“I am proof,” Nova assured him. “We are proof,” she said, turning to face Brady.
The lights on the Artifex began to glow again. Under the moonlight, its pearl-white plates gave it a ghostly appearance.
“Who is this with you?” the leader asked.
“This is Brady. He is also human, like me. A Rariis damaged our aircraft. We were trying to rescue our friends when we crashed in the lake.” Nova motioned back to the rotorcraft.
“You said a Rariis?” Sudo asked.
“Yes, why?”
The Artifex ignored Nova’s question, but several lights began flashing on a group of bots that stood behind him. Then the flashing bots broke from the line and disappeared into the woods. It gave Brady an uneasy feeling—they obviously had a way of communicating without actually speaking.
The leader quickly resumed the conversation.
“Why did your friends need rescuing?”
“Collectors have taken them deep underground in their tunnels. We were on our way to the last location their transponder was able to send. Will you help us?”
Sudo stared back. More lights flashed.
“Yes. We will help you.”
Several Artifex stepped forward from the rank and waded into the water around the craft. They lifted it from the lake with ease and carried it off above their heads.
“Where are you taking it?” Brady asked anxiously.
“Please, come with me,” Sudo said, ignoring his question. “There is something you should see.”
10110110
The heads of the Artifex turned to follow Brady, Nova, and Sudo as they passed through the line. Only a few feet away now, Brady noticed that the other bots had the same rugged etchings on their faces as Sudo—except that every one had been carved differently. Some were meant to be smiles, others were straight lines conveying sincerity, meant to convey sincerity—yet all of them were gross misinterpretations of the real thing. It unnerved him.
They walked a path that twisted and turned through the trees. At last they came upon an old road. Rocks and weeds had grown up through the asphalt, making the path uneven. Still, it was much easier to travel this way than through the forest.
As they walked along the road, Brady saw a fire burning off to the side between the trees. The smell of the smoke was not of burning wood, but something toxic, acrid. Around the fire were three Artifex, sitting in a circle, lifeless, with their arms slack at their sides. The flames reflected off their plastic plates, making it appear that they, too, were being consumed by the blaze. Although they were completely still, the glowing lights on their heads provided proof that they were still functioning.
More bots lurked in the shadows behind the fire. The strange dark figures appeared to be huddled around something. Their arms swung up and down, their torsos heaved and pitched. Brady could hear the sound of steel and against steel, the buzz of a chainsaw. Fountains of sparks erupted from whatever they stood around. As Brady and the others walked closer, he saw the lights pulse on the leader’s head, and the shadowy figures ceased their work immediately. He shuddered at the strange sight, too afraid to ask what they were doing.
Sudo summoned them onward. “Please, come, we should not be outside longer than necessary,” he said.
A bit further on, Brady heard something moving in the trees beside them. He turned and saw the forms of several Artifex wheeling something through the trees. A cylindrical shadow angled steeply into the air—a cannon perhaps. When he asked Sudo what it was, he dodged the question and said the Artifex were bringing supplies back to the camp. Brady thought that perhaps these were the same Artifex that had left the line earlier when they had asked about the Rariis. Something about the group was bothering him.
Eventually they came upon a series of switchbacks that ascended the mountain. After a reasonable hike, the trees grew shorter, the air thinner, and they arrived at a sheet of vertical rock with a large entrance carved into it.
“This is where you live?” Brady asked as they approached the rock wall.
“This is where we hide,” the Artifex corrected him. “Our home is deep in the mountains. There we can avoid surveillance.”
A large stone door slid back, and they stepped inside. Brady and Nova looked around at the vast cavern.
The leader stopped them at the edge of a cliff and turned around to face his guests. “We are here,” he said with a sweeping gesture of his hand. “Welcome to Invidia.”
The three of them gazed upon a sunken town built on hollowed rock. It included houses, shops, and other buildings, but everything felt out of place. Like the carvings on the Artifex’s face, they looked like a child’s imagining of real life. The roofs of the structures sloped at awkward angles and the doors were not quite plumb. Roads painted on stone wound awkwardly between the homes, littered with abandoned cars and the occasional Artifex going about its business. It reminded Brady of some kind of crude animatronic museum.
Looking up, he saw that an image was projected onto the ceiling: a blue sky with a yellow sun, fluffy clouds that drifted in looped arcs, and an airplane that flew in endless circles, never reaching its destination.
“You all built this?” Nova asked as the three of them stepped onto a wide, steel platform that began a slow descent toward the town.
“We did the best we could using the pictures and movies you left behind.”
“But why go to all this trouble?” Brady asked.
“To better understand your way of life. To understand what it means to be you. To be human: this is why we exist.”
The elevator’s motor hummed as they continued downward. Brady couldn’t be sure, but he noticed a thin ribbon of silver streak by.
Thorn.
Brady enjoyed the thought of the bird being turned loose here. There was something off about the Artifex.
When they arrived at their destination, they stepped off the platform.
“My house is near the end of this road,” Sudo said. “I look forward to showing it to you. This way.”
