Crystal Keepers (12 page)

“The Hunter is formidable,” Googol said broodingly. “And you encountered his Enforcers in Elloweer scant days ago?”

“Yes,” Mira said.

Googol rubbed his chin. “Honor didn't join you after defeating Morgassa?”

“No,” Mira said. “She went to find another of my sisters. I came here with Joe to look for Constance.”

Googol frowned. “Joe knows that you're here looking for Constance. He also knows that Honor is off hunting for another sister. Does he know where she went?”

“Yes,” Mira said.

Googol nodded slowly. “Don't tell me where unless I need to know. We must do a better job of restricting information. Joe knows too much. I'm not sure if the City Patrol fully grasps yet what they have in him.”

“Maybe they won't figure it out,” Mira said. “Joe is smart and committed.”

“The Hunter is on your trail,” Googol said. “It won't take him long to find Joe. We can't risk Joe breaking. He's a good man, and a brave one, but I would not trust anyone to last against the Hunter. Even without the Hunter, there is the chance the City Patrol will catch on to Joe's value. You were seen with him, Mira. Your image is on an ID card. If they connect Joe to you, they'll torture him without mercy until he talks. We have to take him away from them. It's not just a matter of loyalty. It's a strategic necessity.”

“Can you do it?” Mira asked.

“I believe so,” Googol replied. “Not without cost. We have a few remaining ways to monitor City Patrol communications. One method is thanks to good tech, plus, we still have a couple of people inside. We used to enjoy a much bigger advantage. The government had all the power, but we kept really good tabs on them and could stay out of their way. We could truly be Unseen.”

“What happened?” Cole asked.

Googol smiled sadly. “We're not sure. Starting about two months ago, things changed. Some of our best people got busted. Smart, careful operatives who really knew the game. Within weeks, the Unseen lost nearly a quarter of our number. Secure, time-tested hideouts were discovered. Proven methods of operation no longer worked. The government didn't just have all the power. Suddenly they were outmaneuvering us.”

“Did you fix the problem?” Jace asked.

“In a sense,” Googol said. “Most of the Unseen retreated to our hideaways in Old Zeropolis. We took ourselves out of play.”

“Old Zeropolis?” Cole asked.

“A brief history for the Outsiders,” Googol announced. “Zeropolis has been built twice before. Originally, long ago and far from here, Zeropolis arose with much less advanced technology. Innovation eventually made the first Zeropolis obsolete. The foundations were all wrong to welcome the new tech. It made more sense to start again. So a new Zeropolis, the second Zeropolis, what we now call Old Zeropolis, was established not terribly far beyond the northern boundaries of this city. That city fell when Aeronomatron took over. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost.”

“Who took over?” Dalton asked.

“A machine,” Googol said. “A supercomputer that would dwarf anything your society has produced. Most people just call it Aero. This was in my grandfather's time, and I'm older than I look, thanks to my shaping skills slowing the aging process. After much bloodshed, the City Patrol managed to seal off Aero. Had they failed, this entire kingdom might have become uninhabitable.”

“Crazy,” Cole said.

Googol rocked forward in his seat. “To this day, Aero controls a major portion of Old Zeropolis. At great cost, all of its manufacturing capabilities were destroyed, so the computer's domain is fixed. After the mayhem Aero caused, nobody wanted to live near it, so the newest Zeropolis, this one, was erected not far from the old. After the second city was left abandoned for a good while, some people began to return. The kind of people who didn't want to be found. Old Zeropolis is a lawless place, almost completely unregulated.
Someday the Zeropolitan government hopes to purge or reclaim the old city, but they haven't geared up for it yet. For now, the Grand Shaper lets it serve as a garbage dump for undesirables.”

“Is Old Zeropolis mostly members of the Unseen?” Cole asked.

“Oh, no,” Googol said. “It's mostly criminals. In a highly regulated kingdom, it's the most significant beacon of chaos. When operating there, we have to tread warily. But at the moment it's preferable to the city. The government has little influence there.”

“Are we safe here?” Jace asked, looking around the room.

“I hope so,” Googol said. “As a defensive tactic, I move around a lot. This is currently our most secure base of operations inside the city. But we don't know how Abram Trench and his people keep finding us. I worry they're using banned tactics.”

“Like what?” Cole asked.

