Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect (8 page)

“We don’t have that, Jordan.” The Russian’s fist slammed down onto a table, sending a ping through the speakers.

“I’ve had nine years, Sokolov. What could go wrong if another day passes?”

Was that the same Sokolov that Rosa had mentioned?

“Everything,” replied the Russian.

The recording scrambled before switching off.

“MOSD deleted,” said the harsh delete. “You will be contacted with regards to the terms and conditions of use, and the inappropriate use of interference-blockers. Thank you and have a nice day.”

Rosa had intercepted an important conversation involving her dad. Either Jordan Kade or General Sokolov had authorised the removal of the conversation. What kind of progress did Sokolov fear would be delayed? Could it be connected to the paper drop? Article 39a? The Integrated Confederation? The House?

“What does ‘reinstate’ mean?” asked Zachary.

“To re-establish or return something to an earlier state,” replied Patch.

Zachary’s eyes widened. He grasped the corded-tube. “Time to sleep.”

“Do not ignore Rosa Kade’s request to wipe …” Patch’s eye blanked.

Zachary paced around his home, groaning. Rosa knew her dad would become an ambassador again. Isn’t that what she wanted; to be allowed to visit Assayer, rather than be cooped up in her home? So, why did she behave as if it was never going to happen? She was so sure that she’d always stay at home. Always be alone. What else is there?

He eyed the Raptor.

Rosa would call again, wouldn’t she?

Zachary walked along the end-border of the Wastelands.

It’d been two days since the mysterious drop of papers.

And Rosa hadn’t called.

As he and Diego crossed the ledge held by crooked nails that separated them from the Black Lake, he couldn’t help but wonder if Rosa had regretted having anything to do with him. Maybe she was already with other people in Assayer and the need to bother him had disappeared. Though, he couldn’t deny his concern. Never had Zachary wanted somebody to bother him as much as Rosa.

Both scavengers looked out to the crumpled mess known as The Island where the most lethal gases and liquids accumulated from the Wastelands. It had no light or indication of life except occasional flickers of movement.

“Don’t breathe in too much,” advised Zachary. “It’ll sting your lungs for days.”

“I feel like I know everything there is to know about District Two.”

That didn’t surprise Zachary. During their joint scavenging, he’d found the recruit’s curiosity eye-opening. It’d made Zachary appreciate Underworld more. Stained and lacking of flowers as it was, Underworld was their home.

District Four was known for its sense of pride; residents behaved with trust and less suspicion. But were the women different?

“Can I ask about your sister?” Zachary asked, which made Diego’s eyelids twitch. “I don’t want to know what’s wrong with her. That’s your business.”

“Yeah, and it’s complicated.”

Zachary swallowed. “Is she like you?”

A thin film of water surfaced on the recruit’s eyes. “She’s better than me. She’s your age. She’s never put a foot wrong, except life just …” He thumped his palm onto his fist. “Why do you ask?”

Zachary sidestepped across the ledge. “I thought you could tell me more about girls. Do they always get ratty with the smallest thing?”

“Girls are like puzzles. They can like you and hate you at the same time. You’ll never know them until they know you. It’s better talking to an android. At least you can turn them off.” The recruit’s smirk tapered. “Do you know if they found any more androids like the one that Shekhar had?”

“I don’t think so. Nobody’s owned up to handing it in.” Zachary felt Diego’s uneasy breath. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah – yeah – no. Androids with skin. It’s not allowed. They’re not meant to replicate humans. If you create something as real as that, then you’re messing with social order.”

“I don’t follow?” Zachary motioned along the ledge to the banks leading back to the higher ground of the Wastelands.

“Imagine if androids were created to look like you and me. Imagine them walking amongst us. How would you know?”

Zachary pointed up. “They do walk around. It wouldn’t surprise me if half of Overworld was bolts and cogs.”

The recruit gave a half-hearted nod. “Yeah – forget it. I’m over-thinking it.”

Diego’s boot smashed through the bank’s hard waste. He retched at the exploding reek. Sucking in his breath, Zachary hooked an arm around the recruit and pulled him free.

Scraping the heel of his boot along the ground, Diego said, “And another thing, I can’t stop thinking of the papers. They’re threatening Districts One to Four. Do you still think that the other Districts will stop people from entering?”

“You should know. You’re from there. The further north you go, the cleaner the air and the better the homes. Nobody’s allowed to go north without permission. Down, but never up.”

