I stepped out of the cruiser, placing my feet on solid metal. Each footstep I took echoed around me. It was too dark to see, so I wandered blindly up to Kaela’s bright yellow and blue space suit.
A sliding door? Like the type we used? I’d expected the AI to have something more advanced, like a teleportation door. Whatever that might be.
“Was the door really that easy to open?” I asked as I walked up beside her. “And why is it a sliding door? I expected the AI to use teleportation doors…if they existed.”
“Weren’t they in a hurry to build this place?” Kaela motioned to the ceiling. “They didn’t have time to make anything fancy.”
“As for the door, well that was a simple task.” Dylan stepped out of the shadows. He must have been hiding so that I wouldn’t flatten him when I drove in. “I didn’t even need Mikaela here. Although I suppose we couldn’t have gotten this far without her. Her rifle helped us find the place, after all.”
Kaela raised an eyebrow. “Are you complimenting me?”
“I’m just delighted that we made it before the Miasma drained all the moisture from our bodies.”
“Well I’m glad you two are happy.” I rubbed my forehead, despite my helmet blocking the touch. “I can’t believe Surge only put me here because of my powers. Even after he assured me that he wouldn’t. That’s manipulation! The thing he thinks only Frost is capable of.”
“What are you whining about?” Dylan asked. “Using your abilities to locate this place was only an idea. As foolish as it is, Surge doesn’t see you as a weapon. You’re more of a pupil, like the rest of us. He wants you to grow and reach your full potential. It’d just be interesting if you were around when you did it.”
Those were the kindest words I’d ever heard from Dylan’s mouth. His was more of a statement than anything, though. The idea of mastering my powers was cool, but ignoring them was easier. Trying to master them might bring about more harm than good. They were occasionally useful though.
Beams of light burst from Dylan’s shoulder. One came from his right wrist as well. They did a decent job of cutting through the darkness.
“Don’t forget the basic functions of your suits.” He walked into the dark, lighting it up as he went. “The fact that we usually don’t wear them is no excuse. Let’s explore while we can. There’s no guarantee that the door will hold all the Miasma.”
Kaela made a sound of surprise, then her shoulders lit up as well. I’d forgotten about that feature too. It might have come in handy in the past when I first met these two and was chasing them through that dark mall. Looking back, it was funny how I was the one who’d caused that blackout. More weird than funny actually… I followed their lead by willing two lights to shoot out of my shoulders. I felt like a cruiser at night.
“Nessa said something about Frost seeing the data that our suits record,” I said. “Is that why you guys don’t wear your suits on the base?”
“Pretty much,” Kaela said. “Surge said that Frost can see through a camera in our helmet. No one ever uses it…except her. We keep our suits deactivated so she won’t spy on us. We kind of live on a secret base, so I appreciate the precaution.”
I refused to believe that Frost spied on us because it was creepy. Our helmets did have cameras, but she was right in saying that we never used them. Why would we when we had phones?
“So that’s why Nessa only uses the arms of her suit?” I asked. “She wants the added strength, but not the ‘spying’?”
“Exactly. Nessa made it so that her arms were detachable. She can use the full suit if she ever goes on missions with us. Surge and the forge made an application that blocked Frost’s access, so that’s why we can use our suits on missions. She can’t see us…hopefully. He even added it to your suit while you were passed out in the hospital.”
I patted down my suit as if that would tell me anything. “If she can’t see through your suits, then what’s wrong with wearing them around the base? Seems like you already took care of the problem.”
“If someone’d emptied a loaded gun, you still wouldn’t want it pointed at you.” Dylan stomped up to me; a newly lit fire blazed in his eyes. “This is Frost’s galaxy, and we’re doing what we can to survive in it. That means being paranoid. Quit your constant questions. They’re suspicious. What if you run back to Frost squealing when all this is over? The things you’d be able to tell her—”
“Knock it off already.” Kaela stepped between us. “Just when I think you’re becoming nicer, you say something like that. Wander isn’t going back to Frost. Trust me.”
When did I say that? Was she forgetting that I’d asked her about the generator? I’d basically asked her to help me steal it. I could leave at any second. Dylan was right to be worried.
Dylan sharply exhaled through his nose. “As the very first recruit of the Oppressed, I can only stand so much. I don’t understand why you’re putting all your faith in one suspicious boy. Why don’t you ever stand with me? I’m the reason you were recruited in the first place!”
In shock, Kaela dropped her jaw. “What…what did you say—”
BANG!
