Untitled - Chapter 1 - The Insiders

I am lost.1

I know this city by the back of my hand, and yet these walls and alleys are alien to me today. I feel as if I’m a rat in an experiment, being forced to run through a maze in search of food. Only it isn’t food I’m searching for. 2

I speed around another corner just like all the others and am relieved to finally see something familiar. My heart rate immediately slows. It is my friend.3

I greet the mech by raising my hand. This is a sign of trust in the City, because on all our palms is the sign of the Insiders. There are people who treat artificial intelligence like slaves or tools. But I grew up with them. To me they are equals. 4

They’re designed to look like people anyway. They have two legs, two hands and faces like us; they’re just made of metal instead of flesh.5

I expect the mech to return my gesture with its own, but it just stands there. Frowning, I stare into the lenses that are its eyes. There’s something different about this mech. What is it? The mech moves its arm as if to touch its chest, but the shuddering metal limb jams before it can. I step back uncertainly; it looks as if it’s about to explode. 6

I mutter a string of words incomprehensible to normal people to the mech that should make it shut down. But it doesn’t listen. Mechs are always obedient. What’s going on?7

The lenses flash with an unsettling image of human eyes for a second and the machine trembles more obviously. Its joints clatter and creak against the stress. I know there’s nothing I can do and that I should run before the mech hurts me, but I just can’t move. My eyes are glued to its chest. 8

The metal plate is turning black and burnt. The mech is by now shaking violently. There is a loud, high-pitched sound as its chest suddenly bursts open. I should be yelling or screaming or running away like everyone else would. But I don’t. I wish I did.9

The image burns into my mind, burying itself in me like an insect so that I’ll never be rid of it. Inside the mech’s chest amid computer chips, threaded with wires and steel, beats a bloody human heart.10

“Logan!”11

I can’t move.12

“Logan!” I’m kicked in the stomach. “Get up!”13

Warily, I open my eyes. Jonn is shaking my shoulders so hard that a sting of pain shoots through my neck. I push him off of me angrily. Satisfied that I’m awake, he growls one word, “Outsiders,” and I’m out of bed in a flash. He disappears out the doorway, loading his gun as he goes. I quickly throw on a shirt and a long dark jacket over my sleeping pants, grab my handgun from beneath the mattress on the floor, put my earpiece in and follow him outside, careful to seal my door before leaving. The insiders have no need to steal, but if a bunch of outsiders have managed to get into the City I’d better not take any chances.14

Outside I can see exactly what has happened. My home is on low ground, but this just gives me a good view of the other side of the City’s tall dark buildings on the rising ground. Stars dot the hill where people have left lights on. But I don’t need to look any further than the small orange blaze near the West wall. You can always find outsiders wherever there is any disturbance or destruction.15

I jump onto my bike and start the motor, which makes a hissing sound as it starts to hover. I shift it into gear and lean forward in anticipation of the sudden speed. Soon I’m whizzing through the streets in the direction of the West wall. Anyone I pass would probably see nothing more than a white light shooting past. I love my job.16

Even in the quiet backstreets of the City where I live, people walk safely and freely. This harmony is the reason why Outsiders are always trying to get in. But if we did let them in, the streets would no longer be safe anyway. Outside the walls there is nothing but barren land where the savages fight amongst themselves. That’s why the City was built; to keep the better people safe. I know this sounds stupid. There’s definitely something wrong with the idea that leaving most of the population outside to survive on their own, but what else can we do? This is the only place left that is safe; we can’t risk it all. I spin around the corner into a long, narrow street. It’s dangerous to ride so fast through here but it’s the most direct route to the West wall.17

Before I reach my destination I see another bike coming toward me from the end of the street. My earpiece beeps twice and Jonn begins speaking. “Fancy seeing you here.” The two of us shoot past each other but he continues speaking. “There are a lot of them this time. About twenty outsiders all got past the wall somehow, which is supposedly impossible. They’re crafty, Logan. That fire is where a general and his companions were meeting. Needless to say, they’re dead now. Think I’ll get a promotion?” he asked wryly.18

“So we’ve been betrayed?” I ask, though it’s not really a question.19

“Just be careful,” Jonn warns needlessly. “I was sent back because I’ve been injured.” I’m surprised. There’s no pain in his voice. Then again, Jonn is like that. “The mechs are holding up ok,” he continues, “but it could be better down there. Do us a favour and pull one of your miracles out of your arse, would you? If this fight lasts too long the Insiders will become unsettled, and that’s the last thing we need.”20

Jonn is stating the obvious. I know what to do. It’s the same thing I always do. When Jonn says ‘miracle’ it really doesn’t mean I’m particularly special. I just work well with the mechs. And so I should, considering my main job is actually to control them, study them and keep the technology up-to-date. I forget that it’s my turn to say something.21

