“Okay, please set that down over there,” Sy said, indicating the box Jill had carried from the hyperloop. “Max, would you mind activating the system? It will take a few minutes to warm up. Same as before.”

  Max nodded and walked to the control panel beside the giant wall. Jill hadn’t realized just how immense this place was when Frees described it to her. The Gate itself was large enough to pilot a ship through. Max touched the panel and the room began to hum with energy.

  “Perfect. Thank you.” Sy said. She reached into the box she had carried. As Jill turned back toward Max a bright bolt of blue energy struck her in the center of the chest, emanating from the box. She glanced down in shock, realizing too late she had no chance to respond. Her eyes turned to Max only to see a second blue bolt holding her in place. A slight jolt later and her entire body went numb. And as she felt herself collapse and the darkness obscure her vision the last thing she saw was Max doing the exact same thing.

  THIRTY-ONE

  With some assistance from Frees, Arista walked out of the medical ward. The food still hadn’t arrived but they’d decided they couldn’t wait. They needed to find a way to warn Jill and Max about Sy.

  “What if they’re all still staying together? Last time we spoke they were in the house. Sy could be listening to any warning we give Jill. Did you guys ever have a secret code, or language you used?”

  “A secret code?” Frees asked, holding on to her arm and guiding her down the hallway. “You mean back when we were bartering with sunglasses and energy drives? What would have been the need? No one ever paid attention to us.”

  “What about when Peacekeepers were around?”

  He scoffed. “You know what’s funny? We never had a problem with Peacekeepers until I met you.”

  She smiled. “May I remind you that’s your own fault. I didn’t ask you to come into the most Peacekeeper-dense building in the city to get me.”

  “Yeah, but you needed me. Who else would you have tormented with all your human eccentricities?”

  “Oh, you mean like using the restroom?”

  Frees made a gagging noise. “Don’t remind me.”

  Arista smiled. She was glad he was getting back to his old self. He’d been so melancholy back in the medical bay. So disillusioned. Maybe he’d just needed something to focus on; a new goal worth pursuing so he didn’t have to think about the future. Baby steps.

  “What if we told Jill we were done? That we’d completed the goal and were ready to come back?”

  Arista considered it. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. Do you think Sy would know we were lying?”

  Frees shrugged. “I wonder if there is a way we can make it look like we actually did it?”

  Arista’s head snapped up. Then to him. “There is. We need to find Shin. Where are we going anyway?”

  “I don’t know. I had to get out of that…place. Too much blood. Shin insisted on extracting the hand from what was left of your arm so he could study it. You do not want to know what came out when he pulled them apart.” He made another small gagging noise.

  “He’s probably still protecting everyone so I don’t change them. Just ask the first person you see.”

  They rounded the corner to the elevators, a woman stood guarding the doors, her hands clasped in front of her and sunglasses on her face. “There,” Arista said.

  “That’s one of the guards who came to find me,” Frees said, his voice low. “Shin?”

  The woman turned and gave a slight bow of her head. “Frees. Arista. Up and about?”

  “We need to speak with you. It concerns the other human,” Arista said.

  The woman nodded. “Please meet me upstairs. My avatar will be there shortly.”

  “Why not just talk here?” Frees asked.

  The woman smiled. “The view is not as good.” The elevator door behind her opened as if on command and she moved aside to allow them entrance.

  “The last time we were in here we were falling for our lives,” Arista said. “Do you think Hogo-sha is wired into every part of this building? That we’re essentially inside his ‘real’ body right now?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Frees said. “He seems to have a tight rein on everything.”

  When they reached the sky lobby they had to change elevators, then they had to change them one last time to reach the very top floors, just like before. As they rose the sun rose with them, inching ever closer over the horizon to shine a new day on Osaka. And on each sky lobby it was a little higher so by the time they reached the top floors most of the city was bathed in fresh sunlight.

  The halls outside the large double doors had been cleaned and repaired; there were no longer large cracks or indentations on the floors from where Shin had flung bodies at them. In those moments he had been unhinged. And the rest of the time he had been completely in control, calm and serene. It reminded Arista to stay off his bad side.

  Frees pushed through the large oak doors, his hand still on Arista’s good arm. She didn’t necessarily need it there, but it felt safer in case she suddenly felt weak. But now that she’d gotten up and moving she felt better already.

  “I am sorry the food has not arrived yet. We are transporting now,” Shin said as they entered. The glass windows they had destroyed had also been repaired and Shin stood at the far end of the room, staring out over the city. Above him the true form of Hogo-sha was ominously silent. If not for the blinking lights, Arista would have thought he was off-line.

  “We’re not here about that,” Arista said. “We need to contact our friends. To warn them. Are our comms still being blocked?”

  Shin turned to them. He’d changed into a different business suit which fit him perfectly. Not a piece was out of place and he had everything right down to the pocket square. And yet, it struck Arista as odd. Like a doll wearing a human’s clothes. Though she didn’t know why; she’d never felt that way about anyone else. Why did this seem so different?

