Post-Human 05 - Inhuman (26 page)

7

“What the hell is this place?” Old-timer asked as he flew over the modern, sleek skyline of the city by the shore deep inside the bowels of the android constructor vessel.

Jules flew next to him, a single, sinewy tendril unfurled from near Old-timer’s ribcage having driven itself into the back of her skull, hidden by her strawberry hair, the tendril having latched itself on to her mechanical brainstem so that Old-timer had access to her communication system. “It’s Eden,” she replied.

Old-timer’s initial reaction was that
Eden
was a dark joke and that his prisoner was being deliberately abrasive, but he could feel her emotions through their connection, and there was no hint that she was being untruthful. To her, they really were in Eden.

He craned his neck and looked up at the sky—it was beautiful and sunny—a perfect mid-afternoon sky on a perfect summer day. There was even a slightly cool breeze on his skin as they flew away from the city and over the water below.

“It’s a simulated sky,” Jules offered, anticipating his question. “And an artificial sun, but the rest is real—the forests, parks, rivers, city, suburbs...everything.”

“Why?” Old-timer asked. “You’re machines, for God’s sake.”

“We’re human,” Jules replied, tentative in her speech but honest in her answers. “I’m sorry you can’t believe that, but it’s true. And like all humans, we long for Eden.”

Old-timer looked straight down and saw a couple in a small fishing boat, rowing into the middle of the lake. To his astonishment, they were accompanied by an android that appeared to be a youth, sporting a fishing rod. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“What did you think?” Jules responded, calmly but challengingly, “that we’re all mindless drones, flying around through space, conquering other humans for the fun of it and then plugging into batteries in our cubicles until the next conquest?”

Old-timer was speechless.

Jules dared turn her head to look at him. “Heh. You did think that. Now who’s kidding who?”

“So you live inside manmade paradises inside these ships?”

“
Human
-made,” she corrected him. “And yes. You can think of our communities as the jelly in the center of the donut. It’s the best part. No more wars, no more crime, no more sickness, no more suffering, and every day the weather is perfect. We’re living out eternity here. It’s about as close to Utopia as any of us will ever see.”

They began to reach the far side of the lake and the holographically projected sky seemed to dissipate, and the ugly, metallic, corpse-like bowels of the ship began to reappear. They were headed for a dark circle in particular, a gigantic opening that would take them farther inside the ship via a tunnel that stretched for dozens of kilometers.

Once they’d entered, Old-timer spoke again.

“Jules, just who the hell are you?”

“I grew up in San Diego, a diehard Chargers fan. I have two older sisters, both of whom live just a few blocks away from me in Eden.”

Old-timer was dumbfounded again.
Is this another trick?
he asked himself.
Or are these androids not aliens at all? At least not in the traditional sense. Are they human? Are they from Earth?

“Is that enough, or you want to know my favorite color too?”

“When were you, uh…”

“Rescued?”

“Assimilated,” Old-timer asserted.

She narrowed her eyes slightly but let their semantic differences slide. “Eight years ago.”

“The androids came to your Earth?”

“Yes.”

“Did you resist?”

“Of course. We were terrified, but they were overwhelming.”

“I don’t understand,” Old-timer shook his head slightly.

“I know,” Jules replied, as though Old-timer’s statement was blatantly obvious. “If you understood, you wouldn’t be kidnapping me.”

“If you were assimilated against your will,” Old-timer continued, ignoring her argument, “why are you willing to stay here? Why are you willing to be 1’s slave? What broke your will to resist? Don’t you want to be human again?”

“For the last time,” Jules began after sighing deeply, “I
am
human
. And it isn’t about breaking anybody’s will. The collective just told us the truth, and once we knew the truth, we knew what we had to do.”

“And what’s this truth?” Old-timer asked, dubious that any answer could ever make him join the collective.

“That humanity is
not
immortal,” Jules replied. “Use your reason, Craig. Humans invent and invent and invent. It’s what separates us from every other species in the known universe. Our technologies are double-edged swords. Fire let us cook our food and kept us warm, but it let us burn our enemies and wage war. Nuclear technologies led to unlimited power sources, but it was also the sword of Damocles that hung over us—was used in WWII but truly unleashed in WWIII, yet even this wasn’t enough to destroy us. Think of each of these inventions as little marbles removed from a jar—some are white, because they help humanity, some are gray because they both help and hurt, and some are very dark gray, because they threaten our very existence. But Craig, it is inevitable that one day, humanity will reach into that vase with our inventive minds and pull out the pure black marble—our
last invention
. And that invention will be the end of everything—the end of the multiverse—the end of life.”

Old-timer swallowed as he listened to Jules’s rationalization. He wanted desperately to dismiss it, to insist that it was nothing more than fanatical Luddite propaganda, but there was an image screaming in his mind, and a coldness that felt that it might stop his heart as he asked, “And what’s the last invention? The black marble?”

Jules’s eyes widened as she read the expression of dread on Old-timer’s face. She recognized it instantly. “You already know the answer, don’t you Craig? You’ve already seen it.”

“I-I haven’t seen it,” Old-timer stammered in response.

“But you know of it. I can see it in your eyes. The invention that destroys universes. I know you know it.”

“Just-just shut up,” Old-timer replied, shaken. “Take me to the replicator. I have people to rescue.
Really
rescue—not your version of it.”

Jules continued to fly Old-timer through the long, dark tunnel, only dimly lit by sporadic lights on either side, like a massive subway tube. “I won’t resist, Craig. I can already see on your face that I won’t have to.”

8

“Got it!” James announced proudly, looking up from the table he sat at with the A.I. and catching Thel’s and the candidate’s attention as he held a long furl of code up like a trophy fish for display.

The A.I. turned with an equally proud smile and flashed it for their companions.

