Tesla: A Teen Steampunk/Cyberpunk Adventure (Tesla Evolution Book 1) (27 page)

Sebastian could feel the power around him. It lifted him, filled him with a sense of joy and wonder, and renewed him from moment to moment. He felt anything was possible and he was invincible. He focused his mind.
 

Behind him was the blazing inferno of extreme light that was the battery store. In front, he could see the outline of everything, near and far. He focused on the apple. Its weight was immeasurable. It was so heavy and so concentrated he felt like his body was being pushed into the ground.

Nikola’s expression changed from expectation to amazement. He wrapped his hand around the invisible apple. He could feel it, its firmness. He held it to his nose and sniffed.
 

“No smell,” he said. He held it to his mouth and slowly bit into it. There was the sound of crunching.
 

He looked back at the test apple. It was still there, whole.
 

He spat the piece out of his mouth. “I assume that shows that it doesn’t matter where the electrons go. You could, in essence, convert the electron apple into any shape you wanted as long as you used the same number of electrons.”

The test apple dissolved. A look of panic spread over Nikola’s face as he realized he was the one with a handful of energy. He threw it in the air just as Sebastian stopped concentrating. There was a loud zapping sound as the electrons earthed into both of them.

“That may be something you can work on,” Nikola said. “See if you can absorb the power or something.”

“Why didn’t that hurt? Why is this electricity different?”

“I have no idea, but the power in the batteries is being generated by the turbine. It’s renewable energy. The cyborgs use radioactivity, sort of in the same way that you do, but it decays.”
 

Nikola suddenly pulled himself up, looking worried. “Think of it this way. This is positive,” he said, placing his hand on the cage. Electricity jumped from it onto his hand. “Ow!” He looked at Sebastian. “And you’re negative. It’s like opposing magnets. You attract each other and the power flows, making you stronger. With the radioactivity, it’s like two positives or negatives. It’s conflict, a death match, where one of you will be repelled. There can only be one.”

“Let’s go.” Sebastian took a step forward, but his foot failed to meet the ground. He toppled forward into Nikola’s arms, revealing the dials behind him. They had dropped to nearly half.
 

Nikola fetched the lantern out of the alcove and the cavern went dark. He pulled the lever, and there was the vague smell of gas in the air.
 

They made their way up the stairs until they emerged into the fading light of the day. The remains of the buildings around the square had their lights on, making it look like a fairyland.

“You’ve given me a lot to think about,” Nikola told Sebastian. He ran his palm over his stubble. After a thoughtful moment he said, “Best if you don’t tell anyone you can do that. Not yet, anyway.”

And you’ve given me much to think about, too, Sebastian though.
 

A soldier ran over and handed a silver disk to Nikola. He saluted and ran off. Sebastian craned to see what the disk was.

“I’ve been summoned,” Nikola said. “Number Two’s been asking questions, which only I can answer, it appears.” He slipped the disk in his pocket.

“Has anyone ever met Number Two?” Sebastian asked.

“You have to be very special to have that honor.”

“Are you?”

Nikola smiled. “Everybody’s special.” He turned and strode across the square.
 

Sebastian watched him go, closely observing where he went. Nikola disappeared into the administration building. Sebastian watched and waited. On the fourth floor, one of the lights went dark as a curtain was drawn in front of it.
 

Fourth floor, thought Sebastian. Maybe that’s where Number Two is. So what’s on five and six?

34

IT WAS DARK. Sebastian had found dark clothing that didn’t smell too bad, and had suited up for the expedition. He met Isaac down by the ruins of the tesla school.
 

“What on earth are you wearing?”
 

“Camouflage clothing,” Isaac said.

“You know we’re going into a building, not hiding in a forest?”

“Yes.”

“You probably don’t need the branches or leaves. Or the owl sitting on your head.”

“It took me ages to get this disguise together.”

“I promise if we ever need to sneak into a forest somewhere, you’ll be the first person I take.”

