Catalyst (5 page)

“What happened to the other kids?” I finally manage to ask. What I really want to know is, where’s Micah? Did he burn to a crisp, like he deserved?

Her scarred eyes won’t meet mine, or Marka’s. “Micah left a month before. I don’t know where he went. And Wilbert, well, I just don’t know. I saw the whole house go up in flames from miles away. The others, who knows?”

Gone. Which is why I couldn’t track down Aureus for the last few months. Aureus doesn’t exist anymore. Cy could have been captured by someone even more powerful than Aureus.

“They could come after us too,” I tell Marka.

Her eyes cloud over. “Them, or the police. My contact in New Horizons stopped talking to me last night. We should get ready to leave sooner. Maybe tonight, or tomorrow.”

“Marka? Zelia?” Dyl calls from the walls. “Can you bring Caliga to the lab?”

“What’s wrong?” Marka asks.

“It’s Caliga’s vaccine. It’s done.”

• • •

E
VERYONE COMES BY TO SEE THE RESULTS.
Ana sits in the corner staring unabashedly at Caliga, who returns the favor with a narrow palette of evil looks. Ana must be chatting her up again.

Dyl draws up the two air syringes and places them on a tiny tray.

“They look like hors d’oeuvres. Not the tasty kind,” Hex comments, and Vera slaps the back of his head.

“Okay. So who’s first?” Marka asks calmly.

I step forward and roll up my sleeve. “I guess I should go,” I volunteer. “Be nice to keep my stomach acid in my stomach for a change.” Caliga throws me a dose of bitch-face for that one.

“Me too,” Dyl says. “I worked on it hard enough.” Caliga looks at Marka for a beat too long, then stares at the floor.

Marka nods. “That makes sense. We’ll test someone with regular DNA, and someone with altered DNA.”

“Vanilla or Freaky Flavor,” Hex adds. Vera flicks his ear hard with her finger. “What? Keep your green paws off me, or I’m hiding a hot dog in your falafel.”

Vera points to the door and Hex marches out. I watch them walk away. Seeing a happy couple is a bit like a screwdriver to the ribs. When they bicker, it hurts just the same, as if the screwdriver simply changed directions. They still have what I don’t.

Marka holds up one syringe. She presses it to Dyl’s arm, and then removes it quickly. “Okay. How did that feel?”

“Fine.” Dyl turns to Caliga. “How long will it take to start working?”

“Fast. Within the hour.”

“So did everyone in Aureus get this shot?”

Caliga’s eyes avoid everyone’s. “No. Just SunAj.”

“I don’t get it,” I cut in. “Not even Wilbert? Why?”

“Well, SunAj is dead and Wilbert is gone, so you can’t really ask them, can you?” she snarls.

The silence that follows is glassy and sharp. Marka clears her throat, picks up the second syringe, and approaches me. “Here you go.” She presses the round tip of the air syringe against my biceps. Before long, prickles and stings begin to spread over my arm.

“Well. There’s only one way to find out if this works,” Dyl says.

“It’ll work,” Caliga says, but she sounds more nervous than angry. Dyl nods at me, and together we approach Caliga.

We take one step, then another. Caliga’s hands grip the sides of the lab chair as we approach. I let my hand rise ahead of me, testing the space between us. A slight tingle hits my fingertips. It’s a whisper of numbness, but not strong. I squeeze my hand in a fist and then wiggle the fingers. The numbness melts away.

I’d put my necklace on before, just in case. I lean forward, braver now. Caliga’s eyes are wide with something—fear, or worry. They watch my fingertips as they close the distance to her hand.

I touch her. The skin of her hand is warm and soft. So human. I thought it would be like ice.

“Oh my god.” Caliga covers her mouth with her other hand.

“Zelia!” Dyl cries out behind me.

I turn, but not fast enough. Dyl crumples to the ground, her eyes seeing nothing. Marka and I grab her under her arms and drag her ten feet away. She’s not talking or moving, but only for a few seconds. Her mouth moves strangely as she tries to talk, but her words are too slurred to comprehend.

“I thought it was working. How could that be?” Caliga says, standing up.

“Get away! Don’t go near her!” I practically spit at her. Caliga stares at us, shocked.

