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I was startled. “You seriously think that we’ve got a Level 1 wild bee, Lucas? Surely that’s unusual.”
“It’s extremely unusual,” said Lucas. “Most Level 1 people are perfectly contented. Lottery hasn’t just allocated them work that they love, but given them the highest status and most luxurious lifestyle in the Hive. While Level 1 people can still have relationship problems, they have the best medical and counselling support to help deal with them.”
He sighed. “There are the exceptional cases though. Amber, your telepathic talent is so rare and desperately needed by the Hive that you were allocated your work whether it was suited to you or not. Some other people are in the same situation as you, doing work that they don’t love and may even actively dislike. They can suffer from severe stress as a result, and grow to resent the happiness of people around them.”
“There aren’t many of these people in the Hive, Lucas,” said Nicole doubtfully.
“There aren’t many of them,” said Lucas, “but they’re all given especially luxurious living conditions. Virtually all of those people who have been assigned to work in Orange Zone will be living here in area 500/2500.”
His voice took on a harsh note. “This is the Orange Zone Level 1 centre point. It has the most luxurious apartments suitable for illustrious people like the head of Hive Politics. Its shopping area and other facilities will only be surpassed by those in area 500/5000, the centre point of the whole Hive.”
“I hope you aren’t suggesting that the head of Hive Politics is our wild bee,” said Adika. “That would be an exceedingly awkward situation.”
“I’m sure that the head of Hive Politics isn’t our wild bee,” said Lucas. “When I called him to ask permission to use his apartment, he was in his office on Industry 1, and sent one of his bodyguards to assist us. Our wild bee could be someone else stunningly important though. Does that seem possible, Amber?”
“The wild bee does think he’s important,” I said cautiously. “There’s an overtone of superiority present in every level of his thoughts. That’s why he’s so furious about those bystanders discovering his secret. The low level protein scum dared to laugh at him. It was humiliating.”
I paused. “But the fact he thinks he’s important doesn’t necessarily mean he genuinely is important. I’ve read the minds of wild bees rated as low as Level 80 who think of themselves as important, and all that means is they’ve got an overblown ego.”
“Very true,” said Lucas. “Are you seeing anything that could give us a clue to our wild bee’s identity?”
I skimmed hastily through my target’s thought levels. “He’s not thinking about his name. He’s not thinking about his work. He’s not even thinking about the reason he’s been exploring the maintenance areas. His mind is focused on finding the people who laughed at him and killing them.”
I groaned. “He’s got to find them, he’s got to kill them, and he’s got to do it quickly. His whole life is at stake. He’s been getting messages from Health and Safety about Level 1 area 500/2500 being evacuated because of electrical issues, but he knows that’s a lie.”
“So what does our wild bee think is happening?” asked Lucas.
I concentrated on a relevant thought train and rapidly recited details. “He used to keep his behaviour under control because he believed the patrolling nosies could read his mind. Two years ago, he discovered that wasn’t true. He made a mistake that caused an accident in his laboratory. He lied about what happened, and spent weeks expecting nosies to challenge him about it, but they never did.”
“My team are checking records on laboratory accidents,” said Nicole.
“The wild bee still believes nosies are genuine telepaths though,” I said. “He thinks they can’t read his mind because his superior logic is beyond their comprehension. The funny thing is that it’s true his mind is especially logical, but that just makes it easier to read his thoughts.”
I shook my head. “Anyway, the wild bee started indulging himself with his secrets. Everything went perfectly until those bystanders saw him. Now he thinks that the bystanders have called for help, and Health and Safety are evacuating the area because they’re sending in an army of nosy squads. He never wanted to hurt anyone, but now he’s desperate. The only way to save himself from exposure and ridicule is to find the bystanders and kill them before the nosies arrive. Once the nosies read the minds of those people, and find out what they saw ...”
The thought train was swamped by the images of a memory sequence, and I broke off my sentence to concentrate on them. My target had gone into Level Zero, opened an inspection hatch to go down into the maintenance crawl way, and was lying there working on the air vent cover of a new neighbour’s apartment. The grilles of the cover were designed to stop anyone looking through them at people inside their apartments, but he’d got skilled at using a knife to widen the gaps to give him a clear view.
He was so focused on his work that he didn’t hear the people coming, didn’t notice that the light of their lanterns had been added to that of his own flashlight, had no idea they were standing around the inspection hatch and watching him. Then he heard them laughing.
