The pieces were falling into place. Brady felt dizzy; he braced himself against the wall to keep from falling over.
“Who are you?” he asked uneasily.
Loud static crackled through the room, then faded to silence.
There was a long pause before the voice returned.
“I am Orion. Nova’s father.”
Chapter 25: Orion
“IT’S A PLEASURE to finally meet you, Brady and Felix.” The voice was a fleeting presence that passed quickly through the room.
“You…” said Brady, his breath escaping him. “The person who built Achilles. You are Nova’s father?” His mind raced, finding answers to his lingering questions.
“Yes, he is my father,” Nova interrupted. “But not in the traditional sense. He is a digital life form.”
“You mean like an artificial intelligence, an AI?” Felix asked.
“That is how I began, yes,” Orion said. “I was modeled after a human brain—a model not that much different from your own, in fact.”
“But unlike us, Father’s consciousness exists within the digital realm. His thoughts are made of ones and zeroes—on and off,” Nova explained. “I know he isn’t what you expected,” she said somewhat sheepishly.
“Um… well, no. Not exactly,” Brady replied, still taking everything in.
Suddenly he looked at her with wide eyes and a spark of recognition. “If he’s your father…” He paused as the thought rolled around his head. “Then you’re a machine too. You’re a robot!”
Nova smiled and laughed in spite of herself.
Embarrassed, Brady scrunched his mouth into a knot. He had done it again.
“Me? No. Although I guess I can see why you might think that. I’m flesh and blood—just like you.”
“Now I’m confused too,” Felix said, shaking his head. This was growing more complicated by the second.
“Perhaps I can help,” came the voice, followed by a momentary burst of static. “There are things about us you don’t understand. You see, Nova and I are refugees from the other world: the world you entered when you traveled through the blue flame.”
“Refugees?” asked Felix. “Why?”
“Because of me,” Nova replied dolefully.
“What could you have possibly done?” Brady responded. He realized he was staring at her and turned away.
“I was born,” she said slowly.
“But how is that even possible?” Felix interjected. “You said there are no humans left in your world. You must have parents somewhere, right?”
“Unfortunately I don’t,” she replied, sadly.
“What happened to them?” Brady asked.
“I never had any to begin with.”
Brady and Felix let out a collective, “Huh?”
Nova lowered her head. “I don’t have parents because I’m a clone.”
“A clone?” Brady asked.
“Yes. A copy of someone from another time, long ago, before the disease spread. I think of Orion as my father because he’s the one who brought the first human back. Me.”
“From DNA?” Felix asked.
“Exactly,” Nova said. “The DNA was recovered from a girl. From a strand of her hair.”
“Do you share her memories?” Brady asked.
“No, it doesn’t work like that. I am my own person. Think of it as though we are identical twins.”
“But why bring you back in the first place?” Brady asked.
“My father took a huge risk when he created me. He thought he could convince them that it was the right thing to do. I was the first. There were supposed to be more, but they wouldn’t accept me…”
“Convince who?” Felix asked.
“The Elders,” Orion said. “After the humans, our creators, left us, it was decided that they posed too much of a risk to us, to our world. The very mention of people was outlawed.”
Brady’s head clicked. “Us? The Elders?” he exclaimed. “You’re one of them! An Elder Mind!”
“I am—or I was,” said the voice.
“But why take the risk? Why do it?” Felix asked.
“Because I believed the humans should walk among us again. There were some of us that regretted our decision not to intervene when the infection spread. I thought that by bringing the humans back, I could make peace with my earlier inaction. It was the least I could do…” The voice washed out and back in. “Humans deserved a second chance. An opportunity to make amends, to live again. You see, I believed that it was possible for us, humans and AI, to exist together in harmony.
“But I had to convince the others. So I kept Nova hidden for a long time, waiting for the right opportunity to introduce her. And while I waited, I searched for a place to take her in case I failed to persuade the others. Eventually, I realized that no place was safe in our world. So I created the quantum door.”
“The quantum door? Do you mean the blue portal?” Felix asked.
“Yes,” Orion replied. “As you have already discovered, it is a most unusual door. It manipulates the quantum foam to allow subatomic travel through the multiverse.”
Brady let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Don’t worry about it, Brady, I’ll explain it to you someday,” his younger brother teased.
Brady scowled. “Then that’s how you found our world?” he asked Orion.
“Yes. Once I had discovered your reality, I decided to inform the Elders of Nova’s existence. I tried to convince them…”
“But you failed,” Felix guessed.
“I made a grave miscalculation—there was no convincing them. They were outraged. All but one.”
“Alethea?” Brady asked.
“Yes. And in their fury, they swore to annihilate Nova. Alethea and I were banished, left to live out our existences as Collectors. Fortunately I was powerful enough to escape—but Alethea vanished, and we assumed she had already been downloaded into her prison. With Nova’s help, we traveled to the reality I had discovered—your world.
“I knew Nova would be safe here where she could grow up around her own people. We were never supposed to go back—the Elder Minds will stop at nothing to find us. Nova, it was foolish of you to put yourself in danger. If I had known what you were up to…”
Nova tried to suppress the look of guilt on her face. “I did what I had to do,” she said. “There’s no way I was going to stand by and let you die.”
