“Let’s get moving. Persephone won’t hesitate to start whatever the next stage of her plan is,” Peter said.
As the four of them made their way towards the pod, Ally ran towards the nearest civilian to tell them of the plan and to pass the message along.
“Before she gets back, I want you to know I don’t trust you, any step out of line, and I will take you down,” Xander said to Peter, recalling the conversation he had with Prime in Donovan’s apartment several months earlier.
“I would expect nothing less,” Peter replied, “but right now, our goals are aligned. Persephone must be stopped.”
Xander nodded in agreement as Ally caught up with them.
“Okay, they’re going to begin gathering together for transport. Let’s get moving.”
Conrad entered the control room as the others climbed into the pod. He nodded to Xander.
“Take care over there,” he called out.
“You too, thanks for the assist,” Xander called back before ducking into the pod and pulling the door closed.
The pod shuddered as it began its movement across the bridge. The sounds of the prisoners shouting and making their way on foot were audible as they moved back towards the city.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Quartzig
Quartzig watched as Bella and Salem headed into the building before sending two of his copies to barricade the entrance.
He had never constructed copies before, but he knew it was possible after seeing what Yuri had accomplished with the nanotech. Each of the copies was an extension of him, without individual minds, simply external additions of his own body.
He and the third copy fought against the crowd that formed around them, while the others finished up securing the doorway by using large debris that would be too heavy for most humans to easily move. Knowing the task was almost complete, he started accessing the network from Julian’s apartment, letting a small fraction of his mind continue to fight while he focused on finding Ally. Once connected to the apartment, he could use the systems there access cameras and locations across the Boulevard. He barely registered an attack that came from his right side, as he thrust out a fist out to neutralise the attacker in one smooth motion.
Flicking through the cameras, he could see how the crowd had shifted towards the bridge. He could only assume this was the same route Keller had taken, though he couldn’t find Ally amongst the masses. Getting to the bridge was his best hope.
With one last check of the barricade sealing the Nucleus entrance, he turned and began to run down the street towards the bridge, leaving the remaining attackers behind. His three copies were running alongside him, moving closer until they began to reabsorb into his main body. Within seconds Quartzig was running alone, weaving through the destruction the riots had left behind.
It took him seven minutes and four seconds to reach the bridge, but he could tell he was already too late to prevent it from being overrun. The initial metal fence was lying broken and twisted, hanging over the side, threatening to fall into the waters below. Bodies were strewn across the bridge, a single river of red flowing along the ground where it had accumulated.
Quartzig slowed to a halt. If Ally, being controlled by Keller, had been a part of the attack on the bridge, she could be among the bodies. The sound of sirens began to fill the air as several large armoured vans screeched to a halt at the bridge entrance. As soon as they stopped, the vehicles' sides opened upwards like birds wings, and ten armed soldiers poured out of each side. Lining up across the bridge entrance, they raised their rifles and took aim.
“A little late, aren’t you?” Quartzig said, walking up to the soldiers.
“Stay where you are, do not move, or I will open fire!” the closest soldier barked at him, twisting his position to take aim.
“Stand down, MacKenzie!” a shout came as a man jumped down from one of the trucks and walked towards Quartzig, “This man is clearly not one of our targets!”
The man walked up to Quartzig, giving him a quick lookup and down.
“You’re Schwartz correct?” he asked. Quartzig could see his rank from the illuminated badge on the collar of his black combat uniform. The man was a captain.
“Erm, I’m Quartzig,” he corrected, “should I know you?”
“Schwartzig, sure. No, you most certainly should not know who I am. I, however, have been told you are one of the people I’m to locate according to my superiors.”
“And who might they be?” Quartzig was running a facial recognition check on the Captain.
“Let’s just say that we have a mutual acquaintance for now, and we’ll leave it at that. Do you have any intel that could be beneficial for me?”
The search had taken slightly longer than usual, the mans’ identity was kept on a secure server for the military, but Quartzig had gotten into it. His name was Captain William Irving, currently leading a task force on behalf of the Quad-Corporations.
“Not much, I’ve just arrived here myself, but these bodies are civilians. Many need medical attention,” Quartzig answered.
“Understood, but from what we’re hearing, there’s about to be a whole truckful of crap coming back over that bridge any moment,” the Captain replied.
“The prison?”
“It’s lost. A full-scale breakout is happening as we speak. We’re talking approximately two thousand inmates about to swarm this bridge.”
“I need to find my friend. She was…”
“Taken over? We know, most of us here know someone that it seems was possessed or whatever the hell it was, not much we can do until we’ve neutralised the threat. Then we can start searching the bodies. We can mourn when we have the luxury of time.”
“Neutralise? What’s the plan?”
“Our orders are to blow the bridge. It’s the only way to guarantee the prisoners remain there, or if they’re on the bridge, then so be it,” the Captain turned and glanced across towards Blackwater. “We need to act quickly, though, no telling how soon they’ll be here. You’re best staying out of the way. we’ll talk later.”
“Any sign of resistance?” the Captain returned to the line of troops and asked the soldiers who were setting up a makeshift command centre.