“I’m seeing the wild bee’s memory of meeting the bystanders,” I said. “He’s been using Level Zero and the interlinking maintenance crawl ways as a route to reach the air vents of his neighbours’ apartments on Level 1. The bystanders caught him using a knife to alter an air vent to let him see into an apartment. They laughed at him. He climbed out of the inspection hatch and shouted at them, but they just kept laughing. The wild bee instinctively lashed out with his knife to stab the one that was laughing loudest, but then one of the others kicked him, hit him with her lantern, and they all ran off into the darkness.”
“So our wild bee didn’t intend to hurt anyone,” said Lucas. “He just got caught spying on people in the shower.”
“He wasn’t spying on them in the shower.” I was sharing my target’s thoughts, feeling his emotions, and was indignant at the false accusation. “He’s been living their lives.”
“You’ll need to explain that a bit more,” said Lucas.
“You were right about Lottery allocating the wild bee to do vital work that didn’t really suit him,” I said. “Perhaps he’s been complaining about the unfairness of that. Perhaps he’s too proud of his importance. Perhaps he’s just an unpleasant person. Whatever the reason, nobody likes him, and they do everything they can to avoid spending time with him. He works alone in his laboratory. He lives alone in his apartment. He has no friends. He’s got so lonely that he’s borrowing the social life of other people.”
I paused. “He’s been using the air vents to watch his neighbours’ lives and fantasize about being them. Sometimes he takes it a step further, takes off the air vent cover, or manages to make other routes into their apartments. He knows all their daily routines, so he waits until he knows they’ll be out for hours, then he enters their apartments and acts out the things he’s seen. He eats the meals they’ve eaten. He repeats the conversations he’s watched them have with their visitors. Sometimes he even dozes in their sleep field. He’s careful not to damage anything though, and puts everything back in place before he leaves.”
“That’s the reason people have been reporting being worried,” said Lucas. “Our wild bee was being careful, but there’d still have been missing meals, objects left in slightly the wrong position, and odd sounds as he moved through the maintenance crawl ways.”
“We have an identity for our target,” said Nicole. “Level 1 Researcher Alvin 2498-2411-186. He’s doing solo research into solvents, and I can understand him being lonely working alone, but why didn’t he ask for counselling help? A counsellor could have arranged for him to join an organized group for people with similar issues.”
“Alvin couldn’t ask for counselling help,” I said. “That would have meant admitting people didn’t like him. His ego wouldn’t let him do that.”
Lucas sighed. “Alvin didn’t intend to hurt anyone. He had a knife in his hand and instinctively hit out at the bystanders because they laughed at him. The problem is that he now believes killing the bystanders is his only way to escape from this situation.”
“Red group are now on Industry 46,” said Rothan’s voice on the crystal comms. “We’ve found a floor access point that we think is above the bystanders’ position.”
“Amber, where is Alvin now?” asked Lucas.
“He’s still roaming around Level Zero at floor level, and is currently one cor west of me. He doesn’t think the wounded man could have climbed a ladder, so he’s worried the bystanders have found their way out of the area.”
“You can leave Alvin’s head now,” said Lucas. “Focus on guiding red group to the bystanders.”
I pulled myself out of Alvin’s panicking mind. I’d intended to search for the bystanders next, but just thinking about red group was enough to make me link to Rothan. He was staring down at where some floor tiles had been dragged aside to expose a floor access point, the cover labelled with urgent warnings about sheer drops.
... hope I’m right about us being above the bystanders. We’re definitely close to them, and it would be logical for these access points to be positioned directly above the tanks, but Adika isn’t in a mood to forgive even the slightest mistake. He ...
Infected by Rothan’s anxiety, I left his head, tensely searched downwards, and was relieved to find the glow of three minds. “Red group are perfectly positioned directly above the bystanders.”
“Good,” said Lucas. “Amber, please check the bystanders now, and see if you can find any information about what they were doing on Level Zero. The wounded person was worried about them getting into trouble if they called for help. Is that just because they were trespassing, or have they been doing something more serious? We need to know if they’ll be so scared about getting in trouble that they’ll either run from red group or try to fight them.”
I avoided the mind that was bright with pain and linked to one of the other two.
... too dark. Much too dark. Much too dark. Much ...
