Synthetica (32 page)

Magnus King opened his mouth and began to speak.

This was the moment he'd been waiting for.

Last night had gone like a dream; the first part of his plan had
done what he had known it would do. It had thrown them all into
confusion, doubting Civitas' grip on the city. He'd heard the
whispers in the crowd; Civitas' ID chips were responsible for the
murders, and now they couldn't even stop someone from breaking in
and vandalising their own building.

He watched from his position at the back of the crowd, the
breeze that was coming off the river behind him feeling surprisingly
pleasant. His face was hidden by the black hoodie he was wearing.
Soon they'd all see and remember his face, but that moment hadn't
arrived yet. All around him, people were chatting and laughing,
eying up the nearest Civitas stand eagerly as they waited for noon
to strike. They weren't the only ones.

It made him feel sick. All these people were so blinded by their
love of technology. But where had technology been when he had needed
it the most? It hadn't helped him when he had been a child, and it
certainly couldn't help all of these despicable people now. He would
be the one to make them see the light. They didn't need technology
to live. Well, not the kind Civitas produced, anyway.

A cheer rose from the front of the crowd as a man with golden
hair began to speak, his voice ringing out over the masses. He
watched Magnus King with something akin to jealousy. He would never
be able to speak like Magnus King – he had to capture people's
attention in an entirely different way.

He listened dispassionately for a few moments, before checking
the time. Enough was enough. It was his turn to take centre stage.

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small transmitter
of his own creation. It had two purposes; one, it would allow him to
remotely activate the program these poor deluded people had paid
money to download into themselves. The other, well, he was proud of
this particular achievement, even if he did say so himself. He
always had enjoyed making his own films.

He paused, slightly surprised to see some kind of commotion
happening at the back of the crowd. Then he saw a flash of pink
hair. His eyes widened and he hissed. The girl was back. But before
he could decide what to do, two black securibots were already on
their way towards her. He chuckled. Let them deal with the little
brat.

He pressed the black button on top of the transmitter.

It was finally his time to shine.

Nineteen

“
My
friends, welcome to this historic day – Civitas' fiftieth
birthday,” Magnus King began, his words almost drowned out by the
roar of the crowd. His voice was amplified so everyone could hear
him, though Anais couldn't see any kind of microphone. Magnus held
up his hand in acknowledgement.

“
Today
we celebrate our noble company's heritage and it's successes.
Although our birthday week has been somewhat marred by the tragic
news that several of esteemed colleagues have had their lives
cruelly cut short, I would like to personally offer my condolences
to the families of the victims. I would also like to say that
Civitas will do everything in it's power to bring the people
responsible for these horrendous crimes to justice.”

There was another cheer from the crowd, though Anais could see a lot
of people looking dissatisfied with Magnus' words. They were the
ones who were murmuring to each other, their eyes constantly
flicking upwards to the grotesque symbol above them.

“
I
will make it my personal mission to make sure these criminals do not
walk free.They shall pay for the crimes they have committed against
our city.”

The crowd was going wild, but there were some boos and hisses mixed
in with the cheers.

Anais scrunched up her nose. She was getting hot, being pressed in
on all sides by so many people. She rolled the sleeves of her jacket
up in an attempt to cool down.

“
And
now...let us begin to put these awful events behind us. Let us join
together today in a show of unity, and enjoy what life has to offer.
And although it's not quite twelve, I see some of our sellers have
already decided to sell our pioneering SLP programs for you to
purchase!” He wagged a mock angry finger, “I won't keep you too
much longer, but I would just like to draw your attention to...”

“
What?!”
Anais gasped.

Horrified,
she turned, searching the crowd until she saw what she was looking
for. There was glimpse of white at the back near the riverfront –
someone in a special Civitas uniform was standing next to a stand
with the official Civitas logo above it. Already, a crowd of people
were surrounding the stand, jostling as they tried to get to the
front. The time in her RetCom showed five to twelve.

“
We
have to stop them!” Anais said wildly, turning to Xander and Clay.
“You two split up – try and target as many of those stalls as
you can.”

