The Extinction Trials(72)

Maya didn’t respond. She only stared at him. Owen couldn’t read her face, but he sensed the truth.

“You don’t remember, do you? Us exploring the station together?”

Maya shook her head.

Blair reached out and placed her small hand inside Maya’s.

“The last thing I remember is finding the boat with Alister.”

“It’s okay,” Owen said. “We’re going to figure this out. Soon.”

He moved toward the closest door and threw it open. It was a room with seven of the stasis chambers like they had found in Station 17. All empty. The screens on the wall were turned on, displaying large white block letters that read:

STATION 47

PROTOCOL ENDED

NUMBERS MODE ACTIVE





The room across the hall was another pod with empty chambers. The carts were empty.

Next was an observation room, with a small bathroom and metal chairs strewn about. There were no blankets, but Alister was lying in the floor with Cara hunched over him, the medkit open, gauze spilling out, a blood-soaked pad lying on the floor. Will was crouched there as well, but Owen didn’t see any blood. He was whispering feverishly to Cara as Alister gritted his teeth in pain.

“Need help?” Owen asked.

Cara peeked over her shoulder. “See if you can find some pain killers.”

Maya gently corralled Blair out of the room, obviously not wanting the young girl to see the scene—whatever was about to happen to Alister.

Down the hall, Owen found three more pods with empty chambers and an empty observation room.

“Seems like someone has already been here,” Maya said. “The place has been raided.”

There was one door left—at the end of the hall. It stood slightly ajar, and inside, Owen found a small decontamination chamber. He ventured through it, to the opposite hatch, which led to a small control room with several active computer stations and a wall full of screens.

It was what he saw on the floor that stopped him cold.

A body.

At first, he thought he was imagining it.

He stepped closer, bent down, and ran his flashlight over the young man’s face.

“It’s Will,” Maya whispered.

At first, Owen was confused. How could it be Will? He had seen the young man behind them, in the observation room with Cara and Alister. But then, he realized the truth.





Chapter Fifty-Seven





In the station’s control room, Owen rolled the body over, revealing a long gash in the back—and hard plastic and wires inside.

“He’s an android,” Owen said. “Will’s a proctor.”

“A proctor?” Maya didn’t know the term.

The words seemed to wound Owen like a punch in the gut. “You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Bryce.”

“Who’s Bryce?”

Owen swallowed. “He’s part of The Extinction Trials. Or was. Will is too. He’s been manipulating us.”

“Why?”

Owen stood. “I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. It could get messy. I think you and Blair should stay here. With the doors locked.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“What?”

“If he’s a machine, and you think he means us harm, you’ll need all the help you can get.”

Will’s voice was soft in the small space. Maya spun to find him standing at the hatch, hands at his side, a placid expression on his face. “I am a machine. But I don’t mean you any harm. I’m sorry that I could not tell you before.”

There was a large hole in his upper chest near his right shoulder where a bullet had ripped through him. Maya could see white wires and blue light seeping out. There was another hole in the upper thigh of his left leg.

“I need you to rejoin the others. I want everyone to hear what I have to say.”

In the observation room, Maya stayed by the door, holding Blair’s hand. Owen stood between them and Will, his body tense.

“As you now know, I am a machine. I am what ARC calls a terminal proctor, to be precise,” Will said.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Owen asked.

“My programming forbade it. I was kept in my alcove for the duration of the trials—and provided none of the data. I was effectively an emergency backup that was firewalled off from the main trials. In the event that the trials failed, my role was to exit the station with the final cohort and safeguard them in the world they found.”

“Well, you suck at it!” Alister roared.

“In that, you are correct. I have failed you. But I hope, in my last act, I can fulfill my function.”

Owen held up a hand. “Wait. Let’s back up. Why did those robots… let’s just call them spiders—why did they shoot at you and Alister and not the rest of us?”

“The answer is obvious,” Will said. “I believe the spiders were created by one of the groups at war—either The Alliance or The Union—and they were programmed to kill other robots.”

Maya’s eyes drifted to Alister.

“Don’t look at me!” he spat out. “I’m bleeding to death over here. I’m as flesh and blood as any of you!”