-1-
Most of the Sprawl is in the throes of a lethargic pre-hangover nap.
Not Treasure Island. We’re all awake and regretfully sober with a kinetic energy the buzzes through the room.
“You lucky little bastard,” Minnow teases.
But I think she’s secretly happy
The ever present suitcases are not near the door anymore and Sara had quietly cancelled the flight this morning and announced Luce was coming with us to the Peace Summit under the strict condition that while we were there he was neither to be seen or heard.
Sara and I are sitting on the couch going over plans and making last minute adjustments to make sure I know where I need to be and when. Jean slides between us dragging he and Minnie’s suitcase behind him towards the door.
“Well, I’m glad you’re sticking around, little brother,” Jean says. “There is nothing in The North but a bunch of neo-Luddities. Living like it’s the 20th century. Fucking idiots.”
I stifled a laugh and Sara cuts me an annoyed look before standing up and walking over to the window. Her hand slides over Luce’s shoulders for a brief moment. I’m not sure if Sara is aware that I was there last night, I think she must be, but she’s not acknowledging it.
“Luce is going with us today,” she emphasizes. “Arkham still isn’t out of the question.”
I see Luce’s smile fade a little, but he doesn’t react. He just goes back to looking over Minnow’s shoulder while she projects a flower-themed game she’s losing at over her Syndicate.
I’d never admit it and no one would ask my opinion, but I agree with Sara sending Luce to boarding school. Sure, the Neo-Luddites who populated most of that area of the Republic were a bit extreme with the whole minimum tech lifestyle. But their communities had the lowest crime rates, poverty and deaths in the entire world. The Neo-Luddites run most of the boarding schools up there and I’m honestly surprised they’d even let Luce in seeing as he is nearly 50 percent cybernetic.
Hell, they’d probably sacrifice me to whatever god they believe in as an abomination of man.
“Rayne’s here. Let’s get this show on the road !” Sara calls out.
Rayne’s in rare form as a shiny black stretch limo curves in front of the building. I was originally surprised that both Rayne and Ivy would be going to the Peace Summit, they usually kept their hands clean of hit related business.
But apparently, to funnel the cartel business money, Rayne’s family runs the Mojave Blade Company.
They make obsidian blades for manufacturing and medical facilities and other clients including the Republican Liberation Army. Rayne was invited to the Summit as a special private sector guest.
And while Mojave Blade did have a legitimate factory and employees, it also listed me as one of their part-time consultants. Well, it listed Alan Gray .
Minnow, Sara and Luce slide into the limo while Jean and I load the bags into the trunk. Not that we’d ever been close friends or anything, but I was running out of things to talk to him about.
“I think Minnow is doing better,” I say referring to her sobriety.
“For now,” he says wistfully and then looks at me with squinting eyes. “I should say I do think you are a little old for her.”
“Oh and Pascal wasn’t ?,” I counter.
“Aha!,” Jean points at me. “ So, you do think about her that way.”
I didn’t really know what ‘that way’ meant. I mean I’d seen her naked, we’d had sex—which I’m sure she’d told him about--- it was hard not to think about her that way. We were friends now, that was all. I got it, things like that don’t mean anything to a girl like Minnow.
“I just---forgave her. I care about her. She’s nice to me, that’s all.”
“Mmmhm,” he says before shutting the trunk and walking around to the passengers side. I get in the back and sit between the door and Sara.
Rayne has a tray of margaritas waiting for us, but only Minnow takes him up on it. We don’t talk about what is going to happen. We don’t talk about why we are all really going on this trip. Rayne has a projected version of the daily itinerary and points out the events he plans to make an appearance.
Rayne has chartered a train to take us, actual employees of The Mojave Blade Company and a few others in his circle to Oz City. It seems a little old school to take a train, but air space is limited with so many people coming in. At the entrance of the train station I see Saint standing waiting for us, he and Sara go off and talk while the rest of us board.
The interior has blackened windows and each train car has a dozen rows of seats with sleeper cabs back. I find an empty car and taking a window seat. I immediately find a news channel to watch on my Syndicate. I’m still obsessed with finding information about my parents and what they’ve been up to.
Minnow prances by my seat and pushes a few sleeping pills in my hand before announcing she is going to sleep and to wake her up when we get to Oz City .
