Hardwired Faith (The Exoskeleton Codex Book 1)

by Sean Kennedy

  “Yeah, it’s too far out for the posse to reach us. Those skags wouldn't want a stand up fight anyways. Bunch’a jackals bro, I’m ten times the pilot any of those hacks are. They should go back to preyin’ on school kids.”

  “There’s a school here?”

  “Naw bro, they call it a reorientation facility."

  “But... why? I mean... I thought...” Jacob started but stopped himself.

  Teeva raised his brow, “What?”

  “Well,” Jacob looked away, “I mean... isn’t everyone... kinda....”

  “Kinda what?” Teeva asked now smiling a little. Jacob was trying to think of the best way to put it.

  “Isn’t everyone in the zone ...dying?”

  Teeva threw back his head and his laugh echoed through the trash, reverberating off rusted sea containers as it carried through the night. After a moment Teeva looked at Jacob with a beaming smile.

  “We’re all dying bro! You, me, those skags who threw you out, all of us. Some just got more time than others.”

  Jacob looked down. “With your Dad ...did what you have...” He started but thought better of finishing the question.

  “No bro, my dad got some weird stuff in his lungs and died from that. I can manage my game bro, no stress.” Jacob smiled and saw Teeva's eyes get a little softer.

  “It’s true, the Dragon Cobra Clan are all defective by Deep City standards. My bro Kage is progerian, an’ he should be dead already; could drop at any time really, but bro just keeps on going. Little dude’s as hard as Chinese math bro.”

  “Wow,” Jacob wondered what a progerian was and how Chinese math would be different from any other math.

  Teeva went on. “Actually I should tell you, growing up in the box, Kage might freak you out when you see him. He’s a little dude who looks like an alien old man, so when you see him, don’t like wig out. Progeria used to be like crazy rare, now it's everywhere; but let me tell you bro, Kage has the lowest bounce of all of us, dude’s unstoppable in a t-machine. Total ninja bro, you’ll see.”

  Jacob’s questions jammed up in his throat. He blurted out the first he could grasp. “What’s the school like?”

  “Oh bro, I told you it's not school. It’s there to give folks hope, like there’s a way out of quarantine. You can buy stuff in there though, new stuff you can't get in Zone Town.”

  Jacob opened his mouth to ask what Zone Town was, but stopped, thinking he would find out as Teeva went on.

  “...but don’t fool yourself, Alcazar is just more whip if you got folks workin’ the trash furnaces. If they like you, or you got some kind of talent, they sell you off as a private contractor. Like, to another corporation, but if you screw around...” Teeva pulled up his sleeve to show him a small burn scar on his wrist. “They’ll hit you with a nerve whip. It's pretty balls bro, no lie.”

  “I’m supposed to go there.”

  “Huh!” Teeva thought for a moment before looking over at Jacobs horrified expression. “Well, you're allowed a guardian to go with you to that facility bro, I’ll make sure you get in there okay.”

  “I’m not sure I want to go there if they hurt you.”

  “It’s the only legit way out of the zone bro.” Teeva shrugged “and you can by mineral mints for rainwater there.”

  “They can’t keep me in the zone. I’m not sick.”

  “Oh sure, but they can claim you're mentally ill, bro!”

  Jacob shook his head. “I don’t feel mentally ill.” Jacob wondered if you could catch a mental illness like a cold.

  “Sure bro,” Teeva said, “says you, but you got trauma from being in the zone, blah, blah, blah.” Teeva waved a hand like a talking puppet, “They can claim you're psycho from the wipe or whatever. Everybody wants out, nobody wants in.”

  They followed the lane just past a ridge, revealing a great lakebed, like an impact crater on the Moonlit landscape. Jacob followed as Teeva pushed the bike down an old boat ramp and the sides of the lake fell back as they walked out over an open sea of dust.

  Jacob saw bright multicolored light strings hanging like holiday decorations around the lines, railings, and antennas of an old corvette battleship near the middle of the dry plain.

  The warship had settled and the lakebed’s silt dried to hold it upright in an ocean of dirt. Jacob saw wind turbines fastened to high points on the ship, turning as the wind varied its path. The sparkling lights made the ship a rainbow star against the distant slope of the lake crater’s wall.

