Red

by Ryan Rinsler

  “I just told you,” he said. “I—I said I didn’t want to be conta—”

  “Evasion. Explain why your BlackBook has been offline for 402 hours.”

  “I, um, the same reason.”

  “Evasion. Send him for analysis.”

  The door burst open and in walked the two Scouts. They hoisted him from the chair by his armpits and dragged him from the room, his feet running to keep up with his upper body as they carried him down the corridor, stopping outside an elevator. The door opened and they stepped in, then, with a swipe of his thumb, one of the Scouts signaled for the elevator to descend, which it did, rapidly.

  After a few seconds the doors opened to another dark corridor. They dragged him out of the elevator once more and walked briskly toward a light in the distance. Stopping outside a room, one of the Scouts turned and left, while the other scanned his thumb to open the door. It swooshed to the side and he and Stanley stepped into the room, which was dimly lit by a series of red ceiling lights. In the center was a large chair, like an old dentist’s chair, lit by a single white lamp.

  “Jacket.”

  He slipped off his lab coat and handed it to the Scout, then, after being gestured toward it, he walked over and sat in the chair. He raised his arm to shield himself from the intense light and heat from the lamp, which was burning his eyes and face.

  The door opened once more. Stanley could just make out a person’s silhouette in the darkness, the brightness of the lamp giving him virtually no visibility of anything else in the room. He watched as the Scout left, and the person walked over, and as they approached he was able to discern some features. He was a young man, his blonde hair perfectly styled in a side-parting, his sharp suit beautifully tailored. He had striking blue eyes, a strong jawline, and a slim frame.

  He dragged over a chair and placed it next to Stanley, before sitting down and relaxing with a foot on one knee. He stared at Stanley for at least a minute without speaking a word. Stanley just sat and waited, glancing casually around the room.

  “Do you know who I am?” asked the man.

  “No.”

  “I’m your successor,” he replied with a smile.

  The German guy.

  “My name is Hans Richter,” he said. “I took over NanoTech after you decided to move on, and, oh, why did you move on, by the way?” He spoke with perfect diction, pronouncing every letter in every word precisely.

  Stanley didn’t answer.

  “Come on now, don’t hold out on me. You made quite the U-turn. What was it that made you do that?”

  “Can’t a man change his job role without being interrogated?”

  “Oh, now, Dr. Chen,” he said, looking at his nails. “I think we both know that’s not the reason you’re down here.”

  Again, Stanley didn’t respond, instead wiggling his feet slowly while looking around. He wasn’t afraid, or at least he wasn’t about to start showing it.

  “I think we both know why you quit as lead in NanoTech as well,” continued Hans. “You’ve been under the radar for some time, Dr. Chen. Why pop your head up now?”

  Stanley shrugged.

  “You saw what had happened in the default timelines and you decided you didn’t want any part of it. Am I right?”

  Stanley turned to face him. Hans knew more than he’d expected.

  “Well, Dr. Chen, what I can say is that you stepping down has expedited what we’re doing here. If it weren’t for my appointment we’d still be fifty years behind them. Now it’s more like ten.”

  Ten years? They could achieve global pacification in ten years? A chill rippled through his body.

  “Yes, that’s right,” continued Hans, his eyes showing a macabre excitement. “Everything we’ve learned from the default timelines is already underway. We’ve already achieved communication with the nervous system and NanoHive is currently undergoing trials.”

  “Is that what you did to Neil?”

  “Yes!” he replied with a grin. “Yes, that’s right. Neil. He wasn’t our first test subject, of course. Most of our agents have undergone some form of robotic upgrade.”

  The Scouts. They’re being controlled by NanoHive.

  “Now, the question burning on the tip of my tongue, Dr. Chen, is in regard to your BlackBook.”

  His stomach churned.

