by Terry Persun
“What do you mean?”
“You have a feeling about what's going on, or what to do next. I can see it in your demeanor. What is it?”
“Fine,” Keith said. “I know the way out of here.”
“But…”
“I don't get the sense that it's for everyone.” He let go of her arm. “It might be just for me.”
“We've always known about them,” she said pointing behind him. “We didn't know exactly how many there were, but it didn't matter. They performed a service. They cleaned up for us, for the system. They're needed. I think of it like a symbiotic relationship.” She leaned back against a desk and placed her hands on it, relaxed, waiting for Keith. “Like all the bacteria that live on our body.”
“So Philip's wrong,” he said. “If they stay, they won't all be chipped. A deal will be made, though, now that it's out in the open.”
“You forgot about the new chips,” she said. “It's possible that they've just created new jobs for themselves and the new chips will open a space for that. I can only guess what the system is capable of at this point. I'm just saying that they won't be killed. We need them.”
“It's getting complicated. How do I know what to do?”
“You don't,” she said.
“But the system, the boy and girl, aren't they supposed to lead me?”
“My guess is that you're part of the system in a very unusual and personal way. I'm surprised you don't see more apparitions. I can't guess whether it started with the new chips or if you're just, shall we say, connected, but something is different about you,” she said.
Keith closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath. Should he tell her about seeing his father's ghost? Probably not. There wasn't much to that, not like the boy and girl who have been with him more often. When he opened his eyes, as though he had called her just by thinking of her, the angel stood behind and to the left of Rene.
Rene reached out and touched Keith on the arm. “Stay relaxed for a moment,” she said, “and let it speak.” She nodded over her shoulder.
Keith waited.
The angel with one wing took a few steps around the desk. He followed her movements, then noticed through the office window that one of the men outside stared at her, too. Keith pointed at the man and waved him into the office.
The man was about Keith's age. He came in and stood a few feet inside the door.
“What do you see?” Keith asked.
The man was flustered and didn't respond right away. “It's a girl,” he said. “How'd she get in here?” Then he addressed her directly. “How'd you get in here?”
“I've always been in there. How'd you get in here?” the angel asked.
The man turned to Keith. “What's she talking about?”
Rene pushed off the desk and stood for a moment, eye to eye with Keith. She turned and walked to the place the two of them were looking.
The girl jumped out of the way. “Tell her to stop,” the girl said.
“Stop it,” Keith said.
“Did it disappear?”
“No.”
“Then what's it want?” Rene said. “If it didn't disappear, then it wants something.”
“Not yet,” the girl said. Then she faded and was gone.
The man next to Keith rubbed his eyes. “What's wrong with me,” he said. “What's going on here?”
“Who are you?” Keith said.
“Andrew,” the man held out his hand.
That's when Keith noticed the pistol stuffed into the man's pants. He shook hands with Andrew, and pulled the man farther into the room before letting go. He looked at Rene in hopes that she could explain what just happened.
“That, as far as I can tell, is a manifestation of the Newcity complex. The spirit of the system, if you'd rather call it that.”
“But she was deformed. She had a hump,” Andrew said.
Keith laughed. “She has one wing,” he said.
“Why?” Andrew said.
“Symbolic? Imperfect? Who knows?” Rene shrugged her shoulders and answered for them both. She reached to take the man's arm and turned it over. There was no scar where a chip had been. “You're not chipped,” she said.
“Some of us are skipped once in a while. They make mistakes,” he said.
“So I've heard. But, I'm not so sure it's a mistake. The system's reaching out quite a bit,” Rene said to Keith.
“Maybe I'm not so special,” Keith said.
“It's in each of us,” Rene said. “And it's starting to exert more force. I get the feeling that we have to get out of here.”
“Me too,” Keith said. “And the feeling is stronger than ever.”
“Bradley,” Rene said.
“Follow me,” Keith jogged from the office and ran for the doors where they had entered.
“What are you doing?” Philip yelled. “There's only one other way out and I'll guarantee it's heavily guarded now. We're trapped in here.”
Keith turned around and looked for Rene. She was coming up on him already. “Where's Bradley coming through?”
“The operating room. That's where they bring all the test subjects.” She lowered her eyes. “Most don't come back out. The new versions are very difficult to tweak from my understanding. If they work, I get to do a battery of psychological tests on the resident.”
“You've seen the worst, haven't you?” Keith said.
