The Extinction Trials(100)

Now he knew. And joy overwhelmed him. He felt Maya slip her hand in his and squeeze. He looked over at her as a single tear rolled down her face. Before the mesh, he would have assumed she was upset. She smiled, and he knew the truth—he could almost feel how elated she was. He felt it too. He and Maya had saved her.

Before the Fall, Owen had jumped out of that burning building alone in a desperate attempt to save the girl.

And now, here at the end, he and Maya had jumped together, into the sea, hoping to save her and every last human left alive. They had risked it all. And together, they had come through it and triumphed. But Owen sensed that like so many things in life, that triumph wasn’t complete. What he didn’t see told the story of what they had lost forever. And he knew what Maya’s next question would be.

Her voice was strained and heavy with emotion when she spoke. “My mother…”

“Unfortunately,” Will said, “we were not able to recover her.”

Maya swallowed and nodded slowly. That was all the response she could manage.

Owen felt her sorrow so completely that he couldn’t bring himself to ask about his own mother, though he wanted to so badly.

Will spared him. He walked across the aisle to another chamber, and what Owen saw there burst his heart. His mother lay in the glass tube, eyes closed, resting peacefully.

“The facility where she lived,” Will said, “had a data management and archival contract with ARC Technologies. She was one of many we were able to recover.”

Owen felt Maya’s arm wrap around him and squeeze.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“What will become of them?” Maya asked. “Will they… be released with the others?”

“No,” Will said. “They will emerge with you, when the time is right. We’ve done the simulations. It’s better if you’re not alone. Family is important. That includes the one you’re born into and the one like you all formed during your journey here. In our simulations, family was one of the most powerful factors we ever encountered.”

Owen gazed down at his mother. Since Station 17, he had wondered if that morning before the Fall would be the last time he ever saw her. He had almost given up hope of ever seeing her again. Knowing that he would have more time with her and that she would be there to talk with him, to listen and advise him, steeled his resolve for what he knew lay ahead. She had always been his anchor in the world—that one constant he could count on—and he sensed that he would need her more than ever in the new world.

“And now,” Will said, “please ask your final question. The other question that applies to both of you.”

“The mesh,” Maya said. “Can you remove it?”

“Yes,” Bryce replied. “For both of you.”

Owen opened his mouth to speak, but Will beat him to it. “We know about your limitation, Owen. And we know that the mesh fixed it. We can too. And we will. When you wake in the new world, you’ll be free of the mesh, but you’ll still have what it gave you.”

Without another word, Will and Bryce marched deeper into the vast room. At two empty chambers, they stopped and motioned for Owen and Maya to enter.

As Owen settled into the tube, he looked over at Maya and smiled. She smiled back, a somber, grateful smile that said all the things he felt.

Will placed a hand on the glass dome above Owen’s chamber. “And now, it ends as it began, and begins again as it did before.”

“How long will we sleep?” Maya asked.

“A very, very... very long time,” Will said.





PART V





The New World





Chapter Eighty





The glass chamber opened with a loud pop. Maya tried to lift her eyelids, but they clung together, still heavy with sleep. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, gripping her gently. It was a touch she had felt once before—the last time she had awoken in a chamber.

She tried again, and this time, her eyes opened. She peered up and saw Owen standing over her, smiling. Bryce and Will stood behind him, waiting.

Owen helped her up and into the black ribbed sweater and pants that were an exact match to the clothes she had donned after her last awakening.

She smiled at Will. “I see you all haven’t made any wardrobe changes while we were out.”

Will sighed theatrically. “Dr. Young, we’re apocalyptic androids, not fashion innovators.”

Maya was so surprised at the joke, she laughed out loud. “You’ve apparently become funny while we were sleeping.”

Will shrugged. “When faced with a near eternity of waiting, self-improvement—within the confines of my programming—became my only refuge.”

“I see. And how much time has passed?”

“The numbers would have no meaning. It’s better if we show you. Your time has come, and the new world is waiting.”

Maya focused on the vast space then and realized that the glass chambers were all empty.

“So. It’s started.”

“It started a long time ago,” Will said. “Our role was to help them stand again. You will help them fly. Our shift has ended. Yours begins now.”

He and Bryce led Owen and Maya out of the sprawling room and into the corridor that was now clean, the bodies of the fallen Extinction Trials participants gone.