Neon Blood (Neon Helix Universe Book 3)

by Nik Whittaker

“Understandable,” Xander smiled back.

  “This is a real cigarette!” Conrad shouted as he inhaled deeply, ”not one of them synth sticks!”

  “It is. I can’t stand those artificial flavours,” Xander grinned back.

  “A man of taste,” Conrad nodded in approval. “Now then, are you wanting to head straight into the prison, or would you like to take in the sights first?” Conrad waved across the open space behind him.

  “Give me a minute to enjoy being out of that pod,” Xander moved his cigarette aside, and he took a deep breath. The air tasted and smelt different here, almost pure. The island was the furthest point you could get away from the Boulevard without heading into the radiation zones. Behind it was the open seas, and no one had travelled across the oceans since long before Xander had been born. The stories of the destruction of the world in general and the toxicity of the areas beyond the city stopped anyone from daring to go further.

  “That’s some fresh air,” he breathed in again.

  “You noticed that, huh?” Conrad smiled. His voice was more serious. “That’s why I stayed here. The peace and quiet, the fresh air, the freedom. The Boulevard isn’t a place for freedom, you can’t breathe clean air without a corporation charging you for the privilege. Over here, I can just live, be myself, and enjoy the whole place as my own.”

  “You’ve got the greatest part of the city all to yourself,” Xander smiled back and nodded. He understood the appeal.

  “That I do,” Conrad took a long draw of the cigarette and offered Xander a metal hip flask. “Blackwater Moonshine, my own recipe. All pure, a man of your authentic tastes should appreciate it.”

  Xander took the bottle with a raised eyebrow, sniffing the fumes that tickled his nose. Satisfied, he took a swig, the liquid burning as it rolled down his throat, but the flavour was intense and smoky.”

  “Is that a whiskey?”

  “That is it,” Conrad grinned, “though don’t report back that I’ve built myself a distillery here.”

  “It’s good, thank you,” Xander smiled. He scanned his eyes back over the bridge, looking at the lights of the city. He could live like this, away from the madness of the Boulevard, away from the tech that just seemed to keep getting more invasive. That didn’t matter right now though, he was here for a reason, to help Prime.

  “You’re welcome, my friend. I didn’t think there was anyone left who would appreciate the finer things anymore,” Conrad took another deep breath before leaning his head back and exhaling a cloud of smoke upwards.

  “There’s not many of us, that’s for sure,” Xander agreed, taking a second drink from the flask, “and I wish I could enjoy more of this fine liquid, but, I have a job to do.”

  Conrad nodded, retrieving his flask from Xander and pointed at a set of stone steps that lead away from the bridge.

  “I don’t miss having jobs to do,” Conrad said, “this way, watch your step. No one’s been down this way for quite a few years since the automation systems took over the prison, and the vegetation has tried to reclaim it.”

  They began to descend the overgrown steps towards a large metal door that looked as if it had rusted over many years ago.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Persephone

  Koenig had finished setting up the system he’d been working on for the last few hours. In the corner of what appeared to have once been a large study room, complete with wooden panelled walls. An array of metallic satellite dishes had been installed next to a bank of computer panels he was working on.

  “The party is underway Doctor, are we ready?” Persephone called out from across the room, where a curved window allowed for an almost panoramic view of the city. Looking down, she could see the faint movements of crowds gathering as the Day Of The Dead festival was getting underway.

  The event spanned the majority of the Boulevard, with residents drinking and celebrating through the night and into the early hours of the following morning. Though the city's nightlife was always busy, it wasn’t close to the amount of party-goers that lined the streets during the festival.

  “Very nearly, I would say we are ready to go on within the hour, perfectly on schedule, yes?” Koenig glanced up from his computer.

  “Excellent,” Persephone replied before an alert on her PAD indicated another incoming signal.

  “Faust? Are we prepared?”

