The Unfinished World (The Armor of God Book 2) (11 page)

“The red line is a neural link,” she said. “It only exists between a Synchronization Capsule and its matched Creux, never . . .
never
between two Creuxen.”

“You mean there was a neural link between Alice and Akiva?”

“No.” Rebecca looked away from the computer. “Not Akiva: Milos Ravana.”

She felt a sudden tightness in her stomach. Had she solved the mystery behind the explosion? Had Milos Ravana deliberately killed Alice—?

“It caused the overcharge in the core, the explosion,” Rebecca whispered, and began moving out of the chamber. “I need to go.”

Vivian grabbed her by the arm. “Wait, where are you going? How could this happen—was it an accident? How did no one in here notice that?”

Something far stronger than Vivian’s grip was drawing Rebecca away from the chamber. She stepped out of the room and walked back to the hallway, leaving Vivian alone.

Heart racing, feeling suddenly in the presence of some great unknown danger, and unbearably alone, Vivian walked back to the computer hoping to shut it down, and leave. The red line had appeared for only one second, and then she saw Absolute Omega’s diamond disappear.

That was the moment when Alice Nolan died, assimilated into Absolute Omega.

Vivian gasped when something suddenly pressed against the small of her back. Like the muzzle of a pistol.

“She caught us like this. Kat.
Blam
.”

It was Tessa.

Vivian didn’t want to move, but it was a reflex that made her turn. Tessa was standing just inches behind her, her left hand simulating a gun, her right leaning on a crutch. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just going to ask that. I was looking for you, wanted to see if you wanted to have lunch together. I just saw Rebecca run out of here like she saw a ghost.” Vivian caught Tessa’s eyes wander behind her, at the computer screen. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Vivian lied, and she wasn’t sure why. “I was looking for something, but it’s not here.”

“Don’t linger on what’s past, Viv,” she said. “I’ve been doing that for weeks, and it’s almost
killed
me. So—”

She paused.

“Lunch?”

Chapter 6

A City Under Dusk

With the roar of machinery coming to life
, everything shifted under his feet, and Ezra fell. After losing his balance, he felt his back sliding off a smooth piece of Lazarus’ armor. Then, when his shoulder hit another piece, he was sent spinning off, and then all he could see was the grassy floor beneath rushing up to him.

The expected crash that would snap his neck or spine didn’t come, and when Ezra opened his eyes, he was looking up at the dark, cloudy sky. He sat up, heart still beating fast, and saw he was looking at the jagged horizon from even higher than before.

He turned around and saw the glowing orange eyes of a giant devil.

It was Lazarus, standing high above the island, holding Ezra in its open palm. Ezra felt his knees weaken, legs taken over by vertigo and fear induced by the Creux’s mask and the height in which he was being held. His legs collapsed, and he grabbed on to two of its fingers like a frightened cat.

There was something about Lazarus’ face, the way it was missing small pieces of its armor, and how it appeared to have a mouth, that made it look more like a Laani Fleck and less like a Creux.

“Erin!
Erin
!”

Ezra looked to his left to see Garros standing on the Creux’s other palm, yelling from the top of his lungs, screaming at Lazarus, unafraid of a fall. The creature turned its head to him and fixed its gaze there for a moment. Should the creature wish, it could crush Ezra and Garros, ball them up like paper.

It was amazing how many times he had had the same realization: the Creux were large; the Creux were powerful. He could not get accustomed to them.

Erin is inside,
Ezra thought.
Erin is controlling him. We are safe.

. . . are you?

Still grabbing on to the Creux as best as he could, Ezra closed his eyes, wishing and praying he’d be returned to the safety of the ground below. And, like Erin could read his thoughts, he felt the air shift around him, and the hand descended.

With a gentle, deliberate motion unbecoming of something so big, Lazarus put down both its hands, palms upward, on the muddy floor. When Ezra and Garros jumped down, the thing got back on its feet, and its head seemed to keep going and going until it stood at full height.

Jena was hugging him, and she was crying. Something like this had happened just a few hours before—the cruel split-second realization that one of them was about to die.

“I thought you had fallen,” she said, “You and Garros, I thought you were—”

“Erin!” Garros was yelling. “
Erin
!”

“Is she there? Is she coming out?” Ezra said, and all of them looked up at Lazarus.

It roared, and the sound almost made Ezra wet himself.

Jena clutched his arm, startled by the thunderous sound, burying her nails onto his skin.

To his knowledge, no Creux had ever vocalized before, at least not to the outside world. Its roar was so like a Laani Fleck’s, he actually believed one of the things had snuck into the island. In a reflex he hadn’t even noticed, he had put his arm protectively around Jena.

Before their ears stopped ringing, Lazarus sat back down and cocked its head back, leaning against the tall trees.

Soon after, the sound of machinery shifting and the sight of light bleeding into the darkness told him the Apse was open again. Then came Erin’s screams.

But they weren’t screams of horror. She sounded unreasonably excited.

“Oh my god!” she yelled. “Oh my god, did you see—did you see that? Garros!”

Garros was furious, standing several feet away from Jena, between the dormant giant’s feet. He couldn’t even talk.

“What are you
doing
?” yelled Garros. Barely able to speak.

Erin was already halfway down the giant, climbing down with remarkable ease, like she had done it many times before already. Ezra noticed some of her clothes were burnt, and released pale smoke. “That was—the most amazing thing.”

When she was down, it was like she wasn’t seeing Garros’ face: red, covered in sweat, evidently furious. She rushed to him and hugged him, and she appeared to be
happy
.

Garros wanted to push her back, give her a much-deserved reprimand, and tell her she didn’t know what she was doing—that she could have died.

