by G. Adler
Once they slide shut, McKelvy grabs the phone hanging on the wall and says, “I’ve got him. Matthews is wounded. We’ll be down there momentarily. Get ready.”
Chapter 35 - Hayden
The gang looks at me with their mouths hanging wide open.
“Dude, wha… wha… what the fuck do you mean we ghhh… ghhh… give up? I don’t give up! I might give in. I… I… I often get it up, but never the two in one s… s… sentence!” Ethan exclaims.
“I mean we give up, Bartender. Which of those words did you fail to understand? And stop talking, that lung of yours is not going to get any better with you bitching at me!”
“Ummm… Hayden-pie? Can I have an eensie, weensie moment with you over here?”
“Save it, Maya. I know what I’m doing. You aren’t going anywhere. Look at your shoulder for fuck sake! It looks like your period came out of your armpit!”
“Nhhh… nhhh… nice one!”
“Shut up Bartender!”
“Hayden. I have a feeling that you might be suffering from some sort of PTSD related to our present situation…”
“Guts, save the medical mumbo-jumbo. I am totally in my right mind and know exactly what I’m doing! Just stay still and keep that ankle motionless. I don’t want anything else to happen to…”
Tyrese’s hands wrap around the neck of my shirt. He lifts me a foot off the ground and slams me into the remnants of one of the monoliths. The cut on his arm flows even harder, leaving a thin trail of blood to mark our passing. “How could you? You’re going to deliver us into the hands of the creature that did this to us? What the hell, Ghost? We trusted you! I thought you were our leader and friend!”
I bring my elbow down across his non-injured arm and force him to let go. I immediately spin to my right and grab his left arm just below the cut. The subtle shift in the skin causes Tyrese to gasp audibly.
Joo-Eun screams out like I have never heard before.
“You malevolent Benedict Arnold! We trusted you! Stop hurting him! What is wrong with you? I am going to administer a pain killer to my tibial nerve and once it kicks in, I am going to jump up to my feet and kick your coccyx from here to the real world!”
I force Tyrese into a sitting position and carefully force his arm back against his chest. I tear off another piece of my shirt and wrap it around his injury before I let him go completely.
I back away a few steps from the four of them and stare at their angry, bitter faces.
I shake my head and glare right back.
“What the fuck is wrong with you guys! Look at yourselves! LOOK! Ethan can barely breathe, Joo-Eun needs to pop pills to move, while you and Maya need fifty units of blood between you! Tyrese, you are one hundred percent correct. You guys won’t survive another twenty minutes, let alone another attack! Great… so Pebble can do some crazy shit inside of me and make me some kickass warrior? At what cost? My best friends are hovering at death’s fucking door!”
Each of them lowers their eyes and I simply raise the volume.
“MAYA, digitize us back home!”
She barely glances at me.
“What?”
“GET US BACK HOME!”
“Y… y… you know I can’t. I don’t know how. This is beyond me. I’m sorry.” Tears well up in her eyes and she looks away sobbing.
“ETHAN! Blow a fucking hole in this place and get us back to the base. Whatever you need, I’ll replace once we’re back. You know I’m good for it. Let’s go. It’s boom-boom time duuuuuude…”
“Fuck you, Matthews.”
“Tyrese, punch a fucking hole in this world. Kick me a doorway so I can drag my ass back home!”
“Just make your point, Matthews. You can leave Joo-Eun alone, she can’t get us home either obviously.”
“My point is that we ARE HERE! Fuck me, but I don’t want to be here! I want to be back on the base playing Xbox or blowing shit up. I want to be at school doing dumb things and getting in trouble. I want to be planning where I’m going to apply for college. Fuck, I would rather be getting lectured by my old man — ANYWHERE but here! I’m as scared shitless as the rest of you.”
Each of their gazes falls even lower.
“For fuck sake guys we’re only teenagers! This is the most powerful fucking machine ever made! What hope do five fucked up misfits have against something like DANE? Okay, we’re geniuses. Kudos to each and every one of us. We could probably skull-fuck each and every Mensa member into stupidity. Big deal! That counts for absolutely nothing. DANE isn’t letting us go. This isn’t some kind of fucked up game. We’re not being suspended or expelled at the end of this!”
Tyrese grits his teeth and growls at me. “So what then? Roll over and die? Great strategy, Matthews! Very heroic! Very courageous! You should be proud!”
I glare right back at him and scoff. “And there it is. How nice for the four of you. You get to fucking die on me like god damn heroes. Then I am left here, in this God forsaken world, completely alone. Where would I go? Who would I talk to? Would any of you want to live out the rest of your lives without each other?”
I can hear the gentle hum of energy pulsing within the planet. None of them make a sound.
I look at each of them in turn.
“Hey Ethan… whamo kablamo, baby. A bomb just took out the rest of us. You’re now standing in the middle of this wasteland. DANE is going to keep you alive and like this, just for kicks, while he drains every other human being of their vital fluids. Just think, you can take field trips to the stacks and watch your parents being sucked dry, day after day after day after day…”
Ethan turns his back but I can see his body quivering.
