Shutdown

by Heather Anastasiu

  The crowd around me roared. I pulled away from the crush of bodies, trying to feel around frantically to find Max. But people were moving so quickly, pouring in and then filling their seats. It was impossible to try to determine which moving body among the hundred didn’t have a visual match. I looked around frantically. Hundreds of rows of seats surrounded the oval pit sunk fifty feet below. Layers of balconies hung over each other for even more seating. Lights from the domed top of the arena blazed so brightly it looked like daylight, and huge screens were mounted along the walls.

  I pulled back out of the crowd and stepped onto a raised ledge running along the bottom of the wall outside the entryway. At least this way I could get out of the flow of foot traffic. No one had noticed me, but only because I’d been lucky. I watched for a moment to squeeze back through the entry. But people kept streaming in, and I worried that if I tried to push back against them moving in the other direction, someone would notice something anomalous this time.

  A third horn sounded, and the crowd responded with deafening noise, jumping to their feet, screaming and yelling and whistling. I’d never heard anything so loud in my life and covered my ears. The screens filled with images of Regulators and detailed stats about their hardware additions and kill records. I shuddered. I hadn’t known it would be Regs fighting. It made a twisted sort of sense, I supposed. They wanted to pit the strongest fighters against each other. Who better than their police force of Regulators with their metal exoskeletons and hardware enhancements? They were still human underneath, but years of training and programming had converted them into killing machines.

  Then I thought about Cole, one of the Regulators-in-training I’d rescued when I first escaped the Community. I’d been able to crush his V-chip and sever him from the Link, and he’d fought hard to regain his humanity. It was his personal mission to help other young Regs-in-training we captured do the same. Like the rest of the population, once Regs got the final V-chip installed at eighteen, they were lost to us. The Rez still hadn’t found a way to remove the invasive adult V-chip without killing the person, in spite of countless attempts. Still, if Cole knew the details of this spectacle in front of me, he’d be horrified. These Regs had been programmed to fight for no other reason than for the sick entertainment of a pampered crowd.

  A countdown clock started, and the crowd chanted along. “Ten! Nine! Eight!”

  From the ledge, I could see over everyone’s head down to the oval not far below. When the count got to zero, a large set of doors opened at one end, and a hulking figure walked out to the center.

  I couldn’t help but stop and stare. It was a Reg, that was clear from the metal that glinted in the arena lights. But it wasn’t an ordinary Reg. Metal spikes covered his back. At first I thought he was wearing some kind of armor, but as the large wall screen zoomed in, I could see he wasn’t wearing a shirt at all—the spikes were embedded along his spine. Bits of flesh peeked out from the metal woven into his musculature, but unlike normal Regs, he looked more machine than man.

  I forced myself to look away from him. I had to find Max. I looked at the people streaming through the door, wondering if I should chance pushing through them all anyway.

  Then at the other end of the stadium, a door opened and five more Regs came out, each of them with more strange and terrifying additions. One had a giant steel battering ram for an arm, another had heavy swords instead of hands. The ear-splitting horn sounded again, and the five raced toward the spiked Reg. The ground of the arena was covered in metal plating, and the huge thunk, thunk, thunk of their heavy sprinting footsteps echoed through the arena even above the sound of all the cheering and screaming.

  The Reg with the battering-ram arm reached the spiked Reg first and launched himself forward with his hydraulic-reinforced legs. The spiked one had jumped too, twisting in midair so that his back was turned to his oncoming enemy.

  The Regs met in the air with a giant crash. The spikes sliced through the exposed belly of the other Reg. Blood spurted out over the ground just as the rest of the Regs got close. The crowd jumped to their feet around me, roaring their approval of the kill.

  The other four quickly attacked the spiked Reg. The metal from their various body parts sparked with the force of each impact. More blood spurted through the air, huge swaths of red filling the vid screen in the background.

  I turned away, nauseated. But I couldn’t block out the sounds of metal crunching against metal. I could tell from the way the crowd reacted that another Reg had died. I glanced back and saw three bodies on the ground. The two remaining Regs had turned on each other, one swinging a heavy spiked ball on a chain. The other hit the ball away with his sword, but the Reg was quick and swung again right away. The spiked ball embedded itself in the opponent’s forehead.

  And the crowd jumped to its feet, cheering louder.

  I stepped down off the ledge. I didn’t want to see any more. I already felt sick to my stomach. My power buzzed in my ears uncontrollably, straining to get out because I’d become so emotional. It hadn’t happened in months, at least not when I was awake. I stumbled, the bile rising in my throat, and backed into someone who let out a grunt of surprise.

  Chapter 4

  BEFORE I COULD TURN AROUND to look at who it was, a hand slid over my mouth and a whisper sounded in my ear, “Shh.”

  It was Max. I let out a relieved breath and whipped around. I wondered how he’d found me. Could he sense me somehow, since he was using his power to shield me? Then again, the how wasn’t important. All that mattered was that he had found me, and we could continue our mission. He grabbed my hand and tugged me forward. I didn’t like touching him, but at the same time, didn’t want to get separated again.