“
And
what do you expect us to do?” Clay said. “We've already tried
telling them something's not right and they wouldn't listen.”

“
Then
try harder,” Anais said through gritted teeth. “I don't care how
you do it – throw the damn things into the river if you have to.
Now go!”

“
Anais,
wait -”

Ignoring Xander, she turned and began shoving her way through the
crowd towards the stand she could see. The bodies around her were
packed tightly together as everyone crammed forward to listen to
Magnus' speech. His voice faded into a kind of buzzing noise as
Anais pushed her way through the crowd pressing in on her. She had
to reach that stand.

She was trying to go as fast as she could, but the sheer amount of
people made it difficult for her move. Gritting her teeth, she
fought through the mass of bodies, someone's hair occasionally
whipping her in the face. Eventually she was free. She dodged
through the last few people, until she reached the stall. Hot,
sweaty and almost sick with fear, she was a lot less polite in
getting to the front of this queue. She grabbed people's shoulders
and forcefully pushed them out of the way.

“
Hey!”

“
Wait
your turn!”

The shouts and grumbles came from behind her, but she had no time
to apologise. A hand grabbed her and tried to force her backwards,
but she threw it off her. She reached the front, just as the seller
was holding up a gun that looked strangely similar, and yet far more
sophisticated, than Denzel's had been. It didn't have a needle, for
one. Instead, there was just a pulse of purple light that showed the
program was downloading onto a woman's ID chip. She had the same
look as shock and delight that Dalla had had, when she had
downloaded hers.

“
No,”
Anais gasped. She reached out and grabbed the gun from the seller's
hand. Before he could protest, she turned and threw it as hard as
she could into the river. There was cries of shock and anger behind
her.

“
What
the hell do you think you're doing?” the seller said angrily,
grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. “That was worth
more credits than I make in a year!”

“
I'm
trying to save you,” Anais shouted, struggling against his grip.
“We're all going to die! Where are the rest of your SLPs?”

Her eyes fell on a number of white, plastic boxes lining the
shelves underneath the stall and she dived for them. The seller was
right behind her. She managed to snatch a few, but the seller tried
to grab her again, throwing her off-balance. They both ended up
crashing into the stall, knocking the whole thing to the ground.
Anais held tight to the few boxes she had, but the Civitas trader
grabbed her leg as she stand to stand up.

“
Security!”
the man bellowed. “Help! Thief! Security!”

“
Let.
Go. Of. Me,” Anais grunted as he pulled her back down, causing her
to crash on top of what had recently been a stall. This time,
several of the boxes broke and tiny picochips flew out in all
directions, splattering the pavement with silver and bronze. The
watching crowd immediately began scooping up as many as they could,
knocking each other out of the way in the desperation to get free
goods.

“
No,”
Anais gasped, trying to reach as many of the picochips as she could,
but the buzzing crowd was swelling, and several people trampled on
her fingers. She was suddenly seized by an iron grip and hauled to
her feet. The trader had her in his hands, and he was still yelling
for back up.

“
Security!
Police! I've got someone in violation of -”

He was cut off as Anais elbowed him hard in the stomach. As he let
go, she twirled, drew back her fist and punched him in the nose for
good measure. It wasn't a good punch – she never had learnt much
self-defence – but it was hard enough to cause him to stumble
back, swearing.

By now, the crowd around her had whipped itself into a frenzy, as
everyone tried to pick up as many of the SLPs off the ground as
possible. More and more people were turning from watching the CEO's
speech, to seeing what the disturbance was behind them.

“
Stop
it! Stop it – you don't know what you're doing!” Anais shouted,
trying to tug the tiny chips out of the nearest woman's hands. The
woman shoved Anais away and bent down to scrabble around for more of
the SLPs.

Anais looked around in desperation and saw two black securibots
cutting through the crowd towards her, the sensors on their black
bodywork flashing red. Further down the riverfront, she saw several
small white objects sailing through the air and landing in the
water; Clay had managed to overcome whoever was at his stand. She
couldn't see Xander. She began to fight her way through the crowd
again, towards Clay, but the securibots reached her first.

