Destiny: Quantic Dreams Book 3

by Elizabeth McLaughlin

  “How are you going to know if it’s safe or not? It’s not like we’re going to get an introduction to these people.” That wasn’t the right thing to ask. She widened her eyes slightly in a glare that was more obvious to those around us than she believed.

  “We will do our best.”

  “I’d like to volunteer for scout duty.” Dad spoke up from behind me. He released his grip from my shoulder. It wasn’t until he did that I realized he had been squeezing hard enough to leave a bruise. Why would he be putting his name forward if he was so afraid? I had to keep an eye on him.

  “I’d like to go too.”

  “Like father, like daughter.” I heard Eliza mutter underneath her breath. “Fine. Just try not to get yourselves into any more trouble than we already have, okay?” She squeezed my hand in a conciliatory gesture. When things were settled, we needed to reconnect. For now, it was better for me to let Eliza do her thing. I didn’t take it too personally. Once she got her mind set on something, she was like a bloodhound. Nothing else could stand in her way. It was the cost of being married to her. As tedious as it could get, I appreciated her dedication.

  We were each issued a gun and told to gather information, nothing more. Dad asked to tag along with me and we settled in on a rocky overhang. Despite being dressed in our warm clothing the stone was cold underneath us. It was imperative that we take some time to keep ourselves warm overnight. Hypothermia was a nasty way to go, or so I heard. I winced as I heard my father’s knees crackle when he knelt down.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” He grimaced and pointed his toes behind him to stretch his legs. “Getting old. I think I have to finally admit that Gabriel took it out of me, too. God knows I’ve gotten the shit kicked out of me enough these days.”

  “And yet you’re still out here, diving headfirst into the rough missions with the rest of us fools.” I unzipped a scope from my pack and put it to my eye. I was instantly transported thousands of feet closer to the city. Through the lens I could see detail far beyond what the naked eye could perceive. The scope had the ability to cycle through several modes; infrared, night vision, negative colors, every kind of surveillance you could ever want. I spent a few minutes playing with the settings while I scanned the buildings.

  Nothing lit up.

  I told myself it was possible that any humans settled inside were far enough away from the exterior of the building that the scope wasn’t picking them up. It was unlikely that they would possess enough technology to reflect in night vision. There was no power that I could see, no electricity that ran into the buildings, other than the beacon. That part didn’t make sense. If the people had the capability to generate such a massive energy output, why wouldn’t they use it to power appliances, or even lighting? I must have been talking to myself because Dad chose that moment to answer.

  “Fiona, when Gabriel kicked me out on the surface...” He paused, and broke into a coughing fit. I set down the scope and rubbed his back to calm the spasm. “When Gabriel kicked me out on the surface, the first thing I did was hide. You saw why with the death of that boy a couple of days back. If there are people in there—and there clearly are—they’ve almost certainly shielded themselves. For all we know, they’re kicking back over there with a bowl of stew and a tablet.”

  “Mhmm.” I put the scope back to my eye and took a deep breath. The minutes crawled by, but nothing popped up. I handed the scope off to Dad and tore open a self-heating meal. I didn’t bother looking at what the packet contained. Most of it tasted the same anyway, loaded with enough salt to make even the most disgusting food taste palatable. Staying out in the cold had sapped enough energy from me that hot food was a godsend. I was just folding the packet away for disposal later when I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Fearing another panther attack, I kicked Dad gently in the side.

  “Dad, turn around for me. No, do it slowly! There’s something looking at us.”

  He placed the scope down gently, being careful to not make any noise, and craned his neck to look behind me. For a moment he looked confused. Then a slow grin spread across his face. “Oh, aren’t you the cutest thing!” At his expression I turned around and saw a small figure moving through the grass. It moved on all fours and was about the size of a hand. When I switched on my flashlight, the creature’s eyes glinted back at me, little dots of yellow in the spotlight. As it came closer to me I saw that it was a small lizard. Its body was covered in blue skin dappled with black. When it moved I could see the bending back and forth of its spine, almost like its skin was translucent in spots. The shine of its eyes reminded me of the panther and I stepped back unconsciously. “It’s all right, Fiona. I think it isn’t going to hurt us.”

