"What…do you want from me?"
The synoid never blinks, staring with robotic eyes that somehow appear too intelligent for its weathered face. "Like any organism, our system is susceptible to parasites and viruses that infect and destroy. You are in a unique position to assist in our efforts to terminate such threats."
My hands clench into fists. "You mean Dabria."
"Dabria and her foolhardy rebellion are but a minor inconvenience. Had we wished to contain or destroy her, we would have done so already."
I'm not sure I believe them, but I don't dare voice the opinion. "Then why let her live?"
"Because we have examined the possible outcomes of her current path and determined that she can lead us to a much deadlier enemy."
A holographic projection of a man appears in front of me. I take in the obvious details: Tall, broad-shouldered, dark brown skin, close-cut hair so white it can't be natural. He's dressed in combat gear, and a pair of aviator sunglasses shield his eyes. His aggressive stance suggests a military or mercenary background. Normally someone of his type wouldn't merit a second glance, but there's something about him that stands out. He exudes a certain kind of menace that's hard to define. But right away I know he's a killer. Not the common type that might kill for survival, not even the kind that kills for sport.
He's the type you send to slaughter everything that moves.
The branches stir, the leaves flutter. The synoid shudders in response before continuing its delivery. "Ethan Kilgore. A veteran of the controversial Youth Recruitment Program, and a volunteer for the Elite bio-enhancement procedure. A highly successful agent of the HSSC, specializing in covert operations before volunteering for a dangerous super-Elite procedure and leaving the planet for military missions on Mars under the new name of Beowulf Kilgore, where he advanced to the rank of Captain. He reportedly went insane on Mars after an incident with unexplained phenomena. Upon his arrival back on Earth, he destroyed all traces of the Elite program, including killing every person involved. Since then, he has focused on personal vendettas, all involving mass murder and destruction. Unlike most enemies of the state, he easily evades surveillance and can inexplicably travel distances at rates that defy logical explanation."
The glowing eyes of the synoid stare at me, devoid of emotion. "Kilgore and Dabria both resurfaced from lengthy absences within days of each other. We do not believe this to be a coincidence. They either have been working in conjunction or will soon be. We predict they will continue Dabria's mission to destroy the Immersion network and cripple the industry, wreaking financial havoc and causing immeasurable mental and emotional damage that will last for generations."
I say nothing, waiting for demands I know are coming. Speaking will only lengthen an outcome that I can do nothing about anyway. I can refuse the Collective the same as I can refuse Kage. Which is to say not at all.
The synoid's lips curve as if it read my mind. "We have interests in preserving the Immersion industry, so we cannot allow Dabria's mission to succeed. But we also need to discover Kilgore's true intentions, so we must allow their collaboration for a short duration. You will be our agent in their organization. Your mission is to ascertain what Kilgore's motives are, as well as observe any weaknesses we can exploit."
I clear my throat, grateful to find that my voice still works. "I'll never be able to get within yards of him or Dabria. I'm a Scyther now, with a built-in surveillance system. They'll kill me before trusting me. I'd kill me if I were in their place."
The leaves on the tree pulse in luminescent ripples of light. The synoid corpse delivers their message. "Dabria has a plan to liberate you from our grasp. We will allow it to occur without permanent damage to your brain. You will be free of your minder, your surveillance system disabled."
For the smallest of moments, I feel a glimmer of forbidden hope. My heartbeat increases fast enough for me to feel frightened, that the quickening of my pulse might be detected and determined as excitement. I sense Kage stirring behind me, but he says nothing in protest. They synoid's electric eyes flick in his direction, calculating. It speaks in answer to his unspoken outburst.
"Your overseer believes that you will immediately rebel against us when your minder is disabled. But we have more than one way to keep you compliant. You will consider rebellion, surely. Why would you not? But know that should you not obey, there will be lethal consequences. Not to you. One way or another, you will be reclaimed. No, the price of your disobedience will be your companion. Zen. Do not doubt our capabilities. We will follow her. We will track her. You cannot hide her. You cannot shield her. Should you attempt to thwart our commands, her life will be forfeit. You will witness her capture. You will witness her torture. And when we tire of her screams, you will witness her destruction. Only after that will you be reclaimed."
