System Seven (29 page)

“Fuck me?” Sean
pointed at him. “Fuck
you
, the
hypocrite who’s spending thousands of dollars turning your house into a shrine
to artificial intelligence and imagined wealth. How many times did you stop by a
shelter and teach basic computer theory with your laptop? Or share some food or
give out blankets in winter? Hmm? What was within
your
ability to help? Why didn’t
you
do something? How about doing
anything
that didn’t directly benefit yourself? And now let me ask
you: what have we done? You don’t really know yet, do you? So shut the fuck up
and sit down, asshole. You’ve got
a lot
to learn.”

Briefly, the sheer
insanity of the moment struck him but pride and fury forced him towards the
door, unable to form a response. Three strides out, his legs folded and he
landed painfully on the floor. Rage flashed, both at Sean and himself for his
outburst. He pushed to his feet. A red orb, cartoon-like and swirling, formed
in his mind’s eye. It absorbed all anger, amplifying it, understanding it,
forming purpose. Beyond the orb lay the room, the grid of marbles in perfect
clarity. Sean was right
there.
Right
fucking
there
.

Edward sensed the
change too late. “
Austin
–!”

Riding the high of
intuition and rage, he smashed the imaginary red orb into the grid, aimed
directly at Sean. He hadn’t expected the loud
crack
, nor the bending of light as the orb punched into the grid,
force modeling the marbles into like states, causing a high-speed domino run
with explosive effect. Sean barely angled his head clear. The hazed ball shot
by and burned the side of his face before searing into the wall behind him.
Johan leapt to his feet and moved to tackle Austin.

“Enough!” Edward
bellowed.

Austin’s rage expired
the next moment and left him dangling in disbelief and horror. The orb
dissolved but not before it went through the wall and destroyed an adjoining
ceiling. Sean responded by sitting down, squaring his cuffs and losing all the
emotive charge from a moment before. If he was in pain he ignored it
masterfully.

It was Edward. Austin
felt him emerge from the patterns of his thoughts, a ghost rider, a chameleon
that had played him like a video game. Then three more emerged, others who had
helped.

“We bound your
control. The rage needed to surface to push your limits. Now we know.” One by
one, they blinked out of Austin’s stream. “Now we know.”

Johan stared, stunned.
“What the fuck was that
?
And what do
you know?”

“Prophecy tells us of
the Change, a person with gifts that will help end the Comannda’s reign.”

“Gifts?” Austin asked.
“Bullshit. You increased the proteins. You’re turning me into a god damned
weapon.” He righted his chair and leaned against it, fishing for calm. He
indicated Sean’s raw face. “You knew I could do that?”

“No. Once again you
exceeded expectations.”

“This is nuts.
Telekinetic killers? Javier did it in L.A. Are you trained to kill with your
mind, too?”

Sean shook his head.
“It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not?” He looked
to Edward. “Well? What is it then?”

“The proteins mean
nothing if you can’t use them. Sean is one of our strongest TKs. The same
levels in him change nothing.”

“I’m maxed out,” Sean
confirmed.

“And Javier killed by
disconnecting meta, not with telekinesis,” Edward explained. “I know of nobody,
besides yourself, that has ever been able to do anything like that,” he looked
at the hole in the wall, “in Raon.”

It is a magnificent feeling to recognize the unity of complex
phenomena

which appear to be things quite apart from the direct visible
truth.
- Albert Einstein 1879-1955, German-born American Physicist

In his bedroom on the
third floor, Austin finished reading Kaiya’s last message in disbelief.

She wasn’t going
through with it.

Her face was her own,
she couldn’t let them change it or make any of the other changes. Despite the
warrants for murder, despite her face plastered on every post office bulletin
board across the country alongside Mac’s, she couldn’t bring herself to let
them cut her up and be reshaped into someone else. It felt like an admission of
guilt. She wanted to wait it out and see if circumstances changed.

It wasn’t a complete
surprise. A traditionalist in some ways, the thought of such a drastic and
permanent reformation would screw with her badly. The pictures they’d sent of
him didn’t help, seeing a stranger instead of his familiar face. Still, she had
to know there were no good alternatives. Hiding in secret in a foreign country
was perhaps the only option and even that posed risks of eventual discovery. It
was no way to live. She was smart enough to realize that, which bothered him.
Until she allowed the changes, she wouldn’t be able to join him in his new life
or have any kind of real life herself.

Careful to phrase his
reply, he avoided pressure or criticism. She had to arrive there on her own.
But it sucked.
Man it sucked
. To hold
her again was all he could think of. Drawing her into a dream was a compelling
temptation.

