Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect (22 page)

Zachary covered his head, counting to five before the sound of items falling into the room silenced. The General was nowhere to be seen.

Machinery ground near to the panels; they were rising. Rosa ducked under to spring forward.

Her warm hand caressed Zachary’s neck. “It’s over.”

With Amelia to support him, Jordan spoke, “Not yet. There’s still one thing.” He flicked the module to Zachary’s lap. “The Hub’s protection is broken. Do what you want with it. Rosa, come with us.”

“But, Father, what about him? He’s coming with us.”

Amelia stood firm “There is no future for you with him. We must leave now.”

Rosa tightened her clasp on Zachary. “He came back for me.”

Suddenly, the floor below her parents buckled, dropping them both from view.

Rosa rushed to the edge. “I can’t see them. I can’t see them. I can’t see anything.
Mother! Father!
”

Zachary arose with a hop just as a shadow grabbed hold of Rosa. Sokolov forced the revolver under Rosa’s chin. He yanked her head back, and walked forward. Red lines oozed down his face.

“Bring the module to me,” he growled.

“Let her go,” spat Zachary.

“Don’t listen to him,” cried Rosa.

“When will children learn,” sighed the General.

Shifting the gun away from under her, he fired. The bullet entered Zachary’s right shoulder. He screeched and fell onto his hands and knees. Sokolov pulled the trigger again. Empty. Flicking a switch, the barrel flipped inside out.

“Boy – I have a shatter-bullet loaded here. Give me the module, or I will remove every trace of you.”

Zachary’s lungs squeezed his breaths. Things whitened in his sight. Thoughts of pain intensified. Shock. Smacking his palm onto the dripping wound, he mouthed, “Let her go first.”

Sokolov grimaced. “If I’d gone for your left side, you’d be dead within minutes. Why can’t you see that I am doing this for the good of the Base?”

Rosa squirmed. “You’re a sick man.”

Sokolov raised his chin as he spoke to Rosa. “You’d think better of me if you knew the truth. Comms-Hub, play back Centurion-files marked Kade-Sabotage-2330.”

Cylindrical machines, positioned close to where Rosa and Amelia had been held, responded, “Locating files.”

“Everything ends now,” said Sokolov.

“No,” yelled Rosa.

She twisted, tussling with the hand that held the gun. It disappeared between them. Sokolov spun on the spot. She didn’t let go.

“Rosa!” Zachary elbowed forward.

A blast erupted, spraying jagged shards outward.

Zachary rocketed backward, struggling to command his senses and undo the awkward twist of his body. Several feet away, the General lay covered by smoke.

Blood spread from Rosa lying on the floor.

Zachary froze.

What had he just seen?

The cold front across his face vanished.

Fighting the numbness of his leg, Zachary crawled forward, ignoring the devastation of the room. In his head, the General’s scathing words repeated.

You’re the reason for everything that’s happening. If you hadn’t spoken to Rosa, then nobody would have known. ROM wouldn’t be here. Rosa wouldn’t be here. You should have stayed in your gutter.

Zachary grimaced as a gorge tore its way along his shoulder. “I’m nearly there,” he whined.

Rosa’s finger twitched. “What’s happ –” she groaned.

Adrenaline jolted Zachary up onto one leg, but spasms made him tumble again onto his front.

“Kade-Sabotage-2330 file loaded,” reported the Comms-Hub. A large, wide screen ejected upward from the hub. Why did Sokolov want to tell Rosa about her father’s actions nine years ago? The fourth level was crumbling. The Tower could fall, and the General’s last act of evil was to replay this?

The screen showed eight equal squares of varying angles of the same room. It was a circular room filled with mechanical objects on desks. People moved between them. Some chatted, while others marvelled in excitement.

A familiar voice spoke from the screen. “Influencing contractual obligations and levers to ensure nothing stands in the way of progress is paramount.” Pride filled a younger Jordan Kade’s expression. The picture changed. A man with the same sharp nose as Carell shoved a gun up to Jordan’s chin.

“
Father.
” A young girl appeared, wrapping her arms around Jordan’s waist.

Carell smacked Jordan, and tore the girl away from him. Rosa had been there?

“Malfunction alert,” said the Comms-Hub.

The screen went blank.

Jordan Kade must have escaped from the
Centurion
before it detonated. He must have taken Rosa, otherwise how could she be here? Zachary’s thoughts returned to the crumbling room and the mere feet that separated him from her.

