Utopia: A Dark Thriller: Complete Edition

by Adam Steel

  Abigail shook her head again and Ellie could see a hint of sadness creep into her face.

  ‘No. We’re not going to try that. We tried it once before. We worked out that the Masons have a plan in place when they are looking to recruit new member for when one of them retires or something. They screen candidates, choosing only the highest and most successful people in their fields, and then they invite them down to tour the Genie facility, disguising it as some kind of honoured trip. The real purpose of these tours is to introduce the potential Masons to the plant and to watch their reactions. I guess it’s the first stage of their recruitment process.’

  Ellie shrank back in horror. The tour. The request letter, she thought. She realised that they had been eyeing her up for the promotion to Mason-ship. Except that they did not choose her, they had chosen Jon Li. She remembered the pride that she had felt at being chosen and her wonder at having seen the Genie Reactor. She hadn’t suspected that the device could have been such an evil thing. If Abigail noticed her reaction, then she did not comment on it. Abigail looked at the floor and continued her story.

  ‘We were able to intercept one of the candidates, a TALOS named Kristoff. We replaced him with our own agent. As a plastic surgeon, I’m sure you appreciated the slap job we did, to make them look the same.’

  Ellie’s hand flew to her mouth when she realised that Abigail had known she had been there when Kristoff’s impersonator had attacked Mason Henson.

  ‘You knew I was there?’ Ellie asked.

  Abigail nodded.

  ‘Yes of course. The people picked for the tour is a matter of public record, and I pose as a reporter. How do you think we got to Kristoff and why do you think I was tailing Jon Li these last few weeks?’

  Ellie shrank back into the seat considering. How could she have ever been so blind?

  Abigail kicked her feet against the dirt floor.

  ‘Well obviously Mason Henson isn’t dead. So, tell me. Is our man dead? Did they take him alive?’ she asked.

  Ellie confirmed that he was dead. It stung her to see Abigail’s saddened face. She left out the part where Jon Li had saved Mason Henson. Ellie decided that there were some things that Abigail was better off not knowing.

  Abigail closed her eyes and said, ‘Thought so. I’ll tell Lucian. He kind of knows anyway. It was his best friend, Mr. D’s third man. At least they’ll know he died trying.’

  Ellie nodded in agreement. She felt sick and stared out into the cave-dwelling. Abigail was the first person that she had spoken to in days and it felt good to be with someone again even if the subject had been morbid.

  ‘I still don’t understand how the Masons could have done all this without people finding out. How can they possibly think this crazy experiment will work? What happens when they run out of people?’ she asked, hopelessly.

  Abigail looked across at her with a grim expression.

  ‘We know what happens when they run out. We know everything now, it’s all on that key of theirs, and I hate to tell you, it’s worse than a few sick people at the hospital being bumped off. It’s a lot worse than that,’ Abigail explained coldly.

  ‘How can it be worse than that?’ she asked between sobs.

  ‘It is. Trust me.’ Abigail said cynically.

  Ellie wiped her nose in the sleeve of her shirt.

  ‘We’ve been at that key for days and I can tell you, there’s more stuff on it than we could ever get off, or understand. However, we’ve got everything we need now to do something about it all. Drago will know what to do. He always does,’ Abigail said proudly.

  ‘What stuff?’ Ellie asked.

  She wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear, but she was sick of fumbling around blindly in the darkness, with everyone seeming to know more than her. She had thought that she was so clever, when in fact, she had known nothing at all.

  Abigail sunk back against the soft leather car seat, and eyed her cautiously.

  ‘Are you sure you want to hear this?’ she asked in a troubled voice.

  Ellie nodded: her eyes sunken and tired.

  Abigail began to explain what they had discovered when they had dug further into the files on the key.

