The Veil (13 page)

Their view is of the city and a forest of tall buildings—there is not much to be seen from this vantage point, but walking further around gives them a different perspective over the East Side, looking north. It’s an arresting sight—what would have been the Hudson River is a deep canyon, far deeper than the real Hudson and seemingly dry of any water.

“Robert—
look
,” Lucy calls out—she has wandered further round to a more southerly side of the building.

“What do you see?” Robert answers back, as he follows on after her.

Coming to her side he is immediately stopped short by the scene before them.

The canyon continues out into the harbor, becoming a great basin. Not too distant away, where Liberty Island should be, is a mesa rising up from the canyon floor.

“No Statue of Liberty,” Lucy says.

A gleaming white skyscraper stands in its place.

“That’s the Cantor Satori tower, isn’t it?” Lucy says. “It’s not from the twenty-tens. And what’s it doing there?”

“We’re going to need the Mombasa.” says Robert.

EMPATHY

The Cantor Satori tower catches the afternoon sun. A gleaming white spire in a world where it does not belong. From their position on the edge of the Battery, Robert gazes out over the gulf between Manhattan and Liberty Island. A little over two and half kilometers. It might as well be a million given the canyon before them.

Lucy stands to one side, her expression distant, eyes glazed over. She has summoned the Mombasa, controlling its flight from its parking spot near the Pavilion to Battery Park using her synaptic connection. It rounds on them from the direction of the East River, its engines reverberating off the city buildings as she brings it to a perfect landing a little distance away.

She snaps to, the rear access ramp already lowering. Robert wastes no time in heading for it, Lucy trailing after him.

“We have forty-five minutes flight time remaining in this gravity,” Lucy informs him.

But Robert seems lost.

As they board he halts them both, a plan formulated. He knows she won’t like it, so best to curtail any debate.

“You will fly me over to the plaza and return here. We’ll use the Mombasa’s suit radios to communicate.”

“
What?
No! Robert—”

“Listen to me,” he says, trying to calm her with a gentle rest of his hands on her shoulders, Lucy giving him her fiercest angry-face. “
Listen
to me. I need you to do this. If anything happens to me, take the Mombasa and get back to the Afrika.”

Lucy shoves him away.

“I am
not
going to leave you!”

Robert takes a much firmer hold this time, as if to shake some sense into her. But he simply looks deep into her eyes.

“Whatever this is all about is in that building. I am certain of it. You
must
trust me.”

* * *

The top of the skyscraper graces the view ahead, but there is no suitable landing place on the roof given the service structures dotted about. Instead Lucy spirals them down to the plaza below so that they may survey what they can, but the tower yields no secrets from without, its one-way windows cloaking anything of interest within.

The plaza is a faithful reproduction, though ending abruptly at the mesa cliff, which falls away sharply—like some giant cookie cutter had sliced it out. Still, there is enough space to land comfortably; Robert is quick to disembark, a desperate Lucy lifting away as soon as he has done so.

Robert watches the Mombasa slide back across the canyon, before turning toward the main entrance. At least he shouldn’t have any difficulty in finding his way around.

The atrium foyer is pristine, finished to its contemporary design, every detail as it should be. Robert checks the reception desk. The desk equipment is bang up to date. The air screens are operational, as are the phones—but it’s the same old nobody-home messaging. So no details about the building’s occupancy.

He tries his radio—purloined from a flight suit.

“Lucy, do you read me?”

“
Read you.
”

“I’m going to take the elevator to the Sky Floor. We may lose signal for a bit.”

“
Be careful!
”

It’s a risk, but there is no way he is climbing one hundred fourteen flights of stairs, and if he gets stuck then Lucy’ll just have to come get him. But he already knows the elevators will work. Otherwise what would be the point?

* * *

All Lucy can do is wait anxiously on board the Mombasa, now back at the Battery, having lost radio contact with Robert just after he’d said.

A flash of red catches her eye—the red Ferrari tearing along the harbor side toward the Mombasa. Lucy rushes out just as the Ferrari pulls up, Ril and Ramani leaping from the car. But their attention is not with her—they rushing to the harbor wall, where Lucy finds them transfixed on the tower, both wearing grave expressions.

* * *

Robert steps out of the elevator and into the lobby area of a vast contemporary apartment. This is not a replica of any residence he can recall, and the furnishings are as up to date as the building. Another anachronism in this world out of time.

“Hello?”

Met with only silence, he elects to explore, finding a well-appointed abode. Kitchen, spotlessly clean and stocked with fresh produce, work area, and a gymnasium occupy one quarter of the space, and what he supposes to be bedrooms, another. The remainder is given over to the main living area with breathtaking views back toward Manhattan through floor-to-ceiling windows.

“It’s an empathy test.” A female voice from behind him.

He turns to find a woman emerging from the bedrooms, tall and of athletic stature, her body youthful, her deportment mature. Despite the changed appearance, he recognizes her immediately, staggering back, unable to contain the shock.

“
Monica.
”

“All this,” she says gesturing at the world about her, “is an empathy test.”

* * *

Ramani has a white-knuckle grip on the harbor wall railing, and a look of great alarm on her face.

“What is in that building?” Lucy demands of her.

Ramani seems possessed by some horror, deaf to Lucy’s question.

“They took control. Kept us away.” Ril says, his face ashen.

“
Who
has taken control?”

“Those that built this place,” Ril says. “Veil engineers. They want to push things further. We’re not sure why.”

“Push
what
further?”

“The empathy test.”

“You said
no tests!
You
said!
”

“It’s not what you think, Lucy. All is not as it seems.”

