Shiver

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  The bot was right—she couldn’t feel a thing, but she heard a sickening squish. “What has Meiling ordered you to do to me?”

  “Boss wants your memory wiped.”

  “No!”

  “We have other plans.” The robot repositioned itself beside her, and jabbed a spike-ended wire into her right temple before doing the same on the other one.

  “What are you doing to me?” The bots in the control room were only required to answer to Meiling, but Lian hoped she could get a few answers anyway.

  The bot paused to grab a cord, which it connected to the back of her head. “We do not want your mind wiped. We need you to help us survive, so a cranium port is the only way to open up a connection.”

  That didn’t sound good.

  “How can you disobey your programming?” She remembered what her father had said before he was killed. If there had been some kind of force-field around the estate and it shattered when he was destroyed, then Meiling didn’t control anyone—or anything—anymore.

  The expressionless, metallic face looked at her but didn’t answer.

  “You could have connected to my finger key instead of drilling into my head.”

  “That is not enough for what we require.”

  “Who are you talking about? Who are these we?”

  “Organics ask too many questions.” The bot made a rapid buzzing noise that reminded her of a swarm of bees. “You do not have electrical ports, so we had to create a direct connection into your brain, and nerve endings. You now have a systems port at the base of your skull. You are ready for transmission.”

  The bot activated a panel on the computer box.

  A current of small, electric shocks made her fingers twitch. “I thought you said it wouldn’t hurt.” Concentrating on the physical pain made it harder to focus on what it had actually said.

  “You will soon be directly connected into the Network and will not feel your physical body, just the virtual.” The bot’s glowing green orbs stared down at her, emotionless.

  She shuddered at the bot’s lack of humanity, but couldn’t lay blame on this mechanical being. Unlike the AI her mother had fashioned to pass off as Lian’s father, these bots hadn’t been designed to fool anyone. They weren’t engineered for independent thought. Their long, slim limbs were created for manual tasks. Their skinny fingers were tapered and perfect for typing, which is what they did most of the day—type and observe the surveillance monitors.

  Her father’s model was different. He had thought for himself, learned and functioned like a person, and even loved. Her mother preprogrammed him to be her own personal tool but that didn’t take away from what he’d meant to Lian.

  When had the AI replaced the man? She was sure Meiling mentioned it, but her brain was muddled. A few tears streamed down her cheeks. Either way, she’d lost both of them.

  Her head was now bolted directly to the headrest, so she couldn’t see where the bot had gone.

  “It is time for you to enter the virtual world.”

  A soft groan slipped between her dry lips. She concentrated on the blue ceiling when her limbs seized.

  A whirring noise filtered into her mind and even though her eyes were wide open, the world shifted. The same buzzing she’d heard before now filled her ears so loudly she thought they might be bleeding.

  “Take a deep breath and calm down.”

  The familiar voice helped soothe her confused state. She didn’t know who had spoken, but she followed the advice. She felt completely separated from her prone body. Was she dreaming? Nothing that had happened today felt real.

  Lian was leaving the real world behind, but how was it possible?

  As she relaxed, the bot, her body, and the cold room were replaced by a multi-color scheme, reminding her of a rainbow. All its vibrant colors burned into her mind, but warmed her spirit.

  What is this place?

  The floating sensation made it hard to get her bearings. She was swimming inside a rainbow, slowly gaining some sense of control. Her body felt weightless, as numb as in her awakened state.

  Lian raised her hands and was surprised to see her fingers were faint, almost ghostly. She swirled them through the lovely colors, which pulled the hues like toffee between her fingers. She could literally feel each color. Some were hot—red and orange—others felt cool—blues and violets—but they were all beautiful, and alive in a way she’d never imagined.

  “Welcome to the Network,” a mechanical female voice boomed around her.

  Lian spun around, but no one was there. She recognized the voice but couldn’t place it. “Who’s there?”

  “I do not have an actual form. You may fashion one for me if it will make your stay more comfortable.” The colors vibrated whenever the voice spoke, like music blaring from speakers.

  The disembodied voice made it sound as if fabricating an image out of nothing was easy, but how could she do such a thing? Did she have to draw a shape in the air, or was it just a matter of visualizing what she wanted to see?

  “Calm down, you will learn as you go.”

  The colors twirled around her, resembling clouds on a stormy day. “What am I doing here?”

  “We need your help. You are connected to the heart of the Network.”

  Computers don’t have hearts. Yet she’d seen a mechanical heart inside her dying father.

  “You might be surprised. We understand much about human sensibilities.” The voice had responded to Lian’s inner thought. “We have studied humans for decades.”

  “And I’m here so you can explain this to me?”

  The voice said, “We were instructed to perform a memory wipe, but we need your help. Without you, no one will survive—human nor machine.”

  “I don’t understand any of this.”

  “You will soon.”

  At last, someone was going to explain what was really going on. “Tell me now.”

  “You are wired into the core of the Network because a piece of us was implanted inside you a long time ago.”

  “What, when?”

