The Children of New Earth (34 page)

The flow of time was hard to keep track of, especially since I kept freezing and unfreezing. If I had the same power I did a few months ago, I probably would’ve been dead by now, too weakened by virtual exhaustion. But now, my digital body apparently had incremented the variable that determined my energy capacity.
And unfortunately, after the umpteenth Demon I killed, this energy finally ran out. I ended up surrounded, but the fear of dying - and my unwillingness to reset time to climb the Sanctuary all over again - gave me one last burst of adrenaline. I took a deep breath and froze time completely. The next few minutes were a blur. I killed every Demon I saw, slashing, stabbing, cutting, severing, lacerating. After some time, I felt that pressure again, like I’d held my breath too long. But I kept going. My vision blurred and my senses dulled. By now I must’ve cleared the entire street, but I couldn't really tell because every Demon I killed was still standing, held up by the invisible strings of motionless time.

My concentration was broken when I saw someone lying prone on the ground several feet ahead of me. I could only see the legs, the rest was covered by a crowd of Demons. I massacred my way through until I reached the body, and a wave of relief washed over me when I saw him. There lay Isaac on the pavement with several cuts over his abdomen and a slash across his neck. Struggling to catch a breath, I fell to my knees and restored time. After a brief moment, I heard a thousand thuds as every Demon I killed hit the ground in unison. The others cleared what few Demons were left and headed over to us. Lynn was still fighting a long way away, but the rest were given a brief respite from the attack, given that most nearby adversaries seemed to have dropped dead instantly.

“Isaac, are you alright?” I asked.

“Aw, thanks for asking,” he came to and sat up, his wounds rapidly receding. He put his hand over his neck and looked up at the scene. “You did all that? For me?”

“Well you see - ”

“I don’t know what to say,” he interrupted, giving me a hug.

But our moment was short lived. The rest of the Demon army was still charging, and not far off were the cries of another wave approaching from another part of the city, ready to replenish the ranks of their fallen kin. They were about to reach Lynn, who was already overwhelmed. I almost thought she wouldn’t realize what was happening, but she abruptly looked up and scanned her surroundings. Spotting the approaching threat, she shook a Siren off her back and headbutted a Minotaur away before taking flight. She landed beside us and roared softly.

“Anyone need rest?” Aaron asked.

“You kidding?” Rachel wheezed. “I could do this all day.”

We took a moment to rest before preparing for the next charge.

But our state of readiness was shattered when the street began to vibrate heavily, throwing us all off balance. A wall of wind slammed into my body just as I regained stability, and with it the awful stench of Demon flesh. I found myself questioning why the programmers take the time to code an odor for them. I couldn’t think on this long before the environment continued to break down around us. Rubble chipped off of the already-broken down buildings, and the oncoming storm of Demons halted in their tracks.

“Friends, we are so screwed,” Aaron said, looking ahead with his head tilted suspiciously towards the sky.

Across the sand and through the rapidly clearing fog, countless, massive humanoids, nearly a thousand feet fall, were slowly approaching. The colossal Demons were crushing structures underfoot, and smashing their way through the cluster of buildings

“Don’t suppose you can shift into a Titan?” Aelia asked Lynn.

Lynn growled, implying the negative. Even if she could, it’d be like her being in a fist fight, outnumbered ten to one. At least, that’s about how many Titans I could see. An even more alarming scene was a literal swarm of Dragons flying alongside them. Hundreds, too many to count and definitely too many for Aaron to shoot down on his own. Aside from this, the Demons from opposite fronts were closing in on us from either side. It wasn’t looking good for any of us.

“Round 3…start?” even Rachel sounded nervous.