  “What happened to the lake?” Jacob asked, his voice louder than he intended.

  “The big one bro! When the ground lifted from the quake, all the old quarantine ships got trapped, too bad it didn't wash out the oil spills too.” Teeva waved his hand in front of his nose. “You get used to it to though. I only wear a mask if I know I’m gonna be huffin’ and’ puffin’.”

  “How far is it to the ocean?”

  “Only a few miles, but you can’t go through the wrecks, There is a road that gets you out to the water on the old shipping roadways, but it’s totally not worth it.”

  “Why not?” Jacob asked, wondering if his questions were getting annoying.

  “That's through the wrecks bro!” Teeva exploded “Total deathtrap! Bad air everywhere! What you smell out here is nothing’ to bein’ in the canyons bro. You gotta use t-droids for salvage work.” He nodded to the broken telepresence droid tied to the bike.

  “Plus, you see those searchlights bro?” Teeva pointed west to the faded beams sweeping the sky”

  “Pirate King bro, with Wreck Fest so close, you’d get snagged an’ wind up boostin’ odds for his view count.”

  Jacob walked for a moment before asking “What’s Wreck Fest?”

  “Wreckage Festival bro, it’s like a thing they do every full moon out here.“S’crazy bad news for’ real. Slummin’ rich kids top the view count every big moon bro.” Teeva sighed and seemed to realize Jacob didn’t understand much of what he was saying.

  “See bro, its all trash. There’s contaminated people, next to contaminated ships that got stacked on contaminated shores. All trash bro; and nobody cares about trash, so every full moon it gets s’crazy bad out here.

  “...contaminated...” Jacob repeated.

  “Sure bro, radiation, germs, or whatever, Any quarantined ship wound up out here. The spills already trashed the coast, so they stacked ships out there before the big one. All their cargo is still out there if you can get to it; salvage makes the world go round bro."

  As they got closer to the ship, Jacob watched the longer strands of holiday lights sway in the breeze. The gray hull stretched like a fortress wall of a softly lit oasis before them.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “Thanks bro!” Teeva laughed, “We done a ton of work on her; Majka did most of it, it's her place.”

  “Majka?”

  “She’s boss bro, but no worries she’s cool.”

  Teeva pushed the bike the last few paces and carefully put the kickstand down. The heavy load rocked slightly, and Teeva watched it with his hands outstretched before being certain it would stand.

  The long railing that surrounded the deck was missing in a section where a thin rope dangled down the side of the hull. Teeva walked over and pulled up a hammer attached to the end of it.

  “Must be runnin’.” Teeva said, as though it explained something to Jacob. He struck the hull twice with the hammer, then paused before hitting it it two more times. Only moments later, a rope ladder tumbled over the deck’s edge and stopped, bouncing just above the ground.

  Teeva grabbed a rung. “K bro, just wait just a second, I’ll be right back.” And without waiting for a reply he shimmied up the rope ladder with what Jacob thought was amazing speed.

  Alone, outside the long marine castle, the flicker of fear sparked within Jacob. He thought again of the little white pills in his pocket, but left them there and instead chose to listen to the wind whisper through the wind-capturing turbines rigged above.
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  Teeva’s head and shoulders stuck out like a puppet over the side of the hull. “K bro! C’mon up!” He called down.

  Jacob took hold of the rope ladder and it swung as he stepped onto an aluminum rung.

  “Ignore the swaying bro! Just climb!” Teeva called. Jacob thought it was simple enough idea, but the metal rungs danced with his every movement. It took Jacob three times longer before Teeva latched onto Jacob’s white blazer and pulled him onto the deck. He scrambled on all fours before standing to see two figures beside Teeva.

  “Jacob, please meet Majka bro.”

  Jacob’s eyes fell on a woman in her thirties with wiry frame, almost a foot taller than he was. Bone white hair fell just past her shoulders and matched her eyebrows and skin. She wore a long loose fabric wrap top with ripped capri combat pants as her ethereal skin caught the soft colors of the holiday lights.