But he couldn’t. Ezra could see Garros pushing his anger deep down. He didn’t hug Erin back, but he let her take him.

“It somehow pulled me in; I didn’t step inside myself,” Erin said, looking up at Garros, like it was only him to whom she owed an explanation. “I was there, and then suddenly I wasn’t. Suddenly I was inside it—I heard Ezra scream. Did you see how it happened?”

“No,” Garros said.

“I saw Ezra falling, looking through its eyes, but it was like time was running different. I could catch both of you in the air, without even hurting you. It was so easy to move, so smooth. I could hear everything, see much farther away. I saw the peak, Garros. I saw Kerek! It was
nothing
like Phoenix; I felt so much stronger.”

Garros didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry. Baby. Please. Let it go,” she said, finally recognizing Garros’ anger, but she was still smiling—there was powerful euphoria left in her after synchronizing with the Creux. Erin turned around to Ezra and Jena. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you for saving us,” Ezra said, and walked over to them.

“Yes, thank you, but you shouldn’t have done that,” said Jena.

“I know. I didn’t, though, it—”

“Wait. You asked me to tell you when you were being reckless or acting strange, so that’s what I’m doing right now,” said Jena. “You had no reason to go anywhere near there, and you shouldn’t sound so happy you did.”

Erin wanted to reply, maybe remind Jena that it was her who was in charge, but she couldn’t. There was no argument to be made, or had. “You’re right.”

Garros stepped away from Erin, resentful. “I’m gonna go over . . . there, or something.”

Suddenly the odd mirth in Erin’s face was gone, and guilt took over. “Garros, please. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose, I didn’t
try
to synchronize.” When the man ignored her, Erin followed him. They didn’t stop until they were far enough to talk without Ezra or Jena overhearing.

“I thought both of you had fallen off. I didn’t know what happened to Erin,” Jena said, only to Ezra. “I swear for one second I thought all three of you were done for.”

“We’re okay,” said Ezra, and she smiled, apparently comforted.

“So are we going to ignore the fact that Erin just synchronized with that thing?” she asked. “She should’ve been killed.”

“I don’t understand it either,” said Ezra, and walked closer to Lazarus, wondering if he should try it himself. The way in which Erin described her synchronization made it sound intoxicatingly attractive. “I wonder if
anyone
can synchronize with him. Or anyone who is C-Compatible?”

“Too bad you won’t get to find out,” Jena said. “Don’t go anywhere near it. We’ll leave it here, and then when we can we’ll tell Zenith about it. They can study it, we can’t.”

“Aren’t you curious? Something weird just happened, right?” argued Ezra. “This thing is strong. I didn’t even realize it had broken my fall. It moved too fast. Don’t you want to know?”

“I want to find Kerek. I want to find Kiv,” she said, and saying his name still appeared to hurt her. “I don’t want to risk my life or yours being curious.”

“You’re right,” he said, a bit begrudgingly. “That’s more important. We’ll find them, don’t worry.”

“I know we will,” she said, and looked up at Lazarus.

He could tell she didn’t trust it.

Jena was still holding on to his arm when they walked around Lazarus’ bent legs and saw Garros and Erin having an argument a few feet into the forest. Garros was leaning against a tree, moving his arms angrily, and Erin could only look up at him, nodding and accepting whatever words he was throwing at her. Ezra could see she was, or had been, crying.

“Should we go with them?” Ezra asked. They had given them at least half an hour of privacy, and he couldn’t bear the ideas his brain was feeding him. He didn’t want to see his friends in a fight, even if Erin definitely deserved it. They were the stable legs of the group; they couldn’t bend or break.

“Yes,” replied Jena. “It’s almost dawn; we need to keep moving if we’re going to make it to Kerek today.”

They approached carefully, and neither Garros nor Erin noticed them coming at all. The only words they could hear in the end, after they noticed their presence, were: “
And what about our kid
?”

ф

It was another uncomfortable lunch for Vivian.

It wasn’t just the fact that Rebecca had disappeared, or the fact that she had uncovered the truth about the explosion: someone had really sabotaged their tests, killing four people.

It was Tessa’s eyes. She looked way too calm for everything that was happening. “The voting for Proposition Tomorrow is, uh, tomorrow,” said Tessa, casually putting half a meatball in her mouth.

“Are
we
going to be allowed to vote? If we don’t have a White Card?”

“Of course we are,” she replied. “Our Army ID identifies us as adults. Besides, I think we’re the ones who have most at stake, aren’t we? We should be able to vote
twice
.”

“Yes,” Vivian said, not laughing at what might have been a joke. “I know. So does that mean we’re going to go back to the city tomorrow?”

“That’s right,” she said. “We take a train there tomorrow morning to get to the ballots like everyone else in Roue. I don’t think it will be a lot of fun, considering how things are going out there. I’m going as a civilian; you should do the same.”

“What’s happening?”

“Heath. He has something planned,” Tessa said and ate the last of her meal. They had always said Vivian was stoic, way too calm when talking about things that should ruffle feathers, but Tessa had become almost robotic since the incident with Kat. “He’s doing some kind of conference later, or an address. He’s going to try to change a few undecided minds just before the vote.”

“Do you think there’s any chance we’ll win?”

“
We
?” she asked.

“Zenith.”

Tessa laughed at this, and Vivian could not understand why.

Her food had gone cold, something that rarely ever happened to her. Vivian considered finishing it anyway, but her appetite was all but gone. Suddenly she didn’t care about being strong enough, because the reasons to be were disappearing one by one.

It occurred to her that she might be having one of her last meals in Zenith. She might have to leave this place, which once held so much hope for her, and return to a defenseless Roue, maybe as soon as the end of the week, where nothing was waiting for her.