Machine God: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (8 page)

Taken straight from the Bulwark textbook. My next question actually dealt with the cluster’s origin, but I guessed I could drop that one. The direct approach seemed to be mute, that’s why I tried to come from a different angle.

“So, you’re all different classes?”

Hecto answered first.

“I’m a veteran soldier, Ceedee’s a regular soldier, Yuki's a nuisance.”

Ms. Headphones choked on her blue drink.

“Hey now.”

At least the group was capable of making jokes.

“And your roles were assigned by the Bulwark committee?”

Ceedee nodded.

“We all had to take the assessment tests which were evaluated by the committee. Then we got assigned to the classes based on our test results."

Ceedee looked at me. 

“We’re in desperate need of good soldiers. Most are not up to the job.”

“The few that are die like moths during the operations,” Glitch said with eyes rolling down.

“It’s that bad?” I said.

Hecto nodded.

“Worse. We have come to a level where the committee has to accept folks unfit for the missions. You’ll see more and more kids getting butchered in the Lost Lands.”

“Sounds terrible.”

“It’s reality,” Hecto said and focused on my face.

“You probably won’t survive your first mission.”

“Thanks for the pep talk.”

“Boy, if you need a pep talk, you’re in the wrong place.”

“It’s not that I had choice.”

“You guys,” Ceedee said, “let’s quit the fire, alright? This is the only place that allows us to relax from the terror. Let’s keep it that way.”

Word.

Hecto cooled down, at least on the surface. Ceedee pushed her rainbow-colored drink toward me, much to the big guy’s dismay.

“What’s inside?”

“If I tell you, it will spoil all the fun.”

My lips reached the rim of the glass. The liquid flushed down my gamut and caused a riot. I coughed uncontrollably and became the laughing stock of the group.

“Is that gasoline?”

“Not really,” Ceedee said in-between the chuckling, “although it does fuel you. At least your loss of decency.”

I took another sip and pushed the drink back to her. Whatever was inside, it burned my insides out, and that was the last thing I wanted to happen today. My commcuff told me I had about twenty-two minutes of leisure time left, so I used it wisely. To ease up the round, I revealed my training mistake where I shot the grapple gun and swung into the wall-sized windows. That caused a smile on everyone’s face, except on Hecto’s. 

Apart from the big man’s grumpiness, instinct told me to stay with this group. The more I'd warm up to them, the sooner they’d tell me about the secrets of this world. 

Including that mysterious war they seemed to have lost.

"Now look at that."

A frosty voice screeched from behind me. 

24

Lady iron.

AKA Orden, and her ever watchful soldier bodyguards. 

She single-handedly lowered the temperature of the club to subzero. Even the citizens close to our tables shut up or whispered like castrated mice. 

I had to give her credit for making such an impact.

“Citizen, you’ve been recently granted the right to visit the commons. Which doesn’t mean you should abuse it. Time, like anything in this day and age, is a rare resource and must be spent with the utmost care.”

I looked at my commcuff.

About seventeen minutes left. 

So what the uproar?

“I’m still within the time limit.”

“I know your permissions.”

She looked at her datapad. 

“You have sixteen minutes left. If I were you, I’d go back to the cell and prepare for tomorrow. You’ve wasted enough of your energies already.”

“Right.”

“I know what you’re thinking.”

“I doubt that.”

“You believe that we’re treating you harshly.”

“That would be the understatement of the millennia.”

“Understand that we all have to make our sacrifices to ensure peace and prosperity for all of us.”

“If you say so."

Probably the most lackluster response I had ever given, but I didn’t want to cause a ruckus. The iron lady shifted her intense glance to the others in the group.

“I can see you’ve made friends with your fellow citizens. That is good. Healthy communication enhances teamwork. After all, you never know with whom you end up working in the Lost Lands.”

She clapped her hands once.

“Everyone, please enjoy your off-duty responsibly. It's for the greater good.”

“For the greater good,” everyone in the group said.