  “We are, my lady. All the devices have been placed and ready to activate when the good Doctor is ready,” Faust, the engineer of Persephone’s group, had an antiquated politeness that always amused her.

  “Good, then return to the Nucleus. We will be launching within the hour.”

  “Very well, I’ll be there shortly,” Faust ended the call.

  Persephone tapped a button, and Keller’s name flashed up as she connected a call to Blackwater.

  “Keller, we’ll be ready to go on schedule. Make sure everyone is ready.”

  “That’s great. We might have a small problem here, but I’ll have it sorted,” Keller replied.

  “A problem?”

  “Yeah, some guy’s showed up on the surface. We intercepted the message sent to the landing guard. Apparently, he’s here to do an inspection or something. Nothing we can’t handle, just bad timing.”

  “An inspection? No-one’s inspected Blackwater for a decade! What was his name?” Persephone shouted.

  “Erm, Alex Draven or something.”

  “Xander Draven…”

  “That’s it. Like I said, I’ll have it sorted.” Keller replied.

  “Be sure you do, Mr Keller. Kill him if necessary. He has no value.”

  “I’d be delighted,” Keller replied as Persephone cut the call.

  Persephone turned back to look out upon the city, she could see Blackwater Bridge in the distance. If Xander was at the prison, it meant the others were most likely out there working on ways to interrupt her plans as well. Manifold had failed to get back in touch, and it seemed perhaps he had been unable to kill Bella. She raised her PAD, attempting him again.

  “Manifold, are you there?”

  Static returned her call for several seconds before finally, a faint sound broke through the white noise.

  “She got away, had friends”, a voice crackled through the white noise.

  “I gathered. Where are you?”

  “Repairing.”

  “Once you’re repaired enough to be mobile, return to the Nucleus, and be quick; it is nearly time, and I’d hate for you to miss it,” she said as she closed the call.

  She’d need Manifold once the Arch-Light began. With the chaos she was about to unleash, she needed strength at her side to restore order. Her four horsemen, so to speak, would be her army. Koenig, Manifold, Faust and Keller.

  That was where Peter went wrong, Persephone had realised. His search for knowledge had stemmed from a need for power and control, but he was too slow and methodical with his approach. He had worked alone, stealing the minds of others to gain their knowledge as his own. For true power, there was only one logical option as far as Persephone was concerned, complete control. What need was there to assimilate the knowledge of others if their lives and expertise was yours to command? The mind of Prime, seeing how he had gathered a group of individuals to his side in the attack on CyBio had shown that there was strength in using others too. Divide and conquer. She was the best of both worlds.

  “It’s ready,” Koenig announced, breaking her train of thought.

  She turned, looking over the array that Koenig stood behind, looking proudly at them.

  “Good work, Doctor. Once Faust and Manifold arrive, we will begin,” Persephone smiled, then she paused.

  A feeling shot through her mind, a thought and emotion that felt foreign to her. A sense of shock, fear and aggression mixed into her own emotions as if a second mind had entered her own. She concentrated on the feeling, trying to isolate it.

  Fuck! The words shouted into her head. A male voice, echoing around her.

  “
Who is that?” she demanded, trying to visualise the voice.

  Shit, shit, shit! the reply came, a voice she didn’t recognise.

  “Who are you? Speak!” she demanded.

  Oh, fuck! You can hear me? the voice replied.

  “I can hear you, and if you don’t identify yourself, I will be forced to take more extreme measures,” she looked over at Koenig, who glanced back at her puzzled.

  The voice remained silent. Persephone concentrated on trying to hear it.

  “Is everything okay?” Koenig took a step towards her.

  “I’m not sure,” Persephone replied, contemplating what the voice could mean. “I think I might need you to look over my cerebral activity later, though we don’t have time for that right now.”

  Koenig nodded, then turned back to the terminals as Persephone looked back down at the city. Within the hour, everything would change on the Boulevard, and she was damned if anyone would stop her.