  Shin tilted his head to the right by a small amount. “No. They are no longer blocked. Please, use them if you wish.”

  “We need your help first,” Frees said.

  “With what?”

  Arista stepped forward, allowing Frees’ hand to fall away. “We want to tell them we’ve completed our goal. That we’ve destroyed you and are ready to come back. That way if Sy is planning something she’ll have no excuses.”

  “But she can detect me. And Trymian. She can see we are still connected.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Frees said.

  Arista sighed. Damn. She glanced up at Hogo-sha. “What if she couldn’t detect you anymore?”

  “Go on,” Shin said.

  “What if you downloaded your entire consciousness into Shin? And we turned ‘you’ off? Or disconnected you or whatever?”

  “I would lose my redundancies,” Shin said. “If something happened to his body I would die.”

  “Just like everyone else,” Frees said, prompting a narrowing of eyes from Shin.

  “It doesn’t have to be permanent,” Arista said. “Just long enough to convince Sy we’re done and to bring us back. Then you can re-upload yourself.”

  Shin pressed his mouth into a line and began pacing back and forth across the window. “I do not know. I wouldn’t be able to protect anyone from you. You could infect my people.”

  “I give you my word I won’t. I am in complete control. I won’t change anyone without your permission.”

  His gaze landed on her. She knew he was looking for any signs of deception.

  “Shin…Hogo-sha, listen to me. You helped save my life. I consider that a debt to be paid. It does not further my—or Frees’—goals to betray you. You are the strongest ally we have here. Trust me.”

  “An eye for an eye. Or in your case, a favor for a favor.” He stopped pacing. “It is a risk I am unwilling to take.”

  No. She was so close. There had to be a way to convince him.

  “Sy knows the location of the human colony. If…if you knew where it was would that be worth the risk?”

  “How would you extract the information?”

  Arista tried to temper the excitement in her voice. “If she thinks we succeeded she said she would take me back there. She said they are searching for my parents at the moment.”

  “Anyone who gave you that hand had no intention of taking you anywhere,” Shin said, tapping his right hand. “I completed my analysis. The reason it is so powerful is because it drains the life force of the user. It is a suicide weapon.”

  “So then,” Arista hesitated. “You think she did it on purpose. It wasn’t a side effect she didn’t know about. It was intentional.”

  “It was,” Shin turned back to look at the city again. She and Frees stood beside him to admire the view. The sun had risen even further, casting light into the caverns between the skyscrapers. The skylanes grew more crowded as they watched people begin their daily routines. “This was intentional. All of it.” Shin turned to her. “But for you it was an accident. Your society developed and this was the result. When you climbed out of the ocean you did not set out to create franchise restaurants, porcelain dolls or gravitational theories. But that is where you ended. Our society begins here. Who knows where we will end. I cannot allow the humans to threaten it. I do not wish them harm, but they cannot expand beyond their borders. They will kill the animals. Pillage the land. Use the resources until they are gone.”

  Arista winced at each accusation. Humans of the past had been like this, yes. But still? Perhaps Sy had been a bad example. They couldn’t all be like this, could they? Back when she thought she was alone she liked to think if humans had survived they would have evolved, adapted to be better. To take care of things and each other. What if Shin was right? What if they were a destructive force to be unleashed on the world?

  “If we help you find the colony and contain it would that be worth the risk?” She glanced at Frees. He stared back, his eyes searching her face. His mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something, but it remained shut. His eyes turned down in pity. It was at times like this, times when he was so tender that she lost all reading of him. What was he thinking? She turned back to Shin whose gaze remained glued to the landscape before him. “Shin?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Arista?” It seemed Frees had finally found his voice. “What if Sy never had any intention of finding your parents? That could have all been a lie.”

  She sucked in a breath, knowing he spoke the truth. If the woman was willing to kill her to get what she wanted, why would she ever help her find her parents? That could have just been a stalling tactic. Or worse, they could be searching for them, only to hunt them down and kill them. There was no telling what she would do. What mattered was they needed to get in contact with Jill. They needed to go back. As soon as possible.

  “I will assist,” Shin said. “Only because we share a common goal. The preservation of life. Humans are unpredictable. I fear what they may do if they find your parents first.” He turned to face her. “I will do as you ask. Shutting down my primary core will register me as no longer ‘alive’. I should inform Trymian so he does not do anything rash.”

  Arista nodded.

  “Once the deception is complete. I will re-upload myself. I do not wish to remain vulnerable.”

  “Don’t want to see what it feels like for everyone else?” Frees asked. “You walk among the people, but do you really understand?”

  Shin cocked his head at him. “You compare me to another human, yes? Henry the fifth. He who walks among his soldiers to see what they really think of them. You think too much like a human, Frees. I do not care what people think of me.”

  “Then a wonderful king you shall make.”

  Arista ribbed him with her good arm. “Will you shut up, he’s willing to help us,” she whispered through clenched teeth.

  Shin chuckled. “Do not worry. I take no offense. Frees will understand one day. For now, let us prepare.”

