ABC - Penance

Jericho’s Compound, Outskirts of Pan City

9th February V27 (2047)

“What are you going to do now, September?” I asked her. “Jericho has agreed you can go”

We were seated on the roof of the vehicle garage, a wide patio covering one half of the flat roofed structure to shelter us from the afternoon sun. The other half had deck chairs and an inflatable pool, next to a couple of beach umbrellas lashed to the railings that ran around the perimeter. I was reminded of some cheap motels I had seen on my one trip south of the Zone Border into Queensland.

“Only because you spoke up for me” the woman replied. She sipped at the coffee one of the clones had brought up to us, along with a small plate of freshly baked cookies. “He respects you a lot, you know that don’t you?”

“Nah, he doesn’t” I laughed. “Bastard just wants me to think he does. You can’t trust anything he says or anything he does, that’s the number one rule when dealing with the Avatars. Same goes for Archimedes too, he’s as devious as any of his minions”

“Yes, I think you are right, Luisa” she agreed with a smile of her own. I couldn’t help looking at her delicate face, being reminded of my sweet Bingo. It was stupid I know, since Trixie and Mouse and every other Jill had the exact same face. They were all clones from the same pool of blended DNA, designed to be perfect.

“You can stop staring at me anytime now” September commented, her eyes lidded as she took another sip of her coffee.

“Sorry, but I still wanted to know what you plan on doing next? Are you going to stay in the Zone?”

“For a while” she agreed. “There is a lot of data I still need to compile at the Hall of Remembrance. I want to make sure everything is catalogued properly before the next phase begins”

“The Second Evolution of Humanity? That’s what Acres called it, didn’t he?”

“Yes. The Virus they released twenty six years ago was only Phase One. I think the Society had expected it to have triggered a greater percentage of humanity to become Awakened. In the end, only ten percent of the survivors gained the potential”

“What will Phase Two bring?” I asked her. “Millions more deaths like before?”

“No, I don’t think so” she admitted. “They have had a long time to perfect their new virus. It will add to the existing genetic changes already laid by the first one, rather than a rewrite like before”

I stood and walked to the edge of the roof, leaning on the railing and scanning the horizon. In the north the clouds were still dark and angry, the edge of a huge storm that was created by the sea level nuclear blast. Rains and powerful winds had been lashing the northern tip of the Zone since early in the morning, as nature rebelled against the violence committed on the ocean.

“Do you think the world can survive their meddling in the natural order?” I called out over my shoulder.

“Perhaps” she said at my hip, startling me so much I dropped my coffee mug over the side of the roof. It hit the concrete landing below with a tinkling smash, sending pieces of ceramic and coffee in an arc.

“Fucking hell, September” I snapped. “You’re as bad as Ghost for sneaking up on me! Please stomp your feet or something when you walk around”

She smirked faintly, enjoying her own still intact cup of dark roasted blend. The residents at Jericho’s base certainly got to eat and drink some of the very best that the Zone could offer.

“Hey, September” I pondered, “Did you know Ghost from before?”

“I can see why Jericho wanted you as one of his Hounds” she replied easily. “You ask a lot of questions” She paused and lowered her cup, turning to face me directly.

“I think he knew me, from before the mind wipe” September answered at last. “When I met him for the first time, at least what was my first time, he acted like we had history between us”

“He can’t have been long out of Deployment” I realised, thinking aloud. “Maybe you had helped him escape Retirement when his processor dropped out of the network?”

“It’s possible” she said. “He won’t speak about it to me now. When we ran into each other in the years that followed, he kept me at a distance, like he was afraid of me. Whatever we meant to each other once, we are just distant acquaintances now”

“Nobody of consequence” I muttered, understanding at last whom he had seen that night of the raid on Sam Preston’s camp.

“Nobody of consequence” she agreed and drained her cup. She laid a friendly arm on my shoulder, her dark eyes warm and open. “Take care of him for me, Luisa. There are very few like him left in this world”

“Sure, Nona” I answered her. “Watch out for yourself too”

“I’m always watching, Luisa. I’m the Observer”

=====

“Ow!” I exclaimed loudly, mostly for effect as the blood-sampler gave only the barest sting as it bit into me. Doctor Chappell shot me a disappointed look as she handed the device to her assistant, the Jill known as Mouse.

