Blowing out an anxious breath, I relaxed some of the tension in my muscles, and then carefully threw a leg over the railing, swinging it over until my toes were perched on the ledge and my back was to the hole.
I carefully crouched down into a squatting position in order to make the distance of my fall as short as possible, and eyed the dome below me, gauging how far I would need to lash to get behind it before the sentinel saw me.
Then I let go of the railing with my hand and dropped right into the serpent’s pit.
40
I tried not to flail in panic at the sudden terror gripping my heart as I fell. Even though the distance was short, I felt certain the occupants of the room would notice the flash of crimson my uniform made. The outfit was a damn beacon under these conditions, and all it would take was a glimpse of it out of the corner of someone’s eye, and they’d know they weren’t alone.
Still, I didn’t freeze, and bent my knees and pointed my toes as the wall of the dome loomed up in front of me, using my hand controls to slow my descent some. I hit the surface lightly, pushed off, and then lowered myself a few more feet, making sure I was well and truly hidden behind the dome before taking a moment to check below me.
The area along the wall between the machines and the dome was clear as far as my eyes could see on either side, and I quickly tossed my second line out, hitting the dome a few feet above my head. Disconnecting the first lash end, I rappelled down the side, taking short jumps to keep the sound of my boots as quiet as possible.
As soon as my feet were safely on the floor, I detached and turned around, looking at the machines on the wall. There was a space just behind them for service workers, and it was our best route for sneaking up on Sage and Sadie—provided we could find a place to squeeze through the machines to get to that space.
I studied them for several seconds, spotted a crawl area created by a machine with a weird overhanging section that looked promising, and crossed over to it, stepping on the outer edges of my feet to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible. I dropped to all fours in front of the machine and stared into the shadows. There didn’t appear to be anything blocking our way of accessing that area, and I was satisfied that all of us—even Eric—could fit through.
I got back to my feet and quickly turned to signal the others, only to find Eric falling awkwardly from a lash connected to the ceiling, spinning quickly away from the dome as he dropped down. He was fiddling with the controls, trying to arrest his fall, but his boots scraped along the side, and he landed awkwardly on his rump before sliding down.
I winced at the noise it generated, and quickly ran a few steps toward him, holding up my hands to try to break his fall as quietly as possible.
He jabbed at his hand controls, panicking, and then jerked to a stop a few feet before he hit me. His eyes were wide and filled with fear and remorse, but I ignored it to wave him down, already knowing that they must have heard the noise he had made. Which meant we had to move—quickly.
“Did you hear that?” Sadie said loudly, her voice carrying with it a note of alarm, and I cursed internally, increasing the speed of my wave to hurry him along.
“I did indeed, my dear,” Sage replied. “Take Alice and check it out while I get to work on this.”
Eric hit the ground with a low thump, and I looked up at where Maddox was still standing on the platform above, cutting a hand across my neck to tell her to stay in place. She flashed me an okay symbol and then took a few steps back into the shadows, disappearing from view.
I grabbed Eric’s arm, pulling him toward the crawlspace I’d only just found. He followed behind me, keeping his footsteps light, thankfully, but that only made it easier to hear the heavy metallic sound that could only be generated by a sentinel’s heavy gait. I quickly slid onto my belly and dove through the hole. My back hit the metal overhang of the machine I was crawling under in my haste to get through so Eric would have time to follow, and I gritted my teeth together and flattened myself to the floor, hating that I had made even more noise.
I quickly scrambled through, pulling my legs into the gap and sliding to one side, and seconds later, Eric was shoving himself after me. He was lying on his back, and I quickly realized the wisdom of the position as he reached up to pull himself into a sitting position, dragging his legs farther under the overhang and out of sight.
My mouth went dry as the thundering sound of the sentinel drew closer, and I quickly tucked myself farther behind the machine, trying to get my legs under me so I could stand up. My gun was in my pocket, but the tight confines meant I couldn’t reach it unless I was on my feet. Looking around, I spotted a small pipe running along the wall and grabbed it, using it for leverage to haul myself up.
