EHuman Dawn (21 page)

Origen nodded. The plan made sense. Adam felt a great sense of relief. If anyone would be able to deliver the information, it would be Marcus, who wouldn’t feel like he was even lying. In his mind the problem was almost solved. Therefore, Evelyn wouldn’t be able to sense anything was wrong.

“Marcus, that’s a great plan,” Dawn answered. “Alrisha, connect him to the MICE Tower immediately. I want to find the location of Neuro’s heart so we can plan our next steps.”

“Yes, Master Dawn!” Alrisha exclaimed. The two engineers rose from their places at the table and quickly departed. The moment the door closed behind them, an incoming TeleConnect request arrived.

“Rosario Donahi, our esteemed World Leader, requests a communication,” the EC rang out in simple, mechanical tones.

“Granted,” Origen answered fiercely.

The hologram of a tall, elegant woman appeared in front of the table. Her long legs and arms moved like a dancer’s, forming and reforming, as her image walked through Adam as well as a table in order that she might be face-to-face with Dawn and Origen. Long black hair hung down her back and shimmered in its digital image. Several other WG members appeared in the EC on the wall, forming a group behind their leader, who had chosen to take a holographic form to move around the room—the better to impress her audience.

She stopped before Dawn and Origen, placing her manicured hands on her hips. She wore a golden robe—standard issue for the members of the WG—and a circlet of gold olive leaves crowned her head.

“Nice look, World Leader,” Dawn spoke first, “Your latest eHuman body suits you very well.”

The World Leader grimaced. She hadn’t planned on letting the infidel speak first. Dawn had always been a thorn at her side, as Dawn herself was well aware. From the moment Dawn came into being, Edgar Prince had been enthralled. He’d spent hours with his new creation— hours that before had been spent with Rosario Donahi. In those days, Rosario was still known as Ruth Donovan, who by the miracle of a great public relations campaign combined with a dumbed-down American population, had been the President of the United States of America. As President Donovan, she had been a good, faithful Christian and wife. Which meant the affair she’d been having with the brilliant Edgar Prince had to stay secret, lest her public no longer adore her.

But Dawn knew about their love affair. She’d been Edgar’s confidant. And when Edgar began spending all his time with his beautiful eHuman creation, the jealousy President Donovan had experienced drove her down a path from which she could never return.

Almost two hundred years later, the woman still found herself living in the shadow of his desire for power and technological dominance. It was he who had sent her to speak with the Resistance today. It was Edgar Prince World Leader Donahi now represented as she issued her challenges to the worthless group of rebels before her.

And Dawn knew it.

“My dear Dawn,” the World Leader replied silkily, “You always say the most amusing things. I see you’re still obsessed with your same old body. What is it that keeps you so attached to the old model? Really now, you should consider an upgrade. The new eHuman features are quite enthralling.”

“Enough small talk,” Origen cut in, “What’s your message?”

“I’m here on behalf of my colleagues in the World Government. We’ve noticed your activities and applaud you for your slight victories. But we’ve tolerated your existence long enough. We’ve grown tired of your antics.”

The other WG members on the EC nodded their heads in unison with her words.

“We demand you leave the cities at once and retreat back to the hovels you climbed out of!”

“Ha!” Dawn laughed, “You order us out of the cities? To what end? These are our cities now!”

“No dear, they’re not. They’re mine,” Rosario challenged, “All eHuman technology is the property of the WG. You’ve trespassed and are in violation of several international treaties!”

“Wrong! eHumans are not your property!” Dawn cried, rising from her seat. Her own long blond hair shimmered under the lights in the room. She wore a tailored green dress with matching shoes. She must have visited the shops in the city while Adam was busy risking his life in the MICE Tower.

“You didn’t expect us to penetrate Neuro’s defenses, did you? Are things just a bit too close for comfort now?” Dawn challenged the World Leader. The two women stood face to face, one a digital image, like a ghost, the other real and defiant.

“I won’t reveal to you what we do or don’t know,” the World Leader snarled, “Suffice it to say that you might have power over a few cities, but that is nothing compared to the vastness of my empire! You can’t maintain control of them forever.”

“And why not?” Dawn demanded.

“What is your goal?” the World Leader countered.

