Countdown

by Michelle Rowen

  grab our ankles and pull us into another room and devour us. “Maybe they changed it,” Rogan said. “The room. Maybe

  it doesn’t have my father’s name on it anymore.”

  I scanned the hallway. “Maybe. Or maybe Joe was lying.

  He could have made the whole thing up.”

  “Yeah, and maybe that disc only has pictures of his last vacation on it.”

  I didn’t like this game of “maybe” we were playing. I gave

  Rogan a sharp look.

  He glanced at me. “I guess we should be positive.” “Screw positive. I just want to find the room.” “We don’t have much time. They’ll shut this place down, lock all the exits to find us. Maybe we should try to leave now,

  while we still have half a chance.”

  “After we went to all this trouble to get in here? Why would

  we want to miss out on the fun? How much time do we have

  before they find us?”

  “Why?”

  “I feel a sense of loss if I’m not working against a countdown. Sue me.”

  He snorted. “In that case, I figure we have a few minutes

  max before they lock the place down. Sweeping the levels

  with full security…maybe another half an hour.”

  I felt a very small sense of relief. Microscopically small.

  “Thirty-five whole minutes. Talk about luxury.” “Well, that’s if we hadn’t left two bodies marking the staircase leading downstairs. That will quarter our time.” My heart sank. “Damn.”

  “Yeah.”

  I scanned every door we came to. Just as I was about to

  give up hope and take Rogan up on his offer to get the hell

  out of Dodge, my eyes widened.

  “Look.” I pointed at the last door that had a small brass

  plaque affixed to it—so small it was barely noticeable in the

  flickering light.

  G. ELLIS.

  My hands trembled as I slid Oliver’s access card through

  the lock. The lights f lickered red.

  No entry.

  I swore under my breath. “It’s not working.”

  “Try it again.” Rogan’s voice was strained as he scanned

  the hallway. “And hurry.”

  I tried it again. Still no luck.

  I let out a snarl of frustration as I slid it through for a third

  time. Then as the red light f lickered I came to the sudden realization that I was sliding it the wrong way around. The metallic strip had to be down.

  Mentally kicking myself, I f lipped the card and tried it the

  other way around.

  The light f lickered green and I heard a click.

  Rogan pushed the door open. It was pitch-dark inside,

  which immediately ratcheted my anxiety up another notch. I

  fumbled at the wall until I found the light pad, and I tapped

  it. The lighting f lickered on, and I blinked as I gazed around

  at the room.

  It didn’t look anything like I thought it would. I would

  have expected a f lank of computers, or at the very least, one

  big one in the middle of the room. A desk. Maybe a potted

  plant. Joe had said that this was Gareth’s secondary office. Instead, it looked more like a lounge. A large black leather

  couch was in the middle of the room with Japanese-inspired

  folding screens on either side. There was an unusually large

  amount of religious-themed artwork—paintings, sculptures

  and other fine art pieces representing all forms of religions,

  from an ornate and bejeweled rosary pinned to the wall to a

  large, golden laughing Buddha on a tabletop.

  A large display screen on the wall across from the couch displayed images of the outdoors. It looked similar to the one in

  the reward room. Fakeness trying to appear real—and nearly

  succeeding. Behind me came a bubbling sound, and I turned

  to see an elaborate water garden next to a Zen sand garden. I eyed Rogan, and he noted my confusion.

  “I totally agree,” he said. “I wouldn’t have guessed that a

  talking binary code needed a place to chill out, either.” “Joe said this is where the server was, right?”

  “Maybe he lied to us. Or maybe it’s been changed since

  then. I don’t see any server in here.” The bluntness of his words

  didn’t cover his disappointment. “Damn it, why didn’t Jonathan tell us more about his plan to stop my father?” “Probably because he didn’t think he’d need to.” I touched

  Rogan’s arm. “What do we do? Where’s the server?” He shook his head and moved his gun back and forth between his hands. “I don’t know.”

  We had to pick our battles. This one seemed dead on arrival. The conf lict between fight and f light rushed through

  me again. I’d had enough fighting. Perhaps it was time to run.

  “Maybe there’s still time for us to escape. You know, live to

  fight another day.”

  Then, to destroy the Zen-like calm of the room, the earsplitting sound of an alarm filled the air.

  “Or not!” I yelled.

  I covered my ears and tried to concentrate. The view screen

  showed a swaying palm tree on a beach in front of a shimmering ocean. The sound of the waves lapping at the shore could

  barely be heard under the din of the alarm.

  Fake. Just like Rogan’s father was now. He was a lot like

  that palm tree, actually. He looked so natural, but underneath

  it all he was just another computer program.

  I frowned. Just a computer program.

  “The view screen.” I pointed at it. “Do you think it might

  be the server? Maybe it’s camouf laged to fool anybody who

  might want to destroy it. Like, say, us.”