“Dylia. Dyl!” I whisper. She blinks and stares right through me.

“Gonna be sick,” she slurs. We turn her over, but mercifully she holds it down.

“I don’t understand,” I say to Marka. I can’t even look at Caliga, not after seeing Dyl like this. “Those were identical doses.”

“Yes, but you aren’t identical people,” Marka says. “Maybe it only works on those with traits.”

Caliga rubs her hands together. “No. It should on everyone.”

“Well, you were wrong!” I say it with a viciousness that makes Caliga recoil farther away.

“You know,” I say to Marka, “Dyl told me Wilbert’s ForEverDay didn’t work on her either. I don’t get it.”

“Maybe we can try it again,” Marka says, ever the peacemaker. “We have time.”

Hex and Vera burst in through the door. At first I assume it’s just another fight, until I see Hex’s face. His eyes are wide with a ferocity I’ve never, ever seen. It’s terrifying.

“We gotta go. Now!” Hex yells.

We all stare at him. We have a millisecond to register what he’s saying, when the explosions throw everyone to the floor.

CHAPTER 4

T
HE FLOOR BENEATH US SHAKES.

I use my body to smother Dyl, trying to shield her from I don’t know what. It feels as if a mighty giant is wrenching the building’s foundation from the ground. Marka tries to stand but loses her balance when another explosion hits.

“Where are they?” Marka shouts.

“They’re coming down through the agriplane,” Vera says quickly, helping me lift up Dyl. “Come on!”

“Who is it?” I yell, trying to hook Dyl’s arm around my neck.

“Does it really matter?” Hex roars. He pushes Vera aside and scoops up Dyl’s limp form with his lower arms like she weighs nothing. “We have to get to the stairs. The transports are toast.”

Overhead, the noise of thumps and shouts follows us as we head for the stairs down the hallway.

“Where’s Ana?” I scream. I turn around, but Marka already has her by the waist. Ana is scrunching her face in terror, her hands clapped over her ears. Marka has to practically drag her along.

“Wait!” Caliga. We forgot all about her.

Plaster is raining down from the ceiling. By the time I retrieve Caliga, they’ll be here. It will be too late.

“Please!” she cries. “Please!”

I stop at the top of the stairs, watching Vera fly down ahead of me. Caliga could be killed if I leave her. And there’s no one else who can touch her now.

“
Dammit!
” I spin around and gallop back to the lab. Caliga’s on the floor, her bad leg twisted in the bent rungs of her chair that’s fallen over. Her eyes are fierce and desperate at the same time.

“I can’t . . . I can’t get it loose. I can’t . . .” Her hand scrabbles at her leg, trying to pull the metal loose. I tug on it, but it won’t budge. I search around frantically. Where’s a freaking crowbar when you need it?

A few feet away, the cane
is partially covered by debris. I pull it out, and shove it between the two rungs that catch her ankle in a vise. My whole body weight pushes down and the wood creaks under the pressure. Caliga grabs her leg and tugs. I live a million years in a few seconds as she pulls it free.

“Come on, let’s go!” I wrap my arm around her bony waist. She puts her arm over my shoulder and we exit the lab like we’re in a three-legged race for our lives. The stairwell is only ten feet away, but a galloping rumble comes from our left.

“Stop! Everyone in this place is under arrest. Hands on the wall.”

There are two uniformed police, and they’re as tall as Hex.

One of them has bio-armor covering his skin—Teggwear, courtesy of Aureus’s SkinGuard. They’re both wearing helmets with dark shields covering their faces. Each is armed with a stumpy black stick. Neural guns. Caliga unwraps her hand from my shoulder. She takes a shaky, hobbling step forward.

“Oh god, you’ve come! They kept us prisoner here. They’ve been hurting us. Thank you!” Her voice quivers with gratitude. I almost scream at her for being the worst turncoat ever, when her hand makes a tiny gesture behind her back. She flattens her palm and stiffens her fingers, paddling the air between us.

She’s telling me to wait, and keep calm.

“My leg. I can’t—” Caliga crumples to the ground. Her face scrunches in pain. Fine, I’ll play along. It’s this or get fried with their guns. I crouch over her, feigning concern and make a show of touching her leg, covered in bandages.

