Chapter 59

Kurt stared at bodies floating in the liquid, Gamay among them. Her head had been shaved and her mouth and nose covered by the breathing and feeding mask, but she stood out from the others, appearing healthier, with color in her complexion and muscle tone that had yet to atrophy.

She was attached to the network by the same array of cranial circuits, but had yet to have connections made to her stomach, fingers, or back. He assumed the connections were added in a multistage process. Studying the others briefly, he identified Priya by the scars on her legs. She was skin and bones just like Kai.

Turning his attention back to Vaughn, Kurt began to laugh. “ This is what you want to do to yourself?” Kurt said. “This is your idea of paradise? I can see why you haven’t gone all in just yet.”

“You are nothing but a captive of the past,” Vaughn said bitterly. “The future is TAU.”

“TAU is nothing more than a bundle of silicon chips and wires.”

Vaughn shook his head. “Far from it. TAU is many more things. A bank of human knowledge for all eternity. A force for order and control in a world mired in chaos. A chance for eternal life,” he said, his voice rising in pitch. He gave Austin an icy stare. “And a code of desolation for those who attempt to stand in my way.”

Austin motioned at the submerged bodies. “If eternal life is spent in a bathtub, you can count me out.”

“When the true Merge becomes possible it will not be this way. I will appear as you see me now. But I will know…everything.”

Kurt doubted the human brain was capable of handling what Vaughn had in mind, but that wasn’t his problem. “I think you’ll find that’s overrated,” Kurt replied. “But for now, you’re going to disconnect these people, starting with Gamay Trout.”

He stepped forward, closing the space between himself and Vaughn to increase the threat of destruction.

Vaughn stepped back, trying to keep the distance as it had been. His robotic bodyguards closed ranks in front of him, but the standoff continued.

“I’ll make you a counteroffer,” Vaughn said, then cocked his head toward the computer screens. “TAU, are the drones en route?”

“Affirmative.”

“How long before they’re in position to firebomb the building that Zavala and the savages are hiding in?”

“Drones will be on-site in sixty seconds,” TAU announced. “The building will be in flames thirty seconds later.”

“Instruct the Overseer to kill anyone who attempts to escape or surrender,” Vaughn said. “Shoot them down without mercy.”

As Vaughn spoke, images from the battlefield played on the screens behind him. Some from cameras, others, Kurt realized, reconstituted from what TAU could pick up from the retinas of the cruel brothers.

“Instruction sent,” TAU replied.

Vaughn turned back to Austin. “You may not care about your life,” he growled. “But you have a weak spot for others. Especially for friends. Disarm your explosives and surrender to me and I’ll find you all homes. You can spend eternity side by side in the service of TAU.”

On the screen, Kurt saw the flight of drones heading toward the battlefield. Vaughn had called his bluff. It was time for everyone to show their cards.