Excerpted: Gods of a New World

It was surreal to step into the place he had seen streamed just a few days ago, this ancient, dusty hall from the feed. The simulation James knew begrudgingly gave way to the real. First, he was struck by the reek of incense and then the perfect dance of candlelight on a thousand golden surfaces. Nobody else was in the hall, and he disconnected from Calico, not wanting to share the moment. He closed his eyes and listened, and the only sounds were a few distant birds and the faint flickering of candles. And his breath.

He thought of his mother. She would have loved being here. She had always wanted to experience the full richness the world had to offer, and it hurt to think of the way she lost her dreams before she lost everything else. These abundant times would have suited her well. She would have gone everywhere, seen everything. He felt his heart open up, let her be there with him. He could almost feel her presence beside him, could almost…

Footsteps were coming down the hall.

Behind him, Maree came into the room and strolled up. “So, I said I would donate ten thousand gold pieces if they’d let us spend some time with the temple guru to learn his secrets. They said, ‘Hells, yes!’. That should cover candle costs for a while.” She was radiant in her victory, her eyes flashing in the light, and he moved to kiss her.

“I know this is going to shock you,” said Maree, “but I really want to meet . . .”

More footsteps sounded in the hallway, probably a bunch of tourists coming to spoil the moment. Maree instinctively turned at the sound, and as the first few cyborgs flooded through the door, she shouted, “Talos!”

It was over. It was over before it had even registered in James’s mind. There was a slight whirring noise and perhaps some kind of subliminal flash, and then all of the cyborgs, a dozen or so of the sort he’d seen in Kathmandu, dropped to the ground in unison with smoking, cauterized, Talos-sized holes in their chests.

James blinked. “Well, fuck. How the hell are we supposed to gain our holy audience now?” His mind flashed through a futile series of body disposal scenarios and reached the only appropriate conclusion. “Fuck.”

“Plans change. We were screwed either way once they showed up.” Maree went straight into triage mode, dazzling in her decisiveness. “Calico, analyze this room for tech anomalies and do it fast. I’m looking for anything that could explain the materialization of objects from thin air, but I’ll take anything of even passing interest. Partial results and speculation are acceptable. Dedicate maximum resources.”

“How the hell are we going to get out of here?” James was shaking with adrenalin. “The police will be all over this so fast.”

“Aegis and luck. Focus. How’s it going, Calico?”

“We’ve been seen by a thousand cameras.”

“Yes. Calico, while you’re at it, erase everything we’ve done after Kathmandu. We’re ghosts. Okay, done. Meeessster Kessler, time for us to split.”

James was pleased to finally have the chance to contribute and called out, “Aegis.”

Nothing happened.

By the time he remembered he had disconnected from Calico, Maree had already issued the command, and they were wreathed in Aegis’s protective light, running for the entrance that seemed less likely to lead to crowds of people.

They fled toward the lot, and by a sheer stroke of luck, there was a tipsy, rusty old bus just juddering out of its spot. They ran for it. Maree vaulted from the back bumper onto the roof rack with acrobatic grace, and James scrambled up after her as best he could. They nestled in between suitcases and crates, trying to position themselves in a way that they wouldn’t be thrown clear at the first sharp turn.

Even though nobody else could see them, he could see Maree, and she looked over and met his eyes and let out a big belly laugh.

About ten minutes down the road, the sirens started, and drones started whizzing past overhead on their way to the temple.

Calico, how long can we stay cloaked like this?

Weeks.

They were safe, at least for now.

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