Zero echo shadow prime, p.18
Zero Echo Shadow Prime, page 18
“Everyone should have their coordinates,” Nicola said. “You may proceed when ready.”
The five Lotus ships broke off into five separate trajectories. Liam remained uninterested in the proceedings, and Charlie wondered why he didn’t get a ship, especially since he had been so concerned about being a “pilot” earlier. Was he being punished?
“If you must know, we’re hunting satellites,” Nicola told Andrew. “Specifically, Polly support satellites. It’s difficult to run an operation like ours while the Pollys are out and about. It would take forever to eliminate them one by one, not to mention the risks involved. But their power source, the satellites, are unguarded. Take out the satellites, and you take out the Pollys.”
“Power source?” Charlie asked. “I thought the Pollys collect their own solar power.”
“They do,” Nicola replied. “But the power they collect on their own is minimal and not enough to restore them to standard operating mode. Kepler, can you please magnify the dome to fifteen thousand meters above San Francisco?”
The dome zoomed into the planet’s surface, stopping right above the cloud line. Charlie could see several dozen twinkly lights scattered along the wall.
“Kepler, magnify on one of those Pollys.”
The dome zoomed in on one of the twinkles. It was an unfolded Polly—not the normal spherical shape, but a flat sheet of small hexagonal solar panels.
“This is where Pollys come when they are low on power—right above the cloud line,” Nicola said. “They unfold and collect their own power, but it’s only enough to keep them afloat. In other words, they cannot recharge their batteries this way—their power requirements are just too great and their surface area is just too small. So they require a large boost of energy from the support satellites. Otherwise, they will remain in that holding pattern indefinitely. Kepler, can you put PSS-84 on display?”
The dome zoomed out from the planet several thousand meters. An enormous solar panel array came into view. “This support satellite feeds all the Pollys in Northern California. Yuri, how long till impact?”
“About thirty seconds,” Yuri said.
“Okay, this should be fun,” Nicola said. “Kepler, switch the dome to the Lotus One camera.”
With Lotus One’s camera on the display, it felt like Andrew’s entire observatory was headed on a collision course with the PSS-84 satellite. Yuri started the countdown: “Ten, nine, eight…” The others joined in: “Seven, six, five, four…” PSS-84 got larger and larger. “Three, two, one.”
The display went dark.
“Switch to telescope view!” Nicola shouted.
The display showed a giant explosion. Every Sapien in the room cheered. Yuri stood up, peeled off his cap, and took a bow.
“Does this mean we’ll finally get to meet him?” one of the flight team members asked.
“Absolutely,” Nicola said. “Bob will want to commend you personally. All of you.”
Charlie then realized why the Sapiens were so obsessed with the Pollys, and why they were so willing to condemn themselves to fugitive status. Bob Sapio, the dear leader himself, was a fugitive. He was wanted for murder. And the Polly network had essentially rendered him immobile. Cut off. Impotent. Now, the Sapiens had bought him a little more flexibility.
“Yay, awesome,” Charlie said with punctuated sarcasm. “Now will you all get the hell out of here?”
“Not yet,” Nicola said. “Your father has five ships. We are going to eliminate five satellites.”
“We also need to take care of him,” Yuri said, pointing at Andrew.
“What do you mean ‘take care of him’?” Charlie demanded.
Nicola rolled her eyes. “Liam?”
Liam perked up. He fished the handcuff keys from his pocket and swiftly moved to Charlie’s side. “Time to go,” he said as he detached her from the armrest.
“Where are you taking her?” Andrew barked.
“What are they gonna do to him?” Charlie asked.
Liam lifted her into his arms and didn’t answer her question until they were well outside the room. “Your dad will be fine. They’ll make him sleep and wipe his short-term memory. Just the last few hours or so.”
“If I find out you’re lying—”
“I’m not,” Liam insisted. “You’ll see him soon.”
“And when exactly is soon?”
“You only have one job left. Bob wants to meet you.”