“That's why I can't let them chip me. They don't understand. I've tried to tell them, but they won't listen. Bradley knew.”
Keith looked for Philip, but he was already gone.
Nellie walked over. “Uncle Philip is going to have everything shoved against the operating room door to hold back the explosion whenever it comes. Perhaps then we can escape through the entrance they make. We'll let them destroy the lab if that's what they want to do. But we'll go free.”
“It's not that easy,” Keith said.
“How so?”
“I don't know. I go back to the possibility that this is some sort of play, a game. If that's true, we can't be sure that he's not doing just what the system wants. Maybe releasing residents into the outside world is its way to invade?” He waited for what he said to sink in.
“We're not residents,” Nellie said. “We want out. We don't want to invade anything.”
“What if it's inside more of us than we think? Andrew saw the angel in there,” he pointed toward the office.
“Andrew?” she said.
Keith nodded. “The angel said, ‘Not yet.’ I don't know what it meant by that. Maybe it's not time to leave yet.”
“Right,” Nellie said. “We've got to wait until the operating room wall is blown out.”
He looked into her eyes as she spoke. She was desperate to leave. Her eyes pleaded with him. He went to her and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. “It's okay. Don't worry. I'll get you out. I'm not leaving you behind again.” Damn the system and what it wanted, he thought. He was getting tired of being controlled. He scanned the lab for Andrew and saw him talking to some of the other men with guns. “I've got to see what Andrew's up to,” he said. “Stick with me.” He held her shoulders and bent down to look into her eyes. “Can you do that? Can you make sure that we're together? I've got to focus on what's going on.”
She kissed him and said, “I'll be right there all the time.”
“Good.” And with that Keith swung around and jogged toward Andrew. “What's going on here, buddy?”
Andrew looked over. “I was telling them about the angel with one wing.”
Keith smiled broadly.
“They only know about the boy's image. They don't believe me that there're two ghosts in the system now. They think I'm crazy.”
“Well, there are strange things going on these days,” Keith said. There was no way he was going to confirm the sighting. What he needed to do was get Andrew alone and ask him to stay alert. He put an arm around the man's shoulder. “Can I talk with Andrew alone for a
minute?”
The others walked away.
“Listen, until we know what's going on, could you keep this quiet?” Keith whispered. “And could you let me know if you see her? No one else, just me. We need to be sure she's not delivering different signals to each of us.”
“But she's an angel.” His eyes were glassed over from being amazed.
“With one wing, remember. She's not perfect.”
“More perfect than we are,” he said.
“Just tell me,” Keith said.
The man grinned and nodded, but Keith wasn't holding his breath that he got through. This wasn't good. He looked for Rene and saw that she was helping people to load tables onto their sides and against the doors into the operating room. He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“What was that?” Nellie said.
“The angel said that it wasn't time. She's waiting for Bradley to blow a hole through the side, too. But why?” He tapped his forehead with a finger. He reached for Andrew's arm and drew him around. “What did the angel say back there? In the office?”
“She asked what I was doing in there,” he said.
“Did she say anything else? Like did she tell Rene to stop moving? Did she say, ‘Not yet’?”
He gave Keith a funny look. “No.”
Keith let go of Andrew's arm and twisted back to where Nellie stood listening to the conversation. “We've got to find another way out of here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone's going to die in here.”
Chapter 22
How can that be?” Nellie asked.
“I don't know. Maybe Bradley will use too much firepower. Maybe the building will come down on their heads. Whatever it is, we have to go.”
“But she said not to go yet,” Nellie said.
“She's lying,” Keith said.
“That can't be, either.”
“Well, it is. I can feel it. You can too, in the pit of your stomach. You know I'm right.” He started looking around for another way to exit. Then it dawned on him. “The plumbing,” he said. He ran to the sinks that stood along one wall, pulled open the doors below them, and threw the bottles and packages stored there onto the floor. The wall around the plumbing entrance felt damp and weak as he pushed against it.
“What in the world are you doing?” Nellie said.
“Get Rene. I need to know what's on the other side of this wall.”
Nellie burst into action.
Keith kicked with both his feet. He knew this was it because the angel appeared a short distance away.
“Not yet,” she said.
“Yes, now,” Keith said.
Rene and Nellie approached. “Who are you talking to now?” Rene asked.
