The Sky Drifter (28 page)

“You first, No Face,” I retorted, realizing I could no longer call him that. Despite the tough outer persona he wanted to convince me of, One’s eyes betrayed him. It was the same look of fear I’d seen in my own many times before.

“What are you,
scared
?”

“
You
are, you mean.”

“This isn’t the time for a game. Get over here
now
!” The mysterious girl stood just beyond the door, a look of impatience and anger all over her face.

One and I briefly exchanged glances, still daring each other to go first. Sensing the growing fury emanating from the mysterious girl, I sighed and conceded to go first, hurrying ahead through the door as One smugly followed.

Beyond the door was a small arched passageway, leading to a room bathed in blue light and shadows. Directly ahead was a single door. On either side rows of display screens reached as high as the ceiling above, which was barely visible, and provided the room’s illumination. Left and right were further screens, below which control panels lined the walls.

The mysterious girl leaned above one of the control panels to my left as she furiously typed on its keypad.

“What
is
this?” exhaled One, looking around the room at the display screens with a disturbed expression.

I walked closer to the wall ahead, focusing on one of the screens. Shocked and perplexed by what I saw, I turned my attention to another screen, then another, and another. Every one of them showed a different part of the
Sky Drifter
from various angles. There was Shabli’s, various parts of town, classrooms, and the academy canteen, the stadium, locker rooms and arena. Even my quarters were displayed.

“
What is this
?” One cried suddenly, turning to face the mysterious girl. “Are you
spying
on us?” He glared at her with an intensity I’d never seen in my eyes.

The mysterious girl turned, her uneasy face solemn with regret, she dropped her eyes to stare at the floor ahead of her and said, “You’ve been watched since your births. Both of you.”

“What are you talking about?” spat One.

Furrowing her brow farther, the mysterious girl raised her eyes to look at us and speaking gravely said, “Everything you know is a lie. None of it is real. The
Sky Drifter
was created for you so a better understanding of your species could be achieved.” With an uncomfortable look on her face, she uttered, “I’m sorry.”

One stood motionless, his gaze still fixed on her. The dread that now replaced his anger mirrored my own as breath caught in my throat and I felt all the blood drain from my face.

“You’re lying.” He exhaled.

“We have to move,” said the mysterious girl, walking toward the small door. “It won’t be long before they try to contact your watchers and send someone to find out what’s happening.”

“I don’t believe you,” uttered One in a low voice. “You’re lying.”

“You can see for yourself I’m not,” replied the mysterious girl impatiently, nodding at the display screens. “Your every move has been watched, your every reaction and decision monitored and recorded. All so they could study and learn from you.”

“Who’s ‘they?’” I asked, struggling to keep my last shred of composure. I wanted nothing more than to scream, to fall to my knees and cry, but more than that, I wanted the answers to questions that had plagued me ever since I’d first seen the girl with the red coat, which now seemed like an age ago.

“You know them as the Morex,” replied the mysterious girl, “but I don’t know if that’s the true name of their species.”

“The Morex?” I repeated disbelievingly. “One’s friends are behind all this?” I just couldn’t understand how that was possible or even likely.

“Yes and no. The two you’re accustomed to were incorporated into the simulation to watch and guide One. They weren’t part of the program, but researchers on a team and part of the species responsible for what happened to you both.

“You’re lying!” cried One, suddenly spinning to face her with clenched hands, revealing the tears that flowed down his face.

“I wish I were,” solemnly replied the mysterious girl, turning back to face the door. “We have to go.”

All of a sudden, One charged at her, shouting, “Take me back right now!” Before he could do anything, the mysterious girl had spun round, grabbed his shoulders and slammed him against the wall.

“
Look
,” she cried abruptly. “I know this is an impossible truth to believe, but you
must.
Once they learn you’ve fled, they’ll search the entire ship and
kill
you
and
me for freeing you. In fact, I suspect that was already their intention. Do you
understand
?” The mysterious girl looked from One to me with knitted brow as he merely gazed blankly back, tears streaming from his eyes.

