Code Breakers Complete Series: Books 1-4 (13 page)

“What? No! That’s not what I—”

“Chill, Gez, I’m just yanking your chain.”

“How can you be so calm? She’s gonna fillet Gabe like a fish with that sword of hers.”

“Pfft!”
 

Gabe and Cheska circled each other. Cheska swung her sword a few times, measuring the distance. Gabe, a picture of calm and disinterest, stood with his back straight, hands in his pockets, and sidestepped casually around her.

She darted in, katana raised at head height. Two steps. Downward chop.

Gabe sidestepped again. The blade sliced thin air.
 

Cheska twitched a wicked smile, changed her grip on the sword, and slashed a wide arc from left to right while dashing forward. Red dust kicked up around her as she slid forward.
 

Of course, she missed.

Gabe, still with his hands in his pockets, moved far too quickly, and now flanked her.
 

She spun, trying to get her bearings, but was too slow.

In a lightning-fast flash, Gabe reached into his jacket with his right hand, pulled a loop of leather, and cracked the whip at her hand.
 

Cheska yelped at the sting and dropped her weapon. She clutched her wrist, which sported a bright red welt. Her face screwed with pain, and with her good, left hand she reached over her shoulder and pulled a shorter weapon from a scabbard. It was half the length of the katana and curved like a sickle.

With ferocious hacking motions, she bull-rushed Gabe, slashing the blade at all angles.
 

Gabe quickly back-footed, kicking up yet more red dust.
 

Cheska, a picture of wild fury, crashed her weapon down into his shoulder. He wasn’t quick enough this time and screamed a guttural cry like an injured dog.
 

With his right hand he grabbed her wrist so that she couldn’t pull the weapon free. He stamped his foot on the ground twice, and two chromed blades shot from the toe and heel.
 

Still pinning her into place with his hands, Gabe kicked upwards, slicing the inside of her right thigh, severing tendons, and cutting halfway through the thick muscle. As he brought his foot back, he kicked out sideways, cutting the Achilles tendons in both her legs.

She let go of the blade and collapsed to the floor.
 

A pool of blood surrounded her, mixed with dust to make a thick paste.
 

She opened her mouth to scream when two of the floodlights suddenly went out.
 

Someone shouted, “Drones!”
 

The bug-eyed man pointed Cheska’s shotgun into the air and fired at the drones.

A group of ten black, stealthy birds, illuminated by the remaining floodlights, split away into a fragmented formation, avoiding the shot blast.
 

One of the birds at the front shot its cannons at the other two lights, sending the place into near darkness. Just the neon signs of the buildings and the fires that groups of bedraggled civilians stood by now provided any light.
 

Gabe rushed over, and punched and kicked at the onrushing gang members. People ran in all directions. Some into buildings while others climbed ladders like lines of ants.
 

“Man the defences!” Cheska screamed, still writhing on the ground.

“Shit, follow me,” Petal said. “We need to get you safe, can’t let them know you’re here.” She pointed to the drones. “Switch off your VPN.”
 

Gerry did as she told him. “What if we need to communicate?”
 

“You shout. Those birds up there have class-A security. They’ll hack your IP traffic quicker than you can think. Better we stay off the Meshwork for now…”

Gabe finally joined Gerry and Petal.

“All comms down, yeah?”

Petal and Gerry nodded.

“Follow me, man. I know a back way to Enna’s—that’s as secure a place as any in this rotten rat hole.”

He pulled Cheska’s blade from his shoulder with a pained grunt and placed it inside his jacket next to the syringes.

Gerry grabbed Petal close and followed Gabe as he cleared a path through the maddening crowd with his whip. Above them the drones hovered silently, like birds of prey floating on thermals looking for a field mouse.
 

Staccato gunfire erupted from above a tin-roofed, single-story building. One of the Bachians sat on a motorised gun turret and belched out fiery rounds into the sky. Three of the drones were hit and crashed to the ground like flaming hailstones. The others split into small groups and skirted round the town.
 

