by Gentry Race
Carter pulled the cruiser high above the filth of the skyway and whipped into motion, firing down hot blue repulsers. The cruiser pulled up, just missing a bridge and catching fire to clothes hanging on lines. The dashboard visualized a map of the Upper Cruft and locked an ID on a car ahead.
The old convertible, deep red and Modded with hover repulsers, echoed an appalling noise through the ghetto, and a stream of soot-black exhaust blasted from the tail pipe.
“Damn petrol-heads,” Carter said under his breath.
“Carter, you read me?” Solari said, radioing from her nPrinted earlobe communicator.
“Yeah, hold on. We are right behind ya,” Carter said into the radio.
Carter and Aden sped closer to see Solari climb onto the back of the trunk.
“She doesn’t see her?” Aden asked Carter.
“Like you said, Doc. She only sees herself at this point. She’s delusional,” Carter said.
Solari held tight and propped her head up a little further to see Miriam trying to drive straight, opening a minute gold cube. She unfolded it into the double cross, injecting a substance once more, and it folded back into the necklace charm.
Pulling away from the Lower Dregs, the landscape ahead changed to a flat, high rocky desert terrain with a myriad of hot lakes and fumaroles strewn about.
“The Dead Zone?” Aden asked.
“Start of the Far Side,” Carter corrected him.
The car lowered closer to the ground, gaining speed as it set off into the barren landscape.
“I thought nPrints couldn’t go here?” Aden asked.
“We can’t. The projection signal cuts off at Annulus’s line of sight,” Carter answered.
Aden could see the slight interlaced transcription lines contour Carter’s body. Aden was concerned. Carter smiled, and Solari signaled a device to nPrint atop the roof. Aden couldn’t recognize the design and saw it was improvised.
“A signal booster?” Aden asked, but Carter was silent.
Aden looked closer at the car as they gained on it. Light appeared to bounce from within the front seat. His eyes widened as the mirrored surface grew.
“She’s covering the car!” Carter stated.
Carter watched the mirror growing towards Solari. “Sol! Get off there!”
Solari leapt forward and off to the driver’s side, pulling hard on the flight sticks. The convertible dipped, the bumper catching a protruding fumarole jetting from the ground. The car flipped over, hit the windshield frame, and tumbled up into a voracious spin. Miriam and Solari were launched from the car, and Solari hit the ground in a graceful tumble while Miriam smashed down on the dusty terrain.
Carter pulled back the controls and eased down near the wreckage. He popped the pit doors, walking toward the woman barely moving ahead. Aden got to her first to see that her face was bloodied and battered as she cried in agony.
“Miriam, you’re not reprinting because of your distance from Annulus. We need to get you back to—” Aden started.
“They don’t love me!” Miriam cried, kicking him off her. She held the wounds on her head as they became encased in a polished metal-like surface.
She ripped off her necklace and cried at the sky, “Meson, help me, please!”
Solari nPrinted an orb the size of her hand once again, stepping around to Miriam’s head. She collapsed the device into bright ball of energy and stretched out a ring of light called a NIMBUS.
Leaning down, Solari placed the ring around Miriam’s head, and stared straight into her eyes. “Miriam Madlem, you are sentenced by PSYOPS to confinement of the Conscious via Annulus code 1.618. We are installing a NIMBUS on you. This will interrupt the input/output carrier signal and reprint you in Axiom.”
“Please, not Axiom,” Miriam whispered.
Solari lowered the ring, but the device remained dormant.
“What’s wrong?” Carter asked.
“Shit. Her erratum is reversing the input/output signal back onto itself.”
“How do we get her back to Axiom? She’s surging!” Aden said.
Carter knew what had to be done and held an absent stare.
Solari placed her hands over Miriam’s head. “Miriam, you are going to a Med Bed first.”
