The Aria of Galvanize

By Wilder Page

She was MADE to survive! A hero born of cybernetic experimentation...
Incarnate Number Seven, a cybernetically enhanced young woman with no memories and only a basic operating system, awakens to a devastated world painted in blood, desperation, and genocide. Guided only by a moody artificial intelligence program and scattered digital memories into the past, Seven must traverse the perilous Gateway region, fighting past its savage inhabitants and monsters to learn who she was and what happened to her world. Maybe, if she’s lucky, she’ll even save what’s left of humanity in the process...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilder Page
• Release date: Jul 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952836022

Wilder Page

Wilder Page loves science fiction, cyberpunk, dystopian, and post-apocalyptic worlds. Especially those with stories where the personal stakes are high, and the costs of failure are very real. But he also believes in the triumph of the human spirit, and whether the future will be grim or bright, well... that’s a choice each of us has to make for ourselves. When Wilder’s not writing or daydreaming he spends the rest of his time running, traveling with his wife and best friend, or playing video games with his two amazing little kiddos!For information and updates please visit www.wilderpage.com, and the author welcomes correspondence at [e-mail]!

Book preview

The Aria of Galvanize

The Aria of Galvanize

Wilder Page

Skyland Press

THE ARIA OF GALVANIZE © 2014 Skyland Press. All rights reserved.

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ebook Edition ISBN: 978-1-952836-00-8

Smashwords Edition ISBN: 978-1-952836-02-2

Print Edition ISBN: 978-1-952836-01-5

IngramSpark Edition ISBN: 978-1-952836-03-9

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The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet, photocopying, or via any other electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, is illegal and punishable by law. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations

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This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.

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Skyland Press

www.skylandpress.com

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First Edition: July 2020

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Cover Illustration by Andreas Rocha

www.artstation.com/andreasrocha

Cartography by Daniel Hasenbos

www.danielsmaps.com

To Kathryn and Joseph, thank you for everything.

Contents

Prelude

1. Revelation One: Perspicacity

2. Revelation Two: Kit-Cat

3. Revelation Three: A Sunny Day in the Park

4. Revelation Four: Excellence Creates Privilege

5. Revelation Five: Something to Believe In

6. Revelation Six: Seven Stars

7. Revelation Seven: Journeyman’s Operational Expert

8. Revelation Eight: KeepR

Interlude

9. Revelation Nine: Links to the Past

10. Revelation Ten: The Reactor

11. Revelation Eleven: Work Your Way Up

12. Revelation Twelve: Going Berserk

13. Revelation Thirteen: Blood of the Gods

14. Revelation Fourteen: The Rite to Life

15. Revelation Fifteen: Ghost in the Machine

Author Note

About the Author

Coming Soon!

The Gateway

Prelude

What is the content of our lives? The memories of the places we’ve been, the faces of the people we knew… the good and the bad we’ve done? What if those puzzle pieces refuse to fit – all evanescent and remote, like the edges of one dream blurring into another?

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How do I know?

1

Revelation One: Perspicacity

In that twilight of awakening, I had no idea that even as I awoke from one long nightmare, the next was only just beginning. First came the tingling of my skin, like a thousand frenzied insects crawling across every part of my body. That was followed by brightness, regardless of my eyes clenched tight. Then came odors of copper and scorch. Gradually, garbled echoes began to reify. Beeping, intermittent electric crackling… voices.

A close, gravelly sneer blasted my ears, causing my head to throb. This isn’t a dream, girl. The man sighed, his bitter breath hot on my face. Then there was the sound of a slap and pain resonated across my cheek. With great effort, I managed to force my eyes open. The resulting opaque cloudiness wasn’t much of an improvement. There was a hard grip on my arm, followed by a sharp yank as the man forced me up and into a sitting position.

She might be the runt of the litter, the man hollered away from me. But I sure saved the sweetest for last!

I am not a runt!

Or was I? I… didn’t know. A moment of panic and confusion set in – I didn’t know anything! More blinking and my vision started to come into focus.

The profuse mass of immense muscle and dirt, topped with spikey blonde hair, smiled. Good, you’re awake! A mouth full of chipped and missing teeth betrayed his otherwise charismatic grin. I gaped at the scarlet star tattoos that framed his eyes.

Do you have to play with all of them? an annoyed, yet more delicate male voice called back. I’m trying to finish this. She’s fighting me at every turn, and I need to keep one step ahead, or she’ll lock me out. So enough with the distractions!

I trembled as I tried to piece everything together, but the fogginess in my mind was slow to pass. Nothing emerged to explain my…. strange predicament. My eyes moved from the man needing Dental Work’s eye tattoos to his torn and grimy leather jacket. Blood was trickling down the rusted zipper. Then I focused in on the greasy black carbine at his side. I began to feel nauseous.

Incarnate Number Seven… Dental Work pondered. Do you think your luck will be any better?

Better luck than whose? All my dry throat could manage was a wheezy rasp. Then he grabbed the sides of my face with his thick gloves, and he pushed his face close into mine. I don’t know what triggered my gag reflex more: the fetid taste of his kiss, or his tongue hitting the back of my throat. At least my dry retching forced him away, momentarily. When my heaving and spitting stopped, he laughed and grabbed my head once more, forcing it to the side.

Look! he chortled, Do you really think you’ll be any luckier than they were? My eyes trailed across the dusty concrete floor to an apparatus rising out of the ground a few meters away from me – some make of mechanical pod, with various tubes and cables dangling out of it. I couldn’t see into it, but it was still… dripping, a mess of glass and blood strewn all around it.

I rasped again. I guessed that I was not a lucky person to be here in this place, right now, with this man.

He forced my head in the other direction. More of those pods surrounded me, a few with the same gruesome detritus as the one I had just seen. But some were different, worse. One was adorned with limp, bloody limbs hanging out the side. Another appeared to have an almost naked, full torso of a woman slumping out of it, her body terminating abruptly at the neck, which was still… oozing.

