25

Vacuum:

The pain stopped.

Brian stood up, looking all around. He was once again surrounded by the mist. He stretched his back, closing his eyes tight and then reopening them. There was something in his hand. He turned his palm over, revealing a coin. A woman’s golden face stared back. Coiner’s fake bitch.

The mist dissipated, and Brian found himself in a traditional Japanese room, with paper walls and tatami mats on the floor. Seated on the floor before a long, low table was the samurai. His severe expression and the two perfect swords on the little stand next to him left no doubt as to his identity.

The samurai motioned for him to sit. Brian sat. The samurai nodded at the table and Brian noticed a steaming cup of tea. He picked it up and drank. The samurai drank too, but said nothing.

“What is this place?”

“A stop along the way. To say goodbye. My mission is over. The Life Force has acted against its threat.”

“Is this inside my head, too?”

“No. You will find your own way to the light.”

The samurai gestured to a sliding paper panel. Brian rose. He slid the door open and stepped through, back into the mist. He turned to close the panel behind him, but the door, the room, and the samurai were gone.

The mist began to clear as a warm, golden light appeared far ahead.

Walt Zytem’s office:

Zytem terminated the connection. The hologram disappeared, leaving the room dark.

The Prophet laughed. “Perfect!” he said. Eadie shivered.

“Prophet,” Eadie said. “Give me the container.”

“No.”

“I outrank you. Give it to me, now.”

He scoffed. “You outrank me in a hierarchy I created. I was reconditioned only to obey Amelix Integrations superiors. I don’t work here anymore, so there are no such people.”

“How did you know I’d be the one to take you here? How did you know to call me ‘general’ and that I would end up leading the Subjects?”

“Oh, that,” the Prophet said. His voice sounded satisfied, almost cheerful. “Every woman has at least some ability to make a man do stupid things, but in you, I saw a rare talent for inciting foolish behavior in many of them all at once. Since the human male is the most destructive force in our world, I realized you had great potential.”

“I don’t understand,” Eadie said.

“You still don’t see? Think of poor little Lawrence Williams the Seventh. Gave up his whole life to save you, without a second thought. Another example: Those bullies who started to beat me up at the diner,” the Prophet said. “They sat next to me the day before that, when I first met you. Their whole conversation was about how sexy they thought you were. When they came back the next day, each one stared at you as he came in. Why do you think they picked on those younger students and then came after me? It was all to make an impression on you, to show you how tough and how superior they were. And believe me, those kids weren’t the only ones paying you attention. You were the main attraction in that place.

“On top of all that, I saw the anger in you—such deep-seated pain and resentment. All this gave you power you didn’t yet know you had. I merely needed to steer you in the right direction.”

He pulled out her notebook. “As it turned out, your little friend here did the hard part for me. The CBD was your first choice of target!” He tried to hand the book to her but she kept her hands at her sides. Dok took it instead, absently sliding it into a pocket in his jacket.

The Prophet turned to face the window, taking another drink. Outside, the CBD was dark and silent.

Eadie leaped at him, snatching the plexi brick of spores from his hand. The Prophet lunged for the brick. Eadie punched him in the face and flung him to the floor. He sprung up, grabbing at the brick again with both hands but she held it out of his reach and struck him hard in the chin with her knee. He collapsed onto the carpet, unconscious.

Eadie ran to the staircase. “Rosa! Old Fart!” she called down. “I need you up here now!”

“Eadie?” Dok said, coming up behind her. “What are you doing?”

“Didn’t you get it, Dok? Didn’t you hear his solution to the Subjects’ problem? He’s going to let nature take its course and wipe us all out. Old Fart! Rosa! Where are you?” Eadie leaned impatiently over the stair rail toward the clomping footsteps and heavy breathing that had to be Old Fart climbing up.

It would be too conspicuous if she went herself; too many would follow. But Old Fart and Rosa might be taken for CBD refugees. It was the best chance they had.

Looking through what used to be the CBD fence:

“This plaaace is gonna get a lot hotter reeeal fast, Patrol Leeader,” Lux said. “More Feds will come. Saamurai’s Front is lost.”

Coiner nodded. “You’re a wise maaan, Lux. I’ll have to aanswer to Top Dog for chasing Samurai all the way heere, but I think he’ll agree that this colleeection of weapons is worth what we’ve lost … especially these new ones. Besides, I’m out of coooins. Let’s head home.”

Zytem’s office:

The Prophet moaned and crawled up to sit on the windowsill.

“I sent the spores away,” Eadie said. “Old Fart and Rosa are taking that brick to the news trucks. They’re probably already to the vans outside the CBD.”

