Source Read online

  Eventually, the darkness began to lighten and the pressure subside as she drew close to the surface.

  Dark finally gave way to blinding light as her eyes opened; the pain of the brightness on her retina forcing her to re-close them as tightly as she could.

  She took a few short shallow breaths but her lungs felt restricted - the air seemed to burn from within as her body screamed in protest.

  ‘The girl who will not die …’ the voice from the darkness, sounding clearer now but just as unwelcome.

  Tentatively, Rae opened her eyes once more to see her former best friend standing alongside her hospital bed while others - indiscernible shadows - stood either side.

  ‘Jenny … they tried to kill me …’ she gasped. ‘You have to help me.'

  ‘Kill you?’ Jenny laughed darkly. ‘Rae, you are one messed up cookie.’

  ‘They injected me with something …’ The words hurt as she tried to wrap her bruised, tooth-marked tongue around them.

  ‘You have it all wrong,’ came another voice Rae had learned to dread. Dr Lakeb continued. ‘You are a quandary Ms Lennox, quite the mystery.’

  Her eyes slowly started to focus, as she realized the noises she’d been hearing were from various machines she was hooked up to.

  She lay face up with her arms by her side, wrists also facing upwards to allow access to tubes and wires. One clear tube led from her left arm, its crimson contents highlighted against the brilliant white sheets of the hospital bed.

  Her gaze followed the tube to a whirling machine which seemed to have a return feed leading to her other wrist.

  ‘What’s going on?’ she asked lifting her head for a better look and starting to panic at the sight of so much of her own blood going through machines. ‘What are you doing to me now?’

  ‘Calm down,’ Jenny sighed wearily. ‘We’re trying to help you, of course.’

  The word ‘we’ rattled around Rae’s brain. Here was her former best friend - who hated her - standing with the very people who wanted her and all other outliers - whose existence threatened the sanctity of their system - to disappear.

  ‘What’s happening?’ she demanded again. ‘What’s all this stuff for?’

  ‘Well, to put it simply we’re not entirely certain what’s happening just now. Those are not words I use very often, but again you seem to be an exception to many of the rules we’ve come to believe in.’ Dr Oberkampf adjusted the wire-rimmed glasses on his nose and inspected a readout from the apparatus. ‘Seems your body has been waging quite the battle against our molecular technology. Fascinating. That, to answer your second question, is what used to be referred to as a dialysis machine. Before they became obsolete.’

  Rae’s puzzled look prompted Dr Lakeb to explain.

  ‘It seems our implant patch caused your body’s immune system to go into overdrive, treating it as invasive. Anti-rejection treatment merely exacerbated the problem, leaving us no option but to extract the tech completely,’ he said indicating the dialysis machine.

  ‘You were lucky your friend was with you when you collapsed. Otherwise you’d be listed with the .009ers,’ Jenny said, arms folded and apparently devoid of any concern about Rae’s health.

  ‘.009ers?’

  ‘Preemies,’ she explained, continuing as Rae’s confusion lingered. ‘The very rare percentage of people who expire prematurely, ahead of their death date.’

  ‘A percentage we are very proud of, given it started out at above ten when the cryptograph was initially introduced,’ said Lakeb.

  ‘So it’s out? The implant?’ Rae asked, hating being at their mercy like this. She was relieved that whatever weirdness they’d given her had been removed but still, felt like bursting into tears at the realization that she had in fact almost died.

  Her mind gradually began to recall the sequence of events … Peter at her apartment, the emergency message to Apollo … and a new wave of anxiety began to bubble up.

  ‘We’re continuing to run the machine as a precaution, but should have you disconnected shortly to begin your recuperation.’

  Still Rae didn't feel much relief as her thoughts continued to rattle around her brain.

  ‘Peter … he saved my life. I’d like to thank him,’ she said desperate to find a way to speak with someone she could trust.

  ‘There will be plenty of time for that. First you need to get well, then we should decide how to deal with your … conundrum.’ Dr Oberkampf input some notes on his electronic tablet, while Jenny looked at Rae, her gaze that of a big cat sizing up unworthy prey.

  ‘I’m sure I can arrange that when the time comes,’ she said, her voice honeyed, but dripping with sarcasm. ‘After all, good friends are so important, especially when there’s not many left, no?’

  Rae was about to protest that Peter was merely a work colleague, but her former best friend had already turned on her heel to leave.

  Five

  Drew sat in front of the camera with the viewer reversed, checking he was fully in-frame.

  After making some adjustments, he reread the notes he’d jotted down, touching on the various discoveries his outliers research had yielded.

  His mind was a whirlwind of both this and thoughts of Rae and what could have happened to her.

  Was she even still alive? He kept glancing towards the PC on his desk, hoping an alert would pop up from Peter with a further update. But so far there was nothing.

  Drew glanced down at the bullet points on his sheet of paper:

  OBK given access and control over all post pandemic childhood immunization programs.

  Small cohorts of early recipients with allergies no choice but to opt out.

  Such cohorts with missed vaccine rounds have outlived their expiry dates.