  “Didn’t you nearly get killed by a swarm of insects a while back? Cute little ones that you thought would taste good?”

  “Hush, daughter. That was different, anyway. This little one looks just harmless. Aren’t you, my friend?” He reached out a hand and the lizard crawled towards his fingers, iridescent eyes disappearing and reappearing as it blinked. The animal made small, clicking noises as it moved. It must have tiny claws that I couldn’t see from my vantage point. I kept my flashlight beam on it as Dad picked the lizard up. He brought it towards his face and prodded it with a finger. The clicking sound sped up and it looked like something in the creature’s midsection was moving.

  “Pinch it.”

  “What the hell would I do that for? If this thing is venomous, pissing it off is going to be the most stupid thing to do.” He cocked his head at me.

  “Just do it, and take that fucking thing away from your face.”

  Dad pinched the midsection of the lizard between the index finger and thumb of his left hand.

  “What the fuck?!” He whipped the lizard to his ground and jumped back. The creature’s neck was whipped back with the force of his throw and it moved no longer.

  “What? What is it? Did it bite you?” If he was bitten we were shit out of luck out here for medicine and it was several days’ walk back to the colony.

  “No, no. I’m just fine. It wasn’t that. It’s just that...” He stared off for a couple of seconds as if trying to figure out what to say. “When I pinched its midsection, I felt something like a motor moving. But that’s impossible...” I tapped the lizard’s body with my boot. When it didn’t move, I picked it up and splayed its lifeless form across my palm.

  “It’s a machine.” My father’s voice had grown small and distant. “How the hell is that possible?”

  “I don’t know.” I turned the simulacra over in my hand. It was stunningly complex; the motor inside the thing was impossibly tiny. Its spine was made up of joined metallic plates, rounded and connected by a mass of tiny cords in the center like a spinal cord. The clicking noise I heard was the clicking of its metallic limbs moving against its flexible outer covering. “It looks like a robotic imitation of a lizard.” Dad didn’t say anything. I used the tip of my utility knife to pry open the machine’s eyes, shuttered by minuscule plates. The color was gone from them now, the artificial light extinguished by the severing of its power source to the rest of the body.

  “Fuck.” He breathed. “How could something like this even exist?”

  “We’re going to have to figure that out later. I’ll stash it in my bag. If it somehow comes back to life, it won’t be able to go very far. At least, I hope.”

  “All right.” He got back on the ground and held the scope to his eye. The appearance of a new form of robotic life scared the hell out of me. I could only imagine what it was doing to him. Asking him about it wasn’t going to help. For the next couple of hours, we had to stay on task.

  “Give me the scope, Dad. You should fill your belly with something. It’s getting really cold out here.” I took it from him and proffered an MRE. He took it gratefully and sat on the ground next to me. The smell from his packet made my stomach growl. Whatever it was smelled far more appetizing than whatever it was I ate. I leaned on
the ground so hard that my fingers were starting to go numb from the circulation being cut off. The last thing I wanted was to go back to Eliza with only the robotic lizard to show for myself. I was just as hopeful as anyone that we were going to find signs of civilization out here. I was ready to give up when I saw movement on the ground.

  A slim profile emerged from one of the buildings and started across the wide street. It didn’t appear to look around. Maybe there was some kind of fencing around the city to offer that level of protection? I adjusted the scope lens but couldn’t see with much more detail. The figure appeared to be clad in some kind of dark clothing; its arms and legs were covered in black. Black hair sprouted from the head. Whoever it was must have sensed me watching them because they turned their head from side to side. When their gaze swung toward me, it felt like my entire body was encased in ice.