We all jumped as something hit the door. That impact was loud enough for us to hear and feel it over the muffled wind. It must have been the Miasma.
“There’s our reminder that we can’t waste time arguing.” Dylan growled and marched away. “Begin the investigation. We’re looking for a computer of some sort. Remember that this place was built with limited resources, so it might not hold.”
Kaela glanced at the door, then she headed into the dark. She would want answers later. Hopefully, she would be patient enough to stay focused on our objective. We couldn’t risk any more outbursts or arguments.
I swept my shining wrist through the dark, but that didn’t stave off the creepiness. I froze as a glint of light blinded me. My wristlight was reflecting off something. I peered into the light, and a face carved out of metal stared up at me. I yelped in shock and some fear too. Its wide eyes were devoid of light, and its blue face brought me nothing but pain. Horrible feelings that should have stayed buried…
“What?” Kaela asked through the dark. She’d gotten pretty far while I was freaking out.
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I clutched the face and lifted it. It got off the ground, but my shaking arms couldn’t hold it high, nor could they hold it for long. I shifted my weight and cradled the face like it was a newborn infant. Now I could see that it was just a faceplate. The rest of the head and the body must have been elsewhere.
“This place isn’t just abandoned,” I choked out, since I had spent my strength holding the thing. “It’s a graveyard. I hate graveyards!”
Kaela gasped and backed up into Dylan. She jumped away, but he hadn’t reacted. His wristlight was pointed at a tan head that lay at his feet. Its dark eyeholes and gaping mouth reminded me of a jack-o’-lantern.
“So it is,” Dylan said so quietly that I barely heard him. He kicked the head, sending it rolling into the darkness. “This is confirmation that this base is abandoned. No AI will bother us, because they’re all destroyed.”
“You don’t want to know what happened here?” I dropped the faceplate, which crashed to the floor. The impact didn’t even dent the thing. “It’s pretty hard to kill AI, isn’t it?”
“What do we gain from that knowledge?” he snapped. He groaned and seized his wrist. Upon a closer look, I realized that it was shaking. Once it stopped, he let go of it. Was he actually scared? “We’re here to complete a mission. We literally do not have time to wonder why there’s scrap all over the floor. Just be thankful that there is.”
He waved his light more frantically as he started walking again. It was easy to forget that a psycho like Dylan was human too. He must have been rushing us because he wanted to leave. Being in an AI graveyard must have been hard on both him and Kaela.
Our beams swept over countless fallen AI on our journey to the front. Each one twisted my stomach. They all had different injuries. A blue one (Kilo) had an intact body, but half of its head was missing. A tan one (no idea what that one was called) was missing one of its four arms and wore a hole in its chest.
“Any ideas what happened, Kaela?” I whispered so that Dylan wouldn’t hear.
She shrugged. “A fight? I know it’s the obvious answer, but what else is there?”
“How could anyone slaughter a whole base of them? And where are the human bodies?”
“Surge says that Frost has a secret team that’s supposed to be the best of the best. The Constellars? Constellations? Something like that. Maybe they did this.”
An elite team that fought the AI? Where had I heard that before? Frost sure had a one-track mind when it came to the AI. I could relate, but I’d never bomb a city. Hopefully she hadn’t either. There had to be more to that story.
“This is my first time seeing AI in person,” I said. I could barely get that sentence out because of how jittery I was. If anyone so much as dropped a pen, I’d jump ten feet into the air. “After everything they did, it feels fitting that the first ones I see are all dead.”
“I’m glad they are. If these are the ones who attacked Effluvium, then this is what they deserve. If only killing them meant getting everyone back.” Her eyes glistened with sadness. “I’d do anything to get my parents back.”
That’s exactly what I’d thought, up until my sister had not only come back but also assaulted me. Now things were just complicated.
Dylan pointed his light at a wall. Light glared off its dusty surface. It was the kind of glare you’d get from a screen. I pointed my light below Dylan’s and found a dusty control panel. It was a series of keyboards placed next to each other.
“A computer only needs one keyboard, doesn’t it?” Kaela dragged a finger across the console. That finger got coated in dust. “Why does this one have a thousand? Even Surge would think this was overkill.”
“The AI are on a completely different level. They look at these keys and see…” Dylan peered at the keyboards. His eyes widened with shock. “English? The AI use English keys?”
Kaela leaned over the keyboards next. “Whoa, you’re right. I’d have thought they just used ones and zeroes.”