... Can’t be happening. Can’t be real. Just a bad dream. Keep my eyes closed and wait until I wake up. Can’t be ...
The thoughts were repeating in terrified loops that couldn’t tell me anything useful. I moved on again and found myself inside the head of the female bystander. She was afraid of the darkness too, but even more afraid of the man with the knife.
... he’ll be especially keen to kill me after the way I hit him with my lantern. If only we’d ignored that open inspection hatch, and kept walking straight on through Level Zero ...
... have to call for help before ...
“If you don’t give me my dataview right away,” she whispered aggressively, “I’ll take it by force. I don’t want to hurt your arm, but our lives are at stake.”
“You have to obey my orders,” said the wounded person. “Remember that you’re only a Lieutenant. I’m a Captain and your commanding officer on this mission.”
I frowned. “Lucas, could the bystanders have come out of the last Lottery, been assigned to Hive Defence, and be taking part in a training exercise? The wounded boy just said he’s a Captain and the commanding officer on this mission. The girl he’s been arguing with is a Lieutenant.”
“The bystanders can’t be on a Hive Defence training exercise,” Lucas sounded as puzzled as me. “If they were members of Hive Defence then they’d have immediately reported an injury.”
“If they were members of Hive Defence then no one would have been injured,” said Adika. “They’d have easily overpowered the wild bee.”
I was hearing Lucas and Adika’s words through my ear crystal, and the words of the bystanders’ conversation through my target’s ears, struggling to follow both at once.
“Just think how many Blue Upway points we’re getting for this,” gloated the Captain. “We’ve already earned enough points to get promoted, and we’re getting more every time I send another report.”
“We can’t get promoted if we’re dead,” said the Lieutenant fiercely.
“The bystanders must be on a Hive Defence training exercise,” I said in bewilderment. “The Captain is talking about getting Blue Upway points and promotions.”
The chorus of groans, both on the crystal comms and from the bodyguards physically standing next to me, increased my confusion.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“The three bystanders aren’t on a Hive Defence training exercise,” said Lucas, in a resigned voice. “They’re a Blue Upway game group.”
“What’s a Blue Zone game group doing in the heart of Orange Zone?” asked Adika.
“Law Enforcement’s Game Control group sent out warnings months ago that Blue Upway had broken the usual zone boundaries and was expanding Hivewide,” said Lucas. “There wasn’t anything especially worrying about that, because Blue Upway is a well-behaved game, but we were bound to stumble across one of its game groups eventually.”
“I’ve still no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.
“Our three bystanders are a group taking part in a Teen Game called Blue Upway,” explained Lucas. “Players earn points and status by daring acts like trespassing. This group must have been aiming to earn high bonus points for both hazards and darkness by entering Level Zero, but then they stumbled across our wild bee.”
I was stunned. “I never heard about anything like this when I lived on Teen Level.”
“The Hive allows minor acts of rebellion by teens during the difficult years leading up to Lottery,” said Lucas. “Teen Games are the highest level of that rebellion. They’re tolerated by the Hive so long as the player challenges stay within reasonable limits, because they provide an outlet for teens who would otherwise end up having major clashes with authority.”
He laughed. “The community centres on Teen Level hold activity sessions to allow teens to gain experience of a variety of work in the Hive. Those experiences help the teens establish their individual capabilities, likes, and dislikes before they enter Lottery, so the testing process can allocate them their perfect professions. Teen Games are effectively the activity sessions for combat roles in Hive Defence or Hive Security. The fact that they’re technically illegal adds an important extra dimension of risk to the experience.”
“You mean that Teen Games are like the Ramblers Association?” I asked. “The Hive wants most of its citizens to be afraid of Outside, so the Ramblers Association is technically classed as a non-conformist group. It actually benefits the Hive though, because it provides a pool of people that Lottery can imprint for necessary work Outside.”
“Exactly,” said Lucas. “If the Hive permits something illegal to exist, it’s for a good reason.”
“The Hive knows best,” I muttered.
“There are normally multiple Teen Games running in each zone of the Hive,” said Lucas. “The reason you’ve never heard of them before, Amber, is that Teen Game recruiters are looking for rebellious and risk-addicted teens. None of them would have approached a teen like you, a model citizen of the Hive, whose only rule-breaking was the socially accepted act of riding the handrail of the moving stairs.”
