Provenance I - Flee The Bonds by V J Kavanagh

Author:V J Kavanagh [Kavanagh, V J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: artificial life, combat, dystopia, dystopian, future earth, future society, genetics, inequality, military, robot, robotics, sci-fi, science fiction, social engineering, space, spaceship, technology, war
ISBN: 9780993036941
Publisher: V J Kavanagh
Published: 2016-07-05T23:00:00+00:00

* * * *

Above the viewing platform’s cold grey flagstones, a single ceiling bulb struggled against the dank sepulchre. This wasn’t Steve’s first visit to the cathedral, or the crypt. In the distance, framed by stone arches and against a backdrop of impenetrable darkness, a life size sculpture of a man stood knee deep in the seasonal floodwater.

‘What is he thinking?’ Lacusta’s voice echoed in the subterranean confines.

‘Why don’t you paddle over there and ask him.’

‘Take off your backpack; you do not need it now.’

Steve placed his ruckall next to the guardrail. ‘Why do you want to kill everyone?’

‘It is you who is going to kill everyone. You betrayed CONSEC.’

‘You think you’re an Advocate?’

‘I am an Advocate — and you are SIS.’

Steve shook his head. ‘You don’t know who you are. Advocates don’t assassinate. You’re an SIS Prosecutor, programmed to infiltrate CONSEC Command.’

Lacusta grabbed Steve’s arm and propelled him towards a stone archway. ‘Like you, I am permitted to terminate if Provenance is threatened.’

Four worn stone steps led down into the stagnant water of the chief crypt. A central row of stubby columns grew from the black liquid, mushrooming into the arched ceiling. Steve looked down at the icy water sloshing over his knees, unlike Lacusta he couldn’t see into the murky depths.

He reached the last pillar, stopped and turned around. Frigid claws gripped his calves. ‘Why not just take Provenance, and let Colossus kill everyone left behind.’

Lacusta sloshed to within a stride. ‘Colossus will not hit Earth, the calculations were wrong.’

Numbness crept up Steve’s back and into his head. His mind blanked.

A moment passed before harsh reality returned on Lacusta’s voice. ‘CONSEC must intervene or the result will be the same. Now move.’

Steve turned and deliberately tripped, falling with a loud splash into a freezing clench. By the time he’d sat up, Lacusta stood over him, hand extended. Steve raised the Cogent.

Lacusta smiled. ‘I told you, your weapon—’

‘This isn’t my weapon.’

Steve fell back, squeezed the trigger and chopped down his right arm. This time he’d pushed the serrated wheel all the way.

Above him, through the thin layer of water, a shimmering white blaze scalded his eyes. His body tensed, but there was no back-arching shock, just a mild tingle concentrated in his fingertips.

Steve rose from the water’s freezing grip. Wet cold clamped his head and shards of icy pain ricocheted off the inside of his skull. He coughed into the pall of wispy smoke descending over the water, its undulating surface now flecked with black.

Lacusta had headed towards the light. His smouldering body lay face down on the stone steps, his right hand dipping in the dark water. As Steve waded closer, a vinegary odour pickled the air. He stopped and peered in.

On the back of Lacusta’s charred head was the shiny metallic outline of a hinged flap. He lifted it with the tip of the Cogent’s barrel. The square hole occupied most of the skull cavity, and was empty.

Steve’s gaze skimmed the cloudy water before reaching down. As the liquid iciness enveloped his elbow, he felt it.

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