“No!” Frees yelled. “You’re one of us! Your eyes!”

  “Eye color can be changed, Frees. Even Jonn knew that.”

  Arista stiffened at the mention of her old “boyfriend”. They’d never actually been in an official relationship but had pretended to for Arista to better fit into machine society. Dad said she’d be much less suspicious as part of a pairing. But after she’d changed him he’d always had more feelings for her than she could reciprocate. His one talent had been to find a way to alter his internal code, changing his eye color back to its original color so he couldn’t be easily picked up by surveillance. The plan had been for him to help her parents achieve the same thing, had they ever actually met.

  Then he went crazy.

  “I don’t understand, how can you know Jonn?” Arista asked.

  “He worked for Charlie. Charlie showed us his methods. I used them to my advantage. If he could change his eyes back to their color, why couldn’t I change someone else’s to look like they are something they are not?”

  “Shit,” Arista said, squirming against him. “The Peacekeepers. They weren’t Peacekeepers at all, were they?”

  Shin shook his head. “You are clever.”

  “And this body? Who is this?” she asked, indicating the person holding her.

  “My favorite avatar. So I can go on adventures.”

  Frees had made his way down the stairs and was holding his palm out to them. “Let her go, Shin.”

  “Frees, deactivate your weapon. I can crush her in my arms in under a second.” He gave a squeeze and Arista screamed. She feared all her bones would break at once.

  “Is this why you brought us here? To kill us?” Arista asked, struggling against his immense strength. “Why not just do it when we didn’t expect it? Why go to the trouble?”

  “It was never about killing you,” Shin said, keeping his grip firm.

  “Hostages,” Frees said. “He wants to know where the human colony is.”

  “So you can destroy them?” Arista tried wriggling out of his grasp again, to no avail.

  “The humans cannot be allowed to populate. They are a cancer on the Earth. We have no choice. I do not like killing, but the threat is too great.” Shin said.

  The lights of Hogo-sha seemed to ripple in concert with what he was saying. How could she have been so stupid? Obviously Hogo-sha would have an avatar.

  “One more chance, Frees. I can damage her without killing her. Put your hand down. Prepare for shutdown.”

  Frees’ gaze shifted between him and Arista. She narrowed her eyes at him. He wasn’t going to do it, was he? He couldn’t dislike the humans that much he’d be willing to sacrifice them. His arm dropped.

  “No!” Arista said. She placed her thumb and pinkie fingers together, confirming activation. She flexed her hand.

  Air rushed by in a whoosh as Arista was propelled through the air. Shin no longer held onto her and a bright light engulfed the entire area. She landed with a thump on her side as debris peppered the ground around her. Smoke made everything difficult to see and alarms blared in her vision, indicating multiple cuts and wounds to her body along with a myriad of heightened conditions. She blinked them away and pushed herself up. A significant crater dented the floor where she’d stood only moments before. Shin was nowhere to be seen. A hand grabbed her from behind and she whirled around.

  “We have to get out of here!” Frees yelled.

  Something clipped her shoulder and she turned to see five “Peacekeepers” standing near the entrance, their weapons drawn and firing. But they weren’t Peacekeepers. They were husks. Husks Hogo-sha controlled just like Charlie had. She raised and flexed her hand again, the concussive blast knocking her shoulder back while at the same time sending the Pseudokeepers flying backward. There was no telling if she’d killed them or not.

  “We have to finish the job!” she yelled to Frees. She pointed her hand at the giant sphere but as soon as she flexed it Frees barreled into her, knocking her off balance. She shot went wide and blew through the windows on the far side, shattering them and opening the space to the windy atmosphere. “What the hell?” she yelled at him.

  Frees pointed ahead of her. More Pseudokeepers had arrived and were firing on their position. She fired. Again and again, sending them all back from the doorway. It was their only way out and if she had to kill a thousand of them in order to escape, she would.