I drop my head, numbed by the familiar weight of crushing defeat. "I understand."
"Then go. We will be watching."
The android body unceremoniously topples to the ground, once again a useless husk. The glimmering tree and its unholy fruit pull away, dwindling until it vanishes into the darkness. Then I'm left with Kage, just the two of us in the infinite blackness. He gazes at me, cybernetic eyes glimmering with something I've never seen before. Emotion. For the first time, the mask slips a little. Scalding anger, shame, regret…it flickers so quickly that I'm not sure I even see it.
"Know this, Scyther. Know it well. There is only one absolute in the dark little world that we share. And that is, we will never be free. Never. The sooner you accept it, the smoother your transition will go."
He vanishes, leaving me with his words hanging in the air like steam. And the realization dawns on me that Kage is just as much a prisoner as I am.
I tap the v-drive, severing the connection. The interior of the jet chopper fizzles into formation as the simulation ends. Zen stands over me, a concerned look on her face. Brutus is a shaggy shadow behind her.
"There you are. We just landed. I thought we'd have to lug you out of here unconscious and everything. Where did you go?"
I avert my eyes, unable to meet her gaze. The chilling words of the Collective crawl across my consciousness like insect legs.
"The Ministry."
A startled hiss escapes her lips as she drops down to a crouch, looking around as if for spying eyes. "Are you serious? What did they want?"
"Mission instructions. We're going after Dabria again."
Zen sighs. "Of course we are."
I grab hold of her arm, slide down to her hand, intertwine my fingers with hers. Connected, just like we are. Inseparable. Tears well in my eyes.
"You should have never turned yourself in, Zen. You should have stayed away from me."
She throws her arms around me, clutching the back of my head while I sob into her shoulder. I'm so much taller and stronger than she is, but right now she's my support. She's all that's left of anything good in my life.
"It's gonna be okay." Her whisper is fierce; her embrace tight. "We're gonna make it, Enigma."
Her fingers type a sequence across my spine, quick enough to escape notice, coded like we used to do in Dabria's militia.
THEY THREATEN MY LIFE
I tap the answering sequence across her shoulder blades.
YES
It seems impossible, but her wiry arms hug me even tighter. Her fingers drum across my back.
DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO NO MATTER WHAT
My jaw tightens. She's right, though not in the way she thinks. I'll do what I have to. Because survival is the only thing that matters. But for the first time, I realize it's not my survival that's most important.
It's hers.
"White Rabbit."
Nox leans casually beside the doorway of the Bradbury Building, a playful smile on his lips. Black blazer, white shirt with three buttons undone, black pleated pants. His features are as chiseled and handsome as in Elysia, but here in the real world his face is shadowed by a close-cropped beard, and his dreadloc
ks are longer, hanging past his shoulders. His eyes aren't quite the liquid gold shade of his digital proxy, either. Here they are hazel but just as hypnotic. A scar splits his right eyebrow in half, trailing halfway up his forehead.
How many times have I caressed that scar, ran my fingers across his brow while he stared at me with rarely-revealed kindness in his eyes? It's been barely over a year, but it feels like a lifetime ago.
"What are you doing here, Nox?" I don't bother looking around for who might be watching. I can practically feel the electric eyes pinpointed at us like targeting lasers.
He shrugs. "You think Cyber Corp will snatch me up like they did Zen?"
"Zen didn't get snatched up. She turned herself in because she didn't want me to be alone."
"And so that she wouldn't be alone, either. She plays tough, but we both know she can't stand to be by herself. Why do you think she built that watchdog teddy bear monstrosity?"
"This isn't about Zen."
