The Beyond: Dystopian Survival Fiction (The Breeder Files Book 4) by Eliza Green (most popular novels TXT) 📗

He patted her on the shoulder, but his gaze was on the others. She’d spent enough time with him to know what that pitying look meant.

Carissa had trapped him, Vanessa, Charlie and Thomas on this side of the Beyond.

A new energy hummed. She felt pressure on her arms and legs as something new pushed her back.

Thomas cursed. ‘They’ve erected a damn force field.’

‘I don’t feel comfortable being down here. We could be under surveillance,’ said Vanessa with a shiver. ‘We should return up top, work out a plan there.’

Charlie nodded. ‘Let’s do it fast before the Copy guards figure out the hack.’

The Inventor marched back to the stairs. His stiff posture and clenched fists told Carissa she should give him space. She trailed at the back of the group.

‘Don’t worry, Carissa,’ said Thomas, turning, the Disruptor and Atomiser in his grasp. ‘Jacob and I know a few things about force fields. We’ll find another way through the door.’

She didn’t know why the brown-haired young man was being nice to her, but his kindness soothed the frayed edges of her nerves. She managed a quick nod and a smile at him.

The Inventor reached the base of the stairs and anchored his hands on either side of the wall. He placed one foot on the first step.

Thomas muscled his way to the front.

‘Wait here. I’ll check,’ Thomas said, easing the old man’s hand from the wall.

Jacob relented with a sigh and the whisper of a smile.

‘Me too,’ said Carissa.

She had no idea how long a hack to the system would keep the guards in a confused state. A combination of her and Thomas’ efforts should determine that fast enough.

At the top of the stairs, Thomas eased the door open with one gun. Carissa peered past him into the room to see the Copies still looked disorientated.

She huffed out a breath and said, ‘I think they’re still under. We need to hurry.’

Below, the Inventor started to climb. Charlie followed and Vanessa brought up the rear. She looked concerned for the two puffing, old men in front of her. Her arms were outstretched a small way, as though she expected them to topple back down.

Carissa said to Thomas, ‘You need to check if they can see you.’

Thomas nodded and stepped into the room. The Collective’s guards continued to mutter incoherently and shift on the spot, but they remained blind to the presence of a human. Quintus must have issued a central command to all units to protect the Great Hall. But the lack of additional security told Carissa that the Collective no longer resided here.

Thomas turned back to the others. ‘They can’t see me.’

‘You should go,’ Carissa said, pushing him out the door. ‘I’ll wait for the others.’

Thomas kept to the walls and away from the disorientated guards. Carissa saw their minds working to process the info dump she’d told Thomas to send to their connection. At least the same confusion didn’t apply to her. Not for the first time, she was grateful to no longer be on the network.

When one of the Copies lunged at Thomas, she clutched at her throat. He skipped out of the guard’s clutches and disappeared from view. When the far door opened and closed, she breathed out.

Carissa turned her attention to the next person.

Charlie looked inside the Great Hall. ‘Did young Thomas make it?’

‘Yes, but we need to hurr—’

A voice in her head cut her off. ‘173-C, what are you doing? Have you found the Beyond? I’m detecting confusion among the Copies in the Great Hall.’

Flicking her gaze to the trio in the stairwell, she answered only one of those questions. ‘The Copies are malfunctioning, Quintus.’

‘I can access their systems from here,’ Quintus said. ‘I will reset them.’

‘No need to reset them, Quintus. I can fix them.’

She waved Charlie, Jacob and Vanessa ahead. They kept to the wall, like Thomas had.

A new silence from Quintus filled her with dread. ‘Quintus, are you there? I said I can fix them.’

All three of them had reached the screens and the podium, hugging the wall that would take them to the door. The guards continued to lash out blindly, as if fighting off an unseen enemy.

Quintus said, ‘I have performed an analysis. The Copies have been in this state for five full minutes. Why have you delayed fixing them?’

Carissa’s part-organic heart pounded in her chest. She thought fast. ‘I... thought they were running diagnostics.’ She saw the trio were only halfway along the final wall. ‘I’m not connected to the network so I couldn’t check for myself.’

‘Then how did you expect to fix them?’

‘I... er...’

A Copy lunged for the Inventor.

Carissa gasped.

‘What’s wrong 173-C?’ said Quintus. ‘I cannot read your vital signs.’

She jogged into the room, pushing through the swell of Copies to get to the Inventor.

‘Nothing’s wrong, Quintus. I’m on my way to the Great Hall now to see if I can help.’

‘No need, 173-C. I have accessed their systems. They appear to be under attack. Was it the rebels?’ A moment’s silence followed, then Quintus said, ‘What have you allowed the humans to do?’

‘Nothing, Quintus.’

She skidded to a stop next to the Copy that had the Inventor’s arm in a tight grip. From the doorway, Thomas guided the others to safety. Making it out, she turned her attention to the guard who refused to let the Inventor go. The old man tried to free his arm.

Carissa jumped onto the guard’s back. The guard startled and tried to twist around in the tight space. She slapped its ears. The Copy released the Inventor suddenly, then swung around with Carissa on his back. She slipped off and landed on the floor with a thud.

Several Copies rounded on her.

‘I’ve reset their systems,’ said