Eric was doing something similar, only right in front of the hole, and I feared that at any second, the sentinel was going to drop to all fours in front of it and see his feet.
I was only halfway up when the heavy footsteps came to a halt. I couldn’t tell where, exactly, but I knew it was close, and I held my breath and slowed my movements, terrified that it would somehow hear me.
“Do you see anything?” Sadie demanded, her voice so close I could’ve sworn she was standing next to me. I carefully shifted my weight, trying to straighten silently, my fingers inching toward the gun in my pocket. If I could just reach it, I wouldn’t feel so afraid, and we wouldn’t be defenseless.
“We do not,” Alice replied after a moment. “But the source of the noise remains unaccounted for. Was it perhaps mechanical?”
Sadie made a considering sound, and I continued to hold my breath, even though my lungs were beginning to protest the action. Tony started to compensate by slowing my heartbeat some, but he and I both knew it was just a stopgap measure. I continued to hoist myself up, careful not to make the slightest whisper of sound, and finally got both legs under me so that I could straighten.
My hand immediately went to my pocket, grabbing the tab of the zipper to open it, but then I paused, realizing that if I moved too fast, it would make an obvious noise. Gritting my teeth together in frustration, I leaned my forehead against the back of the machine I was pressed behind, expelling a shaky breath. I was certain that at any moment, Sadie was going to insist Alice check behind the machines. She wasn’t stupid—she knew something was up. My muscles quivered, screaming at me to run away, to preemptively make a move to escape, but I ground it down, knowing it was folly. The gaps between the machines were large enough for them to have a clear view of what was going on behind them, so if I moved, they’d notice, and we’d die.
“Call in two more units and start patrolling the room on a circuit,” Sadie said, and I balled my hands into fists, wondering how the hell three of us were going to take out three sentinels without any plasma weapons. Then again… I supposed we didn’t have to. All we had to do was get close enough so Leo could hear the protocol, and then it would be over.
Except for the fact that we would die, it wasn’t so bad. Leo would be wirelessly transferred to the integration chamber to await the neural clone that passed the vetting process. Once he and the other AI were integrated, they could turn the citizens of the Tower against Sage and get rid of him and his children once and for all.
Unless, of course, Sage’s neural clone was the one that passed the test. I wasn’t sure how many legacy nets were currently being used, but I was guessing there weren’t that many, considering the lengths to which Sage had gone in order to get rid of them. And given what he knew about the AI program already, I had little doubt that his neural clone could pass the test—whatever it was—that Lionel had set up. Technically, he already had once, in the form of Kurt, so it stood to reason that he could again.
And I had no idea how much control Leo had over the selection process.
Which meant that while I kept “kill Sage” as a part of my plan, I had to prioritize it as the step right before giving Leo the protocol. After that, I was pretty much anticipating that we were going to be killed by the sentinels
, but if Sage was dead and Leo was in the process of replacing Scipio, then that wouldn’t be so bad.
At least we’d go together.
Okay, can you stop being so maudlin, Tony said, clearly creeped out by my bleak attitude. Pay attention. They’re moving away.
Tony was right; I had been so lost in my dark thoughts that I hadn’t noticed Alice’s response, or the fact that they were leaving. I closed my eyes in relief, taking a moment to collect myself, and then pushed back from the machine, looking over at Eric. The young man had his eyes closed, and seemed to be concentrating only on his breathing, so I had to tap him to get his attention.
His eyes snapped open, going wide with alarm, but to his credit, he didn’t make a noise as his head swiveled toward me. I offered him a weak smile, and then gestured for him to begin moving in the direction Sadie and the sentinel were going, hoping to use the noise they were making as cover. Eric stared at me for a second, his face pale, but after a moment, he gave me a jerky nod and turned his head to the other side, heading in the direction I pointed out. I knew that it wasn’t just the sentinels slowing us down, but his claustrophobia as well, and hung back for a few seconds to let him move at his own pace. I used the short span of time to slowly unzip my pocket and pull out the gun, and then followed, trying to keep from brushing up against the machines.