  They made a break for the door, Arista’s hand still extended in front of her like a lance, ready to impale anyone with the massive amount of energy it generated. She’d have to remember to thank Sy for developing such an effective weapon. As soon as they reached the door she turned one more time to take a last shot at Hogo-sha when the body of one of the Pseudokeepers she’d downed came flying at her like a rag doll. She barely moved in time to avoid it as it smashed into the ground, chipping up pieces of the marble floor as it landed. Further inside the room she could make out Shin, lifting the bodies one-armed and sending them flying in their direction. His face was stretched into a rage like she’d never seen. She’d never get a clean shot.

  “C’mon! We can’t do it!” Frees yelled. He grabbed her by the jacket and dragged her into the hallway.

  “No! We. Have. To. Finish!” she yelled back, yanking against him. “I have to finish!” She screamed now. What would Sy say when she learned they were right there and didn’t destroy the AI? They were so close. She would be so disappointed. She had failed her, again.

  “The elevators will be too slow,” she heard him say, but was only half paying attention. She tried to focus on not tripping over her own feet as he pulled her along.

  “Let go!” she said. Behind them another series of bullets whizzed past them. Arista turned and fired again, clearing the hallway as soon as Frees let go of her, stopping in front of the elevator bank.

  “How tall was the closest building?” Frees asked. The Device provided the answer without her even needing to consult it. “Twelve hundred, fifty-two meters,” she said, “To the southwest.”

  “Then we have to go down.” He wrenched open the doors of one of the elevators and grabbed Arista by the waist, jumping to the cables inside.

  “Frees, what—” she managed to yell before she saw his plan. He slid down the cable, holding on only tight enough so they didn’t tumble off. She looked up to see one of the carriages approaching fast from above. “Faster!”

  “I might not be able to stop!”

  “We’ll be crushed otherwise!”

  He loosened his grip and they dropped even faster, moving close to terminal velocity. Arista thought every second that passed would be the one where they smashed into the floor of the sky lobby. She didn’t even want to look so she kept her gaze upward. The elevator above them wasn’t able to keep up and they were gaining some distance on it.

  “Hang on to me!” Frees yelled and she hugged him. A mighty squeal came from above, the sound of metal on metal as his hand gripped the cable tight and slowed them to an almost stop. “The door!” he said. “Blast the door!”

  She put her hand out and the two metal doors flew off their hinges, slamming into the far wall. Frees swung them inside just as the carriage passed by.

  “This will have to do,” he said, glancing around. “You said southwest?”

  She nodded, understanding what he meant to do. It was probably their only way out.

  They ran around the bank of elevators to the far side of the sky lobby. All of Osaka lay before them, with one of the taller buildings close, but not close enough for a jump.

  “We can’t make that,” Arista said, the Device running through the calculations. “We’ll have to find another way.”

  “There is no other way.” Frees fired his own weapon at the glass window, shattering it. He kicked away any sharp pieces. “I’ll cushion the blow.” The wind whipped through her hair and she took a step to brace herself.

  “We won’t make it. You can’t cushion a blow when we hit the street. We’re too high.” Her pulse was speeding and her heartbeat pounding. The Device delivered the stats to her vision which she blinked away.

  “We can make it. If I can jump from one building to another with a bad leg then I can make this with two good ones.” He grabbed her arm and spun her around so she was on at his back, then he lifted her legs before she could protest.

  “Frees! Don’t!” she shouted but it was too late. He’d made up his mind and she wasn’t strong enough to break his grasp. There was a commotion behind them; the Pseudokeepers no doubt. Frees backed up and took off for the opening as fast as he could accelerate. The Device continued to modify the calculations as he did; she only hoped he was right.

  He launched at the proper angle from the opening, sending them sailing out into the cool air. But his speed hadn’t been sufficient. The Device told her he would have needed to be traveling at least one-third faster than he had been when they began their arc. As gravity took back over and they dropped Arista saw there was no chance. The feeling of falling took over.