“In Old Zeropolis, they let Aero control too much,” Googol explained. “When the computer went bad, it had access to everything. Information. Communication. Essential services. Vehicles. Bots. You name it. Nobody wants another Aero, so the current Zeropolitan government has been very careful about not automating the city too much. None of the bots are armed. There are no surveillance cameras or automatic listening devices. Unconnected computers run different systems. For example, the computer that manages the magroads cannot communicate with the computers regulating the power facilities, or the computer that holds the ID card data, or any of the bots.”

“But now you wonder if Abram Trench is cheating,” Dalton said.

“Precisely,” Googol said. “He doesn't want another Aero either. He definitely wants to call the shots, not bow down to a computer. But to deal with us, he may have decided to bend the laws that have been in place since the founding of this city. Added some surveillance systems. Upgraded some bots. Who knows? It might explain how the City Patrol has suddenly become so effective.”

“It could be a spy,” Jace proposed.

“We've examined that possibility thoroughly,” Googol said. “We keep our information fragmented and compartmentalized. Given all that has happened, I simply don't know who the mole could be. My guess is either they've found a way to reliably intercept our communications, or they have new tech in place. We've been implementing all the precautions we can think of, including improved communication methods and taking extra care when navigating the city.”

“And using arcade kids,” Cole said.

“The Crystal Keepers have existed for years,” Googol said. “Many of them eventually graduate to membership in the Unseen. The government can't find us where they're not looking, and while many of our covers have been blown, our teenage agents remain undetected. They get underestimated because of their youth, and we use that against Abram.”

“Did Bluff get away?” Dalton asked.

Cole held his breath.

“Yes,” Googol said. “He took out the City Patrol agent with a sleeping dart and got away clean.”

Cole relaxed and breathed again. At least his mistake hadn't caused major harm.

“Using kids like that will only work until the government catches on,” Mira said.

“Which is why I'm reluctant to overuse them,” Googol said. “Over these past couple of months, many of our top spies have been exposed. Several of the key technologies we rely on have been discovered and thwarted. I hesitate to use what limited resources remain to spring Joe. It could inspire City Patrol to ferret out our last assets. But the alternative is more dangerous still.”

“Because of how much Joe knows,” Dalton said.

“It's his knowledge of Stafford's daughters,” Googol said. “Our sources in Junction report that finding the five princesses is now the High Shaper's uppermost priority. It makes more sense now that I know Miracle and Honor both have reclaimed their powers. Stafford is panicking. He's bringing all of his resources to bear. What he currently lacks is concrete knowledge of their whereabouts.”

“If Joe breaks under torture . . . ,” Mira said.

“His information becomes a lightning rod,” Googol said. “The High Shaper will bring his full strength against the Unseen in Zeropolis right when we're reeling. It could mark the end of the resistance here. On the other hand, if we can find Constance and help you avoid detection, Mira, we could revitalize the revolution. It's going to be all or nothing. The first step will be to retrieve Joe.”

“Any idea where to find Constance?” Mira asked hopefully.

“Not yet,” Googol said. “None of us knew about you girls
until your mother confided in a few of us earlier this year. When Stafford began to lose his powers, she knew the time was approaching to bring her daughters out of hiding, and she needed allies. I only recently learned how your mother can track your locations. Do your friends know?”

“Yes,” Mira said.

“I found out about the stars when Harmony asked us to send someone to help you, Mira. Your mother has still never asked us to seek out any of her other daughters, though we were led to believe that Constance is hiding somewhere in Zeropolis. I will confess that I have been quietly searching on my own, but she is well concealed. I have no clue as to her whereabouts.”

“She could be anywhere?” Mira asked.

“I have found no record of her,” Googol said. “Constance may have found shelter out in the empty wastes of Zeropolis. She could have an obscure hideout here in the city, or even in Old Zeropolis. For all I know, she might have moved to another kingdom. Only your mother knows for sure, but she has not yet shared that knowledge with us.”

“Can we contact my mother?” Mira asked.

“Not with a communicator,” Googol said. “Those signals don't carry out of the kingdom. Not even into Junction, where all forms of shaping work to some degree. For sensitive matters, our contact has been through live messengers. Our last interaction came when she asked us to send Joe to help you.”

“Could we send a messenger to her?” Mira asked.

Googol became grave. “It would require the utmost
caution. Particularly in the current climate, with your father raging, and the Zeropolitan government closing in, such a messenger represents a great deal of risk. An intercepted messenger could ruin us and your mother together. Your father still doesn't know she was responsible for hiding you girls all these years.”

Mira rubbed her forehead. “It's never easy.”