  Most of the crowd was seated now, and the aisles were clear. Down in the arena pit, bodies were being dragged away and the stage reset for the next match. I forced my eyes away from all the blood.

  With my telek, I felt Max moving ahead of me with confident steps, crouched low to the ground. I followed his lead as he walked toward the front row. There was a wider aisle in front of these seats to give ample legroom for the important few who got the front-row seats. And there was our target, Warnost, just a few seats away from us now.

  The horn sounded again, signaling the start of the next match. Warnost sat forward in his seat. People were packed in all around him, and suddenly our plan seemed ludicrous. It had sounded so simple when we were discussing it in theory back in the safety of our suite. At least I didn’t sense an ounce of hesitation from Max. There was no trembling in his hands, no stutter to his step. He squatted low right in front of Warnost and pulled out the stun device.

  And then we waited, heart-thumping minutes while the crowd watched whatever was going on behind us. The crash of metal against metal was still deafening, but I forced myself to focus only on the mission. Warnost’s face was getting sweaty with excitement as he watched. His eyes were glued to the action, and then, right after I heard a loud metallic slicing noise, he jumped to his feet along with the rest of the roaring crowd.

  That was our cue. Max jumped up too and held the stunner to Warnost’s face. Warnost froze in place, staring outward with dull eyes. Everyone else was so busy cheering, they didn’t notice his blank expression or the quick flash of light the stunner emitted. I leapt up and tugged the buttons of the top of Warnost’s shirt open, then reached in and slid the pendant off over his neck. Max pulled the fake replacement pendant out of his pocket, keeping the stunner to the man’s eyes the whole time.

  I grabbed the pendant from Max and put it around Warnost’s neck, tucking it into his shirt. I glanced around quickly—some of the crowd was starting to sit down again. It was going to look strange if our target was the only one left standing, especially with such a weirdly blank expression. We had to finish quickly.

  But once I had the new pendant in place, I couldn’t get the buttons done up again. My fingers shook as more and more people sat down. Warnost’s wife took her seat and look
ed up at her husband. I managed to get one button clasped and then left the top two undone. Hopefully it just looked like he’d left them open to relax for the fight.

  I dropped down again, and Max must have felt me, because he joined me and then we began inching away carefully. I looked back at Warnost’s face. He was blinking in confusion and looking around him. I swore silently. Did he realize something had happened to him? But then he sat down with everyone else, looking only slightly bewildered. The horn sounded, announcing the next match, and he leaned back in to watch as if nothing had happened. A wave of relief rushed through me.

  We’d done it! We had both keys. I tried to tamp down my excitement. We were still far from done. We headed back toward the entry gate where once more there was a crowd of people entering and exiting. Max reached back and grabbed my hand again.

  The gilt ornamentation on the lobby walls seemed so absurd compared to the blood being spilled inside. The lobby was mostly empty except for the cluster of people surrounding the food and drink station. We easily maneuvered around them by staying close to the far wall. Finally, we came to a bank of elevators.

  When we’d arrived in the city, we’d been given two all-access cards, the kind given only to the richest and most important Uppers. Max flashed his in front of the elevator and the doors opened immediately.

  Good. We were back on plan now. I bit my lip nervously. No more hiccups or distractions.

  The elevator tube door pinged and opened. We hurried in and Max swiped his card again, then pushed the button for the highest balcony. When the doors opened again, I walked quietly, sharp to everything around me. These seats were just as full as those below, but the people here looked different. They weren’t dressed in fine dresses and suits. Instead, they wore the dark blue tunics that signaled they were techers.

  Techers weren’t quite Uppers, but they were no longer drones. They wrote and supported the code that kept the Community Link alive. Uppers rarely did any actual work, so certain drone children who tested as brilliant were pulled out of drone circulation. They never got the adult V-chip because it had been shown to negatively affect creativity. Techers were paid, but for security reasons they were never allowed to leave the city where they worked. While they had few luxuries, they were allowed certain entertainments, such as getting to come to Fight Night, even if they were so far away from the central oval that they needed special glasses to see the action.

  But they cheered just as loudly as the crowd below when a huge booming crash echoed from the pit—the unmistakable sound of two Regulators colliding. Max pulled me back against the wall as two techers walked by. I felt him nod, and I closed my eyes. There were over two hundred techers in this section, but we were only looking for one. Rowun Cilde. An assistant programmer who had access to the central mainframe.

  Before the mission, I’d studied the feel of his 3-D profile, memorizing the curves and lines of his brow, his too-large nose, his chubby rounded cheeks. Everyone was seated and I hoped I could work through the rows quickly and find our man. I immediately skimmed past all the women and spent a brief moment scanning anyone of the right height and build.

  It was slow going, and I could sense Max’s growing impatience every time he moved or twitched beside me. I tried to shut him out. I knew we were already behind schedule because we’d had to stop and get the other pendant, but there was still plenty of time. The games were just getting started.

  Finally, after a solid five minutes of searching, I found Rowun. He leaned forward with his eyepiece, intent on the action below. I felt his brief reaction of surprise when my telek overran his body and forced him to stand. The muscles in his throat strained as he attempted to call out, but I kept them frozen and immobile.