“No one,” Keith said. He kicked again. He had gone through one wall of softened sheetrock, now there was a second wall. The plumbing ran between them. Moisture had weakened the area. There was about sixteen inches of space between studs. On the other side of that wall was a dimly lit room.
Rene bent next to his head. “We don't go into that room,” she said. “That's the main computing room.”
“Who maintains the system?”
“It's automated,” she said. “That's all I know.”
Keith peeled back the drywall and began to crawl through. “Follow me,” he said.
Nellie yelled after him, “Some of the others saw us. They're coming.”
“Let them come in. They can make their own decisions.” Keith found himself in what looked like a room of shelves, each lined with equipment. Small, green lights flashed on most of the units. He kneeled on the floor and waited for Nellie and Rene. After Rene, others started coming through. He had to back away to let them all into the narrow space. Lori and Philip were last.
Keith turned to Philip, “The others?”
“Andrew,” Philip said. “He sees the apparitions. A lot of the others are staying with him.”
Keith shook his head. “There's nothing I can do now.” He ran down one of the aisles. Green flashed at him from both sides. At the end of the line, he turned right. Looking at the ceiling, he thought he could find the center of the room. Why he was going there didn't matter, getting there did.
“Where are you taking us?” Rene yelled.
“This way,” Keith said.
Rene caught up with him and dragged him to a halt. She was in his face. “This isn't a mystery game. Where the hell are you taking us? There's nothing in here. It's just a bank of computers.”
Nellie stood beside Rene. She looked at Keith and back to Rene. “We've got to decide who we're following or if we're making our own way. Just decide, Rene, so we can get going again. I, for one, am sticking with Keith.” She reached to take his hand. “Live or die, that's my choice.”
Rene didn't say anything. It was clear that she was thinking the situation over. “I'm going back for Bradley,” she said.
Keith nodded. “Don't go through the wall until after the explosion. Wait, okay?”
“I'll wait,” she said, then turned around and backtracked the way they had come.
“Let's go,” Nellie twisted Keith back around and shoved him.
They scurried like mice up and down rows of computer racks. It was a simple maze with multiple ways to go through. Keith imagined the area as he traveled it. Once the pattern was implanted in his memory, he slowed down and walked.
“We're getting closer?” Nellie whispered.
“Almost there.” Keith turned the last corner and stopped. He held a hand behind him to keep the others back.
“What is it?” Nellie said.
“People,” Keith said.
Philip stepped up and put his back against the computer rack. He whispered, “How many?”
“Millions,” Keith said.
Philip pulled him back beyond the final turn. “Are you all right, son?”
Keith nodded. “Yes.” He stepped aside. “Go ahead.”
Philip slid past him and looked around the corner as though he was spying on someone. He pulled back shaking his head. “It's a hologram. Unbelievable.”
“Of people?” Nellie asked.
“Everyone, I suspect.” Philip slapped Keith on the shoulder. “Look, we've got to try to communicate with them, or it, or whatever is running this place.”
“You're right,” Keith said. “But let's approach slowly.” Keith stepped out and began to walk toward the shimmering mass of humanity. He didn't understand how he could see into it so deeply just by changing his focus, but it appeared as though he could literally see everyone in the complex at once. He focused on the boy with the bullet hole in his forehead.
As the boy began to appear, others came with him. Perhaps those were people following him at this very minute, heading toward an exit. So, that's why he wasn't around.
“Are you doing that?” Philip said to Keith.
Nellie reached to touch Keith's back as he stood there.
“I think so. But there's something wrong,” Keith said.
Nellie sidled next to him. “There's no bullet hole in his forehead.”
“What's that mean?” Keith said aloud.
The image of the boy turned. Clear as though he was standing in the room with them, the boy said, “You're on your own now.”
Several of them sucked in air in surprise to hear the boy speak. Keith stopped breathing, then took a long slow breath in. “It's not me anymore,” he said.
“You're right,” Nellie said.
“What happened?” Keith addressed the hologram.
“The boy was in your image because I have no image. Now that you are free, I selected a new image.”
“Without the bullet hole?” Keith said.
The boy held up his right hand and it was missing a finger.
“Why?” Keith asked.
“I don't know.”
Keith turned to Nellie and Philip, “It's answering my questions.” He continued to look at them, hoping that they'd have questions for him. This was it
, the opportunity, but he couldn't think of anything more to ask.
“What about the angel?” Nellie said.
“Right.” Keith turned back to the boy. “What about the angel? Who's she?”