His smile is infuriating. "Why should I worry about your…employers? I left Dabria's crew of my own initiative. And here I am, cooperating with them on an important mission."
"So, you have something?"
"Of course." He holds out v-drive. "Specter's Immersion information. Everything you need to trace him when he returns to Deep Sleep."
"How'd you pull off the trace?"
"Easy. He's smart enough to cover his tracks, but like most Immersers, he's attached to a DLP."
"DLP?"
"Digital Life Partner. One of Elysia's most common sources of income."
"Yeah, I know. Your own perfect boyfriend or girlfriend. Completely loyal and supportive in every way. Never argues or does anything you don't want to do."
"Partly. They can be rather manipulative under all the submissive acting. It's necessary to keep people Immersed for longer periods. Not to mention keeping them coming back."
I take the v-drive and slip it into my pocket "So, this is the DLP's traceback??"
"That's right. Follow her, and you'll find your boy when he Immerses."
"You could have sent this by drone."
"I was in the neighborhood. Do you know why she wants to do it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Dabria. Her endless war. Saving humanity from the evil corporations that threaten our freedom."
"Just like you said. Humanity is weakening, coerced by corporations to surrender their free will."
"Don't believe the hype, Enigma. The segment of the population that categorize as Sleepers in Elysia is less than five percent. The rest are vacationers, leisure visitors."
I feel my cheeks burn from his casual dismissal. "Well, if you're so smart, why don't you just tell me?"
"Dabria lost her sister. While she was away making a name for herself in the Red War, her younger sister got hooked on Immersion. She was one of the more susceptible junkies, developing a habit that affected her brainwaves. In short time she couldn't do without and was crippled by a debilitating case of reality confusion. They pulled her from a Deep Sleep center barely alive. She died a few days later, right before Dabria came back from Mars. Obviously, Dabria took it hard. And personal."
I felt numb, trying to imagine what Dabria felt when she stepped off the shuttle. The family that waited for her, faces lined by grief instead of joy. The loss of a beloved sister…it was beyond my ability to envision. I've never had a family to lose. At least not until Dabria took me into one.
"I…never knew."
Nox studies me, eyes intent on my face. "I figured you didn't. This is a vendetta for her, Enigma. It's not some noble war to free humanity. It's revenge, plain and simple. They hurt her, so she wants to hurt them."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you need to know. Because maybe when this is over, you might decide to choose for you instead of being a naïve soldier in another person's war. Maybe you choose freedom instead of further imprisonment."
"You don't get it, Nox. This will never be over. Not for me, anyway."
"Everything ends, one way or another. Don't lose that drive. I made it especially for you." He gives me a roguish grin as he walks to the curb, slips into an autocab, and glides away.
Chapter 11: 5P3CT3R
The city sparkles.
Shimmers of phosphorus. Streaks of neon: blues, reds, magentas, purples. Impossibly high structures tower and interconnect. Air traffic whizzes by in suicidal formations, somehow not collapsing into mass destruction. Sky surfers soar above my head on garishly painted hover-boards, laughing as they court death by weaving in and out of air lanes.
The only thing missing is Hel. To see her laugh, to feel her hands stroke my face. To taste her when she kisses me against a backdrop of glittering lights.
I glance at Dabria, who observes the scene with her hands planted against the balcony railing. She is without the headgear, hair blowing in the wind. She looks exactly as she does in reality, choosing not to adopt a proxy like most of us in Elysia do.
I am in my customary perfect proxy: slim but muscular, faultlessly handsome, hair coifed without a strand out of place. Tailored suit, eyes shielded by Vantablack sunglasses. I usually feel untouchable, overflowing with confidence that I can't feel in any other place. But standing beside Dabria, the only thing I feel is fraudulent.
She scans the skyline, lips compressed. "Do you know how all of this came into being, Specter?"
I shrug. "Not really. I guess it expanded from gaming or something."