My response came too late, so I simply uttered an ‘amen’, much to the dismay of Orden.

“You’re still a newcomer, but remember to not overstep your boundaries. The Bulwark doesn’t accept defiance."

She rolled her eyes and marched toward a group three tables away from us. It looked as if she needed to scold someone else. The second she and her armored guards left our spot, the tension vaporized. I was the first to break the awkward silence.

“Someone’s been eating nails for breakfast.”

Ceedee cracked up, just like Yuki and Glitch. The laughter caught Orden’s attention from across the room but she ignored it. Hecto was the only one frowning. He threw me a glance ripe with blame.

“You better watch your words, rookie. You’re already walking on thin glass plates.”

“Talking about glass, her sensibility seems to be made of it. What’s her problem?”

Glitch enlightened me.

“In case you don't know, she's the Chief Controller of the Bulwark Cluster."

“Sounds like a dream job.”

“She’s basically making sure we all operate at maximum value levels. That’s why she walks around and reminds people of their duty.”

Ceedee nodded.

“She’s also involved in mission planning. You see her in a lot of operations lately.”

“But she’s not running the place?”

They shook their heads.

“So who is?”

Another sentence fired into the void. The amount of silence was staggering. Everyone feared saying the wrong stuff. It was hard to believe these were the same people who dashed through the ruins and acted all swashbuckling. Hecto finished his drink and roared his fatherly voice for the first time.

“I think it’s better to return to your cell, rookie. You don’t want to overstay your first leisure period. The Bulwark is hard on newcomers, especially the ones with big mouths. They want to know if you're worth the resources they feed you.”

A smart-ass comment lingered on my tongue, but Hecto was right. I had already experienced much today and got to know a little bit more about the world’s status. Pushing my luck wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I excused myself from the group. Ceedee looked up at me.

“Your life will be tough from now on. You will face days when you’re close to giving up, but remember that you have folks standing behind you. Prove yourself worthy to the cluster and you’ll see the sunny side of Bulwark life.”

‘Sunny side’ and ‘Bulwark’ in one sentence sounded as believable as overheated snow. But in states of confusion, her comment was welcoming. Friends were the most valuable resource.

“Appreciated."

My legs pushed me toward the club bar's entrance.

"Keep it tight, folks. Thanks for the sightseeing tour."

I saluted them goodbye, traversed the sky bridges and reentered the main building of the cluster. Back in my cell, I prepared for my so-called big day tomorrow.

What did Konforma schedule for me?

Ah, yes, I remembered...

25

Oh, cell life.

How I not missed you. The four steel walls greeted me with their bland surface. The door closed behind me and stayed shut. I wanted to check whether I could still go outside, but the voice put me in place.

“Your limit has been reached. Your right to go out will be replenished in twelve hours, forty-five minutes and eleven seconds.”

I was not going to argue with the door. I had my fun today, and experienced more aliveness than in the last months combined. For some reason, I craved human interaction just as much as the exercises in the training facility.

Fighting and folks, that’s what it was all about.

But why was that? 

No matter how much I dreamt and pondered, the holes from the pre-ruin days remained hidden in the shadows. The earliest memory was hearing Ceedee’s lovely voice and having her icy-blond hair brush at my dusted face. Not a bad place to start from, but still. 

I wanted to know the person I used to be.

And although the body wanted to rest, the mind stayed awake. I touched the wall-screen and looked up my profile. Opened the permission protocol and read some of the disabled rights. 

The right to remain silent within a questioning.

The right to use a tier one firearm.

The right to request a personal five minute conversation.

The right to walk around for 120 minutes. 

The right for three rations a day.

And 1000+ other ones I was too lazy to scan through.

Seriously.

So. 

Many.

Damn.

Rights.

I needed to earn.

Why couldn’t I speak about the past, or the future?

This world was a never ending mystery box. And for every new question answered, a new one climbed up, putting me back into the mist of confusion. Still, I couldn’t give up. 

