Stasis: A Will Vullerman Anthology (17 page)

He pulled up the security system of the facility and frowned. “Odd,” he murmured aloud. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. The core security coding was a common software, but it had been custom-modified, adding an amalgam of old and new technologies. There were security cameras in nearly every room; if something new so much as moved, the security system would be alerted. So why hadn't Will been found out yet?

Or had he?

“Computer,” Will said, keeping his voice low, “find the security administrator.”

“Administrator Designation: Ty,” the computer said. “Location processing.”

Then it showed the map of the facility again. “TY” registered in bright red letters beside a moving dot. And the dot was moving towards the room designated “Tech”.

Will gritted his teeth. Chances were, Ty already knew that Will had escaped, and was coming to recapture him.

Think! What did he need to know before he was discovered again? How could he defeat Jamin? What was Jamin's vulnerability?

Ty. Ty was Jamin's vulnerability. If it wasn't for Ty's cooperation, Jamin couldn't continue. So he held the possibility of mortality over Ty's head to keep him going.

Will found his way to the database and typed in “Ty”.

The screen read, “Search: 'Ty'. Search Results: 134.” The top result was a large file entitled “Ty: Annual Physiological and Psychological Report”. Will clicked on it.

It opened up into a spreadsheet. Will furrowed his brow. Sixty-three. Sixty-three years of information on Ty.

That meant that Ty had been down here with this madman for
sixty-three years.

Will went back to the main search and found other files on Ty, confirming his discovery: Ty was over seventy years old, but he acted like a normal human being. His internet history file—an automatically collected accumulation of internet data and trends—showed numerous downloads from Tchaikovsky to twenty-first century electronica to ancient TV shows.

Then, on a security file, he found an anomaly. There was a program glitch—common enough, but the coding seemed familiar.

Will blinked. It couldn't be.

Then he heard the door latch. He whirled around to find Ty standing in the doorway, his gun centimeters from Will's chest. “Smart, how you got out of there.” Ty had his coat bunched up in his other hand; he tossed it to the side. “I tried to warn Jamin, but he doesn't like to be contradicted. Besides, it's not like your escape made a difference.”

Will put his hands in the air. “Before you take me, let me ask you a question: did you know that Jamin has a hidden file on you?”

Ty shook his head. “I think you're stalling.”

“Then look at me, and tell me again that I'm stalling.” Will stared straight at Ty's face, his hands still raised in the air.

Ty's brow furrowed. “You're mistaken. I know every single file that's present on this computer. Immortality doesn't only come with physical enhancements, you see. It changed my mind. I have a greater capacity for learning than anyone else on this planet. I can learn anything I want, and I learned about tech. Built the security system myself, even, and I saw by your browsing history that you checked it out. Impressed?”

“Impressed.” Will glanced over at the computer. “So let me clarify. You know everything that that computer knows?”

“Yes.”

“But what if the computer itself doesn't know what files it has on it? What if there's a glitch...and what if there's a file hidden inside the glitch?”

Ty frowned. “How would you know?”

“Because I know something you don't. There's a certain type of encryption programming that was developed in America. It makes the file look like a glitch. I was the first one to find it.” Will lowered his hands. “And I saw that same encryption on the computer. Do you want to find out what's inside it? I have the data necessary to break the glitch in my comm's memory.”

For a moment, Ty hesitated. Then he reached in his pocket with his free hand and drew out Will's comm. “No tricks.” He tossed the comm to Will. “This changes nothing. You're still coming with me after you open this file. Got it?”

Will shrugged and caught the comm. “I don't have much of a choice, do I?”

Ty gestured with the gun. “There's a comm port on the right side of the screen. Break the glitch and open the file.”

Will connected the comm to the computer and accessed the programming memory. He selected one of the American files and used it on the computer glitch.

The computer screen went blank for a moment, and then a video filled the screen. All it showed was a blank wall, and the computer said: “Date Stamp: June 16, 2124.” The video buffered for a moment...and then an image of Ty appeared. He looked younger, with his hair cut close to his head and his eyes a lighter brown.

