A Hero for WondLa

by Tony DiTerlizzi

  “Okay,” said Eva.

  “Good. Before we leave, Nine, there is something I need to do. Do you trust me?”

  “What is it?”

  Eight ran her hand up Eva’s neck and touched her raised mole. “I need to remove the tracking chip inside you. If I don’t do it, we will be captured by Cadmus’s night patrol.”

  “Why? We aren’t doing anything wrong.” Alarmed, Eva backed away and rubbed the mole on her nape. She remembered Hailey mentioning the chip too, but he was hardly trustworthy. “Can’t we just tell the authoritons we are going home?”

  “Well, we are going home, Nine—but not here. Not this place. We have to leave as soon as we can.” Eight pulled out a small plastic case from her satchel.

  “Leave?” Eva was confused. “I just got here. I want to—”

  “What? Stay? So you can be another one of Cadmus’s mindless automatons?” Eight opened the case to reveal a kit of delicate medical instruments. “This isn’t living. It’s mind control. Domestication. Everyone is more programmed here than Muthr was.”

  Eva furrowed her brow. “I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t think so, huh?” Eight eyed Eva. “Okay, what about the machine back at the restaurant? The one that showed ‘your life at a glance’?”

  Eva realized it was Eight who had observed her on the Divination Machine. But the woman had not introduced herself then, nor had she stopped Eva from using it. “That machine was wrong,” Eva said, crossing her arms. “It showed me a future that will never happen . . . that I would never be a part of.”

  “Let me guess. Was it a future with you and Cadmus hand in hand leading all the happy people to a rich, fertile new kingdom?” Eight looked up from cleaning the instruments and pulled out a small glass vial.

  “It was!” Eva gasped. “How did you know?”

  “Everyone sees the same image. That’s what I am talking about, Nine. That’s how he keeps control,” said Eight. Then she gestured around them. “He does it in the programs and the games. He does it in the food. In the water . . . the air. In everything. And it starts the second you are conceived in that generator room back in the Sanctuary.”

  Eva remembered how the visions of her past on the Divination Machine had been similar to the images her Omnipod had displayed back in the medlab. She tried to conjure up some of Arius’s fortune in hopes that it might help her see through to the truth here, but nothing came.

  Eva Eight finished her prep on her instruments. “Ready?”

  A nervous sweat ran down Eva’s neck under her fancy dress. She squirmed in the dark-toned garment, uncomfortable. “Will it hurt?” she asked.

  “A little at first,” replied Eight. She pulled the cap off a syringe and tapped out the air bubbles. “But it will be over quickly. We need to hurry.”

  Eva thought about what Rovender had told her. She closed her eyes and tried to listen to what her heart, her gut, was saying to her. She felt as if she were walking in her sleep—in a dreamy wonderland of ever-changing characters. Somehow, though, she knew that there was a truth to what Eva Eight was saying. There was sincerity and conviction in her voice.

  “Okay.” Eva sat with her back facing Eight. “Do it.”

  The sharp pinch of a needle soon became numb from the anesthetic that it administered into Eva’s neck. The smell of burnt hair and skin wafted past her nose from the laser scalpel that removed the mole.

  Eva tried to suppress a whine of anxiety.

  “Almost finished,” whispered Eight. “Just. Don’t. Move. I’ve got to get all of it out.”

  A tingling sensation rippled up Eva’s back as if a thread were being drawn from inside her body. This was followed by the trickle of blood running down her neck.

  “Got it,” Eight exhaled. She put a medical sticky bandage over the incision. “That medi-sticker will heal you up quick. You’re good to go.”

  Eva rubbed her hand over the wound and watched as Eight dropped what looked like a coarse hair, with minute electrodes attached on either end, into the glass vial.

  “Now you are a non-tracker like me. You are truly free to go as you please,” Eight said with a wide grin as she packed up her instruments. “How do you feel?”

  “I think I’ll be all right,” replied Eva.

  “Good.” Eva Eight studied the movement of the authoritons on her Omnipod. “Now we have to get rid of your tracking chip. Follow me and keep close!” She led Eva out of the aviary.

  “Can’t we just leave the chip there?” Eva asked as they scurried through a wooded area.

