Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect (19 page)

Zachary writhed. Although he was sure she was telling the truth, he refused to believe that a human part could influence a bot. It made no sense whatsoever. Combinations worked if flesh was added above metal as a layer, but not within. A piston could be seamed with ligaments to allow fluid motion and action, but to pass on memories of a previous life sounded ridiculous.

“So, if my brain was injected into a bot …” began Zachary.

“Not all of it. Just the RNA and even that’s hit and miss. And it’s not injected. It’s added to a living membrane that absorbs all that it can.”

“It’s disgusting. That’s messing with things that shouldn’t be messed with.”

Bhavini stared at the worn disc she held in front of the box. It’d been watched more than the others. She pushed it in, her eyes closed. “Three hundred years may have passed since they prohibited methods of human reanimation, but when you’re floating in space without the law-makers, who’ll know?”

Zachary glared at the blue haze developing under the dome. Small dots randomly grew into various shapes before wires snaked over them. Panels whooshed in to wrap around cogs. Clunking, with twisting coils, a skeletal frame hovered upward. Hundreds of components piled inwards until an android stood. A green tube was lowered down into an ejected rod attached to the android’s neck, then the rod was dragged inward. The android’s eyes glowed blue.

“The Souls Programme,” rasped Bhavini as the footage stopped. “Each disc here is a collation of dozens that we’ve captured. Splicing them together we understand a bit more of Sokolov.”

Zachary’s eyelids twitched. “Do they know they’re not real?”

Bhavini’s tongue bulged inside her jaw. “They’re not supposed to. They have self-mending skin filled with amino-acid creators, a working digestive system, and glimpses of memories that remind them of their past.”

“But
do
they know?”

“Some of the Soul androids have malfunctioned, and have self-harmed on realisation of their true nature.”

“Sokolov’s playing God, but what in Europa is Carell doing with them? Dead people. Freezing. Bots. Ethan thought he was actually alive. He screamed when they drilled into him.” Zachary held his cringing face in his hands. “You can’t rip them apart just because they’re cogs and bolts.”

“They’re copies of dead people, and once they realise, it’s better to end it.”

“
End it? Copies
. So when Carell finds one, he just sucks out its RNA?”

“He believes that he’s freeing them from serving the House.”

“Who gave him permission to do that?”

Bhavini snapped, “Who gave it to Sokolov?”

Zachary ruffled his hair, confused as to who was worse: the General for creating the androids, or the ROM leader for destroying them.

“But, just because they find out, can’t you do something to help them? Cogs or not, they have bits of someone inside them.”

Bhavini thumped the dome. “Imagine finding out you’re not who you think you are. Your brain goes into overdrive. You start looking for the answer. Those androids go further. They start calculating reasons that defy logic. They go mad. We are doing them a favour by terminating them.” Exhaling, she spoke without letting her tone break. “My husband was with Carell in the
Centurion
. He was caught in the blast. They used my husband’s RNA to test the first lot of Souls. They’ve had him for the last nine years.”

Zachary watched Bhavini slide down, head dropping to her knees.

“The last we heard was that he’d escaped and was trying to find his way to me,” she sobbed. “An intercepted report, five days ago, recorded him as offline. He’d gone too far.”

The android head that Shekhar had now made sense.

“You were looking for him that day,” said Zachary, wondering if he should reveal the location of her husband.

Bhavini nodded with tears in her eyes. “I knew it. You’re the boy from the camp.” She wiped her cheek. “What a small world we live in.”

Zachary sped along the corridor leading to the second lower level of the
Ark
, to the Medics Section. He caught sight of his reflection along a chrome pipe. Every one of the ten pockets lining his padded vest’s front was clipped down. Dressed in black now, he felt no different from the protesters.

The walls along a downward ramp bore dark splats of red. A room twice the size of his home awaited him with grey-clothed people and a dozen beds behind translucent curtains.

“Can I help you?” asked a woman.

He knew he shouldn’t have gone there. Bhavini’s orders were that he meet her in the Dining Section after his shower and change of clothes.

“I came to see the Underworlders,” said Zachary.

She held her palm out. “Do you have clearance?”

“I’m from Underworld too.”