  Rogan’s brow furrowed. “One way to find out. Give me

  the disc.”

  I reached into my bra to pull out the small computer disc.

  He took it from me, our fingers brushing against each other. “Let’s hope this works,” he said grimly.

  But before he could move toward the display screen to insert it, a door to our left slid open and Gareth walked into the

  room. He was alone.

  My stomach dropped.

  Rogan held his gun up in the direction of Gareth’s head.

  Neither of us said a word.

  “Well, that’s rude,” Gareth said, shaking his head. “Honestly, kids. You don’t even want to apologize to me for ruining my plans yet again?” His eyes narrowed, and he glanced

  at the disc in Rogan’s left hand. “Why are you in this room?” “I heard this is where the waterfall was,” Rogan said evenly.

  “I like waterfalls. They relax me.”

  Gareth smiled thinly. “Do you know how I found you so

  easily?”

  “Security cameras,” I said, my stomach churning. He shook his head. “My former employee Oliver was able

  to temporarily disable all of them when he helped you escape.

  Like I said, he’s a very talented kid. Or rather, he was a very

  talented kid.”

  Fury rose inside me at Oliver’s fate. I clenched my fists so

  tight at my sides it hurt.

  “No,” Gareth continued and withdrew a handheld device

  with a touch screen just like Jonathan had previously used,

  “not security cameras. It’s your implant, Rogan. The one I

  had Oliver reactivate. I simply traced its signal.”

  “I’m going to kill you,” Rogan growled.

  “No, you won’t.”

  “Why? Because you’re using my father’s body?” “No. Because of that implant in your head.” He pressed

  something on the device.

  Rogan dropped the gun and the dis
c and clutched his head,

  his face contorting in agony.

  “Rogan!” I yelped.

  “I can’t move,” he said after a moment when his arms

  dropped down to his sides. “It’s like someone is holding me

  in place.”

  Gareth sighed heavily. “Move away from him now, Kira.” When I didn’t, he pushed another button, and Rogan roared

  in pain.

  “Fine.” I took a few steps away from him. “Now stop hurting him!”

  He shook his head. “Kira, I was going to be kind before

  and allow you to die peacefully, but now I’m not so sure

  about that.”

  At that moment I wished I could have kept my expression

  blank, emotionless, and not give Gareth more fuel for the

  fire. But I couldn’t help it. Everything I was thinking must

  have been etched into my expression as my gaze f licked back

  to Rogan.

  Gareth walked toward Rogan and snatched up the small disc

  he’d dropped. He slid it into the inner pocket of his jacket. My

  heart sank. That was our one chance to end this. To survive

  this. Our one chance to win this hellish game.

  All along, the alarm hadn’t stopped blaring, and he had to

  shout to be heard over it.

  “That racket,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Honestly.” He

  pulled a phone from his pocket, pressed a button on it, and

  held it to his ear. “Turn that off,” he said simply, and ended

  the call without another word.

  The noise ceased a moment later.

  “I need to know something,” I began. Maybe if I got him

  talking, it might give me enough time to figure out what to

  do next. “What’s with all the religious stuff in here?” He gazed around the room slowly. “I’ve been studying humankind in an attempt to understand them. So many faiths in

  this world, and so many problems that difference has caused

  across the centuries and millennia. I plan to take the best of

  each one and form a single perfect religion in the future. Do

  you believe, Kira?”

  “Do I believe?”

  “In a greater power?”

  I glanced at Rogan. His expression was strained as if the

  pain hadn’t stopped yet. “I…I don’t know.”

  “You should, with the gift you’ve been given.” Gareth

  folded his hands behind his back and walked a slow circle

  around me.

  I stood as still as one of his expensive statues and felt his

  appraisal like cold, clammy hands on my skin. He stepped in

  close enough to f lick my dark hair off my shoulder. Casually,

  he put his fingers against my throat. It seemed as if he was

  searching for a pulse.

  “Humans are essentially a weak species who are too concerned with destroying their world and each other to appreciate all that has been given to them by a greater power.” I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “There is a wonder in being human,” he breathed. “Organic

  matter that thinks and breathes and reproduces. And these organic creatures in turn created computers to help them. Now

  the cycle shall fold back upon itself and the computers will use the organics to help them. But the psychic element…this is a

  fascinating wild card thrown into the mix, isn’t it?” “Get your hands off her.” Rogan’s voice was still strong,

  but there was a hard edge of pain to it now.

  “I could crush her throat so easily.” His fingers slid against

  my skin. “But it’s such a waste if her death can’t be shown on

  Countdown. You will die on camera, my dear girl, I can promise you that. But not just yet.”

  “What do you want from me?” I managed, sickened by his

  touch but too afraid to pull away.