I gesture to the nearer officer. “She’s hurt. Please. We need help.”

The far guard speaks into his helmet. “We need medics up here.” He turns to us. “Keep your hands where we can see them, and we’ll get help.”

“They were awful. They’re monsters.” Caliga starts to cry, and I’m amazed to see real tears. The nearest guard holsters his gun and kneels forward to put a hand on her shoulder.

Excellent.

Caliga grabs his hand, and pulls him into a bear hug. “Oh thank you!”

Only I can see what the other guard can’t—that her victim is now drooling, unable to speak, unable to see. Soon, he crumples over and I grab the gun from his holster. I aim, but it doesn’t fire.

“Put the weapon down!” the other officer shouts. “I need backup on floor ninety-eight. Now! We have an officer down!” He takes several steps back and fires at us. A sizzling noise flies over our head and hits the wall.

“Holy sh—” I start to yell, when Caliga hisses at me.

“The gun! It’s F-TID activated. Put his hand on it!”

Another neural bullet hits the guard draped over Caliga. His body is so numbed up now, he’s barely breathing. He didn’t even jerk when the shot hit his bare neck, one inch below Caliga’s face. I grab his hand and press his fingertip to the trigger.

I’m not aiming, but the effect of shooting crackling neural bullets has the right effect. The officer balks as a shot bounces off his Tegg-enforced skin. He curses and backs away, still shooting at us, still hitting his comrade, three, four times.

I manage to hit him in the back of his knee, by sheer luck. He goes down like a fallen tree, helmet bouncing on the floor.

“Come on, get this guy off me.” We push two hundred and fifty pounds of dead weight off Caliga’s body and cling to each other as we take to the stairs. I let go of her suddenly.

“Wait!” I run back up, tugging the helmet off the officer and putting it on. Inside the helmet, I see a flash of listing red words, floor plans of Carus with a dozen moving, labeled dots. Suddenly, it goes blank, and the darkness is replaced by flashing, angry red letters.

Error: R-ID mismatch

I tug the helmet off and toss it. Doesn’t matter. I got what I needed. Caliga and I stumble downstairs and careen down the hallway to the medical room. I pound on the door.

“It’s Zelia! Let us in!”

The door flashes open and we’re inside with everyone.

“Oh my god, Zel! You’re okay!” Dyl exhales, taking me into a hug.

“
Okay
is a relative term,” I say, panting hard, beyond relieved that she’s recovered from Caliga’s effect.

She cracks a smile.

Hex has a huge backpack on him, and he’s fitting Vera with one too. We all have one, for our escape plan. The plan that is now an emergency plan.

“They have neural guns,” I say.

“We know. My shoulder got nicked,” Hex says. His left arm hangs uselessly at his side.

I close my eyes, remembering the images from inside the officer’s helmet. “There’s half a dozen guards upstairs, on the agriplane. More outside the building, and four inside trying to find us now.”

Marka’s eyes darken. “The agriplane was our way out. It’s that or somehow get into the transport shafts.”

Vera shakes her head. “There are other transports working in the shafts. We’ll get crushed along the way.”

“We’ll go out the front door,” Hex says, nursing his arm.

“That’s suicide,” Vera moans.

“There’s one other place we haven’t tried,” Caliga says. We all spin around to stare at her, where she’s crammed herself into the corner. She’s only been here a few days; how would she know anything? “Wilbert’s room. He’s always made a secret exit in his closet. He’s done that since he was a kid, in every place he’s lived in. That’s how he used to visit me at night.”

“Wilbert doesn’t have a room anymore. It’s the library now. We redesigned it after he . . .” I nearly say
screwed us over,
but I refrain, just in time. “After he left. I saw every square inch of those walls. We popped holes all over them, installing the new holo screens and shelves. There was no door, no exit.”

Caliga’s face wilts with disappointment. “I wish I could ask him where it is. It’s got to be here somewhere.”

That somewhere is our only hope. And we have no Wilbert to ask. Unless . . .

“Maybe we can try to ask Wilbert.” Everyone stares at me like I’m nuts. “The library. The old one, with the holo teachers. It’s worth a try.”