“Got what?” Thel asked.

“The code that’ll let us circumvent the trapdoor and call out!” James responded, as though the answer were obvious.

Thel smiled and shook her head. “Geniuses will be geniuses.”

“Damn straight,” James replied as he jumped to his feet and walked briskly to the candidate, his left hand held out while the right held the golden stream of code. “May I borrow your aug glasses?”

“Of course,” the candidate replied, removing the eyewear and handing it to James.

“What’s this supposed to do?” Thel asked.

“We’re changing the code,” James replied. “I could really use anything—you remember the coffee demonstration you made for the candidate?”

“It was a London fog, but yes,” Thel interjected.

“…but the aug glasses are, essentially, a first-generation version of the mind’s eye, so it makes the most sense to modify them.” He slipped the golden, coded pattern over the aug glasses and it seeped into the device, becoming one with it. “Perfect.”

“Now what?” Thel asked.

“We make a phone call,” James replied.

“To who?”

“The range won’t be great,” James replied as he opened a line of communication, “so we have to hope Aldous has found Old-timer by now.”

“Is it true that Old-timer can get us out of here?” she asked.

James nodded. “Oh yeah. Those tendrils on his new body can unfurl until they’re microscopic and make connections with nano-sized materials. He can connect to anything. If we can get him into physical contact with the hard drive Aldous constructed, he can get our patterns out.” He grimaced. “Damn it. He’s not close enough.”

“Try Djanet,” Thel suggested.

James nodded in agreement and tried to open communication.

“Even if you can get your pattern out,” Thel continued, “what then? If the mainframe was destroyed, our bodies—”

“It’s highly unlikely James’s body was destroyed,” the A.I. chimed in as he stood and calmly strolled over to the trio. “While Aldous likely thought the impact of the android ship would destroy it, it is designed to be extremely durable. Only a trip to the center of a star or a black hole could destroy it.”

“Damn it,” James cursed, “no Djanet either. I’ll try Rich.”

“This isn’t looking good,” Thel pointed out. “What’s the use of being able to call out if the only person we can reach is also the one person who wants to keep us trapped?”

“Oh my God,” James suddenly whispered.

9

“James?” Rich reacted to the voice he heard in his head.

“What’s that?” Aldous asked.

“Rich, if this is you,” James responded quickly, “don’t let Aldous know you’re speaking with us. Just cough and move away from him. Let me know when you can speak.”

Thel and the others watched James’s face breathlessly as they waited.

Rich coughed. “Sorry,” he said, pretending to clear his throat as he got up from the chair.

James suddenly smiled. “He coughed,” he relayed to his companions. “We’re standing by, Rich.”

“Are you okay?” Aldous asked.

“Yep. Need water. I’m just gonna head to the bathroom.”

“I thought I heard you say James?” Aldous asked, his expression puzzled.

“I did,” Rich confirmed. “I did. I was just thinking, I really wish James was here, you know? Because he’d know what to do. So this sucks. Then I realized how dry my throat is. I’m getting water. Want some?”

“From the bathroom?” Aldous asked quizzically. “The replicator is working just fine. I think I’d opt for that if I were you.”

“Yes,” Rich agreed. “Yes but I also need to pee. So, two birds with one stone, I was thinking. But, you’re right. Pee first. Then replicator for water.”

Aldous nodded.

Rich began to head to the bathroom before Aldous’s voice stopped him.

“Oh, and Richard...” he began.

Rich squinted in frustration before wiping the expression away and turning back to Aldous with a slight smile. “Yes?”

“In the future, when you need to use the facilities, there’s no need to be so...descriptive.”

Rich pulled his lips back in a half-smile and nodded. “You’re right again. Okay, so, off to do something mysterious with my body.” He turned and left.

Seconds later, he was in the bathroom. “Okay, what the hell?” Rich asked in a whisper as he looked at his own worried reflection of the mirror. “Is this really James?”

“It is, pal! It’s good to hear your voice! Where’s Aldous?”

“On the bridge. And we’ve got Thel’s body with us. Unfortunately, Aldous couldn’t rescue yours, Commander.”

“Heh. Shocking,” James retorted. “Where are you?”

“We’re on your ship, en route to Venus.”

“Venus?” James reacted. “What’s he want with Venus?”

“He thinks it’s the best place to find survivors,” Rich replied, “and he thinks it’s a low priority for the androids.”

There was a short pause. “Maybe,” James finally returned, his tone dubious. “Or maybe he’s planning to bring them down himself, from the inside.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Rich asked, stunned, his heart suddenly beating twice as fast.

“Rich, listen to me. We can’t prove it, but Aldous is a suspect—maybe the prime suspect—for having been the one who trapped us in the sim and helped the androids destroy the mainframe.”

“What the—are you serious?”

“He’s only a suspect, but he had the means and we think he might have had the motive.”

“Listen, Commander Keats, we sent a message to the Purists, but our regular communication system is down, so we haven’t heard back from them yet, but we’re on our way and should be there in about half an hour. If the Purists radio back to us that they’re okay, what do I do?”

“Keep a very close eye on Aldous,” James replied, “but don’t tip him off that you’re on to him. If he gets wise to us, he might damage the hard drive.”

“You think he’d do that?” Rich reacted, aghast.

“If he’s a man who’d betray his entire species? Yes. Rich, if there’s any way in Hell that you can get that hard drive away from him without him getting suspicious, do it. Then let Old-timer know what happened and get it to him. He’ll know what to do from there.”

“Commander, I’ve lost contact with Old-timer. Hell, I’ve lost contact with everyone but Aldous. I’m alone out here. Old-timer might’a been…you know…”

“He better not have,” James replied, “because right now, our only hope for the solar system rests on his shoulders.”