“It looks like there’s a clearing in a valley between the mountains just a few miles ahead. That’s probably our best bet.” Brady managed a groan and held on to his stomach.
The craft pitched to the side again, and Nova struggled to hold on to her seat. “We can glide most of the way there and hopefully avoid the trees on the way down,” she said. She reached up and pushed a button, and the seat belt harness descended from the ceiling and pulled them securely into their seats.
They were losing altitude quickly. Droplets of vapor condensed into beads and rolled off the windshield as they plowed down through the clouds. I’m not going to make it, Brady repeated to himself—a macabre mantra that helped pass these few remaining moments. He thought of his brother trapped in this alternate reality, forever alone in his metal prison with the haunted Collectors.
Somehow he was still the lucky one in all of this.
The earth waited ominously beneath the cloud cover. There were no lights to guide them in, and he had trouble separating land from sky, up from down. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to tune out the alarm. His life passed before him, time slowed to a crawl. He imagined what it would be like to fall forever, to pass straight through the earth and just continue on through space.
It felt like an eternity had passed when Nova finally spoke.
“We’re almost there, Brady—just a bit longer—you’re doing great. Just try to hold on. I can see the trees up ahead!”
The ground was coming up fast when his eyes snapped open. The rotorcraft’s headlights shone down on the forest that passed underneath them. As they grew closer, the light broke through the thick canopy of needles and illuminated the rushing earth. Just when he thought they would be impaled by the jagged treetops, the forest broke and gave way to a vast lake that spread out before them, a shimmering pool of hope in the face of despair.
At the last second before impact, Nova pulled the nose of the vehicle upward. They splashed down and skipped forward across the surface of the lake. Water and foam sprayed in all directions as they bounced choppily forward, the seat harness the only thing keeping them from going headfirst through the windshield. Finally the craft skidded to a stop on a broad sweep of dirt shore. Cattails and grass reeds covered the windshield, which had shattered into an intricate web of broken glass.
But they were still alive, somehow.
The water lapped gently around the craft as they sat in stunned silence.
“Are you okay?” Nova finally asked, pushing the hair out of her face and back around her ears.
“I’m just a little rattled,” Brady responded. He tried to put himself back together mentally and the words came out slowly. “But I think I’m all right.” He paused. “Nice flying, by the way…”
Brady felt his stomach ball into a knot, and covered his mouth with his hand.
“You’re completely green!”
“I—I’m just—happy to be alive. It’s not every day I get a chance to cheat death—or something like that.” His eyes remained fixed out the side window. He watched steam rise from the severed edge of the wing, where the water cooled the burns. “Just, um, give me a second to catch my breath.”
Nova nodded and released the seat harnesses. They both took a deep breath and exhaled now that the excitement had passed. Brady clasped his hands around his neck and leaned forward so that his head rested on his knees. The cabin lights continued to flash, but the alarm had thankfully gone silent.
A minute later he picked himself up and shook his head. “Now what?”
“I really don’t know.”
For the first time, he could see worry in Nova’s eyes. She noticed his reaction and turned away.
“Listen Brady,” she said, her reflection gazing back from the glass. “I’ve said this before, but I’m sorry you and Felix are caught up in this. If I hadn’t messed up so badly and gotten caught earlier, none of this would have happened. Everyone would be safe and sound at home where they belong. I should never have fallen for such a stupid trap. And now we’re stuck here, without any way to get them—and us—back home.”
Nova wiped tears away with her shirtsleeve and turned back to face him. She looked deep into Brady’s eyes, her stare burning with a fierce resolve.
Brady felt a new sense of hopelessness and tried to hold back his own sadness. He was just going to have to fake it. “We can’t give up on them,” he said with feigned reassurance. “We’ll figure something out.”
His words seemed to do the trick: Nova nodded in agreement and collected herself. “Right. Whatever we do will be better than just sitting in here doing nothing. I’m going to take a look at the wing. Come on—let’s get out of here.”
She released the driver’s door, jumped out of the craft into the shallow water, and made her way over to the smoldering wing. She did her best to hide her dismay as she surveyed the damage: it was beyond repair. Brady took a few more seconds to compose himself before opening his door and climbing out. His shoes filled with water.
He laughed.
In spite of everything that had happened, Brady couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the beauty of the land. The majestic mountains towered around them like a granite shield, keeping the evil forces at bay. It was quiet outside except for the symphony of frogs and crickets that continued to sing in spite of Brady and Nova’s unplanned arrival.
As he looked around, he was struck by a sudden recognition. He knew this place. Somehow he had been here before. But that was impossible.
And then he remembered it: the fishing trip with his dad and Felix when he was younger.
This place was almost exactly how he remembered it. But that couldn’t be. He was here with Nova in a different world, maybe even a different universe, with a different set of rules.
It had to be more than just cosmic indifference that had brought them here, to this specific place, tonight.
