Chrysalis

by Brendan Reichs

  Sophia eyed me as we walked. “I suppose you’re wondering what this is about.”

  “I admit to being curious,” I said cautiously.

  She didn’t slow. “Some misguided classmates of yours attacked the testing facility. Foolish in the extreme, and ultimately pointless, but they managed to free a few subjects. I’m sorry to say that I might have to go back on our deal a little. One of the escapees—”

  Red lights burst to life along the corridor. An alarm howled.

  Sophia froze. Harold wrapped a giant hand around my forearm. I tried to pull away, but it was like yanking a doorknob the wrong way.

  “What’s going on?” I shouted.

  Sophia didn’t answer. She was staring straight ahead at the forward blast door.

  “Impossible,” I heard her mutter.

  A burst of light struck her in the back and she collapsed. Harold spun, took a blast to the chest, and crumpled like a dropped napkin. I cringed into a ball on the floor, waiting for the laser beams to find me.

  Hands gripped my shoulders, hauling me to my feet.

  I glanced up, then nearly exploded with relief. “Tack!”

  He grinned at me for the first time since leaving Home Town. “Why are you on the ground, Melinda? Are you cowering? Jeez you’ve gone soft.”

  I popped to my feet and slugged him in the shoulder. “What’s going on? Where have you been?” My eyes slid to Sophia, and Harold right beside her. “Are they . . .”

  Tack’s mouth twisted into a knot. “Just knocked out. But there’s a lot more to it than that. I’ll explain after we get across this bridge-way. Your dad can only mess with these tubes one at a time.”

  “My dad?” But Tack was already loping toward the far door.

  With a frustrated groan, I raced after him. The portal swung open and we passed through an airlock. Beyond was a command center similar to the one inside the silo, only this one was centered in a large sphere of hexagonal windows. The chamber was oriented so that Mars hung in the foreground, looking nothing like the pictures I’d seen growing up.

  It looked like . . . Earth. Only scrambled and twisted into new formations.

  I felt a tug in my chest. This was real. Below me spun a terraformed planet on which people intended to live. For the first time since exiting the Terrarium, I felt grounded in reality. Which was odd, since I was standing inside a window ball at the center of an orbiting space station, looking down on a foreign world.

  I opened my mouth to tell the others about Mars, but never got the chance.

  “Close the inner door!” someone yelled.

  Sarah was sitting at a computer console while Derrick fiddled with another airlock. I did a quick spin—there were six tunnels accessing the spherical command chamber at the center of the station. The other doors were all closed. Tack jabbed a button, and the portal through which we’d entered clanked shut.

  My father had his back to me, fingers flying across a keyboard set into the rear wall of the room. “Derrick can manually seal the doors on this side, but I can’t auto-lock the other ends. I can only hack the bridge-ways one at a time, and they’ll shut me out before too long. We have to hurry.”

  I glanced out a window, spotted a squad of troopers jogging down one of the tubes.

  “They’re coming!” I shouted. “What’s the plan?”

  Tack looked at Derrick, who glanced at Sarah, who shrugged. Black Suit chuckled. “I’ll be honest, Min—I’m not sure we had one beyond springing you. We created a diversion, stormed the bridge, and zapped everyone unconscious. Now we . . . uh . . . we’re making it up as we go.”

  I stared at him, eyes tearing. Then I barked a laugh. “Well, I’m out now. So thanks. We should decide what to do next pretty damn quick.”

  Sarah frowned at her screen. “This code is bizarre. It isn’t what ran the MegaCom.”

  “Is there a way to contact the testing facility?” Derrick asked. “Or the Nemesis Three kids? I bet those guys would love to hear what we found out.”

  I licked my lips. “How would they help us? You guys hijacked the station’s command center. There’s no coming back from this.” I glanced at Tack, then away. How could I tell him he might’ve doomed our whole class? That it hadn’t been necessary, and might cost us everything.