One of the securibots grabbed her in it's pincer-like arm, pinning
her to it's chest.

“
Let
me go!” she screamed as she tried fruitlessly to pull away. “Let
me go, you don't know, you -”

“
That's
her!”

She looked up at the shout, to see the trader pointing three more
securibots her way, looking furious as blood ran down his face and
onto his spotlessly white uniform.

“
I
had to – you don't understand, those SLPs, they're not what you
think they are -” fear and anger were causing her to stumble over
her words.

Before she could form another coherent thought, there was a
deafening squeal that rang out over the crowd. Magnus King stopped
talking, as all the screens and billboards across the river that had
been showing the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY CIVITAS', suddenly went
black. The crowd turned to see what the commotion was.

Anais stopped struggling against the securibot's grip and focused
on the largest screen, which was directly opposite the Civitas
building. Her heart plunged into her stomach as a man with long
black hair and wearing a black mask over the lower half of his face
appeared on every single screen.

“
Friends,”
he said, his voice curiously hoarse. “Now that I have your
attention, allow me to introduce myself. You may call me...the
Hacker.”

Twenty

Anais stood frozen in the securibot's grip, unable to look anywhere
but the giant screen.

Everyone
around her was also rooted to the spot, although she could hear
whispers starting up as people began to ask,
'What
is this? Who is this?'

The
Hacker continued with his speech. His voice made Anais' skin crawl.
It was hoarse and grating; the cadences all wrong, as though he'd
never been taught how to speak properly. It made her want to cover
her ears and block out the noise. She could see several people doing
just that, though nothing they did could block out the horror of
what he was saying.

“
I
hope you. Enjoyed the. Gifts I have been. Distributing over the past
few days.”

On the screen flashed a number of photographs taken from the CID,
and from the police database. Anderson, Pearson, Marcus, followed by
the other murderers and their victims; photos showing them alive,
followed by horrific photos taken at the crime scenes. Photos
showing the victims and the murderers lying dead; their eyes wide
open, blood covering the ground around them.

The crowd gasped, but the commotion died down as the Hacker's face
returned to the screen. Even from this distance, his eyes were cold;
their blank expression making the hairs on the back of Anais' neck
stand up. He had a flat, piercing stare that made it uncomfortable
to look at them for long. But still her eyes remained glued to the
screen.

“
You
have been. So Eager. For Civitas' new product that. It seems several
of you. Were more than willing. To take a chance on my. Own version
of their SLPs.”

This time, just photos of the murderers were shown. Anais felt as
though someone had punched her in the stomach as Dalla's photo
flashed up amongst them. If the securibot hadn't been holding her,
she would've reeled backwards. Her head swam.

The Hacker returned to the screen.

“
In
fact. There are four more of you. Out there today. Who have also
bought my special version. They are. In this very crowd, for that
matter. I do not wish. To keep you from the festivities for too much
longer. But I did. Want to give you all. One. Last. Gift. Civitas,”
here, the Hacker's eyes gleamed. “This is all for you. To say.
Thank you. Thank you for. Changing humanity as we know it. Thank you
for creating. Technology we could only dream of. Thank you for
creating. The means to your own destruction.”

For a crowd of several thousand people, the silence was so
complete, Anais was sure she could've heard a pin drop as they hung
onto the Hacker's every word.

“
Without
you. And my accomplices. I would never have been able to. Pull off
such a feat. So thank you. Thank you, Civitas.”

The venom in his voice was unmistakable. Anais shrank back in the
securibot's arm slightly as the anger and fury in the Hacker's voice
struck her.

“
One
last thing. Citizens. For those of you. Who have purchased an SLP
today, congratulations. You now also belong to my. Very special club
of people who own an SLP. Far more superior to anything Civitas.
Could ever create.”

He made as if to go off-screen, but he paused and looked straight
back at the camera.

