Lifel1k3 (Lifelike #1)(99)
The logika looked at the lifelike, replying without hesitation.
“Just show me the way, Stumpy.”
Silas began coughing again, bloody hand at his mouth. Lemon knelt beside him, held him tight. She looked at Ezekiel, helpless, tears shining behind her visor. Silas could feel her shaking. See the fear and agony in her eyes.
“Are you gonna be okay down here, Mister C?”
He leaned back in her lap, almost too tired to hold himself up anymore. He could feel it, that cold and that dark, hovering above him on black, black wings. He wasn’t afraid of it. Wasn’t even sad to go. But before he left, he had one more thing to do. In a life made of wrongs, he had one more to make right.
And so he struggled to his knees.
“C-coming … with you …”
“Silas, that’s not a good idea,” Ezekiel warned.
“Shut up, Ezekiel,” the old man growled. “C-Cricket, pick me up.”
The big logika leaned down obediently, scooped his maker up in one huge hand.
“All right,” the old man wheezed. “Let’s … go f-finish this.”
“How long?” Gabriel asked again.
“Sixty seconds,” Mercy replied.
“THIS IS POINTLESS, GABRIEL.”
“I’ve never asked your opinion before, Myriad. I’m not about to begin now.”
“AND YOU WONDER WHY YOU FAIL.”
Ana was a meter from the railing. Edging closer. She could see a weak point on the welds—a spot corroded by moisture leaking from the coolant pipes above. If she hit it hard enough, she could probably break through. Plunge over the edge before they scanned her brainwaves, broke the final seal that kept Myriad locked down. She was terrified. But she was already dead, after all. Babel’s radiation was worming into her bones even as she sat there. She could still choose to go out fighting if she wanted. Wasn’t that what Raph had told her? That everyone had a choice?
So she’d chosen. Inching closer to the edge. Muscles tensing for that final push.
She thought of Ezekiel. Of Lemon. She wished she’d had a chance to try to make it right between her and them. Beneath the fury and the hurt, a part of her still loved them both. But it was like she’d told Raph that day in the library, she realized. It was only in fairy tales that everything turned out for the best.
Most people didn’t get a happy ending in real life.
Closer now. Just a few more pushes.
Then a few hundred meters.
Then sleep.
Myriad hummed an off-key note, its glowing blue eye shifting to a deep red.
“BLOOD SCAN COMPLETED. IDENTITY: UNKNOWN. MYRIAD ACCESS DENIED.”
… What?
“What?” Gabriel turned from the doorway.
“MYRIAD ACCESS DENIED.”
Gabriel looked to his sibling. “Mercy?”
“I …” The lifelike tapped away on the keyboards, eyes scanning the scrolling readouts. “It’s not recognizing her… .”
“Myriad, you confirmed retinal scan and voice ident?” Gabriel demanded.
“CONFIRMED.”
“And this is Anastasia Monrova.”
“REPEAT. IDENTITY: UNKNOWN. MYRIAD ACCESS DENIED.”
“What the hell is—”
The lifelike glanced at Ana, realized she was edging toward the railing. With a cry, he leapt toward her just as the girl stabbed her heels into the floor and thrust herself backward. Her chair crashed into the weakened welds, popping them loose. Ana felt a surge of vertigo, momentary terror overwhelming her resolve as she toppled past the broken rails and out into all that empty. She took a breath, tasting her fear and swallowing it whole as she began to— A hand seized the chair, jerking her to a sudden stop. Ana looked up to see Gabriel leaning over the railing, holding on to the armrest with a white-knuckle grip. The muscles down his arm were stretched taut, hard as steel. His eyes were bright with madness, glittering as he smiled.
“Not yet, dead girl.”
Gabriel hauled her up from the abyss, slung the chair across the landing with all his strength. It crashed into Myriad’s door, Ana smacking her skull against that bloody metal, stars flaring before her eyes. She shook her head, blinking hard, dimly aware of Gabriel tearing the cuffs off her wrists, dragging her by the hair over to the terminal. Faith murmured a warning to her brother; Mercy simply stared as the lifelike slammed Ana’s head onto the scanner, smudging her bleeding mouth onto the lens.
“Again!” he shouted. “Scan her again, damn you!”
“BLOOD SCAN OF THIS SUBJECT HAS ALREADY BEEN COMPLETED. REPEAT. IDENTITY: UNKNOWN. MYRIAD ACCESS DENIED.”
Ana clawed at the hand that held her hair. Blood in her mouth, teeth gritted, kicking and hissing as the lifelike slammed her head onto the glass again.
“Myriad, you’re mistaken! Voice ident confirmed. Retinal scan confirmed. This is Ana Monrova, last daughter of Nicholas Monrova—confirm!”
“NEGATIVE,” the angel replied. “IDENTITY: UNKNOWN. MYRIAD ACCESS DENIED.”
Gabriel hauled Ana into the air with one hand, fingers squeezing her throat. Ana’s boots thumped against the terminal, lashing out into the lifelike’s chest and gut with all her strength. Fingers clawing his wrist. Face flooding red.
“What have you done?” the lifelike roared into Ana’s face.