  “No,” replied Eight. “The city’s central computer is monitoring it right now. Though the curfew is twenty-thirty, if you aren’t in a home by twenty-one o’clock, the computer will send a squad after you.”

  “Then, let’s just destroy it,” said Eva.

  “That won’t work either,” Eight said, checking her Omnipod. “If you were to suddenly disappear from the grid, the city would then send a patrol to investigate. I’m telling you, Nine, this is a controlled environment.” Eva Eight stepped slowly out into the open green of the park, checking her surroundings. “This way. Hurry!” she whispered. The two darted to the edge of the park toward the lower level storefronts.

  “This is level six,” Eight said, pointing to the darkened buildings. “It’s primarily shops and commercial use.” She gestured to the topmost ring of homes overlooking the entire city. “And up there is level one. Most of those housing units are full of Cadmus’s children and relatives.”

  Eva looked up at the cubic homes. “Cadmus has a lot of kids?”

  Eight snorted. “Are you kidding? He has more than seventy. But if you ask him, he will tell you ‘We are all his children.’” Eight opened up the door to a darkened storefront and ushered Eva in. Shelf upon shelf of sneakboots and other shoes lined the walls and aisles.

  “Is this where you live?” Eva asked.

  “No,” Eight said. “However, the autoserver here is buggy and hardly ever online, so we can pass through unnoticed.” She pointed out through the skylight to the ring of buildings above. “We need to get up to level five.” With Eight’s Omnipod lighting the way, they dashed through a maintenance room in the rear of the shop and into an access stairwell. “Come on, Nine. Hurry!” Eight said, taking the stairs two at a time. “We are cutting this close.”

  “Can’t we just take a gondola? Or an elevator?” Eva huffed behind her. She wondered if the gondolas would even recognize her now with her tracking chip removed.

  “All Attican transit share systems are powered down for the night. The city CPU controls all that.” Eight cracked the door on the stairwell and looked around. She checked the radar image on her Omnipod. “Twenty-fifty-seven. Just in time,” she whispered, and led Eva out into a perimeter walkway on level five. Stacks of small cubic homes ringed the level, with a few streetlights glowing, lonely in the quiet neighborhood.

  Eva Eight pulled out the vial with the chip in it. She removed a wad of putty from her satchel, which she then kneaded and wrapped around the glass vial. She winked at Eva, then hurled the putty ball upward. It clung to an overhang on the second story of a nearby home.

  Eight kept her eyes on the putty to make sure it held. “Good. As far as the city knows, you’re in a home and staying put.”

  “Wow,” said Eva. “I had no idea.”

  “Like I told you, you have a lot to learn,” said Eight, heading back to the stairwell. “But let’s keep moving. We’ll go around to the eastern side of the city back on level six. It’s easier to move around down there.”

  “How did you unlock these doors?” Eva asked, following Eight back down into the sneakboot shop.

  “All the doors here are unlocked,” Eight replied. “There is no crime, so no one has any reason to lock them. While we are here, do you want to get new shoes?”

  Eva looked down at her dirty bare feet. “I guess so. I left my new sneakboots back at the park somewhere.”

  “Take what you need,” Ei
ght said. “That’s what it’s here for.”

  “What about my quotacard?” Eva held up her Omnipod. “Who do I give it to?”

  Eight grabbed Eva’s Omnipod and carefully removed the small card from its port. “No more quotacard. You’re a non-tracker, remember?”

  Eva nodded, saying nothing.

  Eight continued, “Think of it as going to the supply room in our old Sanctuary. Okay?”

  “Got it.” Eva grabbed a simple pair of sneakboots. They were similar to her old pair from her Sanctuary and, for this reason, felt more comfortable.

  “All right, Nine. Come on. I want to show you something.” Eva Eight led her out into the night.

  Eva Nine and Eva Eight snuck down the abandoned shopping promenade, traveling in the shadows of the perfectly trimmed trees that lined the street. After pausing at an abandoned intersection, they made their way along the perimeter road that rounded the entire city.

  “This will take some time,” Eight said in a hushed tone. “But there is something I want you to see.” She led Eva to a darkened alcove between buildings.