“Lucas, if the bystanders are playing a Teen Game then we’ll have huge problems covering up this incident,” said Nicole anxiously. “Players constantly take images to send to their Game Commander, to prove where they’ve been and claim their points. We could reset the bystanders’ memories back to yesterday, invent an accidental cause for the knife wound, and remove their images from their dataviews, but we’ve no way to stop the Game Commander sharing the information.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because we’ve no way to find the Game Commander,” said Lucas. “The game group won’t know who is running Blue Upway, because everyone involved in Teen Games hides their real identity behind game names and anonymous dataview identification numbers. Precisely what did the Captain say about points?”
I was starting to realize just how bad this situation could be. It was essential to cover up incidents like this, so no one was tempted to copy the actions of wild bees.
“The Captain said they’d already earned enough points to get promoted,” I said, “and they were getting more every time he sends another report.”
“That means the Captain has already reported full details of this incident to the Game Commander,” said Lucas. “He’s probably sent details of something this exciting to other teens involved in the Game as well, and they won’t have been able to resist sharing it with their friends in turn. If the Game Commander is spreading the news too, then half the teens in the Hive must already know there’s a man with a knife stabbing people on Level Zero.”
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“We have to accept we’ve failed to contain this incident,” said Lucas, “and use the last resort explanation. Amber, we need the dataview identification number of one of those bystanders. I understand that’s difficult because people rarely think of ...”
“No, it isn’t difficult this time,” I interrupted him. “My current target is the Lieutenant. She’s planning to make a call to Hive Emergency Services, and thinking through what she’ll say to them, so there’s an associated thought train with her dataview identification number.”
I waited until my target’s thought train reached the right point, and gabbled numbers and letters.
“Nicole, set up a sound only call from my dataview to the bystanders, and patch it into the crystal comms on receive only,” said Lucas. “I want everyone on our comms to be able to hear the conversation, but the game group should only be able to hear me.”
I was still linked to the Lieutenant’s mind. She heard some distinctive chimes and spoke eagerly. “That’s my dataview. You have to let me answer the call before the man with the knife hears the chimes.”
“I’m rejecting the call,” said the Captain. “This is exactly why I took your dataviews at the start of this mission. I can’t have group members being distracted by calls, or dataview chimes giving away our location.”
“They’ve rejected the call,” said Nicole.
“Keep trying until someone answers,” said Lucas.
My target heard the distinctive chimes again. “I don’t know who could be calling me, but they aren’t giving up. You have to let me answer the call.”
“I’ll just keep rejecting it,” said the Captain.
... he’s got fewer brain cells than a rabbit. No, that’s unfair to rabbits. He’s got fewer brain cells than protein scum or ...
“You can’t keep rejecting the call,” my target hissed savagely. “Whoever it is will keep calling, and the dataview will keep chiming. Eventually, the man with the knife will hear it, and he’ll come and find us.”
“I’ll answer it myself then,” said the Captain.
A moment later, I heard the Captain speaking both through my target’s ears and on the crystal comms. “You’ll have to call back later. She can’t answer her dataview now.”
“I’m the Tactical Commander of a Hive Security Unit,” said Lucas briskly. “An enemy agent was detected entering our Hive. We evacuated this area of both Level Zero and Level 1 to avoid any risk of Hive citizens being injured when we moved in to arrest the enemy agent, but our nosies have informed us that your game group is trespassing in the danger zone.”
My target’s thoughts accelerated to a speed that meant I could barely read them.
... man’s an enemy agent! That explains everything. He was trying to get through that air vent cover into ...
“Your nosies have made a mistake,” said the Captain. “You’ve called the wrong ...”
“Shut up!” My target snatched the dataview from his hand and spoke into it herself. “Yes, we caught the enemy agent trying to get through an air vent into Level 1. He attacked us with a knife, so we ran away and hid.”
“The nosies tell me there are three of you hiding on top of a tank, and your Captain was stabbed in the arm,” said Lucas. “We have a team of four men on their way to protect you and provide medical treatment. There’s no need for you to be alarmed by their arrival. Do you understand?”
“We understand,” said my target breathlessly. “I can give you directions to where we saw the enemy agent.”
“The nosies are keeping me informed of the enemy agent’s movements,” said Lucas. “We would have already apprehended him, but we had to delay while we got people into position to protect you.”