  Their eyes glowed an unnatural bright green, like the lizard’s eyes had. I dropped the scope, hearing the fragile instrument crash onto stone.

  The ‘person’ I was looking at wasn’t a person at all.

  I was looking at an android.

  Chapter Eleven

  “What is it?” I heard my father’s concerned voice call in the distance. Blood rushed through my ears as I struggled to figure out a coherent explanation. Perhaps the person had been wearing night vision goggles. That might make their eyes glint the wrong color in the scope.

  “I saw someone.”

  “That’s great! Where?” He bent to pick up the scope but I slapped his hand away. “Fiona, what...?”

  “Don’t. Whoever it is saw me with the scope. For all we know they’ve run off to alert the others. Stay low for now. We’ll wait a little longer until the dawn. As soon as light starts coming over the horizon, we’ll get back to Eliza and the others.”

  Dad settled himself into the long grass next to the rocky outcropping and I joined him, taking care to leave space between us. I didn’t want him to feel me shaking. Our meager pile of equipment lay in the open but there was nothing I could do. If the android had seen the lens of my scope from that far away, a few bags stuck out like a sore thumb. We had already been sighted. There was no use in worrying about it now.

  “Did they do something to make you think they’re returning with hostile intent?” Dad’s eyes stayed fixed to mine. I cursed my position. No amount of calming my breathing would fool him. I had been a bad liar as a kid, and I was an even worse one now. Better to come out with the truth before he figured it out.

  “I don’t know that what I saw was a person.”

  His brow furrowed. “What do you mean you don’t know whether or not what you saw was a person? I doubt you mistook an animal for a human, honey! If it walks on two legs, it’s generally one of us. Though I wouldn’t put it past this freaky ecosystem to spawn some kind of bipedal amphibian or something.”

  “I mean...” How could I explain this to Dad without risking him falling into a nervous breakdown? He had convinced himself so strongly that we were going to discover other humans in the city, the shock that there were androids running around was going to be a disaster. “I mean that whatever that was looked at me with eyes like that lizard’s.”

  He was silent, fingers tapping on his thigh as he often did when he was worried. “You’re sure? I mean, they could have been wearing night vision—“ I held up a hand to cut him off.

  “I already thought of it. I’m sorry, but I know what I saw. There is some kind of android down there, and I can only assume there are more. We need to get our asses back to camp as soon as humanly possible. Eliza and the others have to be warned.” Just as I had finished speaking, my ears perked up at the whine of a rotor overhead. I risked a glance upwards and saw a drone speeding towards us. “Down!” I grabbed his hair and forced both of our heads to the ground. The drone didn’t slow as it passed over our heads. It streaked in the direction of camp. “Okay, fuck this.” I pushed myself to my feet and took off. Dad shouted something behind me but I kept running.

  I had to get to my wife.

  My feet barely touched the ground as I ran, my legs fueled by adrenaline. If there was an android army in that city, we had just doomed ourselves, and the rest of the shelter, to an horrific death. I was dimly aware of a pain in my left foot but ignored it until I saw the dark outlines of the camp. Most of the group was going about their morning routines. Their heads snapped up as I approached.

  “Fiona—what?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Is everything okay?”

  I ignored every word. The only thing that mattered was Eliza. I looked around, but she was nowhere to be found.

  “Where is my wife?” People were staring at me in open confusion now. I swore that I heard the whir of the drone but I couldn’t see it.

  “She’s still out in the field, Fiona.” A man I barely knew stepped in front of me and put his hand on my arm. “Take it easy. What’s going on?”

  “There’s a drone coming.” For gods’ sake, there was no time to explain everything.

  “What? A drone? From where? What did you see on patrol? Are there other people?”

  I chewed my tongue. If I blurted out that there was an army of androids coming over the horizon, people would panic.