  “I want you to use your ability on me again.” He grabbed

  my hand and brought it up to his face. “I dismissed it before,

  but now I’m wondering if you might be more powerful than I

  originally thought. Read me. I want to know for certain that

  I have a soul. That I am truly the first of an evolved species.” “Tainted artificial intelligence programming doesn’t have

  a soul,” Rogan snapped. “You’re just a computer virus with

  a stolen heartbeat.”

  Gareth whirled around to face him. “No, I’m much more

  than that—and soon, everyone will know it.”

  “Dad!” Rogan yelled, his face and neck showing the strain

  of trying to move when his body wouldn’t let him. “If you’re

  in there somewhere, you have to fight. You have to help us!” “Your father is gone forever, boy,” Gareth snarled. “Think

  of me as the improved model.” He turned back to me. “Will

  you read me?”

  I raised my chin as much as I could. “Why would I give

  you anything you want? You just said you’re going to kill me

  anyway.”

  His jaw tensed, and he pressed a button on his touch screen. Rogan roared in pain.

  “This will kill him if I continue,” he said. “You will kill

  him.”

  All of the fight went out of me. I couldn’t watch somebody I cared about be tortured and not do anything to stop

  it. I wasn’t that strong. “Please…don’t—”

  “Don’t?” He didn’t let go of that button.

  “Fine! I’ll read you.”

  He finally let go of the button, and Rogan went silent, his

  shoulders slumping.

  Gareth grabbed my hand and put it to the side of his face

  again. “I’m waiting. Tell me what you feel.”

  I glanced at Rogan, recovering from the torture of his implant. And then I looked into this monster’s eyes—the very

  same blue-green as Rogan’s. There was no doubting the family resemblance. In thirty years, this was probably how Rogan

  would look—just like this handsome, powerful man in his

  perfect business suit.

  But first he’d need to live that long. And I was going to do

  everything in my power—such as it was—to help make that

  happen. So Rogan could choose exactly what kind of a man

  he became in the future.

  We weren’t dead yet.

  I closed my eyes, tried to concentrate, and sank into his

  mind.

  It didn’t take long before the pain began to seep into my

  brain. “I see nothing. I’m getting nothing.”

  “Keep trying.”

  I gritted my teeth and waded farther into his mind, but it

  was the same as before. “It’s like a universe of darkness. So

  cold and empty and—”

  But suddenly there it was—that oasis of emotion in a bar

  ren, dry desert.

  Fear and pain and sadness washed over me. I recognized

  these sensations from before. It was as if everybody had an

  individual emotional fingerprint. The same emotions would

  feel different from someone else’s viewpoint. I’d read four

  people now, and each had been so different I was certain I’d

  be able to tell who it was just from the emotions, even with

  my eyes shut.

  These emotions belonged to Gareth Ellis. The real one. Then I heard something so quiet that it was like a radio

  turned on in another room. I strained to make out the thoughts

  buried deep inside the darkness.

  Kill me, kill this body while there’s still time…you must do it.

  There’s no other choice. Take care of my son. Don’t let this happen

&
nbsp; to him. I love him.

  The pain finally forced me to open my eyes and stagger

  back.

  Gareth studied my face, his gaze searching. “You saw something. What is it? Did you see my soul? What did it look like?

  Was it beautiful?”

  Oh, I’d seen something, all right. But it wasn’t what he

  wanted to hear. “It was very faint for a while, but there was

  something—”

  “What? What was it?” His words held naked eagerness. “Your soul was like a bright light in the middle of the darkness. It was very beautiful.”

  To me, the lie sounded totally unnatural leaving my mouth,

  but it was obviously what he wanted to hear.

  He nodded, smiling broadly now. “I never should have

  doubted it. This proves what I have been saying all along, that I am the first in the next evolution of mankind. The true mixture of man and machine. And now, Kira, you will help

  me become even more than that.”

  I raised my eyebrows. What was he talking about now? He pulled out his phone again and made a call. “Yes, change

  of plans. I want the girl taken to the thirty-sixth f loor for further testing.” He hung up without saying another word. When he turned back to me, his expression was pleasant. “I

  will be testing your Psi abilities to find out what makes you

  different than an average human. And what happened during the Great Plague to create this particular mutation in your

  DNA. Whatever it is, I will reproduce it on a digital level and

  add it to my programming.”

  His phone rang, and he held it to his ear to answer it. I exchanged a look with Rogan. His eyes were open again,

  his expression as tense as I’d ever seen it.

  Don’t give up hope….

  Gareth turned his back to me as he spoke with whoever

  was on the other end of the line. The gun Rogan had dropped

  was still by his feet.

  The real Gareth Ellis had given me full permission to end

  his life. It was what Jonathan had planned to do, I knew that

  now. There were so few other ways to end this.

  “Give us a few more minutes,” he said into the receiver.

  “And then send security down here.”

  What was he going to do for a few more minutes? Get me

  to read him again? Torture Rogan some more?

  Did he even know why we were in this room? He’d taken

  the disc away from Rogan, but did he have any idea what