“For a woman who fought in the Arenas, you are a real baby” she told me. Mouse laid the sampler into its associated reader, sending the data to the Doctor’s hand-held pad. Chappell hummed a little tune as I sat there, stripped down to my underwear as she completed the tests, the third set I had undergone since our return to the compound.

“Definitely a little higher on the radiation count, but well within safe limits” she finally announced. “All the other tests show you are once again fit and healthy, Alvarez”

“Thanks, Doc” I replied. I jumped off the examination couch and started getting dressed. “We were lucky it was a modern nuke they used. Lots of high energy output at the detonation site but almost no fallout. If they’d used a dirty bomb the entire eastern seaboard could have been affected”

Doctor Chappell gave me a funny look and then smiled crookedly.

“You must be the only person on the planet who thinks getting shot down by a ‘clean’ nuclear device was lucky” she told me. Her expression became serious and she held her datapad protectively over her chest. “I heard that Warden Acres was in a bad way when they flew him off to Pan City”

“Yeah, he was busted up a bit in the water landing. Probably got a good dose of rads in the pulse too. I bet he doesn’t have fancy Nanites in his blood like the clones and me to help him recover”

“Will they let him recover?” Chappell wondered. “I got the impression he was going to face enough charges to warrant execution?”

I shrugged, pulling a shirt over my head and tugging it down. Mouse handed me my boots and socks, so I sat again to slip them over my feet.

“They’ll fix him up enough to stand trial, but that will be for show anyway. He’s as guilty as hell so the only question will be how harshly they punish him. The Warden Corps will want him to take all responsibility for what went down at Camp One. Those offences alone will guarantee a death sentence”

“How do you feel about that?” Mouse asked me, her tone curious.

“How do I feel?” I queried back. I thought about the people he’d tormented in his Arena, the prisoners he’d experimented on. All the senseless deaths when he locked down the Labour Camp while he waltzed away from it all.

“When they sentence him to death, I’ll happily pull the trigger” I answered.

=====

It was late in the evening by the time I got approval to head home. I would have gone there and then, but I was so damned tired I was easily convinced to stay the night. Trixie promised me she would arrange a car in the morning to drive me back to Spitfield so I dumped my small kit bag in the dormitory.

The rooms were well appointed and had their own ensuite bathroom so I took the chance to have a long, luxurious shower. I scrubbed my hair, using a herbal smelling concoction some previous occupant had left behind. Dressed in clean boxers and a t-shirt, my still damp hair wrapped in a towel, I wandered into the shared living room. Now that I was sparkly clean from my shower, I felt re-energised and too keyed up to sleep.

A replay of last week’s Gravity Ball game was on the main screen, a Jack with long dreadlocks and a close trimmed beard watching with mild interest. I dropped myself onto the couch next to him and nodded a polite greeting. He replied affably, telling me he was Jimmy, another of the pilot optimised clones that Jericho had rescued.

Jimmy told me where the beers were stored in the bar fridge, so I snagged two for me and a replacement for the one my new drinking buddy was just finishing. We chatted for a while about things, mostly Gravity Ball and how likely the Divebombers were to make the National Finals.

I reckoned that as long as Darcy King stayed uninjured in the violent sport, we had a good chance of playing in the semi-finals. Jimmy might live in the Zone, but it turns out he was an Adelaide Angels fan. They’d had an average season, he agreed with me there, but the team was noted for playing well in the do-or-die end of season finals.

“I heard the Angels wanted to recruit the Levitator that hit the news last year” he told me eagerly. “You remember her, Sofia Abrams, the one they called the Angel of Pan City”

“The school teacher?” I queried him. “She’s a Racer and Maze Runner isn’t she? I know some of the skills can be applied in Gravity Ball games, but a school teacher would be eaten alive by the Defence Blockers in any League team”

“I know, but the rumour is she got reclassified as a Grade Four Levitator” Jimmy explained excitedly. “With that much power at her disposal, she could knock any Defenders aside just using her air shield!”

“You’re dreaming if you think the Board of Governors would let a Grade Four Awakened of any kind leave the Zone to play in an Australian team!” I scoffed. “They want all the best Awakened kept right here, nice and close in case they need them”

“I know, I know” he admitted with a sheepish grin. “But it’s nice to fantasise about what someone that strong could bring to the Angels. She even had the right name!” He took a long pull from his can, burped gently, then stood up to get another.

“How about it, Alvarez?” he asked from the bar fridge, proffering me another can. I drained my second one quickly, gave a belch of my own, and signalled my agreement. It wasn’t like I had to drive home or anything.