I manage to watch 5 hours of news stories before it gets old. Mostly they have feature-y pieces about what Julian Walker is going to be doing at the Peace Summit, who he will be with and what he will be wearing.
Sara and Ivy are now sitting in the row a few seats in front of me sharing seltzer water and Luce is in the seat across from them. His legs are up so his feet rest casually between Ivy and Sara, he’s wearing long pants and sneakers so his leg looks normal. I think earlier Luce and Ivy made some kind of amends because everyone once and a while I hear him laugh at something they say.
I don’t see Rayne, but I think he is saving face with his actual employees.
After 4 hours of sitting I realize Minnow had the best idea and take back three sleeping pills before heading to the back to the sleeper cars. The sleeper car is a stark gray and lined with small doors that push open to the sleeping quarters. The hallway is so narrow I have to turn to the side to fit, sidestepping along until I finally make it to a door that doesn’t have the words ‘Occupied’ floating across it.
Already feeling the effects of the sleeping pills I gratefully push the door open.
But the room isn’t empty.
I see Minnie’s heeled legs swinging over the edge of the bunk bed and the back of Rayne’s bodyguard, Griffin between them.
“Shit--sorry,” I say and slam the door louder than I meant to.
Why the hell am I feeling pissed off now ?
“How many times do I have to tell you ? LOCK THE FUCKING DOOR,” Jean says from behind me. I jump because I don’t see him there.
Jean’s hair is standing up over his head and he is actually wearing matching silk pajamas. He just stares at me and I hear a soft click as the message across the door flashes to Occupied. When I take a step down the hall the train jolts and my body slam into one of the walls.
“You okay, brother ?,” Jean asks, grabbing my arm.
“I just took a sleeping pill,” I mumble
Smiling softly, Jean puts his arm around me and leaning his head on my shoulder steers me to one of the doors. The interior of the sleeping quarters is downright claustrophobic, the hole in the wall barely fits the bed and a little space overhead for storage.
When we step inside Jean gently places his arms around my upper body and kisses the side of my face.
“We’re going to sleep together,” he says
“No we’re not. I’m not in the mood for-“ I begin but he cuts me off.
“Shut up,” he whispers. “Alan, I’m not going to bite you, brother. I can see you don’t want to be alone--”
“Too late,” I remark, suddenly feeling witty. “I’m already alone.”
“You don’t have to be,” he says and lays on the bed leaving room for me.
The pills are taking me down and maybe screwing with my judgment, so I change into my sleeping clothes and lie next to him. I could turn away from him and let the pill do its work, but I don’t.
Jean’s real eye color is really kind of dull uninteresting brown, I expect him to say something to me , but he doesn’t he just stares and I can feel his cool breathes lightly on my face.
“It’s going to be alright,” he says
“What is ?,” I slur and my head drops to the pillow.
“Everything. You just have to go with it for a while. And know that whatever happens, even if Minnow can be a little selfish and I a little flaky and the Graces a little insane… we are here for you. You’re one of us now.”
“I don’t….” I say and the rest of it I think. I don’t want to be one of you.
“I know,” Jean says. “It’ll be alright. Good night.”
***
My name is Jethro Sterling
Well, Corporal Jethro Sterling.
All it takes is hair gel, a fake uniform, badge and a little bit of coaching to turn me into an Eastern Guard Soldier.
Boringly handsome.
“You don’t give a shit,” Jean says turning my face from the bathroom vanity and spraying water on my face, so I look like I’m sweating more than I usually do.
The statement arrests me. I mean, yeah, to be honest I don’t give a shit about any of this. What we’re about to do is kind of a big fucking deal, but I still just want to go home and figure out what the hell is wrong with me.
“I do-,” I start to lie and he shakes his head.
“No, I mean that’s how these Eastern State Guards act. Act like you don’t give a shit about anyone or anything.” He tells me.
I nod.
This hit is just like the other one, well except there won’t be a dead body. We’re all undercover now. Jean is wearing his hair long and has brushed on subtle circles under his eyes, he and Sara are going to keeping low profile as maintenance workers. Saint is acting as Rayne’s body guard and Minnie has decided to just go as herself.
Arriving in Oz City had been uneventful for us. We arrived at night and while everyone else attended dinners we were quietly taken to The Wichita Homestead and into room that was just off the 3,000 square foot suite Ivy and Rayne were staying in.
There hadn’t been hotels in Oz before this Peace Summit, there hadn’t been anything in Oz City. t was like a little city just sprung out of the deserted prairie.
