Chapter 5
1154 Words
Gabriel whispered into her ears.
Fifteen seconds to the reset of the grid. We have four minutes for DrayCorp to go back on lock down once we get in.
Scarlett flexed her hands. "Then don't waste one."
The freight door slid open. Slipping like burglars in a cathedral, they slipped into the dark. Servers towered about them, humming and throbbing red and blue.
"Center core," Gabriel said. That is where the mainframe stores experimental branches.
“Are you referring to the thing that made me?”
He didn't answer. His silence said enough. They crossed the floor. Cameras swung--then broke. Leon's doing.
Gabriel came up to the terminal and began to type. "Keep watch."
Scarlett's eyes swept the shadows. The air itself was vibrating; the hum was in tune with her heartbeat. She fluttered the lights with her presence.
"Gabriel."
"Not now."
"Something's reacting."
The code displayed on the screen changed. Her name flashed through the lines—VALEA001. Then: ACTIVE SIGNAL DETECTED. Gabriel's head snapped up. "They know you're here."
Sirens wailed. He stuffed a drive into the console. "I'm pulling the core file."
There was a voice that rang over the PA, and it was metallic and smooth:
Unauthorized retrieval in progress. Terminating sequence.
Scarlett stepped back. "Gabriel--"
"Almost there." Panels on the walls slid open. Small drones like insects unfolded.
"Not good," Gabriel muttered.
He ripped the drive free. "Run."
The first drone fired. Flashes of fire flew onto the ground.
Scarlett huddled in the rear of a server rack; Gabriel got round to shoot—and each shot was a scalpel.
"South exit!" he shouted.
They ran in the labyrinth of steel. Drones were pursuing rays of blue incandescence.
Scarlett took a panel that had fallen and used it as a shield. A bolt hit; the metal hissed.
Gabriel kicked open a maintenance flap.
"In here!"
They passed through a narrow hallway. Red lights flashed.
"Upstairs," Gabriel said. When we reach the roof, we will be pulled out by Leon.
There is less distance between you and the sky full of drones up upstairs.
"Exactly."
She didn't argue. They hit the stairwell. Gabriel moved like a motor memory; every move was measured.
Scarlett's pulse pounded. The air grew heavy; the air was crawling on her skin.
Halfway up, she stopped.
"Gabriel." He turned. "What?"
She lifted her hand. The metallic railing shook, and curved--twisted as softened glass under the sun. Gabriel froze. "I can feel them," she said. "All the machines. They're listening."
"Scarlett--"
The drones outside shrieked. One of them banged against the window beside them and there was broken glass.
Gabriel hauled her to her feet. You are exaggerating their sensors. You have to shut it down!"
"I don't know how!"
You did it in the tunnel—do it again!
She had to take a breath. Focus.
Her heartbeat slowed. The buzzing eased. The other drones lost their wings—then tore like stone.
Gabriel gazed at her, half-admiration, half-fear. "You just fried half a fleet."
Her hands shook. “Then let’s go before I crash too.”
Roof access.
Rain. Wind. The city is glowing below.
There was a black helicopter circling a few blocks away from the ride of Leon.
Gabriel keyed his comm. "We're on the roof. Bring her in!" Static. No reply.
"Leon?"
Nothing.
Then past the rain, flashed headlights—armored trucks on the road.
Gabriel grew pale. “Someone fed them our coordinates.”
Scarlett frowned. "Leon?"
"Impossible."
"Is it?"
He didn't answer.
The rooftop door blew inward. Guns were brought in high, mercenaries spilled out. Drawing her behind an HVAC, Gabriel fired short shots.
"Move when I move!"
The metal flashed off bullets. Scarlett covered her ears. The hum came back—this time worse than before, as though her head was swollen.
Gabriel leaned close. Whatever you did before — do it now!
She shook her head. "I don't even know."
Then the air bent.
The rain stayed still for a half-second in midair. All the drone lights above them fluttered and became white.
And the mercs all knelt down groveling with their heads.
Gabriel stared. "Scarlett, what did you??"
She looked terrified. "I didn't mean to—"
The roof on which they stood broke. Cement cracked, metal screwed. Gabriel jumped towards her and pulled her back off the edge just in time to avoid the section of the roof collapsing into the data center below.
Smoke and sparks. Screams.
He held her steady. "Are you okay?"
"No, Gabriel. I'm not."
There was a whine—the unmistakable whine of rotors.
The helicopter. But it wasn't Leon. This one was matte black, unmarked, and bristling with sensors.
It hovered over them, Rain-floodlights.
Scarlett had caught a glimpse of faces within the glare, of the helmet, insignia, a white mark upon black armor.
Gabriel swore. "Not corporate. Government."
Through a loudspeaker came a voice booming:
“Scarlett Vale, you are detained on protection by decree of the Directorate of Genetic Security. Do not resist."
Scarlett's blood went cold. "Genetic--?"
Gabriel raised his gun. "They're not taking you." Spotlights locked on him.
Step away from the target, Mr. Dray.
Scarlett's chest tightened. "They'll kill you."
"Not if I make it expensive."
He directed his fire at the sensor set of the helicopter and shot. One perfect shot. The light exploded.
The aircraft shuddered. Men shouted inside.
Gabriel grabbed her wrist. "Now!"
They ran frantically on the roof in the direction of the maintenance cables.
The helicopter was turned, screaming with its rotors. Gunfire erupted.
Gabriel leaped, and pulled Scarlett down the parapet. Bullets tore holes in the concrete and inches above.
He plunged into his jacket and grabbed the data drive. "If I don't make it,"
"Don't."
--take this to a woman by the name of Maren Kade. She is able to incinerate the entire project.
Scarlett's eyes locked on his. "You're not dying here."
He opened his mouth to answer — and the rooftop door banged open once more.
Leon stumbled out—bleeding, raging.
"Gabriel!" he shouted. They have got snipers on the roof! You have to--"
A shot cracked.
Leon dropped.
Scarlett screamed.
Gabriel shot at the other building blindly, and drew her close. “We’re moving. Now!"
They reached the cables. Gabriel clipped on a harness. "Hold tight!"
They fell into the storm, followed by bullets which slid down the line.
The helicopter swung over halfway across towards them. The light of its ray fell on Scarlett as it flew.
And momentarily she peeped into the cockpit.
The aviator was not wearing a helmet. It was her face.
Not a twin. Not a reflection.
Her.
The helicopter flew nearer.
Over the din, Gabriel shouted, What the hell is that?
Scarlett couldn't breathe. “I believe it is what they built before me."
The other Scarlett was smiling through the glass. Then the chopper guns opened fire.
- Writer