Ty lowered his gun, his eyes wide. “I don't remember this.”

Then the video started:

“I don't know what to call this,” the younger Ty said. “A journal entry, maybe. At least this video recorder Jamin gave me for my birthday is coming in handy somehow. Anyway, I'm in my room, and I'm leaving tonight. Jamin never said whether I was allowed to leave or not, but I'm...scared. I don't know what he'll do. But I'm scared that he'll find me again, if I try to go away.”

The younger Ty paused, ran a hand through his hair. “He told me last year, about why I'm different. Why I'm smarter than everyone else and why I never get sick. People were starting to notice, so we moved into this old laboratory. But I hate it here. He said that it's my only chance of becoming normal, that maybe he'll find a way to make me human. But...” Ty closed his eyes. “I looked through his files last night. He thinks I read too much to be clever with tech, but he's wrong. I unencrypted a file he had on the possibility of reversing my...problem. I found out that it's impossible.”

Ty's voice thickened, and he bit his lip. “If he gave me an infusion to make me mortal again, my cells would reproduce too quickly to take hold, and the mortal cells would die out. The only thing that can kill me is some sort of fatal violence or quick-reacting poison. My body would heal everything else. I can't ever become normal.”

The video was interrupted by the sound of Ty's gun clattering to the floor, but Will couldn't tear his gaze away from the screen.

Tears slid down the younger Ty's face. He sniffed, his breathing thick. “But what I'm trying to say is, I just want to record why I'm doing this. In case my body's ever found or something, if I die. Or maybe to remind the future me of why I ran away. I'll protect the file so that Jamin can't delete it.”

Ty took in a deep breath. “I am Tyler Wayne Smith. I love music. I love stories. I love old TV shows. The only reason I ever stayed with Jamin was because I wanted to be normal. I shouldn't have even done that. He was turning me into something I don't want to be—he tried to make me a genius. I don't want to be a genius. I want to be a normal person who feels everything a normal person feels—sorrow and pain and joy and love. I want love, and I'll never find that here. You see, it's not what I am that makes me inhuman. It's what Jamin is turning me into.”

The computer beeped. “Video ends.”

Will's stomach twisted, and his heart was heavy in his chest.

“I remember,” Ty said, his voice hoarse. He stared at the blank screen, tears streaking his cheeks and his hands limp at his side. “I remember now. I ran away. I was nearly to the surface when Jamin caught me. He gave me an infusion—temporary amnesia. And I never remembered.” He caught himself on the door frame, his knuckles white. “What have I done? What have I become?”

“I'm sorry.” Will swallowed hard. “I'm really sorry.”

“And look what I was about to do, what I've done all these years.” Ty took in a shuddering breath. “I was about to take you to Jamin, to allow him to kill you like he's killed dozens of others. What sort—what sort of a monster has he made me into?” He slid backwards against the wall to the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest and his head in his hands. Silent sobs racked his frame.

Then, something beeped. Ty dashed the tears from his cheeks with one hand, sitting upright. “That's my touchpad,” he muttered. “Jamin's still waiting.” He stood to his feet, keeping one hand on the wall. He wiped his face on his shirt. “Enough. We've got to get out. Even if there was a cure for my immortality, I should never have stayed here and allowed this to happen.”

He stepped away from the wall and took in a deep breath. “There's an exit into the city, but we have to hurry. Jamin may look like he's crazy, but his mind is sharper than yours, and he can still hold a gun.”

Will shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but as he did the ground rumbled, and Will felt a vibration in the floor.

"What was that?" Ty staggered over to the computer and steadied himself on the wall. The vibration was stronger now, and an old comm slid off of a hard drive and clattered to the floor. He examined the computer screen and pulled up a line of numbers. “The reading shows massive vibration all over the facility—but how? It's almost like an—”

“Earthquake,” Will said suddenly. “Above-ground, I had an alert on my comm. There's an earthquake that was supposed to happen in the next twenty-four hours.”