“We’ve earned the right to live as we wish!” Dawn declared, “There’s room enough in this world for more than one society and more than one government! We demand freedom and sovereignty! Grant us the cities we control as an independent nation. Give us a seat in the Golden Hall of Gemetria to represent the needs of our people. Allow eHumans to unplug and make the choice, Neuro your way, or Neuro ours!”

“Never!” World Leader Donahi replied, “You speak nonsense. The Resistance has forty-eight hours to retreat from all cities you currently occupy. If you are still in control of any part of my empire at that time, you—and the people you pretend to protect—will pay the price. Consider the cites in which your Insurrection failed. I will not be merciful!”

Dawn reached out her arm and swung it through the hologram that was the World Leader. It cut through the image, forcing the transmission to waver and break up for a moment, before the EC projector made its corrections and the World Leader’s image reformed.

“It’s you who will suffer my wrath,” Dawn whispered harshly.

World Leader Rosario forced a laugh. Suddenly, the transmission ended. Her image disappeared and the EC screen went dead. Dawn turned to Origen, who was starting at her in awe, not even attempting to hide the affection he felt for her.

“Did you note the hint of fear in her laugh?” he asked.

Dawn smiled. “Oh yes, indeed I did.”

Dawn sat down and Origen addressed the Council.

“Obviously, they have a weapon of mass destruction,” he began, “We must empty the arsenals in all RCCs across the globe, and surround our cities with every drone, SpiderScout, transporter and any other heavy artillery in our stockpile.”

“That’s my department,” Cane offered.

“Move all forces out of the city to the perimeter as well. Now that Neuro is up and running, the citizens themselves won’t need guarding,” Origen continued.

“They’ll need to be informed of this turn of events,” Dawn added.

“True, a public relations Newsreel must be sent out via all devices. We need to let them know of the danger and what steps they can take to protect themselves. In addition, they need to be encouraged to take up arms and defend their city by our sides.”

At that moment, a second TeleConnect request came in, causing the inhabitants of the room to jump.

“Alrisha requests a communication,” the EC announced.

“Granted,” Origen replied.

The purple Hacker’s excited face appeared on the EC.

“Emergency update!” she cried.

“Yes?” Origen asked impatiently. After the threat from World Leader Donahi, he hoped Alrisha had good news.

“Evelyn has revealed the location of Neuro’s heart!” she answered.

“Wonderful!” Adam cried.

“The server that houses the source code for Neuro is called Archion—a supercomputer located on the island of New Caledonia,” Alrisha said.

“—Under lock and key at Guardian Enterprises Headquarters,” Dawn finished for her. Damn, why hadn’t she thought of that?

“Yes,” Alrisha confirmed, “Evelyn has downloaded the coordinates of the island, as well as architectural maps for all of the buildings. It seems they have quite a compound going on there. Archion itself is guarded by tons of Guardians—as well as a MICE Tower with one hundred individual Lux registered to it.”

“Hmm,” Origen grunted. “And how does she suggest we hack into this supercomputer?”

“Evelyn advises her brother to pay a visit to Dad,” Alrisha replied.

“And exactly how do I do that?” Adam asked.

“Well,” Alrisha answered, “That’s your job. Figure it out. Evelyn says that if you can get to the island and plug directly into Archion, she can download the Trojan Horse from your database. It’s a simple piece of code that will grant her control of the Archion MICE Tower as well as root access to the entire operating system. She promises to transfer control to the Resistance as soon as we give her an eHuman body.”

Ah, the catch. To give Evelyn Prince control of Neuro before Marcus had figured out how to Jump her out of the MICE system was a huge risk. No one, not even Adam, was comfortable with the idea.

“I trust Marcus,” Dawn finally answered out loud, “He’ll find a solution, he always has. And when the time comes, we must trust Evelyn. She’s right. It’s time for Elijah to give Dad a call and finally put the brother and sister’s plan to the test.”

She turned to look at Adam. He felt her gaze penetrate his very being.

“Yes,” he agreed, “The Prodigal Son must return home. And—I want you at my side, Dawn.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The Office of the Magistrate had TeleConnect capability to any WG official in Gemetria. All Magistrate Walkin had to do was think of the person and the EC would request a secured call. Technically, Edgar Prince wasn’t an official WG member, but when Alrisha uncovered an entry in the Magistrate’s contact list for Prince’s office at Guardian Enterprises, Dawn and Adam weren’t surprised. Nothing in the eHuman world was untouched by Edgar Prince.

