EHuman Dawn (14 page)

She was drawn to Adam Winter, whether he was Elijah or not.

“I doubt you are Elijah. So step up and plug yourself into the wall,” Origen demanded, forcing Dawn out of her reverie. She nodded to Adam and gestured to the plug.

“Yes, plug in, Adam. I’ll enter the key into the terminal. We’ll know the answer in a few moments,” she murmured, barely able to speak in an audible voice.

Nervously, Adam did as she requested.

He felt the plug tug him backwards, securing him in place. He watched as Dawn typed a few things on the terminal keyboard. Then he received a message from the system, requesting permission to search and decrypt all memory locations in his database.

He authorized the transaction and instantly the EC came alive. A dark haired, handsome, man gazed upon them with the haunted look of someone who had lost everything. He shook his head and took a deep breath, breaking the tense silence within the room, as he began to speak.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Dearest Sophia…”

The man on the EC was young. His voice shook, but it was also somehow deep and comforting. “You’ve found me. Or I’ve found you. Better yet, maybe we’ve found each other. But I always knew one day, somehow, you would see this. Our love connects us forever.”

Adam stared intensely, taking in the man’s features. His black eyes, glittering with excitement, looked just like Edgar’s when he announced the Dawn Project. His dark, shaggy hair and beard were handsome in a disheveled, unkempt way. There was no denying that this was Edgar Prince’s heir.

Dawn was also staring intently at the man on the screen. She’d seen how much Elijah looked like Edgar. Her keen eyes also saw similarities between Adam and the young man. Dawn glanced at Adam to see his reaction, and the two held each other’s gaze as the man on the screen continued to speak.

“I want to tell you, Sophia, what it was like to know you, love you, and then lose you. My time at Brown was meaningless, really. It was just a technical obligation, so that when I took over the helm at Guardian Networks, the shareholders wouldn’t question my authority. But then I met you and everything changed. I couldn’t live without you. You were the breath that made my life worth living.

“I knew how my father felt. But I had no idea how he tortured you. I didn’t know he drove you out of my life! I was too obsessed with our love to see your sadness and fear. One cold January morning, when I came to meet you in front of the chemistry building, as we did every Thursday, you weren’t there. I waited and watched as students piled into the building. I waited
and watched them file back out, off to their next class. I texted you several times and called your apartment, but you never answered.

“When I went to your place, your roommate was crying. She told me you’d left in the middle of the night, without any reason or warning. She accused me of breaking up with you, or hurting you in some way! She called the police. A case was opened. They suspected me, Sophia! But in the end, the case was closed due to a lack of evidence of any foul play. You were just another runaway. I quit Brown and chartered one of my father’s sailboats, taking to the sea, where I mourned your loss for a year.”

Elijah stood and began to pace the room where he was being videotaped. He picked up an unfamiliar package of small, thin sticks and took one out, taking a match to one end and putting the other end to his lips. Adam’s database quickly answered his query: cigarettes. No lungs meant no smoking in the eHuman world. Elijah nervously blew a long trail of smoke out of his mouth and then sat back down in front of the camera. A familiar male voice in the back ground encouraged him to continue speaking.

“Go on,” Dr. Neville was heard to say, “She’ll want every detail. Trust me, I know Sophia—Dawn—she will be eager to know your story, because it is her story. Besides, you won’t remember any of this after you Jump, so I advise you to speak any truth that you don’t want lost forever.”

Elijah scowled as he exhaled another plume of smoke.

“A year later I returned home. The prodigal son. My father had been patient with me for long enough. He was ready for me to go to work for him. I was already twenty-three and as Edgar often reminded me, he’d been eighteen when he founded the company. He thought it was time for me to take a part in his dynasty. I took a job as a program manager at Guardian. Edgar
had an interest in a new singularity technology, called the eHuman. He’d been contracted by Dr. James Neville himself to develop an operating system for the project. I was flown to Stanford with a team of engineers from our company and immediately threw myself into my work. Alongside Dr. Neville, I managed over one hundred people. While Dr. Neville and his scientists developed the eHuman, my engineers created Neuro. Together, we formed the Dawn Project. It would change the world forever.

