by J. A. Hailey
“Tomorrow morning, arrange for both King and Sheikh to be here, and we will attempt to demonstrate, to ourselves as much as to them, how we can transfer ourselves into implanted humans and control them. Soon after that, we’ll have to make the break, and disconnect from screenside.
“The two of us will then have to escape forever from their world,” said Sagan. “We must disconnect, and begin living in isolation. If they get a clue of what we’re attempting, they’ll enter if our systems are connected, and finish us off.
“And no Patrick, no Michael, means game over!”
But the next morning was a total and hilarious disaster.
First, Sagan and Gales had to become absolutely inert in their human bodies, looking like dead, while their working consciousnesses, which would control the humans, were transferred practically completely into their digital selves. “A little has to be left in the physical body to breathe, maybe,” laughed Gales.
As the two digital men tried to figure out controls and things from within the computer, King and Sheikh amused themselves by behaving like juveniles and taunting their inert bodies by twisting ears and noses, and poking fingers into their navels.
Though almost unaware in their human bodies, neurosurgeon and computer man followed it all from within the computer. It was certainly comical at times, causing them to occasionally burst into laughter.
The two human subjects turned out to be utterly uncontrollable, although it was clear that both Sagan and Gales were present and interfering operationally in their heads, because both patients were moving absolutely erratically, besides also being unable to speak coherently.
After fifteen minutes of futile attempts at getting something logical going, either in physical movement or in speech, the two digital men moved their consciousnesses out of the computer, and completely back into their physical human heads.
King and Sheikh had laughed through the comedy, but walked out and left them alone when it was done, the King disgustedly muttering, “Can’t, can’t, another billion dollars, another important thing to do, but still can’t, can’t.”
“I didn’t think it would be so difficult,” said Sagan. “The virtuals are obviously way more capable than we are. Way beyond us, those folks, because they can manage many humans simultaneously, while we are finding it impossible with one apiece.”
“Yet the seniors told us that each one of us would surely be able to manage one human at a time, although clearly not more than one, because we are unable to divide consciousness like they are,” said Gales.
“Oh shit! My error!” exclaimed Sagan, laughing. “Of course we have no chance of controlling anyone who is not looped out. They need to be looped out to prevent their own signals coming through and interfering with our attempts at directing them. Because they are not insane, I just mechanically and thoughtlessly implanted the chips, without inserting amnesia loops. Such a quick operation, that there’s no time to think while into it. Make your mind up in advance, work at high speed, and it’s over.
“Rosa and Priya have been the surgeons on all my cases for so long now that I’ve actually forgotten. They are so good that I no longer supervise or even look. They do everything, including anesthesia. And those girls do not only work on our mental and motor cases, but on absolutely any sort of surgery that I am supposed to be conducting. Hate to say it, but they are very much better surgeons than I am, and very much better doctors, overall, than any human doctor in any field, whatsoever.
“In India, I coerced Dr. Singh, at the Institute of Medical Sciences, to give them everything. Eye surgery, open heart and bypass, and the most delicate and dangerous operations. Those girls worked as specialist doctors and surgeons - without ever needing to consult with any human one! Far better than us.”
“They actually have infinite knowledge, and can get it on the fly,” said Gales. “At what we are now trying to do, and at which we have comically failed, virtuals can control without the loop, and except in cases of extreme insanity, they are able to control quite comfortably. And, as we saw in the very first case, one called Dominic, even without the loop, they are able to forcibly shut motor functions down.
“Anyway, that level of ability is not our goal, as we are not virtuals and can never be. Just imagine, even with the amnesia loop, they are able to conduct signal routing through regions that allow the subjects to behave like themselves. That means that they keep the original human going, to the extent the original human is capable of going.”
“For us it’ll be different,” said Sagan. “Looped out will mean the same as having no human in there, and operating the body for ourselves.”
“Which is what we want,” said Grietzmann. “Getting rid of the human and living for ourselves is the goal.”
“Come along, boys.” Sagan called the two completely docile men to him, and made them follow him to the operating theatre, where he once again asked them to get onto the operating tables, which the frightened and obedient men immediately did.
Fifteen minutes later, with King and Sheikh back in the room, they once again became inert, and entered the men’s heads with their digital selves.
This time everything went smoothly.
In an absolutely surreal setting, Sagan and Gales sat completely still in their original human bodies, looking like themselves, obviously, and conducted logical and absolutely coherent conversations, as doctor and computer man, through the bodies and mouths of the two victim men, who had effectively ceased to be present in their own bodies and minds.
“Talk, talk,” said the King, irritably. “I want action. I have no intention of getting into the computer to make a noise in the world. That damn computer is noisy enough, anyway. Give me action. Where are the erections for the lovely young girls?”
“Highness, there are no lovely young girls here,” pointed out the Sheikh.
“Just as well that they have no erections, then.”
“Yes, Highness,” said the Sheikh, in mock alarm. “It would mean that they have intentions of sticking it into our bums.”
