Post-Human 05 - Inhuman (3 page)

4

“We’ve touched down, Commander,” Djanet relayed to James as the spacecraft James had engineered for the mission landed.

“Good work,” James replied. “The A.I. and I are both monitoring through your mind’s eye feeds. I know it’s probably pretty scary for you two, but, trust me, you’re not alone.”

“That’s reassuring, Commander,” Djanet replied, “because I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so small.”

“It looks like they’ve provided an atmosphere,” Rich said as he checked the readouts on the screen in front of him. Suddenly, movement in the corner of his eyes caused his head to snap up; it was a welcoming party of nearly a dozen androids, floating down to a soft landing on the dull, metallic platform in front of the post-human ship. Rich’s eyes immediately zeroed in on a face he recognized.

“Of all the…Jesus. Why did they have to send
him
?”

“
Neirbo
,” Djanet whispered.

The stone-faced android stood at the center of the android contingent, his mouth in the same, thin-lipped, expressionless line that was emblazoned in both Rich’s and Djanet’s traumatic memories. He looked up at the front window of the ship and waited for Rich and Djanet to emerge.

“It’s possible that he’s the interim leader in the absence of 1,” the A.I. suggested.

“Either that, or they’re just trying to piss us off right off the hop,” Rich countered.

“They don’t know that you and Neirbo have ever met,” James reminded Rich. “Neirbo has no memory of you. Try your best to keep your cool.”

Rich sucked his lips back into a tight ball against his teeth as he tried to bottle down his fury. “Trying. No promises.”

The bridge of the craft suddenly lowered, becoming its own platform, setting Rich and Djanet down on the surface of the android landing platform. Rich and Djanet stood up from their chairs and walked the two dozen paces, to the waiting androids.

Neirbo’s lips suddenly twitched slightly, a look of disappointment flashing on his face before being replaced by his usual annoyed, stony countenance. His eyes moved from Rich and Djanet and up to the ship, which Rich noted most of the androids were exploring with their eyes with a certain fascination—Rich thought it mirrored lust.

“That’s an impressive ship,” one of the androids commented.

Rich looked over his shoulder at the exterior of the ship, a craft that, unlike its surroundings, appeared designed with meticulous care. It was a beacon of the beauty of human design and technological achievement. It shared the same chrome sheen that James’s enhanced body’s skin did, and the back end seemed to rest on its haunches, as though it were a metallic animal—a predator ready to pounce, its nose close to the ground. It seemed as though it were an extension of James, as though it were a part of him, watching over his friends while the man himself watched over them through Rich’s and Djanet’s mind’s eyes.

Rich shrugged, a faint expression of pride on his face. “I got a guy.” Then he turned to Neirbo. “You look annoyed, as usual,” he observed.

“As usual?” Neirbo reacted, his lips pulling back to reveal aggressively clenched teeth. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve never met you.” His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the post-human.

“Nothing,” Rich shrugged and smiled. “Just, you know, don’t look so glum.”

Neirbo sneered. “I was hoping someone else in particular might have chosen to be part of your small contingent,” he said, icily.

“He’s talking about Old-timer,” James informed Rich through the mind’s eye. “He enacted a little retribution on Neirbo.”

“Oh,” Rich said in a low tone before commenting, “Good for Old-timer. I’m envious.”

Neirbo’s eyebrows knitted together as he scrutinized Rich’s unusual eye movements. “Is that your A.I. god speaking in your ear,” he asked, “or the superman abomination?”

Rich’s eyebrows arched. “No, no worries.” He tapped his temple, feigning that he was watching something. “The 49ers are playing. Fourth quarter, you know, and I never miss a game, but you’ve got like, 81 percent of my full attention, I promise.”

Neirbo’s expression remained unimpressed as he kept his eyes locked on Rich. “Your attempts at humor are woeful and you’re a distasteful little man,” he said.

Rich smiled. “And you can go—”

“Rich!” Djanet finally stepped in, putting her hand around his arm and taking over the responsibility of communicating with the androids. “We want to know why you’re still here. Commander Keats requested that you leave the solar system. Only individuals who plan on making a new life with us here are welcome to stay, and so far, that’s been a precious few. The rest of the android collective isn’t invited to.”

Neirbo’s eyes remained locked on Rich as Djanet spoke, but he finally glanced at Djanet when his lips moved to form his reply. “How do you know we’re not all planning to stay?”

“He’s being evasive,” the A.I. observed. “There’s zero chance they want to make peace. They just tried to destroy the mainframe.”

“Not to mention the Earth,” James added. “But I see no trace of 1’s pattern,” James informed. “This is pure Neirbo. Rich, do me a favor and turn your head. I want to scan all of the androids.”

Rich subtly did as he was asked as Djanet retorted to Neirbo.

“It’s highly unlikely that you’re planning to stay peacefully,” she said. “Why haven’t you left?”

Neirbo’s lips twitched again slightly. “We’ve never been without a leader for the collective before. We’re reevaluating our process for transferring leadership so that it can’t be…
corrupted
again. The reevaluation takes time. We’ve obeyed the request to move out of the solar system, but we’ll need a leader before the collective decides what to do next.”

“There’s a 99.9 percent chance he’s lying,” the A.I. calculated.

“But 1’s not here,” James said, a slight frustration in his voice. “I’m detecting nothing in their android communication link either. She isn’t even monitoring.”

