H.A.L.F.: The Makers (31 page)

“No, it’s not. My company would never hire you looking like that. I run a wholesome, clean-cut organization.” There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in Thomas’ voice.

“You are talking about a fake company, right?” It was hard to say how good a grip Thomas had on reality.

“Yes, but for any lie to work, it has to be believable. The liar must commit to the lie one hundred percent.”

Psychopaths make the best liars. He wasn’t sure yet whether Thomas – or Anna, for that matter – fell into the category of psychopath.

Thomas picked up the box and shoved it into Jack’s hands. “Follow the directions precisely. I left a timer in there for you. And if you like, I will cut your hair when you’re done with the dye.”

“That’s okay. I think I can handle it.” The idea of Thomas holding scissors close to Jack’s head creeped him out.

An hour later Jack too looked like a different man. His wavy, sun-bleached locks were gone, replaced with a mop of chocolate-brown curls. He didn’t go as short with his hair as Thomas had wanted, but the color made a dramatic enough change. He was glad Thomas had picked a different color for him. He didn’t think he could pull off black hair with his coloring. He ran his hands through his shortened hair.
I wonder what Erika would think about this?

Jack tried to sleep but mostly tossed and turned. He and Thomas had gone over the plan again and again. Thomas grilled him until Jack could recite the plan backward and forward. Now Jack couldn’t turn it off. He lay on his back, staring into the dark, his mind unable to stop running through the steps and worrying over what could go wrong. The list of potential missteps was long.
What if Thomas is wrong and Alecto isn’t even there? Or worse, what if she’s there but she’s now aligned with Croft and won’t help us?
Without Alecto’s help in the final stages of their plan, they’d be screwed. But the most distressing thought was that they could be too late to save Anna.

In the morning they donned the blue uniforms and loaded their toolboxes. Thomas had crafted a false bottom in Jack’s toolbox. It was large enough to fit two gas masks, a gun and a silencer.

“What happens if they have a metal detector?” asked Jack.

Thomas ignored the question and continued packing.

Thomas made Jack practice putting his gas mask on and tightening it then putting a mask on Thomas to simulate getting a mask on Alecto. Thomas was cooperative in the undertaking. Jack couldn’t be sure that Alecto would be.

They crammed their toolboxes and several duffle bags into the back of the van. They’d stuffed as much of Thomas’ stuff into the duffles as they could and cleaned out Anna’s car too. Even though he’d never be able to come back, Thomas showed no emotion as he pulled the door shut behind him. He didn’t bother locking even one of the locks.

“Aren’t you going to lock it?”

“No point.”

“But all your computer stuff?”

“I can buy more. Besides, it’s worthless now.”

Jack got into the passenger seat. “Why’s that?”

Thomas slid into the driver’s seat. He adjusted the mirrors and looked nervous about driving. “I uploaded a zombie file. It’s eating the computer’s brain as we speak.” Thomas looked at the ignition switch but made no move to start the engine.

“You do know how to drive, right?”

“Of course I know how to drive. I’ve misplaced the key, that’s all.”

“Your left front pants pocket.”

Thomas fished the key out and put it into the ignition. He cranked the key and kept turning it even after the van started. The engine groaned with displeasure.

“A bit rusty is all,” Thomas said. He eased the van slowly onto the road.

Jack hoped they lived through the drive to Croft’s penthouse.

Tex did not need to hear the gunfire or see the blood to know that the Regina had been shot. He sensed the ripple of confusion pass through him, reflections from the Conexus hive mind. Xenos fell to the ground, her fingers at her mouth, a simpering pile of flesh.

One moment Tex was ready to cry too. The next his tears dried unfallen. He felt … numb. He supposed it was his A.H.D.N.A. training kicking in. He had been taught to compartmentalize. To push painful experiences of war aside. To put fear, worry and sadness into a box and shove it down and away. He recalled Commander Sturgis’ words.
“On the battlefield, if you don’t move forward, you die.”

Or perhaps the alien part of his DNA afforded him the ability to deny his emotions naturally. The Conexus preferred logic and reason. Tex considered the possibility that his emotions were fleeting.
Perhaps I am simply unable to sustain long-term human relationships.
The thought also occurred to him that his time of interconnectedness to the Conexus had rewired him.
I need to consider this further when I have more time.

