The Fourth Sage (The Circularity Saga) (47 page)

"Okay," Aries says.

I'm coming too,
Aries hears Born-of-Night think.

I want you to stay hidden. I might need you later on.

She gets up, looks at the drawing one more time.

"Ready?" she says.

"Ready," Mila answers.

They make it across their section of the city in thirty minutes, led by Mila's infallible knowledge of where they are at any given point in time. The idea to go against everything she knows and basically walk straight into the arms of their enemies, as logical as it felt when she first thought it, now becomes more and more questionable. The plan that is beginning to form within her seems nearly impossible to implement. There are too many variables—factors that are solely based on how other parts play out, parts that are in all likelihood figments of a childish imagination.

They enter a narrow building from the back, walk through dark rooms and past a large hearth and deteriorating furniture. Aries thinks about how long ago the last fire had burned in there and what had made the inhabitants leave this place. Then they reach the doorway. From here, a wide, straight road leads directly toward the machine, about a mile in the distance. The surface of the street, together with the adjoining buildings, glows in the golden light the machine emits. The moment Aries steps onto the road, Born-of-Night swoops down from one of the windows and lands on her shoulder.

"I told you to stay hidden," Aries says.

I know. That would be expected,
Born-of-Night answers.
To keep a trump card in your sleeve, an unknown factor you could use. Did you expect me to come to you?

"No," Aries says.

Good. That means they probably won't either.

Mila takes Aries’s hand as they walk in the center of the street toward the machine. From down here, it looks even more imposing. The center blade turns slowly around its three-dimensional axis. In front of it, Aries can see the dark lines of the androids on either side. The huts in the center look bigger than they did through the hawk’s perspective. There is a commotion, figures running and moving, but it's too far for Aries to see what's going on.

Where are you?
She hears Max's faint thoughts within her.

Max!
she thinks.
Are you okay?

I don't know. I can't see anything. They put some kind of a bag over my head. Where are you?

I'm on my way to you... Max? Can you hear me—?

That's not a good idea. I think they are torturing Sam and if you come here, they'll have even more leverage than they already do.

Why would they torture Sam? He doesn't know that much.
The mere thought of it makes Aries’s chest hurt.

No. But Amber does and she's the one they want to talk.

Aries's thoughts go in circles.
Do you know where you are?

No. I'm assuming we're inside somewhere, but I can't be sure. And we must be pretty close to the machine, judging by the humming.

Is there anything else you can tell me?

I don't think so. I was unconscious this whole time.

Max, can you see where we are?
Mila asks.

You can hear me?
Max asks.

Yes. I can. I've been able to hear you for a while now,
Mila answers.
Can you see where we are?

Yes.

And we think you're ahead of us in one of the huts.

Okay. Something's happening—

"Max? Max!
Max
!" her voice echoes eerily through the empty street. "This wasn't a good idea," Aries says. "We shouldn't have come here."

"There's no way of knowing this," Mila says. "We're here now and we can't go back."

"We could still run."

"I don't think so," Mila says. "I didn't want to alarm you, but..."

"But what?"

Mila turns her head to look behind them. Aries does the same. About a hundred meters away and twenty meters up, a drone hovers in the center between the buildings. The rhythmic stomping sound reaches them at the same moment Aries sees the androids come marching toward them.

"Your enemy's upon you," Aries says.

"He comes for you in strides," Mila says, squeezing Aries's hand. Aries can see in her eyes that she has held it together for a long time, but is now close to breaking down. Then the androids reach them, surrounding them on all sides. They don't do anything. They match their speed, making sure they have nowhere to go but in the direction they’re leading them.

We have to destroy the machine,
Aries thinks.

How?

I have no idea.

The closer they come to the machine, the more details are visible. The material of the pillars on either side seems to be the same as the tower—polished black stone. The engravings, the symbols that reach from the bottom all the way to the top of the pillars, are laced in gold. The sheer power emanating from the machine is staggering. But Aries realizes that this power is not threatening. It's almost... peaceful. The rotation of the center blade creates an ever-changing pattern of light that doesn't hurt her eyes even though it should be blinding by any measure. Who or whatever built this must have had knowledge beyond anything even remotely comprehensible.

The androids in front of them part, leaving a narrow, straight path from them toward the huts. There are people ahead—humans, judging by how they move. And then she sees the plate. Deep black and raised about a foot off the ground, the slab is much larger than she thought it would be. When they are about a hundred feet from it, three figures come toward them from the huts. The androids in front reach the plate, stop, and turn to face it. The three figures—a woman in the center and two men on either side—stop a few feet from the plate on the opposite side. The woman gestures Aries to stop. They now stand equidistant from the plate.

"We didn't expect you to come," the woman says. Aries and Mila exchange a brief glance. The woman's dark hair is tightly bound into a bun. "But how rude of me to speak to you without introducing myself. I am Dr. Marjory Veneira, Director of Corporate Education. And you must be Aries. It is very nice to finally meet you in person. I have been so busy getting to know you through reports and files and all kinds of data that we have collected, that I'm very glad to be able to see firsthand what all the fuss is about." She smiles widely. "If you were to get to know me, which unfortunately you won't, you would know that I am not one for chitchat. So, allow me to come straight to the point."

