“What about the civilians on Blackwater?” Ally added.
“The MPD sees them as collateral damage. Better to protect the rest of the city than letting the prisoners reach the mainland,” Quartzig replied.
“But that’s hundreds of people stranded, with the Blackwater inmates!” Ally protested.
The pod rocked again, tilting until it was on its side.
“Quartzig, tell me you can open this door!” Xander shouted as he picked himself up.
“Give me a moment.”
The door began to open. Due to its angle, it was now on the floor of the pod and it slowly opened to reveal the dark ocean below.
“I don’t see that as a feasible exit,” Peter said, peering through the opening.
“Quartzig, how far are we from the mainland?” Ally asked.
“You’re about twenty meters. You’d nearly reached the docking station when they began the detonations.”
“How long do we have?” Xander shouted.
“The sequence of explosions are set at intervals to weaken the structure before taking out the supports. I’d say you’re looking at five minutes before complete destruction.”
Xander lay on the ground and looked out the hatch, trying to see anything around them they could reach.
“Is there no way to stop the remaining detonations, Q? There’s no way we can get out of here in time,” Ally said, a calm in her voice as she began to accept the situation.
“As I said, the system is isolated. There’s no way I can access it. I’m sorry,” he replied.
“Tell me about this TDNA you have,” Peter walked up to Ally.
“I don’t think this is the time,” she replied dismissively.
“I think this is the exact time if what you’ve told me is accurate, you might be our only chance at survival here.”
Chapter Sixty
Salem
Salem and Bella had worked their way through the abandoned building, sparing only an occasional glance behind them to ensure that no-one had made it through Quartzig’s barricade. The building was predominately office space but was deserted, looking as though it hadn’t been in use for some time. An elevator was the only thing in the entire area that seemed to still have life; its glowing illumination beckoning them to it. Stepping inside, Salem looked at the digital display.
“Which floor?” he asked, touching the screen to scroll through the numbers.
“Try around one-sixty?” Bella shrugged, seeing the floors numbered three hundred and twenty.”
The lift travelled up, and through a space in the ceiling of the room, it was located on the external edge of the building allowing them a view of the city shrinking below them. The path of the riots had left a trail of flames through the streets. The elevator slowed to a halt, just above the arm that led to the Nucleus. Salem adjusted the lift, taking it down floor by floor until they moved past it to floor one-fifty-five, then back up to one-fifty-six.
“It looks like it’s somewhere between this floor and the one below,” Salem replied, studying the arm.
“You think there’s a hidden entrance?” Bella asked as they stepped out and onto the office floor. Stepping to the side, she could see the smooth top of the metallic arm that extended to the Nucleus just below them.
“Maybe there’s an access point somewhere,” Salem was searching the walls and the floor.
Bella walked back over to the elevator. On the opposite wall, she could see the faint line that split the door panels. Forcing her fingers between them, she prised the doors apart until a snapping sound indicted something had broken, and they rolled casually aside. The wall behind them mainly consisted of metallic panels that she assumed enclosed the lift. The last two feet at the bottom, however, was brown brickwork.
“Can you see anything?” Salem called out when he heard the break.
“Hard to tell,” Bella said. “It looks like there’s some kind of brickwork that doesn’t match the rest,” she called back to Salem, who made his way towards her and peered at the wall.
“Hmm,” he looked around the area for something that could help.
“We don’t know how thick that brick is. It could be reinforced for all we know,” Bella said.
“You’re right. It's not the most feasible option, really,” Salem nodded. He’d returned to the large single window that seemed to extend across the entire wall and looked down at the arm below.
“What are you thinking?” Bella said, seeing a smile flash across his face.
“It’s probably a bad idea,” he said, shaking his head.
“I seem to recall those are usually your favourite kind.”
Salem grinned at her.
“The entrance and exit of the tunnel probably have the strongest security right,” he said, walking back over to her.
“Sure, to stop anyone going in.”
“So, what would be the weak point?” he asked, taking her gun from the holster on her waist.
“No,” Bella said, his suggestion sinking in.
“Yes,” Salem grinned as he aimed the gun at the window and pulled the trigger. The gunshot itself was muted by the pistol’s silencer, but the sound of glass exploding filled the air as the plexiglass smashed outward. A cold rush of air flooded the room, blowing shards of the glass back in with it.
“You’re crazy!” Bella shouted over the wind.
Salem walked towards the now ample space where the window had been, remnants of glass crunching under his feet. Leaning out, he could see the arm clearly now. It was down and slightly to the left, a small ledge jutting out towards him. In theory, it was easily within reach, but looking down at the Boulevard below, he knew that a missed step would be fatal.
“Are you serious?” Bella asked, as she leaned out the window beside him.
“We haven’t got time to waste, and you saw the city. If we don’t stop Persephone, the city could be lost if it isn’t already!” Salem put a boot on the window ledge and pushed himself up, the wind blowing his jacket behind him as he steadied himself.
“Fuck it,” Bella shurgged.