  “I don’t know. We need to take cover.” Those listening to the conversation didn’t wait for more details. They left their possessions where they were and started back to their tents. Telling them about the drone had struck the right cord. There were a few surprised looks and some confusion, but the group was organized enough to trust each other when it came to an emergency. I zipped myself into my own tent and flattened myself to the ground. At least if there were missiles heading our way, I wouldn’t get to see them before the end.

  The minutes crawled by and the only sound I heard was the ebb and flow of my own breathing. The adrenaline that propelled me back to camp was wearing off and the consequences of sprinting over tough ground started to make themselves apparent. I grit my teeth as the muscles in my legs cramped up. The pain that I felt in my foot earlier felt like it was on fire. Moving carefully I twisted to lift my foot. Sticking out of my boot, between where the sole and boot met, was a shard of rock half the length of my finger. The hole was crusted with blood, and when I flexed my toes pain shot through my foot.

  “God damn it.” I pinched the shard and tried to loose it from my flesh. The good news was that I wasn’t bleeding out, but holy shit that was going to hurt when it came out. The really bad news was that it needed to come out sooner rather than later. If the wound was left to fester, an infection out here could be deadly. When I heard no sign of the drone, I risked a peek outside. The camp was as it had been before I arrived. There were no armies of robots coming over the horizon. If the drone had made it to camp, it was nowhere to be found. As there was no imminent threat, I stepped out of the tent. When no bullets whizzed over my shoulder, I made the decision.

  “Clear!”

  People started to emerge from their tents. Behind me, I heard the pounding footsteps of my father. “Fiona!” He sprinted to meet me. “Are you all right? What the hell happened?” He had left the equipment behind and I quashed the impulse to chastise him for it. Whatever creature had seen us already had enough evidence of our presence. If they came across our bags it didn’t make a difference.

  “Eliza’s still out in the field.” I dodged the question. “Go and find her, please. We need to meet, as a group.”

  Eliza returned with the rest of the volunteers, looking just as bedraggled as I did. She took one look at my face an caught me up in a crushing embrace. It was only when she released me that I caught the other end of her concern.

  “You put the camp into lockdown?!”

  “I need to talk to you. Now.”

  We sat around a small fire, cooking up the few small animals we managed to spear in the early morning hours. The team was nervous. Understandably, given that I had burst into the group with news of a mysterious drone. Between the two of us, Da
d andI relayed as much information as we could and as we remembered. When the moment came to reveal the robotic reptile to the group, every person went silent. Eliza turned the lizard over in her hand, holding the tiny body up to the sunlight. The blueish black ‘skin’ that I had seen in the dark was actually a kind of synthetic covering. The sophistication of the creature was remarkable. It was as if someone designed the machine to emulate biology perfectly. This level of design was far and away more sophisticated than anything we had ever seen in the shelter. Even Gabriel’s manufactured automatons hadn’t approached this level of complexity.

  “Right. So it’s clear that we’re dealing with robotic sophistication the likes of which none of us have ever imagined. And given that there appears to be at least a single humanoid robot walking around that city I want this camp on a full lockdown until I say otherwise. Anyone—anything—that approaches this group will be given a single warning, and then shot on sight.”

  Way to keep people calm, Eliza. Opening my mouth to object to her leadership wasn’t going to help anything. I had to place my trust in her. Going on lockdown was understandable, but not taking action was not an option. There were nine hundred souls depending on us back at the shelter, and freezing in place would doom them to starvation. We were running behind as it was. “What is the choice we have here? Are we able to approach these beings without risking harm to ourselves?” Eliza looked at me with pursed lips, but I didn’t react. We still had souls to feed.

  “Let’s assume that these people, whoever they are, have the capability to hurt us. If they do, we also have to assume that they would have hurt us by now. Whatever—whoever—they are, they’re clearly not intent on blowing us to pieces.” One of the women in our group spoke up. “I have a family back home, ma’am. I came out here to find help for them. I don’t care if there are monsters in that city, I can’t go back to them empty handed.” A chorus of agreement followed.

  “Lock down the camp first. Then we’ll figure out how to approach the city.”