Raine VS The End of the World (17 page)

But she was already bounding up the stairway, completely ignoring the lack of arm rails.

“Not so fast!”

She spun around, her face bursting with childlike glee. “Come on! I’ll race you!”

He laughed nervously. “I don’t think so, sorry.”

Raine just stuck out her tongue and ran. As she made her way up the shimmering stair, Gerrit had to keep his distance, so she wouldn’t see his flustered cheeks.

Ω

“You're aware of what this position entails, and what’s expected of you,” Queen Lorelei impressed upon the young Australian man sitting awkwardly across the enormous elephant hide coffee table in the middle of her smoking lounge.

The chief reason why Henry Holdfast was uncomfortable had little to do with the fact that he’d just interviewed for the newly vacant office of Junior Network Manager for the
Avidya
server, a position of such responsibility that his life would be on the line on a daily basis. It had more to do with the reality that while he’d gone to the shopping district and bought the most expensive suit he could afford for the occasion, the Queen, whom he was meeting one-on-one for the very first time, was dressed in a seductive nightgown and lace stockings that ended in a pair of fluffy slippers.

Her Majesty’s trying to psyche me out with those damn painted lips of hers
, he realized as he caught his eyes wandering again and met hers intensely. He had to. This wasn't a question he could let get away from him.

“Of course, ma’am.” Henry replied with a courteous bow. “I am to maintain peace and stability in
Avidya
and the other servers, should my assistance be required. Keep the status quo. Eliminate wanted individuals.”

The Queen yawned. “Very well, you’ve got the job. You’re not very entertaining, but perhaps that’s for the best. I do have to admit that your qualifications are exemplary. This is the first time I've considered offering so prestigious an office to one who’s only been with us for five years.”

She crossed her legs, making sure to rub her stockings against one another. His eyes didn't budge.

"I am most honored to be at your service, ma’am."

“You'll be sent invites to select parties of mine, of course. Your own executive suite on the hundred-odd floor range: a view of the city, or of the mountains, if you prefer. Answer quickly.”

“Oh, the city, if it pleases madam.”

“Very well.” She placed a circlet over her head and closed her eyes to interface with Miss Guggell for a few seconds. It appeared to Henry that she was annoyed with her virtual counterpart.
Could it be? Is the AI already being influenced?

“Eat a quick lunch. You begin immediately. Your lodgings are being moved as we speak. If you’re still here in a month, we might consider you for ‘doc’. You know the works. And one last thing - don't tell a single being, sentient or otherwise, about my attire today. The element of surprise is essential, you see, in hashing out the men from the boys around this sorry place. Believe me, if you snitch, I'll know it was you. And honey, I will kill you. Any questions?”

He could say nothing. She glowered in her best impression of a great white shark.

“I trust you will take my word for that last part. It's been a pleasure. Next month's advance should be flowing into your account as we speak.”

They said their cordial goodbyes, and then Queen Lorelei did something else he didn't expect. She calmly walked over to him and whispered in his ear. She smelled of cigarettes and strawberries.

“This is an important job, Henry Holdfast,” she said. “Don’t disappoint me.”

As soon as he left the room and caught his breath, Henry checked his bank account via Holo-Lens. He was now filthy rich.

Half an hour later, Henry finished his lunch quietly in his favorite corner of the Queen's excessively large hedge maze, under the elegantly trellised veranda. Even as the androids were preparing his new suite and moving his office effects, he allowed himself to indulge in homesick thoughts of his childhood friends and parents halfway across the globe.

“Is this seat taken?” a gentle female voice practically whispered.

Henry looked up at Dr. Ayumi Karuishi, an A-ranked Developer whom he was on good terms with. She shared his allegiance to powers other than those of
Neo Eden
, and as far as he could tell, she was one of the trustworthy ones. A large-brimmed sun hat with a short-ranged sonic shield protected her from any security drones.

“Oh, good morning, Doctor,” he said at last, snapping out of his lonely trance. “I didn't know you liked to frequent this labyrinth.”

“I don't,” she replied curtly. “Even so, there's a lot we don't know about each other, isn't there? It’s a situation I’d like to remedy.”

Well, he’d looked up her file once, and surely she’d done the same. Henry thought hard about his answer.
Why is she trying to get close to me?
This meeting is risky enough as it is.

“You don’t think we should keep our distance?” he asked discreetly.

Seeing as how the flustered man wasn't going to answer her first question, Ayumi took a seat on a marble bench and held his gaze. She was used to the paralyzing effect she had on men, but this specimen was especially awkward. Leaning in towards Henry, she lowered her voice to an absolute whisper.

“Two lone wolves might be more suspicious than, say, a lovestruck couple,” she countered with a girl-next-door smile. “Plus, I'd like to get to know you a little better, seeing as how we'll be in the same department tomorrow.”

Henry found no reason to object. Truth be told, Ayumi had beautiful features, and her prodigious skills made her a figure of respect and envy among the other so-called 'Doctors', really nothing more than glorified programmers who’d earned a sort of tenure. Not to mention, it couldn't hurt to at least swap some info. The fact that her soft voice immediately put him at ease was just the cherry on top.

“You may have a point,” he said at last. “At least you and I can trust one another.”

“What makes you so sure?” she pouted. “I could be a – how to say in English – a double agent.”

“Simple. If you wanted to pick my brain, you’d have done it long ago. Plus, it's in your best interests to stick around me. I know that creep Reno has been bothering you since his divorce.”

“Oh, you're good.” Karuishi giggled. “But I'm not worried about the other quacks so much. They are horribly uninteresting. It's a certain someone inheriting a particularly dangerous job that concerns me. I don’t want to see him come to any harm, and maybe my experience here can count for something in that regard.”

