Implanted (The Ascension Series Book 2) (5 page)

Chapter 9

FRAN

Fran sat on the edge of her cot picking at the bowl of fresh berries Tanya had just dropped off. It had been hours since her first exit attempt. She gazed out the window feeling like a prisoner as she watched the villagers scurry about for dinner prep.

“How about now, Mrs. Ema?”

Ema looked up from across the room where she and Tanya worked together tucking fresh linens onto the empty cots. “Oh my, you are a feisty one,” Ema muttered while shuffling around the cots and over to Fran.

Ema’s thorough inspection came with a series of “mm hms,” She brushed a hand along the side of Fran’s cheek, and then moved away to her medicine counter. Fran cringed at what might follow.

“Here, dear, take this with you.” Ema said, returning with a bulging water satchel.

Fran’s opened wide. “Yeah?” She slung the long cord from the supple hide around her neck and the bag rested on her hip.

“And make sure you continue to hydrate,” Ema added while shooing Fran from the hut.

Freedom. 

Fran took off and moved through the center of the village, scanning the surrounding cottages, hoping to see Chan on the perimeter. As her eyes jumped from cabin to cabin, she felt a sense of déjà vu. That’s odd. Why hadn’t she noticed it before?

The layout of this place. A central gathering area. Residences encircling the hub. She turned in a slow circle and took it all in before woofing out raspy laugher. Not much difference in the schematics from one city to the next, she decided. With that in mind, she ventured out to see how far the similarities went. She walked through an opening between two cottages and found the bones for a new structure being erected behind them. Yep. Row two.

A tapping overhead caught her attention. She lifted her eyes to the source, and found Ret straddling the roof, swinging a hammer. Seriously. Is there anything he doesn’t do? Then she remembered the conversation she’d overheard between her mom and Ema. The one that implicated Ret as an informant. Heat crawled up her neck and she turned on her heels.

Not in the mood.

She moved away from the work in progress to a neighboring cottage. As she neared, the aroma of newly cut pine filled the air. Fresh and clean with smoky undertones. Eyes closed, she breathed deep, wanting to fill herself with the heady aroma.

“Wolf.”

Her eyes sprang open. Chan stood in the doorway.

Seeing him face to face like this, she suddenly felt unsure of herself. Chan had put her in charge when he fell to the Beast, and she hadn’t been able to keep the Rebels safe. She had failed him.

“I tried, Chan. I really tried.” Fran looked away. She couldn’t let him see the shame she carried.

Chan moved from the threshold to where she stood. “I’ve heard pieces.” He lifted her chin. “Tell me what happened in the game.”

His dark eyes seemed to reflect the lights from the city, and Fran was transported back.

“Marcus. He baited me. Us.”

In her mind, Fran could hear the united battle cry of her brothers and sisters and remembered how she had promised them all freedom.

“We surrounded the Agora, ready to storm. But then, the lights had gone out. And the game had begun.”

Fran closed her eyes.

“We were nothing more than gaming avatars to the audience. Covered in magnetic dust. We couldn’t hide. And then …”

A hot tear burned her cheek.

“Folsom. We lost Folsom,” Fran’s voice rose with emotion.

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, but didn’t register comfort. She was lost in the Agora. Hearing the screams of her comrades. Watching them drop to the ground. Wispy tendrils of smoke lifting from their bodies.

And Pete.

She opened her eyes. She couldn’t go there again.

Chan patted her shoulder. “Wolf. Let it go. I wasn’t expecting you to save the entire city.”

Chan dropped his hand and stepped back. “No, to right this wrong, it’s going to take some bigger guns.” He began to walk away. “Come on.”

Fran watched his purposeful strides for a moment before hurrying after him.

“Wait, where are we going?”

“To the creator.”

She followed Chan across the clearing to Doc’s cottage with a nervous sensation in her belly. In a blur of a moment, they were sitting at the table with Doc, a mug of warm ginger tea in hand, Ema scurrying in the background reminding Fran to, “Drink up.”

“So, what brings the Wolf and her mentor to my home today?” Doc asked once they were all settled.

Chan acted as spokesperson. “We’re here to relinquish our old Rebel status, so to speak.”

Fran lifted a brow. Not quite what she was expecting to hear. “Um, Chan?”

Chan held a hand up to Fran and smiled at Doc. “We’re here to join the team. Fight the fight. Tell us what we need to know.”

Doc shook his head. “I appreciate your passion, Charles, but the Nanobot science is a bit more complex than you know.”

“I’m sure it is. And we can’t just let them fester underground,” Chan said. “Tell him about what you saw, Wolf.”