  A beeping indicated a text message was incoming, digitally encrypted. She glanced at it.

  ‘Vladamir isn’t holding his end of the deal. On their way to the Boulevard to interfere. They have Jacob with them.’ The message flashed three times then deleted without a trace.

  Faust’s work on the synth had proved successful after all. She had been worried that something had gone wrong after their encounter earlier.

  “Thank you, Ava,” Persephone hissed, then looked out at the crowds, wondering if the forces trying to stop her were amongst them already.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Ally

  Salem had been moved to the couch after he had collapsed, his breathing was steady, but so far, he was still unconscious.

  “Is this normal?” Ally asked, remembering what Salem had told her about his abilities earlier.

  “Well, not unless he’s receiving a signal from somewhere,” Bella replied, “and even then, he can usually still talk. It’s just his senses are taken over.”

  A groan came from Salem as he stirred, his eyelids opening to reveal milky white eyeballs.

  “What the hell?” Ally looked closer.

  “His heart rate is elevated, and I’m detecting some erratic brain function, but I don’t know if normal with his condition,” Quartzig had moved alongside them and was scanning Salem’s body.

  “Fuck!” Salem shouted, sitting upright and knocking Quartzig aside.

  “Salem?” Bella put her hand on his arm.

  “Shit, shit, shit!” Salem whispered, his head turning left and right as if he was looking at something.

  “Salem! What is it? Can you hear me?” Bella held his shoulders, trying to get through to him.

  “Oh, fuck! You can hear me?” Salem said, his voice slightly quieter.

  “We can hear you. What’s going on?”

  Salem held up a finger, pausing the others from talking. He took a deep breath and let it out gradually. Slowly his eyes rotated downward until his pupils were back to normal.

  “Fuck me,” Salem sighed.

  “What the hell was that?” Bella asked.

  “Well, for starters, I think I know where Persephone is,” he said, pulling a flask from his jacket before gulping down a long drink lasting several seconds.

  “Care to explain?” Ally asked as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

  “I was seeing through her eyes. I think it was her anyway. It's like I was inside her mind.”

  “Persephone?”

  “I think so. She was speaking to a man she called Koenig and that their plans were almost ready to begin. They were in a room that looked old, like antique old, but I could see the Boulevard through a window. I’m pretty sure I can figure out where it was.”

  “I’ll bring up a map,” Quartzig said, moving over to the coffee table in the centre of the room.

  “Did you see anything else?” Bella asked.

  “She mentioned Manifold, that he was injured but to make his way there.”

  “Bastard’s still alive then,” Bella sneered.

  “The link was severed as another signal came into her PAD. I guess it interrupted my connection,” Salem took another drink.

  “I’ve got the map ready,” Quartzig called over.

  Salem stood and walked over to the coffee table, which was now illuminated in blue light, a zoomed-out three-dimensional holographic representation of the entire Boulevard across its surface.

  “Okay, so, I could see along the main Boulevard which covers mainly this area,” Salem placed his hands through the hologram at two points and swept his hands outward, cutting off the ends making the image zoom in to highlight the selection. “And there were the Zeta high rises in the distance, so I was looking north,” he walked around the table and crouched so that he was looking down the Boulevard.

  “Hm,” he grunted and stepped up onto the table, the hologram casting a blue glow around him as the city zoomed in around him. Using his arms like a swimmer, the city sped past him as he travelled along the Boulevard. The image halted instantly as his arms shot out to his sides, then he began to push downward like a bird flapping its wings to raise the perspective until he finally stopped, pausing mid-motion.

  “Here,” he said, glancing around the holographic image.

  “Are you sure?” Quartzig said, working out the exact location.

  “Completely, I could just see the tip of that high rise from behind the old Skyport,” he pointed at the abandoned platform which had been used for air travel before it had been abandoned.

  “Well, that location is the heart of the Nucleus,” Quartzig explained.

