by Ken Barrett
“I know. There’s no easy path no matter which way it goes.” He tilted his head as an unexplored option occurred to him.
She frowned. “If the Scarred Faithful breaks through into level fifteen, our friends and the Resistance will be forced to either fight and die, or comply and be branded.”
“I hope they choose the second option,” he replied. “That way they’ll still be alive and can find a way to escape later.”
Rose sighed and nodded. “Ok, we’re leaving then. But Adar thinks we’re demons, and will execute anyone that’s associated with us, so we need to be gone before the army gets here.”
“I know, but we need to make a show of it so our friends will be in the clear.”
“Ok, but I want a date from you; tomorrow, three days from now, or next week, something I can count on and get ready for.”
“Where will we go?” he asked.
“I’ll take that one.” She nodded toward the map on the table. “I’ll find a safe place for us to live.”
*****
It was late at night, although for those living underground it was hard to tell. The only indications were that the lighting was dimmed and fewer people were moving about.
Liam sat on his bed, silently considering the earlier conversation with his sister. ‘No easy path’, his utterance of that phrase had steered his thinking into darker areas he hadn’t wanted to consider. Sacrifice; the survival of their friends would require giving up lives and a great deal of their ethics. But could he do it? The thought of condemning so many to horrific deaths went against everything he believed in. The thought was revolting, but if more people were saved than lost, it might be worth the cost. That path forward was too disturbing to consider, but he left it there within his mind as a terrible last resort.
His apartment door quickly opened, and Rose joined him on the bed. “I hear voices outside,” she said. “I think they’re searching this floor.”
“Did you lock the door behind you?”
“Yes. My room is secure, and so is yours now,” she answered.
He turned off his light and waited. “We should be fine,” he whispered. “All the apartments are locked, so ours will look like the others.”
“I hope you’re right Big Brother.” She scooted back against the wall beside him and pulled her knees to her chest.
“Open them all!” a distant male voice demanded. “The demons are hiding here somewhere.”
“Into the bathroom,” Liam whispered. “We’ll jam the door shut, and wait until they leave.”
“They’ll see your clothes and know we’re here,” Rose replied.
The shouts of the search party were getting louder. “We’ll have to take that chance, come on.”
They slipped off the bed and hurried into the small lavatory. Once inside Liam sat on the floor with his feet pressed against the entry. Outside, doors crashed as they were broken open, and the searchers shouted in gleeful rage as the apartments were invaded and searched.
“They’re almost here,” Rose murmured. “I’m so scared.”
“No matter what, we’ll be fine,” he answered quietly, knowing that the only benefit of fear is when it steers someone away from an activity before it becomes dangerous, beyond that, only a staunch resolve to survive can save them. He waited, and soon his apartment door was assaulted. The pounding continued until he heard the plastiwood crack and then finally shatter.
“Nobody’s here,” a male voice stated. “Should we go on to the next one?”
“No, there’re clothes on the shelf,” a female voice answered. “Search this one thoroughly.”
Liam braced himself in preparation and listened to the sounds of people rummaging through and breaking his things. Why should a simple search involve the destruction of property? He was suddenly glad he had not taken a second radio receiver from the Command Center for his apartment. He turned to his sister. “If they get in, pretend to be weaker than you really are. Try your best to seem human.”
Rose nodded. “We should slow our repair processes too.”
Someone outside rattled the bathroom door latch. “Feels like it’s jammed,” the male voice stated.
“Well, isn’t that interesting; it seems we’ve found our demons,” the woman’s voice answered. “Kick it in, and be ready.”
Liam only had time to glance at his sister before the door exploded inward. Chunks of plastiwood shot across the tiny room as dust and splinters filled the air. A riot of bright sparks flew and searing pain ripped through his senses as the invaders used electric cattle prods against them. He adjusted his pain registers, but still pretended to feel the excruciating jolts of electricity.
He could have easily overpowered the aggressors, but violence would accomplish nothing. He had run simulations and prepared for every possible circumstance, but it all had come to nothing because, in the end, the choice of how the future played out was never his.
The stakes were still too high, but the game had finally begun.
*****
Liam and Rose feigned unconsciousness as their captors bound their hands and feet and then carried them to the eastern ramp. Where were they being taken? Probably to the cells on level eight, or maybe their trial was more immediate and they were being brought directly to the Command Center for judgment. All he could do was wait and see how things turned out.
Through narrowed eyes, he watched as they left the ramps behind and were brought into an area where the apartment entrances had all been replaced by steel cage doors. Two men tossed him headfirst into the room, and a moment later his sister followed and landed on top of him.
“Fuckin’ demons,” one of the men said. “We’ll leave ‘em hog-tied ‘til their trial.”
Liam rolled out from under his sister and sat up, then smiled as he easily broke the restraints on his hands and feet.
“Fuck!” The man quickly slammed their cage shut. “You was awake the whole time, yeah?”
Liam continued to smile and said nothing.
Beside him, Rose sat up and broke her bindings as well. “Should we have some fun with these guys?”