  THIRTY-TWO

  “I’m concerned.” Arista sat on the small chair in the adjacent office. She pulled her arms back through her jacket which had been retrieved from the basement and delivered to them.

  “About which part? Lying to an obvious psychopath or teaming up with someone who almost killed us as soon as we got here?” Frees stared out the window. Shin had told them it would take him fifteen minutes to make the transfer and said they’d be more comfortable somewhere with chairs. But she suspected he’d really just wanted privacy.

  “I’m concerned he’s trying to recruit you. He thinks I can’t understand because I’m human.” She sighed. “But you’re like a new challenge for him. I’m not sure he’s ever met anyone who is autonomous. I just want to make sure you recognize it for what it is.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time,” Frees said, turning to her with a smile. “Don’t forget I almost sold you out when Charlie made his very tempting offer.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah. Thanks for not doing that.”

  He lifted his head to indicate her arm. “How does it feel?”

  “About the same.” She raised the stub; it was stiff and would probably require stretching to gain full movement again. But the metal sleeve helped. “At least it’s not gushing blood.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  The door opened and one of Shin’s guards entered. “He is ready now.”

  Arista stood, eyeing the guard. “He really did it? So he’s not inside your body right now? Controlling you?”

  The guard shook his head.

  Arista turned back to Frees. “Should we test it?” she asked with a devilish grin

  Frees shrugged. “Only if you want the wrath of Hogo-sha upon your head.”

  Arista winked at the guard. “Maybe next time.” For what she was about to do she was in a surprisingly good mood. Maybe it was because all of this was about to be behind them. She would get to go home, clear all of this up and maybe finally find her parents. According to their original calculations they still had thirty-four days until shutdown. It was more than enough time to find them. Even without the resources of the colony. But she still hoped all this could be salvaged. Somehow.

  The guard led them back down to the double doors. When they entered again it immediately felt different. Arista couldn’t explain it. But it was like something was missing from the air. An electricity almost. She stared up at Hogo-sha; the sphere was dark. The whole room was frosty, as if someone had died. She shivered in response.

  “It is done,” Shin said, approaching them. “Transfer complete.”

  “Great,” Arista said. A perverse thought passed through her mind. If Frees shot Shin right now, he’d kill him. He’d rid the world of another Cadre member. It would only take a second. She shook off the grotesque notion. She didn’t want to be that person. She didn’t want to be Sy. “Are we ready to make the call?”

  “Use my terminal over here.” Shin opened his hand, moving it like an announcer presenting the next great act. A section of the giant bookcase slid to the side, revealing a large comm terminal. “Just interface with your personal comm. She’ll be able to see my deactivated form in the background. It will make it more convincing.”

  Arista nodded. “And you.” She pointed to Frees. “You’re staying out of sight. We don’t want her to think you came back.”

  “Right.”

  “Don’t forget, keep your arm down, don’t let her see beneath the jacket sleeve,” Frees said.

  “Got it.”

  She drew a deep breath, exhaling through her nose. The Device wasn’t flashing any warnings. Maybe she’d gotten better at controlling her subconscious impulses. Or maybe she’d visited the gates of death so many times nothing fazed her anymore. Either way, she was ready to get this over with.

  She reached up with her right arm, stopping in mid-air as she realized she could no longer touch her temple with a hand, a wrist or anything else. Resigning herself, she reached over with her left hand and touched her temple, activating her comm. Then with her sleeved elbow she tapped her left arm. She sighed again. A whole new routine to get used to again. She dropped the arm so the end of the jacket was below the comm desk, out of sight.

  Entering the commands on the console she confirmed her personal comm was connected and dialed the number.

  It rang.

  “Arista?” Sy’s image appeared on the screen in front of her in full color. Arista took note of her surroundings; Sy had returned to the gate. What was she doing there? Had the Peacekeepers stopped patrolling? “Arista, I’m…are you okay?” Sy asked and a shiver moved through Arista’s body. Just the fact another human was concerned for her well-being was enough to distract her. She needed to stay focused. To get all this straightened out.

  “I’m fine. I wanted to contact you because I’m done. He’s been deactivated.” She turned to look at the dark sphere behind her. She almost made the motion to point but stopped at the last second, remembering the jacket.

  Sy pulled her eyebrows together. “You…did? That’s wonderful.” Her eyes moved off the center of the screen for a moment while she consulted something. “You did! I can see it over here, that means there’s only one left! And he won’t be able to hold it all together. Not for long. Great job. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Arista nodded. “I just want this to be over and done with.”

  “How did you manage to get in there? I thought you said it was heavily guarded.”

  “I found the building plans, snuck in through the subway tunnels.” Sy didn’t need to know the other details and it kept Arista from lying. For the moment at least.

  “This is…this is fantastic. I was so worried about you. After you told me Frees left, I was afraid you might not be able to finish and make it back out alive. I’ve underestimated you.”

  “Thanks,” Arista said, trying to look grateful. “That means a lot. You’re at the gate?”

 

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