Total System Failure

by James Hightower

  Before he could even scream, he found himself lying on cold stone. He drew a ragged breath. What was that? Not human. Machine then. He sensed that he’d been swept up in events far beyond the scope of his knowledge.

  He lay in an alleyway between the shoulder of two glass buildings. Sounds of pedestrian traffic drifted from somewhere nearby. A rat scuttled past his head. He pushed against the damp ground. His arms and shoulders refused to obey. He checked his chest. All that was left of the gaping wound across his chest was a bumpy scar. He stared and ripped the jacket off. A scab crisscrossed his shoulder. He could self-repair. The revelation dizzied him.

  As he struggled to his feet, he recalled the conversation with the entity. He would have to go to Satellite Control. A quick search informed him the location. Stargate. Five-hundred and first floor. He swallowed at the thought of being that high from the ground. The shuttle to the Moon was on the five-hundred and third floor. Where Agent Square would be.

  With another jolt, he remembered that Domo still waited for him at Gray’s apartment. Every part of him was screaming to go to Stargate now. Yet, a tiny voice whispered that he’d made a promise to his friend. He would return. He would let his only true friend know he was alive.

  The alleyway spilled out into a greater road, the moonlight out-dazzled by the lights emanating from the buildings tucked in neat rows. Navigation to Gray’s apartment flitted across the corner of his screen. He followed the red line through the twists and turns, inclines and descents, until finally, heart pounding in his chest, he recognized the looping structure.

  The building gate scanned his bio-signature and swung to admit him. He shouldn’t have been surprised by that, but he was. He checked over his shoulder. No one appeared to be following him. Not that he would know either way. He squared his shoulders and quickened his pace.

  The colors were too vivid, as though he strolled through someone else’s dream. He moved, but the movement could’ve been by a stranger. His field of vision shrunk to what was directly in front of him. A sense of wrongness tickled at the back of his neck.

  On the elevator, he rehearsed what he was going to say to Domo. Surely, this would be a goodbye. He was going to Stargate. It was likely he would not return.

  As the elevator dinged and he strolled along the hall, the creeping wrongness plucked at his hackles. Gray’s apartment door stood ajar. He eased it open and stepped inside, heart thumping so loudly as to give him away to the intruder. Why couldn’t he control his abilities? Now would be a good time.

  A slight shuffle from inside the room. His entire body strained to listen, but only silence answered his call. Still. Someone was here. He would—

  The air rushed out of his stomach. Something hard struck him between the eyes and he fell to the carpet. He inhaled fire as he convulsed on the floor and attempted to scramble to his feet.

  Long, lithe legs stood over him, poised to deliver another blow. He recognized the short-cropped auburn hair instantly.

  “Marcia,” he croaked. “Why are you—”

  She struck him again in the chest. Pain leapt up from his wound. “Where is he?”

  The wound tightened painfully as he fell. He could feel blood trickle down his arm. He gaped, hardly processing the question. He. There was little doubt who he was.

  “I don’t know,” Alec said, his breath heavy against the floor.

  She raised her palm, flat and ready to strike again. Then, Marcia cocked her head at a sudden sound. She shot him a warning glance and darted away.

  Alec climbed to his feet, rubbing the aching spot in his chest. Before he could investigate, Marcia reemerged with Domo in front of her. Her face was a cruel mask, the sweet, fun-loving girl from two days ago just a memory.

  “I looked everywhere for this rat and couldn’t find him,” she said. “Now that I have you two together. Let’s play a game, shall we?”

  “Marcia, this isn’t you,” Domo said. He recognized the same hurt in his friend’s voice. Domo didn’t know this new Marcia yet. Otherwise he would know pleading was futile. Well, his friend was about to get an introduction.

  “You don’t know half the things I’ve done,” the girl said. She clutched at the boy’s shirt and pushed him. Towards the balcony. The girl gestured for Alec to follow. His stomach lurched as she gestured for Domo to open the balcony doors. She couldn’t, could she?

  “Marcia…no,” his friend said, horror sliding across his face. “Don’t do this.”

  “Open the door, or I’ll send you through it.” Marcia shifted her stance meaningfully.

  Alec willed his Super Strength to come. At least he could try and fight her again. Gray said he would’ve lost before, but maybe now, he could defeat. Doubt flared, and his last hope wink out as Domo slid open the door to the balcony instead.

  “I’m guessing Gray isn’t dead then?” Alec asked, deadpan as wind gusted through the opening. It was a blissfully warm night.

  Marcia sneered as she shoved Domo onto the balcony. “That bitch burned his foot and destroyed half the manor, but he’ll survive.” The wind howled, temporarily drowning out her voice. “Tell me what I need to know.”

  Marcia edged Domo towards the side of the balcony. She clutched his friend’s shirt and shoved again, sending him halfway over the railway.