Salem moved as close to the edge of the window frame as he dared and squatted. Glancing down to see the city below him, he took a deep breath before leaping forwards. Moving through the air, he could see the ledge coming closer, but after a split second, he felt the pull of gravity on his body begin to shift his momentum downward. His arms flung forward as he neared the ledge, and his hands slapped hard onto the cold metal surface of the arm, causing a sting to bolt through them. His body slammed against the side of the structure. Slipping backwards, his fingers grasped frantically on the metal for a hold, but his body continued to slide, his own weight pulling him away.
A shadow blurred above him, followed by a thud that shook the metal arm slightly. Trying to look upwards, he felt his grip slipping faster as he lost the little purchase he had. A hand wrapped around his wrists and began to pull him up. Kicking his legs against the side of the arm, he pulled himself up with the assistance.
“Guess that makes us even,” Bella said, once she’d pulled him on top of the arm. He rolled and lay prone, looking upwards at the sky as he gathered his breath.
“Thanks,” he gasped, turning his head to look up at her.
“C’mon, we need to see if we can even get in from up here!” she turned and began to make her way across the arm, slightly hunched over for stability.
Salem sighed and got to his feet and set off to follow her. The arm was a couple of hundred meters long and made of a slightly curved metal surface that was easy enough to stand on as long as they stayed in the centre and crouched to keep balanced against the wind. By the time Salem caught up with Bella, she was already at the wall of the sphere, her hands feeling for any kind of entrance to the dome.
“Anything?” Salem asked, as he joined in the search.
“Not that I can see,” she replied. “I’m not sure there’s any way we can get inside from here,” she sighed.
“We’ll find o
ne,” There was enough room for them to stand shoulder to shoulder at the wall. Salem ran his hand along the smooth surface of the panel, his hand catching something that lifted slightly.
“What’s that?” Bella asked.
“Maintenance hatch,” Salem said with a grin. “Doesn’t matter how advanced your tech is, there’s always someone who needs to do repairs every now and then.”
Chapter Sixty-One
Ava
Ava could recall falling, the sense of wind rushing past her as she approached the ground. The impact was also clear in her memories, the abrupt end of the fall. What followed, however, was less clear. Her systems had registered the initial contact with the ground, and then there was a void of data. Everything had stopped. She wasn’t sure how long the gap was. Her systems were rebooting and just coming back online. It would be a few moments before she would have the full details.
Her vision slowly returned. She could see that her face was against the ground but was unable to move her head, only able to look forwards along the street where she had fallen. In her field of vision, she couldn’t see anyone in the vicinity, though the smoke coming from several shop windows showed there had been rioters close by. Her eyes began to allow movement, and she could look around a little more. Glancing along the ground, she could see her arm laying at an unusual angle. Something wasn’t right. A diagnostic report began to feed her information, indicating where there were several critical structural failures and damages that were beyond repair. The fall had reportedly caused her left arm and both her legs to snap, and her right arm was barely functional.
Additionally, her back had several significant breaks along the spinal column. Despite being a synthetic, her arms and legs were designed akin to that of a human body, and the damage meant that there was zero chance of her standing up and getting somewhere to repair herself. Her neck did, however, allow for some movement, as it was able to function independently of the rest of her body. Her right eye was crushed against the ground, only feeding a blurred display, but her left seems to be fully functioning. Moving her neck up, she could see a crowd of people in the distance making their way towards her.
“Are you, Ava?” a voice said from behind her. She couldn’t move enough to see where the sound came from, and she didn’t recognise the voice. “You are damaged, badly. Can you move?”
The rioters were getting closer. They hadn’t noticed Ava or her mysterious companion, yet, but it was only a matter of time before they arrived at their location. Ava checked her vocal system. It too was damaged, preventing her from speaking.
“I assume you cannot move or speak. From what I can see, I doubt many of your systems are functioning. Are you salvageable?” the voice continued.
Footsteps moved around her until she saw a pair of boots move in front of her. They were black metal, reminding her of Quartzig’s though not as advanced as his nanobots. The metal of these boots was older, more worn. The figure crouched down, a face peering into her eyes. It was a patchwork of metals, like a mask that had been recreated from mismatched materials.
“I see your eyes moving. It appears you are still active. That’s good,” the figure said.
A shout from the rioters caught his attention. They had seen him and were now moving directly towards them.
“We need to leave. I apologise for any further damage this may cause,” he said.
Ava’s senses felt her body move as the figure lifted her and put her over his shoulder before he began to move. His speed was much faster than that of the rioters, and soon they had left them behind. Once he was sure they were away from the crowds, he placed Ava down again, propping her into a sitting position against a wall.
“Are you still functioning?” he asked, crouching in front of her, his eyes scanning over her, seemingly analysing the damage.
Ava still couldn’t reply as her eyes scanned the man’s face. She could see him more clearly now. He appeared to be a mismatched cyborg, repaired multiple times over his life. She blinked twice in response to his question.