He stood and paced the
room before opening the French doors onto a small balcony. From the high perch,
he took in the beauty of the evening. The grounds’ lighting complimented the
celestial canopy above. The gazebo floated as an island of illumination,
inviting in the velvet night. The forest’s spirit tinged the darkness beyond.
Stories amid stories waited to be told to a patient and listening soul. His
wasn’t the one, tonight.

Motion below caught
his eye. Johan and Anki walked hand in hand headed for the gazebo. Their bond
was like psychic glue, visible from a distance. The sudden roar of envy was as
embarrassing as it was painful. It should have been Kaiya and him adding to the
forest’s memory.

He retreated and gently
closed the glass doors.

• • •

Sean sat with Edward
in the study reviewing the latest updates.

“Still haven’t found
her.”

Edward grimaced. If
recovered, she’d likely not be the same. “I am surprised they have not tried
anything yet. Such leverage.”

Sean nodded. “As
distasteful as it may be, we must continue corresponding in her place. If he
goes to the dream state to look, it may be the only way we find her.”

“And they will find
him. We need to get him to the next stage quickly.”

“Why not tonight?”

Edward shook his head.
“No, he is running on reserves. Tomorrow we will begin.”

“And if he tries on
his own tonight?”

“He was lucky on the
flight in and I let him know it. Bràthair will monitor. What of Anki?”

“She’s stable. Not
looking within, a bit scared at what she may find. Anchoring herself with
Johan. Clare’s keeping silent, as you requested.”

“Good. I don’t want to
risk losing either of them.”

• • •

Forty yards past the
gazebo in the darkness they rested, regaining their breath. They’d coupled like
wild boars. Cool air descended from the stars. The night surrounded them,
filled with a chorus of crickets and mockingbirds. If ever there were to be a
perfect moment it had to be upon them.

Anki ran her hand
along his stomach, gently scraping with her nails. “I think I’m getting used to
it.”

“I imagine you are.”
Using a method provided in training, they were able to climax together without
hitting the radar. In their private bubble the contained orgasm was twice as
powerful and far more intimate. “We could get rich just teaching that.”

She ran her palm over
his chest and kissed his shoulder. “What is Edward having you do?”

“Don’t know yet. We
were sidetracked.”

“What did I miss?”

“Austin. Turns out he
has some latent gifts they’re drawing out of him. Semi-unpleasantly but pretty
amazing. Not sure why Edward had you step out. I’ll talk to him.” Not sharing
the energy blast with her was difficult.

A shooting star made a
brief dash across the heavens.

“Don’t bother. I’m
sure he has good reasons.”

• • •

Across the street, a
child held his mother’s hand, bewildered by the crowds and the noise. No more
than seven years old, he had to have heard the explosion and was frightened.
When the crowd pulled the man from the shallow river, they’d beat him
mercilessly before the Serbian police took him into custody. The man had
vomited continuously from the old and weak cyanide pill he’d taken. How much
the little boy had seen was impossible to tell, but the lollipop idle at his
side suggested perhaps too much.

Austin knew the man
was the attempted assassin of the Archduke. Just twenty years old, a dropout
with a father who beat his family, he’d been recruited by the fellow who would
assassinate the Archduke. He knew these details, but didn’t think how. A glance
at his watch showed the hands on ten-thirty. Further down the street, the last
of the wounded were taken away for treatment, victims of the thrown bomb.
Somewhere in the crowd, the other would-be assassins still lurked.

He turned and walked
eastward up Appel Quay along the motorcade route. There at the corner was
Schiller’s Store. The store was important. Again he didn’t know why or how he
knew it. The Archduke was due back this
way but with the attempted assassination no one knew for sure if he would
return. Unsure of himself, he loitered for ten minutes, keeping an eye on the
store’s single door and on the boulevard. People were angry, looking at any
stranger two and three times, suspicious.

From the crowd emerged
a thin young man, hands in pockets. Unlike those around him, he gave off a
vibe, a second layer that revealed ill intention. How the crowd couldn’t read
him... As he approached, he glanced at Austin
and quickly away, uneasy with what he saw. He walked right into Schiller’s. As
the door closed, Austin caught a glimpse of Kaiya inside.

His heart leapt and he
started towards the store, then checked himself. A confrontation could hurt Kaiya.
If he waited for the assassin to come out there may not be enough time to save
the Archduke, something he knew he had to do. The decision came down to wanting
to protect Kaiya first, to be there between her and danger. He walked towards
the store.

At the entrance he saw
the small boy from down the street. When he reached for the door handle, the
boy stepped in to block his way.

Pointing with his
lollipop, he said, “You can’t go in there, mister.”

“Where’s your mum? You
need to run along now, and quickly. Something bad’s about to happen.”

The boy’s face was
stern. “No way. You have to stay outside, or you’ll find out.”

He squatted down to
eye level with the boy. “And what will I find out?”

The lollipop lowered
and the boy shook his head.

“Well then, I need to
go in, I have something important to do.” He stood. “Step aside now.”

