by DeVere, Taya
“What then? We just give up?” Maria asks the blond woman. “Just like that? Wow, one hell of a rebel leader you are. Explains a lot.”
“Why? Because I don’t want to sit here and watch my friend getting his brain fried?”
“Oh, so it’s okay that they took Bill, but if your boyfriend here gets attacked, you’re ready to roll over and die?”
“Screw you, Maria. Bill was my friend too.”
“Yes, he was.” Maria’s voice is ice cold. “He would have died for you.”
“As I would have for him.”
“Really? I didn’t see you take any bullets for him.”
“What the fuck is your problem?! What more could I have done to help him while I was in a capsule myself?”
“Okay, you two—”
“Shut up, Yeti!” the two women yell at once. The man scoffs, shakes his head, and walks outside onto the balcony. Kaarina and Maria stay inside, glaring at each other.
After a minute of silence—except for the mountain of a man murmuring outside—Dennis taps his wrist. “I hate to interrupt your staring contest, ladies…” The word ladies draws their burning eyes in his direction. “Okay, whoa. I hate to break it to you, friends, but we have exactly sixteen minutes until me and your boy here are damaged goods. Maria, can you please contact Margaret and ask her to get to Doctor Solomon?”
“I can’t. I’ve tried to get through to her ever since you started your AR-call with Nurse Saarinen, but she’s not picking up my tapping.”
“Can you dial again?”
“I’m sorry, dial?”
“Lord almighty. This is not the time to get butt-hurt about my poor choice of terms. Can you just call her?”
Yeti pokes his head in. “It’s definitely not like a phone call, either.” He steps the rest of the way inside.
Dennis rubs the bridge of his nose, doing his best not to snap at the mountain of a man. Instead, he smiles and nods at Yeti, then turns to look at Maria.
“Maria. Please?”
“Like I told you, she’s not—”
Sanna appears and tugs on Dennis’s sleeve, prompting him to hold up his hand. Maria pauses mid-sentence. Sanna’s arms are wrapped around her pet rabbit. “You want to speak to Miss Margaret?”
Maria kneels next to Sanna while Dennis stares at the girl, nodding.
“You have access to her?” Maria grabs Sanna by the shoulders, shaking her slightly. “You need to tell her to contact me immediately.”
Pouting, Sanna wriggles away from Maria’s hold. “You’re hurting me.”
“I barely touched you.”
Markus hurries over, wrapping the girl in his arms. “Sanna, can you please tell Margaret to talk to Maria? Or Kaarina? Even Yeti is okay. You decide who. Okay? Just please let her know we need her.”
Sanna steps away from Markus’s hold too. “Stop telling me what to do.”
Maria inhales sharply, biting her lower lip. Yeti and Kaarina exchange looks.
“I think Mister Jenkins should get to decide,” Sanna says, determination in her voice. “He’s so nice, letting us stay here in his home, and all you do is pick on him all the time. It’s not nice. I don’t like it.”
Maria grunts. She walks in circles, rubbing her face.
Dennis kneels down to face Sanna. He nods at the bunny. “What’s her name?”
“Him.”
“Okay…”
Yeti’s voice interrupts his thought process. “The clock’s ticking, Jenkins.”
He ignores the man and nods again at the rabbit.
“What’s his name?”
Yeti scoffs loudly. “Tick tock, tick tock…”
“Mister Bun-Bun. I got him from a nice lady with a shaved head, when I lived in the blue city. Then, we traveled the world, Mister Bun-Bun and me. We’ve even been to City of Serbia.”
“That’s really something. World travelers. Right here in my humble home.”
“What’s a humble home?”
“I’ll tell you all about it, Sanna. A little later, okay?” Dennis extends his hand and hovers it over the bunny’s head, waiting for the girl’s permission. When Sanna nods and gives him a small smile, he gently pets the rabbit’s soft head. “Listen. We really need to get a hold of Margaret. In fact, it’s really, really important we do so in just a matter of minutes. Or seconds, Sanna. That’s how urgent this is. Do you understand, my friend?”
The girl nods.