“Logan?” 22

My bike takes me in an upward slope through the widening streets. I’m at the hill, so I’m not too far away from the wall now. “Go get fixed,” I say. “I’ve got this covered.”23

My earpiece beeps twice. I blink my short dark hair out of my eyes; it’s flicking in my face. It’s kind of important that I’m able to see whilst riding this bike because of the speed I’m authorised to go at. It doesn’t help that I’m not wearing a helmet or any protective gear. But I’ve never felt the need to. 24

Still a few streets away from the fire, I’m about to reach a corner when a disemboweled mech is thrown from behind the wall into my path. I slam on the breaks and let the back of my bike spin out a bit so that I reach the corner facing whatever is waiting for me. I already have my gun aimed with one hand.25

There is no one in the street. Cautiously, I look around. I’m yanked off the back of my bike by the shoulders and thrown to the ground. Someone takes my gun. Three rugged men with haunted looks in their eyes stand over me with guns pointed, one with two because he took mine. “Don’t think we weren’t waiting for you,” the one with my gun says in a gruff voice. But one of them, the somewhat softer looking one, is hesitant. 26

“It’s… just a kid,” he says. 27

This may be true; I’m no more than sixteen in a couple of months. Only my intelligence got me such a high rank here so fast, but I have no doubt these men are just assuming I stole the bike in an attempt to be a hero. The third man scratches his stubble. “He could serve as a hostage…?”28

The first man whacks him in the head with my gun. “No you idiot, we have to hide once we’ve finished off anyone who could give evidence against us. Taking a hostage will just get us kicked out of here again.”29

“But he’s just a kid…”30

“I don’t think he is just a kid. Look at him.” He pushes my hair out of my face with the point of his gun, but I don’t flinch. “He’s intelligent,” he says. “And he doesn’t look afraid.”31

Two mechs leap down from the roof of a building. One is partially on fire. They’re right on time. I can always trust them to come when I call. They aim their fists at us and guns pop out of their forearms. “Outsiders are a danger to the City,” they say in their tinny voices. “Surrender.” The trouble with mechs is that they’re predictable. They always follow the procedure and fight in the same way. Even if I give them specific orders they might not listen unless I tell them in their own language. The Outsiders hold up their primitive guns to shoot the mechs before they can reach us, but I hold up my marked hand so they know who I am and tell them what to do in their robot gibberish. They lower their guns. 32

The three outsiders peer down at me with narrowed eyes. I notice the orange-tinted smoke rising above the buildings not far away and know I must be quick. “You could be more useful than I thought,” the first man observes. “You’ve made them surrender, now make them help us.”33

I speak to the mechs without answering him. They assume a passive stance and walk forwards. The burning one’s shoulder is melting. The outsiders lower their guns, an astonished look in their eyes. But the moment they’re close enough, the mechs extend the blades in their fingers and slash two of the men’s throats. I take the opportunity to snatch back my gun and shoot the last man in the head. He goes down.34

“Thankyou,” I say to them, wondering if I’m the only person who ever does so. I point to the burning one. “Find water and quench your fire, then you can help your comrade clean up this mess.”35

They make a small jerk of their heads to nod and we swiftly part ways. I get back on my bike and head to the fire. When I get there I squint in the sudden flickering light. The Brigade is being defended by the mechs as they hose down the burning building. Other mechs are coming out of the building on fire, with people in their arms. I’m surprised at how organised these Outsiders are; they’ve positioned themselves on the rooftops of adjacent buildings and the mechs are having trouble shooting them from the ground. A fireman falls to the earth as a bullet hole from a primitive gun pierces his back. The mechs are doing this all wrong. 36

I shout at them to let half of their numbers seek out the snipers on the roofs. A couple of them acknowledge that I spoke but they know that they should follow procedure and protect the main priorities. I take an impatient breath and use their language. Five of about twenty separate from the group and head to the surrounding buildings. They could probably only spare that many. I follow one of them. It recognises my help and kicks the door to the house, but it only dents the thick metal. It steps back and rams into it; pushing the door out of its hinges. 37

Inside we find two determined men aiming at us; two hostages tied to chairs beside them with fearful eyes and small whimpers. I leave the mech to do what it does best and climb the stairs up two storeys to their roof, listening to the sounds of its victorious clash as I go. Outside in the smoky air the Outsider kneeling behind a low wall with a gun spins around to face me. It’s a woman.38

She’s thin and starved, and has deep dark circles beneath her hardened eyes. She is afraid. I freeze, not knowing what to do. Suddenly a spray of blood splatters from her chest onto the cement and she drops her gun, falls to her knees and lies still. She shouldn’t have stood up; a mech down below had shot her. Hesitating only briefly, I run back down the stairs where the mech is untying the hostages. “There’s also a body up there to clean up,” I inform it and leave the house. Outside, I see a mech and an Outsider fighting on a rooftop amid a river of yellow sparks. 39