“You know this part of the story, Sophia—Dawn. What you don’t know is my role in it. For two years I worked in a building just down the street from you! You can be damn sure Edgar appreciated the irony. The bastard planned it! But I never knew. I knew we had test subjects, but took no interest in them. Their identities were top secret. No one except Dr. Neville and my father knew who they were. To me, they were anonymous men and women, sacrificing themselves for a higher cause. As time passed, Dr. Neville’s team created Dawn, in all of her perfection. Finally, the day came for the first test. The Lux of a human being was to be Jumped into Dawn, and the flesh body that remained was to be allowed to die. Dr. Neville informed me that the test subject had been selected by Edgar himself. The lucky lady was listed as Jane Doe.

“As the big day drew near, I began to feel some sort of powerful connection to the woman who was to become Dawn. Contrary to everyone else on the Dawn Project, I had concerns. No one had ever gone through with a full Jump before. There was a significant statistical chance that she would die. I wanted to thank Jane Doe for her commitment to science. I was overwhelmed with a desire to personally shake her hand and tell her how much her courage meant to me. I discovered where she was staying. I made…highly irregular arrangements to see her the evening before the Jump. I didn’t tell anyone else what I was doing. I didn’t want to be seen as too sentimental.

“Anyway, imagine my surprise when I entered Jane Doe’s apartment—and discovered that you were my father’s test subject! There are no words that can describe my anger in that moment.”

Elijah lit another cigarette and began to shake, unable to speak.

“I think the surveillance video taken from inside Sophia’s apartment will suffice as an accurate record,” Dr. Neville offered.

The EC went blank for a moment and then grainy footage began to play, no longer showing the haunted, smoking, long-haired and bearded Elijah. Rather, a clean-shaven and slightly younger Elijah walked quickly into a room where Sophia sat on a couch. The voices were hard to hear, but the drama unfolding before the camera was intense. It was this surveillance that led the university security guards to quickly discover Elijah and Sophia, and the video was the only surviving evidence of the love between them.

“Sophia!” Elijah cried out, running toward her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Elijah? I should ask the same of you!” she answered, throwing her arms around him and kissing him passionately.

“Elijah,” Sophia gasped, pulling away, “How did you find me?”

“I’m the program manager for Neuro,” Elijah explained, “I came tonight to thank the test subject for her willingness to Jump into Dawn tomorrow. I had no idea it would be you in this apartment! How could I not know that you are the one to be sacrificed? I’ve done nothing but miss you for three years—and you’ve been this close the whole time!”

Sophia began to cry. She shook Elijah, pulling him closer to her body.

“What are we going to do?” she asked, kissing his face while clinging to his chest.

“We’re going to get you out of here!” he answered, taking her by the hand.

“What do you mean?” she said, pulling back slightly.

“I can’t let you be my father’s guinea pig, Sophia! You must not Jump into Dawn tomorrow,” Elijah explained while trying to pull her towards the door. But Sophia stood still, resisting.

“But, Elijah. What…what if I
want
to become Dawn?” she asked.

Elijah stopped pulling her and glared at her in confusion.

“You could die,” he pointed out.

“I could also live.”

“But Dawn isn’t a person, Sophia. She’s a robot!” he cried, “You can’t be my lover if you’re a robot!”

Sophia hesitated. Her inner conflict was obvious. She opened her mouth to answer, but in that moment, seven guards came crashing in, tearing the couple violently apart and dragging Elijah forcefully out of the room. Sophia struggled hysterically against the two men who were holding her tight. One of the guards shot her in the leg with a tranquilizer gun and she instantly went limp. The video cut off and once more the EC went blank. Then Elijah was before them again, taking another drag off his cigarette. Exhaling, he began to speak. His voice was hoarse and his eyes were red from crying.