The Prophet was silhouetted against the feeble rain-filtered moonlight coming in through the window. The room might have seemed pitch black to anyone unaccustomed to living underground, though the glowing shapes on their foreheads were plainly visible. He covered his face with his hands.

He laughed sadly to himself. “I’ve been outsmarted,” he said.

Eadie’s face flushed hot. “You’re damned right you’ve been outsmarted. Did you think I’d let you wreck the whole world?”

He rolled his head from side to side against the window. “Not by you, you stupid waitress cunt,” the Prophet said. “By nature. By what your samurai friend called the Life Force. By God. You’re just a cog in the divine mechanism, and I failed to consider your part in it. I should’ve seen it coming.”

Eadie stared at his silhouette. “God outsmarted you by getting the spores out of your hands before you killed everyone?”

“God outsmarted me by getting them out of this building. I wanted to see the spores destroyed. As long as they exist, our species is teetering on the edge of extinction, and our extinction is what God wants.”

“Know what?” Dok said, pointing at the Prophet. “This guy’s full of shit. No single disease in history ever wiped out a hundred percent of any population, let alone the whole world.”

The Prophet’s voice was flat. “That’s because every disease in history evolved within a population, so a natural resistance developed as it was spreading. This fungus was designed to be symbiotic with human tissue. Factor in modern transportation systems and the degree to which people are interconnected these days, and there’s not a single barrier that will even slow it down.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Eadie said. “The spores are going to the news stations.”

The Prophet laughed again. “Did you forget about Walt Zytem, the president of this corporation? He happens to be one of the most powerful people in the world. What do you suppose he will do now? If he hasn’t already, that is.”

Eadie’s heart sank. She hadn’t considered how Zytem might act. She tried to think quickly. “Call the Feds, I’d guess.”

“That’s right. Feds. High up Feds. And when he tells them what we terrorists have found here, what do you suppose those Feds will do?”

“Try to … I don’t know. Try to stop us from releasing the spores, probably.”

“Right again,” said the Prophet. “Snipers will take out anyone trying to leave the area, because anybody might be carrying the vial—they’ll aim for heads to minimize the risk of breaking it. But they won’t come too close. There’s a risk in bringing the fight inside the CBD. We might release the spores in retaliation, or the container could be damaged by a stray shot. So the Feds will incinerate this building, probably with a tactical nuclear weapon. It’s the only way to be sure our species is safe from this threat. It’s what I was counting on.” The Prophet chuckled quietly. “Only now, the spores will no longer be here.”

“Neither will we,” she said. “Dok, let’s get out of here while we still have a chance.” She headed for the door.

The Prophet laughed sadly again. “Do whatever you want,” he said. “You’ll never make it. I’m staying here.” He reached over to the desk and grabbed another liquor bottle. Leaning against the wall, he took a long drink.

Eadie hurried down the long staircase with Dok close behind her. In spite of the transparent ceiling, it was difficult to see more than a few steps ahead; there was no telling what was happening elsewhere in the dark lobby. Shots sounded somewhere close by—Unnamed, she could tell from the guns. Fiends below fired back. Eadie’s midsection felt hot. Her legs gave way and she collapsed on the stairs.

Inside the office building:

“Yeeah, like thaat,” Spiral said, caressing the gun he was teaching one of the tunnel soldiers to use. “We knoow the sniper’s in that building but not on the roof. The next shot wee seee flare up over there, wee’re both gonna dump a lotta fire on it, okaaay? I’ll shaare this kiill with you—like I shared the Juice. Feelin’ goood, right now, huh?”

The tunnel soldier’s voice was a low hiss. “Yeeees.” He sighted down the rifle. “Goood. You have more Juice? Mooore?”

“Don’t need more.” Spiral sighted his own gun, waiting. “It’s the same, a little or too much. It all works the same—won’t get more intense. Only killing does that.”

A tiny white light flashed from the building, one floor below the roof. Spiral and the other soldier fired simultaneously, shattering glass and shredding the contents of the office there.

“Oh!” the other soldier said. “Oh!” He set the gun down.

“Yeeah!” Spiral said. “We got ’im! Feel that? The rapture? Means we got ’im!”

Waves of pleasure flooded into Spiral’s body from all directions. “We got ’im!” he said again, wringing out more sensation with every repetition. “We got ’im we got ’im we got ’im!”

“Gottim,” the other soldier hissed.

Spiral and the other soldier stood, turning toward the stairs. “Whosat?” Spiral asked, watching the two figures working their way slowly down the criss-crossing staircase. One was helping the other, who was injured and seemed barely able to stand.

“Everyone follow me!” a young female voice called. “This is General Eadie. We have to leave, as fast as we can. Follow me out right now!”

“Our general,” the other soldier said breathily. “Wee fooollow.”