  ‘Utopia was socially engineered by the Masons right from the beginning. They were the ones that instigated the Day of Reckoning. The used a device which was referred to on the key as The Reckoning Device. It was some kind of Electromagnetic Pulse Weapon. They used it to wipe the slate clean so that they could take over when the population was at its weakest. That is why they have control now because other nations are terrified that they will use the weapon on them. Yes. They do know about what’s going on. What you experienced on that day and in Arethusa, was a carefully orchestrated experiment to reduce the population. They had already been working on the Genie Reactor prototype. That was what you saw on the key. Who knows how long they’ve been planning this? Everything was perfectly orchestrated and in position. They were just waiting for the right time to takeover. They have always been there secretly working behind the scenes. Watching and waiting and slowly preparing. The records don’t indicate how far this goes back, but it seems to go on and on. According to the records on the key, the Coney Twins are over seventy years old.’

  Abigail paused to let the information sink in.

  ‘But…that’s impossible! I’ve seen them! They can’t be a day over forty…’ Ellie protested.

  Abigail shrugged.

  ‘Don’t ask me to explain it. But they’ve been working on this reactor thing for decades. Long before The Reckoning. They already had it prepped and ready before they set the fireworks off. Their entire plan seems focused around it.’

  Ellie stared in shock. The Reckoning. Planned? It was inconceivable to her how anyone could contemplate planning and instigating such a mass slaughter. The scenes from Brighton Pier and the screams of the burning people had never left her.

  Abigail continued her recant of the past.

  ‘The blue liquid – that you would have seen covering the bodies of the victims? Blue-Velvet? It was a catalyst. It was developed by the newly forming CUB. It was designed by the Coney Twins and it was used to increase the energy output from the bodies that were destined to be fed into Genie. It was, and still is, a catalyst. We don’t understand how, but it reacts with something in the reactor to produce the energy. They said it was to stop the spread of disease, but the truth was, they already had things in place to counter those diseases. It was just another cover story to allow them to act unquestioned. I bet nobody fancied catching Cholera, so nobody questioned it. They were far too busy just trying to stay alive. That’s exactly how the Masons planned to take charge. Who else would want to run that mess?’

  Ellie recalled all too well ‘Blue-Velvet’. She had personally signed over enough remains of mangled soldiers to the Sweeper teams. They had been soldiers like her ex-lover Corporal Richards. She wondered if he had known the truth about the masons back then.

  Abigail’s face was becoming angrier as she reiterated the terrible secrets they had uncovered. Ellie hoped there wouldn’t be much more. She thought that if it continued, then she fancied that she might end up like Aya. Her mind shattered and wiped clean by the impossible revelations.

  ‘That part was referred to as: “Phase One.” Phase one finished months ago, and since then, the Masons have been busy working on Phase Two. They have exhausted their so-called ‘Resource’ from The Wastelands,’ Abigail said, and pointed to herself and Ellie.

  ‘In case you haven’t realised, that’s you and me. They think of us like cattle. Except now the cattle are hiding underground. Everyone who wasn’t well hidden has been mopped up already, and now Genie’s getting hungry: if you get my drift. If they run out of people, they run out of power, and then people will be asking exactly what their perfect power grid actually runs on. Then their perfect society comes crashing down. They can’t let that happen, so Phase two is where they work their way through everyone they consider a drain on their perfect so
ciety. They make little changes here: little changes there: to funnel people away that nobody will miss. Anyone, who does miss them, or gets too close - like your friend, Irene. Well, you know what happens there. They can’t afford for anybody to blow the whistle on them.’

  Ellie held up her hand to interrupt, but Abigail cut her off.

  ‘I know what you’re going to say: that soon they’ll run out of expendable people too – Right? – Wrong.’

  Ellie waited for the inevitable bad news.

  ‘If that wasn’t bad enough, there is the little matter of Phase Three. Now that is something else. Let me fill you in on that one. Phase three, will roll out the Masons’ power system to the whole of the world Ellie. They have already started the process. Aarif was brought to Utopia at the request of the Masons because they want to build the first Genie Reactor in his country. In return, they want to trade with his country for more Resource. Aarif is going to ship people, Ellie. He’s going to ship them his own people and he’s just the first. They have plans to do this everywhere. The whole world will be like a giant farm, where the powerful feed off the poor, or ‘unfortunates’ as they call them,’ Abigail explained.

