by Eliza Green
So she did. Laura entered a blackened space, a void in his mind. Something bright in the distance caught her mind’s eye. She moved towards it and came across a pedestal bathed in a bright light. A box sat on the pedestal. She opened it, a move that elicited a new grunt from Anton. Her fingers flicked open the clasp to the front. She lifted the lid and looked inside.
Her presence was yanked back so fast, it felt like an elastic rope had been tied around her waist. With a gasp, she opened her eyes to see Anton doubled over at the waist. He gripped the neurosensor between his fingers. She touched the side of her head to find nothing there.
Arianna was grinning at her.
Laura rushed an apology while Anton recovered. ‘I’m sorry, Anton. I didn’t mean to do that. Are you okay?’
He waved her off and straightened up. She was relieved to see him no worse for wear.
‘So what did you see in the box?’ he asked.
‘A bottle of red wine. No label.’ Anton smiled, but she didn’t understand. ‘What does it mean?’
He straightened up fully. ‘It was a smell I came to hate. I don’t know what vineyard it came from but Charles Deighton used to reek of it. When he imprinted on my mind, he left behind a few memories of things he enjoyed, like this wine. He drank it in a place called Les Fontaines. Not in France, but some place that was a version of the city.’
‘A bottle of wine is very specific, Laura,’ said Arianna. ‘I sensed you edging closer to his secret.’
‘It was easy with the neurosensor, not so much without.’
‘Sorry about that,’ said Anton. ‘I didn’t like the lack of control. It felt too much like the time when I had Deighton in my head.’
Laura understood his reluctance to keep going. ‘So does this mean it works?’
‘I’d say that was the best indication it does,’ said Anton.
‘So what now?’
‘Now I make more and Arianna entertains you somewhere else while I work. It was easy for you to break my mind because we are the same. But it will be tougher to break through the mind of an unknown species.’
Laura left with Arianna. Outside the lab, her stomach rumbled.
‘Human food okay?’ said Arianna.
Laura nodded. With the changes, she hadn’t lost her interest in normal food. But she supplemented her diet with raw meat on occasion, when she got a craving for it.
They walked on.
‘Bill will be impressed when he hears about your progress. Did you want me to invite him for a visit?’ said Arianna.
‘No.’ Her reply came out too fast. Laura hadn’t meant for it to sound so harsh. ‘I’m not ready to see him.’
‘But you will be, soon. I can feel your need for him increase.’
Laura stopped short of rolling her eyes at Arianna’s empathic reply, based on feelings, not logic.
‘I don’t know. I mean, how did you and Anton end up together?’
Arianna laughed. ‘That was easy. We were meant for each other.’
‘No doubts?’
‘None. But I’m not the person you should be asking about that.’
‘I told you, I’m not ready to see him.’
Arianna shook her head. ‘Not Bill. Serena. She was once human, then Indigene. Why not ask her why she chose to remain Indigene?’
Laura had thought about it, but one thing stopped her. What if, after everything, she chose the wrong side?
33
Bill watched an edgy Simon refuse to settle in the interrogation room. It was midday and he had a ton of work to do, but he couldn’t ignore the visitor who promised him a major piece of the puzzle.
‘Do you want to sit?’ He gestured to the chair. Simon shook his head. ‘A glass of water, then?’
Simon’s pacing irritated Bill. Why wasn’t he talking?
‘The power,’ said Simon. ‘I need the force field gone and as much of it as you can spare.’
‘Why? To power your machine?’
‘Yes?’
‘And that’s the only reason for it?’
Simon sighed. ‘The only one guaranteed to keep me alive. Bill, do you know what transcendence is?’
Bill nodded. ‘Conversion from physical matter into pure energy. What’s that go to do with—?’ He paused. ‘Is that what the environ is for? Is that why you need the power?’
‘Sort of.’
Simon’s unsettled movements looked like one giant blur. It gave Bill a headache.
‘Could you please sit, or just stop moving for a second?’