More movement distracted my processing of those details, as horrifying yet curiously engrossing as they were. At the far end of the chamber was a brown-haired man waving and bumbling with his hands, focused on a large digital screen. His hands waved back and forth in eagerness as if performing some melodic dance, each flick of his wrist manipulating and shifting light patterns on the screen. I’m almost through her defenses now, the Bumble called back towards us. "So hurry up. Once the wipe is complete, we can get back to The Gateway and enjoy our bolts!"

No! Dental Work barked, returning his attention to me. Life is so fleeting, you have to savor it. With that, he released my head and gently tilted my chin upward. You’re like a newborn, he reflected. Everything is bright and new and so… confusing. His expression softened, almost to pity. It’s tragic, really. The others didn’t even know who they were or how they got here. Nothing. Then they died.

Then he raised the carbine and placed its barrel squarely between my eyes. "I am all they ever knew. You… for the briefest whisper that is your life… I am your god."

So not lucky! I scanned my surroundings in desperation, trying to find some way to escape. Anything!

Nothing.

A new voice echoed throughout the chamber, feminine and distant, with an electronic undertone. You just did that to I-Ten. Why don’t you show a little creativity?

Dental Work hesitated, seeming irritated, but still considering the suggestion. He lowered the carbine. You’re right! Maybe something a little more… intimate? And then I felt my parched throat collapse as his powerful hands clamped around my neck, his thumbs pressing hard into my carotid arteries. I flailed at his bulging arms, trying to grasp at anything I could as I choked for breath. Let’s see if you can heal from this!

The mysterious, feminine voice continued to speak, but this time her words seemed to be directed at me. They’re killing us. You want to live, don’t you?

Many questions flashed through my mind in that brief moment of consideration, as I flailed at Dental Work in vain. Why did he want to kill me? I didn’t even know why I was here, wherever this was. Did I really have a life to lose, if I didn’t even know who I was? Did I really want to live, given the horrors I’d witnessed?

I pled in silent desperation to the electronic voice: Yes!

I almost have her! the Bumble cheered from across the room.

I’m not ready to die, the feminine voice insisted, seeming to comprehend my silent plea. Don’t squander this!

As her voice dissolved away, I was suddenly jolted by a high-pitched blare that reverberated throughout the chamber, rising in a frenzied crescendo. The primary overhead lighting went out, and emergency strobe lights flashed throughout the room. The situation went from desperate to downright chaotic, and in that moment of confusion, for me, everything suddenly became…

Clear.

As if a veil had been torn from my eyes, everything was now vivid and bright. I felt the passage of time slow to a crawl, and details that I hadn’t noticed before began to emerge. Through the flashing lights, I could see the slight rusting of the machinery in the chamber, scattered piles of desiccated rodent droppings, even individual spiders hibernating alongside the web draped ceiling. I could feel the alarm vibrations pinging off my skin and the jolt of every heartbeat in my chest. A bead of perspiration trickled down Dental Work’s cheek.

Then, with this newfound…. perspicacity, the most critical details emerged. Dental Work had turned his head, distracted by the din. His grip had loosened. The slight turn of his body revealed a sizable knife sheathed at his waist. His neck was exposed.

Live!

Just as the thought materialized in my mind, I lurched forward, my hips bending beyond what I thought possible. I ripped the knife from its sheath, flipped it around, and with full force thrust it upward, sending its saw-toothed edge deep into Dental Work’s neck. His moment of distraction was brief, as he was already turning back toward me, but he was too late.

Then the crawl of time accelerated back to its normal pace.

Dental Work looked into my eyes, motionless, cupping the raw juncture between the knife and his neck in his hand. Despite the slight quivering of his lips, he was unable to vocalize the anger and disbelief radiating from his eyes.

I didn’t know what to do. That fleeting moment of perspicacity was gone… and I was just as helpless as before. I wanted to take it back... I didn’t want to hurt him.

But I was breathing.

Then the anger in Dental Work’s eyes dissipated, leaving only an azure sadness and wide fear. We both knew that this couldn’t be undone. Reluctantly, I wrapped my hand around his, grasping both it and the handle of the knife. He seemed to nod with a brave understanding… and I pulled the knife out. He flailed, sputtered and poured everywhere. Then he slumped against me.

I’m sorry, I tried but was unable to whisper, the apology drowned out by the ongoing blare. But he didn’t move. I felt a tear roll down my cheek.

You think this racket will stop me? I could barely hear the Bumble’s laughter over the ongoing noise. He was still at the screen waving his hands, unfazed by the mayhem, and unaware that his companion had expired.

Please, help me! the digital voice pleaded from above. Stop him! The Bumble was hurting… her. If it hadn’t been for her, I would be… I had to do something!

I pushed Dental Work’s body off me, his grimace haunting me as his body fell to the dusty floor. My muscles screamed with stiffness, but I managed to tumble out of the pod, crashing to the ground. Standing required even more effort, and my balance was tenuous at best. My guts wanted to explode. But the Bumble’s victorious laughter filled me with a new surge of energy, and I bounded past the lifeless pods. Shards of glass stung my bare feet, yet I pushed forward.

The Bumble was taller than me but driven by desperation, I leapt onto his back and spun him so that we faced each other. He yelped as I pressed Dental Work’s knife to his throat. He examined me nervously, his eyes darting back and forth, blinking in disorientation. I looked back to the interface screen he had been toying with all this time. The screen lights flashed in a frenetic new sequence and then went black. The chamber alarm system stopped, and the normal lighting returned.

Why? I finally managed to croak at him. The dryness in my throat made me hack and spit, but the knife tip never left his throat. Blood dripped from my hand onto his frayed navy blazer.

He blinked at me a few more times, and then his eyes trailed back toward Dental Work’s corpse. Oh… he squirmed, how’d that happen?

Why! I yelled again, finally finding my voice. Why do you want to kill me?

I don’t! he gulped. I’m just here for her! He motioned toward the screen behind him.