“Seldom, lately,” Googol said. “But that doesn't mean we won't try. We just have to make smart moves. Abram Trench would love nothing more than to get his hands on you, Mira.”

“Why'd he side with the High Shaper?” Cole asked. “The other Grand Shapers rebelled and went into hiding. What made Abram loyal to Mira's dad?”

“I know Abram Trench well,” Googol said. “I served as his chief technical adviser for many years. Abram was seduced by the advantages of siding with Stafford. Abram Trench has no real loyalty to anyone besides Abram Trench. The better I came to know him, the more he brought me into his confidence, the more I feared him. Eventually it led to me quitting and joining the resistance.”

“What gave him away?” Cole pursued.

“The technology he withholds,” Googol said. “I want everyone in Zeropolis to benefit from our innovations. The citizens of Zeropolis could have television, their own Internet, private communicators, and more. But free communication is an enemy to control. So mass communication is heavily limited. Extensive restrictions also apply to individual communicators. Abram has all but eliminated private
forms of transportation in the city, and he's always looking for ways to reduce and track vehicles in the outposts. The list goes on. Abram works hardest to create tech and establish policies that will increase his personal advantage. The longer I worked with him, the better I understood the absolute control he wishes to achieve. I realized he has to be stopped.”

“You mentioned he'd love to get Mira,” Jace said.

“Abram Trench is a master politician,” Googol said. “With how badly the High Shaper wants his daughters back, if Abram could find any of them, he would use the opportunity to create enormous leverage to further his aims.”

“What does he want most?” Mira asked.

“Abram desires complete control of Zeropolis,” Googol said. “He doesn't care about the other kingdoms. And he doesn't mind being polite to the High King if it means he can function as dictator here. Abram adores innovation, and his ambition knows no boundaries.”

“You were his main techie guy?” Dalton asked.

“It was a position of great influence,” Googol said. “I'll humbly admit to being one of the most talented tinkers and technomancers in the kingdom. But I'm not Abram's equal. The man is truly gifted. Whether he means to use those gifts for the common good is where I harbor my doubts.”

“My father works with too many men like that,” Mira said. “We'll stop him. The first step is to free Joe?”

“Yes,” Googol said, his demeanor changing from thoughtful to businesslike. “Our opportunity will come tomorrow. He is currently at City Patrol Headquarters. He'll be transferred to a holding area. I believe we will be able to gather
enough details to intercept Joe en route. The City Patrol will then have proof that we're still listening. If we succeed, such a bold crime will invite retaliation.”

A soft
ping, ping, ping
began to chime. It made Cole think of the ding he sometimes heard in elevators.

Googol's face froze. “No,” he whispered. “Not now.”

“What is it?” Mira asked.

“That's the alarm,” he said, his voice detached. “Highest alert. This base has been compromised. We're under attack.”

C
HAPTER

11

CONTINGENCY PLANS

“P
lease tell us you're joking,” Jace said.

“Sadly, no,” Googol said, standing up as the pinging continued. He didn't seem too anxious, but he began to speak more quickly. “Something about the way we brought you in or monitored Joe's arrest must have given up our location.” He gathered equipment off the desk. “It's a blow. This was our last fully equipped base of operations in the city.”

“Do you have an escape plan?” Mira asked.

“I always have contingency plans,” Googol said, removing a few small black boxes from a drawer and pocketing them. “Otherwise they would have nabbed me long ago. Here at zerobase, we have excellent defenses to slow any intruders.”

Cole relaxed a little. Apparently it wasn't time to run for their lives yet. “You have secret ways out?” he checked.

“We regularly use three ways into the base from the surface,” Googol said. “We've reserved three different ways out for emergencies. All who work here know about one of them, a smaller circle knows about the second, and only two other people know the route we'll use.” Googol came around the desk and went to the worktables. “Would you
four mind helping me carry a few things?”

Cole, Dalton, Jace, and Mira hurried after Googol. They wove around the worktables as he picked up objects and handed them over. He gave them several crystals and a variety of gadgets.

Among other things, Cole received a short tube of dark metal. Googol unscrewed a cap at the base to reveal a button. “Keep that button covered,” Googol said, replacing the cap. “Do not press it unless you are pointing the other end at your worst enemy.”

“I want one,” Jace whimpered.

“Don't worry,” Googol assured him. “I have plenty of volatile toys.”

Highwire returned to the room holding what looked like an extra-large trapgun. Behind her came Roulette and a fairly tall teenage boy with Asian features. Both carried smaller trapguns.

