Revolution: The Ship Series // Book Two (3 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

Ouch!

Zax
finished with the Gammas and headed to his advanced Plug training. He had
become quite adept over the past year at using his implant for communication as
well as virtual activities like his flight simulator, but it was finally time
for him to learn about interacting more directly with the Ship and its various
components. He entered the training compartment and found a tiny vehicle
positioned at the entrance of a maze. The maze led into an opaque box which was
about half again the size of the maze. The instructor stood as Zax entered the
room.

“Good morning, cadet. We’re here to complete the final
stage of your Plug training. If you successfully complete this task, then
you’ll be granted full access to all of your implant functionality. Are you
ready?”

Zax nodded and the instructor continued. “The past year
has allowed your Plug to completely meld with the neural pathways within your
brain. While you’ve accomplished a lot with it in this time, you’ve only
scratched the surface of the capabilities the Plug can ultimately provide. You’ll
now learn how to connect directly with the Ship’s physical systems via your
thoughts.”

The instructor turned and pointed at the vehicle and
maze. “Your task is to maneuver that vehicle through the maze using only your
mind. The path through the visible portion of the maze leads into the black
box. The box covers the final portion of the maze, which you’ll need to
navigate by relying on the sensory information being sent from the vehicle
rather than what comes from your own body. Go.”

The instructor sat down. Zax looked at him expecting
more information, but the man only returned his gaze impassively. After a few
secs it became clear he had said all he intended to say. Zax needed to figure
it out on his own.

He glanced around the room to see if anything else was
supposed to play a role in the exercise and saw nothing. Zax looked at the
vehicle again as he thought about controlling it and was surprised to notice a
slight aura around it. The aura brightened as Zax focused more intensely on it,
and then a prompt appeared in his vision.

Access vehicle controls, yes/no?

Of course the answer was yes, but Zax wasn’t entirely
sure how to select his choice. He stared at the word ‘Yes’ floating in his
vision, but there was no aura around it. After a few mins, he became frustrated
and thought about how he wanted to give up and forget about the vehicle. At
that very same instant, the text prompt disappeared from sight.

That was interesting. It was almost like Zax’s decision
to give up on the vehicle made the prompt go away. But hadn’t he thought about
controlling the vehicle earlier and nothing happened?

Zax stared intently at the vehicle and once again the
text prompt appeared asking whether he wanted to access it. This time, he did
not think about selecting ‘Yes’ as much as he thought about controlling the
vehicle. He heard a
click
and its electric motor switched on and spun up
with a
whirrrr
. At the same time, the text prompt disappeared and was
replaced with a series of icons. There were arrows which suggested movement in
different directions, plus and minus signs which hinted at the ability to speed
up/slow down, and a few other icons which were initially incomprehensible.

The instructor finally spoke. “Can you explain what just
happened there, cadet?”

“I think so, sir. When the prompt first appeared in my
vision, I was focused on choosing ‘Yes’ in order to access the vehicle’s
controls. I got frustrated because nothing happened regardless of what I tried.
Eventually, I realized I wasn’t supposed to literally choose ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, but
instead needed to focus on the action and outcome I wanted as a result of that
choice. If I wanted to control the vehicle, then it would be under my command.
If I wanted to give up on the vehicle, then I would no longer control it.”

“Well done, cadet. That’s the critical realization which
proves hard for many people who are relatively new to their implants to grasp.
Whenever you look at items on board the Ship and think about interacting with
them, you will see prompts and other information in your vision which are
intended to help you understand what kind of commands are available. For
example, right now you are seeing icons which show what is possible for you to
do with the vehicle under your control. These are just
hints
to help you
shape your intention, not actual controls for you to interact with. As soon as
you decide your intention is to move the vehicle forward in the maze, it will
move forward until you intend for it to stop. Easier said than done, of course,
but once you’re able to make that first leap, you stand a very good chance of
quickly mastering the rest.”

Zax had been getting frustrated at the lack of vehicle
movement as he stared at the forward arrow, but the last portion of the
instructor’s guidance finally registered.
Intention
is the key. Don’t
focus on what you see in your vision, focus on what you intend to happen. He
took a deep breath and thought about how he wanted the vehicle to move forward.
The wheels spun ever so slightly, and it began a slow roll away from Zax into
the maze.

