“Designed by who?” I spat, the first words by anyone.
“Chrysalis station personnel. You will see very soon.”
“Those storms were done on purpose?” Derrick growled.
Cyrus nodded. “To keep you from dispersing, or traveling too far. The harsh environment discourages subjects from venturing toward the edges of the enclosure.”
A dam broke, and suddenly everyone spoke at once. Some in disbelief, some in anger. Some cursing at the walls.
Cyrus held up a hand. “I know it’s hard to accept. Eight months ago, I went through exactly what you’re experiencing now.”
“You said other things,” Sarah interjected. “What else do they control?”
Cyrus frowned. “Your moods, to some extent. Your fertility. The Chrysalis crew manipulates the Terrarium’s water supply to keep test subjects as docile as possible. They determine what you eat and the ecological factors surrounding you. All to study each Nemesis class more effectively.”
My temper exploded. “It never stops!”
“You’ve been out for eight months?” Casey said. “Where have you been all that time? Where’d you guys come from?”
“Out of all the Nemesis experiments, my class finished the Program first.” He frowned at some troubling memory. “I won’t go into it, but you know what that process is like. We’re from Wyoming—a little nothing town called Huntwell. Forty-seven of us went into the MegaCom, and the required twenty came out. We lived on Huntwell Island for twelve months, and had only begun branching out to the area you named the Outpost when the Chrysalis crew ended our containment. All twenty of us were incorporated into the mission. Your class, however, has caused much more of an uproar.”
Voices rose at once, but I cut through them. “So that’s why our people were taken prisoner? You’re delivering them to these crew members?”
“My classmates are doing that, but I’ve diverted your group as a favor.” He gave me a curious look. “Someone else is interested in you, Min. I was asked to slip you out of the Terrarium undetected by Chrysalis command.” He shrugged at the others. “It seemed easiest to bring you all.”
“Who?” I blurted in shock.
Cyrus grinned. “Part of our deal was not revealing that information. I’m sorry.”
I opened my mouth, but footsteps sounded in the corridor beyond the door. We went silent until they faded, then Sarah spoke first. “Why would you go against the station’s crew? What’s in it for you, Cyrus?”
His grin vanished. “I have concerns about the mission. Since we exited the Terrarium, we’ve been tested in certain ways, to assess our fitness in various capacities. Three of my classmates did poorly and were removed from the group. We’ve had no contact with them since, and the explanations about where they’ve gone have been vague.” His expression darkened. “My friend Kate was one of them. I’ve had no word from her in weeks. The others you met feel the same as me.”
“So your contact is a rogue crew member?” Sarah pressed. “Promising information in exchange for . . . Min?”
Cyrus shook his head. “Not a crew member. This person is different. That’s all I will say.”
“Why’d you grab us all?” Charlie whined. His gaze cut to me. “No offense, Min, but it sounds like we just broke a major rule for no reason. If the people in charge were going to bring everyone out anyway, even by capturing us, we should’ve just gone with them. Now we’re screwed.” He pointed at Cyrus. “They gave this guy a job, and it obviously hasn’t been too awful. Plus, they run this place. We need to surrender before the situation gets any worse.”
“Exactly,” Spence muttered, and some of the others nodded or looked thoughtful. Was Charlie right? Were we running around for no reason? Was this whole flight a terrible mistake?
Cyrus held up a hand. “We’re going to meet my contact now. Just listen to what will be said. If you don’t like what you hear, you can do whatever you please. It won’t be hard to give yourself up and be taken to the testing facility. But I believe in having all the cards before I make a bet on my future. I suggest you do the same.”
“Testing facility?” Derrick said. “Testing for what?” He stepped close to Cyrus and glared down at him. “You haven’t said a word about why these people kept us in a fishbowl, or what we’re supposed to do once we’re out of it. Or why they built the damn thing in the first place. It felt like a real planet in there.” He crossed his arms. “I still can’t believe half of what you’re saying. What the hell is Chrysalis, dude? Who are these people? Why’d they hide from us? We’re sitting here debating the small stuff, but you haven’t told us how this station even exists.”