“No, mister.”

He looked around. The
mother was nowhere in sight and people were busy watching the street. He took
the boy by his shoulders and forced him away from the door.

“No!” The boy
screamed. He punched Austin hard in the nuts and shouted, “Now wake the fuck
up!”

The smell of toast and
bacon filled the stairwell as he descended into the great room. A ghost pain
lingered in his groin courtesy of the vivid dream. He hadn’t intended to fall
asleep. One minute he was thinking of Kaiya and the next he was dreaming.

A sign labeled
‘breakfast’ stood prominently next to the open French doors. From out on the
patio he saw the table filled with food in the gazebo below. No one was there
yet. He called out for Williams. The butler appeared from the kitchen.

“Good morning! You
must be starved.”

“I’m a bit hungry, I
suppose. Where is everyone?”

“Just not roused yet,
apparently. Food is ready in the gazebo. If you need anything I’ll be down
there shortly.”

“Will Edward be
joining us?”

“I don’t know but I
expect if he is, it’ll be soon.”

He walked down the
steps with the morning sun warm at his back. In the shade of the gazebo he
built his plate and poured orange juice from a carafe. His mood was a bit off
despite the bright new morning. An underlying tension pulled him down. Probably
worry about Edward finding out he’d not taken the pills. He’d just been
counseled about it, too. He took a seat and started in on some waffles.

Out at the tree line,
a lone figure stepped onto the green and began walking towards him. Something
wasn’t right though he couldn’t say what. Williams hadn’t returned. No one else
around. Perhaps it was a test. It started to feel like one.

He stood and went to
the edge of the gazebo, drawn to the figure.

It was a woman, her
intentions a stark contrast to the brilliantly lit morning. Her aura roiled
dark and–

He recoiled.

This
was who he wasn’t supposed to find while crossing the ocean in his
dream. No tiger’s head to warn him off now. Fear slipped in, tainting control.
Her dark brown energy narrowed to focus on him. Intentions became clear: she
was there to end it, to end them – to end all interference.

He immediately formed
the red ball, its cartoon energy no less powerful than in the study. He mapped
its trajectory in the grid. Now though, the grid was different. The granular,
tactile connectivity was missing. Instead there was just uninterrupted space.

He faltered with the
thought that the ball might not work here.

Here.
A thought followed –
where is
‘here’?

The woman’s angry face
came into view, recognizable as the checkin clerk at the Canary Wharf Hilton.
The next moment found him standing at the checkin desk, the gray of dawn again
creeping through the hotel lobby windows. The space-time shift hit him like a
punch in the head.

“Can I help you?” Gone
was the threatening glare though she remained as unreadable as the first time
they’d met.

“Yes, I uh, I have a
reservation.” Another dream, then. Too powerful to break.
Who was driving?
Panic rose.

“Your name, please?”

The question was
different this time, asked too eagerly. His name
meant
something to her – she needed to know it. He looked beyond at
a glass display. In the faint reflection he saw himself but without a face.

“You know, I’ll be
damned, I think I have the wrong hotel. I’d better call my agent to check.” He
retreated across the lobby. In every reflection there was a white blot where
his face should be.

Outside the hotel he
veered onto the sidewalk. A lorry lumbered by, trailed by three cars impatient
to pass. He slowed and checked back towards the hotel and saw no one following.
Crews arrived to start their day at a construction yard across the road. The
building’s steel framework loomed overhead. Someone was driving the dream and
it wasn’t him.
Or was it?

He kept moving and
watched the sparse traffic for threats, searching for a clue, an out,
something. Between two buildings he saw light spilling out onto the street from
a store front. The front door stood ajar with a sign overhead that read, ‘North
Pole’. An upscale pub and restaurant, open before dawn. The tables and bar
inside were all empty. This was an anomaly, something to check out.

He climbed a pair of
steps and was immediately taken by the quiet within. Not a soul in the joint
but still lit up for business. The chairs were all down around the tables,
ready for customers. The neon around the bar burned brightly. The wooden floor
creaked with every step, audible to anyone down the hall in the kitchen. No one
came. A piece of paper lay on a table near the windows. In black ink it read, “Santa’s helper is in
danger. Head to the South Pole.”

Across the room, just
past the bar, a white neon sign over a hallway read in cursive, “South Pole”.

He followed the
hallway to a bank of descending stairs lit with more neon signs advertising
beers. Rounding the second set, he stepped down into a bar with blue and purple
lighting. It reminded him of the cantina scene from Star Wars but without all
the patrons.

He followed the layout
around the bar and stopped.

Kaiya sat on a couch,
dressed up for a night out.

She looked up from her
cell phone and smiled, as sexy as the first time he’d met her.

“About time, nushi. I
was worried you wouldn’t find me.”