“Ah, very good,” the man replied. “I should introduce myself. My designation is Manifold. I also work with Persephone. She will be happy to know you are still functioning.”
Ava paused, confused. Why would he think she was working with Persephone? Searching her memory, she tried to remember what had happened. Back at the warehouse, when she had been taken by the Sliders there, memories of someone doing something to her systems that had been previously hidden, memories that her reboot had unlocked, a subprogram running in the background of her central systems. She had been unknowingly feeding Persephone information on what the others were doing without even being aware of it. That was why she had tried to stop Vladamir. It was Persephone’s program activating to prevent him from interfering.
“You are too damaged for anything now, though,” Manifold continued, “I will take you to my workshop. I will repair you as I do myself.”
Ava was helpless to resist as Manifold picked her up again and began to make his way through the city.
Chapter Sixty-Two
Ally
“If you have a form of a biotech DNA, I would theorise that it has the ability to interact with technology around it,” Peter was trying to explain as quickly he could, given their urgency. “The system that is rigged to destroy the bridge may be on an isolated network, but it must be connected to the bridge itself in order to detonate, does that sound feasible, Quartzig?”
“I…sure, from what I can tell from schematics, the system is wired along the bridge’s structure in a sequence. It’s enclosed, but is an interconnected circuit,” Quartzig replied.
“So, if my theory is correct, you may be able to interact with the electronics that are embedded within the bridge and interrupt the signal that is being fed to the explosives,” Peter finished.
Ally looked from Peter to Xander, who shrugged his shoulders.
“I have interacted with tech before, but only with human interfaces. How would I even attempt to do that with a circuit?” Ally said.
Peter had turned to the pod’s open door, and began to lean out of it. Underneath exposed wiring that been dislodged from the explosion hung limply. Peter reached for a handful of wires, wrapped his hand around it and pulled it up into the pod.
“Your blood will need to make contact with this,” he explained, laying the wire on the floor, “Xander, help me hold it steady.”
Xander put his foot on the side of the cable, stopping it from dropping out of the door, while Peter did the same on the other.
“You want me to just…hold it?” Ally said, kneeling down.
“Your blood will need to interact with the wiring itself so that you have a connection, I can’t say what it will be like for you to connect, but I believe you will be able to access the entire system. Hopefully, one of these wires is part of the detonation circuit.”
Ally looked at her hands. They had several cuts and bruises on them from crossing the bridge earlier. Wincing, she broke one of the scabs, allowing blood to seep from the wound and pool in her palm. Then, kneeling, she lifted the wire and wrapped her hand around it.
Nothing happened.
“Concentrate, Ally,” Peter said calmly.
Ally took a breath and closed her eyes. She thought back to how she had made a connection to the ARCH serum and fought against it. Her mind flashed back when she was captured by Yuri, who showed her how she was created in the lab, then she moved her thoughts to the wires in her hand. Suddenly, she felt as though her mind had expanded as though ground and walls around her had fallen away. For a moment, she thought the pod had dropped, and they were plummeting to the waters below. Then she realised she could still sense the pod around her physical body. The feeling of the cold metal she was kneeling on was still there, but inside her mind, she was in an open expanse.
“Are you connected?” Peter’s voice echoed into her mind, like someone calling her from the other side of a large cavern.
“I am,” she re
plied, her voice echoing around her.
“Good, you need to find a way to stop all the signals within the system,” his voice replied.
Easier said than done. Ally thought as she tried to understand what she was seeing.
What looked like a highway was below her, specks of light travelling back and forth on roads that stretched out in seemingly infinite directions. As her attention was drawn to it, the highway seemed to grow, expanding in size until she became part of the road herself. The bright lights were flashing past her at impossible speeds as she stood on the edge. She couldn’t make their details out, trying to comprehend what she was seeing. Then, time seemed to slow, the lights reduced in speed, becoming clearer.
“What…Do…You…Seeeee…” Peter’s voice seemed to stretch out as though he was speaking in slow motion until it became nothing more than a long, steady, monotonous drone of sound. She breathed deeply again. The lights had slowed until they were passing her at almost walking speed. She could see them properly now, glowing balls of energy moving along the lines. She realised they were packets of data being transmitted along with the cables. She reached out her hand to touch one as it passed by. Instantly she was pulled into the light, travelling along the road with increasing velocity as the light enclosed her. A feeling of panic washed over her as she knew she had lost her sense of control, the speed returning to normal. The highway began to blur past her becoming one long streak of light.
“Ally!” Quartzig’s voice sounded in her mind. “Can you hear me?”
“Quartz?” she managed to mumble.
“Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?”
“I…I’ve lost control.”
“It’s alright, just breath. I understand how it looks and feels. Just focus on my voice. You need to remember that things happen at a much faster speed in there. If your TDNA can connect, it should be able to help you perceive the world and process the incoming information at a speed you can understand.”
“I did, I was in control, but then I interacted with the lights. It threw me out of focus,” she replied.
Neon Blood (Neon Helix Universe Book 3) Page 25