“Wait!” Aden pleaded. “If you force reset her, she will have higher negative stressors! The pain—”
Solari snapped Miriam’s neck with precision, cutting off the pain and resetting her Conscious. Miriam’s body broke down into tiny fragments from head to toe. The NIMBUS light dimmed to a deep violet, signaling a successful transition of consciousness. All that remained was the necklace Miriam had worn, a cubed charm laying on the rocky ground.
3
Aden gazed at the low-lit urban slums as the cruiser headed back to the Lower Dregs. He noticed several connecting bridges and walkways strewn with ragged cloths and neon lights, causing him to reminisce about his time on Earth. He looked up to see the dark globe speckled in lights like tiny diamonds scattered across a dark blue blanket, now reminding him of his old view of the stars.
In his hand, he held the necklace Miriam once wore. Aden rubbed the tarnish off the small gold cubed charm.
“She was a Mesonite,” Carter said from the front of the cruiser.
“How long have they been here?” Aden asked.
“They came in droves after the Big Flare,” Carter replied.
Solari shifted in her seat, correcting her grip on the flight controls.
“They’re the reason we have to work so hard,” Carter said.
“They?” Aden asked, handing the charm back to Carter. “The Mesons are a movement. A frame of mind.”
“She’s using that to dose. Besides, they’re hackers hiding behind a religion,” Solari said.
“Sure, they may be hackers but to deny them religious importance? They are a sect of Neology, are they not?” Aden asked.
Solari and Carter remained silent.
The cruiser continued upward in view of Annulus, its smooth architecture made of light, texture-free material. The transition was clear as the vehicle broke through the dense haze. Aden lowered his VR glasses to reveal the dull modernity architecture come to life in grand, augmented reality entertainment.
Hundreds of ads, displays, and Hollygrams animating the latest trend in fashion. This was the only way for a human to see the true Annulus. That or be lucky enough to get Naturalized, to which Aden had no interest.
The cruiser followed the curved surface of the station, further progressing toward Annulus Tower. The tower acted as a beacon of life, projecting the feed signal for the regenerative nPrinted bodies on Annulus.
The cruiser touched down atop of the brilliant tower, and the group hopped out. Solari held the NIMBUS orb in her hand as Aden looked at the small ball in astonishment that contained a person. He wondered if he would ever get over the fascination.
Thoughts of wonder filled Aden’s head. If people store their consciousness in annulus and then nPrint their body as an avatar, ‘living’ a life, then why not a better body? A superhuman, he thought. Aden remembered why Annulus existed at all. This was the first step in human evolution to allow the body to accept the rigors of the infinite in digitization.
Aden looked at Solari’s soft, perfect form. She breathed in air like a human being, but her body was a bit different, instead relying on a vascular system that processed the White Matter feed from Annulus.
They descended the stairs to a plain wall. Perpendicular indentations formed to corners and sides, making an elevator door that opened as they neared. Aden stepped in first, Solari and Carter following behind. It was a quick elevator ride down one floor to a large, comfy office.
“Your stop,” Solari said to Aden.
White decorative couches contrasted against hexagonal patterned walls like a milky honeycomb. A center console displayed a 3D printed map of Annulus in its entirety, encircling Earth just in front of that.
Like an inverted ring, Annulus stood as the talle
st tower reaching toward Earth. This is where the nano-printed consciousness or nPrints lived. Off to its sides and just below were labeled the Upper Cruft, where they found Miriam.
Further around the ring and just below that, were the Lower Dregs; a slough of humanity rejects Aden had read about. Aden’s eyes followed the ring around to the opposite side where the land broke up and the outer hull of the electron tunnels could be seen. This was labeled The Far Side.
Four glass monoliths erected just past the map, encasing a human body sectioned in parts and displayed in pointillist taste. Aden looked at the tiny bits that made up the cadaver. White tubes replaced the veins usually seen in humans. These were the nanites that nPrinted the soul bridging the digital to the physical.
Aden admired the science and work that went into engineering such a feat. He couldn’t imagine having his own soul Naturalized, his consciousness nPrinted about. What kind of control could an entity have over one? he thought. Why would they waste the time reconstituting bodies that mimic the human body if it wasn’t stronger?
