Chrysalis

by Brendan Reichs

  Except there’s no one here. Anywhere.

  I stopped in an empty corridor to catch my breath. It might take me hours to complete the outer ring, and I didn’t have that kind of time. So I headed for the inner ring, angling toward where I thought the testing facility should be. Unnerved by the lack of occupants, I was almost ready to risk capture at this point. Why was Sophia winnowing the Nemesis classes down when Chrysalis clearly could support hundreds more?

  I’d reached the third spoke to the left of our Terrarium escape tunnel—the only way I could orient myself in a station shaped like two bike tires lying on their sides—when I heard clomping feet behind me. I scanned the walls for telltale green lights that indicated the presence of an unlocked door. Didn’t see one.

  The treads grew closer. I charged ahead down the corridor, sweat gathering at my temples. I spotted a set of glowing lights to my left, but they were all red, so I scampered forward as quietly as I could, hoping to get lucky with a cross corridor.

  Nope.

  The footsteps were nearly on top of me. I panicked. I had nothing to defend myself with. If captured here, my rescue mission would be over before it even started.

  A dozen yards down the hall, one of the red lights switched to green.

  I didn’t hesitate. Racing over, I jammed my palm against the panel, heard a welcome hiss as it swished open. I leapt inside and closed it behind me just as a booted foot rounded the corner. Adrenaline pooling, I slumped against the wall and choked down a nervous giggle. Then I turned and surveyed my hiding place.

  I was standing in a cozy living area. There was a rug beneath my feet and simple art on the walls, which weren’t stark white plastic but instead painted a muted beige. To my right was a bedchamber no bigger than my former cell, but with more character. Wooden desk. Matching chair. Some sort of exercise machine in the corner. A wall screen displayed a forest landscape with babbling streams.

  There was a bathroom and a small closet containing five identical black uniforms. I pulled one out, thinking perhaps to steal it, but it was too small for me. Then I recognized the design.

  Nemesis Three. So this is how they live.

  I heard a swoosh behind me.

  My eyes widened. I dove into the closet and wriggled behind the hanging uniforms. Then I went as still as stone, though my heart was pounding like a bass drum. This room didn’t unlock itself, you idiot. Someone was coming home.

  I heard a deep sigh, followed by the sound of boots hitting the carpet. Someone dropped a bag on the floor. A figure moved into the bedroom. Gleaming copper hair shone like fire.

  Rose.

  The demon girl from Nemesis Three who’d kicked my ass twice. Three times, if I was being honest. But I had the drop on her now, and could maybe take her prisoner again. She’d know how to get into the training facility.

  Rose started taking off her uniform.

  I froze solid, all the blood in my body rushing to my face. I sucked in a breath.

  Rose stopped moving. She was down to a white tank top and boy shorts that I should not have been assessing. Pale to her toes, Rose was muscular in an Olympic swimmer kind of way. She glanced at the door, biting her bottom lip. Her eyes were twin jets of green fire.

  I should not be watching her. But I have to. She might kick me again.

  Rose regarded the door a moment longer, then walked into the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on as the door closed. I was both relieved and disappointed at the same time. Shame coursed through me like poison.

  You’re literally spying on a girl from her closet!

  I counted to fifty, then eased from the tangle of uniforms. The water ran unchecked. I arrowed for the exit, intent on a quick escape. I was reaching for the door panel when something heavy broke over my head.

  * * *

  • • •

  I awoke in a blank cell. Maybe even the same one from before.

  My head throbbed. My eyes were burning, even in the dimness. A trickle of dried blood ran past my ear.

  “Lights,” I rasped, and the room illuminated.

  Rose was sitting in a chair in the corner, wearing an angry smirk. “Hey there, pervert.”

  I sat up on the bed, realized my hands were zip-tied behind my back. “Water.”