“If you're ready, we should go,” Highwire said.

“The evacuation?” Googol asked, still sweeping the worktables with his mechanized eyewear.

“In progress,” she said. “First lines of defense holding strong.”

Googol picked up a couple more devices. “I was tidying up.”

“Tidy,” Highwire said with a smirk.

“You sound like a CK,” Googol replied, shaking his head.

“That's a compliment,” the Asian teen said. “Good to see you, Googol.”

“Hello, Trickster, Roulette,” Googol murmured, stepping away from the table. “Nice of you to join us.”

Cole took a second look at the teen after hearing him addressed as the gaming-hub champ. The boy looked relaxed and friendly.

“Why do we always see you when the sky is falling?” Trickster asked.

“Damage control is the story of my life,” Googol replied, striding toward the door. “Let's go.”

The soft tone kept pinging as they left the room and walked briskly down the hall. Googol led the way. Highwire brought up the rear, her giant trapgun held ready.

“What does this mean, losing the base?” Roulette asked as they walked.

“It hurts us,” Googol said. “I can't say I'm shocked, given the events of the past couple of months. We're missing something. Until we figure out what, this will keep happening. We'll have to get by with our smaller safe areas and less activity until we solve this.”

“Won't less activity make this harder to solve?” Trickster asked.

“You begin to understand our predicament,” Googol muttered.

Roulette turned to Cole. “Not a long stay at the base.”

“Nope,” Cole responded, concentrating on not dropping anything, especially the weapon. The gear wasn't too heavy, but there were too many items to carry them comfortably.

“You're the gaming-hub expert,” Jace said to Trickster.

“Somebody has to do it,” Trickster said. He glanced at Mira. “And you're our top secret guest.”

“Sorry if I caused this,” Mira said.

“It's not your fault,” Googol said. “I don't believe they're aware of your identity yet. It's either our sloppiness, or City Patrol's excellence. Maybe a little of both.”

The group went through a couple of doors. Cole didn't see any other people. The only sound besides the polite alarm was their footsteps. Without anybody talking to distract him, it seemed like a fire drill at an empty school.

Googol stopped at a thick door of tinted crystal set in a metal wall and handed some of his gear to Trickster. Then Googol inserted a small, clear cube into a square socket. The crystal door slid upward.

They passed through the doorway, and Googol hit a button that shut the door. He walked to a round socket in the wall and placed a crystal sphere inside. A section of the wall opened to reveal a smaller room. They all entered, Googol pressed a button, the wall closed, and the little room sank.

“An elevator,” Dalton said.

“A sender,” Jace corrected.

After some time descending, the wall opened again. A large lab waited beyond, brightly lit, with crystal worktables and no people.

A humanoid robot stepped into view from off to the side, standing a bit taller than Googol. Its yellow, rounded contours left it bulky through the chest and shoulders, but more slender in the legs and arms. The only features of the smooth face were a pair of glowing eyes protected by a tinted crystal panel.

Cole felt somewhat intimidated. It looked like the robotic version of a linebacker. If it attacked in this close space, Cole
wasn't sure what they could do.

“Welcome, Googol,” the robot said in a male voice so natural that Cole wondered whether it could actually be a person in a costume. “The password, please.”

“Green pastures,” Googol said.

“The guests are here on your authority?” the robot inquired.

“Correct,” Googol replied. “The key elements have been removed?”

“Everything besides me and the little guy,” the robot said.

Googol started walking across the lab. The robot fell into step at his side. The others followed. Twisting so he could point out the people he named, Googol said, “This is Cole, Jace, Dalton, and Secret. They deserve top priority protection, with Secret at the tip-top. You know the others.”

“Pleased to meet you all,” the robot said. “Especially you, Secret. I'm Outlaw.”

“Why are you called Outlaw?” Googol asked theatrically.

“My existence contradicts the AI Accords,” Outlaw answered.

“Freebots are illegal,” Googol explained, still walking. “Here in Zeropolis, we were skilled at constructing adaptive neural networks long before earthlings had dreamed of BASIC. We can make very smart machines. Extremely lifelike, if not actually alive. Which led to Aeronomatron and the fall of Old Zeropolis. As a consequence, the AI Accords were adopted, limiting the use of artificial intelligence. Machines with AI are not permitted mobility, are forbidden access to weapons, and their communication with other
thinking machines is limited and strictly monitored.”