“No, sir,” the closest shouted back.
“Excellent, squad alpha, head to the control port and find the access panels. Let’s get this bridge in the water!”
Three soldiers split off and began to move towards the tower beside the bridge.
“You can’t just destroy the bridge! The civilians on the other side will be stuck over there with the prisoners!” Quartzig shouted, stepping towards the Captain.
“Take a step back!” he said with force. “Unfortunately, there aren’t any other options right now. You saw the damage they’ve already caused in the city. What do you think they’ll do once they get here? It’ll be impossible to track them all down once they have free roam of the city. This is the last chance for us to contain this disaster!”
“We’re ready!” the voice came over the Captain’s radio.
“Affirmative, destroy the bridge,” he replied.
Quartzig looked across the mile-long structure and hoped Ally or Xander were safe on the other side.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Mollie
As they reached the base of the building, Mollie kept half an eye on Jacob and Yuri while watching for a chance to getaway. They, likewise, were watching her closely as they began to search for the bodies of Ava and Vladamir.
“It doesn’t look like Ava is here, or Vladamir for that matter,” Jacob said as they covered the area. They’d only seen a handful of rioters in the distance, the destroyed shop fronts and bloodstains showing the aftermath of their chaos.
“I’d hoped the fall would have ended them both,” Yuri said, “the odds of them surviving were minimal.”
‘Where are you?’ Mollie called out in her mind, trying to contact Vladamir, but she was greeted with silence.
“
Which one of you is Yuri?” a voice called out as Faust stepped in front of them.
“Should we know who you are?” Jacob asked.
“Probably not,” Faust replied, taking a step closer, his black cloak billowing behind him dramatically.
“He’s not there,” Yuri said, marching forward, passing through the remains of a destroyed digital advertising board. Approaching Faust, Yuri reached out and plunged his hand into the man’s chest. The image of Faust began to flicker and fade before it vanished altogether.
“A full-body hologram projection, the origin device would only have a short-range,” Yuri said, glancing around. “Whoever he is, he must be close by.”
Mollie was stood beside Jacob, but her eyes still scanning the streets for Vladamir or Ava.
‘Mo…Mollie.’
‘Vlad? Tell me where you are! I can’t see you!’
‘I managed to crawl to a shop opposite the balcony, the optical specialists.’ His voice was fading as his powers waned.
Mollie looked around at the shops, seeing the optician’s to her right, just a few meters from where they stood. Jacob and Yuri were investigating the hologram's origin but would notice if she made a move now.
“That was rude. You shouldn’t go disrupting a person’s virtual representation like that, and from another hologram no less!” Another Faust mocked as it appeared behind them.
“A clever trick,” Jacob said.
“More than a trick, a test, and I got what I needed, thank you,” Faust replied, tapping a button on a device attached to his arm.
Yuri walked towards him, but his hologram began to stutter and lag, his steps repeating on the spot as though he was in a replay.
“What…what did you do?” Yuri demanded.
“When you touched my hologram, you allowed me to access your source code. I have to say it is a rather impressive AI construct. Are you the builder?” Faust turned to Jacob.
“I have no…no…no builder,” Yuri lagged, his hologram still glitching.
“I can see that you have rewritten a lot of the coding, expanded from your original design by quite a lot. But there is definitely still some original files right at the core,” Faust brought up a full virtual visual display that surrounded him with lines of coding. “Shame, your physical technology isn’t up to scratch. I’d have thought you’d have a hard body hologram, not a half-beam version.” Faust added.
Yuri made several steps closer to Faust, his movements more confident, his hologram became more stable.
“You mistake my lack of a hard-body hologram for weakness,” Yuri said with certainty as he closed the distance between them. “The lack of physical constraints allows me to do this,” Yuri moved at a speed, his green outline colliding and merging into Faust’s hologram. The combination looking like the ripples of a reflection in water, the image of Faust expanding and shrinking as Yuri infiltrated it.
The sound of electric sparking and the smell of burnt plastic filled the air. Jacob and Mollie looked up and could see cascading electric fireworks over the edge of the balcony where they had come from. The green hue of Yuri’s hologram flooded the area, causing the sparks to have an eerie glow. A moment later, a body tumbled from the ledge, impacting the ground hard, the sound of flesh hitting concrete like a sponge against tile. Blood began to seep from the broken body of Faust.
Jacob stared at the body as he walked over to it. Mollie took the chance and ran towards the shop behind them. Its door was a solid metal, but the windows had been smashed, and the display looted. She threw herself through the open space and landed inside, shards of glass cutting into her arm as she rolled to a stop. Laying on the floor could feel the tiny shards of broken glass drawing blood, but she didn’t dare move, listening for any sound of Jacob or Yuri. After a minute of silence, she began to slowly turn her head to look around, hoping to see Vladamir nearby.
‘Vlad?’ She called out in her mind.
‘I am here, and I am sorry little one.’ The voice replied.
‘Sorry?’