Her expression softened. “You’re younger than I thought. Beds three and four. Do not stress them. We’re not sure how long they’ll survive.”

Zachary stumbled off the ramp, following the gesture of location.

On one of the two adjacent beds lay Shekhar, eyes shut, on his front. Five fluid-filled tubes led from under his blanket to a glass cube with a pump, clearly connected to his chest from the synchronised breaths.

On the other bed, Biro’s eyes opened. “You made it.” His cheeks sank inwards as if his spirit required freedom. “How far did you get?”

Zachary sat down on the bed, watching the blanket twitch where Biro’s fingers moved underneath it. Complicated numbers and flashing symbols splurged across a nearby screen. “All the way to the streets of Assayer.”

Biro wheezed. “Is it a sight to behold?”

Zachary’s chin lowered. “It’s clean. Too clean. You wouldn’t like it.”

A wheezed chuckle caused a beep from the screen.

“Master – should I –”

“No – it happens a lot.”

Zachary couldn’t resist asking, “How did you get out? I heard the soldier shoot twice.”

“Shekhar dodged the first, but not the second. Straight into his chest.” Biro’s eyelids fluttered. “Luck brought the protesters to us before the soldiers caned us.”

Zachary put his palm lightly upon Biro’s shoulder. “I shouldn’t have left you. I should have stayed.”

“Why do you say that?”

Tears in his eyes, he looked up at the screen showcasing more numbers and bouncing lines. “Because you’re my Master. You let me become a scavenger, when nobody else believed in me.”

“Consider yourself sacked from my employment. You’re free to do as you please.” A dry tongue touched Biro’s pale lips. “Did you find her?”

“I did, but I lost her.”

“Lost can always be found.” Biro moaned. “I feel tired.” A bouncing line, one out of the seven displayed, steadied to a wobbling flat-line. Veins on his forehead protruded. “You’ve made it so far. Keep going. A scavenger never gives up the hunt.”

The curtain was moved by a woman carrying a tray. “I’m sorry, but I need to change his dressings. I must ask that you leave.”

“Goodbye,” said Biro.

Zachary nodded, wondering if Shekhar had heard them. “I’ll be back.”

“Not without her.” Biro whimpered as the curtain drew shut.

Gazing at a man limping with a deep gash behind his calf made Zachary think of how long it’d be before every person in the
Ark
ended up in the Medics Section. Overworld was not the free world that he’d imagined. It was the total opposite.

* * *

Zachary’s pulse quickened at the rush of footsteps coming from the main level in the
Ark
. He jumped aside from the protesters speeding across the exit.

“Hey,” cried Bhavini, pushing out of the second passing wave. “We’ve been summoned to the Arcade. Everybody – come on.”

“What’s happening?”

“The future.”

Taking his hand, she dragged him into a crowd. Going right, Zachary felt the heaving excitement of the
Ark
. Soon they reached a curved seating area overlooking a stage. After a minute, the commotion in the Arcade grew with at least two hundred protesters there. Five men on the stage separated to give space to the leader of the
Ark
. Cheers poured from the seats. Silence took its time to settle after Carell’s subtle wave.

Removing a smug grin, the
Ark
’s leader spoke. “A great man once said, victory – victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” Carell paused at the odd murmur. “Winston Churchill, 1940. Four hundred years on, and those words have not lost their meaning.”

Carell tugged on his tunic sleeves. “It is with regret that I confirm that
Galilei
’s House of Representatives has purged Underworld’s Districts.”

“
Murderers
,” shouted a voice from across the Arcade.

“Yes – they are,” said Carell. “When the House has what it wants, it will bring a new reign of oppression. Please don’t get me wrong, you all know that I too want to achieve a landing on Europa. But, this way? No. The time is coming when Masim Sokolov will only have those that serve him left alive. How many of us have looked down upon Underworld? Dare we admit that even we considered ourselves superior?”

Carell brought his hand back to his chest. “A boy from the darkness below our feet has outdone years of what our skilled have strived for.
One
boy. Think of what can be achieved if we all lived with the same burning passion inside us.”

Unease tingled Zachary. He’d escaped because he had to, not for ROM.