“You must be a pretty high Grade by now” Jimmy asked casually, sitting back with one legged crossed over the other.

“Me? Nope, just a plain old Grade Two” I lied with practised ease.

“Is that so, Inspector?” he countered. “How long has it been since you were last tested?”

“My Registration was updated when I joined the Police Auxiliary” I answered, hiding my face behind the can as I took a long, slow drag at the beer. “After that there are no mandatory tests required”

“Ah, I see” he responded in that even tone I got from Ghost all the time. Which reminded me, I hadn’t seen my partner since this morning.

“Hey Jimmy, you don’t know where Ghost is right now do you?”

“Ghost?” he replied. “I think I saw him a while ago at the Observatory”

“And what the hell is that?”

Jimmy laughed softly and pointed vaguely upwards.

“The Boss has his own rooftop verandah with a big telescope set up there. He likes to spend his time at night watching the stars”

The clone gave me instructions on how to find the spot, so I detoured to my room to discard the towel around my head and put on pants and slippers. Suitably attired I paused at the door to the living room, where Jimmy was watching the final quarter of the game.

“Jimmy, just thought you might want to know the Divebombers won that match by five points”

“What! Screw you Alvarez!” he shouted good naturedly as I scampered away.

=====

Jericho-Three had his own building in the compound, a low roofed structure made of the same reinforced concrete as all the rest. It had a squat tower projecting from the sloped roof, with an external staircase winding around it to a flat topped deck. I could see some faint lights shining up there as I approached and some figures leaning against a waist high railing.

I stomped up the staircase, my feet ringing loudly from the steps as I huffed my way to the top. My partner Ghost greeted me at the landing, moving aside so I could join the Boss on the circular deck. It was taller than I had expected, with a commanding view over the low rolling hills and scattered forest that surrounded the compound.

In the distance I could see the high walls of Pan City, warning lights blinking from the guard towers. Beyond the walls rose the gleaming towers of the city itself, the elegant spire of Archimedes Tower at the centre touching the clouds. The City looked magical in the night, a vision of what modern technology could build.

“That is one hell of a view” I complimented Jericho-Three. He was standing beside a massive telescope that was fitted on a rotating pedestal, currently aimed somewhere along the ground. “What have you boys been looking at? The girl’s dormitory?” I teased.

“Yes, from here you get a great view into the showers” Jericho replied casually. I spluttered indignantly until Ghost reminded me the dormitory lay in the opposite direction.

“We were just looking at Spitfield” my partner assured me and I lost my bluster. He pointed at a distant glow, only a few of the tall towers in the Central District being visible. My city sat a lot lower to the ground in general, both in height and status, but I still cared about it. Everyone I loved was there, or at least most of them.

“I’m glad you stayed tonight, Alvarez” the Avatar told me. “There are some things I wanted to talk to you about in private”

“In private?” I asked and glanced to where Ghost had been standing only moments before. He had left us alone, slinking away as silently as ever. I felt disappointment welling up inside of me, as we had barely spoken to each other since our return to the compound.

Jericho had noted my expression and came over to place a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“He’ll be here in the morning, I promise you. He’s struggling a little with some things he hasn’t encountered before”

“Like what?” I demanded, turning angrily to the clone. “What have you done to him?”

“Nothing. It’s what you have done to him, Alvarez” Jericho explained. “He’s lived far longer than any other Guard, suppressing his feelings using the protein bars we feed them. Then you came along and turned his world upside down”

“Only because you told me to go and find him” I answered hesitantly. I had walked to the railing, my eyes searching the compound below for the big man. “I didn’t mean to hurt him”

Jericho joined me at the railing, leaning his arms on the top rail, his eyes on the horizon.

“You didn’t hurt him, dummy” he chided me. “You made him remember why he wanted to remain free of the Archimedes Network in the first place. All those years scraping by in the Hole, doing odd jobs for food and ammunition, he had forgotten what it meant to actually live”

“He was living by his own rules, doing what he wanted” I insisted. “I tricked him into becoming my partner with a false identity and a cheap apartment”

“That apartment is not cheap, Alvarez” said Jericho in an aggrieved tone. “And the point I am trying to make is you gave him a purpose. Being your partner has given him a chance to do something real, something that matters”

The Avatar paused, as if searching the distant lights for inspiration.

