Gideon Rayne - G.A. Franks

A Dystopian Sci-Fi Book Series Set In Futuristic Britain

Gideon Rayne by G.A. Franks

Series Excerpt

After the train had docked in the Kaoteck transport hub, Gideon found himself being swept along on a wave of selectees, all jostling and shoving to be at the front of the lines, and maybe hoping to catch the eye of Aloysius Kroll himself. He kept looking around, hoping to catch sight of Avery among the sea of faces, but there was no sign of her, and everyone seemed to be stressed out and confused, in stark contrast to their jubilation on the journey. The crowd’s mood had changed dramatically as soon as the train entered the Kaoteck perimeter. In fact, Gideon was sure that he could pin down the exact moment when the change had occurred to the very second when everyone's Kaotabs had announced they were in a restricted environment and promptly entered standby mode. For some of them, the last half an hour or so was probably the longest they'd ever gone without streaming their every thought. As a relative newcomer to owning a Ktab, Gideon found it all faintly amusing.

'This way, please follow the red arrows.'

Ada’s voice rang out, repeating the same phrase over and over, whilst illuminated red arrows glowed underfoot and pulsed down the walls.

'This way, please follow the red arrows.'

The crush surrounding Gideon was tremendous. On three occasions, he almost tripped over sets of automated luggage dutifully trailing along behind their owners, all of whom seemed blissfully unaware that it was obviously far too busy to use the luggage’s 'follow' function. It seemed as if most people were still staring down at their wrists, fiddling with their Ktabs in frustration at not being able to stream themselves entering the hallowed ground of the Kaoteck building.

After a short walk following the red arrows, the crowd was filed into a vast triangular atrium. The air filled with a collective gasp and Gideon's mind reeled, the sight that greeted him was simply astounding, far beyond anything he'd ever imagined. Beneath him, the floor was made of thick glass, revealing a dizzying drop of thousands of feet, deep into the bowels of the pyramid. Huge holographic projections filled the air above his head, like the small emotinotes projected by Ktabs, but on a massive scale. Images of anything and everything from Kaoteck's product range floated around the room. Holographic cars, Kaotabs, holo-terminals, Constabulary equipment and even an old-fashioned hovercraft all bobbed around above the crowd’s heads.

Strangely, the collection of everyday items was randomly interspersed with a menagerie of historical animals. Dolphins and whales swam through the air, whilst monkeys and meerkats climbed over rainbows and danced on fluffy white clouds. Zebras and giraffes floated around being chased by bears and several fantastical creatures that Gideon was sure had never actually existed. He couldn't help but wonder if a committee had designed the whole thing to be psychologically reassuring.

Dozens of elevators lined the walls of the atrium, gliding up and down in numbered transparent tubes as they delivered people to the hundreds of floors that towered above him. Every spare inch of the walls was covered in hanging vines and all manner of flora and fauna. There were even waterfalls that tumbled down from somewhere far above, before splashing into a moat running around the enormous space and disappearing off to the lower levels through holes in the glass floor. An imposing triangular column of polished marble dominated the centre of the room, it was wrapped in vines and embossed with fine golden patterns that reminded Gideon of the ones he'd seen on the Constables armour in the alley. Like the waterfalls, the column also appeared to run through the entire length of the building, spearing up into the mists above and vanishing into whatever lay below the floor. Eventually, the flow of people arriving in the atrium slowed to a halt, but even the huge crowd wasn’t enough to fill the gigantic space. Hundreds of pairs of curious eyes stared from the floors above as workers took a moment out from their busy days to gawk down at the new arrivals.

Ada's voice suddenly rang out, causing an excited stir among the crowd. Her holographic avatar appeared in the air floating above them in the form of a friendly-looking woman wearing plain white robes, with black hair tied up in elaborate braids atop her head. A hush fell over the room.

'Welcome selectees,’ boomed the Ada holo, ‘you will now be categorised according to your suitability matrix. For some of you, this will mean that you are required to attend further confirmation testing. Anyone who fails to achieve the required standards will be removed from the facility immediately.'