“Awesome!” Zax exclaimed.

“There you go, cadet. Let’s see you make it all the way
through, though, before we start getting too excited.”

Zax smiled at the gentle admonition and turned back to
the maze. He identified the path to the black box and focused on keeping the
vehicle heading in the right direction. It was moving smoothly through the
middle of an S curve when the vehicle crashed for the first time. Zax was
certain he wanted the vehicle to turn left, but it had turned right instead and
lodged against the wall. He reversed to set up another attempt, but once again
the vehicle turned the wrong way at the most critical time.

This pattern repeated a few times until the solution
finally dawned on Zax. He turned the vehicle smoothly when it moved away from
him because the direction of the turn as he perceived it was the same direction
as it applied to the vehicle. His left and the vehicle’s left matched. When the
vehicle headed towards him, however, there was a difference between what he saw
as being a left turn and what the vehicle would see as a left turn. Zax’s left
would be right for the vehicle and vice versa. With this in mind, he focused on
directions from the vehicle’s perspective rather than his own and successfully
navigated the remaining turns.

The vehicle reached the final straightaway which led
into the black box, and Zax pushed it to go faster. The vehicle zoomed ahead
and disappeared into the box only to come to a crashing halt a moment later.
Zax looked over at the instructor, but he no longer watched Zax’s progress and
instead stared at his slate.

Zax reevaluated the information icons within his field
of vision and one caught his attention. It was an eyeball, which seemed to
suggest there might be a way for Zax to see things from the vehicle’s
perspective. He thought about what it would be like to look out the windshield
of the vehicle, but nothing happened. That wasn’t entirely accurate. There was
a slight shimmer in his vision and Zax experienced the strangest sensation in
his body. It reminded him of the feeling he got sometimes when he desperately
needed to sneeze but couldn’t. Zax closed his eyes and tried again.

WHOOSH!
The sensation was like nothing Zax had
ever experienced and he involuntarily exclaimed, “Whoa!” It felt like he zoomed
down a tunnel at near lightspeed only to find himself looking through the
vehicle’s front window at the end of it. Zax wondered if his outburst caught
the instructor’s attention but didn’t want to open his eyes and risk losing the
view from the vehicle’s perspective. It had run up against a wall so Zax backed
it up and adjusted course.

Left turn—right turn—dead end—back up—try again.

Dead end—try again.

Dead end—try again.

The maze was more challenging without the overhead view
he enjoyed before the vehicle entered the box, but Zax didn’t mind the fits and
starts. They provided opportunities to adapt his mind to working from a new and
entirely crazy vantage point. His body was outside the maze, but the Plug did
an amazing job of forcing his brain to think he was piloting the tiny vehicle
from the inside.

Zax guessed he was nearing the end of the maze when the
vehicle entered a long straightaway similar to the one it had traversed
immediately before entering the box. He paused the vehicle for a moment when he
noticed something different about the maze’s floor directly ahead of it. The
floor in earlier portions of the maze was the same color as the walls and
ceiling, but in the stretch ahead it glowed a bright red. Zax was convinced he
was heading the correct way so he moved forward, albeit slowly.

The vehicle’s tires crossed into the red portion of the
floor, and Zax immediately noticed his feet getting warmer. The heat reached a
painful intensity a sec later and his eyes shot open in a panic.

“Ouch!”

Zax looked down to investigate. The pain had disappeared
immediately along with his view out the front of the vehicle’s window. His feet
appeared perfectly normal. Zax glanced over and saw the instructor smiling.

“Don’t worry—everyone reacts the same way which is what
makes this my favorite part of the session. There are a couple of key lessons
you need to take away from this section of the maze, cadet. First, you clearly
noticed the floor immediately before the exit is heated. The purpose of this is
to illustrate how sensory information you experience via your Plug is not
limited to visuals. If you are connected to something which can transmit sound,
then you will hear sound. Here, the vehicle was configured to transmit the temperature
encountered by its wheels, and you experienced heat on your feet. It was not
true physical pain, of course, but the Plug convinced your brain otherwise.
With practice, you’ll learn to tolerate this ‘phantom pain’ in order to use it
for informational purposes without suffering the emotional response you just
experienced.”