Who?

Me, the electronic voice of the woman returned. They want both of us dead.

The Bumble craned his neck back towards the now darkened screen. Oh, no, he gaped. It’s too late…

Who is she, I demanded, my throat beginning to relax a bit. Who are you?

It doesn’t matter, now, he sighed. She’s gone into lockdown… no second chances with this. He’ll kill me when he finds out…

Who? The Bumble remained silent. Please! I begged.

He smiled at me, his neck quivering against the blade of my knife. If I tell you, will you let me go?

You can’t. He’s dangerous, the electronic voice interrupted again. I-Seven, you won’t be safe while he lives.

No, the Bumble stared into my eyes, and then rapidly recoiled away with a grimace. I swear, he whispered, motioning toward the screen, "I was only here to delete her. You freaks where his job."

Freaks? I thought of the other bodies I’d seen, the cruelty that had been their fate… and almost mine. Rage swelled in my heart. And who are we? I screamed at him, pressing my knife harder into his throat. Every impulse in my body wanted to put pressure on the knife and take revenge for all of… us. But… that look in Dental Work’s eyes...

The Bumble stiffened. "I don’t know who you are or why he wants you dead. I was just being paid to take care of her. Please… don’t kill me."

The mechanized voice seemed to become irritated. They weren’t going to spare any of us. He deserves to die. Now do it and get us out of here before more come!

I stared at the tall man as he trembled. I shook my head – he had answers. I needed him alive.

The Bumble continued after hesitating. I don’t care about you, or what happens to you now. I just want out of here. I need to get far away now. He paused for a moment and then added, She’s right, you know. More of them will come. He motioned toward Dental Work’s body.

It’s the only way to keep us safe, the electronic voice urged again.

The Bumble’s eyes fixed on the knife in my bloody hand. I wondered if he was considering trying to wrestle it away from me. What was I supposed to do? How could I trust him? He might kill me as soon as I turned my back… if I let him go. There was only one safe alternative. But I wasn’t a murderer… was I?

In truth – I didn’t know… maybe I was a murderer, and I just didn’t know it yet. Dental Work was right. It really was like I’d just been born. And nevertheless, after just a few minutes of life, all I had to show for it was blood... and death.

Despite every angry and confused feeling teeming deep inside me… I couldn’t do it. I dropped the knife, and it clattered away.

If mercy killed me, then so be it.

The Bumble watched as the knife rebounded across the floor, coming to rest under a nearby pod. Then he lashed out and pushed me back so hard that I almost lost my balance. He gave me a spiteful glare, ran his fingers through his hair, straightened out his blazer, and put a cloth to his bleeding neck. It was nothing personal, he muttered. "You know if they find you… the Ascendency, you might just wish you’d let him kill you."

I was already beginning to wonder if he was right.

Good luck… I-Seven, he snorted and turned away. Like a helpless, pathetic mess I watched as he strolled through an open blast door – the sole entrance to the chamber that I could see – and disappeared. Only darkness was visible beyond.

Then there was silence, and I was alone. I slumped to my knees and began to cry.

You shouldn’t have let him go, the electronic voice grumbled, reminding me that I wasn’t actually alone.

I stared at my hands…. One was clean, the other soaked in Dental Work’s blood. I’m not a murderer, I choked.

Believe that, if it makes you feel better, Dental Work’s voice echoed in my mind.

After more silence, and sobbing on my part, she spoke again. Are you done yet?

I wanted to lie down in the dust and cry forever. But that wouldn’t change anything. So instead, I climbed to my feet and examined the interface that the Bumble had been so focused on. It had been black when the Bumble was present, but now that he was gone it was again flashing with activity. I touched the screen with reticence, but nothing happened. What are you?

She sighed. You’re just full of questions, aren’t you? I see to the continued functioning of this facility wing and manage the wellbeing of the stasis units. At least I used to… she said, almost with grief. I’ve watched over you for many years, I-Seven, monitoring your vital functions, waiting. It seems like it’s been an eternity.

But who are you?

She hesitated for a moment, as if unsure whether she could trust me. "When this facility was staffed… they called me KeepR."

Even after repeated pokes and swipes at the screen, it continued to remain unresponsive. So, you’re some kind of… artificial intelligence program?

And you’re just so… she paused, seeming to consider the right word, "perceptive…"

So you know what’s going on then? Why they were here? I motioned back toward Dental Work’s body.

I already told you! she seemed to reply with irritation. Could a program be irritated? They were here to kill us, to delete my programming and execute you. Just look at what those monsters did to the other Incarnates! I’m still trying to understand why you let that other one go…

I had been so focused on surviving that I hadn’t even thought to look for other survivors in the pods! Before, when I’d been in my pod, I’d been limited to simple side views of the other pods. But now, from above, I could see the contents within the pods as well.

The gruesome intricacies of Dental Work’s cruelty quickly emerged.

Throughout the chamber, there were at least a dozen pods – all filled with death. I walked back to examine the pod that had been to the left of mine. Although the pod was intact, the glass that had covered it was shattered. The front of the pod was labeled with silver characters almost indiscernible in the dust: Incarnate-6. Inside was what appeared to be a middle-aged woman, lying supine, her eyes closed in a deceptively peaceful slumber. Except that multiple red holes dotted her face and forehead, betraying her sleepy facade. Blood was still trickling into her dark hair.

You’re like a newborn, Dental Work had said to me. If that was true, then I-Six had never even been born. I walked by another pod, this one with the glass still intact, layers of dust wiped away. Incarnate-5. A young adult male with blonde hair and a thick, muscular build was inside. His eyes too were closed in an apparent slumber, and the seemingly innocuous but grim red holes dotted his forehead as well.

