Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect (18 page)

The logic of what he said tightened Zachary’s chest. “I can’t sit here doing nothing about it.”

“For years, we have scoured to collect intelligence on the corruption that dwells within the House of Representatives. For years, we have failed. You, a boy caught in the crossfire of two worlds, have brought us close to achieving our aim. You did well to keep hold of the Intel-Depository. Once unlocked it’ll prove the strongest nail in the House’s coffin. But, until we unlock it, you are the only able-bodied evidence we have of the attack.”

“
Me?
You don’t need me. Send your protesters down to see the damage.”

“And risk being caught in the carnage?”

Zachary’s chin locked. “You want me to leave her behind?”

“You must seek patience.”

“
Patience?
” Zachary almost punched the screen flashing with intermittent letters and numbers. “If I wait anymore, I might be dead tomorrow.”

“Do you want to know why they attacked Underworld?”

Zachary flapped the air. “To expand.”

Carell stood ahead of a panel displaying dozens of printed images of groups. On closer inspection, the occupants of the groups were cheering.

“Every Base is governed by the Integrated Confederation,” Carell said. “The Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. They all serve a purpose.
Galilei
’s was to colonise the icy moon, Europa. It was meant to be the mining prize of the system. The Confederation weren’t impressed by the Base’s failure, so they left
Galilei
to run of its own accord, believing that the House of Representatives would be ideal for its well-being. How wrong they were.” Carell moistened his lips.

“But they’ll know about the expansion plan, and when they inspect –”

“They won’t inspect without cause. Once their plans are unlocked, we can alert the Confederation and bring down the House.”

Zachary’s cheeks wobbled at the throbbing behind his eyes. Is this all ROM had to offer as support? Did they hide in the middle of two worlds, waiting for a chance to destroy one? And what about the other if they had a means to do it? He eyed a hanging model of a short-winged shuttle.

“Did you attack Jordan Kade’s home?”

Carell gave a slow headshake. “That wasn’t us. Oh, we know about the blame being administered to us.”

“Then who?”

“Kade’s home was attacked the day before his reassignment as Ambassador to the House. It was the perfect push that Masim Sokolov orchestrated, convincing Kade to agree to revoke Article 39a. I won’t deny that we were watching Kade, though the attack and increased security measures put a stop to that.”

The theft of Rosa’s Raptor, thought Zachary. They were trying to obtain information about the House from her.

Carell led him to a small, transparent sphere, split down the middle by a partition. Inside a miniature model man stood on the partition, and below it, magnetised to stick to the underside of the partition, was another man.

“The Base was designed to support dual living. When the upper half was complete, droves of labourers were dispatched to work on the lower twin, until resources dried up. Without warning, the House deactivated the gravity fields causing everything to crash down. Nobody questioned the declaration of a malfunction.”

This was too much. Zachary tugged on the hair at the nape of his neck. “You said there are other Underworlders that escaped.”

Carell’s head bobbed. “They know you well. Shekhar and Salvador.”

Zachary spluttered, “They’re alive?”

“Both are seriously injured. You’ll find them in the Medics Section, two tiers down.” He paused, thinking. “There is one piece of advice I must give you. Be wary of your feelings for Kade’s daughter. The differences between you both will not bode well.”

Why did everybody say that?

The leader moved over to the androids’ torsos without artificial layers. “I bet you’ve seen a lot of these in the Wastelands.”

“Never as polished.” Zachary rubbed the cold metal of one. “Are you a collector?”

“Of sorts. I am fond of experimenting.”

A screen next to Carell beeped on with the message, ‘Adjustment Complete’.

“Ah, our time is cut short. It’s been a pleasure to meet you. Explore the
Ark
, but do not leave.”

Zachary closed his fist. “You promise to help me when the time’s right?”

“Be patient.”

Questioning the honesty in the leader’s spirited tone, Zachary retraced his steps toward the doorway. He glanced toward a hissing sound, and caught sight of an inner-wall shifting aside. Inching back to avoid being seen, Zachary recognized the rifle-carrying protester, Vincent, enter with his allies carrying the scientist by his arms. The blood on the scientist’s clothes looked fresh.