“
If
you work for the. Notable and. Esteemed company, Civitas. You might
want. To run. Who knows. Who might be next. To die. Happy.
Birthday.”

All the screens went black. For a second that seemed to stretch
into eternity, everyone was silent as they tried to grasp what
they'd just witnessed. Then the whispers started. They grew louder
and louder into an angry buzzing, before erupting into screams and
shouts.

The ones nearest Anais who had purchased an SLP were gathering
around the Civitas trader with the bloody nose, demanding their
credits back, insisting he reversed the program.

“
Get
it out of me!” the curly haired woman who had been downloading an
SLP when Anais had interrupted, had grabbed the trader's top and was
shaking him, her eyes wild. “Get rid of it! I don't want to know
French anymore! Just take it out!”

“
I
– I can't! The process isn't reversible...” the poor trader
looked terrified.

“
But
hat awful man said this was the same SLP as the ones those murderers
had,” the woman shrieked. “What does that mean? What's going to
happen to me?”

She began to shake the man harder. He tried to pull away but he was
now surrounded by hysterical customers, all screaming and demanding
that the SLP be wiped from their memories. One man was clawing at
his own neck, as though he could take out his ID chip and get rid of
the program he'd downloaded that way.

Anais was so shocked by their behaviour, that it took her a moment
to realise that the securibot had released her and was now making
it's way through the fray, it's sensor blinking rapidly as it called
for back-up. She backed away from the rapidly forming mob, but was
shoved back as a woman collided with her. The woman didn't even
apologise as she ran past. Anais turned and her heart dropped.

It was carnage. Everyone was fighting to get out of the street,
away from Civitas, away from the screens that had promised them
death. People were screaming, yelling for their loved ones as they
were swept away by the tide. The group of Civitas directors that had
been standing on the steps outside the building were being escorted
back inside the building by a group of securibots and police. Anais
couldn't see Skye amongst them. But people weren't just trying to
get away – they were also screaming at the directors, demanding
answers. The police managed to hold them back by raising their guns,
but Anais had a feeling that wouldn't detain the mob for long.

It was every man for himself. People were shoving each other with
no regard for others; not caring whether they fell or got hurt in
the process. There were quite a few people converging on the Civitas
stalls placed along the riverfront; presumably those who had
purchased an SLP and where now demanding it be wiped, like those
behind her.

Anais swore under her breath, looking round for Xander or Clay, but
she couldn't see anything through the pandemonium around her. She
accidentally got pushed into another woman, but when she turned to
apologise, she was surprised to see she knew who it was.

“
Ola!”
she said in surprise, feeling somewhat relieved to see a friendly
face.

Ola's bright green eyes widened.

“
Anais?”
Ola said. “What a surprise. Are you okay, chuck?”

Anais nodded.

“
Haven't
seen you at work for a while. Everything okay?” Ola asked, her
eyes full of concern.

“
Not
really,” Anais admitted. A crease appeared on Ola's forehead.

“
You
should get out of here,” she said. “Me and Peg are heading for
the factory now.”

She nodded towards the man beside her. Anais hadn't realised it was
Peg. He nodded in greeting, but he was more concerned with the
frantic crowd around them.

“
Come
with us,” Ola urged. “You'll be safer there.”

Anais shook her head.

“
I
can't. I need to make sure my friends are okay,” she said. “But
thanks.”

Ola's eyes didn't leave her. Peg looked around worriedly.

“
We
have to leave,” he said. “Now.”

“
Well...if
you're sure?” Ola asked Anais. Anais nodded. “We'll see you
soon, okay chuck?”

Anais nodded again. Ola darted forward and gave her a brief hug.

“
Stay
safe,” she breathed in her ear. She let Anais go, grabbed Peg's
hand and the pair melted away into the crowd. Anais turned away from
them, an unexpected lump in her throat. She had to make sure Xander
was okay.

She brought up Xander's ID on her RetCom and called him as she
began to push through the crowd, feeling increasingly desperate. He
answered on the first ring.

“
Anais!
Where are you?” Xander's voice filled her with relief.