On the other side the chamber room, opposite from my pod, a woman lay twisted in her pod, shattered glass surrounding it. Incarnate-9. There wasn’t much of I-Nine’s head left, and red holes were scattered across her chest. There were even holes in her hands where she had struggled to defend herself from Dental Work. To my surprise, she had several cuts and gashes across her body as well, all of which were in various stages of healing. She’d been tortured, for quite a while by the looks of it…

As much as I wished they would, these acts of cruelty still didn’t seem to mitigate the guilt I felt for taking Dental Work’s life, no matter how much I hated him...

The headless body that I’d seen earlier, slumping out of its pod, belonged to I-Ten. The oozing from I-Ten’s neck had slowed by now, as her blood congealed. I shuddered as I wondered if I would have looked the same if KeepR hadn’t convinced Dental Work to be… more creative.

The other pods contained only further evidence of Dental Work’s depravity. He’d taken his time. Some he’d killed while they slept. The others he’d awoken just like me – then he’d murdered them. Ultimately, none of the Incarnates had had a happy ending… all around me had red dots scattered across their heads, faces, and eyes. If their heads even remained intact.

They’re all dead, I murmured, my nausea returning with that realization.

I tried to help them, KeepR conceded solemnly. Most didn’t have a chance, he just shot them while in stasis. But with others… he took his time. I begged them to fight back.

I was the only one who fought back?

What was that – when you set off the alarm system? I replied. It was like time slowed down for me. Everything was so… lucid.

"All of you can… or could do that, she replied. But you’re the only one who did. Of course, now I wish that I’d set the alarm off with one of the others. I tried that with you only out of desperation."

Was that an explanation, or a thinly veiled insult?

Not all of the pods were filled with death, however. There was one other pod that, like mine, stood empty, with the glass intact and peeled back, the whole unit covered in thick dust and cobwebs. Incarnate-13. Why is this pod empty?

Stasis Unit Thirteen was malfunctioning, before the evacuation of this facility, so it never held an Incarnate.

It was a good thing, too. With as bad as my luck had been, I could only imagine just how bad things might have been for anyone unlucky enough to be number thirteen.

So, if you’ve been here watching over us for a long time, I continued, "then you must know how we got here. You called us Incarnates. What does that mean? Who are we?"

There was a long pause, and then KeepR answered. "Pieces of me are missing… many of my program files were deleted or corrupted during the attack. When I said that you saved me, I should have specified that you saved most of me. I’m afraid that you’re going to have many more questions than I can provide answers..."

My mind was racing with questions that no one seemed to be able or willing to answer! I’d moved past wanting the answers to more obvious questions like ‘what is going on here,’ and I was now contemplating much more pedestrian questions, like ‘did I have a family that was missing me’? The initial fogginess in my mind, present when I’d first awoken, had faded away by now, and my lingering hope that I would suddenly remember such things was all but extinguished.

Then there’s nothing you can tell me about why I’m here? I groaned, becoming frustrated. How am I supposed to figure that out?

KeepR hesitated again. I’m not sure. But what I do know is that you need to get us out of here. With the damage they’ve done to me I can’t reinitiate stasis for you, and even if I did, others will come.

Go back into stasis? There was no way I was getting back in that pod. That was never an option. But how was I supposed to get us out of here? I couldn’t just carry an artificial intelligence with me, could I?

Yet, I couldn’t help but feel she was evading my questions. There had to be something else she could tell me! Not until you stop dodging my questions and give me some answers.

I-Seven, we have to work together, it’s the only way for both of us to survive. When this facility was last populated, everyone was abruptly evacuated because of a foreign invasion. No one ever returned. That was over two centuries ago... I don’t know what’s happened to The Gateway since then.

My jaw dropped, and my head spun. That’s… impossible… That wasn’t just a lifetime – it was lifetimes! Lifetimes – as in more than one!

Take another look at this dump and tell me it’s impossible! I wanted to argue with her, but it was obvious this place hadn’t been disturbed in decades. Until today. If those men were any indication of what we might be facing, she continued, then I’d imagine that the surrounding ecosystem, The Gateway as it was once called, has become rather… treacherous. Even though I can’t answer all of your questions, I have knowledge of other things that you’ll need to survive, like how to use the equipment made specifically for the Incarnates. In return, you can provide… well, a physical body. Maybe by working together we can find your answers…

I was still trying to wrap my mind around how long I’d been in stasis. But I considered the proposal. KeepR might not have much information, but that was better than none. And she had saved my life, after all. But still, she seemed a bit… capricious.

The electronic voice continued, Let me be honest with you, I-Seven. You are free to leave by yourself. I have absolutely no way of stopping you. But if you do that, then you are condemning me to death. What they were doing… If you’d taken any longer, then they would have... She paused for an uncomfortable length of time. They will be back to ensure my deletion. I need you… more than you need me.

I couldn’t just let them delete her, could I? Especially since I’d have been paint on the floor without her. I owed her, and right now, broken as she was, she was all that I had. I walked to KeepR’s flashing interface screen, as if to look into her eyes, wherever they were. "Fine. But why do I have to do to get us out of here? Can’t you just transmit yourself to another network to get out of here? Or something…"

KeepR let out an electronic sigh. This facility was a terminal node in a much larger system network, the connection to which has been destroyed. Trust me, as much as I loved watching all of you sleep, if I could have left, I would have done so… a long time ago.

She’d been trapped here all this time, alone? Not unlike me. Maybe we had more in common than I realized. You need to guide me then. How do I get you out of here? I examined the interface, looking for some sort of component I could carry with me. But all I found were thick glass screens cool to the touch.

It’s easy. Nothing more than a simple download, her gleeful words echoed throughout the room.

I looked at the interface and then throughout the room. I… how? What do I download you onto?

Do you see that lighted aperture nearby? A few meters to the left of the interface, flat and flush with the glass screen, was a dark hole with a lighted crimson ring surrounding it.

Sure… what is it?

That’s an ocular portal, if you look into it with your right eye, the download will initiate onto the physical drive. Only authorized personnel can access the download protocol, and that includes Incarnates.