10
Four Arms
The transition was instantaneous. One moment, Four Arms was sailing across the sky, enveloped in a deafening stream of air. The next moment, she was floating in a tank of murky water. The forces of ballistics and gravity had somehow dropped her off in this mysterious place and zipped on by.
Four Arms heard the clacks and clomps of footsteps. Two shadowy figures appeared from beyond the tank. She couldn’t see their faces, but she could hear their voices, garbled through the water.
“You don’t seem to understand that we’ve already lost this battle. The more we draw attention to it, the more we stand to lose.”
“And if she kills another person—“
“She won’t, Ian. She’s just a scared little girl.”
“A scared little girl with the strength of a gorilla.”
“Oh, she’s stronger than that. But it’s irrelevant. Like I said, we’ve corrected the psychosis, run extensive tests—“
“Tests you were unauthorized to run. The robot should be in a box right now. You should be in prison, Jude. The only reason you are not is because you are more useful to us as a contractor than as a scapegoat. But those tables could easily tip in the other direction. People are demanding justice. They’re scared, and I don’t blame them. This Polly situation is…troubling. What will happen when they run out of juice? The National Guard is waiting in the wings. But that doesn’t change the fact that we are losing control of every aspect of this situation. Bob Sapio of all people is dominating the conversation, conflating everything from the Polly situation, to the robot girl, to the smart-cell health scare under one giant umbrella of Luddite mouth-frothing. And you are enemy numero uno. They are under the opinion that you should be tried for mass murder, for Molly Higgins and anyone else who’s died of a Rivir product.”
“Smart cells don’t kill people. That research is pure tripe. And Sapio’s one to talk. Who do you think destroyed the satellites?”
“That may be true, and that may eventually come to light. But for now, people are listening to the old man. If enough of them demand justice, we may be forced to provide it. So to hell with this business about maintaining a low profile. We’ve done that long enough. Now is the time to display strength, to show the people that we can still maintain peace and order. And capturing your runaway killer robot would be a fantastic fucking start. So, if you would be so kind as to drain the tank…”
“Khnum?”
The tank bellowed and shook like the Optic death wail. The water level started to descend, allowing Four Arms to see through the clear walls of the tank. The room was an enormous amphitheater, three floors high, and the tank was its beating heart, with hoses and wires extending in every direction. The two echoes watched her, expectantly. Four Arms flailed her limbs, trying to touch solid ground. She was in a precarious position—handicapped by the water and trapped by the glass.
“Magnificent, don't you think?" the one named Jude boasted. "Bethea's nanobath rendered her perfectly in tungsten and carbon fiber."
“She looks like a giant spider, only uglier,” the one named Ian replied.
Jude frowned. “Half of the initial traits came from nature. A good portion of the Echo population evolved to look very similar to existing animal species. A sort of convergent evolution, if you will. But it’s the combination of the natural and the technological that gives the echoes their edge. This one has an abdomen drill, which she can use to burrow into the ground, pulling her prey with her.”
The last drops of water slurped through the grated floor of the tank, and Four Arms was finally able to assume a defensive posture. The glass door swung open and Jude took a few steps forward.
“Four Arms?” she asked. “Is that what you call yourself?”
Four Arms didn’t know what to make of this mysterious echo, Jude. She didn’t possess any offensive weapons, defensive plating, sensory augments…nothing. Four Arms should have lunged on her immediately. Yet, her face. Jude’s features were gaunt and angular, and her eyes were brown instead of bright turquoise. She did not resemble the Archetype. She did not resemble any echo Four Arms had ever seen.
Ian, too, had a completely unique face, with a broad jaw and a bald head. He wore a suit with many colorful patches and medals hanging off the left breast. Somehow, Four Arms knew he was a man—like Khnum, but without the horns and snout—and Jude was a woman.