  “But before we get onto the subject of where it is, and why it’s nowhere to be seen, I feel it’s important for you to understand the consequences of not reporting a top level alert. You may think the consequence is some sort of verbal or written reprimand. Well, a few years ago that may have been the case. No, things have changed now, since I joined, and I must say that everything’s running a lot smoother now I’m in a position to influence the board on matters of security.”

  He shuffled around in his seat, before continuing. “Yes, things are much different now. After seeing the problems our cousins have faced by not stamping out your little uprising before it started, we’re nipping it in the bud before it gets the chance to spread. Before we get onto that, though, let’s talk about your BlackBook. Why did it suddenly disappear?”

  “I’ve been having some problem at ho—”

  “Don’t give me that lame excuse you’d give when you call in sick to work, Dr. Chen, I want to know the real reason,” he said, swiping a few times on his BlackBook. “I was expecting you to say that, of course. I don’t think I’m going to get much from you by just asking. You seem a little closed off, but I have a little new tech we’ve been developing that may help with that.” He chuckled to himself. “Kind of ironic, don’t you think? The technology you could have been developing now being used to extract information from you?”

  Stanley smiled facetiously.

  The door opened and someone stepped into the room.

  “Ah,” said Hans, “this will be them now.”

  32

  The ranch was quiet. Just a few lamps lit the living room, and all was silent as Connor let himself and Kate into the house. He remembered being creeped out by the ranch as a child, when the lights were low and the shadows deep. He still got a little flutter when he entered the room, his mind not yet having left that irrational fear behind. He’d blacked out so much fear and anxiety from his past, yet he let this minor goosebump-inducing shiver remain.

  “What time is it?”

  Kate pulled out her BlackBook. “Four thirty,” she whispered. “Is everyone in bed?”

  “I doubt dad is. He’s normally up before the worms.”

  Sure enough, a few seconds later, he popped his head around the lounge wall, his eyes bright with excitement to see them. “Come in! Come in!” he said, whispering as loud as he could and waving for them to follow him. “We can chat in here.”

  Connor smiled sheepishly at Kate, who wrinkled up her face and clasped her hands together to show him how cute she thought Jacob was, and they both left the living room for the kitchen. When they arrived they were met with Jacob, already with his head deep inside the refrigerator, fishing around for ingredients.

  As they entered he bolted upright, banging his head on the refrigerator shelf. “Hello!” he said, in the poshest voice he could muster. He strode over to Kate and shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you!” he boomed. “You must be Kate.”

  She glanced at Connor then back to Jacob. “Yes! Hi, so nice to meet you!”

  “Connor’s been telling me all about you,” he said, continuing to prepare breakfast. He stopped suddenly. “You want breakfast, yes?”

  They both nodded eagerly and took a seat at the table. Alex bustled in through the back door and Jacob set him to task preparing coffee and juice.

  “I’ll get some bacon on,” called Jacob, his head in the fridge once more. “It’s not real, I’m afraid.”

  Kate scrunched her nose up again and beamed at Connor, who replied with an embarrassed roll of the eyes.

  After much ado, Jacob finally sat down at the table in front of plates of bacon and scrambled eggs, and they all tucked in
. “So,” he said, “did you get everything you needed?”

  Kate looked at Connor sharply.

  “Yes, all fine,” he lied. “I hope you don’t mind if Kate stays with us for a bit?”

  “Of course!” yelled Jacob. “Tell me dear,” he said softly, leaning in, “Have you ever ridden a horse?”

  “What?” she said, almost spitting out her food. “I’ve never even seen one! I’ve been looking out the window all morning just watching the trees. They’re amazing!”

  Jacob glanced at Connor. “It’s a good job, there’s bloody thousands of them!” he bellowed, chuckling as he did. “Excellent then,” he said, tapping the table. “When Connor’s off doing his thing I’ll give you a crash course and we can go out for a ride. Connor’s always been afraid of them, you see.”

  “Is that so?” she asked, turning to Connor with a grin.

  “One stole my sneakers while I was a kid.”

