The New Humans

Chapter 29

Ash reached out his arm with his palm facing upward. The drone buzzed like a fly until it landed in his open hand and Ash closed his fist. The blue light filtered through his fingers. He was careful not to tighten them too much; he didn't want to destroy their informant ten seconds after paying him. And if he crushed it by mistake, what would it be? Murder? Could he go to prison for killing a man who was already dead? Was this even a man anymore? What exactly is it that defines us to the point that, if that part disappeared, we are no longer us? Is it murder to erase a man's memory? Is it murder to turn off a thinking robot?

They went down into the subway station and took the first train to the extreme north of the city. It took thirty stops to arrive at their destination. They walked for what seemed like miles to Ash. The sun slowly went down and by the time they arrived at the entrance to the maple forest, it was late afternoon.

"We go in here," said Lock.

They climbed along the wooded hills. The trees were thin and numerous and made the landscape thick, so that Ash could not see beyond twenty yards. The sun filtered through the foliage, giving it a hue between green and yellow. The fallen leaves crackled under their feet.

"You must visit it in autumn, when the colors of the trees vary from orange to red and green," said Miriam. "It seems like walking into a watercolor painting."

"I hope you take me there."

She lowered his gaze and smiled. He was winning her back, he felt it.

After walking another half an hour at least, they ended up inside a kind of hollow in the ground, divided by a fallen tree.

The drone flew out of Ash's hand and lit up the area with its blue light. "This is where I saw the Living Dead for the last time."

"But there's nothing here," said Ash.

"I've told you everything I could," it said. "The rest is your problem."

"Hey, wait!" Ash jumped up to grab it, but it rose higher so it could not be caught. They all followed it trying to catch it, but after no more than a few yards they had already lost sight of it.

Herbert sat on the fallen trunk with his head in his hands. "Perfect," he said. "Five hundred credits spent for nothing."

"Not necessarily," said Owen.

"What do you mean? Can't you see the drone just brought us to a random place in the forest? Total rip-off."

"Let's not give up yet," said Miriam. "If we explore the area, maybe we'll find something that can help us."

Miriam's optimism gave Ash strength. They started walking up and down the hollow examining the ground. At first Herbert sat on the log with a sulky face refusing to help, but soon he joined in the search. Ash picked up a stick and used it to move the leaves as he walked. Not even he knew what he was looking for; perhaps a clue, something that had fallen out of Crane's pocket during the murder. Ash bent down. There were traces of blood under the tree. At least Lock hadn't lied completely; he had died there.

"Hey, come here!" shouted Rachel.

She was standing near the crown of the fallen tree, trying to move the branches. Ash, Herbert, Miriam and Owen ran over to her.

"Look behind the branches."

The tree had fallen at a point where the ground was raised, so that the crown was leaning against it to form a T. Ash looked carefully through the branches and noticed an opening in the soil.

"It looks like a tunnel," he said.

He tried to get through the branches. They were not brittle and bent as he passed without hurting him. He pushed away the last branches and jumped into the gap in the ground. It was dark in there, and the tunnel was so low Ash had to stay bent in half. He turned on the light on his cellphone. To stop the ground from collapsing above him, there were wooden beams for support. Ash lowered the light of the phone to the ground; a stream of dirty water full of weeds ran through the whole tunnel.