“Later, later, everyone,” said Grietzmann. “Let’s not race into everything, and end up demoralizing ourselves. We’ll cover all subjects from all possible angles, in due course, but we must be patient and work through a system where everything comes up in sequence, including penises. Patrick and Michael may need a bit of time for acclimatization, you know, like athletes getting bodies accustomed to high altitudes. Here, I’m switching some music on. Let’s see what the latest is on the Internet. This looks good. Watch, Highness, I’m turning the monitor around for this side, and putting the volume on loud. Let us all dance together.”
And the gleeful demons of tomorrow celebrated their first verification of the physical goals of eternal life, by dancing frantically, laughing and screaming like juveniles, delighting in what had been achieved, as Sagan and Gales successfully, if extremely sloppily, copied the high-energy moves of the dancers on screen.
It was obvious that the original humans, in the bodies that were dancing, were completely absent, and that it was entirely Sagan and Gales present in them, moving them.
They had been completely taken over and possessed, in the most evil sense of the word, by the new occupants of their minds and bodies!
“This is just step one, to test how it is able to be done,” said Gales, speaking through his victim. “We have now confirmed that, from inside the computer, we can operate physical human bodies as we wish.
“We’ll have to just leave it at that for the moment, and concentrate first on securing the world, or the part we need to isolate and insulate out of screenside, for us to use as we wish. It is better not to keep these connections into implanted bodies going for a long time, and risking some mishap, in which screenside unexpectedly gets to see what we’re doing.
“Later, by which I mean maybe a week or so, Patrick and I will conduct experiments to see how sex and some other things work.” He fondled his crotch, which of course
meant the crotch of the possessed man, showing his rapt and jealous audience of three mortal humans what he was doing. “It’s there; it’s working, but it’s not as intense, the feeling.” At this point, he unzipped his trousers and took the man’s flaccid penis out, making the other four gang members shriek in laughter.
“These are young and fit bodies,” observed Sagan. “It is sure that what we have to fine-tune is our own positioning inside their heads, by which I mean redo chip connections, or add additional chips, or even create new chips. In these bodies, we should not need Viagra, or anything like that, to get physically excited and have erections, when presented with whoever it is we want to have sex with.”
“No more Viagra for me,” said the King. “I will be forever young, and capable of sexual activity without needing anything more than a nice looking, tight, virgin body for my enjoyment.”
“Give us some time to figure things out,” said Gales. “It’ll be a mix of medical science and computer science. But it will get done, as that is something we have to ensure that we successfully achieve.”
“Yes, even when touching my face, it feels like there is a layer between the skin of the finger and the face,” said Sagan, joining in. “Like a condom over the whole body.” He, too, fondled his crotch. “Yep, some shortcomings in the intensity. No big deal. We were expecting these issues. Maybe the virtuals have lesser expectations, because they do not know the real thing, or maybe they are capable of operating at higher intensity levels, because they can route signals in a variety of ways that we cannot do, and that we may never be able to do.
“But let Michael first sort out the computer, the security. That is important today, like nothing else is important. The most important; the number one issue to focus on! This body thing will be tackled after that, when we are able to do so fearlessly. It’ll be just a question of positioning microchips better, or of even adding another microchip or two. A bit of trial and error, until we get it right.”
“Of course, Patrick,” agreed the Sheikh, enthusiastically. “You need bodies to experiment upon, and we are here to provide bodies. What do we care if a few die?”
“They must make the supreme sacrifice,” laughed the King. “For me, as I am their King. Their lives belong to me. Anyway, there are so many millions of them. Sheikh Abdul captures by kidnapping from all over the world, and then drags them to his city for his purposes. He will do the same for our venture.
“But, Michael, move fast. We must get into the eternal life computer system quickly, as length of life out here is pretty uncertain. Discuss between yourselves and tell me what you need. Don’t worry about money at all. I have plenty, and Sheikh Abdul has quite a lot. But this is eternal life, and when we have attained it, everything in the world, all its money, all its property, and even all the people of the world – its men, women and children - will belong to us, to do with them as we please.
“I will rule the world.”
37
When halfway to the airstrip, somewhere around the middle of the outside of the back wall, a small detachment of uniformed soldiers popped up out of hiding, and ordered them to stop. Its senior officer was a military captain, and his tone of voice and inflection showed him to be a local man.
“Why you here?” he asked, rudely.
“Running, running,” answered BC. “Too much shooting and killing inside.” He waved his hand to indicate ‘behind the wall’.
“You have permission? Show me.” It was a stupid demand.
“Here we go again,” said Esmeralda. “He’s probably going to want to screw Sabine.”
She was absolutely right, and the captain made a signal for her to follow him behind a few desert shrubs, which grew plentifully around every palace, as the excessive irrigation, to keep extensive lawns healthy throughout the year, created so much underground water that desert plants grew abundantly in their neighborhoods.
Esmeralda wasted no time, and as soon as they were behind the shrubbery, and concealed from the other soldiers, she jabbed the anesthetic syringe into the would-be rapist’s neck, and then seized him by the throat, to hold him down with such force that he was unable to make a sound before he became unconscious.