A series of temporary hotels had been constructed with the meeting complex. And despite the idea of peace and unity, the Republic people stayed in one hotel and the Eastern people in the other, The Midwest Residency.
Minnow is dressed relatively conservatively in a long sweater and pants that stop at her ankles, her purple strands are covered up by a soft pink beret. She actually looks sixteen and that’s all I can think about when she comes over and smooths out the very counterfeit Eastern State Guard uniform.
She’s in a giddy mood, I think it’s because of what we are about to do, but also because Griffin paid her in some kind of mood enhancers.
“Okay, listen to me,” Sara says loudly from the couch. “Remember. Shooting is out last resort. If you all do what you’re supposed to do, this will go on with no problem.”
Sara is talking loudly on purpose. She wants Rayne to hear what we are about to do from where he is in the adjoining suite. From what I can tell Rayne makes it his business to stay a far away from the actual dirty work as possible.
Sara projects her hacked surveillance feeds of the Peace Summit Complex. The Complex includes the two hotels , the stadium where Julian Walker and Eastern State Chief of Arms, Cyril Porter will sign the treaty tomorrow and the Main Convention center. There are thousands of people here, some with their own security.
Sara pulls out a Syndacite and hands it to Luce.
“Luce is going to be monitoring the video feed. If for some reason we can’t communicate with each other, he’ll be able to give us location,” she says. “Okay, let’s go and try not get killed.”
“Or worse. Caught,” Jean adds.
And with that the plan rolls into motion.
Minnie and I leave the suite first, she takes the elevators while I run down the stairs so no one questions why an Eastern State Guardsmen is staying in the Republic hotel. I make it to the bottom just as her elevator hits and I let her get in front of me as we walk outside. There’s a massive crowd gathered for the outdoor lunch and a jazz band is playing, so we can blend in easily.
Minnow’s job is pretty easy.
All she has to do is run into her grandfather and cozy back up to him enough so she can use his fingerprint to hack into his company’s computer and send the files to Sara. That’s all they need her for.
Sara and Jean had even hinted she was more than allowed to go back home with her grandfather if she wanted to.
I kind of think their casualness of her leaving hurt her more than they thought.
“Good luck,” she calls to me before she pushes through the crowd. A part of me wants to witness her family reunion, but I’ve got a job to do.
My job is a little more complex.
I need to locate an official Eastern State Computer with a level six clearance. That means finding a computer that belongs to either a high level staffer or Julian Walker himself. The hack is a microwave hack and required no actual work from me, all I had to do was plug Sara’s program into the computer and it would do the work for me.
We’d figured lunch would be the best time to find the hotel abandoned and that gives me an hour to get my hands on a computer.
As soon as I enter The Midwest Residency I’m camouflaged by the other Guardsmen. The ones who are milling around the hotel are young, around my age and I start to fear someone will recognize me from home, but all the faces I see are of strangers.
And now that I think about it, we all do kind of look the same.
The bottom floor of the hotel has been turned into offices for the politically powerful and high ranking military officials. With my fake rank, no one really looks me directly in the eye and I’m about to swipe my hacked badge to get into a door labeled Specialized Personnel Only when I hear my Syndicate buzz on.
The sound shocks me, we are supposed to keep Syndicate transmission down since there is a more than likely chance it’s all being monitored out here.
“Alan. Find the nearest elevator and get to the basement.”
I pause, not recognizing the voice at first.
“Saint ? Is everything all right ? I’m about to go in,” I respond.
“Alan. Just go.” he says. “Hurry”
Shit
I turn back down the hallway and find a large bank of elevators and hit the button for the basement. My heart is pounding in my ears. How could something have gone wrong so quickly ? It had to be Minnow, she had to have done something stupid.
The elevator reaches the basement and the clear doors pull apart to reveal a poorly lit storeroom packed with boxes of fruits and vegetables. It looks like a maze and smells like soil and damp wood. It looks deserted.
“Saint ?,” I whisper.
“Turn off the com,” he says into my Syndicate and I do.
“Where are you ? What happened ?,”
I hear hesitant footsteps coming from behind a stack of apples and pears. After what feels like eternity a figure steps out.
“Mom.”
-2-
She smiles and runs the rest of the way towards me.
I hug her.
I’m done. I’m done. I’m done.
