Quanta Reset

by Lola Dodge

  My thoughts stayed with Quanta. I was thankful she wasn’t on her way to the Citadel with me, but she’d been taken, and I still didn’t know where she was. Or if she was all right.

  I had to survive, if only to make sure that Quanta did, too.

  The ship took us over the Citadel’s towering walls, toward the glittering skyscrapers of the island-spanning city. Lights twinkled in the night, illuminating the sea of glass and spire-spanning pod tracks. The resemblance to Alpha Citadel was less than comforting.

  We landed on a pad at the top of a generic scraper in the maze of others. The guards flowed outside and formed a double-thick protective square around Quanta and me.

  I fought to keep calm as I gazed over the nighttime city. There was no chance I’d escape this on my own. Seligo security was too tight.

  I was already at their mercy.

  Unless Quanta came for me. But could she? Was she still alive?

  No.

  I couldn’t let my thoughts go down that path. I had to stay alert. Look for the slightest opening to exploit. One lapse would be enough. Just one…

  The clone gripped my arm. “You’ll stay with me, won’t you?”

  Her smile pretended to be sweet while her fingernails dug into my skin. Had she already seen me trying to run?

  Getting past the guards was one thing. Getting past a clairvoyant?

  It was utterly hopeless. “Where would I go?”

  “Nowhere.” Her gray eyes lost focus. Then she grinned. “Nowhere.”

  If there was no hope of escape, then I had to find something else to keep myself going. I refused to give up.

  At least I had questions I wanted answered.

  What did the clone want?

  As we strode closer to the rooftop door, she smiled shyly and smoothed down her sundress, peeking at me from the corner of her eye.

  A shiver rolled down my back. It wasn’t how my Quanta acted, but…

  What if she didn’t know she was a clone?

  She’d called me her partner. What if she thought she was the real thing and I was her genetic match, come to help her?

  There was only one person who could’ve fed her that lie: Dr. Nagi.

  If he was here…

  I swallowed as the blast-force door swung shut behind us and the truth took hold.

  I wouldn’t be escaping.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  QUANTA

  The clone.

  The clone had Tair.

  I kept repeating the truth, but it wouldn’t process.

  The clone. Had…

  My vision fuzzed and my head throbbed.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Devan’s face appeared.

  A crazy cackle slipped up my throat. “Everything.”

  Everything was wrong. As I bucked against the plastic ties holding me down… This was too familiar.

  Strapped down and helpless. Couldn’t change a thing. Stuck in place while Tair suffered somewhere I couldn’t get to him.

  “What are you…?” Devan crept back. She was glowing.

  Glowing… Blue?

  Wait.

  I was glowing.

  My heart pounded, my vision still swam, and the ghosts at the edge of my vision—I jerked against the chair. “Get out.”

  “You—”

  “OUT!” I screamed at Devan as the blue light flared brighter. If I went off now…

  But I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. Not yet.

  Devan backed out of the room. I scrunched my eyes shut tight and forced myself to breathe. My head spun wilder and wilder, and timeghosts pressed in.

  Breathe in.

  Breathe out.

  Whirling. Swirling. Chaos.

  Breathe.

  Breathe.

  Breathe.

  Tair still needed me.

  And I needed to survive.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ALTAIR

  Blood.

  They’d taken nine vials already, and the med tech at my side showed no signs of stopping. I gritted my teeth and tried not to buck against the straps pressing me to the lab table.

  The clone hadn’t left my side. She sat on a stool next to the table, swinging her legs and humming absently.

  It jarred.

  I kept turning to look at her and then averting my gaze. She didn’t show a hint of concern about my blood being taken, and the more I compared her to the real Quanta, the more the clone turned my stomach.

  Clones were nothing special. Most of the Gray Helixes who served the Seligo had been duplicated and reduplicated for the better part of a century. But they required special care. When their bodies were grown faster than their brains could mature, it created an uncomfortable dissonance.

  I felt that when I looked at her. She seemed slightly younger than Quanta—her flesh just a tad rounder—but her mind…

  She noticed my gaze and gave a shy smile. I quickly turned my head.

  The expression was off. Quanta’s smiles were mischievous or coy. Sometimes brave or even a touch crazy. Never shy.

  And Quanta rarely looked at anyone directly. The clone didn’t have any of Quanta’s mannerisms—staring into space or tracking invisible figures with her gaze. The implications heaped more worry on an already impossible situation.

  Reds were fundamentally unstable, but the clone was holding up much better than Quanta. The clone seemed more focused.

  And focused on me. If she had a clear view of the future, then she’d see any schemes I might concoct.

  I flinched as the tech started drawing vial number ten. The sting barely registered, but I was afraid I already knew which tests the Seligo would be running. Quanta and I had left clues behind when we escaped Alpha Citadel. If Doctor Nagi hadn’t already uncovered our genetic pairing, my blood would reveal the secret.

  “You’ll be all right,” the clone said. “No one here will hurt you.”

  I turned back to her. She didn’t break eye contact as my face twisted in disbelief. “No one?”

  “Of course not.” She started swinging her legs again, as innocent as a child. “You’re going to help me.”