Diego licked his upper lip. “I’ll be leaving soon, to check that my family are okay.”

“Today?”

“No – soon.”

Zachary understood the recruit’s concern. “Well, when you realise it’s all a joke, make sure you come back, and if my mood is right, I’ll let you join my team again.”

“Your team?” sniggered Diego. “Without me, there’s only you.”

“Exactly.”

The sudden vibration in Zachary’s jean pocket surprised him. Rolling onto his feet, his words spluttered out with haste. “I just remembered, I need to be somewhere.”

Diego’s bolted upright. “Where? Like last time?”

The vibrating stopped. It’d be a matter of minutes before another call. What if she assumed that his non-answer was a sign of him wiping the memory?

“A girl. I’m going to see her,” said Zachary.

“I knew it.” Diego clapped. “Who is she?”

Zachary increased his distance from the recruit. “I can’t say. I’ll meet you at the rusty track. I won’t be long.” He turned and ran.

Overlapping sheets of metal jangled underneath his feet until he hit a level filled with sludgy mounds. He sighted a dry sewer pipe that would make for a resting spot. Crouched inside, he waited. Why hadn’t she called again?

The Intercom vibrated.

Zachary’s fingers snapped to the device’s ridges first. He pushed the blue face, then the green circle. Lights sprinkled above the Raptor to form an image. He sucked his breath back into his lungs.

Lying on her front, on a bed or a sofa, Rosa smiled. The pointed tips of her ears showed beneath tied-back hair, as did her slender neckline. “Let me guess, you were busy,” she said. “And, obviously, you didn’t wipe the memory. What am I going to do with you?”

“Where were you?”

“When?” Rosa drew her head back. “Were you waiting for me?”

Zachary frowned. “Course I wasn’t waiting. I thought it was odd that you hadn’t checked that I’d carried out your order.”

Rosa snorted, giving her head a hasty shake. “My order.
Ha!
Well, okay then, why didn’t you follow my order and wipe the memory?”

Zachary ignored her comment. “You didn’t answer me. Where were you?”

“Are we going to go through this charade again? Your question, my question; never-ending questions. Can’t we just talk like normal people without having to check boxes with one another?” She gazed beyond the Intercom to her upper right. “Fine, I’ll tell you. There was a shortage two nights ago. I got scared, thinking it was another attack, and Mother was hysterical. Apparently, it started in Assayer and spread all the way to our home. Not had one of those for a while.”

“A shortage, like when your energy resources run out?”

“Kind of. It’s when all communication goes haywire. Every teenager’s nightmare. Broadcasts, music-streaming, solar-web, everything, even the Intercoms go down. Blip. Totally off the grid.”

The MOSD, two nights ago, thought Zachary.

Somebody had initiated a shortage to knock out every device to prevent anybody from noticing that the deletion took place. Possibilities flooded his mind of who might have instigated this. Jordan Kade? General Sokolov? Protesters? And it had happened on the day of the paper drop.

He blinked at Rosa’s image. She must have seen his finger fidget along his mouth. Did she know about the paper drop?

“Now, time for my question. Were you waiting for me?” she asked.

“I wasn’t waiting for you. Like I said, you hadn’t checked up on me. That’s what I’d have done.”

“Hmm. And the reason for not wiping the memory?”

“Damage limitation. The wipe could’ve ruined the inner components. The value of a broken Intercom would be as good as a bag of rust-proof nails.”

Rosa cradled her chin. “So, you didn’t do it because of the value? Not for me?”

Stomach fluttering, Zachary felt the nape of his neck tingle. “What?”

“I’ve been thinking about everything you told me.” Rosa’s twist to her left gave him a second to reflect on her words.

What ‘everything’ had he told her?

“Phew.” Rosa sighed with relief. “I thought that was Alice sneaking up on me. Best tell you that she’s unhappy about me calling you. She’s an android, and she’ll never understand emotions. The closest Alice’s ever come to emotion is when I threatened to cut the sockets to her charging-chamber.”

The blue tint of the image glistened across her large laugh.

“Like I was saying, you found my first Raptor, then your dad gets a job to come and repair my home. Next thing, we meet. Now what are the chances of that? Isn’t it all more than a coincidence?”

Zachary’s brow tensed. It could’ve happened to anyone.

“Well?” probed Rosa. “Did you keep the Raptor for me?”