The Dragons divebombed on our location, preparing to release waves of fire upon us. The Titans began to charge towards the Sanctuary, and the remaining army advanced from three fronts, snarling and screeching at their helpless prey. Suddenly, we heard a loud whoosh of air as something flew across the sky and hit one of the Titans, exploding on impact. It looked like a ball of fire, which was followed by a volley of such projectiles, crashing into all the giants and stopping them in their tracks. Then, gunfire erupted from all sides and the oncoming Swarm, Sirens, and Minotaurs were decimated by a mysterious volley of bullets. The Dragons, surprised by these attacks, were forced to pull up from their descent and scan the area. That’s when the wind picked up, and I looked to the sky to see hundreds of Neogens flying into the battle, aggressively attacking the Demons with all manner of offensive elements. Bursts of fire and auras of ice dotted the sky, and the clouds rapidly turned a dark gray, swirling into a lightning-imbued maelstrom. Floating cars and rubble were pulled into the fray, stunning the Titans and knocking Dragons out of the sky. Then I looked behind me to see an army of Neogens running to our position, their charge led by none other than Michael himself.

Our confidence and hope reignited, we zealously ran ahead to meet our foes. Those of us who could fly joined the airborne reinforcements. Filled with adrenaline and newfound sense of power, I teleported to the skies along with them, stopping time just long enough to kill a Dragon before blinking over to my next target. I was amazed at my sudden surge of strength. The only explanation I could think of was that the programmers in the real world, seeing how far we’d come and how close we were to saving humanity, were doing all they could to aid us in our fight. I hopped all around the airborne battlefield, hardly breaking a sweat. Freezing reality was as easy as blinking, and teleporting was like jumping. Throughout the fight, a steady flame burned in my mind, halting and shifting with the flow of time.

I looked down below to the see the ground army locked in a firefight with all manner of nightmarish monsters. Among the bullets were cones of fire, flying rubble, and white glowing shields. A single Neogen, whose power I assumed was creating duplicates of himself, generated an army in his image, sending them to meet a Swarm head on. Another seemed to have godlike physical strength; she was locked in hand to hand combat with a circle of Minotaurs. A nearby group of Neogens, each of whom could generate a force field, coordinated their abilities to close in on a crowd of Demons and crush them by pushing their fields together.

After slaying another Dragon, I looked ahead to see a female Neogen sitting in midair with her eyes closed. I began to notice that each streak of lightning correlated with her slow, artistic hand movements. She must’ve been the one who conjured up this storm, having apparently transcended her consciousness into the weather. She mainly targeted the sea of Dragons circling overhead, knocking them out of the sky. Her tempest also provided a steady rain to provide relief from the rapidly heating atmosphere, for which I was very grateful.

I then heard a deep rumble behind me, and turned around to see a hill of water surging from the lake. I could just barely make out the shape of a person standing at the crest of the wave. The Neogen standing upon this wall of water was running over the surface, channeling even the rain into his construct. When he reached the horde of Demons, he motioned the water to crash, burying them in a liquid grave. He then glided over to the other side, where he summoned himself another wave, preparing for a second attack.

Suddenly, I heard the cries of a hundred falcons, the roaring of a pack of lions, and the other unmistakable calls of Earth’s various native animals. I looked to the North and saw an army of beasts rushing through the streets toward the battle raging on in the shadow of the Sanctuary. I was afraid they’d target the Neogens at first, but was relieved to see them attack the Demons instead. Wildcats ripped apart the Swarm, and crows swooped low and blinded the Sirens with their razor sharp talons. Rhinos, elephants, and other larger animals charged straight through the crowd, locking horns with Minotaurs. The entire attack was orchestrated by a group of Neogens, who ran alongside the animals, commanding them telepathically.

I was utterly astounded by this showcase of ability. It was clear the Neogens had spent far too long training and not enough time putting their skills to practical use. Now that they finally had the opportunity, they weren’t going to hold back. I must’ve killed at least fifty Dragons and two Titans before my breath finally began to waver. With the next jump, I felt the oncoming sensation of muscle fatigue, and hurried to get closer to the ground. I landed a little too hard near the lake, and fell to my knees. The rush of wind, the crackling of fire, and crashing of metal and concrete; all of these noises melded together into a dull rumble in the background. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and my overexertion was finally starting to take its toll.

A few other Neogens landed beside me, overcome by the same exhaustion. It was a massacre, and we should’ve been winning, but there seemed to be no end to the tide of oncoming Demons.

