They reached the end of the chamber and he led them through another doorway into a circular room that had a door positioned at each quarter. Around the walls were banks of controls and other apparatuses. Several white-clad figures sat around on swivel chairs monitoring screens and panels.
“This is the heart of the Cloud, from where everything is controlled. Right now we are stationary in orbit, above what used to be the Pacific Northwest of America.”
“Is this the only … Hub?” Clove asked.
“Yes.”
Evelyn remembered something. “When we were on Earth, we found the wreckage of some kind of space ship, it was full of people – dead people – preserved inside pods like the ones we were in aboard InDi. Do you know anything about it?”
“Indeed, I do. After the Yellowstone eruption, there was a faction among us at OrbiCor who believed Earth would never return to a livable state. As you probably know, OrbiCor had been planning a Mars colony for some time, with successful trials. Such a colony was created, and many people migrated there, where they lived for thousands of years. That ship you saw was from Mars, the first and last that ever attempted to return to Earth. Sadly, it suffered damage as it entered Earth's atmosphere and went down.”
Evelyn watched him intently as he spoke. Again, she couldn't shake the feeling he wasn’t being entirely honest with them.
“Well,” he said, “that's the full tour of the Cloud. There is now a matter I must attend to. Our efforts to evolve require constant attention.”
“What's behind all those doors?” Kenji asked, indicating the other three doorways leading from the room.
“Everything beyond here is off-limits until you have been augmented, for safety reasons,” Miles Tucker replied.
“Until?” Matthew said irritably. “It doesn't sound like we have a choice in the matter.”
“Well, I'm afraid life up here would be rather dull without the augmentations. Surely you can see that it is the only way forward?”
Matthew crossed his arms and shook his head. “I honestly don't know what to think anymore.”
“All will become clear with the augmentations,” his father repeated.
“Excuse me, Mr Tucker? Can't we come with you?” Brenner asked. “I mean, maybe if we can see what you’re doing up here it will help us to understand ...”
Miles Tucker shook his head. “No. Your judgment is clouded by all the unnecessary emotions and instincts produced by your chemically manipulated brains. Only when you receive the augmentations, take control of your own minds, will you be ready to learn more about how we are pursuing our ultimate purpose.”
Evelyn thought he was beginning to sound like a stuck record.
“I have a question,” Kenji said, stepping forward. “If I had one of those augmentation things would I be able to order any food I wanted any time?”
“Of course. And, as I have already iterated, that is merely the beginning of the possibilities offered by the augmentations.”
“So … when can we get them?”
“Kenji! You're not seriously thinking about attaching one of those things to your brain, are you?” Clove said, looking around at the others for support.
“What? Why not?”
“It's …” Clove glanced at Miles Tucker. “Well, I'm sorry, but something just doesn't seem right about it.”
Brenner cut in. “Digital enhancements for the human brain have always been bound to happen, Clove. Even in our time there were experiments, but we didn't have the technology. I'm with Kenji on this one.” She glanced at Miles Tucker. “I mean, if we're going to live here we're going to have to get them at some point, right?”
“Yes, inevitably,” Miles Tucker replied. “And to answer your question, Kenji, you can receive the augmentation any time you wish. Just say the word and I will begin preparations. But it is important that you truly desire it, or there is a chance your brain will not accept the implant.”
“Wait, the implant?”
“The computer that you see outside my skull is hardwired to my brain. This requires surgery. It's all done by robots. The likelihood of something going wrong is minute.”
“Gee, I dunno … What if I don't like it? Can take it off? You know, un-augment myself?”
“I assure you that you will not wish to.”
Evelyn couldn't help but notice that he had failed to answer Kenji's question.
“Think on it, Kenji.” Miles Tucker continued. “As I said: it is far safer if you are certain you want it.”
Brenner looked at Kenji, than stepped forward. “I'll do it. I want to be augmented.”
“Brenner, don't you think–” Matthew began.