The three of them passed house after odd house, each one more bizarre than the last, until at last they arrived at his home. It was a large, strange-looking Victorian mansion: a hodge-podge of arches, points, and spindles juxtaposed together in an abomination of style. The walls were painted with purple and pink hues that looked garish under the artificial lighting of the cave. There was a sloped porch with an ornate white balustrade that wrapped around the sides. Tall Gothic-style windows loomed in front of them like the frightened eyes of a tragedy mask. The home was leaning slightly to one side as if might topple over with the softest breath.
Brady looked at Nova in disbelief. Everything was getting stranger by the second. There was something about the windows that gave him pause. They were dark, almost phantasmagoric. No light escaped from behind them, no clue as to what lay inside.
“Please.” Sudo motioned them forward. “It is designed to your liking.”
Brady grabbed Nova’s arm and pulled her aside. “I’m not sure this is such a great idea.” As he spoke, two armed Artifex stepped up from behind, urging them forward with the steel butts of their weapons.
Nova raised her eyebrows and looked back at Brady.
“My henchmen: Batch and Redo,” Sudo proclaimed.
As they walked inside, Brady couldn’t help but think about the carnival funhouses he had gone to as a child. Those had been far less intimidating than this.
The large oak doors swung inward to reveal a grand foyer with a wooden spiral staircase that stopped midway up. To their left was a living room adorned with an oversized couch rotting from the inside out. Springs and coils had burst through the fabric, giving way to cloud-like stuffing that pushed its way through the opening. A dining room was situated to the right, with a long marble table surrounded by all sizes and shapes of chairs, including an old leather recliner. The table had been set with mismatched silverware and goblets.
“This is great, Sudo, but we really need to get going,�
� Brady said. But when he turned around and looked out the front door, he saw a group of Artifex convening on the faux lawn. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like they were carrying pieces of the rotorcraft in their arms. The metal was torn and ripped, the parts sawn roughly apart.
Brady’s mind flashed back to the Artifex in the woods by the fire. They’ve all gone crazy, he thought, and he started to panic.
He tapped Nova on the shoulder and pointed at the group of bots carrying the wreckage. She covered her mouth quickly to keep from gasping.
As they watched in horror, the armed guards closed the front doors with a loud thud that echoed down the foyer walls, blocking their view of the outside.
“Why would you want to leave so soon?” Sudo asked. His malevolent green eyes looked past them as he spoke.
“Like we said before. Our friends—Brady’s brother—they need our help. We can’t stay here, we have to leave now!” Nova demanded urgently.
Brady looked up at the windows; suddenly he realized why they had bothered him before. They were boarded up with scrap wood and reinforced with metal bars. There was no way out.
“No. You will not be leaving. You will learn to like it here,” Sudo said sternly. Batch and Redo moved in front of the door to block it, their weapons at the ready.
“Leaving is too dangerous,” the leader continued. “We have long waited for your return. The rumors were true. Humans walk the Earth once more. We cannot take any more unnecessary risks.”
“Please… We don’t have much time! My brother needs me!” Brady yelled. He tried to grab on to the leader’s arm.
The Artifex peeled him off like a sticker and turned to leave. Brady was left clutching a piece of torn shirt in his hand.
The guards parted as Sudo approached the door. He turned back to face them one last time.
“You will be very happy in your new home. We took care of the Rariis when it came too close to us. Believe me—we can do much worse.”
The door shut loudly behind him.
Chapter 15: The Box in the Cell
WHEN HE WOKE for the second time, Felix found himself lying on cold, damp steel. In the darkness, he could feel the occasional bump and a rhythmic clacking beneath the floor. He stood, and the motion beneath his feet made him slightly unsteady. I must be moving, he thought.
He tried to take a step forward and fell back in surprise when his foot collided with something hard. He squatted down and felt around with his hands. He uncovered something metal with two small holes; soft puffs of air warmed his skin. This was where the exhaust was escaping. He placed his hand on the object. It felt like a snout.
Two orange eyes slowly warmed the room.
Felix realized immediately it was Achilles lying by his side.
“Hi, Achilles,” Felix whispered, bending down next to the dog. He was overcome with joy not to be alone anymore, especially in this awful place.
Achilles let out a muted whimper and nudged his face back into Felix’s.
As he sat there with his friend, Felix suddenly heard the soft whir of a motor and saw one of Achilles’ copper plates sliding back. Underneath the dog’s armor was a glowing device about the size of a small matchbox. When he picked it up, the internal light began to pulse slowly like a struggling heartbeat.
Felix held the false lantern up in the air so he could get a better look at where he was. The faint light revealed a murky chamber barely large enough for the two of them. There was an open doorway on one of the walls that led out of the cell and into a hallway. Crossing the doorway were the same security beams that had protected the storage room where they’d found Nova.
“Where are we?” Felix asked.
Achilles looked at the device in Felix’s hand and then craned his neck back toward the door.
“You want me to use this?” Felix asked.
Achilles barked softly.
“No way—I’m not leaving you here.”
Achilles looked down at his paws and whimpered. He then looked back to the door and continued to bark. The dog’s paws were held firmly against the steel by some kind of magnetic force, Felix reckoned.