  “Hello,” Jacob stuck out his hand. She looked at Teeva for a moment and with an approving smile shook Jacob’s hand without the strange transitions Teeva had used.

  “...and this is Joni!” Teeva motioned to a second girl, a teenager barely taller than he was, with mousy brown hair pulled back in a short pony tail. She stepped forwards, wearing similar coveralls to the ones Mac had, but covered in pockets rather than patches.

  “Best tech ever bro.”

  Jacob shifted his hand over “Hello.” He smiled.

  Joni took his hand, pumped it saying, “Finally someone who’s smaller than me!” Her face twitched into a frown.

  “Uh... it's useful to be small on board, you get more space that way.” Her brown eyes sparkled in the rainbow lights.

  Majka stepped forward and before Jacob could react, she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Jacob turned his head and thought she smelled like flowers as she held him close.

  “Thank you for saving Teeva.” Majka pushed herself back to stare with intense white-blue eyes into Jacob’s.

  “Welcome to the Dojo.”

  Chapter 5

  Jacob followed Majka down the hatches and through the ship’s narrow passageways, chasing the woven strands of holiday lights as they snaked overhead. The outside oil stench became the easy scent of champa and sandalwood as they climbed down stair-like ladders.

  Filtered air carried incense throughout the ship. Modified rooms behind cutaway bulkheads hid behind hanging tapestries of printed fabric. They followed the light cords spiraling around thick data cables until Jacob stepped through an oval doorway into a converted mess deck.

  The braided backbone split into a cobweb of cables suspended just below the ceiling and creeping down to humming computers rack-mounted along the bulkhead.

  A media screen taller than Jacob showed two black-clad figures fighting with ancient weapons on a skyscraper rooftop. Enormous canvas cushions made an open circle, resting on layers of floor rugs stacked against the metal deck. Two figures with their backs to the screens were reclined as Majka led him in.

  Teeva pointed to the first reclining teenager. “That’s Butai.”

  He was much bigger than Jacob, with raven black hair and a blunt nose. His dark eyes were wide, staring and twitching at sights Jacob didn’t see.

  “Retinal implants bro,” Teeva whispered, “Majka and Butai both got ‘em.” He nodded, winking at Jacob as though he should appreciate how great that was.

  The figure across from Butai was wearing a black eyeless mask that exaggerated his swollen head on his much smaller body.

  “That’s Kage.” Teeva said as Majka floated to the center of the pillow circle.

  “Find a spot to lay low for a moment if you can; we have a guest.”

  She walked out of the circle to go behind the cutaway bulkheads into the galley.

  Teeva dropped himself onto one of the giant canvas cushions that puffed out from the sudden impact with a snap. Majka waved her hand for Jacob to take a seat on one of the huge cushions as she filled a small kettle, so he sat on the one next to Teeva.

  A moment later Butai’s eyes came into focus just as Kage slipped off the black mask revealing green eyes under his enlarged heavy brow.

  “Hi!” Jacob said.

  Butai looked to Teeva and shook his head as though confused.

  “He’s from the arcs bro!” Teeva pointed his thumb at Jacob as he adjusted himself on the cushion, as though that would explain everything.

  Joni vanished into a cushion on the other side of Jacob. She put on her A/VR shields making a mirrored bar across her eyes. The reflective finish caught the colored lights as she shifted her head back and forth, silently issuing commands.

  Kage stood up and stepped to the middle of the cushion circle visually searching Jacob. With his piercing eyes, large head and a small nose, Jacob thought he looked more like a small muscular being from another world.

  Teeva pulled his courier bag into his lap and wriggled to create a backrest as Jacob felt the small smooth beads of the cushion shifting under his weight.

  A moment later, Majka brought Jacob a steaming cup of tea, weaving around Kage as he stood watching.

  “Thank you!” Jacob took the cup, and Majka smiled at him before drifting back to stand in a commanding position at the cushion circle’s entrance.

  Joni slid the chrome shields to the end of her nose, glancing over them to watch. Teeva raised his hands, shaking his arms in a stretch as he prepared for his tale.

  “So,” Teeva began, “like.. When I left, I totally should've bounced this, but the Droid Posse spotted me on my way back from Toes...”