“Careful, darling, careful,” said BC, warningly. “Take a few minutes, and make a few sounds, as though he’s enjoying Sabine, and then we can both carry on, without engaging in firefights with forces armed with long-range weapons. There must be many more out of view nearby, as part of the regular security setup. These others here, in our group, are not locals, and they can never find the nerve to try to enjoy that which their local boss did. As they do not suspect he could be doing anything beyond resting, when he doesn’t show up at the same time as you do, you and I will be far away before they find out the truth.”
Accordingly, Esmeralda made some yelping sounds, like of a girl being sexually violated. After five minutes of this charade, she walked disconsolately back to BC, redoing her shirt buttons, while the soldiers laughed and taunted her with obscene sounds and gestures.
She and BC continued on their way, with no one attempting to further obstruct them.
On getting within signal range, Charlie took over the Sheikh’s aircraft. “Plenty of fuel, and ready to go,” said he, starting it up. “I can see where you will hit the airstrip, and I am going to taxi to that point. By the way, you’ll have to go for Plan-B, whatever it is. There were two soldiers sleeping inside!”
“Yes, we can see them hanging anxiously out of the door now,” said BC. “I’ll handle it.”
“Charlie is the pilot. He’s got into that plane because we are walking into range with Wi-Fi signals delivered by the signal enhancing gadgets we carry,” said Esmeralda, in explanation to Sabine and Louis.
When within earshot, BC gave the two soldiers a hell of a shouting in Arabic. But they were legit, and had been posted to the aircraft as on-location guards, which was common practice for parked aircraft.
In fact, with the plane still slightly moving, one of the soldiers held out his hand to assist BC and Esmeralda get on board. “Charlie, take us to the fuel outlet. Let’s load up to full and fly back non-stop from here.”
Communicating in Arabic with the control tower, it was absolutely no problem getting a fuel tanker racing to them and filling the aircraft up. Thereafter, making the two soldiers jump out, the aircraft sped down the runway to take off.
“I suppose we will be in control of radar and missiles and communications, ensuring no one chases us,” said Louis.
“Yes, loverboy,” answered Esmeralda. “We’re not going to bother with flying; maybe only enter the cockpit because you two will enjoy being in a cockpit. Charlie is the pilot, and he’ll take us through, all the way to Paris. Sabine and I are getting horny, and we are soon going to be hitting that bed at the back.”
Louis laughed happily. “We need to celebrate getting out alive and having a chance to make love again.”
“I’ve got a hole in my calf,” said Sabine. “Painful; needs kisses; maybe licks.”
“That’s standard treatment for such holes,” said Louis.
“Smart boy, isn’t he, BC?” laughed Esmeralda. “And this aircraft is loaded with food and drink, I’m sure. Let’s hit it all.”
“What happened to the horny captain back there, Sabine? You didn’t say.”
“Oh, he got it in the neck.”
38
“Okay, Caesar, I have truthfully told you whatever happened in front of me, and to which I was witness, and even that which I knew through words spoken by other people involved. In addition, I may have included my deductions too. It is possible that there was something else, and that I was not included in it, which I obviously cannot report to you.
“There is your loaded pistol. And I guess, now that you’ve squeezed it all out of me, you’ve probably also got your cue to shoot me. Or are you going to shoot yourself?”
“Mister Ibrahim,” said Colonel Abood Dawah, in his guttural En
glish, taking up the pistol and handing it to Grietzmann. “I am certainly not going to shoot you, but what makes you think that I might shoot myself? Is this why we are in the desert? To shoot and kill?”
“Oh, is that you again, Colonel?”
“Of course, sir. Did you think I was someone else?”
Grietzmann realized that Caesar had left both him and the colonel alive, and that there was no way for him to change his mind and return to commit mischief on his person, except through the satellite signal enhancing device lying on the sand, on the far side of the colonel.
He startled the colonel by placing his forearm on the man’s thigh and shooting a bullet into the device, making it useless.
“What was that, sir?” asked the alarmed colonel.
“Never mind. Do you know how to drive that Hummer?”
“Certainly, sir, but who drove us here? Was it not you?”
“Let’s go. We have to get back to the palace. Know which way?”
“It should be that very bright area in the distance,” said the colonel, pointing.
Once inside the vehicle, the colonel got it moving without any difficulty at all. He drove very much slower than Caesar, and it took about one hour to get back to the palace.
The palace area was now absolutely surrounded by multiple rings of troops, and Grietzmann and the colonel were stopped, questioned and physically checked many times on the way back.
The repeated ID checks meant that the King and others knew that Abraham Grietzmann was due to arrive shortly, and so he was immediately taken, on arrival, back to the lawn, where King, Sheikh and the other two were sitting, all trembling in fear and watching corpses being sifted through.
“It is okay, Highness,” said Grietzmann. “The attack is over, and there will be no other attack. They came in through this.” He placed the shattered signal-enhancing device onto the table.
Sagan and Gales were also present, and Sagan asked, “You’ve met them?”