“Djanet,” the A.I. began, “relay to the androids that they have twenty-four Earth hours, starting now, to begin moving away from our solar system.”

Djanet inhaled deeply before she spoke, cognizant that her next words might be construed as a threat. “I’m authorized to inform you that you have twenty-four hours to begin leaving the solar system.”

“Or else what?” Neirbo replied, disdain dripping from his voice.

“Or else our superman abomination is going to
make
you leave,” Rich said emphatically.

“A threat?” Neirbo reacted. “You follow your superhuman abomination so blindly. You think he has your best interest at heart, but what are you to him? He’s a god now. You’re a pet to him at most.
We
, on the other hand, are your true friends.”

Rich’s eyes flashed wide with surprise before he smiled. “Neirbo,
your
attempts at humor are woeful.” He winked. “Twenty-four hours, little man.”

And with that, the post-humans turned to retreat back to their ship and head home as quickly as possible.

“Do you have to taunt them?” Djanet whispered. “We still have to get out of here.”

Rich smiled as he shrugged. “You know, I gotta tell you, I feel good about it.”

*****

In the mainframe, James turned to the A.I. “We know Neirbo’s stalling, but we’re no closer to uncovering the whereabouts of 1.”

The A.I. nodded, folding his arms and nestling his chin against his chest as he pondered a mystery that exasperated even the two massive intelligences. “I do not like this. If we’re missing information, then it’s entirely possible we’re vulnerable. I suggest that we move ahead with our plan of putting the Trans-human candidate through the final phase of its testing as quickly as possible. If we’re going to be facing an unknown threat, it’s preferable that we have Trans-human on our side.”

“Agreed,” James replied. “I’ll speak with Thel. Let’s arrange for the final testing to begin tomorrow night.

5

“Thel?” Old-timer said as Thel’s visage appeared, smiling and relaxed as she lounged on a Venus beach in his mind’s eye. “I’m having trouble locating James. He’s not appearing on my contact list. How is that even possib—”

“That’s because he doesn’t really have a location at the moment,” Thel said, understanding the problem immediately. “It’s a bit counterintuitive, I know, but, you know, James and quantum physics.”

Old-timer scratched the back of his head as he stood just a few paces in front of his porch, the dawn’s early light painting the horizon a soft pink, the morning dew forming large droplets on the long blades of grass in front of him. “Come again?”

“He’s terraforming,” Thel replied.

“Terraforming?” Old-timer reacted, astonished.

Thel nodded, her smile never faded. There appeared to be some sort of festive music in the background. It was night on the beach on which she was reclining in a comfortable beach chair. “Yep, but not in the old school way we’re used to. This is terraforming, James style. Check your real-time solar system map. You’ll see an anomaly that should be crossing near Mars as we speak.”

Old-timer tilted his head, perplexed but still following Thel’s instructions. A map of the solar system unfurled in front of him, a gigantic, nearly planet-sized, nebulous shape moving at an impossibly fast rate across it. “I see it.”

“That’s James,” Thel said, smiling. “He’s out of communication right now, but I can tell him you’re looking for him when I see him?”

“It’s pretty important. I should really speak with him right away.”

“Well, you could always go meet him. Just put yourself between him and Venus. That’s where he’s headed. Don’t worry, he’ll be able to sense you.”

“Venus? Isn’t the terraforming complete there?”

“He wanted to make a few tweaks,” Thel replied. “You know James.”

Old-timer smiled. “Yeah, yeah I sure do. Okay, I better head out if I’m going to reach him in time.”

“Okay, see you later!” She waved goodbye, and the communication ended.

“What are you doing?” Daniella suddenly asked, startling Old-timer and causing him to spin.

He held his hand to his chest. “Phew. You scared me! You can still get the old ticker ticking.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. She stepped closer. “You were trying to sneak out before I woke up. Craig, please don’t go.”

“Daniella,” Old-timer replied, taking in a deep breath. He crossed to her and put his hands on her arms, which were folded across her chest. “I’m literally not going to do anything but have a chat with him.”

“You can’t let them keep sucking you in, Craig,” Daniella advised, the advice tinged with a pleading tone. “Things are getting too crazy. I just…” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes fell from his and dropped to the dirt on which she stood.

He tightened his grip on her when he saw that she was becoming overwhelmed. “Hey, Daniella, what is it?”

She swallowed and looked up at him. “Don’t you feel it, Craig? The world’s upside down. It doesn’t make sense anymore. We’re crossing a threshold here and I don’t know if we’re ever going to be able to come back. There’s no stability anymore—no life—just endless upheaval that threatens everyone. And then with Aldous showing up last night…”

He hugged her, holding her face to his broad chest and resting his own cheek on the top of her head. “I feel it too, Daniella. It’s not your imagination.”

She looked up at him. “Then why are you going? Why don’t you stay here? If something bad happens, then at least we’re together! I’m afraid when you’re gone. Every time you leave to go with James, I’m afraid it’ll be the last time I see you.”

His lips formed a slight pout. “I don’t want you to feel that way. Look, Daniella, he needs to know about the Planck energy and about the Planck platform. He needs to know how dangerous it is. We shouldn’t have hidden it from him for so long. But once I tell him, once I get this over with, what he does with that information will be up to him.”

“Do you promise? You’ll come right home?”

He smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

She hugged him hard.

He sighed. “After all, eternal youth or not, I’m getting too old for this crap.”