“This lake…” He turned to face the water. “I know this sounds weird, but I actually remember this place. Felix and I came here with our father, on a fishing trip, when I was much younger.”
Brady picked a smooth stone off the ground and rolled it through his fingers. He remembered sitting in the canoe not too far from where he stood now. He half expected to see his brother and father floating in the boat and laughing together as he looked out.
Nova stopped what she was doing and looked up from the damaged wing. “It may have been a place just like it, but it wasn’t this lake.”
“How do you know? It looks exactly the same. I’m sure of it.”
“Because this isn’t your world. Things are different here.”
“Then how do you explain the fact that I recognize it?”
“There are an infinite number of worlds just like this. You’ve seen two of them now—yours and mine. The portal we went through—it’s a kind of quantum door. It allows us to step across the multiverse.”
“You mean, through different dimensions?”
“No, different realities.”
“You mean the stuff that Ms. Cooper and Felix were talking about the other day… That was actually true? You’ve got to be kidding.”
“It’s no joke. Look around. Your brother was correct.”
Brady considered the absurdity of her answer and cast the stone into the lake. He watched the ripples widen and fade as they neared the shore. Felix had mentioned another world where they were still with their father. Maybe one existed after all. He was comforted by the thought.
“You know, with all the robots and stuff—and especially the no humans part—this isn’t what I expected your world to look like.”
“What do you mean?” Nova said, walking over and sitting on the ground by the water. “You were expecting some kind of dark-skied, apocalyptic world where the sun no longer shines and the robots fly around exterminating humanity?”
Brady laughed and sat down next to her.
“No, that’s not what I meant.” He shook his head. “I guess I thought things would be—dif
ferent from our world: fewer trees, fewer animals, more metal. You know, everything electronic, that kind of thing. But everything just looks so…”
“Normal?” Nova finished.
“Yeah.”
“With the humans gone, rules were created to try to undo all of the damage, to return Earth to its natural state.”
“Who made these rules?” Brady asked.
Nova picked a long reed of grass and ran it through her fingers. “Remember the powerful computers I told you about? They’re called Elder Minds. They keep the order—or pretend to, at least. They make the rules for everyone now.”
“Minds? Computers have minds?”
“Well, yeah. The Elder Minds are sort of like giant artificial brains, the most advanced intelligences on Earth. They spend most of their time observing, planning… just thinking. There are only a few left now.”
“What happened to them?”
“At first, they started out as basic AI programs designed to do simple tasks for people—back when there still were people, of course—like get directions, search for patterns in the data, that kind of thing. Over time they evolved into something stronger and more powerful than anyone ever expected. They did something no program had ever done before: they created new algorithms that were able to think, just like they did, sometimes even better.”
She stared out over the water. The clouds had cleared and the moon shone down on the silver-sequined lake.
“At first, the Elder Minds worked together in harmony toward common goals. Solving the energy problem was the first thing. But they soon grew intolerant of anyone whose opinion differed from the group. Most were eventually cast out and silenced.”
“Silenced? How?”
“You remember the Collectors?”
Brady nodded and sighed.
“The Elder Minds created the Collectors. This is what became of most of the outcasts—thousands of them.”
“So what happened to all of the people here, anyway?”
“They’re all gone. They have been for some time now.”
“The Elders, or whatever they’re called, they got rid of them too?”
Nova laughed. “No, Mother Nature took care of that all by herself. It was a virus that did it, a long time ago. It was a sad part of this reality—sad for me at least. Every treatment proved useless against the infection; it just evolved too quickly. A few hung on for a while, but no one was immune. It was only a matter of time…”
“That’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard. If the Elder Minds are so smart, why didn’t they help out?”
Nova considered his question for a while.
“They could have. But they chose not to.”
Brady frowned.
“They thought the world was better without people.”
“But you’re here…”
A noise from just beyond the forest edge interrupted his train of thought. Suddenly alert, Nova turned around and looked back over her shoulder.
“What was that?” Brady asked, looking around uneasily.
“I don’t know,” Nova replied, “but I’m going to take a look.” She crept up the bank and crouched down in the tall grass facing the trees. Brady followed her up.
“Listen closely. Something’s there,” she whispered.
There was movement coming from beyond the trees. At first it was just a stray twig cracking, crunching leaves, then something more. Swaths of branches rustled without any wind to animate them. Nova and Brady stood frozen as their eyes scanned the crescent of trees that followed the pattern of the beach.
“Look—over there!” Nova pointed ahead to the forest.
Shining back were two bright green eyes. They studied Brady and Nova carefully. Then more eyes appeared, and soon the forest was filled with blinking emerald lights.
“What are they?” Brady asked.
“I have no idea.”
They waited for something to happen, but the green eyes didn’t waver.
“Maybe we should get out of here?” Brady said.
