Raine VS The End of the World (32 page)

She runs her fingers over my palm reassuringly. “Stop apologizing. You’re in good company here; I’ve always loved your impossible questions. To embrace a life of uncertainty… to forever seek the unknowable… such a romantic notion. You know, sometimes I wonder if our individual egos are nature’s divine experiment.”

“Wow. An ongoing challenge to ourselves, to work to evolve our consciousness.”

“’Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.’”

A smile brightens my face. “Emerson. I dig it. There’s rough going where there are no paths, but maybe that’s the point. We’re meant to try, and to fail, and to learn. To understand when to let go of false truths in order to gain a higher level of understanding. Even things you might have held close to your heart.”

“I find that rather dangerous. Dangerously intriguing.”

We each turn on our sides and study the other’s gaze expectantly, a mental exercise we’ve performed on one another since our inception.

Only this time, we’re inches away, and she smells terrific.

“Is this a test?” I laugh. “Or is this you and I?”

“If you even have to ask that---”

I kiss her, ever so softly. We melt. She kisses me back. It’s passionate, electrifying.

As we pull away, she curls a wayward strand of those intoxicating brown locks from her eyes, which are passionately fixated on mine.

“What is it?” I ask at last. “I can’t tell if it’s fear, or…”

“Love? Neither can I. Uncertainty. I kind of like it.”

The distant sound of our companion’s sandals hitting her heels prompts a more personal response.

“Three years without you… and your memories… it’s gonna be a long time,” she says.

“All is for the best. We’ll return together. I don’t care what it takes. Once the mission’s over, I’ll find my way back to you, even if it kills me. Maybe you can do it, too, if you have something to hold on to.”

“Something special?”

“Maybe.”

“How about someone?”

“I guess that might work. Raine, I---”

The colors are fading. The sounds, too… I… I don’t remember this part.

No! Don’t take this away! You can’t have it! These precious feelings are mine!

The memory vanished from Gerrit’s brain, leaving the dreamer in the gutter once more.

♥

“Oh, don’t be such a square!” Adeline Marco giggled. “This is fun!”

Between her empty-headed cousin, the ragged waiter in
M-gear
currently the victim of a terrible beatdown, and the
Metaverse
reality show playing on the tubes, Lady Claire didn’t have much of a choice. She smiled, looking mournfully down at her sashimi, twisting her unseen napkin in her lap to keep from exploding. Her companion remarked with outrageous vigor that, like any beast of burden, these terrorists needed to be tamed.

Being plugged into the
‘Verse
for daily employment at this establishment, it was impossible that this child had anything to do with last week’s attack on the outer gates. Lacie had confided for her ears alone that it was a false flag operation, a stunt pulled by
Geared Eden
Black Ops, engineered to pass blame onto the barely existent rebel underground and justify heightened security measures across the continent.

An even worse tragedy struck young Adeline: she’d bumped into a kid carrying a tray of tarts; a speck of the stuff stained her cream-colored purse in strawberry crimson. The Developer’s wife had merely to press a ‘Panic’ button on her bracelet to summon the
Eden
Police, helmeted men and women who proceeded to assault the poor child to the ground in front of the bistro’s many patrons.

“The peasant is right to cower before its masters,” insisted Adele, rather loudly. Turning to the boy, she waved a disapproving finger. “Production is down this year, you slacker AI! Did you hear me through that thick skull?”

How can this be right? Sure, our
Metaverse
ensures that he won’t feel the pain. It performs its ordained functions, and so do we, to an extent. But at the end of the day, what are we but parasites and oppressors? What of noblesse oblige?

The boy’s face remains a blank. Though not a single impulse or cry of pain registers in his mind, he is no puppet. Under that
M-Gear
, he is a fully conscious human being, only bound in mental chains.

“For
Eden’s
sake, let’s leave, Adele. I’m behind on my reports.”

“And I’m making a statement.”

“It’s been made.” Claire stormed out of the restaurant.

Disgusted, Adeline caved in. She placed her Holo-Lens monocle against her eye and tapped into the Network.

“Drop the kid. Fix him up. I want him fully operational tomorrow.”

The Overseer registered her voice and retina – as a Lead Developer’s wife, she was one of the few outside the
Nexus
who could issue direct commands, however limited. Within seconds, the
Eden Police
robotically backed off and returned to their rounds. Two
Geared
waiters carried the unconscious boy to his dorm, and were promptly replaced by reinforcements.

No longer bemused by the sight, Adele followed her friend from their table, through the busy mall, and out to the helipad. Her
Xariot-IX
speeder had just pulled into the VIP section.

Claire thought back to the meal they’d just consumed – genetically modified tuna, bred to withstand the polluted Mediterranean. A forced adaptation, engineered for size, taste, and convenience, but rife with health risks – a moot issue given the advanced medical treatment available to
Eden’s
upper crust, including stem cell-grown organs.

“Why wait for evolution to run its course?”
Adele had argued in favor of the tampered genes when they were younger. “If we can reap the fruits of nature within our lifetimes, if the dreams of tomorrow are within our grasp, then what’s stopping us?”

Looking to the future, perhaps,
Claire ventured.
And how little of it will remain if we continue destroying the planet and enslaving its populace. We must have a larger role to play than that of mindless consumers. Otherwise, ours will be the dead end of civilization.

“What the devil is the matter with you, cousin? You haven’t spoken a word since we left the plaza.”