“What he is really struggling with is his feelings towards you” he said at last. “He asked me about it, since I am pretty much the expert in getting clones free from the Quantum Network”

“So what did you say to him?” I swallowed loudly, not daring to look at Jericho.

“I told him to ask Trixie” he replied. “She’s the Love Guru around here for all the clones”

I laughed and leaned forwards, laying my forehead on the cold railing between my hands.

“You are such an ass!” I told my boss. “You dump everything on that poor woman! Why didn’t you give Ghost some advice of your own?”

“Me?” he scoffed. “What would I know about love?”

I was looking at the ground below us, my eyes seeing the paths and well tended gardens that filled the edges of the compound. My gaze was drawn to the central landing pad, currently vacant but for a lone Jill, her face turned towards us. A bright yellow wig, two long plaits trailing past her shoulders, told me who it was.

“Trixie loves you, Jericho”

He sighed and I knew his eyes had alighted on her solitary figure too.

“I care about all of my children” he answered indirectly. “Every clone I saved from Retirement is special to me, but Trixie most of all. She’s become indispensible to me, my right hand in everything I do”

“So why can’t you tell her how you feel?” I persisted. “Doesn’t she deserve that at least?”

“I was made to fulfil a purpose” he said. “A mission given to me long ago by Archimedes. Something so important he won’t even let himself remember it. If I make Trixie my lover, it could make me lose sight of that goal”

“Bullshit!” I retorted. “She’ll give you everything she has, her life itself, if you ask her. Don’t make her your slave, Jericho. Make her your partner!”

He regarded me from the side of his eye, that sly smile on his face again.

“I am your boss, you know” he reminded me. “I don’t take orders from my staff”

“I’m your Hound” I responded. “Do what I’m telling you or I’ll bite you on the ass!” I snapped my teeth a couple of times in the air for emphasis.

“Fine” he relented. “In the meantime, I need to talk to you about something you have uncovered. It’s the biggest secret of your life and I need you to understand why it has to be kept that way”

“Which big secret?” I retorted. “I’ve got so many things crammed into my head it feels ready to explode. At least give me a hint”

“Ah, that may a problem” he admitted. He turned to me, leaning his hip against the railing. “I suppose you could list them for me and I’ll tell you which ones you need to forget about”

So I did. I told him all the things I had learned or guessed. About Archie being the original Artificial Intelligence, allied with the Darwin Society. I spoke about the first Virus, designed and unleashed by Tor Anderson and Alexander Hargreaves at the V-Point in California. Then finally about Jacob Tan and Samuel Thane, both of them filled with some alien Nano-technology that was controlled by an entity that called herself the Abyss.

“Anything else?” Jericho asked me mildly.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot to add in that Anderson has made a new Virus that the Darwin Society are going to unleash on the world. Somehow that alien creature the Abyss has been helping them with that”

“I see” my boss replied. “You have been a busy little Hound”

“I know, right?” I answered. “One last thing too, apparently Magic is real. These people called Adepts can use it and we Awakened can’t”

Jericho seemed lost for words and had his mouth hanging slightly agape.

“Which bit is the big secret I can never reveal?” I asked him.

“All of it” Jericho-Three commanded.

=====

I walked slowly down the metal staircase, watching where I put my feet. The Boss had talked at length about what he wanted from me and I was ready to put my head down for a well earned sleep.

When I stepped onto the paved path, Trixie was waiting in the shadows of the garden. She was a skilled Sniper, as adept at hiding as my partner Ghost, so I knew she meant me to see her.

“What’s up, Trixie?” I called to her. The tall woman stepped out from concealment, her Enhanced right eye glowing a pale green in the dimly lit garden.

“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me, Alvarez” she snapped. “I can handle the situation perfectly well on my own”

“You must be mistaken, Trixie” I assured her. “I would never interfere in your personal affairs”

“Good” she asserted. “So long as we understand each other, that is fine”

“Of course” I agreed and started to walk away, heading to the dormitory.

Trixie called out to me when I was still close enough to hear.

“Would you really bite his ass?”

“Until he squealed like a little piggy” I called back. “Goodnight, Trixie”

“Goodnight, Luisa”

I didn’t need to turn around to see, hearing her eager feet climbing the metal stairs. My face broke into a smug grin and I can honestly say I even got a swagger going as I aimed towards my dorm room.

Some days I even surprise myself at how excellent I can be.