She nods to the man next to her, who turns to one of the androids. "Bring them," he says. The android doesn't move at all. But a few moments later, one of the huts opens and Sam appears. He is being held up by two E-9s, one on either side of him. His face is bruised and his bald head is covered in blood. He is semiconscious. Aries squeezes Mila's hand.

"You will see that what you have brought upon your friends is serious. This is not a game. You are responsible for what they have gone through and will continue to go through once we are finished. Just so we are clear, we are acting fully within the parameters laid out by corporate rules and regulations as to how to identify, interrogate, and finally punish a traitor to the common good. For us to reestablish order, we must know exactly what has occurred and how much damage has been done. For that purpose, it is my duty to apply any means necessary to find out everything you know."

Dr. Veneira nods again. C.J. and Tevis, their hands tied behind their backs, are led out of the hut and toward them. When Aries sees the bruises on their faces, she starts to cry. Mila takes a step toward them, but Aries holds her back. When Aries looks at her and sees the pain in her face, it seems as if the whole world is falling to its knees inside her. From Mila, she looks at Tevis, who holds back her own tears.

Seth, Kiire, and Jeremiah are led out next. Seth can barely walk and holds on to Kiire's shoulder. The next android that emerges pulls Max behind him. He's not moving, and when the android reaches the others he drops him on the ground, where he lies motionless. Then there is a scream from inside the hut. The cloth parts and two androids carry Amber. She struggles to escape her captors, but to no avail.

"Look at them! Look at each one of them," Dr. Veneira says. "You will have to live with this for the rest of your life. And don't think we will end it here. No. We will make sure you'll live. You. Not them. You will spend the rest of your life in prison, the one that you walked through so carelessly, without respect for the institution and the function it fulfills. No. You will live in a cell. As for your friends, you will only see them on a screen in front of you. How they suffered and died in the end because of your stubbornness. That will be your entertainment."

Aries only half listens to what she is saying.

"Ty, where is Ty?" she asks.

"Excuse me?" Dr. Veneira says.

"Where is Ty?" Aries says, louder this time.

Before the woman speaks again, Aries sees it in Tevis's face, sees it in her eyes. There is no judgment in them. Only pain.

"It's not true. It's not true. Tell me it's not true!" Aries says.

"Unfortunately it is," Dr. Veneira says. "Tybault Hennrichsen died at the age of seventy-one. On the foot of the slopes of some crater he had no business entering. He could have had another ten years at least. You know that he was about to retire when you came to Electrical? He had a month left on his contract, but after you’d been there for a few weeks he applied for a renewal for another four years. Less pay, of course. We allowed it. And that's what you did. Destroyed a man's life. A man you professed to love. Your mentor and friend."

Aries feels cold all of a sudden. As if she’s jumped from a large boat into icy waters and the boat is slowly pulling away.

"What do you want?" Aries asks.

"We want you to not have to look at your friend's deaths over and over when you're in prison. We want to spare you the... pain of that. Instead we want you to convince your friends here to tell us what the symbols mean. We want you to make your friends understand that they and you will be better off if you tell us."

Where Marjory Veneira was calm before, she now appears increasingly agitated. Aries glances at Amber, who gives her head a barely perceptible shake.

"The truth is, we don't know what the symbols mean. We've tried to figure it out ourselves," Amber says.

"But you must know something."

"Yes. We know something."

"And?"

"If we help you, will you let them go?"

For a moment, there is silence. The patterns created by the machine's blade in the background behind Dr. Veneira have an almost hypnotic effect on Aries. She tries to concentrate but her eyes keep getting pulled upward and toward it.

Conduit.

Born-of-Night, did you hear that?

No.

I didn't hear anything either,
Mila replies in her thoughts.

"If you help us decipher the meaning on the pillars and the plate," Dr. Veneira continues, "we will take their efforts into consideration, yes."

"I want them to be set free," Aries says. "With no repercussions for them whatsoever."

"You can state no demands here!"
Dr. Veneira screams. After a few moments, she continues, calmer this time. "We are extending a courtesy to you in considering their cooperation, but that is as far as we are willing to go. This is
not
a negotiation."

I need to leave you for a while,
Aries hears Born-of-Night think.
Can you tell them not to shoot at me?

Will you let my bird go?
Aries can feel the knot in her stomach when she asks this.

Dr. Veneira makes a gesture with her hand.

I think this means, “yes,”
Aries thinks.

Born-of-Night takes off, letting out a loud cry as she flies toward the machine. Then she turns in the air and toward the side, where she disappears behind a building.

What is it?
Aries asks.

Not sure yet but I'll let you know.

"I cannot make my friends tell you what to do," Aries says. "They have to decide for themselves if they wish to help you."

"But if they won't say anything they'll die, and you will have to watch it happen every day for as long as you live," Dr. Veneira says. "So, if they are your friends, as you so proclaim, they will have no problem telling us what we need to know."

"I will tell you," Amber says quietly.

Aries shakes her head no.

"I will tell you everything we know."