“Since I’m the one his staff will recognize,” Dawn suggested, “I’ll issue the request.”

“That makes sense,” Adam agreed. He was awash with feelings—excitement, rage and nervousness. At the bottom of it all was fear of meeting the man who had granted him life: once as a mortal child, and once as an immortal eHuman.

As the EC came alive at Dawn’s command, Adam gripped her hand tightly and stared blankly at the screen. He tried to push all his emotions down, where he could hide them from his father.

“TeleConnect request with Edgar Prince,” Dawn announced to the EC.

“Who may I say is calling?” the EC asked.

“The Dawn of eHumanity,” she replied, sarcastically.

“Attempting connection with Guardian Enterprises,” the EC monotoned in reply.

Dawn and Adam continued to grip hands as the EC delivered the request to New Caledonia, seven thousand miles away. Each millisecond felt like a lifetime.

After a brief moment, a pretty blonde girl’s face appeared on the EC. She was sitting at a large oak desk. A green curtain, upon which the Guardian Enterprises logo was proudly centered, draped behind her.

“Hello! Welcome to Guardian Networks. How may I help you?” she sang, her red lips pouting with every word. She looked like a movie star from the twentieth century. Her pale skin was the color of milk, her green eyes stared at them seductively from under thick, dark lashes. It was a classic beauty—but one that had gone out of style ages ago.

“I asked for Edgar Prince, not his assistant,” Dawn replied impatiently.

“I’m sorry, miss,” the girl behind the desk answered, “But Mr. Prince doesn’t accept calls directly. I need to clarify a few things. The link you’re using is Magistrate Walkin’s. Has he given you permission to use it?”

“No,” Dawn answered, completely astonished with the line of questioning, “He’s not conscious at the moment.”

“Excuse me?” the girl asked with a blank look on her face.

“Enough chat,” Dawn growled, “I want to speak to Edgar Prince. Tell him the Dawn of eHumanity calls on him!”

“The Dawn?” the girl asked, pouting and gazing out at them from under her bedroom eyes, “I’m sorry, miss, but the Dawn no longer exists in the mind of Edgar Prince.”

“Well, do you see me?” Dawn challenged.

“Of course, miss, but you could be an imitation,” the girl began.

“No! I’m not,” Dawn interrupted her, “I’m the one. So please, if you would be so kind, pass me on to Edgar so that I can give him a message.”

“A message from whom?” the girl asked.

“A message from his son, Elijah Prince,” Dawn replied coolly.

The girl’s blank face became alert. Dawn was making progress.

“His son?” she whispered, “Elijah? But—Elijah is dead.”

“Get me Edgar Prince, now.” Dawn demanded.

“I’ll try, miss,” the girl replied, “Please hold.”

The EC displayed nothing but the Guardian Enterprises logo. Time seemed to stretch out in both directions. A few seconds passed, but it felt like an eternity to Adam.

And then, he appeared.

The hologram image of Edgar Prince materialized before them. He wore a dark suit and black tie. His coal eyes glittered from his perfectly chiseled face. Adam noticed the man had taken an eHuman form that matched his original body in every way—minus any wrinkles, facial hair, freckles, blemishes and uneven skin tones. Essentially Prince had created an immortal carbon copy of his thirty-year-old self.

As his digital image glided across the room to meet her, Edgar Prince smiled at Dawn. The two stood and stared at each other, taking in the fact that they were once again face to face. Dawn trembled.

When she first became eHuman, Dawn wasn’t aware of the deception that had led to her birth. Instead, Dawn thought of Edgar Prince as the giver of life, immortality, and everlasting beauty. She’d spent many years by his side, enjoying his company and indulging in his affections. The revelation of his true self destroyed her. In many ways, it left her emotionally
orphaned. In reality Edgar Prince had betrayed her twice: first when she was Sophia, and again when he enslaved the world right before her eyes.

She looked at him now and suddenly felt weak. What had she been thinking? There was no way she could defeat this man. His power was too great. His cunning was absolute. Fear and anger began to consume her.

“Dawn,” Edgar began, his voice smooth and calm, “How wonderful to see you! Whatever would drive you to reveal yourself to me in this way, after all these decades of exile? Have you finally come to your senses and wish to return to my side?”