I didn’t know if I could trust her or not. What little I knew of her didn’t inspire a lot of faith. It seemed to me I didn’t have a choice but to play along and follow her as she wanted. If there was a truth to all she said, that would be the way to find out. I nodded and walked a couple of steps forward to show I was ready to go.

Without waiting for an answer from him, the mysterious girl simply said, “Good,” and let go of One, heading once again toward the door.

I glanced at him, who was still gazing vacantly ahead, no doubt lost in his troubled mind. As I looked, though, I had to force myself to remember who I saw was One and not a mirror image of myself. In that moment, he no longer was the object of my hatred. If what the mysterious girl said was true, none of what he and I had gone though was real, and had all been by design. If that was the case, I couldn’t hold a grudge over him. Besides, we both found ourselves in the same bizarre situation, together on the cusp between reality and illusion.

“Come on,” I said softly. Without saying a word, One stepped away from the wall and walked automatically to the door, which the mysterious girl had just opened.

A thin veil of white mist enhanced and reflected blinking red lights ahead. Stepping though behind the mysterious girl, I saw we’d entered a long, wide tunnel whose floor, walls, and curved ceiling were intermittently illuminated by small, slow-moving, insect-like creatures with long, spindly legs. The white and red lights themselves came from their large, spherical behinds, which were disproportionate to their thin, stick-like front halves.

Among them, and hanging from the ceiling, were the same mossy blobs I’d seen in the dome, each  pulsating as they puffed white smoke from their various orifices.

“What
are
these things?” I asked, trying to avoid touching their hanging, mossy strands that hung from the ceiling.

“Don’t worry about them,” replied the mysterious girl. “Their purpose is to provide the air we’re breathing.”

“The air we’re breathing?” I repeated, confused.

“They feed on dark matter and excrete oxygen, which is the mist you can see.”

“Wait,” I began, suddenly feeling queasy, “do you mean…What we’re breathing in is…”

“Yes, it is.”

I fell silent, trying in vain to hold my breath as much as possible.

We reached the end of the tunnel, whose door hissed open, revealing a great space beyond. Multi-level platforms ran vertically along the cylindrical wall above and below the one on which we stood with walkways criss-crossing from one side to the other at various angles. The encircling wall was a mix of glistening dark metal and gray stone. Red and yellow vines hung at various points with the ever-present mossy blobs pumping out their white mist, veiling the entire area, making it hard to see very far. The only source of light came from the same insect-like things I’d encountered in the tunnel moments before, which slowly crawled around the entire area in their hundreds.

As soon as the door closed behind us, the mysterious girl stopped and extended her arms to either side across our chests, barring our way, and hastily surveyed the area. Pre-empting the question that formed in my mind, she said, “There are no guards, but this is a widely used walkway leading to various areas, so we must proceed with caution.”

I looked at One, who stared unblinkingly ahead. It’s difficult to admit, but the evident distress he suffered made it easier for me to move forward. It made me feel stronger. I didn’t understand it then, but seeing my own face furrowed and pathetic, gave me the courage I needed to fight against it. Despite that, an unexpected compulsion caused me to place my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. I’d expected One to shrug it off immediately, but to my surprise, he didn’t.

“Let’s go,” instructed the mysterious girl as she sneaked along the right path, keeping close to the wall.

I’d started to follow her when I noticed One hadn’t moved from where he was, so I quickly walked back, and placing one hand on his arm and one on his shoulder, directed him forward.  Moments later, the mysterious girl, who maintained a vigilant eye, stepped away from the wall and onto one of the many criss-crossing walkways leading to a higher platform on the other side.

Just as we had started walking across it behind her, a sudden hissing sound came from farther along the platform we’d just been standing on.

With quicksilver speed, she turned and forced us both to the floor, pinning us in place. “Shh,” she uttered, squinting ahead.