  She sniggered. “What’s this thing you do then?” she asked him.

  “It’s a long story,” he replied. “Probably not one for the breakfast table.”

  “When are you next doing it?” she asked. “I wanna know when I can go horsey riding.”

  “I’m going in this morning, straight away. Matt’s out now, right?”

  “Yes, all done,” said Jacob. “Very successful, I hear.”

  “OK, well, I need to go in. Where’s Nolan?”

  “Oh, he’ll be up now I think. Check the morning room, he’s still trying to get that other device working.”

  They finished their meal and helped Jacob clear the table, then afterward Connor showed Kate to her room.

  “Wait, I literally have nothing,” she said, as they entered. “I don’t have any clothes or anything! How did I not even realize that?”

  “No worries, Jacob will take you down into town later and you can get whatever you need.”

  “I, um…” She looked like she felt extremely awkward, her cheeks flushing slightly and her mouth slightly open as though she were afraid to speak.

  “Don’t worry!” said Connor. “I’ll get it all, just use dad’s credit card.”

  “Jacob’s?”

  “I pay everything for him, so just get whatever you need.”

  She looked stunned. “How, um, long do you think we’ll be here?” she asked. She quickly put her hand on his arm. “Only so I know what I need!”

  “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want,” he replied. “I know it must be a bit weird, being here with us. It was just a bit of a quick reaction, so it’s totally cool if you want to head back soon. I’ll pay for it all.”

  He could see it was all a bit much for her as she started playing frantically with her hair and looking around the room. “Tell you what,” he said, “there’s towels and robes and things in there. Grab a shower and we’ll have a chat later.” She nodded enthusiastically and sat on the bed as he left the room.

  His forced smile dropped as he closed the door. He was tired, and he needed to get moving. He was concerned about their safety, and although he was reluctant to let Jacob know about his run-in with the man in his apartment, he also needed his help. Was it wise to not warn him, and risk him being completely unprepared in the event of someone turning up at the ranch? He had some thinking to do. He headed down to chat with him alone to see where the conversation would lead.

  “Dad?” he said, entering the kitchen once more. “Do you mind running Kate down to town this morning please?”

  “Is everything OK?” he asked, clearly having been waiting to talk with Connor alone as well. He was wiping the sides and generally pottering about, as he liked to do.

  Taken aback slightly by this, Connor replied, “Yeah, of course. How come?”

  “Well, you turning up here in the early hours, Kate with no clothes, I bet not even a toothbrush.”

  Nothing gets past Jacob.

  “Actually we did have a bit of a problem at the apartment,” he said, purposely downplaying it. “Somebody had come and trashed the place. Taken all the electronic equipment.”

  “Thieves?”

  He didn’t know how to respond to this. He’d come to the ranch and pretty much taken over it, bringing two of his friends and a crackpot scientist, setting up shop in his beautiful morning room and coming in and out at all hours. To give him word he’d put them and the whole place in danger seemed monstrous to him. Deep down, although he wouldn’t admit it, he hoped Jacob would figure it out himself to relinquish the shame and responsibility of having to tell him.

  “No. We met one guy, he came in the apartment while we were there.”

  “He just walked in?”

  “Yeah. He knew our names.”

  Jacob stopped wiping and stared at him. There’s that realization.

  “Both of you?”

  “Somehow.”

  He absent-mindedly moved his hand in a wiping motion, while looking out of the window. “So he will have been there for you. Then what happened?”

  “He, um, he came at me,” he said, deciding to open up. Jacob’s response had been more inquisitive than worried up to this point, and Connor felt more at peace with telling him the truth than sugar coating it. “He looked like he was going for a gun in his pants so I, um, I shot him in the shoulder.”

  Jacob swung his head around. “You shot him?”

  “He was going to shoot me!”

  “No, no, it’s OK,” he said, dropping the cloth and walking over. He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table, as did Connor. “Self-defense is perfectly acceptable,” he said. “Not always in the eyes of the law, mind, but he doesn’t sound the kind of person to shop you in.”