“I want this. I've always been interested in cybernetics. Anyway, this way I can tell you guys all about it.”
“An excellent point,” Miles Tucker beamed. “I'm sure that will help dispel any reservations the rest of you may have. Well then, you can follow me. The rest of you, please accompany Inga to the dining room we used before and make yourselves comfortable.” He gestured behind them to where a white-clad woman with a narrow face and black hair had appeared. She nodded to them silently.
Miles Tucker turned and entered the doorway opposite the one they had come through, waiting for Brenner to follow.
“Brenner, are you sure about this?” Evelyn whispered urgently. “I … I have a bad feeling.”
“Why? They all have the augmentations. I think Matthew's dad is right: this is the future. I want to be a part of it.” At Evelyn's worried look, she smiled. “It'll be okay.” Then, somewhat nervously. “Wish me luck.”
“Dammit, Brenner,” Clove said, shaking her head. Apparently she decided not to say whatever she had been going to say. “Good luck,” she said instead, reaching out to squeeze Brenner's arm.”
“Yeah, good luck,” the others added.
Evelyn watched her until the door closed behind her, glancing at Matthew's father at the last moment. There was something about Miles Tucker that disturbed her. Maybe it was the way his expression never seemed to match what he said. And there was a kind of emptiness in his eyes that made her feel uncomfortable. Whatever the augmentations did, she felt like Miles Tucker wasn't giving them full disclosure. She hoped Brenner would be alright.
She turned when Inga, the woman in whose charge they had been left, spoke for the first time.
“Please come with me,” she said. Her voice was unusually husky, and as Evelyn studied her long, pale face she couldn't help but notice the dark rings under her blue eyes. The woman had a distinctly sickly look about her.
Inga strode back down the passageway, and they followed her silently, Matthew and Evelyn taking up the rear.
“What do you think about all this, Evelyn?” Matthew whispered, looking at her almost apologetically. “I mean you're, you know, smarter than the rest of us.” She got the feeling he was trying to mend the rift he had created between them earlier by seeking her confidence.
“I don't know,” she replied softly. “Your dad is difficult to read, but there's got to be a reason he's not telling us about what they're doing up here to try and achieve this Ultimate Complexity, and I want to know what it is. Also, he told us he took control of Ciso after we left Earth all those years ago, and when I asked about her he avoided the question.”
“He said she was contained...”
“Did she seem contained to you?”
“No, not really … Wait, what are you saying?”
“Well, Ciso is a computer. She only does what she's been programmed to do, which means the Colonies, the Taken – everything we saw down there – none of it's her doing.”
“You think my father's behind all that?” Matthew looked at her in surprise.
“I don't know. And even if he was I can't think why he would keep people like that.” She glanced ahead to check that Inga couldn't hear them. “Do you remember what Bob said, about the people who break the rules?”
“No.”
“He said they go in
to the Tall Hut and they never come out. What I'm wondering is, where do they go? And there's only one person I can think of who might tell me. Well, not a person ...”
Matthew looked at her like she was insane. “You want Ciso to tell you what's going on here?”
“When I was connected with her, I felt something … it's hard to describe, but it was almost like she was unhappy, miserable, even. I don't think Ciso is bad. And I think I know what she was trying to take from me, and why.”
“Yeah? What?”
They had reached the room where they had eaten, and it was impossible to continue their whispered conversation without Inga noticing.
“Later,” Evelyn said, and entered the room.
21
They sat around the white table in the white room, casting furtive glances at the white-clad woman named Inga, who hadn't spoken again. She stood at the doorway, barring it with her body. Evelyn wasn't sure if this was to imply that they were not allowed from the room or if she simply didn’t enjoy sitting.
“These folk sure aren't fans of color,” Kenji mumbled, looking around at the drab décor, or rather the lack thereof. “All this white is hurting my eyes.”
“Yeah,” Clove replied. “It reminds of the time I stayed in hospital for three weeks with a broken arm.”