I had no idea what Maddox was going to do at this point. If she was watching, and paying close enough attention, she might figure out which direction we were heading and shadow us, but I was hoping she realized it wasn’t wise to try to come down now. I wasn’t sure if she had been able to hear Sadie from where she was, so there was a chance she would try to go for it, but still, I hoped against it. If more sentinels were coming, having her up in a higher position with the lancer would give us an advantage. She could target their hard drives and maybe help us pick off one or two.
But I had no way to signal her to change the plan, so I just concentrated on moving forward, knowing she could take care of herself.
Our progress was slow but steady, and after half a minute, I picked up the rhythm of shuffling sideways. Sadie and the sentinel were far ahead of us—and not moving now, given the quiet of the room—and I focused on my hearing, trying to discern what was going on and where they were.
For a long time, there was no sound of talking or movement. It was eerie—downright eerie, enough for me to want to freeze a handful of times and just make sure that Sadie and the sentinel weren’t stalking us somehow. I checked over my shoulder constantly, certain that one of them had snuck up behind us, but there was nothing. Had they left to go fetch the other sentinels? That didn’t make sense. Alice had a hive mind now, meaning that if one of them knew something, the others did as well. As soon as Sadie said she wanted two more, two of them would’ve been dispatched immediately. If anything, I was surprised they weren’t here already. I would’ve assumed Sage had a small army of them nearby, but so far, they didn’t seem to have arrived.
Several heartbeats later, I realized I had been wrong—about the timing, at least. There was a soft hiss of a pneumatic door opening, followed by the heavy beat of not one, but two sentinels marching in unison. I froze as the sound grew closer and tucked every inch of my body behind the machine I was currently working my way past before their shadows cut by.
“We have come,” they announced in unison.
“Shush,” Sadie replied, and my skin tingled with anticipation when I realized how close we were to them. “Father is trying to concentrate. Split up and patrol the room.”
On impulse, I pulled myself over to the corner of the machine and leaned out past it, peering down the gap. The angle wasn’t the best, but I could see the two sentinels with their backs to me several feet down, Sadie’s form in between them. The third sentinel was missing, but I was guessing it was in front of the door again, making sure no unexpected guests entered or left.
As I watched, the two sentinels immediately split up, one of them heading farther around the dome, the other turning to double back. I ducked behind the machine again as it passed, then began to move away from it, following behind Eric.
“Bah!” Sage snorted a moment later, and I heard the sound of something hitting the ground. “After two and a half centuries, you’d think the backup would’ve gone insane in his terminal, but instead he continues to resist us! I need those protocols!”
“That’s too bad,” Grey replied, his voice now exhausted, as if he had run a marathon. I had no idea what Sage had been doing to him during those moments of silence, but based on what I had heard and seen, I was guessing he had been using the helmets to have Kurt attack Leo directly, through the net. “Guess you’re just going to have to give up.”
“Not likely. This is your last chance. Tell me what the protocol is, or I will give your host a very slow and painful death.”
I froze in place, hearing the hard undercurrent in Sage’s voice that told me he meant business. I knew Leo wasn’t going to give it up—and neither would Grey. They knew what was at stake, what could be lost if they failed, and would die before they told Sage.
“Well, as the host in this equation, I say go ahead and put your money where your mouth is. I’m not afraid of you. You’re just an old man who doesn’t know how to lie down and—”
The sound of gunfire cut him off, and my eyes widened in alarm and panic as I heard Grey make a strangled cry of pain, knowing that Sage had just shot him. A scream built up in my throat, the raw pain of losing somebody else I loved so overwhelming that I couldn’t help but open my mouth and unleash my anguish.