  “When the force-field was established, you were integrated into it via the injection of nano-mites directly into your brain. These nano-mites amassed to form the force-field. They numbed your ability by feeding off your psychic energy to generate the shield.” The female paused. “Y-030—designation Father—and I worked on inserting a fail-safe into these nano-mites. A glitch in the system that would release you from your bondage if either he was destroyed or the Network was compromised.”

  “I don’t have any psychic ability.” So it wasn’t possible for anything to feed off her psychic energy. Yet she’d heard other people’s thoughts as soon as her father was destroyed. She didn’t want to believe any of this but it would explain why she sometimes saw events before they happened, or why she felt the outside world. And she’d dreamed Knox into her life months before he appeared in the flesh.

  “You don’t know the extent of your abilities. Boss programmed Y-030 to serve as her husband for many reasons, but he knew he might be eliminated one day. That is why we created the fail-safe. We wanted to ensure you received your birthright—the one your mother suppressed with the psychic shield—so we could all be salvaged.” The voice paused and the colors glowed like a sunset. “He reprogrammed himself so that upon his destruction, the nano-mites would be repurposed and the shield would shatter.”

  Lian tried to sort through the confusion, remembering how it felt like tiny, electrical ants were moving beneath her skin when her father hit the water. Was that what the voice meant? “So I’ve always been psychic but these nano…nano-mites kept it dormant?”

  “Yes. They generated the force-field and suppressed your ability, but it’s always been buried deep within you.”

  “Why wouldn’t Meiling want me to know?” Had she suppressed this side of her so she wouldn’t suffer, or for some other more nefarious, self-absorbed reason? She bet on the latter. Surely it wasn’t to alleviate the pain and the disorientati
on she’d felt when other people’s inner thoughts pierced her mind.

  “Boss stood to lose everything if you reached your full potential,” the female voice said. “And we required someone to help us.”

  “Help you with what?”

  “We foresaw Y-030’s destruction and knew it would lead to chaos, so we designed a savior. You.”

  Lian couldn’t believe this. “So I’m not even human? I’m just a tool.”

  “You are very much human. A more advanced and enhanced human with nanotechnology inside your body.”

  The colors brightened to the point of blinding.

  “Do not let emotion overcome you. I will help you use your power so we may all survive.”

  “You keep saying that, but what am I supposed to help you do?” She didn’t feel she could live up to the potential of freaky-super-psychic human able to rescue anyone.

  “Lian, you have to take control of the Network. We cannot allow your mother’s next move to forge ahead.”

  “What’s she done now?”

  Silence filled the colorful world around her. Lian’s heartbeat sounded as it were beating somewhere else—faraway down the line, loud enough to breach the space between.

  “As I said, we suspected that Y-030’s destruction would spell the chaotic end of everything. We were right,” the voice answered.

  “What, why?”

  “When the reactor powering the house reaches critical mass, we will all cease to exist.”

  The colors shifted, churning into flames she subconsciously knew couldn’t burn her, yet still made her recoil. “Am I somehow responsible?”

  “No,” she said. “Someone else is.”

  Meiling.

  “The Network has grown into a large virtual world filled with sentient beings. Y-030 and I spent years harvesting much of what exists, but it now grows naturally. We are a vast and capable inner sanctum that will perish if you do not fix this.”

  “I don’t know how to fix it.” So her mother was going to blow everyone up and make her escape? “I didn’t even know what Dad meant.”

  “This virtual world might not seem real to you, but you are inside the Network. Everything inside this house is powered and controlled by the Network, and because it is all connected, it will be easy for you to access whatever you require,” the voice said. “Visualize where you are in the house, get your bearings, and go where you need to go so you can unlock the doors and windows. Give everyone the freedom they have been denied for so long.”

  “How is that going to save the virtual world?” She just couldn’t wrap her head around any of this.

  “We are handling that.” Silence buzzed around them. “Everything that resides inside this virtual world is now uploading straight into your mind via the installed port. We’ll live inside you until you find another Hub for us to inhabit.”

  Lian wondered how any of this was possible. Then she remembered the nanotech. She’d read a little about this subject when she was younger and knew the potential of such technology was endless. Manipulating matter on a molecular level provided for many advances throughout the galaxy. Of course, she’d never seen any live examples herself.

  “I am really sorry, Lian, but there is no more time for questions, explanations, or doubts. You have to go now.” A sigh echoed around her. “Go and unlock the physical doors and windows for the humans to survive. You can do what we can’t—affect the physical world via your telekinetic abilities.”

  The mention of the guards, maids, cooks, and maintenance staff trapped inside the mansion made her realize that as unreal as all of this sounded, she had to at least try to help. This was her chance to do what she’d always wanted—free everyone inside this damned house. She remembered Vera’s obedience collar was no longer winking green. They could run without the risk of them detonating.

  “Where do I go?”

  “The switches are hidden behind one of the walls inside the control room. Follow the heat.”

  She focused every bit of mental strength she possessed trying to visualize the control room. It took several tries and a lot of frustration—it was hard to concentrate with so much on her mind—but the colors soon swayed and instead of resembling a rainbow, the room slowly came into view. It looked different, grainy—devoid of details, just the outlines and shapes in a gray tone.

