Manifestations (38 page)

‘Why are you here?’ Pete asked.

‘I came for Nigel. I had an appointment.’

You knew we would come for you. Services have been tracking you for hours.

‘Well?’ Risom shouted. He smacked his hand against the wall. ‘What are you waiting for?’

I don’t want to fight you.

Then don’t resist.

‘Hey, Pete. Look what I’ve learnt.’ Risom raised a block over his mind, shutting Pete out.

‘Easy when you know how,’ Pete said.

‘Yeah, but that’s nothing.’ Risom threw his arm out, pointing like a dance star at the wall and pulverising it to reveal an empty space. It made a quick crunch and then Risom stepped inside and dropped out of sight.

Risom, don’t go.

~ * ~

The team went to the ground level and spread out through the central plaza. Servicemen and drones checked the possible routes Risom could have taken but were finding nothing.

‘Where is he, Geof?’

Rain made the crowds bow their heads, cover over with hoods and raise umbrellas. The tower faces blinked sorrowfully under the deluge.

It became harder to get through the mob. Many people were trekking through the foot tunnel, on their way to their connecting transport.

‘Hey, tapper man. Where have you been?’ a voice bubbled near him. He turned to find Aiko walking beside him.

‘Nice scar,’ Endo added. She took position on his other side.

The twinbots hadn’t changed. Their bodies were repaired and overhauled, bulked up with extra equipment. They stayed by Pete and Arthur. The squad was keeping out of sight until Risom was spotted again, and other teams were following in the tunnels to see where he came out. There was no point throwing the public into a panic when they saw an MU.

Magnus Towers was a set of five flat-topped skyscrapers that acted as the main terminal for incoming and outgoing jets. They were interconnected with rail shuttles and pedestrian bridges, and in the centre of the circle was the pointed bulb that was the hub of all unitrack traffic. Within a single day, as many as fifty million people would pass through in one way or another.

On the internal side of each tower was an enormous face that looked down over the crowds of traffic. Fifteen storeys tall, gifts from the far side of the globe in the name of unity. They were calm, stylised in the neo-deco of forty years earlier, and representing one of the five Confucian constants. They interpreted how the streams of the West megapolis assessed the state of the World Union. Humaneness, Justice, Civility, Knowledge and Integrity. The Magnus faces were one of the modern wonders and many visitors stood looking at them, adding pictures to their streams.

Peter Lazarus noticed people had begun wearing the psi symbol as an arm patch or a badge on their pocket: the three-pronged Y that Tamsin Grey had said they should wear to show they supported the psi freedom movement.

He could see their minds now. Before when he made contact with a person it was like a blind man groping his way, but now he just saw them. Like grains of light that he could pick up at will.

Pete could tell that many didn’t support the cause at all. Most were scared to death of the thought of anyone being able to read their minds. Ironically, those who wore the symbol were more likely to be the ones most afraid. There were a handful who felt otherwise.

Pete: No sign of him here, Geof.

Geof: Stay on it. This is his best escape route. Anything from Arthur?

Pete: What if he doesn’t choose the best escape route? He’s behaving a little oddly.

Arthur turned towards the central hub, going with the flow of the commuters. He moved mechanically, without thought, pulled by an unseen force. His mind was terror and panic, as of a canoe about to plunge over a waterfall.

‘He is here. He is here. He is everywhere,’ Arthur sang to himself.

‘Something wrong, Arthur?’ Pete asked.

‘Hmm? No. Just humming.’ He smiled nervously and changed direction, moving away from Peter.

Pete: Something is very wrong here.

Pete gave up on Arthur and walked around. The worries and hopes of the million commuters dashed around him. This was easy for him now. The noise didn’t scare him, nor did the revelations. If he had been changed at all from his time on the islands, it was this conditioned calm they had ingrained in him.

Maybe they’re still medicating me?
he thought.

Even this possibility didn’t make him anxious. For all he knew, Services might be feeding him false experiences and at any moment he could wake up back in the white room. Or in the mud.

At least you are now questioning yourself,
Arthur thought to him.

And that is a good thing?

It is what separates us from the animal inside us.

You know what I am considering, don’t you?

Yes.

Will you stop me?

I won’t go with you. I do not want to go back into darkness.

They can help you.

I don’t want that kind of help.

The train next to Pete rose on its air cushion and slowly began to slide out from the platform. Through the windows he saw a face looking at him. The young man raised a metal arm and wiggled his fingers at him.

‘Risom.’

‘Where?’ Geof asked.

‘On that train.’

Almost instantly the train’s movement was aborted. ‘Collect him. Do what it takes,’ Geof said.

Arthur, you stay here.

The squad was already landing and offloading. ‘Odds, you are on react. Evens, you are on respond,’ Ten called out. Pete gleaned that this was one of the Prime’s new protocols. A motion he put forward that the newer commanders were adhering to as it gave them two simultaneous combat strategies.

Geof commanded the doors of the train to open and Pete stepped inside. Risom stood at the far end of the carriage, smiling at him over the crowd of passengers who were anxiously looking around for why their train had stopped.

‘Please exit the train through the side doors,’ a calm, monotonal voice read out. ‘We apologise for the inconvenience.’

The people began to get up from their seats but the safety rails snapped out of their holdings and bent themselves into cages.

‘Hey. What is this?’

‘What’s going on?’

Be silent, norms
, Risom projected. The commuters lost their voices. Risom made it so.

‘Don’t do this, Risom,’ Pete said.

‘Don’t do what, Peter? Can’t I ride on the train like everyone else?’

‘You have to come with me.’

‘I don’t think I will. You can’t get in here any more.’ He tapped at his head with a metal finger. ‘Tamsin taught all of us this trick.’

