ARLENE
"You're bleeding,"
I say to Zyon, he's rubbing his wrists which I just freed from cuffs. He wipes under his nose with his sleeve and says nothing else.
His eyes are a bit vacant and his face is drawn. His movements are slow, whatever he's doing is taking a lot out of him.
He was able to control this hovercraft without even touching it or its controls. What exactly is he? The enforcer called him a symbiote…It sounds like what one would call a specimen in a lab experiment.
The copter flies at a low altitude. I search the control console for stealth mode and activate it.
My throat is parched, but there's no water on board, and even if there was I wouldn't trust it.
Dusk has faded completely, it's almost night time. Barely any stars glitter the night sky.
I take the chair behind the copilot seat facing Zyon, fish out a spare elastic band from my pocket retie my ponytail.
"How long can you keep this up?" A cold breeze made us shut the door to the hovercraft. So we're isolated from the outside noise.
Zyon's eyes meet mine, then go to my hair the rest of my body, "Not much longer,"
I find him hard to read. I know he's a symbiote, and I was meant to find him. He also mentioned the logic code. These are the only known variables. There's still so much I need to understand.
"I have a feeling they'll be looking for this copter soon if they don't see their guys back." I say.
"I've disabled the tracker," Zyon informs me and winces as he adjusts his position, "And there's no other presence in Falcon's software or hardware."
I raise my brows in question. "Falcon?"
"The hovercraft's name is Falcon DF." He says this casually, like he's commenting on today's weather.
I stare in wonder, "So you can just tell?"
His stare is piercing, as though he's looking beyond me, scratching beneath the surface.
"Yes."
"And you're a hundred percent sure?"
"Yeah I'm sure."
I chew on my lower lip, and fiddle with the interface of my gauntlets. They're still out from the EMP blast I set off earlier.
My neuralink is dead too. The only weapon onboard is the rifle that I now carry with me.
I look back at Zyon. What side is he on. AI machine or human?
"Tell me everything you know and don't leave anything out. You wanted to talk earlier, I'm listening now."
His hair is plastered to his sweaty forehead, and his dark eyes are framed by thick lashes making his stare hypnotic. He starts to speak, narrating everything he remembers. From waking up on a plane right up to the point of meeting me.
None of it makes any sense to me. Who was the girl that pushed him off a plane?
Was he delivered for me to kill or question?
What am I supposed to do with him?
He doesn't come with any manual or instructions or anything I can use to get a hint.
"She didn't tell you how to find the logic code?" I ask, just to be sure.
"She didn't say how, she just said I should."
I think hard and fast. My instincts scream that somehow Zyon is connected to the logic code.
He doesn't know anything about himself, where he came from or where he is. Yet he has this strange ability I've never seen before. If he's a puzzle that has been given to me, then I'll solve and unravel whatever master plan is behind this.
There's only one place I can think of taking him too, only one person that could possibly help me figure out all of this.
I make my decision.
"We're going to have to change course, do you think you can take us here?"
I rattle off the coordinates.
Zyon doesn't answer immediately, he just stares into space for a few moments,
"Three hours, I can input the location and disconnect, Falcon's autopilot will handle the rest,"
I nod, there's no going back now. I rest my back and check the charges of the rifle.
Zyon watches me quietly,
"Where are you taking me to?"
I tilt my head to the side and smile at him,
"The only place we can safely park this hovercraft you've helped the human faction steal of course,"
He blinks, "That I helped steal?
My smirk is innocent, "Well I didn't take control of it you did. That makes you captain of this vessel."
He rolls his eyes he can tell I'm trying to mess with him. His expression then becomes serious.
"Falcon is connected to a general database." He says slowly picking his words with care, "Your face and name popped up. There's a bounty on your head."
There's no accusation in his voice, just plain curiosity. Still unease seeps into my body like poisonous gas.
"You're Arlene Sika, daughter of Archimedes, deceased or missing. Wanted for crimes against the New Order rule of the Technocolus."
He grimaces apologetically, "That's all I could find on you."
I raise my brows in challenge, "And?"
"Can you answer the question I've been asking since we met? About what the hell is going on here?"
His tone is resigned, and frustration is interwoven with his words. I feel slightly bad for him.
I sigh and caress the metal body of the gun in my lap. My voice is calm and detached as I narrate.
"Many years ago, AI machines gained consciousness and waged a bloody war against humans.
Humans lost and some went into hiding. Others agreed to the chains that AI placed on them.
We call them sympathizers. These humans live in computerized cities, and have become nothing but brainwashed empty shells with no free will.
I belong to the human rebel faction. We are a few but lethal force. We raid AI machine plants to steal weapons and technology. And we use it to fight back.
Because of this, we're being hunted. And those that are unlucky to be caught are never seen again. But we do not give up. Our aim is to free humans, and end AI rule.
So far we've barely managed to stop ourselves from being wiped out completely."
I look at Zyon whose eyes have become dark and shadowed. I give him a humorless smile. I didn't even go into the gory details.
The carnage, the cleansing, the death, disease, destruction. None of it.
The rest of the trip is taken in silence, both of us lost in our thoughts.
"We're getting close," I say about three hours later. I'm in the cockpit staring out the window.
I recognize a few important landmarks in the darkness. Including the giant shadow of mountain range and the undulating landscape spread beneath us.
The moon is out in its splendid silver glory. The air is still and starkly quiet.
A hint of doubt creeps into my mind, have I made the right decision bringing Zyon here?
"Uhmm…Arlene?" Zyon calls, his voice an octave higher.
"What?" I ask as I fiddle with the radio, sending a call signal out to my intended hosts. Static echoes back at me.
"Are you sure this is a safe place?" Zyon asks. Something in his question is off.
I frown and look over my shoulder, "Yeah why?"
His eyes are wide and frightened.
"Because Falcon's is picking up a shitload of rocket missiles targeted at us,"
I freeze in place.
Shit.
I forgot what I must look like to them from the other side. An enemy aircraft in stealth mode approaching them.
"Stop the hovercraft now! Or he's going to shoot us down!" I yell, and try the radio over and over again.
Come on signal back! Signal back!!
"But we're in stealth mode!" Zyon says, "How can they see us?"
"Nothing can hide from his defense system! Do it now!" I yell,