AER (The Elements Series Book 3)

by Tracy Korn

  The widgets appear again in the left corner of my view, and this time, I see a new one: a triangular Glyphs button. The characters…perfect, I think, hesitant to push it, but I have to get off this ship, and doing something is better than doing nothing. I reach out to push the button, and instantly the floor is populated with technicians behind the consoles. Huh…storyboarders must have control of when things start, which also means they must have control over when they stop, I think, wanting to test my theory, but the button has disappeared. Glyph, I think, but it still doesn't come back. Whatever. Just get to the Hidden City and get out of this circus, I think again, shaking my head.

  I start walking over to one of the technicians to get the process started when Greene walks through the door with seven others, four women and two men I don't know, and Cathcart. They're all about Ridley's age, maybe 25, and the age of my new face for that matter. I'm disappointed when I don't see Ridley among them, but she wasn't exactly the biggest proponent of going back to the surface.

  "How's Lieutenant Ridley?" I ask Greene, whose proud expression immediately falls flat.

  "She's still in recovery for another 24 hours, then her mission card will be reinstated. She can go out with the next crew, if you'd like to assign her now?" Greene says, almost excited about the prospect of putting Ridley in a position she obviously doesn't want to be in…I really have generated another incarnation of Rheen.

  "One crew at a time. Let's see what we can do with this one," I say, looking them over, and something in my chest relaxes…relief? From what? I think, suddenly feeling like I know this crew, but none of them look even remotely familiar. I shake my head, the relief quickly turning to frustration. Crite, I need to get the hell out of here already.

  "Sir!" one of the women steps forward, nervous, but almost…compelled to say whatever she's planning to say. I notice the bars on her dark uniform, and her nameplate: Waverly.

  "Yes, Lieutenant Waverly?" I say just as my heart suddenly starts pounding in my chest. What is going on?

  "Uh…what are our orders?" she finally says after staring at me for several seconds. I take a few more to try to remember why I called for them again.

  "There have been some explosions near the Transcendents' protective city. We need to fortify the inner wall while other crews are dispatched to make repairs, and still others continue to negotiate with the untreated population," I answer, but the words aren't mine. It's like they were just…there. Storyboarder clearance? Was that the baseline script? I wonder, and two more widgets blip into the upper left corner of my view: an oval one that says Script and another oval that says Improv. Huh…

  "Yes, sir," Lieutenant Waverly says, pushing her blonde hair behind her ear, and for just that second I want to pick her up and kiss her. Blood pounds in my ears, and my chest feels like it's cracking down the middle. What the hell is this? I turn away from her and step onto one of the circular hubs.

  "Let's go—initiate port-carnate transfer," I say to the technicians, who all look at me for a second, then at each other, confused. "What's the problem?" I ask.

  "Sir, port-carnate is black market tech…the misalignments…it's not sanctioned," one of the technicians finally speaks up. I sigh, having forgotten about the propaganda narrative in this stupid cine.

  "Right, of course. Then by all means initiate your…?" I trail off.

  "Cloud transfer, sir?" Cathcart says. I close my eyes so I don't roll them. Why did I generate that mollusk?

  "Cloud transfer, of course," I say, just get to the Hidden City…

  "Initiating, sir. If the team will take their positions."

  Lieutenant Waverly moves quickly next to me, and one of the men moves next to her, glaring at me. I have the overwhelming urge to shove him and ask him what his problem is, but the other man moves into position on the other side of me, and the feeling instantly passes. All of this is split, I think. Where's the widget that tells me where these impulses are coming from? I stop, anticipating the bar of floating icons to reappear, but nothing happens.

  "Initializing cloud transfer to M17, grid seven, Hidden City walls. Seven in tow. Surface climate is hostile, sir. Please be advised."