At the moment, Jude was closer. Four Arms took a few cautious steps toward her, testing her for secret weapons or traps. Jude simply folded her arms and waited. This only unnerved Four Arms further. What is this strange woman hiding? Four Arms crept out of the tank, and Jude held her ground. They were now only a few paces apart.
If Four Arms were to attack, she would be wise to do it swiftly. She bared her sharp, salivating teeth and rushed Jude at full speed.
Huge mistake. Before she was able to wrap her jaws around Jude’s defenseless body, she was seized by withdrawal. Sharp muscle cramps and brain spasms, which normally took days to mature, gripped her in mere seconds. She was forced to withdraw her attack, and once she did, she immediately felt better.
Jude laughed. “I advise you not to do that again. You are not in Echo anymore. In this world, you will do as I say. You will kill whom I want you to kill. Only then will you find respite from your withdrawal.”
Four Arms wished she still had the ability to speak, because she had so many questions. If she wasn’t in Echo, then where was she? And how did Jude command so much power over her?
Jude’s face grew cold, save for a slight upturn at one edge of her mouth. She slowly turned her head toward Ian, and Four Arms instantly knew what the woman wanted her to do. Four Arms felt it as a surge of bliss as the idea popped into her head. She snarled at the man.
Ian backed away. “What?” He shifted his fearful eyes between Jude and Four Arms. “Why is it looking at me like that?” Jude didn’t respond. Ian quickened his pace while searching for the exit.
Four Arms shot a web-line at his foot. The man tumbled backwards and slapped his skull against the concrete floor. “Ow, fuck!” Four Arms proceeded to reel him toward her salivating jaws. Her body tingled with anticipation.
“You know what your problem is, Ian?” Jude said. “You can’t see past the issues of the day. You talk about making big spectacles and displays of strength, pitting one ‘killer robot’ against another without any regard to what kind of stain that would leave in the public mind.”
“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point. Now call this thing off me,” Ian begged as he slipped along the floor, grasping for any kind of handhold. He was now only a couple yards away from three rows of razor-sharp teeth.
“You said you wanted a demonstration. Here it is—”
“Jude!”
“I will retrieve the girl, despite the risks, but we will do it my way. Four Arms is an ambush specialist. With any luck, she’ll never be seen—”
“Jude! Aaaaah!”
Four Arms bit down on Ian’s ankles. Her body shivered.
Jude continued speaking in a calm, deliberate tone, seemingly oblivious to Ian’s cries. “You are right about one thing: people are scared. This is nothing new, of course. People have always been scared, throughout history. We are thrust into this world naked, vulnerable, with little explanation, and we can be eliminated at any moment without warning. Our coping mechanisms are ineffectual at best. Follow the rules, pass our judgments, root out the boogeymen—people feel that these small measures of control will render them safe from harm. And this is simply not true. No one will die from killer robots—well, almost no one…” Jude gave Ian a wink, but he was too busy gurgling blood and beating his fists on Four Arms’s head to notice. She continued, “But they will still die. They will age, they will decay, and they will die. This is how the world exists now. But it’s not the world of the future. It’s not my world. That’s what makes this precise moment in time so critical and ironic. Because, while my enemies try to palliate their fears by denouncing me and the PRIME Project, what I offer to the world is real.”
Ian’s cries had stopped. His lifeless body hung halfway out of Four Arms’s jaws as she continued to eat.
“Real safety. Real control. Death will be consigned to history…”
Four Arms’s final chomp severed Ian’s head from his body. The head rolled passed Jude’s feet. “…a bad memory of a barbaric past,” she said softly. After a brief moment of reflection, she lifted her chin and called out, “Khnum, please render an avatar of the late Ian Shaw. And tell the DOD they’ll have what they need.”
Four Arms convulsed with waves of pleasure. When she finally came to her senses, she was confused by what she saw. Ian’s head remained on the floor in a pool of blood. He did not enter the blue bubble. He did not come back to life. He was simply dead.
ZERO
“Should be less than a minute now.” Liam stared intently at his wristwatch. It was the old-fashioned kind, with hands and gears, and it looked expensive. Charlie didn’t ask from where he lifted it.