The guard’s eyes widened, and they stepped backward.
“No,” he replied. “They probably don’t taste good.” As the men turned and ran, he and his sister laughed.
“How did they find us?” Rose asked.
“Someone must have told them where we were.” He went to the cage door and craned his neck to peer down the hallway in both directions. Every apartment he saw had been converted into a cell, and most had at least two people inside. “Hello?” he called. “Who are we in here with?”
“Shut up demon,” a young woman said from her cage across the hall. “The priestess will find you guilty, and you both are gonna burn.”
“We’re just as innocent as you are.” Rose had come up to stand beside him. “From what I’ve been told, they’ll kill us if we fail their test, but we have to die to pass it. Seems like a lose-lose situation for us all.”
“Oh no,” the woman retorted. “We’ve all pledged our faith to the Stickman and his Prophet Adar. We’ll get our mark of faith, then be free. But you two? Oxana knows you guys are demons, so you’re gonna burn, and I’ll laugh when I hear your screams.”
“Any god that embraces torture and death isn’t worthy of belief,” Liam stated.
“I’m sorry. Most of us are just trying to save ourselves,” a familiar male voice whispered from a nearby cell.
Rose pushed him aside and moved closer to the bars. “Keith, is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Keith answered. “Denise is here too.”
“Are you guys ok?” Liam asked as he squeezed in next to his sister.
“Yes, we’re fine,” Denise answered. “We had to make a bargain to save ourselves, and we’re so very sorry that we betrayed you.”
“We understand,” Rose said.
Liam didn’t understand at all and frowned at his sister. What did she know that he didn’t?
“Please forgive us,” Denise pleaded. “We had to tell them where you were.”
“How did you know? Keith saw us, but he couldn’t have tracked us to our apartments,” Liam stated.
“Roxi was forced to help,” Denise replied. “She could tell which apartments on level thirteen were using electricity.”
He had been too occupied with simulations to consider their power usage as a way they might be found. But why would Roxi betray them? She was helping the Resistance; how could she justify turning them in? It occurred to him that Roxi was aware of their upgrades, and would know that they were in no real danger from the trial or even a possible conviction. Their autonomic systems could be slowed but not shut down, so there was no way to fake an injury for long. After failing the initial test, they would be taken to the vestibule to be burned alive, but even that wouldn’t cause them permanent harm.
Banishment was certain, and once locked outside there would be no way to help those left behind. They had been betrayed though; were their deceitful friends worth the effort to save? Their help wasn’t wanted, so the best path forward would be to simply turn their backs on everyone and start a life on their own.
“We can’t be seen talking to you,” Keith said. “You’re on your own from now on, just like us.”
“It’s ok, we understand.” Rose turned away from the bars and walked back into their cell. She sat on the bed and leaned forward with her hands over her face and softly cried. “I’m sorry I wasn’t enough,” she said just loud enough for Keith to hear, but there was no answer.
Resentment and confusion fought for dominance in his mind. What had he missed? Why did his sister question her worth? Roxi’s treachery was a surprise, and that made him wonder about the fidelity of Tiger and Alice. Had they been double-crossed by all their friends? It seemed incredible that he had missed the signs.
He sat down beside his sister and put his arm over her shoulders. “We’ll be ok,” he whispered. “No matter what happens or who deserts us, we’ll always have each other.”
Rose rested her head on his shoulder. Tears wet his shirt and her breath trembled and shook with painful emotion. “I know,” she replied. “Thank you, Big Brother.”
*****
It was strange to spend the night on a fully populated level again. Conversations and occasional shouts of anger echoed along the hall. Laughter was absent though, which was understandable considering the trials of faith that awaited them all.
The limbo of uncertainty distracted and irritated him. Was it deliberate? Possibly. Frightening those that were about to be tried would sway the results to the negative, which might be exactly what the priests wanted. The more victims and blood, the more powerful their God would be perceived.
Voices from other cells along the hallway grew louder, so he gently eased away from his sister’s embrace and went to the barred door to see what was going on. Priestess Oxana, clothed in her long red robe, led a crowd of people coming from the east. He turned to call his sister, then was surprised to find her already at his side.
“That’s the crazy bitch,” Rose said. “Whatever she’s up to isn’t good.”
The priestess stopped outside their door and glared at them. “Demons, we have you now, and will no longer suffer your existence among us.”
Liam smiled. “Sure thing. Just let us go, and we’ll be on our way.”
“No,” the heavily scarred older woman responded hotly. “Unholy creatures such as you shall not be permitted to live.”
“But we’re not demons,” Rose stated. “We’re people just like you are.”
“Huh,” the old woman grunted. “We will see proof of your true self tomorrow.” She continued on a short way then stopped in front of a cell on the other side of the hallway.
“We’ve given up the demons as you wanted,” Denise said. “Will you let us go?”
Liam could only see the scarred woman nod.
“Yes, I will, you’ve been very helpful.” Oxana gestured to one of her guards, and the man came forward and unlocked the cell door. The scarred woman smiled. “Considering your condition, we will only apply small brands to your faces, and after that, you will be free to return home. The Stickman thanks you, and appreciates your loyalty to the true faith.”