  The wall panel opened, and I stumbled to the dispenser, nearly crumpling along the way. The machine filled a plastic cup. I bent down and caught its edge with my teeth, then flipped the cup back, downing as much as I could. The rest splashed across my face and chest, which felt good too. Panting like a dog, I staggered back to the bed and collapsed. When I looked at Rose again, I could tell she wasn’t taking my cold shoulder well.

  “Nothing to say?” She sniffed haughtily. “I guess you’re used to that kind of thing. Probably spent most your time in the Terrarium trying to catch girls in the shower.”

  “Accident,” I said absently, as the weight of my failure pressed in from all sides. I’d been my classmates’ last hope, and had screwed it up completely. “I was trying to hide and dove through the first open door I found.”

  Rose shifted. The nonsulking part of my brain suspected she was a little put out by my answer, but that didn’t make sense. She worried the collar of her uniform, shooting a glance at the silver globe monitoring the room. “You guys are idiots, you know,” she said.

  “Super.”

  Rose leaned forward. “You can’t overcome Chrysalis. This station is the height of human technology. Sophia and her crew have been planning the endgame of Project Nemesis for decades. But you Fire Lake kids thought you’d suddenly rewrite things?”

  “Human technology?” I sat up, ignoring the thumping pulse in my forehead. “They’re copies, Rose. Clones, I guess. There are ten Sophias, or maybe a hundred. But who is she? We don’t know anything about this place really, or where the crew comes from. How can you blindly follow something you know nothing about?”

  Her cheeks colored. “The MegaComs were built by Project Nemesis, and they worked. Chrysalis was designed by Project Nemesis, and it works. Hell, the old guy who was running around the station was on the original design team, or so the rumor goes. Why should I suddenly doubt a system that’s kept me alive against all possible odds?”

  I shook my head, adjusting my bound arms. “Something isn’t right. How can you not feel it?”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “Your class is so sure you know everything. It’s why you ruin everything.”

  “Wait,” I said suddenly. “You said the old guy was running around? What happened to him?”

  “He’s dead.” Rose’s face was carefully neutral. “The guards shot him in the command center. I heard it on coms.”

  I felt a shocking rush of pain. The man who’d murdered me on five of my birthdays—who’d made my childhood a living nightmare—was now dead. Really dead. I had no idea how to feel. I put it away to consider later. “Have you spoken to anyone who’s been sent to repurposement?”

  Rose looked away. “They’re being kept out of contact to eliminate distraction. That’s all. We’ll see them again when we’re ready to colonize.”

  “You believe that?” I edged forward on my bed. “Tell me where they’ve been taken, at least. You owe me that much.”

  “I don’t owe you a thing.” She stood, straightening her black jumpsuit. “You would’ve been selected for the colony if you’d simply played by the rules. Attacking the command sphere was insanity. What did you hope to accomplish?”

  “My class isn’t much for appeasing our oppressors. Not inside the Program, or out. Guess you Nemesis Three chumps are better at that.”

  Rose’s face flushed to match her hair. “Like I said. Idiots.”

  “What makes you so sure there even is a colony?” I asked suddenly.

  Her eyes widened. Rose parted her lips, then closed them.

  I grunted. Felt like I’d score
d a point. “Are you just here to gloat, or did you have some other reason for watching me sleep like a weirdo?”

  Her mouth snapped back open, ready to protest my hypocritical barb, but Sophia’s voice echoed inside the chamber.

  “Bring the subject to Ward B, please.”

  Rose glanced at the metal ball a second time. I detected a glimmer of distaste. “Come on. You’ve been summoned.”

  “And if I don’t wanna go?”

  Rose smiled tightly. “I’m happy to motivate you.”

  I laughed. Fired an obnoxious wink.

  She blanched, realizing both what she’d said and how I was pretending to take it. The line of her jaw appeared. “Get up or I’ll make you get up,” Rose growled.

  Groaning, I rocked to my feet. “Pretty, but no sense of humor at all.”

  Rose shoved me toward the door.

  Gray was waiting outside, and my mood dropped. I’d beaten him twice in my initial testing and was sure he’d love some revenge. Being my jailor gave him a golden opportunity.