More gunfire split the air from the rear of the town, and yet more drones crashed to the ground. It was a war zone, or what Gerry thought a war zone was like. He recalled clips he’d seen as a child on a history programme, back when they were allowed free access to TV. So much of what he’d experienced as a child didn’t seem real now, more like a ghost memory… the world, or at least City Earth, had changed so much. Did he ever really have a childhood there?
 

As he followed Gabe through the crowd to yet another lookalike building, he tripped. Something touched his ankle.
 

A bleeding hand, sporting a red welt, gripped his leg.
 

“Help—me—please…”

Cheska grimaced as she pulled herself across the ground like an injured snake.

“Gabe, hold up.”

Gerry bent down to the woman. She already looked like a ghost. Must be the blood loss. “Petal. Help me get her up.”

Gerry wrapped Cheska’s arm around his shoulder and encouraged Petal to do the same. They lifted her and dragged her across the ground. Her useless flapping feet left a dark trail like train tracks as they moved forward.

Gabe stopped, looking back. “What ya doing? Leave her. We need to get going.”

“She’s dying, Gabe. I ain’t leaving her behind. Have a heart.”

“Having a heart gets ya killed, boy.”

“Don’t boy me, old man. You might be dead inside, but I can’t just leave her to perish in a puddle of her own filth. You go ahead without me if you want.”

Gabe shook his head and looked to Petal, who looked away.

“So it’s like that, is it? Everything I done for ya both.”

“Enough with the sob story, Gabe. Just get us to this Enna’s place, and Cheska here can go her own way. You’ve made your point. Be the bigger man.”

“He’s right, Gabe,” Petal said. “Besides, she could be useful to us. A little faith won’t hurt, right?”

“For God’s sake. Fine. Just follow me, then, but if she tries anything, I’m killing her.”

Gabe spat in the dust before turning away and leading them through the maelstrom of panicking civilians.
 

“Thank… you,” Cheska said. “I owe you.”

“You might not survive, darling. Better not make any promises. Just hold on, yeah?” Petal said.
 

“Thanks. You know, for backing me up. I don’t want to make things difficult between you and Gabe,” Gerry said to Petal.

“Don’t worry about it. He’s a complicated old git. You’ll understand eventually.”

Gabe stopped and pointed across the square.
 

“Ya see that building across there with a blue circle painted on the door? Well, that’s Enna’s place. I just need to do something first. Petal, you take Gerry and Cheska, and speak with Enna.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just do as I say, girl.”

With that, Gabe sprinted into the darkness and darted behind the building.

“There’s something up with him,” Petal said.

“You only just noticed that now?” Gerry replied.

Cheska began to cough and choke. “I’m dying. Bloody typical. I waited years to lead our group, and I’m done for on the first day.”

Gerry and Petal lifted her from the ground and ran across to Enna’s building.
 

They reached the door. It was unlocked and swaying.

Inside, there was only darkness. Silence permeated the place like a heavy curtain. Just the usual hum of computers and cooling fans could be heard. It was coming from beneath them.

“Enna? You here?” Petal called.

Gerry thought he could hear something sliding—or was it shuffling—towards them? Drawing closer, it sounded like something breathing, as if its lungs and throat were full of gravel. It moaned. Gerry wanted to back away, but Cheska’s weight held him in place. The shuffle was just a few metres away.

Petal clicked her lighter on, creating an orb of orange light ahead of them. A twisted, mutated face shot out of the darkness. A pair of pale grey hands thrust out and squeezed Gerry’s neck.

Chapter 12

Cheska fell to the floor as Gerry reached up to grip the wrists of the hands around his neck. The thumbs pushed against his Adam’s apple. He gagged against the force. He tried breathing through his nose, but his airways were blocked. Swatches of colour and stars appeared in his vision and danced around the image of that grimacing, hate-filled face.
 

The flickering light from Petal’s lighter deepened the crags in the thing’s face. Its skin appeared as if made from chalk and dirt. Fingertip-sized flakes of skin peeled off and hung like dead confetti.
 

As the thing moved in closer, its body brushed against Gerry’s gun. Gerry let go of its wrists and pulled his gun from the holster. Pushing the barrel up into its neck, Gerry twisted his head as far away as possible before pulling the trigger.
 