  Derrick ignored me. “Can we see if anyone is already down on the surface? Or any Sophias?”

  I squinted at him. “Sophias?”

  “In the back, Min.” Sarah didn’t glance up from her monitor.

  I trotted to the top of the room, then gaped at four people lying stunned on the floor. “Oh my God!”

  “Take a good look.” Tack was suddenly at my side. “Recognize anyone?” Before I could stop him, he rolled a person over with his foot. Lying on the floor was Sophia.

  “But . . . how?”

  “We don’t know,” Tack said. “Clones? The world’s largest multiple birth? It’s unreal. The whole crew could be like this. So far we’ve only seen a handful of faces.” Our eyes met. “But who are they really, Min? Who or what is Sophia? Where’d she come from?”

  My mouth had gone dry. “Sophia said the crew members were preserved codes, like us. They regenerated after Chrysalis became fully operational.”

  It was Tack’s turn to look confused. “Then how was it built?”

  I told the others what Sophia had said. About the Nemesis AI, and how it built Chrysalis. My father’s face grew haggard as he listened. “I was never told any of that,” he muttered. “They said my MegaCom was all we had.”

  “That’s not all,” I said, pointing at the formerly-red planet.”

  “That rock isn’t—”

  Something started hammering against a portal. Five of the six tunnels were now clogged with troopers, but the last one remained sealed. I winced.

  “I think it’s time we regrouped,” Tack said. “Somewhere else.”

  Derrick nodded like a bobblehead. “Let’s get out of here before they block the last tube.”

  My father tapped a few keys. The door to the empty tunnel slid open.

  “Wait!” Sarah grimaced in confusion. “I found the AI program. But guys. It’s offline.”

  My father raced to her station as another of the airlocks began to hum. Tack placed his hand against the metal. “They’re forcing this door,” he yelled. “We can discuss programming another time.”

  “Why is Chrysalis not using its preternaturally intelligent AI?” My father slid into a chair next to Sarah and tapped her screen. “I recognize this coding style. It’s Nemesis work. Hell, some of this looks like my work. Why deactivate something so incredibly useful? This program could run the station all by itself.”

  The stench of singed metal filled the room. Definitely time to go.

  Sarah typed something, then her eyes widened. “Oh!”

  My father stared at the screen with a look of incomprehension. “These characters . . . I can’t even make out a coding language. What platform is this?”

  Sarah shook her head. “No idea. But this data stream is running the station right now.”

  My father blinked. “It’s like a snake. This code is . . . it’s breathing. Watch how these sequences flow and change. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Why are we still here?” Derrick was bouncing on the balls of his feet. “The Nemesis AI was supposed to evolve, right? So it did. End of story. Right?”

  Sarah shook her head emphatically. “These two codes have nothing to do with each other. Like they’re different species. This new one almost feels like . . .”

  She stopped. Glanced at my dad.

  He spoke in a strangled voice. “It doesn’t look human.”

  The lights in the control room died. A red glow sprang up from the auxiliaries.

  Two of the airlocks slid open, and troopers poured onto the deck.
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br />   Derrick turned and ran down the open tunnel.

  My father rose and fired at the left-hand doorway, downing the first two troopers. Tack was firing into the opposite doorway, keeping the guards there at bay.

  Sarah sprang up and grabbed my forearm. “Come on, Min!”

  “Wait!” I shouted, a bolt of light sizzling past my head. “Tack! Dad!”

  “No time!” Sarah started dragging me toward the opening. “Run, you idiot!”

  “Tack!” I screamed, waving with my free arm. His panicked gaze snapped to me. I saw lights dancing in his eyes. He fired three more times, then darted to where Sarah and I were crouching in the open doorway.

  Derrick was halfway down the tunnel. “The way is still clear!” he shouted.

  My father was hunched behind a workstation, methodically firing at the two hostile tunnels.

  “Dad! Let’s go!”