Pete took a step forward.
Risom, listen to me. You have to get a message to Tamsin.

The MUs took position outside the train, weapons locked. Risom grinned and shook their controls until their safeties locked them. They were as useless as statues until the command came to free them.

‘Stop,’ Risom ordered. He drew out the screws and nuts from the carriage walls, levitating them to circle before him like a juggler. ‘How many of these people do you want to die, Peter?’

I want to get out of here. Please, Risom. Tell Tamsin I want to be rescued.

‘No more of your traps, traitor.’
You had your chance.
Risom took a step backward. ‘Tell them to unlock the next compartment.’

Pete: Geof?

Geof: Waiting on the Command. You can’t take him down?

Pete: He has a block up.

Geof: For now we will let him go. He won’t escape the surveillance.

The doors opened with a shush of pneumatics. Risom smirked. ‘Is that Geof whispering in your ear still? Say thanks for me.’ He moved faster than Pete’s eye could follow, moving through the carriages in a blur.

Pete stood still as Risom made his way to the front of the train. ‘He’s going to the driver’s cabin.’

Pete: Where does he think he can go?

Geof: I’ve got eyes on him. We won’t lose him this time.

Pete: Can he override the train controls?

Geof: I’ve purged the system. Unless he’s carrying programs, he’s going nowhere.

Pete.

What is it, Arthur?

Pierre is here.

Where?

I can’t tell.

Are you sure
?

No
...

Geof: Pete, your heart is skipping. What’s happening?

Pete: Arthur says Pierre is nearby.

Geof: Just what we need. Okay. Do not let this turn into a full-blown confrontation. The last thing we want is another manifestation. Especially not here.

Drones from outside fired pellets through the windows, shattering the glass and releasing clouds of ruddy smoke. Almost instantly, a wind blew it back out and the carriage was clear again.

The train began moving. Lifting on its magnetic pillow and whispering from the station.

Pete: I thought you said he couldn’t move it?

Geof: He shouldn’t be able to.

Pete: What do we do now?

Geof: Stay with him.

‘And, Pete,’ Geof said quietly, ‘if Pierre is there, we just need you to sight him. We can do the rest.’

‘You can disable him? How?’ Pete asked.

‘Just identify the target. I can’t give you any more information.’

The front of the train was three carriages away. Each set of doors opened for him and closed behind. Passengers strained their eyes to look at him as he passed. Wondering who he was and if he was helping them or if he was with the rebel.

Don’t be afraid
, he told them.

‘Why did you come here, Risom?’ Pete shouted when the last set of doors opened. ‘You must have known that Services would find you.’

‘Maybe I thought I’d get lucky.’ Risom turned around to face him, nuts and ball bearings juggling around his unmoving hand.

‘You’re not that stupid. Why are you here?’

‘I’ve missed you, Peter. You were always so much fun.’

‘Is that what you’re doing? Having fun?’

‘Aren’t you?’

‘Services won’t let you escape.’

Risom smiled. ‘Hey, Ozenbach. I hope you can hear me. There’s something you should know about your friend here.’ He paused, expecting a response. ‘He wants to come with me and join the rebellion.’

‘Stop.’ Pete ran at Risom, but he was knocked to the floor with an invisible blow.

‘Oh, was that your secret? I’m sorry, Peter,’ Risom said. ‘Hey, Ozenbach. There’s another thing you should hear. Listen very carefully.’

Something small clicked. A tiny button Risom had in his pocket, only a microphone could have heard it. Then there was a boom with thunder behind it.

The tower that represented knowledge burst apart, scattering rock and glass around the plaza. Its face twitched, breaking from its wiring and dropping nose-first towards the ground. The crowd in the plaza lost balance with the shaking and then began screaming and rushing away from the falling chunks of building.

In the train the windows were instantly crushed into powder from the shockwave. Pete was thrown to the side as the entire carriage lifted up into the air, rising above the spreading dust of the destruction.

‘You’re pathetic, Peter. You really are,’ Risom gloated. ‘If you can’t handle me, I don’t know what you expect to do against Pierre Jnr.’

He’s here, isn’t he?

He’s here, he’s everywhere.

The carriage around them shredded apart. Holes were torn into the sides and dropped below into the dust cloud. Soon only the passengers, Peter and Risom were floating above the chaos.

How are you doing this? You’re not strong enough to do this.

Aren’t you watching, Pete? It’s happening.
Risom spun in the air, dancing in a boyish jig.

They’re innocent people. This isn’t what Tamsin wants.

Who do you think sent me?

Geof: I’ve lost eyes. Report.

Pete: It’s Risom.

‘You know it’s rude to chatter in company, don’t you?’ Risom commented.

‘This doesn’t help your cause.’
Don’t start a war.

War
?
This is not a war, Peter. It’s us taking control.

‘You have to stop. You’ve done your damage. Why are you still here?’

‘Alright, I’ll give you a hint since you’re already too late. They call it misdirection.’ Risom pointed up into the sky.

‘What?’ Pete looked up and Risom dropped down, disappearing into the cloud below. The invisible hands that had been holding them up let go. Peter fell with the rest of them until strong arms wrapped around him and landed him safely.

‘You owe me your life, psi-man,’ Endo said, and then raced back into the chaos to help the victims.

~ * ~

The screech and scraw of the sirens rebounded around him. Servicemen and marauders with pulsing lumens on their suits ran through the crowd, gathering the dusty, choking Citizens and ferrying them to safety. The warning bells didn’t bother Callum Sigorski. Their emergency did not fill him with the sense of alarm they intended. He was used to them.