“
I'm
near the river, opposite the Civitas building. Where are you?” she
tried to keep the worry out of her voice, but the words came out
rather high-pitched.

“
Stay
there. I'll come to you. I -”

His voice broke off as a gunshot filled the air. Anais whipped
round. The people around her began to scream and push frantically.

There was a gap in the crowd and Anais saw what they were all
running from. A woman was standing over the body of a man in with
the Civitas logo sewn onto his suit jacket, holding a small silver
pistol. She was still pointing it at him, even though blood was
leaking from the hole in his chest. The woman suddenly looked up,
straight at Anais, and Anais' blood ran cold. The woman's pink and
brown eyes were completely devoid of emotion, as though she wasn't
really seeing what was in front of her. She raised the gun to her
own temple, and fired one more shot.

The screaming increased. Anais turned away for the sight, her whole
body shaking.

“
Anais!
Are you okay?”

She became aware of Xander's voice still in her head.

“
I'm
fine,” she whispered. Her voice seemed to have deserted her.
“Where are you?”

“
I
see you,” he said suddenly. “I'll be there in a minute. Stay
where you are.”

Although she didn't want to look, didn't want to be reminded of all
the violence and blood she'd witnessed over the past few days, Anais
couldn't help peeking at the bodies on the floor not five metres
away. The crowd was so thick, that although they were trying to keep
away from the corpses, people's shoes were slipping in the blood
that lay on the street, or treading on the woman's fingertips.
Securibots were cutting through the crowd to cordon the area off.

“
Anais!”

Anais turned to see Xander fighting his way towards her. She pushed
through the last few people towards him, and suddenly she was in his
arms, her head buried into his shoulder. She was overwhelmingly
grateful that he was okay. He was here with her. He was safe. He
wasn't going to leave her like Dalla had.

She raised her head and looked up into Xander's dark purple eyes.
She hadn't realised until that moment the underlying fear she'd had,
that he was going to be next. The Hacker had warned anyone who
worked for Civitas to leave. She was lightheaded with relief that
Xander was alive. He would be okay. He wasn't wearing his Civitas
uniform after all, he'd be fine. He had to be.

“
We
should get out of here,” Xander said, with a glance at the
securibots who were now shielding the two bodies from view. It
wasn't deterring the news crews that had been filming Magnus King's
speech from trying to get a closer look at the two bodies.

“
Where's
Clay?” Anais asked, craning her neck, but there were still too
many people around. “We can't leave him.”

“
He
was somewhere over there the last time I saw him,” Xander said,
nodding back down the river towards where Anais had seen the white
boxes containing the SLPs being thrown into the river.

“
Let's
go,” Anais said.

They began to shoulder their way against the crowd. Anais couldn't
believe how many people had been crammed into this stretch of the
city – the crowds seemed endless, and they were all now pushing in
different directions as people ran towards the nearest magnet train
station, or tried to find the nearest auto-cab rank. Police officers
were moving through the crowd, trying to restore some kind of order,
but to no avail.

There was a flash of blue hair and Anais grabbed Xander's arm.

“
There's
Skye!”

They changed direction, now going deeper into the crowd as Anais
tried to keep her eye on the woman with the sky blue hair.

“
Skye!”
She tried calling to her, but the noise of the crowd drowned her
out. The woman half turned as she fought through the throng of
people, and that one glimpse was enough to confirm who it was.

“
SKYE!”
Anais shouted louder, and finally Skye turned to them, her eyes wide
with fear. She began mouthing something to them, but Anais couldn't
make it out. Anais and Xander pushed their way towards her, as Skye
struggled towards them. Anais still couldn't hear what Skye was
trying to say, but her attention was distracted by the sight of a
young man with purple and green dreadlocks, who was approaching Skye
from behind. He had a tattoo across his face which was made out of
glittery black ink, with tiny pieces of jet inlayed along the
swirling design. His eyes were blank and dead looking.

Too late, Anais saw the flash of silver in his hand as he raised
the knife.