat warmed Amita. Keres’s breath on Amita as she looked down into Amita’s eyes. Amita stared up in defiance, not backing down from Keres and her overpowering presence.

  “You will regret not helping me. Instead you’ll be joining the true filth of the world.”

  “I highly doubt that.”

  Keres’s nostrils flared, and her face turned white. Amita’s words incensed Keres and pushed her over the edge.

  “You have one day. If you don’t tell me where your friends are hiding out, I will personally make sure you don’t see the sun ever again. You will be the ultimate test subject. Jameson will take great pleasure in seeing what the human body can endure.”