  The small alcove was dominated by a thick pipe, as big around as Eva Eight’s body, jutting out of the quarry wall before arching down into the pavement. Eight squeezed under the elbow of the pipe. “Come here, Nine. Feel this,” she said.

  Eva did so. The pipe was warm to the touch.

  “Get under here with me,” Eight said.

  Eva huddled next to Eight under the perspiring pipe. A whooshing sound of steam and water gurgled from within its thick cylindrical walls. Ahead, on the perimeter road, an authoriton rounded a building, scanning the area with a roving red laser. Frantically Eva Nine started to run.

  “No!” Eight grabbed Eva by the sleeve. “Stay right here. Don’t move and don’t say a word.”

  The authoriton rolled closer. The sharp angles of its helmet-shaped head gave it a sinister appearance as it monitored its surroundings. Tiny lights flashed on its torso, which Eva knew from her time with Muthr meant that it was communicating with others.

  “It’s—” she started, but Eight’s hand clamped over Eva’s mouth. The authoriton’s laser flashed over them and the pipe they hid behind but continued on its way without pause.

  “Okay. The coast is clear,” Eight said, removing her hand from Eva’s mouth. “We’ve got about ten minutes before the next one comes by.” She set the timer on her Omnipod.

  Eva let out a breath. “I don’t understand. How did it not see us?”

  “These drainage ducts are about the same temperature as our bodies,” Eight explained. “Thankfully, we were scheduled for rain tonight. The sound of the rushing water muffles our heartbeat and breathing. Authoritons use motion, body temperature, and sound to detect humans.”

  “But why are they even here? Why can’t the people be out enjoying the night despite the power rationing?” Eva asked. She enjoyed being out in the dark, both in her Sanctuary and in the wilds of Orbona.

  “You are questioning the rules, Nine. That’s good,” Eight said. “Cadmus wants everyone in their homes because there is something he is hiding that he does not want them to discover.”

  The duo stole their way around the perimeter of the city, moving from duct to duct and avoiding interference from the roving robots.

  “So, how are we related?” Eva asked as she wriggled out from behind a duct.

  “We are like sisters, you and I,” Eight replied. “I shall take good care of you.”

  A sister! Eva thought. A sister from the same home who has searched and found me. A sister who will understand me in ways Gen never could. I wish Muthr were here to see her daughters reunited. Eva wondered if Rovender would like Eva Eight. “When did you leave the Sanctuary?”

  “More than a hundred years ago. I’ve remained in this dreadful place waiting for you. Now that you are here, we can return as a family to live in the Sanctuary, as it should be.” Eight turned to Eva and smiled.

  “We—we can’t go back.” Eva stopped.

  Eight turned and put her hands on Eva’s shoulders. “I know you think that because you’ve been told that. But we can go back. I did it once before, and I’ll do it again. Together we’ll convince Muthr to let us stay.”

  “You don’t understand,” Eva said, her dress turning a drab olive. “The Sanctuary . . . Muthr . . . they’re gone. Destroyed.”

  Eva Eight was silent for a moment as she studied Eva. “You’re wrong. The Sanctuary is fine. It’s a fortress. Practically impenetrable.”

  “No.” Eva looked down, speaking softly. “I wish I were wrong. But Besteel, this big evil alien huntsmen, broke in and ruined everything.”

  Eva Eight’s body began to tremble, and she dropped to her knees. “My home? Our home?” she said. “How is that even possible?”

  “He had weapons.” Eva knelt down next to her. “Weapons that were stronger than the Sanctuary was.”

  Eight clutched Eva’s arm, squeezing it tightly. “Then, we will rebuild the Sanctuary. We’ll take supplies from here. We’ll make it even stronger. Then we’ll find this Besteel and eliminate—”

  “It’s okay, Eight.” Eva wriggled her arm free and patted her sister’s back. “Besteel’s gone. I took care of him.”

  “Besteel’s gone? Thirteen years are gone!” Eva Eight slumped down to the ground. “I’ve been waiting thirteen years for you so that we could put this plan into action. And now . . . gone. It’s all gone!”

  “We have each other, though,” Eva said, feeling sorry for Eight. “That’s a good thing, right? We can start again.”