“Good. Good.” Dennis strokes the rabbit’s head one more time and then stands up. “Maria? Anything?”
“She’s not picking up.”
Another tug on his shirt sleeve. When Dennis looks down, Sanna’s wide eyes stare back at him. “Why do I. Need to. Talk. To Maria?” she asks.
Dennis stares at the girl, stunned to hear her repeat Margaret’s speech pattern.
“Margaret?”
“No. It’s still. Me. Sanna.”
“So why are you talking like that?”
Yeti bursts out laughing. Kaarina and Maria hush him, but the man can’t stop chuckling. He murmurs, first in Finnish, then in English. “We’re so fucked. Doomed.”
“Okay, Sanna. Could you kindly ask Margaret why she won’t contact Maria? Please tell her that it’s more urgent than anything else going on right now.”
“More urgent. Than a war. Flaring in the. Purple city?”
“What?”
“More urgent. Than five kids. About to. Get. Cut in the. Chip-Center. In the red. City?”
“Okay, I get it.” Dennis spreads his hands. “You’re a busy woman, Lewis. I hear you. But me and my new friend Markus here are running out of time. Could you please, please, tell Laura to fix this? Nurse Saarinen called me, she is about to—”
“I know. She called. I was. Here.”
“You were?”
“Yes. With Sanna and. Mister. Bun-Bun.”
Maria’s breathing is getting heavier. The man by the balcony door is laughing out loud now. The whole room is filled with people losing their minds. And Dennis fits right in.
“If you were here. When she called. Witnessing it all… You can understand why I’m a bit stressed out right about now. Right, Lewis?”
“No need. To be. So stressed. Dennis.”
“No?” Dennis nods at Markus, trying to remind himself that it’s still Sanna who he’s talking to. If he lashes out in anger, the girl might shut down the only potential help they can get before Nurse Saarinen continues to burn his brain parts. “I don’t know about your boy here, but I sure as hell am hoping to die some other way than getting my brain boiled.”
“Your chip. Is already upgraded.”
Dennis blinks rapidly, staring at Sanna’s round eyes.
“Upgraded?”
“Yes. Markus’s too. She can’t. Get to you.”
Dennis and Markus look at each other, then exhale in relief at the same time. Then Dennis looks out the open balcony door. “And the city?”
“That is. Something. You need to. Talk to. Your new. Leader. About.”
Maria stands up taller. Something odd is happening to her face. First, it’s just a smile, maybe out of hysteria. Then a grin. Now she’s laughing, leaning her palms against her knees.
“Our leader?” Dennis asks.
“Yes. Your leader. In the. Penthouse.”
***
They follow the dim yellow emergency lights up the stairs. Maria’s eager footsteps lead the way. She hasn’t said a word, ever since Margaret fell silent a few minutes ago. She just grinned and grinned, then left the room. They all followed, and Dennis closed the door. Outside, Sanna had waited for him with her hand extended. Without knowing what else to do, Dennis let the girl hold his hand and lead him up the stairs.
It happens just as he’s turning to take the last remaining set of stairs before the penthouse’s front door. Through the glass wall, he sees it dying. The green illuminating light that is the city. First, it’s just the buildings surrounding Dennis’s empire. Then, it’s the buildings far
ther back. Then, even more buildings turn from beautiful neon-green to dark shades in the night.
The Vertical-Farming-Center.
The Chip-Center.
The whole city has blacked out. All the AR-lights are gone.
“Holy. Shit.”
They all ignore Yeti’s cursing and keep staring out the window. Then, they all turn to look at Dennis. Sanna adjusts the bunny’s weight on her arm, never letting go of Dennis’s hand.
He opens his mouth to speak. Not a word comes out.
She did it. She really did it. His city. Every piece of Chipped technology in it. Gone. He stands and stares. After a moment of silence, Maria walks down the stairs to him.
“I’m sorry, Dennis. I know you care about the city. I know it means nothing, but this is not what I wanted.”
“She…” That’s all he gets out of his throat.
“She’ll pay for this. I swear.” Maria’s hand feels strong against his upper back. “She’ll pay for everything.”