A mech on the ground moves closer to me and shoots the man up there. Both mechs don’t even acknowledge each other; they just go back to their work. I head back to the fire which looks as if it’s gradually being quenched and scan the shadowed streets while the mechs are too busy scanning the rooftops.40

I wonder where all the human troops are. Was it just me and Jonn who came? Or… I realise with horror that the real invasion must be somewhere else. My fight is a distraction. It looks like the mechs have things covered here so I run back to my bike and press a button on my earpiece. “Sefton.” I hear two beeps.41

“What is it?” the man demands soon after. To think that I’m his superior. “Where are you? We need you down here.”42

“I would be there if someone had told me. What’s happened and where is it?”43

“Second Street,” he replies, and I hear a gun shot coming from his end. “The mechs have gone insane again. I don’t know what brought it on.”44

“On my way,” I tell him and hear two beeps in my earpiece as I start the bike and head off into the night.45

There are almost as many mechs in the City as there are people. Now I understand why there weren’t any more than there was at the fire. Occasionally, and more often lately, the robots of the City have had instances where they’ve gone insane for no reason at all. They suddenly decide to go out to destroy the place and kill any people they see. Considering we made the mechs to be superior fighters to most people, this makes them a worse threat than the Outsiders. Perhaps they were in fact the distraction so that the outsiders could get in. But who would have the power to induce this? I think it has something to do with some sort of radiation, but there’s so much radiation on this planet and in the City alone that there’s no way for me to pinpoint exactly what causes it.46

As I ride down a wider road, I sense the trouble ahead. I have a strange affinity with the world and the people in it. It’s not always a strong feeling, but I can often sense people’s emotions. Fights are full of fear and death. It makes it hard to concentrate sometimes while I’m fighting, but if I can sense someone coming I know if they’re an enemy or not. In this case however, I won’t be able to sense any mechs coming because they have no emotion.47

When I was young I thought everyone had this sense, but only a few years ago Jonn corrected me. I wonder still if I’m the only one, or if there’s someone out there like me. Who could know?48

The streets widen and the buildings get taller and more magnificent as I near the centre of the City. Soon the many storey, dark grey walls surround me. Second Street isn’t far away now. My earpiece beeps. “Nice of you to show,” Sefton says. I look around but can’t see him. Wherever he is, he can see me.49

“Perhaps if you were more capable you wouldn’t need me in the first place,” I argue and cut off contact.50

Something high on the wall of a tall building grabs my attention. I’m surprised to find that it’s a mech climbing the wall, like a big metal spider. It looks at me as I approach, and shocks me by releasing its grip on the wall and letting itself fall. But I’m already below it by the time I realise what it’s doing.51

The steel limbs clamp around me and I lose control of the bike, crashing into the base of the building the mech leapt from. By now a normal person would be crushed to death by the robot, not to mention the impact with the building, but not me. Seemingly frustrated, the mech extends its retractable claws into my shoulders, piercing both my black jacket and my flesh easily. I yell and, abandoning all self-consciousness, throw it off of me. It lands on the road, a loud crack informing me that something inside it has broken. It gets up, showing no notice of an unusable arm dangling uselessly at its side.52

“You landed badly,” I say, ignoring the blood streaming down my shoulders, the same way a mech would. “What are you doing without the rest of the pack? Bored with Second Street?”53

It doesn’t attack me. It’s probably running through its data files trying to figure out what I am and therefore what my weakness is. Funny how just yesterday I was in the labs wishing something interesting would happen so I could go running around with the soldiers. My reliable gun is fortunately still in tact on my belt. I point it at the mech. “You shouldn’t have left the pack. There’s no point in keeping a straggler.”54

It doesn’t even try to stop me as I pull the trigger, aiming for its vulnerable spot in the centre of its head. It’s unsettling sometimes the way mechs seem to have emotions when they’re berserk. With a tired sigh, I put my gun back in my belt. I’m losing a lot of blood by the looks of the red puddle on the ground. My bike is a mess and completely inoperative now. Damn it all; I’ll have to buy a new one. 55

“…Logan,” Sefton says. I didn’t even hear the earpiece beep. “You…” Crap. I forgot about him. He just witnessed me survive all that. “You’re still alive,” he says. 56

“Stay where you are,” I order. “Where are you?”57

“The roof of the shopping centre,” he replies. “I was injured, but I got the metal bastard.”58

“Do you have any other soldiers with you?”59

“No.”60

“I’m coming to get you,” I decide and break into a run to the shopping centre. I pull some aides out of my jacket pocket to stop my blood from spilling out of me, slapping the silicone roughly onto the skin. The injuries will still be fresh when I take them off but at least I won’t leave a trail of cerise behind me. 61

When I find General Sefton on the roof lying still, I see just how badly he’s been hurt. He’s lying in a pool of blood. I reach down to feel his pulse. 62

He’s dead.63

I stand up straight and run back the way I came. I have to help the soldiers who are still alive stop the mechs from destroying the city. 64