Is all I think when she is hugging me.
I don’t know how we’re going to be a family now that I know I’m not real, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going home. Screw Rayne and screw the Shy Cartel.
I’m done.
“You know about…Prometheus ?,” she says pulling away from me, tears in her eyes.
I nod.
“But it doesn’t matter. I don't care. How did you find me ? Is Dad here?,” I ask
Mom rings her hands through her ponytail. That’s when I notice what she is wearing, a soft pink jogging suit with not makeup—the kind of clothes she wears to go to the gym or get facials. It’s strange, I’d sort of frozen my parents in the way they were at the New Year’s Eve Party.
“You’re father doesn’t know I’m here,” Mom says. “I don’t have much time”
“Why not ? How did you get here ?” I ask. I feel like I’m wasting time with my questions but I want to know.
“The man…he came to the door and told me you knew about the project, about everything. He said I needed to come here if I wanted to see you. So, I paid someone who was flying in supplies to let me come with them for the trip. Oh, honey I just had to see you—to explain.”
Saint. He’d found her.
“It’s fine.” I say. “I was mad Mom, but I’m not anymore. I’m just happy to see you. I got myself tangled up in some things, but I don’t care I’m going home--,”
“You can’t come home,” she chokes out.
I’m speechless. I never considered this possibility.
“Why not ?,” I finally ask.
“It’s complicated. So complicated,” she breathes. “You were never supposed to find out. That was the one condition I could keep you. When you were taken, I thought someone had found out and was coming for me next so I tried to go quiet. But then Allison explained the kidnappers were after her--”
Allison. I'd nearly forgotten about her.
“It was all just a mistake,” I explain. “ They wanted Allison for ransom and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Well, Tempus didn’t know that because Allison was unconscious for a while. It turned their attention to you and now some people have been in talks to restart the Prometheus Project. One old friend of mine even speculated Tempus was thinking of asking for you back--”
“I won't let that happen. I’m an adult, they can’t just take me back to their labs”
“The people who want you don’t see it that way. To them, you’re just property.”
“Dad won’t let this happen--,”
“Your father doesn’t know anything.” she says. “I told him you were mine from a bad relationship…he loves you, but he knows you aren’t his flesh and blood. I signed an agreement. Tempus is everything to him. They will manipulate him to make him forget about or hate you. He's already thrown himself into his work to cope with you being gone.”
I feel like I’m going to be sick. I have to go back home, I don’t care about the circumstances. I know we can make it work.
“What if it’s not so bad ?,” I ask. “I mean if they need me to cure diseases or something I want to help. Let’s just try--,”
“No,” she says sharply. “If I thought what they wanted with you would save lives or make any real difference I would tell you to go, but that isn’t the case. Tempus’ ultimate goal is in the name—Time. All they want to know is how to extend their own lives and years of trying has shown projects like those always end up costing more than benefitting. Not to mention if the government finds out they've been expirmenting with you again you will be terminated and I will be killed.”
My mother had always been a woman of few words, all her sentences were punctuated with a listless boredom. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her spontaneously put together that many sentences. Now I see a different side of her, one that is quick and passionate and smart. This must be the persons she was, the person who was getting a PHD and working at one of the top companies in country. I wonder if it killed her to give it up and become Dad's trophy wife.
“You just can’t come home. Not now anyway,” she says. “You'll need a new home and new name, I can help with money--”
“I have a new name.” I say. “It’s…Alan.”
It feels weird telling her this. She nods.
Then I tell her the rest, leaving out most of it. I tell her about being allowed to live and about Sara, Jean and Minnow, but not that they work for the cartel. I tell her I have a job at the Mojave Blade Company and how I have a place to stay and that they treat me okay.
“Well, I can get you more money--,” she says
I shake my head no.
“What can I do, then ? " She asks desperatley. "Tell me and I’ll try and work it out. It’s the least I can do--,”
“Why,” I say. “Tell me why. Why did you help them make me ? How could you sign up for something so inhuman and illegal ?”
Her eyes get wet again and she crosses her arms.
"Do you know who Roger Bannister is ?," she asks me.
I don't
"He was a runner. In the 20th century. It was believed it was impossible to run a mile in 4 minutes, until he did it. He set a new standard for everyone else to aspire to. He challenged a belief in what was possible and as a result the competition evolved. I was so young when one of my professors pulled me into the project and all I could think about how the work we did was going to challenge belief in what was possible."