Lady Claire didn’t even turn her eyes from the window.

“J-just a bout of melancholy is all. I long for the General’s safe return; she’s behind schedule.”

But Adele rolled her eyes. “We both know that’s not the issue. You’re far too soft. Enough,” she called to the android chauffeur. “Let’s ride.”

The
Xariot
climbed with the traffic to offer a birds-eye view of
Neo Eden.

“This is most unbecoming,” she advised. “You showed weakness before your inferiors.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I was displaying compassion.”

“Oh, rubbish. Wake up, Claire. How can one expect fealty if one does not demand absolute respect? These slaves are a dime a dozen. They’re hardly human.”

She’s got one thing right. Every eye in that restaurant was on me, sizing me up. There are tens of thousands of men and women who would do much worse than kill to be in my shoes.

“Many a philosopher might say the same about us.”

Adele scoffed. “You bring shame upon the family. Our name and birthright mean nothing unless we make use of them.”

I will make use of them
, she thought.
But I won’t be like you, Adele, taking refuge in self-important charities and think tanks, tokenisms to assuage the guilt of your privilege. It’s no secret your husband has been working his way up the ranks, freezing all in his path.

Going by the latest gossip, he and Beech are planning a coup. So far, they’ve done nothing to suggest they won’t keep the status quo.

I want to do something for this world. Something that makes a difference. Not for honor, nor for profit, but for every one of those beings you call ‘assets’.

That idealistic dream vanished along with the folk of the lower levels as the
Xariot
speeder cleared the uppermost wall and came face to face with the
Spire’s
pyramid base.

Ω

Not far across the Upper City, the Queen feathered the focus on the camera probe from her Holo-Lens and inched open the iris. The Westering sun reflected the sleek black marble of the
Metaverse Control Nexus
, banners waving in the high winds
.

The adjacent monolith stuck out, rising above the hedge labyrinths and entertainment district like a polished, two hundred storey chocolate bar. Unlike the
Spire,
it boasted not a single window. Marble walls were reinforced by two feet of folded tungsten and pearly ceramic. It was a fortress.

Still, the
Nexus
paled in comparison to the
Spire
.

Queen Lorelei’s throne room and residence, along with the private residences of her heavily monitored inner circle, made up the higher levels of the structure. The mile-long and -wide sealed pyramid base enclosed crucial Network mainframes, managed the citywide Electromagnetic Shield, and housed military craft, top-secret server rooms, and countless hidden chambers to satisfy her occasional dabbling in mad science.

Many a dark rumor surrounded the pale marble tower emerging from the pyramid’s center, which functioned as the living quarters and general playground for the Queen’s chosen few, as well as the base for some of the
Metaverse’s
most powerful signal towers.

Supported by vast buttresses, its shadow cast a colossal sundial on the mountain visible even from Mount Vesuvius, an inner-city geothermal plant a mere nine miles to the East.

The
Spire’s
architects and foremen were killed after its construction seventy years ago, their bodies entombed in its foundations like the builders of old.

Queen Lorelei had traveled forward through the spacetime continuum many times during the stages of
Endless Metaverse
’s thirty-year construction and Beta period. As far as the contractors on the project were concerned, there were at least three generations of Loreleis and Lacies, and the two youngest ones bore an extremely striking resemblance to their grandmother, except in terms of fashion. It seemed a family secret that no Queen ever wore the same outfit twice, and that each one was an absolute trendsetter.

To those at the top of the food chain, however, there was another layer of ‘truth’. It was a known fact that there were at least six generations of the royal family, and over the past two centuries, the women of the Eden family had shaped the course of the world with impeccable precision, working the eternal war from behind the scenes, and showing up every few years to set the machine back on its course.

Only this latest trip, the Queen reflected, had been an extended one. It was the subject of much speculation in the mortal circles. She’d taken up a very visible permanent residence in the
Spire
for the past seven years, to the chagrin of much of
Neo Eden’s
upper management.

In truth, there was only one Queen Lorelei, and in her lonely tower she flung all manner of paint at a gigantic canvas with abandon. The mural was of her city, enraptured in flames. She thoroughly enjoyed her cigarette with an impassioned simper. Her manservant stood fifteen feet behind her, just far enough so she wouldn’t have to smell him, and held aloft a tray bearing fresh espresso.

She picked up a paintball rifle and decorated her abstract rendition of Sky Admiral Lillian with the colors of the
Eden
flag.

“Coffee,” she said softly. Ten seconds later she was sipping it, savoring the rich aroma of power. It was the finest bean, grown in her very own fields in South America to perfection, harvested by the unenlightened slaves she ruled with a steady hand, and shipped to her private reserve as soon as it was ready to roast.

What an incredible release. I really needed this.

“Ma’am,” her servant’s voice sounded out after removing his finger from his Holo-Lens’ earpiece. “A message from downstairs. They wish to hold a meeting to discuss Miss Guggell’s recent reports.”

“It’s about time.” She placed the circlet on her head to interface with Guggell.

“Tell me you have her,” the Queen demanded.

“I’m afraid not,” Guggell replied. If Lorelei paid a little closer attention, she might have noticed that the AI was a tad more sluggish than usual. “Urgent report from
Avidya
. Would you like the brief?”

“In five minutes,” she said with a pout, and took off the crown. While the Royal Guard fell in step, Lorelei walked calmly towards the platform elevator. It dropped until the bridge to the Control
Nexus
, then turned and headed horizontally.