Progress happened in tiny steps.

After all, I turned from prisoner to a low-level citizen, but still.

As soon as I earned more permissions, I could unlock more secrets of this world. No matter what the Bulwark Cluster tried to hide from me, the truth was going to be revealed, sooner or later.

“Konforma, are you there?”

“I’m always there.”

Thanks to the omnipresent surveillance, yippie.

For once, I looked forward to hearing her voice.

“What do I need to do to unlock more rights?”

“You need to serve the greater good of course.”

“And what can I do right now?”

“Restore your energy so you’ll be at maximum capacity tomorrow.”

“Why? What’s happening tomorrow?”

She paused, probably for dramatic effect. Konforma liked to play with my anticipation.

“Tomorrow is your first field mission in the Lost Lands.”

26

The excitement kept me awake for the whole night. A positive tension rejuvenated every cell in my body, no electro-shock therapy required.

Konforma appeared on my wall-screen when the time came.

“Please assemble in front of the armory. The light will guide your way.”

“What’s the mission objective?”

“Orden will tell you everything you need to know. Hurry, don’t waste resources.”

All righty. 

She remote-opened the door, and I followed the arrows pointing toward the nearest lift. I touched the screen which scanned my commcuff. The commons level had disappeared, only the ‘go to armory’ button remained. It looked as if only the relevant floor was displayed.

As soon as the doors parted, I dashed out the elevator and zapped over the floor. 

Two guards halted me with their power posing.

Legs stretched out, their gloved palms pointed vertically at my face.

“Stop running. You’re wasting your energy that’s required for the mission.”

“I thought we were in a hurry.”

“Hastily walk, but don’t run. You’re causing needless commotion.”

Same old difference. But arguing with the guards would result in rights revocation and probably prevent me from participating in the mission, so I abided.

For now.

“It will not happen again.”

At least not in the next hours.

“Move on, then.”

He waved me away like a stray dog with rash. To hell with these guys. Their obnoxious attitude probably sprang from their anonymity. With that kind of armor and face shields covering their heads, they could be dicks, size extra large.

Strap away their armor and what was left of them?

Well, this wasn’t the moment to find out. 

My eyes turned to the crowd of people that gathered in front of yet another gate. A couple of familiar faces awaited me—the clique, including Ceedee, Hecto, Glitch and other folks I hadn’t seen before. 

Chief Orden summoned everyone over and read some notes on her datapad. The second I entered the group, the iron lady’s eyes picked me out.

“Look who has finally joined the round.”

“I was running as fast as I could, but your guards told me to slow down. I either run and be on time, or I walk and come late. You can’t have it both ways.”

Contorted faces within the group. Looked like I was pushing it too far, once again. 

Orden was the first one to put me in place.

“Watch your mouth, you ungrateful maggot. If I sense another micro-aggression, your rations will be reduced.”

Then how was I supposed to perform during the mission? 

Logic fail, but I kept it to myself. Pissing off two higher-ups before a mission start wasn’t the way to win any awards…or permissions, for that matter.

“You’re right, it’s my fault. Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes but kept it at that. I moved in-between the row of people and perked my ears. It sounded like a mission briefing. 

Orden went full instructor mode.

“Now as I said before, your target will be the Abandoned City, Sector 7. I’ll update the worldmap data on your commcuffs. According to the intel from one of our scout squads, we’ve discovered a group of survivors living inside the forsaken mall ruin. We don’t know how many, but estimates say around 15-20.”

Some folks behind me whistled. Didn’t sound like a high number of survivors, but in this barren land, any sign of life was a shout for joy.

“Your goal is to find the group of survivors and persuade them to join our glorious cluster. I want a fireteam with one veteran in charge of the operation. I reckon no one will be surprised that I declare Hecto as the captain.”

The people clapped. Hecto brushed his smile aside and acted all humble. Looked like he was a well-respected member within the Bulwark. He certainly carried the alpha leader personality.