  He glanced at me and smiled grimly. “Not this time, kiddo. Someone’s gotta shut the door. Good luck.”

  He fired again and again, somehow keeping both ways bottled up.

  “No!” I tried to pull free, but Tack added his strength to Sarah’s and they dragged me backward into the open airlock. “Dad, no!”

  “Love you, Melinda J!”

  A third portal opened. My father rushed to a keyboard and began typing feverishly.

  Troopers appeared behind him. As our inner airlock door sealed, I saw him go down in a horror show of flashing lights.

  A sob burst from my chest. I shook free of Sarah and Tack, who were both screaming things I could no longer hear. I bolted down the tunnel, my thoughts a blur of shock and despair.

  My father was dead.

  Chrysalis had killed him.

  It happened because of me.

  Tears streaked my face as we piled against the far door. Derrick was fiddling with the panel but nothing happened.

  “It won’t open!”

  “MOVE.” Sarah shoved to the front and began pressing keys. For an instant her face bunched in frustration, but then the keypad beeped and the portal slid open. “Your father inputted a rolling code. The doors will seal behind us if we move fast enough. Go!”

  We poured into the inner ring and raced along its curve to the right, then took a left turn. A door appeared and Derrick slapped the access panel, opening a cavernous storage chamber. We rushed inside, then skidded to a stop.

  A dozen troopers stood facing us, blast guns ready. There was nowhere to run. The door clanged shut behind us.

  Sophia stepped into view from behind the wall of guards. She smiled without warmth.

  But it’s not her. None of them are. Or maybe they all are?

  My dad’s final warning echoed in my head. Not human.

  Who were these people? What were they?

  “This has been unpleasant,” Sophia said in a frigid tone. “I wanted to work with you to find a solution to my problem, but you’ve proven to be unmanageable. So we’ll do it another way.”

  A half dozen troopers removed their helmets. None looked like Sophia, but they all had identical faces.

  “Return them to the testing area,” Sophia ordered. “Wait for me there.”

  “Who are you?” I whispered.

  She paused. Cocked her head. “I’m a gardener, Min. I like to watch things grow.”

  We were marched down to the testing facility, where all remaining members of our class had been assembled in the common room. One look at us, and their faces tightened. They knew this wasn’t good.

  Sophia appeared with another squad of troopers. Were they all the same? My mind spun at the possibilities.

  She addressed the group briskly, as if completing an unpleasant task. “Some of your classmates have broken protocol, which has consequences. The testing process will be accelerated after a cull. Your compliance is not up for debate.”

  The guards behind her leveled their weapons as Sophia began reciting names.

  “Liesel Patterson. Ferris Pohlman. Floyd Hornberry. Benny Erickson.”

  Troopers bullied into the crowd and began grabbing those named. Liesel broke down as she was separated from her friends. When a guard tried to seize Big Floyd, he twisted and landed a left hook to his helmet, dropping the trooper like a sack of wheat. But three more guards tackled him. Floyd was dragged to the back of the room as we watched, aghast.

  Ferris went meekly, wiping his nose and chattering at the guards. “No problem, huh? I can help fix stuff. I’m good with machines.”

  The worst was Benny. He tried to resist but had always been skinny as a rail. A guard yanked him along by his long black hair. Benny gave up and began to cry.

  “Let him go!” shouted Darren, a big kid with a wild temper. “Benny!” He bull-rushed the line of troopers as Benny disappeared through the back door. A guard shoved Darren sideways and he toppled, but he sprang back up with murder in his eyes.

  Blood leaked from his lip as he stared at Sophia, panting like a dog.

  “I’ll kill you,” he said simply.

  “Doubtful.”

  Darren lunged. Tack and Derrick both reached for him, but he was too quick. He took two running steps at Sophia.

  Three bolts slammed into Darren’s chest. He stumbled, fell, and lay still.

