“No...” Addison whispered, realisation finally dawning.
“Levellers!” One cried, raising a hand. “Justice!”
As his hand fell, the hovering drone became a blur. Streaking through the air, it cannoned into Ross’ chest. Even across the courtroom Addison felt the impact, but instead of knocking Ross over the drone clung to him, its carapace cracking open to reveal glinting mechanical innards.
“No!” Addison was shouting now.
The mantis drone began to glow dark orange. Steam rose, and as cords sprang from his neck, Ross started to scream. It was a terrible sound, rising from a low howl to a shrill, animal shriek. He convulsed, eyes rolling back, before collapsing and falling still. The drone whirred, retracted its arms and clanged to the ground. In the silence that followed Addison gagged. The court smelled of seared meat.
“Mr. Moore, take your seat,” One shouted.
Addison was moving, walking dazedly towards the motionless Ross.
“Stop!” Four cried. “Return to your mark!”
She had her pistol out, but Addison was already by the defendant shaking him. He didn’t budge.
“I said stop!”
Slowly, Addison brought his hand to his face. Each finger was glinting crimson.
“How?” he whispered.“How is this real?”
Around him the levellers suddenly erupted into noise. They were arguing, shouting at each other. On the podium, the judge’s face flickered and once again Addison’s head exploded in pain.
“...much for that!” Two was yelling, his genial demeanour gone. “He figured it out first bloody trial!”
“Re-level him,” Four cried. “Re-level him now!”
“We can’t!” Five shouted back. “The archive damage! He’s the only one left compatible with the interpreter. We need to wipe him, start afresh!”
“So he can figure it out again?” Four yelled.
Addison’s head was throbbing. As he lurched to his feet he saw Five moving towards him.
“Addison, listen...” he pleaded, palms outstretched.
“How?”Addison slurred, transfixed by his bloodied fingers. “How can this be happening?”
“You must listen.”
“What is happening!”
Four lunged forwards, shoving Five aside.
“On the ground!” she yelled, brandishing her pistol.
“The interpreter hasn’t bedded in!” Five shouted. “Shock him and he might die.”
Suddenly the two levellers were grappling, tussling for the pistol. Addison seized his moment and threw himself into the gallery benches. He rolled over and smashed into a camera, then cannoned into the aisle and sprinted for the doors.
“Freeze!”
Beside him a chunk of bench exploded, showering Addison in a hail of burning shrapnel. He screamed, staggered, but his momentum carried him forwards, down the aisle and through the double doors.
He clattered face-first onto a stone floor. Looking up, he saw some kind of entrance hall, a huge vestibule with a distant ceiling. But he didn’t have time to look properly. Feet slipping on misty-grey stone, he scrambled up and across the hall into a long corridor. There was a flash of daylight to his left, so he turned and sprinted out into open air. Then he stopped, not believing his eyes.
This wasn’t outside.
This was inside.
Addison was on a balcony overlooking a huge cavern, the inside of a vast hollow pyramid. Hundreds of feet across a yawning void, spiral ramps snaked up and down four walls that sloped upwards to the pyramid’s apex. There, a grey-white light shone in a pale mockery of daylight, while below each widening level plunged into inky blackness.
“What…?” he began.
A piece of wall by his head exploded.
“Do not move!”
Addison moved. As echoing footsteps closed in, he sprinted up a ramp. His legs screamed with the ascent, but he didn’t stop until he was at the top of the pyramid. The floor levelled out on a long balcony bathed in pale light. There was a single door at the end so Addison dashed inside. Eyes adjusting to the gloom he saw panels lining the walls, inscriptions etched into the same misty-grey material from the courtroom. They were faintly biological, spiralling strands weaving together like nerves or blood vessels.
But he’d made a mistake.
“Shit!”
There was no other exit, no windows or doors save the one through which he’d entered. He whirled around, only to find his escape blocked.
“Addison...!”
Five was hunched in the doorway.
“Stay back!” Addison cried.
“Listen!” Five panted. “We don’t have much time.”
“What is happening...”
“It’s real Addison, all of it!”
“I don’t understand!”
“You’re in the future! We levelled you!”
“What does that even mean!”
Five cringed, hearing footsteps behind him.
“You have to listen, the paladin is nearly recharged. They’re going to hurt you, but they can’t kill you. It’s their law, our law. They can’t kill you unless you're on trial, and they need an interpreter to have a trial. One to excuse, one to explain, one to accuse, one to proclaim. Defence, interpreter, prosecutor, judge, see? You just have to play along.”
“That doesn’t make ––”
“Just play along!”
Another voice boomed into the room. “Returnee!”
Judge One stood in the doorway, the drone beside him. As Two and Four came up behind, Five’s shoulders sagged in defeat.
“You are wasting time,” the judge thundered. “It is fortunate we only had one defendant today.”
“This can’t be real…” Addison whispered.
“The vision chair will prove it is,” the judge replied, halting a few feet away. “But for now, perhaps a more analogue demonstration will suffice.”
Addison lunged for the door, but Four tackled him to the ground.
“Show him his legacy,” the judge said, as she dragged Addison upright.
The room’s sloping walls began to slide down and blinding light poured in. Addison covered his eyes but Four seized him from behind, strong fingers forcing his eyelids open.
“See,” she hissed into his ear. “See what you did.”
Addison saw.
He was at the top of a tower overlooking a vast plain. There was wreckage as far as the eye could see, twisted ruins of metal and concrete that stretched away to a horizon boiling with yellow-brown clouds. There was no greenery, no rivers, no animals, no life of any kind; just storm-blasted rock and dust-cracked nothingness. A howling wind lashed against the window, full of withering decay.
“This is your legacy,” the judge said.
Four smashed Addison’s head against the window.
“I didn’t do anything!” he yelled, blinking back tears. “I’m just an actor!”
Four spun Addison round and the shutters slammed shut, plunging the room into shadow.
“Of course