  Ellie continued to listen in stunned silence.

  ‘You might have noticed other signs. People have been disappearing when they enter the Port of Utopiana. Why do you think they used grunts like Max to work there? Ex-soldiers. Conditioned. Apexir addicts. Easy to control. They designed the drug in the first place to keep them under control! It’s all about control and the Masons are the ones in control. Utopia is one huge, fucking, illusion,’ Abigail said.

  ‘You told me once Ellie, that you were trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. I think it’s now complete. We have found the answers on the key and we have every little piece of the puzzle. It’s a truly heinous picture. Utopia is a place where the elite feed the bodies of the less fortunate into Genie and suck the energy out of them,’ Abigail spat.

  Ellie held her head in her hands.

  ‘People would eventually find out. Nobody would tolerate this evil. It will never work,’ Ellie whispered.

  Abigail ‘spat’ into the floor again. The vulgar action did not suit her.

  ‘I think the idea is, by the time most people really discover what’s going on, they’ll be used to it. They’ll have grown up with it since birth. It’ll be like farming and killing chickens for food. They won’t think anything of it. How many people these days care about animals in a slaughterhouse? They don’t. They just like the food,’ Abigail said solemnly.

  Ellie resisted the urge to vomit. It was overpowering.

  ‘What…what’s the point of this…madness?’ Ellie stuttered.

  Abigail turned on her furiously.

  ‘Who cares? Who cares why they’re doing this? It’s for what? The latest new gadget: super foods: fancy clothes and…Oh yes – let’s not forget, to build Phoenix Palace. Remember that? You were there - with him - enjoying yourself!’

  Ellie looked horrified.

  ‘You were a part of all of that, you didn’t question where all the wealth and power came from, and for that reason alone, you should be prepared to do anything it takes to put a stop to this madness and cruelty! I would rather die down here with my people, than live in the filth of Coney. You can wash the dirt off your body Ellie, but you can’t wash it out of your mind,’ Abigail finished.

  Ellie hung her head in shame.

  You’re honest and clean in a way that I don’t feel right now, Ellie thought.

  ‘What do we do? I’ll do whatever I can,’ Ellie offered sincerely.

  Abigail smiled at her.

  ‘That’s more like it Doc,’ Abigail beamed. ‘Let’s go. We’re kept Mr. D. waiting long enough. He’ll know what to do,’ Abigail finished.

  Ellie managed an awkward smile and suddenly her problems with Jon Li seemed insignificant. She realised that she may only have a short time with him before it was too late and that she was wasting it. Abigail guessed what she was thinking.

  ‘Yes. You know what to do about him now don’t you?’ Abigail said quietly.

  ‘I do love him,’ she replied.

  ‘Then surely that’s all that matters now,’ Abigail answered.

  ‘How do you live like you do? Never knowing whether you’ll live or die from one day to the next?’ she asked.

  Abigail’s reply was simple, but outstandingly honest.

  ‘Do you know how long you have? Does anyone? I live each day by being true to myself?’

  Abigail gave Ellie a curious look and said, ‘He loves you. Really loves you. Like Lucian loves me. Can’t you see it in his eyes? I can see it when he looks at you. He would die for you. You’ve got to give him a chance and trust him. After all he brought you here didn’t he. He could have joined the Masons and had the life of a king but he chose you. Not Royale – YOU. Times-a-ticking Ellie.’

  Ellie wondered when she had heard that phrase before. It was in a distant past life.

  Ellie followed Abigail out of the cave dwelling, and turned down the tunnel towards The Sump.

  She no longer felt afraid because she knew what she had to do when she saw Jon Li again.

  Chapter 42: Love is an Empty Place

  The Tunnels: Union City

  The meeting with Drago had been short.

