Chorus: Feedback Serial Book Four: Feedback Dystopia, #4

CHORUS

Episode Four of the Feedback Serial

Shane Hall

Editing by Sandy Ngyuen, a Fresh Set of Eyes

This e‐book copy is for your enjoyment only. Please support the author by purchasing additional copies as needed.

The Feedback Serial is a bizarre story, and entirely a work of fiction. Any and all similarities to real‐life events, persons, etc. are entirely coincidental and unintentional.

For my Aunt Diana. Thank you!

Last Time

Once safe in The Marley, Eric and Janet learn about the Nexus and Blackbird, along with the bizarre eugenics path that led to their creation, and Jack's absence from their lives.

It's possible for Eric to take Jack's place as Grand Mogul some day, but for now he's comfortable living a loud and peaceful life among his family and new friends.

Then Opal reveals herself to be Leonardo's mother, making Leonardo Eric and Janet's half‐brother in a twisted, non‐consensual experiment, led by Blackbird to attain the ideal successor.

Motivated by vengeance, the Gate Web, led by Leonardo and Opal, massacre The Marley, killing everyone nonessential to their plans. Opal successfully begins the activation of Infinite Flight, at the cost of temporarily deactivating Calomé, one of The Marley's most treasured leaders.

In a desperate alliance with Blackbird, who is hidden lower in the ship, Eric uses the newly awakened powers of Infinite Flight to kill Opal. This doesn't prevent Opal from exploding a bomb in her body, severely wounding Winona.

Jack and Will are coming to the ship while there's still time, and the other Gate Web members are being kept away at gunpoint. They must explain as much as they can about this transhuman, augmented reality system to defend themselves from the Gate Web.

Now, Eric and the rest know that Leonardo is his half‐brother.

Chapter Thirty‐One

Wager

Once they were sure Winona was stabilized Blackbird, Keenan, Eric, and Terry made their way to a small rectangular room. It was a lab for manufacturing and testing sieve. They had taken Leonardo and strapped him to the built‐in slab.

They circled the brilliant journalist and underground subverter of all Eric found wrong in society. It was time for Leonardo to explain himself.

I remember this room well, Leonardo said. I was here a long time ago, when they transported me to the surface. I’m strapped to this table again, only now, I’m bigger and infinitely wiser.

Didn’t Jack crack your head when he beat the hell out of you in the LTV tower? asked Eric. The only injuries I see are the bruises I gave you earlier. Eric winced and tried to ignore the pain in his midsection. The gashes on his left side and near his navel were more or less better, thanks to excellent treatment, but being around Leonardo made him tense.

I repaired his jaw and skull, Keenan said. It was remarkably easy. He‘s not as big as Jack, or even you, Eric, but he’s certainly one of the healthiest men in the world. His recovery time was almost inhuman.

If the hint of a face on Blackbird’s round ceramic head was capable of showing emotion, he would’ve looked exasperated at having raised a hardy but troublesome child. I made sure he was raised in such a way as to ensure that he would grow into a strong, healthy young man.

Is that what you were doing? Leonardo glared at Blackbird. Making a toddler chase his mother down in order to eat is your idea of raising a strong, healthy kid? That’s interesting. Leonardo chuckled and looked at Eric. Eric, you think I’ve been forcing your life down a certain path? Hell, they planned my conception and manipulated everything about my existence. Opal, my mother, and her insane training were all I knew. By the time I was five, I was doing handstand push‐ups and I could punch through a cinder block.

So a rough childhood and aggressive genes absolve you of responsibility? Terry asked before turning away. Sorry, but you’re still a psychopath. She’d taken a quick shower and her hair was still wet, but parts were lightening to its chestnut hue as it dried.

Leonardo smiled. Perhaps. But why don’t we hear what my sort‐of‐dad has to say about it. I am his creation, after all. He should do the explaining.

Only hours ago, Blackbird had told all of them, except for the mentally indisposed Calomé, the truth of his successor breeding experiment. The idea of Jack being Eric’s father, something Eric had just started to warm up to, now felt poisoned by sharing a biological father with Leonardo. Family was no longer something to fall back on for comfort.

My goal was to combine the traits of two promising individuals, Blackbird’s voice droned.

Eric was standing next to him. For the first time, he noticed that the black Sarwing’s voice projected in all directions simultaneously.

Jack’s DNA made him astoundingly powerful at Infinite Flight, and physically fit, of course, said the Sarwing.

Powerful at Infinite Flight. What does that mean, exactly? asked Eric.

Jack will be here soon, Blackbird said. He can explain more. But I will tell you about Opal. She was a Unibarian war criminal, and her DNA was very similar to Jack’s in regard to the specific genes that improve IF potential. It is hard to find a Unibarian genetically suited to IF, and Opal had betrayed me, so I added her to the catalog of Unibarian females who were well matched with Jack.