  Eight sniffled and wiped her eyes, smearing her mascara. “Yes. A fresh start of it. I’ll watch over you now as if you were my very own.”

  Eva gave her sister a hug and helped her rise. Up ahead the familiar red light of an authoriton scanned the storefronts.

  “Come on,” Eva said, and led Eight behind a drainage duct. They remained still as the robot rolled by.

  Did she wait all this time for me? Eva thought. As they exited their hiding spot, she squeezed her sister’s hand, and they exchanged smiles.

  Eight composed herself and led the way. On the road ahead she pointed to a grand gate set in the quarry wall. “Now look. Over there is the eastern entrance. Is this where you entered the city?” she asked.

  “I think so. Yes,” Eva replied. “We came in here this morning.” At night the majesty of the area was tinged by a permeating gloom.

  “You were so close to the truth. Come. I want you to see this,” Eight said. She approached one of a pair of drainage ducts that flanked the eastern gate. On the wall below the duct was a small door, hidden from view, which she wrenched open. A cloud of steam billowed out from within, escaping into the cool artificial night.

  Eva could feel the heat as she ducked into the low cramped passage. Ancient pipes of every size ran along the grimy walls, sweating with water and hissing with electricity.

  “Be sure to shut the door behind you,” Eight said.

  Eva pushed the door as hard as she could, for despite its small size, it was quite heavy. The door closed with a loud CLANG.

  “It’s okay,” Eight said. “Even if that sound attracted any authoritons, they won’t find us.”

  “So this is where you live?” Eva asked. The climatefiber in her undergarments activated, cooling her skin. Her hairdo, however, drooped in the humidity.

  “No,” Eight said, leading Eva down the hidden way. “I stay in several places. There are some abandoned cubes on level three where I don’t have to deal with Cadmus’s ridiculous rules and no one bothers me.”

  The humidity in the tight passage clung to Eva’s brow. “So if you don’t care for the rules, why don’t—”

  “It’s not just that I don’t care for the rules here, Nine. I don’t trust Cadmus.” Eight passed a hissing valve. “And he is supposed to represent the pinnacle, the leader of the humans. You should be able to trust your own leader, don’t you think?”

  “So, why do you stay?�
�� Eva thought of Van Turner leaving the city with Hailey’s father.

  “I was waiting for you. Though I wasn’t expecting you for another three years,” said Eight.

  “You really were waiting . . . for me? All this time?” Eva asked. Her Emote-Attire tinged a golden hue.

  “Yes. Imagine my delight when I saw you today. I couldn’t believe it was you standing right there in the park, yet I knew it as I know my own face,” Eight said. “Then it was just a matter of waiting until you were alone so I could confirm it.”

  “And now what?” Eva rubbed her sweaty neck where her mole had been. Even under the medi-sticker the scar was tender.

  “We are sisters now, and I am happy for it,” Eight said, squeezing Eva’s hand tightly. “You’ve brought light to my dreary life here.”

  These words made Eva think of Rovender. While she followed Eva Eight past more pipes, she wondered how she was going to find her blue friend. “Eight.” Eva spoke softly. “You said you’d take care of me as if I were your own daughter. Don’t you have kids?”

  Eight’s face was dark in the shadows. Her voice was solemn. “I am not genetically pristine, Eva Nine, as I have a predisposition to certain incurable diseases. Therefore, by law, I cannot bear young.”

  “You . . . you can’t?” Eva gasped in shock.

  “No.” Eight’s voice was barely a whisper. “Early in my embryonic development I was made to be sterile.”

  Eva knew that “sterile” had something to do with not being able to have children. She thought back to the child-holograms that she had played with when she was younger. She’d even enjoyed being around Hostia’s little son, Zoozi, back at Lacus. Perhaps she would be a mom one day, like Muthr, but that was a million-zillion years from now.

  “I’m sorry,” Eva said. It was all she could think to say, even though she knew the words wouldn’t fix anything.

  Eight looked at Eva. “Thank you, Nine. I’ve lived with this for all of my life, and I wish it could be changed, but it cannot be undone. That is why I returned to our Sanctuary—to get you. I wanted to raise you as your mother and to provide you with the upbringing I did not have.”