  “Help you?” I didn’t want to consider how. I was more worried about the lies the Seligo had been feeding her.

  She nodded, bouncing in eagerness. “Doctor Nagi says your blood matches my blood. We’ll do great things together.”

  My throat contracted. He’d already confirmed the pairing. I’d expected he would, but this wasn’t how I wanted my theory confirmed. Now that Doctor Nagi had me captive, he could both test the science behind genetic pairs and observe it in action.

  I closed my eyes against the sterile white room and overhead fluorescents. And against the constant stare from those wide gray eyes.

  My options were bad and worse. The building was a maze of secure doors choked with Black Helixes. Even if I found a window of opportunity, the clone would be watching.

  I had to debilitate her.

  Or work with her.

  I couldn’t decide which was least distasteful. Physically harming her wouldn’t come without cost. I could already feel the pull to her, even if it was twisted. The pairing worked on some level. So my instinct to protect my Quanta still held with the clone.

  If I worked with her…

  Bile rose in my throat.

  I could make her like me. But would she see my betrayal coming, too?

  To make her believe, I couldn’t be acting. I’d have to embrace the differences that were already repelling me. Give in to my programming while ignoring reality. The exact opposite of how I interacted with Quanta.

  But unless a miracle occurred in the next few minutes, I was going to have to play along with the clone and jump through whatever hoops Doctor Nagi prescribed.

  I didn’t believe in miracles.

  Using her was the only way out of this situation, and I had to get out, because Quanta was in as much danger—if not more—than I was. I just hoped I could live with myself if I survived.

  The
med tech finished at vial number eleven. After patching my arm with a slice of synthetic skin, she hurried away with her tray of samples.

  Multiple tests could be run using a single vial’s worth of blood, so I didn’t dare guess how many Greens were waiting to start analyzing my genes. The security lock clicked closed behind her.

  The clone didn’t move a millimeter.

  I considered asking the clone to untie me from the table, but I didn’t believe for an instant that she would. Or that whoever was watching would let her.

  The quadrant of the room my table faced had four security panels full of cams and sensors. Guards could be here in seconds.

  Straps bit into my wrists as my fists bunched in frustration, but I couldn’t let my emotions steer this interaction. Everything I did had to be calculated. I needed to be sounding her out instead of despairing.

  Forcing my hands and features to relax, I turned to face her. “What are we waiting for?”

  “Doctor Nagi’s calling to say hello.”

  Dread may have flashed across my face, but if she noticed, she didn’t make any indication. All she did was kick back and forth on her stool.

  Everything about her was wrong. But she didn’t seem inclined to leave my side.

  Ever.

  At least he was calling instead of visiting in the flesh. I needed to gather as much info as I could while I still had the clone more or less alone. “How long have you been at Theta Citadel?”

  “I’m not supposed to tell you things like that.” She tilted her head to the side, looking curious in spite of her orders.

  That curiosity might be my saving grace. “Can you ask me questions?”

  She drummed her fingers against her stool. “No one said I couldn’t.”

  “Then go ahead.” It was dangerous ground. She might ask things Doctor Nagi couldn’t be allowed to know, but I’d have to deflect and hope she didn’t pull the truths from my past. A conversation was the only way to feel out her intentions.

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-four.” And surprised that was what she wanted to know.

  “Do you have brothers and sisters?”

  “One sister.” Who Doctor Nagi already knew about. “Do you?”

  Her eyebrows lifted as if she knew I was trying to play her, but she still smiled. “Not telling.”

  I dry swallowed. It wasn’t an answer, but I would’ve preferred an easy no. Now the possibility of more clones hovered. Nothing could be worse.

  One clone was already proving more than I could handle.

  “Can I…” She fidgeted and chewed her lip.

  Another contrast. Quanta was always fairly direct. “Can you…?”

  “Can I touch you?” She blushed. “Not in a creepy way. Just…”

  The compulsion to touch was more proof that Eva’s adjustments had manifested. And as the clone glanced away in embarrassment, the same compulsion seeped through my veins.

  I felt…protective toward her.

  And my fists were bunching again.

  The impulse was genetic. Not affection.

  But the need to remind myself brought up a string of uncomfortable questions. If that logic applied to the clone, then didn’t it apply to Quanta? We’d been linked without consent, and the same genetic impulse that made me sympathetic to the clone made me sympathetic to Quanta.

  Did the desire and duty to protect her apply to the clone as well? Should it?

  The ethics boggled.

  We’d killed dozens of Quanta’s clones at Alpha Citadel, and I hadn’t felt a pang, but they’d been test cases. Half-formed creatures who knew only suffering. They’d been nothing like the girl in front of me now.

  Even if I had the opportunity, would I be able to kill her? Physically yes, but mentally… I wondered if I’d be able to go through with it.

  They were too alike.

  And it was too soon to tell whether she could be saved. Doctor Nagi and the Seligo might already have twisted her too far for that.

  The more I thought it through, the more familiar the mental loop felt. I’d gone through the same string of questions when I met Quanta and learned about our pairing.

  Getting to know her had shown me the truth—that Quanta was a person worthy of saving, regardless of what tied us together. It wasn’t clear if I could say the same for the clone.