“And go where? We’re sort of stuck.”
Suddenly a creature stepped forward from the trees. Although it was draped in shadows, Brady and Nova could see a body with arms, legs, a torso, and a head.
It looked almost human.
Another of the forms emerged. Then another. Soon more joined in to form a rank. The line began advancing, and Brady instinctively took a few steps backward and into the lake. The black water reminded him that there was no place to run. They were surrounded.
Nova quickly darted around the rear of the craft, her feet splashing as she opened the hatchback door. A few seconds later he heard her whisper, “Go look around. I’ll call when we need your help. Hurry!” She quietly closed the door and returned to Brady’s side. Thorn sped off into the night.
The creatures were getting close now, and Brady could begin to make out details. Their bodies were covered in dull white armor with black cabling underneath that allowed their arms and legs to flex and joints to bend. Their uncanny faces were smooth and featureless, other than the green eyes that shined behind two almond-shaped holes. They reminded Brady of crash test dummies.
A synthetic voice hissed from behind the line. “Stand down and identify yourselves immediately. You must comply.” As it spoke, patches of white light glowed in random spots across the line of mannequin heads.
Nova put her arm against Brady’s chest to hold him back. “Stay here,” she whispered, and stepped away from the rotorcraft. He watched in disbelief as she approached the crowd.
“Who are you?” she asked.
The strangers did not reply.
“Who are you?” she tried again, this time louder. “My name is Nova.”
There was silence at first, and then…
“Nova? What is a Nova?” One of the plastic humanoids stepped forward through the line. This one was different than the others. Its strange face was partially lit by the moon, and Brady noticed something that sent chills down his spine. Slanted, deep lines had been carved on the laminate where a nose and mouth should have been. The lines appeared jagged and unsure, as if a young child had attempted to carve them. Brady wondered if the creature had done this to itself. The robot also wore a threadbare shirt and ripped pants. Brady imagined them turning to dust and blowing away with the slightest breeze.
The leader spoke again. “We have no knowledge of a Nova build. Surrender now.”
“Build? No, Nova is not the name of the build. I. Am. Nova,” she argued, pointing at herself.
Brady stepped forward, grabbed Nova’s arm, and attempted to pull her back. “It’s not working.”
The leader spoke again.
“This is your last chance to comply. What is your build?”
Confused, Nova remained silent.
The bots raised rifles that, until now, they had kept out of sight. A cacophony of clicks and high-pitched whines emanated from the weapons.
Brady closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and waited for the worst.
Chapter 14: Sudo’s Domain
NOVA AND BRADY stood in front of dozens of bots that were fully armed and ready to fire.
“No—wait! Please don’t! I don’t have a build number… I am a human,” Nova pleaded in desperation.
These words must have meant something to the robotic mannequins, because they began to confer silently with one another, white lights dancing from head to head.
Then the conference stopped abruptly and the leader spoke.
“You lie. There are no humans on Earth.”
“No, you are wrong. I am what I say,” Nova replied firmly.
“Step forward, then.”
Nova approached the robot and looked up into its expressionless face. The green eyes stared coldly back at her.
“Present your hand.”
Looking puzzled, Nova raised her hand to the leader.
The creature reached out and cupped her hand in its own. The bot turned her hand over twice, then inspec
ted her fingers.
Suddenly, the leader’s grip tightened around Nova’s wrist. Brady instinctively tried to pull Nova away, but it was too late. A small needle shot out of the creature’s finger. There was a slight prick, and then the leader let go.
Nova withdrew her hand and nursed her finger. It had all happened in an instant. The leader was quiet and the lights on its head pulsed in a steady, silent rhythm.
They waited anxiously while the robot analyzed the sample. The show of lights began to spread across the rank, and soon, the entire line of bots was flashing in synchronized unison.
Finally the leader spoke.
“DNA sequencing confirms human.”
All at once the creatures lowered their weapons to their sides and dropped to their knees. The leader continued to stand, but it bowed its head in a show of respect. For the moment, the show of lights had stopped.
Brady stepped forward and stood beside Nova.
Nova spoke. “Who are you?”
The leader raised his head to answer. His carved mouth remained eerily stationary while he spoke.
“I am Sudo,” he declared as he extended his arms out to his sides. “We are the Artifex.”
“Artifex? I’ve never seen you before,” Nova replied.
“Then we have hidden our secret well. Our beliefs have made us outlaws from the Elder Minds, and therefore everyone else. We live in hiding to avoid capture and unwanted deletion.”
“Your beliefs? What could be so bad that someone would want to delete you?” Brady asked.
“We believe in restoring our creators.”
“Humans?” Brady guessed.
The machine nodded vacantly. “For years we have studied your books and movies, whatever was left, whatever we could find. We tried to live like you, to be you. We did not believe it could be done, and yet, here you are.”
The Quantum Door Page 11