The Intercom felt light in his numb fingers. Her searching eyes froze him, yet a sensation warmed his body. “I guess I did.”

Her cheeks ballooned. “Why?”

“I’m not used to talking to a girl, especially one who’s different from the girls around here. “I suppose,” Zachary went on, “I wanted us to speak again, and maybe end the call without hating one another.”

“Who said I hated you?”

“Me,” he whispered. “I’m sorry if I made you angry.”

“And you’re sorry for being a moron?”

“A moron?”

Chuckling, Rosa pushed her hand under her neck. “I meant it when I told you to sell the Raptor, and to wipe the memory. I really, really meant it. But I’m happy that you didn’t. I can’t remember the last time that I spoke to anyone for longer than yelling at them to get out of my garden. My life’s been pretty lonely, until now.” Her face sunk close to her Intercom. “Do you have a family? Siblings?”

“My dad and Patch.”

“An only child. Like me.”

A sense of responsibility taunted Zachary. Should he tell her about the MOSD, and the recording he’d witnessed? Considering the negative effect upon Rosa, he rejected the topic. “Do you think you’ll ever visit Assayer?”

Rosa’s midair image wobbled for a second. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be around other people. Don’t get me wrong, I truly love my parents, but I need more, and in the weirdest possible way, you’ve been that for me. I’ve been dying to contact you again.” Her smile never dropped. “Damn shortage.”

Rosa pulled the tip of a loose strand of hair into her mouth. “Father will be joining the House of Representatives again. That’s not how I wanted our return to Assayer to be.”

“Don’t you want him to be reinstated?”

“No,” snapped Rosa. “That’s what got him into trouble last time.”

Zachary leaned inward. “What did he do?”

Her mouth quietened. “I don’t know exactly. My entire home has Obstruction-modules that prevent me searching or viewing anything with even a hint of my surname. Mother and father never talk about it.”

“That’s strange.”

“Story of my life.”

Crossing lines sped over her image, then the Intercom switched off.

Zachary shook the Raptor. “Hello?”

He pressed the ridges. Nothing. Had the Intercom’s battery drained? He was sure that Rosa hadn’t turned her Intercom off. Her hands had been under her neck.

Zachary inserted his thumb into the recognition-pad. The prompt for the password came. He spoke the letters required, “F – A – I – L.”

The Intercom dazzled orange, green and yellow amidst a melodic tune of three beats for a few seconds. A vertical list of choices flickered in midair.

Calendar. Messages. Web. Calls
. He tapped the
Calls
choice. The line opened to show further choices.
Recently Made. Received. New. Favourites
. It had to be the
Recently Made
choice. Zachary tapped it. An empty screen returned. With harsher breaths, irritating his throat, he tapped the back arrow.

For a short time, Zachary buried his chin into the neckline of his vest.

The Raptor rattled in his hand. He repeated the ridge presses.

Undone hair hung over Rosa’s shoulder. “Did you cut me off?”

“No,” replied Zachary.

“Blasted shortage again. I’d hoped they’d sorted them out.”

Or another MOSD, he thought.

Rosa scratched her head. “I’m on borrowed time. I ran to Alice to check the Raptor. She confirmed no anomalies – and then she gave me the biggest android lecture I’ve ever heard. She kept going on about how it’s wrong to speak with you. One of these days, I am so going to remove her Emote-chip.”

“Patch would probably say the same to me.”

“What do they know? They’re just a bunch of circuits,” chuckled Rosa.

A flutter brushed the back of Zachary’s hair. “I tried to call you, but I couldn’t work it out. Too many options, but your password worked.”

“Well, as it is the password I set on the Raptor, I’d be alarmed if it didn’t.”

Eyes locked, he didn’t care for the annoying drip inside the sewer pipe. “Why’d you choose the word ‘fail’?”

Rosa pulled the strap of her tank top. “Do you get on with your father? Can you sit and talk to him about anything? Do you feel,” she sighed, “like there’s a reason for existing? For being alive?”

“Only when he hasn’t had a bad day at work.”

“My parents don’t have a reason for not talking to me. It’s simply that Mother is withdrawn, and Father spends all his time in the study. When I was younger, I used to think it was my fault, that, maybe, I did something wrong once, or that they never wanted me. They must have had the perfect lifestyle, until I came along.” She clicked her fingers. “Rosario Emily Kade. Daughter of the Kade household with no goal except to annoy her parents.”