  He glanced at Rose, then at me, and his face closed off. Interesting.

  “Hey buddy,” I said. “We’re done in there.”

  Rose propelled me farther down the hall. “Interrogation. I caught him loose on the ship.”

  “In her bedroom, actually,” I added. It took an effort not to tense my shoulders, but I pulled it off.

  “He was hiding in my closet,” Rose said quickly. She pushed me in the back again, hard, and I chuckled to myself. “I think we’ve got them all now,” she finished.

  “What is Ward B, anyway?” I asked, as we walked toward an elevator at the far end of the corridor.

  Gray flinched. “Why’s he going to B?”

  “Sophia’s orders,” Rose answered.

  “She sent them directly?”

  “She was listening when he woke up. Sophia spoke into his room.”

  They went silent. We entered the lift, rose, and exited. A few quick turns led to a corridor with door lights along one side like my original holding area. “Home sweet home?” I asked.

  Gray jerked me to a halt. “Shut up, you clown. You were really gonna hijack the whole space station, huh? Can’t even tell the hallways apart.”

  “This is an identical hallway, asshat.”

  I flew forward into the wall, my nose crunching against a white panel.

  I felt Gray’s hot breath on my neck. “I could end you right here, and no one would stop me. Do you understand?”

  I twisted to face him. “Please. Lapdogs don’t get to make decisions. Go chase your rubber ball.”

  Gray pulled my head back and slammed it into the wall again. Blood dribbled from my nose, but I just cackled. He could do whatever he wanted. Failing my friends was all that mattered.

  “Gray, enough,” Rose scolded.

  The pressure released, and I slumped to my knees. Rose caught my forearm and steadied me until I regained my bearings. When my vision un-doubled, I watched Gray, stiff-backed, stomp away down the corridor.

  Rose guided me to another wall panel. A room opened that was different from the others I’d occupied. Larger, for one thing. Not as big as Rose’s apartment, but definitely a step up from my last cell. The biggest difference was a second door at the opposite end.

  “Where’s that go?” I asked, my voice a little slurred. I thought briefly about how bad concussions were, and how many I’d probably had in the last few weeks.

  “See for yourself.” A small blade appeared in her hand. Startled, I tried to squirm away, but she spun me around and severed my bonds. “Try not to cause trouble, Noah,” she whispered into my ear.

  Rose walked out before I could respond.

  Noah? That’s new.

  I walked to the opposite door. It opened at my touch, revealing what could only be described as a recreation room. There was a pool table, a flat screen with an attached video game console, even a small kitchen. The far wall was a giant window looking out on the depths of outer space. Music drifted from somewhere, but I didn’t recognize the song. A freaking LeBron James poster was pinned to a corkboard with a half dozen darts sticking out of it.

  “What the . . .”

  I was standing there like a dope, exploring the bumps on my battered head, when a second door opened farther down the wall. Cyrus stepped out. He glanced at me and smiled. “Noah Livingston. You’ve graduated.”

  He crushed my hand shaking it. I patted his muscular back.

  “What is this place?” I asked, trying not to shake out my pulverized fingers.

  “Welcome to the Nemesis Three compound,” Cyrus answered, spreading his arms wide. “Those of us not yet selected for the colony have to rough it here. My classmates with tickets already stamped have their own condos or something. But you must’ve impressed Sophia to be bunking with us now.”

  I blinked stupidly. “Huh?” I’d just participated in a conspiracy to subvert the station.

  His gaze darted to a silver ball in the ceiling, then back to me. “If they moved you here, you did something right,” he said loudly. “We’re one step away from the planet’s surface.”

  “Cyrus, what the hell do they want from us?”

  His voice dropped to a murmur. “I don’t know. That’s why I tried to help, not that it got us anywhere.”

  I looked around again. “This is like a college dorm. Why would they put me in here with you guys? I attacked the crew!”

  Cyrus shrugged. “If you find out, please let me know.”

