Called, page 25
Simeon cleared his throat, and I blushed at being so lost in my thoughts.
“Sorry, I’m just…”
“I can only imagine. Look, I’m here if you want to talk about any of it.” The earnestness on his face warmed my heart. “There’s plenty to think about, but you don’t have to figure this out yourself. I’m here to help.”
I didn’t realize I would tell him everything my mother said until it spilled out of my mouth.
But once the box was open…
He listened, rapt, as I explained that not only had the head of our government stalked me for solarii, but I was also a highly advanced prototype for an embedded neural technology based on the algorithm of life. When I finished, I sat back against the rocks.
Simeon just looked blank. He closed his eyes and nodded slowly.
I couldn’t look at him when I admitted, “Simeon, I realize I have no idea what I’m doing, but the little I have managed wouldn’t be possible without you.”
He blushed and fussed at his collar. I closed my eyes, hoping the stillness would return and I would have some idea of what to do next.
Instead, I only saw their faces as they took their last look before sacrificing themselves for me.
My mother.
Jeb.
Marya.
He knew!
“Wait! It was the Chairman who killed Jeb and Marya! He as good as admitted it to me, after the explosion. He said Marya was going to destroy the farm.”
“Didn’t she, though?”
“He said farm. ‘Marya would destroy the farm…’ Only the house burned down…not the barn! There was a hiding spot we used to use when strangers came. I checked there and found some old logbooks in the cellar. She left those, but everything was smashed and broken in the barn proper. Marya wouldn’t have done that.”
“He might.”
“I would have said Pauly could never but then again, that wasn’t the same person I knew. When I was there, the barn reeked of accelerant. What if Marya planned to burn everything down and he stopped her? He knew something was in that barn and couldn’t find it. He needed me to come. Simeon, what if…I led him…”
“Don’t do that to yourself, Clem. You could not have possibly known. A lot of people refused to tell you a lot of things. And anyway, you saw what he was like. He was on this path long before you were born.”
“You know how long ago that was though, right? I was born around the same time as your grandmother.”
We shared a chuckle.
See, trustworthy.
Okay, fine, TINE.
“I still don’t see him as a killer. I know he is, but I have all these memories where he was gentle. He was my friend. He taught me before I went to the Academy.”
I turned to Simeon.
“I don’t care what happened with my parents or whether the algorithm can save the world. He hurt all the people in this world who genuinely loved me, all while pretending to be one. One by one, he killed them for protecting me, and I don’t want to live in a world where that is normal or allowed. People shouldn’t be able to treat one another that way, especially not in the name of profit.”
No more.
I looked at Simeon and saw him eyeing me strangely.
“I know, it’s a lot. I understand…”
“No, not, it’s none of that. You keep saying we,” he confessed. “Our deal was as far as Bethelton.”
“Do you have a better offer I don’t know about?”
He chuckled.
“Besides, this doesn’t really feel like an ending, does it?”
He beamed. “No, I’d say it feels more like the beginning.”
“Okay, then. You in, Godwin?”
“I surely am…uh...”
“I think I’ll stick with Jones, Carlton’s too dangerous…”
“Very well, then, Jonesy, I am in.” Simeon stood up and extended a hand to help me to my feet. We stood on the ridge, looking out at the clearing.
“Admit it, part of you is upset that URL bar survived.”
“I would love to be done with whatever this is,” I smiled. “But it isn’t over yet.” I saw the lights of Zion reflected in the distant clouds. “If there’s even the slightest chance that I can make things better, I have to try.”
“We. You, me, and...”
Simeon patted his jacket once, twice. He checked inside, rifling his pants pockets in a progressively more frantic search.
“Wait, where is she?”
“Who?”
TESS.
“She must have fallen out…” He raced toward the clearing.
“Wait!”
He didn’t listen, he was retracing the movements from his face-off with Pauly. “When we were fighting…” He dragged his feet through some of the loose rocks in case the glasses had been buried.
“Can’t you just get another pair of glasses for her?”
“No, Clem. I didn’t network TESS into those glasses, I installed her into them. The only place she exists is in those glasses. She wasn’t on Conglomerate servers, she was always in a chip connected to my terminal.”
The defeat on his face matched the depth of the sadness I felt at losing my entire family.
“Could she be in the auto?”
Simeon brightened and looked off to the dunes to our left.
“We need to go that way anyway,” I said, waving the URL bar. “Ready for the next step on the Trail?”
He nodded, holding out his hand.
I took it.
Here we go.
3A18:Q7B9:C5D2:W1E6:T9ZB
If you are seeing this Clementine, you made it to Bethelton. You found your way and set things into motion as I knew you would.
I have no way to know how much you will know, even after you have made it this far. Even if you have learned a part of the whole truth, so much more is still in store. I am desperate to know who helps you in the end. I could see clearly that someone would be watching, and you would be pointed in the right direction.
Whoever that was, we all owe them a debt of gratitude.
By now, you must be more than a little eager to know what is being asked of you. As I told you before, you have skills no one else has ever possessed. If you learn to trust it, you will have a clarity of mind, the freedom of thought, and a steadfast will that can only steer you right. The mission sounds deceptively simple: dissemble everything the Conglomerate has built. You will have the tools; your mother and I ensured that.