Cyrus took a deep breath, but at that moment the door opened. We all whirled in panic, but it was Parisa returning. She closed the door behind her and shouldered her way next to Cyrus.
“Everything go as planned?” Cyrus asked.
Parisa frowned. “Yes and no. But the way is clear. We should hurry.”
Cyrus nodded. “What went wrong?”
“I just ran into Rose, and there’s trouble,” Parisa said. “The Terrarium has been cleared, but the roundup didn’t go as planned. Rose and Gray are stomping around like they want to strangle everyone in the other class. No one seems to have noticed you’re missing. I faked like I had orders and booked it here. Scott and Jerica went back to the dorm to pretend nothing’s going on.”
“What’s the trouble?” Cyrus asked.
Parisa glanced at us, and there was naked anger in her gaze. “Inside the silo, someone opened a seal to the lab complex. Eight drowned. Four traitors, and four of ours. We never should’ve worked with those guys!”
Cyrus flinched. “Who of our people?”
“Iris, Wyatt, Levi, and Jayden. They couldn’t get out in time.”
Cyrus squeezed his eyes shut. Beside me, Sarah shifted her weight nearly imperceptibly. Only she and I knew what had happened. Among the living, anyway.
“Which of our classmates?” I asked, though I knew three of the names already. I saw Kyle’s face again as the water swallowed him, and Tucker’s body tumbling in the flood. I felt Toby’s dead weight in my hands.
Parisa gave me a haughty look. “I didn’t learn their names. The bald guy was one.”
Toby’s name rippled through the group. I felt a spike of sadness. Even for him. I didn’t share what I knew about the other victims—that would spark questions I couldn’t answer in front of Cyrus and Parisa. Do they know Sarah and I were down there?
“Eight dead,” Cyrus whispered. “What a disaster.”
“You didn’t answer my questions,” Derrick demanded. “Tell us why all this is happening.”
Cyrus straightened to his full height. “Later. For now, I have to complete my end of the bargain. Come on.”
“And if we won’t?” Casey said. “What if we decide not to go along with your plan?”
“Then I’ll leave you here to figure things out on your own. If you want those answers, come with me. If not, so long.”
Silence. Eyes turned my way. I stared at Cyrus. Then nodded.
“We’ll meet your mysterious friend. But that’s all I’m agreeing to.”
“Not a friend. Someone who knows more than both of us. I think such a person might be useful in the days ahead, don’t you?”
“I don’t know, Cyrus.” I ran a hand through my hair. “So far I’ve only seen the inside of this closet.”
“Fair enough. Let’s go.”
We crept to the door, listened, then opened it and filed outside, with Parisa in the lead.
I didn’t know where I was. Or what this was. Or where we were going. But I was determined not to give up.
Derrick moved close to me as we scurried down the corridor in a tight line. Everything was gleaming white and shockingly clean. We turned a corner and a window hove into view. Cyrus and Jerica spe
d by it without stopping, but my class piled up in front like a NASCAR wreck.
I stared through the glass into the cold depths of infinity. Every word he said was true.
“God have mercy,” Derrick whispered. “This really is a space station, huh?”
“Appears so.” My hands started to shake. “Derrick, I’m not sure I can take another shock.”
“We’re hurtling through outer space right now, Min. Panicking seems like a decent option.”
Cyrus jogged back down the hallway, his expression sour. “Yes, yes. It’s very dramatic the first time. But we have to go!”
We turned to stare at him as one.
He snorted. “Fine. Take a moment. But this sector won’t stay empty for long. And there’s a lot more to learn.”
I blinked at him, then turned to the others. “Come on, guys. Let’s find out what this madness is all about. We’ve survived crazier things than this.”
“Have we?” Akio murmured, but he stepped away from the glass.