On her side, black fluid leaked from Rosa’s abdomen. Sparks fizzed out of her exposed metal neck. A tear running down her right cheek mixed with a glittering crack along her jaw. Dislocated from a spherical shoulder joint, her right arm whirred. Rosa’s left eye shook upward, almost turning in on itself.

Zachary’s limbs shuddered. He now understood the change of her childhood appearance from the files that Patch had shown him, the reason why her parents kept her away from others, and the need to seclude her.

He shivered.

His heart thudded under frantic breaths.

Zachary interlocked Rosa’s fingers and rested his hand under hers, not caring for the sparks.

Both her eyes twitched. “Zach.”

“I’m here.” The smile he tried to give didn’t happen.

“I see codes everywhere,” she mumbled. Skin shrivelled around her green eyes. “I didn’t know.”

Thick fluid gushed from her mouth.

Zachary tightened his hold. “I … believe you. I’m going to get you out of here. Someone can repair you.” His words quickened. “I’m not going to leave you.”

Rosa squirmed. “Zach.”

“This isn’t fair,” he whispered.

Her eyes widened. “Behind y –”

A hand sliced hard across Zachary’s face. Rolling on all fours, he spat blood. “And so it has come to this for my greatest creation.” Sokolov positioned himself between Zachary and the Comms-Hub. The General’s powerful arm wrapped around Rosa’s waist. She withered, exerting little pressure to escape. She was weak.

A flicker of energy shot out of Sokolov’s right side. Altering his stance above the uneven floor, the damage to the General came into view. Wires encircled a bolt with shifting pistons where his biceps should have been.

Zachary’s fingers curled. “You’re an android too?”

“Not exactly,” replied Sokolov. “Carell’s disrespect in attacking the
Centurion
didn’t just destroy the precious lives of many. It cost me my arm.” Blood seeped out of his mouth. “It is amazing what you can do with a few cogs.”

“You knew?” muttered Rosa.

“RNA extraction was your father’s idea.” Sokolov poked the crushed mesh of her stomach. “We simply added the necessary components.”

“Why?” she groaned. It was obvious from the fluid flowing from her stomach that he meant to hurt her.

“Jordan was arrested for aiding ROM. Everybody suspected him of conspiracy with his ex-colleague Carell.”

Zachary snatched a dangling cable to pull himself up.

The Russian hissed. “I overturned the charges but had to remove your father from office. He was a broken man. Your mother hated him for leaving you behind.”

Rosa cocked her head. “He … left me?”

“It wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t have stopped it. You died, Rosa.”

She whimpered. A spark fizzed along her cheek. “I never knew.”

“You never should have. You are the only one that we pushed to the limits.” Sokolov glared at Zachary. “Synthetic layers entwined to a life-replicator, every part of you was built to imitate a human. To grow like a human. To age. Shed skin. You would have died a human, if it wasn’t for
him
.”

The General’s hand raised her chin. “She was the most perfect we made. She accepted her RNA transfusion and connected with her past in an instant, unlike the others who took time.” Sokolov’s eyes narrowed. “She can be saved. Parts can be replaced. Skin will grow back. But first, you must do something for me.”

An electric current burst from Rosa’s abdomen. She wriggled at arm’s length from the General.

“The longer you take to think about it, the higher the chance her RNA implant will cease to function,” said Sokolov.

“What do you want?” Zachary released the cable, managing to balance.

“You will send a message to the Confederation to inform them that protesting scum instigated an illegal uprising, and fraudulent propaganda was created to harm the House. You will show them the module and name Sebastian Carell as a traitor.”

“You want me to lie.”

Remorse lacked in Sokolov’s tone. “Time to question me is not yours.”

“Don’t do it,” said Rosa.

Zachary closed his eyes. He had no idea of what remained in Underworld. Was it wiped clean, leaving a polished hull? Had the Black Lake been drained into space? How many humans had burned in the melting pots of the Base’s engines? But what Zachary did know was a person in front of him, tugging on his heart.

He limped, keeping his head facing the General, toward the Comms-Hub.

“Comms-Hub, activate connection to SC001,” said Sokolov.

“Voice recognition applied. Connecting,” replied the Hub.

“No trickery. Do this, and I will ensure she is fixed,” said Sokolov.

Back turned to the General, Zachary pulled out the module. “And me?”

“One life must cease before another can live.”