“How could they do this to us?” Liam muttered.
Rose looked at him and shook her head sadly, then returned to their shared bed and sat down. “I don’t want to see them,” she said at last.
Liam turned away from the cell door and sat beside her. “Oxana probably threatened to torture them, so they had to give us up,” he said. “They’re obviously together now, and I guess they need to protect the life they’re building.”
The priestess ordered the guards to surround their former partners as they left their cell, and he caught only a glimpse of Keith and a tiny portion of Denise’s dark hair as they were led away. Would that be the last time he saw her? If so, it was a sad ending to their love affair.
“They need to be with their own kind,” Rose said. “Partnering with someone like us isn’t right. Android and human pairings just aren’t meant to be, because we can’t give them what they really need.”
“But we were happy,” he countered. “Why wasn’t that enough?”
“I wish I knew Big Brother. It should, but never seems to be.” She sighed. “Is it possible for us to live without love?”
“I don’t think anyone can.”
“Then how are we going to survive?”
He shook his head and said nothing; he had no answers to give.
*****
Throughout the night, guards kicked cell doors along the hallway and rattled the steel bars with their batons. The other prisoners didn’t get much sleep, which would add to the pain of their impending trials and torture. It was an evil act that told more truth about human nature than all the beautiful lines of poetry ever written.
Liam spent the night reviewing memories of his relationship with Denise. What had he missed? What had he done wrong? She had seemed happy, but was it all just an act? The more he looked, the less he saw. In the end, he bundled all his records of their time together and set them aside for consideration later.
Rose seemed to be having a harder time with her breakup. She cried a lot and refused to be consoled. “I need to feel these things,” she repeatedly said. “If I push it down, I’ll never get past it and come out on the other side.”
He didn’t understand what she meant, but let it go and sat all night with his arm wrapped over her shoulders. The thoughts and feelings of others were often unassailable to his inquiries.
A guard struck their door with his club, and the metal clanged loudly. “You two are gonna burn tomorrow,” he said. “That’ll be fun to watch.”
“What are they going to do to us?” Rose asked.
“Trial by fire,” the man said. “Fire is pure you see, and will only burn the faithful. It won’t touch the unclean ones, the demons like you.”
“Do you really think we’re demons?” Liam asked.
“Don’t know, don’t care, and it don’t matter anyway,” the guard said. “The priestess thinks you are, and that’s all that matters, so you’re gonna die either way it goes.”
“Killing someone to prove their innocence is a pretty crazy sort of justice,” Rose said.
“Ain’t no such thing as real death. There’s just heaven and hell, so you’re still alive no matter which way it goes.” The guard shifted his feet uneasily and turned to look both ways along the hallway. “What’s left though, is either reward or punishment. If your soul is pure and you die, then you’re gonna be livin’ the good life with the Stickman.”
“If the fire doesn’t burn us, and we really are demons,” Rose suddenly chuckled. “Well, I think you’d better hope that doesn’t happen because if we get away unburned, we’ll come looking for you.”
“Ain’t happened yet,” the guard countered. “Even if you live through your tests, the priestess has got somethin’ special
waitin’ for you. So, however it goes, I’m gonna enjoy the show; watchin’ you two fancy pants fuckers go up like burnin’ torches, yeah, that’s gonna be great.”
*****
Night had eased into the early morning, and a new crew of guards had arrived. His sister’s tears had dried, and she finally seemed resolved to a lifetime without Keith.
He wasn’t sure what he felt about losing Denise. Her being with Keith seemed to indicate that she was never fully committed to him anyway. What can be lost was never truly owned, but maybe possessing another person was not what a relationship was supposed to be about. The entire subject confused him; Rose had always understood the emotional stuff better than he did. But still, Denise’s betrayal hurt; pain doesn’t care if you understand it or not.
“Do you think they’re listening,” Rose abruptly asked.
He shrugged. A microphone or a camera could easily be hidden within their cell, but it didn’t matter if they were being monitored or not. Their trials would come within hours, and their tormentors could spy all they wanted, he didn’t care.
“We’re innocent,” Rose said loud enough that it might be heard. “I got burned while cooking once, it hurt really bad, and now I’m scared.”
“It won’t work, they’ve already made up their minds,” he whispered. “Too many people saw us heal when we came back from fixing the vents.”
“Yes, you’re right. Can we escape? The cell doors can’t stop us.”
“I know, but we’ve got nowhere to go but outside. So, trial or no trial, the result is nearly the same.”
“Nearly?” she asked.
“Yeah. If we escape from our cell, they might think that we’re still inside the shelter. They’ll search for us, and could break through into level fifteen, and our friends will be caught and put on trial. If Oxana convicts us though, they’ll be in the clear.”
“So, we’ll reward their betrayal?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer her question. “Punishment never restores order or relieves suffering.”
Rose went to their cell door and shouted, “We’re not demons!”
“You’re right,” he answered. “They are.”