Fran sat up a little straighter in her chair unsure what Chan wanted her to say. “Something new that’s developed since you left is what’s known as Esteemed Forfeiture, Doc.” She attempted to sound intelligent. Talk to Doc on his level. “Esteemed Forfeiture is a practice in which Impervious juvies offer early Forfeiture in exchange for six months of antidote to stave off the Beast.”

“Beast?”

“She means the decline, Doc,” Chan corrected.

Fran thought of Sasha in her death throes and a shudder ran through her body.

Doc responded with calm authority. “DNA markers, fluorescent labeling, and wireless broadcast signals are only a part of how the Nanobots altered our beings.” He shook his head and dropped his hands to his sides. “At this point, we’re all half-man and half-robot bred by the Council. Droids, really.”

“Droids?” Fran
lifted her hands and stared at her palms. Her skin seemed to look okay, and there were no extra fingers or anything. She flipped them over and examined the backs before dropping them under the table.

“The detox system Ema employed on you negates the charge from Bots,” he continued. “They’re rendered useless.” Doc pushed away from the table and stood. He moved behind Chan and placed his hands onto her mentor’s shoulders.

“But don’t be fooled, brother. They still lurk in the bloodstream, waiting for resurrection.”

Doc continued to circle the table until returning to his own chair. “If those dormant soldiers were exposed to the Impervious energy source—
Bam!
” He slapped his hands together, and Fran jumped. “The sleepy warriors could repower. Reactivate.”

Fran must have looked confused, because Doc sighed and said, “Your DNA signal would recharge upon entry. You could light up their screens like stars in the night.” 

“Wait, recharge? Seriously?” Fran pushed her chair back and stood. “Seriously!?”

Every single one of them
consumed Impervious water. If what Doc said was true, and the bots could reboot inside of the city, that meant
no one
could re-enter.

Even as she reeled from this news, she never dreamed she’d hear what Chan said next.

“So we let them all die.”

Doc shook his head. Was he resigning?

“Wait, what?” Fran’s voice rose. “No way!”  She thrust her hands onto her hips. “No way do we leave everyone behind.”

“I know!” Doc shouted back. “Hence. My. Testimony!”

The room became very quiet. Ema patted her husband’s trembling hand. “Tell her the rest, dear.”

Doc slumped back into his chair. “Not everyone is infected.” He turned to face them. “
Yet
, that is. Hormones act as the trigger. Gets the whole process up and running.”

“The Age of Accountability.” For a moment his eyes gazed over Fran’s shoulder, lost in the old world. Then, as if suddenly waking, he nodded to Fran. “And you did some good work on the inside … spreading the word …” he waved a hand around, “My diary.”

Fran harrumphed. “Yeah. Nice consolation prize, huh?”

Doc pointed a finger at Fran. “If the diary proved convincing enough to make you a believer, it’s possible right now, at this very moment, a handful of underground residents might be on their own
what if?
journeys
.
”

As if sensing another squabble emerging between Fran and Doc, Chan interrupted. “How did you do it, Wolf?”

Fran turned a puzzled expression to her mentor. 

“Share the Reader’s feed?” He added. “How did you do it?”

“Oh,” she shrugged. “I just used a Data Jump.” Fran slinked back into her chair. Her head began to throb again. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Chan’s voice sounded far away.

“Nice work. I wish I would have thought of that.”

“Yeah, well, your mind wasn’t exactly—”  Fran’s eyes shot open when she realized what she’d almost said. He had succumbed to the Beast, but saying it somehow felt rude. As if implying he’d been weak.

“It’s okay, Wolf. I get it. Nobody can escape it.”

Fran sighed and continued rubbing her temples. “Nobody born inside the city, anyway.” As the words drifted from her lips, her head whipped in Doc’s direction. Their eyes locked. The name eased from her lips on an exhale.

“Retter.”

Chapter 10

FRAN

Fran jumped back up and moved over to Doc. “It makes total sense.” Her brain moved at warped speed. “Sure he doesn’t know how to get around the city, but we’d teach him! Right, Chan?”

Doc continued silently staring at his hands, fingers weaved between one another.

“Chan?” She silently urged him with a flip of her chin.

Chan cleared his throat. “Doc, would you mind explaining in more detail how this Nanobot tracking works? How is it they actually track us?”

“Excellent question,” Fran said. “How
does
it work?”

Doc let out a worn sigh. With slumped shoulders and deep lines, he wore his age like a Superior. That’s what he would be back inside the city. A Superior. The same status as Marcus. Royalty. And here she was, sitting across the table chatting it up with the
original
Superior.
Weird
.

“As you’re aware, cameras line every hallway,” Doc said. “They are also tucked into every nook and cranny of the city.”

“Yeah, yeah. We got it,” Fran snapped.

Doc ignored her. “These cameras are actually scanners …” Doc stopped, hands gripped tightly in front of him so Fran could see the bulging muscles and veins beneath his lined skin.
Strength despite his years.