  Except she had a concussive weapon. She didn’t have time to run through the ramifications; they would be dead in four seconds if she didn’t do something. She dropped her arm behind them and flexed her hand. Suddenly they were spinning through the air, gaining some altitude. It might be enough to make it to the next building. There were too many variables to calculate. She fired again and they spun in the opposite way, the sensation making her sick to her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to ward off vertigo.

  “Hang on!” Frees yelled. She gripped him harder.

  The spinning motion stopped as she was jerked forward, then back again. The jolt made her lose her grip on Frees and she opened her eyes to find she was on the edge of the nearest building, slipping off Frees’ back. She clawed furiously at his hoodie, trying to find something to hold onto while everything slipped through her fingers. He wasn’t doing any better. They had hit the side of the building but not broken through the glass and were sliding down the side. Arista flexed her hand again and the glass below them shattered into a thousand pieces. She grabbed onto the first thing she could find with her new hand as they slid past, bringing her to an abrupt stop. Frees fell almost directly past her and she reached out, finding a handhold this time. He jerked to a stop and she screamed at the same time, his entire weight supported by just her wrist. She wouldn’t be able to hold on long. Above her, she held onto a shattered window frame. She didn’t have the strength to pull them both back up, but she could swing them inside.

  “Destroy the windows!” she yelled.

  Frees fired his weapon and the windows shattered, allowing her to swing him over so he could grab the edge of something. The Device told her she had a sprain in her left wrist as soon as she let him go. She blinked it away and swung herself with her new hand in behind him. He was on his hands and knees, attempting to get up. She scrambled over to him before he had the chance and grabbed him by the collar, screw the pain.

  “When I say we can’t make it, you listen!” she spat.

  He didn’t react, only watched her eyes with his, allowing her to jerk him around like a doll. She glanced to where they’d just come from it was a miracle they’d made that distance. But it also ensured none of the Pseudokeepers watching them from the opening would be able to follow them. “C’mon,” she said, letting go. “We can’t stay here. We need to make more jumps before we’re clear of them.”

  Frees stood up without a word and followed her out to the stairwell.

  EIGHTEEN

  “I can’t believe you were so stupid.” Arista slumped back against the wall. They’d made three more rooftop jumps—all of them minor in comparison—before breaking through the stairwell and finding their way back down to the street. They’d managed to get back on some of the abandoned streets they had passed earlier thanks to Arista’s map.

  “Did you seriously think we could make that? Or were you just willing to kill us both?”

  “What does it matter anyway?” Frees asked. “How many machines did you kill back there? A dozen? Maybe more? That weapon she gave you should be classified as a genocidal device.”

  “It’s supposed to be!” Arista roared. “How else are we supposed to destroy the goddamn thing?” Now both arms hurt. Once the adrenaline had left her system her entire body ached from the ordeal. She had tiny cuts and bruises all over her body from the broken glass and impacts. “This is your fault.”

  “My fault? Who wanted to impress the human so much she’s willing to do whatever it takes? Kill whoever it takes?” He gestured wildly.

  “Yeah? And who was willing to trust the random guy who just happened to show up right when we needed him? Didn’t you think it was odd we didn’t see a single Peacekeeper after he showed up? Not even in the building itself?” She glared at him, daring him to respond.

  “We heard some, patrolling.”

  “Because he was controlling them to do that!” she yelled. “God, they aren’t even real Peacekeepers. He’s smarter than we gave him credit for. Anyone we meet could be either a Peacekeeper in disguise—or just another of his avatars made to look like they’re on our side. We should have seen it as soon as we arrived; he was waiting. Ready. We can’t trust anyone now. Everyone here is tainted.”

  “I can’t believe how casually you dispensed with them,” Frees said, not looking at her. Instead, he leaned against the ledge of a short wall. On the other side, the alleyway dropped down a few feet leading to an old fence.