“Hey, Inga, was it?” Kenji turned to the silent woman.
Inga nodded.
“How come everything's white?”
“Is it?” she responded. “I hadn't noticed.”
“Really?”
“I seldom live in this reality,” she said by way of answer.
Kenji nodded sagely. “Right, you can have all the color you want with that thing I suppose.” he tapped the back of his head, indicating her augmentation.
Inga nodded again, and the room lapsed into silence once more.
Evelyn wanted to talk to the others in private. If only there was some way to get the woman to leave...
“Excuse me,” she said to Inga. “I'm hungry again. Can I have some French fries? With lots of ketchup on the side.”
“Of course,” Inga said, glancing at the table.
As it had before, Evelyn's order materialized seemingly out of thin air.
“Ooh, I like where your head's at, Evelyn,” Kenji said. He turned to Inga. “Think you could hook me up with a massive triple chocolate milkshake? You know, the kind with chocolate sauce and sprinkles?”
Again, she nodded, and Kenji made a sound of delight as his milkshake appeared. He began slurping away, but Evelyn hardly noticed. She was focused on her fries.
After popping a few into her mouth and making a show of chewing, she began to write on her plate using a fry as a pen and ketchup as ink. When she was finished, she caught Matthew's eye, and looked pointedly at her plate, where the word 'loo' had been crudely spelled out in ketchup.
He frowned at her, then comprehension dawned and he nodded.
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat pointedly, glancing at Inga. “I, um, need to go to the toilet ...”
She nodded expressionlessly. “Follow me please.”
Matthew rose and walked after her out of the room, glancing back at Evelyn with a nod.
As soon as the door was shut, Evelyn turned to Clove and Kenji. “We need to get out of here,” she said.
“Huh?” Kenji said, swallowing a gulp of milkshake. “Why?”
“Something isn't right about this place, about these people. Matthew's dad isn't telling us everything. I don't think we can trust him.”
“Who cares?” Kenji said. “This place is way better than down there, on Earth. At least we're safe here. And there's milkshake.” He raised his half-empty glass jovially and took another slurp.
“We may be safe, but what about all those people down there? The people in the Colonies? Bob?”
“Well, what are we supposed to do about it?”
“Something! We told Bob we would help him to free the People.”
“Okay, so we can get the augmentations and then try and get Matthew's dad to help us free them. I'm sure if we tell him what's going on down there he'll help us.”
“I don't think he will,” Evelyn said. “I think he's the one behind everything we saw down there.”
At Kenji's raised eyebrow and Clove's look of curiosity, she explained. “He told us he took control of Ciso after we left Earth. Ciso runs the Colonies, all of them. Who do you think runs Ciso now?”
A frown came over Kenji's face as he considered this. “I dunno … But if Matthew's dad controls Ciso don't you think he would have rescued us long ago? I mean, she knew we were here. Why wouldn't she have told him?”
“Because,” Evelyn replied evenly, “Ciso doesn't want to be controlled. She wants to be free. That's why she wanted me. That's why Matthew's dad only found us when you guys cut the power. They must have received some kind of alert up here. Ciso didn't tell him about us because she was never programmed to. Her only response was to try and kill us. She's programmed to kill any people outside the colony: she didn't have a choice! And she knew I wasn't a … well, a person. That's why she didn't try to kill me. And she knows what I have.”
“What do you have?” Kenji folded his arms, leaning back in his chair.
“Damien Reyner's mind. Well, his subconscious mind.”
Clove and Kenji glanced at each other.
“I don't understand, Evelyn,” Clove said.
“That's what she tried to take from me, in the Tall Hut,” Evelyn explained urgently. “Don't you see? Damien Reyner made Ciso. He always had command priority. I think when Matthew's dad reprogrammed her he never erased the line of code granting Reyner control, because Reyner was dead.”
“So … you think Ciso wants to take control of herself using Damien Reyner’s subconscious data?” Clove asked.