"Immersion was created before the Cataclysm, designed specifically for those selected for hibernation residencies in the Havens. Scientists feared that sleeping for two hundred years would result in irreversible damage to the human mind. Immersion was the antidote to those fears. A virtual existence for the brain to actively inhabit, creating the same complexities and decisions of reality. The creators hoped that humanity would awaken completely refreshed, even enhanced by the experience."
"Let me guess. Things didn't turn out the way they predicted."
"Not for everyone. While a majority of sleepers awoke from hibernation intact, a segment of the population suffered from what is now known as reality confusion. Unable to be convinced that the lives they lived under Immersion weren't real, many suffered mental breakdowns and suicidal actions. The creators of Elysia did their job too well. And that was only the first version. Major improvements have been patched in since then. The number who suffer from reality confusion has quadrupled, quietly removed and placed under psychiatric care while the rest of the Sleepers enjoy themselves undisturbed."
I thrust my hands in my pockets, irritated by her derisive monotone. "Accidents happen. If you hate Elysia so much, why did you bring me here?"
She turns in my direction. "Because you needed this. Had you gone without Immersion too much longer, your ability to function would rapidly deteriorate. And we need you as sharp as possible if we're going to pull this off."
"Pull what off? I don't even know what my role is, or what the hell the plan is."
"That's on purpose, Specter. I don't trust you."
"You're going to have to, or there's no point to us working together."
"We're not working together. I'm coercing you to work with me. I've put your precious DLP under threat of erasure, and you'd do anything to stop that. Even now, you're thinking. Scheming. Trying to find a way out of your bondage. Trying to find a way back to your precious Hel. Because despite knowing she's an artificial creation, you still crave her as if she's real. You would betray a flesh and blood person in a heartbeat if it meant reuniting you with her. So, tell me: how can I possibly trust you?"
I drop my head, face burning from the humiliating ease of how quickly she dismantles me. "I guess you're right. When you make a person your prisoner, there's no way you can trust him."
She stares, dark eyes unreadable. "That's the irony, Specter. The corporate slavers who designed Hel and millions like her have already made you their prisoner. And yet because of your blin
dness, you don't direct any of that animosity toward them."
I shake my head, a bitter grin on my lips. "So, you brought me here to listen to you lecture? Nice way to spoil the mood."
"No, I brought you here for a choice." She points upward. "You know what this is."
I follow her gaze. The city is thick with fliers of all sorts. Gliders, sky surfers, aerocycles, jet packs, and wings, both artificial and natural. They soar and weave between buildings, fooling around. Waiting for the big event.
"It's the Mass Attack tournament. Aerial, so it must be Wednesday."
"And you're pretty good?"
I pause, checking to see if she's joking. Her face gives nothing away, but I swear she's laughing at me. I stand up straighter.
"Top ten if I'm fooling around. Top five on a good day."
"Then I have a proposition for you. We'll play this round. If you outlast me, I'll let you go. No strings attached. Back to Elysia, back to pretending your DLP is a real girl."
My pulse quickens, leaving me shaky with adrenaline. "And if I lose?"
"Then you agree to work with me. No more threats, no holding your DLP hostage. You agree not to contact Hel until this is over. Not to enter Elysia until it's over. You give me your word, and you see it through to the end."
I can't help the grin that spreads across my face. "You're on. It's a deal."
"Then get ready. Because the Leviathan is on its way." She taps her holoband, and wings sprout from her back. Black, metallic, and gleaming with razor-edged feathers. An angel of death with a long ion blaster in one hand. She gives me a hard smile before shooting upward in a blast of rushing air, joining the overcrowded sky where the other participants restlessly soar and hover.
The building trembles as if struck by a giant fist. The crowds roar at the approach of the Leviathan. In the distance, skyscrapers topple in massive clouds of dust and debris. Something enormous is barely visible, slowly approaching like a nightmare storm. Tentacles writhe from its midst, flailing about with destructive energy. A bellowing sound emits from the monster, shattering windows as it announces its arrival.
Syn City- Reality Bytes Page 12