  “No!” Alec stepped forward.

  Marcia’s other hand shot out, driving him back. Without Super Strength, he could do nothing.

  “Tell me where the AI is!”

  It was pointless. Alec didn’t even know Gray was alive a few moments ago. He shook his head slowly, head down.

  “Worth a try,” Marcia said regretfully. In a flash of motion, Domo went toppling and screaming over the railing.

  Alec stepped forward, but from the corner of his vision a flash of silver caught his attention. The hoverboard. He didn’t have time to think. He snatched the board and leapt over the balcony.

  Marcia’s scream followed him, that he would die too, that she had never cared anyway. The wind screamed too, that he was a fool, that his friend wasn’t worth his own.

  Then even the wind fell silent.

  Chapter 23

  The surface glittered like jewels dropped from the heavens. His stomach lurched as he plummeted towards the blinking lights. Wind raked his air back and caught the scream on his lips. He tightened his grip on the hover board. Its familiar weight reassured him. The board interface floated across him.

  Alec was accelerating too fast.

  The wind nearly tore the board from his grip. Struggling against the wind, he got his feet under the board. His elbow popped and pain shot from his elbow. He clung to the square slab anyway, the only barrier between life and death.

  The controls were already in place. His modification on his board was present on Gray’s silver one as well. Astounded, Alec didn’t have time to gawk. He descended even faster towards the ground.

  Towards Domo.

  Almost there. His friend’s terrified face loomed into view. The moment hadn’t lasted more than three seconds. Then, his friend’s hands wrapped around the hoverboard. He reversed acceleration. Instead of splattering against the street below, his descent slowed. The board shuddered and strained against the forces, but soon they were out of danger.

  Domo screamed and whooped at his feet.

  They’d survived. Relief swelled in his chest, well as relieved as one could feel standing on a thin board one-hundred feet above ground. One-hundred feet at least. Still he cracked a grin at the feat. Until he noticed a tiny figure leaning over a balcony high above them. Marcia. A dark shape slid across the illuminated sky. Like a bird, but much bigger. A drone.

  Can a hoverboard outrun a drone?

  The board wobbled awkwardly as though in response. It wasn’t designed for two people, he knew, and it was showing.

  “The next shuttle to the Moon is in forty-five minutes. So, we need to get to Stargate well before then. And looks like Marcia will be after us soon.”

  His frien
d readjusted his grip on the board. Alec was using the hoverboard’s full power, but they cruised along at a pathetic speed. Marcia would blow them to bits if they couldn’t go any faster. Domo noticed, huffing.

  “It would go faster if there was just one of us,” his friend yelled over the rushing wind.

  Alec couldn’t reply for the lump in his throat. He knew what his friend was going to say even before he started shouting again.

  “Go low and leave me,” Domo said.

  “But—” His throat tightened. What would happen if he left him here with enemies all around?

  “Man, do you need to get to the shuttle or not?”

  It was a sensible response. It was the right thing to do. Tara would approve. Yet, he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his friend behind, not after everything they’d been through. He hesitated.

  “If you don’t land this thing, I’ll jump off myself.”

  Some deep core of himself shook and cracked as he descended to the street. The streets were empty, but Alec knew this was only an illusion. When they were a few feet from the ground, Domo released the board. Without his friend’s weight, the board dipped higher, its full power finally restored.

  Domo waved him on. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll soon be in a bubble bath at the nicest hotel in the city. You’re the one with the hard path.”

  “I need your battery,” he told his friend.

  Domo nodded as though this were the most natural question in the world. His friend’s system resources flowed into his, vigor flooding through him.

  “I’ll leave fifteen percent,” Alec said.

  “Five.”

  His system battery jumped to seventy-five percent. He switched his system to low-power mode. He had to make each percentage count. His vision blurred with tears as he searched for something to say.

  “See you later,” he said lamely. A lie, and they both knew it. Why was he so bad at goodbyes?

  “Love you, man.” Domo gave him one his dazzling grins.

  Alec blinked away the now free flowing tears. He hovered there for a heartbeat, then in the distance he heard an approaching drone.

  “Love you too, D.” There was still so much to say. Wasn’t there always more to say?

  He scrubbed tears from his face and angled the hoverboard away. The thing leapt forward in huge hungry bounds. With only one person, the board was the fastest he’d ever rode on.

  Stargate transformed from a line penciled through the sky to a gash through reality itself. The black tower seemed to eat at the surrounding illumination, emanating its own soft dull glow of its own. The only structure he’d seen as big was the golden pyramid in Auresse. His pulse quickened as the building consumed his vision. Thirty-five minutes before the shuttle left. He might even have time to ambush Agent Square if he skipped going to Satellite Control.

  He opened the file given to him. A red error message popped in front of him.

  Access Denied.