  "Noted, thank you," I say, wondering what the hell I'm supposed to use as a weapon. Why didn't I think of this? I'm losing my touch. Just then another widget button appears in the left corner of my vision: a square one that says Self-Defense. I reach to push it, and seconds later new body armor appears on my arms and chest, along with different batons holstered in a utility belt around my hips. I look up and see that everyone in the team is now also outfitted like this. The woman a few hubs down from me smirks, then nudges the woman next to her and whispers nonsense.

  "I'm turning something into a dragon this time."

  CHAPTER 42

  Transcendence

  Jazz

  After the speech I had no intention of giving, everyone looks at me blankly for a second, then Arco finally nods.

  "All right. We'll figure out what happens next after we patch this last Glyph. What are we going into this time?"

  "This cine is called Transcendence—interplanetary action adventure genre. You'll be dropping at about the 30-minute mark. That's a little earlier than the algorithms predict you'll find the final Glyph, but we're hoping you can interact with as many characters as possible to find Mr. Wright," Tark says. "We'll be monitoring, so if you do find him, hold onto him like you would if your were patching a Glyph. But hold on as long as you can so we can copy his origination code. It takes longer than just uploading a patch."

  "What happens then?" I ask.

  "Then we'll be able to find out where he is here in Admin City. He couldn't have accessed our virtuo-cine network hack to the Grid from anywhere else. He's here somewhere," Tark says. "Once we find out where he is, we'll send people to bring him to us."

  "And they won't hurt him, right?" I ask, but Tark is already shaking his head.

  "No. He won't be hurt. That's not how we operate." I let out a breath, then take in another just as Calyx, Liam, and Eco come back through the door.

  "Is Zoe all right?" Myra immediately asks.

  "She will be; right now she's resting. Azeris is with her, and so is Arwyn," Calyx says, smiling so big the silver ring in her bottom lip glints in the light.

  "So you reversed the Vishan treatment?" I ask.

  "No, we tried, but we can't reverse that. It's been grafted into her DNA too long, but we did get the cellular breakdown to stop…that's why she was so weak," Liam says. "The infrared light from the port-carnate hub triggered the degeneration…just like the sun would have done."

  "How did you get the breakdown to stop?" Fraya asks.

  "We doubled up the parent DNA graft from the archive…gave her another dose, as you put it," Liam says, then sends me a wink. "Thanks for the idea."

  I smile at him as everything in my chest starts to expand, but only because I wouldn't even have thought to give her another dose if it weren't for Liddick's port-carnate debacle, and if Liam didn't look so much like him at that moment.

  "So she can be topside? Is that what you're saying?" Myra asks, her eyes wide with hope. Liam smiles.

  "That's right," he nods, and the explosion of happiness in the room is almost too much. My vision blurs with tears that come out of nowhere, and I squeeze my eyes shut to focus them again. I turn to Arco when I feel his hand on my shoulder.

  "She can stay with us…" I say through another deluge of tears. He nods and pulls me close.

  "See, you were right…everything is going to work out."

  ***

  "Last stop, ladies and gentlemen. Patch this Glyph, and your mission will be complete," Tark says as the cylinder of floor-to-ceiling gradient color starts spinning in the center of the virtuo-cine chair circle. The Platform layer looks like it's turning into a star field with a bright orange planet in the foreground, surrounded by three huge rings, and another, smaller planet in the distance.

  "Which planet were we on in the
last cine?" I ask.

  "Infinitum takes place on Evion Eight…that's the smaller one in the distance. You'll be going to the planet with the rings…Halcyon in Transcendence," Tark says.

  "Do you know which one of these cines Liddick is in yet?"

  "No, his signature keeps jumping…it's part of his encryption," Eco says. "Don't worry. I'll find him," he adds, narrowing his eyes.

  I better find him first, I think. Lyden nods at me.

  We'll find him. Don't worry. Eco can't do anything to him …not with the storyboarder clearance Liddick has.

  I take a deep breath as the silver rods lower to my temples, then glance at Arco. He winks at me and smiles.

  "You ready to save the world?" he asks. I laugh, and feel a lot of the tension I didn't know I had slip away.

  "Ready as I'll ever be," I answer.