Like a gaggle of stunned geese, we followed Cyrus deeper into the station.
20
NOAH
The hideout was cold and dispiriting.
It’d taken fifteen minutes to get there, racing down corridors, following as Black Suit made turn after turn. He’d led us to an elevator that rose faster than I could blink, the doors opening onto yet another featureless hallway. Another sprint, more antiseptic walls, and we’d entered a cargo hold filled with rows of stacked shipping containers. An unobtrusive door at the far end had accessed this lonely space, which appeared to be some sort of break room.
And then we’d sat. And waited. After rushing us inside, Black Suit left again just as quickly, promising that the sensors in this area were disabled. We could hide here. We’d be safe.
Not that the concept made much sense anymore. We were on a space station orbiting the planet from a distance of thousands of miles. Our whole environment had been a lie. We’d thought we were building a new society on a reclaimed world—pioneering a brand-new Earth—but we’d been nothing more than a lab experiment. Toys for people we didn’t know, who’d eventually decided to pull the plug.
Maybe even literally. Had they drained the lake?
I ground my teeth in frustration. Used again. Nothing had been real.
And for what? Why were these people doing any of it?
I was sitting on a sleeping bag in the corner. A half dozen other rolls were piled against the wall, next to a minifridge stuffed with rehydrated meals. There was a tiny kitchenette, a table and chairs, and a bathroom. The room smelled of long habitation combined with minimal hygiene. In a word, it stank.
I was debating whether to eat another bag of soggy noodles when Black Suit slipped back through the doorway. It disturbed me how relieved I was to see him again. Ignoring us completely, he walked over to the table and sat, removing a tablet from a bag at his feet. Long minutes passed as we stared at him, waiting for the bastard to acknowledge we existed.
“Well?” Ethan asked, always first to lose his patience. “What the hell’s going on? Why’d you bring us here?” He was standing in the kitchenette with Tack, glaring at our . . . rescuer? Kidnapper? Things were too confused to sort out.
Black Suit held up a finger, then locked the screen and looked up. “This is my humble abode. I’ve been living in here for months. So far the crew hasn’t noticed that I looped the sensors in this quadrant, and the hangar outside is used for long-term storage only. It’s almost never visited. We’re off the grid for the moment.”
I rose and walked to the table. “Why are you hiding from them? Isn’t this just, like, Phase Seven of your grand plan?”
Black Suit pursed his lips. “Turns out I was lower on the food chain than I thought. I designed and ran Project Nemesis in Fire Lake, and believed it to be the endgame for all human survival.” He swept a hand at the walls around him. “Obviously, I was wrong.”
Tack grunted. “So you didn’t know about this . . . space station trick?”
Black Suit snorted. “Not a thing. I’d been told that an off-planet refuge was simply impossible in the time frame we had to elude Nemesis. Obviously, they decided to build one anyway, and just as obviously, it worked. But as to why they uploaded our data files into a false environment inside their giant orbiting superstation, I have no idea. To be blunt, it seems insane. They either extracted our physical MegaCom from its bunker down on Earth—perhaps even the entire Fire Lake silo—or they replicated everything up here on Chrysalis inside the Terrarium, down to the screws. The complexity of such a project . . .” He blew out a breath. “It staggers the mind.”
“You told us you were staying inside the Program,” I said, watching his eyes. “Last-second change of heart?”
“Self-preservation is a powerful lure.” Black Suit shrugged ruefully. “I ran for the security-hub pod seconds before you engaged the regeneration process, so a body was crafted for me as well. But for some reason I emerged outside the Terrarium, in a staff wing. Nobody was expecting me, so no one was around, giving me time to process how badly I’d been deceived. I decided to conceal my presence aboard while I figured out what this place was. I’ve stayed underground ever since.” A smile played on his lips. “I’m pleased to report I’ve given them a few ‘inexplicable’ headaches. They’re aware of me now, but can’t find me.”
