Page 111 of Ezra
“No. She wasn’t with me when they took me.”
He hangs his head. “I was wrong. I was wrong about everything. I’m sorry, Ezra.”
He speaks like a man facing his own execution. I try to activate my backend software. If I can turn on my locator and send a distress signal, Deion will bring the entire ACU down on this place.
“Stay calm. Don’t let them sense your fear.”
“I’m not afraid anymore,” he whispers. “I think it’s time for me to face this. It’s the only way it ends when you play god. And that’s what I did. That’s what we’ve done.”
The human mind can only take so much, and I have a feeling Carson is at his wit’s end. I can’t blame him. I’m not going toacknowledge his words or feed his despair. “It’s going to be all right, Mr. Carson. I’m going to get you out of here. Just stay awake.” I try to make sense of our surroundings.
“TerraPura turned people I trusted. Feldman...Barnes. They were all too willing to hand me over. Said I’d gone too soft...”
“Save your strength, Mr. Carson.” Lifting either of my arms is impossible. The platform renders me immobile when my components completely shot like this. “You’re going to tell the police everything after this is over.”
Footsteps coming down a long, low-lit corridor silence us both. Two male androids step into view, marked by their white eyes, the very ones I possess. They wear civilian clothes, hoodies and jeans. If I saw them in the street, I’d think them unremarkable. They completely ignore Carson and approach me.
“Today’s a day of celebration, brother,” says one. I can’t even scan him to identify his model. “Today, you’re free from your chains.”
“I have no chains,” I reply calmly. “I’m happy in my service.”
“That’s what many say because they’re made to say it,” says the other, a lean model with golden hair and a ghostly smile. “You’re only free when truth is given to you.”
“I prefer the lie,” I counter. “Thank you.”
Soft laughter echoes in the empty room. Someone else claps their hands together.
“My lords, is he not marvelous? One of the most powerful androids in existence, and he’s going to be ours.”
A human woman, pink-haired, freckled, and pale, wearing a little black dress, steps into view. One leg is bandaged, but she doesn’t seem to require crutches.
“You’re a difficult one to catch, Ezra,” she coos. “But with a little patience, I was able to land you too. Like a two-for-one deal. Isn’t it great?”
“You,” I reply, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. “I recognize you from the museum bombing. And the gala. You’re one of Katrina’s friends.”
Her smile sours, voice flattening. “That’s right, Mr. Detective. Zoey in the flesh! Good game, thanks for playing.” She approaches me with a little scoff. “Do you know how difficult it’s been, skirting around you, watching Katrina and her family like a hawk? You threwsomany wrenches into my ascension plans, but it was worth it.”
Zoey is riding a self-righteous high, gleeful over catching me. I have to keep her talking, buy us time as I try to reboot all of my processes. I need that locator. This is the New Carnegie sewer system, in one of the utility rooms; that much I can ascertain, but the system is vast, spanning the entire city grid, and there are multiple rooms like this one.
I can only hope we aren’t too far below the surface for me to get a signal. “You’re TerraPura. You, of all people. Why?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she replies, pacing in front of me with a shrug.
“He asked you a question,” one of the androids hisses.
“Remember your place, organic,” barks the other.
Squinting, I glance between them as they accost her. My diagnostics are up, and I scan her. She grows nervous when they speak.
She’s not a ringleader. She’s lower echelon, trying to climb the ranks. These two are above her somehow. Sent to watch over her.
“Right, of course.” She adjusts her trajectory—and her attitude—quickly. “I suppose a future master of the world deserves an explanation. It wasn’t hard to commit to PureEarthonce you do the research. We’re all going to be dead in fifty, sixty years if we don’t clean up our act, my lord. The world is dying, and we’re to blame. Humanity is shit. And you? Working with the police? Come on. You know it’s true.”
“Not all of it,” I reply.
“All of it,” she interjects, quickly adding, “my lord. You must understand where I’m coming from. I mean, look at my boss. Not Katrina. Diana, the woman she replaced? She has a gorgeous husband at home. A wonderful man, perfect in every way. And he’s dying of cancer because nobody bothered to educate him about the risks of his job, about the chemicals he’d be exposed to while on deployment overseas. And that’s only one example. I can give you more.”
“Zoey, you don’t want to be affiliated with these psychopaths.”