“I break all of those rules,” Outlaw said with smug relish.

“Working outside the system should include some advantages,” Googol said, pausing at a gleaming steel door and pressing a cube into a socket. The door slid upward. “Outlaw is one of them.” He paused. “Don't get me wrong. I don't want another Aero either. But to fight a strong enemy, we need strong allies. Besides, you're not going to try to conquer Zeropolis, are you, Outlaw?”

“Like I'd tell you,” the robot replied.

“He has attitude,” Googol said, leading them into the room.

“Learned it from the Crystal Keepers,” Outlaw said.

“That's right!” Trickster said, slapping the big robot on the arm.

Cole entered a room with a few benches and a worktable. Tall, metal lockers lined the walls.

“We're suited up,” Roulette said. “Do we need more?”

“Not you,” Googol said. “Them. They're in deep. This base failed them. We need to help them protect themselves.”

“Or kill themselves,” Trickster said. “Or give themselves away. Is this a good idea?”

“It is if you help them,” Googol said. “They'll need a crash course in safety.” He tapped a button on his vision gear. “We have time. The defenses are holding nicely.”

“Sorry I'm late,” said a little robot, the voice male but much less manly than Outlaw's. “I was making sure the last of the bots got away.” Barely taller than Cole's waist, it had a body the shape of a gumdrop, green with white highlights,
though it looked a bit banged up and scratched. The robot scuttled on six insectile legs, each with a rubbery hoof at the end. Several small sensors poked out of the top, above three glassy eyes. It pulled a cart.

“This is Sidekick,” Outlaw said. “He's, well, my sidekick.”

“Not everyone can be the hero,” Sidekick said good-naturedly. “I'm really good at sanitizing, though.” As with Outlaw, Cole was struck by how lifelike the voice sounded.

“Don't be fooled by his modesty,” Googol said. “Sidekick's AI is just as sophisticated as Outlaw's, though I housed it in the shell of a used cleaning bot.”

“What I lack in size, I make up for in dents,” Sidekick said brightly.

“Please place the items we brought from my office on Sidekick's cart,” Googol said, taking his own advice. Cole and the others added their items as well.

“You mentioned giving us something?” Jace prompted.

“We detoured here to equip the four of you with exo rigs,” Googol said. “Subtle exoskeletons that hide under your clothes but will enhance just about every physical attribute you possess. They fall far short of a full battle suit, but can still be extremely useful. The Crystal Keepers use them routinely.”

“Wait a minute,” Jace said, turning to Roulette, eyes narrowing. “You're wearing one now?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “Almost always.”

“No wonder you're so good at those games!” Jace cried.

“The rigs aren't a replacement for skill,” Trickster stated adamantly. “If anything, they require more control. You have
to learn to work with the suit, and to understand the limits. With rigs you can run faster, jump higher, react quicker, and survive more damage. But you can also wreck more spectacularly. And you can give yourself away. Unless you lost a limb or need them for other medical reasons, people aren't supposed to wear mechanical augmentations.”

“All true,” Googol said. “Might we suit them up as we continue? We're still under attack.” He walked toward some of the lockers against the wall. “Lockers one through four. I deliberately had the prep bots leave our newest model in the appropriate sizes. Those who know the drill, pick somebody to help.”

“The outer defenses are about to fall in sector five,” Outlaw reported.

“We still have time,” Sidekick said.

Highwire went to Mira, Googol helped Dalton, Trickster assisted Jace, and Roulette brought a bundle of gear over to Cole. The gear didn't look like much—mostly narrow strips of pliable steel. Highwire led Mira out of the room to change.

“Shirt off,” Roulette said. “And your pants. Pretend you're going swimming.”

Trying to act casual about it, Cole stripped down to his boxer shorts. It was like a visit to the doctor, right? If the doctor was about fourteen, cute, confident, stylish, and awesome at arcade games.

Roulette did nothing to make him feel uncomfortable. She strapped a fairly large brace to his torso, Cole fastened another to his pelvis, then Roulette attached smaller braces to his elbows, knees, and ankles. It didn't take long. None
of the braces were bulky, and all were connected by flexible metallic strips that squirmed against his skin with a life of their own. As the exoskeleton adjusted, Cole could feel it gripping his entire body.

“Careful how you move,” Roulette warned. “The rig is smart. It'll work with you if you let it, but sudden, unpredictable motion can confuse it. Keep your movements controlled. Nothing extreme. Don't run or jump.”