“You don’t…” a sudden coughing attack forces Dennis to bend over.
“I don’t, what?”
It takes Dennis a good while to gather himself and stand up again. Leaning against the railing, he can’t stop staring into the darkness outside. Rain and wind shake the building. Or maybe it’s his rising panic attack.
“You don’t understand,” Dennis says. “This is not good. Not good at all.”
Yeti walks over to the window and knocks the glass with his fist. “So you’ll need to rebuild the AR. Disconnect from the headquarters.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Kaarina tilts her head. “What then?”
Just as she asks the question, the first shadows appear on the streets. Then more. They march toward Dennis’s building, gathering in groups. The groups form a wall. The wall grows in size. All they can do is watch. Watch for what seems like hours, as the streets fill with people in green coveralls, waving their hands. Shouting.
Yeti’s the first one to find his voice. “Okay, so they’re pissed off. They want their precious AR-games back on…”
His words fade as they watch a group of twenty people gather around Dennis’s self-driving limo. The earlier damage is nowhere to be seen, the vehicle’s surface shining spotless in the light coming from the emergency street lights. One by one, they converge to push the limousine until it flips on its side. They keep pushing. Soon the car is upside down on the dead tile road.
“Well, shit.” This time it’s Maria cursing.
Running footsteps echo from downstairs. Jenny joins them by the window, holding her dead AR-glasses. “It’s all gone. The emergency override. The VIP room. The Chip-police. I can’t contact anyone for help.”
Dennis sighs, pointing outside. “See those men and women, Jenny? Dressed in black clothes like yours and mine?” Jenny looks out and stares at a group of people lighting a fake palm tree on fire. The flames turn the dim yellow light into bloody red.
“I see them. But I can’t reach the police to—"
“Jenny…” Dennis shakes his head. “They are the police. Besides, what could they do? Every crime in the green city’s history has been executed by a cyber-criminal. All they ever do is contact headquarters.”
“So we do just that. Contact City of Finland. They’ll put an end to this. Right?”
“Jenny, this…” Dennis makes a circling gesture with his hand, “This is happening because of City of Finland. They did this. Nurse Saarinen. She’s now in charge of the Happiness-Program.”
“So she needs to help us then,” Jenny says, her voice breaking. “We’re part of it too!”
Maria shakes her head and turns her back on the window. “Not anymore, you aren’t.”
***
The front door is cracked open. With careful steps, Dennis walks in. A smell of fried fish and taco seasoning fills what used to be his home. The gaming chair that used to be in the middle of the room is nowhere to be seen. Instead, there’s a long plastic table that takes up more than half of the living room space. The table is piled with CS-keys, old-fashioned laptops, and multiple screens, some running code, and some dark.
Kaarina, Maria, and Yeti walk straight to the table and start pressing screens and tapping the computers on. Markus and Sanna continue to the kitchen area, toward the smell of dinner. Whoever lives here now doesn’t seem to be home. They must have left using the helicopter on the roof.
Outside, the darkness drags on. Dennis knows flames and chaos surround them outside, but he’s too overwhelmed to go and look out the window.
Three of the screens flicker to life. Two familiar faces appear in front of them, one smiling, and one staring into a screen with AR-glasses on.
“Good to. See you. All.”
Dennis joins the rebels by the table.
“Lewis.”
“Dennis. Nice to. Actually see. You.”
“Is it?” He doesn’t mean to sound so rude. After all, Margaret works with Laura now. They’re on the same side, whatever their reasoning may be. “My city’s on fire. Did you know?”
“I am. Aware.”
“Care to help me with that?”
But Margaret just smiles, then turns to look at Kaarina and Yeti. “Where is. Sanna?”
Kaarina folds her arms and nods toward the kitchen. Not that Margaret can see behind the screen. “In the kitchen with Markus. Margaret, we’re surrounded by green coveralls. They’re attacking everything around the building.”
“I know.”
“I don’t get it,” Yeti continues. “They really can’t take a one-hour break from their make-believe life? Can it really be so terrible?”