The sudden crack shattered the silence. A high-pitched whistle drowned out everything. He opened his eyes. The thing’s face and most of its skull had erupted, leaving a clear view into its cranium. Amongst the brain matter and shattered pieces of skull, a black box with wires coming from it was connected to its spinal column and presumably parts of the brain.
 

Eventually, the ringing in Gerry’s ears dissipated enough for him to hear voices.
 

“Don’t shoot that in here.”

The lights came on, blinding Gerry so that all he could see were the fine blood vessels backlit in his eyelids. A soft, feminine hand carefully surrounded his and moved his wrist so that the gun pointed to the floor. Softer now, the voice spoke in his ear. “Be calm and quiet. I’m Enna. Follow me.”

Gerry slowly opened his eyes again. Her porcelain skin was entirely without blemish. Her dark, auburn hair flowed in wide ringlets to her shoulders, contrasting starkly with her skin. Emerald green eyes with a mesmerising quality widened with a smile. “Hi,” she said.

“Hello, erm, hi…”
 

Petal jabbed an elbow into his ribs.

“Hey!”
 

“Stop staring, and get moving,” Petal said, rolling her eyes.
 

Enna held a hand out to Petal and helped her further into the room.
 

“Hello, my darling. You’re looking a little run down,” Enna said to Petal as they walked.

“They’re getting harder to contain. The AIs are evolving. There’s another one… trying to get in…” Petal took a deep breath, unable to finish her sentence.

A sheen of sweat covered her face, and she stumbled over her feet as she was led past a number of chrome-topped workbenches. The room resembled a lab or a medical theatre: various tube networks and tanks with dark shapes floating in yellow liquid lined the walls.
 

“Wait, I need help with Cheska,” Gerry said.

“Leave her. She’s dead. For now.” Enna spoke with not a hint of sympathy.

Before he could remonstrate, she added, “Don’t worry about her. She’s one of mine. She’ll be fine. I’ll fix her into another vehicle later.”
 

“Vehicle?”
 

“That meat bag you’re walking around in.”

She pointed a finger at the tanks, and he understood. Somehow she was transferring personalities into bodies.
 

Enna took Petal into an elevator and waved him in urgently.
 

The small metal box, just big enough for the three of them, descended into the ground for what felt like ten minutes. It got to the point where he wondered if it were moving at all. During the journey, Petal’s eyes closed, and a rising panic threatened to overwhelm him.
 

“Where are you taking us?” Gerry asked.

“My lab. Petal needs urgent medical attention. I see you shot her with ’Stem. What happened?”

“That was Gabe. I was with her while she was downloading into Old Grey. She collapsed. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t understand any of this.”

“Gerry, listen to me carefully. I want you to take care of Petal from now on. I fear Gabriel’s code has mutated. He’s acting entirely out of his parameters.”

“What do you mean? You’re talking as if he’s a robot or something.”

“Or something,” she replied. “These two work for me, and I do a certain degree of monitoring to ensure their safety—and the safety of others. They are highly specialised transcendents, and I can’t afford for one of them to go rogue.”
 

Gerry sighed with frustration. It seemed every question only deepened his misunderstanding. “What’s a transcendent? And more importantly, what the hell was that thing that attacked me?”

“First line of security. I’ve got a lot of valuable things here. I can’t just allow anyone to break in. It was also a transcendent, like Cheska.”

“You mean you’re making artificial humans?”

“Sort of. I build vehicles mostly and transpose altered personalities into their control centres. They don’t even know they’re ’dents. They know themselves as real people with real motivations.”

“So are these personalities artificial intelligences?”

“Yes, of a sort, within certain parameters. You won’t understand, and really, I don’t have time to explain fully. All you need to know is that Petal isn’t like anything else, and I need to keep her alive.”

The elevator jolted to a stop, and the doors opened.
 

The temperature was much lower down here, and goosebumps broke out on Gerry’s skin, despite his heavy coat.

The room itself resembled the one where Gerry had encountered Old Grey. Even down to the smoky atmosphere. Beyond the smoke, a pair of chromed tables dominated the centre of the room.