Some kind of biometric encryption? That seemed easy enough to handle. Doing as KeepR requested, I bent down and gazed into the portal with my right eye. I waited for some sort of sign that the download was complete – a sharp beep or click… but nothing happened. Then the lights blacked out, and the electric humming sounds throughout the chamber died. The crimson glow of the ocular portal dimmed away. Yellow emergency lighting strips shot to life and illuminated the chamber.

Now, we survive… together, said KeepR. Except, this time, her voice didn’t come from throughout the room, but instead from somewhere inside… me! Try not to get us killed...

Abruptly, the sides of my head started pounding. I doubled over, holding my head tight in an attempt to quell the pain. Are you in my head? I groaned. It feels like it’s going to explode!

That’ll pass. How else did you think you were going to get me out of here? she snapped. You were the only portable option available.

You can download into someone’s brain? I squealed. I didn’t understand it. How was she in my head? Did she have some ability to encode herself within the human neural system? Yet another question to add to my growing list… But I was thankful that the throbbing was already starting to subside.

Once I’d recovered, I tapped the media screen. It was black and unresponsive now like the whole room had… died. "Time to get us out of here, moron. It’s cold out, do you plan to leave here half-naked?"

Moron!

Naked?!

I hadn’t noticed the chill before, but I had been a little preoccupied with narrowly escaping death. A glance at the other bodies in the room confirmed that aside from simple cloth wrappings placed in strategic areas, all of us were practically naked. Cheeks flushing, I realized just how exposed I was. I tried to scrunch my body to minimize how naked I felt.

Please, you’ve been naked and exposed in here for ages, and now you develop a sense of shame? KeepR quipped as if reading my mind.

Wait, not as if reading my mind, actually reading it!

I didn’t say anything! I yelped. I was thinking. Just how deep in my brain are you?

Well, if you have any impure thoughts – I’ll know.

That’s… disturbing. Great, even my thoughts weren’t private now. This just kept getting even more bizarre. Where do I get clothes then? I could still feel the heat in my cheeks.

KeepR groaned. Do I have to explain everything to you? All stasis units are standard equipped with a full set of PX-4300 armor. Don’t tell me you need help putting it on...

As I approached my pod… and Dental Work’s body… I was already regretting my decision to help KeepR. But then again, I might have declined if I’d known that my head would be her new hard drive. Have you always been this… moody? I thought to her.

Why couldn’t I-Three have survived instead? was her retort. It stung to think that she was probably right, she might have had better luck with any of the other Incarnates than with me…

I activated the lock mechanism on my pod’s container unit, revealing the cache inside. Front and center was the 4300 armor KeepR had mentioned. Despite the passage of time, it appeared as if fresh off the production line, with a glossy white finish and smelling of new latex. Unlike everything else here, there wasn’t a hint of dust on it. I examined the rigid white plates covering most of the armor, which were connected by flexible black joints. It was light, more so than I would have guessed. The left breastplate was emblazoned with thick black lines that depicted a flaming bird with its wings spread wide. A phoenix, perhaps? The number 4300 was embroidered in viridian at the collar of the neck.

The 4300 will help when you get shot, KeepR explained.

"Don’t you mean if I get shot?"

"No. When."

Thanks for your vote of confidence... I put on the 4300 piece by piece. The armor was tailored for my… unremarkable stature. But there was something more to the 4300 than a precision fit. Wearing it, I somehow felt stronger, more balanced. Like the armor had been explicitly fitted to me in more ways than just physical dimensions.

As I went to work putting on the plated boots, I remembered that I’d stepped on a lot of glass when confronting the Bumble. But as I examined my bare feet to start pulling out whatever shards I could, I realized that my feet were… fine. Not a mark was present, as if the glass had just fallen out on its own.

Maybe I’d been mistaken about stepping on the glass in the first place…

Now don’t forget the gauntlets and utility visor, too. And grab that dead guy’s weapon while you’re at it.

She wanted me to use Dental Work’s gun? The very notion of doing so seemed… depraved. He’d murdered all the other Incarnates with it, after all. Yet there was an even bigger reason that I was hesitant to take the weapon. But I don’t think I know anything about guns!

Shocking, KeepR groaned. You’ll be fine, I’ll tell you all you need to know about them. Still, I hesitated. It wasn’t just a matter of not knowing how to use it. I wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to use it… if I needed to. I didn’t want to kill anyone else if I didn’t have to. I wasn’t asking, KeepR snapped. Now take it!

Even though reluctant, I pulled the carbine out from under Dental Work. Just touching him brought back nausea, but I managed to push through it and gather any unexpended ammo clips he had, placing them in the few utility pockets available on the 4300. Scavenging complete, I fumbled with the weapon, trying to get a sense of how it worked.

See that red switch there? I located it and nodded. Never activate it, that’s the safety. You won’t need it. Ever. Then you just point and pull the trigger! Following KeepR’s instructions, I placed the carbine in front of my face, did what I thought was aiming it at the wall, and pulled the trigger. Only a few rounds burst from the weapon, but the recoil was enough to send the butt of the weapon bouncing straight into my cheek, knocking me onto my behind. I sat there for a moment, stunned.

Ouch.

Idiot! KeepR sighed with exasperation. How did I wind up stuck with the one inept Incarnate?

I was wondering the same.

You have to put the stock against your shoulder to absorb the recoil, she clarified. "And when I said aim, I meant to look through the scope. Unless you’re in close combat, then just point and shoot."

I climbed back to my feet, my cheek still throbbing. I hoped I wouldn’t need to use this. I was probably more likely to kill myself than anyone else. That’s enough practice with guns for now, I swung the strap of the carbine over my shoulder.

In a drawer were the gauntlets KeepR had mentioned. They seemed to be made of similar material to the 4300, and there was nothing else particularly special about them, except for three unusual metallic nodes in the palms. On the base of each wrist was embroidered a lightning bolt symbol. Maybe they were insulated gloves, suitable for handling electric wires? Or something…

The final piece of the 4300, a slender, clear visor, could have easily been mistaken for a simple set of glasses. A single, thin alloy shaft, to which the transparent glass was attached, traversed the length of my forehead and hooked behind my head. With a faint click, it auto-locked in place. I wasn’t sure I got the point of it though. It didn’t seem like it would do much to protect my face from projectiles or in a fight.