“Can they be stopped?”

“The Community has done what it can—they tried to warn you.”

“Commander Toor?”

“Yes. And they managed to release us from the Nexus before the engineers locked them out of the scenario entirely.”

Veil engineers, the Community, the Scenario—Lucy doesn’t have time for explanations as to what they are, but she can guess. The Mombasa’s engines start.

“Is Robert in danger?” Lucy asks.

Ril has no answer for her, but a desperate Ramani does.

“Yes, Lucy. He is in great danger.”

Lucy bounds away toward the Mombasa, its engines at take-off pitch. No sooner is she on the access ramp than the craft lifts away under her control.

“We should not be doing this,” Ril says to Ramani.

“What
choice
do we have?” Ramani answers, tears in her eyes.

* * *

Monica Satori, with whom Robert had built his empire, made whole before him. A lover turned monster, guilty of the most horrific crimes that he had the world hate
him
for, because
she
had supposedly
—

“How do I know you are real?”

She maintains a graceful pace, a slow approach toward him.

“You know it’s me. You knew it the moment you saw me. That connection between us that never diminishes.”

“I saw…I
saw
the virus destroy your body.
Here
, in this very place—” The realization grips him. “So they were right? The Veil took you?”

“Ril and Ramani have been meddling in human affairs more than you know. I have been their captive ever since…that time
.
But the virus no more killed me than it did you, Bob. You had your prison, and I had mine. Though I rather do think I had the better deal.”

“You’re still infected, aren’t you.”

“It isn’t an infection, it is a completion,” Monica retorts, a terseness to her voice, before shifting back to a more seductive tone. “Do you like the new me?”

“I preferred the old you.”

A rumble from somewhere deep within the building arrests him.

“What the hell was that?”

“You know about the Veil, don’t you,” Monica says, seemingly unperturbed.

She is right there, next to him, her eyes grabbing hold of his. It’s enough to keep his attention.

“A form of quarantine,” he says. “To isolate a world and assess its people.”

Monica shifts her demeanor further, from seductive to matter-of-fact.

“The goal of the empathy test is to observe the emotional reactions of an entire population, but without any state control, each individual free to respond without manipulation.”

“Respond to what?”

Another rumble from within the building, this time accompanied by a distinctive groan from the superstructure. But Robert is caught up in the discourse, sensing greater things afoot.

“The emotional trigger itself was to reveal the Emerald City. A huge event to induce culture shock on a global scale, and beyond the reach of any attempt at direct intervention.”

“Then why bring me here?”

“
Bob!
Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Monica chuckles to herself. “This isn’t about
you
.”

A moment searching Monica’s face before he finds the truth in his own mind, gulping it out.

“
Lucy?
”

“Such a pretty little machine,” Monica quips. “The daughter you never had. Nice line.”

“That was you in the woods?”

“I wanted to take a look at you. In case you didn’t make it this far. To see how you turned out.” She brings her face close to his. “Not too bad. Not too bad at all.”

A series of explosions echo up from below, shaking the building, its groans of protest no longer to be ignored.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?”

“Veil engineers…the beings that built this place? There’s one of them here. A sister, actually. And she’s coming-ta-getcha.”

Monica remains unmoved by the apparent destruction being wrought below.

“Bashing its way up from the Nexus levels, I’d say. They’re not terribly good at moving around in lower dimensional space.” She turns to face an open area between the furniture. “Show me the structural integrity of this building.”

The apartment obliges, a three-dimensional image of the tower’s superstructure appearing—the skeleton of beams and struts holding the building together. The havoc being dished out is clearly evident, proceeding as it does up through the core—but away from the major supporting elements.

“For all their intelligence they are no better than children,” Monica says. “Unable to understand the consequences of their actions in our world.”

“But that’s what Ril and Ramani are here for, right?”

“Oh, they’ve forgotten all about them. Ril and Ramani are now nothing more than a nuisance to be set aside. All that excitement on Sixth Avenue? Veil engineers. Like children torturing a small animal. See how it runs!”

The entire apartment shakes, the projection showing an approaching
something
.

“Here it comes. You see, Bob, with an empathy test on this scale, it’s best if somebody dies.”

* * *

The Mombasa slides slowly over the roof area on its vertical thrusters, slow enough for Lucy to sprint off the lowered access ramp and drop straight to the deck below, thumping down with a perfectly controlled crouch landing, the lander disappearing below the roof line.

Access to the main building is via a raised service structure on the far side. Lucy heads straight for it, only to find its door is securely locked. Slamming her body violently against it yields nothing. She sets about a repeated and sustained attack upon it.

* * *

Monica has her sights on the building’s structural integrity projection.

“Well, that’s the last of the elevators and stairs,” she says, with a feigned sigh. “No way out now.”

A wide-eyed Robert confronts her.

“What purpose can this possibly serve?”

“You know, I do believe you are right. Time, then, to change the parameters of this tedious exercise and up the stakes.” She returns her attention to the projection. “Seal this floor.”

The projection shows a green barrier enclose the entire volume of the residence.

“There. That should hold it off for a bit.” Monica returns a seductive gaze to Robert. “Now, what shall we do to pass the time?”

Some tremendous force bashes itself against the underside of the Sky Floor elevator lobby, the barrier holding firm, but pulsing red in the projection. Monica turns to face the lobby, her demeanor snapping in an instant.

“
Come on!!
” she screams at the walls, with every ounce of energy she has. “
Is that all you’ve got?! We are worth
more
than that!!
”

Her rage vanishes. Robert inches away from her, nonetheless.