“Who are they?” Tack demanded. “What the hell is this place, dude?”
“Chrysalis,” Black Suit said simply. “An orbiting space station built from Nemesis legacy equipment and staffed by people I know almost nothing about. It turns out Project Nemesis was only a step in the ladder of human survival, and we were the test mice. But we’re out of the lab now.”
“We’ve been inside that bubble for six freaking months.” Tack’s eyes glinted. “People died. But you never came for us.”
“You seemed to be managing, and I didn’t have anything to offer you other than a nasty shock. So you’re right, Thomas. I waited. Indeed, I only acted now because events have forced my hand. The station sent in teams to lock down the Terrarium, and then you came out on your own. I’m not willing to let them have you until I know what they’re planning.”
“Who was the girl?” I asked, trying to sound casual. “Rose. Do you know her?”
Black Suit nodded. “In a way. She’s part of Nemesis Three. That group completed the Program first. They regenerated into the Terrarium thirteen months before we did.”
I nearly swallowed my tongue. “Nemesis Three? What . . . what are we?”
“Fire Lake is considered Nemesis One. We were launched first—I built the damn MegaCom prototype, after all—but my superiors decided to construct redundancies without my knowledge. One of those Programs completed Phase Two before you did.”
My head was spinning. Fire Lake was not alone. “How many are there?”
“Five were scheduled, but only four actually launched. That’s all the architects could get done before things on Earth fell apart irrevocably. The second test group, Nemesis Two, was actually composed of volunteers who knew the stakes going in, a drastic departure from my parameters. They . . . The designers should have listened to me.”
Something in his voice sent a chill down my spine. “What happened? Where is Nemesis Two now?”
The cold mask I’d seen so often fell into place. “Nemesis Two did not complete the Program. None survived.”
I shuddered, thinking of how wrong things must’ve gone inside their simulation. “How’d they all fail?”
Black Suit shook his head, stroking a finger across the tablet in front of him. “I’m not able to hack into the raw data, but after Phase Two their MegaCom reported no viable codes for regeneration.” He was quiet a moment. “I built these systems, and that’s not supposed to be possible. It’s my belief that Nemesis Two sabotaged their MegaCom. I think they destroyed themselves.”
That silenced everyone. The room felt colder, and wreathed with shadows.
“So we’re the last ones?” Tack asked quietly.
Black Suit glanced away. “For now. I have a hard time predicting what the station crew will do.”
Ethan spoke for the first time since Black Suit sat down. “Who are those kids that attacked us?”
Black Suit leaned back in his chair. “Nemesis Three occupied the Terrarium before you. They lived inside it for a full year, just as ignorant of reality as you were. There were exactly twenty of them, as proscribed by the Program. They must’ve exhibited whatever these people are looking for, because they were then invited into the station proper. Your friend Rose is in that group.”
“No friend of ours,” Ethan said darkly. I forced myself to nod along.
“Only twenty, huh?” Tack said. “So they slaughtered their classmates as instructed.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge, Thomas. Yours was the only group to attempt to reprogram their MegaCom. I like to think of you as being special rather than the others being faulty.”
“Think whatever you like, but they left bodies back in their Matrix.”
Black Suit had no response.
“And the last one?” I pressed. “Nemesis Four?”
Something rippled in Black Suit’s expression. “Nemesis Four is still sleeping.”
My stomach roiled. I imagined a class still battling it out, inside a Program stored somewhere on this station’s hard drive. How many were left at this exact moment? Forty? Thirty? Twenty-one kids in a park, with one left to go?
“Why build a massive fake habitat?” Tack grumbled. “Why not just bring us onto the ship and give us jobs or something? We’d have agreed.”
Black Suit was quiet for several heartbeats. Finally, “I don’t know, Thomas. And it worries me every single day. That’s why I’ve stayed hidden rather than present myself to people who are arguably my colleagues.”
Chrysalis Page 16