Do you think you can move any slower?

Okay, calm down, I pleaded. Sorry I’m incompetent. She only replied with incomprehensible grumbling. When I made it back to the exit that the Bumble had fled through earlier, I looked back at the pods, and at Dental Work’s body. It didn’t seem right to leave them here, so… exposed. They deserved to be buried.

They’re already buried, this facility is deep underground.

It was difficult for me to take my eyes off of Dental Work’s body, lying limp, like a toy tossed to the ground. I don’t think you understand the concept of burial, KeepR. But I didn’t want to clean up the massacre that lay before me either, so I guessed I’d just have to settle for KeepR’s logic. I exhaled, What now then?

If you can get me to the nearest functioning server with an ocular portal, I can download into whatever network is still intact, and establish communication with any other servers still connected to the network. That way, I can replace my corrupted files, and then maybe we can even figure out what’s going on with you.

It seemed simple enough. All I had to do was get out of a facility I knew nothing about, then wander about an essentially foreign land, to me at least, looking for… I didn’t even know what. I couldn’t help but start laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation, but with more groaning from KeepR I managed to suppress my laughter.

The hallway beyond the chamber was dark, with only a faint light being emitted from the single strip of emergency lighting on the wall. KeepR, can you turn the lights in the hall on now?

Sorry, KeepR replied from within the depths of my head. Now that I’ve transferred out of the network, this facility wing is dead.

Fantastic, lost in the dark. I stared at the arch above the blast door. Embedded into the wall were golden letters that curved with the curvature of the doorway, glimmering in the emergency lighting to spell out the word:

GALVANIZE.

KeepR randomly became giddy. This is the most excited I’ve been in a long, long time. Just think of what we can accomplish together, I-Seven. We can make The Gateway a much, much better place!

I nodded and stepped into the darkness.

2

Revelation Two: Kit-Cat

Ishould have been terrified – anyone with faculties intact would have been. To wake to a murderer’s kiss, to see his victims’ remains surrounding me, and then to kill him… before even realizing that was an option. To have some strange voice in my head, taking me… nowhere. All of this, without even the slightest grasp of who I was or how I got here. Maybe I was too foolish to be afraid. Maybe I really was an idiot. Or perhaps I just didn’t like that the odds were so stacked against me, right from the very beginning of my existence. I had nothing to lose – not even a life. I didn’t know what I was doing, but still, I pushed forward.

Enough with the self-pity, KeepR commented on my internal dialogue. I sighed. The absence of mental privacy was going to take some getting used to.

We had passed through the cool darkness, crossing through heavy blast doors, and ascending multiple staircases. Always up. The emergency lighting had ended halfway up one stairway, where a large crack in the wall had shorn it away from the power source located somewhere below. I was beginning to wonder if this climb would last forever when a thin ray of light answered me.

Progress.

At the end of a long corridor, a rusted blast door hung crooked on its hinges, its frame bordered with daylight. The passageway, now visible with the light, revealed the secrets of its age and trauma, its walls layered in thick dirt and rust, the ceiling bolstered with cracked support beams that might collapse at any moment.

I paused at the dented blast door, intrigued by a large plate protruding out from the adjacent wall. Wiping away the dirt revealed that it was some sort of commemorative bronze plaque. At the top of the plaque, the inscription read:

With passion and imagination, science can transcend the limits of our human experience.

The quote was attributed to one Chief Geneza. At the bottom of the plaque was another inscription:

We will never forget.

Doesn’t look like anyone here remembers to me, KeepR snorted. Is this supposed to be inspiring?

I shrugged. In the middle of the plaque was a large, glistening apple, which I traced with my fingers. Why an apple?

I don’t know, KeepR grumbled. You tell me.

Knowledge, maybe? Or lack thereof, in my present situation.

Well, the little knowledge I had so far was a direct result of my waking nightmare. I might as well keep adding to it! With a metallic grinding, I forced the blast door open, and I stepped into the blinding light. When my eyes adjusted, I was greeted by… yet another staircase. Unlike the others, however, this staircase ended abruptly halfway up, transitioning into… nothing. I stepped off the last intact step and onto the loose scree that lined the remainder of a rising tunnel. Trying not to slide back down in the crumbling dirt and rubble, I managed to overcome the gradient to the top, and I was rewarded with my first glimpse of the "treacherous ecosystem" KeepR had referred to.

See, I was right, I told you it was bad, KeepR hummed again with her disturbing ability to read my mind.

But KeepR wasn’t right. What I saw was well beyond what I, or any sane person, would describe as treacherous – that would’ve been a gross understatement.

The tunnel I had come out of was just an underground entrance to the lower levels of a facility destroyed long ago. Little above ground appeared to have survived. In my immediate vicinity, the ruins were limited to insignificant rubble over-grown with moss, ferns, and ivy. But this hadn’t been just some small satellite facility – I was standing adjacent to what had been just one wing of it. Across from what was formerly a courtyard were the ruins of a more substantial wing, still somewhat intact, with multileveled floors gradually crumbling to the ground. While some walls still maintained their original height, massive gaps and holes in the walls suggested that the facility had been the casualty of some sort of aerial bombardment. At the head of the courtyard was an empty dais containing only the lower half of what might have been some elegant or influential statue. Although severe scorch marks painted much of the rubble, the absence of smoke or a smell of char in the air suggested that whatever fire had caused this destruction had faded away long ago.

After taking in the more prominent features of the ruins, finer details emerged, and gut-wrenching queasiness along with them. As nausea returned, I fell to one knee, trying to get my head to stop spinning.