  “What was I supposed to do, Frees? Let them shoot us?”

  “Use your ability! Turn them, change them to our side!”

  She sneered. “That doesn’t work here! Whatever he’s done to them they are immune. He told us that himself.”

  “And you trust what he says?”

  Arista gaped at him for a beat, her mouth slightly open. “Trust? No, I don’t trust what he says! I said that from the beginning! Remind me, which one of us ran into this thing headstrong without any regard for what we might be facing?”

  Frees tapped his chin with his finger in a mocking gesture. “Hmm, let’s see. Oh yeah, you did. You were so intent on impressing Sy, you didn’t see she’s doing nothing more than using you. Giving you compliments, touching you on the arm, don’t think I haven’t seen it.”

  “Touching me on the—” She shook her head. “She respects me. And she gets it, Frees. In a way you never will. You’re not like us. You are a copy of us, and that drives you insane more than anything else because you know it’s true. Otherwise why tear all your skin off? Why try so hard not to be part of society? Because you know it’s nothing more than a cheap copy of the real thing and you can’t deal with the blow to your pride that your race can’t come up with anything on its own.”

  She knew the moment she said it she’d pushed him too far. But honestly, she didn’t care. He’d almost killed them. Didn’t he care about that?

  Frees turned and approached her, stopping a foot short. Even though he wasn’t breathing and his face wasn’t red and he wasn’t showing any of the telltale signs she normally would look for in someone’s body language she could tell he was furious. It was in the quiet way he held himself, still as a statue with his orange eyes boring into her. And she stared right back, not willing to give an inch. Could she even trust him anymore? Or had he been corrupted by this place? Was that why he’d made that jump? Was he trying to kill her?

  “You never wanted to destroy Hogo-sha in the first place, did you? That’s why you pulled me from that room. You could have had those struts down in an instant if you’d really wanted to. Is that why you came in the first place? To stop me?” she asked.

  “I came so you wouldn’t die alone,” he finally said. “Because this was a suicide mission. Sy knew it, but you are too blind to see it. But I’m done. You want to kill yourself over this AI then you go right ahead.” He stepped forward, pushing her out of the way as he made his way down the alleyway.

  “Fine,” she said as she passed. “At least I won’t have someone whining to me about how many Peacekeepers I have to kill when I go back in.” She thought he would stop and come back; that he couldn’t resist a good fight. But he only kept on walking. And the further he got the more defiant she became about it. If he really meant to leave then she didn’t need the burden of him. If he couldn’t reliably have her back then she didn’t need him slowing her down. It would be easier for her to get back into Hogo-sha’s building without him anyway.

  As soon as he disappeared around the corner she kicked a small container of parts, sending them flying down the alley after him. She should have known this would happen. She should have expected it sooner. He was only ever interested in her for her ability to change the machines over. And now that she no longer could change them he was done with her. Big surprise.

  Arista hopped over the short wall and down onto the lower level of the alley. She needed to regroup. And something to drink would be nice. Her only choice was to go back to Shin’s lair, but she’d have to keep a lookout to make sure he wasn’t there. She could get in, get some water, contact Sy again, and get back out fast. Maybe even grab some of that equipment if it could help her. She’d be able to get a message out to Sy using his console, if he hadn’t disabled it or blocked it like he had her own personal channel. But if it was active there was a possibility he could monitor the transmission, locate Jill and Max in the process. It was a big risk, but she didn’t see she had much choice. She needed a way back and wasn’t going to get it standing around in this cold alleyway.

  The fence at the end of the alley was clamped shut with a large padlock. Arista grabbed it with her new hand and squeezed. The lock bent and broke in her hand, falling away.

  So that’s what that feels like.

  She felt a surge of renewed vigor as she slid through the fence and back toward Shin’s place.

  And if he did happen to be there waiting for her, she’d make sure Hogo-sha would never be able to use that avatar again.

 

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