Reluctantly, Isaac removed his supplementary disguise layers and dumped them on the ground.
 

They made their way through the quiet streets. Most of the street lanterns were out, leaving the alleyways dark and ominous. Isaac kept closely in step behind Sebastian, trying not to look too worried.
 

“I’m surprised you’re still here,” Sebastian whispered as they waited at an intersection for a slow-moving guard to wander by.

“I sent word, but the communication lines were badly damaged. I only heard that my parents are on their way yesterday. But it’s a long way to come, especially without the express train, so I’m stuck for a week or more.”

“I thought they would’ve fixed the train by now.”
 

“Who knows what’s been going on in the outside world? It’s been so intense here over the last few months it’s easy to forget that there
is
an outside. Do you think those cyborgs have been attacking other places?”

“I hope not,” Sebastian said. “That would mean there are a lot of them. Shh, there’s the building.”

Isaac gulped nervously. Sweat was already pouring off him, even though the night had cooled. As they approached the city square, the tower loomed over them. Sebastian had been in it over a hundred times but he still had little understanding of what went on inside the building other than on the floors he had visited. Tonight that would change.

He checked to see if anyone was around, then the two walked as quickly as they could over to the tower.
 

Sebastian turned to Isaac. “You stay out in front of the room and keep watch. If anyone comes, make some kind of noise.”

“Like an owl?”

“What is it with you and this forest obsession?”

“There’s no obsession. I like owls.”

“Do you see many owls around us?”

“It’s not the season.”

“There’s no owl season. They come out at night. Just cough or something. Or say hello loudly.”

Isaac gasped. “I’ve never been in the tower of power. It’s kind of like seeing the principal, but much worse.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. Just follow me.”

Sebastian opened the front door and they crept in. It was dark, making the narrow, twisting staircase treacherous. That day’s heavy rain had fallen through the holes in the roof and flooded down the stairs, adding slipperiness to the list of dangers. They tiptoed their way up. The first two levels were dark and quiet, with the doors shut and fastened with large locks.
 

A soft glow came from the third story. The door was partially open. Sebastian spied Nikola behind his desk transcribing away. Nikola took a sip from his mug and kept writing.

Isaac, distracted by the lights outside the window, bumped into the back of Sebastian. He gasped. Sebastian held his finger to his lips, signifying that Isaac should keep quiet or risk being thrown out the window.
 

Nikola glanced up, but continued with his work almost immediately. They heard the sound of his pen scratching across the paper.
 

Sebastian turned and continued up the next flight of stairs. A few steps before the door he turned to Isaac. “Stay here and keep your eyes open,” he whispered.

Isaac nodded. He turned and leapt into the position of a crouching tiger before overbalancing and knocking against the wall.

“Quietly!” Sebastian hissed.

“Sorry.”

Sebastian examined the lock on the door. He cleared his mind and focused on the mechanism. He felt the weight and alignment of the cogs, and concentrated. They slowly turned, and with the most delicate of clicks the lock opened. He eased open the door and crept in.

Inside was a room of luxury. Heavy tapestries covered the walls. The furniture was soft in both comfort and feel, and covered in deep, rich colors. A lantern was positioned on a large old desk. The chair behind it towered high and had some crazed head engraved on the back. He sat in it and was surprised to find a thick cushion, which was high enough to make his knees hit the underside of the desk. He turned the small knob on the lantern to the accompaniment of the barely perceptible sound of gas being released. The light from the lantern increased in intensity.
 

He tried the desk drawers, but they were all locked. He looked up and noticed that one of the tapestries sat awkwardly. He went over to examine it. He pulled back the heavy material and was surprised to see an alcove. Thick wooden shelves bolted to the wall supported hundreds of files.

He opened up the first file. It had an alphabetical list of people on the front page. He took an educated guess as to where he might be found among them, and picked out some of the folders. He quickly narrowed it down to the spot where he should be. He wasn’t there.