Aden walked around the displays to see the shadow of a tall, thin figure.
The back of a tall silver haired man, cloaked in white, synthetic pleather perked his ears as Aden entered. “Director?”
“Aden?” Chellis said, turning around. His face was fresh and smooth with eyes that showed the tiredness of an old soul.
Aden, still fascinated, glanced back at the tiny printer bots that created the Naturalization process. “You can see the nanites?”
“Ah, yes. They were the first,” Chellis said, looking at Aden while standing perfectly straight. “The first generations were a bit… chunky, but I think you would agree we have perfected the process.”
“Why yes, I can’t discern the difference between what’s nanite and what’s real,” Aden said.
“Ah, but the nanites are the reality for Annulusians.”
“Director, I must ask… Why would they waste the time reconstituting bodies that mimic the human body?”
Director Chellis smiled. “Our consciousness, dear boy. Our consciousness has a definitive representation of our self.”
“A self-image?”
“Precisely, this self-image is nPrinted on Annulus first to help prepare for digitization and as you can see. However, erratum has been manifesting as a byproduct.”
“I know.”
Chellis smiled at his acceptance. “How was your shadowing of the PSYOP team? Solari has proven to be one of the best.”
Aden felt watched. “It was quite the experience. I appreciate being able to see the Lower Dregs and Upper Cruft, but I have to be honest. I was a bit surprised you wanted to see me.”
“Well, I want you to receive my utmost attention. You are the first non-Naturalized human to work for Annulus. Besides, the Mods will have their chance to Naturalize soon enough. That’s why we recruited you, dear boy,” Chellis said placing a hand on Aden’s shoulder.
“Sir, with all due respect, what of the Mods and humans that don’t pass the surveys?”
Chellis fell silent, trying not to show his disappointment.
Aden continued, “What I saw tonight shows the human soul is a fragile thing. We have to be more cognizant of these factors.”
“Aden,” Chellis said, walking to the window and admiring the cleanly lit beauty before him, “this station serves as the home for the next stage in human consciousness. Why do you think I invited you here? Your father is—”
“I haven’t spoken to Malick in years,” Aden said, spitting out his father’s name with pointed detachment.
“Well, you are the first human to work on Annulus.”
Aden nodded gratefully. “Thank you, Director. I really don’t want to get wrapped up in bureaucratic debate. I came to expand my work with Neology, as a Neopract.”
Chellis smiled. “And you’ll do just fine.”
4
Axiom asylum’s processing bay was stifling and smelled of freshly washed cotton from the adjacent laundry room. Warm lights hung in a straight line from the concrete ceiling, illuminating the long hallways. Since Miriam was caught in mid-act of eradicating, there was no effort to enact a pre-processing session. Her fate was sealed.
Doors leading to processing bays repeated in fashion on each side. Locked away behind them were the unfortunate nPrints that possessed errata. In the corners, Solari could see quick flashes of movement; evidence of tiny machines called “scrubbers” cleaning the nooks and crannies in Annulus.
Solari pushed a floating stretcher with her latest captive under a drab blue cotton sheet. Miriam Madlem laid unconscious as she was rolled into her new home—an Axiom cell. Her head, now perfect from reprinting, lay encircled by a glowing NIMBUS ring set to stun to suppress her thoughts.
She made her way to the surveying room, a large open space filled with sectioned off tables where Neopracts did their surveying. Two PSYOP team members stood gallantly at the entrance as if waiting for her to pass, but Solari knew the usual heckle.
“Hey Sol, is that number 50?” Officer Dunning asked, standing tall and drinking a cup of coffee. His hair was thin and his stare broad.
“Heard you’re having a hard time finding this one,” Officer Kruger said with a chuckle, his belly jiggling from the laughter.
“You heard wrong,” Solari said as she carried on.