Her voice, and her sincerity, warmed his heart. It wouldn't be hard getting used to this.

“Kudos on the promotion, by the way,” she added.

“Ah. Th-thanks. Dr. Zee put a good word in.”

“Henry?”

Are we on first name terms now?
His recent interview notwithstanding, this was officially the longest conversation he'd had with a woman in months.

“Yes?”

“If you want me, you're gonna have to fight for me.”

Caught dumbstruck, Henry let his trembling jaw drop. “You mean, like, at work?”

“Of course, silly goose. It’s part of the act. You have to show the others that you're interested in their power plays, and you'll have to do your best to impress me. Everyone likes a bit of gossip. It keeps their eyes off the important stuff.”

He nodded. “I think I understand. Should we maybe have lunch sometime?”

“I’d like that a lot,” she said, and then shook his hand. “Expect correspondence within the day so we can get our game plan together. You're inheriting a lot of responsibility, so please, don't be a stranger.”

He returned her confident expression. “I won't. If ever I need any info---”

“Anytime. I may be higher ranked in the
Nexus
, but you are the best programmer I’ve ever seen. Even… even dear Nico was impressed, may he rest in peace. Those watchdog protocols? Ingenious. Fully functional, yet so easy to modify. And all done with half the code.”

“H-hey, flattery will get you nowhere,” he quipped, but she’d already melted his heart, and she knew it. Ayumi gave him a peck on the cheek.

“That's for luck. I usually keep it all for myself, so don't you waste it.”

And with that, she alighted and ambled away, leaving Henry floating on air.

“I won’t,” he said to himself. This goofy grin was too genuine; it wasn’t going to leave anytime soon.

For the first time in a long time, he’d let his guard down, and he hadn't regretted it.

As Henry tossed his trash in the bin of a passing cleaning droid, he heard an unusual and unwelcome sound, the roaring of an otherworldly engine echoing off the mountainside as it burst through
Neo Eden’s
protective energy dome. Hesitantly, he searched the cloudless sky.

It was the unmistakable sound of the
Raven.

Encased in the shell of a CMV-21 sports pod, it circled down into the
Spire
, an omen of bad tidings. It’d been too long since the unwelcome ship had been spotted. If history were to repeat itself, the Queen would be in a fiery mood, and that was never pleasant.

Henry headed back to the
Nexus
. Meeting with Ayumi had been more than worth it, but he’d tarried too long, and missed a chance to acquire some second-hand information.

∆

A kilometer away, in the heart of the
Spire
’s tertiary docking bay, cyborg Lieutenant General Errol Beech and the recently returned Brigadier General Troi Macleod stood at attention. Munching on a stick of bubble gum, Queen Lorelei had put herself behind the plasma blast shield, flanked by two-dozen of her Royal Guard on either side as the jet-black airship flew into the hangar.

The
Raven
, which left the bay on a supposed recon flight mere hours ago, was rarely seen and even closer guarded. While it was outfitted to look like a prototype racing pod, the unearthly roar of its engine and the frightful booming noise it was said to make gave rise to strange rumors about its true purpose.

At the command of Captain Simon Thomas, the armored guards split up into two even lines, laser spears at the ready, facing the doors of the majestic machine. The Royal Guard was comprised exclusively of fully conscious human conscripts. Androids could potentially be turned against the Queen, and those in
M-Gear
helmets shut down via EMP, often at the cost of their own lives, although Lillian would not kill needlessly.

“All scans clear. One life form detected. Chip reads ‘Gamma-03’.”

“Very well,” Queen Lorelei replied, and then shouted, “Report, General Lacie!”

She walked down the pathway towards the airship.

The small hatch popped open. A badly hurt woman emerged, limping but still managing to project absolute dignity. One of the newest guards up front did a double take. Beech understood. The man would have heard the rumors, but seeing it with one’s own eyes was something else entirely. The stories were absolutely true.

Rarely seen publicly, General Lacie,
Neo Eden’s
second-in-command, head of the military, and Beech’s commanding officer, was an exact replica of Queen Lorelei. The sisters may have been a few years apart and sported very different tastes in clothing, but on a physical level, they were absolutely indistinguishable. Supposedly every female in the family line shared the same facial structure, presumably as a result of intensive surgery, the point of which was anyone’s guess.

At her behest, Queen Lorelei’s manservant draped a blanket over General Lacie and guided her to the hovering gurney.

“You look terrible, dear,” the Queen began. “What do you need?”

“C-c-cold. I-I need medical attention,” Lacie said softly.

“Very well, my darling,” Queen Lorelei replied. “Leave us,” she said to the others, laying Lacie on the gurney with her own arms.

A confused General Beech saluted. “Y-yes, milady. Long live
Eden.
”

“Beech,” she called out.

“Ma’am?”

“Report to the Overseer. Wipe theirs and your memories of this event.”

▒

When Lacie awoke, the Queen had taken her a hundred and seventy levels up the
Spire
and into her private quarters, the most lavish in all of
Neo Eden
. Once they made it to the jade-lined sauna, the Queen undressed Lacie and helped her broken body into a rejuvenating hot tub that bubbled with a special batch of nano-machines and infused minerals. The microscopic bots went to work on healing her battered frame.

“Much better,” Lacie said, taking deep breaths of the hot air.

The tension in the room reached critical mass as Lorelei reflected on what Lacie must have felt all too well during her trip; that it had been some time since they last broke the unspoken rules and traveled forward, then backwards in time, an act of potential genocide the sisters were sworn never to do except in the direst of circumstances.