“Yes. And I want to try and connect with her again. She'll be able to tell us what's going on here. What's really going on.”
“Are you crazy?” Kenji said. “She's a murderous AI without a conscience. You can't give her the one thing she needs to free herself – even if that really is what she wants.”
“Weren't you listening? She's only murderous because she's been programmed that way. If we can get to her, free her, she can put an end to the Colony system.”
“Dude, you're nuts. Anyway, it doesn't matter much since we're stuck up here and Ciso is down on Earth.”
“There must be a way to reach her. I'm sure Matthew's dad has a way of giving her instructions when he needs to.”
“Listen, Evelyn, why don't you just wait until we've all been augmented? I'm seriously thinking about it. Once we are, we can all help deal with the situation down there.”
Evelyn was shaking her head. “No. It won't work. Those augmentations … they'll change you. Miles Tucker knows it. You won't be the same once you have one. You'll be like him. Like them. You won't care.”
“How do you know?” Kenji challenged. “I say we wait until Brenner's augmentation is done. We'll talk to her. Even if you don't trust Matthew's dad I'm sure Brenner will explain everything to us. She'll know everything all these other people know, right? She'll be part of the 'hive mind' or whatever.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about. If it’s a hive mind, her own feelings won’t count anymore: she’ll believe and feel whatever everyone else does!”
“I’m sure it’s not like that. Why don’t you just chill out until we at least see her again before making judgment calls.”
Evelyn rubbed her temples in frustration. “I don't think you're taking this very seriously...”
“How can I? I just had a milkshake that was made out of thin air. We're on a space station ten thousand years in the future. My mind is bent, man.”
“Clove?” Evelyn turned to the creole girl.
“I dunno Evelyn...” She glanced at Kenji. “I … I also think we should wait and talk to Brenner.”
Evelyn groaned. Why wouldn't they understand? Brenner wouldn't tell them anything.
Miles Tucker wouldn't let them speak to her if she could. The augmentations, higher humanity; Evelyn didn't like any of it. There was something else going on here, something Matthew's dad didn't want them to know until they had joined his network of augmented humans.
And what about me? Evelyn wondered. Would she become some lab experiment to help the higher humans achieve the next level of evolution they sought? She had to do something. She had to find a way to prove that these people weren't as perfect as they made out to be. She had to get to Ciso.
The door of the room began to hum open, and Evelyn made up her mind about what to do. Grabbing the empty milkshake glass from in front of Kenji she rushed over to the doorway.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Kenji called.
Evelyn raised the glass, waiting for Inga to step through the door.
She never did.
Matthew rushed in, his eyes wild. Behind him, Evelyn could see the crumpled form of Inga on the floor.
“Whoa! What the hell did you do man?” Kenji cried.
“We need to go,” Matthew said, glancing out into the corridor as if afraid someone was already coming for them. “Now.”
“Why? W-What's going on?” Clove asked, frightened.
Matthew's face was pale when he replied. “I saw … something. Look, there's no time to explain.” He ducked back out into the corridor. “Come on!” he called.
“I'm not going anywhere,” Kenji said.
Evelyn stepped after him, but Clove also hesitated.
Clove looked at Kenji, who stood with his arms folded obstinately, watching them. Then she turned to look at Matthew, and as their eyes met Evelyn saw Clove gasp. Whatever Matthew had seen, it was enough to convince her with the look it had left in his eyes.
She joined them.
“Kenji,” Evelyn said, “Please come with us.”
He shook his head. “No way guys. I'm sorry, but when they find out what you've done I don't think they're going to be very pleased. Whatever they do to you, I don't want them to do it to me.”
Matthew stepped forward. “You want to know what I saw? I saw them feeding the corpses of people, people from the Colony, into a machine. It minced them up, Kenji, and spat the meat into a tank.” Matthew shook his head as if trying to rid the memory from his mind. “These people, they're bad news. Now are you coming or staying?”
The Cloud Page 20