Simon glanced at him, then at the table. He sat down, but didn’t look comfortable. Bill sat opposite him.
‘The Elite’s minds have altered beyond anything that’s been attempted before. Their bodies, unable to keep up with the speed of alteration, have experienced accelerated ageing. The tests have stopped, but the ageing continues. We originally used the machine to reverse some of the damage. We used the mined power from the main feed to attract the Nexus to us.’
Bill shook his head at hearing this. ‘You drilled through the rock to access the Nexus power?’ Simon nodded. ‘I didn’t think it existed outside of the mind. How is that even possible?’
‘The Nexus is attracted to energy. We created a power source and “called” it.’
‘And it came? Just like that?’
‘Yes. It worked to heal Tanya and the others for a short while. But the problem I have is the machine may have reached its design limitation. The Nexus needs more power. I would have to redesign the model. That takes time.’
Bill was confused. ‘So why do you need more power if your machine can’t accept it?’
‘To appease Tanya. I can store it in a backup area that the machine can’t access. The base readings show the sum of the power in the primary and backup storage units. She’ll just think I got more power.’
‘Is that why you met with Harvey Buchanan today?’
Simon looked surprised. ‘Yes, how did you know?’
‘Harvey was a geneticist on Earth. Don’t you remember him at all?’
Simon shook his head. ‘I never had dealings with any geneticists. How did you come by him?’
‘He sorted out new identities for me and Laura when we first came to Exilon 5. He also gave me the stabilising shot that halted Laura’s changes when it looked like the Indigene DNA might kill her.’
Simon’s patchy brows lifted. ‘He was your contact in Magadan?’
‘The very same. What help was he giving you?’
Simon clasped his fingers and sighed. Bill waited for the rest of the story.
‘I needed his protection or immunity from the humans and Indigene groups he and Patterson control. The cable I use to mine the data is intricate and needs careful reprogramming before it can take more power. That long in the outliers without backup, I’m a sitting duck.’
‘Good to know, Simon. But what did Harvey want in exchange for that protection?’
‘He asked for test data on both the Conditioned and the Elite, but specifically the latter. I couldn’t figure out what he wanted with it, but if he’s a geneticist, that makes more sense.’
‘A black market one at that. Tanya wouldn’t have known him, but I’m betting Charles Deighton did.’ Bill wanted to discuss Harvey’s interest in all this, but Tanya’s plans took precedence. ‘Tell me what Tanya wants to do.’
Simon unclasped his hands and wriggled in his chair. ‘I can’t believe I used to sit in one of these all day.’ He shook his head as if dislodging a memory. ‘Tanya and her doctors are floating the idea of using us—the Conditioned—as hosts.’
‘Hosts?’
‘Yes, transcendence requires a healthy body and Tanya and the other Elites are far from it. So they’re considering using us as vehicles to achieve it.’
‘And what happens to you?’
‘Death, most likely.’
Bill leaned back in his chair. ‘So why not walk away?’
‘It would be the easiest and the hardest thing to do. I�
�m no longer human and I wouldn’t be welcome in the districts.’
‘It’s better than being dead.’
Simon leaned forward. ‘Someone needs to stop Tanya. Her plans for transcendence are bordering on narcissistic. The other Conditioned have no idea what’s coming. I’m using the power to stall her, hoping she’ll give up on the idea of transcendence. But soon she’ll realise the machine is almost at full capacity.’
Bill could guess where this was headed. ‘If your machine doesn’t have enough power to achieve this transcendence thing, where will she head next?’
‘The Nexus.’
Bill laughed at that absurd idea. ‘The Indigenes won’t give you access.’
‘No, but she will attempt it in my body.’
‘So you stop her.’
Simon huffed out a breath. ‘Bill, don’t you remember what happened to Anton?’
He did, through Stephen’s recount of that time, and Bill’s encounter when he’d discovered Elise’s body after the explosion. ‘So she’ll be like an imprint?’
‘A dominant one.’
Bill looked off to the side. A solution came to him.