  Shrieks. Moans. Sophia spoke as a pair of troopers stepped forward and dragged Darren’s body from the room. “You see now that resistance is uselessness. I expect conformity in the future.”

  Her gaze slid to me. An eyebrow rose.

  I leaned forward, poisoned words tipping my tongue, but hands clamped down on my shoulders. Tack and Sarah stepped in front of me, walling me off from Sophia. Derrick kept a steady grip from behind my back. “Not now,” he whispered. “Please, Min. Trust me.”

  Sophia chuckled at the display, then turned and strolled from the room. The remaining troopers filed out after her until the remnants of my class were all that remained. The group devolved into panic.

  I spun, anger blinding me as I lashed out at Derrick. “Let me go! That bitch killed my father. Why should I dance for her?”

  “Because we haven’t played our last card yet.” His gaze darted to where the door had been.

  I wiped my eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  Sarah reached out and hugged me tightly, a move so unexpected—so out of character—that I was momentarily stunned. Her lips brushed my ear. “We’re still in the game, Min. Don’t give up. Whoever these people are, they don’t have us beat yet.”

  I squeezed her back, needing someone to hold on to. “How? Tell me.”

  I heard the smile in her voice.

  “Aren’t you wondering where Noah is?”

  PART FOUR

  REPURPOSEMENT

  30

  NOAH

  I hurried down the endless corridors.

  Motion lights sprang to life as I strode past them, making me wince every time. Thankfully, the station was huge and I’d been able to see any troopers coming before barreling into them. There’d been a tense moment when I’d had to backtrack, frantically searching for a corner to hide around, but I remained undetected. I hoped.

  The station’s emptiness continued to surprise me. Chrysalis was an enormous facility for such a bare-bones occupation. Maybe its staff was concentrated in a sector I hadn’t breached yet.

  Maybe they’re hiding around the next bend.

  I was moving clockwise around the station’s concentric circles. I’d fled from the inner ring to the outer one, trying to get as much distance from the testing facility as possible. My job had been to create a diversion, drawing troopers away from the central hub—the command center capped by the gargantuan Terrarium—so that Tack and the others could disrupt the computer system and spring Min. I’d argued against leaving Min’s physical rescue to the others, but Tack’s assignments had made sense. And the p
lan had worked, right up until it hadn’t.

  I’d watched the disaster unfold from a security platform outside the Terrarium—the one Ethan, Tack, and I had snuck through when first entering Chrysalis with Rose. With no one occupying the giant habitat, all surveillance posts seemed to have been abandoned. I’d been able to tune a monitor to the training facility.

  I’d watched Min and the others get marched into the common room. I saw what happened to Darren. Tears still burned behind my eyelids. The gloves had come off, and no mistake. We were now at war with our captors. So I was probing the farthest reaches of the station, hoping to find something that might help us.

  Did I know what I was looking for? I did not. But I had to come up with some way to free my classmates.

  And Min. We were so close, but suddenly it’s back to square one.

  The inner ring had contained the crew’s living quarters and other areas of human occupation. Or clone occupation, if that’s what they are. Of course, I’m a clone too. Regardless, it’d been nearly uninhabited. Passing dark break room after empty kitchen, my anxiety had spiked. Why was there so much capacity available, yet so few people? I’d avoided the trooper garrison and the access spokes leading to the command hub. I wasn’t ready to make that move yet.

  The outer circle was enormous, though it was still dwarfed by the colossal Terrarium itself, which dominated the station like a basketball set atop two bracelets. I jogged through sectors consisting mainly of cargo holds jammed with packaged things, as well as countless airlocks, automated workshops, and refineries to import raw materials from space and manufacture whatever the station might need. I passed a power plant, an air scrubbing station, and a water purification facility that took up three city blocks.

  I didn’t understand any of it. This was major deep-space technology, far beyond anything I could imagine. I’d barely grasped the silo’s capabilities—Chrysalis legit made me shiver. How could we possibly fight the people who lived here?