  Strange. How could the entity block access within his own system? A passing building flashed a message in thick black letters. Beware the consequences. Alec hunched over as though punched in the gut.

  A sense of wrongness turned him around. Just in time to see a cruiser barreling his way. Alec swerved, hands tight on the metal board to keep from flying off.

  The cruiser shot past, trailed by hot gust.

  Marcia, I already told you I don’t know where the AI is.

  Her response came startling quick. The Boss wants you.

  His skin went cold. We have two of the most sophisticated pieces of hardware in the solar system. The exact words of the Boss. At that time, he’d been more concerned with escaping, but now he realized he was as much of a prize as Gray was. If the Boss couldn’t get Gray, he was the next best thing.

  Sammy appeared next to him. “Shall I call the police? I saw what happened.”

  Where was the bird when he falling three-hundred feet in the air? “Not necessary.” Police would only slow him down.

  Marcia’s cruiser announced itself with its thrumming engine. Stargate loomed so near, but he couldn’t go to Satellite Control until he lost her.

  A plan formed almost instantly.

  It was rather simple. Marcia’s cruiser was designed for a much higher altitude. The lower he got, the more his advantage.

  Alec banked low. Low enough that he should be brushing the heads of pedestrians. Whatever magic of Arctic City held, as he didn’t hit anyone. The engine rumbled after him. Perfect. He skipped along the surface like a mosquito on a pond, cutting between anything that could act as an obstacle.

  The cruiser followed, but he could see frustration building in the drone’s controls.

  Marcia, it’s too late. You don’t have to do this.

  I don’t have a choice. Even through the message, Alec sensed her anguish and despair. His gut twisted. He didn’t imagine that Marcia might be compelled by outside forces. It certainly made sense. If she didn’t have a choice, then neither did he.

  The cruiser’s engine rattled the windows of nearby buildings.

  Time to end this now. He skirted towards the buildings clustered around Stargate. He sought out with the part of his mind he’d used on the battle droid. Their buildings flinched back at his attention. He reached again. This time they opened to him. His breath caught as his senses blurred with the structures.

  He swayed on the hoverboard. Sensing his need, one building in particular shone out like a beacon. He homed in on the slender, hexagonal tower. A dome of purple-red light spun at its top. It was beautiful, but not what drew Alec in. Platforms jut out near the tower’s peak, platforms that could be detached through a series of interlocked steel beams.

  His board wobbled as his concentration waned, and he fought to steady it as he spiraled around the structure.

  The hoverboard bucked and resisted the altitude. The cruiser followed eagerly, sensing victory. Its engines throbbed and it was moments from ramming him out of the sky. He shifted and focused on one of the platforms. The building resisted but dropped its weight. He swerved out of the way at the last possible moment. Marcia, so focused on him, didn’t see it coming.

  The steel beam crashed into the cruiser. Flames belched from the engine, and horror filled him as the cruiser exploded.

  The board pitched wildly. What the—

  But he already knew what. Instinct brought his elbow up, blocking Marcia’s punch. The board trembled as he fought to keep from toppling over the side. Marcia grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Her other arm found his throat and squeezed.

  Tears rolled down his cheeks. He gasped for air that refused to come. He thrashed in her grip, but she was far stronger than he could’ve ever imagined. The edges of his vision darkened.

  Marcia’s message drifted across his fading vision. After this, we will be together. Don’t you want that?

  Very much, he messaged back. That’s why I will come back for you.

  He shot directly towards the nearest building. It was time to find out how sturdy this body was.

  His knee buckled as sharp pain exploded in his side. The twisting structure sharpened in clarity. They were so close he could see people working in offices. They headed directly towards an arguing pair, a woman and a man in suits that would’ve made Agent Square scoff. Their eyes widened as they noticed his approach. The woman’s mouth opened wide into a scream.

  Marcia delivered a final blow to the small of his back. He grunted but remained on course. Marcia snarled, and the weight lifted off the board as she leapt off.

  One second before impact.

  He switched to acceleration and hit the throttle to reverse. He leaned hard right. The board screamed in his grip. It wasn’t enough.

  Glass shattered, and he tumbled through the air twice before everything went black.

  Chapter 24

  Glass crunched against his gums and teeth. Alec spit but there always seemed to be more. His entire body felt like a giant wound. Pain washed over him in crushi
ng waves as he pushed himself to his knees.

  A scarred piece of Gray’s hoverboard lay next to him. Useless.

  Outside the shattered window, Stargate was so close it blotted out half the sky. For his entire life, he’d dreamed of seeing the famous structure with his own eyes. Or had he been programmed to want to see the structure?

  The wind gusted through his entry point. He wondered if Marcia still lived. She had no choice. He set his jaw and focused on the black tower through the opening. Drones darted by, the multitude of vehicles like pixels flashing across a broken screen. Remembering his escape from the taxi and to the DC Metro station, his plan was simple.