A whirring noise activated, and a metal shutter dropped, sealing the opticians from the street outside and locking Mollie inside. The sound of several feet crunching glass behind her preceded the approach of five Krovoz, who grabbed her arms and lifted her to her feet before half dragging her through the shop and into the back room.
Vladamir was sat casually in a raised operating chair that the shop would have used for eye surgeries. Most of the lights in the room had been destroyed. Only a dull blue glare of a ring lamp illuminated Vladamir. Mollie couldn’t help but think he looked like a king sat upon his throne. His eyes lit up as Mollie was pushed into the room.
“I’m glad you came little one, together we can claim this city and unite the world above and the world below.”
“So all that about dying and passing on the curse?”
“I needed to give you a reason strong enough to return to me, though I am willing to give you more control over the powers if you join me, become one of the Bloodhounds, and take your place as a member of the clan once again.”
Mollie’s eyes widened. The Bloodhounds were Vladamir’s personal guard, given almost unlimited access to the Krovoz powers. Mollie looked around at the six other Krovoz in the room, recognising them as the current Bloodhounds. She knew that if she refused, she wouldn’t be leaving the room alive.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked, bowing her head.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Ally
The pod had been moving slowly back across the bridge. Whilst they couldn’t see outside, Ally felt the motion under her feet. Her eyes scanned Prime’s face, she hadn’t seen him since the events at the CyBio building, but now he wasn’t even Prime anymore. Peter was in control, the man who was created from her own TDNA, something that she was still searching for answers to. Her head spun, just trying to understand it all.
“He is still inside here,” Peter said, tapping his temple when he caught her eye.
“Are you going to let him back out?” Ally asked back, raising an eyebrow.
Peter paused, “You know, I haven’t even considered what we’re going to do long term. All I know is that we need to reach Persephone. What follows after, we will see.”
“How much do you know about where we came from,” she asked after a moment. It was the first time she had been able to speak to someone who might actually have answers about her origins. Yuri had told her she was created in a lab, using the DNA from two humans, technically her parents, spliced with some sort of technology.
“Where we came from? Our parents, you mean?” Peter asked, his brow creasing.
“I mean the chamber I was grown in, how we were…made”, Ally replied, frustrated at his evasion of the question.
Peter’s eyes widened, the crease remaining in his forehead. Ally realised that his confusion was real, he was as much in the dark as she was.
“You don’t know, do you? I thought you were part of CyBio’s inner circle,” Ally said, her eyes searching Peter’s face.
“I…I’m you brother Ally? What do you mean a chamber?” Peter replied.
“Owens and Jacob never told you? Of course, they didn’t,” Ally sighed. “It was all part of their damn tests.”
“Ally, what are you talking about?”
“I was a lab experiment, just like you, just like Prime and all the other madness that leads back to CyBio!” Ally hissed as her anger rose. “Yuri told me, he showed me that I was grown in a vat, just like all the clones. Only I was made as a merging of human DNA and technology. I have machines spliced into my cells, Peter! And you, you are a clone of me!”
Peter held her eye contact. She could tell that he understood everything she was saying was true.
“I…I was a clone?” Peter said quietly, the words sinking in.
“You are,” Ally said softly. Despite everything he’d done, she couldn’t help feel sympathy for him.
A loud explosion interrupted their thoughts. The pod lunged si
deways, throwing them all off balance and tumbling to the ground.
“What the hell!” Xander shouted, pulling himself to his feet.
“The bridge?” Ally said.
“Shit,” Xander nodded. “The bridge has explosives that are able to destroy it, a back-up in case something goes wrong.”
“Which it clearly has,” Peter said sarcastically.
“The MPD, if they know there’s a breakout, it’s the most logical course of action,” Xander ignored the sarcasm.
“You’re saying that we’re locked inside a pod that’s going across a bridge that might be about to plunge into the ocean if it doesn’t just explode first?” Peter said.
“Can we get out of here?” Ally shouted as the pod seemed to rock unsteadily.
Peter was already at the door, trying to pry it open, but it was sealed tight.
“You won’t get through. This is a prison transport,” Xander said.
“Hello?” a sound echoed through the pod.
The three of them looked at each other, realising none of them had spoken.
“Hello? Is anyone in there?” the distorted voice rang out.
“Hello! Yes!” Ally shouted back.
“Ally? Is that you?! It’s Quartzig!” the distortion the voice called out.
“Quartzig? What the hell is going on!” Ally replied.
“Erm, well. Good news, if you are in the pod, you are still on the bridge! Bad news, the bridge may be about to collapse. The MPD are about to detonate the failsafe for the bridge to prevent the prisoners from escaping. The explosion just now was one of the primary explosives to remove the support system.”
“Can you stop them?!” Xander shouted.
“I’m trying, but the circuit is isolated. There’s no external connections, only a manual control to prevent infiltration. It’s why it wasn’t detonated when the rioters started to head towards it.”
“Quartz, is there any way you can get us out of here? We have no visual or means of exit!” Xander explained.
“I might be able to open the pod doors. Bear with me!”
Neon Blood (Neon Helix Universe Book 3) Page 24