I turned my head in time to see a faint figure walking slowly along in the opposite direction we’d just been heading. Its body and shape were distorted and mostly veiled by the dim, flickering light and mist. It moved slowly and steadily through the shadows as repetitive muffled clangs echoed with its every step. Soon, it passed us, and I heard another hissing sound coming from around the door we’d used first enter the area.

The mysterious girl spat a word in a language I didn’t understand, and said, “We haven’t much time. We must hurry.”

She grabbed my hand and hurriedly led me forward along the black metallic walkway. Luckily, I had just enough time to grab hold of One’s arm and pull him along. He still appeared dazed, and would probably have remained there had I not done so.

“Was that one of them?” I asked in a loud whisper, already knowing the answer I’d receive.

“It was,” replied the mysterious girl simply without looking back.

“What’s going to happen? What will they do? What do they want?” A flurry of questions escaped my lips like steam from a boiling pot. There hadn’t been time, but I—we—had been promised answers, and I was going to make sure I got them.

“I already told you,” began the mysterious girl as we hurried along the walkway in tandem. “They’ll try to kill us upon seeing your escape, as you’ll no longer be of use to them. They sought to learn from you—your habits, tendencies, thought processes—to better understand your species and reap from it. When early in your life you showed a natural ability for strategy, it was suggested to them that they use you as advisor for battles they fought against your race. The perspective of a Simian, to them, was invaluable.”

“
What
?” I couldn’t digest or process what I’d heard. Like a cluster bomb, hundreds of further questions and conflicting emotions exploded around inside my mind, drowning in each other’s voices.
“Do you mean. . ?” I began, unable to finish as I felt light-headed again.

“Yes, Seven. The strategy classes were real. The enemy you fought was, in reality, your own kind.”

My legs faltered and I tried to stop, but the mysterious girl, increasing her grip on my hand, pulled me harder, and I continued with One, who still ran silently behind. I looked back at him, surprised at his lack of response, but saw he was still lost in his mind as he gazed through me.

Turning my head to face forward again, I asked, “What about One?”

I wanted to know if he’d been used in the same way to eradicate his own species. Had he secretly been led to believe he received private strategy classes? Most importantly, however, was the question that burned inside my mind—why did he look exactly like me?

I looked hopefully ahead at the mysterious girl as she half-turned to face me, and with regretful eyes, she began, “One is—”

A shrill alarm cleaved the misty, stifling air, resounding all around the large, cylindrical area.

“
Damn
,” spat the mysterious girl, squeezing my hand even tighter. “
Run
!”

We dashed down the last of the walkway, and reaching the higher platform continued hurriedly along it. With still no attackers in sight, we stopped abruptly beside yet another door. As the mysterious girl punched a series of buttons on a control pad next to it, One brushed my hand off his arm.

I looked around at him. He smiled earnestly and mouthed the words,
“I’m okay. Thanks
.”

Once open, we ran inside another dimly lit tunnel with the mysterious girl still grasping my hand and One closely following. Whatever had happened inside his mind, he now appeared to have regained his senses and seemed to be the same guy I’d known aboard the
Sky Drifter
, and for the first time I was glad about it.

“
THIS WAY
!”
cried the mysterious girl, her voice echoing through the dark steel corridors as we ran.

I kept looking back to make sure One was still keeping pace with us. I found myself worrying he might slip back into a daze and fall behind. Even as I looked at him, I still hadn’t been able to digest the fact he was like my double. It was hard to believe that he and I had faced each other inside the sphere not so long ago. I felt the sting of the fresh cuts and bruises he’d given me when still he wore his mask and he was nothing more than just an annoying thorn in my side. How far away that now seemed.

As he ran, I started seeing him in a different light. To me, he wasn’t the One I’d known any-more. I didn’t know what it was yet, but there was a definite link between us beyond that of our mirrored faces. If only we could find a quiet place, I’d insist the mysterious girl tell us what our connection was.