  A bead of sweat broke out on my forehead. I’d practiced this for weeks with Xona and Ginni and anyone else who didn’t mind me taking over control of their bodies for a few hours while I worked to achieve perfect and complete control. All leading up to this moment.

  I felt Rowun’s resistance, his frantic internal attempts to push back against my control, but I kept the muscles of his face completely still. I forced him to walk past all the other techers who were too busy watching the game to notice anything strange about their companion. Part of me felt sick at taking control so completely away from another human being. I knew just how horrible it felt. An official had once plugged a subroutine program into my neck port, immobilizing me. But as much as I might not like it, it was the only way. Too much was at stake.

  The techer started to fight harder the farther I pulled him away from the group. When he passed by Max and me, heading toward the elevator, I could feel his own energy screaming to get out. I closed my eyes as we went, walking by my telek sense rather than sight so I wouldn’t lose my grip on the techer for even a moment.

  No one stopped to question him as he moved toward the elevator. Why would they? Anyone who noticed him would think he was probably just going back to work. Even though techers were allowed to watch the games, they were still always on call.

  Max and I followed behind Rowun into the elevator.

  “Hold the door,” said another blue-suited techer, catching the closing elevator door with his hand and stepping in with us. Max and I flattened ourselves against the walls.

  Rowun kept trying to twitch or call out, anything to signal to the techer standing only inches away from him that something was wrong. Finally after what felt like an interminably long ride, the elevator pinged and the doors opened. We stepped off too since it was the techer level. I kept my grip around Rowun firm as I forced him out of the elevator and into the hallway.

  After heading down several long corridors that were fairly empty, Max pulled out his mini console with the city schematics.

  His head swung in both directions, as if looking to make sure we were alone, then came near and whispered in my ear. “Straight ahead. Make sure to follow me closely.”

  “I know, I memorized it last night.”

  Rowun’s eyes twitched at the sudden voices coming from thin air. I ignored him and started forward again. We were only one quick shuttle tube ride away from the central access facility where all new programming was uploaded.

  The arena and Uppers housing was located in a small node at the apex of the city, with the tube shuttle lines running outward like veins. My heartbeat raced as we walked across the shuttle platform. The sun shone brightly through windows lining the ceiling of the shuttle station. I took several deep breaths, unnerved as always by sunlight, and tightened my grip on my mast cells.

  There were only a few other people waiting with us. Two Regs stood on guard at the back of the station. I had to hand it to Henk. He was the one who suggested we make our attempt during Fight Night. The city was almost deserted since everyone was packed in back at the arena. Our two targets wouldn’t realize their pendants had been switched until they went into work the next day, and by then we’d have already crashed the Link.

  But still, if I lost control for even a second, Rowun could call out to the Regs and we’d be done. I could take out a couple Regs easily enough, but our mission would be ruined. The city would go on lockdown. Sweat beaded on my forehead.

  I felt an absurd relief when the shuttle finally arrived and we all stepped on. It wasn’t any safer in reality—maybe less so because now we were stuck in a confined space, not to mention we were still in the heart of Central City—but at least it felt better than waiting out in the open.

  The shuttle was filled with drones in the crisp white tunics of the service class. They all stood at attention, holding on to the looped handholds that hung from metal bars running along the ceiling. There were a few other unchipped workers like Rowun here and there, distinguishable by the color of their tunics, a few with the surgeon reds and repair-worker browns. Rowun was the only techer on board though, and that fact made me nervous. Would it look out of place for him to enter the programming facility during the festivities of Fight Night?

  The shuttle made se
veral stops, and I gripped Rowun even tighter during every exchange of passengers. The shuttle dipped underground and a half a mile later finally came to a stop at the entrance to the programming access facility.

  We stepped out and were faced with an intimidating blockade door at the edge of the station platform. I forced Rowun to hold his wrist out. The ID chip implanted in his wrist registered with a beep and the door opened. Max led us deeper and deeper into the complex, Rowun’s chip opening every door. Just as we’d thought, the facility was almost empty. The few techers who were working were too busy to even look up as Rowun passed.

  We finally arrived at a small white room. The light-cells overhead all buzzed at their brightest setting.

  Now we came to it. Excitement tickled up my spine. We were so close now. This was the only place we couldn’t follow right behind Rowun. There were three doorways that ran full-body scans before letting anyone pass. Max’s power could trick people, but not a scanning computer.

  I stepped closer to Rowun and pressed a small drive into his left hand, forcing his fingers to close around it. Then I made him lift his right finger to a small pad and press. He didn’t flinch when he was poked and the small drop of blood was extracted. He did this every day.

  The thick door in front of him opened, and I could see beyond him to a small square room. Rowun went in and the door closed again. A flash of light came from the small window in the door: the full-body scan in action. My telek was able to pass easily through the barriers, and I kept Rowun still through it all.

  When he was inside, I did a quick sweep of the room. All of the machinery was foreign to me. I touched my arm panel to pull up the file where I’d written the Foundation techer boy’s instructions. I couldn’t remember his name at the moment. That was the problem of having the best techer on your team also be a glitcher whose power made people forget him. I’d been careful to write down everything he said, knowing I wouldn’t remember if he only told it to me.