Three men pushed a large, wheeled screen onto the stage whilst the leader continued. “We have accessed intelligence files that detail the past and future actions of the House. Of Sokolov. Of
Galilei
. Finally, we have solid evidence. The time for change is now.”

Clapping erupted throughout the Arcade.

Hundreds of overlapping files lit up on the screen. One file ejected to the side and unfolded. Individual lines surged downward. From out of one line, a hatched image of dozens of buildings formed. The image tilted to show a specific section of Assayer. In the centre was the tall blade-like structure that Zachary had seen outside the mall.

“Hadrian Tower contains the lock that prevents
Galilei
from communicating to the outside. Once inside, we can inform the Integrated Confederation of our suffering. Only then will the balance of power shift back to the people of
Galilei
. Only then will all our beloved who have perished be revenged.” Carell held both arms up. “We will strike and
gut
the lungs of the beast!”

The seating shook amidst banging feet.

“Sokolov’s army is thinned by the ranks occupying Underworld. There is no better time than now.”

“Yes,” shouted someone below Zachary.

“We will strike their barracks. Destroy their shield-core generators, and pin them back like they have done unto us,” snarled Carell. “Our time to rise is
now
.
Tonight we will live
.”

Zachary shuddered at the increasing chants.

Carell’s fist thumped the air. “Victory! Victory! Victory!”

* * *

Within thirty minutes, the
Ark
’s walkways became zones of assigned activity. Protesters piled guns along the walls with ammunition counts ringing out. Was this how the soldiers had prepared behind the Far-Wall this morning?

A boy, ten years or younger, ran with a rifle balanced across his shoulder. Whatever the cause, that boy shouldn’t have been fighting. Why was nobody pulling him back?

Zachary sidestepped bands of men. “Bhavini, this is madness.”

Not looking up, she selected long-handled knives from an outspread blanket. “What do you mean? Isn’t this what you wanted? We’re going to Hadrian Tower.”

“You don’t have a proper plan. I’ve seen what they can do, up close, in my face. They have machines that will flatten you.” Zachary grabbed her hand. “How do you know that there aren’t more soldiers? Sokolov isn’t stupid. He won’t have sent his whole army to Underworld. You’ll be surrounded. He knows we have his Intel. He knows that Underworlders escaped.”

Bhavini stiffened. “Nine years ago, a handful got in. They did it. So can we.”

“Nine years ago, you lost your husband.” Zachary didn’t break his look into her eyes. “Sokolov didn’t have a big army then.”

“Under that vest, I can see your heart pounding with fear. I know you’re scared, and you don’t have to come. But, if getting to Hadrian Tower to rescue Rosa means so much to you, then I don’t have to spell out what’s at stake. I’ll let you decide.”

Zachary pictured Assayer from afar covered by bellowing smoke hiding any view of Jupiter. How would that be different from District Two?

“People will die,” he said.

Bhavini placed loose bullets into her revolver cartridge. “People die every day because we sit back. I can’t make promises for Rosa’s safety. If she’s in Hadrian, then she’s already a part of this.”

Pressure mounted inside Zachary, pushing his composure to burst. Resisting the urge to scream, he gritted his teeth. If Carell was right about Sokolov using Rosa against him, then Zachary’s presence was all the more required.

He flinched at the weighty gun handed to him. “I don’t know how to use this.”

Bhavini ran through the safety switches, the loading mechanism, and the intensity-flick to increase the rate of fire from single to multiple.

“Oh, and another thing,” she added. “Sokolov isn’t the only one with machines.”

Zachary didn’t have much time.

He shot down the ladder to the lowest level of the
Ark
. An arched door separated him from the long, dark room where the machines rested.

A man in baggy clothes leaped out from behind the door. “And you are?”

“I wanted to see what you’ve got.”

“Why?” The man adjusted the smeared goggles under his hat.

“To see if they’re suitable.”

“Suitable? These bad boys have been dormant and waiting for a day like this for years. Oiled up, re-cogged, fired up and packing some juicy shells. Trust me, they’ll make the pesky patrollers think twice about caging us in.” He checked a beeping clip on his belt. “I got some schemas to load. Don’t go touching anything. I’ve just loaded up their commands.”