He moved in closer and with a look of intensity said, “Let me back up.”

“When we first created the bunker, and long before the War of Annihilation, the reigning government began implementing electronic tattoos.”

“Hang on a second. Electronic
tattoos
? Please explain.” Chan rubbed the eagle inked along the length of his neck, and Fran’s Wolf suddenly felt itchy, almost like the buzz when a Graphie appears.

Doc nodded. “Sure. These tattoos were bar codes, really, and connected to a database that contained the personal information of each citizen. Social security numbers, taxes paid, birth certificates, medical histories, hobbies, anything and everything—fixed documentation that followed a person and his or her descendants. Making it possible to extend lives with early detection of inherited medical conditions, for example.” Doc raised his hand and exposed the backside.

Fran didn’t notice any lingering ink. She moved in for a closer look. With eyes squinted, she just barely made out some squiggly lines.  “Wow. I just thought those were veins or something.”

Chan moved in and examined for himself. “Yeah. Ink fades over the years.”

“Exactly. Ink fades.” Doc pushed back from the table and stood. With hands clasped behind his back, he began to pace as he continued the history lesson.

“After the war, when we put together our own government, we decided to borrow pieces of the technology. If you look at the hands of all First-Gens you’ll see the markings.”

Fran snorted. “Kind of hard to find any First-Gens in the city these days.”

Doc nodded in agreement. “After a few years of underground containment, slightly bored, and with ample opportunity to play around in our labs, we brainstormed and tested all types of innovative technologies. And, hey, we were the
cream of the crop
—the biggest and the best biologists, chemists, geneticists, and techies.”

Doc wore a boyish grin which morphed him into a younger man. “We moved into an era of supreme scientific enlightenment.”

“So
then
they made the Nanobots?” Fran wanted to get to the important parts, like how she would ever truly be free from the Council’s clutches.

And Pete.

“We had to first birth the idea of
genetic
tattooing,” Doc said. “Once perfected, it allowed us to etch complete familial and financial histories onto each person’s unique DNA. In actuality, it was a brilliant way to preserve facts for the history books once the New Earth became habitable.” He nodded to Fran. “The Bots were then born to be carriers—a way to get the programming sequence into the host.”

“The tracking system?” Chan asked.

Doc nodded. He resumed his seat at the table, cleared his throat, and held his mug to Ema. “Would you mind a refill?”

“Tracking came later,” he said after taking a sip of tea. Ema sat back down by his side. “Once the Council realized they could deliver just about anything they wanted into each person using the Nanobot science.”

“Here’s something you might find amusing.” He nodded to Fran. “At one time real, live security guards roamed the hallways of the housing sector as well as the Agora.”

“What? Like thugs?” Fran asked.

Doc shrugged. “Sure, we’ll call them thugs. Unfortunately, since Impervious remained a weapons-free zone, these
thugs
didn’t offer much threat to the transgressors. Therefore, the Bots were programmed to include receptors that would circulate throughout the bloodstream without losing potency. Staining solutions and Nanobots were added to the water supply, and scanning equipment hung on every wall inside the city. The security team morphed from thugs to Graphies.”

“To not-so-scary techies schooled in the science of interpreting the scans,” Chan said. “So, how did it work? The scanning process?”

“Well, the new camera images only showed blobs of color and ID markers. No faces. No personality. To the new security team, each person was nothing more than a blob and a statistic. But with the Bots tied into the fibers of their nervous systems, individuals could be temporarily paralyzed with the swipe of an icon on their imaging screen.”

Fran felt a wave of revelation wash over her entire body. Then again, dodging security Graphies had been her full-time job once upon a time.
All for nothing?

A sense of madness bubbled up from her chest, and Fran thought it was about to spill over like molten lava. It seemed the deeper Doc went, the stranger this whole story got. As far as she was concerned, it was time to stop talking and start doing. Time to cut to the chase.

Chan drummed his fingers on the table and Fran suspected he was feeling the same impatience. “Doc, if I’m understanding you correctly, you’re saying that if a person had no receptors, bots, stains, or whatever, then security wouldn’t see them at all?”

Fran’s palms began to sweat.
Yes! Yes! Yes!

“That is correct,” Doc said.

“Not only that, someone without Bots tied to their neurological fibers would be unaffected by security’s measures, right? So Wolf’s right. Retter is virtually invisible
and
invincible.”

“Yes, that’s also true.” Doc closed his eyes and rubbed the lids. When he reopened them, he let out a heavy sigh.

“You’re both right, and I’m light years ahead of you.”

Doc nodded to Fran. “Why don’t you go find Retter? We’ve got a few things to iron out.”

“What?”

Doc waved her off. “Nope. Go find Retter. Then we’ll finish this discussion.”