  From what little of his story Jacob understood, the Dead Droid Posse was a gang that hijacked remotely operated labor units called telepresence droids, or t-droids for short, to commit crimes. Teeva told of the chase, and how because of the extra effort a seizure took him off the bike. He remembered the fall, and waking up next to his bag, hidden in the safe darkness of a shattered sailboat.

  As he listened, Kage studied Jacob’s reactions. Teeva preached that Jacob must have moved “like a true ninja” pulling him to safety just before something loud and flashing yellow tore one droid to pieces and made the others flee.

  ...something...

  All eyes fell on Jacob. He took a breath, and to the best of what little memory he had, told everything that happened since yesterday morning.

  He talked about the tetrazine pills, the autopod and meeting Mac, and watched his audience cast sideways glances when he spoke of the mismatched farmhouse hidden in piles of salvaged cargo.

  His own story met up with Teeva's as he told of seeing him fall and how he pulled him into the sailboat’s shadows, listening to the droids approach before the thundering noise and yellow flashes.

  Only the whir of the blade servers whispered behind his words when he finished. Jacob looked to Teeva who flashed him a wink as he repacked his black vaporizer cylinder with fresh herbs.

  “So tell us,” Butai said, “why’d you help Teeva?”

  “Well...” Jacob started, but Teeva cut him off. “He just got here bro! Check out the threads.” He pointing and Jacobs rapidly browning arcology suit.

  “Yeah, and that’s pretty convenient too,” Butai continued, “no one to verify anything when one of his kind just happens to show up...”

  “There’s no ‘his kind’ here, Butai.” Majka’s stern voice silenced Butai as she locked him with her gaze.

  “We owe Jacob a debt,” she said, and Butai looked down at his hands. Majka’s gaze softened and she smiled with sad eyes at Jacob.

  “Please forgive our questions, it is only suspicious to us because there are so few good people left in in the world. I would hate to think of what would have happened had you not been there.”

  Jacob smiled at Butai, who shrugged and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

  “Teeva needed help, so I helped.” Jacob looked to Majka and saw her nodding.

  Joni rustled forwards out of the giant cushioned seat and held her hand out to Jacob. “If you’ll let me, I’ll h
ave a go at breaking your shields.”

  Jacob blinked at her before the corners of her mouth curled into a smile. “I mean I might be able to bypass the zone restrictions to get you back online.”

  “Oh wow! You can do that?” Jacob asked.

  “Told you Joni was the goods bro!” Teeva said as Jacob handed over this iGlasses to her. Jacob watched Majka nod her approval before Joni vanished through a hole cut in the far bulkhead.

  “So if you've been wiped, how do you even know that this guy is really your uncle?” Butai asked.

  “I guess I don't really. The netscreen said he was, and Mac seemed to know it was true.” Jacob thought for a moment “Maybe it’s like how I don’t remember learning how to talk, but I'm talking, and I don’t know where I learned this is a ship, but I know that too.”

  “You live in the now.” Kage spoke for the first time. He had a nasal voice, pinched but steady, like spring under pressure.

  “I have to,” Jacob nodded, “this moment’s all I have.”

  “It's all any of us have Jacob,” Majka said, “you’re blessed to have such clear focus.”

  Jacob nodded, but he didn’t feel blessed. He thought of the small space locker under his bed and considered what he might find hidden in there.

  “Do you know what we are?” Kage asked.

  “You’re ...ninjas?” Jacob offered.

  “Hell yeah we're ninjas bro!” Teeva held his hand high in the air beside him. Jacob saw Teeva was waiting for something, so he make a fist as he had done before and held it out to Teeva’s open palm.

  Teeva closed his eyes and laughed, dropping his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he shook his head.

  “Do you know what ninjas are Jacob?” Majka asked.

  “They're ....awesome?” Everyone laughed, and Jacob was happy it was a good answer.

  “Yeah they are,” Butai said and he and Kage slapped their hands high in the air. Jacob noted that for the next time and nodded to Teeva.

  “Ninjas were hidden, Jacob. They used skill and technique over power to slay their enemies.” Majka said. “Whenever people were oppressed, it was the ninjas who struck back.”