  "All right, like I said before, you're dropping about 20 minutes into the cine to maximize your chances of finding Mr. Wright. He won't look like himself because of his bioprint mask, which is top of the line storyboarder grade. Do not try to engage him for answers, just make physical contact for as long as you can when you are sure it must be him. We'll do the rest," Tark explains.

  "The Glyphs seem to congregate around tension, so it's most likely you'll find it near the climax of the cine," Calyx adds.

  "All uplinks are online, ma'am," a technician says. "Dropping in five…four…three…two…one."

  I hear voices before I can see anything this time. I turn toward the sound, which is just mumbling at first, but after a second, I hear a name and can also see images starting to materialize.

  "Lieutenant Waverly, is your team completely assembled?" a tall, reddish haired woman asks me. She's wearing a white jumpsuit with a glinting name plate just under her collarbone. I try to focus on it…is it Greene? I think. "Lieutenant?"

  "Uh, yes?" I say, looking around as the bright light starts to fade more and images of a man I don't recognize, but I also see Arco, Vox, and the others appearing around me. They're all wearing the same white uniform as the tall woman, and when I look down at myself, I'm wearing one too. "Yes, we're the team," I say, having no idea what I'm talking about yet.

  "Good. For the next 24 hours, under no circumstances are you to leave the Captain, is that understood? He's still recovering from the last ground assault," she adds, then glances over to a tall man standing by some circular discs on the floor.

  "Yes, ma'am," I say, following her eyes. The man who must be the captain turns around, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He's a little older, maybe Lyden's age, and has black, wavy hair that reminds me of Pitt. His sharp, pointed nose seems sharper and longer when he narrows his eyes at me, which are a bright, unnatural blue like Tieg's. Maybe subordinates aren't supposed to make eye contact…I think, and look away as quickly as I can.

  "How's Lieutenant Ridley?" he asks the woman who was just talking to me. She turns to face him, and for a second, she looks exactly like Ms. Rheen from Gaia. They talk for a few more seconds until the captain suddenly looks directly at me again. Panic swells in my chest, but it's not mine. I feel the urge to leave, now…I just want to get out of here, but I'm not sure where the urgency is coming from.

  Something isn't right in here, Vox says in my head, but I can't turn to look at her while the captain is trying to stare a hole through me.

  We've been here exactly eight seconds, I think in reply.

  Long enough for him to start drilling eyes into you, like stupid Tark all over again from that stupid barbarians cine back in Gaia.

  I don't answer her, but see her heading toward the captain out of the corner of my eye.

  What are you doing? I think, my heart crashing into my ribs.

  Watch this, she laughs, and I know immediately that whatever she's about to do won't end well.

  Vox, no! Stop whatever you're going to do! I think, but she doesn't stop, and I suddenly hear myself shouting at the captain. "Sir!" I say. He turns to me looking as startled as I feel.

  "Yes, Lieutenant Waverly?" the captain says. My heart is pounding so hard in my ears now that I almost can't hear anything else. I look up at him, and now, can't seem to look away.

  "Uh…our orders…what are we doing here?" I finally ask, immediately feeling stupid, but at least Vox has stopped her approach. The captain clears his throat.

  "There have been some explosions near the Transcendents' protective city," he answers, then jumbles something about needing to go down there, wherever there is, but something about the way he's talking makes me not believe him. He's…distracted somehow.

  "Yes…sir," I say, then push away the hair that falls into my face. I should feel relieved, but everything seems more panicked now. What is happening to me?

  "Let's go—initiate port-carnate transfer," the captain turns abruptly to the technicians, who all look at him like he's split.

  Vox nudges me forward, and the captain starts watching me again, so I feel obligated to stand next to him when he stands in one of the circles near the back of the room. Arco moves into the circle next to me, then leans in.

  "I don't trust him; what are you picking up about him?" he asks. I shake my head, not sure how I feel…relief and panic all at once? That doesn't make any sense. The tall, reddish haired woman almost seems to be standing guard over the console stations, and I feel a sense of relief that she's not coming with us…wherever it is we're going.