Zachary snuck back inward. Too far away to make out the voices beside the buzzing robotics, he shuffled up to a pillar. Steps clanged from the protesters taking the scientist up to the balcony. Vincent brought forward a reclining chair. As straps lashed over the scientist’s limbs, a groan escaped him.

He’s alive!

“We had a bit of trouble with his adjustment,” said Vincent to Carell, who’d joined them. “He deviated. A few knocks brought him into touch.”

“Easy on the damage. Time after time I tell you.” Carell stood before the scientist, who looked to be in his forties. “How are you feeling, Ethan?”

Tears streamed down the scientist’s cheeks. “How do you think I feel?”

Vincent tapped buttons behind the chair. A large drill-like device lowered from the ceiling to hover over Ethan’s head. It rotated into a quick spin.

Zachary’s pulse quickened.

Carell leaned forward. “Do you know me?”

The tugged straps squeaked under Ethan’s struggles. “Sebastian.”

Carell continued. “I will spare you, if you tell me where the copies are stored?”

“Copies of what? I don’t understand. I’m just a scientist.” Ethan’s mouth slumped. “What what what can not know how meaning mean meaner.” The next few words slurred.

Carell sighed. “Damn. He’s a goner. Do it.”

Vincent plunged the spinning drill-head into the defenceless scientist’s neck, then guided it up to the jaw. Zachary held his stomach. Ethan’s fingers rattled under the straps. Thin muscles rolled off after Vincent thrust the drill out of the scientist’s wobbling head. Zachary covered his mouth. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought Ethan’s throat glittered. Was that metal hanging out? Was that a glowing green tube inside his neck?

Sparks fizzled as Carell pulled out the tube. “Clean him up, and return his parts to me. Next time, Vincent, double the charges to the cortex.”

Zachary’s thigh muscles tightened as he scuttled backwards. His stomach rushed up to his throat. He hurtled forward along the corridor. Everything spun. He retched up the contents of his stomach. Burning air scorched his throat. He spat between his trembling fingers, and saw Bhavini rush over to his side.

“The scientist’s an android,” moaned Zachary.

Bhavini put her arm around him. “You weren’t meant to see that.”

Bhavini flapped a hanging mat aside, leading to a bench within an alcove. “Relax. We’re alone now.”

Zachary constricted his twanging stomach as he analysed Bhavini’s face. With smooth, wrinkle-free, pale-brown skin, hazel eyes, and not a single crack on her lips, she appeared flawless. He blinked, recalling what little he’d seen of the artificial head that Shekhar had held in the stall. Wasn’t that also perfect?

“Are you an android too?”

Bhavini looked like she’d been punched. “Do I look like one?”

Zachary swallowed several times to lessen the sting in his throat. “Ethan didn’t look like one. Is this what you meant by
stuff
happening up there?”

“Trust me, I’m not an android, and don’t ever want to be.” Lost in thought, she looked up. “Okay, this will be a little rusty for me. I haven’t had to explain this for a while.” Bhavini cupped his head. “It’ll be easier if I show you.”

* * *

One level down, through a well-lit tunnel, was a glass dome overlooking a room bustling with activity. People sat around tables inspecting android limbs, and screens, flickering with images of overlapping muscles, hung over them.

Zachary counted four dissected androids.

Bhavini stood with her back to the dome. “The Integrated Confederation created
Galilei
for Europa.”

“I know,” nodded Zachary. “Land. Mines. Homes. Resources dried up.” He dug his fingernails into his sides. “They switched off the gravity and made Underworld.”

“That’s the slimmed-down, Carell version. The resources didn’t stop just because
Galilei
failed to mine. They
never
had a chance to mine. The Confederation pulled the funding to explore Saturn’s moon, Titan. Advancements in Relative-Light-Distortion Propulsion made the transfer of equipment to Titan practical.”

“I don’t understand?”

“Bending light to propel you across long distances.” She folded her arms. “
Galilei
’s true goal was to secure a stable footing on Europa. That’s what mattered. The colonisation phase could’ve come years later.”

Zachary watched an android, still wearing human skin on its front, be hoisted up into the air. Its limbs hung loose, the exact opposite of a rigid metallic object.

“If there’s no funding, why is Sokolov restarting it?” he asked.