  I shook my head, spoke in an urgent whisper. “I will. And I’ll tell you something else: I’m not giving up. I’m getting Min out of Sophia’s hands, no matter what I have to do. The others too. Are you with me?”

  Cyrus gave me an appraising look. “We have the same goals, Noah.”

  I smiled, but he held up a hand to stop me short. “You need to be fully aware, though.” Cyrus pointed to a screen on the wall to my left. I gave him a questioning look. “Things have become more serious,” he said solemnly. “You have to see.”

  We walked over to the monitor. My eyes widened as I recognized Vonda Clark onscreen, inside some sort of clear plastic phone-booth vault. She was attempting to plug a series of holes with rubber stoppers. Water was pouring in from several openings, but the flows would periodically rearrange and she’d have to adjust. As I watched, she fell behind, and the water crept up to her waist.

  “She doesn’t see the plug in the floor,” Cyrus whispered.

  It was true. There was a drain in the corner that would allow for more outflow if she pulled the stopper, but Vonda never turned around. Instead the water level continued to rise. Vonda panicked, fumbling plugs and pulling out the wrong ones.

  “Turn around, V!” I shouted, but it was no use. The water rose even with her head, then swamped her, reaching the ceiling and filling the vault. Vonda struggled for a few desperate moments, hands raking the glass as she fought for air. Then she stopped moving, eyes wide and empty as she sank to the floor.

  I spun and punched the wall. “Why’d they do that? Vonda never hurt anybody, or caused trouble! What purpose could . . . drowning her possibly serve?!”

  Cyrus’s face was ashen. “I do not know, Noah. But the tests are suddenly life and death. For my class, too—those of us still fighting for spots.” He nodded at the screen. “She wasn’t sent to repurposement. You needed to see.”

  “Why would they show it to us?” The words came out as a plea.

  “So we know the stakes,” Cyrus said quietly. “One must always know the stakes.”

  31

  MIN

  I shrugged out of my sodden jumpsuit.

  Pulled another from the closest. Then I slammed my fist against the wall, opening the food dispenser. Inside was another thick bar of purple gelatin. I made a face—it was there with every meal and tasted like
processed slime. Instead I grabbed a banana. The fresh fruit must’ve come from somewhere inside the Terrarium. I got by on that and nuts. I refused to eat mystery glob on general principle, protein or not.

  “Water.”

  I downed two glasses, then called for my desk and sat, sighing tiredly. The last challenge had been brutal.

  If I hadn’t seen that floor plug . . .

  I shivered. My head slumped back, and I stared at the ceiling. The tests were becoming more frequent. More people had gone missing. I’d been skipped past one round of this while Sophia tried to woo me, but after my escape attempt I no longer received special treatment. I hadn’t seen a trace of Sophia since this latest series of nightmares began.

  I hadn’t told anyone about Mars. I honestly wasn’t sure they’d believe me.

  Vonda Clark. Susan Daughtridge. Leighton Huddle. Lauren Decker.

  We weren’t told a thing. They simply vanished.

  The last time those of us remaining in the “interview process” had assembled in the common room, there were only twelve people left, though Noah was still unaccounted for.

  Lucky thirteen. If he’s still alive.

  I stood and kicked the desk. Then I entered the bathroom and gathered my hair into a rough ponytail.

  Of course he’s alive. Noah was resourceful. He’d find a way to . . . to . . .

  I yanked my hair, pulling the glossy black strands into a tighter knot. It was long now, nearly past my shoulders. My mother had always liked it short.

  Jesus.

  Behind me, a blue light sprang to life. I slammed down my brush in frustration. “Another one? What is this, some kind of endurance challenge?”

  No answer. There never was.

  The door opened, and I glared at the empty corridor. But I always went. Getting out of my box was better than being locked inside the damn thing, and my captors knew it.

  The left-hand corridor was uncovered this time, the one leading to the huge gaming chamber. I stepped into the room. The lights went out and I nearly squawked.