"It sounds selfish," I tell her. "You spend time with me. Didn't you care about me ?
"Unfortuanately in BioMachine studies.…humanity goes on the backburner in favor of scientific progression. It’s the only way to get things done. I’m not advocating it, but it’s just how things were.”
"I-,"
Mom’s Syndicate is bleeping orange. Someone is calling her.
“Who is it ?” I ask.
She swallows.
“My ride...” she sighs and snaps her eyes back to me. “What else do you want to know ?,”
“There is one thing I don’t get. Everyone involved with that project is dead, except for you. How did you manage that? ”
“ When the government started asking questions I blew the whistle. I betrayed everyone and in exchange I got you, my life and my freedom. All I had to do was give up studying science. I gave up my entire life’s work so you could have a life and I don’t regret it, not even now."
She takes me in another embrace. It's not overly tearful or emotional as the Graces' embrace last night, but it's the embrace I've gotten my whole life.
“I have to go,” she whispers into my ear. “I promise we will find a way to talk again. I think I'm being watched by both Tempus and the government to make sure I'm not hiding you, so I really need to get back back.. We'll find a way to communicate so I can tell you when it’s safe to come home."
She pulls away and her Syndicate is blinking rapidly again, I grasp her hand.
"I love you," she says.
“I have another question,” I say quickly. “ Do you think I have a soul ?”
“Soul ?,” she asks.
“I don’t know. I’m just bits and pieces put together, right ? Do I have a soul or is all my being computer programming ?”
She pauses, I can see her mind moving.
“I don’t know for sure.” She says. “But there is no way they could have programmed the person you’ve become. That’s just a side effect of life.”
We hug for a long while and in what feels like a blink of an eye she is gone.
***
When the elevator doors open back up on the lobby, the entire hotel feels hazy and unsteady. I forget what I’m supposed to be doing and why.
Then I remember.
Stealing an Eastern State government computer with a level 6 clearance.
With each step I just compartmentalize every word and moment I had with my mother. I make it back to the Specialized Personnel Only area only to see Saint is standing there. He is supposed to be off guarding Rayne.
“You got my mother. How--,”
“I ran,” he says with the faintest smile I’ve ever seen. “Did you say goodbye ?,”
“Something like that.” I say, because it didn’t feel like a goodbye and I knew it wouldn’t be.
His smile straightens out and it is back to business. He hands me a slim door key.
“This is the access key to the Eastern State Attorney General’s Office. Down the hall, third door on the right. Her assistant is incapacitated in a hotel room, once you hack the computer hide the key in the room and get the hell out. I need to get back to Rayne now.”
Shit, he’d even done my job for me. I guess we superhumans have to stick together.
“Thanks,” I whisper but he is already gone.
I cooly swipe into the Specialized Personnel Area and into the AG’s office. I didn’t really know what an attorney general did, but I’d seen her on the mediastream and it was kind of insane I was in her office. The computer is sitting open on her desk, practically waiting for me.
I tap my index finger lightly over the mouse pad and tap out the codes Sara had me memorize. The computer opens up to a welcome screen.
Pulling the small knife out of my pocket I gently slice through the stiches Blackbird had put in my arm and pulled out the mini-usb connector he had sewn in there and stuck it into the computer. It probably would have been easier for me to carry it in my pocket, but this way made it easier to get through security scans and searches.
All I have to do is watch while the hacking program combs through the files until it finds what Sara is looking for and then transmits it to her screen in the hotel. I check my watch, the entire transmission should only take 20 minutes, the lunch is about to end in 10 minutes, but I’m sure I’ll make it.
I force myself to compartmentalize even more in those minutes, I don't think about my mother or what we talked about.
As the hack goes into the 15th minute I hear voices coming towards the room, they are both male and speak in hushed, deliberate tones.
“ And who are you ?,” I hear.
I turn to see two men in suits looking at me accustaroily. I can’t even think of a good lie. I shouldn’t have kept the damn door open.
They are staring at me and I don't think they don’t see the hack in the computer. One man is several years older and steps purposefully into the room with the younger man following behind. They are right in my line of vision, right in my line of fire.
“Excuse me," he repeats. "I said who—“
I'm quick to draw my weapon, quicker than I thought possible. I just need to get the fuck out of the situation.
I raise my gun and turn to them.
“Get down.”