“Everybody thinks that
Galilei
is an orbiting, everlasting fortress, but they’re wrong. The space we have available is taken for granted. More people are born than those dying. There are two reasons for why the Base’s Maintenance-Division contracts Underworlders to perform hull repairs. First, they’re cheap, and second, fewer people in Assayer ever come to learn of it.”

Zachary nodded at the implications. “The House doesn’t want them to know about the attacks.”

“Or that
Galilei
’s cracking.”

A rod pushed into the hoisted android’s back caused a silent scream; it shouldn’t have felt pain. Zachary gulped, noticing the cold stare Bhavini gave to the android. What did the ROM workers below achieve by harming it?

“I don’t understand how attacking Underworld will help them land on Europa.” Zachary’s scalp prickled as he suddenly realised. “They’re going to use Underworld’s metal.”

“It’s the richest source of recyclable metal in easy reach, and it’s free.”

The room below suddenly vanished into darkness.
Whoa!

Bhavini stretched to a shelf containing small discs. She turned a dial and swapped the disc inside a small box. Lights in the room reactivated to show wind brushing through the air. Where were the androids? Uneven mounds grew on the white floor. What was going on?

“This is a big screen,” gasped Zachary.

“Collected memories.”

“From?”

“I’m getting to that.” Bhavini tapped the dome.

Cracks tore under the screen, reflecting back the white surface that was fast approaching. Red light flashed throughout before the recording ended.

“Every ship sent to Europa has struggled against Jupiter’s pull,” she said. “The ships compact into themselves, like crumpled cans. Toxic gases leaked through that ship you just saw, melting the crew.”

The next disc played.

A large room was filled with suited people and others in white uniforms looking over brightly glowing screens along the face of tables.

“Nine years ago, Sokolov brought the great minds of
Galilei
together to work solely on conquering Europa. Scientists, physicists, astronomers, meteorologists, geologists, mining corps, and other whizz-kid gurus became the occupiers of the
Centurion
.”

Zachary pre-empted the drop in her tone. “What went wrong?”

“Carell was part of the project, and he hated Sokolov’s attitude. Nobody inside the
Centurion
cared about who they launched. Failure made the project stronger. Failure gave them a chance to learn.”

“So Carell left.”

“Carell did more,” smiled Bhavini. “He joined up with a fringe movement who shared the goal of ruining Sokolov’s dream. I was part of the gang then. We had the easy part of distracting the patrollers for a planned attack.”

The footage stopped after an explosion burst through the
Centurion
’s left wall, throwing tables and people into the air.

“Carell stormed the
Centurion
, but things went off plan. The codes to the Cryo-Reactor that he needed to skyrocket the place had been changed.” She held her deep inhalation for a few seconds. “Jordan Kade offered the codes in exchange for the hostages that Carell had taken.”

Astonished, Zachary coughed. So, Jordan Kade had been present at the time. Was that the reason for his disgraced removal as ambassador; because he had to barter lives for codes?

“Things got messy when the patrollers moved in. Carell managed to plant his detonators and get out, though not everybody did.”

Unease rippled through Zachary’s delicate stomach. “How many died?”

“Lots.” Bhavini muttered under her breath. “The charges within the Reactor caused an outward burst of Cryo-molecules. Everything inside was locked into deep freeze. Technically dead, yet intact.”

Zachary shuddered.

“Before Carell defected, he worked on advanced androids with the Segments Laboratory. Another of Sokolov’s obsessions is to go beyond the programmed state of a mechanical chip to a living one.”

Hands raised, Zachary eased away from the dome. “Are you saying that he … no, that’s impossible. You’re not allowed to make androids like us.”

Bhavini activated another disc. On the table that materialised lay a purple body locked inside ice with icicles hanging from its raised arm. Zachary stepped back as the image zoomed in to the tip of a needle entering a tiny hole in the skull.

“In deep freeze, they extracted ribonucleic acid from the brain. It’s a flawed method of trying to force memories of the donor to a host, but, by adding it to a self-sufficient membrane, the RNA can influence a pre-programmed cognitive unit. An android is an android, no matter what, even with the best emotive syntax, but if you add a trace of someone’s life, then there’s a high chance of its capabilities expanding. Unpredictable, yes, but most function with similarities to the original donor.”