Aaron arrived at our impromptu base camp, riding dragonback on Lynn.

“The army goes back for miles into the city,” Aaron said. “Six more Titans are on the way, and another fleet of Dragons. We’ve lost about a dozen Neogens.”

His arrival was followed by several others, as more and more Neogens, plagued by fatigue, withdrew from the battle. Within minutes, most of them had arrived here, including Micah, and the army still advancing from the desert was held back by groups of force fields, powered by a handful of Neogens. The girl generating the storm was still sitting there in the sky, but cracks of light began to piece the clouds and the lightning strikes became less and less frequent. My sense of time was thrown completely off calibration, so I had no idea how much longer we’d have to hold them. That is, until a few seconds later.

It’s done.

With Cora’s words, my worries instantly melted away and I was overcome with relief.

Just before we were completely overrun, every single one of our enemies disintegrated into particles of dust. Each particle was further divided into atoms, and these atoms into quarks, and those into further fundamental states until they became nothing but zero bits on a machine, deleted forever. The city fell quiet, the storm subsided, and scattered all around me were Neogens standing in the aftermath of the battle. After taking a few moments to process the situation, they all erupted in cheers. The ghastly screeching and roaring that had plagued the air a few moments ago was now replaced by a symphony of triumphant battle cries. I looked up at the Sanctuary and thanked Mark out loud. Something told me he heard my words loud and clear.

Micah turned to her left and spoke to the mental projection of her brother. “We did it, Michael.”

Chapter 20

We made our way back to the 163rd floor where Cora was waiting for us. Not having to worry about the elevator shaft being deleted, most Neogens took the elevators. A select few, including Rachel and Aelia, flew back up to the platform on the roof and rode the elevator down into the core chamber. Most Neogens sat along the large staircase just outside, resting and letting healers treat their wounds. Cora was making a few final calibrations to the mainframe, making sure Mark’s installation was successful.

Micah met with Michael and gave him a heartfelt hug. I was beginning to wonder how the he and the other Neogens got the other planes working so fast. It felt like we’d been here for days, but in actuality it had only been a few hours. It then occurred to me that perhaps my power was spatially relative. When I reset time here, it moved along normally back at Cape Henlopen. I considered the various implications of this, and how the simulation was able to self-correct each time I effectively desynchronized its internal clock. But I put it off while Michael addressed the crowd of Neogens.

“Everyone, listen up! Can I be the first to say, that was the most spectacular battle I’ve ever seen.”

Cheers and applause followed in agreement.

“You fought your hardest. Father Cameron would be proud. And now, I believe my sister has something she needs to tell you.”

And so, with our help, she revealed everything: the simulation, the Charon, ELY-514, the Emergency Awakening, and the true purpose of the Neogens. It took some time, and even longer to let it sink in. By then, Cora notified us that Mark’s transfer was finalized.

“Mark?” I said anxiously. “Are you OK?”

There was silence for a moment. Then we heard that familiar voice.

I…yeah. Yeah, I’m OK. Great, even. It feels a little strange. I’m not a…thing…anymore. I’m everywhere, I’m everything at the same time. There are controls to so many systems here. And the knowledge. I know everything there is to know about humans; your history, your technology, your languages, your…biology. Not to mention all the simulation’s source code. I don’t know where to start. Give me a minute to calibrate.

“Take your time, friend,” Aaron said. “But before you run off into your own mind, can you find the communication controls?”

“I agree,” Cora asked. “Perhaps now we can try to restore contact between Sanctuaries, see what’s become of them.

Brilliant idea…let me just see here…ah here we go…

The purple column flashed a couple times, and began to glow just a little bit brighter. After another minute, we began to hear static all around us.

“No one’s transmitting, friends,” Aaron observed. “It’s been years since the network went down, they must’ve given up hope.”

“Well don’t make them wait any longer,” Lynn said. “Send a message!”

“Agreed,” Aelia said. “But what could we say?”

“How about just a simple, ‘hello, is anybody there?’”

“Short, sweet, to the point,” Rachel summarized. “I like it.”