The instructor grinned even more broadly and continued.
“The other thing to understand is how the sensory data you experienced went
away the instant you opened your eyes. This is to be expected at your age and
with your level of Plug experience. The most challenging part of using your
implant is forcing your body’s sensory information into the background so you
can focus on whatever input is coming from your Plug. This ability is greatly
enhanced by removing visual stimulation, which is why you often see even
advanced folks close their eyes if they are trying to do something particularly
difficult via their Plug.”

The instructor looked back down at his slate. “Your
elapsed time for a first trip through the maze was better than average, but you
need to make it through a lot faster before I can sign off and say you’re fully
cleared to use your Plug. Let’s get the vehicle set up at the beginning again.”

CHAPTER FIVE

You eat
it.

Zax
left the Plug training with a bounce in his step having been given final
clearance to use his Plug to fully interact with the Ship’s systems. His
excitement quickly faded, however, once he thought about the day’s next
destination. Zax’s work in Waste Systems might become slightly more interesting
now that he could take full advantage of his Plug’s capabilities, but he didn’t
hold out much hope. Final Plug activation was a nice milestone, but Zax
regretfully concluded it was most likely meaningless given his current career
status.

He had even more time to ponder how much he hated his
job when the trip to Waste Systems took longer than expected. Tube service
between the start and end points of his journey was available but was routed in
a way that added 5 mins to his trip. The Crew who managed the Tube had become
quite adept at modifying routings quickly in response to the civilian
disruptions. It only took one instance of an Omega being killed when she
unknowingly emerged from a Tube junction into the middle of rampaging civilians
that riot avoidance become a critical mission for the service’s operators.

Zax tried to push aside his frustrations as he arrived
on station. He was grateful for the boring hours at work which provided time to
pursue other interests, but nonetheless felt the typical pangs of regret when
he thought back to the thrills of his prior job in Flight Ops. Compared to that
nerve center with one massive panorama that looked into space and another that
commanded a view of the bustling flight deck, the windowless confines of the
Waste Systems operations center provided all the excitement of a maintenance
closet. There were only two other Crew assigned to the department, and he spoke
to the first as he sat down at his terminal.

“Good morning, ma’am. Anything special you need me to do
today?”

Lieutenant Salmea was Zax’s direct supervisor. He had
concluded that she must have arrived at the bottom of the heap thanks to
chronic indifference. She once again lived up (down?) to this assessment by
keeping her dull gray eyes fixed on her slate as she remained slumped in her
seat and barely managed a shrug in response.

Zax next turned to check whether the hatch to
Westerick’s office was open. Major Westerick held the title of department chief.
Zax hadn’t experienced enough direct interactions with the man to ascertain
whether it was too much incompetence or too little intelligence which had
saddled him with such a hideous assignment. The days when Westerick had
ventured out of his office in the year since Zax had arrived could be counted
on one hand.

Before Zax could dive into more work on his flight
simulator, he paused to greet Imair as she entered the compartment. A civilian
who was somewhere in her late forties, Imair wore her mousy brown hair in a
short bob that was as indistinctly efficient as the manner in which she did her
job. Her small stature and quiet demeanor allowed her to fade into the
background. It was only Zax’s careful observations of the civilian workers’
behavior patterns that revealed her position atop their unofficial hierarchy.
If she was bothered by having to show deference to a Crew member a third her
age, she kept it hidden as she addressed him.

“Good morning, sir. I’m sorry to interrupt your work,
but we’re stuck with something and hoped you might be able to provide some
guidance.”

“Sure thing, Imair. Lead the way.”

Zax stood and followed the civilian out of the clean and
well-lit operations compartment and then down the series of ladders which
provided access to the Waste Systems work areas. As they descended deeper, the
surroundings became progressively more dim and filthy. He had eventually become
acclimated to the nasal reminders of what Waste Systems dealt with, but the
omnipresent scent of human waste in the lower levels could still trigger Zax’s
gag reflex once in a while. His trips into the work areas always provided a
stark reminder of just how far his career had fallen.