  Ellie walked along the tunnels of Union City between Max and Irish. The two men dwarfed her frame. Red and a man called Rust followed them. They had all been in the meeting with Drago. Lucian and Jon Li had stayed behind with Drago to discuss some extra details. Ellie and the others had been sent down to Union City's Store House to gather the necessary supplies that they would need to carry out Drago’s plan.

  Ellie chanced a look across at Max. She hadn’t spoken to him during the meeting. It was the first time that she had seen Max since they had been in Spark’s Den to see the key. Initially, she had been shocked by his appearance. She had thought that he had looked a mess. Okay physically (but mentally) most likely ‘fucked’. Ellie could tell immediately that Max had managed to re-secure his supply of Apexir and that he was back on it. She wanted to say something to him, but couldn’t manage to find the words. She wondered what she could have said anyway. Hi Max, how are you feeling? she thought. It was obvious to her that he would be feeling just about nothing at this point, so the greeting would have been about as sincere as taking a shit in Drago’s hat and then asking him to wear it. She was thinking that perhaps she could have filled him in on the vile information that Abigail had told her. She could have said, Oh, by the way Max. We’ve discovered that all those people you mopped up after the Day of Reckoning were fed into Genie to give you and all your fellow soldiers down at Arethusa the energy you needed to live. She had been sure that saying that to him would have gone down a treat. Instead, she had said nothing and had let Drago do all the talking.

  The atmosphere between them had thawed since they had left the meeting with Drago. Max had been telling her about the explosives work that he had been doing with Irish. Irish had been very proud when he had chipped in to explain about his ‘Lucky’ chemical, and just how wonderfully explosive it was. She could tell how passionate he was about his work.

  Irish was embellishing the details in colourful fashion.

  ‘It’s good stuff, pure liquid goodness. Blasts right through solid rock!’ Irish proclaimed proudly.

  Ellie nodded quietly in agreement.

  ‘Is that the stuff we are going to be using?’ she asked, with a sense of growing dread.

  Irish laughed heartily, as he shook his head.

  ‘Nah. There’s no way we could transport it where we’re going. Damn shame too. It’d have made one hell of a bang!’ he replied.

  Ellie looked relieved and when Irish caught her expression he chuckled again.

  ‘Sorry to disappoint. We’ll be only using dynamite instead!’ he finished.

  Ellie tried to disguise her look of horror and decided to stay quiet instead. She was strangely glad that Max was with he
r because Red was walking along behind them and it made her nervous.

  Drago had insisted that: “Red goes on the mission too.”

  Ellie was sure that Max felt uncomfortable with that prospect.

  Max was already looking happier and more determined since their meeting with Drago. He was clearly relishing the idea of going along with Drago’s desperate mission. Drago’s plan was brutally simple. They were going to blow up the Genie Reactor. Drago had outlined the scheme in its entirety. It hadn’t taken him long. They had access to the blueprints of the facility. From the surface it would be virtually impregnable, but they had found potential vulnerability underneath. The Resource was being shipped into the plant en-masse on an underground monorail system. If the tunnels could be breached, then they could enter underneath the plant unseen and bypass security to get close to the Genie Reactor. After that it wouldn’t matter anymore. Lucian, Max and Red would be the muscle. Irish would handle the explosives. Jon Li and Ellie would be their guides. The man they called Rust, would be in charge of getting them there. Drago had asked Ellie and Jon Li if they were on board. They had unanimously assured him that they were. Abigail wouldn’t be going. She would be returning to Coney City to try and mobilise support from the other insiders when the reactor blew.

  Ellie had yet to realise in the enormity of their task. The meeting with Drago had gone so quickly. She had agreed to go, so that she could be with Jon Li. She could see that the decision had already been made and that there was no way that she was allowing him to leave her alone in Union City. Drago was not going on the mission. Everyone seemed to have accepted that. She had seen that he had wanted too, but to leave Union City ‘leaderless’ would have been something that he had refused to do even in such desperate circumstances. They were told by Drago that they would be setting off the next day, but first they had to prepare the supplies. She suspected that the real reason was that they had been given a night to say their good-byes. Privately she doubted that anyone had expected to come back from the suicidal mission.