Noor(34)

“DNA, get ready,” I said, turning to him. “Put the masks on GPS and Carpe Diem. And put yours on, too.”

“What’d you do?” he asked, bringing the masks out. He looked stunned. How was I going to explain it all? The certain rupture and bleeding in my brain, the connection. Those headaches, had this been coming? How could I explain that I saw a whole universe that humans didn’t even know they’d created? And that I was now connected to and could control it? Beyond the parking lot, I could see a wake of dust rising as the covered Jeep sped to us. It was one of the several that had brought the automated soldiers.

“My headache’s gone,” I said to DNA, grinning and snapping the mask on my face and ears.

The soldiers moved and made room for the covered truck to drive right up to us. It drove in a semi-circle and came around, its rear to us. The back doors opened and a ramp slowly lowered. We pushed GPS and Carpe Diem in, then hopped in the front, and it drove us right past all the standing soldiers and hovering drones. I poked my head out the window and called one of the drones to us. I could see through its camera as it flew above us. I laughed and sat down.

“What is going on?” DNA asked, the cockeyed grin still on his face. His left cheek was twitching. He leaned to the side and looked out the window behind us as the truck slowed. We were almost out of the parking lot, all the robot soldiers and drones behind us. Then PAFF, the white head of one of the soldiers blew off. Then another, and another. Then the drones fell one by one.

I was doing this. Overheating circuits, melting processors just by giving commands. The soldiers didn’t fall, they simply sat down and did not move again. I stopped the truck and got out to watch. And to keep causing it. It was easy. But I still had to concentrate. DNA got out on the other side.

An audience was lost with each drone that fell. “Yes,” I said, laughing. “Good bye.” Another fell. “You are not entitled to watch.” Another fell. “This is a show you will miss.” Another fell. I laughed. The soldiers were sitting down and the worldwide public was being denied its bloody voyeuristic feast. And I was still standing. With places to go.



* * *



—

The drive across the burned field was smooth enough from last night’s broiling and it would only be minutes before we arrived at the initial dust of the Red Eye. Already the Jeep was getting buffeted around by the wind.

“How’d you do that?” DNA asked yet again. I’d closed the windows and despite the winds outside, it was strikingly quiet in the truck. It reminded me of Baba Sola’s tent.

“I . . .”

“Have you been able to do that all this time?”

“Of course not,” I said. “I . . .”

“Was it Baba Sola?” he asked. “It was juju, wasn’t it? Maybe it was that weed you smoked or . . .”

I laughed. “You really have issues with cannabis, don’t you? It’s just a plant.”

“You were controlling drones and robots with your mind,” he said. He frowned at me. “Are you some kind of government experiment? Like in the movies?”

“Shut up, DNA,” I snapped. “I told you how I came to be what I am. It was my choice. I have these headaches. Remember, I told you about those?”

“I do.”

“I felt something in my head. I felt it . . .” I shuddered. “Tear open. Right after the first man slapped me back in the market. I could feel it. Then it tore more back there at the charred warehouse, and I could see something that I could do. Then I just could do this.” And maybe getting slapped that hard broke something, I thought. And sometimes when something breaks, things come out of the cracks. I shuddered and I looked ahead. Here we were again, the enormous wall of dust, dirt, and sand was rolling toward us like the end of our lives. I shuddered, again. “I think. . .” I frowned, feeling dizzy for a moment.

“What?” he said, staring ahead. “What do you think?”

“It’s so scary,” I said, tears wetting my eyes.

“I know. No one ever gets used to the sight of it.” He took my hand. I squeezed it and sobbed, looking at the Red Eye. “Don’t look at it. This’ll be better than going in with just an anti-aejej. This truck should be made to withstand the wind, it’s probably weighted. It would be stupid to bring it out here if it can’t take it. What did you think? Tell me about that.”

And as I spoke, the great storm blocked out the sunlight we had left. I spoke fast because it felt like I only had seconds. “I think it started when that man hit me in the market. That’s when I first glimpsed the eyes.”

“Eyes?”

The truck was rocking now, but the winds didn’t blow it away. We were still driving forward. It was made to endure the Red Eye. I hoped it was well made. The headlights switched to floodlight mode. They were solid beams of light in the dark chaos. In the back, Carpe Diem and GPS moaned softly, but they seemed okay. The truck remained relatively dust-tight. We wouldn’t need to use the anti-aejej. I tapped the dashboard, which was all touch screen. I ran my hand over it and was able to do what I needed to do. “So easy,” I whispered.

“You can keep controlling the truck?”

I nodded. “I just shut off the tracking that would tell them where we are.” I touched the screen again and worked my hand in a circle. The satellite GPS was useless, but I still had one other tool. Up came a rudimentary thermal and motion scan of the area. The Red Eye’s air currents showed as blue constantly moving lines. For miles around us was nothing that produced heat. Literally nothing. The land was windswept cracked earth.