Imair was about to lead Zax through a hatch into the
maintenance hub when a young, high-pitched voice called out with a level of
cheery enthusiasm that belied the grim environment.

“Hello, sir!”

Nolly bolted down the passageway towards them. The
eight-year-old civilian was practically swimming in a mismatched uniform
riddled with rips and smeared with filth. The boy skidded to a halt and brushed
his shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes as he looked up at Zax with a big grin.

“Hey, Nolly. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Zax reached into his pocket and pulled out the apple he
had taken from the mess hall. He held it out to the boy who appraised it with a
confused look.

“What is it, sir?”

Zax was momentarily taken aback. It had been surprising
enough when the boy had shared a few days earlier how he had never eaten a
piece of fruit, but to learn he didn’t even recognize an apple when held in
front of him was positively shocking.

“Umm, it’s an apple—a piece of fruit. You eat it. Take a
bite.”

The boy took the apple and gave it a small, tentative
nibble. Nolly’s expression transformed from apprehension to pure joy. Two huge
bites followed in quick succession after which he used the heel of his palm to
wipe the resultant chin drippings back into his mouth.

Zax smiled at the boy’s exuberance and swiveled to
Imair, curious as to whether she shared his appreciation. She wasn’t looking at
Nolly but instead had fixed her gaze on Zax with what appeared to be
bewilderment. As Zax turned to her, Imair’s expression switched almost
instantly back to neutral and she addressed the young civilian.

“Put that in your pocket, Nolly, and go find someplace
where you can finish it without anyone seeing you. When you get into the
middle, there are going to be tough, stringy pieces and hard, black things
called seeds. You can eat those bits if you choose, but they won’t taste nearly
as good as the outer portion.”

The boy bolted, but before disappearing around the
corner he looked back over his shoulder and shouted. “Thank you, sir!”

Imair turned and walked through the hatch. Zax followed
being sure to scan his eyes all around as he entered the compartment. Mikedo’s
lesson during his Marine training about gaining immediate awareness of new
surroundings had stuck with Zax. A group of civilians huddled around a display.
They looked up as Imair approached, and the lone male in the group spoke.

“We’ve continued to troubleshoot, but we just can’t
figure out where the fault is coming from.”

Imair turned back to Zax. “Sir, the system keeps reporting
a fault we can’t resolve. We’ve even tried resetting the whole module, but
nothing has worked. We’re hoping you might have some ideas.”

“I bet you’ve focused on the subsystems in compartment
50-H in trying to sort this out,” Zax offered after a quick look at the
display. “This circuit is unique because it has a special offshoot which leads
into 51-F as well. Let’s go take a look there.”

Zax exited the compartment and Imair spoke as she caught
up. “Must be nice to just use your Plug to access the schematics and get an
answer so quickly. We’ve had a team of five racking our brains for eighty-nine
mins, and you just walk in and solve it after seventeen secs.”

“I actually didn’t use my Plug,” Zax replied. “I studied
all of the Waste Systems schematics when I first started here. That circuit
stood out as an oddball since it was the only one that splits the way it does.
I figured one day it would cause an issue like this, and it looks like I was
right.”

For the second time in a few mins, Zax felt like he had
perplexed Imair based on her facial expression. “You mean, you’ve committed the
entire system to memory?”

“I don’t know about the whole system,” Zax grinned, “but
hopefully I’ve managed to remember the most interesting bits.”

Zax halted at a small access port, but Imair kept
walking without noticing. She quickly realized, stopped, and looked back at
him.

“Sir, we need to keep going this way to get to 51-F.”

“Yes, that’s the best route if we want to stick to the
main passageways and ladders. The fastest route, though, is to use the
maintenance network. There’s a laddered shaft that will let us get up to 51 and
the tunnels between here and there are almost entirely walkable. There is one
four meter stretch where we’ll have to crawl, but even factoring that in this
should still save us 156 secs of travel time.” Zax smiled. “Well—it will save
us that travel time as long as you trust me and don’t stop to question every
turn we take.”

Imair stared at him impassively for a moment before she
spoke. “My apologies, sir. Let me guess—you’ve memorized the routing of all the
maintenance tunnels too.”

“At least the interesting ones.” Zax replied as he
opened the port.