Defiant: Quantic Dreams Book 2 by Elizabeth McLaughlin (reading list txt) 📗

the doctors while I waited outside. I needed to think. The entire day I had been reacting; I never had a minute to fully consider the problem in front of me. The hour was growing late, but there would be little peace if I went back to my quarters. I was half surprised that none of my family members had sought me out already.

We were dealing with a balancing act now. Athena was outside. The images from her camera would dictate the next steps in the resettlement plan. There were also two patients sick in the infirmary, one of whom was a child. These were obvious statements to make, but I wanted to go through things from the very beginning. Word of sickness had spread, and by morning there would no doubt be larger-than-life rumors swirling through the population. I mentally calculated the distance between Allison’s bed and where I had been standing. I had no idea if I had been exposed. The thought was too much to consider just then. I pushed it aside for another time.

It was time to formulate a quarantine strategy. As much as I wanted to reassure myself that Allison’s illness was a unique tragedy, figuring out how best to quarantine the ill would give my mind something to occupy itself. When the shelter woke up in the morning, they would look to me for answers—and a plan.

Chapter Six

The shelter wasn’t equipped for an effective quarantine. It may have been at one point, but any systems that had been in place were no doubt in severe disrepair at this point. I wasn’t ever something I considered bothering with. People had been locked in hermetically sealed capsules. The only person at risk of an outbreak was me. First on my list, I wanted to dredge out the shelter’s blueprints and figure out the air circulation. With some effort I could get rudimentary filters in any affected air shafts within a day or so. Unless the disease had already spread, in which case any filter would simply be a waste of time. I turned towards a wall and rested my head and hands on the concrete. The roughness of the stone was calming to my overtaxed mind, and I concentrated on breathing deeply. Next to where my hand had come to rest was a faint outline in the wall; the remnants of one of Gabriel’s panels. Astoundingly, I almost wished to be back in the days before. To have this responsibility taken from me.

I was lost in my thoughts when I felt a prick on the side of my neck and a rush of cold. Not again, I thought, right before I fell. When I came to I was in the incineration chamber, the flames of the furnace dancing in front of my eyes. Sweat sprang up on my forehead and I moved to wipe it from my brow but found that my arms were being held by two strangers. Their faces were behind me in shadow so I couldn’t make out any details and they never spoke. Through the glare of the fire I saw George’s form emerge, his outline blurry and alive with the movement from the dancing light. He took one massive hand and gripped my chin with it, forcing my head up and his face came into focus. I wanted to tear my eyes away. Whatever they had shot me up with was screwing with my eyesight pretty badly. The glare from the incinerator lent a demonic quality to George’s face, his pupils lit orange and red from the firelight. Like glowing coals.

“Hello again, Jacob.” George grinned a feral grin and my vision was briefly replaced with someone else. It couldn’t be.

“No,” I breathed. “You’re dead.” Fear shot through me like ice. He whipped my head aside and guffawed.

“I am? I’m afraid I feel quite alive. Though how anything can feel alive in a body like this is difficult for me to comprehend.”

“How?”

“What was the line from that film you like so much? That old one, you know. About the computer geek who saves the world. Oh yes. We’ve been here before, you and I, remember? I do. I think of nothing else.”

“No.” Oh god, I was going to die. I was going to be burned alive and all for the mission of a goddamned fanatic. An acrid scent wafted up to my nose, and I felt wetness soaking my thighs.

George wrinkled his nose. “Disgusting. Now, now Jacob, you have to keep it together for me. I wasn’t finished with my line and you’ve made me lose my place. Oh, yes. That’s it, Mr. Anderson. Look through the soft gelatin of these dull cow eyes and see your enemy.”

“It can’t be. That’s impossible.” I was shaking now, shock taking hold.

“And yet, here I am.”

I was looking at Gabriel. Gabriel, the man, and the machine. All those nights. All the nightmares. I wasn’t imagining. Gabriel had uploaded himself into a human brain. Not just any human brain, the mind of someone he knew I would inherently trust. Someone I was close to. Fuck. I shut my eyes and waited for the feeling of flames licking at my skin. Instead, I cried out as a sharp blow rang across my face.

“Giving up already?” Gabriel grabbed my chin again and forced me to keep my gaze on him. “We can’t have that now, can we, Jacob? After all, I’ve travelled all this way just to see you again. I’ve gone through so much, just to look into that adorable little face of yours. It could be quite romantic, if you think about it that way.”

I didn’t respond. My brain was too numb. I chuffed a laugh and smiled.

“The fuck are you smiling about, meat bag. Eager to get on with it after all?”

I laughed, a full laugh that started in my belly and boomed through the quiet room. “It’s just so funny.” I hung my head and kept laughing.

“What’s funny?” Gabriel bent down, his gigantic