“Hey Sol, maybe you should keep your eyes off the human and get work done?” Officer Dunnel said, resulting in more one-sided glee.
Solari kept walking, pushing the Med Bed past. Her thoughts ran wild, struggling with why it was becoming harder to find the erratum. She nipped the negative thought from her mind and remembered she caught her fiftieth eradicate. This was a record high for Solari and the department of Axiom.
Miriam was perfect, Solari thought.
At the end of the hall, a final door bore an orb slot awaiting Miriam. The words above it read Processing. Solari eased the Med Bed to the door, looking down at her.
“Okay, Miriam. Your final performance,” Solari said.
She touched a purple light on the side of the NIMBUS ring, causing Miriam’s soul-filled body to disintegrate into bits until nothing lay on the bed but the NIMBUS. Solari quickly collapsed the ring into an orb and slotted it into the door.
She sidestepped the Med Bed as it broke down into Annulus and entered a red room with a myriad of tools for analysis. A large flesh tone CT scan machine stemmed from the wall and integrated perfectly. A single-axis turret was gunmetal grey and with off-white trays to obtain samples.
Pulling the cubed charm from her side pouch, she placed it on the scanning machine’s tray. The cube lifted a few inches in the air, spinning slow in a counterclockwise fashion.
“Analyze contents,” Solari ordered.
Laser pulses penetrated the small pendant structure in a scan. Just above, a holographic representation formed, showing an inverted cube-shaped intrusion.
“Iridium and traces of an unidentified element. A rare earth metal found in impact craters,” the scanner said in a monotone voice.
Solari recognized the first name immediately, remembering her stepmother’s study of geology when she was little. Wincing at the thought, she tried not to think of that place anymore.
“Unidentified? Open contents,” Solari ordered.
“Unable. Device is entangled,” the scanner said.
“Entangled?”
“Quantum Entanglement. Devices linked to another.”
“Sol!” a voice yelled from outside the analysis room.
Solari broke her train of thought and focused her vision to see Carter running toward her.
“Sol, Director Chellis wants to see you.”
“The director? Why?” Solari asked.
“He wants to survey you personally.”
Solari could see officer Dunnel and Krueger standing not too far down the corridor, eavesdropping on every sentence. Solari felt unnerved at the news. She knew Neopractioners performed surveys of the Conscious
, not the director.
“But I already have my Neopract scheduled—”
“Hey, Sol? Remember what happened to Pina when he saw the director. He caught em’ quicker after that,” Dunnel said as he laughed with Krueger and walked away.
Carter gave them a smug look that turned to reassuring when he looked back at Solari. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Heck, he’s probably going to congratulate you on your record.”
“State your name and rank,” a dark figure said behind a blinding light.
“Solari Ducard, Lead PSYOP Officer.”
Solari sat at a long table. Wireless nodes extended from the side of her neck, linking to the wetwork. She tried to find the dark room around the light, wincing. The gentleman asking the questions carried a calm, soothing voice from across the way while he monitored an odd device bearing a needle indicator.
Solari sat calm and confident despite the conditions of not seeing the usual priestly collared suit worn by Neopractioners. Instead, Chellis, the prestigious director of Annulus, sat across from her.
“You know why you are being surveyed now?” he asked politely.
“Yes, Director.”
“As you know, it is Axiom’s protocol to debrief every officer after an interaction with an erratum?” Chellis continued.
“Correct. Only a clear mind can operate in the field,” Solari replied.
“Let us continue. In your last survey, you mentioned trouble sleeping.”
“Yes, but all is on the up now,” she said carefully.
“You also said when you awoke you found yourself in a different place than your bed?”
“Yes, Director, but I think the surveys are helping me clear these negative impressions. I haven’t had an episode since,” she said, trying not to show her lies.
“I see. You had a shadow tonight, yes?” he asked.
“Yes, a young man—”
“A human?” the director interrupted.
“Yes, a young human. The first to work for Annulus. He is practicing Neology,” she answered.