“Zach.” A tinny sound followed Rosa’s voice. “Don’t.”

Swimming specks of light dazed Zachary’s own sight. He leaned onto the Hub, feeling his spine tingle. A hole in the centre of the Hub, between notches, seemed to match the shape of the module. The screen of the Hub activated to a man wearing a cap with several blue-uniformed people wandering behind him.

The man spoke, “Please state who you are. I cannot identify you amongst personnel authorised to use this terminal.”

Zachary heard Rosa call his name again.

He slapped the Comms-Hub. “I am reporting an invasion by the Right Order Movement of Hadrian Tower.”

“What? Who authorised this intrusion? Who are you?”

Another, older face appeared next to the man.

Zachary tasted blood building under his tongue. “My name is Zachary Connor … from Underworld.”

“How did you gain entry to this terminal?” asked the first man.

“Keep going,” muttered Sokolov.

Zachary turned, ignoring the rants from the Hub. “Give her to me.”

“Finish the broadcast.” Sokolov glanced at the currents pouring from Rosa.

“Tell them the truth,” she moaned.

Zachary spun in a heap onto the Hub. “ROM has invaded the Tower because the House of Representatives did this.” He rammed the module into the hole. An ‘Activate’ symbol floated over the module. He pressed it. “Save
Galilei
.”

“Coward,” bellowed Sokolov, hurrying toward the Hub.

Zachary’s eyes swept for a weapon. There was nothing. He had seconds.

“I’m going to tear you apart!”

“
NO!
” screamed Rosa.

With the next wave of currents dispensing out of her, she ploughed herself into the General’s broken arm. The current spread. Metallic whirring sounded under his right torso. Bolts of electricity surrounded them both as they reacted against one another. A loose bolt smacked Zachary onto the Hub.

Currents raged deeper with Rosa maintaining her push into Sokolov’s socket. Purple veins protruded across his face. Gasping, he let go of Rosa. Light flashed between them, throwing her away from him.

Zachary caught her. Prickling currents decreased along her body.

Sokolov stood, wide-eyed, with smoke trailing from his open mouth. Stiffened, he fell forward through the hole to the third level.

Zachary cradled Rosa on the floor.

Gnashing sounds increased inside her. “It hurts.”

The girl he knew was there. “We have to get out of here.”

“I don’t feel … like an android.” Dozens of tiny lit-wires switched off in her stomach. “Weak … ening.”

“
Stay
with me.”

“For … give … me.”

Rosa whirred to a halt.

Zachary brushed Rosa’s hair, hoping the twinkle in her green eyes that hadn’t dimmed and the warmth of her face meant she wasn’t gone.

Death shouldn’t have come so quickly.

“You’re still there,” he mouthed. “I know you can see me. Blink. Please, blink. Tell me you can hear me. Please.”

Fearing harm from his action, Zachary shook Rosa with care. Nothing about her responded except further black fluid filling his palms. It didn’t feel right to class her as a bot. With his hand over her shredded cheek, Rosa appeared almost the same as the day he’d met her. Without the worn state, the scruffy, non-straightened hair and the smudges of battle, she was still Rosa Kade.

Zachary’s spasms, tightening into knots, swamped his senses. Maybe he’d lost as much blood as she’d leaked fluid. Maybe it was time to accept that he couldn’t keep outrunning death.

There was nothing to live for.

Zachary sunk to Rosa’s chin. It felt cold. Tiny pieces, built inside her jaw to meet a purpose, glimmered. Miniature coils surrounded pistons the size of a pin. She was a giant Harmon Bracelet. A walking Raptor. An android. She could be repaired.

Although the neck crack was deep, it hadn’t pierced the inner metal. Zachary furrowed his brow. Wasn’t that where the RNA was positioned? He lowered Rosa, peering into her neck. There was a definite green glow, and if it glowed, then surely it worked. She wasn’t all gone.

Staggering, Zachary lifted Rosa up. Heavy, and with no flexibility in her limbs, he dragged her towards a collapsed wall where he could see the outline of steps.

“Confirm that this is not a hoax,” said a voice from the Communications Hub.

“What do you care,” replied Zachary.

“We have to be sure before forwarding this to Command.”

Specks of light returned to haunt Zachary’s vision. He rocked, keeping his hands around Rosa. Acid burned his throat. “Comms-Hub, send all Intel of the Souls Programme to the Confederation.”