“You’re stuck? You can’t leave?” Felix asked.
Achilles responded with a wag of his tail.
“Let me try to get you free.” He reached down and pulled on Achilles’ paw. The dog didn’t budge an inch. No matter how hard Felix tried, his friend wasn’t going anywhere.
Finally, Felix gave up and sat down next to the dog, exhausted. Achilles quickly grew restless and tried to push the boy up with his head. The harder Felix resisted, the more impatient Achilles became, and eventually he was whining non-stop and jerking his head around the room.
“Okay. I get the idea,” Felix said, using his arm to brace himself against the wall as he tried to stand up.
“I’ll go find help. But I’ll be back—I promise.”
Felix looked back at Achilles one more time before he crossed unharmed through the containment field bars and left the claustrophobic cell behind. He knew he wouldn’t let his friend down. He would find a way out of here with the device, and he would be back with help in no time.
Outside the cell, Felix found himself in a narrow corridor with two doors at opposite ends and a dark room across from him. He stepped cautiously forward into the adjoining room and looked around. There was a low hiss of static coming from somewhere in the shadows, like the sound from a late-night TV left on after everyone else is long asleep.
“Hello?” he asked, waving the device around the room like a torch. “Anyone in here?”
There was no response. He moved across the room, and the noise grew louder. And then he saw it: a large rectangular box sitting on a shelf with chains wrapped around it to hold it in place. As he walked closer to it, a light appeared within a silver circle near the center. Startled, Felix jumped back.
A voice came from every direction. It was slow, purposeful, but broken.
“… was right to do what he did,” it said.
The voice was distinctly female and began as a soft whisper, then grew louder, then at last distant as it finished: a fleeting presence. Felix couldn’t tell where the sound had come from though.
“What? Did someone say something?” he asked, looking around. He was definitely alone in here, except for the box. The noise had most likely come from there.
Without warning, the voice came again. Louder.
“It needed to happen.”
“What needed to happen?” Felix replied.
His question was met with silence. The rhythmic clacking continued beneath him.
“Please, I—I don’t understand what you mean.”
The light on the box slowly extinguished itself, and the room grew quiet.
Just as Felix was turning to leave, the light came back on, this time brighter than before. He was startled when it spoke.
“… ANOTHER CHANCE …”
The voice was slowing down now. The syllables dripped out and hung in the air.
“Another chance? What are you talking about?” he asked desperately.
Again he waited for a reply, but again none came.
His already-frayed nerves were shattered when the sound of the static returned, this time at a deafening volume.
Felix covered his ears and staggered out the room. As he left, he turned back to his cell. He saw Achilles lying on the ground, his dim eyes watching him from the shadows. The static storm roared through the corridor.
Still clutching the device in his hand, Felix ran down the hall toward the door to his left. Behind it he could just barely hear the sounds of the Collectors moving about, and they weren’t far away. He spun around and ran to the opposite door as quickly as he could.
When he was only a few feet away, the door began to slide back automatically, and Felix felt a rush of wind strike his face. He ran to the door and came to an abrupt stop; he had to catch himself to keep from falling forward. When he shined the light down, he saw the rusted struts of an old
track passing below.
He was on a moving train.
The air tasted sour and rancid. Paralyzed by fear, he waited as the train sped forward through the tunnel.
Eventually the train began to slow, and he saw bright streaks of red light passing by his side. The lines grew shorter until they stabilized into a constellation of flickering red dots.
And then he realized what he was looking at.
It was the red eyes of the Collectors passing by, one by one, passengers waiting to board.
Then his car passed into darkness again, past the train platform with the Collectors, back into an empty tunnel. Felix gripped the device tightly to his chest, closed his eyes, and jumped as far away from the train as he could.
Chapter 16: Ajax
HEAVY FOOTSTEPS ECHOED through the house as Brady paced deliberately up and down the hallway. Plans for escape whirled through his overactive mind. Batch and Redo continued to guard the front door, still as statues, the carved lines of their mouths forming crooked smiles. They looked like awkward clowns, leaving him feeling anything but cheerful. With each trip down the hallway, Brady hoped they would simply disappear, leaving him and Nova free to leave this bizarro house of horrors.
Both he and Nova knew what the other was thinking; they were just too afraid to say it out loud: time was running out for Felix and Achilles. Nova was busy exploring the house, looking for a way out. Although it felt like a hopeless situation, neither of them was ready to give up.
He was about to search the main level again when Nova’s voice called down from the floor above. “Wow, Brady! You should see the upstairs—it’s fantastic!”
Her tone was strange, and Brady quickly realized she had found something. He looked back at the guards; they hadn’t moved. The white lights on their heads ticked back and forth like a metronome.
“Brady, come up here and check it out!” Nova called out again.
“Be right up,” he replied, keeping one shifty eye on the guards. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure how she had gotten upstairs in the first place. He looked over at the spiral staircase near the foyer and his eyes followed the stained wood that twisted to nowhere. Apparently someone had started building the staircase and then given up just before the job was complete.
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