He helped Xenos off the ground and held her by the shoulders. “She is gone. There is nothing you can do. Push it aside. We must continue on if we are to leave this place.”

Xenos stared into his eyes and sniffled. “But what will become of them.”

As if to punctuate her question, the clones began caterwauling and flailing. It was an unsettling scene that even stoic Tex had difficulty ignoring. He pulled Xenos out of the room and into the hall, away from the tanks of confused Conexus clones.

It was not much better out there. Though he could not hear them with his ears, his head hurt from the chaotic buzz of the Conexus hive now in turmoil.

The humans spilled out of the clone room in a rush. Erika’s cheeks were wet with tears. Ian’s face was pale.

Dr. Randall wiped his eyes with his dingy sleeve. “I want you to know that I took no pleasure in terminating her.”

Tex tried to keep his emotions in check.
Move forward.
But knowing that it was Dr. Randall who had pulled the trigger …
At least it was not Erika.

Tex sucked in a breath and forced his feelings deep inside to roil away in his gut instead of flitting through his mind. “They are confused. There is no better time than the present.”

“Let’s go, then,” Ian said.

“The Conexus ship is in the old pool room. They are off balance, but we may still encounter hostiles on our way there. I suggest you be at the ready,” Tex said.

Dr. Randall handed Tex the extra gun he had hung on his back. “I know you probably won’t need this to defend yourself, but you’re still tired. This may come in handy.”

Tex accepted the weapon. He did not relish the idea of shooting one of his Conexus cousins. But they knew he had left the collective. He was with the humans who had wreaked havoc on their environment and killed the Regina. They would consider him an enemy. He was more glad than Dr. Randall could know to have a gun in his hands. Without it, he was nearly defenseless.

Tex led them back to the wide arched doorway to what used to be Aphthartos. Xenos clung to his side as if she were his shadow. The humans were at his back in a tight group.

The lights of Tro had been a bright beacon leading away from the dark hallways of the former A.H.D.N.A. But as they approached, the high, overhead lights of Tro that had simulated sunlight flickered, creating a strobe effect.

“The water must be shorting out the lights,” Dr. Randall said.

“The lights are not powered by electricity generators,” Tex said.

“Then what powers them?” Erika asked.

Tex ignored the question and crossed the threshold into Tro. As he feared, Conexus were abundant in the streets. They wandered as if searching, their eyes wide and darting frantically. Occasionally they ran into each other as if their eyes were open but unable to see. Though Tex and the others stood just inside the doorway and were clearly visible, the Conexus did not attack them.

“Do you think they don’t see us?” Erika whispered.

Tex reached out to the hive with his mind. The virtual doors were wide open. Their telepathic firewall was down. Tex was no longer hooked by a machine to the collective, so he was unable to understand all that was happening. But he sensed that they were aware humans were present. There was the idea that they should do something about it, but they were without consensus and there was no one to command them. Without the Regina to coordinate and mediate the multitude of thoughts, they were a thousand discordant beings without a single objective.

“They know we are here but unable to process how to proceed,” Tex said.

Dr. Randall’s voice was a whisper. “Like a broken computer. Fascinating.”

Tex had the urge to slap Dr. Randall. It was all one big experiment to the old man, but to Tex, who had shared consciousness with these beings, even if against his will, it was torturous to watch them struggle.

But there was nothing to be done about it. He could not bring the Regina back to life. And if he wanted to survive, he must leave the world of the Conexus and return to his own time.

“We must hurry. All of their systems draw power from the bioenergy of the Conexus. If they die, we will be stranded here,” Tex said.

Ian got in Tex’s face. His eyes were dark with anger. “Why didn’t you tell us that before we gunned down their leader? Now you’re saying we shot ourselves in the foot and may be stuck here?”

Ian towered over Tex. Even though the human male had lost weight and muscle, he was still nearly twice the size of Tex and intimidating.