  Jacob’s validation helped slightly but he still had images firmly in the front of his mind of the moment he opened his eyes to see the man clutching at his shoulder. “He did have a gun,” he said, further confirming the necessity for him to shoot. “I found it when we tied him up.”

  “And did you call the police?”

  “No way,” he replied quickly. “We don’t know who would turn up.”

  “True, true. Silk own the medical sector so one could assume they’d have some kind of hand in the police force too. So then you came straight here?”

  “Yeah, I mean, we made sure we weren’t tailed.”

  “Not to worry,” he said. “They won’t track you here. Denver, maybe, but I doubt they could, or will. Of course, after that would be even more difficult because there are no Gyros that come up here, and the taxis are independent.”

  “I really don’t want to put you or this place in any danger.”

  ‘It’s fine, son,” he replied. “We’ll be safe here. I’d much rather you be doing your thing right out here in the middle of nowhere, out of the prying eyes of the city. So many cameras. A nasty business.”

  Connor couldn’t argue with that. The lack of electronic devices in Jacob’s house was as welcome as it was annoying. It was comforting to know he could walk into a room and not wonder if something was watching him, and it had become a novelty to eat real food, less the meat of course, but above all it was freeing. Even in such luxury he felt like he was back in nature, and compared to the synthetic world in which he’d just traveled from, he was. Having no BlackBook was a bind, and no replicator to make his smoothies was annoying, but he felt the change inside him, the shift to not caring, and he was beginning to embrace it. It wasn’t apathy like he’d suffered for the last decade – the lack of care was more aimed at relaxing into the world around him and enjoying being unplugged from reality.

  “And to answer your question,” Jacob continued, “I’ll happily take Kate down to town, as long as she doesn’t mind socializing with an old fart like me.”

  Connor chuckled and stood up, and with a touch of appreciation on Jacob’s arm as he left, he headed out to find Nolan in the morning room. He walked in to see him in his usual position — on the floor amid a sea of wires and components, fiddling away with the second cap.

  “St
ill no joy?” asked Connor.

  Nolan looked up, then back down again. “Nearly,” he said. “Nearly fixed.”

  “Can you send me in?”

  Without a shadow of acknowledgement he swung around and dialed something into the screen on the Seeker. Connor read this a ‘yes’, so began preparing as Jacob entered the room.

  “Can you wake Matt before you leave?” asked Connor, readying himself on the sofa. “I don’t want Nolan to have to look after everything by himself.”

  “Yes, of course,” replied Jacob. “Would you like me to get you anything?”

  “Just make sure Kate gets everything she needs, and then some. Make sure she doesn’t feel bad.”

  He looked over to Nolan and gave him the nod, and lay back. After a brief countdown, and within the blink of an eye, the familiar musty, damp smell of the bunker filled his nostrils. The room was dark apart from the glowing outline of a door a few meters away from him, which opened the second he noticed it. He jolted upright as the harsh white strip light blinked into life.

  “Hello Connor,” said Mana, sitting on a nearby metal seat. “It’s you, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. How are you feeling?”

  “Um, me or…” He looked at his hands, which he instantly recognized. “Me or Kyle?”

  “Well, both of you.”

  “OK, I guess. Bit groggy.”

  “You’ll notice that over here. If you remember us telling you, your immune system is working overtime. The grogginess is your body’s way of telling you it’s not happy about it.”

  Connor yawned, the clicks and pops in his ears sounding as though they were reverberating around the small concrete room.

  “I hope you remember the first step in your education last time you were here?”

  “Of course,” replied Connor, swinging his legs down and sitting upright. He rubbed his face to try and waken himself a little. “The dud.”

  “Correct. I’m afraid there’s no time to rest, Connor. This evening will be your second lesson.”

  “OK. What are we doing?”

  “We’re going out.”

  33