“It's been at least that long.” Ty powered down the computer and snatched his coat off of the floor, scooping up his gun as well. “We've got to book it.”

Will ran out the door and halted in the hall. “Wait! Where's Rolvo being kept? We have to get him first.”

"Are you insane?" Ty grabbed Will by the arm, pulling him back. "If Jamin gets wind of this, he'll shoot us both. I may be immortal, but I'm not bulletproof.
And
there's an earthquake coming. We can't lollygag."

"Look, Ty." Will turned toward Ty and gave him a glare. "There's something you need to learn about me. I never give in. I never give up. And I
never
leave my men behind. Got it?"

Ty released Will. “Jamin's there, where your friend is. But he's expecting you anyway. I'll tell him the truth—I caught you trying to escape. If I can get close enough, I'll use my stun rod on him, and we'll make a run for it. But first...” Ty removed a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. “I have to make my story substantial. Sorry. I'll put the key in your back pocket in case you need to get out of them on your own.”

Will shook his head. “It's fine. Do it quickly—we're running low on time.”

Ty handcuffed Will quickly, gave him the key, and then prodded him in the back with his gun. “I'll tell you where to go. Hurry.”

A minute later, the hallway emptied into a room a little larger than a bedroom. The left wall was lined with shelves of vials. A large coffin-sized steel machine took up the majority of the room, polished and sinister. Green lights blinked on the front, with a blinding number of buttons and levers springing up on the right side like weeds.

Jamin stood beside the machine, scowling at a screen on the wall. He turned and glared at Ty and Will. “You're late.”

"I caught him escaping, but I stunned him long enough to snap a pair of handcuffs on him. He's here, anyway, as you ordered. What are you going to do with him?"

Jamin shrugged. "I wanted an audience. You're no good for shock and applause."

"I lost the ability with age." Ty glanced back at Will. "So you're not using him for an experiment?"

“No, I'm finished with experiments, boy. Finished!" Jamin laughed, his laugh hacking and coarse. "I've done it, boy!"

Done it? Will swallowed. Done what?

"So is our other prisoner in your immortality box?"

Jamin abruptly stopped cackling and squinted at Ty. "What's left of him. He's better now. I don't know how his mind is, but physically, he's as good as he was in youth. If he has your sense of humor, though, he'll be sorry company."

Rolvo? Will pressed his lips together, and concentrated on the deep, quiet thrum of the steel box. Was Rolvo inside that glowing chunk of metal—alive?

"So you've ruined another man?" Ty crossed his arms.

Jamin snorted and wagged a finger at Ty. "Don't forget what I've done for you, boy." Jamin turned back to the steel box and laughed again, his laugh high-pitched and hysterical-sounding. "But here...here is the victory! I've done it, boy. I've reversed age and perpetuated youth and healed all old scars."

Jamin pulled a lever, and the end of the steel canister opened up like double doors, pulling back and revealing two bare feet. A thin stretcher eased out of the box and then halted once the entire body was visible.

It was the body of a young man, short, stocky, with dark hair. Will didn't recognize him, and his heart fell. It wasn't Rolvo. He could see the side of the man's head—smooth skin and thick hair. Hardly bald.

And then the man's head lolled to one side, and Will saw the man's face. Deep-set eyes closed, as if in sleep, and a wide forehead, a thin nose. A young face.

Rolvo's face.

Will reeled. Rolvo was alive!

But Ty's words echoed in Will's mind:
Chances are, you'll never see your friend again. And if you do see him, he won't be the man you once knew.

Ty's real voice broke into Will's reverie. "Is he dead?"

"You're so funny, boy." Jamin hobbled forward and examined Rolvo. "He's not dead, but he won't wake up for a while. I've already prepared several vials of formula. It's time to pack up and take my secret to the world, boy. As for your prisoner, he's useless, and he didn't even remark on how brilliant I am.”