I had been so focused on orienting to the structural ruins at first that I’d overlooked all the human details, or remnants rather. The cracked asphalt of a roundabout at the front of the courtyard was littered with piles of broken bones, sad-grinning skulls either half-buried or poking out from the overgrowth. In places the asphalt had melted from the heat of the attack, leaving chunks of bone sticking out from the ripples of cooled blacktop, as if they’d been buried in mud. Most disturbing – and just a couple meters away from me – was the skeletal remains of an individual fused into the melted engine block of a rusted conveyance. It appeared that the heat had melted it onto the unfortunate person, who I guessed had been using it for cover.

It was snowing lightly as the clouds rolled overhead. A bitter breeze snapped at my face. My breath was the sole evidence of anything living in the silent ruins. I should have expected it. Of course, everyone was dead.

"What was the REA? I choked, trying to force my gut to remain in place and at the same time noticing the bold, capitalized green lettering still visible on one side of the fused skeleton-vehicle. Division of Power" was written underneath that, in smaller letters. I guessed it had been some kind of military vehicle, before the devastation.

They used to be in charge, KeepR yawned. Of everything around here. But not anymore…

I sighed, Let me guess, that’s all you know about them?

"Well, I know that they commissioned the Galvanize Endeavor. You were wondering what the writing on the arch below meant, weren’t you? All the Incarnates were a part of Galvanize."

At least that’s something, I scoffed, my reluctant eyes forcibly drawn to the remains of the poor individual fused with the melted vehicle. But, that was a start. Maybe if I learned more about the REA, I’d learn more regarding my own strange situation in the process. What happened to them? The REA I mean?

See that road? KeepR directed me toward a track of the road that led down the hill, away from the main facility. That might get us out of here.

No! Before we go anywhere, tell me what happened here. How did all of these people die?

KeepR was silent, to the point that I was about to protest again when she spoke. My memory is a bit hazy.

Hazy? I huffed. "Your memories are hazy?" I envied the possession of even hazy memories.

"Yes, this particular one is. Like I said before, the REA was invaded, by an enemy state called The Union. This facility was evacuated because they were alerted to an incoming attack. I never knew why they failed to return, they just didn’t. I guess they weren’t able to escape the bombing in time…

When the bombing started, this facility lost all connection to the rest of the REA network, most of which was destroyed, I suppose. This island’s been running on a backup reactor ever since. That’s why my memory of all of it’s so hazy – I survived the attack with most of my systems unaffected… but not entirely.

Maybe I was too harsh on KeepR for not being able to tell me more. It was hard to think of an artificial intelligence as a victim of attacks like the Bumble’s, or barely surviving some kind of devastating aerial bombardment. No wonder she was such a… jerk. I mentally kicked myself for being frustrated with her.

Listen, she continued, whatever this REA facility was, and what happened here, it hasn’t mattered for a long time. It’s just a tomb now… in the most literal sense. What matters is that we get far away from here… now. Unless you want to end up like them? A nearby, outstretched skeletal arm seemed to be pointing at me as if driving KeepR’s point home.

Fine…

Acquiescing again to KeepR’s limitations, I followed the road as it trailed away from the facility, down a large hill. Although the immediate vicinity of the ruins was barren rock interspersed with overgrowth, the land surrounding the facility had overcome the devastation of the attack, and was thick with the barren trunks of maples and cedars, pockets of vibrant evergreens breaking up the almost overwhelming thickness of brown. Beyond the tree trunks, I could make out the vibrant blue of the water, stretching in every direction, crested by white waves battered by the wind. Down the hill was the toppled tower of a lighthouse, covered in thick vegetation as nature reclaimed the land.

This was… an island?

No. Not just an island. It was one of the multiple islands clustered within a coastal bay. Not far off I could see what appeared to be another island, its hills just as winter barren as the one I stood on now. Rough, rock-strewn beaches decorated the side facing me.

In the distance were other islands, scattered up to the mainland shore, which bordered both sides of my vision. Each side of land forming the coastal bay appeared to intersect at a point even further in the distance, at least 50 kilometers away, at what seemed to be the terminus of an inland river. Surrounding the river outlet, a dense forest of spires was visible, sprouting from the hills like artificial trees. Some of them were tall enough even to disappear in the low clouds cresting the horizon. The spires gleamed and sparkled in the sparse sunlight that managed to sneak through the clouds.

It was a city. Faint wisps of smoke seemed to rise from it.

Welcome to The Gateway, said KeepR. Well, all that remains of it anyway…

I was bewildered by the stark juxtaposition of the natural beauty of the area, side by side with the obvious destruction and death. I didn’t know whether to admire or dread the land that was now my new home.

When I reached the shore of Galvanize Island, as I supposed it should be called, I looked down the beach and saw a deep groove leading down the sand, disappearing into the rolling waves. However interesting that might have been, it was overshadowed by the most important observation: The nearest island appeared to have two bridges spanning from it. One, veering to my left, seemed to head straight toward the mainland. The other, leading to my right, appeared to head off toward another island. That one was also in a state of severe decay, with much of it having collapsed into the bay.

We want the mainland anyways, chimed in KeepR, I doubt we’ll find much on these islands. But first, we need to get over to the one with the bridges. You’re going to have to swim to it.

Swim? I gaped, moving through the sand. There has got to be a boat or something around here.

"How do you think they got here, and what do you think made that groove in the sand? And who do you think is in that boat right now?"

The Bumble?

See, your stupid decisions are already causing us trouble.

How was I supposed to know we were on a remote island? At that moment a little part of me regretted not killing the Bumble, but still… that seemed like a heavy price to pay for a boat. I can’t just swim, though! I protested. That island is at least a kilometer away. And it’s snowing! Even if I make the swim, I’ll freeze to death first!

Not a problem. Have some faith!

Faith in what? Myself?

Faith… I sniffed, won’t prevent hypothermia.

"I never said I had faith in you, specifically, KeepR retorted. The 4300’s weatherized. See that elastic material? I looked at the flexible black material underneath the armored plates. It will give you extra protection from extreme temperatures. In this case, it will maximize your body heat and keep your inner core warm long enough to make it across. Just don’t drown."