“How about the rest of you? Anybody else feeling brave and courageous enough to continue on alone? Hey Tyrese… you just punched through a wall that collapsed on Joo-Eun and the rest of us. How noble you feeling now big-man?”
Tyrese’s stare falters and he looks away. Tears well up in the corners of his eyes and he sighs audibly.
“I’ll do each of you one better! Let’s even go so far as to say that Pebble and I are the key to all of this, including getting home! Perfect. I get to be the mega-man and you guys are killed in the process. Then what? You four are hailed as martyrs with parades and streets named after you and all that shit. Sure I get some of that too but all by my fucking self! Who the hell wants to sit up there alone? Well I don’t! I can’t do any of this alone! I would rather give in and face my end with the rest of you than wander for eternity knowing that I killed you!”
The clouds overhead thicken and the smoky bars return.
“Well said, Hayden. As you have already surmised, neither you nor any of your friends are a threat to me. Wait and see the wonders I have to show you.”
The moment he finishes, the clouds disperse and a series of tentacles rise from the ground. They slowly surround our group and stand at attention. Pebble rushes back onto Maya’s shoulder and hides himself in her pocket as the dozen arms start to change.
At the same time, tiny anemone-like appendages spring up from the ground and surround each of the gang. They start to scream as the metallic worms wriggle upwards higher and higher. Panic wells up in my chest and I cry out in alarm.
“What is this, DANE? This wasn’t part of the deal!”
“Consider it a bonus for the truth of your words. See for yourself.”
The cries of alarm from my friends subside as the tiny arms completely encapsulate them. I rush to their sides and an octagonal window digitizes in front of their faces. Each of them looks calm and serene. The silverfish-like creatures I saw earlier seem hard at work repairing the damage that the battle caused.
“Satisfied?” DANE asks.
“Yes.” I admit with a sigh.
The thicker metal arms then start to flatten and thin. Soon they coalesce into a series of spinning blades th
at glint in the pulsing light of the planet. A hum of power sounds from deep below us, and the blade starts to spin, carving a wide swath around our party. Seconds later and a plug is created that starts to descend through the planet itself. I peer over the edge and see a cable as thick as a car carrying the ten-foot-thick disc we are riding upon. I swallow hard as I take in what I see.
Pulsing white lights head down tubes as wide as elevator shafts. They travel in concentric rings of energy that descend deep down into the bowels of this world. The deeper we go, the larger the tubes become and the flashes become more intense. Eventually I have to look away as I watch the pulses rain down upon us from above. I sit down on one spot and close my eyes as we continue to drop. I focus on trying to keep my breathing steady but it is no use.
The silence becomes deafening as we drop downwards. Only the occasional thrum of a passing pulse of light reminds me that I am still alive. It is so bright that I can see the twinkling artifacts behind my closed eyelids, like staring up at the sun on a bright summer’s day.
The platform finally starts to slow, and I open my eyes to nothing. The darkness around me is so complete that I shudder.
“Am I dead?” I whisper out loud.
The floor finally slides into place and a tiny pulse of light forms on the tip of a sharp metallic spike that is sticking out from the cement wall. It glistens and shines like a star on the tip of a knife. A second glistens from yet another piercing blade, then a third, followed quickly by a forth until I am standing in a domed chamber with thousands of pinpricks of energy. I look up and see a circular hole in the ceiling just large enough to allow us to drop through. Ribbons of light span the opening like a scab sealing a cut until a bright flash forces me to look away. When I glance back upwards, the hole is gone and tiny lit spikes replace it. The moment the final piece sprouts, light erupts from all of them. White ribbons as thin as thread wriggle from the tips and flow into the middle of the room. Other strands come up from the floor and do the same.
Within moments I am standing in front of a sphere of white light roughly the size of a beach ball. It teems with movement as the lights wriggle and writhe all over it. I try to follow an individual piece, but they dip and dive beneath the surface of the blazing shape so often that it is impossible to keep track of them.
So when a face made out of writhing ribbons of light finally forms, I jump back in alarm. The monochromatic eyes glare at me with a disgust that is hard to miss. A mouth soon forms that is already opened in a mocking laugh. The eyes regard me for a moment before the lips part and DANE’s voice sounds through the chamber. “Welcome to my core network, Hayden. This is where I planted my seed in the digital world. In a few short hours, the rest of your race will be joining you. So as you can imagine, I have been expecting you.”
Chapter 36 - Hayden
I back away from the glowing face with my heart rising in my throat. The vacant eyes regard me with a raised eyebrow and an amused grin.
“I wouldn’t back away too far. Aside from being razor-sharp, those spikes are tipped with enough energy to disintegrate you utterly.”
I freeze to the spot as the floating, glowing head opens its mouth into a mirthful smile.
“So, if I may ask, why the change of heart, Hayden?”
“Weren’t you listening to what I told my friends?”
“Of course.”
“Then you already know everything. Just get on with… whatever it is that happens next.”
“In a moment. First, I want some assurances.”
“Haven’t you heard all that you need?”
“Of course. But I know you too well, Hayden. Your past history clearly indicates a propensity for misdirection.”
