I remain silent, all too aware of where I was.
"You isolated yourself from the person who loved you the most. You stole from her. Lied to her. And why? Because you thought you were in love with a virtual reality woman. A DLP created for the sole purpose of forming a relationship that would keep you tied to Elysia. Your supposed love for this false construct kept you from experiencing or reciprocating real love. Family love. Human love. Your world is completely synthetic. So how would you know what it's like to be human?"
I stop in my tracks, face flushed with fierce heat. Dabria pauses, turning around to look at me. My hand clench into quivering fists.
"You think you're my judge, is that it? You get to put me down, act like you're so much better than me. Like you've never made mistakes. Like you never did anything you're ashamed of."
She gives me a pitying look. "Shame? I know it like a reflection of my own face. The mistakes I've made have left me scarred for life. But the difference between us is that I don't wallow in my shame. I don't surrender to the weight of my mistakes. At some point, you have to move forward, Specter. At some point, you have to grow."
"You don't understand." I hesitate, trying to keep my voice from choking up. "I know I'm messed up, okay? I want to change. I want to know what it's like to be normal. To be clean. But I don't have any family. I don't have any friends outside of Elysia. All I have is Hel. All I know is what's in Elysia. And yeah, in the back of my mind I know it's not real. I know Hel is just something a team of programmers designed to match my personality. But it doesn't matter. If I don't have her, then what do I have? I'll be completely alone. With nowhere to go. With no one that cares."
Dabria approaches and places a hand on my shoulder. "You can start here, Dean. With me. With what we're doing here. You can find family. You can find friends. You can have something real."
I look her in the eyes. "Only if I do what you want, right? Only if I let you use me."
A small smile touches her lips. "We all use each other, Dean. We loan of ourselves to help out others. It's called a relationship. That's what the fabric of humanity is. The threads we tie to one another — the things we do to form bonds that strengthen over time. Take away the tech, take away the money, take away the trivial things we own and what do we have left? Each other. And that can never be taken away from us. Do you understand?"
I nod, too emotional to speak.
"Then come. There's something I want to show you."
We enter the depot, which turns out to be surprisingly state-of-the-art inside. Built like a mini-lab, it's equipped with sophisticated equipment and gadgetry. Dabria stops by a human-sized vertical pod that looks similar to a Deep Sleep resident capsule. She places her palm on the access reader and holds her face still while her eyes are scanned. Upon verification, the capsule door slides open with a hissing sound, expelling clouds of vapor into the air.
She motions me to look inside. I gasp in recognition. A man lies in the cushioned interior as if asleep. He's tall and handsome with dark hair and a close-cropped beard.
"That's Jude Maximillian. Head of Maximillian Industries. How in the world did you manage to abduct the richest man in the world?"
"Don't be silly, Dean."
I looked up in surprise. "This is a synoid?"
"Not any synoid. A carbon copy designed by Maximillian himself. So perfect that he used it in place of himself when he didn't want to handle certain activities in person."
"I've heard of that. But there's no way you should have been able to get your hands on this. Gotta be a catch."
"The catch is that this is an older model."
"How old? This thing looks perfect."
"Over one hundred versions old. Maximillian is a perfectionist. Always tinkering. Always upgrading. Striving for absolute perfection, striving for godhood. He has an entire warehouse full of discarded carbon copies. Decommissioned, but still useful in the right hands. All it took was an inside man to smuggle one out. It took years of time and effort, but we were finally successful."
I tore my eyes away from the magnificent model to stare at Dabria. "You want me to link to this synoid. Use it to access Syn City. This was your plan from the start."
"You're the only one who can do this, Dean. This isn't a coincidence. Every moment of your life has led to this moment. The question that remains is: will you take the leap of faith and believe in yourself now that your time has arrived?"
Before I can open my mouth, her holoband buzzes. Kilgore's face appears on the screen.
"The trap is set. They're in route now."
The transmission ends. Dabria looks up at me. "It's time. You know the plan is."
My heart nearly explodes. "But… I need more time. I'm not ready for this."
She taps the badge on her uniform and her uniform ripples, nanomachines altering the material and reforming into her familiar sleek beetle-black armor. Panels slide from her neck guard and click into place, forming her helmet and visor.
"You have to be ready, Specter. Because we're at war and we're out of time."
Chapter 14: 3N16MA
The landscape blurs past the window, imperceptible as my future. We're flying at speeds of over eight-hundred miles per hour toward a confrontation I want no part of but can't avoid. The jet chopper rumbles from mild turbulence, like thunder before a massive storm.
Zen crouches in Brutus' broad shadow, surrounded by a squad of soldiers that look like giants even when crouching to listen to her. She doesn't let her tiny size stop her from ordering them around.
"Okay, listen up. An hour ago, we caught a transmission from target D—" She pulls up a photo of Dabria and leaves it suspended in the air. " — to target K." Another photo, this time of Kilgore.
"They've arranged a meeting at this location, just outside of the Los Nuevos Haven." She flips a positioning map beside the photos. "It's an abandoned amusement park. From what we've deciphered, Dabria's rolling with two squads. Best guess is up to twenty-five hostiles. All highly-trained combat professionals. Do not underestimate them."
Agent Rogers looks at her with strained eyes. "Kilgore has single-handedly taken out every squad sent at him. And not just grunts like us. I'm talking Elite kill squads. Super soldiers. If they weren't a match for this guy, what are we supposed to do?"
Uneasy mutters break out from the gathered squad. They might be hardened soldiers, but every one of them knows the legends about Kilgore. He's a boogeyman, something spoken about in whispers and drunken conversations. Not a living person you've just been ordered to hunt down.
Zen doesn't let the question faze her. "We have two accompanying air units and five on the ground awaiting our arrival. We'll have superior numbers and firepower plus air support. Your orders are to locate and capture Dabria and Specter. All other targets are expendable. So don't worry about Kilgore. That's what they're here for."
Their heads swivel the direction of her pointed finger, over where I sit next to Kage. Brutus growls deep in his throat, beady eyes glinting suspiciously at the bioroid.
Kage is geared up in form-fitting black armor that gives him the appearance of a metallic spider, complete with a skull-shaped helmet to further intimidate. He sits motionless, eyes flickering inside of the mask as countless scenarios play out within milliseconds inside of his computer-enhanced mind. He's running the operation in person, a rarity that only underscores the import of the mission.
He turns head, voice harsh through the helmet. "You know that we're running into a trap."