Inhuman(29)

“Energy?” Old-timer reacted.

“Yes,” Aldous answered. “The void is powered by a power source much like the one we found in the Planck portal machine your people left in our universe.”

“The Planck platform,” Old-timer said, realizing what Aldous was referring to immediately.

“It takes enormous energy to protect us here, which is why we only use energy sparingly. It’s why we’re rarely animated. It’s why we’re almost always dormant.”

“But with your help,” Samantha continued, “we could have bodies again.”

It took every ounce of strength in Old-timer for him not to collapse as he shook his head. “I have no idea if I can help with that or not,” he began. He then turned back to the Planck platform and pointed toward it as it glowed as a fixed point, seemingly only a few meters from him. “What I need to know right now is if I can get back into my body. Can my friends and I leave this universe?”

“We’ll show you how to get back into your body, if you agree to take us with you to your universe,” Samantha bargained.

“Uh, I…” Old-timer held up his hands, palms out. “I’m not sure that’s a great idea. There’s uh…people I’d need to discuss that with.”

“It wasn’t exactly a request,” Paine answered as he puffed on his cigar, his steely blue eyes locked on Old-timer.

“What are you saying?” Old-timer protested. “Are you suggesting that if I don’t take you with me—”

“We’re saying,” Paine cut him off, his eyes now revealing the lethal killer that Old-timer remembered had always been lurking just below the surface, “that you’d best be taking us with you, if you ever want to take another breath in the real world.”





6



Thel watched, horrified, as James thrashed violently underwater with a small cloud of blood expanding around his face. His eyes flashed open, and an expression of confused panic crossed his face. His arms bolted above his head, slamming against the ceiling of the car, and he kicked his legs furiously in a gesture that appeared involuntary. Thel wasn’t sure if it was the darkness inside the interior, the distortion of the water, or just simply that James was still in a state of confusion after his blow to the head, but he didn’t seem to be able to see her or the A.I., nor did he lunge for them as the A.I. had feared.

The A.I. calmly placed his palm on the center of Thel’s back as he, too, watched James suffer through the stages of drowning. Without having taken in a deep breath before the cabin finished filling with water, James, the A.I. realized, would be the first to lose consciousness. He watched as James clutched his throat, knowing full well that James’s breath-holding was involuntary, his epiglottis having closed over now that water had entered his nose and mouth. The experience would be like choking, and James did indeed behave as though a piece of food were lodged in his airway.

While Thel and the A.I. floated in the darkened interior, the seconds ticked by ever so slowly, and each had to resist the urge to go to James in any ill-conceived, fruitless attempt to try to help him. There was nothing they could do but watch the man the A.I. saw as a son and that Thel saw as a soulmate drown in front of their eyes.

Finally, James lost consciousness. His body went completely slack and started to float, the air that was still trapped in his lungs causing his chest and face to point upward as though he were a deceased fish floating to the top of the bowl.

Terrified, Thel reached out for James, but the A.I. grasped her hand before she could and pulled her close to him.

A second later, the electrical system finally gave out. The faint lights of the dash and the dim white light from the trunk’s interior flickered off in unison. The interior of the car grew so black that they might as well have had their eyes closed.

The A.I. reached with his left hand toward the door on the driver’s side of the car and grasped the handle. He knew if it remained locked, it would mean the end of their time as conscious entities on Earth.

He tried it.

The door was unlocked.

He easily pushed it open, all the while keeping his right hand tightly on Thel. When the door was completely open, he pulled her gently toward him, and then guided her to the door. He expected her to swim to safety, but she remained there, unwilling to move. He knew trying to shove her would be counterproductive—it was obvious there was no way she was leaving without James.

The A.I. left her for a moment at the door and moved through the cabin, until he reached the unconscious, seemingly lifeless James. He grasped the simulated body and tugged on the jacket sleeve, hauling the barely-operating pattern with him to the door.