41
Eric’s hand slapped over my mouth before the scream could reach an audible note, and the large man dragged me closer to him and firmly gripped my arm. The instant his hand was on me, I knew what he was trying to do, and I hated him for it.
He was trying to keep me from Grey. My Grey. My sweet, reckless, brave Grey.
Who’d just been shot by Sage.
Rage burned at my very heart, a rage that had been slowly building since this morning’s bloodshed in the Council Room, and my fingers curled tightly around my gun, itching for me to break Eric’s hold and go after Sage with everything I had. Tony rose up to try to wrest control from me, his concern for me trying to cut through my internal tempest, but the rage inside me was too powerful for the AI, and I shoved him back into a dark place in my mind and closed the door on him, trapping him behind it. Then I started to pull away from Eric, intent on slipping out through a gap a few machines back to sneak up behind them, but the stronger man held me firm.
“Sentinel,” he whispered harshly.
A few seconds later I heard the sounds of its steps over the furious beating of my own heart. I exhaled a shuddering breath, common sense threading some rationality through my rage, and tried to focus on remaining still.
It didn’t help that I was quite literally shaking, my entire being vibrating in response to the gunshot and my fear that I’d lost Grey before I’d even had a chance to save him. I should’ve just gone in guns blazing, instead of sneaking around trying to get the drop on them. Because of me, I’d given Sage more time to grow impatient with him, resulting in him dying.
The shadow of the sentinel cut through the beams of light streaming into the small space as it passed, the looming presence of it growing closer and closer, and I closed my eyes, trying not to give in to the reckless urge that told me I should leap out and try to tear the sentinel apart with my bare hands. I knew it was my fury making me feel like I was indestructible, but I couldn’t help it. Sage was a monster, and I wanted to slay him once and for all.
But I resisted, letting Eric hold me in place and letting Tony out of the box I had just put him in, to try to contain my anger. I could tell the AI inside me was still overwhelmed by it—he felt like a small fish trying to swim up a fiery river—but I let him in this time, and he helped push some of it away.
Leaving only the fear and my unanswered questions about Grey. Had Sage killed him, or jus
t shot him some place that would cause a lot of pain? It was horrible to think about, but if Sage had shot him in the foot, he would survive that, provided we could get to him in time. We just had to get there.
Suddenly I was grateful to Eric and Tony; they had kept me from doing something monumentally suicidal and given me a chance to think. I reached up with my free hand to tap Eric, letting him know he could pull his fingers away, and a second later, my mouth was free. The sentinel’s shadow passed us at that exact moment, but didn’t slow, and I closed my eyes in relief that it hadn’t noticed us.
They snapped open a few moments later when I heard a weak groan. “You… shot me…” It was Grey—and he was still alive! Alive but in a lot of pain. My heart ached, wanting—no, needing—to go to him, but instead, I put it aside, reminding myself that I wasn’t alone. Others were counting on me, including him.
I nodded at Eric to start moving, and together we began making our way to the sound. I kept peering through the gaps between machines, trying to catch a glimpse of Grey, but the machines were too bulky, mostly limiting my field of view to only the dome. Occasionally I got a glimpse of Sadie’s back, or Sage bent over something in front of her, but never a clear shot or a good angle.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Sage said with a laugh. “Gut wounds are always tricky, too. So many organs to hit. May I?” I wasn’t sure what Sage was asking permission for, but Grey’s agonized cry of pain told me it wasn’t good, and I had to swallow back the massive dose of anger that seemed to shoot up from where I was carrying it in my stomach, like a dragon about to breathe flames.
Then Sage continued. “Ah, shoot, it just passed through some of your intestines. I might’ve nicked your spine, though. It’s hard to tell with just a finger.”
I pressed a fist to my mouth to suppress a gag, realizing that Sage had stuck his finger into Grey’s bullet wound.