  "I don't trust her," I whisper to Arco. He nods back at me, and then the countdown starts.

  "Initializing cloud transfer to M17, grid seven, Hidden City walls. The surface climate is hostile," the technician adds.

  Does that mean the weather or the people down there? I think toward Vox.

  Do I look like I speak spaceship lingo, sand dollar?

  Body armor suddenly appears out of nowhere on my arms and chest, as well as everyone else's.

  "Whoa," I say under my breath, then feel the panic rise up all over again. Where are we going that makes it necessary to wear this…? I swallow the lump that forms in my throat.

  Finally, we're going, Vox thinks in reply, eavesdropping like she tends to do, then elbows Myra. "Last round. I'm turning something into a dragon this time," she says out loud. I feel a laugh bubbling in my stomach and a smile pulling at the side of my mouth, but then I stop feeling anything as a white light washes out everything again.

  CHAPTER 43

  The Hidden City

  Liddick

  For a minute I think there must be a loading error when I see three white bands reaching up from the horizon, fading out about halfway up the sky, and then I remember there are rings around this planet. Surreal. In all the virtuo-cines I've been in, I can't believe I've never been on a planet with rings.

  I turn around to see the team that Greene rounded up, but I need to shake them so I can find the server reset box I saw in the background of the Councilman's transmission from the Hidden City…wherever that is.

  "Where are we?" one of the women says in a cracking voice over the helmet comms system. I squint to see her nameplate in the bright light. Carver.

  "We're on…." Crite…what's the name of this planet? I think, and seconds later the word Halcyon appears in the lower corner of my vision just like if I were reading it on a screen. "We're on Halcyon, Carver, and we need to get to the Hidden City before the sun sets," I add, looking up at the huge red mass, which is about three times the size of our sun. I have no idea what happens after sunset here, but in my experience it's better to be behind walls at night than without them.

  "Do we have an envoy?" the same man who stood in the transfer hub next to me says. His nameplate reads Porter. I almost say it out loud, then catch myself staring, trying to figure out what is so familiar about him. I clear my throat.

  "No, the Transcendent's can't risk going beyond their walls now," Cathcart answers just before I can get a word out, which makes me want to punch him. "Sir, if we have to be down here, may I suggest getting behind—what?" he
stops talking just as a light appears behind us. When it fades, Lieutenant Ridley is standing there. "Cass?" Cathcart says. "But your medical clearance?"

  "Greene said I was on a 24-hour medical suspension when I asked what exactly you were both doing down here without me. But then all of a sudden there was a Captain's override on my suspension, so here I am," Ridley says over the comms. Everyone looks at me.

  I didn't authorize—wait…when I was disappointed she wasn't with the team… I start to think. That must have been all it took to change the narrative with this storyboarder clearance…crite. "Uh…yes, well, we needed some veterans on this one," I improvise, but Ridley just scowls at me.

  "The brief said we're supposed to move into the Hidden City to guard the new wall, and more teams are coming in behind us to manage the untreated natives. You know what that means, don't you Folger?" Ridley asks, but doesn't give me time to answer before jerking a thumb at the other team members. "It means new transfers like them are going to get killed down here. This planet is done…the radiation goes two miles into the ground," she adds.

  "So we should just let people here die?" Lieutenant Waverly shouts. Ridley rounds on her.

  "Listen, transfer. Do you have any idea how many teams we've lost down here? And all we have to show for it is a gated city of about a hundred people that Greene and her team genetically modified to withstand the radiation. We can't get to everyone."

  "Genetically modified?" one of the men asks over the comms—the same one who glared at me when we first transferred, and is now glaring at me again.

  Stellar, I think, squinting to see that his nameplate says Richards. Is he trying to get me to advertise the genetic engineering? What a chum propaganda storyline. Nice try, programmers. Where's the stupid reset switch so I can get out of here?