How did you find the other suitable Unibarian females? asked Terry.

I can say no more about that… for the sake of my safety. But Jack chose Opal, and, fortunately, combining their gametes was successful. It produced an aggressive, intelligent, ambitious successor with IF potential and ties to both major nations.

What do you mean by Infinite Flight potential? asked Terry.

Blackbird looked up at the ceiling. Jack has more experience with IF than anyone. He will be here soon. It is best to let him show you.

Sorry if this is obvious, but why did Jack accept Opal as a Shadow Dock leader? Eric asked. I’d think he’d want nothing to do with her, nor she him.

It was my idea, said Blackbird. Jack never knew her name and I figured he would not recognize her, given that he found the whole business so distasteful. I was foolish to think that she would ever be loyal to me… But I suppose I felt that giving her a job near Jack was some sort of consolation after I sent Leonardo to live in foster homes when he was six.

Wrong. Five. The blond young man’s eyes were glassy and unfocused. Blackbird, you didn’t even visit me in person until I was fifteen. At first I was loyal. But I’d seen how other children lived with loving mothers and supportive fathers. Did you think I wouldn’t resent what you’d done to me?

Blackbird lowered his head. Telling you about your conception, and my wish for you to serve as my successor, was my greatest mistake. But I was beginning to feel my age. I did not know whether my body would last another two hundred years, one hundred years, or even fifty. As the fourth century of our quiet society neared its end, ensuring that I had a successor seemed only logical.

Maybe to you, but the decision to create me certainly didn’t sit well with the Birds, said Leonardo. They saw it as weakness, as you losing the will to operate the Nexus… losing control. When you told me about Infinite Flight, holding the world back, and the reasons the world’s been silent, it was all too much. I couldn’t accept it. Then I noticed that your followers were upset by my existence, but not by me.

And? Terry said.

And I capitalized on it, of course, said Leonardo. In order to succeed Blackbird, it was necessary for me to be a major public figure before IF is fully activated. So when he asked me how I wanted to make a name for myself, I said I wanted to be a journalist.

Blackbird touched his ceramic head. I thought he wanted to be like his biological father. Little did I know that he was cultivating connections with the rejects of the Coltra Tunnels, singers, musicians, persecuted individuals who made noise by mistake, and especially those who protest the system surreptitiously. Leonardo slowly but surely built a force comprised of all the world’s malcontents who disagree with everything I stand for… silence, control, limitations, even the structure of the Nexus.

Sorry. Leonardo cackled. Was that not what you had in mind? And I bet you were really disappointed when I discovered hackers. They fascinate me the most, breaking into systems others claim are ironclad. Anyway, once I met some very special people, I realized that hacking IF would unleash infinite potential. So I’ll activate IF for sure, but I’ll do it my way.

So you’re just a hacker, Terry said.

Leonardo smirked. Just a hacker? Are you unaware of my journalistic achievements? Nevertheless, I do run the Gate Web. I named it that because there are always new gates that we can open. There are always new possibilities.

Who are these ‘special people’ you met? asked Eric.

Leonardo raised his eyebrows. Why would I tell you? But seeing as you no doubt are aware of my most loyal non‐Nexus allies who are here with us, namely Kev, Milly, and Bear, I guess I can tell you about them. I told them all about the Nexus and Blackbird. I secured their cooperation and loyalty by explaining why the world is the way it is. Together, we convinced the rest of the Spiders that Jack is the real enemy, and that was all it took for them to follow me, too. Then I got my mother in on it. All of a sudden I was no longer the burden of her rape, but her savior helping to avenge the wrongs done to her. And good old Opal wasn’t just like a normal mother displaying unconditional love. That’s not her. She took her new role as mother and protector of me and my dreams very seriously. I think it was out of respect for me and the man I’d become, or maybe it was guilt. But whatever. I got her to do what I wanted.

You don’t seem upset about her death anymore, said Terry.

Leonardo looked slightly perplexed. I was pretending. Why in the world would I care about the woman who made my childhood a living hell? The loyalty and love she felt for me, and that she helped build among my followers, was useful. So I used it.

What is wrong with you? Eric rubbed his temples. The woman gave her life for you. Don’t you even feel a twinge of sadness or guilt?

I can practically see steam coming out your ears. But you’re upset with the wrong guy. You should be blaming the Nexus. They captured me and brought me down here. That’s why the Spiders attacked.

Leonardo, your vision is truly mesmerizing, said Keenan. It draws people to you.

You people are insane, Eric said. "Blackbird, do you realize the consequences of this internal Nexus bullshit? And what about the other groups that your kid here has involved?"

Yes, Eric. My loyal followers and I are painfully aware of the consequences of this conflict. But rest assured that no group, not even the Spiders, is acting impulsively.

Eric shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Are you joking? My life has been ruined, my girlfriend is maimed, we’re stuck in this hunk of metal who knows