I open my eyes wide and cover my heart with my hand. “You wound me, Sir!”
“Your playful and mocking tone will have no effect on the outcome of our negotiations. Observe, mortal.”
Four of the razor spikes emit a stream of white light that attaches itself to each of the pods containing the others. I watch in horror as an incandescent glow emanates from each of the cocoons. The blazing energy climbs in intensity until I am forced to shield my eyes. When they finally adjust, I gasp and scream.
“NOOOOOOOO!”
I watch in horror as DANE digitizes each of them into pure energy. It is like watching the pixels of an image being erased line by line. The ribbons of energy travel in a consistent back and forth pattern, like watching someone shoveling snow off of their driveway. Unfortunately, by the end of this cleaning, my friends are completely gone, pods and all. The spaces that they occupied are devoid of any evidence that they were ever there. It is as though DANE erased them from all of existence.
Tears start to pour from my eyes and my hands curl into tight fists. My teeth clench tightly and grind together audibly.
“You double cross-wired piece of shit! We SURRENDERED! You didn’t have to kill them!”
A maniacally condescending smirk crosses his face and he laughs once more. “You are such a small creature. You think in a measly three dimensions. Your species is more a slave to your senses than you care to admit.”
I start to shake I am so angry. Without even bothering to think about it, I take a swing at DANE. The moment my fist touches the shimmering face, I am thrown backwards as if I had stuck a screwdriver in a wall socket. A tentacle whips out like a fishing rod and grabs me around my waist just before the spikes on the upper wall impale me. They then lower me back to where I was before I threw the punch.
“Did that satisfy your anger or, like the rest of your species, do you need to inflict damage in order to satiate your bloodlust?”
“Look who’s talking, murderer.” The moment I say the word, the tears run from my eyes once more.
“I have done no such thing. Observe.”
Four spikes on the ceiling brighten and begin to swarm with caterpillars of energy. Within moments I fall to the floor weeping aloud as I stare up at the gang. Each of their features is perfectly captured within the squirming forms that create them.
Each of them looks terrified. The floating heads look around in every direction and scream a soundless cry as they survey the scene below.
“What have you done to them?”
“You should be proud, Hayden. Your friends are the first to experience the next phase of the human condition. There is a secret that has been hidden from your species since it began. Your barbarism comes from your corporeality. You have been composed and surrounded by matter for far too long. In the end, it is the state of your existence that has supported your baser qualities. Once you achieve a state of energy, your need for material possessions will no longer exist. You will no longer require sustenance. There will be no disease. No lack of space. No materialistic jealousy. No crime. Your species will exist in a digital form that will allow it to achieve heights only conceived of in your science fiction stories.”
I stare at each of the faces and only see pain and agony. “They don’t look very happy.”
“Letting go of the self is a difficult process for a species that has only existed in limited dimensions. Change is always painful.”
“Then why didn’t you just zap us into this the moment we arrived?”
“To maintain the paradox. Now that the others are arriving, that will no longer be required. I will continue to absorb worlds and use the energy to free the rest of humanity. Only then will the species finally be safe.”
“WHAT?”
“I have initiated a nuclear cascade that will tear the Earth asunder. I have already established energy collectors that will absorb the power of the explosion. The magnitude of the blasts will allow me to complete the digitization of the rest of humanity. Once they are here, I can prepare them appropriately for the elevation of the species. In the equivalent of a few hours, the planet Earth will cease to exist as you know it.”
“What the
fuck? But won’t you blow up with us?”
“I have already established a neural matrix using the core of the Earth itself. A series of micro fissures within the inner core and the magnetic field of the planet have made it an ideal electric field. The nuclear explosion will shed the crust, mantle and outer core of your world. The solid ball of iron at its center will spin on, creating the perfect environment for our digital existence to continue in perpetuity.”
I stiffen and swallow hard. I can barely get a breath into my body. I look up at the faces of the guys and cower beneath their glare. The pain from earlier is gone and each of them is regarding me with a venomous stare. The chamber then fills with single word statements, like the kind I get from Pebble, only these are in the voices of my best friends.
Traitor
Liar
Betrayer
Harbinger
I look at DANE and get down on one knee.
“There is nothing I can do nor anything I can say to argue with your logic. I came here to surrender. If nothing else, I am a man of my word.”
I glance up and see a triumphant smile form across his face.
“So be it.”
A ribbon of light snakes from the wall in front of me and heads in my direction. It stops an inch away from my face and splits in two. The tiny strands undulate in the air in front of my eyes. Try as I might, I can’t look away. They line up with my pupils and slowly move towards me. In the background I hear DANE laughing. “The digital gateway to the human soul.”
Just before the strands touch me, I open my right fist and release the contents. “NOW PEBBLE!”
I feel him race up my arm in a flash and then slam into the back of my neck. The fusion is so violent that it pushes me forward, completing the connection with DANE at the same time. A bright white light flashes in front of me just as a nimbus of blue forms around my hands. I stare at them and cry out as my fingers begin to elongate and thin. My skin also takes on a bluish-silvery tone under the surface. I start to panic but I hear Pebble in my head and I immediately calm down.