He leaned forward. ‘You’ll just have to convince her otherwise. Wait for her to give up on the idea. Tell her you need to modify the machine, make it bigger.’
‘I won’t be able to stop her if she hijacks my mind.’
Bill frowned. ‘Why not?’
‘I got an idea of the power of the Nexus once, if you remember?’
Bill nodded. It had been at the beginning when Simon had just moved to Exilon 5 and was still someone Bill thought he could trust.
‘The second Tanya feels that power for herself, she won’t want anything else.’
This was not good. ‘And transcendence, the energy they plan to become, where will it go?’
Simon shrugged. ‘The Nexus absorbs it, I guess.’
No way. Bill wouldn’t let that happen. ‘We have no idea what their energy would do to the Nexus, how it would change it. We can’t let her get that far.’
‘That’s why I’m here.’
‘I’m listening.’
‘I need to speak with Stephen. He’s an envisioner, right?’
Bill nodded. ‘He can only see short-term futures. Why?’
‘Well, if we can see how this will play out, maybe we can put together a plan to protect District Three from attack. And I’m willing to accept any help in that department. If Tanya transcends using my body, I will no longer exist.’
Stephen would know what to do.
Bill nodded and stood up. ‘I’ll make arrangements. Can you be back after dark, about nine?’
Simon stood too. ‘Yes. I have to get back now. But I promise I’ll do everything I can to persuade her otherwise.’
Bill showed him out. He would call Stephen and arrange a meeting to discuss this disturbing news. But the thought of seeing Laura again so soon made him hesitate. What if she was done with him? He wasn’t ready to find out.
☼
In his office, Bill ended a call with Stephen. He didn’t see another choice. Tanya’s plans took priority over any issues in his marriage. He agreed to bring Simon at 10pm to a deserted location near the entrance to the district. Stephen was understandably nervous about having Simon in his district again. If Tanya used him as a vehicle, all of Simon’s experiences would be laid bare for her to use.
He sat back in his chair and thought about Laura. Was she okay? He’d wanted to ask Stephen, but chickened out.
A knock on his door jolted him out of his thoughts. ‘Come!’
The door opened and he half expected to see Julie. But he straightened up when Ben came into the room.
‘Julie sent me. I’ve been doing some monitoring on the Wave.’
‘Anything on Harvey Buchanan?’
His conversation with Simon had piqued his interest. What did Harvey really want with the Elite’s data?
‘No, nothing on Harvey,’ said Ben.
Bill sighed and returned his gaze to his monitor. But when Ben didn’t leave, he looked up.
‘Was there something else?’
The boy looked like he was about to burst. ‘Nothing on Harvey, but there is mention of his alias John Caldwell. He was with another man called Martin Casey?’
Bill sat up straight. Clement had mentioned being paired with Casey.
‘Buchanan—Caldwell, whatever—and another man, Patterson, have been hanging around the base station. I think they have access to it.’ That was not new information to Bill. ‘There’s talk among the workers at the camp that both men don’t stick around on site when there’s work to be done. One guy, Martin Casey—the one who travelled with him—has been actively talking with one of the Indigenes using the Wave. He’s giving the Indigene a blow-by-blow account of this Buchanan’s movements.’
‘What’s the Indigene’s name?’
Ben shrugged. ‘Just a number. 375.’
It was most likely to be Clement.
Bill sat back. Jenny Waterson hadn’t exaggerated about Ben’s usefulness.
‘You told Julie this?’ Ben nodded. ‘Okay, keep doing what you’re doing and have Julie send me a screenshot of the chatter.’
‘Already done. I did it before I came to you.’
Bill noticed a new message in his inbox. ‘Good work. If you keep this up, you might have a career in espionage.’
Ben headed for the door. ‘I’m just happy to be useful.’
‘Trust me, you are.’
Ben smiled. ‘I’ll keep at it.’
He left the room, leaving Bill to ponder their next move. Harvey had just moved to the top of his list of people he needed to watch.