  Suggesting that it’s the vaccines themselves rendering the cryptograph accurate (or whatever OBK administers along with it), interfering with telomeres to ensure cryptograph result.

  Then he threw the notes on the desk in frustration. In reality it all meant nothing.

  He could release another video and it would be either hovered up and made to disappear by OBK’s powerful web policing system, or dismissed as conspiracy theorist propaganda.

  To attack immunization programs now, without supporting cold, hard evidence would merely serve to undermine what dwindling credibility he had.

  OBK had effectively eradicated every known fatal disease using their gene therapy techniques. They had all the trust and power in the world because of what they had achieved.

  He placed his head in his hands, feeling as helpless and alone as he ever had, then asked himself a question that had never occurred to him before.

  What was the point?

  OBK could not, would not lose. They held all the cards, and exerted far more control over public policy than any organization should ever be allowed to.

  There were also truths he couldn't deny: stuff that made people willing to overlook - things like personal autonomy and freedom of expression, because of the carrot OBK dangled in front of them.

  A world without all the troubles, disease and uncertainties of the past.

  People mostly ignored uncomfortable truths as long as their own reality was safe and secure.

  And the Tetrad were the ones posing a threat to that; he was the one wanting to tell the masses something they were not willing to hear.

  He sat in silence as his thoughts again returned to Rae. He didn't know what to do right now. But he knew with all his heart what he would do if he had her beside him.

  He would surrender his crusade against OBK.

  He would take her somewhere, away from beneath the rock and hard place they had backed themselves into.

  They would find other outliers and try to live a happy life irrespective of the cryptograph, just as it should be.

  One day at a time, living each as if it was their last.

  But for the first time ever, Drew wondered if that too was just a pipe dream.

  ‘Have you seen her?’ Peter asked Logan as they moved their trays across the stainless steel bars in front of the OBK canteen glass display panel.

  ‘Jenny has,’ his son muttered without looking at him.

  ‘And…? How is she?’

  ‘Not great, apparently. Her body rejected a Lifelong patch they gave her. They had to resuscitate her. She’s in ICU, and Jenny says she’s regained continuousness. Last I heard, they’re monitoring her closely.’

  ‘I bet they are. You and I know that’s bullshit though, right? She never had an implant in the first place. If they tried to administer Lifelong, it was the first time she’d received anything.’

  Peter tried to act casual as they moved along, each pretending to muse over his lunch selection.

  ‘What are you suggesting?’

  ‘You and I both know the docs don’t make mistakes. Lifelong and all OBK products are administered on a case by case basis, tailored to an individuals’ genetic profile.’

  ‘So you’re thinking they knew whatever they were giving her might not work but gave it to her anyway?’

  Logan picked an apple from a fruit bowl as the implication sank in. ‘I’ll try to find a way to get to her, check on how she is,’ he told him.

  ‘Be careful though; you said yourself she’s being monitored closely. If it was some kind of attempt to kill her, they’ll have ample opportunity to do so now. What we need is to try and get her out of there.’

  ‘Yeah, but she’s under very tight surveillance, not to mention still gravely ill, so no chance of getting her out anytime soon. Besides, I get the sense she’s more valuable alive. Jenny said something about the docs’ intrigue about how her body responded to the implant. Seems they’re keen on further examination.’

  ‘Maybe that buys us some time at least. I’ll talk to Drew Archer, let him know we’ll need to sit tight for the moment.’ Peter approached the checkout and tapped his lanyard to the screen to debit his account. ‘You and I need to tread extra carefully now though too,’ he warned. ‘If they have any reason to suspect Rae’s loyalty, everyone connected to her will come under the microscope. My being there to call the medics will have the spotlight on me for sure, so you and I should try to stay out of each others’ way too. Let me figure something out and get back to you.’

  ‘OK.’

  With that, father and son parted company and headed in different directions, each feeling an increased weight on his shoulders.

  Six

  Drew heard a distinctive knock on the door.

  He walked over and slowly opened it to see the stooped figure of Mr Feinstein at the bottom of the steps.

  ‘Afternoon, OK to come in?’

  ‘Of course.’ He ushered the elderly pawnshop broker inside, removing some clutter from a chair to enable him to sit.

  ‘You’re alone?’ Mr Feinstein asked, glancing around.

  ‘Yes, just me right now. But Rae will be back soon.’ He tried to convince himself of something he suspected was becoming increasingly unlikely.

  ‘Too much time to one’s self is not always a good thing.’ The older man adjusted his frame in the chair to get more comfortable. ‘One of the reasons I wanted to talk with you today actually. As you know, my wife’s DOD is fast approaching and mine not too far after. Which of course means I must get my house in order before the end.’

  Drew looked at him, not sure how to respond other than with the usual pointless platitudes. Then the implications for his own situation began to sink in, just as the older man uttered the words.

  ‘Meaning my ability to offer you refuge will soon be at an end.’

  ‘I understand.’

  ‘Have you a plan for what you’ll do?’

  ‘I’ll know more soon, and hope we’ll be out of your hair shortly.’