Spiral took a spontaneous step toward her. “Saaamurai said to follow her, huh? I seee whyy.”

“Yeess. Follow,” the other said. Together they joined the crowd that was quickly assembling around her, making their way down the stairs.

Too far from the CBD to be part of the action:

Daiss tugged at the wraps around both his arms. “I’ve got to—”

“Synthesizer’s not done, Agent Daiss,” the Agent Medic said. “You can’t go yet.”

“But the girl—”

Their attention was abruptly diverted as they simultaneously received an emergency signal via EI. Both listened intently to the urgent message that followed.

“ALL AGENTS EVACUATE THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT. ALL AGENTS EVACUATE THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT IMMEDIATELY BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE. HEAVENLY MANDATE. REPEAT: HEAVENLY MANDATE. EVACUATE THE CBD.”

“There, see?” The Agent Medic said. “Heavenly mandate. That’s bombs. Can’t do anything now, anyway, Agent Daiss. Just rest.”

Heading out of the CBD:

Old Fart half-walked, half-ran through the sheeting rain, with Rosa and a group of six Subjects, through the dark, wet, empty CBD walkways, clutching the bioplexi brick so tightly his fingers were numb. He avoided the emergency lighting that had come on underneath the beetle buildings, though of course Feds and UE would have night vision equipment anyway.

“We’re almost out of the CBD, Rosa,” he said. “See? There’s the gate. But the news trucks are all gone. What should we do?”

Rosa said nothing. Old Fart slowed his pace as he surveyed the area once more. “I was sure we’d have trouble from the Feds,” he said. “You know. Barricades at the exits, someone on a megaphone, that kind of thing. But there’s been nothing. They can’t just have given up.”

The little group started through the gate. The concrete in front of them suddenly crumbled, leaving a knee-deep hole. Another hole appeared next to it, and then another. Some of the Subjects turned back.

“We have to keep going!” Old Fart said.

There was a sound—like the sound of someone being punched in the stomach but amplified a thousand times—and the Subject nearest him went down. Part of the Subject’s head was gone. Another Subject was hit and her head vanished. Then Rosa’s head exploded.

Old Fart ran through the gate and into the street. Only two Subjects followed. The others were running back toward the building where Eadie was.

“Subjects below!” Old Fart yelled. He darted sideways and then straightened his path again. “Subjects below! This is Old Fart!” He made another quick, random turn. Another Subject fell to the street, headless. “I have orders from General Eadie! Show me a hand or an arm!” He zigzagged again, snapping his head to see from one corner sewer drain to another. “Subjects below! Can you hear—”

An arm appeared, spindly and white, rising cautiously from the sewer across the street. Old Fart ran toward it.

He dove toward the sewer, his tattered trousers shredding as he slid on his knees. He reached out, shoving the plastic brick at the spindly hand. “General Eadie says to keep this safe,” he said.

The little hand took the brick and carried human destiny away into the sewer. The kill shot disintegrated Old Fart’s skull.

Crossing the CBD:

“The snipers are tearing them apart!” Dok said. “The Prophet was right. They’re trying to keep everyone from leaving, to make sure the spores are still here when the bomb drops.”

Eadie leaned on him harder but pushed faster ahead. Two of the Unnamed shots had passed through her middle, tearing fist-sized exit holes in her back. “At least some might live if we make it to the train station!” she said.

“You’ll be dead for sure if you don’t let me stop the bleeding.”

“I’ll be dead either way. But if I get there, then they’ll follow.”

She tripped on a headless corpse. Dok’s hand tightened around her shoulder, stabilizing her.

“They’re following, yes,” he said. “But you’re not a goner. We’ll get you fixed up.”

“Not this time.”

She took longer strides. Dok glanced behind and saw Subjects and even Fiends running to catch up to the mob. The sniper shots dropped most of them, headless, but a few were still moving toward the train station. “They must’ve moved the snipers way back,” he said.

“Yeah, I’d guess they would.”

Lightning illuminated the squat, wall-less roof over the train station.

“Hurry!” Eadie said. “Help me get up the stairs and down onto the tracks! They’ll follow.”

Dok hefted her up the stairs. He jumped down onto the tracks and turned. Eadie jumped down, almost knocking him over. Subjects and Fiends spilled down onto the tracks.

“I need help carrying the General!” Dok said. “She’s hurt! Help me pick her up so we can move faster!”

Hands lifted Eadie from all sides. “Follow me!” Dok said, running down the tracks as they slanted sharply, heading underground, the dim bioluminescent lights seeming to stretch down forever. “Maybe we should just stay on the tracks, Eadie. They’re sealed against flooding. We know the Subjects’ tunnels sure aren’t.”