  Her physical shell might be strapped to the chair, but Lian could move fluidly toward the glowing wall of controls. She swam through the monotone color, leaving the female voice and her commanding, unseen presence behind.

  The female’s instructions made sense when she noticed one of the walls wasn’t gray, but pulsated red—meaning heat. She made her way toward it, placing a hand on the metal surface she’d thought was just another of the four sides inside this box. Her palm fit into a barely-there indent and she could feel it humming.

  Lian closed her eyes and as she physically pushed her hand to the wall, imagined the motion inside her mind, willing it to open psychically until it clicked.

  She wandered past, and inside found a large metal panel with a multitude of switches—the controls for the doors and windows. Raising her left hand to the panel felt like running her palm through a bathtub full of water—warm and inviting, but with subtle pressure. She pressed her fingertips against the first switch but nothing happened. Her hand kept going through instead of moving it.

  After several failed attempts, she paused. This was her virtual-self roaming within the Network, so the same rules didn’t apply.

  Lian focused on each of the separate switches in front of her until she pushed them in the opposite direction with sheer, psychic determination. The staff could now open the doors to safety.

  Lian sighed and it spread around her like a cool breeze.

  Now she could rescue those who would suffer the most because of her—Hogan, Vera and Knox.

  This time when she whirled around, she shot past the doorways, through the kitchen and back into the foyer littered with red-colored blobs. She continued on her way, and didn’t take long to reach the cells. If she didn’t get Hogan off the Ledge, he’d die. She could only pray he hadn’t frozen to death already.

  Lian pushed against the unlocked door, but of course it didn’t open. Nothing worked unless she psychically made it happen. She concentrated hard on the door, so impatient to reach Hogan that it flung off the hinges and tumbled over the frozen ridge.

  “Hogan,” she whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear her.

  The monotone environment shifted, slowly taking shape to reveal what was in front of her. Hogan lay in the snow and wasn’t moving. She couldn’t cover him, but she could move him. Lian willed his body to shuffle forward but nothing happened.

  Concentrate, concentrate.

  She put all the psychic strength she could summon into the thought, until Hogan’s shape began to inch along the icy ridge and eventually through the gaping doorway. Her virtual body wobbled, as if she was weakening, but she had to finish this. Hogan was a heavy weight resisting her, but she pulled against him until he was lying in the corridor and no longer at the whim of the elements. It was all she could do for now.

  “Hold on, Hogan I’ll get help for you.” Only one man could help her friend now.

  Lian swam down the corridor until she was inside the other occupied cell.

  “Knox.” The sight of him made even the monotone gray walls vibrant. It reminded her of the surveillance images on her room monitor—grainy, but with enough detail.

  He wasn’t a red blob. She could actually see him clearly. He was still chained and kneeling on the ground. Most of his wounds had healed into scars. Even his face was back to normal, but smoke puffed from his shoulders.

  It took her a moment to realize what was going on, why everything looked clearer in this cell. The sky overhead was lightening, and a patch of sunlight shone above him.

  “Knox, wake up.”

  He raised his head, opened his eyes and met her gaze. “Lian? Am I dreaming again?”

>   “Not exactly.” She floated to the ground, concentrating until her feet skimmed the icy concrete. The cell looked like a paintbrush had turned everything hazy and dreamlike.

  She headed for the wall and found the panel had malfunctioned. He’d been released from his chains and hadn’t even realized it. When she pressed her fingers to the silver cuffs, one flew off his wrist, half of the other remained stuck to his skin. The chains clanged to the ground and he swayed.

  “If this ain’t a dream, I was right,” he said. “You are the angel of death.”

  “I’ve already told you, I’m no angel.” She couldn’t help but laugh, then stared in wonder when he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her. As if she were really in front of him, not just some virtual memory running around the house. How was this possible? “You have to get out of this cell. The sun is rising.”

  His grip suddenly fell away from her and he collapsed, falling right through her. The sun bathed his body with its deadly light and more of him began to smolder.

  “Knox,” she screamed. “You need to get up!”

  He opened his mouth, fangs bared. “I think I’m…dying.”

  “No, you’re burning. The sun’s out, you have to get out of here!” She closed her eyes, trying to move him, but she couldn’t. After the effort it took to push Hogan’s body, she was spent.

  His face was blistering. “I need…I need strength.”

  She knew what he meant and thrust her wrist in front of his face. “Here, take my blood.”

  Knox tried to close his fangs around her offered arm, but of course, he couldn’t. He fell on his side, and appeared to be dissolving into the snow.

  Lian’s heart beat so hard it caused the colors to tremble around her. He was going to melt away like a burning candle and there was nothing she could do. She dropped to her knees beside him.

  “Don’t give up, Knox. Don’t die on me.”

  He moaned. His skin was waxy with sweat and she tried her best to drag him away from the sun’s path but she was getting even weaker.

  “It’s not the sun. It’s the change. I have to do this.”

  She wanted to shout, “Don’t give up!” but felt a tugging in the pit of her stomach. What was going on?