And Ian’s accusation stung Tex’s pride. The truth was that he had not thought it through. He should have foreseen all of the ripple effects of terminating the Regina, including the effect it would have on their ability to power their world. But he had not foreseen it. The nagging worry playing at the back of his mind grew that his brain was no longer whole.

Erika stepped between Ian and Tex. “There’s no use talking about it or blaming. What’s done is done. Let’s haul ass and get to the pool room.” Erika marched forward, the butt of her rifle pressed to her shoulder.

Tex took Xenos’ hand. He had to practically pull her to get her to come with him. He reached out to her again with his mind, trying to comfort her.
We must go too or we will die.
She did not resist coming with him but continued to silently cry.

They had only gone a few paces when a Conexus nearly ran into Erika. Startled, she used her rifle like a staff and swung at it wildly. She missed and was thrown off balance, nearly falling. She dropped her rifle. The Conexus shook off her attempted assault and came at her, its hands around her throat as she gasped for air.

Tex attempted to telepathically communicate with it, but the being’s mind was a fractured jumble. It was a mindless automaton. Without the Regina to guide its thoughts, the being acted on a primordial instinct level.

Tex did not sift through the detritus of moral reasoning. He, too, felt as though he was acting on instinct, and his instinct was to protect Erika. He pulled the trigger without hesitation. He fired three rounds in quick succession, and they all missed wide to the left.

More shots rang out to match his. Ian’s bullets did not miss. The Conexus that had attacked Erika fell in a heap onto the crumbly path. Its luminescent silver tunic was soaked in purply-red blood.

Erika coughed and gasped as she sucked in air. “Thanks.”

Ian held out a hand to her and helped her up.

It seemed that each time Tex tried to prove himself to her, he ended up looking less and less worthy of her attention. Ian took point with Erika. Tex stayed behind them, Xenos still at his side like a barnacle stuck to a boat.

The Conexus presented no defensive strategy. But whenever a Conexus got close to them, it attacked and had to be put down. Erika and Ian killed about a half dozen more Conexus on their way to the pool room. Tex shot at one that assailed Xenos, but his bullets missed. Erika took it down, emasculating him further. He felt as effective as a blob of Jell-O.

The lights overhead continued to flicker on and off, though with each of the Conexus they killed, the lights dimmed even further. They finally got to the room that used to house a deep pool of crystal-blue water. Ian opened the doors, and though the smell of chlorine no longer wafted out, Tex’s heart still raced at the memory of how he had nearly drowned the last time he had been in the room.

The water had been drained from the pool. The shining silver orb stood in the deep end and took up nearly the entire pool bed. It was still and entirely smooth. There was no hint of a doorway or windows. Their trip back to their own time would end before it began if they could not find a mechanism to open the craft.

Where there had been row after row of bleachers was now empty space save for a large dark, grey console made of the same molded plastic that the Conexus used to manufacture most things. There was no reclining chair like he had seen Conexus in when they interfaced with machines. The console itself had no buttons, switches or computer screens. It was a control console with no controls.

Ian and Erika both searched the top of the smooth plastic with their hands while Dr. Randall knelt and looked underneath. Ian pushed as if he would find a hidden button or mechanism. But nothing happened.

Erika directed her question to Tex. “Got any idea how to operate this thing?”

Xenos answered, “Telepathic interface.”

Dr. Randall stood up and dusted off his knees. Tex thought it a peculiar thing to do, seeing as how Dr. Randall’s clothes were filthy. “Then we are of no use,” Dr. Randall said. His eyes were puffy and rimmed in red.

“Can either of you operate it?” Erika asked.

Xenos shook her head. “I am Infractus.”

Though Tex shuddered at the label ‘Infractus’ in the same way that he had always abhorred being referred to as ‘H.A.L.F.’, the truth was that Xenos was not capable of the complex telepathic interface required to communicate with Conexus machines. She could hear some Conexus thoughts and receive telepathic directives from them, but she could not sync her mind with their computers.
I am not sure I will be able to either.

“I will attempt it,” Tex said. “I suggest you go down the stairs and get under the orb, as you did in Aphthartos. That way you will be able to enter the ship.”
That is, if I can ascertain how to open the door.