He searched through the folders on either side to see if there had been a filing error. It revealed no further clues. He put the folders away. He was about to step out and go back to the desk when a red folder at the back of the alcove caught his attention. It was much slimmer than the others. On the cover was written PERSONS OF INTEREST.

He opened it up. Page one had someone called Joshua Richards. Sebastian’s mind flicked back to the statue out in the square. They said Joshua changed everything. Everyone had been in a dream and Joshua had woken them up. He stood against the technology and created a new path for civilization. He created the Steam Academy. It was because of Joshua that humankind had survived.

Sebastian finished reading the page but that was where the information on Joshua ended. He flicked through the pages. He recognized several names from history lessons at school. He zoomed to the last page. It was a new page compared to the others. On the top of the page was his name.

Sebastian:
 

Origin:
Evolution (West-15)

Location:
Unknown

Parents:
Father (foster) Alex (inert/deceased)

Mother Isabelle (2nd gen)

Factor:
Tesla (M-class) Extremely dangerous (determine alignment before termination).

Shows signs of disloyalty. Questions authority. Unreliable. Could do better in class.
 

Always with the could-do-better-in-class comment, he thought. When I’m king I’ll ban that statement.

There were three pictures of him with the age written beneath. One, five, and the last looked like it was taken a few months ago. It was a passing shot, which had him walking away looking back over his shoulder.
 

His eye was drawn back to the previous line.
Extremely dangerous
. Cool.

Then his eye was drawn to the top:
Father (foster).
 

His father wasn’t his father.

He placed the file back on the shelf, and in a half-dream walked out into the main room. He looked out the window. The view at this increased height was impressive.

“Good evening, darl. What are you doing up here?”

He was startled by the voice. “Oh, er, I was searching for Nikola. He told me to meet him on the third floor.”

“This is the fourth floor. But it’s a simple mistake to make. Even for a bright lad like you.”

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“Just cleaning.” She waved an old rag and a bottle of dirty water.

Sebastian turned around and looked out the great window, the wreckage from the battle still apparent against the skeleton of the city.

“There is so much destruction down there,” he said.

“It’s been a difficult number of days for everyone.”
 

He could see the ravens flying in and picking at the bodies of the cyborgs that hadn’t been cleared away. “The cyborgs are so different from us. It’s hard to fight against an enemy that isn’t afraid to die.”

“Just because they aren’t like us, it doesn’t mean they want to die. The cyborgs are people, like you and me, just trying to survive. They live in different conditions, almost in a different time. And are misguided by things they don’t understand.”

“Sometimes I feel
we’re
the ones living in the wrong time, being misguided by things we don’t understand,” Sebastian said. “Sometimes we seem so backward compared to them. But it seems like they’ve given up so much.”

“Maybe you’re the one who can bring balance. See both sides and take what’s good from both. Often there’s no right way, just a better way, and not all steps should be forward. That’s what the Reckoning taught us.”

“You’re very philosophical for a cleaner.”

“You get to see many interesting things up on these floors. It makes you think. I see the cyborgs struggle with the decisions they have to make. It’s not easy and it takes its toll. Anyway, Sebastian, it’s time you were running along. Mr. Nikola is downstairs.”

He left, and she smiled, waved, and watched him intently as he walked out the door.

Two steps down was Isaac. He was swiveling his head from side to side, looking suspiciously like he was impersonating an owl.

“Why didn’t you call out? Even make the stupid owl noise?” Sebastian hissed.

“There was no need.”

“But the old lady …”

“What old lady?”

“The one that came in the room. Did she come from the floor above?”

“No one came past. No one went in the door. I haven’t seen anyone. Maybe she was already in the room.”

Then another memory stabbed Sebastian. How had she known his name?

35

IN A BREAK with tradition, the dignitaries were meeting in the city hall. The debate continued to be heated and mainly about the opportunities to attack, but Thrown had been usurped by Isabelle. She was ferociously campaigning for an all-out attack, even suggesting they wait until reinforcements arrived. Nikola had been trying to calm her down, but she was unstoppable.