“It’s not a break,” Iris says, but doesn’t look at the camera. Reading a CS-key set in front of her, she ties her blue-white hair in a ponytail. “I can’t turn it back on. Whoever Nurse Saarinen has working for her is good. Better than the team they had before. I think she’s going to turn everything off, every city and piece of equipment, and then claim her leadership by promising to turn it back on. But it won’t happen in a day or two. She’ll wait until it’s all chaotic. Until there’s no question whether the city runs better with or without AR. Then she’ll turn it back on. As long as no one questions her authority.”
“Son of a…”
“Yeah. There’s no question who the people are going to support in this.”
“What about my firewall?” Dennis asks Iris. “The one protecting my chip?”
Iris shrugs, finally looking at the camera. “Should be solid.”
“Should be?”
“If it wasn’t, you’d be dead by now.”
Dennis shakes his head. “That is very comforting, Iris. Thank you so much.”
“You are. Safe. Dennis. But you may. Want to. Consider. A short trip. To Iceland.”
“The Resort?” He laughs briefly. “You’re suggesting I take a nice little vacation while my city is torn into pieces and the pieces set on fire?”
“They will. Calm down. Eventually.”
“Yeah back to that,” Yeti says. “Why the hell are they raging like this?”
“The Happiness-Program. Is all. They. Have.”
Iris sighs and reaches for another computer. “Hey, at least they got out of their homes and into the fresh air. Some of these fuckers haven’t left their apartments since The Great Affliction.”
Dennis looks out the balcony doors. The dark city seems out of place with a few yellow emergency lights on. The buildings rise dull and gray in the distance.
Maria sits down by the computers and continues to ask questions. Iris and Margaret answer her. But Dennis can’t focus on their words. Something else has caught his eye; a warm light outside on the balcony, further down toward the east wing. It’s easy to miss. Ethereal. He never uses that part of the building, just the space right outside the sliding doors.
One step at a time, he creeps closer to the balcony. Once he’s outside, he sees an outdoor fire pushing cinders up into the night air, a good thirty
feet away from the doors. Where he used to have no furniture whatsoever, two bean bags flank a low table. On the table, two plates and six beer bottles, some empty and some untouched. Boxes of delivery food with Jenny’s name on them. A pair of men’s flip-flops.
Dennis steps along on the balcony tiles, staring at the fire. Beside him, the greatest city he knows—his city—rests lifeless and gloomy. Malfunctioning. Down in the streets, people yell his name. No, they curse his name. They curse the Unchipped. They yell short sentences, something about the rebels ruining their lives. Dennis keeps taking baby steps.
A shadow in the night, leaning against the railing, stops him before he gets to the firepit. A man, wearing a dark gray suit, is staring down at the streets, leaning over the railing, his bare feet tip-toeing on the balcony tiles. That’s when Dennis hears the music, even further down the balcony, where another firepit illuminates the black city. Mexican music. Muffled words. Singing. This other shade is sitting down in a bean bag, his back toward Dennis.
The man with the suit sets his weight back down and fixes his hair. Long, black locks rest against his neck. He turns around to face Dennis, with chin high and eyes cheerful and calm. All the hollow feelings in his chest, the tightness in his throat, all the questions about where Dennis belongs, what he needs to do, what his purpose here is, and what is truly important, all are pushed aside. A powerful flush of love spreads through his body at the sight of his old protégé, safe and whole.
“William.”
Bill smiles at his name.
“Texas.” He raises a cocktail glass and nods at Dennis. “Ready to watch me take over the world?”
EPILOGUE
The yellow tiles light up under her shoes. One stair at a time, Margaret makes her way down to the resort’s basement, where hundreds of abandoned stasis capsules rest with their doors open. In the distance, by the second set of chairs, two women pace around a server big enough to fill three capsules, if it was stored in one. But it’s not. Nothing is. No one is stored and switched off like a piece of outdated technology. Not here. Not anymore.
The tiles get more substantial in size after the stairs. When the piercing pain becomes more evident around her skull, Margaret taps at the device behind her right ear. A soothing wave washes through her head, then her whole body. Her steps become stronger, lighter.