  Mr Feinstein waved him away. ‘Pfft, you are of course welcome to stay, but I’m not sure what will happen to my store - we have no one to bequeath it to, which takes me to my second point. The liquidation of my estate will be going to a charity. Set up by those who facilitated this very place in order to help people like you.’

  He pulled a letter from the inside pocket of his jacket. ‘Son, I’m from a bygone era, and know little to nothing about technology, but I think, or at least I’m told, that you will know what to do with this.’

  Drew opened the envelope the man handed to him and slipped out a piece of paper. Printed on it were Admin login details for a website. He looked up at Mr Feinstein, perplexed.

  ‘The people who run this … charity are the same people who’ve ensured your safety here. There’s also this.’ He handed him a plastic card.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘What does it look like? It’s a Visa card, boy - well a debit card to be precise. Linked to a checking account I have under the name David Harte. When you make contact with the people from the charity they will set you up with some new ID.’

  ‘I … I don’t know what to say. Why are you doing all this for me?’

  ‘Oh, it’s quite simple. I’ve lived two lives on this planet my boy. As I might have mentioned before, I was born into a cruel and dangerous world set on a course toward destruction. Then that course changed, and the second half of my life has been spent in a world that is only safe if you satisfy certain criteria.

  You and your friend surviving your DOD brought me hope. Hope that one day this world can reset itself and be free of human interference. But I’m far too old and weary to play any role in that other than to support those who can.’

  He placed a hand on each arm of the chair and shimmied closer to the edge of it before easing himself to a standing position.

  ‘Thank you - again,’ Drew repeated, bereft of anything else to say.

  ‘That’s quite all right,’ Mr Feinstein replied, taking a few delicate steps towards the door. ‘You just make contact with those people I mentioned, before my affairs get finalized. Also, promise me one thing.’ He stopped and turned back.

  ‘Of course, anything.'

  ‘Don’t give up the fight. He who cannot endure the bad, will not live to see the good.’

  Drew closed the door behind him, the old man’s words playing over in his mind.

  Finally he knew what had to be done.

  If Rae was still alive, at this point the only way he was going to get her out safely was by sticking to the original plan and bringing OBK to its knees.

  He picked up his laptop and booted up the system, before sending a coded message to Peter, instructing him to deploy the device as agreed.

  Time to put the pigeon among the cats …

  Then he picked up the piece of paper Mr Feinstein had given him and used the details to access the website before following the various prompts.

  He posted a simple greeting, signing off as Admin 2 as instructed, and waited for what felt like an hour, but was more likely only a few minutes before a response appeared.

  But who was he waiting for?

  Hey Admin 2, have heard a lot about you. We have much to discuss.’

  Seven

  Rae sat up in bed, relieved to see that now there was only one remaining tube attached.

  Her stomach rumbled and she felt hunger pangs for the first time in what seemed like an age.

  The room she was in had an observation window beside the door. Under that window in the corridor was a nurse’s station. Rae noted that the station had been permanently manned by one, and sometimes two, staff members since she’d come to.

  The various nurses in attendance all seemed solemn and standoffish. Whenever she’d asked questions, pretty much the same answers had been trotted out by every one: ‘I’m unaware of that’ and ‘that will be for the doctors to decide.’

  No longer able to stand the hunger, she pressed the buzzer on the adjustable arm of her bed.

  The same arms that kept her trapped in position so she always needed help to get to the bathroom.

  She could hear the buzzer sounding outside and a nurse looked up. When the nurse appeared in the room, Rae gave a weak, almost apologetic smile which was not reciprocated.

  ‘You need something?’ the nurse asked.

  ‘I’m starving - could I have something to eat?’

  ‘Your chart specifies intravenous only. I’ll check and let you know.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Rae smiled again as the sullen nurse backed out and closed the door.

  She kicked herself for not also thinking to ask when she’d be moved to a regular ward and perhaps be allowed visitors.

  Not that she’d probably just be told: ‘that’ll be for the doctors to decide.’

  She looked out the window at the sky turning a shade of dark orange as the sun set. She had no idea what day or time it actually was, though she guessed it was a weekday, given all the office buildings she could see were illuminated inside.

  The angle of her view continued to puzzle her, though.

  From the bed was a perfect view of the downtown area, with Hoyt tower almost dead center. But because Rae was unable to walk over to the window she couldn't see down to street level.

  What she did know was that she was definitely no longer at OBK Medical.

  At a guess, she felt she was in some private OBK-approved hospital on the far side of the Bay Bridge toward Oakland, but the city seemed a little too close.

  Now in the sky she spied aircraft chem-trails illuminated by the dwindling sun, and started to wish she was on board an airplane herself, irrespective of where it was headed.

  She was so sick of being a prisoner now.

  First at the OBK lab with the others, then in Mr Feinstein’s basement with Apollo, then back at the apartment the company had set up for her, and now here.

  Wherever here was.

  Rae was so lost in her own thoughts she jumped a little when the door clicked and Oberkampf and Lakeb sailed in, smiling as though they were all close friends.

  ‘We come bearing good news, I think.' Lakeb said, swiping through a tablet. ‘Seems you are out of the woods so to speak. Your implant patch has now been successfully removed.’