  “I’ll leave you alone.” Her stool squeaked as she stood.

  “No.” I’d let myself get lost in my thoughts, but I needed to focus on the clone. Even if playing to her curiosity turned my stomach, I was going to need her cooperation to survive. And Quanta needed me to survive. “Sorry. You can touch me.”

  “Are you sure?” She leaned over the table, her cheeks pink with excitement.

  Was I sure?

  Not at all. The pull toward Quanta had intensified every time we touched. I dreaded the inevitability that the same would happen now.

  But I didn’t have a choice. Not when I was bound and captive, and the clone was only one I had any chance of turning into an ally.

  I opened my palm to her. “It’s all right.”

  “Then…” She extended her fingers.

  As she stared at the closing gap between our skin, I knew Doctor Nagi must have contrived the situation. Leaving us alone to observe what would happen. But the clone seemed oblivious, and I was back to wondering the same thing I’d first wondered about Quanta.

  Was the clone Doctor Nagi’s pawn? Or was she playing the game herself?

  Her fingers brushed mine before I had an answer. Energy shot along my arm, lighting synapse to synapse until my whole body jittered with the contact.

  The clone gasped.

  I had one more question, and it couldn’t be asked aloud. Can you hear me?

  She jumped back as if she’d plunged her arm into a tub of liquid nitrogen. “Your voice.”

  My stomach tightened. I’d hoped to find at least one difference between them.

  But another power was the same.

  So much was the same.

  Even though she looked close to identical, the wide-eyed, gasping girl who clutched her hands to her mouth was nothing like my Quanta.

  There was one last similarity I hoped they didn’t share. Rewinding time.

  Dread settled heavy in my stomach. If Doctor Nagi found out what was possible…

  The Ravens wouldn’t survive.

  And I’d never see Quanta again.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  QUANTA

  I must’ve passed out. Now I came back to reality.

  Really, really slowly.

  My eyes creaked open. My head felt hollow and achy, but as far as I could tell I hadn’t exploded.

  So far. That was good.

  Also, Devan was gone, and I was on the floor.

  The chair had fallen straight back, and even though I was still tied up, the plastic cords had gotten even looser while I was unconscious. Either from falling or thrashing around.

  Straining against the plastic, I slowly worked my right hand free. After I pulled it out and my circulation started to prickle back, I managed to pry out the left. Then I worked on wiggling and tugging the rest of the way free.

  I was gasping by the time I wrenched myself out. For a few seconds, I lay on the concrete, just breathing and recovering and trying to wrap my head around what had to come next.

  The clone had Tair.

  I was wickedly close to going unstable.

  I had zero help.

  Staying on the floor wouldn’t fix any of those problems. First, I needed backup.

  Devan was going to help me. She had to.

  I crawled a few steps until some of the pins and needles fuzzed out of my legs and then pulled myself to my feet. After a few wobbles, I made it to the door.

  Unlocked.

  I peered outside my cell. The connected room looked like some teenagers’ secret fort. There were rumpled sleeping bags, heaps of snack packages, and a portacomp with game controllers.


  The bluish haze of the past drew me in.

  Three girls sit huddled in front of the glowing comp screen. A video plays—a couple kisses in what looks like a painful goodbye. Then the scene fades to black and a title appears: Along the Shore.

  Muffled rustles break the sudden silence.

  “Tissues.” A blonde girl paws the ground, searching the darkness until she finds a packet of tissue. She blows her nose.

  “How can they break up?” The dark-haired girl pulls a tissue from the pack. Her eyes are red and glassy.

  “It’s not—” The blonde peers at her friends. “Devan? Is Devan Coda crying?”

  “No.” Devan hides her face in a blanket, but muffled sniffles echo.

  The blonde’s tearful face breaks into a smile. “You big lying liar.”

  The dark-haired one tugs Devan’s arm. “I want to see the crying face.”

  “Devan Coda has emotions! Devan Coda is a flesh and blood human!” Now both of them are tugging at Devan, who tries to stay burrowed in the blanket.

  Her face pops into view. Tear tracks glisten on Devan’s face, but she scowls and grabs a pillow. “I do not have emotions.” She smacks the closest girl with the pillow.

  The girls shriek and grab their own pillows and then it’s all-out war.

  Finally, they fall back to their sleeping bags, giggling and exhausted.

  More timeghosts loomed, but I managed to get my walls up before they overwhelmed me. I’d seen enough, though.

  The underground Reds.

  All three of them had been together at some point. But recently?

  Only lonely ghosts of Devan blinked and out around the space. In the present, she was nowhere to be found, but I’d probably freaked her out good enough to make her run. I had to reach Eva before Devan got back and found me kicking around her secret base.

  I knelt in front of the portacomp and held my breath as I tried to power it on.

  Zip.

  But there had to be electricity. I looked up. The lights were—

  Glowing but bulb-less.

  Light hovered in the fixture on the ceiling, but it wavered and wobbled like liquid or the glow of a flame. I didn’t need three guesses whose powers could do that.

  A wave of blue figures swirled around me. It took everything I had to hold my mental walls and keep myself in the present. But some of the movement was real.