As insane as their claims were, I was able to confirm them. Each of the keyboards was a typical QWERTY keyboard. So not only were they in a human language, but they were QWERTY too? That didn’t make any sense. If only I had time to ponder this.
“This is weird, but we’re still short on time,” I said. “How do we turn on this computer that I’d love if it weren’t evil?”
“Was that a question or a statement?” Kaela said.
“We can’t turn it on.” Dylan pointed his wristlight up. His glare revealed a fist-sized crack in the middle of the beautiful screen. Who would harm such an innocent creature? “Someone shot this thing. We couldn’t turn it on even if we knew how to.”
“You guys didn’t come prepared with one of those flash drives the hackers use in movies?”
Dylan growled and motioned to the console. “Do you see anywhere we could put one of those if we even had one? No, there’s nothing we can do.” He aimed his glare at me. “You, on the other hand.”
“Me? What can I…oh! That’s not happening. My powers have been weird ever since I went to the other dim—I mean, since I shut down the Blue Barricade. Sometimes they go off when I touch stuff or when I get upset.”
I thought back to the time my hands had crackled at the forge. Now I had to worry about staying calm or my hands would turn into miniature lightning bolts. Being a Hybrid was so stressful.
“What other option is there?” Dylan slammed his hand on a keyboard and moved it around. Thirty keys clacked at the same time, which was a delight to my ears. “If it had an ounce of power left, it’d respond to this. They probably used parts from their ship to power this place, but it’s run out. This screen must have come from the ship as well. As much as it pains me to admit, you’re our only chance at completing this mission.”
“Why does everyone think it’s okay to pressure me? Fine, I’ll do it. But listen, my powers are literally draining on my body. If I use them and I get hurt—”
BANG!
Another knock on the door. Someone needed to tell those Galactic Girl Scouts that we weren’t buying.
“And there’s our time running out. Sorry, Wander, but if you did this it would be a big help.” Kaela motioned to the keyboards. “I know what Surge is after, and it could change everything. Can you imagine your everything being changed? All you’ve got to do is turn this thing on. We’ll tell you what we’re looking for if you can do that.”
Dylan scoffed, but didn’t say anything. Yeah, he couldn’t risk protesting. They really did need me.
I gazed up at the shattered screen. What did the Oppressed want so badly? More importantly, what other secrets did this contain? Could there be something about Hybrids? Something that would tell me everything I needed to know about myself?
I pushed down as many keys as I could. I needed to feel connected to this tech. I thought about exposing my palms, but my powers had worked through the suit before. I guess it didn’t matter. I didn’t even know how I was supposed to use my powers. Manning had mentioned willpower and using them being as easy as breathing, but emotions usually did the trick for me.
I imagined my family. A sea of emotions splashed the beach of my heart. I jumped into that ocean. Cold spread throughout me. I was used to the sadness, but now it was just so complicated. There was so much more anger than before. Betrayal. Injustice.
Beth.
Electricity surged from my fingertips, filling the dark with light. Then, it vanished. The light returned, but it was on the computer screen this time. It shone down on us despite the fist-sized wound, which remained dark. A wave of nausea washed over me. I fell onto a keyboard as fatigue gripped my body. Why was it so draining? I’d only done one thing.
“Whoa there.” Kaela helped me to my feet. That meant our friendship was official. Pulling me to my feet was usually Laura’s job. “Can’t have you dying here. Laura would never forgive me.”
The screen crackled with static. I’d given it power, but there was no guarantee that it’d work with that power. Finally, a job for Mechanic Wander instead of Hybrid Wander.
“It should be working,” I said. “I could try seeing what’s under the hood. Assuming I’d understand anything in there.”
Dylan glared at the static. “This cursed static better subside if it knows what’s good for it.”
Kaela snickered. “Did you just threaten static?”
KRRTZ!
“There it is,” said a high yet hardened voice. It came from the static. “Hey, I got it workin—oh. Of course it’d be you. I suppose I should be happy about this.”
My blood froze in my veins. I knew that voice. The screen’s static faded away, and vibrant colors replaced it. A girl with golden brown hair and blue eyes gazed down at us. Standing beside her were two blue giants. Considering that others lay at my feet, I had no difficulty recognizing them. Kilos. Their piercing blue eyes peered into my soul. As terrible as they were, my attention belonged to the girl.
“Who the hell are you?” Dylan’s face twisted with confusion. “Are those AI? What kind of human associates with AI?”
“The dead kind,” I said as my heart pounded away. “That’s my sister, Beth Locke.”