I rolled my eyes. How comforting. So the core of my body will be warm, but what about frostbite? It won’t do us much good if my feet or hands are crippled, I’ll just die on the next beach!

KeepR growled within my head, How many times do I have to tell you that’ll you’ll be fine! Now go!

Not like you can swim, I grumbled, wading into the waves.

Frigid didn’t describe it. Even with the 4300’s thermoregulation properties, the temperature of the water couldn’t have been much above freezing. It was so cold that I wanted to give up halfway through the swim and gulp the icy water into my lungs, just to be done with it. Then there were the pulverizing waves, trying to force me under, willing or not. I was grateful that the 4300 seemed to have a buoyancy quality, in addition to its other mysterious features.

But KeepR’s constant cheerleading, or insults rather, kept me pushing forward, mainly out of sheer determination to get her out of my brain as soon as possible! Despite my initial reservations I’d made it, slowly crawling onto the remains of an ancient dock, then collapsing into the sand. After coughing up seawater for a few minutes, again KeepR insisted that we had to keep going, without any praise for what I’d just accomplished. I wished that we could switch places so that she could do all the work and I could order her around! So not lucky…

Then the walking began, and it hadn’t yet stopped. What had from Galvanize Island seemed like a brief distance from this island’s shore to the bridge entrance, had actually involved walking for well over an hour. Getting to this point on the bridge had taken even longer. But at least I could now clearly see the terminus of the bridge, and the glorious mainland underneath the bridge’s abutment.

During the slow traverse across the rusted and sagging bridge, which swayed more in the wind than I would have liked, I tried to pry more information out of KeepR.

Why would the Union want to invade the REA? Why had the REA created the Incarnates? Her answers were meager at best, which was becoming typical. The REA and Union were ancient enemies that wanted to kill each other. The Incarnates were part of a classified experimental program called the Galvanize Endeavor. But further minutiae about either issue had been erased during the Bumble’s attack. Ultimately, I learned nothing of real value.

Now my thoughts had returned to my mysterious personal situation. Dental Work called me a newborn… I had decided that speaking to KeepR out loud was a bit less disturbing than thinking to her, even if either way her response was the same creepy echo within the depths of my mind. But I’m not, not really.

Because you don’t know anything? yawned KeepR. "If so, then I’m inclined to agree with him. And stop calling him Dental Work, that’s a stupid name!"

But I never learned his real name…

I climbed over a mess of twisted metal that was blocking much of the bridge. It appeared to have once been at least two vehicles that had collided, becoming enmeshed into each other, but the salty air had eroded the mess into featureless hulls. I tried not to wonder whether there were more skeletons crushed inside the metallic husks.

He was wrong, I insisted. "And so are you. I know a lot, actually. Newborns know almost nothing when they’re born. They have just a few instinctive reflexes, and that’s about it. But it’s not like that for me. I can walk, swim, think, and speak. I actually know what a newborn is. That’s very un-newborn like!"

And?

I looked over the side of the bridge, at the cold whitecaps thrashing about in the water below. I know what hypothermia is.

So? Who doesn’t know that?

Seriously?

"It’s more than just simple, factual knowledge! I’ve already learned all the basics of what it’s like to be human… somehow. There’s a lot I don’t know, but it’s not like you have to teach me every single thing. And then what about that ‘thing’ that happened with Dental Work, where time slowed down. I could see and think so clearly? You know, my perspicacity?"

I miss silence, she groaned.

I had to admit, it was a little fun to keep annoying KeepR with all these questions – she deserved it. But still, my situation was so curious, it seemed a paradox that I could know so little and yet understand so much.

But that’s my main point: How can I know such basic things like language, or even do extraordinary things, and yet not know anything about myself?

So you have a basic operating system. I was created with one of those too, but you don’t see me getting all metaphysical about it.

"But it’s different for me! Someone in the REA gave you your operating system, programmed you to be like… this. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t seem like a big deal to you. But how did I get to be like this?

"I can only think of two options. First, I was grown… in a lab or something, and they literally gave me this… operating system? Then that would explain why I don’t remember anything – there would be nothing to remember. I shuddered at the thought of being grown" in a lab.

Don’t be absurd. Why would the REA waste their time growing a runt from scratch?

I sighed. "Exactly. So the only other way I could get this kind of operating system is the traditional way, by growing up and learning. You know, with people who taught me all of this? If that’s true, then that would mean I was someone before I was put in that pod…"

Stasis unit, KeepR corrected.

Whatever. But don’t you see? That would mean I have a family, friends!

Had… All of them are long dead now.

I threw my hands in the air, frustrated with KeepR’s cavalier attitude about my situation and the probable death of any family I’d once had. If that’s true, then there’s nothing I can do to change that. But I want to know about my family, who they were, what happened to them. I want to know why I don’t remember anything about myself. I want to know why the REA decided to do… all of this to me!

Probably to help you survive, I guess. And so you don’t fall off this bridge, KeepR blurted – just in time for me to realize that, instead of talking to a voice in my head, I should have been watching where I was going! That way I wouldn’t fall off of the missing portion of the bridge that my left leg was hovering over!

As momentum carried me forward, I flailed, the action saving me as I grabbed ahold of a dangling cable hanging above me. I floated there for a long, tenuous moment, one foot on solid asphalt, the other in rarified air. Below me lay the bay of icy water and aggressive waves that I had, just hours before, braved a foolish swim in.

See, when you just act according to your instincts you know what to do, chided KeepR. So maybe you should think less, you’re not very good at it.

I pulled hard with my arms and pushed back with my grounded foot, and in doing so, I neutralized my precarious position. From a distance, this bridge had seemed to be intact. But two-thirds of the way across a small segment of the bridge was missing, having fallen into the bay. And I’d almost followed it to a watery grave.

The scars of timeworn char and rent metal beams around me suggested that some kind of explosion had rendered the bridge impassable at