“The Evercells!” Brady said excitedly. “Your father needs them to stay alive. That’s why you were stealing!”
“That is correct,” said the voice. “Like you, energy is my life source. Unfortunately, I require enormous amounts just to remain functional—even in this… limited embodiment.”
Brady figured he was referring to the box glowing softly near the back of the room.
“At first we tried to make do with the energy sources on your planet, but they proved insufficient.”
“That’s why the power kept going out!” Felix ventured.
“The only reason I’m still alive is because of Nova.”
“I had no idea, Nova,” Brady said. “I’m so sorry for everything I said earlier. I—I understand now.”
“It’s okay, Brady,” Nova replied. “I wasn’t exactly forthcoming.”
“Which reminds me,” the voice said. “I understand that you both are responsible for saving Nova’s life?”
“Sort of,” Felix said, “but we had a lot of help from Achilles and another friend.”
“Then you have my eternal gratitude. Thank you both. You’ve earned my trust and respect. Although… I feel terrible that you were both put in danger.”
“It’s okay. We made it out in one piece,” Brady responded, beaming with pride.
“Any time,” Felix added.
“Father, we have to talk. We have a big problem,” Nova interrupted.
“I see. Please tell me what happened,” Orion said calmly.
“When we were in the other world, we met a species of AI
called the Artifex. There was a child there. He helped us rescue Achilles. His name is Ajax.”
Nova took a deep breath.
“And… he is here. Upstairs.”
Her announcement was met with an uncomfortable silence. Orion’s light dimmed as he considered what she had said.
“How did he find the door?” the voice finally asked, now concerned.
Nova hesitated. “He didn’t find our door,” she said.
More silence.
“Because he didn’t need to,” she continued. “He downloaded the data from my watch. He used it to open his own door from the other side.”
There was a burst of static before Orion responded. “I always feared this would happen. You know that the door leaves a signature behind it. Others will be able to find it—and us.”
“Others already have,” Nova said. “He’s been followed back. More Artifex have come through in search of him.”
“Then you must take the Artifex back immediately,” Orion commanded. “The trail from the signature will grow stronger every second the door is left open. This world is now at huge risk. Already, I fear it may be too late. If the Elders learn of our location, they will—”
He stopped himself.
“I don’t understand,” Brady said. “The Elder Minds are supposed to be powerful. You are an Elder Mind. Why can’t you do anything?”
“It’s the Glia Box, Brady,” Nova explained, pointing at the glowing container. “His real home is inside the MyeliNet, a neural network that wraps the surface of our world with trillions of connections. Like Alethea, the Elder Minds placed his consciousness inside the box to hold him until he could be downloaded into a Collector body. Inside the Glia Box, he is forced to live with only a tiny fraction of his brain. So he is alive, but barely. It was the only way to get him through the portal though.”
Orion’s voice interrupted.
“There is no more time to waste. You must get the Artifex back through the portal and then close it. There is a spare watch on the lab table. You will need it. Please go. And whatever happens, be careful.”
Nova found the watch on the table and fastened the clasp around her wrist. She made a few quick swipes with her fingers just to make sure it was functional. Then the three of them said goodbye to Orion and returned upstairs.
They found Achilles still sleeping peacefully in the foyer. But something was wrong.
The front door stood open and a strong breeze caused it to rattle loudly against the wall. Brady shivered in the cold air.
AJ was gone.
Chapter 26: Heavy Metal
FELIX STUCK HIS HEAD through the entryway, hoping to catch a glimpse of AJ running through the yard. It was no use: the bot had vanished.
“You have got to be kidding,” Brady exclaimed, waving his hands around in frustration. “I really didn’t think this day could get any worse. I mean—seriously! What is this kid’s problem?”
“He probably went off to find his father,” Felix offered, leaning back inside and pushing the front door closed.
“Or maybe he’s trying to get as far away from Sudo as he can—or maybe he’s running from us,” Brady guessed.
“Maybe,” Nova reasoned, “but I have a hunch that he’s up to something. We may have underestimated him. Anyway, we don’t have time to worry about AJ right now. We have to get his friends back through the quantum door so we can close it down. Before it’s too late.”
“What about Achilles?” Felix asked.
Nova lifted a small panel on the canine’s neck and examined the gauge glowing underneath. It measured about half full.
She sighed. “We could really use his help, but it’s too early to wake him. He still needs a few more hours.” She clicked the panel shut. “We’ll have to take care of the Artifex without him.”
Nova noticed the look of disappointment on Felix’s face. “But he’ll be back up and running around in no time,” she assured him.
They left the house together. The dwelling shimmered and vanished once they had cleared the premises, leaving an untarnished view of nature in its place. Brady looked back across the now-empty expanse and wondered if he had imagined the whole thing. No matter how many times he saw it, he knew he would never get used to the illusion.
As they approached the edge of the woods, Nova activated a few controls on her replacement watch.