There was an outbreak of concerned muttering in the crowd, Gideon felt his blood rushing to his face. ‘That would be like a nightmare,’ he thought. ‘To get all the way here and still fail.’

Ada spoke again, 'Most of you will be assigned to a position that will allow you to return to your families periodically once your training and probation period has been successfully passed. Some of you will be assigned positions which will require you to assume a semi-permanent residence here at Kaoteck Industries HQ. And all of you will be required to pass regular suitability testing and performance reviews, to ensure that we are all building the best possible future.'

Gideon glanced around, everyone was enraptured by the giant floating figure, he wondered if Kroll was watching them, looking down from some hidden camera, zooming in and making observations about his selectees.

'When you hear your name,’ continued Ada, ‘please move to the indicated elevator to begin your new lives. Ensure you take all your belongings with you. Kaoteck International reminds you that they are not responsible for any loss or damage to persons, data or personal items that may occur whilst in or around Kaoteck facilities.’

Gideon waited patiently as one by one, categories were called out and selectees were despatched off in groups to the elevators. He finally managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of Avery as she shot off in elevator fifteen, but he didn’t manage to hear which department she was headed to, which disappointed him, he’d been curious to see where she would end up.

Slowly but surely the room continued to empty around him, insincere ‘good-lucks’ and ‘good-byes’ were said, along with equally insincere promises to meet up. He watched it all feeling like an intruder from another world until, after what felt like hours, Ada announced the category he had worked so hard for… The Constabulary. His pulse began to race, and his breathing became shallow as the list of names began. He willed himself not to faint, desperately hoping that Ada would say his name next. The list went on and on, it felt as though she was talking in slow motion, name after name was called, but still Ada didn't say his name. He felt sure there was nothing more he could have done to prove himself worthy of joining The Constabulary, and the people that he saw making their way to elevator ten didn't appear to be any more physically impressive than him.

And then it was over.

Ada moved on to some other, more mundane, role and a faint moan of disappointment reverberated around the room. Heartbroken, Gideon tried to resign himself to a less exciting future than he'd imagined. ‘No flying in Dragonflys or cool gadgets for me then,’ he thought morosely. ‘I wonder if being from a home went against me. I suppose to some people I’m barely more than Factory folk, nothing but a violet.'

With a jump, he realised that Ada had stopped talking while he had been lost wallowing in self-pity. He looked around in a panic and immediately recoiled in horror. Only a tiny handful of people remained. He quickly counted — six in total. A creeping sense of dread started to wash over him. He had to have missed his name, or worse. A sudden realisation made his heart sink into his feet, ‘Oh no, we’re the rejects!’ Ada’s announcement about having to pass another test had been for him. The agonisingly heavy silence was only broken by the sounds of people awkwardly shuffling their feet, no-one wanted to make eye contact. Then Ada spoke again.

'Remaining selectees, please make your way into elevator number one.'

‘Elevator one?’ Gideon realised that he hadn't actually spotted an elevator number one. A group had gone up in number two ages ago, but number one hadn’t been mentioned at all — until now. Everyone looked confused, there was no sign of the large, illuminated numeral that had appeared over each of the other elevators. ‘Where the heck is elevator number one then?’ A soft chiming sound filled the air and the base of the central marble column slid open. All six of the remaining selectees stared inside the luxuriously appointed elevator — then at each other — then inside the elevator again.

'Potentials,’ announced Ada. ‘Elevator one is now ready to take you to the boardroom, please step aboard.'

A tall, athletically built young woman spoke first, “No… freaking…way!”

The small group grabbed their cases and filed into elevator one. The door closed behind them and Ada spoke again, this time inside the elevator.

‘Ascending to boardroom level. Potentials, please take a seat.'

One thought was running through Gideon's mind, 'Potential? Potential for what?'

Books In This Series

Maelstorm (Gideon Rayne Book 1)

Derecho (Gideon Rayne Book 2)