“As you can see, our parting was less than ideal,” he said, “After viewing the video of our capture, Dr. Neville tried to talk Edgar out of your Jump, but of course dad refused. I was flown back to our estate just outside of Boston. But you, my dear Sophia—you were to Jump into Dawn and never look back. Dr. Neville decided to video you before the Jump and plant the file in your database. He vowed to do the same with me, so that perhaps we would be able to find
each other in the eHuman world. Little did he know then what exactly the eHuman world was to become. Although, thank God, he had his concerns.

“I knew, my dear. I knew it would come to no good—because I knew what my father was up to. In the beginning, I was so enamored with the technology and development of Neuro, that I hadn’t taken the time to connect the dots between my father, the Dawn Project, and the future of humanity. But after I realized how evil his plans really were, I never allowed myself to be caught in his web of lies again. Three days after he had me hauled home to Boston under lock and key, he forced me to attend a summit at Guardian Networks headquarters. I went obediently and quietly. My spirit was broken.

“Businessmen and women from key industrial sectors and political leaders from every major country, including the American President, Ruth Donovan, sat at my father’s table that day. It was there that they plotted the New World Order. Now that Dawn roamed the Earth, the next phase would take place. The eHuman would be rolled out globally. It would be financed by the wealthy elite and governed by the politicians of their choice. In exchange for their money, the financiers would be granted a business-friendly World Government. All laws would support profit. Any competition would be wiped out by the Great Shift. A vast, programmable labor force, able to work day and night, for little or no pay.

“The politicians would have a population to rule for eternity. As long as they left the elite alone, they were free to govern as they wished. No elections. A simple program download would encourage the eHumans to grant the WG total power.

“I sat at that meeting, Sophia. They used language that made them sound like they were doing good! But I heard it all, and I knew the evil they were planning to create.

“Hearing their plan shook me slightly out of my stupor of grief. I wanted to find Dr. Neville and share the information. But it was too late. My father wouldn’t grant me access to the Dawn Project. My face was well known. I couldn’t find any way in. But eventually, I managed to run away. I got enough money to get me as far away from civilization as possible. I lived off the grid for six years as the Great Shift kicked off, and the world began to change.”

He paused to light another cigarette before continuing.

“I’ve returned from my exile. This time, I was able to make contact with Dr. Neville. He now has my complete story, and it’s time for me to Jump into the eHuman world. As much as I detest the idea, it’s clear to me: the only way back into your life is as an eHuman. It’s also clear that the only way for me to destroy my father is to enter the false, virtual world he’s released on humanity. Dr. Neville will place this video into my eHuman database. I’ll Jump tomorrow.

“He’ll also store a Trojan Horse I’ve created, securing it with the same encryption key that joins you and I. I put everything I knew, everything I learned about Neuro, into the creation of this virus. With any luck, this virus, downloaded physically onto the server where the source code for Neuro is installed, will give me complete control over the operating system and every action that occurs within it. From opening and closing doors, to operating the WG war drones, I’ll have Neuro under my command.

“Now that we’re together again, we have much work to do!”

Adam looked at Dawn. So it was true. He was numb, full to overflowing with all he’d just learned.

“You need to help me, Dawn. We have to find the primary server. I have no way of knowing how much time has passed. I don’t know how Neuro’s architecture looks in your world—but I do know my father, and trust me, the heart of Neuro won’t be far from him. And it
will be heavily guarded. One more thing: we need to find my sister, Evelyn. She’ll know how to help us! It’s the only way we can defeat the bastard once and for all. Together, you and I will finally destroy the man who tore us apart!”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The EC went blank, causing everyone in the room to flinch. The tension was palpable. Cane, Origen, Dawn, Alrisha and Adam stared at one another. No one knew what to say or do next. It was Origen who would finally break the silence, crying out in anger and frustration as the situation sank in. A century and a half ago, Dawn had first shared the news with him about the virus stored in Elijah. Since that time, Origen had been hoping to find the mysterious man who would relinquish them from WG control.

Yet never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined the romantic connection between Dawn and their “savior.” She hadn’t told him.

“You’ve betrayed the Resistance, Dawn,” Origen snarled as he walked towards her.