34
Simon changed back into his robe and buried the stolen satchel and the clothes he’d worn to the meeting with Bill Taggart at the back of the environ. He still had a few hours before he was due to meet with Bill again. On the way back to the caves, he concocted an excuse to explain to Tanya his lengthy time away.
He entered the observation room to discover an agitated Tanya waiting for him. Two of the Conditioned propped her up in her much weakened state. Simon knew she would entertain no delay with the power.
‘Where have you been? You’ve been gone for more than an hour.’
‘Everything’s good, Elite One.’ Simon moved closer to her. ‘There’s a small problem out at the site. The ITF has erected a force field around our cable and the point it connects to the main feed. I have assurances that the barrier will be removed soon.’
‘How soon? Do we have more power or not?’
‘Tomorrow at the latest. I just came back from recalibrating the machine so it will accept the new quantity of power.’
‘Tomorrow? How am I supposed to wait that long?’
Tanya wasn’t happy. Simon had been afraid of this.
‘We still have the original power, just not more. I can give you a treatment to take the edge off.’
Tanya looked away and muttered, ‘I shouldn’t have told Jameson to go. He’s the only one who can see this through. But he’s on an assignment that demands his attention for the next twenty-four hours.’
Simon relaxed, hearing of the doctor’s unavailability. Tanya would not proceed without him. A day—even twelve hours—could be long enough to speak to Stephen and figure out his next move.
Tanya glanced at her helpers behind her. ‘Someone get me my chair.’
Simon helped to prop up Tanya while one of the assistants got her chair. Tanya’s hard, raspy breaths shuddered through his hands. Would that sound be what he’d hear twenty-four-seven if Tanya hitched a ride inside his head? Tanya’s smell—ripe and unwashed—drifted his way. He turned his head away. From the moment her health had taken a downward turn, Elite One had stopped looking after herself.
Not a moment too soon, the assistant returned with the chair and Simon offloaded Tanya into it.
She settled in and released a long breath. Everything looked to be an effort to her these
days.
‘Take me to the machine, Simon. I need a hit.’
He nodded, happy to pander to any wish that had nothing to do with hosting. He moved to the back of her hover chair and waited for her to initialise the magnetic levitation.
With the hover function enabled, Simon pushed Tanya to the environ as fast as possible. Inside, he switched on the machine while Tanya’s assistants stayed outside. The machine whirred and powered up. He was relieved to see a contained ball of energy waiting in the centre of the machine—their most recent draw from the power grid, and four times their original mine. Simon didn’t need to check the numbers to see the machine, designed to hold a certain amount of energy, was at full capacity. Tanya would never know, and stood this close to the machine and its radiation, Simon could hide his thoughts easier from her assistants outside.
He helped Elite One into a standing position. He drew her hands forward until they touched the barrier protecting the stored energy. The energy jumped to her hand but it was useless without a matter converter. Within moments, an almost white strand of light shot through the energy and touched Tanya’s connected hands. She closed her eyes and smiled. Simon imagined the Nexus healing her from the inside. Her outer appearance would show the effects of the healing last.
Tanya disconnected as soon as the Nexus did. The stored energy, even though it had been increased, seemed to fuel it for just one minute. Tanya stood tall with no need for the chair.
‘It’s like a drug.’ She touched her face, but snatched her hands back when they found folds of skin. ‘I only wish it worked faster to fix the exterior. I can’t wait to experience what it feels like to be a part of it.’
Simon didn’t understand. ‘A part of what?’
‘A part of everything. Transcendence.’ Tanya touched the machine that stored only weak, orange energy after the Nexus’ depletion. ‘When the Elite transcend into pure energy, that energy needs to go somewhere.’ She turned and frowned at him. ‘What did you think all of this was for? To live, unrestrained, like a ghost?’
Simon had told Bill he assumed the Nexus would absorb the energy, but in reality he had tried not to think too much about what would happen after. He’d been too busy trying to stop Tanya’s plans for hosting.