“Feds’ll expect that,” Eadie said, struggling with the words. Her breathing was ragged. “Only way to avoid them is to use the Subjects’ routes. Find the place where you came in!”

Dok led them to a short set of concrete steps rising up from the tracks. A bioplastic door hung open above them. Water gushed out. “I found the opening, Eadie.”

“Everybody inside!” Eadie said. “Go, go, go! Don’t worry about me! Into the tunnels and keep moving as far as you can!”

Dok stood outside the opening. “Subjects first! They’ll lead the way to the drier tunnels. You can make it! Higher tunnels are close in there! But hurry!”

None entered the tunnel. “They might follow you if you go first, Dok,” Eadie said.

“I can’t leave you here, Eadie.”

“You’re going to have to. But at least you can get the others away before they drop the bomb.” She tried to shove him roughly toward the door but it manifested more as a gentle nudge. “Go.”

Dok went in. A few Subjects followed, but most did not, and none of the Fiends moved. Eadie grabbed the Subject next to her, her fingers digging into the soft, spongy flesh. “Get in there,” she said. “That’s an order from me!” The Subject did not comply. He stayed there, almost frozen, until Eadie took his gun away from him. Her fingers felt cold around it. Her legs were numb.

“Go through this door!” she said, with the strongest voice she could muster. “That’s my final order to you all: Live.”

Eadie raised the gun to her head and pulled the trigger.

The last functioning gypsum mine:

Lawrence fought hard to keep his face from registering any emotion as he watched the computer play the image of the expanding orange mushroom cloud over and over again. The newscaster spoke in a stunned voice.

 … Here it is again from a different angle. This is from the CBD’s west gate camera. Listen to that explosion.

The Amelix building was entirely destroyed, and the neighboring Glenger Corporation building was severely damaged. To this point, Federal authorities have not explained why the strike was deemed necessary, but they do confirm that it was a threat of the most extreme nature. The device detonated was of the class known as ‘battlefield nukes,’ which have a very limited range and very low rates of radioactive fallout …

“So now you know what happened to your friends,” his father said, the words echoing off the limestone walls. “Or your fellow revolutionaries, or whatever the hell it was you thought you were. At least they took out a lot of Ricker’s Unnamed for us.” He paused. “Son, I hope you can see that you’ve really fucked up here. Our family status is shot, our family business is shot … But that doesn’t mean it’s over for us. I’m piecing it all back together, building something new. We have a few hundred Unnamed now, led by your loyal schoolmate Jack and your sister Ani, and of course they answer to me. You’ll lead them too, Sett. And together we’ll do great things.”

 

MediPirates Bulletin Board

(.*?)

 

Hello, everyone.

Please don’t lose heart. Dok M. stands out, you know. There is nowhere he can hide for very long, especially when the Federal cameras all run recognition software. They will catch him and punish him for poisoning all those people, and then perhaps our patients’ faith in all of us will be restored.

Lately I’ve been wondering about Dok’s last posts, regarding the street drug that produced a catatonic state and then a severely altered personality. I urge you all to search for posts on this topic.

There are at least twelve other accounts now of someone being dosed with this new street drug, becoming catatonic for a period of time, and emerging with a different and often violent personality.

If there are twelve more people with this condition and the cases are still growing in number (as they appear to be), this ordeal may have only just begun.

“Dok, you are sentenced to exile from the Underground Kingdom for attempting to destroy our most sacred artifact, the Ashes of the General.” The speaker was some arrogant kid they had moved into Old Fart’s former quarters. He called himself Judge New Catharsis. “If you return to the Underground Kingdom under any circumstance, you will be drowned in the Deep Chamber.”

The judge nodded to the Fiend henchmen who provided muscle for his makeshift courtroom. After the blast, the Fiends had struck a deal with the remaining Subjects, agreeing to provide an underground security force, food and other necessary supplies in exchange for the use of the Subjects’ tunnels. “Eject him,” New Catharsis said. The Fiends grabbed Dok by the shoulders.

“Wait!” Dok said. “Please! I told you. Those are not the general’s ashes! They’re spores of a terrible disease that will kill every last person on the planet! Please let me sterilize them so they’ll be safe.”

“To keep it safe was the general’s last order regarding the artifact, as told to us by the honorable Old Fart. Keep it safe is what we intend to do.”

The Fiends dragged Dok from the room. There was no point in struggling. They escorted him through a winding series of pipes and steam tunnels that ended at a storm sewer with a missing manhole cover. The Fiends roughly shoved him out.

The sun’s rays stung like needles after so long underground. The area looked abandoned, with crumbling, collapsed buildings pockmarked with signs of gunfire. There were no landmarks to guide him.

He started off in a random direction.