Lucas paused. “Red group, you can move now.”
My target heard a scraping noise from overhead, looked up, and saw a light area appear in the ceiling above her. A moment later, four figures came sliding down on ropes. The leading man landed neatly in front of her, his wristset light illuminating his face, and she gazed at his blue eyes in stunned adoration.
“High up!” she gasped.
“Red group are in position to defend bystanders,” said Rothan.
“I need to end this call now,” said Lucas. “Please co-operate fully with the instructions of red group leader while we apprehend the enemy agent.”
“Yes,” said the Lieutenant. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Call ended,” said Nicole.
“I assume I was talking to the Lieutenant,” said Lucas. “She seemed convinced by my call.”
“She isn’t just convinced,” I said, “she’s developed an instant crush on our red group leader as well. The Lieutenant has just turned eighteen, so she’ll be going into the next Lottery. She’s dreaming of being assigned to Hive Defence, and Rothan is the living embodiment of all her dreams, as well as being male and extremely good looking.”
There was an embarrassed cough on the comms. “Bystander’s injury is significant,” said Rothan. “Requesting medical guidance.”
“Patching red group into a separate channel with our medical staff,” said Nicole.
“I’ll check what the Captain is thinking.” I moved to a mind where pain warred with emotion. “The Captain is deeply frustrated. He’s another one that’s going into the next Lottery and dreaming of joining Hive Defence. He wants to be capturing the enemy agent himself rather than being rescued.”
“Lottery won’t allocate the Captain to a combat role,” said Adika. “He’s tough, with a high pain threshold, but he’s incapable of rethinking his plans in a crisis. The Lieutenant is a very different matter. She’s unarmed and untrained, but she still took down a wild bee for long enough to get two teammates, one panicking and the other injured, to a safe hiding place.”
“Yes,” said Lucas. “That was definitely a defining experience for her.”
“What’s a defining experience?” I asked.
“An experience that will define her life,” said Lucas. “This is exactly why the Hive permits the existence of Teen Games. The Lieutenant has been dreaming of joining Hive Defence for years. It shouldn’t have happened in such dangerous circumstances, but her actions today have proved she’s suited to a command combat role.”
His voice took on an oddly emotional note. “We’ve realized that, and far more importantly, the Lieutenant must have realized that herself. Every time she remembers what happened today, that realization will be reinforced, and her self-knowledge will impact all her results in Lottery. Unless the testing process discovers she’s also suited to some other more vitally needed position in the Hive, she will have her dream.”
His voice returned to its usual tones. “Rothan, allow the Captain to send a final report to his Game Commander and his friends, so the enemy agent story spreads around Teen Level. That report can include a recording of my call, and images of you arriving, but nothing after that point. Once it’s been sent, confiscate all three dataviews. We’ll want to wipe all the information about this incident before giving them back to their owners.”
“Understood,” said Rothan.
“Now the bystanders are secure, we can focus on dealing with Alvin,” said Lucas. “We want to capture him alive if possible. There’s every chance that proper treatment can restore him to being a productive member of the Hive. Amber, please check Alvin’s location now.”
I pulled out of the Captain’s mind and searched for Alvin. “He’s still one cor west of me, but he’s climbing a ladder now. He’s failed to find the bystanders hiding at floor level, so he’s decided they must have managed to get the wounded man up a ladder to the top of a tank. He’s thinking that he’ll have a massive advantage fighting them in the darkness. He knows his way around the aerial walkways. They don’t.”
“Alvin will have a massive advantage over us in the darkness too,” said Adika grimly.
“I’m not sending men chasing a target along treacherous aerial walkways with just wristset lights,” said Lucas. “Where are your blue group members now?”
“In lifts ready to enter Level Zero,” said Adika. “Half at floor level. Half up by one of the aerial walkways.”
“Do you have anyone positioned near the light controls?” asked Lucas.
“I’m by the controls,” said Eli’s gloomy voice. “Again! Why is it always me that has to work out how to use strange control systems?”
“Because you’re good at it,” said Lucas. “Eli, at my mark you’ll turn all the lights on, and then I’ll call the main strike.”
He paused. “Mark!”
Alvin had just reached the top of his ladder when lights blazed from the ceiling. “Alvin’s shocked and dazzled by the lights,” I said.
“Strike time!” snapped Lucas.