With the power to guarantee comfort while minimizing the ability to doubt the system, the Conglomerate will grow and harvest its consumers. They will breed citizens to crave their products, learn their lies, and follow their rules.
The power to Assume any enterprise for the nation’s benefit has given the Conglomerate dominion over the economy and ensured their stronghold can remain absolute. Citizens already clamor at the chance to serve. So many will remain blind to the naked truth that each is nothing more than a capital investment.
The Conglomerate is built on the principle of profit over people, which will be its downfall. To be a success, the empire must maintain a contented population. Any upset must be directed away from the system: the Conglomerate pits the citizens against one another, distracting them from challenging the social structure that keeps them rooted. So long as the citizens believe the Conglomerate is on their side or acting in their best interest, they will view their fellows as the enemies of their happiness.
And one girl must turn that tide.
You are fortunately guided by the truth of this world: love and kindness win. When we work together, we have endless capacity. To break the Conglomerate’s hold, the citizens must trust themselves above the system. This will strip the system of the power to hold the citizens back from their true potential.
You see, my daughter, those who aim to subjugate and control only succeed in a world where the people are numb, dumb, slow, and weak. It is far easier to hold onto power and secure more of it if your population is paralyzed by fear. Scared citizens will trade their freedom for security.
You, Clementine, were born to change all of that.
Your mother and I were unsure what our future held, uncertain where we could turn to protect our discoveries from those who would use them for cruel purposes. Having seen the whole algorithm, we worked hard on neural embedded technologies. So even though he took her from me, her voice remains embedded in the deepest recesses of my mind, which even he cannot reach. Alas, both of our minds were too well-formed to cope with the influx of information in the concentrated power of the universe.
And then, there you were.
Even now, I wonder if it was the right choice. Were I to make it again, would I?
We gave you a friend.
I like to think we made the choice the right way, but I understand if this news is upsetting. Still, you deserve the truth. Your mother and I embedded a prototype for the next generation of our neural enablers into your cerebral cortex while you were in utero. Had we not, you would have been an extraordinary woman, without a doubt.
But together?
Unstoppable.
You are a miracle: your brain’s neural pathways are structurally reinforced against interference. Yours is the first bio-engineered consciousness. You are still a human, but your mind works differently. You have the tools to complete the hardest work this world may ever know.
I am certain that what we have done to you will not feel like love, but I promise you it is. You deserve a better world, and rather than wishing for it, we gave you the power to make it.
We did that because of how much we love you, Clem.
You are free to hate me.
I understand why you would. It has been hard to lay this path for you, knowing I will not be there to guide you.
I should have stopped when Martha warned me to; I see that now. The darkness that threatens to consume the future is entirely the result of my hubris. I thought I was stronger than the forces I sought to understand, but I have been reminded that I am not. In my foolhardiness, I have unleashed demons onto the world. They have taken your mother and will claim me as well.
I do not say these things to frighten you but instead warn you. You deserve to know that there will be forces working against you. They are strong, fortified by power and resources. You may be certain they will use every bit of cunning against you.
And even when they try, you will still succeed.
You are the only one who can.
One by one, you must behead the Conglomerate monster. A beast like this cannot be overwhelmed by force; we must be strategic. For all the auspices of power, the regime’s position is precarious. Their hold on the territory is predicated on manipulation.
Shake the foundation, and the entire system will crumble.
If you want to control people, you begin by shaping their minds. When you control what people learn, you also gain control over what those people think and believe. With that power, you define the truth and can easily stifle the voices of opposition. The Chairman understands that only through a deliberate masking of our basic nature will they be able to control the brain.
They must force each citizen to unlearn their innate capacity for free will to succeed. They will use an educational system that claims to enrich the best and brightest. Instead, they will assess each citizen’s potential and place them in a position of service where they are least likely to question the system.
Now the disclaimer: much like my first message, consuming the content of this URL bar begins another automated process. This one should be far less violent, and I believe it will help you. Knowing I would not be there with you, I made sure to leave some other secrets near these cliffs. Learn all you can here in Bethelton before you make your next move.
I have all the confidence in the world in you. You were born to do this work. I am honored to be a part of you, and I know you will do your utmost.
I love you endlessly, my Clementine.
Good luck!
Acknowledgments
I want to thank everyone who reads this book for joining Clementine on her journey! Look for more of her story in the next volume: Taught.
What you have today would not exist without my first readers, each of whom was kind enough to take on poorly copy-edited drafts of a story I told myself in fits and starts while I was out walking to stave off the onset of my middle age body. Most of them were even receptive when I badgered them with questions about how to make it better, especially the ones I paid.
My eternal thanks to each, in no particular order:
JWN – you’re my everything, thank you for this (and every) journey.
EHK – I am grateful for so much but specifically that you made me learn to type.
VLO – the maps and so very, very many of the commas were, in fact, necessary.
MM – far better with a beginning, a middle, and an ending, don’t you think?
PG – I hope I’ve done the Girl Guide proud!
SS – No pigs died in this one, I made sure of it.
FM – I hope you had wellies for the slog, but this is better because of you.
AK – I’m glad you didn’t edit this book before I wrote it…
Black lives matter.
Queer people exist.
Trans rights are human rights.
Anti-Semitism is a threat to all.
They pit us against one another because the only way forward is together.
Now, they will have to ban this book.
Gillian Fletcher, Called