They sat on the roof of the abandoned mall, staring at the predawn sky. The air was crisp, and Charlie rubbed her arms for warmth. She was a little disappointed Liam didn’t invite her closer. He seemed to care about her. After all, he continued to leverage his standing with his fellow Sapiens on her behalf. Charlie wasn’t even supposed to be up here. She was supposed to be downstairs on her makeshift cardboard bed, handcuffed to a pole.
Yet, even now, with relative privacy, Charlie could sense the invisible ties that bound him to his sister. It tempered his feelings toward Charlie—every glance, every touch carried a tariff of guilt. They shared an unspoken understanding. He would continue to look after her so long as she didn’t press for her freedom.
“Look,” Liam whispered, pointing toward the east. A tiny sparkle rose above the suburban horizon, accompanied by distant shouts of jubilation. Yuri and the flight team were also situated on the roof, at the other end of the mall. Liam chose to keep his distance. “There’s another one!” he said, rotating his arm a few degrees to the left.
The “Polly Exodus” wasn’t quite the “reverse rainstorm” Liam had promised—Charlie counted only nine Pollys over the next fifteen minutes—but it was a beautiful sight, nonetheless. They rose like lonely droplets into the orange-rimmed clouds.
“This is just the beginning,” Liam said. “I wanted you to see that we didn’t destroy your father’s fleet in vain.”
Charlie fought a grimace. It was a sensitive subject for her, and despite Liam’s assurances, she was still worried about her father.
“The momentum has finally swung our way,” he continued. “We’re able to mobilize. The people are behind us. This is how revolutions are won. You’ll see. It’s only a matter of time before Rivir topples.”
* * *
The light of dawn still hadn’t hit the first floor of the department store when they returned. Liam lowered Charlie into her cardboard bed by the display window. She winced as she bumped the hard surface—her bones still ached from the motorcycle accident. “I’m going to leave you for a short while,” Liam said. “Yuri and the others will look after you. I told him that if anything happens to you, I would kill him.”
“You’re going to look for PRIME?” Charlie said, trying not to sound too hopeful. She knew PRIME had escaped her confinement at Rivir Tower. The flight team couldn’t shut up about it, though nobody—not the Sapiens nor the media—knew exactly where she was at the moment.
Liam’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you want to see her so bad?”
“Isn’t it obvious? She’s my sister.”
“But she’s more than that to you. I know your history.”
Charlie didn’t feel like talking about Bridge. Not here, in this dark place, where she was still held captive. But Liam awaited her answer. Despite the skepticism in his voice, he really wanted to understand. That, more than anything else, made him different than the others. With a heavy sigh, Charlie said, “Have you ever lost someone so important you wondered whether you could go on living?”
“And you vow you’ll never lose anyone again?” Liam added without missing a beat.
Charlie nodded. So he did understand.
“But she’s just…”
He swallowed the rest of his thought, but Charlie knew what he was going to say. “She’s my sister. That’s all I need to know.”
Liam managed a smile, but it was disingenuous. He looked at her as if she were the crazy one. “Well, if you must know,” he said, “I am going to look for her. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “Give me your arm.”
Charlie felt a flash of anger. No matter how much she shared with him, she would always be his prisoner. “Get it yourself,” she snapped.
Liam recoiled. “Charlie…” His voice was soft and conciliatory. He hadn’t anticipated her outburst, and he searched her face for an explanation. “You know I have to…” He reached for her arm.
Charlie quickly hid her hands behind her back.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She had no endgame in mind. She just wanted him closer. He leaned into her, and she planted a soft peck on his mouth. His brow twisted in confusion, but he didn’t pull away. So she went for more. Her heart pounded against her chest wall. It was her very first kiss, and it took her a few seconds to realize she should part her lips. Liam held her face and his body melted into hers. Charlie moaned and fought a rising urge to cry.