“So what’s the plan?” Felix asked curiously.
“I’m enlisting some help,” she replied. “There’s no telling how far the Artifex have gotten by now. We need to wait here until she arrives.”
“Until who arrives?” Felix asked.
Nova pointed toward the gray sky. “Look up.”
Nyx burst through the trees and flew past the edge of the cliff. The bird then banked steeply around before beginning her graceful descent. She leveled out a safe distance from the ground and glided down to a nearby branch.
Startled by the bird’s immensity, the brothers took a step back. Up close, the bird of prey was even larger than Brady had imagined. He could see the creature’s crystal-covered head and gunmetal gray wings that stretched as wide as he was tall.
“Sorry to bother you, Nyx, but we really need your help,” Nova called out. “It looks like we have some unexpected visitors.”
Nyx cocked her mechanical head to the side. Motors whirred softly from somewhere behind the creature’s luminous exterior.
“Can you lead us to the barn?” Nova asked. “There’s something we need to pick up first.”
Nyx screeched loudly and spread her wings wide against the backdrop of the forest. With heavy gusts of air, the creature lifted back into the sky, causing the tree branches to bow under her force. Once she reached cruising altitude just above the treetops, she began to circle around as Nova, Felix, and Brady looked up from below.
Then the harpy eagle took off in the direction of the barn, stopping occasionally to let her followers catch up. The three friends hurried along in swift pursuit.
10100110
The barn looked to be in even worse shape in the daylight. Felix wiped the perspiration from his forehead and pushed the hair away from his eyes. “What is this place?” he asked, eyeing the rotting walls. “I don’t know how it’s even still standing.”
“Believe me, looks can be deceiving. Just wait until you see what’s inside,” Brady said. He glanced knowingly at the gap in the siding.
The three of them made their way toward the front of the barn, where the rusted hinge was still undone from the night before. Nova and Brady pulled the doors back to reveal the projection of the false emptiness inside.
Felix frowned suspiciously and craned his neck around to get a better look. “There’s nothing in here…” he muttered.
Nova held her hand up to the access panel. The metal doors appeared out of nowhere and slid back to reveal the futuristic interior.
Felix shook his head and took a step back as his brain adjusted to this new reality. “How did you do this?” he asked as his brother pulled him inside.
“Sub-nano pixel walls,” Nova replied. “They’re almost more convincing than the real thing. You can understand now why we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
Nova walked over to a row of tall aluminum lockers and retrieved six long, shiny black cylinders.
“Can you guys give me a hand with these?” she asked, tossing the metallic tubes to the brothers.
“Sure thing,” said Brady, as he and Felix nearly buckled under the weight.
“They’re pretty heavy,” Felix groaned. “What are they?”
“Arachnopods.”
“Arachno-what?” a befuddled Brady asked.
Nova closed the first locker with a clank and opened another one three doors down. She retrieved several tiny slivers of glass, not much larger than the tips of her fingers, counted them, and slid them into her pocket.
“Okay, we’re all set,” she said, closing the door and heading toward the exit. “Can you bring those outside
?” she asked.
“Um, sure, no problem. Wait up!” Brady called. He fumbled to adjust his grip on the tubes so they wouldn’t slip out of his hands.
After a minute of finagling the casings through the doors, they were outside. Nova swung the doors shut, then led the boys to the same spot where she and Brady had brought the aircraft through the portal the night before.
“You should be perfect right about there—great, don’t move,” she said, as though she were arranging them for a photo shoot. “Okay—I’ll let Nyx know we’re ready.”
Brady and Felix were starting to quake and tremble from the weight. They were hunched over like lumberjacks carrying a stack of milled logs between them.
Nova pressed a button on her watch, and Nyx, waiting on her perch, took flight. She gained altitude for a second before turning around and abruptly swooping down, straight toward Brady and Felix.
Brady stepped backward, causing Felix to stumble after him. “Watch it, Brady!”
“Steady, don’t move…” Nova said.
“Easy for you to say,” Brady called out.
When the bird was almost upon them, she opened her large talons and spread her wings to break her speed. And then, in a single fluid motion, she gripped the pile of cylinders in her claws, flapped her wings, and headed back into the sky.
The boys, relieved of their burden, watched the bird vanish with her payload.
Nova reached into her pocket and withdrew the slivers of glass she had retrieved from the locker earlier. “Do you guys wear contacts?” she asked, tilting her head back and applying the lenses to each eye. Her eyelashes fluttered as the glass slid into place.
“Yes,” replied Brady.
“No,” answered Felix.
“Okay, then this will be easier for you, Brady. Felix, give it your best shot—it may feel a bit uncomfortable at first.” She doled out a pair of the delicate devices to each of them.
Brady examined the tiny lenses in his hand. Microscopic pixels of colorful light played across the shiny surfaces. “But if I take out my regular contacts, I won’t be able to see,” he protested.
“Don’t worry,” Nova replied. “You’ll see better than ever once they’re in. Trust me.” She scrunched her eyelids together as they adjusted to the foreign objects.
The Quantum Door Page 20