  “The Nucleus?” Ally asked, having spent most of her youth in the Underpass, the history of the Boulevard wasn’t her strong point.

  “The literal heart of the city,” Bella said.

  “The founder’s home and headquarters,” Quartzig added.

  “You’re telling me Persephone has set up base in the original creator of the Boulevard’s home?” Ally shook her head.

  “I am,” Quartzig replied.

  Well, she’s certainly got a flair for the dramatic,” Salem jumped off the table.

  “So, we’re heading there?” Bella said, flexing her shoulders. Salem could tell she was already preparing for a rematch against Manifold.

  “I should check in with Mollie and Ava,” Ally said, “but yeah, I think that would be our best bet.”

  “Woah, Woah, hold up, fighter women! We need to think this through. If they are planning on doing something with the Arch technology, we need to be cautious,” Salem said.

  “What do you suggest?” Quartzig asked.

  “Oh, nothing, I just felt it was something someone should say. They looked like they were about to start whatever evil plan they have going on, so we should get going,” he grinned and grabbed a bottle of vodka from a shelf to top up his flask.

  “I’ll call Mollie on the way, Quartzig. Do you want to try and get in touch with Xander? I’m worried we’ve not had any news from the prison yet,” Ally said.

  “Will do,” Quartzig replied.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Prime

  I think it’s time. Peter’s voice spoke.

  “What exactly do you think you could do that I can’t?” Prime had asked the question many times before and was yet to be convinced.

  I spent a long time in a cell of Jacob’s making Prime. I will not allow us to just lay here and suffer. Give me control, and I will get us out of here, I promise.

  “How? We haven’t seen anyone since Keller left, and there’s no way out of the cell from the inside,” Prime retaliated.

  Let me see if I can find a way. As you said, if there’s no way out of here, what have you got to lose?

  “If I let you take over, will you shut up!” Prime clasped his hands to his head. The constant voice was giving him a headache.

  Of course, I’ll find us a way out of here. Then we can decide how to proceed best.

  Prime closed his eyes. If he couldn’t find a way out, h
e was sure Peter wouldn’t either. Locked in a cell, Peter couldn’t do much, and it would let him have some peace and quiet even for a short period of time. He was pretty sure that when his body was unconscious, regardless of who was in charge of the body at the time, he woke with control. That was what happened in the prison van, and there was always a brief amount of time when he woke that Peter wasn’t around, like whatever part of his conscious Peter resided in hadn’t woken up yet.

  “Fine! Knock yourself out,” Prime said.

  Excellent!

  He concentrated, allowing his thoughts to slip back and Peter’s to step forward.

  Prime felt as though his mind was falling into a warm ocean, his thoughts and feelings becoming muted and distant. He could still see and hear everything around his body, but there was a separation from the experience like he was now an observer. He closed his eyes, or at least his own version of his eyes, and tried to rest, knowing Peter would be trying in futile to break out of the cell.

  *

  Peter stretched the body out, trying to work out the kinks and stiffness that Prime had allowed to set in. Taking a deep breath, he filled his lungs and let it out, savouring the experience of being fully in control once again.

  “That’s better,” he said as he breathed out, smiling as the blood rushed through his limbs and energised him.

  He walked up to the cell wall, looking out into the walkway beyond. The destroyed remains of the sentry had been taken away, and there was a silence to the air.

  “Keller!” Peter shouted, “I know you’re listening. I have a proposition for you and for Persephone. Tell her that Peter wants to talk. She’ll understand.”

  Peter waited for a moment, listening for any sign of a response.

  The sound of metal hitting metal rang out, a door unlocking. Peter smiled. He thought that would get their attention.

  Footsteps echoed along the corridor towards him, mixed with the whirring sound of a robot guard. Observing, he saw a man was approaching the cell escorted by a robot sentry. Peter’s eyes widened as the man came into view.

  “Xander?!

  “Hey Prime,” Xander nodded, a half-smile flashed across his face.